USA > Minnesota > Lyon County > An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota > Part 13
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as to their condition, and the county commissioners acted as a board to determine the worthiness of the applicants.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR LEMAX AND TILDEN POURBATIGNO
CHAPTER VI.
RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD --- 1877-1881.
H ENCEFORTH the story of Lyon county is one of advancement. The calamitous days are past. No longer do the grasshoppers threaten the very existence of the settlement; no longer is it found necessary to solicit aid for the relief of the inhabitants. The days of such adversity have become only a memory. It must not be under- stood that this change was wrought in a day, for it was not. Trials and tribu- lations were yet to assail those who had borne so much and so long, but times were on the mend, and the year 1877 ushered in the reconstruction era. People began anew the work of progress that had been interrupted when the grasshoppers came and placed a mort- gage on the county in the summer of 1873.
In some respects the people of Lyon county were in better condition than they had been before the scourge. Most of those who had filed upon government land in the early seventies now had title to their homes-and land began to have a value. A few had not met with great losses during the terrible scourge and were already in position to
begin the forward march. Many others, however, found it necessary to free themselves from debt before the effect of the more prosperous times became apparent.
The annual dread of grasshopper visitation was again felt in the summer of 1877, and this time the settlers were agreeably disappointed. The season was admirably adapted to two ends: the best possible development of small grain and the worst possible development of the locusts. The cool, rainy weather of the spring and early summer seemed to have been sent on purpose to give wheat and other small grain a rapid and healthy growth and at the same time give the grasshoppers a slow and feeble development. 1
A few of the pests hatched out on the sunny slopes in May, but they were so few in number and so unlike their voracious ancestors that no damage resulted.2 The local press reported in the latter part of June that there had not been reported a single field of grain in Lyon county perceptibly injured by grasshoppers. About the middle of July they were seen on the wing, and occa-
I"The frequent rains we are having this spring increases our prospects for a good wheat crop. It seems now as if we might slip through this year into prosperous times again. Our only fear of grasshoppers is from flying ones, and any other part of the country is as much in the way of that as we are. We have a large acreage of crops and with a good harvest will be happy once more."-Marshall Messenger, May 18, 1877.
2Contributing largely to the unexpected good fortune was a little red parasite, which destroyed the grasshopper eggs in the nests in the fall and early spring months. Later the parasites attacked the young hoppers, loading down their frail wings and earcasses until it was almost impossible for them to fly. Bushels of the pests died before they developed sufficiently todo damage.
88
HISTORY OF LYON COUNTY.
sionally a few came down, but the damage they did was practically nothing.
As the season advanced it became evident that unless the grasshoppers came Lyon county would produce an enormous crop.3 The grasshoppers did not come and by the middle of August the harvest was completed-the first crop in years had been saved. It was an enormous one, yields of forty bushels of wheat per acre being frequently re- ported. During the fall months-up to January 1-there were shipped from the Marshall station 309 cars, containing 109,007 bushels of wheat. The grain was all number one and brought good prices.
It was a time of jubilee! Every resident seemed imbued with new life. When the golden grain came pouring in, business men began increasing their stocks; farmers began improving their farms and putting their lands in readi- ness for the next crop; Lyon county was again inhabited by people who thought life worth living.
For the first time since the coming of
3"The grain erop here is simply immense and our farmers who were able to seed their farms last spring have a pretty sure prospect of comfort and plenty ahead."-Messenger, July 20, 1877.
4The following items from the columns of the Marshall Messenger give an idea of the immigration in the fall of 1877:
"Land hunters arrive on every train. Business has just begun in this loeality, all because the grasshopper danger is past."-August 24.
"The town is full of strangers these days-land hunters mostly. The fame of our fertile prairies has spread over the land."-September 28.
"Everything seems to indieate a big rush of immi- gration next spring. Even now, not far from the heels of winter, there is a respectable rush of a very desirable class of homeseekers distributing themselves from this point over the whole county. Nearly all who visit us remain as settlers."-October 12.
"Approaching eold weather does not seem to per- ceptibly check the rush of land hunters to this part of the state. Every train is filled with men anxious for a few aeres of our rich prairie land. The railroad company is selling considerable more land than it expected to, and our vacant sections are fast filling up with actual settlers. This makes us feel well and will greatly help county revenues soon."-November 23.
5The people of the United States have but little acquaintance with the natives of Iceland, the little island in the Aretic cirele. They are found in only a few places in America, and one of the two principal colonies of the United States is that in northwestern Lyon county, overlapping into Lincoln and Yellow Medicine counties, with Minneota as the central point. The other American colonies are at Pembina, North
the grasshoppers, immigrants arrived in Lyon county in 1877. They 'began arriving as soon as it became evident that the crop was safe and that the . county could produce something besides the flying pests. Many came prepared to build on their lands, and the lumber vards were unable to replace their stocks fast' enough to meet the demand. Nearly all the government lands had been filed upon by this time and the newcomers turned to the railroad lands, which had been placed on the market the year before. 4
Among the immigrants of 1877 were fifty Icelanders, who arrived in August direct from their northern homes and located in northwestern Lyon county. A few of this nationality had settled in the vicinity a year or two before, the first having been Gunlauger Peterson, who came in 1875. Others joined the colony later, giving to Lyon county a very desirable class of citizens. 5
On March 5, 1877, a bill was passed by the Legislature authorizing Lyon county to issue bonds not to exceed
Dakota, and at New Iceland, near Winnipeg, in Manitoba.
In the early seventies Icelanders founded settle- ments in the Muskoko distriet of Ontario and in Nova Seotia." These were only temporary abiding places, the Northmen moving in 1875 to the western shore of Lake Winnipeg. There they founded New Ieeland, now the largest settlement in the New World. Win- nipeg is the center of Icelandie wealth and culture in America. Several thousand reside there permanently and most of the emigrants from Iceland go there before scattering to the farming districts.
The colony in Lyon county was founded, as deseribed in the text, in 1877. There were two hundred arrivals from Ieeland to the settlement about Minneota in 1879, and others came later. The Icelandie settle- ment now comprises about one thousand people.
Rev. Pall Thorinksson led a party of colonists from Manitoba in 1879 and loeated them in Pembina eounty, North Dakota, where they grew in numbers and wealth until now they form the next largest Icelandic eolony in the New World.
Of the Lyon county Icelanders the Marshall News- Messenger of May 24, 1904, said:
"The colony in this seetion of Minnesota has flour- ished, though, in a measure, through affiliation with other nationalities, the semblance of colonization has been lost. One noticeable characteristie of the Ieelanders is their appreciation of the public sehool system of their adopted country and their thirst for knowledge and English edueation. During several years past the graduating elasses of the Marshall High School have included students of Icelandic birth and dleseent, and most of these have continued their education at the University of Minnesota, at normal schools, and other institutions, and subsequently engaged in the professions."
89
HISTORY OF LYON COUNTY.
$10,000 for the purpose of paying the county indebtedness. During the grass- hopper days the county, as well as the people living in it, had run behind financially and county orders were a slow sale at sixty cents on the dollar. 6 Another event of the year 1877 was the establishment of train service on the Winona & St. Peter railroad between Marshall and the state line, giving the newly founded village of Minneota and the people of northwestern Lyon county benefits theretofore denied.
The abundant erop harvested in 1877 and the belief that the grasshopper days were a thing of the past were elements that brought a boom in 1878. To all parts of Southwestern Minnesota and many parts of Dakota Territory the settlers flocked that spring. Before the wagon roads became passable the settlers came by train, the great rush beginning early in February.7 Five hotels in Marshall were unable to take care of the crowds of land hungry men, and still they poured in.
About the middle of April the new- comers began to arrive in the well- remembered "prairie schooners;" or can- vas-covered wagons, and these continued to arrive in great and undiminished numbers until about the first of June. Twenty, forty, sixty, per day they came, in many cases accompanied by droves of cattle, horses and sheep, household goods and farming implements.8 Not all of these stopped in Lyon county, but a great many did.
6"The county was organized about four years too soon and before it was able to support a county government. In an early time we were unfortunate in having many floating criminals brought in by the building of the railroad, and the effectual prosecution has put an end to crime but left us in debt. The railroad owns half the land of the county and has never paid a tax, the state owns about a tenth and pays no taxes, and the United States owns three- tenths, untaxable. There is little personal property to tax, and one-tenth of the land here can only pay current expenses."-Messenger, March 23, 1877.
7The local paper on February 15 reported the arrival of about one hundred immigrants during the preceding week. One month later it declared the rush not only continued but increased. On March 22
As a general thing the newcomers were a well-to-do class. The first ones secured homesteads, but late in April it was announced at the land office that there was not a piece of government land in Lyon county that had not been filed on; there were a few pieces that had been abandoned, but they were not very desirable. Thereafter the ar -. rivals purchased railroad lands and im- proved farms that the grasshopper sufferers had placed on the market.
A great amount of land was broken out9 and new buildings made their appearance in all parts of the county. To make these improvements the new residents swamped the local lumber dealers with orders. Day after day lumber-laden wagon trains could be seen wending their way across the prairies from the villages of Tracy, Marshall and Minneota to the new-found homes. The implement dealers also reaped a harvest supplying machinery to the new residents.
It is a pity that we cannot record a continuation of prosperous times, for the people of Lyon county were certainly entitled to the smiles of fortune. Two weeks of excessive hot weather in the first half of July, followed by a week of excessive rains, brought a erop failure. Wheat, which. was still the big crop, was damaged most and because of its quality brought a low price;10 corn, oats and vegetables fared better. Close times financially again prevailed.
The Lyon County Old Settlers Asso-
it stated that two full passenger coaches of immigrants were brought to the county daily by the railroad.
"" Look out almost any time and you will see streaks of white across our green prairies. They are strings of emigrant schooners come West to gain homes and an independent future for their families. Still there is room for more."-Messenger, May 3, 1878.
""You can travel north, south, east and west, and everywhere you go breaking teams are hard at work turning over our rich soil. It is impossible to estimate the number of acres that are being broken, but it will be immense."-Messenger, May 31, 1878.
10"There is no longer much doubt that the wheat erop has been injured nearly or quite one-half. Ten to fifteen bushels per acre will be a good crop this year."-Messenger, August 2, 1878.
90
HISTORY OF LYON COUNTY.
ciation was organized September 30, for a big crop were flattering. Over 1878, those instrumental in the organi- 36,000 acres of land were sown, and fine weather in the spring months promised a bountiful harvest. But the crop was light. Wheat was blighted and the average yield was less than ten bushels per acre; corn, oats and barley did better. There were marketed in the county during the year 285,950 bushels of wheat. zation being J. W. Blake, C. H. Whitney, S. H. Mott, H. J. Tripp, Stanley Addi- son, W. M. Todd, S. Webster and C. L. Van Fleet. The first officers of the association were as follows: A. R. Cummins, president ; C. L. Van Fleet, secretary; N. Cuyle, treasurer: Stanley Addison and C. H. Whitney, executive committee: J. W. Blake, orator; J. N. Johnson, historian : General Pierce, story teller.
Early in the season of 1879 prospects
The acreage sown to the different grains in 1879 and the personal property assessments of each precinct were as follows:
TOWNSHIPS
Wheat
Oats
Corn
Barley
Total Acres
Personal Property
Amiret
895 }
240
205
SO
1463
$12,489
Clifton.
1013
316
168
50
1586
14,653
Custer.
1158 ;
288
134
74
1718
9,290
Eidsvold
1216 '
236
90
156
1551
24,681
Fairview
2687
499
149
53
3529
15,391
Grandview
946
178
122
125
1323
12,965
Lake Marshall.
950 5
210
62
15
1248
74,130
Lucas.
1812
403
182
48
2469
14,726
Lynd
5709
1130
216
50
7210
19,347
Monroe
2069
393
275
21
2813
30,677
Nordland
1873
282
112
10
2291
14,217
Rock Lake
658 ¥
203
59
30
966
10,846
Sodus.
1116
279
222
14
1662
11,797
Stanley
1624
280
142
31
2092
9,141
Vallers .
571 %
626
21
2
765
5,965
Westerheim
1220 )
120
100
.
1758
1,468
Island Lake, Shelburne
and Coon Creek.
620
90
30
740
759
Total
27,377
6248
2379
659
36,457
$282,551
Lyon county's second railroad, the branch of the Chicago & Northwestern west from Tracy, was built in 1879. This resulted in the founding of Balaton -and later of Garvin-and the rapid settlement and development of southern Lyon county.
The first rumor of the building of the new line came in January, when it was said the Northwestern would construct the road in an effort to "head off" the Southern Minnesota (Milwaukee), which
was being extended through the south- western part of the state. At that time orders were issued for shipping to Tracy large quantities of railroad building material. Surveyors ran the line of the road in March and April.
Contracts were let in May and early in June construction was begun. It was intended to have the road ready for operation by the first of August, but a strike and the desertion of many of the workmen to the harvest fields delayed
Lyons
1240
175
90
1573
91
IIISTORY OF LYON COUNTY.
matters and regular trains were not put in operation until September 29.
The construction of the railroad made times lively and there was a large increase in population. During the year 1879 emigrant cars to the number of 420 were unloaded at the various rail- way stations of Lyon county. Among the arrivals of the year were a number of Irish Catholics-the first of Bishop Ireland's colony-who settled in the vicinity of Minneota. 11
Another life was sacrificed to the winter storms in Lyon county on December 16, 1879. The victim was Trule Knutson, who lived three and one-half miles southwest of Tracy. He had been assisting Ole Johnson move a house from the shore of Lake Sigel to Tracy and at sundown he started for his home, walking and driving a yoke of oxen. He was caught in the storm, lost his way, and perished. His body was not found for several days.
Lyon county harvested an excellent crop in 1880, as did all portions of Southwestern Minnesota, and more No. 1 wheat was raised than had ever been the case before. The county again became known as the "Land of Promise." The farmers were not to realize to the fullest extent the fruits of the bountiful harvest. Frequent and heavy rains in August made it impossible to finish stacking until about the middle of September, and threshing had hardly commenced when the memorable winter set in, preventing further operations. The next spring weather conditions were
11 An association of Irish Catholics was formed in Chicago in the spring of 1879, with a capital stock of $100,000. The object was the colonization on western farms of people of that nationality who resided in eastern cities. Bishop Ireland had charge of the Minnesota and Dakota divisions and he at once made arrangements to plant one of his colonies in Lyon county.
The railroad lands of Eidsvold, Nordland, Grand- view, Westerheim and Vallers townships were reserved and later purchased. In the two first named the Irish colonists were located, and a little later ('atholics of other nationalities were brought to the other town- ships.
no better, and a large part of the 1880 crop was not threshed until the next summer. It was impossible to market the grain that had been threshed because of impassable roads and the railroad blockade.
The federal census of 1880 gave Lyon county a population of 6257, an increase in five years of 3714 people, or 246 per cent. Of the fourteen counties com- prising Southwestern Minnesota, only Brown had a greater population. 12 The population was divided as to sex, nationality and color as follows: Males, 3381; females, 2876; native born, 4558; foreign born, 1699; white, 6255; colored, 2. By precinets the population was as follows:
Amiret 282
Clifton. 204
Coon Creek 106
Cluster. . 293
Eidsvold.
378
Fairview
287
Grandview
267
Island Lake.
177
Lake Marshall.
265
Lucas.
226
Lynd
308
Lyons
226
Monroe
281
Nordland.
313
Rock Lake.
248
Shelburne
140
Sodus.
213
Stanley
188
Vallers
146
Westerheim
283
Marshall.
961
Minneota
113
Tracy
322
Total. 6257
Before 1880 homesteaders of Lyon county were obliged to make the trip to. Redwood Falls (to New Ulm prior to 1872) to make proof on their claims.
The first colonists located near Minneota and were under the spiritual charge of Father M. J. Hanley. The new arrivals were, as a rule, unskilled in farming pursuits and were not successful, and many engaged in other enterprises. In the carly eighties there were great additions to Bishop Ireland's colony and it became an important factor in the history and develop- ment of Lyon county.
12The population of nearby counties in 1880 was as follows: Lac qui Parle, 4907; Yellow Medicine, 5884; Redwood, 5375; Murray, 3604; Pipestone, 2092; Lincoln, 2954.
92
HISTORY OF LYON COUNTY.
With the rapid settlement of the country . others became lost in the storms and to the west, most of the business of the had thrilling experiences. The long, cold, boisterous, blizzardous, wearisome winter will never be forgotten by those who were then living in Lyon county. Redwood Falls land office came from Lyon and Lincoln counties, and an office was opened at Tracy on May 22, 1880. It was located there nine years. The offices at Benson, Tracy, Redwood Falls and Worthington13 were consoli- dated February 28, 1889, and moved to Marshall, where the land office was located until July 1, 1903. Then there was a merger of the Marshall and St. Cloud offices and Lyon county lost the office. 14
One of the dates from which time is reckoned in Lyon county is the winter 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 colder weather. But there never was a winter to compare with this one in duration, continued severity, depth of snow, and damage to property.
Blizzard followed blizzard. The rail- roads were blockaded for weeks and months at a time. Fuel and food were nearly exhausted. People burned green wood, fences, lumber, hay and grain and went without lights. In some places there was suffering for lack of food. Roads remained unbroken all winter and the farmers obtained their supplies from Two lives were lost in Lyon county in the storms of that winter and several others were so badly frozen that ampu- tation of limbs was necessary; many
13The Redwood Falls office was established in July, 1872, with Colonel B. F. Smith as register and Major W. H. Kelley as receiver. The Worthington office was the successor of the Brownsville office, established on the Mississippi river in 1854. It was moved to Chat- field in 1856, to Winnebago City in IS61, to Jackson in 1869, and to Worthington in 1874. Upon the removal from Worthington in 1889 C. P. Shepard was register and August Peterson receiver.
14The first officers at Tracy were George W. Warner, register, and John Lind, receiver, the latter being succeeded after several years' service by P. K. Weiser. Messrs. Warner and Weiser were in charge when the office was moved to Marshall in 1889. L. M. Lange succeeded George W. Warner as register November 1, 1889, and C. P. Shepard succeeded the latter February
Before the farmers had fairly started their fall work, while the grass was yet green and the insect world active, winter set in. Toward evening on Friday, October 15, the wind, which had been blowing from the north all day, brought with it an occasional flake of snow. When darkness came the wind and snow increased, and before midnight the elements were thoroughly aroused. Throughout the night the storm steadily increased, and when morning came its fury was such as had seldom been wit- nessed in the middle of the severest winters. Saturday forenoon the wind continued to blow with terrific violence, driving before it the rapidly falling snow with such force that few dared to venture out of doors. All day the blizzard raged, not calming down until nightfall. Saturday night the raging elements ceased their tempestuous frolic. Sunday the weather was calm, but cold and wintry. The fall of snow was great and the violent winds piled it in great mounds. 15
the villages by means of handsleds. in many places on the north side rising
The streets of Marshall, Tracy and Minneota were packed full, the banks 'almost level with the second story windows and completely covering from sight some of the smaller buildings. The business houses in all three villages 16, 1894, and served until the removal. P. K. Weiser was succeeded as receiver August 1, 1889, by E. P. Freeman, he by M. E. Mathews in January, 1894, and George MI. Laing took the office February 7, 1898. Mr. Laing died June 17, 1898, and C. F. Case served from July, 1898, until the removal from Marshall. d.s.
15" Although this country has gained something of celebrity in the blizzard business, the oldest inhabitants were as much astonished as anybody at such a storm in October as we caught last Saturday and Sunday. This storm was unprecedented. Nobody knows how much snow fell, as it was gathered in drifts from nothing to thirty feet deep. It would pass for a first-class blizzard, and the loss to the county by it will foot up several thousand dollars."-Messenger, October 22, 1880.
.
93
HISTORY OF LYON COUNTY.
* were for the most part closed and the towns resembled Icelandic hamlets. The snow which fell in this initial storm did not entirely disappear until the following May.
So badly drifted was the snow that the railroad was completely blockaded, and from Friday, the fifteenth, until Saturday, the twenty-second, no trains were able to get through, although large forces of men were at work clearing the track. Even this short blockade re- sulted in a shortage of fuel. In the country damage because of the storm was great. It was the first and only blizzard experienced in the county in October, and, of course, the farmers were unprepared for it. The loss of stock throughout the county was con- siderable, many hogs and sheep, par- ticularly, having been frozen to death.
The only death resulting in this October blizzard in the vicinity was that of Samuel Kile. He was with a thresh- ing crew at Tom Brown's place north of Minneota. On the morning of the six- teenth he and others started for the barn to do the chores, and on the way to the barn Kile's hat was blown off. Despite the protests of the other men, he started in pursuit of the hat in the raging blizzard. That was the last seen of the man alive.
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