Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/177

 HISTOEY 01 i.uODHUE COUNTY 129 beautiful spot ou Rush river in the state of Wisconsin. A few rods of open priarie stretched down to the river from the camp, and the small, orchard-like trees surrounding offered an inviting shade. In front loomed up big bluffs, covered with tall timber; back of the camp the ground rose in a succession of plateaus, until the general level of the country was attained. Taking it all in all, it was one of the loveliest situations for the purposes of a sportsman's camp that I ever beheld. An invitation to call and break bread with them was accepted, and in a few days John Webster, Billy B., Sam Stevens and myself, were on the 'old battle ground' with rod, reel, line and various other appliances deemed necessary on such occasions. "We found our friends en- joying themselves admirably. They had established friendly relations with the neighboring settlers and could not be better situated. One of the party was a minister of the gospel of the Methodist denomination, a Pennsylvanian by birth, brought up among the mountains of Sinnemahoning, as pure and unsophis- ticated as regards evil, as the mountain brooks of his native home. From his surroundings in childhood he could not have been less than a keen sportsman and be a man. ''The country in the locality had been sparsely inhabited for a number of years. Young men with young families had settled there, and fer a time had not felt the necessity of education or religious instruction. As their families grew up, however, several had expressed a determination to leave on account of their fam- ilies growing up ignorant in these particulars and devoid of a knowledge of the amenities and conventionalities of social life. A slight impetus of immigration has raised their drooping spirits, and by an effort they had just completed a school house, which, on the Sabbath, they used as a church when a wandering minister traveled that way. This being the situation, word was given out that our reverend sportsman, Brother Shaffer, would, with divine permission, give them a discourse on the ensuing Sabbath, at such an hour as might suit their convenience. Nature had been lavish of gifts to our friend of herculean proportions. He was deep chested, strong limbed, and with a voice as clear as the clarion's notes, combined with the resonance of distant artillery, yet he could modulate it to the murmur of a mountain rill, under the controllings of genial influences. His invariable practice, after the evening meal, as the shades of night drew on, was to retire a short distance from the camp, and I presume offer up his devotions, and then break forth in evening hymn, which caused all camp avoca- tions to be suspended. The very birds ceased their songs; the gambolings of the little denizens of the forest and the busy hum of insect life seemed hushed. Naught of earth was heard but the voice of praise and the gentle murmur of the passing stream, in