FarmingA Closer LookUsing the sources below, can you decide whether or not Alexander was a successful farmer? Faribault Republican, March 4, 1874: "Mr. Faribault claims precedence as pioneer cultivator of the soil. His farm was situated on the flat south of the Faribault stone mill. Here he raised annual crops of wheat and barley, and devoted that part of the flat which overflowed to turnips and rutabagas. He had on his farm an average of 20 horses and 40 head of cattle, three hundred chickens, and fifty or sixty turkey under the supervision of John Rix. Notwithstanding he had so much stock, the Indians never gave him any trouble and [he] lived upon the most friendly terms with them." Historian Richard Steimann discovered that in the fall of 1844, Alexander purchased a number of things, probably for the farm. These included "one able wagon" for $50.00 plus interest and freight, and, in 1845, a pair of oxen. "By 1846...Faribault was in the red [in debt] by $6,236.20, due largely to the expense of opening and operating a farm." |
