First of a two-part series Surely praiseworthy were the pioneer settlers of southeast Minnesota, immigrants from Europe or those moving west from previously settled areas of the United States. Hard-working farm families and merchants established communities, built churches and schools and were even willing to leave their families to serve far from home as Civil War soldiers. … [Read more...]

Part two of a two-part series “Any little gopher hole could and did start washouts,” wrote Houston area historian Ingrid Julsrud. Washouts of train tracks were expensive mishaps for the railroads and inconvenient interruptions for the daily lives of residents. During the first two decades of the 1900s, the tracks around Mound Prairie were especially susceptible to washouts … [Read more...]

Two young, probably teenage, cousins were on a passenger train from Houston, Minn., to visit relatives in Northfield, when they understood the conductor to say, “The coach is on fire.” But when the train stopped, they were the only ones to grab their coats and baggage in preparation to detrain. What the conductor had actually said was, “There’s a colt in the wire.” Two train … [Read more...]

A large horse-drawn sled, packed with blankets, called robes, and warmers would make the rounds to pick up the neighbors on the way to the host farm. In winter, dances would be inside a farmhouse. Rugs would be rolled up. An older youth or two might come along to babysit the younger children. There would be a fiddler or two, who would play square dances, waltzes and foxtrots. … [Read more...]

Julebukking, part three Kathleen Stokker, author of “Keeping Christmas; Juletide Traditions in Norway and the New Land” discovered that Norwegian-heritage settlements in the Midwest United States had widely engaged in julebukking (pronounced “YEW-luh-booking”), also known as “Christmas Fooling.” At the time, Stokker was not aware of any julebukking in her hometown of … [Read more...]

Part two of a series She was home alone that night when she heard some footsteps in the house. Her husband was away on a call as a veterinarian. No one in Spring Grove locked their doors back in the 1970s. Soon, 15 to 18 “creatures” entered the kitchen and formed a circle around her – surely alarming. No one said anything until finally, one approached and whispered that she … [Read more...]

Part one of a series To the uninitiated (non-Norwegians), it might sound at first like Halloween - nighttime visitors on your front porch wearing masks and all sorts of costumes. Treats were expected. But it was late December, not late October. There were no children; costumes were worn by adults, maybe some teenagers, too.  One winter night, a group of folks would arrive … [Read more...]

Part two of a two-part series “A splendid view of the rich country on both sides of the tract could be had. The train moved along rapidly and the station of Newhouse appeared in view,” wrote George Kuster, Spring Grove newspaper proprietor and editor in 1903 and 1904.  Newhouse, eight miles west and a mile south of Spring Grove, in the early 1900s, had a railroad depot, … [Read more...]

First of a two-part series Some thriving villages in southeast Minnesota, established in the 1850s and 1860s, especially those served by stagecoaches on territorial roads, met their demise when bypassed by the first railroad tracks in the late 1870s. Contrarily, the village of Newhouse was founded by the Caledonia, Mississippi & Western Railroad Company, which built a … [Read more...]

Part three of a series “Commies” were not communists, but there were those who “lost their marbles.” The idiom “lose your marbles,” thought to have originated in the United States in the late 1800s, referred to someone behaving in such a silly or strange manner that they might have become insane. But some boys of that era literally lost some or all their marbles in … [Read more...]

Part two of a series During pioneer days of the late 1800s in southeast Minnesota, fishing and hunting were more necessities than recreation. However, as well as securing food for the family table, each did provide enjoyment. Other activities, mostly on Sundays, existed only for recreation, two of which – target shooting and bowling – along with hunting, were featured last … [Read more...]

Hard-working farmers in the late 19th Century (late 1800s) needed no extra exercise, but recreation was good for the mind and spirit as well as the body. Among adult pioneer men, hunting, target shooting and bowling were among popular pursuits. Bowling, in the pioneer era, was an outdoor activity. The alley was shorter than in later indoor facilities. There were nine pins, … [Read more...]

“We never heard of trick or treat,” wrote local historian Ingrid Julsrud (born 1900) about her childhood in Houston, Minn., during the early 1900s. However, on Halloween, she and her childhood friends did dress up “funny” to visit their neighbors to have them guess who they were. She recalled Halloween being not as much for children as for “grownups who played pranks around … [Read more...]

Second of a series One of the first two automobiles in Houston, Minn., was the 1908 International Harvester Auto-Buggy, belonging to Dave Lord. Children were enthralled by that amazing machine, which looked much like a two-seated buggy heretofore pulled by a team of horses. The tires were small and made of hard runner about as big around as a one-inch garden hose. The … [Read more...]

First of a series In the early 1900s, there was a throng of men in front of Dave Schleich’s saloon, promoting a petition be presented to the village council, to prevent automobiles from being driven on the streets of Caledonia. During those horse-and-buggy days, newfangled motorized vehicles scared the horses, which would bolt away, thereby endangering the safety and … [Read more...]