The spring that shot 60 feet into the air, and the poplar that plugged it

And so we We fuss around there for a while Then I told him, I says, too bad, I don't know exactly where that, a pipe is that years and years ago, say, 40 years ago, they put in a pipe some kind of a fellas was looking for oil or something.

And they brought in a well drilling outfit, and they used the well drill to pound the casing in to find out to find out if they get oil. And I guess they went about 60 feet in the ground with this casing, and all of a sudden water burst out and it started growing higher and higher and higher.

And I was told by my husband that it was 60 feet in the air, flown that much out, but it was pure spring water. So it was flowing around for a long, long time. And then finally these men were disappointed, you know, that they didn't get oil, but they had the 60 feet of this casing in.

So they told the owner, we live on his place, his name was, his name was Glaser. They come to his house, and they told him that if he's willing to pay $2 for each foot of this casing, he can keep it there and the water would flow in the air that much, see?

and that would come to $120, you know, twice 60. And he says, man, I am a sick man, he was. He died there until time afterwards, I guess, or a year or so later. I actually don't know when he died, but he died.

But he was in bed at the time this man come to want this $120. Well, he says, I cannot give you nothing. He says, I'm glad my family is living and got enough. to buy him food, you know, groceries and stuff.

He says, I can't possibly, I just haven't got it. Well, then this man that had this machinery and owned the casing, he got kind of angry, I guess. And so he told a man that was helping him to dig with these casings and everything, a friend of mine that I knew, and he's the one that told me all about this.

And he said he ordered me to find the nicest, straightest, Popple, I can see. So I looked around. Finally, I found a nice straight one. And he says, chop it down. So he says, I did. Then he told me to slick the skin off.

This was in summertime or springtime. So he slipped the skin off on this here, Popple. And he don't remember how long it was, but it was long enough and nice. And he says, now drag it over here. And before the helper, the one that was telling me this, Before he could say anything, this owner of this rig, he says, help me stand it up.

So they put the top part of the tree first into this here casing. And then by force, he had the machine standing there yet, that he was, you know, well drilling for this year.

He started the machine and he started pounding, and he seemed to it that he pounded that popple. into this casing, and he pounded it real well, you know. So the man couldn't use the water. Well, the man didn't have no use for that much water, you know.

But he pounded it shut, and it bubbled a little bit water around the pole, but the casing was full of the pole, you know, and then he pulled out the machinery and everything. Well, it went like that for years and years.

the man was dead for many, many years then I got married and lived right across the road from this man's house where he died and then about 10, 11 years later 12 years later 11 about my neighbor boy, a year older than my oldest one and my oldest boy he was about 10, 11 years old they went to fuss around the springhole there and they spied about six inches of this casing sticking out of this spring.

So they come around and home, and they told us that somebody must have had a well there because about six inches of this year casing of some kind, the pipe is sticking out of the ground there in the springhole.

Well, at that time I was quite busy. I had a little fellow about five years old, and my father -law was sick. And so I never went there to see, see. And whatever happened, I don't know, but anyhow, the casing fell down, a little lower in, and we couldn't find it after we had the time to go and try to dig it out.

We couldn't find it even with the shovel. So the casing is still there, and the pole is there. But the spring start flowing around the casing, and it's boiling there and all that. A lot of people go and see it and admire it and have a drink of water and all that, you know.

So we, me and the children, we went up there, and we took a shovel and a pick and a rake, iron rake, and we raked all the debris there, you know, the leaves falling down, all that. We cleaned it all out real nice.

We was happy over the whole thing, and the next day we went to Rice Lake and got ourselves picnic stuff, like potato chips and popcorn and a big watermelon and all that. lemons for lemonade, and then the Sunday, after we bought all this, we had a picnic upon a hill.

We've got quite a hilly country, and from that hill we can see far, far away all around. So I guess the children didn't care to go back to Minnesota. All three cried a little bit. I told them, I says, well, next time you'll come and maybe your father will let you stay a little longer.

So we took them to the city by the lake, you know, and their mother come to meet them to pick them up in a car and took them back to Minnesota or the new soda. But I had my fun with my children, and now they're older and they got their own businesses and stuff.