Minnesota pioneer sketches, from the personal recollections and observations of a pioneer resident

Dedication To Hon. John B. Gilfillan

It is a source of special gratification to dedicate -^m volume of "Minnesota Pioneer Sketches" to a Teria^ torial Pioneer whom I have known intimately for nearly half a century; one, who, througli his manly worth, charitable deeds and progressive spirit, has commanded and still commands the highest respect of the community, in which he has lived so many years.

The name of John B. Gilflllan, of Minneapolis, stanfe out prominently in religious, educational^ l^gal, and financial circles, — and it is to him, the schoolmaster of the ^^Old Black School-House" in my boyhood days, — I inscribe these pages.

THE AUTHOE,

Preface

The many readers of Mr. Frank G. O'Brien's newspaper sketches of pioneer life in Minnesota, will be glad to see them preserved and much extended in the present volume. He writes with authority, as his own life here reaches back to 1855, and has been closely connected with what he describes.

His book shows us the early settlers in their daily work, their Sunday worship, their homes and holiday amusements. It gives interesting and varied views of the farm, the lumber camp, the lakes, the Mississippi navigation, the Fort, the Falls, the Government Mills, St. Anthony when its streets were still quaint with the Red River carts, the old schoolhouse, the religious meetings, the revivals, the early musical activities. Through all these sketches, Mr. O'Brien shows his well-known genial and joyous spirit,— with sympathy for the hardships, but with full perception of the humorous side of pioneer life. His pictures are not only in bright and lively prose, — but sometimes in the poetic form, by which his name has become still more familiar to the public.

The book's abundant reminiscences of places and persons will make it especially interesting, of course, to the older residents. But its pictures of pioneer society should interest all readers, and be of lasting value in the records of Minnesota. Indeed, such reminiscences often outlast more elaborate histories; — and an old diary or account-book or song may become more important than many a stately volume.

Minneapolis is fortunate in having a writer who has so patiently recalled and so pleasingly recorded these early scenes, that are fast fading from memory, and would soon be hopelessly lost.

HENRY M. SIMMONS.

Pastor First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, Minn. Minneapolis, June 8, 1904.