Over the past few years, some blog entries seemed so much
fun to research and write. I wanted to
take a moment and share one of these entertaining posts. This post was originally published July of
2011.
Out west, tradition held that stealing a man’s horse was the
most despicable and life-threatening action imaginable. A horse thief was usually hanged without the
benefit of a jury trial.
I recently came across the following article in the Sauk Rapids Frontierman on 7 June
1855:
The meanest and most contemptible action we know of, is
for a white man to steal a canoe. It is
a common occurrence, for some people who are going to the Falls or St. Paul,
and who are either too stingy or mean to pay for a passage down by land or
purchase a canoe, to steal the first one they chance to see. The people residing upon the river have lost
a large number during the past two years, and we have lately been made a victim
by one of this class of detestable beings—canoe stealers. It may seem cunning, and be a cheap way to go
down stream, but if we ever find out the thief, he will learn to his
satisfaction that “Jordan am a hard road to travel.”
I wonder if the editor considered hanging too good for any
of these canoe thieves:
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