The Baraboo news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1884-1911, 1905-07-19
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Of the OFdCreenfieId Days, by
MIR. jackson.

|
the old days in the town of Green
field:
Still other events of local inter
est served their turn of relieving
country dullness in the town of
Greenfield. One was the attempt
of Delando Pratt during the time
of the Crimean war in the latter
tifties, to take the surplus Green
field potato crop in afat boat down
the Baraboo and so on to st. Louis.
He was a brother of Philorman
Pratt OF Baraboo, but almost the
opposite in every way. He had
none of the bruskness and unfinCh-
ing determination of Philorman,
that would face an army of oppOsi-
tion and fight it to death. Delando
was mild and gentle hammered and
just as impracticable as his brother
was otherwise. Of course he could
not pay cash for his goods, and all
had to await returns from the ship
ment. This they were quite willing
to do, inasmuch as he was known
to be the very soul of honesty itself.
No fleet of ships ever sailed the
wide sea more gailY than this scow
passed down the river to it's loading
place at the foot of the dam at
| jacksonville. With what light
hearts the people, young and old,
gathered the crops and bore them to
the generous portals Of the boat
and saw in their imagination the
rich returns soon to come that
meant all sorts of new things to
gladden. the heart that was salts
fed with only a little in those sim
pie times. But this was never to
be. After the goodbyes and well
wishes from all, the captain of the
expedition sailed away as happy as
any through the great narrows.
All went well, until he reached the
the broad and treacherous waters
of the Wisconsin with it's shifting
sand bars. With as many adven-
lures as befell Aeneas in Virgips
Aeneid. Delando had to see his car
90 to the bottom and barely es'
capped with his life. But not muir
mur or harsh word was heard from
any who embarked their high hopes
with HIM. No one doubted that he
had done the best he could and all
was forgotten as castles in the air.
This good man of such sensitive
! nature, at last found the world too
harsh to battle with and disappear
! ed for many years, until accidental
ly discovered by Greenfield girl in
the Ozark mountains of Southwest
Missouri where he was living in a
hermitage and care and strife could
not find him. His gentle appear
ance in every way won the friend
ship of the plain people OF that
| frontier country who we're glad to
furnish him with needed supplies in
exchange for some help he could
render in the way of mechanical
work.
Another event about that time
was more successful and lucrative
to the parties Immediately concern
ed; this was the expedition of Dari-
US and Joseph Palmer with their
good old mother to the pineries to
get out a fleet Of pine timber tor
the St. Louis market. She actual
ly cooked for the whole gang OF
workmen and afterwards used to
tell of how the wolves would howl
at night around the log camps and
qnash their teeth about the slum-
berlng bean pits whose dying en-
bers they did not dare approach.
After many vicissitudes the logs
turned into shining gold down the
great river, and Darius used to tell
how the bag of gold, $4,000 in his
nocket. actually wore a sore spot
on his hip in carrying it on foot so
far. This was before the days of
foot pads and highwaymen, else
| he would never have landed the
precious stuff in the gooG old home
in Greenfield.