"A Pioneer History of Becker County Minnesota" written by Alvin H. Wilcox in 1907: Patrick Quinlan "I will here insert a short article, written by Patrick Quinlan, the first white settler in Burlington Township, [Becker County, Minnesota] giving an account of himself and the first settlement of the township. Richwood, December 26, 1903 I was born in Canada close to the village of Norwood. on the 15th day of February, 1836. My father and mother were Irish. I lived and worked on my father's farm until I started west. The railroad was built only to the lead mines beyond Galena, Ill. I arrived in St. Paul in may 1854. St. Paul was a very small village at that time. I stayed one night, took the steamboat at St. Anthony the next day and came to Sauk Rapids. No Minneapolis or St. Cloud at that time existed. I started for Long Prairie, and it was Winnebago Agency at that time. The first man I worked for lived down below Big Lake and he was a new settler, by the name of Foiles. I worked two months and a half at twenty dollars per month and I never got my pay. He accidentally shot himself, and his wife promised to pay me, but I never troubled her about the money. It was a bad start, however. as I lost a good deal of my wages afterwards. For three or four years before the war when a man got His money, very often it was no good, no one would accept it. Every man that was doing any business had what was called a bank detector. I worked for a man named Bonfield, who lived at Rice Lake near St. Anthony. He was in the lumber business and paid me a hundred and twenty dollars and the money was no good. In the year 1859 a man on his way to Red River offered me twelve dollars a month if I would go and help him through and work for him through the winter which I did, commencing the spring of 1860. I got a chance to work as watchman on the first steamboat on the Red River owned by Mr. Burbank, of St. Cloud. The boat was built by Mr. Anson Northrup at Georgetown and after working or the boat a while I got tired of the business and a man came and offered me twenty dollars a month to go with a party out to the Blackfoot country. They were going to trade for horses, so I started with them in a party of eight. After traveling some days we found ourselves among the buffalo. After traveling through that country and seeing so many buffalo, I thought that they would always remain. We struck the Blackfoot trail close to Bear Paw Mountain, and followed the trail northwest four days before we overtook the Indians. During the time we were following the Indian trail we saw many buffalo that the Indians had killed and left without taking any part of them for their own use. There were also a great many wolves. When we got within about two miles of an Indian camp we met some Indians who were going out on a hunt. Our boss treated them to some whisky which they liked very much and one of them asked for some whisky to carry to his friend who was out hunting. Our interpreter asked him how he could carry it. He said he would carry it, and he doubled up the tail of his leather shirt, poured in the whiskey, tied a string around it and so started off. We soon arrived at the camp, and I was surprised to see so many horses and we got quite a number and started for Fort Gary. While on our return trip three of us concluded to run buffalo one evening, and so we started out after a large herd and we managed to kill one large bull which we shot over twenty times before he fell. We found it very inconvenient to load our guns while on horseback. While coming through the Assiniboine country the Assiniboines took some of our horses from us. We were out on that trip something over two months, more than half of the time we lived on buffalo meat alone. In the fall of 1862 I came back to St. Cloud with a wagon train belonging to Mr. Burbank of that place. We expected to have trouble with the Sioux Indians, but we did not. From 1862 to 1868 I r remained at Crow Wing a good part of the time and worked for the government. I came to Becker County, May 28th, 1868, and built a cabin near were Frazee now stands. The land was not surveyed at that time and the railroad company beat me out of three forties of my claim, that part which was on Section 35. The land now belongs to Edward Briggs. I built my house on what is now the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 35, a little east of the Otter Tail River. In June, 1868, Mr. Henry Way and Mr. Sherman came but went on to Oak Lake, west of Detroit where they put up hay to use the next winter. The next person after myself to settle in Burlington township was Charles E. Churchill. He came about the first of June, 1870. the same year the railroad was surveyed. I helped him build his house, hauling the logs with my team. His house was built on the west side of the river nearly opposite where it intersects the lake (in what is now Schebaher's field). The next newcomers were William Chilton, T. W. Chilton and William Redpath, who came some time in June 1870. Tim and Redlpath soon went back but about the 20th of August returned and James Chilton and James Winram came with them. When I came the nearest settlers were at Rush Lake; Otter Tail City was the nearest store. When I came onto the place I paid two dollars and twenty-five cents a bushel for ten bushels of potatoes at Otter Tail City. Flour was seven dollars per sack, pork thirty five cents per pound. During the first winter I had to carry my flour, pork and other supplies on my back from Otter Tail City. It was impossible to go with oxen the snow was so deep and no road. The first summer I was there I put up about thirty tons of hay and thought I could sell it to parties who were hauling supplies to White Earth for the Indians who had been removed there that summer by, the government; but as soon as cold weather set in they hauled all their supplies around by Leech Lake, and I was unable to sell any hay. I started from Otter Tail City one day about the middle of February on Indian snowshoes. I had about eighty pounds of flour and other stuff on my back. Night overtook me not far from where Perham now stands. It was cloudy and dark and I got lost. After wandering about for a long time I came to the Otter Tail River about a mile below the crossing and walked up until I came to the crossing, then I knew where I was. But there was an open space in the ice so I had to step into the water. The space was not very wide and the water only little above my knees. The night was not cold and I traveled about a mile, and finding myself pretty tired, stopped and rested. When I started I discovered that I was unable to carry my pack, so I had to leave it until next day. I arrived home sometime after midnight a very tired man. William Thompson was my first neighbor. He came the next summer and located where Thomas Keys now lives in Otter Tail County. There were lots of ducks, chickens and other game at that time and I shot a large bear. When I first saw her she had a large cub with her I did not have my gun with me then. It was at the north end of the grove, near where Edward Briggs now lives, and they were going to that rocky hill west by the river. So I went home and got the gun, which was loaded with shot and I added a bullet into each barrel and started after her. Hunting around for some time in the brush. I heard her run, but I could not see her owing to the density of the brush. After running a little way I saw her as she went west toward the river. I took a short cut. but when I arrived was not sure whether she was ahead of me or not. So I walked about watching very carefully for some time and was surprised all at once to see her standing on her hind feet about six feet away from me. I aimed at her breast and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not go off. It seemed to scare her and she got down and walked away sideways a few feet with her head turned toward me. I pulled the other trigger, the gun went off and she fell, and I loaded that barrel again before I went to where she was lying She was dead. I found that I had shot her between the eyes. I could not find the cub. I shot some other game; two wild cats, some mink and one red fox. After living there four years and losing my claim, I concluded to move to White Earth. So I found a claim that suited me north of the Buffalo River. I took the land in my wife's name and we are still living on the same land. My health has been very poor for some time and I do not expect to get rich, but I am content. I do not think it best to trouble you any more. Yours truly. P. QUINLAN. Patrick Quinlan died at his home near Richwood the 10th of March, 1905. Submitted by Dick Campbell