The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1926-03-18
The Story of My Grandparents

spent MS D0ynOOQ IN Mdlne ol HIS
fathers farm. He attended the
country school; and after graduation
from there, he went to a Boston sing
ing school for two years.
When he was about eighteen years
old, some friends asked him to go
with them to California in search of
gold. He decided he would go If he
got a hundred dollars, but when the
time came he lacked few dollars and
therefore refused to go. Since then
he has said it was just luck that he
didn't go, because the men that left
were never heard from again. Their
friends supposed the Indians had
killed them on the way. A few years
later he came to Minnesota, and for
two years worked near Elk River.
In 1857 there were not many ways
of travel other than stage in Mime
sofa. When S. M. Taylor came in
1857, he took a train as far as Pral-
RE Decline, Iowa; from there he took
the steam boat to st. Anthony; and
from St. Anthony he took stage to
Elk River. He then had to walk
thirty-seven miles to the home of a
friend, as he had only paper money.
That was worthless in the west, al
though it was good in the east.
The first job Taylor had was driv-
ing oxen for the government on the
road between Forts Ridgley. and Alb
ercromblie. At these camps the cooks
had a barrel setting outside, filled
with old lard for the teamsters to
grease their oxen so the flies would
not be so bad. The lard, of course,
was full of hair, flies, other insects,
and dirt. Indians would come into
camp and ask for food, and the cooks
would give them old dry bread. On
this bread they would spread the
lard from the lard barrel: Another
thing he saw while in the logging
camp was the Indian "War" and
-Scalp" dance. A band of Sioux In
dams had just returned from a sue
cessful raid on the Chippewa. One
Indian who was dancing had his low
er jaw shot in two, and it was hang
ing down limp and useless. This In
dian was the hero of the tribes party
because he had more scalps than any
of the others.
Elizabeth Maly was born in Prague,
Bohemia in 1914. She lived in b.
hernia until she was seven years old,
when she came to America with her
father, Joseph Maly, her mother, and
two brothers oseph and Winslow.
They came directly to Wisconsin and
lived there until Elizabeth was thir-
teen years old. Then, in 1858, they
moved to Minnesota. The cattle of
the several families was herded to-
gether, and the children had to drive
them ahead. My grandmother, of
course had to help drive. She has
said that when they came through an
Indian camp, the Indians would come
up to them and take large scalping
knives from their belts and strop
them on their hands as if they intend
ed to scalp them. The children were
afraid, and this entertained the In
dams greatly. After they reached
Minnesota, my grandmother was
afraid of the Indians, because she
had been so terribly frightened by
them.
She told many stories of Indians
and other things of the wild life in
early Minnesota. Among the most in
teresting are the two / shall write
here:
One morning squaw and two chill
dren came and asked for food. Mrs.
Maly was baking pancakes, and so
she gave them some. The squaw
took the pancakes from the griddle
and threw them on the ground. The
children ran and got them in the
same way dog would. The three
Indians ate more than five average
white men could. When Mrs. Maly
thought they had eaten enough she
shook her head every time the squaw
would hold out her hand, After a
few vain attempts to get some more,
she spoke to the children who ran
off to the woods She then followed
them.
Another time several naked Indian
warriors came to the Maly home and
asked for some matches. Mrs. Maly
got the few she had. AS there was
only one bunch in the house, she di-
vided it in half and gave one half to
the Indian. He took it with one hand
and held out the other hand for the
other half. Mrs. Maly refused, say
ing that she needed some. The In
dians became very angry and probab.
ly would have killed Mrs. MaIy and
Elizabeth, if her father and brothers
had not come in from work Just
then. When they came, the Indians
left, granting as they went.
There were no schools in Mime
sofa when my grandmother came
here. She had learned to speak Ger
man while in Wisconsin and to
speak, read and write English a lit
tie. After she had come to Mime
sofa, she learned to read, write, and
speak as well as most American born
citizens. She was her own teacher.
The early settlers lived on wild
game. The game was so plentiful
that it was destructive. When the
farmers planted their grain, the birds
came and ate it. Often they would
set steel traps at one end of the
field; and then going across and
back, they would find in their traps,
geese, ducks, or other birds, caught
when they had been stealing grain.
The animals were as plentiful as the
birds. Ammunition was expensive
and hard to get, so most of the meat
was caught in the various ways. used
by the Indians. There was the "dead
fall" which was made by tying a
heavy log to the trees near, letting it