Founder of Dalton

Ole C. Dahl, founder of the city of Dalton immigrated from Norway in 1865. Initially settling in Iowa, he worked as a farm hand and painter until he had enough money to bring his wife Oline and their six children to join him from Norway.

In 1867, they left Iowa for Otter Tail County to claim a homestead of their own. Since they did not have a wagon the family once again traveled separately reuniting at their new homestead.

Like many other small towns, the railway went through Dalton. The town grew to have a post office, grain elevator, hotel, general store, blacksmith, jewelry store and restaurant.

Dalton Ski Jumpers

For early settlers, skiing was mainly considered a means of transportation through miles of deep snow to get necessities such as food and supplies.

Later, skiing turned into a sport and a ski jump was built north of Dalton. Bags were filled with snow and carried up by hand to cover the jump. Around 1915 Dalton held its first ski jumping competition. By 1933 yearly tournaments were attracting as many as 5,000 spectators.

Threshing Days

Neighbors came together every year in the spirit of comradery and cooperation during harvest season to thresh grain. A threshing machine separated the grain from the straw or husks saving farmers a great deal of manual labor and time.

Threshing machines were expensive, and few farmers could afford them, so neighbors came together using one machine to process all the grain.

Threshing started in early August. When fields were ready for harvest, farmers would cut the grain using a binder pulled by a team of horses. Then the grain would be set up in shocks.

A threshing crew consisted of roughly a dozen men; the thresher boss, six to eight bundle haulers, one or two field pitchers, two or three grain haulers, and one man to operate the elevator that lifted the grain into the granary.

To bring the bundles in from the field, the bundle haulers used a wooden rack mounted on the wagon and pulled by a team of horses. The men would start from the far end of the field and work toward the threshing machine, pitching the bundles into the wings of the thresher.

When the wagon box was filled, the hauler drove to the farmyard and pulled up to a portable grain elevator next to the granary. The grain was then scooped into the hopper. The elevator, powered by a small gas engine, then lifted the grain to the top of the granary until it was filled to capacity.

It Takes A Village

It took a lot of preparation by the women to provide enough food for two or three days of feeding a crew of 12 or more men.

Cora Loken recalls:

“The women got up at four a.m. to make breakfast — which included fried potatoes and meatballs — for all the threshers. About nine a.m. we brought lunch out in the field for the men. At noon they would shut down the machine and come in the house and sit around the big table eating the hot meal — a roast or chicken, potatoes and gravy, vegetables and always fresh pie. “In the afternoon Mother always baked a fresh cake for their lunch. Again we carried the big lunch out to the threshers. The supper too, was another big meal, so having the threshers was fun but also a lot of work.”

Threshing Bee

Visit the past by attending the annual Lake Region Pioneer Threshing Show, held in the fall. The show recreates farming practices of the past with working steam engines and threshing machines. The 40- acre site and its many buildings are filled with history including pioneer cabins, blacksmith shop, general store, schoolhouse, and church.