homestead, not far from Big Stone lake where they endured many
privations the first few years. The first year the grasshoppers took all
the garden and grain. After the first year new settlers began to come in
and Mr. Crippen assisted them in locating claims, and in that way
managed to live until another crop was raised. In relating some of the
experiences Mrs. Crippen states that they had a house 10x12 and the
first shingled roof in this country at that time. At one time, two
gentlemen from Minneapolis, Messrs. Hyde and Curtiss, had occasion to
stay over night with them so they gave these parties their only bed,
making one on the floor for themselves, hanging a curtain between. While
preparing breakfast she heard one of the gentlemen say--"Hello, little
fellow, what are you doing with my toe?" Her baby had awakened and gone
over to their bed. It was over a year before they had any chickens or
cow; she used to hunt plover's eggs and several times was without flour,
having to grind wheat and corn in a coffee mill. The nearest railroad
town was Morris forty miles northeast.
The first 4th of July celebration was held near the lake at a place now
called "Point Comfort." The flag staff is still where they placed it. A
Mrs. Tyler roasted a small pig, which they used as a center piece at the
picnic dinner, minus the apple in its mouth.
One of the young gentlemen, whose father was a minister in Minneapolis,
had him send him sermons which he read on the Sabbath in the
schoolhouse.
C. K. Orton, the founder of Ortonville took a homestead adjoining Big
Stone Lake. In the spring he returned for his family consisting then of
his wife and child, Clara, together with several neighbors. They started
in the month of July, following the old trail via New Ulm, thence to
Montevideo. When they reached Montevideo they discovered the bridges had
washed away, so they were obliged to ford the Chippewa river which was
very deep and rapid. Mr. and Mrs. Orton rode side by side, he carrying a
sack of flour which he lost while endeavoring to hold her, but which he
afterward recovered. It took the party several days to get their
belongings, which consisted of cattle, horses, oxen, etc., on the west
side of the river.
They were badly frightened a few months later, which was after they had
settled in their new home, by a Mr. Movius, of Big Stone City, who came
to them with a report that the Indians, five hundred in number, from the
Sisseton reservation were on the war path and were headed their way.
Mrs. Orton and another woman, being alone with the children, say that
they had a flat bottomed boat which they had planned to get in and get
out into the middle of the lake and that if overtaken by the Indians,
rather than be tortured as they had seen other people near New Ulm and
other towns, would drown themselves and children, but luckily it was a
false report.
Mr. Orton was the first postmaster of this place, the mail being brought
once a week from Appleton, twenty-five miles east, by Mr. Lathrop, who
had a wagon train hauled by oxen by which he carried flour and
provisions to the settlers along the lake shore.
There is a log cabin still standing in Big Stone City, which was built
in the year 1857.
A. B. Kaercher has in his possession the Government Patent given in 1855
and signed by Franklin Pierce to his father, John Kaercher, for 160
acres of land in Fillmore County, Minnesota, where John Kaercher
founded the Village of Preston, and erected the second flouring mill in
the Territory of Minnesota.
Lyman R. Jones of Ortonville has a stove door taken from the ruins of
the Presbyterian mission, built in 1838 and which was destroyed by fire
March 3, 1854.
Mr. Roberts, an old timer here, has the powder horn which Little Crow
carried through the Sioux massacre.
DAUGHTERS OF LIBERTY CHAPTER
Duluth
FRANCES ANGELINE POOLE WOODBRIDGE (Mrs. W. S. Woodbridge)
Mrs. Nettleton.
My husband and I came to this region in 1854. At first we lived in
Superior, Wis., but in September of that year we went down to Madeline
Island to the Indian payment when the government bought the Duluth
property from the Indians. My husband got title to the best of Minnesota
Point. This was the same payment where they gave Chief Buffalo his four
square miles of land in Duluth.
Minnesota Point is a narrow neck of land seven miles long and about a
quarter of a mile wide projecting from the mainland in Duluth and
separating Lake Superior from St. Louis Bay. One day we had a picnic
party of Superior people over on Minnesota Point. Among them were Mrs.
Post, Orator Hall and his wife, my husband and the Rev. Mr. Wilson from
somewhere near Boston and a number of others. During the picnic various
names for the new town started on Minnesota Point were proposed and Mr.
Wilson at last proposed "Duluth." He named the city in honor of the
first navigator and explorer who ever came up here. When the other
proprietors came here and made preemptions and had obtained land they
wanted to call it "Portland." My husband said "No that his property was
in Duluth and it should stay in Duluth." I had never been in Duluth at
that time unless it was for a picnic on Minnesota Point.
We moved across the bay to Duluth in 1858. My husband and his brother
William had a contract for carrying the mail from Superior to St. Paul.
Sometimes the mail was carried by team and sometimes the men packed it
on their backs. In the spring and fall the roads were so bad that the
use of the team was impossible. Letters were delivered once a week and
papers once a month, perhaps. The military road had been commenced but
not finished.
Mrs. W. S. Woodbridge.
While the experiences of the early days could be considered a hardship
for the men it was ten times more annoying to women. The hardships of
housekeeping, for instance and home making, keeping the home tidy and
comfortable, not to say attractive, were much greater than any hardships
the men were called upon to endure. The first year or two, there was no
mirror at the head of the lakes. Those who were fortunate enough to have
a new tin boiler, or new tin dishes could get along very well. One of
the early settlers has told me that he had frequently seen the women
combing and arranging their hair by their reflection in the wash boiler
or dish pan. Ribbons, perfumes and fancy articles were wholly unknown.
An old settler who came with his family told me "Our whole outfit
comprised a feather bed and a lunch basket in which were a knife, fork
and two small china dishes. I also bought a single mattress and a pair
of blankets in Cleveland on my way to Duluth. We built our bedsteads out
of green tamarack poles peeled, using the bark for ropes to hold it
together and made a table of two boards which were found floating in the
Bay. Bed clothing consisted of Indian blankets and moccasins answered
for shoes, while curtains, carpets and upholstered furniture were
unknown."
The postoffice was in a small building on First Street and First Avenue
East. The postmaster, Mr. Richard Marvin was a member of the Fire
Brigade. His friend, Mr. Melvin Forbes, who had just started in the
paper and stationery business opposite, spent the night with him. The
milkman was in the habit of bringing milk to the door in the morning. A
lady who had come up by boat and was leaving by train in the early
morning for St. Paul knocked on the door of the postoffice to inquire
if any mail had been forwarded to her there. Mr. Forbes, supposing the
milkman was at the door, leaped out of bed, caught Mr. Marvin's
fireman's helmet and put it on his head, opened the door wide with a
flourish and making a profound bow in his short white night shirt said,
"Good morning." Not until he raised his head did he see the lady. I have
often wondered what opinion she formed of Duluth in her short stay here.
I used to watch the Indians who were a common sight in those early days
in Duluth, especially in the winter, when they would come into town with
their dog teams, the sledges laden down with skins which they exchanged
for provisions. The dog teams were very interesting with their
intelligent well trained Indian dogs. There were usually three or four
dogs driven tandem with a simple harness consisting of a collar and a
strap around the body of each. The driver always ran or walked by the
side of the sledge never sitting on it. We see pictures of dog teams in
Alaska, for instance, with a dozen or more dogs, but that would have
been impossible in a heavily wooded country as this was in those days.
The Indians did not know the use of a door bell, neither did they stand
on ceremony, but if they found the door of a house unlocked they walked
in without knocking. I remember that one New Year's Day we found on
going into the sitting room after dinner, that six Indians had quietly
taken possession, two men and four squaws. They advanced, offering to
shake hands and saying, "'Appy New Year, ten cents." "'Appy New Year,
ten cents." It was all the English they could speak but they knew well
what it meant and did not leave until each one had received a gift. We
were glad enough to see them go and to open the windows.
I well remember a funeral which occurred in the early days. The coffin
was placed in a wagon which was drawn by one horse and the mourners
followed on foot. I also remember how very muddy the roads were,
consisting of sticky, tenacious red clay which clung to our rubbers and
sucked them off our feet as we walked.
We bought water by the pailful which was carted up from the Lake and
placed in a barrel in the kitchen and often on a cold winter morning, we
were obliged to chop it out and melt it in the tea kettle. The windows
in our house were always covered with half an inch of frost. I remember
on one very cold night I was awakened by a fire bell. The windows were
red with light from some burning dwelling near and I rushed from window
to window trying in vain to see out and locate the fire.
ST. PAUL CHAPTER
MISS K. MAUDE CLUM
Mrs. Martin Jay Clum.
I accompanied my husband, Martin Jay Clum, a member of Company "D,"
Second Minnesota Volunteers to Fort Ridgely in 1862. There were left at
the fort but few men to guard it, as the greater number of them had been
ordered to the frontier to quell the Indian outbreaks.
My daughter, Victoria Maria, nine months old, was ill, getting her teeth
and although the night was hot and sultry the windows of our quarters
had to be kept closed on account of the mosquitoes. It was impossible to
obtain any mosquito bar so I walked the floor nearly all night with her
on my arm fanning her constantly as the heat was almost unbearable.
Toward morning, I paused for a few seconds to look out of the window and
as I did so, fancied I saw tiny dark objects moving around a huge straw
stack some distance away. You can scarcely imagine my horror as the dawn
disclosed the truth of my fears.
I put down my dear baby--rushed outside--called to a herder to go at
once and find out what those objects were, moving about the stack.
Hastily mounting a mule he made a detour of the straw stack and
reported. "If there's one Indian there, there's fifty with their ponies
buried in and around the stack." He at once gave the alarm but before
the guard reached the stack there was not an Indian to be seen.
Interpreter Quinn soon sent his son, Tom, to warn me not to leave the
garrison as I had been in the habit of taking walks with my baby in her
carriage.
Later in the day, the pickets and scouts came in and reported a large
camp of over four hundred Indians on the opposite bank of the river,
waiting, no doubt, as Interpreter Quinn said, a chance to make a raid,
capture and maybe massacre everyone of us. He also told me that while
the Indians might not perhaps harm me they would be likely to take my
baby and it would be as bad to be frightened to death as to be scalped.
Mr. August Larpenteur--1843, Ninety-three years old.
The first day I came, in 1843, I had dinner with Mrs. Jackson. It was a
fine one--ducks, venison, and vegetables raised by the Selkirk refugees.
Here I first tasted pemmican. It was most excellent. The bread was baked
in a Dutch oven.
New Year's Day, Mr. Jackson, Luther Furnell and I took a yoke of oxen to
make some New Years calls. We first went to Mr. Gervais' where we
talked, took a drink, kissed the girls and then to Vital Guerin's. Next
we went up to Mrs. Mortimer's where we made a sedate call. She lived
where the police station now stands. Last, near present Seven Corners,
we called on the Irvine's. By this time the OXEN were tired. We began to
feel drowsy, so we returned and took a rest.
The Indians always called on us on Christmas, went through much
handshaking and expected a present.
INDEX
Aiton, Mrs. Mary B., 307
Alexander, Mrs. Ann, 296
Anderson, Mrs. Robert, 91
Apgar, Mrs. Anna Simmons, 97
Balser, Mrs. Anna E., 89
Batchelder, Mrs. Kate Davis, 291
Berry, Mrs. Helen Godfrey, 222
Bean, Mrs. Nancy Kiethley, 311
Beatty, Mrs. J. R., 165
Bierman, Mrs. Augusta P., 295
Black, Mrs. Mahlon, 29
Bohanon, Mr. Charles, 67
Bradley, Mrs., 240
Buell, Major S. A., 122
Burdick, Mrs. C. A., 104
Buckham, Judge Thomas S., 289
Buck, Mr. H. L., 237
Brown, Mrs. John, 260
Bryant, Mr. J. C., 310
Brackett, Mr. George A., 139
Chute, Mrs. Richard, 65
Clark, Mr. Edwin, 136
Clarke, Mr. Edwin, 136
Clifford, Mrs. Elizabeth, 64
Clum, Mrs. Martin J., 323
Cooper, Peter, 105
Cobb, Mr. M. G., 262
Colbrath, Mrs., 306
Connolly, Colonel A. P., 212
Collins, Judge Loren W., 275
Curtis, Mr. Theodore, 110
Cray, Judge Lorin, 176, 263
Daniels, Dr. A. C., 308
Dibble, Marion L., 262
Dorr, Mr. Caleb, 27
Dowling, Mrs. Mary E., 90
Dow, Mr. D. E., 62
Dow, Mrs. William, 81
Dresser, Mrs. Samuel B., 48
Dunsmoor, Mr. Irving A., 184
Ellison, Mr. William W., 58
Faribault, Miss Sara, 232
Farnham, Mrs. Rufus, 50
Farnham, Mrs. Silas, 39
Farnsworth, Mr. Austin W., 70
Farnsworth, Mrs. Austin W., 110
Favel, Mr. Henry, 103
Fenton, Mrs. Mary Davis, 312
Fisher, Mrs. George E., 107
Foster, Doctor Lysander P., 38
Funk, Mrs. Margaret Rathbun 160
Gault, Mr. Zuriel S., 309
Gilpatrick, Mrs. Martha, 143
Gilman, Ex-Lieutenant Gov., 110
Gillespie, Miss Nancy, 75
Gillespie, Mr. James M., 75
Gleason, Mrs. Harriett., 239
Glass, Mr., 302
Goulding, John W., 302
Godfrey, Abner Crossman, 229
Godley, Mrs. Charles M., 111
Gress, Mrs. C. W., 297
Hagen, Mrs. Pauline., 300
Hanks, Captain Stephen., 24
Harrison, Mrs. Mary, 55
Heffelfinger, Major C. B., 142
Hern, Mrs. Margaret, 143
Hoefer, Mrs. F., 199
Hopkins, Miss Florinda, 101
Hopkins, Mr. Chester L., 101
Horton, Mrs. Helen, 132
Huckins, Mr. J. W., 297
Huston, Mrs. Anna Hennes, 103
Ingenhutt, Mrs. Mary, 152
Jones, Mr. Oliver K., 240
Jones, Mrs. Virginia, 116
Jones, Mr. John A., 173
Keysor, Captain Clark, 178
Keysor, Mrs. Clark, 175
Kennedy, Mrs. Duncan, 119
Kimball, Mrs. Edmund, 188
Layman, Mr. Isaac, 75
Ladd, Mrs. J. W., 102
Larpenteur, Mr. August, 324
Lapham, Mr. L. L., 159
Le Duc, General William, 40
Loring, Mr. Charles M., 153
Lowell, Mrs. Nancy, 80
Longfellow, Colonel Levi, 216
Massolt, Mrs. Mary, 134
Maxwell, Mrs. Delilah, 202
Magnus, Mrs. Conrad, 271
Meade, Mrs. Catherine, 300
Merrit, Mrs. Arabella, 243
Merrill, Mrs. E. A., 77
McMullen, Mr. James, 31
McMullen, Mrs. James, 36
McCormack, Captain L. L., 153
Mott, Mrs. Rodney A., 290
Moulton, Captain Isaac, 138
Neill, Miss Minnesota, 157
Niemann, Mrs. W. L., 196
Nettleton, Mrs., 319
Nutting, Mr. Elijah, 72, 284
O'Brien, Mr. Frank G., 190
Olin, Mr. Alvin M., 299
Paine, Mrs. J. M., 156
Partridge, Mrs. Mary E., 273
Pelton, Mr. I. A., 170
Penney, Mrs. Frederick, 313
Pettijohn, Mr. Eli, 9
Pettit, Mrs. C. H., 103
Pfeffer, Mrs. A. M., 169
Phillips, Mary Sherrard, 233
Pike, Mrs. Orin, 272
Pitcher, Mrs. Mary, 163
Plummer, Mrs. Rebecca, 104
Pond, Mrs. Gideon, 22, 250
Pond, Mrs. E. R., 258
Pratt, Mrs. James, 52
Pratt, Mrs. Missouri Rose, 16
Pribble, Mrs. Mary, 186
Prescott, Mrs. Henry C., 287
Rochette, Mr. Stephen, 106
Rochette, Mrs. Stephen, 106
Robinson, Mr. Reuben, 47
Randall, Major Benjamin, 230
Robinson, Mrs. Mary, 129
Rye, Mr. Charles, 73
Richardson, J. Warren, 285
Slocum, Mr. Frank, 114
Starkloff, Mrs. Paulina, 88
Sampson, Mrs. Leroy, 97
Sutherland, Mrs. Jane, 126
Snyder, Mrs. Margaret A., 130
Smith, Mrs. Mary Staring, 133
Smith, Mrs. C. A., 140
Stewart, Doctor, 155
Stratton, Miss Carrie, 182
Shaver, Mr. B. F., 206
Turner, Mrs. John C., 293
Todd, Mrs. Anna, 135
Thorne, Mrs. Martha, 78
Teeter, Mr. Michael, 192
Van der Horck, Captain John, 51
Van Sant, Ex-Governor Samuel R., 199
Van Schaick, Mr. M. R., 270
Wakefield, Mr. Warren, 94
Watson, Mr. C. H., 294
Woods, Mrs. Newman, 99
Weeks, Mrs. Mary, 76
White, Mrs. William J., 84
Wilder, Mrs., 93
Winter, Mrs. James A., 107
Walker, Mrs. T. B., 115
Way, Mrs. Georgiana M., 116
Woodbridge, Mrs. W. S., 320