McLeod County, Minnesota - Chapter 7: Early Days in Hutchinson, 1917

The advent of the first white settlers on the present site of the city of Hutchinson was Monday, November 19, 1855, On October 4, 1905, almost 50 years after this first settlement, the people of the town held a great anniversary meeting in celebration and honor of the important historic incident and the participants therein. One of the features of this celebration was an address by Dr. Kee Wakefield, upon the early history of Hutchinson and McLeod county. The address, is so sufficiently complete and elaborate, although succient, clear, and informing, that no excuse is necessary for its incorporation, in part and verbatim, in this history. The statement of facts are well nigh incontrovertible and the style and manner of the composition cannot well be improved upon. Portions of Dr. Wakefield's address read:

"November 16, 1855, a party consisting of Asa B., John and Judson Hutchinson, Lewis Harrington, B. E. Messer, R. H, Pendergast, Col. John H. Stevens, E. E, Johnson, John H. Chubb, Henry Chambers, L. N. Parker and John Calef, left Minneapolis for the purpose of exploring the country west of the Big Woods, and, if a suitable location could be found, to locate a townsite and establish a settlement, the town to be named Hutchinson. They went by way of Minnehaha Falls to Carver and Glencoe. There they were joined by W. S. Chapman and A. J. Bell.

"Late in the afternoon of Monday, November 19, they arrived on the summit of what is now known as the Anderson Hill, south of Hutchinson. Halting there, they looked out across the site of the future city of Hutchinson. There was a general exclamation, 'We have found it!' and enthusiasm went up to fever heat. Picture these men standing there and looking down on such a beauty spot of God's creation. He had created few more enchanting. No wonder they were inspired with new life and vigor. The great spirit of true life met them there and filled them to the brim. They came down across the level prairie, north, fired by the beauty of their surroundings - the grove, the river, the hills - and camped at sundown where the margin of the grove reached the river, Here some of the men who made Hutchinson spent the first night within its boundaries,

"The next day they looked over the surrounding country and selected claims after deciding to locate a townsite comprising a full section of land. Each man selected 160 acres of land to his liking. All left for Glencoe in the afternoon of the 21st, and arrived in Minneapolis on Friday, the 23rd. At Glencoe they organized the Hutchinson Townsite Company, and elected A. J. Bell president, B. E. Messer secretary and treasurer, and chose a committee to draft suitable papers for incorporation.

"November 30 Lewis Harrington and William Gosnell started back from Minneapolis for Hutchinson with a load of supplies, drawn by an ox team. At Carver they were joined by James E. Chesley, R. H, Pendergast and T. H, Clark. They had a hard trip, and did not reach their destination until 2:00 P. M. December 6. They built a log cabin, 14 by 16 feet near the first camping place. This cabin was enclosed December 11, and was the home of any who remained in Hutchinson that winter. Lewis Harrington was engaged in surveying from this time to January 4, when he left with Chubb for Minneapolis, and returned with Henry Chambers, April 5, May 1, Harrington, with ten men, left Watertown, then called Rapid Water, and surveyed and cut out a road from that place te Hutchinson. They made bridges and completed a passable road, finishing and arriving at Hutchinson on May 12. This made a much shorter route from Minneapolis to Hutchinson, and it was used from that time on.

"Meanwhile, in the winter John H. Chubb and Andrew Chubb came and put up two log cabins. Isaac Hook came about the same time and assisted in this work, Lake Hook was named for him. About April 1 a log tavern, built by L, N. Parker, was completed. April 20 Solomon Pendergast, with his sons, William and Harrison, and Thomas B. Chesley, arrived. They found only five men here on their arrival. They were Barker, Croswell, Collier, R. H. Pendergast and Hook. Soon B. E. Messer and wife, and Miss Eva Bartley came- - on April 27. These were the first women in Hutchinson, Messer moved into the log tavern, which was on block 50, north half - about where Zeleny's store now (1905) stands.

Putnam built a blacksmith shop in July. J. R. Parshall erected a small store near the tavern, and kept a very few goods, A sawmill was commenced in August and was soon in operation. September 27 a political county convention was held at Glencoe. October 14 was election day, and 16 votes - all Republican - were cast for Hutchinson and the surrounding country. The political sentiment of the Hutchinson colony was largely under the influence of the Hutchinson Brothers, who were zealous abolitionists; they and their fellow believers demanded that slavery throughout the United States should be abolished at once and forever, These people, at that time, and even until during the Civil War, were generally regarded with contempt and malevolence, as the Workers of the World and the anarchists of the day, It is but the truth to say that in the general esteem they were scarcely regarded as respectable citizens.

'"Byen a very large majority of the Republican party dis. claimed either fellowship or sympathy with the abolitionists. The Republicans were not in favor of the immediate abolition of slavery, but of its restriction to its then area.

"The platform upon which Abraham Lincoln was first elected declared for the: 'Maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States and especially of the right of each state to order and control its own domestic institutions exclusively,' which meant that each state might establish, maintain, abolish or forbid slavery within its boundaries. The abolitionists generally supported the Republican ticket, as better than the Democratic on the slavery question, hoping and trusting that the Republicans would eventually become abolitionists. Their hopes were at last realized, for the Republicans became abolitionists, slavery was abolished, and the Hutchinsons lived to see 'the glory.'

"Meanwhile actual settlers had taken claims near Hutchinson. Here the settlers were busy and hopeful. On Sunday, gatherings listened to talks by Mr. Pendergast and others, Rev. Mr. Strout preached the first sermon one Sunday in the summer. These were incidents in the days and weeks marked by life that was naturally the most primitive. Food was plain but plentiful, though meat was a luxury. Game abounded, however, and on July 2 everybody went on a bear hunt, Lewis Harrington firing the fatal shot that gave bear meat to the community. It was an old bear and the meat was dry and tough, but had to be eaten."

"The next day after the bear hunt, July 3, nine Sioux Indians came in, In the distance a party of men were seen, southeast of town. Harrington got out his telescope, and after satisfying himself of their identity, called one of the Indians to look. At a glance the Sioux jumped and called out 'Chippewas.' The nine Sioux at once divested themselves of superfluous clothing, and in full uniform of the fighting Sioux brave - belt, breechclout, moccasins - they cautiously started after their enemies. Knowing the point for which the Chippewas were making, they had a great advantage, and skulking through the grass and bushes up the river, they came together three miles away. Hearing the fighting the settlers were curious as to the result, until the return of the Sioux, who brought with them two Chippewa scalps and some eaptured plunder. One Sioux was wounded. Harrington gave them a paper representing that the plunder was captured from the Chippewas and not stolen from the whites.

"J. A. Goding, Holt and Brewster had identified themselves with the settlement as permanent residents, during August. In that month, too, a postoffice was established, with Lewis Harrington as postmaster. But there were no regular mails until the spring of 1857, when a weekly service was established. That fall - in 1856 - the first school was established. William Todd and his wife had come here, and Mrs. Todd taught a class of eleven pupils for a short term before winter set in. Another of the "first events" in Hutchinson was the first marriage, that of John Chubb and Eva Bartley, July 23, the wedding taking place out on the green sod, with the town's entire population present. In the fall the first frame house was built, by Mr. French; a small house, too cold for occupancy that winter.

"The winter of 1856-57 found only six houses occupied, but the town's permanence was assured. This winter was one of the longest and coldest ever known in Minnesota. The snow was three feet deep on a level and travel was almost out of the question. Hutchinson was very quiet - the only work done was to keep from freezing. The settlers started the winter on light diet and came out in the spring on much lighter, Spring came late - the late spring of 1857 was noted in the West.

"The settlers in 1857 were Holmes B. Higgins, Henry Bacon, Oliver Pierce, Lyman and Charles Andrews, Ellen M. Pendergast and L. G. Pendergast, William H. Ensign, William L.

Sumner, C. B. Fenn, E, W. Stocking and wife. Sumner formed a partnership with John Parshall and they built a store on Main street west of the public square, Sumner carrying on a successful business for many years. This summer, too, came D, A, Adams, Cook, John Benjamin, D. S. Sivright, Hiram Chapman, B. G. Lee, Seth Nichols, Thomas Dennis, Charles McEwen, Samuel Ross, Andrew Hopper, Sr., Amos James and Peter Geoghegan. It was in June, too, when Capt. John Harrington and wife, Lewis Harrington's parents, care here. They were very old, and the captain, with his daughter, Mrs. Fuller, died that fall. These were among the first deaths here. The first was that of young Collier, in the early spring, when he was lost on the prairie south of town and his body found twelve miles away,

"The month of June was notable also because of the arrival of the first German settlers - August Pagels, William Nass, Charles Stahl, William Heller and father, followed later by the Albrechts, Tews, Sitz, Luthens, and others, all Settling in Acoma, which was then known as 'the settlement' and very soon was the most prosperous community for miles around.

"Tt was in June when the citizens of the Territory of Minnesota held a notable convention in St. Paul, to frame and adopt a State Constitution. To this convention McLeod county sent B, E. Messer as one of its foremost citizens, The summer of 1857 was marked, too, by another event of interest. It was the year of the state's first grasshopper visitation. Around Hutchinson nearly all of the crops were destroyed, - the first crops raised here except for a few vegetables and a little buckwheat raised in 1856.

"During the summer of 1857 nine or ten frame buildings were erected. A frail dam was thrown across the river by Mr. Chapman. The town began to take on the characteristics of a permanent settlement. Another indication of a settled state was the first birth, when a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Burlingham. Dr. A. MeWright, Methodist, and Rev. A. Hill, Congregationalist, preached with some regularity this year, A school district was organized - Dist. No. 2 - and in the Winter the first public school was taught in the small ell of the log tavern, W, W. Pendergast teacher, seventeen pupils being in attendance. The teacher received $28 a month and took his pay in county orders, which were sold for 25 cents on the dollar.

"Many social and literary meetings - like the lyceums of their former homes in the Hast - were held in the various Hutchinson homes through the winter.

"In that winter, by act of the Legislature, came the organization of Hassan and Hutchinson townships, and May 11, 1858, the first town meetings were held. That spring a contract was let for carrying the mail to and from Minneapolis. Sumner and Parshall were the contractors, for a term of four years. The mail was carried on horseback, and the grand old roan mailhorse was known to every man, woman, and child between Hutchinson and Minneapolis."

There was little immigration during the year 1858. The five Fallon brothers - Patrick, William, John, Michael, and Thomas - came in July. But this year had been the commencement of hard times all over the West, and more people left our community than came into it. No one came in bringing any money, and the little that was here had gone for food and supplies. The only source of income was by digging ginseng in summer and spearing and trapping furs the remainder of the year. Nearly all the men, and boys dug "sang" and caught "rats." Food was scarce and a sameness existed in the culinary department of each household. It was "eat to live" and not "live to eat.' Muskrats had a place on many bills of fare, and it was said that A. H. Reed, of Glencoe, could roast a rat so that it could not be distinguished from the choicest lamb. Many people went barefoot in summer and wore improvised moccasins in winter. All were hard up alike, and there was no caste. At the election in the fall of 1858 there were 35 votes cast for governor. Alexander Ramsey was the Republican and George L, Becker the Democratic candidate. The vote was no longer unanimously Republican. There were 80 votes for Ramsey and five for Becker. The five Fallon brothers, all plucky Irish Democrats, had arrived and become voters.

In the summer of 1858 Lewis Harrington built his house in the grove. In November of this year the townsite was divided among the shareholders. Each of twelve pioneer women was deeded a lot of her own selection.

In 1859 a steamboat was constructed on the Hassan river, and after an excursion trip of four miles down the stream and return, in which all the people of the village participated - there were 65 on the boat - the craft, after great tribulation, was run down the river to the Mississippi at Dayton, and never made a return trip. In 1859, too, a hotel was built, on lot 5, block 8, south half - where Kouwe & Tmey's store now stands.

In 1860 a good wheat crop was raised. The surplus was marketed in Minneapolis, hauled there by oxen, the round trip requiring from seven to twelve days. Forty to forty-five cents a bushel was realized.

In 1860 William W. Pendergast built the first school house, 24 by 40 feet in area and two stories high. It stood on the hill, north of the main street bridge. It had a belfry and a fine-toned bell, The school conducted here was practically an academy and Prof. Pendergast was its principal for the first two years.

In April, 1861, came the outbreak of the Civil War. Hutchinson was one of the first towns in the state to respond to the call for volunteers, and from then to the fall of 1862 so many enlisted that few able-bodied men were left.

Prof. Wm. W. Pendergast's Historical Sketch of Early Days in Hutchinson. Frequent mention has been made of Wm. W. Pendergast, one of the founders of Hutchinson and prominent not only as a pioneer citizen of this county, but fairly eminent as an educater in Minnesota. Before the Minnesota State Historical Society, at St. Paul, and at its February meeting, 1901, Prof. Pendergast read a paper entitled "Sketches of the History of Hutchinson." This paper is printed at length in the "Collections" of the society, (See Part 1, Vol. 2, pp. 69-89) and is justly regarded as a very valuable contribution to the history of the state. Its importance and value are derived from the fact that its author was a founder of the town, and that he participated in all of the incidents of its early history and had the capacity to describe them. The portion of his paper relating to the early history of Hutchinson is herewith transcribed and given. It seems that an accidental interview between Mr. Pendergast and the Hutchinsons led to the location of the latter in McLeod county.

In the spring of 1855 Prof, Pendergast journeyed from Massachusetts to certain portions of Southern Minnesota, where he spent some weeks, returning eastward as far as Chicago. His further experiences during 1855 and in succeeding years are thus detailed in his paper read before the Historical Society in 1901: trip, upon which two weeks were spent in explorations to the north, east, and south of the Falls of St. Anthony, By that time it was getting too late for the Survey of the Big Woods country, if the job was to be a thorough one.

Fired with zeal for the new land, I went back as far as Milwaukee, and in a few days had the pleasure of hearing my old friends, the Hutchinson family, from Milford, N. H.. - Judson, John, and Asa, - sing to a full house, "We've Come from the Mountains of the Old Granite State," and other inspiring songs, rendered as only they knew how, After the concert, af my invitation they all promised to call on me the next day, which they accordingly did. In our pleasant talk they unfolded to me their plans for the future. They had started out to sing their way through to Kansas, there to found a village, call it Hutchinson, make homes for themselves, build up the town, join the "Jayhawkers" and squelch the "Border Ruffins." Said I, "Why not skip all that blood and poetry, go to Minnesota, the most favored country on the earth, and found a city that you will always be proud of?" "Have you been there?" they asked. "Yes." Then question followed question, like shots from a gatling gun. The answers were satisfactory, and led to the settlement of the town of Hutchinson in McLeod county, Minnesota,

Hither many later immigrants have been attracted, and they are now faithfully working shoulder to shoulder with the old timers, who have borne the burden and the heat of the day, to make this what it certainly bids fair to become, the most charming and delightful, the most cozy and truly homelike place in the Northwest.

The result of the conference was an immediate change of plans on the part of the Hutchinsons, who had in so short a time become convinced that their horoscope had not been rightly interpreted. It was agreed that my cousin, Roswell H. Pendergast, should go along with them, and that I should stay through the winter, dispose of my photographing business, and follow on the first boat that should go through from Galena to St. Paul in the spring of 1856. The objective point was some place in the charming region west of the Big Woods, to which allusion has already been made. The exact spot was to be fixed upon by the Hutchinsons, their advance agent, EB. 1B. Johnson, and R. H. Pendergast, who went with them.

Having arrived at the little village on the west side of the Mississippi adjoining the Falls of St. Anthony, they were lucky enough to fall in with an educated and enterprising young civil engineer, by the name of Lewis Harrington, who readily entered into the spirit of their plans, and who without hesitation accepted an earnest invitation to become a member of the company. Before they left this little settlement, Col. John H. Stevens, its father, B, E. Messer, an accomplished musician and former singing master; John H. Chubb, a young bachelor from Whitehall, N. ¥.; Henry Chambers, an unnaturalized Canadian; Lucius N. Parker, and John Calef, were duly initiated into the fraternity.

November 16, 1855, the company, with two-horse teams and a week's supplies, sallied forth like Don Quixote, "in quest of adventures." The general plan formulated at Milwaukee had been talked over and deliberated upon till it was made more specific by fixing upon a favorable location on the Hassan river, (now called the South branch of the Crow river) northwest of Glencoe, as the most desirable place for the new settlement. There was a good road as far as to Shakopee, which was at that time larger than Minneapolis. There the first night was spent.

November 17, Without waiting for breakfast, so anxious were they all to get a glimpse of the town of which they were to be the fathers, they started out betimes in the morning, and, crossing the ferry five miles farther up the Minnesota, reached Carver in season for breakfast. From Carver the road, if the straggling path made through the woods by the Glencoe settlers earlier in the season could be dignified by such a name, suddenly became much worse. Numerous stumps, deep ruts, and deeper chuck-holes, mud, and fallen trees, opposed their passage.

Nightfall found them weary and way-worn, with the aspect of "the knight of the sorrowful countenance," their horses jaded, and with a bag of game, consisting of a brace of ducks, three partridges, a solitary rabbit, and a squirrel, on the banks of a small stream two or three miles east of the present site of Young America, and eleven miles from Carver. By this stream they prepared to camp for the night. The game was soon skinned, dressed, roasted, and disposed of in the most hearty if not the most approved style; and no dinner at the West Hotel, nor even at Delmonico's, was ever better enjoyed.

November 18. At daylight the camp was astir. After a "picked up" breakfast, the tent was struck and the pilgrims were moving toward their Mecca. A couple of partridges roasted before an improvised fire, with a pound or two of hardtack, served for dinner. Buffalo creek was crossed before sun- set, Chambers going ahead and breaking the ice with his feet. As the water was three feet deep and Glencoe five miles away, he unwillingly admitted that he got but little fun out of this operation.

Over a smoother way better time was now made, and twilight found our explorers on the outmost verge of civilization, They would have had to push their way 2,000 miles farther unless they changed their course, before reaching another town or meeting a white man.

Doty's Hotel, a one-story log building, "with all the modern improvements," offered them a welcome, a shelter, and firstclass accommodations at first-class rates, and there they ensconced themselves for the night.

November 19. With A. J. Bell, a Glencoe surveyor, for a guide, the line of march was resumed. As the road they had been following ended at Glencoe, the scattered groves were the only landmarks. They struck the Hassan river at the bend near the spot where Philip Busson, the Frenchman, now (1900) lives. Here was a delightful grove, resplendent with the gorgeous hues of a Minnesota Indian summer. The air was crisp and invigorating. The scene was charming, and the party would willingly have tabernacled there. The sky, the earth, the air, the overreaching trees, the shimmering stream, the fertile soil, were so many Circes wooing them to stay.

Thanks, however, to Mr. Bell, who assured them that there was a better place six miles farther up the river, the company, atter a few deep-drawn sighs, reluctantly moved on, some on foot, and some riding in the wagons, these being the first to reach the "promised land." While they were pitching their tents, at the edge of the grove west of the place now (1900) occupied by the Catholic parsonage, Parker went back with one of the teams to meet the rest of the party. When the last Straggler was picked up and brought in, and all were seated in Turkish fashion round the crackling camp-fire, they, with one voice, declared that spot the most beautiful and attractive they had ever seen. The charming woods, the winding sweep of the crystal river, the range of circling bluffs beyond, the Smooth lawn-like slope from forest to stream, the autumnal robings of shrubs and trees and creeping vines, the bewildering beauty of the whole view, all combined to awaken their enthusiasm, stir their blood, and set every nerve to tingling with delight, while Hope was busy with her brush and easel painting bright visions of the future.

excellence of the company, which was divided about equally between poets, artists, optimists, and dreamers, on the one side, and plain practical men on the other, seized his fiddle, which was never far from his person, and struck up "The Star Spangled Banner." The Hutchinsons, and all others that could sing, "joined in." For the first time since the "morning stars sang together,' grand strains of heavenly harmony echoed through the listening groves, and finally died away on the range of circling bluffs beyond the distant river.

November 20, a business meeting was held in the tent. Col. J, H. Stevens was chosen president; B. E. Messer, secretary ; and A. J. Bell, Lewis Harrington, Asa B. Hutchinson, B. EB. Messer, and J. H. Stevens, a committee to draft a constitution and by-laws. Then they adjourned to meet at Glencoe the next morning. November 21, the company met according to adjournment, and adopted articles of agreement, which were substantially as follows:

1. There shall be two town sites, each containing 320 acres; viz: Harmony, to be located on the south half of section 31, township 117, range 29; and Hutchinson, on the north half of section 6, township 116, range 29. 2. The two sites shall be divided into 100 shares. 3. The Hutchinsons shall each have ten shares. Each of the eleven men with them shall have five shares. The remaining fifteen shares shall be disposed of by the Hutchinsons as they think best. 4. The river shall continue to be called by its Indian name, Hassan. (Hard Maple.) 5. L. Harrington, R. H. Pendergast, and Henry Chambers, were appointed to do the business of the company, and dispose of lots to actual settlers. 6. Special meetings shall be held at any time on the written request of three share holders. 7. Any shareholder neglecting to pay authorized assessments shall forfeit his stock. 8. It was voted to employ L. Harrington to survey the two sites, his compensation being $380. 9. Five acres were set apart for "Humanity's Church." 10. Fifteen acres were set aside for a park (afterwards increased to twenty-two acres.) 11. Eight lots were reserved for educational purposes. 12. It was solemnly decreed that "in the future of Hutchinson, women shall enjoy equal rights with man." 13. No lot shall ever be occupied by any building used as a "saloon, bowling alley, or billiard room, on penalty of forfeiture of the lot."

The next morning the company set out on their return to Minneapolis. During the winter Messrs. Harrington and Bell surveyed the town site, Harrington really doing all the busi-

Agreeably to my promise made the fall before, I left Milwaukee on the 11th of April, 1856, for Hutchinson. My father and brother (T, H.), a cousin (Solomon Pendergast) now (1900) at Sauk Center, T. B. Chesley, and six others, had come out from New Hampshire to go with me. We reached Read's Landing, at the foot of Lake Pepin, on the 14th. There we waited two days for the ice to break up, when, tired of "hope deferred," we walked round the lake thirty miles over a muddy road to Wacouta, where we found the "Time and Tide," one of Louis Robert's boats, with steam up ready to take us to St. Paul. This steaming up we found was only a trick to make us buy tickets at once. It was played several times before the boat finally started.

We landed at St. Paul on the 17th, and took passage on the "Reveille" for Carver. On the morning of the 18th we all left on foot for Young America, where we staid that night, sleeping four in a bed, wedged in like smelts. The next day hard walking began to tell on the older members of the party; and the three young Pendergasts, Chesley, Atherton, and Glass, soon left the others out of sight. At Glencoe they got a lunch and pushed on, following the directions received from some men who thought they knew the way. At nightfall we camped by a lake six miles out and a mile or so east of the present Hutchinson and Glencoe road. We had no blankets, no tent, and no food, except a few pieces of hard-tack bought at Carver the day before.

Solomon, however, shot a goose near the shore of the lake, but, as bad luck would have it, she flew out to the middle of the lake before falling. Here was a "pretty kettle of fish." I prepared half a dozen little sticks and tried to get the others to draw, in order to decide which one of us should swim out and get her, It was forty rods to where she lay. The ground was beginning to freeze around the edge of the lake, and little needles of ice were shooting out from the shore over the still water. There was nothing alluring to be seen, except the goose floating on the bosom of the lake at what seemed a long distance away. It was not a tempting bait under the circumstances. No one would draw a stick, Disgusted with what Seemed to me their cowardice, I went around to the opposite Side of the lake, as the goose looked nearer that shore, and plunged into the ice-cold water. On reaching the goose and looking around to take my bearings, the camp looked as near as the shore I had left; so, taking the goose's neck in my mouth, I paddled towards the fire, which had been kindled under a big oak and looked very comfortable, but which at the time did me very little good. Nearly benumbed, I landed with the trophy, only to find that my thick woolen stockings had been burned in my absence by one of the boys who through kindness had undertaken to dry them before the fire. In three hours the goose was dressed and roasted. A half hour later every bone was picked as clean as a mounted skeleton. This done, we lay down on the bare ground, with some sticks and brush above and the stars twinkling through the impromptu lattice work. There and thus we slept the sleep of "Innocents Abroad."

At noon of the 20th we surprised Roswell and four companions named Gray, Whitney, Failing, and Hook (from whom Lake Hook got its name,) who were holding possession of the J. E. Chesley hut, which stood a few rods from the southeast corner of the town site. Mr. Chesley, finding provisions running low, had gone to St. Paul to replenish his stock. That evening the rest of our company arrived, and, taking us all together, it must be admitted that as "famine breeders" we were a decided success. The visible supply of food which consisted of about twenty pounds of flour, totally disappeared in two days. A bushel of potatoes, which had been procured for seed, lasted but little longer. A two-bushel sack of horse feed that stood in one corner of the room was not quite so quickly disposed of. It was ground course, the hulls were rough and plowed furrows broad and deep from one end of the oesophagus to the other. We made mush of this, and sweetened it with Hassan river water. After each meal we devoutly thanked the Lord for ground feed, and felt grateful that it "was as well with us as it was,"

After a few days Mr. Chesley came back with scant supplies for so many, and then he and I started back to St. Paul immediately on foot, bought four yoke of oxen, a wagon, and a load of goods, including a big breaking plow. After two weeks of hard struggling over stumps, through mire-holes and mud lakes, we crossed the Hassan once more, plowed the first field, and harvested the first crop ever raised in the entire Hassan valley. The grasshoppers, however, which came in countless swarms about the first of July, left little harvesting for us to do.

a huge old bruin, weighing 400 pounds. From the departure of the hunters to the return with the laurels of victory, the watches measured little more than an hour, for the game was in a grove only half a mile away. This was the first Independence Day celebration west of the Big Woods.

Here is the record for the three months of my second winter in Hutchinson, taken from the expense book of seven who kept "old bachelor's hall" together in the village. It was the most high-toned place there during that winter.

At the first town meeting, May 11, 1858, forty-eight votes were cast. Four townships voted at Hutchinson, the north two casting 26 votes, and the south two 22 votes.

In the spring and early summer of 1858, a steamboat, twenty by sixty feet in size, was built to run on the Hassan, Crow, and Mississippi rivers to Minneapolis. It made the down trip without much trouble, but never returned. The owners got a chance to sell it to ply on the Mississippi between Minneapolis and St. Cloud. The water of the Hassan river was so high that a steamboat could run from Hutchinson to Minneapolis the first five years without much difficulty.

Provisions were very scarce in the spring of 1858. Some families had lived through the winter on potatoes and slippery elm bark. But the middle of May found the Hassan alive with buffalo fishes, and the marshes were yellow with the flowers of cowslips; so for a while there was plenty and variety. Those who were too lazy to pick greens went fishing, The fish could be boiled, baked, stewed, or fried; but, whichever way was chosen, the flavoring was always the same, pure Hassan river water, It took a connoisseur to decide which style of cooking had been adopted. Most of the people got their living in a way that may well be pronounced "scaly."

The contract for carrying the mail between Minneapolis and Hutchinson once a week was let this spring to Messrs. Sumner and Parshall. Previous to this, the young men had taken turns in carrying it on their shoulders. T. H. Pendergast's turn came round almost every week, as he was the most willing and best walker.

John W. Hutchinson's Version of the Founding of the Town. In the Hutchinson Leader of July 23, 1886, John W. Hutchinson presented the first number of a series of articles generally descriptive of the early history of Hutchinson, and in particular the connection of the Hutchinson Brothers therewith. Mr. Hutchinson relates that, in the early fall of 1855, he and his brothers set out from New Hampshire for "bleeding Kansas," as that territory was then often sarcastically called. At Rockford, Ill, they were induced by a friend to first visit Minnesota. They reached St. Paul November 10, At the close of several vocal concerts in the Capital City they met two McLeod county men, Col. John H. Stevens and B. E. Messer,

Mr. Hutchinson describes Col. Stevens as, "a tall, lightcomplexioned man, possessed of wonderful enthusiasm." The Brothers accepted his invitation to visit St. Anthony and the then small village of Minneapolis, where they were entertained by several families. At a private party of invited guests Colonel Stevens was profuse in his offerings of wild honey which he had secured a month or so previously from the bee trees in the Big Woods. He dilated so enticingly upon the wonderful resources of the McLeod county country that the brothers accepted his invitation to visit that region. In a day or 80, as members of a party of ten, they set out for it from Minneapolis. Mr. Hutchinson writes:

There were two two-horse teams which carried a company of twelve persons, including the drivers, all under command of Colonel Stevens. Passing Fort Snelling en route, we reached Shakopee the first night. Mr. Blanchard, formerly of Boston, learning that the singers of the Hutchinson family were with the party mounted a horse and earried the news through the settlement. A large crowd soon collected, and at their request we gave a concert in the Episcopal church building. The next night we camped in the woods, among the wolves, near what is now known as Young America.

The third night we reached the hamlet of Glencoe, having traveled forty-five miles over a rough road, encountering stumps at every turn. We were hospitably entertained at the inn and house of A. J. Bell. After supper we entertained the villagers with a fine concert, * * * Another offer was made to us, the brothers, by the proprietor of the Glencoe Town-site Company, through Colonel Stevens, to put us on the best location in McLeod county, for farming and village purposes. (McLeod county had not been created then, however - Historian.) Then, adding to our party W. S. Chapman and A, J. Bell, who were mutually interested in locating town sites, we started northwest, and, after travelling sixteen miles, the evening found us, for the first time, at what is how the beautiful village of Hutchinson.

The weather was so cold and becoming colder, and it seemed that winter was setting in. A big fire, "sled length" was built, supper was cooked, a hymn sung, "Thus Far the Lord Has Led Us On," and the party slept comfortably in their blankets, under an awning, in front of the log fire. The next morning the thermometer stood at ten degrees below zero. But nearly everybody went prospecting or hunting. Quite a lot of prairie chickens were secured, and Lewis Harrington shot an otter; both the animal and the fowls were roasted and made a toothsome repast. Lake Judson was discovered and named for the elder Hutchinson brother. Signs of the recent visit of the buffaloes to the country were found in their bleaching skulls and other bones, Then claims to land were selected, 160 acres to each of the fourteen members of the party. The Hutchinson brothers were given first choice,

Returning to Glencoe, the party formed a corporation or town company to build the town of Hutchinson, and drew up a constitution and by-laws, appointed a surveyor to lay off the new city, and made arrangements for building the first houses. Then the Hutchinsons returned to Minneapolis, and then by private conveyance to Dubuque, and so on to the East. Col. Stevens entertained them while they were in Minneapolis.

The spring of 1856 found us working and singing our way to the valley of the Hassan. Stores for groceries, implements of husbandry, seeds for planting and sowing, plows, spades, saws, axes, hoes, three yoke of oxen, cows, and young stock were purchased, and the emigrant wagons, loaded down, started for Hutchinson, * * * Through the woods and over the prairies we went. Often we stopped to rest - and often we stopped to swear (!) as our teams mired in the muddy maelstroms of the roads and we toiled to extricate them. Sometimes we had to unhitch and unload, carry the goods in our arms and haul the wagons to the solid land.

It was a common saying that this was a good country for men and dogs, but that it was hard on women and horses, and this was true. *** At last, however, we hove in sight of far-away McLeod county and the Crow river,

We found that our surveyor, Lewis Harrington, who (with the cabin builders) had been employed by the townsite company, had completed cabins and platted the 640 acres into streets, blocks, squares and parks. The two parks contained ten acres each; the square, a whole block. Reservations were selected for church, school, and gift lots, and one block was freely given to Surveyor Harrington for his liberal and faithful devotion to the company's interests. The north half of the section was re-surveyed at my suggestion in course and in keeping with the bend in the river and the surrounding bluffs.

They had erected one capacious log cabin designed for a hotel. Into this cabin B. E. Messer had moved, with his family, a few weeks before, from Minneapolis and assumed the duties of landlord and was prepared for us. The house was so loosely constructed that we had plenty of ventilation. One lower room, the width of the house, with one small bed, room set off for the use of the family, comprised dining room, the sitting room, and the parlor, with a table extending through the whole length, and a small one for the kitchen. An open stairway led to the upper room, which in extent was the full area of the house, with the roof pitching on the sides. Here the sojourners, men and their wives - at least 30 souls - were living as best they could with only curtains as partitions for the rooms. Single board floors and plenty of air openings in the roof gave us good breathing conditions, * * *

The Cheslers, the Pendergasts, the Putnams, and the Johnsons came in town and every arrival was a source of joy. Karly in the spring every man, looking out for his own, began to get his log cabin on his claim and to establish his home. We covered our cabins with butternut shingles, shaven by woodmen the previous winter. Some garden spots were plowed and seed dropped for the first time in the valley. Numerous flocks of ducks and geese were seen returning to the northern lakes and rivers, The fur-bearing animals, otters, minks, and muskrats, sported in seeming security in and beside the waters. Now and then there was a chase after a bear. The woods and groves were alive with wild pigeons, while flocks of sand-hill eranes, pelicans, and swans floated in the air,

We erected a storehouse and began the sale of our goods, The current prices were: For butter, 60 cents a pound; domestic eggs, none in the market; wild duck and wild goose eggs, 30 cents a dozen; Irish potatoes, $1.50 a bushel; flour, per barrel, $13.00; corn meal per two-bushel sack, $3.00; dried beef, 35 cents a pound; corned beef, 20 cents; groceries, - any price you chose to ask; wild game, all you could shoot, free, except a small outlay for powder and shot, John Henry brought in the first pound of fresh home-made butter.

The fate of the man who, in the previous April, had gone on an errand to procure a saw and never returned interested us greatly. He lost his way and eventually perished. In the early summer of 1856 some half-breed Indians came in and reported that their dog had found the dead body. We saved some tokens, locks of hair, wearing apparel, etc., and then the corpse was decently buried. News was dispatched to the mourning: parents, away off in Vermont, that their only son, who was seeking his fortune in the far Northwest had fallen a victim to an adventure. Later his father came, and the first funeral services in Hutchinson were held over the remains of the unfortunate young pioneer,

There was great necessity for a saw mill at Hutchinson; all of the settlers were clamoring for it. The Hutchinson brothers determined to secure one. They went to Wisconsin, Nlinois and Michigan on a summer concert tour and soon had the money needed. They bought the machinery for a steam mill in Chicago, shipped it by rail to Glencoe, where they placed it on a barge alongside another bound with supplies for Pembina, on the Red river. The barge containing the mill machinery was towed by steamboat to Carver and thence hauled to Hutchinson in wagons drawn by horses and oxen, with E. E. Johnson as wagon master. In six weeks after its arrival at Hutchinson the mill machinery was in motion with an engine of 50-horse power. In a little time thereafter the lumber for a fine frame building worth $3,600 had been sawed and the building erected. A contract was made in Hutchinson in the early fall for logs to be cut and hauled to the mill for the spring demand of 1857, and then the Brothers went East on another big concert tour.

In the early autumn of 1856 the Brothers made a concert tour from Boston to Buffalo in the interest of the Republican party. It was a Presidential year, and that party had put forward its first candidate for president, Gen. John C. Fremont. John says: "For six weeks we traveled from Boston to Buffalo singing for 'free speech, free soil, and Fre-mont' (the Phrase quoted was a favorite slogan of the Republicans in 1856. Its alliteration and the combination of the first syllables of the names of the principles and the candidate seemed clever. It did not matter that the candidate's name should have been Pronounced Framont, according to French standard) through Western Massachusetts and New York." Meanwhile the agent of the Brothers in Hutchinson was G. W. Putnam, who had been the private secretary of the noted Charles Dickins. He wrote numerous letters to the New York Tribune advertising the McLeod county country and Minnesota generally, and these letters did great good in inducing immigration into the new land. He also prepared an advertising pamphlet of the region, and this the Hutchinsons printed and circulated by thousands. In the spring of 1857 the Brothers returned to Hutchinson and resumed their work of building up and promoting the town.

Mr. Hutchinson describes a hostile encounter between the Chippewas and the Sioux which he says occurred near Hutchinson in 1857. Plainly enough the pioneer meant to tell ug about the little battle between detachments of the two tribes July 2, 1856, north and east of Hutchinson. In this affair, which is narrated elsewhere, (upon the indubitable evidence of publication in the Henderson Democrat of July 17, 1856, and particularly including Lewis Harrington's certificate,) the Sioux, (not the Chippewas,) were the victors, for they killed two Chippewas and took one scalp, a gun, and some other articles from their enemies. The Sioux had only two men wounded, none killed, and they danced a scalp dance, Dr. Wakefield also gives a correct version of the incident.

Thirty years of a busy life confused Mr. Hutchinson's memory, and his statement reverses the main facts. He says the affair was in 1857; that the Chippewas were the victors, took one scalp and danced over it; that they were in Hutchinson when the Sioux approached and saw them through a spyglass, ete., etc. Singularly enough he does not mention the burning of the Chippewa near Glencoe by the Sioux in November, 1856; but at that time he was not in Minnesota, but, with his brothers, was on a concert tour through New York.

Mr. Hutchinson also records that the old Red river carts had a trail through Hutchinson in 1857 - althongh it may have been in 1858. These carts constituted large trains which in the spring and fall, journeyed between Pembina and other trading posts on the Red river and St. Paul, bringing down furs and pelts and carrying back merchandise. "Uncle John" writes:

About this time a Red river train was switched off towards Hutchinson, having been directed in its course from Pembina, on Red river, to come through Hutchinson to St. Paul. Those connected with the train were a peculiar people. They were mostly mixed-blood Chippewas and Crees, of mingled Indian and Seotch blood. Many early settlers will remember the quaint old carts constructed entirely of wood, with no iron about them, Each cart was drawn by a single ox, hitched into the thills with rawhide harness, and the train, of sometimes 50 carts, trudged along the trails over the rolling prairies to the great market, there to exchange furs and peltries for groceries and trinkets. Today other trains, drawn by iron horses, are about to be switched into our village, bringing merchandise of every sort, and will depart carrying grain and other rich products from the golden fields of this country. But let us not despise the days of small things.