Willmar tribune., 1903-08-05
]. In Irving Township

u IN STVIn3 township
The writer had the pleasure of max
Ing q trip through the township of
Irving last week, while engaged at the
work of securing facts and data for
the county history to be published by
the Tribune Printing Co. I was &C
companied by Mr.. A. S. Nelson,
Photographic artist, who was on q
keen lookout for securing the be t
possible views of the landscape as we
drove along. We found Irving to be
one of the richest and most prosper
Gus OF communities, its people hos.
pitahle and it's scenery varied and
beautiful.
Monday morning we started from
New London and drove eastwardly
through the hills. A good deal
of this country still bears the as
pect of the frontier. Little pictur-
esque cabins and small clearings in
dicate that even this tortuously hilly
woodland will eventually be conquered
and be made to blossom into fine farm
homes. From a seen c point OF view
drive through the hills is we'll worth
while. They vary from email knolls
with steep sides to large majestic hills
which may carry half OF farm on its
slope. Formerly dense groves clothed
this land but the relentless axe of the
woodsman and the demand for fuel
from the prairie farmer have com.
bined to clear off the best woods. AS
we proceed, the soil changes and be-.
comes heavier. The farm homes give
evidence of earlier settlement. The
buildings improve in size and appear
ance, the clearing are larger and the
fields better cultivated. Soon we get
a glimpse of the Irving prairie. To
the right in the distance we see the
heavy woods near Green Lake. We
pass the schoolhouse in Dist. 66 and
turn down towards Lake Calhoun.
Our first. stop is with Erik Ellefson,
the prosperous young farmer on the
north shore of Calhoun. He is clerk
of the school district, and we desired
to examine the records. We found it
one of the few districts where the re-
cords were fairly complete. After
dinner and pleasant interview, we
proceeded to the home of Peter Hagen,
the town clerk. Mr.. Hagen conducts
the postoffice and general merchan-
disc store at "Butter-town, three
miles distant. His wife and daughter
brought out the town records and we
proceeded at once to delve into the
same, while Mr.. Nelson drove on to
take pictures of the farm homes of pa
irons of the history, which are to ap-
pear as features IN the work. We
found the records complete from the
first town meeting held in 1868. Ev-
erything of particular interest Is noted
down to be woven into the township
history. With complete notes from
the town clerks Office and others pre-
viously taken at the court house, we
are ready to interview the old settlers.
After completed work Tuesday morn
ing we left the coy Hagen home, where
the good people had treated US so
royalty, and proceeded on our rounds.
A couple of miles drive through fue
farms that ut one time had been COW
cred with brush and timber we stopped
briefly at the nicely kept home of Erick
Wermelin. Also to the home of Svend
Anderson and his son Anton, on the
opposite side of the road. Anton is
the secretary of the Irving creamery,
the largest enterprise OF it's kind with
in Kapdiyohi county. Again we turn
south. Our next stop was at the home
of Anton Ziehl, on the old D. G.. Alb.
bott place-a grand old homestead
with beautiful view of Lake Calhoun
to the northeastward. We were treat.
ed to dinner with true German hospi.
tality. Mr.. Ziehl showed US two fine
specimens of Indian stone hatchets
that he had found on shores of Lake
Calhoun. From there we wended our
way through the big woods to the
Green Lake outlet. Some of the heavi
est timber still stands untouched by