USA > Minnesota > Jackson County > An illustrated history of Jackson County, Minnesota > Part 22
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That if said grant is extended to this state for the purposes aforesaid, this state will be able to secure the speedy construc- tion of said entire line of railroad, and thereby meet the just expectations of the settlers who have purchased said even numbered sections. and afford to the people of the counties of Martin. Jackson. Nobles, Murray and Pipestone the means of transportation from the large and increasing products of their industry.
"Wherefore your memorialists respectfully urge upon congress an extension of said grant for four years to the state, and not to such de- faulting company or any other railroad com- pany, to the end that the speedy construction of said entire line of road may be assured; and we hereby urgently request our senators and representatives in congress under no circum- stances to permit any extension of said grant to be made which does not vest the same in the state of Minnesota, with full authority to convey the same to such company as it may see fit, subject to such conditions as it may desire to impose, consistent with the objects of the original grant."-Extract from Memorial to Congress, March 6, 1878.
157
158
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
tion, which was adopted at a mass meet- ing held at Jackson January 26, 1828:
Resolved that it is the sense of this meet- ing that an act be passed continuing the Southern Minnesota Railroad land grant with said road or it- auxiliary, the "Southern Min- nesota Extension company," and that our dele- gation in the legislature be requested to favor said act and urge it - passage during the present session, provided that said road be built to the village of Jackson by the first of January, 1879.
The legislature took the action which seemed to be desired by the people of southwestern Minnesota, and on March 6. 1878, passed an act transferring and granting the lands to the Southern Min- nesota Railroad Extension company. on condition that the line of road be com- pleted to Fairmont before September 1, 1818. to Jackson before the close of the year 1879, and to the west line of the state before the close of the year 1880.
Construction was begun at once. The company still asked a bonus from Jackson county, and at a railroad meeting held at Jackson, called at the instance of J. C. Easton. president of the Southern Minne- sota. it was the sense of those present that the township of Des Moines should vote bonds to an amount of ten per cent of the assessed valuation. provided the road should be in operation and the Jackson depot built that season. The line was ex- tended to Jackson without the aid of bonds. however. The road was completed to Fairmont and train service established on July 1. The construction work pro- gressed rapidly, and on November 27. 188. the iron horse reached Jackson. thereby eansing great rejoicing. Jackson was the terminus until the next year. when it was extended to the northwest.
A country into which it is known a railroad is to be buill is always a goal for immigrants. The belief that the grass- hopper scourge was a thing of the past also added to the inpouring of new set- tlers. Early in March the immigrants be-
gan arriving, looking for land, and they continued to pour in during the whole spring and summer." As a general thing the newcomers were a well-to-do class. They came, not to take homesteads, but to purchase land and make improvements. Owing to the removal of so many settlers during the grasshopper years, there was much land on the market at reasonable prices, and all were given opportunity to become permanent settlers. Thousands of acres of wheat and other grain were sown that spring. The old sod shanties were replaced by frame structures, and in other ways the advancement was marked.
Not only in the southeastern part of the county was the revival noticed, but all parts of the county responded to the changed conditions. A gentleman writing from Heron Lake in April said :
The amount of freight received at this depot i- surprising. Car load after car load continues to come, and there seems to be no end of it. Old settlers as well as new are coming and shipping in their household goods, and mer- chants are receiving freight almost daily. At- together it makes business lively around the depot every time the eastern freight comes in.
Although grasshoppers in diminished numbers visited Nobles county and some other portions of southwestern Minnesota in 1828. Jackson county was free from them. But the county was not destined to harvest the mammoth crop to which it was entitled. Two weeks of excessive hot weather in the first half of July, fol- lowed by a week of excessive rains, injured the wheat erop so that the yield was not up to expectations. Some fields yielded an ordinary crop, but others fell as low as a half erop.
More railroad building in 1879 added to the activities and prosperity of Jack- son county. From the first it had been the intention of the Southern Minnesota
Still they come-new men hunting new homes. We see new faces all around us until ww begin to fert as though we had got away from home."- Republic, March 30, 1878.
159
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
Railroad company (now the Chicago, Mil- wankee & St. Paul) to extend the line due west from Jackson to the state line, pass- ing through the village of Worthington,4 but early in the spring of 1879 the plans were changed and the line run to the northwest, diagonally across the county. The survey was made, the point of eross- ing the Sioux City road designated as the southwest quarter of section 35, LaCrosse township (Miloma), and on April 22 work on the extension from Jackson was begun. Tracklaying was completed to the junction on August 1, and regular train service was begun to Fulda Novem- ber 3. As a result of the extension many new settlers located in the central and western parts of the county and the vil- lage of Lakefield was founded.
The Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad company resented the encroachment on what it considered its own territory by the extension of the Southern Minnesota to the northwest. In an effort to head off the Southern Minnesota, the Sioux City road, in May, made a hurried survey for a branch line from Ileron Lake to Pipe- stone. paralleling the survey of the other road. Then began a lively race in construction. Side by side the con- struction crews of the two roads worked. At times violence was narrowly averted between the workmen, so bitter had be- come the strife between the two companies. It was admitted that it was a cut-throat policy to continue the building of the par- allel roads, but neither would give in.
Late in May a conference was held in St. I'anl between representatives of the Mil- waukee and Sioux City & St. Paul in- terests, when an attempt was made to come to an understanding and to recon- cile differences. The conference served only to make matters worse, and the work of construction on both roads was rushed to completion. Not only did they run their roads side by side; they laid out their towns almost within a stone's throw of each other.
During this activity in railroad build- ing the village of Heron Lake and its sur- rounding territory advanced with rapid strides. Being guaranteed ample rail- road facilities and good markets, people improved many farms which had there- tofore been unbroken.
In the extreme northwest corner of the county grasshoppers did some little dam- age in 1819 but other parts were entirely free from the pests. About the middle of July they departed, never to appear again ; grasshoppers had eaten their last Jackson county grain. While grasshoppers, hail and storms fortunately passed the county by, crops were only fair. In some locali- ties wheat was blighted ; corn and oats were good.
The federal census of 1880 gave Jack- son county a population of 4,806.5 a gain of 1,300 in five years. Of the total popu- lation, 2,920 were native born, while 1,886 were foreign born." The population was divided by precincts as follows :
4"It is still a question of doubt where the Southern Minnesota railroad will cross the Sioux City road, and we understand the com- pany itself is undecided upon this point. The officers are already discussing the question and investigating the 'lay of the land.' We are quite certain it is the desire of the company to cross at Worthington, and if engineering ob- stacles do not intervene we are inclined to think that will be the point; then the road will strike a due northwest course for Pipestone county."-Republic, June 8, 1878.
"Population of other southwestern Minnesota counties: Blue Earth, 22.889; Faribault, 13,016; Watonwan. 5,104; Martin, 5,249; Cottonwood, 5.533; Murray. 3.604; Nobles. 4,435; Pipestone, 2.092; Rock, 3,669.
6Of the native born the classification by principal states of birth was as follows: Min- nesota. 1.703; Wisconsin. 352; New York, 275; Illinois, 94; Pennsylvania, 82; Ohio, 79. The countries which furnished the bulk of the for- eign population were as follows: Sweden and Norway. 1.084: Germany, 186; British America, 89; England and Wales, 52; Ireland, 40; Scot- land, 21; France, 4.
160
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
Alba
139
Belmont
369
Christiania
435
Delafield
325
Des Moines
205
Enterprise
179
Ewington
Heron Lake
226
Heron Lake Village
163
Hunter
80
Kimball
239
Litros
373
Middletown
154
Minneota
119
Petersburg
213
Rost
124
Round Lake
116
Sioux Valley
89
Weimer
2!Mi
West Ileron Lake
96
Wisconsin
157
Jackson
501
Total
4,806
Jackson county harvested an excellent erop in 1880, sufficient in many cases to clear up the debts contracted during grass- hopper days. More No. 1 wheat was har- vested in southern Minnesota that year than had ever been the case before. The days of adversity became bnl a memory : the prospects were bright, indeed.
One of the dates from which time is reckoned in Jackson county is the win- ter of 1880-81-the season of Siberian frigidity. There have been worse storms than any that occurred that winter: for short periods of time there has been cold- er weather. But there never was a winter to compare with this one in duration, con- tinned severity. depth of snow and dam- age to property-possibly excepting those of 1856-51 and 1872-23.
While the grass was get green and the insect world active, winter set in. On the afternoon of Friday, October 15, 1880. a heavy thunder storm began. During the night a strong. chilling wind came down from the north. turning the rain into a fine snow. A severe blizzard then took the place of the rain, and winter weather continued three days. It was the first and only blizzard ever experienced in the
county in October. All day Saturday the blizzard raged; Sunday the weather was calmer, but cold and wintry. When the storm subsided great drifts of snow filled the roads and other places, which did not disappear until the following May. All Jackson county railroads were blockaded. and the Sioux City road did not get a train through until Tuesday, the 19th. Stock in different parts of the county be- came lost and frozen.
For a month after the initial storm. nice weather prevailed: then winter sot in in earnest, and from that time until late in April. it was winter every minute of the time. Friday, November 19, a cold snap set in. and on the night of the 20th the thermometer went to 19 degrees below zero. A blizzard struck the country Do- cember 3. which blockaded the Sioux City railroad from the east until the 5th. An- other blizzard began Sunday noon. Deerm- ber 26, and continued its boisterous ways until Wednesday night. Cold weather accompanied the storm. the thermometer during the three days ranging from 10 to 24 degrees below zero. The Sioux City Milwaukee was closed until January 3. road was blockaded until the 30th: the Three hundred men and a half dozen en- gines were required to break the Milwau- kee blockade.
Thereafter the winter was an extreme- Is severe one. the thermometer frequently registering 30 to 33 degrees below the zero mark. Blizzard followed blizzard. The railroads were closed for weeks at a time. Fuel and food became nearly exhausted. People burned hay and grain and went without lights. In some places there was suffering for lack of food. Wagon roads remained unbroken all winter. and the farmers obtained their supplies from the villages by means of hand sleds.
Following is the story of the winter. told in brief chronological order, from the
161
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
beginning of the year 1881 until the breakup in the spring:
January 3. Milwaukee road opened. January 4. Rain.
January 5. Terrific blizzard. Milwau- kre blockaded.
January 18. Milwaukee road cleared.7
January 19. Snow storm. Milwaukee blockaded."
January 21. Snow storm. Sioux City road tied up till the 23rd.
January 26. Blizzard. All trains stopped.
January 29. Last train of the winter over the Milwaukee.
February 1. Sioux City road tied up. Weather changeable-from one stormy day to one a little more stormy.
February 3. Longest snow storm of season begins, coming from the southeast and lasting four days. Fifteen days' blockade on Sioux City road begins. Mil- waukee road buried from Wells to Dell Rapids.9
""Last Tuesday night [January 18], blockade No. 3 was effectually and expensively removed. Hundreds of men were employed in the work, thousands of dollars were spent, and almost the entire enginery of the road was on the snowy field of battle against the blizzards. The prospects Were again encouraging for a resump- tion of work along the line."-Republic, Janu- ary 22, 1881.
""Wednesday night [January 19] the trouble began again, and drifts upon drifts once more enveloped the railroad. The state of affairs is indeed discouraging. The company had re- solved to hasten forward the tons of delayed freight as rapidly as possible, and five heavily loaded freight trains put in an appearance at this point within one day after the blockade had been lifted. The earliest train left Jack- son for the west at about eight o'clock Wed- nesday evening, the 19th, but a drift about one mile west of the bridge prevented further prog- ress. Three trains followed in rapid succes- sion, but were unable to move the one ahead or back down to the station, and at this writ- ing. Friday night [January 21], are wedged in north of town, with a fair prospect of staying there for several days. Another freight and one passenger train are laid up at the Jackson depot and two passenger trains are at Fulda. Fortunately, through the indefatigable el1- ergy of the hardy knights of the throttle. all of these snow bound iron horses are yet alive and snorting."-Republic. January 22, 1881.
9"The storm which commenced on Thursday of last week [February 3] and continued with scarcely an intermission until last Monday came from the southeast-blinding in its fury. pow- erful in windy force, and awful in its aspect- but, thank heaven! Jacking the one element which would have made it terribly and, perhaps,
February 8. Lakefield short of pro- visions.
February 11. One of the worst bliz- zards of the season begins. Lasts two days.
February 12. Many farmers reported out of fuel.10
February 16. First train from the east in fifteen days reaches Heron Lake.
February 18. Blizzard. Last eastern train reaches Heron Lake.
February 22. Snow storm.
March 1. Mild weather for two days.
March 4. Fierce blizzard all day.11
March 5. Fair weather, lasting five days. Sioux City road opened except be- tween St. James and Windom.12
March 11. Terrible blizzard, lasting two days. coming from the east. Heaviest snowfall of the season. All railroads blockaded worse than ever.
to some of God's creatures, fatally complete. The storm was one of miraculous warmth, and throughout its dreary prevalence the thermome- ter did not register below 20 degrees above zero.
"During those three days the fall of snow was the heaviest ever known in this section of the state. It swooped down in vast clouds which fairly darkened the air and blanketed the level of the earth to a depth of nearly two feet. Drifts almost mountainous in size sprang up like. mushrooms over fences and groves, stables and stacks, rail and wagon roads. com- pletely suspending all travel across the prairies. "On Monday [February 71 a sudden halt was called on the elements, and then followed four days of warm pleasant weather. beautified with occasional glimpses of Old Sol's smiling face. and the universal prophesy was that there had come a permanent 'let-up.' "-Republic. Feb- ruary 12, 1881.
10"Scores of prairie farmers are known to be without fuel, and the present storm will drive them to dire extremities to protect their fami- lies from the cold. It is a bad-a terrible -- state of affairs and is made worse by the fact that it is impossible to send help to the needy."- Republic, February 12, 1881.
11"As we go to press on Friday [March 4] the elements are actively engaged in getting up the biggest blizzard of the year. The air is thick with snow and the wind is blowing a perfect gale. Of such things as these are bliz- zards made, and so well developed is this one that at times it is impossible to see across the streets of the village. so dense are the clouds of snow."-Republic. March 5. 1881.
12The depth of snow was very great. It was estimated that the average depth in the cuts on the Milwaukee line between Jackson and Fulda was ten feet. During the winter the Minneapolis Tribune printed letters from Heron Lake correspondents, telling of the wonderful depth of snow. One said it would be impos- sible to give an idea of the appearance of the prairie country except by imagining that the ocean, when lashed by a terrible tempest,
162
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
March 19. Milwaukee opened east of Moines river bridge stond the test, and Iran service was established after a few days.
Fairmont.
March 30. Sioux City line clear cast of Worthington and first train in six weeks ( lacking two days) reaches Ileron Lake.
March 31. Storm. Three hundred shovelers atlaek drifts on the Milwaukee.
April 1. Milwaukee road open.
April 5. First train from Sioux City arrives. Carries letters dated February 21. Road open three days.
April 2. Fuel and food staples meager at Heron Lake. Reports only one train in tive weeks.
April 8. Snow. All railroads again blockaded.
AApril 11. More snow.
April 12. North wind drifts snow and completely fills railroads.
April 13. Thermometer registers zero.
April 16. Train reaches Heron Lake from the cast.
April 12. Sioax City road opened whole length. First freight train in eley- en weeks delivers freight at Heron Lake. Milwaukee road opens and freight is re- reived at Jackson and Lakefield.13
For a few days there was fairly regn- lar traffic on the railroads. Then came the floods, caused by the melting snow, and traffic was again suspended. For ton days not a train ran over the Sioux ('ity & St. Paul road and it was May 2 before regular train service was established. Near- !v 1,000 feet of the Milwaukee track was swept away by Okabena crock. but the Des
could be suddenly congealed waves, breakers and Bying spray-and held white and jey. The same writer said that a grove of trees near his place the trees being nearly 25 feet high) was completely covered by a great snow drift, which was so heavily crusted that his children coaster down the drift and had high frulles over the buried trees. Another correspondent told of houses along the Des Moines river being buried In snow so that the occupants had lo ent holes In the roof for Ingress and egress.
""Freight is plenty now. Merchants have been out of nearly all kinds of supplies. At one time they were out of oil, candles, sugar. soap and many more useful articles. It has been almost impossible to get meat."-Lakefield Cor- respondent, April 23, ISS1.
The Des Moines river suddenly became a raging torrent, leaped out of its banks, and inundated and destroyed valuable property. The river began to rise Sun- day. April 17. and continued to increase in volume until Saturday. April 23, when it was ?1 feet above low water mark -- the highest point in its history. It left its channel to sweep over meadows and fields, covering with a terrific current. nearly one-half the valley, and in some places lapping the very foothills a quarter of a mile from its former bed.
The greatest damage was done in the village of Jackson. The 100-foot iron span bridge that had been erected two years before at a cost of $2,000 was brok- en from its mooring on the night of the 21st by the immense cakes of ice that were battered against it. It was reduced to a mas of broken timbers and bent steel. but was rescued and anchored in the south part of town. A wild waste of raging water lapped the very dooryards in the eastern part of the village. Several houses had to be vacated, and many barns were en- tirely flooded. Colman'> lumber yard was in many places covered with eight feet of water, and hard work was done to save the stock. Panl's lumber yard was also dam- aged with water to some extent. On Sat- urday and Sunday Jackson had the ap- pearance of a lumbering camp. Thirty or more men were engaged at the bayou haul- ing out lumber and piling it on shore.
Bridges at Brownsburg. Okabona and in Sioux Valley were carried away by the raging waters. Skinner's mill was al- so harmed lo some extent. Otherwise the damage caused by the foods was not great ; there were a few losses in Jackson, be- sides those mentioned, of a few hundred dollars each.
163
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
An average crop was raised in 1881. and the farmers were placed in better con- dition that they had been, perhaps, at any previous time in the county's history. Prices ranged good and there was a mar- ket for everything raised.
The last built railroad to touch Jack- son county soil was the Burlington, Ce- dar Rapids & Northeru (now the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific), which was builded from Spirit Lake to Worthington during the summer of 1882, the road reaching Worthington October ?. The road passes through the extreme southwestern corner of the county, only about four miles being in Jackson county.
There was a healthy increase in popu- lation during 1882. There was no rush, such as characterized the early seventies, but each week during the spring and sum- mer months witnessed the arrival of a few settlers. A county immigration associa- tion was formed in the spring, which set forth the advantages of the county in printed matter and resulted in bringing a few new settlers. The 1882 crops was a good one, and all parts of the county en- joyed prosperous times. Thirty-six hun- dred sexenty-six aeres were sown to wheat that year, from which were harvested 46,- 361 bushels. an average of twelve and two- thirds bushels per acre. Sixty-five hun- dred seventy-four acres were planted to corn.
Another death in the winter storms- the first since the fatalities of 1822-oc- eurred in Wisconsin township January 19. 1883. The victim was Henry Curtis, an aged man who made his home with Mrs. Miles Lindsley. He was proceeding home from John K. Johnson's place, three-quar- iers of a mile distant. when he evidently. became fatigued, and, lying down to rest, was overcome by the cold and perished.
Scores of land buyers visited Jackson county in the fall of 1883, and invested
and became permanent residents. Crops were good. Corn was slightly injured by an early frost, but small grain and vege- tables yielded abundantly. According to the official returns, the cereal acreage for 1883 was as follows: Wheat, 5,009; corn, 5.043; oats, 6,92%: barley. 1.452: flax, 1.262.
In the whole history of Jackson county. up to the late nineties, there never was such a year for advancement as 1884. It was a jubilee year. Several eauses added to the effect. Principal among them was the rapid settlement caused by throwing on the market the railroad lands and other lands withdrawn from settlement in 1866. There can be no doubt this boom would have occurred years before and the coun- ty become thickly settled and divided into small farms had these lands been available. The lands were placed on the market at a reasonable price. considering their eligible location and the richness of the soil. The Jackson Republic of August 15, 1884, told of the changed conditions :
Land is no longer a drug in the market but is rapidly rising in value and is passing from the ownership of the state and of railroad com- panies into the hands of hundreds of settlers; farms are no longer deserted. but new estates are being opened in every township: people are not leaving-they are locating in this county daily and by the score: lag crops are the result of better farming by encouraged farmers; thousands of cattle and sheep graze on the prairies. and nearly every farmer yearly sells enough fat stoek of some kind to give him plenty of cash: mortgages are being lifted from the farm and new honses and barns built there- on; creameries and hay presses are returning splendid profits to the farmers from sources which have hitherto yielded them little or noth- ing: beautiful groves surround their homes and diversify the surface of a onee unbroken prairie.
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