Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/14

viii matter selected is that which will prove of greatest interest to the greatest number of readers, and also that which is most worthy of being handed down to future generations, who in this volume, in far distant years may read of their large-souled, rugged-bodied ancestors and predecessors who gave up the settled peace of older communities to brave the rigors of pioneer endeavor. A few omissions may be due to the dereliction of some of the people of this county themselves, as in some instances, fortunately few, repeated requests for information has met with no response. In such cases, information gathered from other sources, though authentic, may have lacked copious detail. In spelling, it has been the endeavor of the publishers to follow the generally accepted forms, with the exception of the word "Wacoota," in which case the publishers have chosen to follow the English spelling rather than the French rendition of " Wacouta." Before passing hasty judgment on apparent errors, one should consider carefully, not relying on tradition or memory. In many cases we have found that persons' memories are faulty and tradition erronious. when measured by the standard of of- ficial records, even in the case of comparatively recent events, while in many instances families are under the impression that their forebears arrived in the county long before it was possible for them to do so. In such cases, we have found it advisable to follow the records. Ah instance of faulty tradition is the some- what extensively accepted story that Barn Bluff is named from a man named Barnes when as a matter of fact Barn is merely the English form of La Grange, the cognomen applied to the bluff by the earliest French explorers on account of its fancied resemblance to the common type of small barn in the old coun- try. The name Barn is used by Pike in 1806, long before any man named Barnes could have settled at its base. The publishers are indebted to the files of the Red Wing "Re- publican," which have been carefully perused and liberally copied; to the county, village and city, records, and to the min- utes of various corporations and societies. In this connection it is but just that thanks should be extended to those courteous gentlemen who have these records, files and books in charge and who have freely assisted the editors in their researches. Other books consulted and in many instances quoted are : The History of Goodhue County, published in 1879; J. W. Hancock's History of Goodhue County: W. H. Mitchell's Geographical and Statis- tical Sketch of the Past and Present of Goodhue County; His- tory of St. Paul and Ramsay County by J. Fletcher Williams ; the various publications of the Minnesota Historical Society; the Legislative Manual of the State of Minnesota; The History of Minnesota, by Edward W. Neill; Minnesota in Three Centuries, by L. F. Hubbard. William P. Murray, James H. Baker and Warren Upham; The History of Scandinavians in the United States, by 0. N. Nelson; The Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, by N. H. Winchell, assisted by Warren Upham; The Memoirs of Explorations in the Basin of the Mis- sissippi, by J. V. Brower; The Norsemen in America, by Martin Ulvestad; also various other standard historical, reference and biographical works, as well as many original manuscripts. .