Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1910-10-21
GENERAL C0NKLlN TELLS
ABOUT THE HARD WINTER.

Gen. Conklin, writing in the Clark
Republic giving a history of Clark
county, mentions several interesting In
cidents which happened in Watertown
during the hard winter in South Dakota
about thirty years ago. 1t will be in
teresting reading to many Of our readers
MY wife and dauhgter, Mrs. Alice
Wait, and her husband and children
were locked In the then small village
of Watertown. enduring conditions that
aroused in one the utmost anxiety for
their safety: but 1t was apparent that
/ could not reach them until the sun
and rain should open the way. So !
concluded to remain at Sleepy Eye,
where every night at o'clock Mr.. Bid
well would allow me to call up Water
town and converse over the wire for
information. In this way learned
that a stock Of groceries and general
merchandise turned over by a busted
merchant to his eastern creditors a few
days before the final blockade OF the
railway and locked up and the key
carried away BY them to await further
legal proceedings, was still shere, and
no legal way to obtain possession Of
them, | wired my informant, Ed Rice.
that there was higher law than stat
utes or common law, that would Justify
in their emergency the breaking open
Of that store and invoicing the goods,
and selling them at retail prices and
depositing the money safely for the
use of the owner Of the goods; and ad-
yised that he proceed at once do it;
which he and other responsible parties
proceeded toa do, and the supplies found
helped out the situation for d few days: !:
but II was Sniy temporary. No pen can
convey tosfhe reader the real condition
of the three to four hundred people
there--youns and oIG who were thus
shut out on all sides from human aid,
Just think Of It'll AS a rule -the last
month mo flour, liyias on wheat. Of
which they fortunately had "a supply
because the grain warehouse had not
been able to ship it away. This they
ground in coffee mills or soaked and
boiled or corn hulled and cooked every
thing fast giving out; until at last
there was no sugar, tea, coffee, rice or
canned goods, no salt meats, no soap,
no tobacco. no kerosene. no light in
general use, no coal or wood to be had, /,
the long railroad bridge across the
Sioux river torn down and divided and
burned. The lumber in the lumber yard
bought and sawed and used for fuel.
Great effort was made to send out teams
and shoyelers to open road to the
woods on the yellow banks Of the
steam north and the woods south Of
Goodwin, but it was impossible Roads
would fill up with drifting snow as
fast as opened. 5 n. ss #ss
"" Marvellous as it may seem thru all
this the people kept up good courage.
Nay, more. were cheerful and divided
with each other even to the last sack
Of flour and to one pound in place.
Yet the people never lost faith in the
country or became discouraged. They
were possessed Of the true pioneer
spirit. What happened to the people
Of Watertown happened to every town,
large or small, in Dakota.
A..47 -. u. . p
The blockade was raised by warm
weather and rains and SO suddenly that
floods followed, washing out bridges and
uestle work and delaying a train to
Watertown until early in the morning
Of the 9th Of May. It consisted Of
some five coaches loaded with about
200 men who had been delayed at
Sleepy Eye as before stated, together
with travelling statesmen and business
men from the twin cities and elsewhere
who were come to see for themselves
the situation. A freight train followed
close with general supplies. One Of
our printers met me at the depot and
told me what, In supposed Kindness, had
been withheld from me BY my friends:
He said ! might as we'll move out that
people were blaming me that the rail-
road had not been opened. that but
for my work the road would have been
opened, that an Indignation meeting
had been held at which had been
denounced in speech by leading
citizen, etc. etc, etc. and when met
my partner, WA. Fraser, his face was
long 9enuf to eat oats out Of a churn;
hc said ] had done il and We might as
we'll look for another town to move to-;
! told him that such was not my