"LOST TIMBER"

        Just when this stand of woods in one of the ravines on the north side of the Chanarambie valley received its name is not known, but it must have been several hundred years ago.

        This stand of timber, just northwest of Chandler, starts on the fringes of Chanarambie township and is well below the level of the surrounding plateau. As the sides slope sharply, with only a short growth of grass, it helped protect the woods from the prairie fires. The woods are not visible until the traveler gets right on top of them.

        The Sioux Indian name for the woods was "tchannarambe" meaning "Hidden Woods." The first map of this section which was made by a man named Keating in 1822 mentions "Coteau Des Prairies" and the "Hidden Woods." The voyageurs translated the Indian name to "Bois Cache."

        No mention of the Hidden Woods seems to have appeared in the maps of the sixties and the early settlers in western Murray County were fortunate in stumbling onto the grove.

        Several log cabins in western Leeds township were built of logs taken from the grove and many a load of firewood from this ravine helped to keep the settlers warm in the early seventies.

        Both the township and the creek derive their names from the Indian name. Ever since the coming of the white settlers in the seventies these woods have been a favorite picnic spot.

        A local legend has it that Jesse James and his brother, Frank, fleeing from the ill fated raid on a bank at Northfield, Minnesota, on Sept. 7th, 1 876, escaped from the posse and fled westward, changing horses or rather taking them from the farmers, as they came west. They took a trail far from the railroads. They were with the bunch at the Madelia fight. The late Mrs. M. E. Lang, then a young girl, was herding cows along the southwest shores of Lake Shetek, when the James brothers rode up and asked her about the country and Lost Timber. They are alleged to have stayed several days at Lost Timber resting up, and one dark night made a dash for the Iowa line and from Iowa to their home in Missouri.

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Muskrat Did Not Tempt Early Settlers

        One of the odd features of the settlers was that no matter how hungry they were for meat they would never eat the flesh of the muskrat. This was true only of the Scandinavian settlers. The Americans, especially those of a second pioneer generation, enjoyed the muskrat meat. It was the cleanest animal on the prairie. Stewing or roasting was the favorite method for cooking. When J. E. Wilson was here in 1882, making final purchase of land, etc., he struck the H. C. Stanley farm at noon. The Stanley place was a mile south of town, where the substation now stands. It was nothing but a big slough, nevertheless it was land and that's what folks came west for. The Stanleys asked Mr. Wilson and Mr. Bragdon, who was with Wilson, to dinner. There was stewed meat and potatoes for dinner. Mr. Wilson was an ardent church member and was highly pleased when asked to say grace. During the meal he commented highly on the food. After they had started home, Mr. Bragdon asked Mr. Wilson, "Did you know what kind of meat that was? That was stewed muskrat." And Mr. Wilson said in a pathetic and subdued tone, "And I said grace over a muskrat." While muskrat under the name of marsh rabbit is a staple article of food in Delaware and other eastern states the "wee beasties" as the Scotch called them were never popular in this section.

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        Oxen were used in western Murray county from the late sixties until 1891. Some oxen were driven single with a wooden yoke shaped like a horse collar. Some farmers had their oxen shod, and along towards the late "80's" they were driven with bridle and bit, but most of the drivers used "Haw" and ''Gee."

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