The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1903-07-10
MANKATo FREE PRESS.

built. Here the whole crowd lived for
the time being and accepted conditions
as they were in good faith. Now some of
the leaders were selected to hunt up the
claims (the rest were to take care of the
families and do sundry errands.) A
number of days were spent before they
found locations to their taste and in near
vicinity of each other. Uniting their
forces they cut and roughly hewed the
logs and built their dwellings not wait
inc to finish them, moved into them and
so in a few months were settled each on
his own farm. 1t must be remembered
this whole country where they settled
was then one vast forest. Our people
had preferred to open up their farms in
these woods on account of the quality of
soil so as to be near the proposed city.
Proof of the advantages of their choice
and foresight must be acknowledged at
the present time.
1t was now getting late in the season,
and the people being aware of the fact
of living in colder climate began to
make preparations for the winter. They
blocked up the openings between the logs
of their huts and filled in the cracks
with clay mixed with leaves. The win
ter was passed in cutting down trees to
clear their farms, not without several
frosted toes, fingers and noses, as the
people were not accustomed and not
properly clothed for the severe Mime
sofa winter Spring came at last with
its mild sunshine and seed time which
encouraged them, but what and where to
sow. Six or eight of the nearest neigh
bors would join hands, cut up the trees
and logs with an OK team, drag and roll
them together in large heaps which at
night they would make into large bon
fires and so cleared up the ground which
they planted to potatoes and corn. A
number not owning team or a pillow dug
holes with hoe for their seed but in the
fall all were equally delighted with the
results of their labors. The raising of
wheat being yet experimental many
sowed only pint or two which they had
brought along with them. 1t was suf-
ficient, however, to prove to all that
this was a wheat raising country.
The emigration kept increasing and be-
fore the year of 1856, we note the ar
rival of the following permanent German
settlers having come from the different
parts of the country: Robel, Henlein,
Weber, Bender, Drummer, Koch, Traub,
Volz, Siebauer, Veigel, Seller and some
more of the Jacobys, Sontags and Hunds,
also Obele, Pirath, Pohl, Hoffman, Joerg-
er, Magin, Mann, Pilger and Saenger
Bros. And the year 1856 brought some
more of the Borgmeiers and the Lamms,
also Ecker, Kettle, Werner Bros, Kraem-
err, Arnold Heinzmann, Guth, Lucken-
heimer, Miller, Rausch, Reinbold, Roemer,
Traub, Kohler, Scheurer, Plass, Hartman,
Zimmerman, Heinze, Lackinauer, Meidan-
bauer and probably others who have been
overlooked or forgotten. Now things
took on brighter aspect as the condi-
tions of life began to improve, but there
were instances where it was very hard
to provide for the merest necessities.
The most of our pioneers possessed very
limited means. In new country it is
the poorer class of people that general
ly come first and later the richer ones come
and get the profits. They raised some
articles of food, but many necessary ar
ticles had to be bought and shipped in by
boat or brought overland by wagon from
St Paul, the nearest market. Now
imagine such freighting over one hundred
miles by way of travel, in the winters on
sleighs through the deep snow and the
cold northern blasts taking from ten
days to two weeks for a trip where the
driver had probably to walk all the
way to keep from freezing or falling
asleep never to wake again. This made
provisions enormously high at times. Our
people unable to purchase them
would resort to sack and hammer pro-
cess, (this is putting the grain in a
small sack, laying it on a stone or other
hard substance and then pound with a
hammer until it was fine enough to
use). Others ground their corn in an
old fashioned coffee mill. Though very
coarse yet when seasoned with hunger
il tasted all right ard was nourishing
food One such mill especially was re-
nowned at that time being exceptionally
large. 1t belonged to Phillip Hodapp.
This mill was fastened to the outside of
the log house for the accommodation of
some neighbors, but people would come
for many miles with their sack of corn
sometimes carrying it on their shoulders
and with an arm power they would grind
from early morning until late at night
on their little grist. The toll usually
paid was the good wishes of the people
and Gods blessing.
The woods then were filled with wild
animals, reptiles. Often it happened
that wolf or bear would carry away
some live stock out of the door yard and