Visitors learn how early settlers prepared for winter

By RACHEL WEDDIG

Journal Staff Writer

MORTON -- Making quilts, making cheese and churning butter were some of the activities visitors were exposed to during the Fall Harvest at the Lower Sioux Agency in Morton on Saturday.

Despite thunder and lighting the show went on, as employees to the Lower Sioux Agency moved activities inside so visitors could still participate in opportunities to learn how Dakota, settlers and agency employees prepared for the winter.

"During the summer the settlers lived in bark lodges which was a secure home for the Dakota people," said Lower Sioux Agency Site Manager Tom Talbott. "Visitors can learn how the settlers made their butter and cheese and how they shelled their corn."

Despite being outside in a tent battling the wind and the rain, volunteer Mary Talbott showed visitors the process of making cheese.

Barb Kiergard of the Lower Sioux Agency showed the steps of churning butter, and after a while visitors had butter to sample along with apple and grape jellies.

Some visitors volunteered to churn butter. Because the size of the container, it took about 20-30 minutes before the butter was made.

Wendy Dodge battled the weather to come with a group of girls from the Hoffman Center in Comfrey to show the girls what life was like for the early settlers in the mid-19th century.

"Up at the center we're learning about Native Americans so this fit in well with their education," Dodge said. "So we've kind of tapped into some of the resources in south-west Minnesota and into the Minnesota Historical Society. Last summer we sent some girls and this summer I came along. The girls love it when the employees here at the agency know them by name. Agencies like the Lower Sioux are well worth the state's money."

Andrea Swenson and her family came from the Twin Cities to learn about preparing for the harvest.

"It's an educational experience for my family. We don't get to historical agencies a lot outside of the Twin Cities area," said Swenson.

The Harvest Festival at the Lower Sioux agency continues today from noon to 5 p.m. At 2 p.m. agency employees and participants will be putting up a tepee, lining it and insulating it with grass. The Lower Sioux Agency is located along Redwood County Hwy. 2, nine miles east of Redwood Falls.