Henry D. Huff
On Sunday, June 26th, 1853, Henry Huff set foot in Wabasha Prairie for the first time. I wonder what he saw as he looked over the Island City for the first time? Was it cheap, fertile land? A river for easy access to commercial trade? While I cannot with any certainty tell you exactly what piqued Mr. Huff’s interest on that Sunday 166 years ago, but what I can tell you is that he saw an opportunity. On that day, Huff met with Steamboat Captain Orrin Smith, the man whose crew staked the original claims on the land. They soon came to an agreement, signing all their claims over to Huff. Make no mistake that the events carried out on this day set Winona on a path that few cities have had the pleasure of traveling.
Of course, the world has changed immensely since the 1850s. This was a place in time where individuals would stake their claim of land with a literal stake. The settlers had nothing more than their belongings and ground beneath their feet. If they wanted something –anything- more, they were going to need help from someone who was willing and able. One’s ability, in this case, was far more important than their willingness.
If the settlers of the original plot were not yet aware of who Henry D. Huff was, they were soon to find out. While the old saying goes, “It’s all about who you know”, Huff proved the opposite to be true. I mean, think about it. I know who Elon Musk is, but if I give him a call he isn’t picking up the phone. On the other hand, if Elon were to bless my phone with a call of his own, I would likely miss the birth of my child to hear him out. The articles, accounts, and stories written on Henry Huff’s behalf color him as someone that people knew.
Huff knew how to use his prominence and power to achieve or gain access to what he wanted. From what I have gathered, most everything that Huff set out to accomplish was in efforts to help the new city. With every inch, Winona moved towards success, Huff’s own wealth grew along with it. Power is the ultimate currency of leadership, as well as a handy weapon when need be. But when people see someone with a weapon coming toward them, they just might pull out a weapon of their very own.
The organization of the original claims was incredibly unfit for the shape of the land. for Huff to fix this issue, he would first need to convince landowners to adjust their property lines in the ways that he and other officials saw fit. Although Winona is not in the west, sometimes it was every bit as wild. Elijah Silsbee owned eighty acres along the Mississippi River on the east end of the original claim. Unfortunately for everyone, his property lines were not parallel to either the roads or river. Huff’s initial attempt to reason with Mr. Silsbee was not what one would call peaceful. With a team at his side, Huff reached the edge of Silsbee’s line, only to be greeted with the business end of a gun. After all, Silsbee knew his rights as a property owner. He’d staked his claim fair and square (apparently, it was a crooked square), and had no forced reason to adjust his property in any way. The “History of Winona County”, comprised of information from settlers among other recourses assures us that “The tract of land in dispute was but three of four acres. It was not so much the amount or value involved as it was what he supposed to be a disregard of the rights of others that aroused the angry passions of Silsbee” (266). When Huff returned the next day, Silsbee and his gun were waiting. Ignoring the commands to halt, Huff walked fearlessly across the furrow line and was shot in the chest. “Fortunately, he had a large pocket-book filled with closely-folded papers in the breast-pocket of his inner coat… nearly the whole charge lodged in the pocket-book” (269). Shortly after Silsbee’s arrest, Huff purchased the claim, adjusting it as he saw fit.
After being named Treasurer of the city, Huff began taking steps that would truly put Winona on the map. With his new prominent role, he gathered the original stakeholders and motioned a charter to begin construction for a railroad. These efforts were met with resistance by the county officials. Winona’s original plot resided in the northernmost part of Fillmore County, which meant that anything Huff wanted to accomplish would have to first be approved by the county. Huff and other members of Wabasha Prairie successfully partitioned their portion of land from Fillmore’s grasps and gerrymandered a county of their very own. The county was named after its first city, Winona.
When Huff first arrived, the land was unofficially called Montezuma on the original plat. While he found unending interest and potential in the land, he didn’t have nearly the excitement for its name. I think we can almost all agree that Montezuma would have been a less than desirable title for this city. Imagine attending “Montezuma State University”. Truth be told, if it weren’t for the perceived power of H.D. Huff and the invention of the eraser, that’s exactly what would have happened. For reference, two Aztec conquistadors were “honored” with the name Montezuma. The direct translation is as follows: “The Lord frowns with anger”. Thank you, Henry Huff, for exploring other options.
Of course, when the time came to etch the official plat and name the new city, Huff did exactly what people who get things done do. He made sure to do it himself. The local newspaper reported Huff’s own description of the process.
“The town proper had been surveyed, platted and named Montezuma by Smith and Johnson. With the consent of Captain Smith, I erased the name Montezuma and inserted the name as Winona on the plat and paid Mr. Stall of Minneowah for recording the name as Winona.” (See Link)
While he was in the room, he made sure to add a few other details to the plat. At that point in time, Huff’s home resided on an unnamed street. When he returned home that day, it was to his home on Huff Street, directly in between Harriett Street (after his wife) and Wilson Street (for his son).
Thankfully, naming the city and a few streets inside of it was not a satisfactory laurel for Huff to hang his legacy upon. In 1855, he started the towns first and second newspapers, and sold them the following year. One year later, he built a Flouring Mill at the cost of $25,000, only to watch it perish in a fire a few years later. Luckily, the Huff’s Hotel, built in 1855, has remained untouched from the blaze. Along with his industrial and commercial endeavors, Huff was among the first stockholders in the original Transit Railroad Company.
Accomplishments such as these played an instrumental role in the betterment of Winona. Only a few years prior, waves of settlers traveled from far and wide in hopes of digging into their very own slice of the pie. These were strange times in America. The Mendota Treaty of 1853 forced the Dakota Tribe from banks of Wabasha Prairie, which means shortly after when settlers arrived, there was nothing but land. No buildings, cabins, roads, government, city officials, or police. There were mostly strangers. Strangers who were forced to trust in one another for the betterment of their financial futures, both for themselves and for their new home. Luckily, several of the first people on the new plot had ambitions taller than the bluffs, and a work ethic as strong as the Mississippi that runs beneath it.
In the late 1800s, Winona, Minnesota was one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. In fact, because of its industrial and commercial boom, Winona was home to the most millionaires per capita in the country. None of this would have been remotely possible if not for Henry D. Huff. Don’t take it from me. Take it from those who were there, and witnessed one man turn Wabasha Prairie into the wealthy and successful city in less than a decade.
“His experience, with his natural sagacity and enterprise and his indomitable will power, made him a leader in all public matters or affairs in which others were associated with him. His interests were intimately connected with the development and prosperity of the county of Winona. There was no one among the pioneer settlers who accomplished so much by his individual efforts to build up the City of Winona as Henry D. Huff. To him more than any other person this city is justly indebted for its early prosperity and many of this present advantages” (354).
Mr. Huff came, purchased, built, innovated, and led Winona to success quicker than any sane person could imagine possible. Less than twenty years after his arrival and following the death of his son, Huff sold everything he owned in the city of Winona and moved to Chicago with his wife. There, he lost a great portion of his wealth in stocks and bonds related to wheat and then the Great Chicago Fire burned what little remained. It is said that he visited Winona from time to time in the few remaining years he had left. No amount of misfortune in Chicago could ever strip Huff of the empire he’d built in Winona. Without Henry Huff, would Winona have Fastenal, a fortune 500 company? Would Hal Leonard, the worlds’ largest music publisher be here today? Maybe. But the advancements and early successes that Huff achieved in Winona surely opened the doors for future entrepreneurs.
