USA > Minnesota > Nobles County > An illustrated history of Nobles County, Minnesota > Part 11
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4"Valley Springs, Dec. 27. 1875.
"A. P. Miller. Dear Sir: Of course it is idle for this county to attempt the enter- prise urless the Nobles ard Rock county peo- ple will unite with them, By solicitation of the committee appointed to forward the pro- ject. I write to ascertain if we may expect prompt action on the part of your people. ] am confident that if Nobles and Rock counties will act with as much effect as our own people, and as promptly. we can he- fore the next harvest show a line three- fourths of the entire distance graded and ready for the ties. Of course this can only he done by the most active work in organization and in subsequent prosecution of the work.
"I hope and trust that you will. with such others of your people as should enlist in the work. extend to us the hand of greeting in the most liberal manner, and aid in binding our little commmunities together with bands of iron at the earliest day practicable. I very much wish a personal interview with you and your people, and will. if you desire. under- take to come to Worthington with some two or three of our Sioux Falls friends if hy so doing we may reasonably hope to secure ac-
through which the road was to run pay a bonus.
The company was incorporated in March as the St. Paul & Dakota Rail- road companys by President E. F. Drake and his associates of the Sioux City & St. Paul. The capital stock was $600,- 000. there being 6,000 shares of $100 cach. As told in the incorporation act. the company proposed to build a branch mond "from some point on the line of the Sioux City & St. Paul railroad, in Nobles county. state of Minnesota. to the west line of the state of Minnesota, in Rock county."
The preliminary survey was started west from Worthington on March 31, the original lines being run on the north side of Okabena lake. Later this course was abandoned in order to avoid the heavy grade that would have to be overcome in building directly out of Worthington. It was decided to leave the main line at a point about three miles southwest of Worthington known as the summit. later known as Sioux Falls Junction.
Preparations were rushed. funds were secured. bonuses were voted in Minne-
tive cooperation. . "Ver. truly yours. "MT. S. WOOD. "("Faire an Com. Sioux Falls R. R. Co."
""Editor Advance: Pervit me through the medium of your very excellent paper to state to your people that as a result of a visit of the Minnehaha railroad committee we hive the pleasure to state that our interview with the president and several of the directors of the St. Paul & Sioux City railroad was of a highly satisfactory character.
"Briefly, let me say that as a result we bring with is a written proposition bearing the signature of Fresident Drake, which we regard as highly reasonable, and we may say. liberal. which, hy prompt acceptance and ac- tion on the part of Nobles, Rock and Min- nehaha counties, promises to give us a rail- road to Luverne in time to move the crops of this year, ord final completion to Sioux Falls before the close of the year 1977. . M. S Wood. Chairman."
"The name was changed to Worthington & Sioux Falls Railroad company in July, 1576.
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HISTORY OF NOBLES COUNTY.
haha and Rock counties, and in May a few in Indian Lake. Dewald and Sum- grading was begun.7 The work of con- mit Lake. For a time they ate quite struction on the branch made business lively. Nearly every train brought work- men to Worthington, and the hotels there were filled to overflowing. The lumber yards. black-mith shops and hardware stores also did a good business. It was the first time in several years that ready money had circulated in the county. The track was completed to the present site of Adrian in August, and October ? the track had been laid to the crossing of Rock river at Luverne, and the first re- gular train was run over the line.8
The stage line between Worthington and Luverne was discontinued. The village of Adrian was founded. and at once became an important trading point.ยบ A station named Miller, in honor of ex-Governor Stephen Miller, was established at the point where Rushmore now stands. The postoffice of llebbard was moved to Adrian, and that at Dewald was discontinued. The road was extended from Luverne to Sioux Falls in the summer of 1828.
The grasshoppers again brought des- truction to the crops in 1826. The de- posit and hatch was confined mainly to those Townships which had been invaded the year before. The pests began to halch, and laie in May commenced their ravages. They were quite thick in Gra- ham Lakes, Hersey, Seward, Elk and Worthington townships, and there were
"LeMars. April 3. 1876.
"A. P. Miller, Esq. Dear Sir: l'pon condi- tion that we secure the stipulated bons in Rock county we have secured every dollar of the sum required to complete our branch road from your place to Luverne by or before the first day of October next. and if the bonus Jo. voted it will be so completed. Col. Drake, l'ol. Merriam and Horace Thompson. Esq .. telegraph from New York that the money Is ready so soon as the bonus is voted: and General Bishop writes that if the vote be favorable, he will immediately Thereafter finally locate the road, and will commence its construction so soon as the frost is out of
ravenously : then during the first week in June they appeared to become inac- tive. They scattered through the prairie grass, became apparently demoralizod. and appeared to have lost their appe- tiles. As usual, the three northeastern townships were the most severely hurt, and the other portions of the county were not damaged to any great extent by the early operations of the pests. About the middle of June the young hoppers recovered their appetites and re- turned to the charge. The local hatch was not considered numerous enough to do any extensive damage. and the great- cast anxiety was the fear of another in- vasion. The Advance of June 22 said :
In this county the damage is still slight. We hear from Seward that nearly all the grain there is destroyed. Our Hersey cor- respondent writes that in that town the in- jury is not great. Mr. Ames, of this town ship [ Worthington]. thinks his crops are half taken. Mr. Fulweiler, of Bigelow, ha- lost a good portion of his grain.
The invading hosts appeared July 8. dropped down upon the county, ate a few days, and disappeared. Then on July 22 they came in countless numbers. The country was invaded again! They extended as far east as Martin county. south to Sibley, west to Yankton, and north an indefinite distance. They re- mained until July 29. when they nearly all migrated. Oats, harley, corn. vege- tables, and all crops except wheat, were
the ground, and will cheerfully furnish em- ployment for all the men and their teams in your county and Rock that are desirous to labor. S. Miller, Agent."
"The train consisted of one coach and a caboose, and carried a party of visiting rail- road officials. Peter Becker was conductor; Frank Swandollar. engineer: Matt Dulan lireman. John McMillan was roadmaster in charge of The branch line when it began operations.
"For the early history of Adrian see chap- ter 17.
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L
Land Office.
C
EARLY DAY ADRIAN STREET SCENE
The Business Houses Shown, Reading from Right to Left, Were: Henry Myers' Shoe Shop, Bank and Land Office, Colony Hotel, James Naylon, Proprietor; Peter Thompson's Implement House, A. M. Crosby, Manager; Central Hotel, by L. S. Roberts; Henry Davis' General Store, Peter and Frank Ulveling, Managers.
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HISTORY OF NOBLES COUNTY.
almost entirely destroyed in all parts of the county. For some reason the wheat was not so seriously damaged, the loss in that crop being no greater than it had been during the previous year.10
There was no disguising the fact that Nobles county had met another damag- ing setback. The people were discour- aged. and some left the country. The hoppers had again deposited their eggs. and there seemed no prospects that the country would ever be free from them.11 The majority of the settlers remained, determined to fight to a successful end or meet ntter faihire in the attempt. The result of the invasion of 1846 was to change the tactics. Instead of stak- ing all on grain farming, many now turned to stockraising.
During the winter following the in- vasion, it was again necessary to extend relief. Early in January the county commissioners began issuing supplies to relieve actual suffering. Captain E. S. Mills distributed at Bigelow and Worth- ington, A. C. Robinson at Worthington and A. O. Conde at Hersey. This county aid was given only to bridge over the time until supplies could be received from the state, after an appropriation had been made by the legislature. The Minnesota law-making body appropriat- ed $100,000 to be used in bounties to pay for the destruction of grasshoppers and their eggs, $25,000 to furnish sord grain, and another sum as a common relief fund. A rule was established in Nobles county that parties desiring re-
10""They [the grasshoppers] will of course harvest the wheat next unless farmers can get in ahead of them and cut their wheat. There is a bare possibility that the wheat crop, in the main. will escane, and we are sure of our cattle and other live stock. Really we shall be grateful if they do not eat the shirts off our backs. Our hope is that a friendly tornado or a three days' blizzard will come and hlow them away. How long !- Worthington Advance, July 27, 1876.
lief should apply to the township super- visors and make their statement, no af- fidavit being required. These statements were then sent to the state authorities. and supplies were sent direct to the needy parties, thus dispensing with the need of a county distributing comunit- tee.
During the days that the grasshoppers were feasting on Nobles county grain came the last Indian scare. It seems hardly ereditable that such an event could take place so late as 1846, when the whole surrounding country had be- come quite thickly settled, but such is the fact, and those who lived in the northern part of the county at the time will never forget it. Needless to say. there were no Indians within a long dis- tance of Nobles county, and no hostiles within several hundred miles. But it was only a short time after the fearful Cluster massacre in Montana, and the rumor that Indians were on the way to wipe out the settlements of southwest- orn Minnesota came to credulous ears.
It was on the morning, of July 12. 1846, before daylight, that some settlers from the north Imarriedly rode into Worthington and reported that the In- dians were coming. It was stated that a band of 500 was camped on one of the lakes of Murray county. The scare spread through the southern part of Murray and the northern part of Nobles counties. and the evil done to nervous woman and children (and some men) was great.
Soon after the arrival of the first
11There was really very little that the set- tlers could do to destroy or check the pests. although many schemes were tried. Nothing availed against the invading hordes, but in the case of the young hoppers the farmers waged a more or less successful war by the use of tuir. A sort of drag, made of sheet iron and wood, would have tar spread over il and would then be dragged over the ground The young hoppers would he caught in the tar and destroyed. but if there was an in- vasion all the work would be for naught.
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HISTORY OF NOBLES COUNTY.
refugee- people began to pour into Worth- ington from the country to the north. They had been aroused from their shum- bers by the startling announcement that the Indians were coming, had driven all night, and were in a high state of nervous excitement. The roads through Elk and Seward townships were lined with wagons, the occupants of which we're all bound for the county seat. Ar- rived there. they camped on the public square. The same evening some of the settlers returned to their homes when it became evident there was no truth in the rumor. Others waited for more substantial proof than had been obtained.
The seare had originated with a boy named Hemphill, in southern Murray county. He had been sent out to rake hav. but not being of a very enterpris- ing nature. he conceived a plan to es- cape the work. He rushed to the house. crying that the Indians had attacked him. A man named Hampion, who was preparing to leave the country. spread the alarm, and within a short time a full fledged Indian scare was on.
A scouting party was at once organ- ized at Worthington by Lieutenant R. B. Plotis. made up of the following gen- ilemen : Geo. Brant. Prof. R. F. Hum- iston. A. P. Miller. Will Bushnell, Chas. Covey. Caplain Aiken Miner and Alex Dickey.12 They scoured the country to the north looking for Indians or Indian signs. They found nothing hut a lot of seared people. After the return Lieutenants Plotis made the The follow- ing report of the expedition.
Gentlemen of the Council of the Village of Worthington:
Agreeable to instructions, I have the honor to report the following facts gathered by our party while sconting the country on Wednes-
12Some of the scouts were mounted. others went in buggles, and a few of them were prepared to meet Indians. Those with Prof.
day. July 12. and Thursday, 13th. After leaving Worthington we proceeded north of the lake Shetek rond, accompanied by a considerable party in wagons and on horse- hack. The whole party proceeded as far as Jack ereck, where we found the first occupied house, but no news from occupants of In- dians. We next stopped at the house of Mr. Alexander, on the north edge of the county, where some mien were gathered who had just returned from a scont around the coun- try a number of miles, and who had been unable to find mything. They informed us that they thought the whole thing had originated with a boy named Hemphill, of that neighborhood, and followed by the re- ports of a man named Hampton a few miles further north and in Murray county. The whole party then proceeded to the bank of Seven Mile lake, nohitched. fed our teams and lunched. after which it was decided, in consultation, that Prof. Humi-ton and his immediate party. with two of the horsemen. should return with the news as gathered.
The remainder of the party then proceeded north till we came to the house of Mr. King. town of Bondin, Murray county. Here is quite a large settlement, and most of the men were at Mr. K.'s house, which contained the only woman in the township. Here we found that it was mmnecessary to proceed any further north. as a man had just arrived fiom lake Shetek a short time before our ar- rival, and be reported everything quiet north of this immediate neighborhood. Sconts also came in from the surrounding country while we were there, and all reported that no In. dions or signs of Indians could be found any- where. The report of Hampton, following the report of the boy Hemphill has caused the whole of the trouble, and no small amount of damage to us as a people.
Having thus traced the alarm to its fonn- tain head. Messrs. Clark. Shirley and Chase returned to town from this place, and our guide and interpreter, Mr. Brint. arcompanie I by two men from Bondin on horses, and two of my own neighbors from Elk. pushed out was to Lone Tree or Badger lake, where we spent the night at the house of Mr. Auder- son. This place is close to the Beaver Creek settlement, which knew nothing of In.lians. and were pursuing the even tenor of their ways. nnalarmed by Indian scares.
From Badger lake we pushed west across the country to Cora Belle lake. one of the old camping grounds of the Indians, and here we found no trails fresh, or new eamps. neither of them having been used at least siner last May or June. From Cora Belle we pushed across to that trail leading across Sunken Timber, as that is the only place anyone can cross without going way north or coming in south by Luverne. Before
llumiston were armed with parasols, high col- lars and kid gloves.
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HISTORY OF NOBLES COUNTY.
getting there we met a man just from it, who had not been more than one hour's time away, and he informed us that he had seen nothing of any Indians, nor had heard of any until seeing us
In conclusion, I would add that should I ever be so unfortunate as to have another such duty as this to perform, I should cer- tainly like to have in my party such men as accompanied me through, and especially such a one as our interpreter, Mr. Brant. And now, trusting this report may allay the fears of all our people throughout this coun- try, I beg to remain.
Very truly your servant, R. B. PLOTTS, Late in Charge of Scouting Party.
Had it not been for the terrible grass- hopper scourge there can be no doubt that the whole of Nobles county would have been rapidly settled during the first half of the seventies. A big set- tlement had been made in the eastern half of the county because of the prox- imity to the railroad and because of the activities of the National colony. and a few had pushed out to the fertile lands in the western portion. If the hard times had not come there is no rea- son to doubt that a railroad would have been built through the west end and that that portion of the county would have been as thickly settled as the east. But im- migration had ceased when the scourge came, with the result that the extreme western and the whole of the north- western part of the county was left with a very small population.
From 1813 to 1822 no new townships were organized. At the close of the for- mer vear 14 of Nobles county's minor divisions had been granted local govern- ment : the other six were unorganized, and had but small population. When the branch road was built during the summer and fall of 1876, resulting in the founding of Adrian village, the lands along the new road were settled to a considerable extent. In township 102- 43 was located part of the new village,
and there also was the greatest farm- ing settlement in any of the unorgan- ized townships.
A petition praying for the organiza- tion of that township was presented to the board of county commissioners Jan. 24. 1877. It was signed by Thos. H. Childs. G. E. Otis, J. C. Ludlow. O. Klock, R. Washburn, Horace Westbrook. II. M. Moffatt. David W. Hovey, Isaac Emerson, Matthew Emerson, Nils Elias, Thron Gunderen. Henry Myices, Ira E. Crosby, J. V. Bartow, Wm. Wigham, .John Ellsworth, Geo. L. Ellsworth, John Nesh. A. R. Calkins, M.
.T. Klock, Peter
Doltsmark. S. K. Hovey, L. C. Long, J. W. Yost, John Misemas, F. W. Ellsworth. The 'board took favorable action February 6, and named the township Westside. the name being given because of its geo- graphical location. The organization was perfected Feb. 24, when the first town meeting was held at the Childs' hotel in Adrian.
Twenty-three votes were cast at this initial election of Westside township. Thomas Childs and J. A. Ellsworth were judges of elcetion, and Tra Crosby was clerk. The following officers were elected: Chairman, J. A. Ellsworth ; supervisors. John Wiseman and Isaac Emerson : clerk. L. C. Long: treasurer, Ira E. Crosby: assessor. J. V. Bartow : justices of the peace, T. H. Childs and R. Simmons: constables, Geo. L. Ells- worth and Thomas Baltuff. Another clection for the selection of township of- ficers was held March 13. 1877, when eighteen votes were cast and the fol- lowing officers were elected: Chairman, Ira E. Crosby : supervisors, John Wise- man and A. R. Harris: clerk. L. C. Long: treasurer, P. Voigtlaender ; as- sessor. J. V. Bartow; justices of the
5
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HISTORY OF NOBLES COUNTY.
peace, J. A. Ellsworth and T. H. The cool, rainy wrather of the Childs: constables, Geo. 1. Ellsworth spring and early summer seemed to and Geo. Slade.
Nobles county's first court house was erected in 1822. It was put up at that time in order to secure title to the block of land which had been donated by the railroad company with the provision that a county building should he erected thereon within a certain time. The building put up was intended to serve as a temporary affair, but the build- ing was destined to be used as a court house-with some modifications - for eighteen years.
The question of its construction was first officially discussed by the board of county commissioners on Feb. 6. 1877. when Commissioner A. C. Robinson was' instructed to prepare plans.13 The plans submitted were accepted March 20. and the anditor was authorized to advertise for scaled proposals to furnish material and creet the building. which should be completed by June 28. Several bids wore submitted, and the contract was let to Thurber & Chandler (B. F. Thur- her and S. E. Chandler) on a bid of $1124.11 The building was completed and accepted by the commissioners June 20, and on June 27 the county officers took up their quarters in the court house.
The annual dread of grasshopper visi- tation was again felt in the spring and summer of 1827-and this time the set- ters were agreeably disappointed. The season was admirably adapted to two ends: the best possible development of small grain. and the worst pos- sible development of The locusts.
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 de- velopment. After the young grasshop- pers hatched, here and there a field was somewhat damaged by them, but the people knew that unless raided again by the invading hordes there could not be universal destruction. And the inva- ders did not come. July 26 the Wor- thington Advance said: "The deeper we get into the magnificent harvest of 18:2, the more we realize that this is our year of Jubilee."
Yet conditions were not so rosy as one might imagine. The several years of grasshopper invasion had discouraged the farmers of Nobles county to such an extent that each year saw less and less grain sown. The spring of 18 ;? witnessed the planting of a very limit- ed acreage. and the hig yield per aere did not result in the bountiful limes that would have come had the farmers sown as in former years.
The state of affairs in Nobles coun- ty is described by a gentleman who visi- ted it that fall. In November he wrote: "The country around Worthington. as well as for a long distance before reach- ing there along the line of the St. Paul & Sioux City road, gives evidence of the sad effects of the grasshopper plague in the thousands of acres of land that have once been broken and perhaps a crop or two taken from it, and the owners have left it to grow up to weeds, not daring to risk the chances of har-
13.1. 0. Conde moved that A. C. Robinson be and is hereby instructed to prepare a plan and estimate the cost of a temporary building for county offices and report the same at the next merting of the hoard." Commissioners' Journal, Feb. 6. 1877.
1The bids submitted were as follows: Thur- & Chandler. $1124; Milwin Humiston. $1330; G. Anderson, $1100. C. B. Langdon offered to sell the Farmers hotel or so much os might be needed and move It to county grounds for $500. J. H. Johnson offered to sell the building then in use for county pur- poses for $1,000.
THE OLD COURT HOUSE AND CITY PARK
hb L few
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HISTORY OF NOBLES COUNTY.
vesting their crops. Nothing so forcibly brings to the mind of the visitor the reality of the grasshopper scourge as the sight of these desolate, weed-grown fields, with occasionally a deserted home standing cheerless and lone in the midst of the broad prairie."
The legislature of 1828 passed another appropriation bill (approved February 13) providing for furnishing seed grain. The Nobles county officials received $1.686.50 of this appropriation in cash, purchased the grain, and made the dis- tribution. There were 91 farmers who made application for grain. They had prepared 3,341 acres of land and de- sired 2.224 bushels of wheat and 1,169 bushels of oats.15
The population of the county in 1877 according to an estimate made by the Minnesota commissioner of statistics was 1,596. This was undoubtedly an underestimate. The population nearer 3,000.
By far the most important event of the year 18:2, and one of the greatest moment in the county's history, was the founding of the Adrian Catholic colony and its beginning of operations in the western part of the county. It was to the west end what the temperance National colony had been to the past end five or six years earlier. The sav- ing of the 1817 crop was largely respon- sible for several leading Catholics so- leeting western Nobles county as the place in which to plant a colony.
It was in the first few days of Sep- tember. 18:2. that Bishop John Ireland. of St. Panl: Father C. J. Knauf, of Jordan: and Father A. Plut. of Shako- pee, arrived in Nobles county to look over the country with a possible view to selecting it as the place to establish
"Report of County Commissioners to State Auditor, March 5, 1878.
their followers. These gentlemen were pleased with the location, and immediate- ly decided that they had found the place which they sought. Bishop Treland and the railroad company entered into a contract. whereby the former was given the exclusive sale of the railroad lands in Grand Prairie, Little Rock. Westside, Olney. Lismore and Larkin townships.18 under the following plan : When a. mem- ber of the colony selected his land a permit was to be isued by Father Knauf, who at once took up his residence at Adrian and became local manager of the company and the resident priest. The settler was then to take his permit to the railroad company, which was to issue a contract for the sale of the land.
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