Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/206

 154 HISTOEY OF GOODHUE COUNTY in the town of Welch, then unoccupied, was a precarious place for night to close in upon a wayfaring man with a dubious traek to follow. Yet, at about 9 o'clock in the evening, we were all made unusually glad that the storm had been weathered and the harbor safely reached. ''In the summer of 1856 I raised two acres of wheat. Thirty miles away, at Northfield, there was a mill. With a one-horse load I reached it at sundown, to find the mill full of grists and the water too low to run on full time. The only chance was to exchange a few bushels of my wheat for flour, receiving thirty pounds for each bushel. The rest of my grist I brought back as far as Cannon Falls and left to be ground without bolting. Winter soon came on. and no roads opened on my route hither. I found my wheat, which was Lef1 there, the next spring, musty. My next milling was done at Kinnickinnic, eight miles beyond Prescott. Wis., a four days' journey, going around through Cannon Falls and Hastings. "The early settlers wanted church privileges. A meeting was held at the house of Mr. Moore, near Cannon river bridge, at Burnside. Moore had an awful poor house. He had also the inflammatory rheumatism. He lay flat on his back on the loose hoards of the only floor except bare ground. The people had broughl all I heir youny d<><rs to the meeting. In the midst of the services the dogs became unseemly unceremonious. Moore evi- dently fell his responsibility for better order, and, rising with difficulty, in apparenl wrath, he took his own dog by the neck, dragged him to the door. and. with a loss and a kick, sent him yelping out. At thai all the dogs rushed ou1 in sympathy, and the man took his lowly place again. All reverence and devotion fled, and appointment was not renewed at that place. "We had frequenl visits from the Sioux Indians, who often killed deer in the neighbor! d. On one occasion three of these animals were shot by an Indian without moving from his secluded position. This occurred near where T. J. Bryan's house now stands. Our women, although alone generally through the day, were not disturbed in those early days by the visits of the redmen." The poorfarm, an institution of which the county has reason to be proud, is located in this township, under the charge of a superintendent appointed by the county commissioners. The farm is about three miles from Red Wing on the road to Hastings, and contains 183 acres of land. The buildings were erected in 1867 at a cost of about $6,000. The furnace, heating system and furniture cost about $1,000. The main building was accidentally destroyed by fire in the fall of 1889, and soon after rebuilt. At this farm the worthy poor of the county, mostly the very aged