The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.

Union States in 1865, Part 4: Rhode Island through Territories

RHODE ISLAND. The second session of the Legislature elected in 1864 met at Providence in January, 1865, and adjourned tine die on March 18th. Among the measures passed was a joint resolution, by an almost unanimous vote, ratifying the antislavery amendment to the Constitution; an act authorizing a loan of a million of dollars, payable in thirty years; and an act, which, by providing that six per cent, shall be the legal rate of interest unless some other sum is expressly stipulated, practically abolished the usury laws. The political canvass of the State commenced in March. The Republican Convention assembled at Providence on the 15th, and renominated for Governor the present incumbent of the office, James Y. Smith. Their resolutions were as follows:

Resolved, That it is our paramount duty, as citizens of the United States, to preserve and perpetuate the Union and Constitution, and that this duty has become only the more sacred by reason of all the patriot lives, and of all the blood and treasure, which during the past four years have been sacrificed in its fulfilment.

Resolved, That we approve the measures adopted by the. Federal administration for the prosecution of the war, and that we pledge ourselves to support its continued prosecution unto the complete extinguishment of the rebellion.

Resolved, That we congratulate the soldiers and sailors of the army and navy upon the brilliant successes which they have recently achieved, and that we render them our most hearty thanks for all their glorious and inestimable services to the cause of the Union.

Resolved, That in order to avoid the inequalities of a draft, it is the true policy of the State to fill its military quotas by voluntary enlistments, and to that end to make provision for the payment of liberal bounties to volunteer recruits.

Resolved, That the thanks of the people of the State are due to His Excellency James Y. Smith for his fidelity in the discharge of his office, and especially for his untiring efforts to fill the quotas of the State by voluntary enlistments.

The Providence "Journal," one of the leading Republican papers of the State, refused to support the nomination of Governor Smith, on the ground that his administration had been "so pernicious to the State that it would bo at once a disgrace and disaster to Rhode Island to continue it." A committee of colored voters also published an address, adopting all the Republican nominations except those of Governor and Lieut.-Governor. In place of these they nominated the Hon. Edward Harris for Governor, and Rowland Hazard for Lieut.-Governor, who were pledged to support the colored population on the following issue presented by the address:

It has been the policy and interest of this slavery to prescribe all colored men, to heap contempt upon their heads—to act unjustly by them—to treat them as if they had no rights that white men were bound to respect. In keeping with this policy the school authorities of Providence and Newport have unjustly, in disregard of the Constitution, forced colored persons into separate schools—schools which are very poor in comparison to those which have been sustained for others, sustained in part by taxes exacted from colored men. We object to this, not only because of its obvious unjustness, but because it Page 746 continues to foster this proscribing of us on account of our color, even now when the North is ceasing almost entirely to pay any deference to slavery, the enemy of the Government. We say that this adjunct to slavery ought to die with slavery; that Rhode Island should not be disgraced with this, its relic; that in all matters in which the States have control, no such distinction should be known, leaving individuals to do as they may in social relations, which is their right—but where the law has sway, as in public schools, all should be equal, with no disparaging distinctions. This is the issue we present. We have been urging the point for twelve years; we have succeeded in carrying our prayer before the lower House, and needed but four votes to success in the Senate, and believe that we would have succeeded there but for undue interference.

The Democratic Convention met at Providence on March 22d, and nominated a State ticket, headed by Charles S. Bradley for Governor. All the candidates having refused to accept the nominations tendered to them, Alfred Anthony was nominated for Governor and General Olney Arnold for Lieut.-Governor, together with the remainder of the ticket originally nominated. Resolutions were passed in favor of filling the quotas of the State by voluntary enlistment instead of by draft, and tendering thanks to the soldiers of Rhode Island in the national service; also the following on national affairs:

Resolved, That the Democratic party, now as heretofore, is based upon and recognizes only the Constitution as the supreme authority in political affairs, and is determined, so far as its influence extends, to maintain the Union and the supremacy of the laws: and we enter our solemn protest against bribery and corruption in State and national affairs, which is so ruinous to public morals.

The election took place on April 5th, and in consequence of the withdrawal of the Democratic candidates, resulted in favor of the Republicans by the following vote:

Governor.      Number of votes.

James T. Smith……10,001

Scattering…………….768

Majority for Smith 9,803

The total vote was 10,814 against 22,162 in the Presidential election in the preceding November. The Legislature elected was largely Republican, less than a dozen Democrats having been chosen to both Houses. Thomas A. Jenckes and Nathan F. Dixon, Republicans, were also elected members of Congress, the former almost unanimously, and the latter by a majority of 1,590 over his Democratic competitor.

The Legislature met at Newport on May 30, 1805, and the new State Government was inaugurated. The following resolution was adopted in the course of the session by a nearly unanimous vote:

Resolved, That it is the sense of the General Assembly and people of this State, that in the reconstruction of the government of the States lately in rebellion against the Government and authority of the United States, the usual power and legal authority vested in the Federal Government should be executed to secure equal rights, without respect to color, to all citizens residing in those States, including herein the right of the elective franchise.

At the commencement of the late war, the public debt of Rhode Island was only about $4,000, and at its close it amounted to $4,000,000, the whole of which was accumulated for war purposes. The following is an official statement of the funded debt of the State, with the date of the authorizing acts and the time of payment:

Data of Act   Amount of Debt.   Principle payable,

August, 1861 $500.000 October 1,1871

August, 1862 1,200,000 September 1, l871

January, 1863 800,000 April 1,1888

June, 1868 1,000,000 January 1,1893

May, 1864 1,000,000 February 1,1894

The interest is at the rate of six per cent, payable semi-annually. The million dollars' loan, authorized by the act of January, 1865, has never been issued, and probably never will be. During 1865, bonds to the amount of $111,000 were paid, leaving the outstanding debt on January 1, 1866, $3,889,000. There has been no regular sinking fund provided for the extinction of the debt; but from a law passed by the General Assembly, authorizing any surplus money in the Treasury to be used for the purchase of the bonds, it is thought that after another year the State will be in the market as a purchaser, and that before the time expires for the payment of them they will all be retired.

The Adjutant-General of Rhode Island reports that the State furnished to the war an aggregate of 25,355 men, as follows:

Three months' men………8,147

Nine months1 men………2,069

One year's men, …………1,018

Two years’ men …………….11

Three years' men……… 19,110

Reduced to a three years' standard, these would number 20,236. These were comprised in one regiment and two independent batteries of light artillery, three regiments and one squadron of cavalry, three regiments of heavy artillery, one of which was colored, and eight regiments and one company of infantry. The prepared claims against the United States for expenses growing out of the war amount to nearly $330,000, the settlement of which is protracted on account of certain questions affecting their legal character.

A census was taken in 1865, from a partial report of which it appears that the State is making steady progress in population and" wealth. The total population ,is 184,695, of whom 112,207 were born in Rhode Island, 32,585 in other States of the Union, and 39,903 in foreign countries. This shows a gain of 10,075, or nearly six per cent, over the United States census of 1860. The whole number of persons who "can neither read nor write is 10,181, of whom 1,552 as of American parentage, 7,313 of Irish parentage, and the remainder were born in various foreign countries. The State supports 543 paupers, and the average number of convicts is somewhat over one hundred. In 1865 there were 37,786 acres of ploughed land, 101,243 of mowing land, 152,457 of pasture land, and 201,000 of unimproved Page 747 land.

The chief agricultural products of the previous year were as follows: Hay 70,56S tons. Wheat 753 bushels. Eye 29,161" Indian Corn 466,033  Oats 175,941" Barley 46,500" Buckwheat 2,869" Potatoes T10,62T"

In 1865 the State contained 11,133 horses; 40,717 sheep, from which were obtained 114,781 pounds of wool; 16,269 swine, and 17,517 milch cows, which yielded 2,223,272 gallons of milk, from which were made 857,466 pounds of butter, and 136,130 pounds of cheese.

TENNESSEE. The proceedings of the Convention having been ratified on the 22d of February, as related in the preceding volume of this work, the election which had been ordered to be held in the event of such ratification, on the 4th of March, for Governor and members of the Legislature, also took place. W. G. Brownlow, the nominee of the Convention, was chosen Governor. The Legislature met at Nashville on the 8d of April, and on the 5th ratified the United States constitutional amendment. It also reorganized the State Government, and elected David T. Patterson and Joseph S. Fowler Senators to Congress. The most important law passed was the one regulating the elective franchise, of which the following is an extract:

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the following persons, to wit: 1st. Every white man twenty-one years of age, a citizen of the United States, and a citizen of the county wherein he may offer his vote, six months next preceding the day of election, and publicly known to have entertained unconditional Union sentiments, from the outbreak of the rebellion until the present time; and 2d. Every white man, a citizen of the United States, and a citizen of the county wherein he may offer his vote, six months next preceding the day of election, having arrived at the age of twenty-one years, since March 4, 1865, provided that he has not been engaged in armed rebellion against the authority of the United States, voluntarily; and 8d. Every white man of lawful age, coming from another State, and being a citizen of the United States, on proof of loyalty to the United States, and being a citizen of the county wherein he may offer his vote six months next preceding the day of election; and 4th. Every white man a citizen of this State, and a citizen of the United States, who has served as a soldier in the army of the United States, and has been or hereafter may be honorably discharged therefrom; and 5th. Every white man, of lawful age, and a citizen of the United States, and a citizen of the county wherein he may offer his vote six months next preceding the day of election, who was conscripted by force into the so-called Confederate army, and was known to be a Union man on proof of loyalty to the United States, established by the testimony of two voters under the previous clauses of this section; and 6th. Every white man who voted in this State at the Presidential election in November, 1364, or voted on the 22d of February, 1865, or voted on the 4th of March, 1865, in this State, and all others who had taken the "oath of allegiance" to the United States, and may be known by the judges of the elections to have been true friends to the Government of the United States, and would have voted in said previously mentioned elections, if the same had been bolden within their reach, shall be entitled to the privileges of the elective franchise

Be it further enacted, That all persons who are or shall have been civil or diplomatic officers or agents of the so-called Confederate States, or who have left judicial stations under the United States, or the State of Tennessee, to aid in any way in the existing or recent rebellion against the authority of the United States, or who are or shall have been military or naval officers of the so called Confederate States above the rank of captain in the army, or lieutenant in the navy, or who have left seats in the United States Congress, or seats in the Legislature Of the State of Tennessee to aid said rebellion, or have resigned commissions in the army or navy of the United States and afterwards have voluntarily given aid to said rebellion, or persons who have engaged in any way in treating otherwise than lawfully prisoners of war persons found in the United States service as officers, soldiers, seamen, or in any other capacities, or persons who have been or are absentees from the United States for the purpose of aiding the rebellion, or persons who held pretended offices under the government of States in insurrection against the United States, or persons who left their homes within the jurisdiction and protection of the United States, or fled before the approach of the national forces, and passed beyond the Federal military lines into the so-called Confederate States for the purpose of aiding the rebellion, shall be denied and refused the privilege of the elective franchise in this State for the term of fifteen years from and after the passage of this act.

Be it further enacted, That all other persons except those mentioned in Section I. of this act are hereby and hereafter excluded and denied the exercise of the privilege of the elective franchise in this State for the term of five years from the passage of this act.

And be it further enacted, That any voter may be challenged by an admitted voter of Section 1. of this act, on offering his vote, and thereupon the judges of elections shall peremptorily, to the person so challenged, before permitting him to vote, administer the following oath; said oath to be taken by all judges of elections and candidates for office:

"I solemnly swear that I will henceforth support the Constitution of the United States, and defend it against the assaults of all its enemies; that I am an active friend of the Government of the United States; that I will heartily aid and assist the loyal people in whatever measure may be adopted under the Constitution of the United States, and under all laws and proclamations made in pursuance thereof, to establish the national authority over all the people of every State and Territory embraced in the national Union; and that I will faithfully and most heartily support and defend the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, and the amendments and schedule thereunto appended and adopted by the people on the 22d day of February, 1865, and also all acts of the General Assembly assembled in accordance therewith; and that I take this oath freely, voluntarily, and without any mental reservation. So help me God."

And be it further enacted, That any person taking this oath falsely shall be guilty of perjury, and shall suffer all the pains and penalties attached to that crime.

A petition was presented from the "colored citizens of Tennessee," asking for the elective franchise, in which they said:

We know the burdens of citizenship, and are ready to bear them. We know the duties of the good citizen, and are ready to perform them cheerfully. Therefore, we humbly and respectfully petition your honorable body to place us in a position in which we can discharge those duties more effectually, namely: We ask the legal right to use the elective franchise, and to testify upon oath to the truth in Page 779 the several courts of our State We do not ask for the privileges, wishing to shun the obligations imposed upon us by them.

Beyond ordering five hundred copies of the petition to be printed, a motion for which was carried by a vote of 41 to 10, no definite action was taken in the matter.

An act was passed on the 9th of June, apportioning the representation of the State in the United States Congress. On the 12th the Governor issued a proclamation, ordering the election of a full delegation of members of Congress in the eight districts of the State, and for members of the Legislature where there were vacancies, to be held on the 3d of August, and enjoining on the sheriffs and judges of elections a strict enforcement of the provisions and restrictions of the franchise act, which made it the duty of the county court clerk in each county to open and keep a registration of voters, and to furnish certificates of registration, without presenting which to the judges at the polls no person was entitled to vote. The restrictions of the franchise law were such as to exclude a large number of citizens from the right of suffrage. It was claimed to be unconstitutional, and met with much opposition, especially in Middle and Western Tennessee. Mr. William Sale, a citizen of Memphis, who had never participated in the war, called on the county clerk and requested that his name might be registered; and on this being refused, on the ground that he would not undertake to prove that he had been "publicly known to have entertained loyal sentiments from the outbreak of the rebellion in 1861," he filed a petition before the Hon. William M. Smith, Judge of the Common Law and Chancery Court of Memphis, praying for a mandamus to compel the county clerk to issue the required certificate. The cause was tried on the 28th of June, and Judge Smith on the morning of the 29th rendered a decision sustaining the franchise law as valid and constitutional, refusing the mandamus and dismissing the petition. On the 14th of July Governor Brownlow published an "address," in which, after arguing in favor of the constitutionality of the law, he continued:

Having said this much by way of friendly explanation, I come to the principal object of this address, and that is, that this important law is already set at naught in many local cities by the remissness of those whose official duty it is to execute it, to announce that it will be enforced on the day of election as far as the civil and military authorities can enforce it; and all elections effected by illegal votes will be annulled, and if necessary the officers elected will be arrested. The civil and military authorities understand each other, and will act in harmony. The commander of the Military Division of Tennessee will aid the civil authorities in all instances when the powers of the latter are inadequate to protect the ballot-box from fraudulent voting, or remove county officers in behalf of the State, no matter by whom elected This step, so likely to become necessary, is much to be regretted, and clerks and judges of election yet have time to correct much they have done; and the hope is expressed that many of them will do go and save their respect.

It was to this address that President Johnson alluded in the following despatch:

                                          Washington, Thursday, July 20,1865.

Hon. W. G. Brownlow:

I hope and have no doubt you will see that the recent amendments to the Constitution of the State as adopted by the people, and all the laws passed by the last Legislature in pursuance thereof, are fairly executed, and that all illegal votes in the approaching election be excluded from the polls, and the election for members of Congress be legally and fairly conducted. When and wherever it becomes necessary to employ force for the execution of the laws and the protection of the ballot-box from violence and fraud, you are authorized to call upon Major-General Thomas for sufficient military force to sustain the civil authorities of the State. I have received your recent address to the people, and think it well-timed, and hope it will do much good in reconciling the opposition to the amendment to the Constitution and the laws passed by the last Legislature. The law must be executed and the civil authority sustained. In your efforts to do this, if necessary, General Thomas will afford a sufficient military force. You are at liberty to make what use you think proper of this despatch.

                                                 ANDREW JOHNSON,

                                            President of the United States.

On the 18th the Governor issued another proclamation, declaring the act to limit the elective franchise the supreme law of the land; denouncing as rebels all who should unite for the purpose of defeating its execution; declaring that no person would be permitted to be a candidate until he had taken and subscribed the required oath; calling upon the civil authorities throughout the State "to arrest and bring to justice all persons who, under pretence of being candidates for Congress or other office, are travelling over the State denouncing and nullifying the Constitution and laws of the land, and spreading sedition and a spirit of rebellion;" and, finally, commanding all clerks of county courts and judges of elections faithfully to perform the duties imposed on them under penalty of being held to a strict account. Notwithstanding all the Governor's precautions, considerable irregularities crept into the modes of registration, and after the election he issued a proclamation calling upon the county clerks and sheriffs for information as to the manner in which the certificates were granted and the oaths administered. The results of this inquiry he embodied in a message to the Legislature, which assembled in October. The certificates, he said, seemed to have been granted in five different ways, as follows:

1. When the applicant was known to the clerk to be of publicly known Union sentiments.

2. Upon proof by witness that the applicant came within the provisions of the "act to limit the elective franchise.'

3. Upon the oath of the applicant alone, that he came within some provision of the law.

4. The production of an oath of allegiance or amnesty, taken at some time by the applicant.

5. Where the applicant was certified or vouched for by some official, either civil or military.

The third, fourth, and fifth of these modes he decided to be illegal, and threw out the vote of twenty-nine counties. The entire vote of the State was 61,783; when the votes illegally Page 780 registered were thrown out, it was reduced to 39,509.

The Legislature met again in October. The following bill to render persons of African and Indian descent witnesses in the courts of the State, was carried in the Senate by a vote of ten to nine, but failed to pass the House of Representatives:

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That persons of African or Indian descent are hereby declared to be competent witnesses in all the courts of this State, in as full a manner as such persons are, by an act of Congress, competent witnesses in all the courts of the United States; and all laws and parts of laws of this State, excluding such persons from competency, are hereby repealed.

Resolutions endorsing the administration of President Johnson were tabled by a vote of thirty-five to twenty-five in the House of Representatives, and the following was adopted in their place, by a vote of sixty to four:

Resolved, That we endorse the administration of his Excellency the President of the United States, and especially bis declaration that treason shall be made odious, and traitors punished.

In his message to the Legislature of April 6th, Governor Brownlow, speaking on the financial condition of the State, said:

The State debt, as reported by the comptroller in October, 1861, is said to be $6,896,606.66, and this demands your attention. This includes $3,000,000 of eight per cent, bonds for the "defence of the State," which has recently been discarded by the people at the ballot-box. This unauthorized and most unjust indebtedness repudiated, leaves the indebtedness of the State properly $3,894,606.66, at an annual interest of $212,388.25. The interest is presumed to bare been paid on the 1st of January, 1861. It is not known how much has been paid, if any. The bonds will show either by the endorsement or the absence of the coupons. Besides this debt, the State has bonds for internal improvement purposes, and has endorsed the bonds of railroad companies to the amount of $16,211,000. For these the State is ultimately liable upon the failure of the companies. These bonds, it is believed, the State will have to provide for, to preserve its credit, making an aggregate indebtedness of $20,005,606.66, and the annual interest $1,185,048.25. Of this debt proper, $66,660.66 matured in 1861; $61,250 in 1862; $177,750 in 1868; and $58,500 in 1864; in all, $366,166.66 at once to be provided for. The comptroller states that the bonds maturing in 1861 were "taken possession of and held by the State, subject to adjustment at the end of the war." Besides these, the State held bonds, mostly her own, as follows: The Spencer T. Hunt Fund, 6; the Railroad Sinking Fund, 161; deposited by free banks, 841; deposited by foreign insurance companies, 80; and in all 588 bonds. These bonds, held in trust, were carried away, it is believed, with the valuables of the State treasury, by the State officers who ingloriously fled on the approach of the national flag. Double payment can probably be avoided. Evidence must be in existence by which they can be identified. The notorious condition of our State affairs has been sufficient to put dealers upon their guard; so that if any of the bonds have been fraudulently sold, payment to the present holders may be justly stopped.

The debt due and to be provided for at once, according to the report of the Comptroller to the Legislature at its session in October, was $1,213,719.66.

The educational and charitable institutions suffered much during the war. The common school fund was appropriated by the Confederate authorities. The Governor, in his October message, advised that this fund should, as far as possible, be replaced out of the proceeds of what was left of the State Bank. "This large fund," he said, "emanated mainly from the General Government, and was held by the State in sacred trust. The declaration of this trust may be found in the act of Congress which created it, and is 'for the instruction of children forever.' And by the Constitution it is declared to be a 'permanent fund,' 'never to be diminished by legislative appropriation,' nor the interest 'devoted to any other use than the support and encouragement of common schools.'" He adds, "Let the State keep her faith with the destitute and long-neglected school children, no matter who else may suffer, and then settle with other creditors as best she may."

The Tennessee Blind School, a State institution near Nashville, was entirely destroyed by the Federal forces. The pupils, some forty in number, were distributed among their friends or became dependent on private charity. The library, furniture, and fixtures of the East Tennessee University, chartered and endowed by the State in 1807, were totally destroyed by the same agency. The State Deaf and Dumb School at Knoxville was used for hospital purposes by the Federal army.

The whole number of prisoners in the State penitentiary on the 30th of September, was 182, of whom 103 were committed by the civil and 79 by the military authorities. A State colored convention was held at Nashville, on the 7th and 8th of August. The following preambles and resolutions were adopted by a vote of more than two to one:

Whereas, We, in-convention assembled, in order to deliberate, as far as we are able, upon the present condition and future prospects of the colored people of Tennessee; and whereas, it is expedient in all our deliberations, we will put forth to them our sentiments—

Resolved, That we will publish an address to them and cause it to be circulated throughout the State.

Whereas, The petition presented by the colored people of Tennessee to the Legislature thereof, has not been disposed of by that body, as we understand, because they do not know the sentiments of their constituents; therefore be it

Resolved, That we publish an appeal to the loyal white citizens of Tennessee upon the subject matter contained in the said petition. Inasmuch as the Federal Government has called for our assistance in putting down the late iniquitous rebellion, and acknowledged not only our humanity and right to freedom, but our just claim to all other rights under the Government; therefore be it

Resolved, That we protest against the Congressional delegation from Tennessee being received into the Congress of the United States, if the Legislature of Tennessee does not grant the petition before it prior to December 1, 1865.

Other resolutions were adopted, appointing a committee, to bo composed of delegates from each county, to investigate the condition of the Page 781 freedmen, and report to the Bureau at Nashville. Addresses were also agreed upon, to the colored people and white citizens of the State.

The following, in relation to the habits of the freedmen, is from the "Knoxville Whig "of September 27th

Thousands of free colored persona are congregating in and around the large towns in Tennessee, and thousands are coming in from other States, one-third of whom cannot get employment. Indeed, less than one-third of them want employment, or feel willing to stoop to work. They entertain the erroneous idea that the Government is bound to supply all their wants, and even to furnish them with houses, if, in order to do that, the white occupants must be turned out. There is a large demand for labor in every section of the State, but the colored people, with here and there a noble exception, scorn the idea of work. They fiddle and dance at night, and lie around the stores and street corners in the daytime.

Governor Brownlow, in his October message, avowing himself deeply impressed with the apprehension of future troubles, growing out of the antagonism of the races, advocated the removal of the negro population to a separate territory in a climate adapted to their nature, and there settling them as a nation of freedmen. With regard to the question of granting them the elective franchise within the State, he said:

I think it would be bad policy, as well as wrong in principle, to open the ballot-box to the uninformed and exceedingly stupid slaves of the Southern cotton, rice, and sugar fields. If allowed to vote, the great majority of them would be influenced by leading secessionists to vote against the Government, as they would be largely under the influence of this class of men for years to come, having to reside on and cultivate their lands. When the people of Tennessee become satisfied that the negro is worthy of suffrage, they will extend it, and not before ; and I repeat that this question must be regulated by the State authorities, and by the loyal voters of the State, not by the General Government.

He advocated the admission of freedmen to testify in the courts, urging that much of the repugnance to negro testimony was the result of education and habit. "It is required of the white witness," said the Governor, ''that he shall be disinterested, and shall have sufficient intelligence to 'understand the obligation of an oath.' Let the same be required of the negro. He is now subject to the same penalties for perjury that the white man is; and as he is religiously inclined, he will no doubt take the proper views of the penalty in the world to come. Again, it must be remembered that our juries are the exclusive judges of the weight of evidence, and that they will not fail to take into consideration the degree of intelligence, and the character for honor and veracity of the witnesses, whether white or black."

It appears from the books of the Government undertaker at Nashville, that since the Federal occupation, 12,284 Federal soldiers and Government employes, who had died from wounds and disease, were buried there, besides about 8,000 Confederate soldiers and 10,000 refugees and contrabands. The cost to the Government was five dollars for every soldier buried, the name of each and the number of his regiment being plainly marked on a substantial board at the head of his grave. During the same time the bodies of about 5,000 officers and soldiers were sent home, secured in metallic cases.

VERMONT. The political campaign for 1865 opened with the meeting of the Democratic State Convention at Burlington, on June 27th. Charles N. Davenport was nominated for Governor, and D. C. Linsley for Lieutenant-Governor; and a series of resolutions was adopted, of which the following are those relating to national affairs:

Resolved, That we have renewed confidence in and veneration for democratic principles. Because those principles were disregarded, we have been afflicted with one of the worst civil wars that the world has ever known, destroying, probably, a half million of our citizens in the prime of life and the vigor of health, and oppressing us and our posterity with a national debt of more than four thousand millions of dollars, and the consequence of taxation to provide for the same; and deploring these and other evils to the country, which have come upon it in consequence of a disregard of the principles of the National Democratic party, we have to-day renewed our devotion to that party and its principles, as the only basis of national liberty and self-government.

Resolved, That armed resistance to the General Government having ceased in all the States and Territories, civil law should immediately be restored, not only in the States which have been true to the General Government, and which have been arbitrarily and unjustly deprived of it, but throughout the whole country.

Resolved, That this being the military condition ; of the country, the control of the several States as ; they existed before the rebellion, should at once be : given to the white citizens thereof who have borne true allegiance to the General Government, and those who will now take an oath to hereafter bear true allegiance to the State and national authority.

Resolved, That believing, with the immortal Douglas, that the Government of the country was organized for, and should be controlled by, the white race I therein, and that the good of all will best be promoted by confining the right of suffrage to the white 'citizens thereof, we are unalterably opposed to conferring the right of suffrage upon the ignorant negroes of the country.

Resolved, That in the wise and constitutional policy of President Johnson to restore all the States to their constitutional position, reinvesting them with rights and corresponding duties, and cementing anew the integrity of the Government, we discern a most happy augury that the malignity which strife and collision have engendered may be happily supplanted by the fraternity which enabled our lathers to form the Constitution and create the Union; and if, with Jacksonian firmness, he will maintain his policy against the plotting! of treason on the one hand, and the raving and ribaldry of fanaticism on the other, we tender to him our earnest and undivided support.

A motion was made to strike out the word "white" in the fourth resolution, on the ground that it was unnecessary, and would be detrimental to party interests. But after considerable discussion, it was decided to make no change in the language of the resolution.

The Republican call for a Convention invited all freemen of the State who would support the administration of President Johnson, and aid in reestablishing the Federal authority and Government over all the States and Territories of the United States, upon the enduring basis of universal freedom, to meet at Montpelier on June 28th. Paul Dillingham was nominated for Governor, and A. B. Gardner for Lieutenant-Governor. Among the resolutions adopted by the Convention were the following

Page 813

Resolved, That looking back to the happy experience of our own State in extending the largest liberty to native or naturalized citizens, of quiet and peaceable behavior, irrespective of color or race, and forward to the inestimable blessings that will flow to the late slave States from a free, industrious, intelligent, virtuous, peaceable, and patriotic population, we do respectfully and earnestly counsel the people of those States that they blot out forever from their statutes all laws pertaining to the late condition of slavery, and to concede to all their native and naturalized citizens, by constitutional guaranty, equality of civil and political rights, leaving to each to reach his proper social position by the character he bears and toe merit he fairly wins.

Resolved, That on the failure of any reorganized State to give the guaranty named in the preceding resolution, we insist that Congress shall use all its constitutional powers so as to secure a republican government, both in form and essence, to the people of such State.

The election took place in September, with the following result for Governor: 

Number of Votes

Paul Dillingham, Republican 27.5S6

Charles N. Davenport, Democrat 8,897

Majority for Dillingham 18,729

The Legislature stood as follows: Republicans. Democrats...Joint  202 232 Republican majority....

A special session of the Legislature was held in the early part of March, for the purpose of ratifying the antislavery amendment to the Constitution. The business was accomplished in a single day, and the Legislature then adjourned. The amendment was ratified unanimously in the Senate, and with only two dissenting votes in the House. The regular session, of the newly elected Legislature was held at Montpelier on October 12tb, when J. W. Stewart was chosen Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Governor Dillingham and the other State officers elect were inaugurated. On the same day Governor Smith delivered his valedictory message. On the 19th a joint convention of both houses elected the following justices of the Supreme Court: Chief Justice, L. P. Poland, of St Johnsbury; Associate Justices, John Pierpont, of Vergennes; James Barrett, of Woodstock; Loyal 0. Kellogg, of Rutland; Asahel Peck, of Montpelier; and "William 0. Wilson, of Bakersfield. Reporter of Supreme Court Decisions, W. G. Veasey, of Rutland. On November 21st Governor Dillingham appointed Chief Justice Poland United States Senator, in place of Jacob Collamer, who died subsequent to the adjournment of the Legislature. His place on the supreme bench was filled by the appointment of John Pierpont, and Benjamin Steele was appointed fifth Associate Justice. Among the acts passed by this Legislature was one ratifying a decree of the Court of Chancery, which authorized the managers and receivers of the Vermont Central and Vermont and Canada Railroads to borrow $700,000 on ten years' 8 per cent, bonds. The property and income of the roads are to be pledged as security for the bonds. A resolution was also adopted affirming that " in the reconstruction of the government of the States lately in rebellion against the Government and authority of the United States, the usual power and legal authority vested in the Federal Government should be exercised to secure equal rights, without respect to color, to all citizens residing in those States, including therein the right of elective franchise." This was ordered to be sent to the President of the United States, and the Governors of the several States. The receipts into the treasury of the State for the year ending September 1, 1865, were $2,009,201, and the expenditures, $1,996,772; excess of receipts over expenditures $12,489. The funded liabilities amount to $1,661,179, which sum is reduced by current resources to the extent of $23,411. The extraordinary receipts and disbursements for the past four years have been: Taxes $3.4015.098 State bonds outstanding 1,660.000 Reimbursements from United Slates 007,303 Total $5,003,390 Disbursements. Governor's warrants and Auditor's orders approved by the Governor $1,179,988 Extra pay to soldiers 8,275,804 Direct tax paid United States 179.407 State bonds paid 150,000 Ordinary expenses, Including interest on bonds.873,240 Total $5,663,366.

The expenses incurred by Vermont in support of the late war for the preservation of the Union, are stated by the Adjutant-General at $3,600,752.52. Of this sum by far the greater part, viz., $3,830,765.30, comes under the head of State bounty of seven dollars per month, paid to Vermont soldiers during their time of service in the United States army. In addition to this the several towns and municipal corporations expended for bounties $5,210,897.45, making an aggregate expenditure by the State and the towns, from 1861 to 1865, of $8,811,649.97.

The surplus number of men furnished by the State over all calls amounted at the close of the rebellion to 679. The total number of troops furnished by her during the war was 30,705, besides 8,800 drafted men and substitutes, making the whole number 34,655. For militia purposes the State of Vermont has been divided into military districts. The militia force includes three brigades, composed of twelve regiments, embracing one hundred and twenty companies, with a regiment of cavalry added, one battalion attached to each brigade, and also a battery of artillery to each. These have been severally efficiently armed and equipped by the Government, and proper armories provided. The amount expended in State aid to soldiers' families for the year ending September 1, 1805, was $17,584, the number of persons aided was 1,832. The total amount Page 814 of aid given during the last four years has been $73,542. The State agencies in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, have been closed since the 1st of October, 1865.

Compared with other New England States, Vermont produces, according to the last census, the most horses, sheep, butter, cheese, wool, wheat, oats, hops, and maple sugar. Compared with the other New England States, according to population, it produces in addition to these products the most barley and potatoes. The maple sugar manufactured in this State is now nearly equal in value to its products of wool. At the present price of sugar, this product is likely to be largely increased. The average annual product since the last census was taken has, probably, been much greater than before. But one State, New York, makes more maple sugar, Vermont making nearly four times as much, in proportion to the size of the State. The least of the five States that make more butter, Indiana, is more than three times as large as Vermont, and contains more than four times as many inhabitants. Vermont, nevertheless, was the only State in the Union whoso population was not materially increased during the last census decade. But three States—Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont—increased less than ten per cent. The gain of a fractional part of one per cent, barely saved Vermont from a loss. Upwards of one hundred thousand natives of the State may be found in other parts of the country, and notwithstanding the facilities offered for sheep-raising, and other branches of rural economy, she seems destined to remain stationary in population, a feeder to the new States of the far West.

VIRGINIA, West. This State shared the general prosperity of the northern States, as is evident from the favorable condition of its finances, the treasurer's and auditor's reports showing a large balance in the treasury, notwithstanding that nearly $2,000,000 had been expended for bounties during the war. During the same time, according to the report of the adjutant-general, 31,884 men were furnished to the Federal armies.

A movement was set on foot in Virginia with a view to bring about a reunion with West Virginia, and measures looking to that end were taken into consideration by the Virginia Legislature. The subject was referred to a committee, the minority of which, in a report that exhibited the feeling on the question in the minds of a large portion of the people, said substantially, that whatever mortification and regret the people of Virginia had experienced at the dismemberment of the Commonwealth, they had the consolation of knowing that it was by no act of theirs this "ungrateful deed" had been accomplished; that West Virginia had had no cause to complain, and that she could point to no improvement or advantage enjoyed or position attained for which she was not more or less indebted to her "impoverished mother." The report appealed to statistics to sustain the assertion that "for a long series of years, some, if not many of the counties now composing West Virginia, were unable to pay the cost of their organization and representation, but were aided, fostered, and sustained, and made all that they now are, by a people who, in every vicissitude and under all trials, have shown themselves the most generous and magnanimous ever known." The report argued that as West Virginia was now a free and independent State, "in the full and successful exercise of all the functions, organization, and representation in her State Legislature, as well as in the Federal Congress," the proposition was not timely; that "an impoverished people, divested of a large portion of their rights and privileges, ignorant alike of their present position and future condition, should earnestly invite her to share their fallen state, gloomy prospects, and uncertain fate." "If the position and condition of the two States were reversed," the report continued, "then might Virginia, without any loss of self respect or descent from the dignified position she has always sustained, and in accordance with that noble philanthropy, disinterested friendship, and generosity which have always been characteristic of her people, invite back and with outstretched arms receive the wayward daughter." The report concluded by recommending the adoption of the following resolution:

Resolved by the General Assembly of Virginia, That it is inexpedient at this time to legislate upon the subject of a reunion between West Virginia and Virginia ; but whenever the people of the former State snail, through the constituted authorities, manifest a disposition therefor, then will Virginia be prepared to consider any overtures which may be made.

Governor Boreman, in his message to the Legislature in January, 1866, said, in relation to the enforcement of the oath of loyalty embodied in the Constitution of the State:

After the war ended and peace was being restored, I entertained the hope that I would be able at this session of the Legislature to recommend the modification of the more stringent laws in regard to the election and qualification of officers: but after what has transpired at the first and only election held since the close of the war in the localities where Page 820 disloyalty had most prevailed, I cannot make such recommendation. On the contrary, I now think it the duty of the Legislature to so amend these laws that their execution may the more certainly be secured. And to this end I recommend, first, that you provide for a registry of voters as authorized by the Constitution, article 8, section 12; second, that you declare distinctly that all officers of election shall take the oath of office prescribed by the act of November 16, 1863, and, if they fail to do so at any place of voting, that the vote where such failure occurs shall be void and shall not be counted ; third, that you require all the county and the principal township officers to qualify before the Circuit Court of the county, or the Judge thereof in vacation. These amendments, it seems to me, will insure the purity of elections, and the due and proper enforcement of the laws. And in order that there may be no failure in the administration of the laws where a person is elected who cannot qualify, and, at the same time, frequent elections may be avoided, it may be proper to amend the law so that vacancies may be filled until the succeeding annual election, instead of holding special elections as now provided by law; and that, the vacancies in the principal township offices may be filled, as many county offices now are, by the Circuit Court, or the Judge in vacation.

Referring to the conduct of returned Confederates in the border counties at the fall elections, he condemned severely those who, knowing themselves disqualified, sought positions which they could not fill, in order to retard civil organization, and who, by their example and counsels, induced a general disregard of law in the conduct of the elections. In regard to the colored people the Governor affirmed their inalienable right to protection of person and property, but declared that these would not bo secure till negroes were made competent witnesses. He recommended that the bronze statue of "Washington, captured by General Hunter at Lexington, in 1864, be at once restored to the State of Virginia.

A growing interest was felt in the cause of education. "The people," says the State Superintendent, "are clamoring for schools and school houses." The greatest obstacle to the school system was the want of suitable rooms and grounds. The number of children in the entire State between the ages of six and twenty-one was 84,418. In the twenty-two counties in which the school system was in full operation, there were 63,458 children between those ages, of whom 15,972 attended school; there were 183 school houses, of which the average value was $303, but excluding the eight schools in Wheeling, less than $63; the number of teachers was 387, at an average salary for those in Wheeling of $139 per month, and $42 per month for females, while in the other districts it was only $34 for males, and $22 for females—salaries, says the State Superintendent, "totally insufficient to secure the services of first-class teachers." The total amount of the irreducible school fund, on the 1st of October, was $106,122.78.

An election for members of the Legislature and local officers was held on the 26th of October. The result was that the Legislature stands as follows:

           Senate. Home. Joint ballot.

Republicans 19 48 67

Democrats     1  8   9

Republican majority. 18  40  58

WISCONSIN. The political canvass of this State commenced in September. On the 6th the Republican Convention met at Madison and nominated a full State ticket, headed by the name of Lucius Fairchild as candidate for Governor. Two reports were made by the Committee on Resolutions. That of the minority declaring that the seceding States should be compelled, as a condition precedent to readmission to their privileges in the Union, to adopt constitutions which "make no discrimination as to right of suffrage on account of color," was laid on the table; and the majority resolutions, reported by Senator Doolittle, were adopted. The following are the most important of these:

Resolved, That while we welcome the cessation of war in the Southern States, we do not close our eyes to the fact that a large portion of the whole population are fresh from acts of hostility toward the Government and toward its institutions, are still unsettled in opinion, and many of them unreconciled to the results of the contest in which, for more than four years, they have been engaged. We rejoice to be assured that the Government will not withdraw from these States the strong arm of military power until it has full and satisfactory evidence of such a spirit of true and permanent loyalty as to make them safe participants in the right of self-government, insure obedience to the Constitution and laws, acquiescence in the emancipation of the slaves, and protection to the freedmen in the right to enjoy the fruits of their labor, as well as security of them against unlawful violence and persecution.

Resolved, That, in the opinion of this convention, it is due to equal justice and to the altered condition of things, that the Constitution of the United States should lie so amended as to make the representation of each State in the House of Representatives proportionate to the number of legally qualified male electors in such States.

Resolved, That we recognize in the administration of President Johnson substantially the same policy toward the people of the Southern States as that inaugurated by President Lincoln: that while he has fixed terms of reconstruction with the spirit of liberality and kindness, he, nevertheless, has evinced s determination to arrest the abuse of political power, wherever exercised for disloyal purposes; and that we believe he will so control and direct the work of reconstruction as will eventually restore the Union entire, and secure them all the rights to which they are entitled under a free and enlightened Government; and that we pledge to him, in the great work of restoring civil government in those States upon that basis, our hearty a.ai unanimous support.

The Democrats assembled at the same place on the 20th, and nominated for Governor, Brigadier-General Harris 0. Hobart, and a full ticket of State officers. In an address to the Convention, General Hobart announced that he was opposed to a high tariff, and favored impartial taxation, and the doctrine that Africans should not vote, although he was willing that they should hold property, be witnesses in courts of law, and be educated. He praised warmly President Johnson's reconstruction policy, and declared his belief that a continuation of the present military policy in the South would lead to hostility and possibly to a renewal of the war. Resolutions were adopted endorsing the President's policy of restoring the Union on the Page 823 basis of the Federal Constitution, and pledging him unqualified support therein; opposing negro suffrage in the State of "Wisconsin, or interference with it in other States; opposing the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus; and favoring the most rigid economy in the expenses of the Government, and a strict equalization of the tax burden.

The chief interest of the election turned on the question of amending the State Constitution by extending the suffrage to negroes, which the Legislature had referred to the popular vote. The failure of the Republican Convention to endorse this policy wus supposed to presage its defeat, notwithstanding the party was decidedly in the ascendant in the State.

The election took place on November 7th, with the following result for Governor:

L. Fairchild, Republican 58.883

H. C. Hobart, Democrat 48,880

Majority for Fairchild    10,002

The other Republican candidates for State offices received majorities about as large as this.

The election for members of the Legislature resulted as follows:

                         Senate.   House.   Joint Ballot

Republicans         23          67               90

Democrats           10          88               48

Republican majority 18     84              47

The negro suffrage amendment was lost by the decisive vote of 55,591 against it, to 46,588 for it; majority against the amendment, 9,000. The Republican majority for State officers was thus nearly reversed, showing that upwards of ten thousand voters of that party cast their ballots against the measure. But notwithstanding this result, the right of colored men to vote was subsequently established by other means, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin having recently decided that in 1848 the people ratified an amendment conferring the right of suffrage upon this class of the population. It appears that at the election held that year such an amendment was submitted to the people, and a majority voted for it; but, as the Constitution required a "majority of all the votes cast at such election," it was declared by the canvassers that, as a majority of those who had voted for State officers had not voted for the amendment, it had failed. The Supreme Court has decided that this was erroneous, and that the amendment was adopted, and that therefore negroes are entitled to vote in Wisconsin.

The public debt of Wisconsin at the commencement of 1866 amounted to $2,664,550, which is an increase of about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars over the debt of the previous year. Almost the entire amount was incurred by expenses growing out of the late war, and will doubtless be cancelled when the war claims of the State against the General Government come to be settled. The total number of men furnished by the State to the national armies was 96,118, who enlisted for periods varying from three months to three years. Reduced to a three years' standard, for contribution to the war for the Union was 78,985 men. The excess of men over all calls exceeded one thousand, and the total number was equal to one-half of the voting population.

Early in 1866 the lands, water-powers, and other property of the "Fox and Wisconsin Rivers Improvement Company " were sold by the trustees on behalf of the State, to meet the State indebtedness and the cost of completing the improvement. The sale produced an amount deemed sufficient for both of these objects, the latter being of more than local interest and importance. The opening or enlargement of any avenue for the traffic of the Northwest, which already chokes every existing outlet, concerns the Eastern States quite as much as the region more immediately interested, and this water channel between the Mississippi and the lakes promises in a few years to become a most valuable feeder to Eastern trade. A debt was thus extinguished, which has been called a part of the State debt, because the evidences of it were issued by State authority, although the State assumed no other responsibility for it than to pledge the application of the revenue of the works to the payment of the principal and interest. The original plan, adopted by Wisconsin in 1849, for the improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, contemplated locks thirty-five feet in width and one hundred and forty feet in length. In 1856 the locks were required to be lengthened to one hundred and sixty feet, and the canals to be enlarged in depth and width. This latter plan is nearly consummated, and from the proceeds of the late sale enough money, it is said, has been realized to prepare for the speedy passage of boats and barges of a moderate size and capacity from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan at Green Bay. An enlargement sufficient to pass any of the Upper Mississippi boats is urged by the Wisconsin journals, as a measure worthy of national encouragement and subsidy.

From official statistics, published by the Secretary of State, it appears that in 1864 there were in Wisconsin eight lines of railroad, with on aggregate length of track in the State of 1,631 miles. The number of through passengers carried during the year was 280,206, and of way passengers 1,622,688}; the total amount of freight carried was 1,892,076 tons, and the proceeds for carrying freight and passengers amounted to $13,188,563.29. There is no statement of the total expenses of the companies, only from declared dividends. There were seventeen passengers and twenty-one employes reported killed, and eleven passengers and three employes injured, mainly by their own carelessness.

From the annual report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the year ending August 31, 1865, the following statistics ore obtained:

Page 824

Whole number of children over four years and under 20 years of age 885,582

Number of different pupils who attended the public schools 228,987 Number of days' attendance of different pupils In the public schools 14,681,161

Average number of days the schools were taught.., 1844 Per cent of attendance of number registered... 50 Per cent, of attendance of number registered entitled to school privileges 88

Number of different persons employed as teachers 7,582

Average wages of male teachers per month.... $86 45

Average wages of female teachers per month...$22 24

State fund apportioned $151,816 84

Total amount expended during the year and on hand August 81st $1,055,101 83

During the year covered by this report there were 2,222 male teachers and 5,310 female teachers employed in the public schools, and 11,948 more pupils in attendance than in 1864. The whole number of pupils was sixty-six per cent, of the whole number of persons over four and under twenty years of age in the State. The number less than four years of age, who have been registered, is 1,252. The number over twenty years of age, who have attended school, is 1,523. There was raised by tax for school purposes $2.70 for each child over four and under twenty years of age, and $4.07 for each child registered as a member of public schools. The number of school houses is 4,338, valued at a million and a half dollars, and accommodating 241,595 pupils. The demand for teachers is at present greater than the supply. Hundreds of persons possessing limited attainments are employed, not because the people are indifferent to their qualifications, but because the school houses would be unoccupied unless these were employed.

The productive portion of the school fund is given as follows:

Amount due on land sold on certificates $675,03711

Amount due on mortgages 289,123 75

Amount due on certificates of State Indebtedness 897,000 00

Amount due on State bonds 103,700 00

One quarter of the Normal School fund 146,645 46

Total $2,118,506 82 which is less than the amount in former years, the decrease being due, according to the Superintendent, to the worthless security that loans were based upon during the first ten years of the administration of the fund.

TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES. The public domain of the United States lying west of the Mississippi River is comprehended within nine territorial governments, viz.: Arizona, Colorado, Dakota, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington, to which may be added the district set apart for the Indian tribes removed from the old States of the Union, known as the Indian Territory. A bill was introduced into the Thirty-eighth Congress to form a new Territory, to be called Wyoming, out of the southwest part of Dakota, but failed to become a law. In anticipation of the admission of Colorado into the Union before the publication of this work, that Territory has been described under its special head.

Arizona.—The general lines of this Territory are thus defined in the organic act, approved February 24, 1863: "All that portion of the present Territory of New Mexico situated west of a line running due south from the point where the southwest corner of the Territory of Colorado joins the northern boundary of the Territory of New Mexico." This region embraces an area of 120,912 square miles, or 77,388,680 acres, which is three times as large as the State of New York. While it has some barren and desolate country, no mineral region belonging to the United States, not excepting California, has, in proportion to its extent, more arable, pastoral, and timber lands. The climate is described as singularly adapted to physical health or to agricultural and mining pursuits. The valleys of the Gila and Santa Cruz, the San Pedro, and other streams, are large, and equal in fertility to any agricultural district in the United States. The San Pedro Valley, over one hundred miles in length, is, perhaps, the best farming district south of the Gila River. The Sonoita Valley, which opens into the Santa Cruz near Calabazas, is some fifty miles long. Prescott, the Territorial capital, is the heart of a mining district of remarkable productiveness. The first house was erected in June, 1863, and now the town has some hundreds of inhabitants, and the country for fifty miles about, including a dozen mining districts and farming valleys, is largely taken up by settlers. The valleys will, it is thought, produce good crops without irrigation, as the rains in this region are frequent and heavy. Of the mining interests in the vicinity of Prescott, the Hon. Richard O. McCormick, Secretary of the Territory, speaks as follows:

The surface ores of thirty mines of gold, silver, and copper which I had assayed in San Francisco, were pronounced equal to any surface ores ever tested by the metallurgists, who are among the most skilful and experienced in the city, and, so far as ore has been had from a depth, it fully sustains its reputation. The veins are large and boldly defined, and the ores are of varied classes, usually such as to do readily and inexpensively worked, while the facilities Page 782 for working them are of a superior order. At the ledges is an abundant supply of wood and water: near at hand are grazing and farming lands, and roads may be opened in every direction without great cost. Some of the streams are dry at certain seasons, which fact renders placer mining an uncertain enterprise in this part as in other parts of the Territory; but for quartz mining there could not possibly be a more inviting locality. The altitude is so great that the temperature is never oppressively warm; and the nights, even in midsummer, are refreshingly cool and bracing. The ascent from the river by the roads from La Paz and Mojave is so easy, that with the small amount of work already done upon the same, the heaviest machinery may be readily transported. The distance by either road is about one hundred and sixty miles, and the charge for freight from six to eight cents per pound. Contracts may now be made for the delivery of machinery at Prescott from San Francisco, via the Colorado, for ten cents per pound.

Weaver and Wickenburg, upon the Hassayampa, south of Prescott, are important mining centres eastward from Prescott, upon the Agua Frio, the Verde, the Salinas, and other streams, to the New Mexican line; exploring parties have discovered evidences of great mineral wealth and excellent agricultural districts. Northward to the villages of the Moquis, and the San Juan River, the country is but little known, but believed to be prolific in the precious ores and in timber. Some of the most promising districts have never yet been prospected. In the opinion of many persons, the richest mines lie in the unexplored eastern part of the Territory. For a year after the organization of its government, the Territory was without a mail or post-office. Now a weekly mail is established from Los Angeles to Prescott, and eastward to Santa Fe, via the 35th parallel, where it connects with that for the Missouri River. Other routes have been proposed, and a company is organized to furnish telegraphic communication between Los Angeles and Prescott, and so put the Territory in immediate communication both with the Pacific and Atlantic coast.

Being primarily a quartz mining country, Arizona has not increased so rapidly as other Western Territories, to which the quick returns from surface mining have attracted a large but often fluctuating population. With the aid of machinery and capital, and ready communications with more settled regions, a steady increase in population may be expected. The present number of inhabitants is between 15,000 and 20,000, exclusive of Indians. The latter have proved a serious hindrance to the growth and prosperity of the Territory; but in consequence of the superior ability of the United States Government to strengthen the military posts there, a considerable abatement of this nuisance may be expected. Arizona is at present divided into four counties, each named from a prominent Indian tribe residing within its borders: Mojave, Pima, Yarapai, and Yuma. The Territorial government is the same as in 1864. An election was held in September for delegates to Congress, at which 1,343 votes were cast, resuming in the choice of John N. Goodwin, a supporter of the administration. The Territorial Legislature consists of seven members, four for Yarapai, and one for each of the other three counties.

Dakota.—The absence of any special attractions in the form of rich deposits of the precious metals, has caused the progress of this Territory in population or agricultural development to be less marked than that of some others. The chief sources of wealth continue to be the various kinds of furs yielded by its forests and plains, and which find a ready market in the Eastern States. A very serious obstacle to immigration has been the hostility of the Sioux and other Indian tribes living within the Territory, who, in spite of the efforts of the Government, backed by a large military force, maintained during the year a predatory warfare along the great routes of travel connecting the valley of the Mississippi with the Pacific coast. Many stations of the overland mail routes were plundered and burned; small, isolated bands of emigrants were cut off and murdered; and travel across the Rocky Mountains was rendered unsafe unless by large bands, having a military escort. During the spring and summer the Government largely increased its forces west of the Missouri River, a portion being composed of men lately in the Confederate military service; and the vigorous measures adopted by Generals Connor and Sully, soon induced the Indians to sue for peace. On the recommendation of these officers, a commission, composed of officers of the army and civilians, was sent to the Upper Arkansas and the Upper Missouri, and satisfactory treaties were made with such of the tribes as could be reached before the close of the season. The Territorial officers of Dakota are the same as.in 18g4. An election for members of the Legislature was held in the Territory on October 6th, at which the Republicans were successful.

Idaho.—The almost incalculable richness of the mineral deposits of this Territory has attracted thither a large population, although for how long a time it is destined to receive so rapid an influx cannot now be determined. The present number of inhabitants is considerably over twenty thousand. The capital was in 1865, by act of the Legislature, removed from Lewiston to Boise City, a substantial town of about one thousand two hundred inhabitants, in the southwestern part of the Territory. It is the depot for all the mining region so far discovered in Southern Idaho, although there are no mines within twenty-five miles of the town. The principal town of the Territory is Idaho City, thirty-five miles north of Boise City, situated in the heart of a rich "placer" district, and containing from five thousand to seven thousand inhabitants on week days, and double that number on Sundays, when the miners for miles around assemble there for business or pleasure. In the latter part of May, 1865, the town was nearly destroyed by fire, the loss of property being estimated at $1,500,000; be Page 783 within two or three months the burnt district was entirely rebuilt in a more substantial style than before.

There are at present no means of ascertaining" accurately the product of the Idaho gold mines. The know n amount deposited for coinage in the San Francisco mint for the year ending December, 1864, was reported at $3,500,000, and the total yield of the year was estimated at $6,000,000. In his last annual message Governor Lyon stated, that in 1865 over $17,000,000 worth of gold and silver had been produced in the Territory, and that the yield was increasing. The following extract from his message exhibits the mineral resources of Idaho:

A bird's-eye view of the accumulating discoveries in our mineral resources reveals that we have no less than three thousand gold and silver bearing quartz ledges, graded in their value as in their richness, and new discoveries and new locations are being made almost daily. The width of these lodes, or leads, varies from three to thirty feet, and they prospect from $20 to $200 per ton. Located usually where water power and timber are in abundance, they offer the highest inducements to the enterprising capitalists, whose investment can rarely fail of being of the most remunerative character. Among the other useful ores which have been discovered within the past year, tin, cinnabar, copper, lead, and iron in many forms, are of the first value; yet platina, antimony, nickel, bismuth, iridium, and rhodium, simple or compounded with other minerals, are found in various localities. But this is not all: beds of the best of coal, both anthracite and bituminous, with rock salt, sulphur, and gypsum (better known as the fertilizing plaster of commerce), while the most precious ot gems—the diamond—has been discovered in our gulches; all give you a feeling foretaste of the illimitable extent of Idaho's varied mineral wealth when the hand of man shall hare unbosomed her hidden treasures. The wide extent of our auriferous placers, only a moiety of which have been well prospected, chequered as they are by auriferous quartz lodes and leads, are rivalled only by argentiferous mountain ledges, striated, laminated, and foliated with silver in chlorides and sulphurets—arsenical, antimonial, and virgin. This presents a fabulous array of marvellous deposits, which will require the industry of ages to develop and exhaust.

Indian Territory.—Soon after the termination of the late civil war, the Choctaws and other tribes in this Territory who had sided with the Confederates, sought to make terms with the United States Government, expressing an earnest desire to return to their homes and resume their former occupations. Although by taking up arms they had forfeited the privileges they had previously enjoyed from the Government, it was determined to act with clemency toward them, in the hope that they might thereby be deterred from future aggressions. Accordingly a commission, comprising Judge Cooley, Commissioner of Indian Affairs; Colonel Welles, Superintendent of the Southwestern Indians; Thomas Wistar, of Philadelphia; General Parker, of General Grant's staff; Generals Herron and Harney, met in council at Fort Smith, Ark., in September, the representatives of the chief tribes residing in the Territory, and made the following treaty with the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Osages, Seminoles, Senecas, Shawnees, and Quapaws:

Whereas, the aforesaid nations and tribes, or bands of Indians, or portions thereof, were induced by the machinations of the emissaries of the so-called Confederate States, to throw off their allegiance to the Government of the United States, and to enter into treaty stipulations with said so-called Confederate States, whereby they have mode themselves liable to a forfeiture of all rights of every kind, character, and description, which had been promised and guaranteed to them by the United States; and whereat the Government of the United States has maintained its supremacy and authority within its limits; and whereat it is the desire of the Government to act with magnanimity with all parties deserving its clemency, and to reestablish order and legitimate authority among the Indian tribes; and whereat the undersigned representatives or parties connected with said nations and tribes of Indians have become satisfied that it is for the general good of the people to reunite with and be restored to the relations which formerly existed between them and the United States, and as indicative of our personal feelings in the premises, and of our several nations and tribe's, so far as we are authorized and empowered to speak for them; and whereat questions have arisen as to the status of the nations, tribes, and bands that have made treaties with the enemies of the United States, which are now being discussed, and our relations settled by treaty with the United States Commissioners, now at Fort Smith for that purpose:

The undersigned do hereby acknowledge themselves to be under the protection of the United States of America, and covenant and agree that hereafter they will in all things recognize the Government of the United States as exercising executive jurisdiction over them, and will not enter into any allegiance or conventional agreement with any State, nation, power, or sovereignty whatsoever; that any treaty or alliance for the cession of lands, or any act heretofore done by them or any of their people, by which they renounced their allegiance to the United States, is hereby revoked and repudiated.

In consideration of the foregoing stipulations made by members of the respective nations and tribes of Indians, the United States, through its commissioners, promises that it will reestablish peace and friendship with all nations and tribes of Indians within the so-called Indian Territory; that it will afford ample protection for security of persons and property of the respective nations or tribes, and declares its willingness to enter into treaties to arrange and settle all questions relating to and growing out of former treaties of such nations with the so-called Confederate States, at this council now convened for that purpose, or at such time in future as may be appointed.

After the treaty had been signed, further delegations of Confederate Indians, Comanches, Seminoles, Creeks, Washitas, Potawataraies, Cherokees, and others, arrived at the fort, and joined in the negotiations, urging that their lands, annuities, and other possessions ought not to be forfeited. On the 21st a treaty was signed by the commissioners and the Choctaws and Chickasaws, providing for peace and friendship between the United States and said tribes; that they will exist all their influence in compelling the Indians of the Plains to maintain peaceful relations with each other, with the Indians of the Territory, and with the United States; that slavery shall be abolished forever; that the freedmen shall be suitably provided for; that lands shall be issued to the Indians of Kansas and elsewhere; that the right of way shall be Page 784 granted to railroads; and that the consolidation of Indian tribes, with a Territorial form of government, shall be recommended by them to their respective councils.

Montana.—Like Idaho, this Territory presents great inducements to emigrants, and her population, estimated at considerably over 30,000, is composed, in a great measure, of the men who built up Colorado so rapidly, and who, upon the exhaustion of the surface deposits, left that Territory for the richer diggings just discovered in the north. When her placers become exhausted, of which there seems no immediate probability, Montana must undoubtedly expect a temporary diminution of her population; but in the development of her gold-bearing quartz veins, of which the number is almost incalculable, she will have the elements of a steady and permanents increase. The population at present centres around the mining towns of Virginia City, 10,009 inhabitants, Helena City 8,000, and Diamond City 4,000.

One of the most surprising geographical facts about Montana is, that it is reached by steamboat from St. Louis. Travellers and freight are now transported by steamboat, and without transshipment, from St Louis to Fort Benton, in the heart of Montana; and freight, in the proper season of navigation, may be got to Montana quicker than to Denver City. This cheap mode of communication will be of vast importance to the new Territory, and light-draught boats are now building at Louisville especially for the Montana trade. These will supersede the boats now used, which are sometimes delayed on the upper waters. The river voyage from St. Louis to Fort Benton is now made in twenty-eight days, and freight is carried at the price of ten cents per pound.

Among recent discoveries in the Territory was that of a rich gulch on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, called the "Last Chance," near which there sprang into existence, in a few months, the populous mining town of Helena City. The gold discoveries next extended across the mountains, to the bead-waters of the Blackfoot, where some important deposits have been opened. East of the Missouri River, during last summer, discoveries were made at Confederate Gulch, where Diamond City, now containing four thousand inhabitants, has since gathered. It is reported that the deposits there are of great richness. Gold lodes occur everywhere in connection with gulch diggings. One of the best gold lode-mining districts is on the Madison River, in what is called Hot Spring district.

The ores of Montana are reported by scientific men to be richer than those of California, which yield an average of twenty dollars per ton. The great majority of the lodes of Montana promise an average of more than four times the above amount. There are few sulphurets of iron and copper, carrying gold, in Montana, such as prove so troublesome in Colorado. This is owing to the fact that the formation is so open and perforated by water, that the sulphurets have been decomposed. For the same reason miners in Montana are not troubled with water, and are saved the heavy expenses of pumping.

The silver ores are in the form of argentiferous galena, which must be smelted as Western lead ores are, and the silver separated from the lead ores by cupellation. The silver ores are much more trustworthy than those yielding gold; and experience has already shown that silver mining will he, in Montana, more profitable than gold mining.

The veins are more uniform in the yield, and last better. The large and constant supply of water is of immense benefit to mining operations in Montana, as well as the facility of movement; the country everywhere abounding in natural roads, which do not easily become broken up. The veins of copper ores have been traced for a great extent, and the ores are found to yield from thirty-three to sixty-five per cent; but little attention is as yet given to this metal, as gold and silver monopolize the attention of the people.

Sidney Egerton is the Governor of Montana, and H. P. Torrey, Territorial Secretary. The capital is Virginia City. An election for delegate to Congress was held in September, which resulted in the choice of Samuel McLean, the Democratic candidate, by a majority of about a thousand.

Nebraska.—Unlike the Territories lying along the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, Nebraska has few or no deposits of precious ores in her soil, although iron and coal are believed to exist in great abundance. As a grazing country it cannot be surpassed, and the soil produces in abundance all the cereals of the West. Besides being a fine agricultural and stock-raising country, Nebraska is also the great starting-point and highway for travel over the Plains, whence her lands are much sought after by emigrants. Fine lands can be taken under the homestead law, in the immediate neighborhood of good settlements, where the settler will have all the advantages of churches and schools already established. Improved farms can be purchased in tracts of one hundred and sixty acres, with from forty to eighty acres Under cultivation, with small dwelling and outbuildings, for from $2.50 to $5 per acre. As a general rule, farms can be bought at less than the cost of the improvements, owing to the constant emigration to the adjacent gold mines of Colorado and Idaho. The Territory has adopted a liberal free-school system, which will furnish a free school in a short time the year round in every school district. At the present time the schools are free on an average about six months in the year. The population is now estimated at 50,000.

Nebraska is traversed through its entire length by the main trunk line of the Union Pacific Railroad, the completion of which is destined to develop very considerably the resources Page 785 and wealth of the Territory. At the close the government of the so-called State of Desof 1865 the first forty miles were ready for use, eret, of which Brigham Young is Governor; and reported by commissioners appointed by and the government of the Church, of which the President of the United States for that pur Brigham Young is first president, and the supose to be in a " superior condition." By July preme head. The Church confines its control 4, 1866, it is estimated that a hundred miles not to things eternal and celestial, but extends will be completed; by the commencement of to all the relations of life and business; to 1867, the road will have advanced two hundred family affairs, and to the fixing of the price of and fifty miles; and by the close of 1867, the commodities for sale. Nothing is beneath its Rocky Mountains will in all probability be care, and nothing is above its power. This reached. Church has larger and more positive powers The Legislature was in session during Jan than were ever claimed by any other. So uary and February. Resolutions endorsing the far as relates to power, it has, by irrevocable President's administration were passed almost revelation, been placed in the hands of one man. unanimously, and bills providing for a geological The Territorial Government seems to have litcal survey of the State, and making liberal protie vitality or power. None but Mormons are visions to induce emigration, and also resolutions sent to the Legislature. If the Governor vetoes approving the constitutional amendment laws passed, the Legislature of the State of abolishing slavery, pledging the vote of Nebraska Deseret can pass them, and Governor Young to ratify it, if needed. gives them his sanction, and they are laws for

An election was held in 1865 for Territorial the State, when they failed to be so for the treasurer and auditor, and a Legislature. Most Territory. The laws of the State of Deseret of the Republican candidates were elected by are not published, but kept among the secret large majorities. archives.

New Mexico.—


Source: The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.