Part 10 (2/2)

With my family I lived thirty miles from Carver My father died and as I had no money to buy a coffin, I made it myself I had to walk thirty miles for the nails The boards were hand hewed and when the coffin was made, it looked so different fro whiteness, that we took the only thing we had, a box of stove blacking, which we had brought from the east with us and stained the coffin with this

I walked twenty miles for potatoes for seed and Paid 300 a bushel for the the journey on foot

The wages for a carpenter at this time were 3000 a month and found

Mrs Rebecca Plummer--1854

We came to Brooklyn Center in 1854 Mr Plummer's father had coaeons were very thick We used to stake nets for theround Under these we scattered corn They would stoop and go in under and pick up the grain When they held their heads erect to s the corn, their necks would coh the meshes of the net and they could not escape

I saw the Winnebagoes taken to their river reservation They cah all the dances they knew and ht though was to see that vast flotilla of canoes going on the nextThere were hundreds of the procession on foot

Mrs C A Burdick--1855

We ca near the junction of the Little Sauk and Mississippi The Sauk was a beautiful little river The strawberries were very sweet, a much nicer flavor than taoes who had lived on Long Prairie were transferred to their new hos they had left

There were fros Franklin Steele and Anton Northrup owned them We were awfully loneso and de to eat They were always painted and had bows and arroith thely stand and look in the s and watch us work We were so used to them that we never noticed theht obscured

Have I ever seen the Red River carts? My! I should say I have! Seen thee of a fur store for Kittson at Fort Garry, now Winnipeg and we lived there I used to go back and forth to St Cloud where my parents lived with this cart train for protection

The drivers were a swarthy lot of French half breeds Likely as not their hair would be hanging way down They wore buckskin and a fancy sash Sometimes a skin cap and soh lot ofSeemed to never tire

Their carts had theels, all wood and a cross piece to rest the platfor way up at the sides They were piled high with goods, furs and skins going down and supplies co back I can shut my eyes and see that quaint cavalcade now Where are all those drivers?

The tracks ide and deep and could be plainly seen ahead of us going straight through the prairie It took twenty-one days to go froh Sauk Center, just a hotel or road house, then through what is now Alexandria A fa place for travelers I don't know just where it would be now, but I have stayed there often We went by way of Georgetoan river, too, I remember There used to be one tree on the prairie that we could see for two days We called it Lone Tree

Mr Peter Cooper--1855

I moved to Vernon Center in the early fifties I had never worn an overcoat in New York state, but when I came to Minnesota particularly felt the need of one The second year I was here, I traded with an Indian, two ss for a brass kettle and an Indian blanket Without any pattern whatever, my wife cut an overcoat from this blanket and sewed it by hand This was the only overcoat I had for four years, but it was very comfortable

When I was in the Indian war in 1862 I had no reatly for this reason In one of the abandoned Norwegian hoet it made into mittens I carved a crochet hook out of hickory and with this crocheted h I had never had any experience and had only watched the women knit and crochet

Mr Stephen Rochette--1855, St Paul

Indians used often to stop to get so and seeave the to St Paul It was ht up Seventh Street The Indians often brought ducks and gaeons and prairie chickens on what is now Summit avenue

I used to make cushi+ons for Father Revoux's back He had rheuo by our house horseback I wanted to give hi he did not pay for

I bought a nuo all made by hand for 125 and sold them for much more Those chairs would last a lifetime

The parts were separate and packed well They could be put together easily