d Sioux. They never stole anything or begged,
but would gratefully take anything offered them. They were very friendly
and kind and full of curiosity, as their looking in the windows at all
times showed.

My father had brought a fine pair of horses from Galena. One day when he
was mowing wild hay on a meadow, he left them unhitched and was
excitedly told by a neighbor that they had got in the river. He ran and
saw one swimming near the other shore but as the other had turned over
with his feet in the air, the combined weight of the horse and wagon was
too much for him and before help came, he sank. We recovered the running
gear of the wagon later when all came upon a sandbar, but the harness
had been stolen. What the loss of this team was to a pioneer farmer, we
can hardly conceive.

The countless number of pigeons which migrated here every spring could
never be estimated. At all hours of the night their cry of "Pigie,
Pigie, Pigie," could be heard. They could be seen in countless numbers
on the "slab trees," that is, old, dead trees. Anyone could kill
hundreds in a day and thousands killed, seemingly made no impression.
They flew very low and in dense masses. Ducks and geese were exceedingly
plentiful. I have never seen wild swan here, but many in Minnesota in
the Red River country.

On our farm was a thicket of plums which probably came up from the
stones from one tree. Some were blue, some red, others yellow and red.
Some were sour, some bitter, others tasteless, while others still, were
sweet and of an exquisite flavor. These trees soon ran out and I think
all of this best variety are gone. I remember picking raspberries,
blackberries and wild strawberries in quantities. Every summer we would
go up to Anoka and spend a week camping and picking blueberries.

We sold our corn which was our first crop, to Alexander Moore in St.
Anthony. At that time, he was the only one buying corn. Two bushel
baskets made a bushel. This sold for 15c. Mr. Moore had much larger
baskets than those ordinarily in use and measured the corn in these.
When the farmers demurred, he said, "If you don't like my measure, take
your corn home." He knew there was no one else for us to take it to, so
was very brave. There were very few scales so farm produce was generally
sold by measure.

I never saw a pair of shoes until after the war. Everyone wore boots.

In the northern part of the State I have seen men start out in the
morning with an ox