CHAPTER XVI
GROVE MEETING AT RED ROCK
ONE Saturday evening,
while gazing with delight upon the rose-tinted sky,
glowing in a gorgeous sunset, the mind absorbed in
rich day-dreams of its own creation, a messenger announced
that a "canoe awaited my order." It had
been dispatched from Red Rock, where a "grove
meeting" was to be held the following day. At
such an hour no ride could have been more desirable,
and going down stream there was no fear of sea-sickness.
Our field for admiration was rich and varied, and
in the ecstacy [ecstasy] of enjoyment we too soon
came to the terminus of our ride.
At a primitive cottage
of respectable size, over-shadowed with ancient oaks,
and enlivened on all sides with golden-hued and modest
forest flowers, a western welcome awaited
us, western hospitality was tendered, with a rich
fund of western entertainment. Alas! the musketoes
[mosquitoes]! These were serious drawbacks on all
social enjoyments; but most affecting the "new
comer," an "old settler" being little
temptation to them. When their bites became no longer
endurable, there was a resort to the "smudge,"
and thus alternating between musketoes [mosquitoes]
and smudge, unable to decide on a preference, every
approachable portion of the body received their mark,
and the eyes were useless from the smoke.
Happily the days of musketoes
[mosquitoes], in the older portions
79
of the country, have passed by, and
are remembered only as among the things that were.
Red Rock Prairie, three
miles below "Crow Village," now Koposia,
on the east side of the river, takes its name from
a large red stone there, formerly worshiped by the
native, or rather a shrine at which he worshiped.
A red stone, whether such by nature or paint, is "wakan"
(sacred) wherever found. Formerly the Methodists had
a mission station here, which was abandoned after
a few years, while those employed as farmers, mechanics,
and teachers, remained enjoying the privileges of
first citizenship.
No longer is the bark
"lodge," or conical teepee, seen upon this
beautiful prairie, and here their council fire is
for ever extinguished. Here, from within a circuit
of thirty or forty miles, about the same number of
persons assembled on Sabbath morning, where the bread
of life was to be broken. Ah! how little do Christians,
in lands where the Gospel banner is fully unfurled,
with their costly temples dedicated to God's worship,
realize their high and heaven-born blessings! How
little do they know the privations, toils, and self-denials
of those who remove the rubbish, "break the fallow
ground," and sow the first seed for the spiritual
harvest!
One Methodist minister,
and one retired Presbyterian missionary, preaching
occasionally, were, at this time, all who proclaimed
the glad tidings to the citizens of Minnesota. On
this occasion, the first-mentioned, with the Sioux
missionary, officiated. The little assembly was quiet
and attentive, for it embraced most of the true
worshipers dwelling in the vicinity.
A sacred awe seemed to
inspire those green old trees as they wafted the hymn
of praise which rose form that
80
band, seated on rough boards in front
of the speaker's stand; an offering not less acceptable
for being presented in "God's first great temple!"
Language is too sterile
to give full force to the newly awakened emotions
of that day. Shadowy visions of the future flitted
before me, brightened by such buoyant hope that I
would not have resigned my isolated position for a
sceptre [scepter] and a crown.
Nature, already in her
loveliest robes, had donned an additional glory, and
with heart tuned to the measure of her glad song,
on the following morning I embarked on my return.
For a little time my soul
drank in the beauties of the scene, quaffing larger
draughts at every view. But, alas! every pleasure
has its alloy, and as if to admonish me that earth
is nowhere heaven, I was soon wholly occupied with
the miseries of sea-sickness.
The power of speech being
well nigh gone, in compliance with my signified wish,
the prow of the canoe was turned to the shore, and
we landed on the margin of a dense thicket. Around,
wildness and beauty reigned, each striving for supremacy.
Flowers were rejoicing in their own loveliness; vines,
which in other lands adorn the mansions of the rich,
here clung to the trunks of giant trees, or were interwoven
with brush and bush, forming beautiful native bowers.
My position was ludicrously
novel, and spiced with a degree of romance not altogether
repulsive, and had I not been divested of the power,
I should have indulged in a hearty laugh. But upon
the thought that a hungry wolf or bear might chance
to pass, I signified my wish to proceed; and supported
on each side by two anxious cavaliers, both of whom
insisted on carrying an um-
81
brella, although the density of the
foliage precluded the possibility of a sunbeam's approach,
we "worked our passage," through the thick
"undergrowth," and after a walk of a mile,
were truly gratified to rest at the "mission
lodge," feeling, of a truth, that another rich
page was added to our chapter of adventures.
Chapter 17
Return to top
