saw Jerry matched one day against the top notch puller and, when they started, some of us kids stood on the tails of Jerry's swallow tail coat. There were two or three grunts and Jerry flew over the head of his opponent, but the tails of his swallow tail coat, that he had had ever since he left Missouri, were not with him. He soon left for the plains where "there weren't so danged many neighbors."
The first wave of settlers was succeeded by a bunch of settlers who came in 1882-83. This new wave came from Scotland, brought here through the solicitation of the Scottish American Land Colonization Company which had agents in many parts of Scotland extolling the fertile soil of Murray County. The company owned large tracts of land in Pipestone and Murray Counties. Thirty-five people who were among the 121 of the 1885 census were born in Scotland. There was only one Scandinavian in the township and he was a Dane. Most of the Scottish people did not take kindly to the long cold winters and soon returned to Scotland.
For years a post office was maintained on the place just south of the C. F. Sierk farm. It was called Scovell, after the first postmaster. J. W. Parshall was postmaster in 1885. This postoffice was on the overland mail route from Currie to Pipestone and included Mason, Lowville (where Oran Jones now lives), and Scovell.
This mail route was maintained for a number of years after the railroad had reached Pipestone, as it served people far from towns.
Among the big men in the township in the early days was Phillip Stanley. He was of the go-getter type, took an active part in affairs, had a cane mill and had the township named after him. But they ganged up on him They argued that the township should not be named after any of the settlers. Charley Cole, a shrewd Yankee with a lot of native ability, moved that the township be called "Cameron." In later years the folks found out that Cameron was Charley's middle name. Some of those old guys weren't so dumb. Among the early mail carriers were B. M. Low, M. D. Mason, and R. Boombower. These men faced real perils during the winter months when the blizzards swept unheeded, without corn fields, groves or
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snow fences just the barren prairie. They felt their way by instinct.
Claim jumping was the first athletic sport. An ambitious settler would come out in the summer or fall and take up a claim. The law only allowed the settler to be gone so long from this homestead and when they overstayed the limit, many of them returned and found out that their farm was gone, so they looked for another. Bill Sabin jumped the Pete Smith claim (now owned by Mrs. A. Edmundson) but Pete, who had studied law by the light of a tallow candle, had taken plenty of land. Pete got to be county attorney and his son, A. D., was Superintendent of Schools a number of years. Pete was a typical western lawyer. He could stand in a store or bar and discuss Blackstone until the lights went out, but he was a grand fellow at heart and died on the farm north of town, where he learned his law.
Looking over the many fine town boards of the last fifty years the pick of the bunch would go to Cameron township when Wm. Scott, John Heins, W. S. Pattinson and Rolf Harmsen guided the destinies of the township. They were clear headed, efficient and a capable bunch of men and rendered Cameron splendid service.
Cameron has had two churches and both suffered the same fate—being destroyed by storms. The first church, which was built in 1891, was hit by a small tornado and scattered over the prairie. A second church, which was built two years later, was blown down in a gale of wind. These storms discouraged the members of the St. John's Lutheran Church and four years later, to get away from the Cameron hoodoo, they built a church in Lowville township just four miles east of where the second church was erected. This church is still standing. Gus Zieman and Miss Minnie Dettmer were the first couple married in the first church built and Wm. Helmke and Lena Dettmer were the first couple married in the second church in Cameron.
Back in the early days, leaders in the group of Germans built a social hall in the north part of the township. For many years they enjoyed the pleasant gatherings at the hall. The whole family would go and spend the Sunday afternoons and evenings. Dances were started and enjoyed for several years.
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