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
We took the Nominee at Galena. After the high bluffs began, the scenery
was magnificent. At a trading station called La Crosse, fifty Indians
came on board. One chief in a white blanket I have always remembered. He
was certainly majestic looking. A little two year old tot had his ears
pierced from top to bottom and common wire with three cornered pieces of
shiny tin run through all the places. His eyes were very black, shiny
and bright, but we could not raise a smile from him. That chief was all
porcupine quill and bead embroidery. He was painted, too, as were all
the rest. St. Paul, after we had climbed that awful flight of stairs up
the bluff, looked like a little town that had been left. Our carriage to
St. Anthony was a light express wagon with more boards across for seats.
When we came to University Hill in St. Paul, there were no houses in
sight, but oh! what a beautiful place it was! We did enjoy that drive.
We stopped at DeNoyers to water the horses. This was a little tavern
between the two little towns.
When we came to the ravine in St. Anthony, with its little cascades,
father said, "I have not a doubt that the time will come when it will be
settled through here." We all thought it was very grand of father to
take such a long shot as that.
When we reached St. Anthony, the people were lovely to us. We did begin
to feel at home at once. We had to find a place to live. One of them
went with us to the "Stranger's House," a slab house standing near the
falls. Anyone who came and had no place to live was welcome to live in
this house until they had a home of their own. This was why it was
called the "Stranger's House." The Mousseau's, a French Red River
family were living in one half of it. We scrubbed it out and moved in.
Mother sewed some loops on some quilts and made two bedrooms. We told
her she was a fine carpenter. We did have lots of fun in our family. The
floor was rough boards, but we planed them off by scrubbing with white
sand. When the floor was dry, we always sprinkled it with white sand.
The slabs were put on lengthwise, and there were always rows of bright
Indians' eyes like beads on a string watching us through these cracks.
My brother had smallpox in this house. We never knew how it came, but
come it did. Dr. Murphy when he first saw him said it was measles or
smallpox, but he vaccinated us all. It took just lovely. In those days
they used a scab from the arm of someone who had been vaccinated. My
brother took quantities of penny-royal tea and no other medicine. He
came through fine.
On the Fourth of July we went to a dancing party or ball at the hotel.
We did have a beautiful time--Mrs. Northrup was a lovely cook. I
remember the butter was in the shape of a pineapple with leaves and all.
We danced contra dances, such as "The Tempest" and Spanish dances. The
waltz, too, with three little steps danced very fast, was popular. We
took hold of our partner's elbows.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account