Lyon County, Minnesota - Chapter 6: Reconstruction Period - 1877-1881, 1912

Chapter 6: Reconstruction Period - 1877-1881

HENCEFORTH the story of Lyon county is one of advancement. The calamitous days are past. No longer do the grasshoppers threaten the very existence of the settlement; no longer is it found necessary to solicit aid for the relief of the inhabitants. The days of such adversity have become only a memory. It must not be understood that this change was wrought in a day, for it was not. Trials and tribulations were yet to assail those who had borne so much and so long, but times were on the mend, and the year 1877 ushered in the reconstruction era. People began anew the work of progress that had been interrupted when the grasshoppers came and placed a mortgage on the county in the summer of 1873.

In some respects the people of Lyon county were in better condition than they had been before the scourge. Most of those who had filed upon government land in the early seventies now had title to their homes - and land began to have a value. A few had not met with great losses during the terrible scourge and were already in position to

1"The frequent rains we are having this spring increases our prospects for a good wheat crop. It seems now as if we might slip through this year into prosperous times again. Our only fear of grasshoppers is from flying ones, and any other part of the country is as much in the way of that as we are. We have a large acreage of crops and with a good harvest will be happy once more." - Marshall Messenger, May IS, 1877.

begin the forward march. Many others, however, found it necessary to free themselves from debt before the effect of the more prosperous times became apparent.

The annual dread of grasshopper visitation was again felt in the summer of 1877, and this time the settlers were agreeably disappointed. The season was admirably adapted to two ends: the best possible development of small grain and the worst possible development of the locusts. The cool, rainy weather of the spring and early summer seemed to have been sent on purpose to give wheat and other small grain a rapid and healthy growth and at the same time give the grasshoppers a slow and feeble development.1

A few of the pests hatched out on the sunny slopes in May, but they were so few in number and so unlike their voracious ancestors that no damage resulted.2 The local press reported in the latter part of June that there had not been reported a single field of grain in Lyon county perceptibly injured by grasshoppers. About the middle of July they were seen on the wing, and occa-

2Contributing largely to (he unexpected good fortune was a little red parasite, which destroyed the grasshopper eggs in the nests in the fall and early spring months. Later the parasites attacked the young hoppers, loading down their frail wings and carcasses until it was almost impossible for them to fly. Bushels of the pests died before they developed sufficiently to'do damage.

As the season advanced it became evident that unless the grasshoppers came Lyon county would produce an enormous crop.3 The grasshoppers did not come and by the middle of August the harvest was completed - the first crop in years had been saved. It was an enormous one, yields of forty bushels of wheat per acre being frequently reported. During the fall months - up to January 1 - there were shipped from the Marshall station 309 cars, containing 109,007 bushels of wheat. The grain was all number one and brought good prices.

It was %a time of jubilee! Every resident seemed imbued with new life. When the golden grain came pouring in, business men began increasing their stocks; farmers began improving their farms and putting their lands in readiness for the next crop; Lyon county was again inhabited by people who thought life worth living.

3"The grain crop here is simply immense and our farmers who were able to seed their farms last spring have a pretty sure prospect of comfort and plenty ahead." - Messenger, July 2!!, 1877.

"The town is full of strangers these days - land hunters mostly. The fame of our fertile prairies has spread over the land." - September 28.

"Everything seems to indicate a big rush of immigration next spring. Even now, not far from the heels of winter, there is a respectable rush of a very desirable class of homeseekers distributing themselves from this point over the whole county. Nearly all who visit us remain as settlers." - October 12.

"Approaching cold weather does not seem to perceptibly check the rush of land hunters to this part of the state. Every train is filled with men anxious for a few acres of our rich prairie land. The railroad company is selling considerable more land than it expected to, and our vacant sections are fast filling up with actual settlers. This makes us feel well and will greatly help county revenues soon." - November 23.

6The people of the United States have but little acquaintance with the natives of Iceland, the little island in the Arctic circle. They are found in only a few places in America, and one of the two principal colonies of the United States is that in northwestern Lyon county, overlapping into Lincoln and Yellow Medicine counties, with Minneota as the central point. The other American colonies are at Pembina, North the grasshoppers/ immigrants arrived in Lyon county in 1877. They 'began arriving as soon as it became evident that the crop was safe and that the county could produce something besides the flying pests. Many came prepared to build on their lands, and the lumber yards were unable to replace their stocks fast enough to meet the demand. Nearly all the government lands had been filed upon by this time and the newcomers turned to the railroad lands, which had been placed on the market the year before.4

Among the immigrants of 1877 were fifty Icelanders, who arrived in August direct from their northern homes and located in northwestern Lyon county. A few of this nationality had settled in the vicinity a year or two before, the first having been Gunlauger Peterson, who came in 1875. Others joined the colony later, giving to Lyon county a very desirable class of citizens. 5

In the early seventies Icelanders founded settlements in the Muskoko district of Ontario and in Nova Scotia." These were only temporary abiding places, the Northmen moving in 1875 to the western shore of Lake Winnipeg. There they founded New Iceland, now the largest settlement in the New World. Winnipeg is the center of Icelandic wealth and culture in America. Several thousand reside there permanently and most of the emigrants from Iceland go there before scattering to the farming districts.

The colony in Lyon county was founded, as described in the text, in 1877. There were two hundred arrivals from Iceland to the settlement about Minneota in 1879, and others came later. The Icelandic settlement now comprises about one thousand people.

Rev. Pall Thorinksson led a party of colonists from Manitoba in 1879 and located them in Pembina county, North Dakota, where they grew in numbers and wealth until now they form the next largest Icelandic colony in the New World.

"The colony in this section of Minnesota has flourished, though, in a measure, through affiliation with other nationalities, the semblance of colonization has been lost. One noticeable characteristic of the Icelanders is their appreciation of the public school system of their adopted country and their thirst for knowledge and English education. During several years past the graduating classes of the Marshall High School have included students of Icelandic birth and descent, and most of these have continued their education at the University of Minnesota, at normal schools, and other institutions, and subsequently engaged in the professions.''

$10,000 for the purpose of paying the county indebtedness. During the grasshopper days the county, as well as the people living in it, had run behind financially and county orders were a slow sale at sixty cents on the dollar.''' Another event of the year 1877 was the establishment of train service on the Winona & St. Peter railroad between Marshall and the state line, giving the newly founded village of Minneota and the people of northwestern Lyon county benefits theretofore denied.

The abundant crop harvested in 1877 and the belief that the grasshopper days were a thing of the past were elements that brought a boom in 1878. To all parts of Southwestern Minnesota and many parts of Dakota Territory the settlers flocked that spring. Before the wagon roads became passable the settlers came by train, the great rush beginning early in February.7 Five hotels in Marshall were unable to take care of the crowds of land hungry men, and still they poured in.

About the middle of April the newcomers began to arrive in the wellremembered ''prairie schooners," or canvas-covered wagons, and these continued to arrive in great and undiminished numbers until about the first of June. Twenty, forty, sixty, per day they came, in many cases accompanied by droves of cattle, horses and sheep, household goods and farming implements.8 Not all of these stopped in Lyon county, but a great many did.

8"The county was organized about four years too soon and before it was able to support a county government. In an early time we were unfortunate in having many floating criminals brought in by the building of the railroad, and the effectual prosecution has put an end to crime but left us in debt. The railroad owns half the land of the county and has never paid a tax, the state owns about a tenth and pays no taxes, and the United States owns threetenths, untaxable. There is little personal property to tax, and one-tenth of the land here can only pay current expenses." - Messenger, March 2.3, 1S77.

7The local paper on February 15 reported the arrival of about one hundred immigrants during the preceding week. One month later it declared the rush not only continued but increased. On March 22

As a general thing the newcomers were a well-to-do class. The first ones secured homesteads, but late in April it was announced at the land office that there was not a piece of government land in Lyon county that had not been filed on; there were a few pieces that had been abandoned, but they were not very desirable. Thereafter the arrivals purchased railroad lands and improved farms that the grasshopper sufferers had placed on the market.

A great amount of hind was broken out9 and nc-\v buildings made their appearance in all parts of the county. To make these improvements the new residents swamped the local lumber dealers with orders. Day after day lumber-laden wagon trains could be seen wending their way across the prairies from the villages of Tracy, Marshall and Minneota to the new-found homes. The implement dealers also reaped a harvest supplying machinery to the new residents.

It is a pity that we cannot record a continuation of prosperous times, for the people of Lyon county were certainly entitled to the smiles of fortune. Two weeks of excessive hot weather in the first half of July, followed by a week of excessive rains, brought a crop failure. Wheat, which, was still the big crop, was damaged most and because of its quality brought a low price;'10 corn, oats and vegetables fared better. Close times financially again prevailed.

H"Look out almost any time and you will see streakof white across our green prairies. They are strings of emigrant schooners come West to gain homes and an independent future for their families. Still there is room for more." - Messenger, May 3, 1S7S.

B"You can travel north, south, east and west, ami everywhere you go breaking teams are hard at work turning over our ri( h soil. It is impossible to estimate the number of acres that ire being broken, but it will be immense." - Messenger, May 31, ISTs.

10"There is no longer much doubt that the wheat crop has been injured nearly or quite one-half. Ten to fifteen bushels per acre will be a good crop this year." - Messenger, August 2. 1878.

ciation was organized September 30, 1878, those instrumental in the organization being J. W. Blake, C. H. Whitney, S. H. Mott, H. J. Tripp. Stanley Addison. W. M. Todd, S. Webster and C. L. Van Fleet, The first officers of the association were as follows: A. R. Cummins, president; C. L. Van Fleet, secretary; N. Cuyle, treasurer; Stanley Addison and C. H. Whitney, executive committee; J. W. Blake, orator; J. N. Johnson, historian: General Pierce, story teller.

for a big crop were flattering. Over 36,000 acres of land were sown, and fine weather in the spring months promised a bountiful harvest. But the crop was light. Wheat was blighted and the average yield was less than ten bushels per acre; corn, oats and barley did better. There were marketed in the county during the year 285,950 bushels of wheat.

Lyon county's second railroad, the branch of the Chicago & Northwestern west from Tracy, was built in 1879. This resulted in the founding of Balaton - and later of Garvin - and the rapid settlement and development of southern Lyon county.

The first rumor of the building of the new line came in January, when it was said the Northwestern would construct the road in an effort to "head off" the Southern Minnesota (Milwaukee), which was being extended through the southwestern part of the state. At that time orders were issued for shipping to Tracy large quantities of railroad building material. Surveyors ran the line of the road in March and April.

Contracts were let in May and early in June construction was begun. It was intended to have the road ready for operation by the first of August, but a .strike and the desertion of many of the workmen to the harvest fields delayed

The construction of the railroad made times lively and there was a large increase in population. During the year 1879 emigrant cars to the number of 420 were unloaded at the various railway stations of Lyon county. Among the arrivals of the year were a number of Irish Catholics - the first of Bishop Ireland's colony - who settled in the vicinity of Minneota.11

Another life was sacrificed to the winter storms in Lyon county on December 16, 1879. The victim was Trule Knutson, who lived three and one-half miles southwest of Tracy. He had been assisting Ole Johnson move a house from the shore of Lake Sigel to Tracy and at sundown he started for his home, walking and driving a yoke of oxen. He was caught in the storm, lost his way. and perished. His body was not found for several days.

Lyon county harvested an excellent crop in 1880, as did all portions of Southwestern Minnesota, and more No. 1 wheat was raised than had ever been the case before. The county again became known as the "Land of Promise." The farmers were not to realize to the fullest extent the fruits of the bountiful harvest. Frequent and heavy rains in August made it impossible to finish stacking until about the middle of September, and threshing had hardly commenced when the memorable winter set in, preventing further operations. The next spring weather conditions were

HAn association of Irish Catholics was formed in Chicago in the spring of 1879, with a capital stock of $100,000. The object was the colonization on western farms of people of that nationality who resided in eastern cities. Bishop Ireland had charge of the Minnesota and Dakota divisions and he at once made arrangements to plant one of his colonies in Lyon county. .

The railroad lands of Eidsvold, Nordland, Grandview, Westerheim and Wallers townships were reserved and later purchased. In the two first named the Irish colonists were located, and a little later Catholics of other nationalities were brought to the other townships.

no better, and a large part of the 1880 crop was not threshed until the next summer. It was impossible to market the grain that had been threshed because of impassable roads and the railroad blockade.

The federal census of 1880 gave Lyon county a population of 6257, an increase in five years of 3714 people, or 246 per cent. Of the fourteen counties comprising Southwestern Minnesota, only Brown had a greater population.12 The population was divided as to sex, nationality and color as follows: Males, 3381; females, 2876; native born, 4558; foreign born, 1699; white, 6255; colored, 2. By precincts the population was as follows:

Before 1880 homesteaders of Lyon county were obliged to make the trip to. Redwood Falls (to New Ulm prior to 1872) to make proof on their claims.

The first colonists located near Minneota and were under the spiritual charge of Father M. J. Hanley. The new arrivals were, as a rule, unskilled m farming pursuits and were not successful, and many engaged in other enterprises. In the early eighties there were great additions to Bishop Inland- colony and it became an important factor in the history and development of Lyon county.

With the rapid settlement of the country to the west, most of the business of the Redwood Falls land office came from Lyon and Lincoln counties, and an office was opened at Tracy on May 22, 1880. It was located there nine years. The offices at Benson, Tracy, Redwood halls and Worthington13 were consolidated February 28, 1889, and moved to Marshall, where the land office was located until July 1, 1903. Then there was a merger of the Marshall and St. Cloud offices and Lyon county lost the office.14

One of the dates from which time is reckoned in Lyon county is the winter of 1880-81 - the season of Siberian frigidity. There have been worse storms than any that occurred that winter; for short periods of time there has been colder weather. But there never was a winter to compare with this one in duration, continued severity, depth of snow, and damage to property.

Blizzard followed blizzard. The railroads were blockaded for weeks and months at a time. Fuel and food were nearly exhausted. People burned green wood, fences, lumber, hay and grain and went without lights. In some places there was suffering for lack of food. Roads remained unbroken all winter and the farmers obtained their supplies from the villages- by means of handsleds. Two lives were lost in Lyon county in the storms of that winter and several others were so badly frozen that amputation of limbs was necessary; many

13The Redwood Falls office was established in July, 1872, with Colonel B. F. Smith as register and Major W. H. Kelley as receiver. The Worthington office was the successor of the Brownsville office, established on the Mississippi river in 1854. It was moved to Chatfield in 1856, to Winnebago City in 1861, to Jackson in 1869, and to Worthington in 1874. Upon the removal from Worthington in 1889 C. P. Shepard was register and August Peterson receiver.

14The first officers at Tracy were George W. Warner, register, and John Lind, receiver, the latter being succeeded after several years' service by P. K. Weiser. Messrs. Warner and Weiser were in charge when the office was moved to Marshall in 1889. »L. M. Lange succeeded George W. Warner as register November 1, 18S9, and C. P. Shepard succeeded the latter February others became lost in the storms and had thrilling experiences. The long, cold, boisterous, blizzardous, wearisome winter will never be forgotten by those who were then living in Lyon county.

Before the farmers had fairly started their fall work, while the grass was yet green and the insect world active, winter set in. Toward evening on Friday, October 15, the wind, which had been blowing from the north all day, brought with it an occasional flake of snow. 'When darkness came the wind and snow increased, and before midnight the elements were thoroughly aroused. Throughout the night the storm steadily increased, and when morning came its fury was such as had seldom been witnessed in the middle "of the severest winters. Saturday forenoon the wind continued to blow with terrific violence, driving before it the rapidly falling snow with such force that few dared to venture out of doors. All day the blizzard raged, not calming down until nightfall. Saturday night the raging elements ceased their tempestuous frolic. Sunday the weather was calm, but cold and wintry. The fall of snow was great and the violent winds piled it in great mounds.15

The streets of Marshall, Tracy and Minneota were packed full, the banks in many places on the north side rising 'almost level with the second story windows and completely covering from, sight some of the smaller buildings. The business houses in all three villages

16, 1894, and served until the removal. P. K. Weiser was succeeded as receiver August 1, 1SS9, by E. P. Freeman, he by M. E. Mathews in January, 1894, and George M. Laing took the office February 7, 1898. Mr. Laing died June 17, 1898, and C. F. Case served from July, 1898, until the removal from Marshall, tj.*-i

16"Although this country has gained something of celebrity in the blizzard business, the oldest inhabitants were as much astonished as anybody at such a storm in October as we caught last Saturday and Sunday. This storm was unprecedented. Nobody knows how much snow fell, as it was gathered in drifts from nothing to thirty feet deep. It would pass for a first-class blizzard, and the loss to the county by it will foot up several thousand dollars." - Messenger, October 22, 1880.

were for the most part closed and the towns resembled Icelandic hamlets. The snow which fell in this initial storm did not entirely disappear until the following May.

So badly drifted was the snow that the railroad was completely blockaded, and from Friday, the fifteenth, until Saturday, the twenty-second, no trains were able to get through, although Large forces of men were at work clearing the track. Even this short blockade resulted in a shortage of fuel. In the country damage because of the storm was great. It was the first and only blizzard experienced in the county in October, and, of course, the farmers were unprepared for it. The loss of stock throughout the county was considerable, many hogs and sheep, particularly, having been frozen to death.

The only death resulting in this October blizzard in the vicinity was that of Samuel Kile. He was with a threshing crew at Tom Brown's place north of Minneota. On the morning of the sixteenth he and others started for the barn to do the chores, and on the way to the barn Kile's hat was blown off. Despite the protests, of the other men, he started in pursuit of the hat in the raging blizzard. That was the last seen of the man alive.

When it became apparent that Kile was lost, the men shouted and rang bells to guide him to safety and a diligent search was made. During the next three weeks searching parties scoured the entire neighborhood, dragged the Yellow Medicine river, and made every effort to locate the body. In the first part of November the body was found embedded in a snow drift, sixty rods northwest of the barn; his hat was found

^Samuel Kite was a son of George and Barbara Kile, who lived over the line in Lincoln eounty. During the fall of 1880 he was employed with a threshing crew operating north of Minneota and was so employed when he met his death. Samuel Kile was a strong

There were several cases of severe freezing and many adventures in this remarkable storm. A Swede living near ( 'eresco was lost while going from his house to the barn and for three days wandered over the prairie. He was found thirty miles from home with both feet frozen. A son of Levi Craig, who lived near Amiret, had an exciting experience in the storm. He had gone to a neighbor's to get some matches and on the way home became lost. He came upon a wheat stack and, burrowing his way into' it, remained there until Sunday morning. He reached home severely frozen.

For a short time after the initial storm the weather was calm but wintry. About the middle of November storms began to rage again, and wintry blasts continued from that time until late in April. For weeks at a time the people of Lyon county were absolutely isolated. They spent long weeks of weary waiting in the midst of the dreariest, gloomiest and most discouraging surroundingswaiting for the raising of the blockade and the arrival of the necessaries of life, of which they were deprived. Because of the fuel and provision famine which ensued there was considerable suffering in parts of the county. Severe cold weather began November 16 and during the remainder of the month the thermometer frequently registered sub-zero.

December January

17"We haven't seen business more nearly at a standstill for sonie years than it was here several days this week. We suppose it is necessary to state that we have had no eastern trains this week. Just when we will have one again is a matter still under discussion." - Messenger, December 31, 1880.

ls01e Norton was thirty-two years old and lived alone in Vallers township. On theeveningof December 26 he started out to go to the home of his brother, Michael Norton, a little over one-half mile away. The thermometer registered ten degrees below zero and the wind was blowing hard.

.Mr. Norton passed a hay stack about thirty rods from his house and thereafter found it difficult to determine the directions. He continued on his way but soon became completely lost. After wandering about on the prairie two hours he again came to the same stack, but believed it to be another about two miles distant. He could see a few rods away the dim outline of what he took to be a house, and made an effort to reach it, but he could make little headway against the wind and returned to the stack. By this time his feet were freezing and to keep up the circulation of blood he began running around the hay stack.

Failing to get relief, Mr. Norton dug a hole in the stack, with the intention of seeking shelter therein. Progress was painfully slow, as his hands were benumbed and he had lost one of his gloves. He succeeded in making an opening only large enough for his legs, which he hoped to keep from freezing. The unfortunate man remained at the hay stack until daylight and then with great difficulty made his way to his house, which he found was only a few rods away. With greater difficulty he succeeded in building a fire.

Mr. Norton's cap was frozen to his head, but after awhile it thawed out enough to be removed. He got one of his boots off and found his feet were frozen solid. Becoming alarmed at his condition and not daring to remain alone while thawing out, Norton hobbled to his brother's house with one foot bare. There he was taken care of and hopes were entertained that his feet might be saved. Both feet were amputated below the knee on January 9 by Doctors Andrews and Farnsworth and Mr. Norton died on the twelfth. His experience in the storm was given by him substantially as recorded above.

""During the past week Marshall has given a limited supply of fuel to the towns above and entirely exhausted her own supply. The former blockade was not broken long enough to get any freight through from the east and none of any consequence has arrived since the Christmas blockade. The last cordwood has been sold and the last of small coal has been sold. There is a plentiful supply of large hard coal in town,

24. Railroad entirely covered with drifts, in places thirty or forty feet deep. Railroad has sublet the contract for carrying the mail between Sleepy Eye and "Watertown, and mail from the west received.

February

3. Last overland mail for many days received. At evening began one of the worst storms of the winter, coming from the southeast. Lasted until the seventh.22

\. M. Chadburn, of Minneota, was in town yesterday and says the people of that town are suffering greatly from cold, that there has been neither wood nor coal there for a long time. He states that women and children ami many of tin' men are compelled to lie in bed during the night and day in order to keep from freezing. Mr. Chadburn came down t<> see if he could secure any fuel, and finding a small quantity of coal and Mime green wood, he says t lie citizens will at once come here for a supply." - News, January 28, L881.

-'The only dry wood mi sale at thai time were a few cords that were hauled in from the Youmania farm and sold at $10 or 811 per cord, and the supply was soon exhausted. What little hard coal there was sold for $13.75 per ton.

--"From Thursday nighl of last week [February 3] until Monday morning of this [February 7], this locality was visited by the heaviest and worst -now storm the oldest inhabitant, much as he hates to admit it, ever saw here. . . . On this occasion we had both snow and wind in uncommon quantities. Instead of coming from the northwest, as most of our winter storms do, this one came from the southeast. While not very cold for a winter storm, the severe wind and drifting snow made it impossible most of the time to do anything out of doors, and nearly all business was at a standstill. When it cleared off the roads were in the worst possible condition. Drifts on top of drifts so perfectly impeded travel that during Monday very few teams ventured out, although the snow was soft and melting." - Messenger, February 11. 1881.

23"Tuesday morning [February S] the citizens were notified to assemble at the land office to take action toward breaking out the roads leading to town from the settlers' farms. It was resolved that the first duty was to open the road to the Camden timber land-, ten miles distant, as many families were destitute of fuel. Rev. Liscomb stated that the wood-chopping party, which started in the morning, had progressed only two miles and returned to dinner, but hail gone out again. The resolution was followed by immediate action, and half an hour later three or four teams and thirty or forty men were on the road to Camden. They reached the morning party about five miles out, where they had been met by a Camden party led by V. M. Smith, with a -mall load of flour from the mill. The entire party returned to town, announcing an open road to the timber land and the probability of a supply of wood the following day.

March

..mi of fuel ami provisions and it was quite impossible For them to break the roads ami get to town. Rev. Liscomb favored opening roads to the hay ami straw stacks near town, as horses ami cattle wen- suffering for food. It was finally agreed that gangs of men

"February 12 a meeting was held in Marshall to devise means of relief for those who were suffering for lack of fuel or provisions because of the blockades and severe weather. It was the general opinion that relief should come from the county commissioners and a committee was appointed to look into the matter of destitute persons.

""People at Minneota have received permission from the railroad company to dig up and burn all the fence posts, and Station Agent Davidson is having a perplexing time in their distribution. Only Coats' store has been open for three weeks past, because there has been no fuel to warm the stores. As yet only a few cases of actual suffering for want of provisions have come to light and these have been attended to. About a dozen teams went to the Camden timber Monday morning [February 14] and that night succeeded in bringing to town about eight cords of wood. It was tedious work and few teams could haul more than half a cord. Some who started with more had to leave part of it on the road. On Tuesday some fifteen teams went to the woods and brought in about ten cords. The wood sells here at $7.00 per cord."- News, February 18, 1881.

26"While we in Grandview have been poorly off for fuel, our supply long since being exhausted, we have kept from suffering by the aid of the snow fences along the line of the railroad, and these are well-nigh exhausted; but we live as all our neighbors do, in hope. We ha've heard of no cases of suffering for want of worldly goods and but little sickness." - Grandview Correspondent, February 25, 1881.

27"Mr. Humphrey and others east of here are burning oats for fuel and say that a bushel a day supplies a stove. This makes a cheap fuel." - Messenger, March 4, 1881.

2S"Marshall came very near getting out of kerosene oil some three weeks ago and our enterprising grocer of the Twin Cash Stores, Mr. Waldron, sent W. A. Crooker and his mules down to Mankato after a load. This was about the only team that would try to make the trip, and bets were made that he wouldn't be back here to celebrate the Fourth of July. But it is never safe to bel on what Crooker and his mules can accomplish, and last Saturday [March 5] they hove in sight over the hill. The band instantly turned out with a long rope, to which were attached nearly a hundred boys, to help haul him into harbor. Having hitched on and got the Twin Cash proprietor on board, they refused to let go and made a grand street parade, thus giving glory to the event and a good advertisement to tin. 'twin Cash Stores. We have plenty of oil here now and can give our neighbors some if needed. Crooker made the trip in about twelve days, but had to stop two days at Lake Marshall on account of a blizzard. Mr. Waldron very generously paid him $14 more than agreed on to make up for the unexpected bad weather and other delays." - Messenger, March 11, 1881.

'-"J"Most of the farmers are busy digging snow. Some have tunnels ten feet deep and forty feet long leading to their stables. We have seen a number of our neighbors going to mill with handsleds. Coal oil is very precious and the burning of tallow candles is considered a luxury. Mail is out of the question, which makes it very disagreeable for those who have distant sweethearts'. Most of us are burning green wood, which is very hard on our patience." - Custer Correspondent, March 11, 1881.

30"Parties out of dry wood have lately been tearing down all the snow fences up this way for fuel. Green wood is plenty here yet, but high because of bad roads." - Messenger, March 25, 1881.

""Superintendent Sanborn arrived here Wednesday [March 30] and proceeded to tear up things to heat the engine that has been stored here for several weeks and began work on the road between here and Tracy. As the company is now at work at both ends of the blockade and in the middle, we can hope to connect with the outside world in a few weeks. Later - This item was a little too previous. A slight change in the weather has delayed things some." - Messenger, April 1, 1881.

""Wednesday evening [March 30] damp snow began to fall in this vicinity, with a constantly increasing wind, and by midnight the storm had assumed the title of blizzard. Thursday morning dawned upon the blizzard in full bloom and the old prophecy of March coming in like a lamb, sure to go out like a lion, was fully verified, for certainly no storm of the winter was more severe than that of the last day of March. "- News, April 1, 1S81.

""Since the last blizzard, March 31, the weather has been putting on the air of spring, and the work of opening the railroad has rapidly progressed. \ olunteer companies turned out here for two or three days, and the railroad company has since been hiring all the men they could get to shovel snow. The coal shed and other things that could be spared were chopped up for fuel to feed the engine that has been wintered here, and as long as that holds out fair progress will be made. The cuts are everywhere filled full, and the

19. Railroad opened to Marshall and freight train arrived at eleven o'clock in morning, bringing car load of wood. Two passenger trains also arrived, bringing first mail in two . weeks. These were the first trains from the east to reach Marshall in exactly three months.

The long winter of 1880-81 was over, but its results were not over, and after trains had been operated in Lyon county one day, the blockade was again in force by reason of floods and washouts, and no trains were run in the county until -May 3.

The torrents of water from'the melting snow overfilled the banks of the rivers, inundated the low lands, and carried away bridges and railroad tracks. Six bridges on the line of the Northwestern snow is almost as hard as ice in some places. As there is no snow plow here every foot of the cuts has to be shoveled out by hand. The work will therefore be slow and Tracy will not be reached before next week probably. At the Sleepy Eye end the drifts are much worse than here, and although as large a force as they can get is employed, their progress west is not rapid. If the road is open by the last of next week our largest expectations will be realized." - Messenger, April 8, lvsl.

'--"Considerable lumber is being burned here now, other fuel being scarce and high. Mr. Sullivan has been selling lumber for fuel at first cpst." - News, April 8, 1881.

". . . That although we have passed so far a very unpleasant winter and have suffered great inconveniences, there has been no loss of life or property in consequence of the severity of the weather. Our village has not known what it is to enjoy the luxuries of a good wood pile or well-fillecf coal bins during nearly the entire winter.

"Farmers about Minneota have fared worse than the people in town, in not having wood or coal, but better in having plenty of hay and straw to feed and burn. ... A great many farmers have stables so located as to be completely covered over with snow. A large number have an opening only at the top and the farmers go down into their stables by means of a ladder, tin- animals being completi ly confined in a snowprison. We have heard of no instances of farmers having been out of fuel. ... At one time there were three families that had nearly exhausted their supply of provisions 'luring a stormy spell, but they were

The melting snow,- began to cover the lower surface.; on April 20, but the overflow of the stream- did not take place until the twenty-second. Floodtide was reached Sunday evening, April 24. and on the following day the waters began to recede. On the twenty-eighth the streams were so reduced as to be nearly within their banks again.

The losses in different parts of the county were considerable. The dam of the Redwood at the Camden mill was swept away, as was also one in Lyons township. The" streets of Marshall were traveled in boats, and trips by boat were made from that village to points on the Minnesota river, part of the way over the inundated prairies. The bridges over the Redwood at Marshall were wrecked and several thousand feet of lumber ami several small buildings were carried away. The loss in the village was estimated at $5000.36

"Then- has been no attempt to keep open the roads for teams I xcept along the railroad track. Snowshoes and handsleds on wide runners have taken the place of horse- and sleighs in this vicinity. On Tuesday of this week four men on snowshoes hauled a corpse on a handsled a distance of about ten miles to the burying ground of this place tor interment. The corpse had been kept two or three weeks buried in a, snowbank awaiting an opportunity for burial. Pleasant daj 9 during the pasl two months have been signaled in town by hundreds of feet of snowshoes. All seem to have fallen in with the Scandinavian idea of going to town on snowshoes and taking their goods home on handsleds or packing them on their backs.

"The stores of our town have suffered but little inconvenience as yet for supplies of provisions; at least they continue to serve their customers' as usual."

"The Second Street bridge, leading to the railroad, was not high or wide enough to carry off the surplus water. Almost a- soon as the area between the street and Nichols' stable was filled, the water burst over the street, from between the bridge and the corner of the Merchants Exchange, cutting off communication for teams and pedestrians. At the same time .Main Street at the lower bridge had been overflowed, cutting off communication in that direction. Early in the day water backed up between the railroad bridge and Main Street, soon cutting across the street and making a broad, deep and rapid current past the Bagley House, Watson's residence, and across to the bend of the river. This outburst relieved the main channel and saved the entire main street and its business blocks from inundation.

A Pioneer Home

Log Cabin Erected on Section 4, Custer Township, in 1870, by Zibe Furgeson, and Purchased the Following Year by Benjamin B. Thomas. The Engraving is Made From a Painting.

The work of repairing the railroad and raising the blockade was put under way as soon as the waters permitted. The reconstruction crew, working from the east, reached Tracy May 1. ami on the afternoon of tin- third Marshall was reached. The same evening a well- Loaded freight train broughl supplies to the several villages along the line and the next day passenger, mail and freight service were established. Train service on the branch west from Tracy was begun about the same time.

Every -tore in town hung out its banner labeled "sugar** this week. The town lias been without it for a week or two, along with many other things. Towns west of us have been much more destitute, very nearly approaching suffering in some cases. The docile coffeemill has furnished all the hour and meal of many families.

We have just received our first freight since January. The arrival of the train with the bridge carpenters was the signal for the citizens to turn out and run to the depot. The railroad company sent in a freight train right away after the work train. A joyful smile overspread the countenances of our citizens when they heard that Coats had some sugar on the train, and what a rush there was by the sweet -toothed members of our community!

"The street afforded a rapid watercourse from the News office, past the Bagley House, to the end of the street, and from the Merchants .Exchange the water reached to the hill beyond the bridge. The passage of the water past the Bagley House and Watson's place to the river left the business part of town entirely surrounded by water and accessible only by boats. On Saturday [April 23] the high walks west of the News office and barber shop were carried away, leaving the Bagley House, Gary's building, Wetherbee's store, the marble works and Mrs. Farnsworth's building each surrounded by rapid currents of water, through which it was difficult to navigate boats. Temporary bridges were constructed on Monday to reach these points. All of the cellars on the south side of the street were flooded and stables and cattle buildings generally were abandoned.

"Previous to the thaw between forty and fifty boats had been constructed, and on Friday every boat and every apology for one were brought into requisition to ferry people to and from their homes and business places. A regular ferry was established between the .Merchants Exchange and the bridge as long as the threshed and marketed in the spring and summer following, and some of it was of good quality. Owing to the Hoods, the late season ami blight, the \\ heal crop of lssi was a failure. The local papers reported it as a half crop and estimated the yield at ten bushels per acre. Some of the other crops were fail- and there was a good market for all produce.

and Hollanders to the Catholic colony of northwestern Lyon county. With these first arrivals, about seventy-five in number, came Father Cornelius, who did much toward the rapid settlement of the county. The new arrivals, who settled for the most part in Grandview township and the village of Client, were attracted by the advertising matter of the Catholic society and the report of one of their number who visited the county in 1SS0.37

The matter of the building of the Minneapolis & St. Louis railroad through Lyon county was a live issue in 1881. Surveys were made in the summer and bonds to aid in its construction were voted in several precincts of Redwood county. Late in September the railroad authorities submitted a proposition, by the terms of which they agreed to build through Lyon county provided the right of way was given and about $30,000 in bridge remained, and afterwards from the Exchange to the opposite shore. The water at this point formed a double current in the regular channel of the river and past the corner of the hotel, running at a speed of about a dozen miles an hour and making it difficult and dangerous to cross, and not a few narrow escapes from disaster occurred."

37In 1880 Angelus Van Hee and his son, Aime Van Hee, came from Belgium to locate a home for a colony in the New World. They came upon the request of Bishop Ireland and were accompanied by Peter Van Hee, of Liverpool, England. Angelus Van Hee and his son visited many parts of the country and found no place they liked better than Lyon county. They bought land on section 17, Grandview township, made some improvements thereon, and than returned to Belgium and reported favorably on the country.

As a result of this visit, the colony came in 1881, and there were many additions during several succeeding years. Among those who purchased farms in 1881 were David Van Hee, Mrs. Modest Van Bee,

The people of Lyon county were eager to secure the road and at once made arrangements to vote the bonds. It was arranged that township bonds should be issued and not all the townships were asked to contribute. Following is the list of townships that voted on the bond issue, the date of the election, the amount of bonds asked, and the result :