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To: Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission
From: Zac Dockter, Parks and Recreation Director
CC:
Date: April 27, 2016
Subject: Joseph La Bathe Settlers Island Plan
Introduction/Background
The City acquired Joseph La Bathe Settlers Island in 2015. Staff is attempting to produce a
work plan for park development. Below is a draft of the work plan for Commission review.
Short Term (1-2 years)
Inventory Natural Resources
Create Natural Resources Management Plan
Install property markers signifying as public property
Install rest area features such as picnic table or bench
Long Term
Develop canoe/kayak launch at Hazen P Mooer Park
Develop interpretive canoe trail
Develop historical interpretive signage and mapping
Implement Natural Resources Management Plan
Develop watercraft landing area at site
Develop passive recreational sites for picnicking and/or leisure
Develop potential nature -based programming opportunities (partner with DNR)
Staff Recommendation
Provide feedback on work plan for development of Joseph La Bathe Settlers Island.
Joseph LaBathe
Joseph LaBathe was born in May of 1825 at Wabasha's village, along the Mississippi
River near what would become Winona, Minnesota. His father was Frangois LaBathe, a
fur trader of French-Canadian heritage. I His mother was Nanna Coussi, a Mdewakanton
Sioux woman. Joseph spent his early life with his mother's people in Wabasha's Village.
Joseph's mother, Nanna Coussi, aka Anna LaMarche was a full blood Mdewakanton,
daughter of Wabasha II. It is possible she met Joseph's father, Frangois LaBathe at the
Indian village when he was trading fins. There is no record of this marriage or if Ftangois
lived at the Village with her. Her birth date is circa 1802.
Joseph's father Francois was born in Prairie du Chien, Crawford County, Wisconsin
Territory in 1800, the son of Michel, a fur trader and Angelique, a Mdewakanton
Sioux, sister of Wabasha H. Frangois' father Michel was born 1781 at Mackinac Island
Michigan Territory. Michel's baptism was registered at the Mission of St. Ignace de
Michilimackinac.
Frangois and Nanna Coussi separated after Joseph's birth. In 1828 Nanna Coussi married
Joseph Monjeau, in the Indian way. The marriage (Joseph Monjo & Ann Lamarche)
was blessed on 30 Jan 1848 at Lake St. Croix by Fr. Ravoux, with Joseph Coursolle and
Frangois Perron dit Trudelle as witnesses.' -
Joseph's father Frangois married Judith Provost, widow of Louis Brisbois, in Prairie
du Chien, Wisconsin Territory on 21 Sep 1829. Frangois and Judith also had a son
they named Joseph, born in 1832, sometimes creating confusion between two Joseph
LaBathes. Frangois' last post was at the Lower Sioux Agency along the Minnesota River,
where he was killed at the door of his post on the first day of the Sioux Uprising (or
Dakota Conflict) on 18 Aug 1862. Soldiers buried him where he lay, it is recorded.
In 1837 Joseph Monjeau, Nanna Coussi and 12 year old Joseph moved to Point Douglas
on the St. Croix River. "Point Douglas is situated at the junction of the Mississippi and
Lake St. Croix. In 1839, ten acres of the present townsite were claimed by Mr. Joseph
Mozoe [Monjeau], who erected and occupied the first house (a log -cabin, now standing
on the bank of the river [ 1853]) in the present town; and, in 1840, Mr. Calvin Tuttle
became the purchaser of this land, who extended his claim to one hundred and sixty
acres, which was subsequently, in the year 1844, sold to Messrs. Burris & Hertzell,
merchants of this place." 3
Joseph Monjeau was employed at Philander Prescott's trading post on the St. Croix
River. Joseph managed the trading post, in Prescott's absence, and piloted the ferry,
which ran between Hastings and Prescott. Joseph Monjeau had a house at Red Rock
' Being French, LaBathe is pronounced "LaBat", hence the many spelling variations
found in documents. Some family members use the alternative LaBatte.
2 Minnesota Historical Society, Records of the Church of St. Peter and St: Paul
3 Minnesota and its Resources. J. W. Bond, 1853, p 158
(Newport), where in 1840, elections were held. He voted, but his vote was later
disallowed, as he was not a US citizen. He appeared as a witness or juror in cases from
J.R. Brown's Justice of the Peace Casebook in the 1840's.4
Nanna Coussi and Joseph Monjeau had 9 children together. Mathias Loras, Bishop of
DuBuque, baptized Joseph, age 14, at "St. Croix" on 9 Jul 1839 witnessed by godfather
Amable Morin. His half -siblings, Sophie, Antoine, Jean Baptiste, and Edward were
baptized at the same tune
Joseph LaBathe's name appears on the General Election register at Sibley's warehouse in
Mendota voting in the 12 Oct 1852 election.
A Treaty with the Sioux in 1851 opened land west of the Mississippi River for settlement.
On 11 Nov 1855 the Monjeaus bought 152 acres from the US Government across the
Mississippi River from Point Douglas near Etter, Ravenna Township, Dakota County,
Minnesota Territory, where they farmed. At the same time Joseph's half-brother
Antoine bought an adjoining 80 acres. Two years later Simon Mavis and his father
Henry purchased property in Marshan, the adjoining township.6 Simon married Joseph
LaBathe's half-sister Harriet in 1860.
Provisions of an Act of Congress on 17 Jul 1854 authorized the issuance of scrip to Sioux
half-breeds based on the 1830 Treaty of Prairie du Chien. Joseph Monjeau's deposition
from the "1856 Lake Pepin Sioux Half -Breed Rolls" reads in part:
"My said wife had one child before I married her, Joseph Labath, he is 3/41) Indian of
said band [Mdewakanton), His father, Francis Labathe, is a half-breed of said band.
Said Joseph Labathe lives with me, he is thirty years of age. My said wife lives with
me. Joseph X Mojeau" (Testimony taken at the Sioux Agency, in relation to the
Lake Pepin Reservation.')
In 1859, Joseph received scrip for 480 acres of land in Goodhue and Wabasha Counties.
Further research is needed to determine what became of this land.
"Minnesota Beginnings, p 254, 258, 260, 268-269.275
New Light on Old St Peter's and Early St Paul, M.M. Hoffman, p 37. The name of
Joseph Monjeau, the father of four half-breed Sioux children, appears frequently in
Sibley's day book of 1839. In fact, on July 6, the day before the bishop's departure, he
purchased goods at the fur company's store, and it is probable that he met the bishop
on this occasion and induced him to stop off at the St. Croix. Mathias Loras was
commissioned by the Dubuque Catholic Church to come to Minnesota to locate Catholic
families who were not being served by a church. Father Loras' tomb rests at the door of
St. Gabriel's Catholic Church in Prairie Du Chien. Wisconsin.
6 Dakota County Minnesota Land Records T114 R16 S5 Ravenna
,h LaBathe
(Jennie), daughter, born 2 Nov 1871; William, son, born 19 Jan 1876.13 The priest at
Guardian Angels Church baptized Alex on 20 Dec 1864.
A petition filed by Joseph, 10 Oct 1864, requested guardianship of his half-brother,
Samuel (Seymour), who was 13 years old. (See Seymour LaBathe) Their father Frangois
was killed and the trading post burned by the Indians. Samuel stayed with Joseph until
1867. There is record that Joseph received a small payment from the government for the
care of Samuel.
The 1865 Census of Dakota County, Minnesota records Samuel Labatt and Angeline
Turpin living with Joseph and his family. The 1870 and 1875 censuses show the family
farming in Ravenna.
The Ravenna farm and property was sold about 1876. Sarah Jane wished to live near
her family (Turpins) living on Grey Cloud Island. The LaBathes, in 1877, purchased the
farmland that was formerly owned by the Leiths, on Baldwin Lake and the Mississippi
River. The area is known as Robinson's Rocks. Joseph's property was just to the
south and west of Sarah Jane's parents' property. Marcel Couturier and Joseph Bush's
[Bourcier's] extended family lived close by. 14 Simon and Harriet Mavis left Dakota
County about the same time and are found in Newport in 1880 near the LaBathes.
Sarah Jane died soon after this move. around 1877. She was buried near the creek on the
farm property. No death record has been found. Sarah Jane was only 37 years old and left
Joseph with 6 young children.
Joseph married Mary LaClene [McLane] on 28 Oct 1879
in St. Paul. Witnesses were Francis and Rose McKay
[McCoy], Mary's stepfather and mother. Joseph was 54
years old; Mary was 17.15 Young Mary became stepmother
to 6 children; the three oldest boys were teens, as she was.
Mary McLane was born at Traverse des Sioux in 1861.
Her parents were Nelson McNeil and Rosalie Laramie; her
stepfather was Frank McCoy. (See Rosalie Laramie)
Mary's family had recently moved to Grey Cloud where
they lived near many McCoy relatives.
13 Items to resolve: 1. William and Phillip may be the same individual. (Phillip is the
name on the census records from 1875-1900, William appears beginning in 1905) 2.
Dakota County Birth records show the birth of "William" on 5 Jan 1876. 3. There is
a gravestone in Elliott Hill Cemetery, Ravenna Township, Dakota County that reads:
Lloyd, son J & G LaBathe. 4. Washington County Death records, SAM 234, Book A,
p 91, line 5 show a Rosana LaBatt, hallbreed, age 2-8-15, DOD April 24, 1882, Father
Joseph, Mother Emily, born and died in Newport township, DOB 9 Aug 1879.
14 Washington County Land Records, T27 R22 S26 Newport
15 Ramsey County Marriage Records, Book N, p 255
Using his stepfather's last name, "Mozeau", Joseph and Ellen [Sarah Jane] Turpin
of Point [Pine] Bend were married 23 Mar 1856 in Hastings, Minnesota, by Rev.
McMahon.7 Joseph was 30 and Sarah Jane was almost 16.
Sarah Jane was born in May 1840 to Jean Baptiste Turpin and Genevieve McCoy. (See
Genevieve McCoy) She was christened "Genevieve" on 11 Nov 1840 at Fort Snelling, by
Fr. Galtier. Her godparents were her grandparents Frangois and Marguerite McCoy.s
The 1857 Census finds Joseph farming near his stepfather in Dakota County. On 5 May
1859 Joseph purchased 80 acres from the US Government near his stepfather.9 Records
of mortgage deeds executed by Joseph and his wife, Sarah Jane, indicate they owned
several pieces of property in Ravenna Township, Dakota County, and he was a farmer in
the years 1860 to 1877. The 1860 Dakota County Federal Census shows the value of real
estate at $600 and personal property at $100. In 1860 Joseph is shown as 32 years old; his
wife, [Sarah] Jane, is 18. Sarah Jane's sister, Angelina Trepan [Turpin], age 14, is listed
as a member of this household. The Joseph Bush [Bourcier] family is farming nearby.
The Minnesota Genealogical Society Roster of Indian Scouts lists Joseph LaBatte on
its microfilm as a Scout under Sibley around the time of the Dakota Conflict [1862]
in which his father was killed_ His name appears on the list of scouts prepared in 1891
when the US Government made payment for their service in the Dakota Conflict. 10 In
1863 Joseph registered for the Civil War Draft at Ravenna. He was listed as a 39 year old
farmer. Sadly his mother died about this time. 11 Nanna Monjeau "...died from pneumonia
contracted in the spring while making maple sugar syrup out of doors..."'-'
According to Dakota County birth records, Joseph and Sarah Jane's children were born
near Etter, Ravenna Township. The first, a son, Eli, born circa 1861; Alex, son, born
30 Nov 1864; Oliver, son, born 28 Jan 1866; Frank, son, born 19 Apr 1869; Jeanette
7 Dakota County Marriages, Vol. 1, p 155
8 Minnesota Historical Society, Records of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul
9 Dakota County Minnesota land Records TI 14 R16 S8 Ravenna
10 List of Sisseton-Wahpeton Indian Scouts, NARA Record Group 15, Al Entry 61, Box
37
11 Her death is not recorded, other than a statement made by her daughter-in-law, Olive
Moizo (Monjeau), on a pension petition giving the birth of her daughters, saying one
daughter was born in 1862 and the midwife was her mother-in-law, but when the second
daughter was born in 1864 her mother-in-law died the year before. This gives Nanna's
death date in the year 1863. — General Affidavit, State of Minnesota, County of Ottertail,
Edwin Moizo — Sept 19, 1887
t2 Article: Hastings Gazette, 30 Jun 1933 by Mary Monjeau McCoy, Joseph's half-sister
At Robinson Rocks we met Mr. Joseph LaBatte, a native of the state, who gave a
delightful description of occurrences during his early life. He knew the fur traders
after whom Mooers Lake and Robinson Rocks were named. The site of their
establishment on the banks of the Mississippi is visible and there was a trail leading
from their locality to the site of Grey Cloud, said by LaBatte to have been named
after a Sioux chief."
Joseph died from pneumonia on 23 Jan 1914 at his home on Grey Cloud; he was 88 years
old. He was buried in Grey Cloud Island Cemetery on 26 Jan 1914.17
_s �� r �, and P4, The stone was
placed in 2009 by his great-granddaughter.
JOSEPH LABATHE
1825— 1914
SON OF
FRANCOIS AND NANA'COUS
His obituary appeared in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on 23 Jan 1914:
Island Pioneer is Dead
Joseph LaBatte, 85, came to Minnesota in 1855.
Joseph LaBatte, 85 years old, a resident of Minnesota since 1855 died Friday at his
home on Grey Cloud Island. He was the oldest resident on the island. His farm was
the first land on the island under cultivation. Mr. LaBatte served as a Scout in the
Indian Wars under Governor Sibley and won special mention from the governor.
He is survived by five sons, Eli, Alex, Frank, Alfred (Oliver) and William, and one
daughter, Mrs. Jenny Knipp. The funeral will take place from the residence of his son,
Alex LaBathe, in South Park, tomorrow morning.
After Joseph's death Mary continued living on the farm with her children Joseph Roy and
Queena and her stepson Eli. Mary died 12 July 1923 at Lakewood Hospital in Stillwater
from cancer of the cervix at the age of 61. She was buried at Grey Cloud Island Cemetery
on 17 Jul 1923}8
The homestead and the forty acres of farmland located at Mooers Lake and Baldwin Lake
was then divided among the seven living children, heirs of the estate. Alexander, Eli and
Roy sold the property to Peter Nelson on 13 July 1925. A portion of the land was used as
a roadway and named Nelson Road. On 1 July 1943 Nelson sold the property to Homer
,7 Minnesota Death Certificate 1914 -MN -015403, Joseph LaBatte
18 Minnesota Death Certificate DC 1923 -MN -016641 Mary LaBatt
Joseph farmed on Grey Cloud with the help of his sons through the 1880's. The first
confirmation class of St. Patrick's Mission Church in Langdon was on 10 Jul 1888. Those
confirmed included Frank, Mary and Jane LaBatte along with Andersons, Brunells,
McCoys, a Sharo, a Stringer and a Turpin.16
Sons Frank and Alexander married in the early 1890's. In 1892 Mary purchased two
tracts in section 25. A 5 acre tract bordered Eli and Alex's property on the south. A 6.67
acre tract bordered William Leith on the east.
In 1894 a reporter from the St. Paul Pioneer Press went to Grey Cloud to interview
Marcel Couturier, a neighbor of the LaBathes. He also interviewed Joseph.
St. Paul Pioneer Press, 27 May 1894 15:1-3
LAST OF THE VOYAGEURS
"...Joseph La Bathe (pronounced La Bat) is another of the mixed -blood farmers on
Grey Cloud. He owns a good little farm whereon stands a neat, comfortable house.
and he is a genial, hospitable gentleman and a good citizen. Mr. La Bathe was born at
Mendota in 1825. His father, Francois La Bathe, was a mixed -blood, born at Prairie
du Chien in the early part of the century, and was for some years in the employ of the
earliest traders. Mr. La Bathe was reared by his stepfather, Joseph Monjeau, a hunter,
trapper and raftsman. His childhood was chiefly spent in Wabashaw's village, on the
river prairie of that name. In 1837 his stepfather removed to Point Douglas, and in
1840 came to Pig's Eye. Mr. La Bathe has lived at Prescott and on a farm four miles
below Hastings and at Grey Cloud since 1879. In the latter part of the war he served
as a scout on the frontier under Col. William Pfaender and other commanders..."
The family was counted on the Census Rolls of the Mdewakanton Sioux in 1896-1899.
The Special Inquiries Relating to Indians portion of the 1900 census lists Joseph as '/1
Mdewakanton and Mary as 3/4 Shakopee. Three babies were stillborn to Joseph & Mary
before 1900. Then Joseph Roy was born 30 Jul 1902 and Queena was born 8 Jul 1905"
Census records show that Eli, Joseph's eldest son, was a member of this household.
J.V. Brower in "Memoirs of Explorations in the Basin of the Mississippi - 1903" writes
of his visit with Joseph:
"At a great bend in the Mississippi sixteen miles below St. Paul, the contours of
topography forced the creation of several channels, one of which is now Grey Cloud
Slough. That slough and the main channel of the river now segregate Grey Cloud
Island, formerly the site of habitation of mound -building Siouan Indians, and later
one of the sites of old fur traders places of rendezvous. With Mr. J. B. Chaney's
assistance I sketched the natural features of the island and counted the mounds we
discovered along its stretch of about six miles.
16 The History of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish
and Helen Gannaway who lived there until 1975. The Gannaways sold the property then
to Donna Bostrom. Later she sold to the Shiely Co. for mining purposes. 19
Children of Joseph and Sarah Jane:
• Eli 1861-1922, buried in Grey Cloud Island Cemetery
• Alexander 1864 —1955, married Maria Winberg, buried in Grey Cloud Island
Cemetery
• Oliver 1866 —1949, married Freda Winberg
• Frank 1869 —1949, married Clara LeMay
• Jennie 1871-1949, married Frederick Knipp
• Phillip/William 1876 —1914, buried in Grey Cloud Island Cemetery
Children of Joseph and Mary
• Joseph Roy 1902 —1969
• Quecna 1905 —?, married J. Robert Gaylord
6 Jun 2014
19 Washington County Land Records, T27 R22 S26 Newport