Egan
William Egan arrived in the valley in 1883, settling on the east side of the river. Because there was no way to cross, and not good ford, Egan decided to build and run a ferry near his property. He constructed a raft and a long sweep oar to propel it. With his first customers the raft began to settle and the horses got jumpy so he unloaded and reinforced the raft, and reduced the load. This time all went well. With his ferry systems, many other settlers decided to stay on the east side of the river and Egan was born.
The prairies on the east side turned out to be fertile and the crops were good. Egan consisted of the Ramsdell store, two taverns and a restaurant. In 1887 Jesse Yenne opened a sawmill just south of Eagan, and by 1891 he had also built a grist mill. He called the area Yennyville but it was always considered part of Egan. |