USA > Minnesota > Waseca County > Child's history of Waseca County, Minnesota : from its first settlement in 1854 to the close of the year 1904, a record of fifty years : the story of the pioneers > Part 1
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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
COMA
BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE
- FROM JAMES E. CHILD WASECA, MINN.
Cornell University Library F 612W17 C53 Child's history of Waseca County, Minnes
3 1924 028 913 114 olin
F 612 WirICE3
Property of I & Stagner
UNID
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A.D.
Cornell University Library
The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library.
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James & Child
CHILD'S HISTORY
OF
WASECA COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
From Its First Settlement in 1854 to the Close of the Year 1904. A Record of Fifty Years.
THE STORY OF THE PIONEERS By JAMES E. CHILD.
Copyright, 1905, BY JAMES E. CHILD.
"Let me speak to the yet unknowing world how these things came about."-Shakespeare.
Diy. UNIVEREMY LIBRARY
*
A782593
From the Press of THE OWATONNA CHRONICLE Whiting & Luers, Publishers.
PREFACE.
"Why don't you write a history of Waseca county ?" asked Rev. G. C. Tanner, one day in the year 1890.
And as that question often came to me in leisure moments, for several weeks, I finally concluded to invest a dime in cheap paper, and note down, in odd hours, such facts concerning the early set- tlement of this country as I could recall and as might be of interest to its residents, present and future; and, in connection therewith, to gather together all the historic facts that I might be able to obtain both from persons and from official sources.
In this undertaking I have made no attempt at rhetorical dis- play and effect, but in the plainest language possible, have de- scribed the events which make up the history of the county. It may not be possible for one who has been intimately connected with the public and political life of the county to be entirely im- partial an unbiased, as its historian, but I have spared no effort to be fair and accurate as regards persons, parties, interests, and localities. I have found many difficulties in this undertaking, for individual tastes and interests differ so widely that what might be of great interest to one would have no attractions for another. I therefore determined, at the commencement, to "spread out a whole bill of fare" and allow my readers to select for themselves. No doubt there are many facts and incidents of note omitted in this work, although I have made every possible effort to include everything of public interest. The fact is, dear "Old Settler," you who are left out of the record have not always responded to the invitation to furnish facts within your own
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
recollection for this work, and you should remember this in your criticisms.
I cannot close this preface without expressing my sincere thanks to those who have so materially aided me in this work by furnishing facts and data within their own knowledge.
One object of this work, to be frank about it, was to get enough money out of it to pay the printers and paper dealers, and another object, of much greater importance, was to furnish to every person in the county a faithful record of township and county events from the earliest settlement by white men. How well I have succeeded I must leave others to judge. I can only hope that this record may be received by the public with the same liberal and charitable spirit in which it has been written.
THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER I, 1854-5.
PRIMITIVE CONDITION OF COUNTY.
.
No longer ago than 1854, the present county of Waseca was a portion of that extensive region of country known as Blue Earth county. Not a single white man then had a habitation within its borders. The solitude of nature was broken only occasionally by some hunter and trapper, and by wandering bands of Sioux Indians. The buffalo, the elk, and the deer had, for ages, roamed its wild prairies and woodlands; fishes had basked undisturbed in its lakes and rippling streams; the muskrat, the otter, and the mink had gamboled upon the ice in winter with no white man to molest them. Ducks, geese, and other aquatic fowls, in countless numbers, covered the lakes and streams in summer, and chattered and squawked and frolicked in all their native glory and happi- ness. The prairie wolf howled upon each little hillock, and, coward-like, was always ready to attack and destroy the weak and defenseless. Pocket gophers went on with their interminable underground operations, all unconscious of the inroads soon 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 vast 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 had added alluvial richness to the soil and prepared it to be one of the most productive fields of the world for the abode of the husbandman and for the uses of civilized man.
The enquiring and philosophical mind, at times, finds food for
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
reflection in the fact that an overruling Providence sent the Pilgrim Fathers first to the rock-bound coast of New England to clear the forests and to settle that country, but reserved the rich and productive prairie-lands of the West, ready prepared for the plow and the mower for deseendants and followers.
It is a pleasure to record the early settlement of a county which, for fifty consecutive years, has never suffered a total failure of crops or even a half failure, and where general thrift and pros- perity, for all that time, have attended and rewarded the hand of industry and the spirit of frugality :
"Where the glad 'ning sunlight nestled, Where all Nature's beauty slept Unrevealed to cultured vision,
Where the savage wail'd and wept,
When his son or sire had given To the Spirit World his breath, Find we here a famous region, (Sunny side of 'Minne's' face)
With lovely lakes and richest soil, Stately in its quiet grace, -
A healthy home for sons of toil."
CHAPTER II, 1854-5.
FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENT-MR. A. G. SUTLIEF AND FAMILY- JOURNEY FROM DODGE COUNTY, WIS .- JUDGE GREEN'S NAR- RATIVE-JUDGE LOST AND PREPARED FOR DEATH-SUTLIEF'S RETURN-BIG BOOT CREEK-CROSSING THE MISSISSIPPI ON ICE.
So far as practicable, the historical events in this volume are recorded in the order in which they came to pass, instead of being grouped under certain headings or classifications This may re- quire a little more space, but the author thinks it will afford an easier comprehension of the various facts presented.
MR. AND MRS. ASA G. SUTLIEF
and Mr. Sutlief's three oldest children, Delaney, Rhoda and Delaney, were the first white settlers in this county. Taking with them quite a drove of cattle and sheep, they started from the town of Herman, Dodge county, Wisconsin, in the month of June, 1854, with ox teams and covered wagons, to seek a new home in the land of "Laughing Waters." They passed over the Mis- sissippi at La Crosse, traveled across the country in a westerly direction, struck the Minnesota river at Traverse, now St. Peter, and settled on a claim some five or six miles west of that place.
To give an idea of the vicissitudes of such a journey at that time, the following from the pen of Hon. G. W. Green, well known to all the early settlers of this region, will be valuable and inter- esting. He wrote :
"In the summer of 1854 I left Beaver Dam, Wis,, in company with Messrs. Hollingsworth, Bradley and Boomer for the purpose of seeing some portion of Southern Minnesota with an idea of settling there. Arriving at La Crosse, we purchased material for camping and ferried,
10
CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
across the Mississippi river. One log house, nearly finished, greeted us on the west side of the river opposite La Crosse. That was all there was then of La Crescent. The next house, twenty-four miles distant, was occupied by a Thompsonian physician, by name Bently, who had concluded to mix elaim-taking and rudimentary farming with his pro- fession. Some miles further on, where now is St. Charles, was one more log house kept as a tavern by one Springer. There was a newly made wagon track extending about ten miles further on, where a young man and his wife, by the name of Potter, had taken a claim and were building a small house. One story of it was finished and the chamber floor laid of loose boards, but without any roof. They invited us to stay with them over night. We did so. During the night it rained hard, and we got thoroughly soaked. After breakfast the next morning we started on without any track and no guide but our pocket compass.
"About noon of this day we came up with Mr. A. G. Sutlief, who was moving with his family from Dodge county, Wisconsin, to a point near Traverse des Sioux (a missionary post near where St. Peter now is), so named because it was at this place that the Sioux Indians forded the river. Mr. Sutlief was a noted pioneer of Wisconsin, but he knew little more than we did as to the most feasible route to his destination. Mr. Hollingsworth was Sutlief's father-in-law, and we very willingly accepted their kind invitation to keep them company to their new home. Mr. Sutlief had with him a large herd of cattle and sheep. We crossed the Ashland prairie near the head of the Straight and Zumbro rivers, and near the Oak Glen lakes. Within one mile of Straight river, we camped for dinner.
LOST ON THE PRAIRIE.
"After dinner Mr. Sutlief wanted me to go with him and look for a suitable place to cross the river. We went to the river, and, finding no desirable crossing, concluded to cross further up, near what seemed, by the appearance of the timber, to be a very considerable bend in the river, apparently some five or six miles away. It was agreed that Sutlief should go back and guide the teams, while I should cross the river and travel up to the proposed crossing.
"Without thinking much about the company, I went slowly on until I came to the place where Dr. Kenyon afterwards lived. I could see or hear nothing of Sutlief or the company, not even a cow-bell, several of which I knew were in use on the cattle and sheep. I tried as well as I could to find their whereabouts. Although but a short distance below the proposed crossing, I could not find any trace of them before it was dark. As fate would have It, I had neither coat nor blanket, jack-knife nor matches, ax nor hatchet.
"Tired out and hungry, I lald myself under a tree to rest, and was very soon asleep. With no breakfast, I renewed my search for the com- pany, going on up the river to a point where a Mr. Bennett afterwards settled, but found no signs. I then concluded to follow down the river
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
as long as my strength should last, unless I found something more desirable. Before proceeding, however, I pulled off a boot and, with a pin, wrote upon a smooth part of the boot-leg my name, thus: 'G. W. Green, Beaver Dam, Wis.,' not knowing but that some one would find my bones and boots, and thereby my friends might hear from me. I had a little matter of $700 in my pockets, which, in case I should be lost, this act might be the means of my famlly getting. I had no other way of writing." After this preparation for the worst that might befall me, I started down the river, traveling slowly until nearly sun-down, when I found the trail where the company had crossed the river, not over half a mile above where I had left Sutlief. With new courage and zeal I started on this trail. I followed it a short distance without any trouble, but, darkness coming on, the trail became invisible and I lost it. In hunting for it I stumbled and fell, and my weariness and exhaustion were such that I did not feel disposed to rise. I unconsciously fell asleep. "When I awoke the sun was high up and shining brightly. Reinvigor- ated by my sound and restful sleep, I soon found the trail, and, following it slowly a short time, I observed two men approaching me. They were of our company: Looking up towards the timber, about three miles from where they had crossed the river, I saw the wagons and the remainder of the company. They had camped there early in the after- noon of the day I was lost, expecting I would see and come to them. When night came and I did not appear, they built a large fire and kept it going all night, hoping thereby to attract my attention. The next day they spent on horseback looking for me without avail.
"When I arrived in camp, they represented to me that my eyes were staring, and my lips and tongue swollen. Mrs. Sutlief prepared me something to eat, but I had no appetite and could eat nothing of it, instead thereof calling for a cup of sour milk which I drank with relish. I took but very little nourishment except sour milk the rest of that day. My appetite slowly returning, the next day I ate sparingly, but it was some three or four days before I could partake of an ordinary meal.
"From that place we proceeded to Beaver lake, just east of New Rich- land, crossing its outlet where the road now runs. Here we saw an Indian and tried to get some idea from him what course to take to reach the Minnesota river, but failed to secure any correct information. Crossing some of the rivulets that unite to form the Le Sueur river and following along down that stream, we forded it near where the village of St. Mary was afterwards built. We wandered on, we knew not whither, until we struck Minnesota lake. Here we stayed two days and looked for signs. At last, about three miles west of the lake, we found a freshly-made Indian trail going southwest. We concluded that the Indians had gone on a hunting expedition and that they had congre- gated at the Minnesota river, starting en masse from there. Not know- ing anything better to do, we took this trail back and struck Mankato July 4th, 1854.
"Mankato then consisted of one family, who kept a log boarding house,
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
and one man, who presided over a saloon made of small poles. No other evidence of civilization (?) met our gaze. From this point we proceeded to Sutlief's claim which he made about six miles west of St. Peter, remaining with him one day. We then followed the trail down the Min- nesota river to St. Paul, which was at that time little more than an Indian trading post, not as large as St. Anthony then was, and Minneapolis had not yet been spoken of. Here we boarded a steamer for La Crosse, from which point we took our way homeward by our own conveyance.
"At the time of this trip, the prairies were covered with luxuriant grasses from three and a half to four feet high. Deer and elk roved at will, several large herds coming within our view. After leaving Potter's house, before mentioned, we saw no other house until our arrival in Mankato.
"I made no definite location on this trip, but concluded to return to the vicinity of Straight or Le Sueur river, with my family, and then make my location. G. W. GREEN."
The following August Judge Green returned with his family and settled at Owatonna, as will more fully appear in these annals.
Mr. Sutlief had been staying only a few days on his claim, near St. Peter, when he accepted an offer of $100 for his "right of possession." He then returned to Mankato, where he left his family and stock, and sought a new location "far from the haunts of busy men." After much traveling and a thorough inspection of a large extent of country, he selected a portion of section 32, town of Wilton, as his future home. The most of his family still reside there. He arrived at this claim with his family and stock early in August, and at once broke about two aeres of prairie. He then set about building a "shanty" for himself and family, and providing shelter for his cattle and sheep. It was a work of some magnitude to prepare for winter, but his energy and industry with the efficient aid of his worthy wife, overcame all obstacles, and, in a few weeks, he was ready to return to Wisconsin with his wife and children to remain during the winter. But before start- ing for Wisconsin with his family. he planned to go to La Crosse to get a supply of provisions for Luther Barrett, a hunter and trapper, who was to stay on the claim and feed and care for the sheep and cattle until Sutlief's return the following January.
On his trip to La Crosse, he met JJudge Green, on Ashland prai- rie, who, with his family, eleven men, seven ox teams and wagons. and eighty head of eattle, mostly cows and young stock. left Beaver Dam, Wis., August 12th. Judge Green, having more
13
CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
supplies than he could easily haul, Mr. Sutlief concluded to return with him. Arriving at Straight river, where Owatonna is now located, they found that stream so swollen with recent copious rains that they could not eross it with their heavy loads. Here they found A. B. Cornell and family, the first settlers of Steele county, and here they pitched their tents and took counsel with each other. Judge Green in his reminiscences writes :
"As we all desired to locate near together, it was decided to leave the women and children with a couple of men as guards and to watch the stock, while the rest of the company should go on to the Le Sueur river country. The next day we crossed Straight river with three wagons, four yoke of oxen and one cow. The men camped on the west side of the river that night, and I went back to the tent and stayed with my family. It rained a large portion of the night. In the morning we started, bearing southwest. It rained by spells and there was a well defined stream in every ravine. We went on to Beaver lake and struck our old trail made on the first trip. In crossing one of the head rivulets of Le Sueur river, then a roaring torrent, one of the men, with boots on as high as his knees, stood upon the back end-board of a wagon box, bolding to the top of the wagon cover, and yet got wet; so this was called
BIG BOOT CREEK.
"We looked over the prairie and woodlands between Sutlief's claim and what was afterward Wilton. We liked the country and concluded to make claims there, which we did; but still it rained, rained! The men got wet and cold and finally homesick or sick of the country. They said the country would all overflow in a wet spell, and, should they settle there, no one else would venture so far from civilization for the next 100 years, and for the rest of their natural lives and those of their families they would be there without bridges or other improvements, except such as they should improvise among themselves. So we went back to Straight river, reluctantly leaving Mr. S. and family alone on the Le Sueur. On the 20th of September I staked out my claim, at Owatonna, and my men went to work cutting hay. In two weeks our hay was cut and stacked, our log house laid up and covered with a "shake-roof," with no chinking, no floors, no doors, no windows. I could not persuade the men to stay another day. They said there would be no other person. settling in there for the next fifty years, and that if I managed to live through the winter I would return to Wisconsin in the spring. So they started on their return trip, and there I was, left with an invalid wife and three small children, no stables for stock, no house suitable for cold weather, and apparently no help attainable. It seemed more than I could do to make things endurable through the winter, but the next day a wagon load of ten men arrived, and I got what help I needed form then on."
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
Mr. Sutlief, having obtained from Judge Green a supply of flour for winter and having made other necessary arrangements, was ready by the latter part of November to convey his wife and children to Wisconsin. They made their return trip in a covered ox-wagon. When they reached the Mississippi, opposite La Crosse, the first week in December, 1854, that stream was not yet frozen over, and they were compelled to wait until the ice King formed a bridge. On the fourth day after their arrival, although the ice was barely strong enough to bear up a man, Mr. Sutlief, in his rash, dare-devil way, crossed the stream by casting the oxen, tying their feet together, and sliding them across on the slippery ice by hand. The wagon also was taken over by hand, and Mrs. Sutlief and the children passed over on foot The remainder of their journey was made without any incident worthy of note.
CHAPTER III, 1855.
WINTER TRIP TO MINNESOTA WITH OX TEAMS-VENTURESOME CROSSING OF THE MISSISSIPPI ON THE ICE-CLIMBING THE BLUFF-FIRST BLIZZARD AT ZUMBRO FALLS-THE LIQUOR PEDDLER AND HIS GROG-MANTORVILLE THE LAST HOUSE- CAMPING OUT IN MID-WINTER TWO NIGHTS-CATTLE WITH BLEEDING LEGS AND WITHOUT HAY-SAFE ARRIVAL AT THE SUTLIEF SHANTY.
Mr. Sutlief was thoroughly enamored with Minnesota, as it then was, and lost no opportunity to proclaim her beauty and her merits. He was under agreement with Mr. Barrett, whom he had left upon his claim, to return in January; and on the 9th of that month, 1855, he started back to Minnesota with three pair of oxen, a wagon and a sleigh, some household goods, provisions, etc., and a few swine. He was accompanied and assisted by the writer whom he had employed for a year to take charge of his Minne- sota farming operations. At Fox Lake, Wis., they were joined by S. P. Child, of Waupun, Wis., then a boy of nineteen years. He was to assist in driving the teams and the swine. He owned a few hogs which he drove with Sutlief's herd.
Nothing of striking importance occurred on the journey until their arrival at La Crosse. At this point, they crossed the river after dark on thin ice that had formed after the January thaw. The act of crossing was a dangerous one and a less venturesome man than Mr. Sutlief would at least have chosen daylight for the undertaking. After crossing the river in safety, they proceed- ed about two miles, and, at nine o'clock in the evening, stopped at a small house occupied by a Mr. Plummer and his wife. Here
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
two days were spent while Mr. Plummer was getting ready to join the company. It took nearly all of one day to haul the loaded vehicles to the top of the river bluff, and the party returned to the Plummer house for the night.
All hands turned out early next morning, and the first rays of the rising sun found them on the trail going westward. The day turned to be cloudy and stormy, but the drive was short, and just before dark they stopped at a little frame house, near the road, about five miles southeast of the present village of St. Charles. The next morning, an early start was made so as to reach Rochester-then known as Zumbro Falls-that night, if possible. The weather that day was pleasant, but the snow was drifted deep in many places, and this made traveling very dif- ficult. In some places it was necessary to either shovel out or unhiteh the teams from the vehicles and drive them back and forth through the snow drifts, before attempting to pass through with the loads; and, although the teams were urged forward as rapidly as shouting and whipping would avail, it was eleven o'clock that night before the travelers reached a stopping plaee. The weather had turned very cold in the afternoon. Mr. Sutlief frosted his cheeks, ears, nose, and feet, and Messrs. Plummer, Griffin and S. P. Child frosted their toes slightly.
The log hotel at which they arrived was already filled with travelers. The beds were all full, and the floors were nearly covered with sleeping men. There was no sleeping room for these last arrivals, except in a log shanty lean-to, with its Dutch fire- place. This shanty afforded about the poorest protection from cold that could well be imagined, even by a western pioneer. The roof was made of oak shakes. The crevices between the logs were not yet plastered or daubed. The prairie blizzard whistled through the holes and erevices with a liberality altogether unpleasant that night.
The next morning the wind blew a gale and the thermometer indieated 20 degrees below zero, rendering traveling across the prairie simply impossible. All parties were compelled to remain over during the day. There were some forty travelers thus de- tained, this place being on the stage road from Dubuque to St. Paul.
Many a good story and some not so good were told that day,
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CHILD'S HISTORY OF WASECA COUNTY.
and jokes passed among the hotel guests in a manner peculiar to the West. One fellow, a liquor peddler, was quite ehagrined at finding his liquor keg bottom end up and his whisky spread out in the snow. The crowd insisted that he had been on a spree, and had left the keg in that condition himself; and, as no one pretended to know anything to the contrary, he was obliged to smother his pent-up wrath and make the best of the situation. His attempt at the retail business in the morning was, without doubt. the primary cause of his sad bereavement-at least some of the ladies intimated as much to his face.
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