Viewing Eben E. Corliss: "Reminiscences of the Early History of Otter Tail County" (1916).Eben E. Corliss: "Reminiscences of the Early History of Otter Tail County" (1916).Four months after Eben E. Corliss arrived in Otter Tail County in July 1870, he was elected county attorney. There was no government at that time, although the county had been created by the legislature twelve years earlier. In January 1871, newly-elected county officials began establishing townships and school districts. While "roads and schools" consumed their attention, the very existence of the county itself faced threats in the legislature. In November 1871, Corliss was elected to the state house. In the Fourteenth Legislature, Corliss, with the support and encouragement of allies, not only saved but expanded the county. He authored ingenious if slightly duplicitous bills that stripped a section of land from adjacent Wilkin County, attached it to Otter Tail, while relocating the county seat to Fergus Falls, where a railroad terminal was planned--all subject to the approval by the voters of Otter Tail County. In a November 1872, plebiscite, the measures passed.
|