| CHAPTER IV |  |
Some General History Farming and Some Tragedies |
One reoccurring item in the papers of the late nineteenth century was the reporting of people being injured and property destroyed or damaged from runaway horse incidents. Perhaps the record for any one week was in the summer of 1896 when, in just our own Pleasant Grove area alone, there were three incidents reported from the previous week.
1. Mr Arthur Ballard's team took occasion to go home without him from the mill (Soper's Mill) Monday and strung his wagon out in great shape.
2. Frank Sanders is nursing a badly sprained shoulder caused by a vicious colt he was handling.
3. What might have been a serious accident occurred to Mrs Marion Smith last Sunday night as they were returning from Gilbert Station, the team became frightened at a couple of bicycles, and got the upper hand of Marion and in trying to get out of the buggy she fell on the wheel and received injuries which will keep her in the house for a few days. All trust she may soon be all right.
Another week, there was a report of a young man in Nevada, who, when attempting to stop a runaway team with a wagon of lumber, got knocked to the ground and the wagon ran over him. He died from his injuries. The wagon of lumber was strewn along the main street in Nevada.
A week later a 13 year old lad from near Roland was seriously injured after he had harnessed the horses and hitched them to the buggy and drove up to the front of the house. He was holding the horses by the bridles so his mother could get into the buggy. The horses spooked at something, knocked the lad down and pulled the buggy over him. He was expected to be fine after a few days of bed rest.
In the Nevada paper of the summer of 1897 there ap- peared a little statement as follows:
“A camp of Indians near Bear Creek Bridge is the center of attraction now. ”
This would have been near the place where Horness and Honderd families lived in the 1960's.
Adapted from the Fall 1907 Ames Paper:
“While a merry party of Milford young people were enjoying a picnic last Saturday afternoon in the woods near the J.J. Coon home, an accident occurred which spoiled the pleasure for the afternoon. It seems quite a number of the party were crossing the river on a temporary foot bridge which had been constructed by Mr. Coon for personal use. The bridge gave way and they all fell a distance of ten feet into the water. This probably would have added merriment to the occasion but it was soon found that Miss Mary Frey had been severely injured, having had one of her limbs broken by the fall. She was taken to a nearby house and Dr. Aplin summoned from Ames at once. She was then removed to her home and the latest report is that she is resting as well as could be expected. This is very unfortunate for Mary, as she is one of our Milford girls who attend High School at Ames, being in the Junior Class.”
The J.J. Coon farm sat on both sides of the Skunk River in the middle of Sec 23 in Franklin Township. It was along the road that is now known as ArraSmith Trail. At the time, 1907, there was probably a road, or at least a