The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1903-07-17

E Finally the Indian turned as if to r,
treat, and Mr.. Hindman turned agai
toward the creek. He reached it. TIL
exact time made. is not recorded. II
Then followed the creek bed down to tn
house of Mr.. Charles Mack, where b
foUnd pony belonging to HIMSELF Nhic
:, he had riden there that morning.. am
started with all speed for his own bonn
where he arrived just Before dark. EEI
tchildren were gone, the. house ransac4ed
nearly everything broken or destroyed
and In the meadow a short distance from
the house was the dead body of Nh
Charles Mack. By this time darkness
had set ias- His wife had gone that day
about two miles, to the house of Mr.
Jesse Thomas, to attend neighborhoo(
quilting. He again mounted his pony
and started across the prairie for that
place.
| When about one half the distance hat
been made. his pony looked sharply tt
one side and Weighed loudly. Mr.. Hind
man looked! sharply through the semi,
darkness. in the direction indicated, and
there about three hundred feet away
were Indians. four of them unmounted
Mr. Hindman put whip and spur to his
pony;. and ran him for about a mile,
/, then, he stopped In valley to listen for
the Indians. He did not hear them.
He has always insisted that he has never
seen them since.
! On arriving at the house of Mr. Jesse
Thomas, lie found it deserted, ransacked,
and nearly everything destroyed.
1t proved THAT his children saw the
Indians attacking Mr. Mack, and they
ran and secreted themselves in the very
tall grass of the slough in which Mr..
Mack was moving, and escaped with
their lives.
The ladies at the quilting had visit
from the Indians, they saw them ap-
preaching from belt of timber but a
few mods away, and escaping by way of
back door to cornfeld which came
quite up to the house, all of their lives
were saved The Indians secured the
horses of Mr.. Root, Mr. Charles Mack,
and Mr.. Nathaniel Stevens whose horses
were at the place of the quilting.
No more honest men, kind hearted
and generous neighbors, or hardy pio-
neers ever offered their lives in defence of
their property and their families, than
were Charles Mack and Noble c. Root
I need not dwell upon the furore of
alarm which this Indian raid again caus-
ed in that settlement. Many settlers
again seriously contemplated finally
abandoning their homes and property,
and fleeing for their lives, but squads of
armed men were organized, the country
was secured, pickets were put out, the
women and children were corralled as
well as possible, and after awhile conf
dence was again partially restored.
This was the last Indian raid into that
neighborhood, but it is easy to UNDER
stand the terrible mental strain and
anxiety of the people of these settle
ments through those years, and why it
is that they are entitled to be listed
among the most haNy and daring pio
neers of America.
About the time of the close of the
war of the rebellion emigration became
brisk and many new settlers came to
the southwestern part of this county.
Pleasant Mound and Ceresco were settled
very rapidly. Discharged soldiers with
some money came in, a colony of thrifty
Germans located in those towns, and
signs of thrift and prosperity were for
the first time manifest in all directions.
In~1S63, weekly mail route was es-
tablished from Garden City to Fairmont
with post offices at Watonwan, Willow
Creek, Pleasant Mound, and Elm Creek.
The first mail carrier was Levi n. Drake.
The service was not the most reliable,
but the advent of the mail carrier was
hailed with delightful expectancy.
The first postmaster at Willow Creek
was T. N. Day, soon followed by Horace
Kinney, and the first at Pleasant Mound
was F. D. Marks. He held this office
until October, 1865, when J.. o. Marks
was appointed his successor, who held
the office until its discontinuance on ac-
count of rural free delivery in 1902.
The Town of Pleasant Mound was set
off from the town of Shelby and organ
lied as an independent town, September
goth, 1865, with 1 believe about thirty
legal voters. At the first township cleo
ton, the following officers were chosen:
M. A. Chamberlain, Chairman; +. y.
Marks and I. J. Gardner, supervisors;
j. S. Parks, town clerk; H. F. Long
worth, treasurer; j. F. West and j. N.
Hindman. Justices; Fl. E. Sager and j.
A. Belts, constables.
1 may say here that the first name OF
this town was Ostego. On October l4th,
1858, it was changed to Willow Creek,
and it was again changed to Pleasant
Mound, September 18th, 1865.
But a, very few now living will re-
member the Pleasant Mound farmers