Old Rail Fence Corners: The A. B. C's. of Minnesota History
History
Old Rail Fence Corners: The A. B. C's. of Minnesota History
Frontier and pioneer life -- Minnesota; Minnesota -- Biography; Minnesota -- History, Local; Pioneers -- Minnesota -- Biography
The Government sent the Twenty-fifth Wisconsin regiment to Winnebago
where barracks were built. Portions of companies were distributed
throughout the adjoining counties, a company of them taking the place of
the Winona Rangers when their time was up.
Owing to my mother's ill health we removed to Homer, where her brother
lived. Two hundred and fifty miles we went in our covered wagon, through
the cold and snow of November. My father had made the trip weeks before
and driven our stock down. In our wagon was stored what little we could
bring of our household goods, the rest was left. On Thanksgiving day of
1862 we reached my uncle's house in the neighborhood where we now live.
KEEWAYDIN CHAPTER
Minneapolis
MISS MARION MOIR
Mrs. Gideon Pond--1843.
On the twenty-third day of August, 1842, I was married to Robert
Hopkins. He was preparing to come to the Northwest as an assistant
missionary in the Dakota mission, and in March 1843, we started on our
long journey from Ohio to Fort Snelling, sent out by the American Board.
We came down the Ohio and up the Mississippi in a steamboat, stopping
off for Sabbath and had to wait a long time for a boat at Galena after
spending Sunday there. We reached Fort Snelling in May after a tedious
journey. From Fort Snelling we started up the Minnesota River in an open
boat propelled by oars. At night we camped on the banks and cooked our
supper. In the party were Mr. and Mrs. Steven Riggs and their two
children and his wife's brother. Dr. Riggs was just returning from the
east where he had had some books printed in the Dakota tongue.
We also had three men to row the boat. We suffered much from the myriads
of mosquitoes. We baked our bread each day. It was simply flour and salt
and water baked in a frying pan before a smoking camp fire. It was very
distasteful to me and I determined to have a loaf of light bread. I had
some home made yeast cakes in my luggage as bought yeast cakes were then
unknown. I soaked one of them in a pail of river water, stirred in some
flour and soon had some nice light yeast. I mixed a loaf of bread and
set it where the hot sun would keep it warm. At night it was ready to be
baked and I used a little Dutch oven which was on the boat to bake it
in. The oven was like a black iron kettle flat on the bottom and
standing on three little legs about three inches long. We placed coals
under the oven and a thick iron cover heavier than any you ever saw, we
heated in the fire and placed over the oven to bake the bread on the
top, while to bake it on the sides we turned the oven around. I
attending the baking of my bread with great solicitude and care.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account