"Three Score Years and Ten,"

Life-Long Memories

OF

Fort Snelling, Minnesota,

AND

OTHER PARTS OF THE WEST,

BY

CHARLOTTE OUISCONSIN VAN CLEVE.

1888.

COPYRIGHTED 1888.

PRINTING HOUSE

Harrison & Smith,
257 AND 259 FIRST AVENUE SOUTH,
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.

DEDICATION.

"To the husband of my youth, by whose side I have journeyed more than half a century, and whose tender love has brightened my whole life, this book is dedicated."

St. Paul, Minnesota,

515 Portland Avenue.

March 14, 1888.

My Dear Mrs. Van Cleve:

Whenever there is growth in any community the desire arises to know something of what was in the beginning. It was with no weariness I read in manuscript the "Reminiscences" from your pen. Each chapter contains something in connection with the dawn of civilization in the west, which is worthy of being preserved. The incidents related are stirring, and the style is graphic. When I finished the perusal I felt the force of the adage, that "Truth is Stranger than Fiction." As the diary of John Evelyn, throwing light upon the days of Charles the Second, is still read, so I think, if printed, your unaffected narrative will always find a place in the private and public libraries of Minnesota and the Western States.

Believe me,

Sincerely,

EDWARD D. NEILL.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

"Three Score Years and Ten."

CHAPTER I.

One evening long ago, when this wonderful century, now in a vigorous old age, had just passed its nineteenth birthday, in a bright, cheerful sitting-room in the good old city of Hartford, Conn., sat a fair young matron beside a cradle in which lay sleeping a beautiful boy a year and a half old. The gentle motion of her little slippered foot on the rocker, keeping time with the soft humming of a cradle hymn; the work-basket near by; and the dainty needle work in her hand; the table tastefully spread for two, and the clear wood fire in the old-fashioned fireplace, formed as restful a picture of domestic peace and content as one could wish to