Early History of Lowville Township

        No township in Murray County or in Minnesota is as rich in history as Lowville township. It was the first section settled in the Western part of the County and yet it was the most sparsely settled in the middle '70's.

        Soil of Lowville township was the first cultivated in the county. The Indians had planted corn and pumpkins there for generations and La Framboise planted potatoes and other vegetables here in 1834.

        When the Low brothers came here in the sixties they settled in the Bear Lake timber and Bart planted his first garden in soil that had been cleared by the Indians hundreds of years before.

        A petition was filed with the county board signed by John H. Low and 11 other legal voters asking the county board to organize township 107-42. The first meeting was held at the home of W. Ingalls and the township was named in honor of the Low brothers, the first settlers.

The Mihin Homestead
Built by Mike Mihin in 1872, in Lowville Township

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        B. M. Low was the first census taker. The first census was taken in 1875. At that time there were only twelve families in the township. The names of the settlers who signed the petition for the organization of the township were: W. H. Ingalls, Michael Mihin, S. Manchester, Frank Stevens, B. M. Low, Jas. Cartwright, H. O. Stanley, John Soules, Norman Jones, John Low, G. T. Gray and C. Williams.

        Lowville was almost a native born American township, only two signers having been born abroad, Michael Mihin in Ireland and G. T. Gray in England.

        For years the township, or rather that area surrounding the lakes, had been one of the finest hunting and trapping grounds in the middle west.

        John and Bart Low did a lot of trapping in the late '60's and they had long trap lines. John's line ran to the south, down the outlet of the south Bear Lake into the Beaver and he followed the Beaver Creek to a point where Currie now stands. He also trapped in Slaughter Slough where the Indians killed many of the early settlers in the raid of 1862. He trapped Slaughter Slough in 1867-8. Bart had the north trap line and went as far north as where Lynd now stands. The lines were so long that they could not be made in a day, so crude shelters were made along the trap lines.

        The large amount of land in the township covered by water kept the number of early settlers low when compared to the other townships. These lakes and sloughs were the attraction for hundreds of hunters, not only locally, but from other nearby towns and villages.

        As far back as fifty years ago, sportsmen from some of the towns erected hunting shacks in the woods and the hunters and fishermen would take turns during the open season. Luverne, Pipestone and Slayton all maintained hunting camps at the lakes and what loads of game those early hunters got! Take hunters like Doc Williams, Doc. Baker and J. K. Bennett of Slayton. Zealous hunters they were! Several times, owing to the muck in the bottom of the lake, they were not able to carry all their ducks to the shore when dusk came and would have to wait and make another trip in the morning.

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