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Show CHAPTER THREE: THE SETTLEMENT Almost four months after Mt. Pleasant's very beginning (March 1859), it was reported that there were eight hundred inhabitants who were industrious and enterprising. Already they had 1200 acres planted and crops looked promising. The foundation for a fort wall had been laid and was 26 rods square, built of stone four feet thick at the base. The wall, when finished, would be twelve feet high and two feet wide at the top. A grist mill and a new saw mill had been erected. A bowery, 40 by 60 feet, built of upright cedar posts was covered with large, fresh green boughs and willows. It was located in the southwest corner of the fort, and became the center of community activities. Settlers celebrated July holidays that first summer with salutes and drums beating at daybreak. After a meeting consisting of singing and prayers, spirited speeches and instrumental music, a meal was served to everyone, and dancing began. 22 |