Willmar tribune., 1906-06-27

who have preceded me, and shall
therefore in order to make q long
story short commence in the begin.
ming and tell you all know in q word
or two. # +, s>s- s /. =s@1 .@1
Mans lot is to wander. When our
first parents by force of circumstances
over which they had no control were
compelled to leave their paradise, they
set an example which has since been
followed by the children Of men, and
they have been on the 60 ever since.
History, sacred and profane, is filled
with accounts Of the migrations ot
men, tribes, clans and nations, some
for one reason and some for another,
but most generally to better their con.
dition.4 lin the past I have known
men to leave this county on account
of the mosquitoes, others for machine
notes that they had given and could
not pay. The two latter classes ro1
course are not famed in the County
History.) ::
The Puritan Fathers, driven by the
ruthless hand of the mother country,
set sail and after trials, toll and pri-
vations, and when the Mayfower was
almost withered, on the 10th of De-
cember, 1920, discovered the land upon
which they found the illustrious boul-
der which they named Plymouth Rock.
Here they landed, settled the country
and passed laws more odious> than
those of the mother country from which
they had escaped. Adventurous spir--
it's soon emigrated farther west, and
so for 1856 years westward the Star of
Empire has proceeded, and the early
pioneer, aided by expansion of terri
tory, by muscle and Drawn, by the
sweat of his face, overcame the merci-
less savage, leveled the forests,
bridged the rivers and with the plow
share made possible comfortable fu-
ture for himself and his loved ones.
It would indeed be both interesting
and instructive were each one here to
relate what states they have lived in
prior to coming to. Minnesota, and
how many times they have moved, and
it would not be like the cities either
where many find it easier to move than
to pay rent. In my own experience, I
landed Ion the Barnstable coast of
Massachusetts,, on the shores of the
Atlantic, then moved to Illinois, thence
to Minnesota; and how many there are
that can make greater showing:than
that! Our stFmove was from North
field to Norway Lake in 1866, in=w1hat
was then commonly known as q pra-
rie schooner. Our horses were named
Isaac and Jacob. Isaac had the CLAN
ders, but we thought it was cold.
One of Jacobs hind legs were as large
as the other three welded together, and
after having brought us safely thru
poor Jacob lay down and died. Par
don me for depressing, but right here
I:want to relate q true bear story.
This you could expect only from me.
During our first year at Norway Lake
we lived with Mr.. Andrew Hedin upon
the present site of the, beautiful home
of Mr.. and Mrs. A. Gordhamer. One
day in passing thru the pasture on the
way to our homestead, I came face to
face with a bear. Such were quite
common then. We nodded to each
other, tho it was not from any polite
ness upon my part. Itwas purely un-
Intentional. was not afraid, Oh,
no! But as had not had good run
for some time 1 just thought would
see how fast I could run, and I did my
best. After while looked back to
see how near the bear was, when,
judge of my surprise, the bear was
making better time than I was, and in
the opposite direction. !,
In 1862 "a few of you here present
remember that year) no doubt but
what some of you ran from the In
dians. / was one of them. I'll admit
that, only I was 100 miles farther from
the, Indians than you were; but that
fact in no wise hindered my running.
We were at that time living on farm
in Rice county, and while hauling hay
the day before the news came my IA
ther had accidentally run a pitchfork
tine. into my knee+eap, On! the next
morning my knee: was so intlamed and
SO stiff that I could not stand on it
for moment. But about 10: O'Clock
in the forenoon q >neighbor came to
our house and informed us that the
indians were only three miles away,
killing people and burning property
I do: not know what became of my
sore knee; I think that Christian Sci.
ence came to the rescue. All I know
is that I lead the procession thru the
mud for five miles, and I do not know
yet how that knee got we'll. It must
have been somewhat on the same prin-
ciple as the man who said he had been
shot there laying his hand on his
heart. a friend said, mo, that Is
impossible; that ID whore your heart
is,' The man answered: 1T may
be nov, but then it was up in my
throat. - - - *5 s* ii B. B # .5
The trials and struggles Of our early
settlers IL the past vet romans In our