The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1907-06-19
A PROBLEM
FOR TO-DAY
Are the Railroad Companies to Rule
the People or Be Ruled
By Them?
Secretary Schmahl Goes After the
Railroad People for Trying
to Evade Laws.


To address an audience composed
largely of the men and women who
must ever be pointed to as those
who laid the foundation, spread the
cement and builded this magnificent
county of Redwood. is an honor
which ! greatly Nappreciate, and
which will find a resting place in
my bosom until time for me shall be
be no more.
Here in Redwood county, which
stands out as the most brilliant
jewel in the cluster of be-diamond
counties that make up the rich con-
stellation of the crown so bravely
displayed by our North Star State,
must / give credit for whatever |
possess, for whatever business sue
cess, for whatever political honor |
have achieved. Among you. and as
a part Of you, ! have labored. and
struggled, and whatever glory Red
wood county has achieved in bring
ing civilization out of a wilderness,
whatever renown you old pioneers
have won in turning a wilderness in
to a paradise, whatever fame we
-
have won in our relationship with
our sisterhood of counties, has been
the cause of deepest qualification
and pride in my heart, whether here
in your midst. or on the hot sands
of the Atlantic or Pacific, or battling
with the cold winds of the north,
when the thermometer was register
ing 40 degrees below zero.
| came to Minnesota as soon as
God would let me. and three years
later, by reason Of the western
course Of empire taking its way,
Redwood county and Redwood Falls
became my home. Only eight years
before and even five years before
my eyes beheld the light of day,
Redwood and our sister county of
Renville furnished the first blood
shed in the great Sioux uprising
that devastated and laid waste the
Minnesota Valley as far east as New
Ulm. There in Paxton and Sherman
townships they stand. You need
but to visit the course of the In
dams to see what deeds were done;
there you will find where Little
Grow resided; there you will find a
marker telling you of the fearful
slaughter at the Lower Agency,
where Myrick and his allies lost
their lives. Further below you will
find a marker telling you Of the
ambush Of Capt. John S. Marsh,
and his noble band, who in their
desperate attempt to rescue those
early settlers, lost their lives along
the banks, and in the Minnesota
river. The little town Of Sherman
can probably point to more cruel
warfare during that terrible period
than anywhere in the Minnesota
Valley, unless it be at Fort Ridgeley
and the heroic battle ground of
New Ulm.
The Indians were turned west
ward by reason Of the heroic stand
made by the defenders of Fort
Ridgeley. The rich and fertile
prairies of Redwood county once
more became the home of the pio-
neer, and in 1870, eight years after
the massacre, and when I was first
brought to this country, we had a
valuation of $587, ia; ten years lat
er. by reason of the settlers focking
in, this grew to S1,771,8 800. III 1890,
after another decade, this valuation
was increased oyer $1,000, 900 and
again in 1900, this valuation was
increased $3.OOO,OOO and in 1905
your county auditor certified to the
state, a valuation in Redwood coun
| ty Of $10,312,541. And it is prob
ably well to remind you, my friends
that YOU returned to the assessor,