Manuscripts Collection
Orton, the son of Cornelius K. (the founder of Ortonville) and Augusta Orton, was born in Ortonville on March 7, 1872 or 1874, the first white child born in the town. No additional information could be located on Orton, other than that he later owned and operated Orton Fruit Orchard, Algona, Iowa. His death date could not be located.
The year of his birth is in question. In a letter to the Minnesota Historical Society (1958) he gave his birth date as 1872. The letter also gave the date of the composition of the reminiscences as 1928. In published sources his birth date is given as 1874. From information in the 1880 and 1885 census records, the date as reckoned as 1874.
A detailed reminiscent account (typed) of Orton's boyhood life in Ortonville, the typescript describes home life, blizzards, schools, prairie fires, Indians, birds and animals, and related subjects. The manuscript is in eighteen unnumbered chapters. Each chapter is filed in its own sub-folder.
Related materials: Orton's Bank records are in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should
Accession number: 8357
Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, July 1998
Catalog ID number: 09-00321463
Orton describes evidence of prehistoric inhabitants in the area and in the Minnesota River Valley, locating Indian artifacts and mounds, and providing other cultural data.
He describes the location of Dakota tribes in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, and estimates the number of Indians in the area in early times. Orton discusses the ravages of smallpox; treaties; Indian relations with Zebulon Pike, Jonathan Carver, Robert Dickson, and other whites; Indian activities during the War of 1812; intertribal wars; the Spirit Lake Massacre (1857); the Dakota War (1862); and the battles of Little Big Horn (1876) and Wounded Knee (1890). Orton expresses a sympathetic understanding of the Dakota and their relationships with whites.
Orton gives detailed description of Dakota leader Inkpaduta and the Spirit Lake Massacre in Iowa and the Dakota Conflict in Minnesota (1862), mentioning treaties, treatment of the Indians, and descriptions of the conflicts.
The chapter contains information on Orton's father, describing his adventure as a 17-year-old teamster who participated in part of the Sully Expedition again the Dakota (1864). The "Bill" referred to in the title was a hired man who lived with the family for many years; no other information on him was found.
This brief section has information on outlaws in Ortonville in 1880-1881 while his father was mayor, and his management of the situation.
An informative account of the Ortons home life on the frontier, describing boys' chores; making cloth for clothes; prices of goods; making of oatmeal, corn and wheat meal, bread, and syrup; fruits and vegetables available; women's work; and other aspects of family life.
Descriptions of events during the blizzards of 1879 and 1880, and stories of individuals lost and found during them.
Information on Orton's early school days; descriptions of school buildings and teachers; boyhood pranks; and the ravages of diphtheria, scarlet fever, and smallpox, and home remedies for them.
Orton describes the evolution of farm machinery and implements including scythes, self binders, and threshing machines; breaking prairie sod; and crop planting.
Personal recollections of prairie fires in the 1880s.
He describes early French explorers in the area including Sieur de al Verendrye, American explorers, and Joseph R. Brown an his family.
The three sub-folders contain information on Red River carts,
which Orton observed; covered wagons; and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul
Railway's arrival in Ortonville (1880) and the resulting growth in the city's
population. Orton's father gave a three-mile easement through his land for the
road's right-of-way and was one of the railroad's directors. He also describes
canoes, keel boats, and the arrival of the steamboat
A detailed description of the many birds found in the region, including ducks, geese, cranes, swans, pelicans, and herons. Pages 20-21 list the birds he had seen.
Describes the many animals in the area including elk, antelope, buffalo, deer, wolves, otters, beavers, badger, and muskrats. He also describes Indians coming to trade skins.
This chapter has information on the many types of fish found in the area.
Describes an area south and east of Ortonville in the 1880s, which included all kinds of game, birds, and other animals and contains a description of a cattle stampede.
Typed extracts from the 1880 and 1885 census records for Ortonville, listing the Orton family; biographical sketches from newspapers and other published sources; a poem by Clark Orton: "Memories of Home"; and two letters (1928) to Clark Orton expressing interest in Orton's "A Boys [sic] Life on the Frontier."