Hans Mattson

The Importance of the Scandinavian Element—A Swede Elected Secretary of State in Minnesota—False Rumors of Indian Depredations—The Northern Pacific Railroad is Built—Trip to Philadelphia—The National Convention at Indianapolis—Delegation to Washington—A Swedish Colony in Mississippi Moved to Minnesota—The Second Voyage to Europe.

Politically the Scandinavians in America had exerted no particular influence beyond that they had generally been counted upon as loyal to the Republican party, and a few of them had held county offices and been members of the state legislatures in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The honor of first bringing out a Scandinavian for a state office belongs to F. S. Christensen, a young Dane, who, in the summer of 1869, was editor of Nordisk Folkeblad in Rochester, Minn. One day he called on me and asked if I would be candidate for secretary of state, providing the Scandinavians of Minnesota should nominate me, to which I readily assented. A few weeks later a Scandinavian convention was held in Minneapolis and resulted in designating me as their choice for secretary of state. At the Republican state convention held in St. Paul in September that year, I was nominated almost unanimously by the whole Republican party. Being called to the platform after the nomination, I accepted the same in a brief speech, which at the time attracted much attention as echoing the sentiments of our people in the west. I therefore regard it of sufficient importance to quote it here:

Being elected a few weeks later by a large majority, I assumed the duties of secretary of state on the 1st of January, 1870. As secretary of state I was still a member ex-officio of the board of emigration, and had charge of all its work and correspondence, which amounted often to a hundred letters a day.

In the month of June following, rumor came to the capitol of a new Indian outbreak on our western frontier. It was said that Indians had come in the night and committed depredations, and quite an alarm was caused all along the frontier; the bloody massacre of 1862 was still fresh in the memories of our people, and while the state authorities did not believe this rumor, we deemed it necessary to take measures at once for pacifying the people by protecting the frontier. Therefore I started out at once with several hundred stand of arms, with ammunition and authority to organize the settlers into militia companies and commission officers for the same. Selecting a few friends for company and aids, we went by rail as far as Benson, Swift county, thence by ox teams northward, following the frontier settlements to the northern portion of Otter Tail county. Four companies of militia were organized and officers duly appointed, the last being in Otter Tail county, with a Swedish count, Ragnar Kalling, as captain. This prompt action stopped the panic, and all has been quiet since that time. The rumor of the Indian depredation proved to have originated with some settlers who, in the disguise of Indians, had tried to scare away a Norwegian from a claim which he had taken from another man.

During this year one of the greatest railroad enterprises in the world was commenced, namely, the building of the Northern Pacific, extending from Lake Superior to the Pacific coast, a distance of over two thousand miles. The celebrated financier Jay Cooke, of Philadelphia, who had acquired a great reputation as the financial agent of President Lincoln’s administration during the war, was at the head of the enterprise. The Northern Pacific Company had received a government grant of many millions of acres of land along the proposed railroad, and it required millions upon millions of dollars to build the road. One of the important financial questions with Jay Cooke was how to derive a revenue from the sale of lands, and how to get settlers and communities started along the line of the road. So ignorant were the people of this country about the region lying within the limits of the Northern Pacific railroad that it was generally supposed to be either barren or too far north for successful agriculture; yet that very region has since proved to be the greatest wheat producing country in the world. Mr. Cooke himself had been all over it with a small party, under the escort of United States cavalry, on an exploring tour, and he was perhaps the only man of that day who foresaw the future greatness of the Northern Pacific region.

Late in the fall of 1870 I received a letter from Mr. Cooke, in Philadelphia, inviting me to come and spend a week with him and talk over the new Northwest. Upon the advice of ex-Gov. Marshall, who had spoken of me to Mr. Cooke, the then Gov. Austin and other prominent men, I repaired to Philadelphia, and spent some days at Mr. Cooke’s palatial residence near that city. He had also for guests a delegation of French and German bankers, who had just arrived from Europe. Mr. Cooke impressed me as one of the greatest and noblest men I had ever met. His enthusiasm and eloquent arguments carried everything before him. The millions were raised, largely in Europe, and the road was built, as we all know. The result of my conference with him was my permanent engagement, at a salary more than twice as large as that I had from the state, to repair to Europe in the spring as agent of his enterprise, with headquarters in Sweden, my special duties being to make known in the northern countries of continental Europe the resources of the Northern Pacific, particularly the park region in Minnesota. I was also requested by Mr. Cooke to draw up a general plan on my return home for the disposal of the company’s lands, which I did, and that plan was adopted for the guidance of its land and emigration officers and agents.

In the month of December a national convention was held in the city of Indianapolis, Ind., for the purpose of devising measures for the better protection of emigrants on ocean steamers, and while in transit through this country. All the states interested in emigration sent delegates to that convention, and I was one of those representing our state; my knowledge and experience of the subject at issue enabled me to take such a part in the proceedings that at the close of the convention, I was appointed one of a committee of five (Gov. McCook, of Colorado, State Treasurer Smith, of Wisconsin, Banker Greenbaum, of Illinois, and a leading newspaper man of Philadelphia, were the other members) to draft a law for the protection of emigrants, and to proceed to Washington and lay the same before the president and congress. There I had an opportunity for the second time to meet Gen. Grant, who was then president. I spent much time with him, and he took a lively interest in the emigration question. The result of our work was the passage by the United States congress of the excellent laws in relation to emigration which still remain in force.

In January, 1871, the state legislature of Minnesota again assembled. The senate then consisted of twenty-two members, and was opened and organized by Lieut. Gov. Yale, and the house of representatives, with forty-seven members by myself as secretary of state.

During that winter I received several touching letters from Swedes located in the state of Mississippi. They were part of a little colony which had gone there the previous year, direct from Sweden. The climate was unsuitable; one-fifth of the people had already died, nearly all the rest were sick, and there was great distress and misery among them. They asked me to get them away into the healthy climate of Minnesota. They were entirely destitute of means, and had to be placed where the men could obtain employment when they should have regained sufficient health and strength.

The Duluth & St. Paul Railroad Company, which was then a part of Jay Cooke’s system, upon my request, furnished the necessary means, and sent Mr. F. S. Christensen, heretofore mentioned, to Mississippi to bring the party to St. Paul, which he did under many difficulties, in such satisfactory manner that upon his return he received an appointment by the company as local land agent at Rush City, in which position he remained many years. He is now president of the bank at that place, being married as before stated, to my niece, the little Zelma, whom the Indian squaws were so fond of playing with in the old log cabin. The little colony from Mississippi has certainly demonstrated that the northern climate is by far the best for the northern people. They had left Sweden strong, robust and hopeful men and women; after having stayed one year in the South they arrived in Minnesota pale, poor and broken down, lacking strength and energy, and almost without hope.

The railroad company acted most generously towards them. It built them comfortable houses, furnished an abundance of provisions, cooking utensils and other necessaries; they gave the men employment at liberal wages as soon as they were able to work, and yet many of those very people growled and complained because we did not do more for them. I remember distinctly how one of the women, when her share of groceries and provisions arrived, was perfectly indignant because there was only granulated sugar, and she had always been “used to drink coffee with lump sugar in Sweden.” This bad trait among newly arrived emigrants from any country is very common, gratitude and contentment being exceptional the first year or two, as all will testify who have had anything to do with them. It really seems that the more that is done for them the less satisfied they are. I am glad to say, however, that after a few years they get over this bad fault, and so did the little party from Mississippi, most of whom have all of late years repented and even apologized for their former folly and ingratitude. They formed the nucleus of the large Swedish settlement west of Rush City, now one of the most prosperous in the state.

After the close of the legislature in the spring of 1871 preparations were made for carrying out my agreement with Jay Cooke to go to Europe for an indefinite time. Having been criticised by some of my countrymen, for resigning the office of secretary of state at that time, I owe them the following explanation: First: Personally, I was comparatively poor, and the salary which I received from the government, with the great draw-backs for all sorts of charities and public enterprises, which an official in that position has to meet, was insufficient to support me and my family, and I considered that I had the same rights as any other citizen to better my pecuniary condition, which I did by accepting the offer of Jay Cooke. Secondly: It was of greater importance to the public, and I could render better service to the state at this period of its early development, as agent for a great railroad company, which fact was fully recognized by our leading public men, and it was with their advice and at their earnest request that I took the step. I accordingly tendered my resignation to the governor of our state, but he, out of polite consideration, preferred that I should take a leave of absence until fall, when the people would have an opportunity at the political convention, to designate my successor, and wrote me the following letter:

It is true that even after the state convention the governor did not appoint my successor, but preferred to leave the office nominally in my hands in charge of my very able assistant, the Hon. Pennock Pusey, until the end of the term, so that in fact I did not resign, but kept my office during the whole term for which I had been elected.

In the last week of May I left for Sweden the second time, taking my family with me. The journey passed very pleasantly over England, Germany and Denmark. We arrived in Hamburg in the morning of the day when the Hamburgian troops returned under Prince Carl from the Franco-Prussian war, and made a triumphant entry into the city, being received with the greatest enthusiasm by the whole populace. It was indeed a grand sight, as all these troops marched by our hotel, men and horses literally covered with wreaths, flowers and bouquets, thrown over them by the grateful people. On this journey I carried important business letters from leading railroad men in Minnesota to some capitalists in Holland, who had advanced several million dollars for the construction of railroads in our state. I mention this, because it paved my way to very important business connections with prominent Hollanders a few years afterward.

Shortly before entering upon this journey, a private banking and foreign exchange business was established in St. Paul under the firm name of H. Mattson & Co. My partners were Consul H. Sahlgaard and A. T. Lindholm, who successfully managed the business during my absence. A few years later this affair was merged into the St. Paul Savings Bank, of which Mr. Sahlgaard became the cashier, while Mr. Lindholm and myself both withdrew. The banking firm H. Mattson & Co. was one of the first firms that, as agent for the Cunard Line, introduced the system of prepaid steamship tickets from Europe to America, which has gradually gained the confidence of the people, and developed into a very extensive and important business.