HERCULES L. DOUSMAN:

Many of the letters are from Henry H. Sibley, dealing particularly with local railroads and the St. Paul Gas Light Company, as well as with Sibley's own career and with St. Paul (Minn.) political, social, and business affairs. There are six volumes of press copies of the senior Dousman's letters from 1863 to 1868, and thereafter of his estate administrator, his son, and his son's widow until 1888. They treat of a great number of topics: railroads throughout the United States; stocks and bonds, largely of municipalities and public utilities, especially in St. Paul, Minneapolis, and St. Louis; other investments, such as farm mortgages and real estate; horse breeding; and the collecting of paintings and art objects, which were hobbies of Dousman's son.

The remaining volumes are ledgers, journals, cashbooks, grocery books, and other financial records, showing the statistical and financial side of the matters treated in the letter books. Also present are balance sheets of the Prairie du Chien, Hudson, and St. Paul Packet Company and of the Northwestern Union Packet Company, together with those of the individual steamers of those lines. One small volume is entitled "Winnebago debts 1841."

There are photocopies of agreements, accounts, and other items dealing with the fur trade in the upper Mississippi Valley, including Dousman's accounts with Pierre Chouteau, Jr. and Company, and a Dakota vocabulary book.

Microfilmed materials relating to the American Fur Company, of which Dousman was the agent in Prairie du Chien (1826-1834) and a stockholder (1834- ) are on reel M418. Correspondence between Dousman and Henry M. Rice, as well as a few exchanges with Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Company of St. Louis, Missouri are on reel M24. This correspondence includes data on the creation and naming of Minnesota Territory, the selection of Henry H. Sibley as territorial delegate (1848), the development of St. Paul, the projected reduction of the Fort Snelling military reservation, business relations between Rice and Dousman, Rice's interests in steamboating on the Upper Mississippi, the fur trade, Rice's differences with Chouteau, the "Sioux half-breed tract" at Lake Pepin, payment of annuities to the Ojibwe at Crow Wing (Minn.), the condition of the Winnebago Indians, negotiation of the Dakota treaties of 1851, and Rice's interest in land acquisition at Crow Wing.

Return to top

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Hercules L. Dousman papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Location of Originals:

M24: State Historical Society of Wisconsin; Madison, WI

M418 and photocopies: Edward E. Ayer Collection, Newberry Library, Chicago, IL

Accession Information:

Accession number: 3019; 3044A; 3419; 4614; [5079?]; 6552; 7117; 7757

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 001733301

Return to top

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Art objects -- Private collections.

Capitalists and financiers.

Dakota Indians -- Treaties.

Dakota language.

Fur trade -- Northwestern States.

Horses -- Breeding -- Wisconsin.

Investments.

Ojibwa Indians.

Railroads -- Minnesota.

Railroads -- United States.

Winnebago Indians.

Persons:

Cameron, Simon, 1799-1889.

Crooks, Ramsay, 1787-1859.

Dousman, Hercules L. (Hercules Louis), 1848-1886.

Drake, Elias Franklin, 1813-1892.

Ramsey, Alexander, 1815-1903.

Rice, Henry M. (Henry Mower), 1816-1894.

Sibley, Henry Hastings, 1811-1891.

Organizations:

American Fur Company.

Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien Railway Company.

Minnesota Valley Railroad Company.

North Western Union Packet Company.

Pierre Chouteau Jr. & Company.

Prairie du Chien, Hudson, and St. Paul Packet Company.

St. Paul & Sioux City Railroad Company.

St. Paul Gas Light Company.

Meetings:

Stillwater Convention, (1848).

Places:

Crow Wing (Minn.)

Fort Snelling (Minn.)

Minnesota -- History -- 1849-1858.

Mississippi River -- Navigation.

Prairie du Chien (Wis.)

Saint Louis (Mo.) -- Economic conditions.

Saint Paul (Minn.)

Saint Paul (Minn.) -- Economic conditions.

Saint Paul (Minn.) -- Politics and government.

Saint Paul (Minn.) -- Social life and customs.

Document Types:

Microforms.

Titles:

Traverse des Sioux, Treaty of, 1851.

Return to top