St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-05-19
IN The DAYS GONE BY
"reminiscences Of st. Paul
Away Back to the Early
FiftieS.
Capt. Stapkey's Interesting
Paper Read to the Junior
Pioneers.
Anecdotes and Incidents Of
the Younger Days OF
st. Paul.
ten, Now Old or Dead, Who
We're Then in Their
Heyday.

Last Tuesday evening Capt. Starkey
read before the Junior Pioneers aSSo-
citation a paper on early days in st.
Paul, which contained SO many inter-
esting features and personal illusions
that it is reproduced in full, as follows:
in response TO your invitation re-
ouesting me to address you this even
ing on the early history of Ramsey
county, as one of its early pioneers, cog
infant of many of the principal events
that occurred from time to time In the
development of this highly favored por-
ton of our state, desire to
acknowledge the courtesy and
kind spirit that prompted the invi-
tatlon, and will, as far as memory will
aid me, try to entertain you with re-
cital of the doings of some OF the old
pioneers who took part in the early his
tory of Ramsey county.
Commencing with my advent into this
city-Or, at that time, town OF st. Paul
in the month of August, 1850. nearly
forty years ago, passenger on the Old
steamer Nominee, | found mysely on
the lower levee at the foot of Jackson
street. worn and tired with travel, the
owner, or poSSeSSor, of sixty barrels of
apples brought with me to sell. I'm
fortunately, the town was full of apples;
not an apple could | sell. Here | was,
a stranger in a strange land; sixty bar
rels of apples on my hands and about
two dollars and q half in my pocket.
After some time spent Illuminating on
my ill-luck, not knowing what to do or
where to go, / was accoSted by very
tall, goOd-natured fellow named George
Risdorf. something in this way:
lAt in
hard luck. What are you going
10 do?'' | replied knew not. After
cOnversing for while, he said: 81 tell
you what I'll do; will take the apples
out to the Rice lakes, north from here,
and sell or trade them to the Indians:
but You must unhead them first, take
out the rotten ones, wipe the sound
ones, and return them to the barrels,
head lem up, and | will try my luck, if
you say So" did say so very quickly;
but how about asserting them? l fortu-
nately found family named Evans,
living on Robert street, who agreed to
do the whole thing for me and take the
rotten apples for their pay-which they
did, resulting in there being found
twenty-five barrels Of rotten fruit, leav-
ing thirty. eight sound barrels, viii CHI
my friend RiSdorf took out TO regaie the
Indians with at Rice lakes.
In the meantime, with two others, |
went out to McCarron's lake, made a
presumption claim on its northerly bank
and commenced to farm OH little or
nothing; squatted under tree, put up a
few boards of lumber slanting against
one of its heavy limbs, and commenced
camp life. In the day time either
chopped wood or moved hay in the
swamp, up TO our knees in water, and
had to pole it out to cure it on the
high land quit work in the evening, go
te camp, dry our wet clothes standing
at the camp fire, eat our suppers, smoke
our pipes until our tongues blistered,
tell stories, tumble into bed made by
Mother Earth, and dream of wife, chill
dren and friends far away.
1t was during this time first met my
old friend Col. Henry McKenty, who
at that time had settled with his friends
at what is now known as Lake johanna,
keeping bach with his bachelor friends,
Patrick Powers and Messrs. Schafer,
Lawrence and others. The colonel had
been to st. Paul and wandered to OuI
camp, and stayed with us all night:
sitting around the camp fire Mac gave us
a history OF his past life, his resolution
to engage in the land business, said
there was millions in it, and contiden
TALLY showed us picture of his be
trothed, who afterwards became his
wife.