re the timber rattlesnakes--great big fellows. I caught
one by holding a forked stick over its head and then dropped it in a
box. I kept it for a pet. It was seven feet, one and a half inches long,
I used to feed it frogs, mice and rabbits. I thought it was fond of me,
but it struck at me and caught its fangs in my shirt when I was
careless, so I killed my pet.

The only time I ever went to school was for two months in '55, to John
Cunningham. Wilbur made our desks out of black walnut lumber, cut in
Buffalo Grove. It was very plentiful there.

Later we used to go to dances. I was great for cutting pigeon wings and
balancing on the corner with a jig step. We used to dance the whirl
waltz, too. Some called it the German waltz. We spun round and round as
fast as we could, taking three little steps.

Mr. Elijah Nutting--1852.

We came to Faribault in 1852 and kept the first hotel there. It was just
a crude shanty with an upstairs that was not partitioned off. Very cold
too. I rather think there never was anything much colder. But it was
very well patronized, as it was much better than staying outside.

There were many Indians whose home was in our village. We used to have
good times with them and enjoyed their games and seeing them dance.
Families were moving in all the time. Finally winter was over and spring
with us.

We began to think how near the Fourth was and how totally unprepared we
were for its coming. We decided to have a minstrel show. We had seen one
once. My brother was to be end man and black up for the occasion. But he
was a little tow head and we did not see our way clear to make nice
kinky black wool of his hair.

Unfortunately for her, a black sheep moved into town in an otherwise
white flock. We boys would take turns in chasing that sheep and every
time we could get near her, we would snatch some of the wool. When sewed
on to cloth, this made a wonderful wig. The proceeds from this
entertainment, we saved for firecrackers. Then we bought some maple
sugar of the Indians--very dark and dirty looking. It looked very
inadequate for a young merchant's whole stock of goods, but when it was
added to by scrapings from the brown sugar barrel, when mother's back
was turned, it sold like wild fire.

We felt like Rockefeller when we entrusted the stage driver with our
capital to buy the coveted firecrackers in Cannon City, which then was
much larger than Faribault. They cost forty cents a bunch, so we only