rents, which caused the river to rise
to that extent that the logs which followed in the wake of the flood,
acted as a battering ram and proved too much for the structure and great
was the fall thereof. I among others of our family were witnesses of
this event, which took place at eight o'clock on the morning of June
first, 1859.

Mr. Michael Teeter--1857.

Tom and Bill were the first horses which came into Lyle township. They
were fine powerful fellows and created much comment throughout that
section of the country.

Some of my neighbors envied me my prize while others thought that a fool
and his money had easily parted, for I had paid three hundred and forty
dollars for them, and the best yoke of oxen in the country side could be
bought for seventy. But I was well satisfied, for I was able to do my
work and get about quickly. When haste was necessary, Bill and Tom were
pressed into service.

I recall very well one dark rainy night when I was taking a neighbor to
nurse a settler who lived at some distance to the west. So thick was the
darkness that we could never have kept the trail had it not been for the
flashes of vivid lightning. The horses showed so much intelligence
through it all that I finally gave them the lines and they brought us
safely to our destination.

New Year's day, '58 we took the ladies of Otranto village for a
sleigh-ride--not on the snow, for the ground was bare--but on the Red
Cedar river, which was frozen clear and smooth as glass. We fairly flew
over the ice and the home-made sleigh swerved from side to side, as Bill
and Tom took it upon themselves to show off their speed to friends who
were in the habit of riding behind deliberate and stubborn oxen.
Suddenly, without warning, the sleigh tipped and we found ourselves in a
heap, and although there was much shouting and crying, no damage was
done, and the little shaking up tended to make the day memorable.

Another incident that stands out vividly in my mind after all these
years, has no amusing aspect. Late in the fall of '57 I found it
necessary to make a trip to Decorah, Iowa, for supplies of various
kinds. My absence from home was to be shorter than usual on such trips,
for Bill and Tom had endurance as well as speed. All went well during
the journey, and on my return I halted for supper at Little Cedar and
hoped to reach home that evening. When I was ready to start, the tavern
keeper told me that I had better stay the night, for a p