Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1902 — Were Entitled to It. [ARTICLE]

Were Entitled to It.

Toe rapid development of the Kankakee region recalls to our mind the story we once heard an old settler relate about a Chicago man who had bought a tract of land down near the Kankakee river and doming here engaged a man to take him to his land. The man secured a rig and after driving him a short distance south of here he found it necessary to make the rest of the distance by boat, owing to the depth of the water. When the guide reached the spot where the land was located (but under water) he pointed it out saying, “This is your farm”. “Farm ?” remarked the man “I thought we were just crossing Lake Michigan.” The man, was,’ naturally, astonished and taking a survey of the surroundings he noticed numerous black spots on the water. He asked the guide what they were and he explained to him that they were muskrat houses in which the rata lived. He then wanted to knew how long the muskrats had lived there. The guide said he did not know, it was longer than he could remember. The man remarked that he thought they were entitled to the deed then and pulling the paper out of his pocket her poked it down into the opening in a muskrat house alongside the boat and requested to be taken back, leaving on the first train. Wanatah Mirror.