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Armstrong, Moses K.
Moses K. Armstrong, was born Sept. 20, 1832, in Milan, Ohio, and emigrated to Minnesota territory in 1855. He was
the first surveyor of Mower County, Minn., and wrote its early history. In 1857 he was appointed a United States
land surveyor in southwestern Minnesota, and in 1858 was a delegate to the first state convention, which nominated
Henry Sibley for governor. He is a well known pioneer writer, and is author of the 'Early History of Dakota Territory
in 1866," and of the recent illustrated work entitled, "Early Empire Builders of the Great West."
The American Biographer speaks of him as follows:
"The historical and descriptive writings of Moses K. Armstrong are a credit to American literature. His
admirable pioneer sketches cover a long period of frontier life, dating back to the time when he left his native
college at the age of eighteen, and turned his youthful eye to the Great West, with no fortune to guide him but
the prayers and tears of a kind mother and her parting words of hope for the future.' He arrived on the banks of
the Mississippi as a pioneer land surveyor, with his compass on his back, alone and friendless, before the day
of western railroads. He crossed that great river and traveled on foot through northern Iowa and southern Minnesota,
surveying land claims for early settlers. From here he afterwards pushed westward, with ox team, crossing Dakota
to the Missouri river, where he passed several years in the Indian country, staking out land claims for the venturesome
pioneers. "He has passed through the periods of pioneer surveyor, historian, legislator, and congressman,
and has stored his mind with useful knowledge. He is a pioneer who is an honor to himself and a credit to mankind."
[Minnesota Territorial Pioneers - Biographical Sketches of Territorial Pioneers, 1901]
Contributed by Jo Ann Scott
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