Mower County, Minnesota - Natural Phenomena, 1911

Natural Phenomena

Situated iu the southeastern portion of that rolling sweep of country known as southern Minnesota, is a pro.sperous county that has taken its name from John E. Mower, an early member of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature.

A rolling prairie, interspersed with natural and domestic groves, beautified by meandering streams, and surfaced with rich, deep soil, the county has advantages which have placed it in the foremost ranks of Minnesota's agricultural and grazing districts. The elevation of this stretch of land above the sea, its fine drainage and the dryness of the atmosphere, give it a climate of unusual salubrity and pleasantness. Its latitude gives it correspondingly longer days in summer, and during the growing seasons about one and a half hours more of sunshine than in the latitude of St. Louis. This taken in connection with the abundant rainfall in early autumn, accounts for the rapid and vigorous growth of crops in this vicinity and their early maturity. The refreshing breezes and cool nights in summer prevent the debilitating effect of heat so often felt in lower latitudes. The winter climate is also one of the attractive features. Its iiniformity and its dryness, together with the bright sunshine and the electrical condition of the air, all tend to enhance the personal comfort of the resident, and to make outdoor life and labor a pleasure.

Embracing as the county does, so pleasing a prospeet to the eye, and so fruitful a field for successful endeavor, it is natural that the people who from the earliest days were attracted here, should be the possessors of steady virtues, ready to toil and to sacrifice, that their labors might be crowned witli the fruits of prosperity and happiness. The cities and villages of tlie county have had their part in the general commercial upbuilding of the state, and furnish excellent trading and shipping facilities for the rural districts. In these centers, manufacturing is carried on to a greater or less extent ; the milling business is naturally important ; and the dairy and creamery interests are paramount.

The rural districts are the scene of peace, prosperity and contentment. The homes are substantially built, and furnished with the comforts and conveniences of modern life, stock is humanely housed and well pastured, the farm land is extensively tilled and productive, and the churches and schools Avhich are seen on every side testify to an interest in the higher things of life by a law-abiding, progressive and loyal people.

Tt is indeed in its men and women, rather than in its grains and vegetables, its live stock and fruit, its factories and commerce that Mower county takes its greatest pride. From her farms, from her cities, and from her villages, have gone out those who have taken an important part in the activities of the world, and who whether in commerce or diplomacy, in the professions or in the trades, have maintained that steadfastness of purpose and staunchness of character that mark true Mower county men and women wherever they may be found.

Usually blessed by nature with deep soil and abundant natiiral resources, and endowed with a wealth of prehistoric and historic lore, the county is a fitting home for the sturdy people who have here made their dwelling place. Hard-working, progressive, educated and prosperous, they have appreciated the gifts which nature has spread for them, and have added their own toil, and the fruit of their intellects, to the work of the elements, making the country one of the beautiful spots of the earth. On the slopes of land graze cattle and sheep, while the level lands respond to the eiiorts of the spring-time sower and planter with a Avealth of harvest in the summer and autumn. On nearly every quarter section is reared a comfortable home and commodious barns, while from the crest of every swell of land are visible the churches and schools wherein the people worship the Giver of all Gifts, and educate their children. Thus blessed by God and beloved by man, the county today stands for all that is ideal in American life and is forging ahead to still wider influence and more extended opportunity.

Location and Area. The county of Mower lies in the southeastern portion of I\Iinnesota, only two counties separating it from the Mississippi river, while it forms one of the southern tier of counties. The county is bounded on the north by Dodge and Olmsted counties; on the east by Fillmore county, the west by Freeborn county; and on the south by the state of Iowa. The county comprises an area of about 453,120 acres, or 708 square miles. It includes congressional townships 101, 102, 103 and 104, north, ranges 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 west of the Fifth principal meridian, except sections 1 to 6, in township 104, ranges 34 and 15, which were cut oft* and annexed to Olmsted county, ]\Iay 22, 1857. This territory is organized into the following civil townships: Udolpho, AValtham, Sargeant, Pleasant Valley, Racine, Frankford, Grand Meadow, Dexter, Red Rock, Lansing, Austin, Windom, Marshall, Clayton, Bennington, LeRoy, Lodi, Adams, Nevada and Lyle.

Surface and Topography, The general surface features of Mower county can more accurately and more readily be seen by a glance at the description of the various townships, than can possibly be given in a general chapter. The surface of the county is somewhat diversified; yet the whole is gently undulating. Nowhere within the limits of the county does the surface approach the character properly called hilly, but maintains throughout its general smoothness, and susceptibility of cultivation. The situation is necessarily healthful and free from malaria. The cold springs of crystal water that burst through the surface of the soil, feed the numerous streams that flow in every direction from the borders. The elevation is an effectual and perpetual injunction against the inroads of fevers of any kind. The Red Cedar river iu the western tier of townships, receives the waters of Rose, Dobbins' and Turtle creeks from the east and flows soutlnvard into Iowa. The little Cedar river is in the south central part of the county, and further south, in Iowa, joins with the Red Cedar river to form the Cedar river, which stream in turn joins the Iowa river and thus reaches the Mississippi. The Wapsipinicon river, Avhich rises in the south central part of the county, flows through Iowa to the Mississippi. A branch of the upper Iowa rises in the southeastern part of the county. In the northeast and eastern part of the county, are many tributaries of the Root river, which river flowing northeast and east reaches the Mississippi river. The county has also several small creeks, and a number of springs.

As an agricultural and stock raising region Mower county is not excelled by any county in the state. The soil is A'ery productive; being a rich, dark sandy loam, well adapted to all cereals common to this latitude. It is also excellently adapted to the production of cultivated and indigenous grasses, and the raising of stock, both common and blooded, attracts the general attention of the intelligent class of farmers who have located here. Timber is found in considerable quantities along the banks of the water courses and distributed in beautiful groves, botli natural and domestic, all over the county. The general varieties of timber are oak, maple, ash, hickory, walnut, basswood, elm. cottonwood, poplar, etc. Four nuts grow here - hickoi'v nuts, walnut;'.

From the Geological and Natural History Survey of ]\Iinnesota from 1872 to 1882, as compiled by Prof. N. H. Winchell, assisted by Warren Upham, Ph. D., we make several extracts of that portion relating to Mower county :

The soil of IMower county is everywhere dependent on the nature of the drift. The underlying rock has affected it only so far as it may have mingled with the general mass. It is hence primarily a gravelly clay, that being the character of the subsoil throughout the county. This gravelly clay, however, is not prominently displayed as the immediate soil of the surface. Indeed, the farmer in plowing rarely penetrates to it. It lies below a rich loam usually at depths varying from zero to two or three feet, or even more. The surface soil itself, which has resulted from it through the agency of the forces of the atmosphere and of vegetation, is of a dark color, and in general may be designated as clayey loam, or a sandy loam, depending on the nature and completeness of the local drainage. In low grounds this loam is thick and of dark color. It is also apt to be more clayey in low ground than it is on the hillsides or slopes ad.joining, and on high hills or steep slopes it is thin or wanting, the wash of the surface having carried it into valleys. Along the streams it often consists of an arenaceous loam variously mingled witli the detritus of the flood-plain.

The soil of the county is everywhere characterized by the strength and fertility that the drift soils of the Northwest are noted for. They are the most reliable soils for all the purposes of the farmer that are known. The states that are regularly and deeply l)uried in drift deposits are known as the best farming states of the Union. Certain rock soils, endowed with special qualities, may excel in tlie production of certain crops, especially ill rjixorablc seasons, luit for general tillage they cannot com- ])c1(' Willi llic lioiiioiicncous drift soils, througli which are disscmii);i1 cd llic <;(i(i(l (|iiali1i('s ol' tli(> various rocks concerned in their production, in llic |)roi)oi1i()iis that make stability and diversity c(]ually ccrliiiii.

A detailed account of the geologic features of Mower county may be found in the published reports of the "Geological and Natural History Survey of ]\Iinnesota, " to which reference has already been made.

Material Resources. With tlie exception of the central high prairie portion of Mower county, it is tolerably well supplied with wood for common fuel. On the prairies referred to wood is rare. Along the valleys of the streams in the eastern and western portions of the county the first settlements took place. The principal natural wealth of the county lies in its soil and its agricultural adaptations. The people are generally farmers. The growth of the county in all respects will be primarily dependent on, and co-ordinate with, the settlement of the farming lands, and their protitable tillage. Quarrying is carried on to some degree, lime is burned, cement is made, and from the early days brick have been manufactured in the county. At the present time brick and tile making in Austin is a most important industry. Many wells have been sunk in the soil of the county and the water thus obtained is uniformly excellent.

Chapter The Original Inhabitants

Primeval Solitude - Origin of Human Life in Minnesota - The Lowland Mound Builders - The Highland Mound Builders - Mower County a Hunting Place for the Indians.

From the first existence of the earth to the time of the coming of man many aeons passed, and after countless ages this locality awaited human habitation. Primeval nature reigned in all het beauty.

"The buffalo, the elk, and the deer, for centuries roamed the wild prairies and woodlands; fishes basked undisturbed in its rippling streams; the muskrat, the otter, and the mink gamboled upon the ice in winter with no man to molest them. Ducks, geese, and other aquatic fowls, in countless numbers, covered the streams in summer, and chattered and squawked and frolicked in all their native glory and liappiness. The prairie wolves howled upon their little hillocks, and, cowardlike, were always ready to attack and destroy the weak and defenseless. Pocket gophers went on with their interminable underground op<'rations, all unconscious of the inroads later to be made upon their dominions by the husbandman. Grouse and prairie chickens cackled, crowed and strutted in all their pride. Blizzards and cyclones swept unheeded across its domains.

"The autumnal prairie fires, in all their terrible grandeur and weird beauty, lighted the heavens by night and clouded the sun by day. Age after age added richness to the soil and prepared it to be one of the most productive fields of the Avorld for the abode of the husbandman and for the uses of civilized man."

At some period of the earth's history, mankind in some form took up its abode in the area that is now Mower county. The origin of human life in Minnesota has been made a subject of special study by Dr. Warren Upham, secretary of the Minnesota Historical Society, and the thoughtful student is referred to his various articles on the subject; a detailed discussion being beyond the scope of this work.

It is possible that this region may have been occupied by primitive man in glacial, inter-glacial and pre-glacial times. Prof. Edward W. Schmidt, the distinguished INIinnesota archreologist, has investigated the mounds lying in the lowlands and on the prairies of Minnesota and Iowa, and it is possible that a new chapter will soon be added to the world's knowledge of prehistoric life in this region.

There are some of these lowland mounds, so called, on the road between Austin and Faribault, and many on the prairies between Grand IMeadow and Le Eoy. The name lowland mounds is given to distinguish this class of mound from the highland mounds, so well known on eminences along the Mississippi and its larger tributaries.

The mounds between Grand Meadow and Le Roy have thus far l)een the subject of little more than superficial notice, but Vv'ill be investigated more thoroughly at a later date. They are first seen surrounding a marsh about a quarter of a mile across, about two miles and a quarter south of Grand Meadow. About twenty are here visible, rising each about two feet above the surface. Farther south they increase in number, extending three or more miles toward the south and southwest. Probably 500 could be counted, some being five feet high. They are scattered promiscuously over the upper prairie. The surface has the appearance of having been poorly drained formerly, and was perhaps covered with shallow water till late in the summer season. It is thought that they occur where the ground is wet and tlie clay near the surface. Yet south of the region designated they do not exist, thoiigh there is no apparent diflt'erence in the prairie. Tlie material of which they consist is the ordinary loam of tlie surface soil. Several of them have been removed, when near tlie higliway, and the material hauled into the street for grading.

In regard to these lowland mounds, Professor Schmidt has said: "These mounds are undoubtedly of the kind I have boon studying. They are a conundrum. After examining so many similar mounds in many different places, and in view of the fact that so far there is no positive evidence at hand to tell us how these mounds came to be, it is perfectly proper to ask : How are these mounds made? Are they geological features of the country? If so, let the geologist explain them. Or have they been formed by plants or animals? If so, let the biologist explain them. If, for example, animals have made them, either by their OAvn efforts or by the help of natural agencies, then it may be that many of the highland knolls which are now counted and mapped as Indian mounds may prove to be of a similar origin.

"A prolonged observation of these mounds in the various localities where they occur seems to justify this conclusion that by far the greater number, if not all of them, are Indian mounds. These mounds are either artificial or else they are not artificial. Either view has its difficulties in our present state of knowledge.

"The following are some of the reasons which point to an artificial origin: The mounds are invariably sound and are made of the same kind of soil as occurs on the land on which they are situated. Some people call them gopher hills, or anthills, or remnants of haystacks, or swells in the land marking the site of a buried boulder. As regards the view that the mounds are the remains of haystacks, we may say that haystacks leave no residual soil of this kind when hay is left to rot. The mounds are often located where hay was never stacked, for example, in woods. On one tract of land that was being cleared of its timber some of the mounds located in the woods had trees growing on them. Nor do haystacks leave remains of soil with sand, gravel and pebbles in them. Nor do they occur in woods with old trees growing on them. Some of the mounds occur in places where, at least for a part of the year, it is very wet, where no farmer would stack hay, nor any gopher burrow, nor ants build their homes. It is true that ants are to be found in the lowlands, but the structures reared to mark the sites of their nest are never in these localities more than a fcAV inches over a foot in height. The width of the antliills is about one foot, and the flat truncated top usually slants in a southerly direction, facing the sun. Very likely such frail structures would, when deserted, disappear in a short time under the attack of the elements. In no instance were ants found living in the mounds.

plained by the fact that gophers occasionally burrow in mounds. Immediately the inference is drawn that the gophers built the whole mound. Closer observation shows that wherever burrowing animals are found inhabiting mounds, the mound loses its smooth, convex outline and becomes roughened and warty in appearance on account of the small heaps of dirt thrown up by the animals. Hence Ave may readily see how, in the lapse of long centuries, some of the mounds may have been inhabited for a time by gophers and made rough on the exterior. This would account for the bossed surface that some mounds have. Mounds can be found in localities so Avet that it is doubtful if a gopher ever lived there. .Gophers do not live in wet places any more than in woods. Again, Ave knoAV that gophers abound in many places Avhere no mounds Avhatever occur. Why, for example, does not the enormous number of gopliers in other counties build mounds on the high prairies, or along the AAiiole lengths of riA^er courses? ^Vhy do they not build intermediate mounds as Avell as mounds twenty to forty feet across? I never met a man who knew of gophers building large mounds.

"These considerations seem to warrant the conclusion that these mounds are not the accumulations of rotted grass, nor of gopher and ant diggings. Nor does there seem to be a natural agency to Avhich the making of so many mounds, so regularly alike, in such different localities, can be inferred. If it be suggested that they might have been formed by upturned roots of trees that were blown over, or by the drift material of SAVollen waters, or by springs, a number of questions can be raised at once to throAV great imx^robability on such an origin of the mounds. While Ave may conceive of some mounds having been formed in this Avay in certain places, none of the suggested modes, nor a combination of them, will explain the mounds in these places. Why should not these agencies have formed mounds in vastly larger areas Avhere we know there are springs, where winds overturn trees, Avhere flooded streams form A^ery numerous drift accumulations but not mounds? Nor are these mounds small dunes bloAvn up by the Avind. The character of the land is such as to preclude all possibility of their formation by the wind. Much of the ground is too wet to permit the drifting of soil ; some of the pebbles and rocks found in the mounds would require a terrific Avind to transport them. Again, dunes built by the Avind are not uniformly circular. Rather they are oblong, Avith the highest elevation not in the middle but tOAvards one end. It Avere odd indeed that the Avind should build such dunes in low places, or in Avoods, or in groups, or string them along creeks and not build them in places that are apparently much better adapted to Avind-Avork. There are also other considerations which give color to the conclusion that the mounds were built by man, and that by the Indians. The shape of all the mounds is that of the ordinary round mound. In size they vary from fifteen to thirty feet across the top. Few exceed thirty feet. One mound measured fifteen paces, or about fortyfive feet across. In general, the height varies from one-half to two and one-half feet. A number exceed this and may form very conspicuous objects on the meadow where the grass is burned away. A number of mounds have circular depressions around them as if dirt had been removed thence. After a thaw, water may stand in the ring and make it very noticeable.

"At first it seemed to me very probable that the mounds served as tenting places. The diameter and circumference of the mounds would suggest this, but the seeming absence of the action of fi.re does not support this view unless the Indians camping there did not build fires. In other respects there is no reason why Indians might not have camped there, as there was plenty of water, and an abundance of game. In ancient times, the region of these mounds between Grand Meadow and Le Roy was, doubtless, a great marsh, and possibly even a marshy lake, drained by what are now tributaries of the Root river, a probable traffic way for the savages from the IMississippi river.

"There is no reason to doubt that fancy, or some definite cause, such as the capture of game, brought Indians to all parts of this country; hence it is not at all unlikely that pre-historie Indians did the same thing. Our inability to find a conclusive reason at present why Indians should camp or build mounds in these places is no proof that the mounds are not of Indian origin. Should closer study prove the mounds to be burial places, then they are witnesses both of the large number of Indians biiried there, as well as of the much larger number of population which was not honored with a monument of earth.

"If it is true that these mounds are the products of human activity in prehistoric times, then they present us Avith a new and unexpected phase in the mound builders choice of location for mounds. To a person accustomed to seeing large effigy mounds in Wisconsin, or other larger mounds along the Mississippi, it would naturally be a puzzle to find mounds in a location where his former experience would not have prompted him to look for mounds. The unexpected may also turn up in the experience of the mound-hunter, and there is nothing unreasonable in thinking that these mounds are another link in the chain of Minnesota archeology, throwing light on the life of the prehistoric builders. It merely shows that Indians built mounds also in other places than on high terraces and shores.

not the work of wandering savages, then they ought to be accorded a place in that science whose province it will be to explain them. So far I have utterly failed to find any adequate cause or principle mentioned in geology, biology or physiography, which will explain all of these in all places. If these mounds were not built by Indians, then it may be that in any other mounds now reckoned as Indians' mounds may also be explained by the action of some other agency."

The first actual residents of this vicinity, whose occupation of the region has been conclusively demonstrated, were the Highland Mound Builders. Many relics, such as arrow heads and the like, have been found along the Cedar river. No scientific investigation has been made of Highland mounds in Mower county, but studies that have been made of these mounds to the north and east, inside of a radius of 100 miles, would seemingly form the premises of a fairly safe conclusion, that the Highland mound building race ranged the prairies of Mower county. Scholars at one time held to the belief that the Highland ]\Iound Builders were a distinct race of a now exterminated people, much superior to the Indians in intelligence and habits and related closely, indeed, in civilization to the highly cultured Aztecs of Mexico. Present day scholars, however, are of the belief that the Highland Mound Builders, of North America, were the ancestors of the Indians found here by the early explorers, and dift'ering from them in no important characteristic of intelligence, habits, morals or education. The Highland Mound Builders of this immediate vicinity were, doubtless, the ancestors of the Sioux and the Iowa Indians, it being well known that these two races were branches of the same great family.

None of the early explorers mention any permanent Indian villages within the present limits of Mower county, and, although the Sioux Indians claimed this stretch of land, this prairie was doubtless crossed from time immemorial, by bands of the Sioux, lowas. Sacs and Foxes.

The vague traditions of the Sioux having been driven out of "Wisconsin by the Chippewas, their settlement about Mille Lacs, and their gradual distribution along the Avest banks of the upper Mississippi, as well as their alleged conquest of the lowas, who, according to tradition, formerly occupied the latter locality, is beyond the scope of this work. The words Dakota and Sioiix, though exactly opposite in meaning, are applied to the same race of Indians. Dakota (variously spelled) is the name applied by the race themselves, and means friendly or joined together in friendly compact, the Sioux nation being a confederation of tribes. The word Sioux comes from the word Nadowayscioux, applied by the Chippewas and meaning enemies. The diaries of the early hunters along the west bank of the Mississippi, lead us to believe that the vicinity embraced in Mower county was familiar to all the Sioux Indians living along that river, and that annual hunting parties visited this region. Many sanguinary wars were also fought here, for the Sacs and the Foxes were not far away, and even the Chippewas occasionally braved the wrath of their enemies and came here after game.

With the coming of the white settlers, the Sioux Indians became rather plentiful in Mower county, although at that time the treaties which relinc[uished the Indian rights of title had already been signed.