Finding information and collecting my thoughts in preparation to start the next writing project, I started thinking about the old railroad engines that whistled, steamed, and smoked through my little hometown. There were many configurations of wheels on the engines, and this one shows a 4-4-0 arrangement - four wheels in front, four driver wheels, and no trailer wheels, a very typical engine in the late 1800's, I have a commemorative collector plate hanging on my office wall of Locomotive No. 1, The William Crooks which says on the reverse side, "The first locomotive to operate in Minnesota." Garage sales result in some great finds, this included. On the accompanying Certificate of Authenticity, this statement appears: Completed in 1862 for the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, this locomotive made its first run between St. Paul and St. Anthony, now Minneapolis. The Crooks was carried for many years as Locomotive No. 1 on the roster of the Great Northern Railway, a BNSF predecessor. Comparing this picture to the one on my plate, I can find no difference. Vintage photos show similar engines used in North Dakota during this period.
Railroads weigh heavily in any thinking
about old towns in pioneer days. Towns either existed because a rail
line went through or withered and died because the railroad bypassed
them. Picture this humorous scene in my hometown as reported in the
newspaper: December, 1866 – “Tuesday afternoon the snowplow came
through, ran into a little snowbank close to the depot, and before
the smiling agent could wink, he was nearly buried with the
'beautiful.'” In February, 1885 we learn that “the freight
business of the Fargo and Southwestern is rapidly on the increase.
Twenty cars of freight passed west yesterday.” This fellow had
quite the ride: “A man who rode in a sealed box car loaded with
salmon from Portland, Oregon was heard crying for water in the
Northern Pacific yards at Fargo, Dak and was promptly arrested.”
Trains spooked horses: “Liveryman Hickey met with quite a painful
accident on Sunday afternoon. He was leading a colt which became
frightened at the whistle of a locomotive of one of the gravel trains
and plunging forward, hit Mr. Hickey with his shoulder, breaking a
couple of ribs.” (Hickey, I've learned, was an experienced
horseman.) It took lots of manpower to build and maintain a
railroad: “A gang of the swarthy sons of Italy have been assisting
the regular section crew putting in new ties for the past two weeks.”
Certain events in history have enough
importance to find preservation in books such as the killing winter
of 1886-87, and when we read of events leading up to it one wishes he
could holler loudly, “Stop, can't you see what's going to happen!”
This appeared in the May, 1885 issue of The Sheldon Progress:
“Thousands of head of cattle have been bought in Northwestern Iowa
in the last few weeks to be taken to the large ranches in Dakota and
Montana for fattening purposes.” This is the stuff of science
fiction, being sent back in time to alter history. Teddy Roosevelt's
investment disappeared in this winter of severe blizzards and
cracking cold. He thought it would be easy money to buy cattle,
fatten them on prairie grass, and ship them out for a large profit.
Hundreds of thousands of cattle died.
My favorite line from our old newspaper
states this to confirm in my mind that Sheldon once stood on the edge
of the frontier: “Several prairie schooners passed through town
yesterday bound for the west.”
About that same time this appeared:
“Saturday was a lively day in Sheldon. Thirty or forty teams could
be counted on Front Street at almost any hour of the day.” I aim
to tell some of these stories.
***
Ole and Sven were on a train taking a trip to Nort Dakoda. A beautiful woman in front was saying she heard the Dakoda Indians were the world's best lovers. She asked Ole what his name was, and he says "Ole Redfeather."
Ole and Sven were on a train taking a trip to Nort Dakoda. A beautiful woman in front was saying she heard the Dakoda Indians were the world's best lovers. She asked Ole what his name was, and he says "Ole Redfeather."
***
