The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-05-20

nc 100 A~NA - NSNSNI
day has the following and a picture of
the hero Of the tale, D.. S. B. john
ston: -.
A Red River Townsite Speculation
in 1857 is the rather prosaic title of a
paper that was filled with the recital
of thrilling personal experiences, read
last Monday night by DIS. B. john
ston before the State Historical So
ciety.
1t was a comprehensive story of q
trip he and others took into the valley
of the Red River of the North in the
dead of winter of 81. Some of the
more exciting incidents follow
From the age of II in 1849 to my
arrival in st. Paul, July 81, 1866" he
began, Il was a school teacher during
winters and part of the time during
summers. My district school pay ran
from $12 to SIG a month and boarding.
round fare.
Came to ST. Paul in Debt.
Naturally, when l got to st. Paul I
set about trying to better myself fin
ancially, as l OWED $50, and had only
4 cents to pay it with. My first ven
ture was a school of some sixty schol-
ars in a preparatory department of
Minnesota state University in st. An
thOny, the building then standing on
the present site of the Minneapolis
Exposition building.
Was An Editor for a Time.
My next venture was an associate
editOrship of The st. Anthony Express,
with Hon. Isaac AtWater, afterWard
one of the Minnesota supreme court
judges. Then, a chance being offered
me in December, 1856, to become one
of a company of five to make town
sites above the Red River of the North,
ritl 90 GfEI -+o.o- "a hA r,inn With
all expenses paid, if would help hold
the towns by occupation, 1 thought OPP
p~Ortunity had knocked at my door, and
| said yes promptly.
No More Time Needed.
Judge Atwater previously offered to
let me off until May, 1857, as l thought
that was all the time needed to make
a millionaire. George F. Brott of
st. Cloud, E. DemOrtimer and J.. w.
Prentlss of st. Paul and j.. c, Moulton
and l of st. Anthony made the COM
pany. Brott and Demortimer were the
financial hackers of the concern, Moul-
ton its travelling superintendent, and
Prentiss and I were to be the resident
toWnsite managers.
Party Ready for Trip.
"Moulton, Prentiss and /; English
Bill, our cook; two guides and four OK
team drivers were to go on the trip.
Two sleds were Quilt for rough usage.
one was to be loaded with corn and
cob. ground feed for our five yoke Of
oxen. The other was to carry provi-
sions for ten men and our garden and
farm tools. Six of the ten men were
to remain on Red river during the
winter. The distance We had to travel
was about 125 miles in a westerly di-
rection from st. Cloud, Mimi, to the
junction of the Bots des Sioux and
Otter Tail rivers where they head the
Red River Of the North.
Started on Dec. 81, 1856.
"wednesday. Dec. 81. 1856,
Moulton and Prentiss started from st.
Paul with the loaded teams. l fol-
lowed on Friday in a binding snow
storm, picking up on my way Botti-
neau n his brother from their home
in st. Anthony. l had a span of horses
and driver and intended to oVertake
MOultOn and the teams about the time
they reached st. Cloud. Our prepara-
lions for camping consisted. in finding
and water. The lakes and
ponds were only five to ten miles apart
and usually wooded on one or two
sides, so this was not a difficult thing
to do. For our bedding we usually
found swamp reeds or prairie grass.
Ou LHIS we SpFedu Our unllned DuttalO
skin ~oVercOats and water proofs. Over
IS we had our comforters of wool pad
ded with cotton batting about three
inches thick and firmly quilted. This
covered ten men and was about fifteen
feet long. We slept with all our
clothes on and there was no chance
to wash any Of them short of the end
Of u journey. We slept spoon fash
ion and when n wanted to turn the
others had to turn also.
Cross Chain of Lakes.
"On Friday, Jan. %, we crossed
the last of a chain of lakes near their
head. AS our teams were crossing we
saw two buffalo feeding on the swamp
grass about two miles away. We
stopped the teams and SEN them Oft
with Prentiss to a patch of woods
bordering the lake to find a. camping