August 2020
FREE Your Summer Guide to Southwest Minnesota!
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2 – SOUTHWEST SAILOR, AUGUST 2020
‘Love The Burger Battle’ held in Luverne The Second Annual “Love the Burger Battleâ€? sponsored by the Rock-Nobles Cattlemen’s Association kicks o Monday, August 17, and will continue through Tuesday, September 15, 2020. Rock-Nobles Cattlemen’s Association will present the “Love the Burgerâ€? traveling trophy to the winner of the contest at 8 p.m. on the patio of Take 16
Brewing Company on Friday, September 18 in downtown Luverne immediately following Luverne Cruise Night. Winner of the 2019 contest was Sterling’s CafÊ & Grille. Luverne’s participating restaurants will exemplify the breadth and variety of dining by showcasing the Classic American Beef Burger. Come to Luverne
to enjoy a burger and then rate it to see who the restaurant winner will be at the end of that month. Customers will assign up to ďŹ ve points in each of ďŹ ve categories for every featured burger they try. The burger with the highest average points at the conclusion of the battle will be declared the winner.
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Contest Categories: • Patty • Presentation • Toppings • Bun • Customer Service The restaurants won’t be the only ones winning prizes during the second annual “Love the Burger Battle.â€? Customers who participate will be entered to win in the restaurant gift card drawings. On August 28 and September 15 – the names of ďŹ ve diners will be drawn from each restaurant. During the contest period – each restaurant will give away $50 worth of dining gift cards and the RockNobles Cattlemen will match the gift. A total of $800 will be given to 80 diners. Participating Restaurants: 75 Diner - Luverne Green Lantern Bar and Grill Hardwick Hidden Hills CafĂŠ & Hideaway Tavern - Hills Howling Dog Saloon – Luverne Magnolia CafĂŠ - Magnolia SpringBrooke Events, Golf & Grill – Beaver Creek Sterling’s CafĂŠ & Grille - Luverne Vinnie’s Dang Fine Dine – Luverne The event is coordinated by the Luverne Area Chamber & CVB. For additional information: luvernechamber@co.rock.mn.us or call 507-283-4061
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Casey Jones would be proud Friends of the Casey Jones State Trail Association pedaling forward with new look BY PER PETERSON
A scavenger hunt. A new logo. New headlight herald trails. Not even a pandemic can slow the excitement generated by the progress that has surrounded the iconic Casey Jones State Trail. Recent work over the last year on the Casey Jones State Trail connected Pipestone to Woodstock, and the Friends of the Casey Jones State Trail Association is now hoping to further the connection with trail advocates. Friends of the Casey Jones State Trail Association is a non-profit group that advocates for the development of the Casey Jones State Trail and maintenance of the existing trail, which is owned by the State of Minnesota and managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The Friends group has been meeting virtually over the last several months on new initiatives, including a new look. The Friends group worked with Southwest Regional Development Commission (SRDC) to create a new logo that better showcased what the trail had to offer. The Friends group has partnered with the Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota to create the family-friendly scavenger hunt at 19 parks and trails across Minnesota. Families can visit the trail in person or do a virtual hunt. Each child who shares their experience will be entered into two prize drawings. There will be a prize drawing for each park and trail, as well as overall grand prizes. Entries will be accepted until Sept. 7, 2020. Find the Scavenger Hunt at www. parksandtrails.org/hunts. The Scavenger Hunt is a statewide effort to create a fun and educational event for the summer 2020 featuring 178 State Parks and five State Trails. The event is coordinated by Parks & Trails of Minnesota. “Kids are asked to share their park or trail experience and will be entered into a prize drawing with many cool prizes donated by the business community,” said Mick Myers, president of the Casey Jones Trail Association. “Lucky winners will win a Night Hike Kit.” The Casey Jones State Trail, which tracy area
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THE CASEY JONES STATE TRAIL just north of Currie. BELOW: Friends of the Casey Jones State Trail has updated its logo (right). Photo / Per Peterson
is one of only two trails in western Minnesota, consists of three segments — the longest is 13 miles of former railroad grade between the city of Pipestone and the Pipestone/Murray county line. Five miles of this segment from Pipestone to County Road 16 is paved, and the remaining 8 miles are natural-surfaced. A second, small, natural-surfaced segment runs west 1.5 miles from the city of Lake
Wilson. The third portion of the trail is a 6-mile, paved loop between Lake Shetek State Park and the city of Currie. Five miles of new trail — three paved and two conditioned hard surface — will be added and will end on the west edge of Woodstock. The addition will feature handicap-accessible pedestrian crossings. “Riders on this section will
immediately notice a difference in the terrain as the trail winds through and over the famous Buffalo Ridge with several river crossings,” Myers said. “Riders will enjoy the exceedingly smooth 10-foot wide trail which was completed this spring and connects Woodstock and Pipestone. Food and beverage can be found on both ends of the trail. The Pipestone Trail Head features a bike repair station, complete with attached bike specific tools and an air pump.” Myers said the trail has seen an increase in bikers and joggers this summer during the pandemic and is working on a ribbon-cutting ceremony
CASEY JONES TRAIL continued on page 4
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ICONS show places where state trails are across the state of Minnesota. MN DNR
PART OF THE NEW Casey Jones Trail west of Woodstock. Submitted photo
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Casey Jones Trail Continued from page 3
for the new section in the future to help introduce those who don’t know of the trail to all it has to oer. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the trail connects points of natural interest, such as remnants of tallgrass prairie, wooded ravines, Lake Shetek and the sloughs around it — remnants of the glacial landscape that once covered southwestern Minnesota. Historical and cultural sites around the area include sites associated with Laura Ingalls Wilder in Walnut Grove, railroad artifacts in Currie and Tracy, wind towers, and the pipestone quarries in the Pipestone National Monument. The website oers a map with logos that signify where scavenger hunts exist, and visitors have the option of doing an in-person hunt (everyone must follow outdoor recreation guidelines from the Minnesota DNR and social distancing recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — or a virtual tour. You can keep track of your hunt on your phone (that requires an Adobe Acrobat Reader app) or on paper, as each hunt is available as a printer-friendly download. Southwest Minnesota trails involved include Casey Jones and the Nelson Creek Trail in Jackson. Also, numerous state parks are included in the hunt, including Blue Mounds State Park, north of Luverne.
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Roaring Twenties exhibit featured at Murray County Historical Society Museum BY TRINA THOMAS
Janet Timmerman and Rose Schmit of the Murray County Historical Society Museum are working behind the scenes for the Roaring Twenties exhibit to be revealed this month. Timmerman and Schmit both attended SMSU majoring in history, with Timmerman’s highest level of education Special to the Sailor
at the masters level with a degree in history from Kansas State University. Museum directors have a lot to juggle between working with employees, speaking before the county board, raising money, planning and executing new exhibits, etc. Timmerman stated that job duties are broken up to ensure everything runs smoothly. Schmit takes on the tasks of site coordinator and collections while
ROSE SCHMIT Murray County Museum site manager, left, and Janet Timmerman, Murray County Museum director, stand by the museum’s Model T Ford exhibit. Photos / Trina Thomas
A MEDICAL EXHIBIT is featured at the Murray County Museum.
Timmerman is the “face” of the museum being the director. Timmerman stated that they try to have a new exhibit once every one to two years, but sometimes planning an exhibit can take up to 4 years, especially when applying for grants. Their money also comes from private donors, fundraisers, members, and the county. Their newest exhibit is focused on the 1920s, and they recently had to cancel a 1920’s dance they had scheduled due to COVID-19. “We had to cancel the 1920’s dance which usually is our bread and butter,” said Timmerman. Although they won’t be having a dance, you can still remember the Roaring Twenties by
visiting the museum. In honor of the new exhibit, here is a list highlighting some of the events that took place in the 1920s. 1. The Red Scare - After World War I, U.S. citizens were scared of having terrorists on American land which caused a lot of backlash on immigrants. The “Palmer raids” commenced where thousands were accused of being communists and anarchists across the country were arrested. Due process was not followed and this ended up ruining Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer’s career.
MURRAY COUNTY continued on page 6
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Murray County Continued from page 5
THE HISTORIC DINEHART / HOLT HOUSE in Slayton. Photos / Trina Thomas
See what Tracy has to offer‌
2. Women gained the right to vote - On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote. However, it wasn’t until March 22, 1984, that all U.S. States ratiďŹ ed the 19th Amendment. Many men were unhappy that women could vote. 3. Prohibition - Contrary to popular belief, prohibition didn’t mean that people couldn’t drink liquor. It meant that liquor couldn’t be manufactured or sold. There was one wealthy man in New York who was said to have bought 14 years of liquor supplies before prohibition went into eect. 4. The second wave of the KKK - Many white individuals didn’t feel like the police were doing enough to stop the immigrants, Catholics, and people of color that they read about in the media. The KKK rose to do whatever the police couldn’t. Unlike the ďŹ rst time around for the KKK, this group didn’t care to hide their discriminatory practices, as they would advertise in newspapers
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and sponsor sports teams and college fraternities. 5. The ďŹ rst radio station broadcast KDKA of Pittsburg was the ďŹ rst radio station to go on air on election day in November 1920. 6. Teaching evolution was banned As evolution was introduced to more schools in the ’20s, many Christians felt it was invading their teachings as many students started to stray away from the bible and religion. Albert Fleischmann was a German zoologist at the University of Erlangen and opposed evolution. Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas made the teachings of human evolution a crime, Oklahoma prohibited using textbooks that talked about it, and Florida condemned the teachings of it. It wasn’t until 1960 that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Arkansas law banning evolution to be unconstitutional. 7. On August 2, 1923, President Harding died from a heart attack, and Vice President Calvin Coolidge was sworn into oďŹƒce. • The museum is open by appointment only. The hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays are available upon request.
PICUTURED IS THE GRAND STAIRCASE of the Dinehart/Holt House in Slayton, MN.
19th Amendment focus of new Wheels exhibit The Wheels Across the Prairie Museum in Tracy is hosting a new popup exhibition from the National Archives, Rightfully Hers, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the ratiďŹ cation of the 19th Amendment. Rightfully Hers contains simple messages exploring the history of the ratiďŹ cation of the 19th Amendment, women’s voting rights before and after the 19th, and its impact today. Despite decades of marches, petitions, and public debate to enshrine a woman’s right to vote in the constitution, the 19th Amendment – while an enormous milestone – did not grant voting rights for all. The challenges of its passage reverberate to the ongoing ďŹ ght for gender equity today. This exhibit runs through the rest of the museum season. Rightfully Hers co-curator Jennifer N. Johnson states: “The ratiďŹ cation of the 19th Amendment was a landmark moment in American history that dramatically changed the electorate, and although it enshrined in the U.S. Constitution fuller citizenship for women many remained unable to vote.â€? If you have questions about this exhibitor the museum, call 507-626-1949 or email info@wheelsacrosstheprairie.org
SOUTHWEST SAILOR, AUGUST 2020 – 7
‘Nothing quite like Heron Lake’ From Above The Fold: It is our honor to once again be bringing our readers in the region the writings of the late Bill Bolin, an iconic and beloved historian, educator and coach in Tracy for many decades. Bolin passed away October 15, 2017, and he is missed by so many to this day. Bill started writing for the Sailor in 1997 in hopes of passing down many of his experiences, especially to his children, grandchildren and the many students he encountered in Tracy Area High School from his student teaching in 1956-57 until his final retirement in 2010. The Tracy Area Headlight Herald, with permission from Bill’s family, is reproducing his popular columns in this edition of the Sailor, as well as in editions yet to come:
Volumes have been written about Heron Lake, the “Chesapeake of the West�, and the men who made the lake famous as a waterfowl paradise. Sadly, however, a million or more stories passed into oblivion as none of us saw fit to record the wonder they saw and emotions they experienced while hunting there. Martin Bovey Jr. in the book Whistling Wings, and Jim Kimball in the Market Hunter, devote a few pages to the lake. LeRoy Peterson, of Lakefield did a wonderful job in the 1983 Heron Lake Centennial book in chapter II, The Lake. Duck’s Unlimited and the Minnesota Waterfowl Association pay tribute and respect to Herman Becker, the man I consider, along with J. Morton Smith of Windom, as the best living resources of this great lake’s history. Articles appeared years ago in the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer by Dr. Thomas S. Roberts and Lytton Taylor. Lew Hudson, formerly of Worthington, did some writing on Heron Lake for Minnesota Sportsman magazine in the late 70’s. The Heron Lake Environmental Learning Center in a 1990 project collected some excellent readings from several sources, which were made available to me by Lee Carlson, ecologist for the Heron Lake Watershed District. Other valuable information has been prepared and published by the North Heron Lake Game Producers Association. Sometime, some day, some one will pull all this wonderful part of southwest Minnesota history, and more, together in book form. This work would provide stimulating reading, recall a wonderful era of southwest Minnesota history and address over a century of conflict and controversy on the lake. It
History Is Life Bill Bolin would also help all of us to cherish this precious resource and involve ourselves in worthwhile attempts in restoration and preservation for our children and children’s children to enjoy. In a recent Duck’s Unlimited magazine a snapshot and short dialogue appeared. It was entitled “Hunting the Prairies ‘90s-Style.� The two paragraphs immediately caused me to relate Heron Lake, which I’m writing about today, and the Great Oasis in Murray County, drained in 1912-1913 and which I wrote about in the May 20 issue of the Sailor. A proposal to drain Heron Lake had failed in 1923. It seems clear that the 6,000 acres of rich wetlands making up the Great Oasis and the approximate 8,250 unspoiled acres that was Heron Lake at the turn of the century were destined to be greatly influenced by the railroad. While the Great Oasis was also a sportsmen’s paradise it was nearly inaccessible to but a handful of the hardy few. Heron Lake, in distinct contrast was readily accessible. First to ship the abundant market hunter harvest of waterfowl to the Twin Cities, Chicago and eastern markets and soon to provide sport for the wealthy notables arriving from Chicago and other cities on special trains equipped with bunk beds and kitchens. By 1883 Charles Winzer had constructed a hunting lodge on his farm. The “LoneTree Lodge� soon was registering the names of many business and professional leaders. The Miller brothers, Tom and John, soon followed and as LeRoy Peterson wrote from a 1958 F.B. Kalash letter: “It is possible that today’s great Minnesota resort industry may have had a humble beginning right here at Heron Lake over 100 years ago.� A 1909 newspaper claimed that the Minneapolis men making up the Heron Lake Lodge had a combined wealth alone of 30 million. Many hunters paid $1,000 a year just to hold hunting grounds. John Deere Corporation executives, Mayo Clinic physicians, WCCO celebrities, founders of the Sexton Insurance Agency, Washburn-Crosby (now General
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Mills) leaders, etc. hunted Heron Lake. I would guess that diligent research of this topic would provide more than enough material for an interesting chapter in a book. I enjoyed seeing a picture in LeRoy’s article of John D. McMillan, one of the founders of Cargill Corporation with Harry Converse, a Fulda native
Welcome to
and legendary guide, hunter, and outdoorsman of the glory days on Heron Lake. I find it noteworthy that McMillan, who hunted Heron Lake in the early 1900’s, still is a powerful
HISTORY IS LIFE continued on page 8
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History is Life Continued from page 7
name in Minnesota fortunes. When speculation abounded as to the potential Minnesota buyer for the Vikings and the Star and Tribune listed Minnesota’s 10 most wealthy individuals, McMillans represented 3 of the top 6. Harry Converse did some writing about Heron Lake. Unfortunately it all ended abruptly in 1916 due to ill health. LeRoy Peterson used the following direct quote from Harry’s 1906 notes: “We went down to the lake to look things over. There were surely a lot of “canvas” that had come in during the night. We estimated there were at least 700,000 and they were most all feeding in our end of the lake.” Has anyone living today seen 700,000 canvasbacks at one time? Activists at Heron Lake have perpetrated illegal and unlawful acts almost since that tragic day in late March of 1857. It was then the renegade Dacotah, Inkpaduta left it’s shores to launch his wrath on white settlers at Spirit Lake and Springfield (now Jackson). It is alleged that Inkpaduta fled from his pursuers by crossing the bar on the south lake between Johnson Point and Pelican Point. Lew Hudson in the late 70’s addressed the long history of conflict and confrontation relating to several issues. Heron Lake has a colorful record of illicit doings and angry dispute. He wrote: “Some of it bordering on the type of blood feuding normally considered the specialty of the Kentucky and Tennessee hills.”
“About $7 million has been spent or earmarked for the program, whose final pricetag is expected to be more than $20 million.”
and “The lake seems to bring out the worst in men. Heron has been an easy lake to hunt and preservationist attitudes on the part of the rich and powerful have been largely the reason.” or “Did I hear you ask, “Aren’t all Minnesota lakes public waters?” Yes, but to use public water you first have to get to it.” I had the opportunity to ask several citizens, both male and female, about these controversies in 1998. None think they will ever be resolved. Too bad! Yet never is a long time and I hope they are wrong. These issues relate to: fishing, hunting pressure, public access, channels and ditches to enhance drainage, flooding of good farm land, water levels, carp eradication, obstructions in creek channels, outboard motors, municipal sewage, sedimentation, chemicals – fertilizer run-off, dikes to reclaim farm land (the original 8,250 acres has been reduced to 6,400) and a real dandy – dams! Some Heron Lake history might be written as the “battle of the dams”. The Dalziel Dam is seemingly the most irritating to many. It certainly has fostered a distrust of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Some of this stemming from a May, 1981 D.N.R. office memorandum from Ray Nyberg, then Regional Hydrologist for the D.N.R. It was sent to Larry Seymour with copies to Leo Haseman and Larry Nelson regarding repair of the Dalziel Dam. In this letter it seems clear that authorization for repair came from
Let’s hope the Heron Lake Watershed Recovery program succeeds. The following names are a rich part of Heron Lake, southwest Minnesota, Minnesota, and the upper mid-west. It is even more important that we tell their stories in the next 100 years than it has been in the past. If all of us could sit down for a few minutes with any of these men today our lives would be richer, our visions clearer, our resolve firmer and as an old favorite poem of mine declares (of Heron Lake?). “Food for thought abounds out here. Enough for all men’s dreams.”
St. Paul without Ray or other D.N.R. water people in the region ever being contacted. Some think politics subverted the public trust within the upper echelon of the D.N.R. “Hokahbena” - Dacotah for nesting place of the Heron became known as Heron Lake. A lake with nearly a 500mile watershed through some of the best farm land in Minnesota. It stretches into Murray, Nobles and Cottonwood County as well as Jackson. This is a lake whose history and future hopefully will justify the price tag reported in the August 7, 1994 Outdoor section of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune for its restoration.
J. Morton Smith, William and Ed Peter, Morton W. Smith, Tom and John Miller, Herman Becker, Albert and Louis Olson, Abe Nelson, Red Dalziel, Sevard Marks, Harry Converse, Frank Kalash, Hiram Southwick, Tom Palmer, Emil Wiese, Fred Gilbert, and many others. As Dr. Thomas Roberts, famous Minnesota ornithologist wrote in the early 1900’s. “Up and down our western prairies there are numerous similar places, but nothing quite like Heron Lake.”
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SOUTHWEST SAILOR, AUGUST 2020 – 9
Prairie Lives: A Tracy Marine in theWestern Pacific BY BILL PALMER
This year the world commemorates the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. We will participate by remembering the wartime contributions of persons from our region, most of whom are no longer with us. I interviewed Tracy’s Art Marben in July 2006. Art was born in Lamberton, MN, in 1922 and graduated from Lamberton High School in 1940. Art enrolled at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, beginning his college education while living in a dormitory on campus. He was a sophomore when Imperial Japan attacked Naval Base Pearl Harbor, plunging the U.S. into WWII. Art and his college friends had already registered for the draft, so military service was on their minds as they attended classes and followed the war news. They reached a decision in October 1942. “We all thought we were going to be drafted because we had signed up for the draft in our local counties. We were shooting the breeze one day and one guy mentioned, ‘Let’s go down and enlist in the Marine Corps.’ So, we went down and enlisted. Of course, the guy who suggested we enlist in the Marine Corps didn’t qualify. He couldn’t pass the exam. So, we had Art Scheidl, Keith Homan, Bob Lee and myself all enlist in the Marine Corps.â€? Art explained that they enlisted in the Navy/Marine Corps V-12 program. “It was a college program prior to being commissioned. So, they sent us to Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter [June 1943] and after the 1st semester, two of the fellows – Art Scheidl and Keith Homan – were called in the Marine Corps. I stayed for two semesters before I went in to Parris Island for Boot Camp.â€? Life at Gustavus Adolphus as a Marine V-12 cadet involved college courses, but also carried a distinct Marine Corps avor. “We lived in the dorm. I took regular college classes. We had some Marine sergeants there that gave us physical training. We were in uniform. I’ll never forget how we’d march down the hill from Gustavus Adolphus to the bank at St. Peter and pick up our $48 a month. We were all buck privates,â€? he concluded, laughing. Art estimated there were at least 200 students enrolled in the V-12 program at Gustavus Adolphus. “We were in companies. We had a corporal that was in charge of us – each unit – tough, old Marine corporal. It was a good experience. They gave us physical training and the college professors gave us the mental end of it. We didn’t have any Marine Corps history or anything, but we had the Marine Corps physical training before going to Boot Camp, which was where you really learned a few things.â€? The Marine Corps sent Art to Basic Training (Boot Camp) at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina in late spring of 1944. Art explained the adjustments Boot Camp required. “Well, there was so much regimentation. When you’re going to college, you freelance things quite a bit. But [in Boot Camp] everything is run on schedule. The demands are there and you’d better live up to them and if you don’t, you’re in trouble starting Special to the sailor
Art Marben
with Boot Camp right on. And that’s just a learning situation that you have to adjust to.â€? Art did not hesitate a bit when identifying the lasting impressions Boot Camp left on him. “Bull Sullivan as a Drill Instructor – a tough man. His use of language was something extraordinary in describing things. He knew how to handle men. He put us through the worst calisthenics I’ll never forget! There was no backtalk. You were a boot and you [had to] gain the respect. You loved him and you hated him.â€? He described a particular training incident with DI Sullivan. “When we had bayonet practice, you had to put the scabbard on the bayonet. So, I’m going at him and giving that vertical stroke and so forth. Evidently I was doing it a little haphazardly. He said, ‘Take that scabbard o that bayonet and you come at me.’ Jeez, I came at him – he hit my rie and just about knocked me over. He was something else,â€? Art concluded with a laugh. When Art graduated Boot Camp, the Marine Corps sent him to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejuene, North Carolina. He explained why the Marine Corps
Art Marben military photo
sent him there, rather than to the usual OďŹƒcer Candidate School at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. “The rate of attrition among 2nd Lieutenants was so bad in the Marine Corps, they had to accelerate the program. So, I never did go to Quantico, which was the Marine Corps academy for 2nd Lieutenants. There were 300 of us in the special OCS. They put us through
some good training.â€? The oďŹƒcer candidates lived in regular barracks and lived Marine Corps discipline from reveille in the morning to light’s out at night. Art described their oďŹƒcer training course at Camp Lejuene. “Calisthenics was the ďŹ rst thing in the morning and it’s nothing real easy. And then you go to classes and then you’re out in the ďŹ eld a lot, you know – war exercises. It’s a good program. It was a couple of months. We were commissioned – 300 of us – it became a very close-knit outďŹ t.â€? OďŹƒcer of Marines, 2nd Lieutenant Arthur Marben received orders to the 3rd Amphibious Corps, whose mission was to plan and conduct combat assaults against Japanese-held islands in the Western PaciďŹ c. Art was on his way to the war. I welcome your participation in and ideas about this exploration of prairie lives. You may reach me at prairieviewpressllc @gmail. com. • Part II of this look into the life of Art Marben will be published in the holiday edition of the Sailor.
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10 – SOUTHWEST SAILOR, AUGUST 2020
END-O-LINE RAILROAD PARK & MUSEUM in Currie. Photos / Trina Thomas
TALKING ABOUT A FREIGHT TRAIN COMEBACK AT END-O-LINE IN CURRIE There are energy challenges when it comes to transportation, and one way to address this challenge is to reinvest back into freight trains. It may be easy to think that the time for freight trains has passed, and the Currie End-O-Line Railroad Park & Museum displays the rise and downfall of the freight system at the local level. Rail service to Currie began in the
BY TRINA THOMAS
Special to the Sailor
spring of 1900, and in 1901, the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, & Omaha Railway (CStPM&O), expanded the rail yard in Currie. This rail yard included a depot, engine house, water tower, switching yard, and the construction of a manually operated turntable. When a train arrived, the engine was detached from the cars, placed on the turntable, rotated, then placed back on the mainline to be restored with the cars. 9G¼RG P ROT has rece F ěJCě OTR SěC ė ived th Quality e Silver Award presen the Am ted by erican He Associa alth Care tion.
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Passenger and freight hauling peaked in the early 1920s followed by a decline once automobiles became more readily available. By the 1970s, the Currie branch line was used only for occasional freight service with the last freight train coming to the Currie grain elevator in 1977. The policy choice to move away from railroads and invest money into
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highways were based on voting that was carried out over several decades. Trucks were the preferred method over trains considering a faster turn-around time. Since the revenue bottomed out in the 1970s, freight trains began to re-invest their money into better eďŹƒciency which raises the question: could the freight train make a comeback? Jakob Etrheim, the park site coordinator, talked about the advantages of reinvesting into freight trains as the preferred method over trucks. “It’d be nice to see. There aren’t a lot of railroads anymore. It would require the installation of more railroads. A lot of that land has been purchased or turned into farms. There would be less carbon emission.â€? Etrheim continued, “I’ve also been told with oil pipelines that freight is safer because there’s less probability of oil leaks. It still happens but it’s less likely to happen.â€? Railroads and trucks are both using diesel, but railroads release less CO2 per ton-mile. If we moved from truck to railroad, it is estimated to save 1000 gallons of fuel per carload. Even if cargo must travel a longer distance by rail, shipping by rail is still the energyeďŹƒcient choice. Railroads win when it comes to safety. Trucks are typically the ones responsible for accidents they are involved in. Most of the people killed by trucks are in passenger vehicles who are on the same road as 18-wheelers. Having fewer freight trucks on highways would reduce the number of injuries, deaths and traďŹƒc.
END-O-LINE continued on page 11
SOUTHWEST SAILOR, AUGUST 2020 – 11
leading the way WHO SAYS DUCKS can be found only out in the country or on a lake somewhere? This momma mallard was spotted leading her ducklings through a residential yard in Slayton recently. Photo / Per Peterson
www.swmnsailor.com Read all your favorites on-line‌
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End-O-Line Continued from page 10
The rise of freight trains would bring more jobs to Southwest Minnesota and stimulate the economy. Ehtreim stated that many residents in Currie held jobs for the railroads for close to 40 years that were “good-paying jobs.â€? Locomotive engineers make about $72,323 per year versus $59,536 for a truck driver. Even jobs such as conductors, rail yard engineers, and signal and switch operators receive higher wages than truck drivers. Higher wages, added jobs and the option to put a tax on carbon would reap economic beneďŹ ts. One disadvantage of adding freight trains and reducing trucks would be slower delivery time. Since many freight customers are very sensitive to that factor, the focus would need to be on how to heighten the performance, and double-tracking would have to be installed. Adding more siding or double tracks would allow more trains to operate in
dierent directions and allow the trains that are operating at dierent speeds than one another to still be on the same track. Safety on the roads, energy-eďŹƒciency, and stimulation to the economy are just a few reasons why ramping up railroad use is advantageous. Ehtreim at End-oline approves of this idea and said, “It’d be nice to see.â€?
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12 – SOUTHWEST SAILOR, AUGUST 2020
Nobles’ Road Part three of the narrative “Nobles’ Road,� written by Randy Kottke of rural Tracy.
Now July 21st, the expedition with its attachment of speculators and sightseers arrived at what had suddenly become Cottonwood City, later, Saratoga. There, the river, “about 20 feet wide & from 1 to 2 feet deep, with steep banks & stony bottoms,â€? owed through six square miles of oak, cottonwood, and elm and it was named Big Woods, a portion of which remains as Garvin Park. The following day, four men and a team moved eighteen miles back to the road’s lower crossing of the Cottonwood to put up hay for the train’s return trip, unlikely now from South Pass. Accompanied by eleven men, the superintendent left for the uneasy Yellow Medicine agency “to ascertain deďŹ nitely the intentions of the Ihanktons congregated at that place, regarding us.â€? Nobles included a round trip to and from St. Paul in his fact-ďŹ nding mission and would be gone nearly two weeks. At Big Woods, engineer Medary and his assistant directed the bridge construction while wagon repair began in earnest. Several had been worn beyond repair and dismantled for their parts, axles broken, boxes twisted, the wheels on most would need their iron tire shrunk to grip the wooden rim securely again. The men were equipped with an anvil, a forge, bellows, a vise, heading tools, a screw plate to make bolts, and charcoal was made on site to fuel the forge. A loose tire would be removed from its wheel, an area of the tire heated red-hot in the forge and cut through. The ends were scarfed, reheated, overlapped, then welded together, resulting in a slightly smaller circumference than begun with. The now undersize tire was heated evenly to expand it, applied to its wheel, and quenched to shrink it tightly to the rim. The process requires skill and teamwork, only when properly done are wheel and tire one again. An ox was butchered for fresh meat, one of several the party would consume that season. A steady diet of salt-preserved meat was known to be unhealthy and oxen were the beef of the day. The word “cattleâ€? was used interchangeably with “oxenâ€? throughout the project records. One week after the ďŹ rst men were sent to the lower crossing to make hay, twentyseven more joined them to establish a ford and construct the eighteen miles of road between it and Cottonwood City. A “most excellent road,â€? ďŹ fteen miles of this section was in a straight line, an air-line, and the soil “susceptible of the highest degree of cultivation & adapted to the growth of all the cereals.â€? A gravelly streambed at the crossing provided a good ford requiring little more than cutting down the steep banks but Nobles foresaw a more elaborate solution: The Cottonwood River is, at this season of the year, low & fordable at most points, but in the spring it rises rapidly, and at this place where the road crosses, it would be impossible to ford it, and I urgently recommend the construction of a bridge at this place. The water is good & wood abundant. There are pickerel & catfish in large quantities in the river. The bottoms are Pric Reduc e ed
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from ½ to 1 mile in width, of rich soil & about 15 feet above the basin of the stream. The men completed the ford in one day and marked the section of new road with mounds of sod spaced a quarter mile apart in their next-day return to Big Woods, sufďŹ cient until the promised stream of emigrant wagons wore their own mark. Cutting and grading approaches for the bridge at the upper crossing proved less straightforward. The steep blus on the east side required excavation and engineer Medary reported the earthwork there produced four hundred feet of road averaging nine percent grade; less work was required on the west side of the river. Presumably, these cuts became ďŹ ll for a thousand-foot elevated grade across the river bottom with its quicksand-like springs. Teams pulled the road scraper and plow, but picks, shovels, and men ďŹ lled and emptied the wagonloads of earth that would join at the new bridge. The structure was built from the Bur Oak, plentiful at Big Woods. Slow growing and capable of attaining great size, the tree is judged mature after 300 years. Broadaxes and augers, hand axes and saws, the adze and chisel, all would shape the magniďŹ cent timber. Medary described his work, “a bridge of 17 feet span, crib abutments and a rise of 12 feet was constructed of round oak timber not less than ten inches in diameter with puncheon ooring well pinned down.â€? As the government’s men built the bridge, the land company raised a house on each side of the river. One would serve for their agent and the other would be occupied by Aaron Myers and his family. From Wisconsin, Myers came west seeking land oered by the company and was a member of the group that joined Nobles’ men in the retreat from Medary. He recalled that his party “went back to the head of the Big Cottonwood River where the Dakota Land Company had stationed a man to hold a County Town site.â€? Myers planted a garden and some potatoes, then left two men in charge of his claim while he moved his wife and children from Wisconsin. Correctly, the agent’s house was in Cottonwood City; Myers’ was in Soda Springs. Imaginary sister cities joined by the new bridge. After a thirteen-day absence, Nobles returned to his expedition. He had seen Governor Medary and superintendent of Indian aairs Cullen at Yellow Medicine: The Indians were dispersing, “Little Crowâ€? having been dispatched after “Inkpadutah’sâ€? band on July 22nd & returned on Aug 2nd having had an engagement with them. They killed 3 warriors, wounded 4 & took 3 prisoners, 2 women & 1 child. They returned for want of provisions, and I understand it to be their intention to proceed again in a short time & not to return until “Inkpadutahâ€? is exterminated. The Indians demanded of Supdt. Cullen that Col. Nobles party should be recalled from their country—this of course he had no power, or disposition to do and they left much dissatisfied. We anticipate opposition from them, but are now well prepared to push through. Nobles’ perceived Indian problems were overshadowed by more tangible concerns at the agency and the superintendent had been sent away with “cordial assistance in advice & promises of succor in the event of being hemmed in by the Indians.â€? Leaving the agency with two less revolvers and two less horses than he arrived with, Nobles continued to St. Paul and spent four days amidst the Minnesota Constitutional Convention while securing his men’s critical gun caps. “Four gentlemen accompany Col. N. who will go on with us to see the country,â€? wrote Fish, “They are from Phila., their names are Mr. Morse, son of the distinguished telegrapher, Mr. Sloneker, Mr. Gregg, & Mr. Newland.â€? As at Medary and the lower crossing of the Cottonwood, hay was harvested at Big Woods for the return trip, ďŹ ne hay. On August 6th, 1857, the roadbuilders began their second advance westward, eight hundred miles from South Pass. Snipe, woodcock, and rail abounded near the lakes, quarry for the men as they moved again. Despite the care given the wagons at Big Woods, one had been reduced to three spare wheels and a tongue by the end of the second day’s travel. When the expedition arrived at Hole in the Mountain on the following day, August 8th, charred ruins were all that remained of Brown’s trading post and the roadbuilder’s storehouse. The superintendent recalled he had “heard from Little Crow that the Ihanktons intended to burn the houses, & his statements are now fully conďŹ rmed.â€? The train did not move the next day, a Sunday; on Monday, a second beef was killed for fresh meat and the column advanced twenty-four miles to Medary and the Big Sioux. To his relief, Nobles found no sign of Indians and the hay and land company house were unharmed. One year later, that building and the Dakota Land Company site ďŹ fteen miles south, Flandreau, were “burned and sackedâ€? by the Indians and the company assured its stockholders the losses would be compensated by the government. On Tuesday the train moved until midnight, now across the Big Sioux River for the ďŹ rst time. It passed two miles south of a “good sized lake with some timberâ€? which Nobles named in honor of General Superintendent Campbell, the superior he had labeled Thompson’s “clerk.â€? Even with the diet change aorded by game and fresh beef, the salt pork was blamed for hash among the men. The column advanced eighteen miles the next day: The journey has been a severe one on the cattle, owing to the extreme heat. At about sunset we came in sight of a small lake & became cheerful with thoughts of refreshing draughts of water, but vain delusive hope; on reaching the lake we found it to be warm stagnant water, strongly impregnated with alkaline substances & entirely unfit for use & thirsty as the stock
NOBLES ROAD:
continued on page 13
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SOUTHWEST SAILOR, AUGUST 2020 – 13
Nobles Road Continued from page 12
were, they could hardly drink it. (We afterward discovered a very ďŹ ne lake only ½ mile further on). Neither is there any wood for ďŹ re purposes. A tremendous rain during the night refreshed both man & animal. It was the severest rain I ever remember to have witnessed, accompanied with vivid heat lightning. Two oxen and 3 horses were very nearly used up today. The mules do not suer as much as the horses from heat or thirst. The following day Mr. Morse made “a ďŹ ne sketchâ€? of Lake Thompson, “apparently 12 to 15 miles in length & on the northern extremity fringed with timber.â€? Beyond, prickly pear appeared, no wood was seen, and bualo chips were gathered for fuel. The roadbuilders moved twenty-one miles that day; twenty-two miles and the James River were gained the next day. The unending sameness of the prairie had become unbearable as the top of each ridge attained revealed only another bottom and ridge ahead, “one continuous waving prairie.â€? Finally, at sunset, men reaching the top of one of the ridges gazed upon the James River. It was August 14th. Its water “sweet & refreshing,â€? the river was eighty feet wide, four to ďŹ ve feet deep, the current one and a half miles per hour, and had “the appearance of being navigable for light draught boats some distance farther up.â€? There was no timber excepting willow stumps, but there were pickerel, pike, catďŹ sh and whiteďŹ sh, the latter most relished by the salt-weary men: A great number of white ďŹ sh, or shad, which some Baltimoreans in the party claim this ďŹ sh to be, have been taken. A catďŹ sh was taken, measuring in length 2 feet 10 inches, in depth 11 inches, in girth 1 foot 6 inches, weighing 18 lbs. We have also caught some wall-eyed pike & bualo ďŹ sh. Two days were spent ďŹ shing and looking for a suitable fording. Too deep to cross with loaded wagons, a temporary bridge to pass supplies over was assembled with empty wagons as had been done at Sleepy Eye Creek in June, consuming another day. The crossing would be improved with rock and gravel on the expedition’s return trip, but Nobles and Joseph R. Brown proposed a more attractive crossing for the emigrant. Two days before the territorial legislature chartered the Dakota Land Company in May, an act by the same lawmakers granted legislators Nobles and Brown exclusive twenty-year rights to maintain ferries across the Sioux, James, and Missouri rivers where the Fort Ridgely and South Pass Wagon road would cross. The prices for the service were established: For each foot passenger ten cents, for each horse, mare or mule with or without rider ďŹ fteen cents, for each cow or ox ďŹ fteen cents, for each two-horse, two-ox or two-mule team loaded or unloaded, with or without driver twenty-ďŹ ve cents, for each single-horse carriage twenty cents, for each additional horse, mule or ox ten cents, for each swine or sheep ďŹ ve cents, all freights of lumber, merchandise, or other articles not in teams at the rate of ten cents per barrel, ďŹ fty cents per thousand feet of lumber, and ďŹ ve cents per hundred pounds for all other articles. At the Missouri, rates were to be triple that of the Sioux and James crossings and the act permitted no other ferries within two miles above or below each crossing during the twenty-year period. With the road, the land company, the mail and the ferry, Nobles and Brown were prepared to serve both settler and emigrant. The train left the James behind on August 18th, moving twenty-four miles west to
the blus of the Coteau du Missouri, Wessington Springs. The hills had appeared to the column some ďŹ fty miles and four days earlier, rising abruptly ďŹ ve hundred feet above the prairie, “a very imposing appearance, and looking from them, back on the prairie, the eye can see nothing but a vast ocean of land.â€? Important to the traveler, there was water and wood; the drainages dividing the hills held springs and were ďŹ lled with oak, elm, and ironwood. Indians had camped there recently, and there were signs of bualo. A violent thunderstorm in the night attened the tents, watersoaked the provisions, and delayed the expedition for a day as it gathered itself. A third ox was butchered and the hills were explored for “mineralogical wealth.â€? Nineteen miles were gained the following day, that night stopping next to a nearlydry stream. A guard ďŹ red upon an “Indian skulking aboutâ€? in the night, alarming the camp until the threat was determined imaginary. The roadbuilders moved nine diďŹƒcult miles the next day, reaching Crow Creek: Passed through a “Prairie Dogâ€? village containing about 2000 inhabitants. Killed two for specimens, they are a harmless animal, feeding on the rank grass of the bottoms. It is almost impossible to get them after shooting them, as they invariably tumble into their holes. Found a great abundance of Cactus which annoyed the animals greatly. Are camped on a small stream of clear water, well timbered with several smaller streams emptying into it from the north. This timber can be seen about ďŹ ve miles as you approach from the east, owing to a high ridge which forms the eastern boundary of the valley. The course of the stream N to E, the stream can be easily recognized from the timber extending well up the hillsides, the banks are steep. Elk & deer have been seen for the ďŹ rst time; the grass is very dry & the cattle are suering. I fear that I shall lose some of the oxen. The name of the creek is “Crowâ€? Creek, because occasionally, a few crows are seen about in the timber. On its twelfth day out from the Big Sioux, the train struggled with three creek crossings, managing only four miles and breaking two wagon reaches in the eort. The afternoon had been spent making a ford at the third crossing, and after a small rattlesnake was killed there, named “Rattlesnake Creek.â€? The following day, August 23rd, 1857, brought the column to the blus and wooded valleys leading to the Missouri River. Reaching the tops of the blus, the travelers “were made glad with a sight of this majestic river, about three miles distant, & the high hills of Nebraska on the opposite shore.â€? They were near today’s Chamberlain and the west side of the Missouri was Nebraska Territory at the time, becoming Dakota Territory in 1861. Two months and two hundred-ďŹ fty miles had passed since the roadbuilders left New Ulm; they were now directly across the river from a deserted Fort Lookout, abandoned by the military two months earlier. The army post had existed only a single year before a more favorable location was selected, the structures dismantled, and the salvaged materials moved downriver to be reused in the con-
NOBLES ROAD:
continued on page 14
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14 – SOUTHWEST SAILOR, AUGUST 2020
Nobles Road Continued from page 13
struction of Fort Randall. Several of Nobles’ men crossed the river the next day to examine the remains and determined that the location was, “a very excellent position for a trading post.â€? Certainly, that time had passed. The earliest Fort Lookout was a fur company post two miles upstream, abandoned in 1825, while the army remnants seen by the expedition were near the former location of the second and third trading posts also called Fort Lookout. Those that reached the fort found the ice houses still holding ice and in what must have been an unworldly scene, reveled, “toasting friends at home in a glass of ice water, to us a rich and unexpected treat.â€? It was eighty-one degrees, the health of the men was good, a fourth ox was butchered, and the river fell seven inches that day. Nobles reported: I have sent parties both up and down the river to examine the best place for a crossing place of the Missouri River & if possible secure a fording place. The party exploring up the river ďŹ nd large forests of good white ash timber, suďŹƒcient to build a Rail Road from here to Fort Ridgely, also an Indian Corn planting but no Indians. Crow Creek empties into the Missouri 7 miles above here. It has blown a gale all day. Steep hills and blus punctuated the nearly thousand-foot dierence in elevation between the prairie and the river, dictating where a crossing could be made. The third day of exploration revealed favorable passage through the hills ďŹ fteen miles downstream, part of it seeming “formed for the purpose of a road.â€? That accomplished, the superintendent declared, “the river at present is low, but too deep and rapid for fording,â€? adding, “the bottom is composed of quicksand.â€? As if an afterthought, the expedition had no means to get its wagons across the Missouri. But it mattered not. Now late August, South Pass was hopelessly distant and engineer Medary determined their location, “the western terminus of the road as completed this season.â€? Still, eight days were spent at the river. Rich alluvial bottomland up to three miles wide was described supporting a zone of oak, elm, ash, basswood, and good grass; the riverbed was three-fourths of a mile wide with a channel ďŹ ve feet deep. Deer, antelope, rabbits, and prairie chicken were plentiful and “large quantities of ligniteâ€? lay along the river. From August 31st, the campaign’s last day at the Missouri: Killed a number of rattlesnake today, they frequent the blus, some have been seen on the bottom land. On the banks of the Missouri & tributaries are found large quantities of a small nutritious berry (Shepherdia argentea) called “bull berry.â€? They are eagerly sought after by Indians & voyageurs as an article of food during winter, when the snow conceals the precious wild turnip. The red willow also abounds, from which the Indians prepare their solacing “Kinnie Keneck.â€? The men graded parts of the route back to the prairie, and with a sense of ďŹ nality, Nobles announced he would “continue to build the road in a complete & substantial manner to Fort Ridgely having proceeded as far west as I am able to do, in order to carry out my instructions to secure a good wagon road for the uses of emigration.â€? Marking the end of the season’s work, a log house built to guide the future emigrant. The expedition began the return home over a plain turned arid, moving fourteen dusty miles the ďŹ rst day. As had been done between crossings of the Cottonwood,
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sod or stone mounds to identify the route were raised as the builders moved, sixty that day, four feet in height. Two antelope and some prairie chicken were harvested. Eleven and a half miles were travelled the next day; it was ninety-two degrees at noon and a prairie ďŹ re visible far to the left of the column brought the worry of forage for the stock being destroyed. Two large black wolves and “a number of rattlesnakeâ€? were seen and thirty-three mounds marked the day’s progress. The third day’s travel reached the previous campsite at Crow Creek, the expedition pausing there to move one mile of road to higher ground. The builders erected ďŹ fty-two mounds and advanced ten miles the following day, passing the prairie dog village and cactus encountered two weeks earlier. Now it was drizzly, sixty degrees, and the wind was northeast. The previous excellent camp at Wessington Springs was gained the next day, nineteen miles and seventy-eight mounds closer to Fort Ridgely. The thermometer read forty-four degrees that morning. Duck, geese, and snipe were taken, “a goodly addition.â€? And an axle had been broken. Indian sign had been seen there on the expedition’s ďŹ rst stay, and it was there again: Saw evidence of Indians being in the vicinity, such as the remains of a deer lately killed & smoking tipi ďŹ res. They must have seen us approaching & decamped suddenly. Tomorrow I shall follow their trail perchance it may be that scoundrel Inkpadutah & thieving band. The following day was indeed consumed by the adventure, Fish writing, “Col. Nobles and party of 10 men started early on the trail of the Indians but returned during the afternoon with no further information.â€? The men moved two miles along the blus the next day to grade a descent, camping on a owing stream, “clear as chrystal, cold & sweet.â€? Twenty-three miles of travel the following day brought the train to the James again, a changed river. It had fallen twenty-three inches, the water “stagnant and unpalatable, & the ďŹ ne white ďŹ sh quite scarce.â€? Nobles’ men raised ninety-eight mounds that day, the Indians less so: Today I ďŹ nd for the ďŹ rst time, that the Indians have destroyed some of the mounds that I had erected along the route, leveling them even with the ground. At my camp yesterday, there were evidences of the neighborhood of a band of at least 50 Indians, during the travel today continued signs of our neighbors have been seen. The roadbuilders spent ďŹ ve days at the James constructing a proper ford. Without a source of gravel for ďŹ ll, boulders were broken up and moved two and three miles to the site. Enough material was hauled to form a layer in the bottom of the channel two feet thick, ruining a wagon in the process. The banks were then graded ďŹ fty yards back from the river and without mention of the superintendent’s ferry rights, it was predicted the crossing would “always be an excellent ford,â€? and, “steamboats can approach the banks at any point.â€? They would necessarily be small steamboats; noted for periods without ow, the stagnant James was at the time three feet deep. A severe overnight storm was used as cover for an Indian attempt at stealing livestock during the last night at the river, “but the vigilance of the guard frustrated the attempt.â€? The oenders swam the river upon being discovered and were not ďŹ red upon. A ďŹ fth ox was butchered and a column still uneasy about Indians left the James on September 14th, moving east eighteen miles that day. The next day and another eighteen miles further, the men camped on a lake of stagnant water unpalatable to the men but suitable for the stock. They had passed manmade earthworks; holes & mounds, “but in this instance of considerable extent.â€? Medary reported the excavations were arranged in a semi-circle and resembled “old Indian fortiďŹ cations.â€? The column moved another eighteen miles the following day, reaching their former camp on Perrine Creek and one hundred twenty-ďŹ ve mounds marked the day’s work. Some lakes passed a month earlier were now dry, those that still held water teemed with geese, ducks, heron, pelican and snipe. Medary and the Big Sioux were reached the next day: Started early & camped at noon on the Big Sioux River. Having arrived at the crossing of the Big Sioux River from which place to Fort Ridgely the road is laid out & partially built, the places, country & road having been described in the journal on the outward trip, the Itinerary will now cease. I have divided my party into small parties & have distributed them along the route where work is to be done. Nobles and Fish left the expedition for St. Paul the following day, September 18th, 1857. One week after leaving his men at the Big Sioux, Nobles wrote Secretary Thompson from St. Paul, “I had received no advices from you since July 25th & my anxiety to hear from your department induced me to hasten here accompanied by my clerk.â€? There were of course no instructions for Nobles in St. Paul; they had been forwarded to the Lower Agency near where his superiors had expected him to ďŹ nish the season. The eyebrows of the Secretary of the Interior likely raised as Nobles continued, “in four weeks the road will be completed from the Big Sioux river to the Eastern terminus on the Mississippi River (Fort Ridgley).â€? The superintendent had not only misspelled the fort’s name but placed it on the wrong river. “The present ďŹ nancial crisis has also depreciated the prices of stock on the part of the seller,â€? continued Nobles, regarding the government’s animals. The “crisisâ€?
NOBLES ROAD:
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SOUTHWEST SAILOR, AUGUST 2020 – 15
Nobles Road Continued from page 14
was the Panic of 1857, which began on August 24th with the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company. News of the calamity almost certainly reached the expedition and was probably Nobles’ reason for leaving his campaign. St. Paul, “infected with the virus of speculationâ€? and where “town-site speculators thronged the curbstones,â€? had been devastated. Meanwhile, engineer Medary and the roadbuilders busied themselves with the one hundred-eleven miles between themselves and Fort Ridgely. They reached Hole in the Mountain on September 19th, Big Woods two days later, and the lower crossing of the Cottonwood on the 23rd. The remaining work surveyed to Fort Ridgely the previous fall was an unremarkable section that offered good grass but was mostly treeless. Twenty-two miles beyond the lower crossing, Medary described intersecting government trail from Fort Randall to Fort Ridgely and thirteen miles further the prairie gave way to the blus of the Minnesota River valley. Cut-and-ďŹ ll
earthwork in a favorable ravine accomplished the one hundred forty-foot descent to the bottomland and river below. The road’s ďŹ nal mile was both densely wooded and marshy, requiring in one place a twelve-foot-wide bed of timbers. Ending at the Fort Ridgely rope ferry, the roadwork of 1857 was ďŹ nished. A ďŹ nal Itinerary entry touted, “the road is now completed from Fort Ridgely to the Missouri River, over which any train of heavy wagons can pass without diďŹƒculty & ďŹ nd good water & feed along the entire route.â€? Nobles chose a location on the Cottonwood River near New Ulm to build Winter Quarters, a camp for overwintering the government’s animals and equipment; the expedition had passed the site on its outward trek near their settler friend from Pennsylvania. Only seven of the roadbuilders would stay to guard the property and care for the remaining sixty-two head of stock. The camp boasted “a log house 16x16 feet, a granary, a harness room, a store room, & a shed for the cattle 140
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feet by 40 feet, a stable 40x30.â€? A sturdy fence enclosed two-hundred tons of hay cut and stacked in September. Lacking adequate grain, the horses had not fared as well as the mules and oxen, which were in “excellent condition.â€? The wagons and harness were repairable, “ready for an early start in the spring.â€? The disbursing agent Gorin left St. Paul for the camp on November 1st to pay the men and the construction season of 1857 ended two days later. With ďŹ ve hundred seventy-two miles of road yet to build, Nobles requested a leave of absence for travel to Washington to “settle the accounts of the Expedition.â€? Rather than being granted a leave, he was about to be ďŹ red by the Secretary of the Interior.
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