The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1915-07-09

ritory of Minnesota were mainly along
the navigable waters,-the Mississip.
pi.-and TO this part OF the territory
the Minnesota river.
by the treaties o. Traverse Des
Sioux and Mendoza negotiated with
the Indians in 1851 and ratified by
congress the following summer all the
land i'm Minnesota west of the Missis-
sippi river and south OF line drawn
some twelve miles north of Moor
head. was ceded 10 the United States
and the Indian title thereto extingu-
ished. except small tracts along the
upper Minnesota set aside to the In
dams as reservations.
The Trading Posts.
While trading posts at favorable
locations along our navigable streams,
the Mississippi. the Minnesota and
st. Croix rivers, had been established
at an early date. the first settlements
in southern and southwestern Mime
sofa for agricultural purposes were
made about the year 1858. and during
that and the three following years,
most OF the land fit for agricultural
use. for distance of some fifty miles
west of the Mississippi river. and
west and south of ST. Paul. was en-
tered and settled upon under the pre-
demption laws of the United States.
and the, settlements I'M the valleys of
the Minnesota and Blue Earth rivers
and other timbered streams In this
portion of the state were made at
about the same time.
The line of such early settlements
I'm the main followed the larger water
courses, and thus we find that the
early agricultural settlers penetrated
into central Southern Minnesota by
way of the Minnesota river and its
timbered tributaries. contemporaries
'ously with the settlements made in the
southeastern part of the state access
ible to the Mississippi. and that as
early as 1854. '55 and sc. many settl-
crs had taken presumption claims and
made their homes In this beautiful
valley of the Blue Earth, while the
great treeless. trackless prairies COW
ering the great body OF The land I'm
the southwestern portion OF the state.
remained, i'm the main. an unsettled
wilderness for many years after these
early settlements along the streams
and water courses had been es-
tablished.
Obstacles to Be Overcome.
The natural obstacles to be over
come, the forces of nature TO be met
and conquered. the hardships neces-
sarily To be endured by reason of their
isolation and distance from markets
were not the only difficulties with
which these pioneers had to contend.
The period of great prosperity fol-
lowing the discovery OF gold in Cali
fornia in 1Si9. resulted i'm an era of
Wild speculation. and many get ric!
quick schemes were devised and prac-
tised
Loose banking laws were enacted
under which banks were organized
and permitted to issue paper money
bank notes which circulated as
money, without any adequate pro-
vision for its payment or redemption.
Prices were high and apparently there
was abundant prosperity i'm the land.
I'm the northwest. The
years Of 1854 to SO was the period
Df the town site craze. Town sites
we're plated everywhere throughout
The. settled portion of the territory,
many of the towns so plated having
no existence whatever except on paper
and many lots I'm these paper towns
were successfully sold and disposed
Of Mt good prices by sleek town site
SPECTATORS To cOnfiding suckers I'm
the eastern states.
I'm the county of Fillmore where
my father settled i'm 1856 scores of
such towns were plated There
were six Of them within a radius of
tour miles from my fathers home, and
VIII the exception OF one. which still
drags out sickly existence. there
Is not. I believe, single landmark
remaining to indicate the place where
any of them was located: a similar
Osndition existed in other portions of
the state
''ln 1857 the bubble broke. The
panic of that year came on. Town
site speculation came to a sudden end.
That, however. did not so nearly con-
Germ the farming portion of the pop
ulation, as the demoraliZed condition
OF the currency which followed the
panic. This was perhaps the greatest
hardship which the struggling settlers
had yet encountered.
The Market Towns.
'In those days the market towns
for southern Minnesota were located
on the Mississippi and Minnesota
rivers. Ok teams were mainly used
for carrying on the work of the farms
and In hauling their products to mar
ket In central Fillmore county where
my father lived II usually took six
DAYS TO haM lsad of grain TO the
market on the Mississippi. going and
returning. and during those panic
times il often happened that the
money received for products sold AT
Mississippi river market town. cur
rent when received. had become alb
solutely worthless by the time the
farmer got back home by, reason of
the Insolvency and closing OF the
doors OF the bank which issued 1t. or
course such conditions resulted In