Early days in Lac Qui Parle County, MN, are recalled in this spiral bound booklet reprinted from the rare 1882 book: History of the Minnesota Valley, by the Rev. Edward D. Neill. The booklet is printed one-sided on 60# paper with the print enlarged for easier reading. A vinyl sheet has been added to protect the front cover.
The booklet contains information on the following communities: Lac Qui Parle, Williamsburg (abandoned), Cerro Gordo, Baxter, Riverside, Yellow Bank, Maxwell, Ten Mile Lake, Providence, Hantho, Lake Shore, Madison, Hamlin, Mehurin, Garfield, Arena, Freeland, Perry, and Township 119, Range 46.
Among the many subjects discussed are: Physical Features and boundaries and organization; Early public officials, elections and facilities; William Mills and other early Settlers; Norwegian settlement; "Firsts" for the County and the various communities, such as the first church, first marriage, first death, first birth, first store, first school, first post office, etc.; Mission at site of Lac Qui Parle 1835-62; Early Newspapers and other businesses; the Lac Qui Parle Agricultural Society; Where names came from; and other bits of history and trivia. There are mini biographies of prominent residents in the various towns, including the adventures of Frank Stay, as well as many other names throughout the booklet.
Note: The picture on the front of our Minnesota booklets shows the Goldfinch as "The State Bird". This information was taken from the World Book Encyclopedia, which showed it as such in its 1960 edition, apparently assuming the goldfinch would be a "shoe-in" for the honor over it's chief competitor, the loon. The WBE guessed wrong. Since the information in our booklet pre-dates the naming of the loon as state bird in 1961, and since we don't know how to draw a loon, we're content to allow the goldfinch to have this moment in the spotlight.
Wouldn't this make a unique gift?
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