USA > Minnesota > Douglas County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume I > Part 6
USA > Minnesota > Grant County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume I > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
.1 TYPICAL LOG CABIN OF THE PIONEER PERIOD.
LAKE VICTORIA, DOUGLAS COUNTY.
65
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
The southwest edge of Douglas county, west and south from Red Rock lake, is a somewhat lower and gently undulating expanse of till. In the south part of this county, southeast from the moraine, Holmes City, Lake Mary and the west half of La Grand are undulating or rolling till, with eleva- tions twenty to forty feet above the hollows. The morainic hills of till west of Lake Ida and north of the west part of Lake Miltona, seventy-five to one hundred feet high, are quite in contrast with the moderately undulating or often nearly level till which covers central and southeastern Miltona and continues thence south through Carlos and Alexandria, the east part of Hud- son, the south part of Belle River and Osakis and Orange townships.
In northeastern Miltona and Spruce Hill townships the morainic belt consists chiefly of kame-like, short, disconnected ridges of coarse gravel, twenty to thirty, or rarely, forty feet high, most frequently trending from west to east, or approximately so. North and south of this belt are tracts of level modified drift, only ten to twenty-five feet above the streams; that south of the moraine occupies the north half of Belle River township, and con- tinues westward on the south side of the Long Prairie river to Lake Carlos.
Another tract of modified drift, consisting for the most part of level or slightly undulating sand and gravel, extends eight or nine miles south from Alexandria, through the west half of Hudson township; and the same forma- tion with a more rolling surface, in swells and plateaus twenty-five to fifty feet above the depressions and lakes, also reaches three or four miles west and northwest from Alexandria, through the east half of La Grand town- ship. Kames of coarse gravel, forming short ridges, ten to thirty feet high, were noted near the Maple lake school house in section 29, Hudson town- ship.
Osakis lake is about thirteen hundred and ten feet, and Lakes Winona and Agnes, close west and north of Alexandria, are about thirteen hundred and sixty-five feet above the sea.
The highest land in Douglas county is on or near the north line of Millers- ville, which crosses the border of the Leaf hills, attaining at a few points a height of about sixteen hundred feet above the sea. The other portions of this county are from one hundred to four hundred feet lower, its lowest land being the shore of lake Christina, which is about twelve hundred and fifteen feet above the sea, or the valley of the Chippewa river at the south- west corner of the county, which has nearly the same elevation. Estimates of the average heights of the townships of Douglas county are as follows : Spruce Hill, fourteen hundred feet above the sea; Belle River, thirteen hun-
(5)
66
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
dred and forty; Osakis, thirteen hundred and sixty; Orange, thirteen hun- dred and seventy-five; Miltona, fourteen hundred and forty; Carlos, thirteen hundred and seventy-five; Alexandria, thirteen hundred and eighty; Hudson, thirteen hundred and ninety; Leaf Valley, fourteen hundred and twenty ; Ida, fourteen hundred and twenty-five; La Grand, thirteen hundred and ninety; Lake Mary, fourteen hundred; Millerville, fourteen hundred and forty; Chippewa, thirteen hundred and ninety; Moe, fourteen hundred and twenty; Holmes City, fourteen hundred and ten; Lund, thirteen hundred and thirty; Evansville, thirteen hundred and fifty; Urness, thirteen hundred and sixty; and Solem, thirteen hundred and fifty. The mean elevation of Douglas county, derived from these figures, is approximately thirteen hundred and eighty-five feet.
Soil and Timber. The black soil, one to two feet thick, is the upper part of the glacial and modified drift covering this county, thus colored and made fertile by the decay of vegetation during many centuries. The carbon- ates of lime and magnesia, in the form of magnesian limestone boulders, pebbles and fine detritus, are an important ingredient of the drift, contribut- ing much to the productiveness of the soil, and also making the water of wells and springs hard. Alkaline matter is not present in appreciable quantity. Wheat and other grains, sorghum, potatoes and other vegetables, live stock, butter and cheese, are the chief agricultural products.
Douglas county is well supplied with timber, about half its area being wooded. This forest extends from Miltona, Spruce Hill and Belle River, its most northeastern townships, southwestward to Lakes Andrews, Mary and Oscar. Southeast of this belt, the south edge of Osakis and most of Orange and Hudson townships are prairie. In the northwest part of Douglas county a strip of timber two or three miles wide, consisting partly of oak openings, extends from Lake Miltona westerly to Chippewa lake and into Millerville and Lund townships. Besides this, most of the lakes are fringed with woods.
GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE.
This county is entirely covered by the glacial and modified drift. The thickness of the drift in Douglas county is probably from one hundred to two hundred and fifty feet. Its bottom has not been reached by wells, and this estimate is derived from its known thickness on adjoining areas. The greater part of this formation is till or the modified glacial drift, called also boulder-clay, or hardpan, deposited by the ice-sheet without modification by water. With this are associated beds of modified drift or gravel, sand and
67
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
clay, which were gathered from the ice, assorted and laid down by the waters set free by glacial melting.
Terminal moraines. The material of the terminal moraines of the ice- sheet which have been explored in Minnesota is nearly everywhere till, with scanty deposits of modified drift. The latter consists of obliquely and irregu- larly stratified gravel and sand, the gravel often being very coarse, with pebbles and rounded stones of all sizes up to a foot or more in diameter. It either occurs enclosed in the till, forming beds and masses of variable shapes from a few inches to several feet in thickness, or sometimes it is spread upon the surface and forms knolls and ridges. No considerable area or extensive portion of this formation is found to consist of water, within this region ; though at some localities in Spruce Hill township, it is in great part stratified gravel and sand, usually with numerous boulders enclosed and scattered over its ridges and hillocks.
The till of the terminal moraines differs very noticeably from the more level areas of till which generally lie at each side; in that the former has many more boulders, and a much larger intermixture of gravel and sand than the latter. On an average, probably twenty times as many rock-fragments, both large and small, occur in the morainic hills and knolls as on the smoother tracts, and sometimes the ratio is a hundredfold. The smaller pebbles and stones have angular and unworn forms, or more frequently are rounded, probably by water-wearing before the glacial period, or show planed and striated surfaces, due to grinding under the moving ice-sheet. The large boulders are mostly less than five feet, but rarely are ten feet or more in diameter. In form they are subangular and of irregular shape, rarely show- ing any distinctly water-worn or glaciated surface.
In contour these deposits are very uneven, consisting usually of many hillocks, mounds and ridges of rough outlines and broken slopes, with enclosed hollows, which are sometimes nearly round, but more generally have some irregular form, often holding sloughs and lakelets. The only indication of system appears in the frequently noticeable trends of the elevations and depressions in a direction approximately parallel with the course of the series.
It should be added that the ridges which occur as part of this formation differ from the ridges of interbedded gravel and sand called osars, in their material, which is usually boulder-clay or till; in their trend, at right angles with the course in which the ice moved, while series of osars extend nearly in the direction taken by glacial currents; and in their length, single ridges of the moraines being only from a few rods to a quarter of a mile or very
68
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
rarely perhaps a half mile long, while a single ridge in a series of osars is generally longer, and is sometimes distinctly traceable ten or twenty miles. In this state, however, osars of similar extent with those of Sweden and Scot- land, and those described in Maine by Prof. George H. Stone, in Massa- chusetts by Rev. G. F. Wright, and in New Hampshire by Professor Win- chell, have not been found.
The height of the morainic elevations above the intervening hollows is generally from twenty-five to seventy-five or one hundred feet. The only district in this state where they are higher for any considerable part of the series is the Leaf hills, which through a distance of twenty miles rise from one hundred to three hundred and fifty feet above the adjoining country. Upon the Coteau des Prairies the terminal moraines lie on areas of highland, to the altitude of which they appear to add seventy-five or one hundred and rarely one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet.
For agriculture the value of the terminal moraines is much less than that of the gently undulated till which generally covers other parts of this region. Among the hills of this formation, however, are found considerable areas which have a smooth surface, nearly free from boulders, and possess a highly productive soil; while the portions which are too knolly and stony for desirable cultivation afford excellent pasturage. In some districts the entire morainic belt is in smooth swells, being all good farming land.
The origin of these series of drift hills is confidently referred to the action of the continental ice-sheet, accumulating them at its margin in suc- cessive belts, which mark the farthest limit reached by the ice in the last glacial epoch and lines where it halted or perhaps temporarily re-advanced during its final recession. Their reference to the agency of land-ice is required by the partly near and partly remote sources of their material: by its generally unstratified condition; by its transportation next to these hill-ranges in courses nearly at right angles toward them; and by the variable elevation of the series, conforming to all the irregularities in altitude of the region across which they extend.
In general, the material and contour of the morainic belts in Douglas county present the same characteristics as in other parts of the state, agreeing fully with the foregoing descriptions. The contour of the drift hills, trending from east to west. is in the same direction as the belt which they form. Their material is partly sand and gravel, commonly with frequent or abundant boulders, and partly boulder-clay or till. The shortness and the disconnected or irregularly interlocked arrangement of the ridges, their variable width and broken slopes, forbid their reference to such glacial rivers as deposited
69
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
the prolonged narrow ridges called osars, and seem to prove that their accumu- lation, where they consist of sand and gravel, was by the waters flowing down from the melting surface of the ice-sheet along its margin. This mode of formation must also be attributed to the greater part of the morainic belt observed in Soruce Hill township, and the northeast part of Miltona, and to the upper part of the bluffs at Glenwood. Boulders are usually pres- ent, and at many places are very abundant in and on the deposits of gravel and sand in the morainic belts; but they are usually absent or rare in and on osars, wherever these peculiar gravel ridges have been observed.
Comparison and correlation with the morainic belts of other portions of the state indicate that the series of drift hills is contemporaneous with the sixth or Waconia moraine and the seventh or Dove moraine. The former is represented by the drift accumulations along the line of Chippewa and Lake Whipple in Pope county. The latter, or Dove moraine, continues westerly and northwest to Nora township, where it curves gradually and thence runs northeast through the county by Lakes Oscar, Ida and Miltona. The lobe of the ice-sheet on whose boundaries these lines of knolly and hilly drift were formed, lay on their south and west side. At the time of the Waconia moraine the angle in the glacial boundary formed by the confluence of the ice-fields flowing from the west and those flowing from the north and northeast was probably near Glenwood, in Pope county, the northern ice terminating on the tract of rolling till that extends eastward from Glenwood and Lake Reno into Stearns county, not distinguished by specially morainic contour. At the time of the Dove moraine this northern ice appears to have reached only to Spruce Hill township, its angle of confluence with the west- ern ice-lobe being in the north part of Miltona township. During the two stages next later in the glacial recession the massive Leaf hills were accumu- lated at the south end of the western 'ice-lobe, which in its earlier extent had covered the basin of the Minnesota river and stretched southward in Iowa to Des Moines.
In the subsequent recession of the ice-sheet from eastern Douglas county, by which its margin was withdrawn to the moraines of Lakes Oscar, Ida and Miltona, and that of Spruce Hill township, further deposits of modified drift were made, including the belt of undulating or nearly flat sand and gravel, about one mile wide, reaching from Lake Amelia and Turtle lake to the north end of Westport lake and continuing thence with less width along Ashley creek to the Sauk river; the plain in Hudson and Alexandria townships, with the connected area of plateaus, swells and kanie- like accumulations in La Grand township; and the plain bordering the Long
70
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
Prairie river in Carlos and Belle river townships, with associated undulating and partly rolling and kame-like deposits in the south part of Spruce Hill. The terminal moraines in Todd county show, however, that the course of drainage could not continue north-eastward in the valley of Long Prairie river, still covered by the ice-sheet, but was turned southward into the Sauk valley.
Much of Carlos township has a moderately undulating surface of till, underlain at the depth of ten to twenty feet by a thick bed of sand, in which wells obtain water before reaching its bottom. Again, about one mile east of Alexandria a railroad-cut was seen to consist of stratified sand and gravel, having a vertical thickness of twenty feet exposed and continuing lower, overlain by a deposit of till three to ten feet thick. These observations prove a considerable re-advance of the ice after it had once retreated, but both these movements probably took place within the same last glacial epoch.
A fault was seen in a lenticular layer of dark laminated clay one and a half feet thick, enclosed in till, in the section cut for the railroad in the north part of Evansville. The north end of this clay layer has fallen one and a half feet. This is five feet above the railroad track and about thirty-five feet below the surface, the whole section above and beneath the faulted clay being till.
Mean elevation due to underlying formations. The grand topographic features of this district, as the highlands and the depression occupied by Lake Christina, are doubtless due to the contour of the formations, probably Cre- taceous, which underlie the drift deposits. Erosion during the long Ter- tiary ages had probably sculptured the strata that then formed the surface in massive hills and elevated areas resembling the buttes and mesas of the West, divided by basins and channels sometimes several hundred feet lower. Such preglacial contour, though partially planed down and filled up by the erosion of the ice, still determined the mean elevation of the envelop- ing drift-sheet, giving in this district the beautiful scenery in southwestern Minnesota.
Boulders of magnesian limestone, like that outcropping near Winnipeg in Manitoba, are frequent in the drift throughout this country, perhaps mak- ing on an average a twentieth part of the rock-fragments over one foot in size. Occasionally very large slabs and blocks of it are found, measuring ten to twenty feet in length. A much larger proportion of the gravel is this limestone, which makes about a third on the shores of some of the lakes.
The other boulders and gravel are chiefly crystalline rocks, as granite, syenite, gneiss, and micaceous and hornblendic schists. The largest mass of
71
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
this kind observed is a boulder of flesh-colored granite. It is forty or fifty feet below the highest land of the township. This kind of granite, however, does not appear to be specially abundant in the drift. No other boulder of the crystalline rocks larger than five to seven feet in dimension, was noticed in the county.
Ice-formed ridges of gravel and sand, sometimes with numerous boul- ders, occur in many places on the shores of lakes, usually where the water is shallow and the adjoining land low, being quite often a marsh scarcely higher than the lake, above which the ridge has a height of three to six and seven feet, with a width of three to six or eight rods. Such ridges are seen on the southeast side of Lake Moses in Millerville township; at the mouth of Little Chippewa lake in section 9, Chippewa township; along a distance of one and a half miles on the west side of the north part of Lake Amelia and between this and Turtle lake, which were united before the formation. of this ridge.
The soil and agricultural capabilities of the county, and its timber, has already been noticed. In adaptation for profitable farming, which must con- tinue to be their chief source of wealth, they are unsurpassed by any other part of the state or of the Northwest.
Building Stone. No rock-outcrops occur in this district, but the boulders of the drift supply the needs of the farmer for coarse masonry, as foundations and the walls of cellars and wells.
Lime. Magnesian limestone boulders are used in many places for lime- burning. Lime is burned at Evansville and other parts of Evansville town- ship, as well as in Millerville, Chippewa, Ida and La Grand townships.
ABORIGINAL EARTHWORKS.
In the northern corner of Alexandria township, between Lakes Carlos and Le Homme Dieu, on the west side of the road in heavy woods, is a steep mound, about fifteen feet high, which has been partly dug out and was found to contain bones. Near this are also two or three smaller mounds, about five feet high.
CHAPTER III.
THE KENSINGTON RUNE STONE; AN ANCIENT TRAGEDY.
If the conclusions of eminent archaeologists be correct, the one outstand- ing, paramount fact in the history of Douglas county is that one hundred and thirty years before the voyage of Columbus to America, white men-Euro- peans-had trod the soil of that section of Minnesota now comprised within the boundaries of Douglas county and had left here a record of their travels and of their perilous adventures and of the death of ten of their number at the hands of the savages.
EIGHT GOTHS AND TWENTY-TWO NORWE- GIANS UPON A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY FROM VINLAND WESTWARD. WE HAD A CAMP BY TWO SKERRIES ONE DAY'S JOUR- NEY NORTH FROM THIS STONE. WE WERE OUT FISHING ONE DAY. WHEN WE RE- TURNED HOME WE FOUND TEN MEN RED WITH BLOOD AND DEAD. A V M. SAVE US FROM EVIL. HAVE TEN MEN BY THE SEA TO LOOK AFTER OUR VESSEL FOURTEEN DAYS' JOURNEY FROM THIS ISLAND. YEAR 1362.
When a stone inscribed in Runic characters carrying the above simple narrative was unearthed on the farm of Olaf Ohman on the southeast quarter of section 14, Solem township, about three miles northeast from Kensington station, in Douglas county, in the fall of 1898, much local interest was created in the matter, but it was not until some little time later that the find was brought to the attention of archaeologists in such a way as to lead to the widespread investigation which has marked the later history of what now is known on two continents as the Kensington Rune Stone. Archaeologists are divided in their opinion as to the genuineness of the record here unfolded and there has arisen a considerable controversy in relation to the matter, elaborate arguments being presented both for and against the genuineness of the inscription on the stone; some maintaining that the Runic characters there inscribed are but the work of a clever forger bent on perpetrating an
73
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
even more elaborate hoax than was the famous "Cardiff giant," while other equally earnest and sincere scholars declare that there can be no doubt of the authenticity of the record, among these latter being Mr. Warren Upham, archaeologist of the Minnesota Historical Society, and some other members of that society, and in 1910 a preliminary report in the matter was made to the society by its museum committee. In view of the fact, however, that statements have been made that the Minnesota Historical Society endorsed the Kensington Rune Stone as authentic, Solon J. Buck, superintendent of that society, desires, in this connection, to call attention to the exact position of the society on the subject. The museum committee, as will be seen by the report which follows, rendered a favorable opinion, "provided, that the references to Scandinavian literature given in this committee's written report and accompanying papers be verified by a competent specialist in the Scandi- navian languages, to be selected by this committee, and that he approve the conclusions of this report."
The report of the committee was presented to the executive council of the society, but was never accepted or adopted by the council or by the society itself. It was, however, as will also be noted in the report that follows, received and ordered printed "with the statement that the council and society reserve their conclusions until more agreement of opinion for or against the rune inscription may be attained." No further action on the subject has ever been taken by the executive council or by the society. It also will be noted that Professor Bothne, who was selected by the museum committee, in accordance with its resolution, to verify the references, refused to approve the conclusions of the committee's report. Since that report was made, Mr. Holand, the owner of the stone, took it abroad and it was examined by a number of European scholars, but so far as has appeared, few if any of them have expressed their belief in its authenticity. Superintendent Buck's position in the matter is similar to that expressed by the executive council of the society in 1910. Never having made a study of runic inscriptions, he is quoted as preferring to reserve his conclusion in the matter until more agreement of opinion is reached among experts in the field.
Below is given in full the preliminary report of the Minnesota Historical Society by its museum committee on the famous
KENSINGTON RUNE STONE.
As the museum committee is charged with the responsibility of making a recommendation to the society respecting the authenticity or the fraudulent
74
DOUGLAS AND GRANT COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
origin of the Kensington Rune Stone and its inscription, it is thought best to review somewhat carefully the facts as to the discovery of the stone. For this purpose the results of the three visits made to that locality by Prof. N. H. Winchell, investigating the subject for this committee, will here be cast into one statement.
THE DISCOVERY.
The stone was found on the farm of Mr. Olof Ohman on the southeast quarter of section 14, Solem township, Douglas county, about three miles northeast from Kensington station on the "Soo Line," on November 8, 1898. The owner of the farm was having a patch of land cleared of timber prepara- tory to plowing, and his men were grubbing out the stumps. There were present at the finding, or immediately thereafter, the following persons: Olof Ohman, his sons, Olof Emil Ohman, 12 years of age, and Edward Ohman, Io years of age, and Nils Olof Flaaten, owner of the adjoining farm.
The exact location was on the southern slope of one of two knolls which together form the higher part of what has been called an "island," because formerly surrounded by a lake and now surrounded by a grassy marsh. These knolls have an extreme height, above the surface of the marsh, of fifty-five feet, the smaller knoll rising about fifty feet. The stone lay forty-four feet above the marsh.
When the stone was found, its inscribed side was down, and about six inches of soil covered it. A poplar or aspen tree grew above it, and spread its principal roots about it, running into the ground on opposite sides. On being cut away the stump carrying the roots lay adjacent for some weeks and was seen and noted by several visitors. Estimates as to the size and age of the tree vary somewhat, some stating that it was at least ten years old and others that it was from twenty to thirty years old, and one esti- mating it as probably forty years old. According to Mr. Sam Olson, of Kensington, this tree was about four or five inches in diameter at about fifteen inches above the stone, and about ten inches in diameter at six or eight inches above the stone. The roots of the tree, especially the largest one which spread over the surface of the stone, were flattened by contact with the stone during the period of their growth. The flattening of the roots is an important feature, as it denotes that the tree had been in contact with the stone during the whole time of the life of the tree.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.