History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I, Part 70

Author: John W. Mason
Publication date: 1916
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 765

USA > Minnesota > Otter Tail County > History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 70

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).

The amount of capital stock named in no sense indicated the combined assets of the incorporators, nor their joint-impecuniosity, though the gigantic undertaking did give them, in the eyes of the proletariat, a certain distinc- tion, which is often of more value than solvency.

The first step to be taken after the organization was formed was a preliminary survey of the river. The plan adopted was to send a party up to the Northern Pacific crossing, come down stream in a boat, take sound- ings and make observations. A party was organized for that purpose, con- sisting of Jacob. Austin, C. H. Goodsell, Robert Miller, J. W. Mason, members of the corporation, and J. P. Williams, enterprising volunteer. The corporate members of the party resolved themselves into a committee of ways and means for financing and carrying out the preliminary survey undertaking. They begged or borrowed the following items and articles needed for their purpose, to-wit: a large, long bateau which had been used by the lumbermen in making drives down the river, a tent, blankets, cook- ing utensils, provisions, and a team and wagon to convey the party and its truck to the head of navigable waters of the Red river "at or near Perham."

Ernest Buse furnished the team, wagon and driver. Intervening years make it impossible to record who furnished the other necessaries, but it is safe to say that Chief Engineer Miller supplied his own sounding rod, the length of which was artistically marked off in feet.

Early one morning in the month of June, 1873, this preliminary sur- veying party started from Fergus Falls, full of enthusiasm and hope. The people turned out to bid them good-speed; the local newspaper recorded at length the starting of the enterprise to put Fergus Falls on the map as a port-of-entry on the Red river of the North, between a "point near Per- ham," to Hudson Bay; not forgetting to note the regrets the railroads would

Digitized by Google

638

OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.

feel as they contemplated the cargoes of freight shipped by water, which otherwise would have been hauled in box cars.

The load was heavy and progress slow. The first night the party reached Battle lake and camped on the site of the beautiful village which took its name from the lake, one of the many handsome bodies of water dotted all over Otter Tail county. The president of the company was impatient at the slowness of the journey, but the chief engineer, the "Mark Tapley" of the party, argued that it was a good thing to make haste slowly, as it would give the party experience in pitching and striking tent, cooking and accommodating itself to outdoor life and the intricacies of living in a tent. Bob was the most impecunious of the party if their resources admit of comparison, and the longer he stayed out with "bed and board" furnished free, the better it suited him. The next night the party pitched its tent at the Northern Pacific crossing "at or near Perham."

In the morning after breakfast, the bateau was launched, the tent and all other property put aboard, ready to begin the trip down river. The bateau was a long, four-oared boat. The president took his seat in the stern with steering paddle in hand to direct the boat on its downward course. He commanded each man to take an oar. The order was obeyed, and they swung gallantly into the middle of the stream with bow pointed towards the port-of-entry. Soon Bob dropped his oar, grasped his sounding rod and commenced jabbing it into the water. "Here," hallowed Jake, "drop that d-d stick and hang to your oar." Bob obeyed, but he then and there discarded his Mark Tapley characteristics, and remained sullen and dissatisfied during the whole journey home; his sounding rod reposed in "innocuous desuetude," and he declared privately to the secretary and gen- eral counsel, that he would make no report of the survey, whatever.

Sailing orders were furnished by the president. Orders were issued that while in the stream two oars should be used, and while passing through lakes, four must assist the propulsion of the bateau. While in the stream, Bob could have, of course, made soundings, but this he did not do, nor did anyone suggest it to him. He was in no mood to receive suggestions. The party progressed down stream without any mishaps, and stopped for lunch at a point just above where the river enters Rush lake.

The party landed and when about ready to proceed noticed a heavy storm coming from the west. The clouds were black and streaked with lightning, and rumbles of thunder came rolling from the storm. It was decided to pitch the tent and prepare for the rain. This was done as quickly as possible. The tent being placed on a bank sloping to the river, a trench was dug above it to conduct the water away. This proved a wise precau- tion. The work was barely finished when the storm burst with all its fury;

Digitized by Google

639

OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.

the rain came in such sheets that the river, but a rod from the tent, could not be seen, and this lasted for over one-half hour. The trench was insuffi- cient to carry all the water, but enough to enable the party to protect most of their belongings from utter destruction.

The storm passed, and the sun came out bright and warm, but the blankets, bedding and clothing were so water soaked that it was decided to delay the trip, and hang the articles on the bushes for the sun and wind to dry.

It was well along towards evening before the party could proceed, and they did not reach Otter Tail City, at the head of Otter Tail lake, till after dark. Here the tent was pitched and the tired ones, all except Williams and Mason, went to bed therein. The two named went to the only, so-called, hotel, where they retired. The secretary and general counsel slept till morn- ing, and when he awoke found that the "guest" of the party, Williams, had disappeared. When found and asked why he quit the hotel, he said there were too many bedfellows; that they were the hungriest lot he ever tried to sleep with; that soon after going to bed he was awakened and seemed on fire from head to foot. He arose and went down to the lake for a plunge, to quench the fire and cool off. He said he had had a taste of hades, and wanted no more of it, and from that time on was going to lead a different life. He may have tried to so live, but his frequent "back-slidings" must have made it expensive to keep his nether garments in presentable repair.

The next morning the wind was so high and the waters of the lake so rough that it was not possible to cross it, so the party remained in camp; the president fretting at the delay, while Miller was contented and serene. The day was spent in company with old McDonald, a Scotchman, about eighty years old, who had lived with the Indians from early boyhood. His squaw wife and a multitude of half-breed children, with other Indians, were there, all curious to see the strangers and examine their belongings.

These Indians belonged on the White Earth agency in Becker county, but were wont in the summertime to wander back to the old hunting grounds, and visit the graves of their relatives and former companions, buried on a ridge back of the village. Over most of these graves were constructed little wooden buildings, about the size and appearance of dog kennels. In each of these was a small opening in the gable, through which, once a year, the Indians came and put through food for the dead-delicacies which the Indians thought might not be found in the "happy hunting grounds" where the dead braves had gone.

McDonald claimed to be one hundred years old, and was always assert- ing it with an oath, as though he expected his statement to be doubted. In

Digitized by Google

640

OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.

all probability he did not know his age, but thought the claim would add to his distinction. He was doubtless over eighty, very gray, but erect, and moved about like a man of forty. In a much earlier day, he had in some way possessed himself of an old silk hat, which must have antedated those in vogue during the Tippecanoe campaign in 1840. The shell was intact, but not a vestige of the nap remained. He spoke English with a broad Scotch accent, and was the most profane man that ever broke the com- mandments. If his Indian vocabulary was equal to his profane English one, he must have been the Bryan of his tribe.

The wind going down in the afternoon, the party started across the lake about four o'clock. They landed at the outlet at the west end of the lake and camped on the Indian mound on the south side of the river. There are, at that point, several of these mounds, extending south from the bank of the river a considerable distance.

The next morning the party got an early start, worked hard at the oars all day and landed in Fergus Falls a little after six o'clock P. M., having covered a distance, as they estimated, of seventy-five miles .. The water was at a high stage, making passage down the rapids at different points in the stream easy. In passing the rapids the four oars were manned to give the boat an impetus sufficient for steering. The stream at the different rapids was full of large rocks or boulders, against which the water dashed, throw- ing spray many feet in the air. It was no boys' job to clear them all, but it was successfully done without accident.

At the place now called Phelps, where the Thomas mill stands, there was a dam being built across the stream. At that point the party had to make a portage, carrying their tent, blankets and utensils around the dam. A rope was hitched to the bateau and floated through the opening in the dam. Aside from this, no obstructions were met which prevented naviga- tion with the party's boat.

The first few days after reaching home were spent in getting the chief engineer, Miller, into a friendly state of mind, and to prepare his report to the directors of the company. This being accomplished, a board meeting was called, and formal report of the preliminary survey duly made, accepted and placed on file.

Then came the momentous question of money. It was easy to draw, sign and publish articles of corporation, and fix the capital stock at half a million dollars. That amount was as easily written as one hundred thousand dollars. It was comparatively easy to beg and borrow an outfit for such preliminary survey of the river as was made. It took only a little jollying of the chief engineer to put him in mood for making a report of the "survey" that looked good on paper, but money was not so easily corralled.

Digitized by Google

641

OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.

Congress-that was a word to conjure with. Means must be devised to reach that body and convince it of the great potential possibilities for navigation on the Red river of the North, only awaiting governmental encouragement by way of a liberal appropriation. Members of Congress were importuned, but failed to show much enthusiasm. They wanted to be backed in the matter by a legislative request, so, in 1875, a joint resolution was introduced and passed the Minnesota Legislature, which, following a convincing preamble, setting forth the feasibility of the project, read as follows :

"Resolved, that Congress is hereby requested to survey that portion of said river before described, to ascertain the feasibility and estimate the cost of improving said river for the ready transportation of articles of mer- chandise and produce."

This resolution was duly presented to Congress, then, as now, a slowly- moving aggregation of eminent statesmen. An engineer was sent out and made, probably, about as thorough an examination of the river as Chief Engineer Miller made on that famous preliminary survey trip a year or two prior in time. The government engineer reported adversely; at any rate, that portion of the river before named never found its way into any "pork barrel," without which its chances for development are about as tangible as an iridescent dream. The river is still here.

A DASH OF LOCAL COLOR.

In 1910 the city's power dam, situated about two miles up the river, collapsed and carried with it the power house, pumps and all machinery. This dam had been completed and in use about nine months at the time it gave way. It cost over fifty thousand dollars and well illustrated the thor- oughness of municipal work. It lasted long enough for the contractor to get his money. He built according to plans, but said afterward that the happiest moment of his life was when he got his money, as he feared if the dam went out before that he would have trouble in collecting it. No unfore- seen condition caused the wreck of the dam. The water in the river was at its usual stage; the season was dry, and the only cause of the accident was the incompetent plan of the dam, dishonesty of the contractor, and loose and inefficient oversight of construction. Its plan, construction and super- vision was an eloquent epitome of the way business enterprises are per- formed by municipal agencies, composed too often of men unable to suc- ceed in their own private affairs, but chosen as servants of the public to superintend and manage its concerns.

After a good deal of bickering, opposition, newspaper talk and dis- cussion at various public meetings, the city council was practically forced

(41)

Digitized by Google

642

OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.

to provide lights through a contract with the Otter Tail Power Company, from its plant at Dayton Hollow.

It is only fair to the company to say that it did not attempt to "hold up" the city under the contract it offered, but certain individuals contended that it would be making a profit on the sale of electric energy, and they bitterly opposed that. It was shown by the figures of disinterested experts, from the city's own books, that the price named in the contract was cheaper than the city had ever been able to supply the energy. The contract was finally made, and for two years thereafter the question of rebuilding the dam was constantly discussed.

Debt is sometimes a blessing. It was in this instance. The city had reached its limit for issuing bonds, and money to rebuild the dam could be raised in no other way. During this time Vernon A. Wright conceived the idea of cutting off a ten-mile bend in the river, and by a system of tunnels and canal conduct the water to a point below, and thus securing a seventy- foot fall, which would solve for all time the question of adequate water power for supplying Fergus Falls and surrounding towns with electric energy for lights and power.

The probable cost would be at least a quarter of a million dollars, but he and his associate, F. G. Barrows, were willing to assume the risk. They asked no financial aid from the city. All they desired was a contract for fifteen years for furnishing light and power to the city on the same terms as these provided in the existing contract. The interests of both the city and company were fully protected under the proposed franchise, drawn by the company's attorney in conjunction with the attorney of the city. This franchise to become valid, must be submitted to a vote of the city.

The city council refused to call an election for that purpose. Some of the aldermen were actuated by spite; some by ignorance and others by a desire of handling the money, when it could be raised, for rebuilding the dam.

More public meetings were called. More newspaper discussion was aroused, till finally, the council could resist public opinion no longer, and called the election.

The franchise carried by more than three to one; the project was com- pleted within the time limited, and the company is now furnishing electric energy for over twenty cities and villages, without using one-half of its power capacity.

The following article, published in the Fergus Falls Journal, March 14, [912, about two weeks before the election, illustrates as well as anything the state of affairs at the time, and gives a glimpse of certain Fergusonian

Digitized by Google

643

OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.

peculiarities. It ought to be preserved for future reading. The local color is steadfast, and time cannot change it.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH FERGUS?" "I know not how the truth may be, But tell the tale as 'twas told to me."

The city is situated in the midst of as fine a country as can be found in Minnesota. The soil is rich; pure water in lakes and rivers; timber in abundance; railroad facilities excellent, with the possibility of developing one of the greatest water powers of the state.

We are blessed with a system of schools recognized as the equal of any in the state. We have churches enough to accommodate all sects and convert all sinners. There have been no scandals of graft in the management of municipal affairs. The morals of the place, in many respects, are above most cities of equal size. The saloons are conducted in as lawful a manner as it seems possible to conduct them anywhere. The citizens are moral, industrious and intelligent. But, notwithstanding all these conditions and advant- ages, something has prevented the building of a successful city and has kept Fergus Falls in the village class.

To answer the question. What is the matter with Fergus? we have to go back and study of the history of its growth; make inquiry of the past and investigate the causes which have given it its present characteristics. The city has an individuality peculiar to itself. and one that has grown and developed with its years, just as a person's indi- viduality is developed through his inherited qualities and his environment.

No matter how good the material, no winning football eleven can be produced without "team work." To start a load and keep it moving, the team drawing it must start together and both continue to pull in the same direction.

Let us keep these two examples in view for a little time while we refresh our minds on the history of Fergus. This will carry us for a beginning back into the early seven- ties. The promise of the child village is fulfilled in the man city. The peculiar traits thus early manifested have grown and kept pace with the years. The knockers of today are the legitimate descendants of the knockers of the seventies. "As the twig is bent, the tree's inclined."

In 1871 the only bridge in the village across the Red river was just below where the Red River Milling Company's mill now is. It consisted of stringers reaching from bank to bank, on which were laid poles and these poles covered with straw. Wright & Men- denhall's saw-mill was located on the south side of the river between the present concrete bridge and the Cable mill.

The business part of the town was then on Lincoln avenue between Court and Mill streets. Wright & Mendenhall commenced the construction of a bridge, at their own expense. across the river on Cascade street. Opposition to a bridge at the point was at once raised. The knockers claimed that its erection there was fatal to the business inter- ests between Court and Mill streets; that it was being built with the ulterior design of moving the business center up stream and would result in the ruin of every interest between the two last named streets. Lawyers were consulted and suit to enjoin the obstruc- tion of a public street by private parties was threatened. Knots of men gathered on the streets and in the shops, and the topic everywhere discussed was the new bridge and the ruined fortunes to follow its erection. Base motives were attributed to the builders, and personal feelings engendered that lasted as long as the participents lived.

This bridge fight gave the denizens a taste of blood and sharpened the appetite for future controversy. Nearly every one of the factional fights which followed thick and fast were as ridiculous as this one over the bridge and grew in intensity as time went on. I shall not try to name them all, but only present a few samples, characteristic of then.

The prayers of the pioneers were answered in 1879, when the old St. Paul & Pacific

Digitized by Google

644

OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.

railroad pulled its first train into town in the month of November. The railroad bridge across the river was completed along about 5 o'clock in the afternoon when the first engine, with bell ringing and whistle blowing, pulled over it in the presence of the whole population gathered to witness the great event. Then and there was unity for a brief time. Fergus was made a division headquarters; shops and a roundhouse were built on the east side of the river; railroad men. with their families, made Fergus their home; conductors, engineers, firemen, brakemen, boilermakers and other mechanics lived, earned money and were paid their wages here. The payrolls amounted to several thousand dol- lars per month. The shops were here; the division headquarters were here. and here they must remain.

Secure in these advantages, Fergus was free to indulge its nagging spirit and obstruc- tion policies. A railroad company is legitimate prey. always for people so inclined. and opportunities for a display of Fergus follies soon presented themselves.

The company had a large force of boilermakers, working for a wage of from four to five dollars per day. They organized for higher wages and struck to obtain the same. All Fergus was at once aroused and sided with the strikers. The railroad was, so they argued, crushing the life out of honest labor, and everyone favored "downing" the soul- less corporation. The company brought in a carload of new men. ran the car into the roundhouse, and fed and protected them there. A delegation of the strikers waited upon the mayor to ascertain what attitude he would take if they, the strikers, made an assault on and drove the "scabs" out of town. The mayor informed the delegation that. while he stood for the right of men to strike. if so disposed. he also stood for the right of others to work at the job the strikers had abandoned: and further, that if there was sufficient police force in the city to protect the men who thus wanted to work. they would surely be protected. That declaration raised a storm of protest and abuse from the early "town builders," and the mayor shared with the railroad company the abuse of all those who knew so well how to run things.

Soon after this it was discovered that the roundhouse was a few feet over the line and on the land of a private owner. Here was another outrage on the part of the com- pany. It was not only compelling its men to work at starvation wages, but was violating the sacred, private rights of our citizens. This could not be tolerated for a moment. Notice was promptly served on the company to move its roundhouse. This was the last straw. The railroad, for once. did what the people demanded. It moved its roundhouse. and with it went the shops, the men and their families, and the payroll as well.

To recount all the pullings, haulings, disagreements and bickerings over every pro- posed project and undertaking would constitute a detailed account of the whole history of Fergus. There is not a lot. block or street in the center of town that has not been the subject and scene of some factional fight, bloodless, it is true, but fatal to the public welfare. If the citizens were ever united and working together harmoniously for any one undertaking or enterprise for the good of the city. the writer has been unable to find any old resident who can recall it.

The fear that some one else is going to make something has always been. and now is, a nightmare that has found permanent pasturage in Fergus, and is as rampant today as it was in early times when knocking began.

During all the years past the people have been banking on something which they have not got. and that is a great water power. Notwithstanding the record shows that the rainfall last season was above the average. still the water in our river is gradually diminishing, and that to such an extent that the power to run our water station and the electric light plant has to be furnished a part of the time by steam. An expert hired and paid by the city reports that the rebuilding of the city dam could only furnish power enough for the present uses of the city, to say nothing of the increased demand sure to follow the city's growth.

A citizen of capacity and financial means has discovered that our water power can

Digitized by Google

645

OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA.

be trebled and made permanent by the expenditure of less than a quarter million dollars, and is willing to risk his own money to prove the truth of his discovery.

He offers to do this and supply the city with electric energy at a price cheaper than the city has ever been able to furnish it from any plant ever owned and operated by Itself. This expert engineer. representing the city, reports that the plan is feasible, and the rate to be charged for energy less than the city can furnish it, but some one has dis- covered that the "roundhouse is trespassing on private property": another fears that the originators of the plan will make a profit from the undertaking; a third opposes it because of a personal spite against some one connected with the enterprise, and thus the merry war goes on, and Fergus, true to her history and traditions, rushes to the fray, armed with the hammers that have done such valiant service for lo, these many years. One brave with feathers in his hair and war paint on his person, with hammer drawn, rushes into the fight and levels a telling blow when he declares that if the contract is ratified by the voters, in some way. he does not stop to explain how, the water and light com- mission will be prevented from spending some $3,000 in extending water mains the com- ing summer. He does not tell that if the contract is approved by the voters, more than $100.000 will be distributed right here. Then comes the big medicine man-that High Priest of Nonsense-with a string of legal propositions about as reasonable and reliable as a Munchausen tale, exhibiting a sheet of figures that read as though taken from a circus advertisement, telling what awaits the city just around the corner, if it fails to let Tom Wilson or Erick. Nelson build an "everlasting" dam for less than fifty thousand dollars. The show was worth the money. and enough to cheer the departed spirits of former Fergus knockers if they are in communication with former mundane scenes. Oh, it's the greatest show on earth ; a grand combination and colossal aggregation of star knockers, and, like the Passion Play, can be seen at only one place in the world, and that place is Fergus Falls. Is it any wonder that our town has been dubbed "Kicker's Haven" and "Mossback Hollow?"

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.

History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I, Part 70

Author: John W. Mason Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Number of Pages: 765

Author: John W. Mason
Publication date: 1916
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 765