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Long Prairie River
Historical Uses and Changes The
Long Prairie River played a vital role in the early settlement pattern of Todd
County. History names the Long Prairie River valley as a hunting ground for
the Dakota and Ojibwa, with the river itself providing a transportation link
with the Crow Wing and Mississippi. Starting as early as the 1840's the
river and it’s grass filled valley were where settlers first established
themselves. By mid 1860's several settlements from the present site of Long
Prairie to Motley were prospering, using flatboats, and for a very short time
even a steam boat, for transportation and shipping. By 1877 the water level
had fallen to a point that only very small water craft could negotiate the
river on a regular basis. In late 1877 H.D. Orendorf cut a road down the west
side of the river from Turtle Creek to Motley. For many years this was the
only road down the river valley. Some of
the villages that grew up along the 100 mile length of the Long Prairie have
prospered, some have disappeared completely. Hartford, on the banks of the
river, opposite the mouth of Eagle Creek was settled in 1865 by John Bassett
who was attracted to the area by the open grasslands north of the river. The
railroad brought about the demise of Hartford when they built on the west side
of the river, the community migrated to it and became what is now known as
Browerville.
Long
Prairie was never a river town like Hartford. In the 1840's, it was settled
as the administrative headquarters for carrying out the agreement between
Washington and the Winnebago Indians. The settlement developed along Venewitz
Creek and was said to be more populous than St Paul at that time. In 1855 the
Winnebago had been moved to a reservation and the lands were sold to investors
from Ohio. The settlement was abandoned in the 1860's during the Ojibwa
uprising. The area was slowly repopulated by settlers passing through the
area, who stayed, in many cases, because of the availability of the already
constructed buildings and homes. The
communities West of Long Prairie were settled at the end of the Civil War,
initially by soldiers who had fought for the Union Army and were not very
welcome in their home state of Kentucky. Whiteville, located at the present
intersection of County Roads 38 and 11, was settled by the three White sisters
and their families. Clotho, it seems was settled where it is because settlers
couldn’t go any further. The forests and swamps to the west were
impenetrable.
At the
time of settlement, the forested areas of the Long Prairie River Watershed
were substantial. The Marshner Original Vegetation Map, shows 65.5% of the
area was covered by a variety of hard woods and pines. The first commercial
logging began about 1866 and continued through the mid 1890's. Eagle, Moran,
Fish Trap, and Turtle creeks were all large enough, at that time, to power
mills and float logs to the Long Prairie River where they joined other log
rafts on their way to the Crow Wing and to the Mississippi. As most of the
trees were harvested, the sandy soils in these areas were left unprotected,
increasing the erosion, and gradually filling the streams with sediment. The
result is the very much smaller streams we have today. The 1990's Land Use
map shows only 21% of the area forested, much due to reforestation plantings,
and over 60% of the area as cultivated, hay, pasture or grassland. As the
Long Prairie River Watershed was settled, roads and railroads took over the job
of transportation and shipping. Landowners used the river as a source of water
for themselves, their livestock, and more recently, for irrigation. Industry
located along the riverbanks and used the river as a source of water and as an
discharge point for the waste materials generated by their companies. Few
cities and villages used the river for drinking water, because the shallow sand
aquifer along the river provided easy access to well water. Wastewater,
however, was and still is discharged to the river and to Eagle Creek, one of the
larger tributaries. Early irrigation used mostly surface water sources, primarily the Long Prairie River. In the dry years of the late 1970's, many irrigation systems were shut down at critical times because of low surface water levels. This action prompted most Irrigators to change over to wells. To this day, irrigation systems are flourishing in the deep water rich sands of the Long Prairie River Valley, but by 1994, only 14 surface water permits still existed in Todd County. Long Prairie River TMDL work plan
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