they would lie till spring when
father split them into rails and built the fence. I have often chased
the timber wolves with my whip as I drove along. They would follow the
team and then when I turned around to chase them they would turn and run
in front of the team.

Finding that the snow blew in through our covered shake roof, we cut sod
and covered the roof with it. The following summer, my father being
away, I planted some popcorn, which we had brought from the east, in
this sod roof. It grew about fourteen inches high and my father, upon
his return, was greatly puzzled by the strange crop which he found
growing on his roof.

When kindling was needed, my father would raise the puncheons which made
our floor and hew some from these.

Our clothing consisted of Kentucky jeans and white shirts for best, with
overalls added for warmth in winter. We also wore as many coats as we
had left from our eastern outfit. These had to be patched many, many
times. The saying always was "Patch beside patch is neighborly; patch
upon patch is beggarly." I never had underwear or an overcoat until I
enlisted.

One day I was plowing with a double yoke of oxen. I was driving while
Mr. Whitney was guiding the plow. Mr. Whitney's brother was across the
river hunting for a lost horse. For a long time we heard him shouting,
but paid no attention until at last we saw him retreating slowly down
the opposite bank before a big bear. He called for help. We got over
there in short order. Mr. Whitney said that the bear had three small
cubs up a tree, but when we reached there she had disappeared with one
cub. He climbed the tree while his brother and I kept guard below. He
caught the two cubs by their thick fur and brought them down and kept
them.

In 1856, we came into town and I often played with the Indian boys,
shooting with bows and arrows in "Frogtown," which was lined with Indian
tepees. They always played fair.

Our log schoolhouse had rude desks facing the sidewall.

Mrs. Henry C. Prescott--1855.

My father, Dr. Nathan Bemis, came to Faribault where his father and
brother had already settled when I was eight years old. We went first to
the Nutting House, but as there was only the "bridal chamber" with its
one bed for the use of women, Mr. John Whipple, although his wife was
ill, invited my mother, with my baby sister, to stay at his house, which
was across the street. My sister, and a young lady who had come with us,
slept in t