“Well, we were all in the same boat,” was a common reply when asked about living in Houston County’s Winnebago Creek Valley during the Great Depression of the 1930s. “There was no one nearby with which to compare their circumstances. We had plenty (of) food to eat, and the rest didn’t matter.” Unlike city dwellers, mostly self-sufficient farm folks did not need to earn money to … [Read more...]

Part five of a five-part series The Swedes who settled the area still known as Swede Bottom, were the first and probably the only group of Swedish Baptists to leave their homeland solely for religious freedom. In 1853, they were led to North America by F. O. Nilsson, who in September 1848, had organized the first Baptist congregation, the first successful “free church” in … [Read more...]

Part four of a series Indians, in the 1850s, did not live around the village of Houston but were downstream toward the Mississippi, noted Ben Benson. “They often came up the Root River in their canoes on hunting trips.” As a senior citizen, Benson wrote about his childhood as one of the earliest white settlers in Swede Bottom. Although for completely different reasons, all … [Read more...]

Part three of a series on Swede Bottom They constructed small log barns for the oxen and covered the roofs with wild slough grass, cut with, “old-time scythes.” There was no “tame grass” for many years, according to Ben Benson, who in 1853, at age eight, was one of the first Swedes to settle in what became known as Swede Bottom, just east of present-day Houston in Houston … [Read more...]

Part two of a series on Swede Bottom Ben Benson turned eight years old on the Atlantic Ocean shortly after leaving Sweden with his family, among five families, on the way to the Root River Valley in Minnesota Territory. As a senior citizen, Ben left a written account, the basis for this series, which began last week with their arduous three-and-a-half-month immigration … [Read more...]

Part one of a series It has long been called “Swede Bottom,” in honor of early settlers and reflecting on the agriculturally-rich bottom land where the South Fork of the Root River flows near the town of Houston. On August 18, 1853, a group of five immigrant families from Halland Province, Sweden arrived to become significant citizens in Houston County. They were already … [Read more...]

Part one of a series Editor’s notes: The following, entitled Springs and Wells, written in the 1940s by Edith Thompson, Coulee Region’s poet laureate, was published posthumously in the January 6 and January 13, 1977, editions of the Houston Gazette and Country Journal. A few alterations reflect currently preferred spelling and punctuation. Father always said of this land of … [Read more...]

Part two of a two-part series Boys sold minnows to fishermen, but most profitable was what John Kelly called their “little show.” At the waterfalls, Kelly and friends dived from a high bank into the deep pool. Meanwhile, another boy was passing a hat among spectators. Around 1900, decades-old, man-made Lake Como in Hokah had become a recreation destination. It was an … [Read more...]

Part one of a two-part series Tourists arrived for a day or for a vacation from not only nearby towns and Winona but also from Austin and even Chicago. They came first by horse and buggy and later on passenger excursion railroad cars as well as on steamboats and ferries from La Crosse. The destination was the tourist town of Hokah, Houston County, Minnesota. The … [Read more...]

Two men from Caledonia took their skill far from home and represented their hometown well during the 1940s. Each, in his own way, helped preserve democracy. One appeared in the company of some of the nation’s most prominent personalities. One contributed to one of the nation’s most impressive wartime achievements. Ed Lee “There must’ve been 30 of us from this area that … [Read more...]

If the intent was to encourage rural settlement by newcomers, the name “Spring Grove” was inviting as it was accurate. The availability of land was widely understood, but the name promises the other two agricultural essentials – water and wood. Emphasizing the importance of all three, Jane Briggs Palen entitled her history book “Soil, Timber & A Spring; The Story of Spring … [Read more...]