Writer: Chaska Township officials

Year: 1866

What: Licenses and descriptions of pioneer dogs in Chaska Township, which would also encompass the young village of Chaska.

Published: In Carver Township records held at the Minnesota Historical Society.

Of interest: Many of those with dogs were the whose-who of early Chaska society, including C.A. Warner, the founder of the Chaska Herald and Ezekiel Ellsworth, who served as the county’s second sheriff.

Chaska Herald

“We notice by our exchanges that there is a surplus of worthless dogs, in their respective localities. Ye reporter, took a stroll of four blocks the other afternoon just to see how the dog crop panned out here.

“Here are the figures as computed by the ‘rule of three’ according to our Dabols: 1st block, 271 on the street and several hundred more barking up the alleys; 2d block, 190 in sight with several dozen chained up in the back yards; 3d street, 112 amusing themselves in the street; this does not include those connected with eight dog fights in the public square.

“4th block, one this was an astonisher to us, but learned upon investigation that this lonely dog was a thoroughbred the only one of the kind in town.

“This is a report of only four blocks, and leave it to our readers to compute the number of dogs in the 78 blocks of our village. However, we have come to the conclusion, by our short investigation, that Chaska is blessed with our share of the worthless things.”

Dog licenses for the year 1866

Date No. Owner Name Age Description

April 12 1 L.P. Sargent Damon 9 Black & white

April 18 2 C.A. Warner Isaac 7 Large size

April 18 3 John Dunn Rover 5 Large size; grey

April 23 4 Ezekiel Ellsworth Major 3 Large size; black & white

April 23 5 C.B. Schultz Annie 1-1/2 Small; black

April 24 6 F.L. Smith Lincoln 2 Large size; black w/white spot

May 1 7 J.W. Greag Billy 5 Large size; yellow

May 1 8 Henry Beltz Hector 1 Large size; white & yellow

May 1 9 John. J Browers Carlo 1 Middling; black

May 1 10 F.X. Ess Nero 2 Large size; black & white

May 1 11 Henry Kinning Coony 2 Large size; black

May 1 12 August Teifsman Prince 4 Large size; black & white

13 * Mathias Schmidt Dike 4 Large size; grey

14 J.A. Dunkler Watch 4 Large size; black & white

15 William Ochs Puppy 1 Small size; black & white

16 John Humpel Carlo 2 Large; white

18 ** Fred Nicklin Zak 1 Middling; white & black

19 Fred Nicklin Kate 2 Small; white & black

20 Fred Nicklin Puppy 3/4 Small; black

21 George Faber -- -- --

22 Fred Greiner Puppy 10 Small size; black

23 Mathias Goetz Tig 5 Large size; white

24 George Kraynbuhl Puppy 10 Middling; dark brown

25 Meschler -- -- Large size; black.

* Date no longer given; ** Number skipped in registrar.

Note: The information was written in an older script and interpreted to the best of the editor’s ability.