Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/32

 8 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY feet. Since these first three, numerous others have been success- fully sunk, and the city of Red "Wing is soon to receive its water supply from artesian sources. "With the increase in the number of wells, the force of the water has been somewhat diminished. While Goodhue county is pre-eminently an agricultural one, outside of the cities and villages, yet it has several other sources of material wealth. The county is abundantly supplied with building stone, and from some of the quarries a large amount of stone has been sent to various parts of the Northwest. There are quarries at Frontenac and Red Wing, from which stone has been obtained for buildings in Red Wing, St. Paul, Minneapolis and elsewhere. There are other quarries of lesser importance at Belvidere, Hay Creek, Featherstone and Vasa. Another product produced in large quantities is quicklime, and sand for mortar is abundant whenever access can be had to the gravel terraces, or the plains, along the principal streams ; but in the absence of that, resort can be had to the sandstone, which can easily be excavated for that purpose. Such use of this rock has been made on the southwest quarter of section 23, Goodhue township. There are some townships, however, in the southwestern part of the county, in which sand for mortar has to be hauled a great distance, the whole county being uniformly covered with a clayey loam. Brick of excellent quality is made at various points. The old capitol at St. Paul was made of red pressed brick from Red Wing, and the Red Wing product in this line is known far and wide for its excellence. The clay found in Goodhue township has caused the making of stoneware to become practically the leading industry of Red Wing. From this clay are manufactured the finest kinds of white and yellow stoneware, and also the sewer pipe which has a national reputation. A fine quality of sand is also shipped for filtering purposes. There is but little peat in the county at large. Along the old valleys in the eastern part of the county are found some peat beds, but as yet little has been done in the line of making it a commercial product by its successful use as fuel. The animals native to Goodhue county are deer, elk, bear, fisher, beaver, otter, mink, muskrat, coon, squirrel (black, fox, red and chipmunk), fox, wolf (cayote and lumber), weasel, skunk, gopher (pocket and striped), wild cat, lynx, badger, wood- chuck, porcupine and a very few buffalo, though these were stragglers from the south. The buffalo, badger, porcupine, otter, beaver, fisher, bear, elk and deer are now practically extinct. Elijah Haskell Blodgett, deceased, will always be remembered as one of the most kindly and best beloved of Red Wing's most prominent citizens. His period of activity in this city began in