The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1903-07-17
PIONEERS OF THE PLEASANT
MOUND PRHIRIGS.
Paper By JUDGE LORIN CRAY
Meeting

Meeting Thursday, June is, 1908 !
<<<+*<<<<<<<<<<+<<+++<+%<<i
: Knapp to the north, and yet. farther t
the north, and near the town line Q
Vernon, those of Thomas Henry Day
Pardon b. Day, William Marston, an
William Mckinney, Charles Mack an
his son, Jesse Black, William Thoma
and Jesse Thomas, and if my memOr,
serves me, one could then look to tn
south, the west, and the north, as far Al
the eye could reach, and save those shan
ties see nothing, absolutely nothing, O.
the handiwork of man.
l will not attempt to enumerate tn,
settlers along the Blue Earth river a,
that time, they preceded us, and might
fall into error should attempt to give
their names. They have been named in
papers which have been written by others
in recent years. 1t is enough to say that
they were few and far between, and it is
sad to say that they are now very few
this side of the great divide.
When we reached our destination, faith
err had broken upon our claim a small
patch of ground, and had built shanty
ten by twelve feet square of Eastwood
logs covered with bark taken from the
logs.
After he had taken his claim, man
named Sam TAFT came into the country
and Bumped" claim which adjourned
ours upon the east, and was in the town
of Shelby, and was the making of much
more desirable farm than was ours. He
succeeded in holding it, the former claim
ant not contesting. Sam was not noted
for integrity, sobriety, piety or avoid
ing profanity.
A few days after our arrival at our
claim a prairie fire came from the west
with brisk wind, and swept the whole
country with a very bosom of destruc
ton, we lost some stock, and came near
losing everything we had.
Much damage was done, far and near
We were wholly without experience, and
knew nothing about self-protection from
such an enemy.
Sam was looser; quite quantity of
his hay was destroyed. Very shortly
after the fire, he made us an informal
call, and in language not the most polite,
but very emphatic, announced his in
tention to leave the country at once, and
offered to sell us his claim. We bought
it; l6O acres of land, three acres broken,
a small stack of hay not burned, his sod
stable and board shanty. For the pur-
chase price we gave him shot gun, and
hauled two loads of his worldly goods to
Mankato.
This was my first visit to Mankato,
and my last visit to Sam TAFT.
We removed our shanty to our new
purchase and thus became residents of
the town of Shelby. My brother and
myself own the old homestead yet, and
l need not tell you that we prize it most
highly.
1t seemed at first in those early days,
that it would be absolutely impossible
to have social relations with anyone.
Neighbors as we had known them, we
had none The nearest settlers were
mile distant from us, and there were but
four or five families nearer than two and
come to those who don't wait, and where
there is will there is a way. We soon
learned that we had neighbors, even
though the distance was considerable.
First one neighbor and then another
would extend an invitation to every fam
lily in the vicinity to spend an afternoon
or an evening; some one would hitch his
oxen to his sleds, and going from house
to house, gather up full load, well
rounded up, and then, at the usual gait
for such conveyanees, we rode, and visit
ed and sang, until we reached the APP
pointed place, where perhaps eight ton or
a dozen persons spent the afternoon or
evening visiting in the one little room
where the meal was being prepared, and
the table spread. There were no sets or
clans, no grades of society, all belonged
to the select four hundred, and all were
treated and Jared alike. Friendships
were thus formed which were never brok-
en- and when recalled always revive ten
der memories.
All of the settlers in our vicinity lived
at first in the smallest and most primi-
tive shanties possible to imagine; but
later, more commodious log houses were
built, and then neighborhood housebuild-
ing bees were common. One man with
his axe on each of the four corners would
carry up his corner, cutting and fitting
the logs together, the others would roll
the logs in place upon long skids. After
some experience men became skillfull and
rapid workers, and the houses went up
with rush. These raisings as well as
evening cornhuskings in the fall of the
year, were very popular and much en-
joyed, and the never failing acceptance
o: invitations to all of these little pas