Reminiscences Of Fritz Gottschalk

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General Sterling Price

General Price in his Pre-Civil War Missouri State Militia Uniform.

Reminiscences of Fritz Gottschalk Published in The Brunswicker; Date Unknown

I was born and reared on the East side of the famous Cutoff Lake, therefore my thoughts keep running back to what people often call the good old days. I was not that fellow who taught the carp how to swim, several of the older fisherman beat me to that one. Years ago the main channel of the Mo. River ran where the lake now is, the upper North West end as well as the lower end. It ran in a half moon shape towards the north a distance of about 7 to 8 miles around.

In the year of 1879 the river cut straight through on the South leaving several thousand acres of land in Chariton County and was named "The Bar" right away, also leaving a deep lake therefore the name "Cutoff Lake". When it cut through there was a roaring sound like an oncoming storm. People left the bottom in a hurry, a steamboat from Brunswick went down and hauled some of them out. Louis A. Sasse was one of the men on that boat. Mrs. Charles (Grandma) Hecke who passed away in 1913 at 90* told me she heard the roaring as it cut through at midnight. She got up, hitched two oxen to a wagon, loaded her 5 children and drove the oxen to Brunswick without lines. Those days, no lines were used. Oxen were trained to go Gee or Haw. She said there was no way stopping the oxen (Jim and Tom). When they were dry, they would walk out into water wagon and all, and drink. When through drinking Mrs. Hecke would say, "Heck Hoay", and they would be on their journey to Brunswick where her husband was a cook in the army.

During the Civil War, cooking headquarters was located North of Brunswick upon the hill about where the late Geo Difanie's cherry orchard once stood. Mrs. Hecke reported she often carried a bucket in the wagon with her and sometimes would run and carry buckets of water to the oxen before they'd go to the water. It was bushwhacker times between the North and South. Mr. Hecke was on the North side. Rutherford B. Hayes was President in 1879. After the river cut through farmers started buying land, surveying, building fences, houses, and moved in and developed it. Captain Louis A. Benecke was one of the first to own nearly 1000 acres, including part of the lake, and later sold down to near 600 acres which Ruby A. Benecke now owns. Water in the lake was 20 to 25 ft. deep. It was before any one ever thought of our present conservation commission, Captain Benecke made arrangements through Washington authorities and stocked the lake with croppies and there's been croppies there ever since. The Bar School district was organized and the Bar school built in 1901. As many as 60 children a year went to school there, and at one time the school had a reputation of having the best entertainments there at Christmas time. The late Rev. Michael Krattli taught school and held services there in 1902 and 1903. Three of his girls Ross, Otilla and Lucy taught Sunday School. Not one single person lives in that District now. Times have changed. An island of about 30 acres was left in the center of the big lake named "Toe Head Island". This island was bought by Valentine Rutliff's father of the late Albert and Chas. Rutlliff of Brunswick. He reared a family of 8 children there and sold it to Rufus Cox in 1903. Cox raised about 100 head of hogs each year by feeding mostly skip jack fish he caught while fishing with a seine. Later Cox was killed in Dalton. Romeo and Chris Sasse owned the Island about 10 or 12 years. It is now owned by Mrs. Marie Knight of Dalton.

What was known as the old Keytesville landing was located about where the Dalton Gun Club now stands. Ships landed there before 1879 loaded and unloaded lumber, grain and tobacco there. I got the Keytesville Landing information from my dad and mother who came to this country in 1884. They got their information from General Sterling Price who was a close neighbor, lived there near the river bank raised tobacco and had a horse racing track. A Mrs. Fannie AGee (Col.) could speak German fluently and acted as interpreter between Dad and Price. Her husband (Sam) was a barber and cut all the neighborhood men's hair. The General was the first man to tip dad off that plasterer's and brick layers wages over here were 40 cents per hour. The older I get the more I get in debt to the good people that help me. This time thanks to Henry Gottschalk, Marie Knight, Henry Brandt who is 91, Ruby Benecke, Miss Ottilia Krattli, Mr. and Mrs. W. Gottschalk, Mrs. Gottschalk is the granddaughter of Grandma Hecke.

* Editors note: 1915 age 80

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