Franklin Steele

Franklin Steele (c. 1813 – September 10, 1880) was an early settler of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, of Scottish descent, Steele worked in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, post office as a young man, where he once met President James Buchanan.

Career

With encouragement from his future brother-in-law Henry Hastings Sibley, Steele saw opportunities in the western frontier and traveled to Fort Snelling via the steamboat Burlington, he soon became a storekeeper at the fort. But Steele staked the first claim on the land before sunrise on the first day of the legal settlement. He claimed a half-mile of east-bank riverfront, controlling half of the water power of St. Anthony Falls; adjacent property was claimed by Pierre Bottineau (1817–1895), a Métis, of French-Canadian, Ojibwe, and Dakota descent.

Lumber mills

Eventually, in 1847, Steele secured financing, in the form of $12,000 for a 90percent stake in the property. On May 18, 1848, President Polk approved the claims made in St. Anthony, and Steele was able to build his dam on the east side of the river above the falls, blocking the east channel. The dam extended diagonally into the river , was high, and was secured to the limestone riverbed. Its thickness tapered from wide at its base to wide at the top. Steele dispatched logging crews to the Crow Wing River in December 1847 to supply pine for his sawmill, and by September1, 1848, sawing commenced using two up-down saws. He was able to sell the lumber readily, supplying construction projects in the booming town. Godfrey built the first home in St. Anthony, Steele had the town platted in 1849, and it incorporated in 1855.

Foothold on west bank

Although St. Anthony was beginning to prosper, the west side of the Mississippi remained under the control of Fort Snelling. Late in 1849, Steele convinced his friend, John H. Stevens, to negotiate a deal to secure in present-day Minneapolis. In exchange, Stevens would ferry troops across the river to supply the new Fort Ripley. In the summer of 1851, the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux was "negotiated" wresting nearly all remaining Minnesotan land from the Indians. In 1852 Congress passed a bill to relinquish of Ft. Snelling, opening the door for the ultimate development of Minneapolis. By 1854, three-hundred squatters occupied the area, and in 1855 Congress recognized the squatters' right to purchase the land they had claimed. The west side quickly developed scores of new mills and consortia. They built a dam diagonally into the river to the north, which, along with Steele's dam created the inverted V-shape, still apparent today. Steele created the St.Anthony Falls Water Power Company in 1856 with three New York financiers. The company struggled for several years, due to poor relations with the financiers, a depression, and the Civil War. In 1868 the firm reorganized with new officers including John Pillsbury, Richard and Samuel Chute, Sumner Farnham, and Frederick Butterfield.

Purchase of Fort Snelling

By 1858, Franklin Steele bought the fort and surrounding it for $90,000, as the government no longer needed a frontier outpost at that location. But during the Civil War, he leased it back to the government for use as an induction station. After the war was over Steele leased the land to settlers and the city began to grow. The town of Minneapolis was incorporated as a city in 1867. He ultimately became prosperous from lumber sales, the development of a suspension bridge, and various land deals.

Death

Steele died on September 10, 1880, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.

Places bearing his name

Steele County, Minnesota Franklin Steele Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota