St Peter High School - Peterian Yearbook (Peter, MN)

Page 9 text:

F 0 R E W 0 R D Beyond the Mississippi, in a peaceful valley embedding the Minnesota River, Indians and wilder- ness occupied the land destined to be our city. In this time, before St. Peter was sited a big wedding took place in our region. Standing in the marquee of the commissioners and surrounded by about 1 000 Indians, Nancy Winona and David Faribault McClure were bonded in marriage. The bridegroom was a large handsome man about 30 years old and the bride a young girl of 14. After the ceremony, the bridegroom produced an abundance of lemonade which foamed and sparkled as if it had been cham- pagne. In the fall of 1953, the pathfinder and pioneer, William B. Dodd made a claim of 160 acres on the banks of the Minnesota River. This site was later incorporated into a town. Dodd did much for the promotion of this new settlement and later gave his life heroically in the Sioux outbreak at New Ulm. It was at his site the plans for the town of Rock Bend were laid out. Other spectators interested in the potentialities of the town were a group called the St. Peter Company, primarily interested in building the state capital here. But the capital plans dis- solved when the bill was spirited away by an ad- venturous prankster. The St. Peter Company lost the fight when the bill arrived at the state legislature too late. Through legal pro'ceedings the St. Peter promoters were successful in changing the county seat from Traverse to St. Peter, however. The first settled dwelling house used by any white man in St. Peter was the original claim shanty erected by Captain Dodd in 1853. Our town grew by leaps and bounds when each member of the St. Peter Company was requested to build a house in St. Peter. On the corner of Walnut and Third Street, the Com- pany promoted the building of the Winslow Hotel. During the Sioux outbreak the hotel functioned as a hospital for the wounded. In 1868, when the institu- tion for the mentally ill was established, this same building was used as a division of the hospital, while the regular buildings were being completed. During the Sioux outbreak in 1862, thousands of refugees sought shelter in St. Peter. Guards had been training for defense at Fort Ridgely. In the fall when the news of the outbreak reached St. Peter, a group of men set out to join the forces from Fort Ridgely at New Ulm. By the combined manpower, the Indians were finally driven away, leaving many killed and the city burned. However the Indians' spirits were not damped by their loss at New Ulm, for they went on to raid farms and homes between St. Peter and New Ulm along the old Fort Road. This former Indian trail was not only used by sol- diers going to the defense of New Ulm, but by early settlers and refugees fleeing from the bloodthirsty redmen. 5

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Our School This is our school, in whose halls we have walked often. Sometimes we have not been kind to her, writing on her walls, break- ing her plaster, and otherwise marring her face. But (though our words sometimes contradict us) we have always loved her. Through the years her walls have sagged a little and she has become a little grey. And the hope is that someday we may have a new school. 4

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Dedication Through the past years there has been a group of teachers building our way of life into a stable structure. This founda- tion of our live s, fir st laid in the elementary grades, has been and always will be im- portant. Building up from the foundation, guidance and knowledge have helped us mold a substantial life. So, to all of our past teache rs, some of whose face s may be forgotten, but not their influence, we the class of '55 dedicate this Peterian. 6