Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/42

 16 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY of the ice field further north, and the cessation of the supply of such detritus, these streams began to excavate their present channels in the loose materials over which they had been flowing. This excavation was a process of short duration and continued as long as any glacial condition of the preceding cold epoch lingered in the state. When the rivers were reduced to more nearly their present stage, by the cutting off of the supply from the melting glaciers, a slow process of refilling seems to have been begun, which we see going on at present. This refilling is most evident in the lower portions of the river valleys, and in those parts where the valley is much larger than is now required by the stream flowing there.' "Such, then, is the geological story in brief, telling us how our environments were formed. They are of interest because the industries of Ked Wing are directly dependent upon them. The porous sandstones, containing gallons of water per cubic yard, furnish us with an inexhaustible supply of water for our mills and other establishments. The limestones furnish us lime for mortar and rocks for architectural purposes. We draw upon the gravel bars to grade our roads and our railroads. The soil of our farms is splendidly mixed, by the plowing, grinding and crushing of the glacial mill. The trees of the North and the grasses of the South came in, and furnish us with fuel and with opportunities for dairying. Clay for making bricks is handy in many places, and furnishes material for the pottery industries. The woods keep our saw mills humming and supply our furni- ture factories with materials for various products. The yield of the soil employs many at the malt houses and the mills, while the beauty and the facilities of the place draw to it seats of learning and of training." Thor K. Simmons, now deceased, was for thirty-three years one of the leading citizens of Red Wing, and his name is still perpetuated in the title of one of the county's leading financial institutions. He served as alderman and as county commissioner, and in other ways showed his public spirited interest in the welfare of the city and county. Born in Kragers, Norway, August 12, 1832, he received his education in the excellent public schools of that city, and became a school teacher. At the age of twenty-one, in 1853, he left his native land and came to America, locating for a time at Janesville, Wis., where some fellow countrymen had previously settled. In 1856 he followed the influx of immigration to Goodhue county, and homesteaded 160 acres near what is now known as Clay bank, in Goodhue township. A year later he decided to enter business life, and as a preliminary training in American commercial methods, clerked a year in the store of C. J. F. Smith, then one of the leading