Out of necessity, pioneers took risks in well-digging

I turned to William Bell Mitchell. In his 1915 "History of Stearns County," he describes digging wells and obtaining water as something rather simple and efficient: “Pure water is readily obtained by means of wells, the depth varying from 15 to 75 feet, in a few locations it has been found necessary to go to a depth of 100 feet before a reliable flow of pure water is obtained. Most of the wells are in sand, gravel and pebbles, but some pass through till and hardpan. In many localities are springs, which furnish a constant and accessible supply of water which cannot be excelled for purity. Of the wells of the more moderate depths many are spring-fed and the supply of water seldom fails even in driest weather.”

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