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
In 1854 I attended church in the Tooth-pick church. This was a small
church so called from its high, narrow tower. I had never seen Indians
as we had just moved to town. I was walking along through the woods on
what is now Fourth street when I was surrounded by yelling, painted
Indians on ponies. Seeing that I was frightened nearly to death they
continued these antics, circling round, and round me, whooping and
yelling, until I reached my home. Then they rode rapidly away
undoubtedly taking great pleasure in the fright they had given the
Paleface.
Mrs. Anna Hennes Huston--1854.
I moved to St. Anthony in 1854. I was only a tiny tot but used to go
with my brother along a path by the river to find our cow. We usually
found her in the basement of the university.
The roaring of the Falls used to scare me and if the wind was in the
right direction we would be all wet with the spray.
I remember that at one time in the early days, potatoes were very
scarce. My mother traded a wash dish full of eggs for the same amount of
potatoes.
Mr. Henry Favel--1854.
With my family I lived thirty miles from Carver. My father died and as I
had no money to buy a coffin, I made it myself. I had to walk thirty
miles for the nails. The boards were hand hewed and when the coffin was
made, it looked so different from those we had seen, in its staring
whiteness, that we took the only thing we had, a box of stove blacking,
which we had brought from the east with us and stained the coffin with
this.
I walked twenty miles for potatoes for seed and Paid $3.00 a bushel for
them. I brought them home on my back. I was three days making the
journey on foot.
The wages for a carpenter at this time were $30.00 a month and found.
Mrs. Rebecca Plummer--1854.
We came to Brooklyn Center in 1854. Mr. Plummer's father had come in '52
and had taken a claim.
We did enjoy the game, for we had never had much. Pigeons were very
thick. We used to stake nets for them almost touching the ground. Under
these we scattered corn. They would stoop and go in under and pick up
the grain. When they held their heads erect to swallow the corn, their
necks would come through the meshes of the net and they could not
escape.
I saw the Winnebagoes taken to their river reservation. They camped a
night on the island in the river and went through all the dances they
knew and made every noise they knew how to make. The most wonderful
sight though was to see that vast flotilla of canoes going on the next
morning. There were hundreds of them with their Indian occupants,
besides the long procession on foot.
Mrs. C. A. Burdick--1855.
We came to what is now St. Cloud settling near the junction of the
Little Sauk and Mississippi. The Sauk was a beautiful little river. The
strawberries were very sweet, a much nicer flavor than tame ones. The
prairie was covered with them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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