Miner County, SD History .....Prairie Tamers of Miner County 
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Full Text of:

PRAIRIE TAMERS
OF MINER COUNTY

Prepared by the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration in
South Dakota

CARTHAGE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD
COOPERATING SPONSOR

Composed and printed in hand-set type by SOUTH DAKOTA WRITERS' LEAGUE


WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION
F. C. HARRINGTON, Administrator
FLORENCE S. KERR, Assistant Administrator
HENRY G. ALSBERG, Director of the Federal Writers' Project
Cover Design by Federal Art Project
AMERICAN GUIDE SERIES
1939


PREFACE

    Prairie Tamers Of Miner County is a brief account of the conversion of the
untamed prairie into cultivated farm lands and thriving towns by groups of
homesteaders with varied ethnic and social backgrounds. In these pictures of
pioneer life we see the conquest of the eastern half of South Dakota.

   Jennie Quam of Carthage, herself a pioneer, collected the material and
prepared the manuscript as a member of the Federal Writers' Project. For
generous cooperation in furnishing information, we are indebted to Leif I.
Fjellestad, Sibyl Raynor, Mrs. Thelma Ufford, Anne Guggi, George Burke, P. D.
Munger, Charles Laurson, and to the editors of the Miner County Pioneer,
Carthage News and Canova Herald. We are also grateful to the Carthage Public
Library Board for making publication of the booklet possible.

    The Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration is
designed primarily to give useful employment to needy unemployed writers and
research workers, and to utilize their experience in the preparation of
publications in the American Guide Series.

                     LISLE REESE, State Director

CONTENTS
Preface                           3
Today and Yesterday               5
Carthage—A Prairie Home          13
Howard—The County Seat           17
Canova Merchants Go to Press     20
Country Main Streets             21
Little Norway                    23
Trail Of The Homesteaders        25
A Norseman Finds A Home          27
A Pioneer Christmas              30
Hailstorm of 1884                33
The Blizzard of '88              35

TODAY AND YESTERDAY

    MINER COUNTY lies in east central South Dakota, in the valley of the James
River, but altogether to the east of that stream. As originally created by the
Territorial legislature on January 8,1873, it consisted of the northern halves
of the present Miner and Sanborn Counties, while the southern halves made up a
county known as Bramble. Each county was twelve miles wide and forty-eight miles
long from east to west. In 1879 the legislature combined these two counties into
one, under the name of Miner. In 1883 this county was again divided, this time
north and south, so that the two counties, Miner and Sanborn, assumed their
final form side by side, each twenty-four miles square with a total of 368,000
acres.

    The name of Miner County honors two men of the same name but unrelated to
each other, Captain Nelson Preston Miner, a native of Hartland, Ohio, and
Ephraim Miner, an early settler of Yankton. Both were members of the same
legislature, and both were active in the location and alteration of county
lines. Captain Miner, however, seems to have a stronger claim to the honor,
since joint mention is made of the two in only a few instances. Captain Miner
came to Dakota Territory in 1860 and settled at Vermillion, and from that time
on was prominently identified with the history of the State. In the fall of 1861
he organized a company of 100 men which was mustered into the United States Army
with Miner as captain. The company was assigned to duty in the Indian country
and saw considerable action in quelling disturbances during the war years.

    Captain Miner and his company also had the distinction of erecting in 1864
the first permanent schoolhouse in the State, on a site now marked by a granite
monument, within the city limits of Vermillion. Captain Miner donated the ground
for the school and his troopers felled the trees in a nearby grove and dragged
them to the site with their cavalry horses. In 1865 Captain Miner was appointed
Registrar of the United States Land Office at Vermillion. He served four years,
during which time this land office was the only one in Dakota Territory. In 1869
he was elected to the Territorial Council, and he was reelected three successive
times, although he did not live to complete his last term. He died at Vermillion
in 1879.

    The topography of Miner County is in general level or rolling, with a high
percentage of tillable land. Along the eastern border are the Vermillion hills,
and the country around them is rougher. The general slope of the land is towards
the west and the James River, the difference in elevation amounting to between
forty and seventy feet, sufficient to cause a rapid rise in the streams of the
region during hard or continued rains. The principal streams of the county are
the west fork of the Vermillion River along the eastern border, Redstone Creek
in the northwest corner, and Rock Creek in the southwest, the two latter being
tributaries of the James.

    Prior to 1878 few white men had set foot in what later became Miner County.
The first homesteader in the county was Matthew A. Moore, who came from
Minnesota in 1878 and filed on a claim in Howard township. In the same year
another settler, Anton Broogleman, came from New Ulm, Minnesota, and took up
land in Springlake Township. But the real settlement of the county began in the
spring and summer of 1879, when a steady stream of covered wagons entered the
region, and homestead shacks began to dot the prairies. Those who settled in the
southern part of the county followed an old Indian trail that led southwest from
the pipestone quarries. In addition, three railroads helped in the settlement,
as the Southern Minnesota built into Flandreau and Madison on the east, the
Chicago and North Western to Volga on the north, and the Worthington and Sioux
Falls to Salem on the south, all within the two-year period 1879-81.

   As frequently happens in the settlement of a new country, various racial
groups were formed. The native Americans colonized the southern and northwestern
portions of the county, and in general formed the population of the various
towns. The Norwegians colonized the northeastern section, the German-born the
east and southeast, and the Welsh the western. The Irish and Swedes were
important elements of the population, but did not form separate settlements.

    The first winter following the influx of settlers, the memorable winter of
1880-81, was a test for the toughest fibre of pioneer endurance. Deep snow and
continued cold rendered travel all but impossible, food supplies ran low, and
frequently wheat and corn had to be ground in coffee mills to provide flour and
meal. In the northeastern part of the county the Norwegian settlers had just
completed one house, fourteen by twenty, when the first storm struck. Fifteen
people were obliged to live in this one shack for three days until the storm
broke and building operations could be resumed. Even the distant railroads were
unable to operate, and town supplies ran alarmingly low. Only one train arrived
in Madison during the month of February, and there was no train after that until
the latter part of May. At least three lives were lost in the county and
incredible hardships were endured. One man and his son wandered in a blizzard
from Sunday until Wednesday before coming upon a house. At one house where the
wife was in bed with a newly-born infant, the stovepipe was sucked through the
hole in the roof by the force of the wind. Unable to maintain a fire any longer,
the husband piled all available clothing on the bed and got in himself, to stay
there for the duration of the storm.

    The homesteading movement that began in 1878 was practically completed by
1884, when no more Government land was available. A few individuals gave up
their claims in discouragement, but the large majority had come out with the
idea of making permanent homes for themselves. The determination and courage of
the early settlers and their wives, and their struggles to establish homes on
the prairie with nothing but their bare hands to aid them, is revealed in the
story of one of the pioneers, J. P. Palmquist. He came from Sweden to Sioux
Falls in the spring of 1882, and the same fall he filed on a homestead in what
is now Vermillion Township in Miner County. The following spring he was forced
to seek work in order to purchase machinery and stock. He walked fifteen miles
to Salem, hoping to get a job on the North Western railway, and failing this he
returned on foot the same day. The next day he set out for Sioux Falls, stopping
near Hartford with a farmer overnight. The next morning he paid his fare into
Sioux Falls by pumping a handcar. There he went to work for his former Swedish
employer, who advanced him five dollars which he forwarded to his wife. After
working in Sioux Falls all summer, he purchased two calves and drove them on
foot, sixty miles, to his homestead. There he found that his wife had planted a
garden and had raised a cellarful of potatoes and two sacks of beans. She had
traded coffee for two chickens, and that fall they bought two pigs. They could
not do much farming until the calves grew big enough to break to the plow. When
that time came, Palmquist broke extensive fields and in the good years of the
1880's became comfortably well off, eventually raising a family of five boys and
seven girls. Of such stuff are wilderness-tamers made.

    Schools were established in the county at an early date. The first one in
the northwestern section was a sod shanty on the Fjellestad farm. There were two
regular pupils and two intermittent ones. The teacher carried on her duties with
her infant daughter strapped in a high chair. That fall the farmers boarded off
half of the school room and filled it with wheat while classes were going on.
That year and the next there were nine school buildings in the county, five
hundred and sixty pupils, and ten teachers. The average wage paid to teachers
was twenty-six dollars a month.

    Although Miner County was created in 1873, it was not organized until 1880,
with Forestburg as the county seat. In 1882, however, a struggle developed
between Forestburg and Howard, in the eastern end for county seat honors. At
that time the North Western railway was building its line from Hawarden, Iowa,
to Iroquois, S. Dak., and the headquarters for about one hundred men was at
Carthage. William Van Eps of Sioux Falls, whose interests were bound up with
Forestburg, was attempting to corral these votes; but J. D. Farmer, the founder
of Howard, forestalled him. He dispatched a wagon-load of candy, tobacco, and
beverages to Carthage, in charge of Howard boosters. The result was that this
town won almost all the railroad votes and the election besides. It was said
that more votes were cast than there were people living in the county at that
time. One visitor to Howard voted four times by the simple expedient of changing
coats and hats, and, finally, by getting a shave.

    But the victory of Howard at the polls did not settle the controversy,
because Forestburg refused point-blank to give up the records. Thereupon the
citizens of Howard, highly incensed, resorted to arms, and a party of fifty or
sixty men was organized to seize the books. They arrived at Forestburg early one
morning, overpowered the two men on guard, loaded the records into a wagon, and
hastily set out on their return. But at the James River they were stopped by the
sheriff with an injunction. Realizing the futility of resistance, J.D. Farmer
urged his men to surrender the records and return them to Forestburg. This was
done, but shortly afterward the records were assigned to Howard by a court
order. The struggle finally ended in 1883 when Sanborn County was cut off and
Miner County assumed its present proportions.

   Soon after Howard was made the permanent county seat, the question of a
courthouse arose. The contract was finally let for $15,000, and there was much
criticism of this "extravagant outlay." But the building was erected and
eventually paid for, and it served the county for almost fifty-two years.

   In 1882 and 1883 the Hillman family, with five sons and a daughter, came from
Minnesota and filed on homesteads northeast of Canova. In 1886 occurred the
first of the annual Hillman picnics, which grew each year until there was an
attendance of thousands. There were ball games and other sports, horse races,
and a dance in the evening. The last of these famous picnics was held in 1908.

   The Norwegians of the northeastern part of the county early organized for
religious purposes. In 1886 a church was erected in the Belleview community.
Sometime later a Baptist church was built a few miles to the northeast. The
various towns of the county had churches representative of many denominations at
an early date. The first county fair was held at Howard in September 1886, with
prizes amounting to $1,500. A county fair organization was perfected and is
still active.

    South and west of Vilas is an extensive Danish settlement. In 1915 a large
building, called "Dane Hall," was erected. At first it was used for religious
purposes. Four or five years later it became the center of the social life of
the community, and it still serves that purpose.

    Miner County has always been predominantly agricultural. In normal years
excellent crops of corn and small grain are raised, and cattle and hogs are
fattened for market. In late years sheep raising has become an important
industry. The county has shared with its neighbors the vicissitudes of drought,
grasshoppers, and dust storms, while hailstorms take a yearly toll. The western
half of the county lies in the artesian belt along the James River, and all
through this region are flowing wells. Some of them are sunk in chalk deposits,
and average from a hundred to three hundred and fifty feet in depth. Other
wells, tapping drift deposits, find water at an average depth of one hundred
feet. When the dry years of the late 1890's came, many wells were put down for
purposes of irrigation. But this method did not prove successful, since constant
soaking of the soil retarded crops, and left an alkaline deposit upon the land.

    Miner County is well supplied with roads. Two State highways cross it, State
25 running north from Howard, and State 34 crossing the central portion of the
county from east to west. Besides these there is a network of secondary roads,
all graded, drained, and maintained. In 1935 the county had a population of
7,398. It has 54 schools.

   In 1938 a new county courthouse was erected at Howard at a cost of $107,000,
with the aid of the Public Works Administration. It was dedicated on September
26th of that year.

    In 1939 there were 125 new applications for shelterbelt projects, which when
completed will constitute a belt seven rods wide and 65 miles long, containing
650,000 trees and shrubs. There are ten or more artificial lakes, constructed
with the aid of the Works Progress Administration as part of the water
conservation program. Thus have the descendents of the pioneers taken one more
step in the taming of the prairies.
12

CARTHAGE-A PRAIRIE HOME

LATE ONE AFTERNOON in the latter part of April, 1880, three weary men made camp
on the south bank of Redstone Creek, in what is now northern Miner County. Hardy
sons of Norway, they were accustomed to toiling for little return, and the
prospect before them appeared like a veritable land of promise. Therefore John
Windedahl, Rasmus Miller, and Gunder Opsal filed adjoining claims; and so sure
were they that their little settlement would some day become a town that they
named it Mabel, for the baby girl of their nearest neighbor, Martin Satter, five
miles to the southeast.

    In 1882 the homesteaders began to pour into the country and the little group
of shacks became a small town almost overnight. A post office was established on
the banks of the Redstone, just east of the present site of Carthage, and the
name was changed from "Mabel" to "Franklin." In August of the same year, Frank
B. Ward arrived from Carthage, New York, purchased the relinquishment of John
Windedahl, and proved up on it the following May. In June, 1883, the preliminary
survey of the village site was made under the direction of Ward and the town
site company which he organized; and a petition was circulated to cancel the
post office of Franklin and establish another a short distance to the west to be
called Carthage, in honor of the home town of the founder. On August 27 the plat
was recorded at Howard, and Carthage had a legal existence.

    The new town was on the line of the North Western railroad and various
business houses were established. Among these was a group of enterprises under
the firm of Coughlin and Lyons. It was Charles Coughlin, son of the first-named
member of this firm, who later became a prosperous manufacturer in Milwaukee and
who, on the twentieth anniversary of his graduation from State College at
Brookings, presented his alma mater with a campanile and chimes valued at $75,000.

    One of the well known characters in the early days in Carthage was Cyrus
Clark, proprietor of Carthage's one hotel for many years. Clark's favorite form
of exercise was a good work-out in his swivel chair on the front porch, from
which he could swap news with neighbors and welcome such newcomers as appeared.
One swelteringly hot day a grimy, perspiring traveler drove up in front of the
hotel, and Cy heaved himself out of the chair and ambled down to greet him.
"Where are you bound for, stranger?" he asked genially.

    "For hell!" replied the disgusted and irritated traveler.

    "You're there! stranger, you're there!" chortled Cy, as he stooped down to
unfasten the tugs.

    Another pioneer was Thomas McConnell, the first justice of the peace, who
hit on a novel scheme for increasing his revenues. He stated that while the
customary ministerial fee for marriages was $5, and justices were only allowed
to charge three, he would improve even on that; and taking into consideration
the coming of winter and the high price of coal, he would perform single
marriages for $2 and doubles for $3.50. History does not record whether in this
case it "paid to advertise."

   Although the surveyors of the North Western railroad reached Carthage in
1882, it was July 4,1883, when the first train pulled into town. This was indeed
a day of rejoicing, when far to the northwest smoke was sighted; and finally,
with much blowing of its whistle and ringing of its bell, the first passenger
train stopped at the new depot.

    The first newspaper at Carthage was Our Prairie Home and the first number
was issued under the above frank and disarming title on June 14, 1883. The first
eight issues of Our Prairie Home were published in an improvised print-shop in
the hayloft of a barn. Let the editor describe his surroundings:

    "Well, here we are in the hayloft with cases containing type arranged along
the side of the wall, with improvised benches and everything in working order.
Our windows are open haydoors and a strip of siding knocked off, but the type
goes up all the same.

    "The mules munch their hay in the stalls below us and the old white rooster
brings up his biddy at one o'clock each day to show her nest in the pile of wild
hay behind the table.

    "The wild summer south wind whistles through the cracks and rocks the barn
like the legendary cradle in the tree-tops, while the little boy chases his chip
hat down the bank to the waters edge."

    On August 7 the editor bade a fond farewell to the hayloft and, as he wrote,
"full of bounding hope for the future of Carthage with a mind flooded with many
contending emotions and cares," moved his equipment into a building on Main Street.

    When the country was young, when hopes were high, and when youth was at the
helm and fearlessly flung its challenge to the future, one of the early issues
of Our Prairie Home describes Carthage as follows:

    "The beauty of our location, the magnificent surrounding country, the
meandering valley with its waving grass, dotted here and there with
Bethesda-like pools and miniature lakelets, through which flows the purling
brooks, the winding Redstone, water pure and cool, fairly alive with young
fishes, will make Carthage as soon as these facts are generally known, one of
the famous towns of southern Dakota, Nothing stands in the way of a bright future.

    "The variety of attractions which center at Carthage may, however, induce
too many in a like business or profession to engage in on the start.

    "Those who come with means and wait patiently the development of the country
round about, will meet with a rich reward.

    "They will be disappointed, who come expecting to realize a fortune before
snow flies."

    In 1885 the name of the newspaper was changed to The Carthage News, and as
such it is still published. Another newspaper, The Carthaginian, was published
for a few months but did not survive.

    In 1895 Carthage was incorporated as a city. A co-operative creamery was
established about the end of the century and operated for many years. In 1902 an
artesian well was drilled for the city, and a good flow of soft water was
obtained, following which a waterworks and fire protection system was
constructed. A public library was established in 1919 and has a total of 1707
volumes.

    Carthage, which in 1939 had a population of 537, has been beautified by the
planting of trees in the residential districts. To the west, along the Redstone,
is the city park, with facilities for recreation and a tourist camp. Just across
from the depot is Funk Park, named in honor of the father of Mrs. Henrietta
Walker, who celebrated his one hundredth birthday while living in Carthage.

HOWARD-THE COUNTY SEAT

THE TOWN SITE of Howard was surveyed and platted June 22, 1881, on the homestead
of J. D. Farmer, whose coming to Dakota for the purpose of establishing a home
was celebrated by a local poet in the following lines:

J. D. Farmer, so 'tis stated,
To Dakota emigrated
While through the country he did roam
To find himself a happy home
Finally Range 5C and Section 2,
Town 106, soon met his view,
On the southwest corner settled down,
Just where is now a thriving town.

This is perhaps the first attempt to include the legal description of a piece of
land in a poem. The casual reader may be forgiven the hope that it may be the
last one also.

    A few days later, on the Fourth of July, a meeting was called on the town
site for the double purpose of celebrating Independence Day and of selecting a
name for the new town. About thirty people from the surrounding territory
attended, joining in a few songs and arranging some pony races. There were
fiddlers, and enough ladies present for a one-set square dance. The hotel keeper
furnished free lunches to all the crowd. Judge Farmer had recently lost a son, a
promising young lawyer, and he asked that the new town be named Howard in his
honor. The same day a subscription list was started in support of a newspaper to
be called The Howard Advance. The first number was issued September 15th of that
year, and publication was continued for fifty years. In 1882 The Howard Farmer
was started, and after many changes of ownership and title, was finally combined
with the earlier paper under the title, The Miner County Pioneer, which is still
in publication.

    In 1882 Howard became the county seat after a struggle with Forestburg which
has already been described. The following year almost saw the finish of the new
town. For the North Western railway, building its line between Hawarden, Iowa,
and Iroquois, S. Dak., planned to go through the little village of Vilas, three
miles to the west. Every effort was made to persuade the railroad to change its
route in favor of Howard, but to no avail. Several Howard merchants were ready
to move to the other town, and the fate of the new county seat literally
trembled in the balance. In a desperate effort to preserve it, several meetings
were held, in which citizens and merchants pledged themselves to stand by the
older town; and thus it was saved.

    When the pioneers celebrated, they did so in a big way. Perhaps the largest
Fourth of July celebration ever held in Howard was that of 1883, when between
four and five thousand people attended. There was the usual program of speeches,
sports, and band music; and that night there was the first display of fireworks
ever seen in the county. At the Fourth of July celebration in 1891, an entire
tribe of Crow Foot Indians was brought to Howard, and the ball game between the
"Braves" and the town team was attended by 3,500 spectators.

    Howard seems to have had more than its share of disasters. On September 26,
1892, a fire, thought to have been started by children, suddenly broke out and
in a few minutes was out of control. The fire department of Madison responded to
the call for help and made the twenty-two mile run by special train in
twenty-two minutes, but were powerless to check the flames. The fire spread to
the business block cornering on Howard Avenue and Main Street. Before it burned
out, the only buildings standing in two blocks were the Episcopal church and a
residence. The loss was estimated at $100,000. On July 2, 1895, the local flour
mill exploded and burned, with a loss of three lives.

    One of the residents of Howard was featured in Robert Ripley's "Believe It
Or Not." He was a coal and grain dealer who ran the same weekly ad in a Howard
newspaper, "David Theophilus Sells Salt,” for forty consecutive years. This, it
is believed, is a national record.

    The Howard library was formerly housed in one room of the brick structure
used as the jail. But when the jail was moved to the city light plant, the
library board had the partition removed, the interior renovated, and the library
now occupies the entire building. Eight hundred of the 2200 volumes have been
rebound by a WPA library project, and the books have been catalogued and
classified in accordance with latest library systems. The library is open two
afternoons a week and there is an annual circulation of 2000 volumes. The
library has 28 periodicals on file.

    Howard is today a thriving little city with a population of 1,191. It has a
municipal light plant, an up-to-date fire department, and a baseball team which
has won state-wide recognition. Noble Park, near the courthouse, was named for
Dr. D. B. Noble, the first physician to locate in Miner County. Howard is the
center of a large farming area, and the number of cars on its streets on
Wednesday and Saturday evenings gives evidence of its ability to attract and
hold trade, in spite of its comparative nearness to a much larger city.



CANOVA MERCHANTS GO TO PRESS

PERHAPS MOST TOWNS are like Topsy in that they "just growed" wherever they
happened to start. But Canova, a town of 350 inhabitants in 1939, had a rather
unusual beginning. In 1883 the settlers in the southeastern part of the county
decided that they needed a town, and after much debate decided on the present
site of Canova. They named the town after the Italian sculptor, Antonio Canova
(1757-1822). During the summer the construction crew of the North Western
railway laid tracks through the town site and regular service was established
before cold weather.

    In February 1884, twelve of the leading businessmen of Canova held a meeting
at Rodger's hardware store and decided that the town must have a newspaper. They
chose The Canova Courier as the name of the paper, organized the Courier
Company, and raised funds to carry their plans into effect. They elected the
hardware man chief editor and named the manager of the general store as his
assistant. The paper was printed at Carthage until 1885, when it was taken over
by the Courier Company who hired G. W. Welch to edit it under the title The
Canova Breeze. In 1899 the paper was purchased by Charles McCaffree and renamed
the Canova Herald, and it is still published by his successor under that name.


COUNTRY MAIN STREETS

IN THE LATE nineties a post office was established seven miles west of Roswell
on the Milwaukee railroad and named Miner Center. Shortly afterward a creamery
was built a mile east of the post office and the latter was moved to the
creamery site. Chris Winters erected a general store, and among the most popular
items of his stock of merchandise were the so-called "Fedora" hats. This name
pleased the settlers so much that on their petition the name of the post office
was changed from "Miner Center" to "Fedora." Another story is that the name was
given by an early postmaster for the wife of a mail clerk who made the run
through the town. In 1939 the population of the town was 225 and today it has a
large auditorium, an up-to-date consolidated school, and a four-year accredited
high school.

    In September 1883, George B. Woodworth surveyed and platted a town site
along the Milwaukee railroad about five miles west of Vilas, in the western part
of Miner County. The new town was named Roswell, in honor of Roswell Miller, at
that time president of the Milwaukee Road. Although many German families located
south of Roswell and a Danish settlement lay to the southeast, the first
inhabitants of the town were for the most part native born Americans. In June
1936, a tornado destroyed several buildings in Roswell and these have not been
rebuilt. In 1939 Roswell had a population of 143.

    Vilas, named for a postmaster general, was first surveyed for the Western
Town Lot Company on August 29, 1883. An addition to the town site was surveyed
in December of the same year, and a second addition five years later; since then
the town limits have been unchanged. The little village of 108 inhabitants has
the distinction of being the only town in the county with two railroads; it is
at the junction of the Milwaukee and the North Western roads. On account of this
strategic location, it once had high hopes of becoming the county seat. But
Howard was already too well established, and Vilas has naturally suffered by its
proximity to the larger town. Its importance today is chiefly as a shipping
center. It lies in the artesian belt and the country surrounding it is very
fertile. Vilas is within one mile of the geographical center of the county.

    The town of St. Marys, on the North Western railway in the north central
portion of Miner County, was surveyed and platted October 6, 1886, by A. K.
Gault for the Western Town Lot Company. Dr. L. Gothelf was the first inhabitant.
After the World War the name of the town was changed to "Argonne," in memory of
the battle in which American troops took such an important part. Argonne today
has a population of 65 persons. Its importance is chiefly that of a shipping
center. A consolidated school was erected in 1920 and was destroyed by fire in
1933, but was rebuilt the same year. In 1936 several buildings were wrecked by a
tornado.

    There are two inland trade centers in the county, both northeast of Howard
and but a few miles apart. These are Nanson and Burton. In the early years of
settlement each of these had a post office but they have since been
discontinued. Each place, however, still has a store and filling station.



LITTLE NORWAY

THERE ARE MANY people of Scandinavian descent in Miner County today. The larger
number of these are Norwegians. In four northwestern townships of the county is
a settlement composed of those who originally came from Norfjord, Norway.

    The first representative of this group was A. A. Henden, Sr. He was a man of
large and powerful physique and looked the part of a leader, which he in truth
proved himself to be. He arrived at Madison, Dakota Territory, in the early
spring of 1880, and traveled westward until he found a place that appealed to
him as an ideal spot in which to build a home. Two weeks later a group of eight
men came, via the northern route, to Volga, spent a night in Lake County, then
moved westward to where Henden had already located. In this party were S. A.
Tystad, N. Dale, K. Hauge, S. Hauge, A. Gimmestad, O. Aaland and A. Devik. Later
J. Langland, H. Kaar-stad and A. Eide joined the settlement.

   The settlers had completed but one sod shanty when the October blizzard
broke. The entire group spent a memorable three days in the one shanty, and
considerable discomfort was endured.

    These pioneers found a prairie country abounding in luxuriant wild grasses.
Inured to privations and hardships in the mother country, these men and women,
too, soon learned to avail themselves of every aid that Nature had to offer.
Houses were built of sod; hay was cut and stacked for fuel. Those who were
fortunate enough to have a plow and team of oxen would first break a few acres
for themselves, after which they would do the same for their less fortunate
neighbors. "Changing work" was often necessary on account of the lack of proper
machinery. The building of sod houses, the planting of trees, the harvesting of
crops, and similar tasks called for cooperation and general neighborliness
during the first years of settlement.

    The women at their spinning wheels, or knitting socks for the family,
invariably hummed a tune while they dreamed of the future. They saw comfortable
farm homes, better conditions all around; and above all they hoped for an
education for their children, something they themselves had lacked at home.
These dreams and hopes were eventually realized. The comfortable, well kept farm
homes that soon replaced the sod shanties were a credit to the community.
Youngsters were sent regularly to school and a large number of the younger
generation acquired a college or business education.

    This settlement, familiarly known as "Little Norway," can well be proud of
its achievements. Its sons and daughters have found their way to offices at the
county courthouse and the state capitol, and to various other responsible
positions. The religious and social life of these sturdy pioneers has proved a
credit to the community at large.


TRAIL OF THE HOMESTEADERS

IN 1884 EMIGRATION from the old country began. Glowing accounts of rich prairie
land that could be had for a song found their way to poverty-stricken homes in
Norway. Helping hands reached across the Atlantic, to enable needy relatives and
friends to come and avail themselves of the opportunities awaiting them in this
new land.

    Some of the adventurers, dissatisfied with pioneering, sold their rights for
small sums to these immigrants whose one aim was to secure a home. Steerage
tickets were cheap, but travel via steerage in the early days proved a torment,
since accommodations were so unsanitary. Upon their arrival at their
destination, the immigrants would be escorted to an outbuilding, where plenty of
water, strong homemade soap, and fine-toothed combs were at their disposal.

    One woman tells drolly of her arrival at Howard on June 29,1885. With three
children she had come to join her husband who had made the trip from their
homeland the previous year. The clothing and hair of her children and herself
were infested with parasites. What should she do? The shame of arriving at her
relatives' in this condition almost drove her frantic. Finally she took the
children behind the depot, combed their hair, stripped them one by one of their
clothes, and put them into clean garments. This process she also repeated on
herself. Luckily, no one appeared to witness this unusual performance.

    Somewhat more romantic were the experiences of Anne Guggi and John Furnstahl
who were married at Howard in October 1883, and set out for their sod shanty
that afternoon. They had come within a mile of home and twilight was already
falling over the prairie. John, walking beside the oxen, urged them on; the
young bride strained her eyes for a glimpse of her new home. Suddenly and
without warning, two large gray wolves sprang out from a clump of willows and
came straight at the oxen. John swung his whip, hung onto the rope he guided the
oxen by, and urged them to more speed. The wolves, their teeth bared, made
furious efforts to get close enough to sink their fangs into man or beast, when
luckily the shanty was reached and the animals slunk away disappointed. That
winter the wolves often serenaded them from the low roof of the house, with
mournful howls of the hunger they were experiencing because of the heavy snowfall.

    The handicaps under which the pioneers labored in establishing homes on the
uncharted prairies are shown in the experience of one of the earliest settlers
in Miner County. The family awoke one morning to find that the last match had
been used the night before. Not a match in the house! No cups of steaming barley
coffee and Madison—the nearest town— forty miles away! The father of the family
had been taken suddenly ill, and the son hated to leave his mother alone, since
his own wife was still in Minnesota. He stood by the sod shanty scanning the
horizon, when all at once, far to the northeast, he saw a fine thread of smoke
curling upward. He was soon riding across the prairies in search of the new
settlers and found that they were a family who had arrived a few days before.
From them he obtained the much needed matches and returned home, very happy
because he had kind neighbors only eight miles away.



A NORSEMAN FINDS A HOME

IT WAS IN the late spring of 1879 that a covered wagon, drawn by a team of lame,
sore-footed horses, crept slowly up Green Valley heading further northward. The
wagon lurched and jolted over the uneven prairie; buffalo bones crumbled under
the squeaky wheels as, devoid of grease, they sang their monotonous song of
neglect. The day had been hot and sultry and now, as evening drew near, ominous
clouds hung low in the western sky, foretelling a storm before morning.

   At last when but a few rods from Mud Creek and only a short distance from
Rock Creek, the wagon came to rest with a sudden jerk. One of the horses had
stepped into a hole and both were thrown to their knees. Martin Satter, the
driver, and his younger brother, Peter, jumped out, only to find one horse's leg
broken and useless. Ruefully they began to unhitch the frightened team, while
the other occupants of the wagon climbed down from their high perch.

    Anders, Martin's aged father, was first, followed by Maria, his wife, with
her knitting clutched in one bony hand. From the rear of the wagon came various
sounds—the plaintive bleating of day-old twin lambs, the cackling of excited
chickens. The yellow cat, after one searching glance at her surroundings, jumped
down from the wheel, stretched and twisted her body, and began to wash herself
in anticipation of supper. Gulros the red, and white cow, her sides heaving and
her tongue hanging limp, threw herself down with a low, reassuring "moo" to her
offspring, who had now added his voice to the animal chorus. The family went to
work, wading through the luxuriant grass gathering willow branches along Mud
Creek for their fires and carrying water for the tired animals. Soon the smoke
curled upwards, the first sign of civilization for miles around in the
northwestern part of Miner County.

    Although Maria cut generous slices from a hunk of dried beef and broke three
rounds of "flat bread" into manageable pieces, the family ate very little; each
one seemed buried in thought. Perhaps Martin, married only two years, was
wondering when his wife and son could join them. Anders and Maria were far away
in thought. They saw again the mirror-like fjord of their homeland, the lofty
mountains with gurgling brooks running down their sides. They saw again the
poverty-stricken old home, with their children leaving one by one for America,
the new wonderland they heard so much about; the weeks on the frail sailboat
nosing its way across the Atlantic; then the journey to Freeborn County,
Minnesota. And now, they were here, on the raw prairie of Dakota Territory.

    Peter had sneaked away to see if Gulros would give down enough milk for
their coffee the next morning. The men arose and began to stake down the wagon.
Anders, an old sailor, glancing at the clouds that were advancing steadily,
shook his head, but said nothing.

    Maria had climbed into the wagon, quieting the animals with a little armful
of grass, a few crumbs for the chickens, while she talked soothingly to all of
them. She could hear the men discussing the horse. No! No! She hoped they would
kill and bury him. Horse flesh wasn't fit food for civilized people. Later,
Martin killed the horse with an axe and buried him. This was a blow to the
family, but eventually Gulros worked uncomplainingly beside the remaining horse.

    It was midnight when the storm struck, and the next morning they wondered
how every one and everything had escaped without serious injury. The wagon had
rocked like a ship riding the angry waves. The noise of the storm and the
frightened animals had been deafening. Peter had crawled under the feather bed;
Maria unconsciously clasped her knitting bag between her hands and prayed the
Lord to spare them; the men, white faced, silent, sat side by side on the huge
chest that had come with them from the old country.

   At last the storm abated and Martin put his head out. There was water
everywhere. The stars came out, and twinkled down on the prairie schooner, so
much like a white boat, surrounded by water. Morning came, the sun shone
brightly, the water receded rap idly and each one of the family took up his or
her self-appointed tasks. There was so much to do on this raw, unsettled prairie.




A PIONEER CHRISTMAS

PIONEER TIMES were noted for sociability and hospitality, and especially was
this true at the 'Christmas season. The scattered settlers enjoyed getting
together; it helped break the monotony of their lonely and hard-working lives.
Their parties usually lasted from evening until after breakfast the next
morning. Those who were fortunate enough to own even a makeshift sleigh gathered
the neighbors who had no conveyances. As a rule they brought their bedding, for
festivities usually lasted until it was possible to return to their homes by
daylight.

    On one such occasion the Chris Larson family was busy with preparations for
a Christmas celebration. The floor had been scoured with fine sand from the
creek and vied in whiteness with the new-fallen snow outdoors. Woolly sheepskin
comforters had been nailed over the cracks in the wall, where snow persisted in
coming through. The homemade bed and trundle bed had been carried outside, not
to be brought in until the next morning.

    Kristi, Chris's wife, a bit better off than some of her neighbors, had baked
an astonishing amount of good things to eat. There were two cream cans full of
cookies, doughnuts and fattigmand. Chris wondered how she could do it, not
knowing that Kristi had saved and hoarded for months for this occasion. Meat
balls, undeniably three-fourths rabbit, had been fried that morning, and were
now kept appetizingly warm on the back of the stove. Coffee, augmented by
several pinches of ground and roasted barley, was steeping in the huge copper
teakettle brought from Norway.

    Everything in the humble home bespoke festivity. Two precious white cloths
adorned the improvised table, consisting of three wide boards supported by two
sawhorses. It was moved from neighbor to neighbor as the occasion demanded.
    The Larson girls, seven and nine respectively, flaunted new flowered and
quilted petticoats for the first time. Their mother had shaken her head
dubiously; but why couldn't she see that quilted petticoats topped by their
tight, bright waists made a better outfit than the worn homespun brought with
them from the old country?

    The girls were pirouetting around the room, their petticoats spreading like
umbrellas. Neighbors in holiday attire were arriving. First a mug of homebrewed
beer must be passed to every guest—a good swallow now and another at midnight.
Children under feet were shooed into corners; the babies were tucked in the
"barrel" rocker and policed by the grandmothers of the crowd.

    Men and women joked and gossiped back and forth as the setting of a long
table progressed. It was pleasant indeed to be together. Then came the big
appetizing supper, the table lit with candles of Kristi's own making. That over,
the men volunteered to wash the dishes while the women cleared away the
remaining food. There was need for hurry, for hadn't Mons Hefty slyly reached
for his violin case? Furthermore, who wanted to miss even one of those lively
folk dances so popular with the Scandinavians?

    It was a custom in many claim shanties, in order to save space, to fasten a
shelf to the scantlings that braced the shanty roof. This shelf served as a
receptacle for pans of milk, tiny homemade cheeses, and various foods. It was
big Ole Johnson who, wanting to show off, suddenly swung his partner so high
that she hit the shelf, and down came pans, milk, and two precious little
cheeses, everything spilling and rolling among the crowd. This of course delayed
the dance momentarily, but soon it was cleared up and the fun continued.

    Children fell asleep huddled in their corners. They had tried so hard to
stay awake, but eyelids refused to stay open and now they wouldn't know who
their bedfellow was before next morning, when they would peer cautiously around
to see who was next to them.

    At last all went home through the crisp morning air, with memories of one
more Christmas spent in neighborly festivity.




HAILSTORM OF 1884

    ON JULY 21, 1884, the worst hailstorm ever experienced in Miner County
devastated a large crop area and did great damage to animals and buildings.
Toward the middle of the afternoon, ominous white clouds began gathering in the
northwest. Homesteaders busy with their hay crop looked askance at the threat
that seemed to be advancing toward them with terrific rapidity, and fled to
their shanties.

    When the storm struck, it was something that no man, woman or child would
ever forget. The sky became inky black, and jagged chunks of ice came hurtling
at everything in the storm's path. Lamps and candles were hurriedly lighted to
see if possible what damage was being done.

    At the Gullick Langland farm, Reverend Mr. Shirley was reading with his
confirmation class. During the recitation a huge chunk of ice came tearing
through the roof, landing in the midst of the group. That ended lessons for the
day.

   Andrew Satter, hurrying home to his wife and babies, found two large
hailstones in the shanty, one on the floor and the other on the stove. His wife
and babies were crouching beneath the stout, homemade table, thereby perhaps
saving their lives. The roof of a nearby granary was riddled.

    Another farmer living south of Carthage had a team of horses each of which
had an eye knocked out by the hail. Corn and grain were mowed down as if cut by
a sickle.

    George Laurence was a pioneer lumberman. His wife was at the lumber yard on
an errand and lingered a few minutes. Just then the storm struck. Mrs. Laurence,
half frantic, wished to run home to her two small children who were there alone,
but her husband held her back. She would be injured, he said, perhaps killed, by
the gigantic chunks of ice that hit the ground in a thundering roar. Several
teams of oxen tied to the hitching rail were bellowing loudly. When the storm
abated, the Laurences ran to their home. The panels in the door were split wide
open, window-panes were shattered, and like little Dutch Peter with his finger
in the leaky dike, the two children, seven and nine, were holding the family
featherbed over the window to keep out the hail.

    In later years settlers shook their heads whenever this hailstorm was
mentioned. They hoped never to see its like again.



THE BLIZZARD OF '88

THE 12th DAY of January, 1888, dawned with the mildness of a spring morning;
water dripped from the roofs and people shed their heavy outer clothing.

    The sun was warm and comforting at noon, when the children went out to play
after their quickly swallowed lunch. The teacher at the Carthage school-house
bestirred herself opening windows, while the children were out-of-doors.

   At two-thirty a hissing, terrifying noise enveloped the schoolhouse, followed
by darkness. The next instant the terrific blizzard was swirling around the
corners with the fury of a demon. The teacher tried to reassure the frightened
children, telling them there was nothing to be afraid of. Silently they huddled
around the stove.

    Members of the board of education procured all the available rope in town,
fastened one end securely to a corner of the Martin Block and set out to find
the schoolhouse. After what seemed an endless struggle and when they were
literally almost "at the end of their rope," they succeeded in reaching it.

    Tying the two youngest to the teacher, the men, hanging on to the rope and
pulling the older children by the hand, made their way laboriously back to the
Martin Bank Building. Bedding was collected and the children, teacher, and
several men kept vigil all night up above the bank. When the children became
restless, the owner of the local lumberyard took them on his knee and told them
stories, although his mind was on his family at home wondering if they were safe
inside. The next morning food was brought the emergency roomers and the children
went merrily back to school.



Additional Comments:
Published in 1939

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