| Summary: | OWEGO HISTORY The following account draws heavily upon reports by the settlers of the area as well as the research done by George Schunk of Shenford Township (in 1959). Prospective settlers entered the Owego area just after the Civil War but few of those who came before 1870 stayed because of Indian scares. Bands of Dakota Sioux as Yanktonnais, Cutheads, Sisseton and Wah- petons roamed over the wide open spaces which met the eyes of the early pioneers, especially near the Sheyenne River. The name for the Sheyenne River is said to have originated from the Sioux and means "speaking differently". The name Dakota is also from the Sioux meaning "alliance of friends". Fort Abercrombie, located on the Dakota side of the Red River of the North, was established in 1857, rebuilt in 1860-61 with its chief purpose being to keep open the trade routes of the Hudson Bay country. Approximately 40 miles to the west of Ft. Abercrombie on the road to Fort Ransom, a storm shelter was constructed which was known as Pigeon Point, with Ft. Ransom about 37 miles beyond Pigeon Point to the west. Standing atop Pigeon Point, Sec. 19 Owego Twp. The site of Pigeon Point is a high point overlooking the river valley just north of the center of Section 19 in Owego. The original buildings included a large log shanty and ample log stables to shelter the oxen of the trailers and the horses of the soldiers. This land is now under cultivation by Jerry Meyers and no longer is there evidence marking its location. Dave Faribault, a half breed Chippewa Indian and a nephew of Chief Faribault of Minnesota was sent to Pigeon Point by the government to manage the activities of the storm shelter which was established in 1867. With him was his family including his wife Nancy, a good looking educated, full-blooded Aricaree squaw from the Big Stone Lake reservation, and two children, Lewis and Jane. Jane was sent to an academy in St. Paul where she graduated. She was described as a fine bright young lady, very courteous and highly respected. In 1871 a trapper named Charles Huggins became interested in Mrs. Faribault while he was engaged in hunting and trapping along the Sheyenne River. Through an accident, this became public knowledge, causing a great scandal which has been whispered among the settlers ever since, with the result that Charley Huggins threatened retaliation for the disclosure. It was said that a Sioux Indian scare in 1872 was instigated by Charley Huggins. Another story handed down from Pigeon Point days comes from George Van Horn who homesteaded in Sandoun and later lived in Section 19 of Owego. George's father, a soldier stationed at Ft. Abercrombie, had a dark-eyed baby girl named Laura. Besides teaching the early settlers the use of "kinnikinic" (willow bark) as a substitute for tobacco, the Sioux Indians took a special liking to this little girl and called her Black Eyes. The Indians left one day on a hunt towards the west and shortly afterward the Van Horn family missed their daughter Laura. The soldiers were ordered to pursue the Indians and on reaching the band found the dark-eyed Laura among the papooses of the tribe. She was returned unharmed and years later became Mrs. George Duty of Sandoun Township, Ransom County, ND. Very early settlers got their mail at Pigeon Point in the days when soldiers were the mail carriers. At this time the passenger pigeons were so common that men could knock them down by the bushel in the trees at Pigeon Point. Flowing beside the high point of Pigeon Point is Carr's Creek which gurgles over a huge beaver dam and empties into the Sheyenne River. Before the railroad came it was necessary : to haul supplies by wagon from the main line of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Wagon freight lines were established and among the bullwhackers of those times was George Hutchings who was known later as one of the local settlers of the community. He was one of Don Stevenson's teamsters. George followed the trail, freighting for the government as early as 1868 and continued until 1879. He then settled on a claim in Shenford Township. His son William settled in section 18 of Owego and the elder Hutchings gave up his claim and lived with his son. One of the most notable early attempts at settlement was by the Owego Colonization Co. organized at Rochester, Minnesota in 1869 by Captain LaFayette Hadley. Captain Hadley came from New York state and was married to a cousin of Mrs. Clarissa Kelsey Hutchings (George's wife). The group moved and established residence togetner for their common protection and probably arrived in this area in the spring of 1871. A town site, located on what was later surveyed as SE'/iNW'/A-ie Owego was named Owego after their former home city on the Susquehanna River in New York state. This location is a little raise near a small nameless creek just south of the Owego bridge (by Virgil Schultz'). For many years it was on land owned by Mr. Ed (Sim) Wall and is now the farmland of Alvin Wall. This area is now the home of several wild turkeys who were planted in this area for reproduction and are a great attraction to the community. The idea of the early settlers was to build up a small village, lay out a townsite, sell lots and the land adjoining the townsite for a fair fee, and allow no one to squat on any of the land near the colony unless he or she paid down $25 (according to Mrs. A.L. Treat) or $15 (according to Mr. Schunk) in cash to the genial Mrs. Hadley, as the authorized party. Those who paid the amount were allowed to build a house, either inside the limits of the village or on the land they had selected, whichever suited them best. Those who refused to pay were told they would be run out of the country, and the few privileges the colony afforded would be denied them. The land thus controlled was approximately five miles each way from the village. The first building erected was for Captain Hadley. They set to work hewing logs and hauling lumber from McCauleyville, Minnesota, just across the line from Fort Abercrombie at an enormous cost of $60 per thousand feet. The lumber was rough on both sides, full of knots and had bark edges. When the house was completed, a neat cottage of two rooms and an attic, Mr. Hadley sent for his family, consisting of his wife, a grown daughter and two sons, Orange who later lived at Davenport, and the younger son who later lived at Fargo. A factor in selecting the site for the Owego Colony was the belief by Captain Hadley that the Northern Pacific Railroad mainline would be built through this point crossing the Red River further south than the Moorhead site and the Sheyenne River near Owego and again at Brunton's ford enroute to Fort Ransom. The following list includes the original male members of the colony: LaFayette Hadley (President), Orange Hadley, Samuel Horton, Kelley R. Bowden, S.R. Day and The pickup stands on the site of original Owego Colony [Sec. 16] 167 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited in Multi-page TIFF Editor.
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