Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/570

 CHAPTER XXVII. CALAMITIES. Terrible Cyclone — Vasa the Greatest Sufferer — "Sea Wing" Dis- aster — List of Those Who Perished — The Survivors — Ter- rible Blow to the Whole County — "Galena" Burned at the Levee in Red Wing" — Shooting of Chief Daily and Officer Peterson — Red Wing Fires in By-Gone Days. Goodhue county has been singularly free from calamities. There have been some, however, which can never be forgotten. The niosi terrible of these was the "Sea Wing" disaster, which, while more particularly affecting Red Wing, was profoundly felt throughoul the length and breadth of the whole county. The "Galena" bore no local people, but its burning was one of the important events of the early days. The cyclone at Vasa also caused sorrow throughout the entire neighborhood, and the shoot- ing of Chief Daily and Officer IVtersou struck horror to the hearts of the tanners as well as to the residents of the city. Red AVing fires have also had their influence on county life, as business for many miles is largely affected by any disaster which strikes a blow at the industrial activity of the county seat. CYCLONE AT VASA. A terrible cyclone visited this locality July 2, 1879. and spread death and desolation in its path. In Burnside several buildings were demolished, in Belle Creek buildings suffered greatly, and in Wanamingo three lives were lost. Vasa was the center of the storm. The following account of the disastrous events ap- peared in the Red Wing Republican : About 12 o'clock, between July 2 and 3, 1870. a furious hur- ricane commenced its destructive course near the center of the south line of section 16, in Vasa. going in a northeasterly direc- tion, and hitting Peatherstone near its northwest corner, beating down almost everything in its track, varying from 40 to 80 rods wide, and marking its course with terrible destruction of life and property. Commencing by tearing down trees in the school sec- tion, it crossed the Red Wing and Cannon Falls road at the house 490