The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1920-08-13

of rich mines OF copper) where IL pours
its waters into the majestic Minnesota.
the high. outstanding mound has long
been point of interest. not alone to
pale faces come from many lands and
clines, but also to numerous tribes OF
the dusky denizens of the forests.
Across tho Blue Earth was located the
ancient Indian village OF the old chief
Mankato. In this Immediate vicinity
/ War Eagle, by an act Of masnanimity
on one of these cliffs the Indian maiden,
Hapan. decked in all her bridal gar
ments, sang the melancholy dirge Of her
| own death-song. as she mourned Chas-
kay. her slain warrior lover. Pierre
Charles Lesueur. the intrepid French
! explorer and tradesman with his bold
adventurous band were entertained at
I many an Indian feast and often made
merry at this mound. Here was the To-
cation of Sibley's trading post, perhaps
the first commercial adventure in what
has since come to be. great CONNER
, chl center. In the early days many
distinguished men for enc reason and
another made their way up the Mime
sofa. often exploring the Blue Earth as
well. and most OF them stopping to camp
! on these grounds. So that for more
tory men have refreshed themselves at
! the foot Of the mound at the mouth of
the Blue Earth. And indeed. the real
| history of Mankato and Of Blue Earth
County begins here, for hither came p:
James. Louis DeMoureaux and w. w.
Paddock having Joe Provencene. SON
/ ip-law Of Chief Sleepy Bye as guide for
mouth Of the Blue Darth. arriving on
! the Afternoon OF February S. 1852, spend-
ing their first night at the foot Of this
mound sleeping in the beautiful park
! Of the future city, undisturbed by stroll
ling lovers, engine-shriek or autohorn;
dreaming, no doubt. on the good time
coming.
Better Times Are Como.
And better times are come. Who Of us
to those Of 1852, or even Of 1889? We
may think for a moment Of our modern
! homes and equipment, as compared
! with those Of earlier days. Perhaps one
There is no need to describe a modern
, home. It may not. however. be out Of
place to think of home Of the earlier
! days in Minnesota, after the log-cabin
had given ~, place TO the e
: Der. House, generally about one-and- a
half stories in height and fourteen by
sixteen on the ground; one room below
beds enough for the children of the
/ household, many or few; the room be-
| low was living-room parlor, dining
room and kitchen and sometimes q bed
elaborate. The table answered tho pur-
pose Of dining kitchen and comfortable.
AS dining t. bio it was often meagerly,
! but sometimes sumptuousiy spread. The
to read from the light Of one kerosene
! lamp One or two trunks contained the
best Of the family wardrobe. There
were a few chairs of tho strsdght-back
fashioned rockers. Most important Of
! ail was the old elevated oven stove that
burned wood faster than one man could
cut It and heated better than any mod
! in tho qualities Of it's haking. for It
, baked pies. cookies, salt-rising bread
| and saleratus biscuits the Ike Of which
! no boy of these modern times ever tast-
stove had the best place for warming
| cold toes in winter that has ever yet
been discovered. Yes the home of the
J., olden- time was crude in architectural
orny characterized It's furnishings. But
there was much of cheer IN 1t and In.
feonsist in the fact that its members
belonged to this or the other particular
social clique; owned many acres. pos.
! sessed many gowns or made FREQUENT
! trips to the popular resorts. Rather,
| the glory of the home of the ofden time
mel virtues, and that out from it might
| go youth that would help TO do the
worlds work and ease the worlds bur-
! dens And that 10 stfn very much worth
while; Far be It from me to e.: e, that that
| is not the truth. But there is still room
for the recognition Of life's true values
! and for the practice OF plain: oid-fash-
toned common sense, with nttle Fcr"c
| OF the love Of home ana little less OF
the love of revelry.
Mighty Event Transpired.
I Since 1852 what mighty events have
| transptred in the life Of the world. To
think of attempting to enumerate them
makes one dizzy. Only to speak Of our
progress made The War of the Rebel
Lion, or Civil War; the Spanish Ameri-
can War and the Overseas War, which
involved US IN common with the other
world have each helped to make more
secure the rights Of men. And in all
County, and Of "the Blue Earth sonn-
| sofa has not Jagged behind her sister
states either in the recognition Of her
patriotic duty or her response the chal-
ienge thereof. She claims the distinc-.
to Lncoln's call for volunteers and her
First Regiment In the brave: desperate
! charge It made forever linked the name
! of MINNESOTA with the battle at Gettys-
burg At Nashville, when the smoke
of battle cleared away four Minnesota
regimental flags were floating from the
parts. while at Chattanooga CRATE
| full common wealth, In the 1lRht OF the
! facts Of history, cliselIsd upon the mon
ument she builded to the memory of her
brave boys, Not a man missing" And
many another southern field OF battle
resounds with praise to Minnesota's val
| liant men. Meantime a new warfare
was raging within the borders Of our
own state. The Indian outbreak may
have had numerous causes. Probably chief
among them was a growing antagonism
against the white traders for taking
undue advantages Of them: the effort OF
! this government to change their mode OF
! living by locating them on reservations
and making small farmers out Of them;
| the delay in payments due them on the
part of the government Add to these the
| characteristics Of the Indian, with min
! or wrongs, both fancied and real, with
| the recognized, absence OF numbers of
men among the settlers, called to their
coqntry's defense in southern camps
and you have the horrors Of the Sioux
! uprising and massacre. Pen cannot pic
ture nor tongue describe the terrors of
those days and nights. Monuments
erected here and there from Mankato
to the western boundaries Of the state
| tell in briefest outline soTae of the events
wood Ferry. the attack at Birch Coulee.
defense of FIT. Ridgely and the battle
at Wood Lake are among the outstand-
ing events of that most trying time.
! Once more the mouth of the Blue Earth
became the center of the stage, for
here were brought the three hundred
condemned prisoners under guard at
{ thu oox,n paar the foot of he fopnn,s