ng looked over the different localities we finally decided on the
present town of Vasa, about twelve miles west of Red Wing. The first
claims were taken at Belle Creek, south of White Rock, and afterwards
others were taken at a spring now known as Willard Spring, near which
the large brick church now stands.

After selecting this land my father returned to Illinois. In company
with the other explorers, I went to St. Paul, where a council was held
in which all participated, and at which it was decided that three of us,
Messrs. Roos, Kempe, and myself, should go to our claims that fall and
do as much work as possible, until the others could join us the
following spring.

Having made the necessary preparations we three went to Red Wing by
steamboat and found a little town with half a dozen families, among
whom was the Rev. J. W. Hancock, who for several years had been a
missionary among the Indians. The other settlers were Wm. Freeborn, Dr.
Sweeney, H. L. Bevans, and John Day. Besides these we also met two
Swedes, Peter Green, and Nels Nelson, and a Norwegian by the name of
Peterson. On the bank of the river the Sioux Indians had a large camp.
The country west of Red Wing was then practically a wilderness, and our
little party was the first to start in to cultivate the soil and make a
permanent settlement.

At Red Wing we supplied ourselves with a tent, a cook stove, a yoke of
oxen, carpenter's tools, provisions and other necessaries. Having hired
a team of horses, we then packed our goods on a wagon, tied the cattle
behind, and started for the new settlement. The first four miles we
followed the territorial road; after that we had nothing but Indian
trails to guide us. Toward evening we arrived at a grove on Belle Creek,
now known as Jemtland. Here the tent was pitched and our evening meal
cooked, and only pioneers like ourselves can understand how we relished
it after our long day's tramp. The team was taken back the next day, and
we were left alone in the wilderness.

After a day's exploration we moved our camp two miles further south, to
another point near Belle Creek, where Mr. Roos had taken his claim.

It was now late in September, and our first care was to secure enough
hay for the cattle, and in a few days we had a big stack. Having read
about prairie fires, we decided to protect our stack by burning away the
short stubble around it. But a minute and a half was sufficient to
convince us that we had made wrong