Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1880-01-15

al l1S AuAAVH uuu OlA
Older Friend, Swan Lake.
From Our Travelling Correspondent.
Parker, Jan. 13.-Leaving Yankton On q
one horse buck board, your correspondent
made his way nnrthwsrd into Turner coun-
tv, first hating at the pleasant little village
Of Swan Lake, where the welcome heat of
a stove in the Swan Lake hotel speedily
dissipated the chilliness accumulated during
a long ride over the bleak prailte. l found
the ever popular Joseph Allen still at the
head Of this establishment and all his prep.
~arations for the future indicate that the fas-
cinations for railroad town life have no
charms for him-that be proposes to hold
to his moorings and fatten from the trade
which fortune may cast into the lap OF
Swan Lake. Though a great many business
men Of Swan Lake have gone with the tide
which last fall flowed so strongly in the d.
%rection of Parker, there are still a few left
and they appear to have plenty to do. The
village was filled with farmers teams and
Mr.. Allen, who also runs a general mer
chand!se store, assured me that business
had never been so good in Swan Lake as it
is at present. The crowds of customers at
his establishment are living evidence that
he is prospecting.
From Swan Lake to Marion Junction my
trip was pleasantly accomplished in the
company OF one Of Yankton's former favor
tie sons. MIR. Enile Branch, who has pio.
neered his way into this busy land of prom
Use. Marion Junction. the point where the
Firesteel and Springfield branches of the
Milwaukee road separate, was full of
business, rush and excitement. The
crowded appearance Of its streets
Induced the supposition that
a public meeting Of some sort was in pro.
gress and when 1 asked information upon
this point, reliable citizens assured me that
the streets of Marion Junction always
had that appearance-the people II
saw were farmers who had come to town to
sell grain aud buy goods. l had only time
before the departure of the train to call
upon NJ. A. Fuller, of the Marion Gazette,
and after a brief talk boarded the cars for |
Parker. Mr. Fuller is possessed of one
solid, i,repressible belief--that Marion juno.
lion is destined to become the most import
ant and prosperous place between Canton
and the Missouri river. He is a gen.
tleman of good judgment. That his pre-.
will come true all the J%unctionites
fully believe.
On the way to Parker, I encountered a
merry. crowd of Yankton misses-Stella
Hand, Carrie Osborn, Lulu Pennington
and May Pennington-all on their way to
Fairibault, under the guardianship Of R. A..
Ke tchum, who will also go to other eastern
cities on a business trip of about twenty
days. duration.
! During a business visit to this section
sometime last June, in the interests of the
Press and Dakotaian, it was my pleas
ure 10 write up the town of Finlay, and,
at that time, I referred to the prob.
ability of the removal of that hamlet to the
then projected line Of the Milwaukee road.
Public opinion was then divided between
Cameron's claim and Towards claim. The
later was finally chosen. II was then, only
months ago, a bare prairie stretch
with not a house in sight. To-day a hand
and thrifty railroad village appears
where I last saw only the waving grass of
the unbroken plain. The transformation is
one Of those marve!s of western progress
which follow SO swiftly upon tho heels of
development. Parker is located four miles
from old Finlay. 1t has for its
patrons some OF the leading officers of
the Milwaukee road and bears the ante mar.
rage name Of the wife Of Chief Engineer