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Oliver filed homestead papers in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on April 18, 1899, and paid the $13.00

fee for the homestead rights to 120 acres of land in Aitkin County. The land that Oliver settled

on consisted of 120 acres of virgin land, just opened to homesteaders. 80 acres of the land was

in timber, and about 40 in natural meadows that the Indians had harvested hay on over the

generations. The Willow River ran through the property. The soil on the timbered part of the

land was sand left by the glaciers during the ice ages. In spite of that, the McAninch’s cleared

enough land and raised enough crops to survive on. It was not, however, the type of farm

which would yield a cash crop for producing an income.

The property was located about 40 miles north of the town of Aitken, Aitkin County, Minnesota,

but was reached by traveling north in a round about way from Aitkin on the old Indian trails that

meandered from high land area to high land area, and thereby bypassing most of the large

swamps that still cover much of the area between Aitkin and Haypoint (note needs to be made

here that when “high land” is mentioned, this land may be only 6 feet or so above the surrounding

swamps and bogs. Much of this area was covered in prehistoric times by a very large glacial lake).

They needed to cross the Mississippi River one time, and ford countless other streams in the

40 miles to reach the homestead. This trail passed through the homestead, and in fact ran between

the two “houses” that Oliver built on the property. It continued to meander north to what is now

Grand Rapids, Minnesota, the grand rapids of the Mississippi River. This trail became the first

“tote” road through the area as well. This was a trail that was just barely navigable by wagons.

Donna McAninch Cluff told a story, as told by her mother, Estella Jean (Glazebrook) McAninch,

wife of Perry Moses McAninch. Perry and Estella: The couple had met and become engaged after

a long, long distance, courtship in Ringgold County, Iowa. Estella traveled by train to Duluth,

Minnesota, where Perry met her, and they were married there on July 3, 1907. Then the next day

they traveled by train to Aitkin, Minnesota, where they met Perry’s family, who had come “down”

to Aitkin for the 4th of July celebration. This was Estella’s first visit to the area. The next day they

started north by wagon to visit the Haypoint homestead, and then on 10 miles farther to Perry’s

homestead. The wagon ride was so rough on the Tote Road that Estella walked the whole distance

while Perry drove. She was not impressed, or happy, with her introduction to her new country.

Contributions by Leslie McAninch to the publication “A Century of Pioneering Pioneers” [10],

by Herman Nelson, gives insight into the following years. The family moved north from Wayne

County, Nebraska, in the spring of 1899, and filed papers on the 120 acre homestead in the

Haypoint area of Aitkin County, Minnesota. The family moved into an abandoned logging camp

south of the homestead, and lived there through the first winter while Oliver, Ira, and Leslie built

a small house and a barn on the homestead. In the spring of 1900, prior to the spring breakup, and

with the ice going out on the Willow River, the family moved across the frozen river and onto the

homestead. In 1900 they built a large log house on the property, hewing large logs from the property

on all four sides to build the walls with. They also built a large, log barn, large enough to hold four

teams of horses, a herd of dairy stock, and a large hay-mow.

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McAninch Family History NL, v.XIII.n.2 / April 2005 / Frank McAninch, Editor / page 2005-12