USA > Minnesota > Otter Tail County > History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 20
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appoint officers for the township, to-wit: Supervisors, John McNellis, A. S. Blowers and Wallace Johnson; clerk, Archibald McArthur; justices of the peace, Frank Barnes and A. S. Blowers; constables, Peter DeCourcy and Andrew Laird; treasurer, Charles Cox. These officers were ordered to qualify for their respective positions and hold them until their successors were elected and qualified.
It is interesting to note the taxpayers of Otter Tail township, as listed on the duplicate of 1870, which means that they were owners the year pre- vious: Thomas McClure, Thomas Cathcart, James E. Wing, Ezra Briggs, Abraham Morris, Samuel Whitney, George B. Wright, Hannah Carver, Edmund Belon, Jerome C. Todd, Solon Moore, Nathan Butler, Augusta Montana, Archibald McArthur, William McArthur, Theressa Conner, Tru- man Varner, Charles Rook, Daniel Brennan, Simon G. Hill, John Bishop, Sylvester Statulen, John Knight, Calvin F. How and Arthur Berson.
This is one of the earliest settled townships in the county, and as soon as the county seat was re-established at Otter Tail City by an act of the Leg- islature in the spring of 1871, the town began to have hopes that it would one day become a real city. However, with the removal of the county seat to Fergus Falls in the fall of 1872, Otter Tail City lost all hopes of ever being anything but a rural village. The whole history of this township would have been changed if the Northern Pacific had passed through it, but, as subsequent events proved, this was eventually to cause it to lose its honors as the seat of justice and later its very identity as a village.
Practically half of this township is covered with water, considerably more than one-third of the township being covered with Otter Tail lake. Other lakes are Gourd, McDonald, Buchawanli, Long, Pickerel, Portage and Round. The remainder of the township is good farming land and no better farmers are to be found in the county than in Otter Tail township.
There have been three platted villages in the township, namely, Otter Tail City, Ottertail and Balmoral, although the latter is little more than a summer resort and is hardly to be classed as a village.
Ottertail.
Ottertail village dates only from 1903, and is not to be confused with Otter Tail City, a village which flourished more or less on the eastern shore of Otter Tail lake from 1858 until the Soo line was put through the county in the early part of this century. If all reports be true, the late Otter Tail City might today be the county seat of the county if one particular land- owner of the place had been willing to give the Northern Pacific a right of way through his farm.
The present village of Ottertail was platted by the Minnesota Loan and Trust Company and the plat recorded on September 3, 1903. Within less
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than six months the citizens of the infant village were clamoring for incor- poration and in their petition of March 7, 1904, they stated that they wished to incorporate a tract of land embracing a total of six sections, or three thousand eight hundred forty acres, two thousand seven hundred twenty-one acres of which was land and one thousand one hundred nineteen acres water. The petition further stated that this proposed village, six miles wide and twelve miles long, contained one hundred and forty-eight inhabitants.
The petition asking for incorporation carried the names of twenty-nine citizens and legal voters, to-wit: E. B. Robinson, L. G. Sanders, H. A. Schultz, H. W. Truhn, G. A. Schult, C. L. Whiting, George Sawyer, J. W. Herzog, M. Barber, Conrad Kahler, Henry Hunter, Barney Kahler, A. R. McGowan, J. A. Lamb, Rasmus Olson, O. C. Olson, Otie Whiting, O. T. Skrukrud, G. A. Anderson, I. G. Moats, Vernon Morow, W. H. Loomis. E. P. Taylor, Harry Vosberg, John W. Johnson, James Bigley, Otto C. Pries, William H. Colvert and Edward Patterson. The election on May 3, 1904, showed thirty-five votes for as against eight opposed to incorporation.
At present Ottertail is a village of one hundred and eighty. It has a German Lutheran and Methodist Episcopal church, a bank, hotel, grain ele- vator and creamery. The future manufacturing interests and general wel- fare of the town is looked after through a commercial club. The member- ship of this club comprises all of the business men of the town and nothing is left undone by them to bring their little village to the front. G. A. Schultz is the present president.
The business interests of the present are carried on by the following persons: Hotel Just, Mrs. Emil W. Just, proprietress; railroad and tele- graph agent, J. F. Allison; blacksmith, Harry R. Jones; cement worker, Batton F. Barnett ; livery, J. Gordon McCloud; hardware, William F. Kempf ; meat market, Samuel B. Barnett ; millinery, Emma Bentlag; lumber, Wilcox Lumber Company, G. A. Shultz, agent; physician, John Knight; wood worker, Frank E. Kaiser; elevator, Northland Elevator Company, Henry Miller, agent creamery, Farmers' Co-operative Creamery Association, H. A. Shultz, president; Herman Grefe, secretary; Henry Miller, treasurer; fuel, Otter Trail Fuel Company, H. J. Schafer, president ; Henry Miller, manager. Henry A. Schultz is the present postmaster.
The present village officers are as follow: President, H. A. Schultz; trustees, Fritz Lueders, B. F. Barnett and Herman Grofe; clerk, Henry Miller ; treasurer, G. A. Schultz; justices, J. R. Jones and S. B. Barnett ; con- stables. Max Wardeen and W. C. Kempf.
There are two summer resorts platted in Otter Tail township. Midway Park and Pleasure Park. The plat of Midway Park was recorded October 16. 1905, being platted by Martin Aalberg for Frank J. A. and Ida M. Lar-
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son. It is located in Otter Tail township, section 31, township 134, range 39. Pleasure Park was platted by Martin Aalberg for W. F. and Julia Aitkinson and recorded in the office of the register of deeds on July 13, 1912. It is located in the northeastern part of Otter Tail township, section 4, township 134, range 39.
PELICAN TOWNSHIP
Congressional township 136, range 43, was organized as Pelican town- ship by the county commissioners on September 5, 1870. The petition, which is dated July 3, 1870, bore the names of twenty-three legal voters and also the humble request to "please call this township Pelican." The names of the petitioners follow : Ole Onsum, Ole Christansen, Mons Olsen, Emerson Harris, - Bullman, Thomas H. Birge, Harrison Harris, Wilson Harris, W. F. Cowles, Gordon A. Cowles, Charles Guin, E. Guin, Chrales Burau, Ole Engebritson Sanbe, Ole Seillstad, John Holen, Erland Ellefsen, Erik Rishof, Gilbert Larson, Christian Sorenson, Theodore Hansen and Hans Hansen. It is interesting to note that over half of the signers were Norwegians. The first election was held at the store of S. H. Birge, September 14, 1870. Con- gressional township 136, range 42 (now known as Lida township), was attached to Pelican by the county commissioners on January 6, 1875, and remained a part of that township until March 19, 1879, when it was organ- ized as a separate township.
Pelican township lies in the basin of the Pelican river and the land slopes in such a way that it is easily drained. Prairie lake is the largest and covers nearly a section and a half in sections 10, 11, 14 and 15. The surface of the township is rolling in many parts, but not so rugged but that it can be culti- vated.
This township was one of the first in the county to be settled. The building of the railroad to it in the early eighties did a great deal toward helping its rapid development. As has been said, the majority of the early settlers were Norwegians, and to this day the people of that nationality pre- dominate.
Pelican Rapids.
Pelican Rapids was platted by Robert Miller in 1872 for the following proprietors: George B. Wright, A. J. Baldwin, W. J. Tuttle and Harrison Harris. This village is located in sections 22 and 27, township 136, range 43, and is the largest village in Otter Tail county at the present time. The village plat was recorded October 19, 1872. Since that date there have been a large number of additions made to the original plat.
The beginning of the village of Pelican Rapids reads like a romance, and it is safe to say that no village in Otter Tail county has had a more inter- esting beginning. The founder of the village was W. G. Tuttle, a man of
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energy and ability, but destined to come under the malign influence of the greatest rascal who ever set foot on Otter Tail county. Briefly stated, the founding of Pelican Rapids may be summed up as follows :
About 1870 the advancing tide of immigration which brought Ernest Buse and a few others to Fergus, Rudolph Niggler to Elizabeth, and left Louis Candaux, Alex Erhard, Peter Davis and others in their well-known location to the northward, also brought the first settlers to Pelican Rapids. Among these was W. G. Tuttle, whom fickle fortune tempted with visions of success and wealth only to blight and blast them with the dream that failed to materialize. His claim at the rapids was chosen with good judgment and his two eighties, a mile long, embraced the best water power on the river, together with a good townsite location. He went to work with little capital to improve the power and build his sawmill.
Just at this time the famous fraud, "Lord Gordon," having fooled Hor- ace Greeley and swindled Jay Gould in New York, found his way to Minne- sota, where he spent the winter of 1870 and 1871 in sporting with Jay Cook and the Northern Pacific Company, then in the course of its construction from Duluth westward.
The scheme of the bogus lord was a grand one and commended him to both philanthropists and business men. He proposed to purchase of the Northern Pacific Company twenty-five thousand acres with the rapids for a center, where he would build a city by the name of Loomis. On these and intervening vacant government lands and in the city of Loomis he proposed to colonize some thousands of his poor but industrious, frugal and skilled Scotch tenants. He had visions of building a city and giving them their homes to be repaid when they were able to do so. He pointed out an imagin- ary hotel on one corner, a fine bank building on another, with an elegant church on a convenient elevation. He offered to take Tuttle into the pool as a partner and in the following spring (1872) work was to begin in earn- est. He would have the then projected St. Vincent railway run from Fergus Falls up the valley past the rapids, and told Tuttle to go on getting out logs for a future lumber supply, telling him that he might cut down logs on any of the railroad land for which he had already contracted.
Tuttle did as instructed, borrowed money, got out logs, and when his lordship was exploded the railroad company demanded stumpage. This was the rock on which poor Tuttle went down and, though he resided at the rap- ids seven or eight years longer, he never recovered his lost grit. He was probably the best target rifle-shot ever in Otter Tail county, but this one accomplishment was not sufficient to make him a good business man. Mrs. Tuttle was highly esteemed as a lady by all who knew her. She kept her elegant piano for some years in a rude log house standing at the rapids, and
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was then compelled to sell it to parties at Fergus Falls in order to raise money to convey herself, husband and children back among New York state friends. Shortly afterwards Tuttle became insane and died in an insane asylum in his native state in the spring of 1882.
Gordon, who had a special Northern Pacific train at his command for weeks, was subsequently kidnaped by Fletcher and Hoy in Manitoba, where, escaping, he fled to the wilderness and, being finally put under arrest for high crimes in England, ended his life by a pistol ball through his head. Thus ended the lives of the pioneer of Pelican and an artful scoundrel who haunted the town in its infancy. .
In the spring of 1882 the leading citizens of the village decided to draw up a petition asking for incorporation, and such petition was finally signed and sworn to before a notary public on April 11. This petition carried the following names: M. B. Gibson, Henry Dussling, Frank E. Blodgett, E. Leonard, H. O. Time, W. H. Hazle, E. Keller, Frank Davis, John F. Cox, J. E. Lacy, J. A. Goodrick, D. D. Woodruff, W. H. Pattee, John Simpson, G. S. Hanson, C. H. Burrows, Melim Leonard, Z. I. Burton, H. H. Haugen, H. P. Johnson, N. Tyrrell, N. Compre, E. Collins, Ernest H. Hubbard, Charles Rupell, C. A. Davis, A. A. Woodworth, Anthony Healey, Peter I. Holin, Asa Meyers, Andrew Oleson, Henry Manley, Charles T. Robards, H. N. Bruce, J. W. Stage, J. O. Sands, H. Achmar, B. B. Hovey, K. T. Quale, E. S. Pinkham, L. B. Ramsdell, H. D. Wilcox, L. W. Gray, Hans Mickelson, O. M. Carr, J. P. Wallace, G. W. Batcheller, A. G. Kinney, A. N. Eshelman, W. E. Ingalls, W. G. Cox, R. N. Blodgett, F. Murray, G. B. Puckett, R. R. Kinney, R. A. Pierce, C. A. Life, E B. Gray, F. P. Percival, P. A. Williams, H. W. Bragg, R. E. Lacy, W. P. Reynolds, H. R. Day, M. Fred Fleischer, L. C. Druy, L. F. Fleischer, H. L. Ricker, William Hubbard. I. P. Lackey, E. H. Noel, M. F. Jacobs, George Chapman, Joseph Chapman, H. H. Wickum, A. E. Boen, F. E. Holmes, August Anderson, John M. Slet- ten, Albert Teilset, Imbert Skreden, Charles Port and Theo. Frazee.
The petition stated that the proposed incorporation contained a popula- tion of seven hundred The judge of the district court, S. W. Collins, granted the request of the petitioners on May 16, 1882, and appointed Myron B. Gib- son, Henry Dressler and J. P. Wallace to take charge of the election for the selection of the first village officials.
The unusual incidents which surrounded the founding of Pelican Rapids have been mentioned, but they had little or no bearing on the future history of the village. For more than forty years Pelican Rapids has been the center of a community life which is not unlike that of all other villages in the state. It had its first merchant, its first postmaster, its first child to be born, and its "first" of everything which goes to the making of a village. Some of
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these "firsts" have been gleaned from the first settlers of the village and are here presented that future generations may know who was who and what was what.
The first settler in the village was Harrison Harris. Harris built the first house, a rude log structure, which stood in the mill pond, about one hundred feet back of the Nelson & Diffendorf store. Harris may be said to be the first tavern keeper and, according to some of the old settlers still living, his caravansary contained one room, which, when trade was brisk, was par- titioned off with skins or sheets. Otto Andreas Edward Blyberg was the first merchant, the first postmaster, the first man to build a frame house, the father of the first child born in the village (the child, Lottie Marie, being the wife of C. N. Haugen), and is still alive to tell the story. The first physician was W. H. Pattee, and he was the only one for many years. The first preacher was T. Rosholdt, a Lutheran, who preached the first sermon in the village and officiated in the first church. The first follower of Tubal Cain was Wesley F. Cowles, who served a community within a circuit of twenty miles. His wife was the first white woman to settle in the township of Pelican Rapids. The first bricks were made in a factory operated by Milo F. Jacobs, and they were hand-made brick, some of which may be seen to this day in several places in the village. W. G. Tuttle, the real founder of the village, built the first saw-mill and, when he failed, the mill passed into the hands of George Robinson. R. L. Frazee later became proprietor of this saw-mill, and about the same time opened the first flour-mill in the growing village. A Frenchman by the name of Eduard Oriel was the first barber and presumably operated the first news stand. Oriel is now living in Shevlin, Minnesota, having retired some years ago from the tonsorial business with a sufficient competency for his declining years. The first wielder of the rod and ferrule was Mrs. George W. Coye, who taught in a room in her own house. The first newspaper was established by a man by the name of Rath- bun, whose wife succeeded him as editor upon his death. This paper was rightly called The Pioneer. The first band made its appearance in the latter part of the seventies under the leadership of Mat Nelson, its first leader. The suit worn by the drum major of this band was a gorgeous piece of sar- torial raiment, a flaming red, trimmed in gold braid and lace, a masterpiece of the tailor's art, which would have delighted the heart of Beau Brummel himself. This suit, with the old gaily caparisoned baton, is now in the posses- sion of Louis Amundson, who, by the way, is the oldest member of the pres- ent city band. The first train steamed into the village in the fall of 1882, turned around, steamed out again, and for thirty-three years the villagers have been wondering when it would stop turning around.
As has been said, Blyberg was the first postmaster. He retained the
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office from the time he was appointed in 1871, at the munificent salary of twelve dollars a year, until 1886, when Theodore Frazee succeeded him. Frazee was followed in 1891 by George Washburn, who died before his term expired, his wife being appointed by his bondsmen to fill his unexpired term. Charles Frazee, the present incumbent, was appointed October 5, 1895, and assumed the office on the first of the following month. The office now pays a salary of fourteen hundred dollars a year.
The first mail received in the village in 1871 was brought by the carrier who rode the star route from Fergus Falls to Detroit, making the round trip once a week. Later in the seventies, mail was received twice a week, and with the tri-weekly train service established in 1882, mail was received and sent out every other day. At the present time the local office receives two mails daily, one by train from the south and the other by way of a star route from Rothsay. The former reaches the village in the evening and the latter about nine o'clock in the morning. The first rural routes out of Pelican Rapids were established in 1903, one running into Norwegian Grove township and causing the abandonment of Center Grove postoffice, and the other going north into Scambler township and bringing about the discontinuance of Bangor postoffice. In 1906 four other rural routes were established and at the same time five postoffices in adjoining townships were discontinued, namely: Stod (Trondhjem), Norwegian Grove (Norwegian Grove), Pel- ican Lake (Scambler), Lida (Lida) and Bessie (Lida). As a matter of fact the star route carrier is really in effect a rural carrier, the law obligating him to deliver mail to any person living on the route he travels between Rothsay and Pelican Rapids. The star route carrier travels thirty-two miles daily and receives nine hundred and eighty-five dollars annually. The six rural carriers travel an average of twenty-eight and one-half miles daily and receive twelve hundred dollars annually. They serve a total of six hundred heads of families and cover the northwest part of the county and also reach into Becker and Clay counties. Carl J. Lundberg, on route No. 2, is the only one of the mail carriers who has served since the establishment of the first rural route. The present postoffice building is owned by the postmaster and rented by him to the government.
The present volunteer fire department was organized in the early spring of 1906, the authorization for its establishment being granted by the Legis- lature on March 22 of that year. Four separate companies were created : two hose, one hook, ladder and chemical and one engine company. Hose company No. I is now composed of O. B. Krogsatd ( foreman), R. B. Strachen (assistant foreman), C. A. Hanson, B. L. Mathiason and Oscar Knutson. Hose company No. 2 is composed of S. H. Lowell ( foreman), R. H. Gripentrog (assistant foreman). B. M. Bjornstad and Allen Mills. The hook, ladder and chemical company has six members: O. E. Olson
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( foreman), E. N. Haugen (assistant foreman), E. M. Stephenson, Louis Quamme, Anton Skalstad and F. J. Damschen. The engine company has five members: Henry Olson (chief ), Louis Amundson ( assistant chief ), M. B. Myhre, O. E. Mathiason and J. L. Ranger.
The equipment of the department consists of one hand-drawn engine, two hose carts, hooks and ladders, and about two thousand feet of hose. The department is housed in the village hall near the Pelican river. A tank containing twelve hundred barrels supplies ample water for all ordinary fires, and in case that supply is used, the river is utilized. The village has been very fortunate in the way of destructive fires, the last one of any conse- quence occurring about six years ago when a planing-mill was burned.
The firemen have an annual salary of six dollars, which salary is depend- ent upon regular attendance on monthly drills. Absence from drill subjects the absentee to a fine of twenty-five cents. Most of the members of the fire department are connected with the Firemen's Relief Association, which pays its members certain reliefs for disabilities incurred while in the discharge of their duties as firemen. This fund was established by statute and consists of one per cent of all insurance premiums on property within the incorpora- tion. This amounts to a little more than one hundred dollars in Pelican Rapids, the total amount in the fund of the department now being one thou- sand two hundred and seventy-nine dollars. In the ten years that the fund has been growing not a single member of the department has been disabled and hence no money has yet been paid out. Louis Amudson is the secre- tary of the fund. Members of the department are allowed one dollar for each fire they attend and if they are in attendance for more than one hour they receive fifty cents for each additional hour they are on duty.
The president of the council and three members receive twelve dollars a year; the recorder is paid a yearly salary of three hundred and sixty dol- lars; the treasurer, one hundred dollars; the fire chief fifty dollars and the assessor two dollars per day for time actually put in while assessing. It will be noticed that the village has no marshal and it has not had one for several years. The village building has two steel cells, but there have been no occu- pants of the cells for many years. The duties of the marshal are performed by the township constable, O. N. Anderson. All of these officials except the assessor have a one-year tenure.
The village owns its own electric light and power plant. The first plant was established in 1900 in a building which stands by the village hall. The dynamo was operated by steam and is still in running order. However, in 1906 the village built a second plant with water power for generating pur- poses, utilizing the waters of the Pelican river. Thus the village has two . completely equipped plants, so that when there is not sufficient water to run the one, the other can be used. In fact, so rapid has been the extension of
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the service that the 1906 plant is hardly sufficient to meet the demand and it is necessary to operate both plants at times. The first superintendent of the electric plant was C. M. Gray, who was in charge from 1900 to 1910. He was followed by Albert Hannes ( 1910-1912) ; since 1912 H. E. Stevens has been in charge. The "white way" was established in 1913 and with the installation of a double row of handsome cluster lights along Main street, the village assumes a real metropolitan aspect. The rate to consumers is twelve cents per kilowatt for the first one hundred kilowatts used and nine cents for all power used above that figure. Five customers use more than one hundred kilowatts. Electricity for power costs six cents per kilowatt on motors above one-horse power or on several motors aggregating that amount. It is inter- esting to note that more than one hundred electric irons are now in use in the village.
Pelican Rapids is justly proud of its band, an organization which dates back about forty years. About the middle of the seventies Mat Nelson organized the first band, which, with various re-organizations, has been in continuous existence since that time. At the time the band was reorganized in 1894 it had the following members: Charles Gustafson, O. M. Isberg, Christ Gordon, Louis Amundson, Theodore Knudson, Edwin E. Pinkham, William Knudson, Carl D. Haugen, W. N. Harris, H. A. Renner, George Ahearn, R. S. Eberly, Louis Henderson and Ole Rakvog. Of these mem- bers Louis Amundson is the only one still playing with the present band, and he still uses a brass trombone which was purchased for the first band in the seventies. The present band is composed of the following members: Cor- nets, O. B. Krogstad, Edward Lund, George Strom and Ralph Svare; trom- bones, David Halbacken and Martin 'Arneson; alto, Elmer Thompson, Nor- man Thompson and Marcus Hanson; barytone, Martin Myhre; French horn, Mr. John; basses, Louis Amundson and Otto Thompson; saxaphone, B. M. Bornstad and Ferdinand Nelson; clarinets, Arthur Hanson; snare drum, Lawrence Amundson; bass drum, Ole Thorstenson. The band employs a skilled instructor, J. E. Racicot, who instructs the band once a week. The band is well-uniformed and is in constant demand for concerts for all kinds of occasions. It gives weekly concerts in the summer season in its band stand on Main street. The merchants guarantee the band forty dollars a month during the open playing season. Two or three concerts are given every winter in the village, which, with outside concerts, furnishes the band with a sufficient income to purchase instruments as they are needed, buy uniforms and music and employ an instructor.
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