Northfield

   

   Wednesday C and I took a day trip. We wanted to go someplace we had not been before. We looked at several places and decided to go to Northfield. It is a small city in Minnesota, south of the Twin Cities area. For us it was about a 40 minute drive straight down I35.

   I knew a little about Northfield as I lived south of there in Faribault many years before. Of course all good Minnesota Lutherans also know about Northfield as one of the three Lutheran Colleges, St. Olaf, is located there. The Cannon River flows though it. It is also home to another college, Carleton College.

   When we first drove into Northfield we were greeted by the smell of cereal. This is because the Malt-O-Meal/Post factory is right outside of town. We drove into town and found a place to park by the river. There was a small park nearby. We walked along the river, There were several bridges crossing it that had been decorated with planters of flowers. C paused to take pictures. A female duck with several ducklings swam to a small grouping of rocks near one of the bridges.  

   We went into the downtown area. Although it was near 11 o'clock, not much was open yet. We walked past a bakery, a few coffeeshops and other stores. It was fun to look around and see what was there. We walked past a museum that looked interesting. We decided to have lunch. One of our rules for dining during day trips is that we must eat at a local restaurant. No chains allowed. Both of us feel strongly about supporting local businesses.

   We found a hamburger place on the edge of the downtown area. We had to cross part of a highway to get to it. There was a crosswalk there with a light to stop traffic when people were crossing. Much to my surprise and delight, cars actually stopped. In fact at one point during our walk to the restaurant, we weren't sure where we were supposed to turn. A nice man noticed this and gave us directions for where we wanted to go. This was such a change from what we are used to. It is good to know that there are still people that show that sort of attitude toward strangers.

     After our meal we went to the museum. There we learned about the Northfield bank robbery. On September 7, 1876 three members of the James- Younger Gang attempted to rob the First National Bank of Northfield while others of the gang stationed themselves outside to guard an escape route. The robbery was thwarted thanks to local citizens realizing the bank was being robbed and actions on the part of the men staffing the bank to prevent the funds from being stolen. The robbers  managed to take only $26.70.  There was about $15,000 in the bank.

   The hero of the story is Joseph Lee Heywood who was the acting cashier that day. He refused to open the safe telling the robbers that it was on a time lock and could not be opened yet. The truth was that the time lock had not been set and that the safe was unlocked during the entire time of the robbery. It just looked like it was locked.  The robbers left the bank when the citizens fought gang members standing guard outside. Frustrated by their inability to get what they wanted one robber turned around and shot Mr. Heywood in the head.

   Our tour guide proudly told us that the Northfield bank robbery was the end of the James-Younger Gang. Two gang members had been killed in Northfield. A few others were killed or captured later on. The gang never attempted another bank robbery.

   I'm not sure why I teared up a little after our tour. maybe it was seeing the pride in the eyes of our tour guide, a teenaged girl participating in a program to get younger people interested in history. Maybe it was the thought that members of a community would actually band together to fight back against a threat. I wondered what would happen if such a thing happened today. Probably people would gather and start recording the incident on their phones and posting on social media.

  After a quick visit to each of the colleges, we drove home. We drove home. We'll be back though. There is much more to explore.