| Summary: | 82 HISTORY OF GRAND FORKS COUNTY twice a year, spring and fall, by special messengers or carriers to St. Paul, from whence it was forwarded to its destination. Each half year the mail as gathered from the company's numerous outposts consisted of a thousand or more packages. From England mail still came by ship through Hudson Bay. Kittson interested himself in the elablishment of a monthly mail between Pembina and St. Paul. The mail was to leave Pembina the first of each month for Crow Wing village, but there was no specified time as to its arrival at that place or at Pembina on tlie return trip. The route was by way of Thief river, Red, Cass and Leech lakes. The carriers were halfbreeds, and the mail was forwarded either way bj' cart trains in summer, a part of the way by canoe, and by dog-sledges in winter. Joseph It. Brown was contractor for the route between Pembina and Crow Wing, another route already being in use from the latter place down to St. Paul. Norman W. Kittson was appointed postmaster sometime in 1849. In 1851 Charles Cavileer came to Pembina and a few days after his arrival there was appointed assistant postmaster by Kittson and did all the business of the office. By that time the transportation business of the country had increased to such an extent that the government established a custom-house at Pembina and Charles Cavileer was appointed collector. The customhouse was one of the log buildings of the place, as was also the post-office. Arrangements were also made with the Hudson Bay company to deliver their mail at Pembina and have it forwarded from that point. POLITICAL REPRESENTATION. From 1849 to 1858 this portion of the Red River Valley was a part of Minnesota territory. Originally a part of the Louisiana purchase, the changes of name and of boundaries of the northwestern country down to the time Minnesota territory was created, were many, as this region became attached to one or another of the successive territories that from time to time were being formed. When the territory was organized on June 1, 1849, St. Paul, which became its capital, was nothing more than a village and at that time mainly dependent on the northwestern fur trade, while Minneapolis was not, as yet, founded, the site on the west side of the river then being a part of the Fort Snelling military reserve. Northwestern Minnesota and the Red River country constituted the Pembina legislative district, and although the white population was scant, it was presumed that it was entitled to be represented in Ihe territorial legislature. The district does not appear to have been represented in the first and second sessions of the legislature, nor to have voted in the first and second elections for delegate to Congress. But in 1852, at tlie third Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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