An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota, Part 12

Author: Rose, Arthur P., 1875-1970
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Luverne, Minn. : Northern History Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 924

USA > Minnesota > Rock County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 12
USA > Minnesota > Pipestone County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 12

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32"Land seekers continue to arrive on every train, and hardly a day passes without inquiry for cheap lands. Day by day it becomes more apparent that we are on the threshold of bet- ter times, and that an era of prosperity is he- ginning to dawn upon those who have possessed the pluck to stick to their farms."-Rock Coun- ty Herald, September 7, 1877.

33Of the three hundred odd thousand acres of land in Rock county, over one hundred thousand acres-nearly one-third of the total area-were granted to railroad companies. Of this amount. 16,228 acres were granted to the Southern Minnesota ( Milwaukee) railroad and 84.170 acres to the Sioux City & St. Paul ( Omaha) road.

The history of the grant of Rock county lands, which were many miles from the rail- road, to the latter company is compiled from the records of the general land office and other records.

In 1857 congress passed an act granting to the territory of Minnesota, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of certain railways. and among them a railroad from St. Paul and St. Anthony to the southern boundary of the territory in the direction of the mouth of the Big Sioux river. every alternate section of land designated by odd numbers for six sec- tions of width on each side of such railroads and their branches. The act also provided that in case any of the lands so granted had been already settled upon, the railroads should select other unoccupied lands in lieu thereof. hut that such indemnifying lands should not be more than fifteen miles from the line of such road. Subsequently, by act of May 12. 1864. for the purpose of giving aid to this particular road, congress granted to the state of Minnesota four additional sections per mile along the line of said road and extended the indemnity limits to twenty miles.

The company originally organized to build the road in question was known as the Min- nesota Valley Railroad company. This com- pany located its line of road so far as the northeast corner of Nobles county by Novem-

fast enough to meet the demand. By this time nearly all the government lands had been taken, and the newcomers turned to the railroad lands, which were on the market at reasonable prices.33

Adding to the prevailing boom times was the extension of the railroad from Luverne to the new town of Beaver Creek. The right-of-way was purchased in Au- gust, 1822, grading was commenced in Oc- tober, track-laying in November, and the line was in operation by the first of the year. Another event of importance in 1827 was the construction of the first flouring mill, which was erected on Rock river in Clinton township by D. Estey & Sons.

ber. 1858, and the remainder of the line to the southern boundary of the state was located in 1866. The right of the railroad to the lands attached when the line was located, and under the provisions of the law the lands were to be conveyed by the state to the company as fast as every twenty miles of road were built.

Meanwhile, the Sioux City & St. Paul Rail- road company of Iowa had been organized. The company had its own land grant in lowa and was organized for the purpose of connecting with the Minnesota Valley railroad, thus form- ing a continuous line from St. Paul to Sioux City. The company was virtually the same as the Minnesota Valley company, and in order to equalize the length of the road to be built by each company. stops were taken to con- solidate. and to make the Sioux City & St. Paul company a Minnesota corporation. This was done by an act of the legislature in 1869. by which, also, the Minnesota Valley company was authorized to transfer to the Sioux City & St. Paul company so much of its line and land grant as it might deem proper. In accord- ance with this act, in 1872, the Minnesota Valley company (which, by the way. by an act of the legislature. approved March 1, 1870, had changed its name to the St. Paul & Sioux City Railroad company) transferred its line and land grant lying west of St. James to the Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad company, and the road from St. James to the state line was built and owned by the last named corporation. Following the provisions of the law regulating land grants, the state of Minnesota, to whom all the lands lying along the located line of the railroad had been certified by the United States. transferred the lands to the railroad company as fast as the road was built.

A part of Rock county lying within the in- demnity limit. the odd numbered sections of a great part of the county became the property of the railroad company when the line was constructed in 1871. This is the chain of title to these lands. The lands were virtually deeded by the United States to the territory and state of Minnesota, and by the state of Minnesota to the railroad company.

CHAPTER VI.

RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD-1878-1884.

H ENCEFORTH the story of Rock county is one of advancement. The dark and gloomy days are past. No longer do the grasshoppers threaten the very existence of the settle- ment; no longer is it found necessary to solicit aid for the relief of the inhabi- tanis. The days of such adversity have become only a memory. It must not be understood that this change was wrought in a day, for it was not. Trials and trib- ulations were yet to assail those who had borne so much and so long, but times were on the mend, and the year 1818 ush- eted in the reconstruction era. People began anew the work of progress that had been interrupted when the first army of grasshoppers came and placed a mort- gage on the country in the summer of 1823.

In some ways the people of Rock coun- ty 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 dur- ing the terrible scourge and were al-

1Over eighty passengers. the greater num- ber of whom were in search of homes, arrived in Luverne by rail February 27. The same class of people to the number of 112 arrived March 19, and on the following day homeseek- ers filled the one coach the train afforded.

ready in position to begin the forward march. Many others, however, found it necessary to free themselves from debt be- fore the effect of the more prosperous times became apparent.

The abundant erop harvested in 1877 and the belief that the grasshopper days . were a thing of the past were elements that aided largely in the start for better times. To all parts of southwestern Min- nesota and southeastern Dakota, but par- ticularly to Rock county and the Sioux Falls country, the settlers flocked in the spring of 1878. Before the wagon roads became passable the settlers came by train, the great rush of homeseekers beginning during the elosing days of February.1 About the middle of April the immigrants began to arrive in the well-remembered (to the pioneer settlers) "prairie sehoon- ers," or canvass-covered wagons, and these continued to arrive in great and undimin- ished numbers until about the first of June. Twenty, forty, sixty, per day they eame. in many cases accompanied by droves of catile, horses and sheep, house- hold goods and farming implements. Not all of these stopped in Rock county, but

the haggage car, the platforms, and the lops of the freight cars. All were men in search of land or business locations. The hotels were filled to overflowing, and livery teams were worked to skeletons taking the newcomers over the country to pick ont the choice locations.

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

a great many did .? During the summer months the immigrants arrived in dimin- ished numbers, but in the fall the home- seekers again became quite numerous.

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 per- manent settlers. That the arrivals in the spring of 18:8 came for the purpose of making homes is attested by the real es- tate sales during that period. Between the first day of April and the tenth of May the real estate transfers amounted to over a quarter of a million dollars. The transfers by deed covered 24,935 acres, the aggregate consideration of which was $139,829. or about $5.67 per acre. The 16,460 acres of school lands in the county were offered for sale on May 2, and 8941 were sold for $67,199.11, or an aver- age of $1.58 per acre. With the other sales the total for this short period was over $250.000. Other statistics show prog- ress. The gross earnings of the new rail- road for the first six months of the year were $44,316.85, as against $6:67.56 for the corresponding period in 1814. At the Luverne station for one week ending May 31 there were received 1,717,150 pounds of freight.

To make improvements on their newly acquired farms, the immigrants swamped the local lumber dealers with orders. Day after day lumber-laden wagon trains could be seen wending their way aeross

^Here are a few figures showing the arrivals in Luverne during a part of this period, only the covered wagons having been counted: Mon- day (April 29). 18: Tuesday. 12; Wednesday, 23; Thursday, 35; Friday, 25. From May 4 to 17, inclusive, 398 "schooners" arrived at the port of Luverne, which number did not include scores of open wagons which were arriving for the same purpose. On Monday, May 19, between sun and sun, sixty-one of the white- sailed vessels passed through Luverne, and he-

the prairies to the new-found homes. The implement dealers also reaped a harvest supplying machinery. one Luverne dealer reporting the sale during the spring months of over one hundred harvesters and sixty self-binders.

The acreage sown to the principal crops in 1828 was as follows: Wheat, 25,434 aeres; oats, 1721 acres ; corn, 2095 acres. Although the grasshoppers in diminished numbers visited Nobles county and some other portions of southwestern Minnesota in 1818, Rock county was free from them. But the county was not destined to har- vest the mammoth crop to which it was entitled. Two weeks of excessively hot weather in the first half of July, followed by a week of excessive rains. injured the wheat crop. The damage was estimated at from fifteen to forty per cent, accord- ing to locality. When the grain was threshed it proved of poor quality and graded numbers three and four.

The railroad was extended from Beaver Creek to Sioux Falls in this year of big immigration. Grading for the extension was begun in March and track-laying was commenced May 1. Trains were put in operation to Valley Springs during the closing days of May, and regular train service was established to Sioux Falls August 21.

Rock county's second railroad, the Doon branch of the Omaha, was built in 1879. The survey for the road was made during the month of April, and the grading con- tract for the entire distance was let to Kniss & Brown, of Luverne, May 16. Ex- Gov. Stephen Miller at once began the purchase of right-of-way. the grade stakes

fore the week was over more than 200 had passed through. A Beaver Creek citizen. writ- ing early in May, said: "It has been a source of wonder to us. as we have watched the thou- sands of strangers passing through our village, where in the world they all come from. No less than 300 'schooners' have passed through here enroute to different parts of Rock and Minnehaha counties. And it is a notahle fact that most of them come to stay, bringing with them their families and farming implements."

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

were set, and on May 28 grading was be- gun from the Luverne end, the contract having been sublet by Messrs. Kniss & Brown to farmers along the new line. Track-laying was started July 30 and the line was completed to Rock Rapids about the first of October.3 Early in November the railroad reached Doon. the terminus, and the first regular train over the new line was run November 10.

In portions of Rock county grasshop- pers did some little damage in 1879, bo- ing contined to new breaking which was not back-set the fall before. The damage done was by native hoppers, and there was no invasion. About the middle of July they departed, never to appear again : grasshoppers had eaten their last Rock county grain. The fact that they put in an appearance had a tendency to put a damper on the immigration, which other- wise would have resulted. Said the Rock County Herald of November 28, 1829: "The reports so extensively circulated and exaggerated in proportion to the extent of their wide-spread circulation. respecting the grasshopper scourge in this section, have unquestionably injured this county to an immeasurable extent."

Early in the season prospects for a big erop were flattering. Over 52,000 aeres were sown,4 and fine weather in the spring months promised a bountiful harvest. But, while grasshoppers and storms brought little damage, the erop was light. Wheat was blighted, and the average yield was less than ten bushels per acre ; corn, oats and flax did better. The local paper told of resultant conditions: "The times at present, owing to the failure of crops for two years past, are hard, it is true.

3".1 party of our citizens availed themselves of an opportunity to take a ride to Rock Rap- ids over the new road Saturday morning [Octo- ber 4] and enjoyed the trip amazingly. The party consisted of M. McCarthy, his wife and his daughter Maggie; Mrs. Klein and children: Miss Della Kimball and Will Langdon. The ladies above named may take to themselves whatever distinction lies in the fact that they

but the drawbacks of the past two years are not of a local character or in any re- spect peculiar to this locality." In Mar- tin township particularly the settlers were hard hit. In addition to the other calam- ities of the season, a destructive hail storm, about half a mile in width, visited that township and brought great damage. Martin township in 1879 harvested the lightest crop in its history.

Rock county harvested an excellent crop in 1880, as did all portions of south- western Minnesota, and more No. 1 wheat was raised than had ever been the case be- fore. The county again became known as the "Land of Promise." Said the Rock County Herald on August 6:

The memory of the oldest inhabitant re- calls no time in the history of the county when the growth of all kinds of grain was greater, the probable yield larger or the quality better. Wheat, with scarcely an acre throughout the county to break the uniform excellence, stands breast high, and heads are well filled to the top with large plump berries that will certainly be graded No. 1. Fax, of which the acreage is large, is equally good, and corn as a rule is liter- ally enormous. For once Rock county has escaped the scourges that have heretofore heset it and its incomparable, fertile soil has had an opportunity to give evidence of its productiveness.

The acreage sown, the estimated yield in bushels and the average yield per acre of the several crops were as follows:

GRAIN

Acres

Bushels

Average

Wheat ..

32,355

5×2,290

Oats

9,518

295,290

Corn

8,819

410,950

Flax

11.509

97,653

Barley

1,507

45,210

Rye ...

1.268

15,216

Buckwheat

Potatoes

215

Beans.

Sugar Cane

Other Products

TOTAL

60,680

are the first ladies who ever rode over the Iowa division of the Worthington & Sioux Falls railway."-Rock County Herald. October 10, 1879.

4The acreage was as follows: Wheat. 35,951; oats, 7484; corn. 4806: barley. 1545; rye, 554; potatoes, 215; beans, 7; sugar cane, 13; tame hay, 320; flax 1399; total, 52,294.

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

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 stack- ing until about the middle of September, and threshing had hardly commenced be- fore the memorable winter set in, pre- venting further operations. The next spring weather conditions were no better, and a large part of the 1880 crop had not been threshed on July 1. 1881. It was impossible to market the grain that had been threshed because of the impassable roads and the railroad blockade.

The federal census of 1880 gave Rock county a population of 3669,5 of which 2654 were native born, and 1015 of for- eign birth. This was a gain of over one hundred per cent in five years and of nearly 2200 per cent over the federal cen- sus of 1870. By precincts the popula- tion of the county in 1880 was as follows:

Battle Plain 142

Beaver Creek

483

Clinton

237

Denver 104

Kanaranzi 192

Luverne Township 221

Luverne Village 679

Magnolia 240 Martin 545

Mound 244

Rose Dell 196

Springwater 198

Vienna

188

Total 3669

One of the dates from which time is reckoned in Rock county is the winter of 1880-81-the season of Siberian frigid- ity. 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, con- tinued severity, depth of snow, and dam- age lo property. Blizzard followed bliz- zard. The railroads were blockaded for weeks at a time. Fuel and food were

nearly exhausted. People burned hay and grain and went withont lights. In some places there was suffering for lack of food. Roads remained unbroken all win- ter and the farmers obtained their sup- plies from the villages by means of hand- sleds. The long, cold, boisterons, bliz- zardous, wearisome winter will never be forgotten by those who were then living in Rock county,

Before the farmers had fairly started their fall work, while the grass was vet green and the insect world active, winter set in. Toward evening on Friday, Oc- tober 15, the wind, which had been blow- ing from the north all day, brought with it an occasional flake of snow. When dark- ness 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 been seldom witnessed in the middle of the severest winters. Saturday fore- noon the wind continued to blow with ter- rific violence, driving before it the rapidly falling snow with such force that few dar- ed to venture ont of doors. All day the blizzard raged, not calming down until after nightfall. Saturday night the rag- ing elements ceased their tempestuous frolic. Sunday the weather was calin, but cold and wintry. The fall of snow was great and the violent winds piled it in great mounds. The streets of Imverne and Beaver Creek were packed full, the banks in many places on the north side rising alnost lovel with the second story windows and completely covering from sight some of the smaller buildings. The business houses in both villages were for the most part closed and the towns re- sembled leclandie hamlets. The snow which fell in this initial storm did not

SPopulation of other southwestern Minnesota counties: Pipestone, 2092: Nobles, 4135: Mur- ray. 3409; Jackson. 4795: Cottonwood. 5554.

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

entirely disappear until the following May.

So badly drifted was the snow that the railroads were completely blockaded, and from the night of Friday, the fifteenth, until the night of Tuesday, the nine- teenth, no trains were able to get through, although large forces of men were at work clearing the track. In the country dam- age because of the storm was great. It was the first and only blizzard experien- ced in the county in October, and, of course, the farmers were unprepared for it. The loss of stock throughout the county was considerable, many hogs and sheep, particularly, having been frozen to death.

For a short time after the initial storm the weather was calm but wintry. About · the middle of November storms began to rage again, and wintry blasts continued from that time until late in April. For weeks at a time the people of Rock coun- ty were absolutely isolated. They spent long weeks of weary waiting in the midst of the dreariest, gloomiest and most dis- mally discouraging surroundings-wait- ing for the raising of the blockade and the arrival of the necessities of life, of which they were deprived. Because of the fuel and provision famine which en- sued there was considerable suffering in parts of the county. Severe cold weather began on November 19. and the following day the thermometer registered nineteen degrees below zero. Because of the inabil- ity of the railway company to provide a sufficient number of cars, a fuel famine resulted during the latter part of Novem- ber. leaving the people illy supplied with the necessary article even before the rail- road blockade began.

""Although the freight blockade continues to prevent the shipment of grain, large quantities of wheat are daily brought to Luverne and stowed away under every available shelter. Every warehouse in the village is filled. all the bins in the elevator are full, and large quan- tities of wheat are stored away in sacks on the ground Hoor."-Rock County Herald, December 24, 1880.

Following is the story of the winter. told in brief chronological order, from the beginning of December until the breakup, in the spring:

DECEMBER.

1. Wood and hard coal again on the market, and fuel famine lifted, except soft coal.

4. Snow falling, with wind. Main line of the Omaha road blockaded.

5. Cold, windy and snow failing.

6. Thermometer indicated twenty-seven degrees below zero.

7. Windy, with snow squalls.

10. Car famine and shortage of soft coal reported.

13. Light rain during the afternoon.

17. Snow fell most of the day.

24. Light fall of snow. Grain piling up in Luverne because of the freight blockade." 25. Windy and light snowfall. Last mail from the east until the thirtieth, due to snow blockade on main line of the Omaha.

26. Blizzard. Mercury forty degrees be- low zero.

27. Blizzard. Thirty-four below zero.

28. Blizzard with furious gale from the Thirty-two below zero.

north. 29. Cold and stormy.

30. Rise in temperature. First mail in several days received from Worthington. Main line still closed.

31. Total number of stormy days in De- cember, 11.

JANUARY.

1. Wind changed to northwest. Snow at night.

4. Mild weather. Fine sleet fell at night.

5. Stormy. Snow drifting badly.

6. Blizzard. Weather cold.

7. Freight blockade reported disastrous.7

9. Thermometer registered forty degrees below zero, where the mercury congealed and refused to register severer cold. Cold- est day of the winter. Air still.

12. Blizzard with snow in the afternoon. Weather mild.

13. Blizzard continued. Twenty degrees below zero. Train stuck in drifts at Beaver Creek.

20. Storm from the north. No trains over the Worthington & Sioux Falls un- til the twenty-fourth.

21. Blizzard raging.

22. Still storming.

23. Mild. Light snowfall.

25. Cold. Snow drifting,

""The circumstances under which the people of Luverne and surrounding country have been for a long time and are at the present time placed, in consequence of the freight blockade. the stagnation of business, the low price of produce and the impossibility of finding a market for grain occasioned thereby, are very unfortunate."-Rock County Herald, January 7. 1881.

HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.

26. Blizzard from the north. No train until following day.

27. Few empty freight cars received,

and the elevator, after having been idle since December 20, resumed operations.

28. Snow falling. Mild weather.

30. Heavy snow storm at night.

31. Heavy fall of snow, accompanied by north wind. No train until next afternoon. Total number of stormy days in January, 15.

FEBRUARY.

1. Last mail from the east until Feb- ruary 18 received. Main line of the Omaba tied up.

2. Boisterous storm. Snow falling. Last train over the branch until February 18. Line completely snowed under.

4. Blizzard from the southeast. Heavy snowfall all day.

5. Blizzard. Few hours interruption and then began with increased fury.

6. Blizzard continued.

7. Blizzard until afternoon. Then rain- fall with mercury forty-eight above zero. South wind.

8. Doon branch cleared of snow.

10. Main line of the Omaha opened. After several days work the branch road nearly opened, expecting trains to begin operations on the twelfth. Plenty of fuel reported at Luverne.

11. One of the worst blizzards of the season began, coming from the north. Rail- road again covered.

12. Blizzard all day.

14. Cold, with light snowfall.

8"After a lapse of over two weeks without mail. the re-establishment of communication with the east will be hailed with the greatest rejoicing by the people along the line. Fortu- nately, thus far there has been but little, if any, suffering for want of fuel or provisions, but this state of affairs could not have continued much longer without supplies."-Herald, Febru- ary 18, 1881.

""The entire line is even more effectually blockaded than at any time before this winter. Almost every day the engines with crews of men have been at work at the east end at- tempting to clear the track, but every night the wind would fill up all the excavations and the work accomplished one day would have to he begun again on the next. It is evident now that no regular trains can be expected until the snow is entirely gone, and it is even pos- sible that the road will not be opened at all until that time."-Herald, March 4, 1881.

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An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota, Part 12

Author: Rose, Arthur P., 1875-1970 Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Luverne, Minn. : Northern History Publishing Company Number of Pages: 924

Author: Rose, Arthur P., 1875-1970
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Luverne, Minn. : Northern History Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 924