With the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, transcontinental stagecoach traffic ended. The arrival of railroads in southeast Minnesota in the 1860s and ‘70s signaled the demise of stagecoach passenger service. By 1880, most of Minnesota was accessible by railroad. And it would not be long before automobiles replaced stagecoaches in the delivery of mail. In … [Read more...]
Long-distance Lions were fourth-quarter conquerors
The Spring Grove boys won five football games but led only one of those games at halftime. The 2020 Lions (5-3, 4-2 district) needed four second-half surges and fourth-quarter heroics to extend their string of winning seasons to 11. As is often the case, the difference between a winning or losing record or breaking even depended on winning the close games. And Spring Grove took … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past: If women on board – then no boozing, no smoking, no cussing
It was surely more pleasant watching the ride from a theatre seat than experiencing an actual ride on a stagecoach. Made famous by mid-20th century movies and television about life in the American West of the late 1800s, horse-drawn coach travel dates back to England in the early 1600s and came to North America during colonization. While stagecoaches contributed to the lore of … [Read more...]
Volleyball Lions persevere through pandemic for another winning season
It was the sixth consecutive winning season for coach Kelsey Morken and the Spring Grove volleyball girls, who finished at 8-4, including a 5-4 conference mark to tie for third place in the six-team SEC East Division race. Considering two break-even seasons, it has been a dozen seasons since the Lions finished below.500, the longest non-losing streak in program history. The … [Read more...]
Lion netters close with wins against Rockets, ‘Canes
Spring Grove closed out the home volleyball schedule with a 3-1 payback win over Randolph on November 18 and then finished the virus-shortened season with a November 19 road triumph at Houston. The 2020 season that started late also ended early, due to public health concerns. Late-season scheduled matches with Grand Meadow and Lanesboro were among many area athletic events … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Taking oxen for a walk or putting ‘em on a ferry for 50 cents
By Lee Epps They came on foot, walking beside a yoke of oxen, which pulled a cart laden with their belongings. Sometimes the women and children rode atop the load in the cart. These were settlers of the early 1850s, making their way into what would become Houston County, Minn. Some of these migrants had accompanied oxen from as far away as southern Illinois. Others arrived … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Boatmen, Indian blacksmiths and finally a few farmers by 1850
Eight years before Minnesota statehood, Minnesota Territory was included in the United State census of 1850. A year previous, the Minnesota Territorial assembly had created nine counties. What is now Houston County was then part of a very large Wabasha County, which extended from the Mississippi River west to the Missouri River (now in central South Dakota) and from the Iowa … [Read more...]
Spring Grove girls cannot slow state-ranked Cougars
The Spring Grove girls (6-4, 6-4 SEC) remained close only in the third and final set during the conference volleyball rematch at Mabel-Canton. The Cougars (11-0, 11-0 SEC) appeared deserving of their No. 4 state Class A ranking while taking all three sets – 25-15, 25-15, 25-20. The Lions had more earned points (kills, blocks, aces) than errors in each set, but they could not … [Read more...]
Big fourth-period plays propel Lions past Cougars, 28-24
Spring Grove needed two 97-yard possessions and three plays covering more than 80 yards to finally overtake Mabel-Canton, 28-24, on snow-frosted Blayne Onsgard Memorial Field on Nov. 12. Trailing the Cougars (2-4) by two scores in the fourth quarter, the Lions (4-2) rallied with two home run tosses from Isaac Griffin – first for 86 yards to Caden Grinde and then for 82 yards to … [Read more...]
Spring Grove spoils Lyle/Pacelli Homecoming, 36-22
Spring Grove (3-2) won at Lyle/Pacelli (2-3) with a second-half shutout on an unusually warm and sunny Saturday Homecoming Saturday afternoon at Lyle. The Athletics had only 23 yards of offense in the second half after 206 yards before halftime. Lyle/Pacelli led at halftime, 22-21. But three plays into the second half, an interception by freshman Elijah Solum at the L/P 17 … [Read more...]