Mankato High School - Otaknam Yearbook (Mankato, MN)

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vim' ll slml ll IIIW ll is IIA :ADA Wigs and stood where Richards' Dry Goods store now stands. By 1853 Blue Earth county was organized, the first county election took place, witl1 eighteen votes from Mankato. This year also saw the ,erection of the first hotel, the Mankato House, the first day school, the first Sabbath school, and the first preach- ing. The latter three we1'e all - conducted at tl1c home of , I James Hanna. In 1854 P. 'K. Johnson wrote: Mankato has twenty W0men'Whf' Namd Mankato familiesg about twenty build- ings, among them a good hotel, thirty by fifty feet, with a wing, a school with twenty-You-r scholars and Miss Sarah Jane Hanna as teacher. There are carpen- ters, masons and plasterers here. Four miles away on the Ile Sueur River, is a saw mill. Three miles above us a town called South Bend is laid out. flt looks like business. Three or four boats were running regularly on the Minnesota. River in 1853 and the erection of public roads had started. Captain Dodd raised H4800 in St. Paul, and with a force of men, in 1853, cut through the great forest. This was the first highway in this vicinity and it was named after Captain Dodd. 'l'hc road has long since been abandoned, but portions of it can be noticed by the traveler as he journeys from S-iou-x City, Iowa to St. ' Paul, original terminals of the historic road. The Mankato Independent was the first newspaper in our city. It was published in 1857. The winter of 1857 and 1858 was a mild, warm one, with the editor of the Indepen- dent sitting in his shirt sleeves illld the door of his office open. In 1859, the sceond paper, The Mankato Record was established. Our City was a thriving little village by this time, with a population of one thousand people, several business houses, five hotels, two newspapers, two sawmills, and the first bar- ber shop. News of the terrible New Ulm massacre reached the village just after the majority of men. had left t'or action in the Civil War in 1861. One hundred and eight of the men were called back to tight the Indians. Announcement of the Editor Of Indian attack was brought to Mankato by W. W. Paddock, who was in New Ulm at the time of the outbreak. During the night, the blaze of the tire could be seen at g Mankato, and all but four blocks of New Ulm was burned. , Four hundred and twenty-five Indians were arrested, and ' three hundred and three of those sentenced to be hanged. .. I The East was shocked at the idea of taking so many lives at once, and they prevailed upon President Lincoln to in- I - terfere. Finally only thirty-eight Indians were sentenced to fjld geppman Mm MRS. P. K. JOHNSON MRS. J. S. HINCKLEY First Newspaper Page Eleven S

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ll llnll ll 'Ill' ll .sk llrk :ABA Gigs ANECDOTES UF EARLY MANKATO lt was 1101 the 1112si1'11 to build l1o11111s i11 the tor- tile v21l11-y of the Mi111111sot21 Rivvr that lured o11 the tirst i111VL'l1111l'Ul1S pio1111111's to 11121119 th1- 11Z1Z2il'K1011S jouriioy up tho L12lllQ't'1'011S riv111-, 13111 tho glezun of 1'i1'l1, 11I'0XVl1 1:opp111'. 111 tho your 1850 s1'v111'111 i1'iI110l'S 11121111- their way up the river. 'l'l112y c211'ri1111 buck such glowing' 211-1'o1111ts of tho l'11rti11ty 211111 1l02l11'Q' of this 1'l'g'10l1 tl121t St. l'21111 b1-0211111- 1ll11'1'1'STt'11. Tho 1111sir1- ot tho 121t121' pio110o1's to possess the v21ll1-y 11-11 to 1111- T1-1-21ty of the '11l'21V1!l'S0 dos Sioux. By tl1is treaty 21ll S011111l'l'11 211111 Central 1111111168013 west of tho Mississippi rivor, ox1f1-pt 21 sm:-111 1'11s1-r- 1'21tio11 t1'11 111il12s 011 ouch side of tho river for about 100 111il11s, w21s 1512111211 to the whito Illillfl. 1Allli0 111121, Founder nf Mankato co111111issio111'r of 1111112111 2ll12l1l'S, 211111 C10Vl'l'l101' 11-21111- soy woro 21ppoi11te11 by the 1111it12d States goveruniout t,o111'goti21t1' tl1is treaty, which WHS1110 most i111po1'ta11t 111111811 treaty 111 the his- tory ol? tho Nortliwvst. Tlutso two 1111111 1112111111-11 'l'1'21v1-1's1- 111-s Sioux Juno 30, 1851, b11t it was tl11'1111 weeks boforo tl11- 1llll1il11S from tho fill' we-st could get P. K. JOHNSON ther1-. A great objection was 1'21is1111 by 111111-f Sloopy liyo to tho signing' of tho 1l'0El1y. 1111 August vigxhth this Silllltt tr1-21ty w21s sig'11e11 by the lower 11211111 ot' Sioux at M1-udota. July 26, 1852 the U11ite11 St21t1's r21titi1111 tho tr1221ty. With tho signing of this t1'1a21.ty, settlvrs 119223111 C01l111lQ'f0 Bl2l111i2110. 111 1852 H1'111'y vv1tl1fliS0l1, VV. VV. P2111- dock, 211111 P. K. Joh11so11 st21rt1111 froiu St. P21111 in 21 Cl11tl'T'g their destin- 21tio11 XVtl.S the 1111180111 town sito. Af- ter 21 17ll1'1'1' 1121ys' j011l'll1'y through 21 SIIOXV-1J12ll1lil'1P11 l211111, thoy 1'1-2111111111 Bello Pl21i1111. Hero JilC1iS011 was 122111011 ill 211111 l'l'111l'll011 to St. l'2111l, b11t 01011118011 211111 P21111101fli 1l1lS11ltC1 o11. 11111111811 by tlhiof Sloopy ltlyo they 1221111911 tho Ill01111l of the rivor F1111- ruary 6, 1852. Work o11 the first log cabin, which was b11i1t o11 the pro- svnt ll12111l121to Stuto 15211111 sito, w21s b1-gruu i1111111111i21t11ly. 1111111111 tl11- win- t111' two 1l10l'1' log 1'21bi11s woro built o11 tho 1111131121111 Milling Uttllljlilllj' lo1'21- tio11. 211111 tho first houso 1'v1-1' i11 lllflll- First 11011511 -- Built in 1852 kato was built by P. li. -1011115011 Page Ten

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Q29 ll lllll ll ill ll llik E 'X Pall Wis I death, but when Mankato received its orders to hang them, there was not enough rope in town, so a delay of one week was granted. People came from miles around to witness the hanging, and when the Indians breathed their last breath, a shout from the crowd filled the air, and many white people felt sat- isfied. Early on the morning of May 10, 1867 the steam boat 'tJulia hit a snag in the Minnesota River about three miles north of Main Street Bridge. John Henry Barr and his family, early residents of Mankato, were on the boat, and an interesting account of the incident was later written by Mr. Barr. Everyone was landed safely on shore, and there was nothing then for the people to do but start walking. The two Barr boys followed the river, reached Mankato, and brought back help to the stranded passengers. Interesting is the fact that the Barrs lost a barrel of dishes in the river, but the next fall, when the water was low, they recovered them and only one saucer was broken. The efforts of P. K. Johnson in founding Man- kato cannot be overestimated. Ile built the first house, ran the first post office, was the first Justice of the Peace, and is generally acknowledged as the founder of the city. Mrs. P. K. Johnson and Mrs. J. S. Hinckley gave Mankato its name. Through some misunder- standing they thought they were giving it a German Blizzard M1881 name, and later learned that it was an Indian name meaning Blue Earth. ' ' Humorous to us now, but of vital importance then, is the story of the pigs. It was the custom in those early days to let the pigs run loose about the town. Finally a protest was raised and the town was divided into those who wanted the pigs penned up and those who didn't. A tug of war took place to decide the argument, and as a result pigs were penned up. So from that day to this pigs have not regained their right in Mankato. In 1.855 the first school house was built where - the Union building stands now. Thirty-seven pupils were taught by L. G. M. Fletcher, whose salary was S835 per month until the money raised by popular subscription was gone. The first modern school building was erected in 1871 after a 310,000 bond vote had been taken. This was the old Pleasant Grove school on Byron Street. The year 1875 is famous for the grasshopper siege. Houses, trees, and everything in sight .were covered with the insects. Trains were unable to go on until thc crushed grasshoppers were scraped off the wheels. The government paid ten cents per quart for grasshoppers brought to a designated place and measured. In nine days the county had paid out 331,255 for 15,766 bushels, and at that rate the county would have been bank- rupt in a month, so the payment was discontinued. Nothing man could do less- ened the number of grasshoppers and until April, 1877 the inhabitants of the vicinity lived in dread of each new day. The final disappearance of the bugs is Flood of 1881 Page Twelve N