Order a burger at any restaurant in Minnesota and I’m sure you’d get 10,000 variations, but if you order the Red Cow Burger here at Amboy Cottage Cafe, you’d get a burger with a story.
My short story, “My Brother’s Keeper” is a fictional account of a real life caper: the theft of a town.
In the 1870s, railroads began to tie communities together throughout rural Minnesota, bringing transportation, amenities, and commerce to locations every 10-15 miles where the depot would be built
Take a look at a map of MN and you’ll see towns all built along these refilling stations. The residents of Old Mapleton, for example, moved the whole village from Lura Lake to the rail depot just to take advantage of the technology.
Shelbyville was a 320 acre tract of land built between Jackson Lake and the Blue Earth River. It quickly became a hub for local farmers. By 1878, it had churches, hotels, schoolhouse, and had the capacity to host festivals of several hundred people.
The only thing Shelbyville didn’t have was a railroad depot.
In 1879, the St. Paul and Sioux City RR began laying down tracks between Mankato and Blue Earth, which would pass right by the thriving town.
For many towns, change is a terrifying thing. For many pioneers, they openly despised the idea of a railroad. For others, it was an opportunity. On September 2, 1889, folks from Shelbyville voted on a proposition to give the RR a $10,000 bonus, guaranteeing a depot.
Unfortunately, they voted against this measure with 52 votes yes and 120 votes no.
Why?
Where else would the RR folks put the depot.
Cue George Quiggle
Sensing the insult to the RR folks, Mr. Quiggle quickly seized an opportunity, rallying several of his neighbors to offer their own proposal for a depot a few miles north of Shelbyville and much closer to their farms near Jackson Lake.
These farmers did not have anything close to 10K, but two dozen farmers passed around a hat and collected all they could offer: ranging from $5 to the strangest item on the pledge contract: one red cow with broken horns.
Was it the arrogance of the Shelbyville residence?
The hustle of the Amboy farmers?
Or was it the Red Cow that sealed the deal?
Regardless, Amboy came away with the depot. Today, Amboy is still standing and the once thriving town of Shelbyville is a distant memory.
And the red cow?
Like the folks of Shelbyville, he more likely than not...got a raw deal.
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