McLeod County, Minnesota - Chapter 14: Pioneer Events, 1917

First Election at Glencoe. The first election in what is now McLeod county was held October 9, 1855, when that district comprised the western portion of Carver county. The only polling place in this district was at Glencoe, Only a very imperfect account of the incident can be given here. The sole record of the election available is the Journal of the Territorial Council for 1856 (pp. 30, 37), and is regrettably incomplete, It appears, however, that, so far as Glencoe precinct was concerned, the election proceedings were grossly illegal and fairly farcical,

At this election candidates for county officers and for members of the Territorial Legislature were voted for. D. M. Hanson, democrat, and Joel B. Bassett, republican, both of Minneapolis, were candidates for councilmen from the district composed of Carver and the southern part of Hennepin county. On the face of the returns Bassett had a majority of 45 (527 to 482), but the returning board, charging illegalities, threw out the returns from Wayzata and Crow River precincts, in Hennepin, and from Carver, San Francisco, and Glencoe, in Carver, and declared Hanson elected by a majority of 75, and he was duly seated.

When the Legislature met Bassett contested Hanson's seat, But the council investigating committee having the case in charge reported unanimously against him, and his contest was dismissed. In their report to the council (Journal 1856, p. 30) the committee, among other things, said:

"It appears in evidence that an election was held, or pretended to be held, at three places within the County of Carver, to-wit: Carver, San Francisco and Glencoe; but the testimony brought before your committee shows such utter disregard for even the forms of law and such contempt for the sanctity of the ballot box that your committee cannot give the slightest credit to the returns eminating from the self-styled Register of Deeds (J. M. Davis), of Carver county. Thus: judges and clerks of election were not sworn; no notices of. election were given until within three days of the election. At San Francisco the ballots did not correspond with the count and a Bassett man supplied the missing ones from his pocket, ete. At Carver two of the election judges were not legal voters, and one took the open ballot box with him when he went to dinner, ete."

"Territory of Minnesota, County of Hennepin, ss. George Daly, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I resided at Glencoe precinct, Carver county, M. T., at the last general election. I was one of the judges of the election in that precinct on the 9th day of October last. The polls were opened in said precinct just at dusk, in the evening, about an hour after sunset, and said polls were closed in about an hour thereafter. There was no notice of such election posted at any time prior to holding the same. A hat was used for a ballot box, I think the judges were not sworn in at said election. (Signed) George Daly.

The record of the vote at Glencoe has not been preserved, so that we do not know how many ballots were cast; it is probable, however, that a majority were for Bassett, since all but a few of the first settlers were from Northern states and were Free Soilers and soon became Republicans. Senator Hanson was a leading lawyer of Minneapolis. He was a native of Maine, of old New England and very remote Scandinavian ancestry, He died, at the age of 30 years, in 1856, the year following his election to the Territorial Council. Many believed that had he lived he would have become the leader of the Minnesota Democrats and had a distinguished political and professional career,

Sioux and Chippewa Tragic Meetings in 1856. In the first week of July, 1856, nine Sioux Indians left the Lower Sioux Agency (opposite the present town of Morton) to hunt in the Big Woods of the McLeod county region. North and east of Hutchinson, July 2, they encountered nine Chippewas and killed two of them, scalping one, and leaving two Sioux wounded and a horse killed. The Chippewas had evidently been on a Stealing raid on the settlers and had secured a number of articles which the Sioux took from them, On their return to

"Hutchinson, July 3, 1856. To Whom it May Concern: - This is to certify that the bearers, nine Sioux Indians, have had an engagement with nine Chippewas near this place and have taken one scalp and also one rifle, two pistols, two blankets, an overcoat, six shirts, two hunting bags, some money, a gold pen and case, six door knobs and locks. Lewis Harrington."

A letter from Philander Prescott (farmer for the Indians at the agency), giving the foregoing details, was printed in the Henderson Democrat of July 17, 1856,

In the latter part of November (1856) there was another encounter between the Sioux and Chippewas in this county, and this time the affair had a most revolting ending. The incident occurred on Buffalo creek, near Glencoe, Sunday, November 23, when the Sioux burned a Chippewa Indian prisoner to death. A few days previously a large hunting party of Sioux came up into the country, and in the Buffalo creek timber met a smaller party of Chippewas, one of whom was taken prisoner. After retaining him for a few days the Sioux decided to burn him at the stake, and the sentence was carried out the next Sunday in the presence of 200 Sioux and a few white persons.

Accounts of the affair printed in the St. Paul Times and the Henderson Democrat of December 11 state that it occurred on the Glencoe and Carver road, a few miles east of Glencoe, and near the creek. A teamster with a load of dry goods from St. Paul was passing at the time and saw the tragedy. All efforts on the part of the white man to save the wretched prisoner were in vain, He was burned in a slow fire and lingered two hours or more. He was scalped and otherwise mutilated while burning, and when the teamster left the feet were consumed and the legs burned off nearly to the knees.

Victims of a Blizzard. In the early part of the year 1856, two men, one of whom was a citizen of McLeod county, were caught in a blizzard near Cedar lake, and as a result of the fury and severity of the storm one of them perished and the other became a cripple for life. The particulars of this incident are given by Mr. McClelland, a brother of the cripple, in his semi-centennial address. Describing events which occurred in the earliest days of the county's history, he Says: death of the former and the loss of his legs by the latter, comprises a pathetic chapter in the history of the time. John McClelland had reached Glencoe prior to the month of March, 1856, but at what particular time, whether in the latter part of 1855 or the early spring of 1856, cannot now be recalled. In the month of March, 1856, Dr. Frederic N, Ripley, of Shakopee, and John McClelland, then of Glencoe, were employed by Bell & Chapman to go to Cedar City, now Cedar Mills, a point now known on the Hutchinson and Litchfield road, about nine miles from Hutchinson and 13 miles from Litchfield, for the purpose of constructing a log house to be occupied as a temporary country hotel or stopping place for newcomers, and also for the accommodation of others who might conclude to settle or engage in business at the new townsite, which had already been, or which was about to be, laid out at that point, The Snow was rapidly disappearing at the time of starting, the Weather was comparatively mild, and the indications were that spring was near at hand. In view of the mild weather, moccasins, which had been worn during the winter, were exchanged for boots, and the two men left Glencoe with supplies of food sufficient to last but ten days, at the end of which time their employers promised to send or come with additional Supplies.

"Upon the arrival at the new townsite, they threw together a few logs for a shelter in which to live while engaged in the construction of the main or hotel building, supplying a cover for that portion of the shanty only under which stood their improvised bed. After their arrival, and within a few days, a fierce snow storm prevailed and the weather changed to bitter cold, They remained 15 days and until all their food (except about a pound of dried apples and a quart of rice) was exhausted and no one appeared with additional supplies, At the expiration of that time they started for Forest City. The snow was deep and drifted and progress slow. They had matches with them and when night came they took shelter in a grove and Started a fire. The next day they traveled until nearly noon, when they discovered that they were lost, and their matches, having become damp in the meantime, would not burn. They undertook to return to the shanty which they had left and to retrace their footsteps to the place they stopped the first night, in the hope that the fire of the previous night had not died out; but in this hope they were disappointed, as the fire was dead, and they spent the second night tramping in and about the ashes in order to keep from freezing. When morn- ing came they resumed their tramp, and when within about seven miles of the shanty the doctor lay down, exhausted from exposure, cold, and hunger, and said he could go no farther. McClelland urged him to make another effort, but the doctor gave up entirely. As McClelland left him, Dr. Ripley requested that, if he succeeded in reaching the shanty and in returning, he must bring some matches.

"Soon after leaving the doctor, and while crossing the north fork of the Crow river, McClelland broke through thin ice near an airhole and extricated himself with difficulty. His wet feet soon swelled so that he had to cut off his boots and he walked the rest of the way to the shanty, through the snow, in his stockings. Upon reaching the shanty he tried to produce some water from a near-by lake in which to soak his feet and draw out the frost; but the shallow lake was frozen to the bottom and he could get no water. He then succeeded in building a good fire, but when his feet had been placed before it for a few minutes they became in such a condition that he was wholly unable to walk.

"McClelland was forced to remain in the uncompleted shanty, in his distressed condition, for eighteen days, when relief came. He was able during the whole time to build a fire but four times. His entire food supply during these eighteen days, after three days on the road without a morsel of any kind of food, consisted of the remnants of dried apples and vice, before referred to. He was brought to Glencoe and from thence to Shakopee, where both of his legs were amputated, one five and the other eight inches below the knee.

"Dr. Ripley's remains were found two months after the last separation from my brother, about half a mile from the place where he was last seen alive, his hat hanging on a bush near by and a bottle partly filled with chloroform by his side. Lake Ripley, located near Litchfield, gets its name from the circumstances I have narrated, as well as the hotel in Litchfield by the same name.

"My brother's misfortune was the cause of my father's removal from Indiana to McLeod county which occurred shortly thereafter. After a stay enroute of about six weeks in Shakopee, where the family was detained in caring for brother John while recovering from his injuries, Glencoe was reached on the 11th day of June, 1856. At the solicitation, and with the assistance of friends, my brother, shortly after the occurrence narrated, published a small book or pamphlet entitled 'Sketches of Minnesota,' in which was incorporated

"Miss Katie Gibson, who has before been referred to as the first teacher in the log school house at Glencoe, was understood to have been the doctor's affianced at the time of his death, and she visited my brother after we had removed to the farm to make inquiry as to whether the doctor had spoken of her before his and the doctor's last parting."

An aceount of this tragic incident, evidently written by John H. Stevens, appears in the Glencoe Register of May 15, 1858. This version gives the date of the tragic incident as in February, 1856, while McClelland says it was in March. The Register also gives the name of Dr. Ripley's fiancee, the first school teacher in Glencoe, as Kate Gibbins, while McClelland says her name was "Miss Katie Gibson," and that she visited his brother, etc.; yet in another part of his address he says: "Miss Kate Gibbs, whose home was in Shakopee, taught the first term of school in the log school house in Glencoe,"

The structure built by Dr. Ripley and McClelland and in which the latter lay, a wretched sufferer, for 18 days, was the site of the long extinct Cedar City, the little hamlet or village which stood on the southeast quarter of section 6, Acoma township, near the southwest bay of Cedar lake, which was afterward owned by F. C. Avery, Henry Mills, and others. The locality is about nine miles northwest of Hutchinson.

In the spring of 1856, after the snow went off, the skull and other portions of the skeleton of Dr. Ripley, which had evidently been dragged by wolves, were found on the prairie, as described by McClelland, and the few remains were buried at Glencoe.

According to the Register, the people of Glencoe, and of the entire county as well, were saddened and distressed at the fate of Dr. Ripley and Mr. McClelland. Such a misfortune Was of more concern to the people then than it would now be, and the incident was long remembered by the pioneers. The Register further tells us that the doctor's fiancee visited Glencoe not long after his remains were found, and much sympathy was felt for her. The public sentiment led to her being employed as the teacher of the first school in the primitive little log hut first built for school purposes. She commenced the school on the first Monday in June, 1856. The Register says that Mrs. W. Armstrong taught the summer school of 1857.

He had some literary ability and prepared and published a little pamphlet of biography and reminiscence, detailing the incident of his misfortune and giving many notes of pioneer days, and this little work he offered to the public. Col. Stevens, as editor, wrote in the Register of May 15, 1858:

"John MecClelland - Our neighbor, Mr, McClelland, has just published his work, and we are gratified to learn that it sells rapidly. We trust that he will be successful in obtaining sufficient money to enable him to purchase cork legs. He is worthy the patronage of all,"

McLeod County in 1857. The Glencoe Register was the first newspaper printed in McLeod county. The first number was issued Saturday, August 8, 1857. It was of four pages with six columns to the page. "H. G. Baxter & Company" were announced as the publishers and the senior member was the editor. Mr. Baxter was a good newspaper man and made the little frontier journal a model of its kind. He was a native of Vermont and a brother of the Baxter Brothers, who were then lawyers in Glencoe. One of these brothers, Hon. Luther L. Baxter, became a noted Minnesota soldier, lawyer, and jurist and died in 1915. The other, Capt. Wm. R. Baxter, died a glorious death, at the head of his company of the Ninth Minnesota, in the battle of Guntown, Miss., June 10, 1864, The two brothers constituted the "company" that published the Register, and Judge Luther L. Baxter frequently wrote its editorials, The Register was at first Republican in politics, and a large majority of the voters of the county were also of that particular faith. In 1857 the Republican party was practically little more than a year old. The printing office was on Liberty street, "over the post office," wherever that was.

From the file of the Register, now in the State Historical Society's library, many items of early county history on the following pages have been obtained.

Sioux Annoy Settlers. The Sioux Indians of Shakopee's band did not remove with the other bands of the Lower Sioux to the reservation on the upper Minnesota when the emigration of 1853 was made pursuant to the Mendota treaty of 1851. They remained in the old village near the town which was named for their chief. They became at times a nuisance to many of the settlers of the surrounding country, They often came out on begging excursions, and though the white people were kindly disposed towards them, they too were poor and could spare but little of their slender stores to their indi-

On Saturday, August 15, 1857, ten Indians from Shakopee's village (according to the Glencoe Register) visited the Dr. E. Smith settlement, eight miles from Glencoe. They were very hungry, very dirty, and very insolent in their demands, They entered the house of Wm. Getchell, and after being expostulated with at their violent demands they began helping themselves to whatever pleased them. Mr. Getchell strenuously resisted them, took from them some articles they had Seized, and pushed them from the house and ordered them to leave and stay away. Thereupon they decamped, but seemed greatly dissatisfied. They continued to go from house to house, until a number of the settlers, armed with their hunting pieces, gathered and went hurriedly to where the Indians were arrayed. As the whites came forward the Indians showed fight. One of them advanced towards a young man named Nash and raised his gun as if to strike him with the breech end, Nash stood his ground, prepared to resist, and then the Indian cocked his gun and leveled it at him. A Mr. Marshall ran up, caught the gun and turned it aside, and then, denouncing the savage in proper terms, drove him and his eompanions away.

Earlier in the week three other Indians came through Glencoe, going westward. A few hours after they left, a Frenchman living on Martin Mcleod's claim, four miles east of the village, came in and reported that some Indians had stolen his double-barreled shotgun, $20.00 in money, and some other articles. A number of Glencoe citizens, armed and mounted, gave chase after the Indians and overtook them twelve miles away, where they were busy plundering a settler's cabin of clothing and provisions. The Indians were made prisoners, put into the wagon, and taken back to Glencoe. A number of articles stolen and seized from settlers were taken from them. One article was identified by the Frenchman, but neither his money nor his gun was found, and the Indians stoutly denied that they had taken them. They claimed that they had taken nothing but things they were greatly in need of and which the white men could well spare! Many of the citizens recognized the Indians as members of Shakopee's band, who had hunted about Glencoe the previous fall, when they had made no trouble, and at last it was concluded to release them, The Indians would not leave, however, without a pass and certificate that they were "good" Indians, for they feared that they might again be arrested and troubled by white men. So the whites gaye them a written pass, which read: "Let these Indians pass, but look out that they do not steal from you!"

Commenting on these incidents, Editor Baxter (in the Register of August 22) wrote: "Our oldest citizens apprehend and see no signs of serious trouble with the Indians. All remember that Fort Ridgely, with its garrison of four companies, is only 35 miles to the southwest, and the Indians will not be in a hurry to commit depredations in this vicinity. All the same we hope an Indian agent (Joseph R. Brown) will speedily attend to these red rascals who are making trouble."

Bad Roads in 1857. Reference has been made to the unfavorable condition of the pioneer roadways of this region. The roads in this county were especially bad in the spring and summer of 1857. The first road between Carver and Glencoe was an informal affair, and in the spring and summer of the year mentioned was hardly traversable for a loaded wagon. An imperfection in the preliminary proceedings for opening the road according to law prevented its building until late in the year. About September 1, Wm. Buck, the road supervisor, had a hundred men and teams on the ground ready ; to begin the improvement of the road, when it was learned that the survey and plat had not been recorded. As the existing road did not follow, in all respects, the newly surveyed one, it was not wise to do a lot of work that might be rejected and never used. So the would-be roadmakers had to go to their homes dissatisfied, disappointed, and desperate toward certain officials.

First Masonic Lodge. In August, 1857, Grand Master A. S. Pearson granted a dispensation for the first Masonic lodge in McLeod county, to be located at Glencoe and styled Glencoe Lodge U. D., (under dispensation). The first officers were John Harrington, of Hutchinson, Master; John H. Stevens and Clayborne Chandler, of Glencoe, Wardens. The other charter members were Dr. Chas. L. Davenport, James Egbert, Luther L. Baxter, Wm. R. Baxter, Wm. S. Chapman, Robt. EB. Grimshaw, Henry Jacobs, and Joseph W. Bates. The lodge was in full working order September 15,

Census Returns. In October (1857) the first census of the county was taken; John McLeod was the enumerator. In November the Register reported the entire county's population at "about 900, and, what is worse, a good part of this number are bachelors over 21." Glencoe had about one-half of the population. It was claimed that many legal residents were absent when the census was taken. "Many went East during the summer," said the Register, "and, in consequence of the hard times, cannot get back before next spring. Mr. McLeod informs us that over one-half of the claims he visited were unoccupied, the houses were locked up, the owners had left, and they would not be back until next spring."

The First Public Surveyed Road. The first regularly surveyed and constructed road in the county was completed about August 15, 1857. This was a road between Hutchinson and Glencoe. The survey was completed August 8, and the settlers along the line immediately went to work upon it. In a communication to the Register of August 15, County Surveyor D. Harrington reported upon this road, saying:

"Few roads in the Territory pass through a region containing as many natural advantages as this particular one, It is located on practically a direct line between the two places, and is less than 14 miles in length. Two miles from Glencoe it reaches the timber, which extends three miles, then on to the prairie near Hassan, or the south fork of the Crow river. From this point to Hutchinson, the road runs along the river across as fine a plain as can be found in the Northwest."

Polities in 1857. A Republican Territorial convention met at St. Paul September 9 of this year and nominated a full Territorial ticket headed by Alexander Ramsey, of St. Paul, for governor and John C. Ide, of Waseca, for lieutenant-governor. The Democratic gubernatorial candidates were Henry H. Sibley, of Dakota county, for governor, and William Holcombe, of Stillwater, for lieutenant-governor. The Sixth Judicial District Republicans met at St. Paul, September 10, and nominated Luther L. Baxter, of Glencoe, for judge and C. Burt, of Blue Earth, for district attorney; both the latter candidates were defeated at the polls at the election, October 13.

Under the legislative apportionment of 1855 Carver county, which then included what is now McLeod, was a part of the Eleventh Territorial Council District which was composed of West Hennepin, Carver, and Davis counties. The last named county was, at the instigation and through the influence of Henry M, Rice, named for his friend and intimate, Jeff Davis, of Mississippi. It comprised a large extent of country west and northwest of the present area of McLeod, but had very few inhabitants, if any. The legislature delegation of 1855 included nobody from this county. The legislature chosen this

The Territorial Legislature of 1857 met January 7 and adjourned March 7. No McLeod men were members. The first State Legislature was constituted and met before Minnesota was really admitted and acknowledged as a state, The members were chosen in May and the legislature met December 2, 1857, took a recess March 25, 1858, till June 2, and finally adjourned August 12. John H. Stevens was the representative from, McLeod county, and Elijah T. Mixer, of Henderson, represented the senatorial district composed of Sibley, Mc- Leod, and Renville counties,

Public Expenditures in 1856-57. In May, 1858, Wm. 8. Chapman, clerk of the board of county commissioners, reported that in 1856, the first year of its official existence, the public expenditures of McLeod county, as shown by the county orders issued, amounted to $210.93. The total tax list for that year was $627.28, but the delinquency was $130.28, and thus the total amount of taxes paid in 1856 was $497.00,

The amount of county expenditures in 1857 was $1,606.67, and therefore, May 1, 1858, the county was in debt $1,189.32, Of the expenditures the largest item in the aggregate was for roads, surveying, constructing, ete. Lewis Harrington received $247 for surveying the new highways. Sheriff CG, L. Snyder was paid at the rate of $1.50 a day for his attendance on the court and when he served by the day generally; for serving papers he received special fees - generally 25 cents per paper. The county's printing bill in 1857 was $55.14 and in addition Goodrich & Co., of St. Paul, were paid $80 for blank books.

The Old Pre-emption Law. In the early settlement of this county and of the unoccupied country comprising the west and the Great Northwest locations and settlements on the United States public lands were made by a process called pre-empting, and the claim to the land made under such a process was called a pre-emption. Under certain regulations and requirements, title passed in time, to the pre-emptor for the ownership of the land upon the payment of $1.25 per acre. The homestead jaw was not passed until in the early part of 1862, and this Jaw superseded the pre-emption plan.

There were a dozen requirements to pre-emption. The settler must have never been a pre-emptor before; he must not be the owner of more than 359 acres of land; he must settle on the land in good faith for his own use and benefit, and not for that of another or for speculation; he must be at least 21 years of age and a citizen of the United States, or if a foreigner he must have declared his intentions - subsequently he had to be a full citizen; he must build a house on his claim and make it his exclusive home, but he might board and lodge in another household; a married minor, and even a widow, might become a pre-emptor, by meeting the other requirements. In time, however, a foreigner could not be given a warranted title to his land unless he had taken out his "second papers" and become fully naturalized.

In the earliest settlement days McLeod county was within the Red Wing district - that is to say the land office for the district was located at the village of Red Wing, the county Seat of Goodhue county. Hon. W. W. Phelps, subsequently congressman, was the receiver of the office. In 1857 a land office was established at Henderson, Sibley county, with Christopher Graham as receiver and J. C. Dow as register. The fees for pre-empting were most reasonable. For filing a declaratory statement preliminary to a pre-emption the charge was $1; for a certificate of pre-emption, 50 cents.

Pioneer Towns and Villages. In 1856 a town was laid out on the south fork of Crow river, six miles north of Glencoe, and at first called McLeod; subsequently the name was changed to Koniska, by which it was ever after known. (The first spelling was Konisca.) There was a good water power at the village site, and in the spring of 1858 a Mr. Spencer built a dam across the river and erected a saw mill and grist mill, which enterprises were of great convenience and value to the pioneers, who had been accustomed to go to Carver, Chaska, and even to Minneapolis, for lumber and breadstufts,

About the first of January, 1859, the new mills of J udge L, L. Baxter, then of Carver, and A. B. White, then of Glencoe, were in operation. In noting the incident the Register said: "Messrs. Baxter and White deserve credit for the enterprising manner in which they have pushed this job along, in the face of the hard times. The water power at Koniska is destined to cause that place to grow up without the aid of friends."

Pioneer Roads in 1858. The Legislature of 1858 provided for several new state roads in McLeod county. Commissioners to lay out and establish them were appointed by a special act, and under its provisions John McLaurin McLeod, Michael Cummings, and E. Pregue were to locate, survey, and estab- lish a state road from Glencoe, via New Auburn and Eagle City, to New Ulm. R. H. Rose, J. F. Baldwin, F. J. Whitlock, and John H. Stevens were to lay out another road from Belle Plaine to Glencoe. John McL. McLeod, John Copeland, Dennis Doyle, and John Johnston were to establish another from Glencoe, via Henderson, St. Bridget, and Shieldsville, to Faribault. J. 8. Perry, John McL. McLeod, and Wm. Mills were to establish another from St. Paul, via Arlington and Glencoe, to St. Cloud, Lewis Harrington, J. E. Hinkley, and W. W. Pendergast another from Dayton, (Otter Tail county), via Greenwood, to Hutchinson. J. B, Hinkley, J. F. Powell, and James Phillips, another from Glencoe to Dayton, and James Phillips, Lewis Harrington and E. E. Paine another from Glencoe, via Hutchinson and Paynesville, to St. Cloud. In time all these roads were built, the expense of construction being borne by the counties through which they passed.

The Hard Times of 1857-58-59. The spring and summer of 1857 constituted a period of "flush times" in Minnesota Territory. Settlers came in rapidly and in great numbers. Many pre-emptions of government land were made and many farms and lands held in fee and under perfect title were sold to investors. Money was reasonably plentiful, prices of labor and materials were high, and everybody was prospering. The trouble was that the prevalent prosperity was abnormal, without proper justification and foundation.

In the midst of the "flush times," or in August of the year, came, as surprisingly as a blasting thunder-bolt from a cloudless sky, the news of a great financial disaster, unexpected as the fall of a mountain and destructive as a cataclysm. The Ohio Life and Trust Company, of Cincinnati and New York, had failed. This was a large financial institution, having business connections with nearly every Western business houge, and especially with a large number of Minnesota houses. The result was most disastrous to the young frontier territory. Nearly all of the banks in St. Paul and Minneapolis failed or suspended, and their correspondents in the country were badly hurt.

These financial disasters had a serious effeet upon McLeod county. The people were poor and struggling to relieve their condition. What little money they had was mostly in bills of the "free banks" of the country. These bills, although some of them were finely lithographed and of important appearance, were practically only demand promissory notes of banks throughout the West and the Northwest. The banks were nearly always weak, and their issues commonly at a discount; when, therefore, the great crash of 1857 came these same issues became mere scraps of paper. At that day $50 meant more to the average McLeod county farmer than $500 does now, and when, by the shrinkage in value, his money became worth but 50 per cent. of its face, it was virtually a disaster to him.

These bad financial conditions lasted through 1858-59, and up to 1860. Many settlers had borrowed money at two and three per cent, a month and given mortgages on their farms for security. Often the money borrowed had been 'wild cat'' or depreciated currency which he had agreed to repay in Specie or its equivalent. When the hard financial times came and his note fell due, the debtor found it impossible to raise the money to discharge it. Gold coin or its equivalent was so very scarce, and financial matters so disturbed, that he often was required to pay five per cent. a month for enough to discharge his debt and save his homestead.

Tn 1858 and 1859 notices of mortgage foreclosures and sales in McLeod county often covered an entire page of the Glencoe Register. The delinquent tax lists were also disproportionately large, The money sharks of Minneapolis reaped a rich harvest in the McLeod county field in 1858 and 1859,

"In consequence of the hard times the undersigned will hereafter charge only half price for surveying - say, $2.50 a day - and he will take for his pay produce of any kind or lumber, but will not object to cash, Those who wish to build line fences the coming spring will do well to have the work done now, February 26, 1859. L. G. Simons." mos James, of Glencoe, nine miles northwest of Glencoe. The Register said that Mr. James was engaged in his fall Plowing and the bison walked calmly up within a hundred yards and gazed contemplatively upon the scene, with the blow, the harnessed horses, Mr. James and his son, and the upturned sod. Mrs. James saw the big shaggy-headed anmals, and Speedily carried her husband's gun to him, Her appearance, and the sudden approach of two horses which came cantering up, frightened the buffaloes and they loped lumberingly away toward the Crow river and the Big Woods.

Mr. James and his son mounted their horses as soon as possible and pursued the bison across the south fork of the Crow and into the woods, but finally had to abandon the chase because their horses could not pass through the thick underbrush, Their only weapon was Mr. James's hunting rifle, which was of small caliber and not. at all formidable or adequate for a buffalo unless by a fortunate shot in the eye or the heart, so that the animals would have escaped serious harm in any event.

Some Events of 1859. At the beginning of the year 1859 Henry H. Sibley, of Mendota, Dakota county, was the Governor and William Holcombe, of Stillwater, the Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota. In McLeod county the county officers were: Lewis Branson, of Mankato, district judge; Andrew J. Snyder, of Glencoe, clerk of the district court; Thomas B. Chesley, of Hutchinson, county treasurer, with A. J, Snyder as deputy; A. B. White, of Rich Valley, county auditor; George Harris, of Glencoe, register of deeds; W. W. Rossman, of Rich Valley, sheriff, with Robert P. Clyde, of Glencoe, as deputy; Lewis Harrington, of Hutchinson, surveyor; and B. G. Lee, of Lee, judge of probate. The board of supervisors was composed of Lawrence Gillick, of Helen; George W. Taylor, of Glencoe; Jeremiah Nobles, of Penn; Lewis Harrington, of Hutchinson; B. G. Lee, of Lee; H. H. Hand, of Rich Valley, and John Lester, of Bergen. The board of supervisors had charge of certain county affairs, and was similar in some respects to the present board of county commissioners. Under the supervisors system every township had a member.

Later in 1859 the board consisted of Clayborne Chandler, of Helen; F', B. Dean, of Glencoe; Nobles, of Penn; Harrington, of Hutchinson; Lee, of Lee; A. S. Nobles, of Rich Valley; and Lester, of Bergen. The board of supervisors proved so large as to be unwieldly and difficult of management, and hence it was inefficient as a county government. In time it was changed to the county commissioner system which has served very well.

First Democratic County Convention. In McLeod county the first Democratic convention of which there is any printed record was held at Glencoe August 13, 1859. It was a "mass" convention without formally appointed delegates, and was called to choose one delegate to the state convention of the party which was to nominate candidates for the second set of state officers, including a governor. At that time Lawrence Gillick was chairman of the Democratic county committee, and the other members were R. P. Clyde, Claybourne Chandler, I. M. Larrabee, W. W. Rossman, and John H. Stevens. Mr. Stevens was then the editor of the Glencoe Register, of which his brother-in-law, Marshall Robinson, was the publisher, and the paper had decided Democratic leaning. The county meeting was duly held and Mr. Stevens chosen delegate to the state convention. That convention nominated a full state ticket, headed by George L. Becker, of St. Paul, for governor. It was defeated at the election in November by the Republican ticket headed by Alexander Ramsey, whose majority over Becker was 3,753.

The county convention referred to, unimportant as it certainly was in its character and influence, was made a pretentious affair. Clayborne Chandler was chairman and W. W. Rossman secretary. A committee composed of R. P. Clyde, P. W. Savage, and I. M. Larrabee reported resolutions reaffirming adhesion to "all the great principles of the National Democratic party"; favoring "a free grant of land to every actual settler, as advocated by our Democratic delegation in Congress; endorsing Governor Sibley's administration and the Congressional delegation; favoring Christopher Graham for Congress, and resolving:

"That the action of some of the principal Black Republican states, which sets the white foreign-born citizen below the hegro, is only a part of the programme of the Republicans of this state, when, through their members of the first state legislature, they opposed the appointment of an immigration agent because they said they did not want this state to be settled up with foreigners."

At this meeting the party in the county was thoroughly organized. Local committees were appointed in every town- Ship. The list contains the best party workers, who were also among the best citizens:

J. W. Bates was chosen the chairman of the county committee with an executive committee composed of R. P. Clyde, Amos James, I. M. Larrabee, and A. H. Jennison. Delegates to the Legislative District Convention at. Henderson were P. W. Savage, Amos James, R. P. Clyde, and W. W. Rossman.

The county canvass which ensued was the first in the county when party lines were drawn. September 17 there was a joint discussion in Graham's hall, at Glencoe, between Hon. Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, Republican, and Hon, Eugene M. Wilson, of Minneapolis, Democrat. Mr, Grow was a prominent member of Congress and had charge of the homestead bill in the House. He argued before the meeting that the Republicans were the especial friends of that bill, and that the original measure of the kind was introduced by Horace Greely, in 1847, when he was a member of Congress. In reply Mr, Wilson claimed that the Grow bill was not wanted in Minnesota, for it applied only to surveyed and graduated lands, such as those of Missouri and the swamp lands of Arkansas. Minnesota wanted a homestead law that would allow settlers to go upon unsurveyed lands such as composed the greater part of the state - a law like that introduced by Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, a Democrat, July 10, 1846, for which Alexander Ramsey, then in Congress, had voted. Other measures were discussed, but the homestead law received the greatest attention.

Stevens Reminiscences of Early Days in McLeod County. Col. Jno. H. Stevens, the delegate from McLeod county to the Democratic State convention of 1859, set out for St. Paul, August 15, At Carver, the next day, he took passage on the little steamer Antelope, and on board of that pretty and popular craft wrote a letter for the Glencoe Register, of which he was then the editor. The communication was printed in the issue of August 20, and was very reminiscent in its character, and compared conditions of 1855 with those of 1859, In part Col. Stevens wrote:

*" # * * We came down yesterday from Glencoe to Carver more comfortably than we expected, for there was no mud. Yet the roads were bumpy, and had there been any other driver than Capt. Louden we should have pronounced them fatiguing, * * * easily we made the first transit. There were in the party Martin McLeod, whose name our county afterwards took; Senator Vinton, of Maine; Isaac B, Edwards, of Minneapolis; Andrew Jackson Bell, who had just left his Virginia home; James H. Mayall, of St. Paul, and the present editor of this paper. We cut the road through and did not find a slough from where Carver now (1859) stands all the way to the Minnesota river at Traverse des Sioux.

"How beautiful the country looked before it had been profaned by the improvements of the white man! Instead of fields of golden wheat, there was an unbroken, beautiful wilderness, as pleasant as a May morning. What changes four short years make! Now there is hardly a vacant quarter section on the whole route that has not been appropriated to the benefit of the emigrant. Thus we go in the great Northwest.

"At the crossing of Buffalo river on yesterday we found Wiley's bridge. It was a most welcome edifice, homely as it is. We found on examination that it was not built for beauty, but for durability, It is very strong and well put together and one of the best structures of the kind we have seen in the state. The roads in Helen are not good at all; we found them worse in that town than on the whole distance to Carver. At Young America we saw ginseng sell for 20 cents a pound; we also saw the steam sawmills pouring forth any quantity of good hard wood lumber. Peace and plenty seemed to reign supreme in the Big Woods. The patient, honest, and enterprising German settlers sit in their cabins enjoying their pipes and looking over their rich crops with much satisfaction."

The First Bohemians. In October, 1859, the advance guard of Bohemian pioneers of Hale township came to the county. Col. Stevens made a jubilant announcement of the advent of these colonists in the Register of October 29. He wrote:

"Some 50 men, women, and children passed through Glencoe, in one gang, last Monday, bound for Hale, in this county. They came from Wisconsin here, but formerly from Bohemia, They brought ox and horse teams and had quite a drove of cattle. They are most welcome immigrants into our county."

Indians Became Nuisances. In the fall of 1859 the Sioux Indians from the Redwood or Lower Agency visited the county numerous small parties and considerable numbers. They famped along the streams or lakes and made sundry calls upon the settlers uniformly asking for articles of food, clothing, and any pretty trinket they saw. They committed no great depredations upon the persons or property of the citizens, but they were troublesome and caused annoyance and uneasiness among timid women. Col. Stevens said in the Register of them: "There is no reason why they should be here at all and we hope that some authority will contrive to keep them within the limits of their reservation."

Children Perish in a Fire. About November 1, 1859, a fire destroyed the house of a pioneer named Allen, who lived near McLeod county but immediately across the Carver line, five miles west of Watertown. Three of the children, the eldest; a boy of 10, were burned to death. Mr. and Mrs. Allen were not at the house when the fire broke out, but returned in time to hear the dying screams of their children. The incident caused a great but painful interest throughout the adjoining settlements and a woman died of heart disease while discussing the distressing details.

A Prisoner Embarrasses Authorities. About Christmas time, 1859, a man named Milton Coombs was convicted before a justice of the peace of breaking into W. L. Sumner's store, at Hutchinson and held to the grand jury, to be kept in jail until that body met. Sheriff Rossman did not know what to do with him. No district court or grand jury had ever met, or was likely to, and there was no jail in the county!

The sheriff found a room in the rear of Dean's store and improvised a jail room therein. Coombs said his cell was quite comfortable and he did not care how long they kept him there, as he understood that the citizens were caring for his family, and that it was to provide certain necessities for them which made him undertake the burglary. It was reported that the sheriff said to him on one occasion: "Coombs, you make me a lot of trouble; why don't you break out of this store as easily as you broke into Sumner's, and then leave the country?" But the prisoner said he could not leave his family in a destitute or dependent condition, and so long as he and they were well provided for he had no desire to be free. The law allowed that the sheriff of a county in which there was no jail might incarcerate a prisoner in the jail of another county; but the sheriffs of counties adjoining McLeod had agreed not to receive any prisoners unless his bond and lodging were paid in advance, Sheriff Rossman had no money of the county to pay Combs's board and the other counties would not take him on credit. So the sheriff made a piteous, but unavailing, appeal for help to let the prisoner go.

Register of January 12, 1861, the first marriage in the county was that of John H. Chubb and Evaline Bartley, of Hutchin- Son. The ceremony was performed by B. E. Messer, justice of the peace. The bride had long been an inmate of the household of Rev. C. G. Ames, of Minneapolis. She was a poetess of good ability, and was the author of "Thank God for Little Children," and other noted pieces. She died in Dresden, N. Y., November 30, 1860, at the age of 27.

1860 the official financial standing of McLeod county was not of the highest. Auditor A. B. White reported that the treasury showed an excess of liabilities over assets to the amount of $839.72. But of the assets there were the delinquent taxes of 1857 and 1858, which amounted to $2,978.35, and their real value was not easy of estimation, notwithstanding it was given as par. The amount of actual cash in the county treasury was $58.74. The total amount of liabilities was $3,876.76, and the So-called assets, including the delinquent taxes, and the $58.- 74 in cash, amounted to $3,087.09. The amount expended for schools in 1859 was less than $1,000. ; An Early Spring. The sap began to run in the sugar maples in the first week of March and the Minnesota river was clear of ice on the 10th. There was a great deal of sugar making in the Big Woods this month. Carver county people made several tons of sugar and hundreds of barrels of molasses. The Sugar sold for 7 cents a pound.

McLeod Military Matters. In 1858-59-60 this county, under the militia law of the state, was in the Nineteenth Regimental District, (composed of the counties of McLeod, eeker, and Wright), with James C. Dow, of Hutchinson, and Ulysses S. Willey as colonels, Stewart B. Garvie, of Lac qui Parle, as lieutenant colonel, and Capt. Henry Poehler, of Hutchinson, for chief quartermaster. It was in the Third Division which was composed of ten counties and of which Major Gen. Joseph R. Brown was commander. It was in the Sixth Brigade, with John H. Stevens, of McLeod, as brigadier Seneral ; his aides de camp were his brother-in-law, Marshall Robinson, and Captain J. R. Louden.

In 1861, there was a sort of reorganization of the militia of the state, consequent upon the outbreak of the war of the Secessionists of the South against the Federal Union. In August, 1861, Company D, of the Nineteenth Regiment, a Meeod organization, was organized for actual service and September 1 the officers were mustered into service at Glencoe.

A. H. Rouse was captain, Wm. K. Vickroy first lieutenant, Wm. H. Rossman, second lieutenant, and F. W. Getchell, third lieutenant. In all there were 76 officers and men in this company; later a majority of these entered Minnesota volunteer regiments and served during the Civil War.

Politics in 1860. The year 1860 was one of greatest moment in the affairs of the United States. It was a presidential year and the division in the Democratic party made the election of a Republican president a strong probability. Such an event, the Southerners said, would bring about the secession of their states from the Federal Union and their organization into another republic. These advocates of secession and disunion claimed that their "rights" in the matter of slavery had been already invaded by the anti-slavery forces of the country and would be further menaced by the election of a Republican president that did not believe in further extension of slavery.

The presidential campaign of the year cannot be discussed at length here. It must suffice to say that in McLeod county the Republicans were largely in the majority and carried every township for Lincoln and Hamlin over Stephen A. Doupglas of Illinois, Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, the candidates of the Northern or Union Democrats. The vote stood: Lincoln, 240; Douglas, 81, with not a single vote for John Bell, the Constitutional Union, and John C. Breckinidge, the Southern Rights Democrat candidate, In the state the vote was: For the highest Lincoln elector (Stephen Miller), 22,069; for the highest Douglas elector (C. C. Andrews), 11,920; for the leading Breckinidge elector (Pat Nash), 765; for the leading Bell elector (D. B. Loomis), 51, Lincoln's majority over Douglas, 11,149; over all 9,333 Total vote in the state, 34,805. At that time Minnesota was entitled to but two members of the lower house of Congress. Cyrus Aldrich and Wm. Windom, Republicans, were elected over John M, Gilman, of St. Paul, and James George, of Rochester, Democrats, by good majorities. George was a captain in the Mexican War and became colonel of the Second Minnesota in the Civil War.

In October there were political joint discussions at Glencoe and Hutchinson between Stephen Miller, Republican, and C. C. Andrews, Democrat, each a candidate for presidential elector.

Remarkable Mirage Display. In the latter part of December, 1860, and January 9, 1861, there were extraordinary mirage displays in McLeod county. They were plainly and even brightly visible at several places, and especially at Glencoe. The Register said that the January display was vividly shown about sunrise, Reflected against the clear, calm sky, so plainly and distinctly that they could have been readily photographed, scenes in the Minnesota valley, 35 miles away, in the Kandiyohi lake region, at the same distance, and in the Big Woods to the north and east were depicted absolutely natural and life-like. The many that saw these remarkable reflections never ceased to remember them with admiring wonder, The houses in Carver and Chaska and on scores of farms could be plainly made out, and altogether the spectacles were fairly astounding.

County Finances in 1860. County Auditor A. B. White reported that the amount of county orders issued for county Purposes, appropriations, etc., during 1860, or up to January 1, 1861, was $1,444.16, The excess of liabilities over assets was $839.72. The "assets" were the delinquent taxes of 1860, amounting to $2,745.32. Without good warrant and reason, this amount was rated as cash; perhaps one-fourth of it was hever collected. The amount due the school fund from the county on delinquent tax sales of 1857 and 1858, on orders issued to school districts, was $954.91. Truly the financial affairs of the county were, like those of its citizens, in a bad way. The amount paid on account of schools during 1860 - buildings, improvements, teacher's wages, ete. - was about $1,000,

Profitable Hunting and Trapping. The pioneers of McLeod county embraced every opportunity to earn honest pennies, and then did not succeed in securing a very large number. In the fall of 1860, three young bachelors, Axel H. Reed, S. D. Dammon, and Harrison Wilson, who owned and conducted farms near Glencoe, determined to go farther westward on the frontier and engage in hunting and trapping the ensuing Season. They went out four days' travel west of Glencoe and located their camp on the Chippewa. They did not begin operations until winter set in, but by the close of the trapping Season, the next spring, they had secured 320 mink, 37 otter,

80 fox, 12 raccoon, 700 muskrat, 2 wolf, and 6 badger skins. Other trappers were in the vicinity and altogether the catch of furs on the Chippewa that winter was 4,456 pelts, all taken within a strip 15 miles in length and three miles in width along the stream. Furs brought cash and a fair price, and the gains made by the McLeod trappers were quite substantial, and withal very helpful.

First Danes in 1867. The first party of settlers from the Danish kingdom arrived at Hutchinson early in July, 1867. They emigrated from the old country May 29 of that year in company with a larger party conducted by M. Cc. Pederson, now of West Denmark, Polk county, Wis, Mr. Pederson assisted this little party in the beginning at Hutchinson in their most important affairs, such as the buying of land and of building materials and of flour brought from Carver and costing $12 a barrel. Hard and risky were the beginnings of the colony, but he gave them the good advice, "Honor God and follow the highway and the Lord's blessing will follow your act and deed." The names of these first settlers were as follows: Hangs Christian Gravenslund, age 52, his wife, Marie, age 46 and their children, Jens Christian, 18, Christian Christian, 12, and Johannes, 7 years of age. Soren Nielsen, age 59, and wife, Anna Marie, age 49, and children, Mette Chatrine, 22, Jens Jacob, 12, Marquis Jacob, 10, and Hans Peter, age 7. Jens Christiansen Hansen Moller, age 24. Soren Christian Christiansen, age 39, and wife, Marie, age 32, and children, Anna Christine, 10, Christian Christian, 7, Soren Peter, 4, and younger children. Casper Hendrik Christian, age 39. The leader of this party, Mr. Pederson, now a hale and well preserved man of 95 years, visited Hutchinson in August, 1916, to consult with Attorney Sam J. Anderson, Jr., on legal business, and at Mr. Anderson's request wrote out the brief account of this early settlement given above,

Reminiscences by C. F. Hall. Perhaps no better description of pioneer days in McLeod county could be found than was contained in a letter written by CG. F, Hall, a fermer Glencoe boy, now deceased, which was published in the Glencoe Enterprise April 14, 1904, (re-printed from the Kansas City Implement Trade Journal), and which is here reproduced:

In the fall of 1866, then a boy of 13, I removed with my parents from an eastern city to Glencoe, the county seat of McLeod, located 51 miles west of Minneapolis as the stage went from the terminus of the St. Paul & Sioux City railroad opposite Carver in the Minnesota valley. Glencoe was the first settlement west of the Big Woods in that part of the state. It comprised about 30 buildings (exclusive of log stables), including two small general supply stores, a tin shop, a shoe shop, a joiner's shop, a whiskey shop and two churches. The tin shop was kept by Nicholas Hinman, who afterwards removed to Kansas and became the proud father-in-law of W. L. Day, the present assistant manager of the Parlin & Orendorff Co,'s Kansas City branch house. The Sioux Indian mas- Sacre had occurred only three years before, and McLeod county was the scene of depredations by Chief Little Crow's band. The huge oak gate-posts were still standing on a knoll in the outskirts of the settlement as a reminder that a stockade had once occupied the site. 'Fort Skedaddle" it had been named, as, doubtless, every man, woman and child who had ventured into that part of the wilderness "skedaddled" to it on the outbreak of hostilities. United States troops were quartered in Glencoe for some time before the Indians were driven out of the country, and a huge but flimsily constructed building, which had been known as Bates's tavern, remained as one of the reminders of their brief sojourn. During the winter of 1866-67, Chief Hole-in-the-Day and his band of "good" Indians were encamped in the timber about four miles south of the settlement. To a boy fresh from an eastern city the sight of even those tame and harmless redskins, after the bloodcurdling stories he had heard about the massacre, was terrifying, and it was a long time after the band had left the country before I dared venture far into the woods.

Hutchinson was located in the northwestern part of the county, about 16 miles from Glencoe. It used to seem the longest 16 miles outside of Ireland, for it often took nearly an entire day to make the journey.

At the time of which I write Hutchinson was even a smaller Settlement than Glencoe, but it could boast a water power and @ grist and saw mill, and was inclined to look with disdain on its successful rival for the county seat. I well remember the first time I compassed those sixteen "Irish" miles between Glencoe and Hutchinson.

The early extension of the Hastings and Dakota branch of the C. M. & St, P. railroad through the Big Woods and McLeod county, brought with it a rush of settlers; the rich lands around Hutchinson were rapidly taken up and turned into farms, and soon the family had many neighbors. Then dawned 4n era of developments, which continued for many years, making McLeod one of the most prosperous counties in the state.

Tn 1866 the few families who had attempted farming (trapping and hunting had previously been the chief occupations) were using the cradle to harvest their grain and the flail to thresh out beans. There was one old-style and weather-worn threshing machine in Glencoe brought there when and by whom I know not, but I fancy it made its appearance during the stay of the soldiers. For awhile there was not much work for it to do, but when the Scandinavians, Germans and Bohemians, those hardy conquerors of the wilderness, began to pour into the country and rip up the soil and sow fife wheat, the threshing and threshing machine business became lively; so did also the implement and reaper business, The first reaper I learned much about was a Clough. I "kept up my station" behind it through a number of harvests on my father's farm, The McCormick and Deering were, of course, early in evidence, but we came to their advantages later. We did not think much of the Clough, A Champion mower was one of the prize acquisitions. With it 1 cut many an acre of prairie grass, not always heeding the injunctions of our neighbors to "keep away from the wire grass when cutting around sloughs, as it was bad stuff for the cattle to get in their throats." I used to wonder what object nature had in producing so much of that beautiful wire grass, and it was not until I saw the twine, matting, rugs and chairs manufactured by the American Grass Twine Company, of St. Paul, a few years ago that my curiosity on that point was satisfied,

The implement and machinery trade began to assume proportions in McLeod county in the early centuries and a good deal of money was made by those first in the field. The goods commanded much higher prices in those days than now, and netted larger profits to agents. Along about 1878 or 1879, I think it was, Will Sivright, who had reached sturdy manhood's estate, was attracted by the opportunities which the business presented and he engaged in the sale of implements in Hutchinson, continuing until the present day. The field was much larger when he began than it is now, for the new towns that sprang up along the railroad in the course of time acquired implement agencies, and competition became rife. The firm of E. A, Child & Co.,, one of the oldest in the business in Glencoe, closed out about three years ago and removed to Spokane, Washington, (where now, by the way, the members are flourishing under the style of Child Bros. & Day, the largest implement house in eastern Washington). I presume there is now a sufficient number of implement firms in MeLeod county to make a very respectable local association for the prevention of price cutting. It would be a remarkable exception if the heed of getting together for mutual protection were not as great there as in any other part of the country; it certainly used to be.

How vividly those flitting early scenes come flashing upon the memory still! The broad expanse of prairie stretching away toward sunset from the Big Woods, dotted with cottonwood groves and swales wherein the muskrats raise their mossy houses; lakes swarming with wild geese, ducks and brant, with the gaunt blue herons posing majestically in the rushes, and the thunder-pumping "skypokes" sneaking along the grassy shores; streams alive with big-scaled buffalo, redhorse, pickerel and pike; myriads of prairie chickens on the undulating plain, and the woods full of deer, partridges and rabbits, with an occasional bear and lynx to stir the ambition of hunters; great clouds of wild pigeons (where have they all disappeared to?), sandhill cranes dancing cotillions and holding high carnival safe beyond the range of the farthest reaching gun charges; no let or hindrance to the rover; chocolatehued roads as hard and smooth as asphalt in dry weather, but slippery as grease in wet; big herds of cattle grazing in the prairie "draws"; driving home the village cows at nightfall in single file along their own hoof-cut paths, the procession often being interrupted at the slaughter ground by their stop- Ping to sniff the blood of their departed relatives and bellow and paw dirt; arrival of the tri-weekly in the evening and bopulace flocking to the postoflice for their mail; solons of the village grouped in the little stores, airing their views on politics or religion, or reeling yarns about frontier life and the hard times before the war; good old fashioned church services by good old fashioned preachers; quarterly meetings of the Methodists, mourning bench full, perennial back-sliders on hand for the periodical "wash," and presiding elder begging the Lord to be easy on 'em; great Fourth of July celebrations, anvils thundering, drums beating and fifes shrieking till the

Speakin" commences in spacious bowers constructed of popple boughs by many eager hands; awe-inspiring court scenes, 'hoss thieves" on trial before juries with minds made up to Convict ere cases are begun, lawyers slandering and throwing books at each other, judge looking as wise as a rabbit and Squirting great gobs of tobacco juice at the sand box under the stove; sad scenes, coffins on draped spring or farm wagons, followed by a few other similar vehicles for the mourners and the women folks, and a train of solemn citizens afoot, moving slowly toward the treeless little burying ground that is guarded only by the angels; winter scenes, six months of "tightness" with the mercury ranging between 30 and 40 degrees below zero, smoke going straight up from the chimneys and Thirages frescoeing the horizon; only wood to burn in thin Sheet-iron stoves that have to be fed constantly to keep the babies from freezing; snow three feet deep on the level and packed so hard in the sled tracks that the ridges still linger "o mark the roadway long after the prairie is bare in the spring; close times and little to eat save coarse bread, canned goods and deer meat, varied occasionally with fish speared through the ice in the Buffalo and Crow rivers, all the same everybody cheerful and looking for better days; little clapboard log schoolhouses on the hill, with great' cumbersome desks painted red, and scholars dividing time between their books and speculation as to which of her several beaux the buxom school mistress will marry; old settlers' meetings, with the Hutchinson family present and inspiring everybody with their sweet melodies and enthusiasm - "We've Come Down from the Mountains of the Old Granite State!"; singing school 50 cents a week, conducted by a fellow citizen badly in need of money; "grand" Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year balls at the schoolhouse or hotel, and dancing till "sunup" to the music of a pair of fiddles in the tireless hands of musicians who need no notes - (Ah, Andy Applin, I see you now, with your head thrown back, your eyes closed and your long arm sawing out the enchanting strains of such parts as you know of the Blue Danube waltzes while your big right foot thumps out the time); meetings of lyceum, where such momentous questions as "Resolved that there is more pleasure in pursuit than in realization" are gravely discussed; church socials where palates are tickled with cove oysters and ice-cream and cake that only our mothers know how to make, while the soul-tried shepherd in clothes of antebellum vintage moves hospitably about with face beaming in anticipation of the good things the meager proceeds may purchase for his numerous and needy family; glorious moonlight and sleighing parties on the occasion of house warmings. miles away on the prairie or in the woods, "fellers" and their sweethearts snugly tucked together under warm buffalo robes in sled-boxes bedded with straw (where are the loves of yesterday?). How sweet memories crowd upon each other.

of hammer and saw becomes perpetual music; new people come flocking in and new houses and stores rise and form Streets, giving the scattered settlement the appearance of a town; the spirit of progress pervades the air, and civilization advances to claim its own, Boyhood blends into youth and then meets the stern realities of life in a maturity that must perforce dispel romance. But "age remembers," and - say, William, wouldn't you give up all your political honors and a whole lot more for the privilege of living over again those glorious old days?

McKinzie's Experiences. John H. McKinzie was born at Hoag's Hollow, near Montreal, Canada, June 12, 1831, de- Scended from sturdy Scotch ancestry. His father, having taken part in the Canadian rebellion, was compelled to flee to the United States in 1841, followed by his family. For awhile they farmed in Du Page county, Illinois, and then moved to Ogle county in the same state. At the age of fifteen, young John ran away from home, and secured work in Du Page county. After a while, however, he returned home. In 1850 he came to Minnesota with John Stevens, a pioneer party, making the trip overland through Wisconsin. After the party was located he went to the Itasca region, and hired out to Thomas Holmes, an Indian trader. Later he secured a license as an Indian trader on his own responsibility and built a house on what is now Eden Prairie, in Hennepin county, this state, not far from Shakopee. In 1855 he went back to Illinois, and married Mary Jane Trumble. About this time he lost all his possessions, including some 1214 town lots in Minnesota. That fall he returned to Minnesota. Regarding his experiences here, Mr. McKinzie writes; 'About the middle of June, 1856, L took two yoke of oxen and a wagon, and my two brothers, William and Robert, and drove from Lake Minnetonka to Hutchingon, over the same roundabout road I had passed earlier in the Spring. We drove into Hutchinson and camped. Several log cabins then constituted the village. We went out east of town, took a claim, made hay and prepared for the winter. This done, I went back to Illinois and brought my family to Hutchinson. I moved into a house in Hutchinson, which stood on the north side of the river; it was built of popple logs, contained two rooms, and was shingled with clap-boards. The house had been built by Uncle Hook, a daring old pioneer, for whom Lake Hook, four miles north of Hutchinson, was afterwards named. The following winter my family occupied one end of this house, while the other end was occupied by

Timothy Harrison Pendergast and his cousin Solomon Pendergast. That winter was a bitter cold winter, and many interesting incidents broke the monotony of our lives. Solomon Pendergast trapped and caught wolves in sight of the house that winter. Solomon Pendergast followed trapping animals of all kinds. That winter he taught James A. McKinzie, my younger brother, how to trap otter, and the next spring my brother trapped one, in Crow river, about three hundred feet down the river from where the grist mill now stands. It would be useless for me to try to tell how many muskrats and minks, wolves and other game Solomon Pendergast caught in Hutchinson and in Crow river, both above and below the villages, and in Lake Hook, and in Lake Todd and Otter lake, north of Hutchinson, about two miles. Here Pitt Shattuck, my brother-in-law, and I killed a fine black bear, that had denned up for the winter, within eighty rods of my house.

"At that time the country was celebrated for its great quantities of wild game. The fur bearing game consisted of otter, mink, muskrat, sable, fox, wolf and fisher, and many other kind which I will not stop to recall at this time. Around all the lakes were well-beaten paths, made by the deer, moose, and other game, and around these same lakes, ducks, geese, brants, and swans and other water fowls built their nests and reared their young. All of these lakes and streams abounded with large fresh water fish, among which were the buffalo, sheephead, bass and perch, sometimes called lake trout. In the spring of 1857, the boys in Hutchinson built a fish dam across Crow river and caught great quantities of large fish - some of the buffalo fish weighing over 100 pounds. During the winter of 1856 and 1857, the few settlers of Hutchinson spent their time hauling butternut, basswood, oak and elm, to the Hutchinson saw mill. Among the people employed in the lumber business was Jack Deeder, the sawyer, who never failed to call the attention of people to his fine straight work and advised them to build frame houses instead of log. Levi Chesley was among our celebrated log haulers that winter, and his brothers, Tom and Jim Chesley, managed the business about home. I do not recall the name of ali of our Hutchinson people at that time, but I do remember that Uncle Putnam, from Ohio, was our blacksmith, and John Chub occupied a claim just south of town. Newcomers kept dropping in from time to time and it would be very difficult for me to tell just who came first.

means, and many were the hardships that we were called upon to endure, but as there is more to be enjoyed in pursuing an object than there is in possessing, everybody winked at the hardships and looked forward to the glorious future and saw through their pathetic eye what the people of McLeod county are now enjoying. The next spring after I came to Hutchinson the Germans commenced a settlement. A Mr. Paegle, a German, took a claim and settled about two miles northwest of Hutchinson. This was the commencement of the German settlement and the Fallons commenced an Trish settlement about two miles north of Hutchinson. A Bohemian settlement was started east of Hutchinson. Claims were taken around Hutchinson very rapidly. McLeod had already another fine settlement about 16 miles south of Hutchinson. This settlement was commenced by Martin McLeod, a Scotchman, and this settlement was called Glencoe. For years after this time these two settlements struggled and strove in an endeavor to be the center of attraction. The Germans proved to be an industrious and thrifty farming people and it was not long until they owned large farms and fine herds of cattle. The Irish settlement also proved to be very industrious, but they did not grow as fast as the Germans. The Bohemian settlement was also an honor to the country. The many incidents that occurred in this part of the country for the next few years would be very interesting to put into history for the benefit of those who now occupy the country. The Fallons had two Patricks in their family; this caused confusion in getting their mail. One of them made complaint to Lewis Harrington, the postmaster, who at once suggested that he take another letter into his name; Mr. Fallon replied, 'Don't you think "O" would be a D - - 4d good letter 7? As he walked away from the postoffice he turned around and said to the postmaster, 'Mr. Harrington, you will always remember the "O." and from that time on this Fallon was known as Patrick O'Fallon, and all of his children went by the name of O'Fallon instead of Fallon. Patrick O'Fallon's son, Jimmy, went by the name of O'Fallon; and there has come to be a large family of O'Fallons.

"Among the many newcomers who took claims northwest of Hutchinson, I recall the name of Billy Gosnald, Ben Fenn, Sam Fernal, Johnny Boyle, W. P. Shaddock, William Ross, Edwin Ross, Ben Ross, Chas. Ross and William H. Ensign. Jno. Benjamin took a claim just east of my claim and proved to be a good neighbor. There was an old Irishman by the name of

Mike who took a claim a mile north of John Benjamin. He had a very trying experience with a bear. One Sunday while Mike was laying in bed he heard a bear on the roof of his shanty. The roof was covered with bark. He looked up the chimney. A young bear looked down into his face and gave a snort, and made off to the woods at a high rate of speed. Mike dashed out of the door and made a bee-line for the home of John Benjamin. Mr. Benjamin saw that Mike was very much excited and he said, 'Mike, what in the world is the matter?' As soon as Mike could get his breath he told his strange experience with the bear, to which Benjamin replied, 'Mike, I am surprised that a man with your courage should become frightened at a bear.' Mike began to look ashamed and as he rubbed the moisture from his face he replied, 'Mr. Benjamin, I know that I am a man with great courage, but this takes it all out of me'

"Rudolph Burgis Roder settled on Lake Jennie. The family showed great perseverance and endurance and when other game was scarce they were known to live on fish alone. Mr. Roder afterward enlisted in the Civil War and was distinguished for his bravery, He went into the army as a private but soon after going into active service he was raised to the rank of captain, which position he held with honor until the close of the war. There are many more of the early settlers whose names I can't recall. I shall try to recall what I know about the Pendergast family, which emigrated from New Hampshire to Minnesota, and settled in Hutchinson, and were largely interested in the townsite. This family consisted of Uncle Solomon Pendergast, and his many sons and daughters, all of whom had possessed unusual advantages for education. They were the founders of the great school system of Hutchinson. Solomon Pendergast, the father, settled on Lake Hook, and his home was noted as the center of attraction, on the lake. He, his wife and youngest daughter, Miss Lydia, and his youngest son, Morrison, occupied the home at Lake Hook, while the rest of the family seemed to cast their lot in Hutchinson. His eldest son, W. W. Pendergast, was the founder of the first school house erected in Hutchinson, Of course, he was assisted very little by the rest of us poor settlers, who were limited in our means. In the year of 1862, when the Dakota, or Sioux Indians broke out, and made war with the whites, this school house was among the buildings burned. This ineident only fired up the spirit of W. W. Pendergast and the rest of the Pendergast family. To W. W. Pendergast be-

"Now that Prof. Pendergast sleeps in the cemetery at Hutchinson among the many other pioneers, who have gone before, the mighty stream of scholars that went out from his school are making a mark in the business world. A few days ago a stranger met me in Tulsa, Okla., and said, 'Is your name Mc- Kinzie?' I replied, 'It is.' To which he replied, 'Dug. Record, a merchant in Kansas, told me to call upon you and remind you that he was one of W. W. Pendergast's scholars.' I replied, 'Is he worth anything?' He answered, "He is not worth less than $50,000, and is noted for his business capacity, and particularly for his fine penmanship.' This incident recalled to my mind W. W. Pendergast and his fine scholarship. Some years ago when | was traveling through Dakota, I stepped into a store and seeing the clerk write a beautiful hand, I took occasion to compliment his writing and said, 'This looks like the writing of W. W. Pendergast,' to which he replied, 'I am one of his scholars and I have never had any other teacher.' n

In 1861, MeKinzie moved to the Red River valley and located on the St. Paul-Breckenridge stage route. At the outbreak of the Indian Massacre he became a scout in the Red river valley with headquarters at Georgetown, some 65 miles from Breckenridge. When the Indians became too troublesome the people of Georgetown took refuge in the Selkirk settlement. For a while he was an Indian trader, but later entered the secret service of the United States. In 1863. he won fame for kidnaping Medicine Bottle and Little Six, two Indians who had taken a prominent part in the Massacre, and bringing them across the line into the United States and delivering them to Major Hatch at Pembina. He was assisted in his daring feat by D. L. Kingsley and George Guiers. This feat ruined his business in Canada, and he returned to Hutchinson. He lived here for many years. In 1890 he moved to Blue Jacket, Oklahoma, where he now resides.

Mr, McKinzie has written an autobiography which is thrilling with human interest, and which will doubtless sometime be published in full. This valuable manuscript is filled with thrilling incidents of pioneer life, and presents a true picture of Minnesota as it was in the early days. The story of the capture of Shakopee and Medicine Bottle is a valuable historical document. It is a matter of regret that the incident described happened far from McLeod county, thus making the publication of the manuscript beyond the scope of this work.