From Lanesboro to Europe? Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show was the largest and most attended live, traveling outdoor performance that reenacted scenes of the American west along with exhibitions of sharpshooting and daring horsemanship in both the United States and Europe for three decades, beginning in 1883. Lanesboro historian Cecil Ward claimed the inspiration and sometime … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Everything is Free, Including the Teeth Extraction
In the latter decades of the 1800s, frontier settlers, including those in southeast Minnesota, were eager for entertainment that was not homegrown. There was not yet radio, motion pictures or television. Even if a more urban area was available, there were not yet automobiles or paved roads for convenient travel. Traveling entertainers made a living in rural areas be they … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – What Else Could He Do? … Muskrats!
The Cassell family carried everything they owned as they walked about six miles on the Territorial Road before stopping at the log farmhouse of Isaac Holmes. It was mid-summer of 1862, about a decade after the first white settlers began to arrive in southeast Minnesota. It was two years after a survey of 40 acres that was being purchased by Theodore Cassell (Kassell, Castle). … [Read more...]
Spring Grove Gathers in Grief and Support
It was officially termed, Community Gathering for Grief and Support, In Memory of Isaac Vick. A large assemblage of family, friends, community members and high school teammates and students gathered at the Fest Building in Spring Grove on August 19, 2026, to share their grief and memories after the shocking loss of Isaac Vick, beloved son of Tim and DeeDee Vick. His … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Coin-Collecting Monkeys and an Elephant on an Urgent Errand
Imagine traveling alone on a lonely, shadow-darkened, uphill road and suddenly coming toward you - is an elephant in a hurry. It was no rogue elephant intentionally terrorizing rural residents. To the contrary, it was a perfectly respectable, performing pachyderm, which often pushed wagons in between performing sites. That day in 1907, it was surely the only elephant in … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Nobody Knew Where the Border Was
The southern border of Houston County and Fillmore County is the Iowa state line. When settlers arrived in southeast Minnesota Territory in 1852, Iowa had been a state for six years. But the border was only a line on a map. On the ground, nobody knew where the Iowa border was. When the territories of Minnesota and Iowa could not agree on a boundary, Congress intervened. … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Farming, Exploring, Educating, Socializing and Jury Duty
Part two of a two-part series Eugene Marshall, an early surveyor in what became Houston County, was elected the first county surveyor in 1854. Massachusetts-born Marshall, at age 21, arrived in Minnesota Territory from Wisconsin as a farmer in 1853 before his surveying experience provided his main source of income. Letters to his sister provide a glimpse into those first … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Pork, Bread, Potatoes for Breakfast, Supper, Dinner
In 1853 at age 21, when he first arrived in what became Houston County, Minnesota, there were only two dwellings within seven miles, and they were small 12 by 16 feet shanties, barely meeting the needs of their residents. Therefore, newcomers had to do whatever they could. There was a just-arrived family from Wisconsin living in their wagon. Massachusetts-born Eugene Marshall … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Dreams of Democracy Fulfilled in Houston County, America
Part two of a two-part series They wanted to relocate their family in the United States, but maybe only the three children of Stephen and Katherine Masenko might be able to make it. Fearing Stephen might not pass the necessary physical examination, they intended to send their children to America alone if that was the only way to get them there. The couple so hated and feared … [Read more...]
Mabel-Canton Team, Spring Grove Individuals Enjoy Success at National Trap
The Mabel-Canton trap team finished among the top third of the field at the 2026 USA Clay Target League National Championship on July 8-12 at Mason, Michigan. Christian Bjerke of Spring Grove was highest-finishing individual among Journal-area shooters and one of only 23 senior marksmen nationwide to qualify for the national tournament for six consecutive seasons. Kingsland … [Read more...]