Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1937-04-15
Man On Street,
Looks Into Distant
Past of PARTRIDGE

One of the first residents of
the settlement of Partridge who
recently visited here, writes the
following and addresses it to the
editor of the AskOv American
over the name of 1.-The Man on
the Street.:
1t is going on 80 years since we
first saw your town. We moved in
there in November, 1898. 1t was
marked on the railroad map as Part
ridge. The present site of your splen-
did little village was covered with
pine stumps and lumbercamps. -
can never visit a place that at one
time had some close relationship with
outstanding events of my life with
out doing whole lot of reminiscing
know, of course, that reminiscing
is said to be sign that old age is
a-creepin' on and a fellow may be in
grave danger of becoming. as my
friend Will Shakespeare once re-
marked, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans
taste, sans everything" l hope this
will not be my fate just yet.
At any rate, I'll take the chance
and go back to the time when AskOv
was loggers' round up and try and
recall few things to do with that
period.
The fact that this move of mine
from the Dakota prairie, where l had
been engaged i'm cattle ranching and
growing small grain since the year
1881, would indicate that it was Il
most important epoch in one mans
life. My wife and family were with
me during this sOjOurn, our first eX-
perience together in the wonderful
forests of Northern Minnesota. 1t
appeared to us as we left the cabOOse
OH the end of long freight train,
that the hotel in which we stayed the
first night, was part of the depot.
1t stood almost adjoining the back
of the depot. We moved into our
permanent dwelling the next after
noon. 1t was little frame house
directly across the railroad tracks
about opposite the depot. We con-
sidered ourselves rather preferred peO-
pie for the reason, excepting the no.
tel, we occupied the only other frame
building in the camp. The popula-
ton of this settlement could be count
ed on the fingers of one hand; Mr..
and Mrs. Sawyer and their daughter,
Miss Clara, and sometimes domes-
tic. This family was the host and
conducted fairly good eating house,
with few beds made up especially to
accommodate the travelling men that
called at regular intervals drumming
I'D their trade with the big lOggers
operating in the woods some distance
away.
The Railroad Depot agent and his
wife, the section foreman, also mar
ried, and ourselves, about a dozen
people, made up the total of the COM
munity. There were a scattered few
settlers nearby, but our principle
human contact was with the lOggers,
their tote teamsters and the lumber
Jacks. There were many carload lots
of provisions, logging tools and other
equipment unlOaded on side track
that winter. Mr.. w. G. Sawyer not
only acted as mine host in the hotel,
but he was making a noble effort to
establish a dairy farm. He had con-
verified one of the lumber shacks into
a stable. 1t was long low building:
| have an idea it must have been g
mess camp. 1t was fitted up with COW
stanchions. He specialized in a very
fine herd of Jerseys. The land there
abouts was owned as | recall, by the
Deere-W Weber people of Minneapolis,
and Mr.. Sawyer was their land agent.