Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
Mattson was proposed as county commissioner. He did not want
to join the Democratic party, although its members rendered us
much assistance; he became a Republican.
On June 11, 1854, we first became acquainted with the
mosquitoes of Minnesota; they came as though welling forth out
of a river. They continued to trouble us during the summer
and were just as bold as they were many. They would not even
allow U9 to eat in peace. Immediately on opening the mouth
one was certain to enjoy the wild game, and they even crept into
nose and ears. We tried in vain to drive them away with smoke;
and although we smoked so that we could barely see one another
across the table in the cabin, they could still be heard humming
in the cloud of smoke. As we were not at first prepared with
any mosquito netting, Kempe and I had to retire into a cellar
under the floor of the cabin, where we were troubled by many
crawling creatures. These were, however, not quite as bad at the
neighbors’ homes on the high prairie, but the elder Mattson was
nevertheless so mutilated that his eyes closed from swelling and
he had to content himself with playing blindman’s bluff for
fourteen days. The mosquitoes became fewer each year until
now they have almost disappeared.
Some wheat was seeded in 1855; but as there were no
threshing machines, it was threshed partly by oxen tramping
according to the Oriental method, and partly by flails. There
were no mills in the neighborhood except a big coffee mill (or
something like it) at Cannon Falls which was driven by water
power, but it made grit only, instead of flour. The wheat that
was sold at Red Wing brought only fifty cents per barrel; not
until 1860 did it bring sixty-two and one half cents there.
Sixty-five cents were paid for a day’s work at threshing time.
During the summer of the same year a proclamation was
issued by the government that the land was to be placed on sale
during the fall, and we were not prepared for so hurried a sale
or for an unexpected payment of $200 in gold for 160 acres.
Many were forced to place a mortgage on their land at from
40 to 50 per cent interest, in order not to be ejected at once and
lose both their expended labor and the money they had brought
with them. This ruined many of the settlers, who a few years
later were compelled to leave their homes to the bankers, from
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
