Captain John Henry Hasty

This page of our web site is dedicated to Mr. John Henry Hasty.  It is this writer's opinion that Mr. Hasty was truly one of the very first permanent settlers of Balsam Township (T58, R24).  He was a walking boss in this area starting in about 1872 and then acquired his own land by homestead in 1896.  He ran a stopping place from that time until he sold it to C. V. Smith who is credited to be one of the Township's first settlers.  The following is both a history and a tribute to Captain John Henry Hasty.

John Henry Hasty Sr., native of Maine, was born in that state in 1832. Mr. Hasty after completing a collegiate course went into lumbering and followed that calling all of his active life. He was a life long lumberman.  When the news reached him of the outbreak of the war between the North and the South he was engaged in driving logs down the Aroostook River in Maine but he "hung up his drive," settled with his men, and immediately enlisted in the Union army as a member of Company C, Fifteenth Maine Volunteer Infantry, and was assigned to the Army of the Potomac. Enlisting as a private, he rose rapidly, and was mustered out after three years of service as captain of his company. After being mustered out of the Union Army in 1865 he resumed his lumbering interests in Maine.

In 1870 he went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and continued in the lumber business there.  He made Minnesota his home and worked in the logging/lumber business until his health failed.  He principally operated in the vicinity of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.  He was a strong advocate of republican principles and doctrines, and was equally staunch in his support of the Episcopal Church, of which he was a consistent member, and his wife also held to the same creed. His death occurred in 1909, but his widow survives him and lives in Minneapolis, although eighty-five years of age. Her maiden name was 'Martha R. Goss, and she is a daughter of Thomas Goss, born near Bangor, Maine, who spent his active years as a farmer and stock-man. He married a Miss Chase, and they had thirteen children.  Authors note - A portion of this introduction was written up in, " A HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL AND TERRITORIAL MONTANA  AND THREE DECADES OF STATEHOOD UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION TOM STOUT VOLUME III THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK, I92I. Copyright, 1921, BY AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY 11S3842". 

Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Hasty, Sr., became the parents of the following children; John Henry, Martha R., who is the wife of D. M. Wajner, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Lydia W., who married E. E. Witchie, of Minneapolis. The Hasty family name is a very old one in the United States.  It being claimed to be one of the names that came to the colonies on the historic Mayflower. As far back as there are any definite records the Hasty family has been connected with lumbering interests. 

Back in the State of Minnesota in the year of 1872 there was quite a bit of pine logging activity up in Balsam Township, Itasca County of that state.  One of the greatest pine resource in Itasca County was along the mighty Prairie River and its tributaries.  Timber was cut along the Prairie River almost as soon as on Pokegama Lake.  Wes Day had a camp at Hill Lake near where Hill City now is located and was probably cutting timber in Itasca in 1870, or even earlier.  In the spring of 1872 he and his crew drove the first logs down the Prairie River.  Wages on that drive were probably about one dollar for a day of 16 hours. With Gil Hanson, Andy Gibson and John Gilmore, Wes Day spotted a tote road along the Prairie up to the mouth of Clearwater Brook in the fall of 1872.  By that time Con Dineen had finished building the dam at the foot of Wabana Lake – while the Indians were camped on Balgillow Island and along Upper Buckman Cove.  That winter Wes Day had four camps operating on Clearwater Brook, and Hill Lawrence, who also had a camp on southern Pokegama Lake a year or two before, had two camps over on the lake later named after him.  Lawrence Lake is essentially a six mile long widening in the Prairie River.  The Prairie river starts in the far reaches of north eastern Itasca County just south of the Continental Divide, flows south and terminates at the town of La Prairie, Minnesota where it merges with the mighty Mississippi River.  Many smaller tributaries feed the Prairie River including Hay Creek, Clearwater Creek, Sucker Brook, Balsam Creek, Christmas Creek, Day Brook, and many unnamed tributaries.  Captain John Henry Hasty was Hill Lawrence’s “walking boss”.  A walking boss was a traveling superintendent in charge of two or more logging camps.  A walking boss is basically the Manager for the logging camp operation.  

At some point after parting ways with Hill Lawrence, Captain Hasty formed a partnership with Mr. Henry A. McAllister.   Mr. McAllister was also from Maine and a Minneapolis lumber man.  He had a brother named George who was a contract logger that worked many areas of Itasca County north of Grand Rapids.  It is this writers understanding that during the years Capt. Hasty and Henry McAllister were operating their partnership in Balsam Township their primary logging camp was located in the very near vicinity of the logging dam that was erected at Balsam Creek, very close to where Balsam Creek crosses Hwy #7 today.  On July 2nd, 1975, Walter Smith at 82 years of age was interviewed as part of a Minnesota Historical Society Oral History grant.  Walter was the son of C. V. Smith.  Walter verified that the Hasty-McAllister logging outfit first camped down near the logging dam at Balsam Brook and then later in 1896 when Captain Hasty filed on his 160 acre homestead north east of there the Hasty-McAllister logging camp was moved to the new location and their "stopping Place" was formed.  This final location was in T58, R24, Section 3 right along the main road to Long Lake.  Once established, Cap's old ranch/stopping place became a famous stopping place for loggers, outdoors-men and settlers alike.  It is around this time frame that Cap Hasty's stopping place became known as the, "Hasty Ranch".  Cap maintained a residence at his “Ranch” in Section 3 of T58, R24 (Balsam Township) up until it was sold to Mr. Charles V. Smith in 1906. The 1900 U. S. Federal Census showed Cap and three other people residing there at the, "Ranch" in June of 1900.  There was a Hans Morton, age 25, an Albert Johnson, age 35 and a Charles Hascal, age 49 there.  Hans and Albert were farm laborers and Charles was listed as the watchman for the lumber camp. 

The story of how C. V. Smith acquired the old Hasty Ranch is an interesting one. In 1903 C. V. Smith came to Itasca County by covered wagon. He came from the Staples, Minnesota area and moved to the Wabana Lake area to take a job with Simmons and Lownsbery logging operation.  C. V. Smith was hired to help build summer homes on Arrowhead Point on Wabana Lake. C. V.’s dream was to own a stopping place like the one John Henry Hasty was running in Balsam Township. In late 1904 C. V. got word that old Capt. Hasty was thinking of retiring and selling his stopping place. At that point he contacted John Henry Hasty and his partner Henry A. McAllister (Hasty-McAllister Logging) about purchasing the stopping place. Mr. Hasty and Mr. McAllister wanted sixteen hundred dollars for the 160 acre place. 

C. V. Smith was overjoyed at the possibility of owning the Hasty Ranch, however he had no money to buy the ranch with. A stroke of luck hit C. V. in the fall of 1904. It was deer season and a wealthy gentleman named Showers from Indiana who owned a large furniture manufacturing facility there hired C. V. to be his guide for deer hunting. C. V. successfully helped Mr. Showers fill his deer tag with a large buck and the two became instant friends. Mr. William N. Showers ended up buying the Hasty ranch for $1280.00 and then sold it to C.V. under contract for deed for the same price. This contract was signed on November 23rd, 1906 per Itasca County records. C. V. made payments to Mr. Showers until the whole sum was paid off in full. C.V. and his family soon moved up to the old Hasty Ranch and lived in Cap’s old buildings until they moved south west three fourths a mile and built their famous huge log home overlooking Balsam Brook.  This new location was very near the Government dam built there. In 1907 C.V. built his “Release” stopping place overlooking Balsam Creek and that building stood tall for 51 years until it burned to the ground in the summer of 1958. Remnants of the building’s stone pillars still remain today.