By Mark W. Olson

For the days leading up to Halloween, the Herald is posting some of its past stories about Chaska’s more dour tales, from the earlier part of the 20th century.

These stories are packaged under the title “Chaska Death Trip” as a tip of the hat to “Wisconsin Death Trip,” a 1973 book by Michael Lesy that was a compendium of the sad, violent and miserable things that happened in rural America during our pioneer days.

Hopefully the stories will add a bit of context to the struggles Chaska’s early residents faced, and provide some interesting reading. (The Chaska Death Trip logo, incidentally, is from an 1880s Herald advertisement touting the services of a coroner.)

The tales include:

1. Chaska’s only execution

2. The city’s influenza outbreak

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3. Nellie DuToit’s short life

4. Early coroner inquests

5. A case of body snatching

6. Tour of Mount Pleasant Cemetery

7. Haunted Houses of Carver County

8. Carver County's cannibal commissioner