Chief Buffalo land claims

In the 1880s, Frederick Prentice, was the assignee and holder of the Chief Buffalo Claim who attempted to enforce his claim against various owners and occupants of land in the area. The claim was to a tract of land one mile square in the center of what now constitutes the business district of Duluth. One corner of the description of the plot of land was anchored by a large stone or rock – 40 feet square – a well-known landmark. Two of those actions were tried: Prentice vs. Stearns, (C.C.Minn. 1884) and Prentice vs. Northern Pacific Railway Co. (C. C. Minn. 1890). Prentice was unsuccessful in each case. Notwithstanding that fact, his claim still constituted a cloud upon the title to the land in the City, particularly in the area comprised in the Plat of Duluth Proper, Third Division. A third action to clear that cloud was brought by Duluth Storage and Forwarding Company vs. Prentice (C. C. Minn. 1892). According to A. Roberts, the printed record in Duluth Storage and Forwarding Company vs. Prentice contains the depositions of a number of early settlers or visitors to Duluth who testified as to the location of the Chief Buffalo Rock: James D. Ray, Samuel C. McQuade, John R. Carey, William Nettleton, William A. Farr, and George R. Stuntz.. A three-page, 1953, letter to Duluth Mayor George W. Johnson from attorney Arthur Roberts about the Mayor’s inquiry of "the possibility of determining the location of the so-called Chief Buffalo Rock."  Roberts says, in conclusion, "If any structure were to be marked as the site of the rock, it probably should be the building now occupied by General Electric Supply Corporation, No. 102 West Michigan Street, standing on Lot numbered 16 in Block numbered 11, Central Division of Duluth."