|
a.
|
Note: post at Wabasha as early as 1832. He married the daughter of Mr. Duncan Graham, Nancy Lucy Graham, in 1832, and permanently located at Wabasha a few years later.
Mr. Buisson was born at Prairie Madeleine, Lower Canada, about fifteen miles above Montreal; he was of French parentage. He came to Minnesota at the age of seventeen, and was in the employ of the American Fur Company for eight years in succession. He was engaged in carrying goods from St. Louis to different trading posts on the Upper Mississippi. For a number of years after his location here he was engaged in the Indian trade and farming. He was one of the original proprietors and owned what is known as Lot No. 4. Sons Henry, Joseph and Cyprian were engaged in steam boating, all in the capacity of master and pilot. They ran the best class of raft boats on the river between Stillwater and St. Louis.
Joseph Buisson was buried on the summit of Quarry Hill, just west of the city of Wabasha. His remains were reinterred January 17, 1884, in the Riverside cemetery. His widow moved to Fort Totten, Dakota.
The following extract is from the Wabasha "Journal" of July, 1858: "A man of strong natural sense, but uneducated; and it will readily be supposed the society in a country without the border of civilization was not favorable to the formation of correct habits in a young man of the ardent temperament of Monsieur Buisson. He was possessed of an iron constitution; bold, courageous, quick in his resentments, and ready to conciliate in sincerity. He was social to a great degree, and as a neighbor ever ready to oblige; hospitable to an extent that was injurious to his prosperity, as profligate and undeserving shared equally with their betters. The credit of inviting emigration on the Half-breed Tract, and assisting to shelter the new comers, is well known to many of the early settlers, and is vouched for by the writer. Himself, in connection with Oliver Cratte, were the original proprietors of the town. His decease happened on the 10th day of October last - the day of our annual election - at the age of fifty-three years."
Note: Joseph Buisson, Sr., Indian trader and voyager, established a trading
|
