USA > Minnesota > Rock County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 5
USA > Minnesota > Pipestone County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 5
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NAME
Age
Occupation
Property
Birthplace
*Henry Henderson
30
Farmer
$100
England
Jane Henderson
28
England
Mary Henderson
8
Wisconsin
Thomas Henderson
6
Wisconsin
*Charles Henderson
46
Farmer
120
England
Ann Henderson
48
England
William Henderson
24
Farmer
75
England
Henry Henderson
23
Farmer
England
John Henderson.
20
Farmer
England
Catherine Henderson
17
England
* John Burgess
48
Farmer
150
Ireland
*Eaven Johnson Thomas Johnson
31
Farmer
100
Norway
27
Farmer
Norway
* William Tealand Mary Tealand ..
37
Norway
James Tealand
11
Wisconsin
Henry Tealand
10
Wisconsin
John Tealand
8
Wisconsin
*Henry Churchill
37
Farmer
Ohio
* William Henderson
31
Farmer
New York
*Hamilton Colby
39
Farmer
Ireland
*Thomas Edgerton.
26
Trader
200
New Hampshire
*William Hendricks
27
Trader
100
Ohio
*Heads of families.
"Other counties of southwestern Minnesota had population in 1800 as follows: Faribault, 1335; Blue Earth, 4203; Brown. 2339; Waton- wan, 0; Martin, 151: Jackson, 181; Cottonwood, 12; Murray, 29; Nobles, 35; Pipestone, 0.
22As a matter of fact, the twenty-three in- habitants of the enumeration of 1860 are cred- ited to Pipestone county in the records of the census department at Washington, but
there is no question that they have reference to the county south of that one. When Rock and Pipestone counties were created in 1857 the names were transposed, and, apparently. a change had not been made in 1860. In a federal census report for 1870 I have found a notation to the effect that the census returns for Rock county in 1860 were incorrectly cred- ited to Pipestone county. Pipestone county (named Rock) also originally extended into
35
Norway
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H
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1
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HAYLI
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A
MINNESOTA TERRITORY
From a Map Published in 1850. Note the Western Boundary Line of the Territory.
45
HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.
The development of this frontier re- gion was destined to delay. It had only fairly recovered from the effects of the Inkpaduta or Spirit Lake massacre and the hard times period when the outbreak of the civil war in 1861 again set a break on immigration. Then in August, 1862. was inaugurated the terrible Sioux war, which again depopulated the western part of Minnesota and crimsoned the fair soil with the blood of so many inno- cent men, women and children. Fiend- ish atrocity, blood-curdling cruelty and red-handed murder ran riot. At New Ulm was enacted one of the most atro- cious massacres recorded in the annals of Indian warfare. At Lake Shetek, in Murray county, on the Des Moines river in Jackson county, and at other places in southwestern Minnesota the murder- crazed redskins fell upon the settlers and enacted lesser tragedies-lesser only be- cause the victims were not so numerous. Those who had builded homes on the Big Sioux river and within the bounda- ries of the original Rock county hastily departed to escape the fury of the' say- ages. When the census of 1865 was taken there were no inhabitants in Rock county.
The growth of Minnesota received a setback from which it took many years to fully recover. After the inauguration of this fiendish warfare the western fron- tier line receded eastward, and the great- er portion of southwestern Minnesota was again left in the midst of the hostile Indian country, and for many months no white man trod its soil. After the
South Dakota and included the site of Flan- dreau, where a townsite had been founded in an early day. Concerning the possibility that the 1860 enumeration might have been for the Flandrean country, Doane Robinson. secretary of the South Dakota Ilistorical So- ciety, has written me, under date of December 31. 1910, as follows:
"I have yours of the 28th asking me if there was a settlement in Flandreau in 1860. T doubt if any one was living there at that time. The Dakota Land company had town- sites at Medary and Flandreau and other
settlements in the eastern part of the state had partially recovered from the first rude shock of the Indian outbreak, which felt like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, steps were taken to defend the exposed settlements, to conquer the red- skins and drive them back. The evil war was in progress, and the majority of the able bodied settlers were in the south fighting for the union. It there- fore required some time to muster troops and place them in advantageous positions to cope with the wily red foe. In the meantime the Indians carried on their brutal warfare, murdering men, women and children, and burning as they went. After considerable delay the Indians were driven back, soldiers were placed all through this western country, and the prairies were constantly patrolled by companies which were defailed for the service.
The expeditions against the hostile Sioux resulted in Rock county being fre- quently visited by military parties. For convenience in operating against the sav- ages, military roads were constructed in different parts of the country. One of the main thoroughfares was through Rock county, extending from Jackson to the present site of Luverne and on to Yankton. From Jackson the road ran to the Graham Lakes country of north- castern Nobles county, and then to the west, passing near the present site of Wilmont, and entered Rock county in Vienna township. Thence it ran to the present location of Luverne and on to Yankton. The road was a comparatively
points on the Sioux river. They had a colony at Sioux Falls at that time, and it is possible that at the time the census was taken in June a few might have been making a bluff at holding the townsites at Flandrean and Medary. 1 find no record on the subject and can only surmise that this might have been the case."
"This list was obtained from the director of the census at Washington, through the kind- hess of Hon. W. S. Hammond.
46
HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.
good one, and in after years it was used as the mail route from Blue Earth City and Jackson to Luverne, Sioux Falls and Yankton. To this day evidences of the old road can be seen in places.
The savages were soon subdued after troops were placed in the field. but for a number of years the settlers on the ex- treme frontier lived in a state of con- stant fear and anxiety, not knowing at what time the scenes of 1862 might be repeated. When peace was established on the border, settlement again eon- menced-destined this time to be perma- nent-and the frontier line moved west- ward rapidly.
During the first half of the sixties the settlement did not extend so far as Rock county, if we except a few trappers who plied their trade here. A few of these built shanties, which they occupied dur- ing the trapping season. At the close of the season it was their custom to de- part to their homes farther east or sonth and dispose of their catch. Sometimes they would return to the trapping grounds of Rock county the next season ; sometimes they would not. In no sense of the word could they be called perma- nent settlers. They neither laid claim to land (except under the unwritten law governing trapping rights) nor intended to make their homes here.
During the late sixties a new order of
things obtained, resulting in settlement being pushed west to Rock county. When the civil war ended, railroads-those great civilizers-began reaching out and interlocking through the northwest. For Minnesota this was the starting point of such an era of rapid growth and develop- ment as was the marvel of the times. The iron horse had reached the eastern part of southwestern Minnesota late in the sixties, and early in the next decade railroads were built to and beyond these counties. The line of the first railroad to the extreme southwestern part of the state was surveyed in 1866, although it was not built until 1821. This survey was made by the Minnesota Valley Rail- road company, which later became the Sioux City & St. Paul, and later still the Omaha road. The line as surveyed passed Okabena lake and on to the south- west, almost to the very door of Rock county-a county which at the time did not boast a single inhabitant.
A country through which railway sur- veys are being made is not destined to long. remain without settlers. In 186% pioneers builded homes in northeastern Nobles county and a few pushed out lo the Rock river in Roek county and select- ed claims, there to establish permanent homes. Rock county, which had been the home of the aborigine for countless ages, was claimed by the whites.
CHAPTER II.
EARLY SETTLEMENT-1867-1820.
O FTEN there is a tendency on the part of the chronicler of local history to paint, polish and varnish the stories of the early days, so that sometimes those who were the principal actors in the drama enacted are unable to recognize themselves or their part in the play. It is my in- tention to steer clear of this fault and avoid fiction in dealing with the carly day events, and to rely solely upon the facts to make the narrative inter- esting. There is always something con- neeted with the settlement of a new country that interests, and so it is with Rock county.
Permanent settlement began in the southwestern corner county of Minne- sota in 1864. A few years before that time, as has been previously told, trappers had begun to operate in Rock county, visiting the streams for the taking of the pelts of the fur-bearing animals, which were then to be found.1 We have data concerning the operations of only a few of these. Of those who la- ter became residents of the county, one of the first white men that looked upon its soil was Robert Donglass, who passed through Rock county with the
Owing to the smallness of the streams, fur- bearing animals were not found in great abundance in Rock county and the operations of the trappers were not extensive. After the
soldiers in pursuit of the redskins after the Indian uprising of the early sixties. lle reported many elk and deer in the country and was responsible for naming Elk slongh in Magnolia township.
James A. Rice, later sheriff of Rock county, in company with G. M. Seott, trapped along Rock river and traded with the Indians in the fall of 1866 and spent over a month within the county's boundaries. He has told of this event and conditions as he found them at that early day, before any person had established a home so far on the frontier.2 Early in the month of November these two trappers, traveling horseback and by compass, were crossing the prairies of northwestern lowa on their way to the Big Sioux river. They came to an unknown stream soon after eross- ing the Minnesota boundary line and forded it near a point where another and smaller stream joined the larger one. The point was the forks of the Rock river, a short distance below Luverne. Discovering beaver signs along The stream, the trappers gave up their plan of going to the Big Sioux and shaped their course up the Rock. They pitched their lent in the grove of natural tim-
county was permanently settled some beaver and a few otter were taken along Rock river. "As reported by the Rock County Herald, May 23. 1873.
47
48
HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.
ber on the east side of the stream on land which later became the property of E. N. Darling. There they remained until December 20, when, having had a good run of luck, they departed for Iowa with their catch. Mr. Rice visited the locality again the next fall, but re- mained only a few days.
During their stay on the river in 1866 Messrs. Rice and Scott saw an occasional elk, deer and antelope, and one day they saw two buffalo, which had come back once more to their stamp- ing grounds before bidding adieu for- ever. The trappers liked the looks of the country, and Mr. Rice in after years told of his and his companion's specu- lations as to the length of time before the country would be settled. "We knew it was as nice a country as ever laid out- doors,'" he said, "but we had no idea that it would be settled in fifty years."
During the autumn of 1866 Nathan C. Estey and James Johnson, of Spirit Lake, Iowa, visited the county for the purpose of selecting claims on the un- surveyed lands for themselves and for Mr. Estey's younger brothers, also having a few goods for barter with the Indians. They proceeded up the Rock river to the point where the Chanpepedan enters it in Vienna township and there built a shanty, in which they lived two months.3
The first attempt to establish a per- manent home in Rock county was made early in the month of June, 1861, by a Mr. Towers and was unsuccessful. On the southwest quarter of section 36, of what is now Clinton township. Mr. Towers put up a hay shed, broke a small patch of ground, and planted potatoes,
"This is given on the authority of Colin J. Estev, who wrote of the event in 1899. E. N. Darling, who settled on Rock river in 1868 and became well acquainted with conditions in the early days, thinks that the point of rrecting the cabin was on section 6, Magnolia town- ship, on the cast side of the river. At the time he came to the county there was no rabin on the east side of the river above the
beans and pumpkins. Ife staked several claims in the vicinity and remained more than a month. It was his in- tention to pass the winter in the fron- tier location, but owing to the straying of his oxen he abandoned the idea and made settlement in Dickinson county. Iowa. It is said that while crossing the Little Sionx river, in his search for the missing cattle, he lost his clothing and found his way to the Spirit Lake set- tlement dressed only in a gunny sack.4 Edwin Gillham, who later became a resi- dent of the county, trapped along the streams in the summer of 1867.
During the month of June, 186%. Philo Hawes, who was to take a more active part in early day affairs of Rock county than any other man, accompanied by Joe Fields, passed through the county, selecting a route for a government mail line from Blue Earth City, Minnesota, to Yankton, Dakota territory. These men located the line from Jackson through the Graham Lakes country of Nobles county, and arrived at the Rock river. a short distance above the present site of Luverne, on June 13, where they camped for the night. Their trip to this point had been over an uninhabited prairie country, dotted here and there along the streams and lakes by small greves of trees-but no place so pleas- ing to the eye was found as that along the Rock. Mr. Hawes has written as fol- lows of this visit :
On the thirteenth day of June, 1867, about 5 p. m., I camped on the east side of Rock river, at or near the bridge that now crosses the river east of the mounds, on the road to Ole Haga's farm. The river was very high and I could not ford it. On . the morning of the fourteenth we crossed,
site of Luverne, excepting one on section 6. Magnolia. The cabin was about 12x12 feet. built of logs and puncheons, and was in good condition in 1868. Above that point there was no timber on Rock river excepting a little about five miles above, the spot being desig- nated Lost Timber.
Rock County Herald. September 18, 1873.
49
HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.
swam our team over and drove to the mounds and camped near the spring just north of James Kelley's house. While the man that was with me put up the tent, } walked up to the top of the mounds to take a look at the surroundings. I could see down the river to Iowa, and the view was grand. The prairies were green, without a tree or shrub to be seen, except the tim- ber that skirted the river. I went back to camp and told Joe Fields (the man that ] hired to go through with me for the rea. son that he was a good swimmer and l was not) that I had found the Garden of Eden and that I was going to lay my bones in this valley. I took one of the horses and rode down the river to the old Shaw- ver place on the west side, crossed over and back on the east side and got back to camp about dark. On my way back } crossed a track made by a buggy or light wagon. Afterwards I learned that it was made by Edwin Gillham, who afterwards carried the mail for me from here to Yank- ton. He was hunting and trapping in this section.
I was
very favorably impressed with this section as to its agricultural and stock outlook and declared in my own mind that the time would come when this section would be settled by a sturdy and thriving population, as we now see it, but hardly thought that it would come so soon.
After spending a part of the day ex- amining the country. these early visitors proceeded on their way westward. ar- riving at the present site of Sioux Falls on the morning of the fifteenth. There they found a military post, occupied by part of a regiment of soldiers. They continued their trip to Yankton and then returned to Jackson by way of Sioux City. Cherokee and Spirit Lake. arriving June 24. Mr. Hawes secured a sub-contract for carrying the mail over this route and in September. returned to the Rock and erected a stage station. But before this was done others had come to establish permanent residence in Rock county and thus secure to themselves
"The Estey family were from Wisconsin. Nathan Estey, one of the brothers, was liv- ing on his homestead near Spirit Lake, and the family stopped at that place a short time before taking up their home in Rock county. The family consisted of the widow, Deborah Estey, and her sons, Amos E .. Orville C., Colin J., Byron, Alvord and others.
6"On August 12. 1867. the writer and Amos
the honor of having been the first set- flers.
For the purpose of making permanent settlement, on the third day of August. 1864. Amos E. Estey and Orville (. Estey, Inothers, arrived in Rock county from the Spirit Lake settlement." The next day Amos staked a claim on what proved to be, after the survey was made, section 25. Clinton township. some two miles north of the state line. The brothers then returned to Spirit Lake, but came back to the Rock river country again on August 12, accom- panied by Colin J. Estoy." Upon the day of their arrival they commenced put- ting up hay and building a "pole shanty" on Amos Estey's claim. This pioneer house of Rock county was nine feet wide by sixteen feet in length, seven feet high at the front and sloping down at the rear until the roof was only nine inches from the ground. The frame was constructed of poles out along the river, which were placed upon upright "crotched" poles. AAfi- er the poles had been placed in position. long slough grass was placed over the frame, taking the place of clapboards. The grass was woven about the poles as the old fashioned willow baskets were woven. Over all were piled brush, coarse hay, sods and loose dirt ?
This pioneer home was decidedly on the frontier. The nearest settlers at the time it was constructed were many miles away, the nearest being a family by the name of Kordwell at the head of Spirit lake. To the north there were no settlers for a greater distance. and Yankton was the nearest settlement on
and Orville Estey landed in Rock county, two miles above the Iowa line. on the past side of the river. where we camped and pro- claimed our residence to be from that date. and it was continuous from that on."-Article by Colin J. Estey. September, 1899.
"This primitive house was occupied by the family during the winter of 1867-G8 and was replaced the next year by a log house.
50
HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.
the west, excepting the soldiers at the falls of the Big Sioux. The nearest settlement to the south was at the Big Sionx mills, some seventy-five miles away. Jackson was the postoffice address of the Estey boys, and Spirit Lake, lowa, was the point from which they secured their provisions. The three brothers were joined later in the fall by their mother and other brothers, but before they came the second building in the connty was erected, on the present site of Luverne.
Philo Hawes, having secured the sub- contract for carrying the mail over the newly established route, came ont to the Rock again on September 18, 1867, for the purpose of erceting a stable, es- tablishing a stopping place for the mail carrier and putting up hay for the carrier's horses, Accompanying him were four men and three teams with an outfit for putting up the hay. Camp was again made in the grove near what later be- came the E. N. Darling homestead. Mr. Hawes has written of his selection of the site for the station: "The next day | September 19] 1 went south to the state line and found that the mounds were some distance north of the center of the county and that most of the tim- her was in the southern half: for this reason I knew that the southern half would settle much faster than the northern part. When I made this dis- covery we moved down and camped near the present site of the Rock Island de- pot."
The men at once went to work putting up hay and building a stable of poles and hay-a stable of a size sufficient to hold six horses. The stop on the Rock was of short duration, the crew continu- ing on its way to establish other stations along the line. It was at this time
8"Mother did not see a white woman for six months, and only two squaws. She was
that Mr. Hawes selected the site for his future home. The section lines had not yet been run, and, of course, he could not at that time file a legal claim to the land, but he did claim. under "squatters" rights," what, when surveyed, was the east half of the northwest quarter and the south half of the northeast quarter of section 11, Luverne township-land upon which he later filed, and later still founded the town of Luverne.
On the twenty-fifth day of November. 1862, the station on the Rock was again visited by Mr. Hawes. He bronghi with him John Lietze and family and Miss Miranda J. Skinner (later the wife of George Blasdell), who were to maintain a stopping place. or Half Way House, as it was called. on the mail route. The "house" was of the half-cabin-half-cave style of architecture. located near the elevator sites of the Rock Island road. A cave was dng in the bank, and this was lined with logs and covered with ridge poles. Over all was piled hay and dirt. In this first Luverne house Mr. Lietze and his fam- ily passed the winter. He returned to his home in Blue Earth City the next . spring when Mr. Hawes located perma- nently on his claim.
On the day before Mr. Lietze and his family arrived at the station, on No- vember 21, 1862. Mrs. Deborah Estey. accompanied by two of the younger chil- dren, Alvord and Byron, arrived at the home prepared for her. The new arri- vals brought a load of household goods and six chickens. In the pioneer "pole shanty" the family of six spent the next winter.8 The winter was an ox- ceptionally mild one, and so late as De- cember 6 the grass was green in the val- leys and stock would leave the bay placed before them to crop the grass. Although
pleased to have even those two squaws call and dine with her."-Colin J. Estey. 1899.
51
HISTORY OF ROCK COUNTY.
the Estey family were living in a world of their own, cut off from intercourse with the outside world, they seemed to enjoy themselves, busying themselves with the work of founding a home in the new country. On Christmas day, 186%. they prepared a special spread and duly celebrated the day.9
Although both the Estey and Lietze families spent the winter of 1867-68 on the Rock river, within ten miles of each other, neither knew of the presence of the other, each family believing itself , building boasted no floors, and hay to be the only one in Rock county. At Jackson, Mr. Hawes had been told that a family were spending the winter on the Rock, below his station, and on Jan- mary 31, 1868, while on a trip over the line, he went down to see if it were true,1º TIe found that the Esteys had lost a day in the reckoning of time and that for over two months had been rig- idly keeping Monday for the Sabbath day.
When once the trail has been blazed to a frontier country and actual set- tlement established, it is not long before others follow. This was the case in Rock county, and we find that during 1868 quite a number of settlers pushed to the Rock river country and builded themselves homes.
Among the first to come that year were
'Colin J. Estey has written of the difficulties encountered in securing the provisions:
"Planning for Christmas dinner away out sixty-five miles beyond the last settler, eighty- one miles from a store or market (Jackson). one hundred sixty miles from a railroad or telegraph office (Waseca), and long before the telephone was invented. was no small mat- ter, but we felt as though the day should be marked. So we boys strove to see who would trap the first beaver to supply us with roast meat, as we valued our hens too highly to kill one of them. Amos
was the lucky trapper; he caught a fine kitten beaver that weighed about thirty-five pounds gross. Then we dressed it and put it out to freeze. We boys wanted mother to make one of her famous johnnie cakes, which any of the old settlers can vouch were A No. 1. But mother said she was barred: 'Biddie' had not contrih- uted her share toward the johnnie cake. Just as we were talking it over, off jumped 'Biddie' with a cackle as if to say. 'I haven't, hey? You spared my neck and here is your egg.'
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