In 1856, during Minnesota’s earliest years of settlement, an enterprising young newlywed moonshiner in the Fillmore County village of Choice found the area so full of rattlesnakes that he schemed to profit without having to encounter any wild creatures. He manufactured and sold what became a well-known antidote to snakebite. As time passed, he began to market medicine to … [Read more...]

In 1944 Houston County, each crow could bring a bounty of 10 cents, which had the purchasing power that $1.70 has in 2023. In 1955, the rattlesnake bounty doubled from 50 cents to a dollar. Significant increases came in 1957 when the bounty on pocket gophers went from five cents to 10 cents, on crows from 10 cents to 25 cents and on woodchucks from 15 cents to 25 cents. Wolf … [Read more...]

Chickens, pigs, odor and on one occasion, even a blue butterfly – were known to help Houston County humans avoid danger. When Helen VonMoos was growing up in the 1930s on South Ridge (near the boundary between Mound Prairie Township and La Crescent Township in Houston County), she, as a child, would not venture out of the house into the farmyard without first looking outside to … [Read more...]

Part three of a series “The dry years, nobody thinks nothing of it then,” said Wilfred Pohlman, who along with his father William and neighbor John Goetzinger, had attempted for some time to form an organization to prevent flooding in Crooked Creek Valley in southeastern Houston County. But 1946 was not one of those dry years. “Words cannot describe the havoc that resulted … [Read more...]

If her father drove the horse and buggy to town for groceries, he would bring back candy for the children. However, if her mother went with him, there would be no candy. Mother thought they could not afford it during the Great Depression era of the 1930s. A long-time resident of Spring Grove, 98-year-old Beatrice (Hatling) Doely reflected on growing up on a farm between the … [Read more...]

They were married in the king’s palace in Norway. Otto and Caroline Bach, at ages 26 and 24 respectively, and his mother Otilia sailed to New York in 1885 with second-class passage purchased at a country store and post office in Newburg, Fillmore County, Minn., by Otto’s brother and previous immigrant, Mathias Johnson. The newcomers first settled in Newburg and later lived in … [Read more...]

Part three of a series Summer revivals, Christmas pageants, a hospital stay and even sore knees during Wednesday prayers are treasured memories for area historian David Beckman of attending South Ridge Church while growing up in the 1940s a few miles west of La Crescent. The family worshipped twice on Sundays, starting with Sunday school for both children and adults before … [Read more...]

By Lee Epps Part two of a series Throughout the first century of settlement by those of European heritage in southeast Minnesota, the church was a site for community activity, both religious and secular. This was certainly true for rural residents, some distance from villages where there might be larger buildings, such as hotels. Area historian David Beckman reflects on … [Read more...]