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Category Archives: Farm History
Prehistoric Corn Cobs
As Kanaranzi Creek erodes away the steep banks on the outer edges of meander loops, archaeological “treasures” continue to emerge and be deposited on adjacent sand bars. We think that’s what happened at the site described in the post of … Continue reading
Posted in Earth Science, Farm History
Tagged archaeology, artifacts, channel erosion, Native Americans
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The “Navy” on Kanaranzi Creek
The Creek comes into our pasture about .7 of a mile above the bridge on the State Line. However, that’s the straight-line distance; it’s more than twice that far along the meandering channel. Those measurements are taken from the air … Continue reading
Posted in Family History, Farm History
Tagged canoes, children, familiies, meandering channel, rafts
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Extraction, Restoration, or Regenerative Agriculture
We’re glad that we live in a neighborhood of diversified farming operations. Naturally, the Kanaranzi Creek valley dictates that grazing and livestock are one way for the pastures to pay their way. The corn and beans on the surrounding uplands … Continue reading
Locating the Dugout
Although our homesteading family arrived in the area in 1870, they didn’t settle on the farm along Kanaranzi Creek until 1871. Their first home, like many other early settlers, was in a dugout. We know some things about this dwelling … Continue reading
Posted in Family History, Farm History
Tagged archaeology, dugout, homesteaders, primary sources
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Native Americans Along the Creek
Last week’s post described some “treasures” that our grandkids have discovered in the pasture down along Kanaranzi Creek. Some of the artifacts and bones that they found near circular vegetation patches seemed to warrant input from professional archaeologists. That input … Continue reading
Posted in Earth Science, Farm History
Tagged artifacts, Dakotah, geophysical anomalies, glacial geology, Great Oasis
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Artifacts, Bones, and Cache Pits
For six generations, the children in our family have looked for adventure down in the pasture along Kanaranzi Creek. And, they’ve found it: fishing and hunting, building rafts and shacks, picking up unique rocks and shells, and picking wild plums … Continue reading
Posted in Earth Science, Farm History
Tagged arrowheads, buffalo bones, cache pits, role model
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Trails to Rails
Overland trails became the routes of railroads that provided critical links between farms and markets. In the 1920s and 1930s, Grandpa George (the son of the homesteaders) shipped cattle to Chicago from a siding called Midland located in Iowa about … Continue reading
Civil War Trails
The trails that our family followed in 1870 weren’t confined to just stream valleys. Their overland route from Waseca to the Kanaranzi Creek was probably laid out 10-15 years earlier, before the Civil War. This map was compiled (Trygg, 1964) … Continue reading
Posted in Family History, Farm History
Tagged Civil War veterans, colonies, GAR, overland trails
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Homesteading on the Kanaranzi
In the spring of 1870, John B. Shurr and his nephew, stood on a hill about one mile south of the State Line and looked out to the east over the valley of the Kanaranzi Creek. The Rock River valley … Continue reading
Posted in Family History, Farm History
Tagged Gilded Age, Homestead Act, land grants, railroads, settlement patterns
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What’s in a Name?
“Runs as the crazy man walks.” That’s what Grandma Daisy Walker Shurr said the word “Kanaranzi” meant. This is what the Creek looked like back in the early Seventies below the hill where our house is located. A friend of … Continue reading
Lone Tree Farm on Kanaranzi Creek 