"History and Description of Lyon County, Minnesota", 1884
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Town of Lucas.
In the northeast corner of the county, and bounded north by
Yellow Medicine and east by
Redwood counties, lies the town of
Lucas; a rich agricultural district, and one of the fairest and best of Lyon County's twenty township.
The ideal Minnesota town, in the minds of those who have paid attention to the topography of our state, is one where rolling prairies and sparkling lakes alternate with frequency, thus giving, as it were, a dappled scenery nowhere found in such perfection as in the
Gopher State.
Lucas is one of those towns. While the prairie is mostly dry, arable land with occasional fine meadows of rich native grass, free from sloughs and swamps, the water supply of the town is ample without permanent rivers or creeks, in its many beautiful little lakes which are scattered over the whole area of the town. There are seven clear-water lakes of respectable size, with high banks, dry beaches, well stocked with fish and the resort of thousands of water-fowl, furnishing variety and beauty to the prairie scenery, and unparalleled attractions to the settler and the sportsman.
In section 3 is
Sham Lake, not very large, nor very deep, but a pretty little body of water. In sections 4, 5, 8 and 9 a much larger body of water is found, called
Cottonwood Lake, from several large cottonwood trees on the east end There is also a grove of timber on the north shore. In section 11 is
Lake Hamre, named from
E. T. Hamre, a settler near it. It has a little timber on the south side. In section 17 a small lake is named
Lake Susan on the railroad maps, but called
Bogus Lake by the Lucasites. On section 20 and 21 is
Lady Shoe Lake named from its supposed resemblance to that article. There is some timber on the north side. In sections 23, 24, 25 and 26
Lady Slipper Lake, somewhat the shape of the last named, but larger, sleeps amid banks bare of timber. Just why the larger should be called a slipper and the smaller a shoe is one of those curiosities of nomenclature that no fellow successfully tries to find out. In section 36 is
School Grove Lake, getting its name, probably from its being on a school section and having a grove on its east end.
These lakes are not, like the lakes of the country south of
Minnesota, surrounded by swamp, but have beaches of sand, gravel and stone. There is usually a deposit of boulders around a part of them. The lakes, too, make very little waste land.
Lucas has scarcely any waste land, but is considered one of the best towns for agricultural purposes in the west. The W. & St. P. R.R. Co. appreciated this fact to such an extent that they fixed the price of their lands in this town higher than in other towns equally distant from the railroad. Since then they have withdrawn from market about half their lands there, reserving, for purposes best known to themselves, the land in the northeast half of the town.
The crops of
Lucas have uniformly been good, even in grasshopper years. Mr.
R. H. Price states that his lowest average of wheat, even in those times was nine bushels per acre. In
1883, according to the assessor's returns, there were 2,187 acres of wheat sown, 698 acres of oats, 362 acres of corn, 127 acres of barley, 20 acres of potatoes, and other crops sufficient to make up a total acreage under cultivation of 3,418. By the same report the town had 191milch cows, 153 sheep with a yield of 1,268 pounds of wool. These last figures were considerably increased during the summer of
1883. There are 132 acres of forest trees planted and growing, and 317 rods set out on highways. This promises well for the future fuel supply of the town, and it is an industry that will be more largely entered into in coming years. The benefits of cultivated timber on our prairies, both in furnishing fuel, beautifying the farm and enhancing real estate values, is becoming better recognized and acted on each year.
The chief obstacle to the rapid settlement and development of
Lucas heretofore has lain in its distance from railroad markets. This has been considerably overlooked because of its superiority of soil and lake attractions, and the town makes a good showing in its farm and home improvements, but with a near railroad it would have been much more sought after and have made a much better record than it has. This want of the town is now in a fair way to be remedied. A line of railroad from the south via
Worthington and
Tracy was given a preliminary survey in
1883, and will probably run into or very near Lucas. This is one of the projected lines of the Rock Island system, and will probably be built to a northern connection with
Fargo by the way of
Big Stone Lake. If built soon it must in all events, greatly benefit
Lucas by giving it a near market and better facilities for settlement.
The postoffices of the settlers of
Lucas are
Vineland,
Wood Lake,
Silliards in
Yellow Medicine Co. and
Marshall.
Sham Lake postoffice was kept up for some years by Mr.
R. H. Price who also formerly had a store there, but the trouble of running it overbalanced its benefits, and it was discontinued some two or three years ago.
The town has no native timber except that on the lakes before mentioned, and most of the fuel is bought in
Marshall, the trading point for the town.
Settlement was first made in
Lucas about thirteen years ago. In
June of 1871
Wm. H. Slater and
R. H. Price came up from
Olmstead county and took the first claims taken in the town. Mr.
Price built the first house, and is still a resident of the town. Mr.
Slater removed to
Pelican Rapids. During the same year
Allend Christianson,
Peter Oliason,
E. T. Hamre,
H. Dahl and
Jas. Wardrop took claims and settled in the town. Other settlers soon followed, and the question of organizing and naming the town began to be discussed. In
1873 an organization was secured under the name of
Canton. This name, though seemingly a good one, was not satisfactory, and it was changed to
Lisbon, another good name, but no more satisfactory than the first. The name of
Moe, after one of the supervisors, was then tried, but was again changed to
Lucas, which name seemed to stick.
The first town meeting, held
Aug. 5, 1873, resulted in the election of the following as the first officers of the town.
Jas. Wardrop, chairman;
O. H. Dahl and
John Moe, supervisors;
R. H. Price, clerk;
N. T. Dahl, assessor and treasurer;
T. S. Norgaard and
P. H. Dahl, justices;
R. J. Benjamin and
Geo. Anderson constables.
In
1873 the cause of education was proved a factor of the public mind by the opening of the first school taught in the town in a small building built by
R.H. Price on section 2. The teacher was
Ella Williams.
The first child born to the town was
Albert Erwin,
Feb. 27, 1872; the first marriage that of
D. R. Burdette and
Alice M. Price,
July 16, 1873; the first death that of a son of
John Krog in winter of
1873.
The first sermon preached was by Rev.
Joseph Williams, a pastor of the United Brethren society. How much of the seed thus sown fell on stony ground or by the wayside, we have no means of accurately measuring; but there arose an awakening of interest in the subject of the latter end of man early in the town's history, and there were soon formed two church organizations, the Norwegian Lutheran and the United Presbyterian. Rev.
J. Hunzaker,a foreign missionery for some years, had charge of the former society, and Rev.
B. McCullough of the latter.
There are quite a number of Scotch settlers in
Lucas, largely from
Canada and
Nova Scotia. In the north part of the town there are several Scandinavians.There are also some German settlers and a good many Americans. The farms generally are thrifty, and the farmers prosperous.
The settlement is principally on the even sections, having been largely taken as government claims. The odd sections, belonging to the W. & St. P. R.R. Co. by a land grant, have not yet received many settler, though considerable land has been sold.
The present town officers of
Lucas are
Ole Hattlestad, chairman;
John McLennanand
E T. Hamre, supervisors;
E. S. Reishus, clerk;
J. C. Gray, treasurer;
J. A. H. Dahl, justice;
Chris H. Dahl, constable.
The last assessed valuation of
Lucas was $54.140.
There are three school districts in
Lucas. Dist. No. 19 embraces sections 1,2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. It had 34 pupils by last school report. Dist. No. 15 embraces sections 4, 5. 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18. It has 19 pupils reported. The rest of the town is in district No. 41. Each district has a school house.
The projected line of the
Duluth, North Shore & Southwestern R. R. runs through the town from north to south.