He sold out his personal property and left the country soon after the trial.

        Volkel was buried in the Potters field in Hillside Cemetery by the county.

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FIRST ROAD IN MURRAY COUNTY

        The first road through this section of the county was the government trail from New Ulm to Fort Thompson, South Dakota. The road entered at the northeast part of the county, crossing the Des Moines River at the foot of Lake Shetek, then crossing over what is now Poverty Hill in Mason township. Then westward, passing the Bear Lakes at the southern tip and on through what is now Lowville and Cameron townships to the Buffalo ridge and from thence down into what is now Pipestone county. The huge ruts made in the trail by the big government wagons, which were pulled by three yoke of oxen, were plainly seen in Cameron township on the prairie at the top of the ridge as late as the '80's.

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Water Was a Problem in Later Years

        In the seventies and early eighties there was plenty of water available. Wells were mere makeshifts; merely a hole in the ground and the well covered by logs. In later years the water level decreased and deeper wells were dug by hand. Some of them were stoned up and when lumber came curbing was made of wood. The next step was the well auger; this machine would go down to nearly 100 feet. The auger was run by a horse. It would bore a well two and a half feet across. This type of well was curbed by six-inch beveled boards. Then came the well drill of six or eight inch wells. This type is what is in use in our section in 1947.

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        The only limestone kiln of record in Murray County was on section 34 in Lake Sarah township. It was on the John Swenson farm. Mr. Swenson only burned one kiln a year.


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CAMERON TOWNSHIP

        For some reason unknown, Cameron township was one of the best settled townships in Murray County in the old days.

        The first official notice is that of W. H. Bennett, appearing before the county commissioners at Currie on Sept. l9th, 1878, with a petition signed by fifteen voters praying that 107-43 be organized and that the name of the new township be called "Stanley." The first meeting was held at the home of D. Connors. In the census of 1880 there was a population of 124 in the township. Just five years later another census was taken and Cameron had lost three residents. The census was taken by Guy Stedman who was an uncle of the late Bert Peters. He filed his report on May 27th, 1885. Here are the names that appeared on the first census:

        Guy Stedman, Wm. Cann, David Hood, Chas. McSherry, Tom Farrel, Chas. Grant, Pete McSherry, Pat Gildea (in later years he became a representative in the legislature), Geo. H. Smith (father of the present postmaster at Lake Wilson), W. S. Pattinson, J. W. Shadbolt, Chas. Welch, Wm. Wilson, Mrs. Adeline Miller, Jas. Jackson, Wm. Wright, J. M. Pullen, Chas. Cole, Jerry Baker, Tom Gildea, Bill Sabin, John Thompson, James Bell, James Forrest (father of the writer of this volume), C. Thompson, Wm. Stedman, J. W. Parshall, H. Scovel (the post office was named after him), and Davy Guy.

        Cameron Township was settled in the late '70's mostly by civil war veterans and "sooners." Sooners were men with their faces always toward a setting sun. They disliked neighbors and when they had a neighbor nearer than two miles they just itched to get away from the crowds. Jerry Baker was typical of those men. He wore a swallow tail coat that had once been black, chewed tobacco incessantly, trapped and fished and was a great visitor. Whenever there was a building or post nearby, Jerry would aim to get there and with his back against it, would pour forth rivers of wisdom about things he knew nothing about. The maddest we ever saw Jerry was at a threshing machine. The threshing machine days were the social events of the years. Jerry was pulling "sticks" (two men would sit facing one another. They held a broom stick in their hands and the game was to pull your opponent over your head.) We

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