The Story of Pierce County

Home , Axeltree, Eau Galle River, Gertie the Duck, Rush River (Wisconsin)

From The Spring Valley (Wisconsin) Sun 1904-1906

by X.Y.Z (Allen P. Weld)

Reprinted by Brookhaven Press La Crosse, Wisconsin From the Rare Book Collection of the Wisconsin Historical Society Library

The Story of Wpii^^^^ BYX-Y.Z.

About forty years after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at Pl^-j mouth Rock, some hardy French Voyageurs crossed the territory lyi^ between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River for the purpose liii exploration and of establishing- trading* posts for trading^ with th^ Indians. Among- the names of these daring* adventurers we find that of Menard, who visited the Father of Waters in 1661; but no trace re mains of his work. Tn 1680 Father Hennepin, a French priest, came across what is now I known as the State of Wisconsin, probably by way of the Wisconsin River, and ascended to the Falls of St. Anthony, meeting- on the way another Frenchman who afterwards became famous as a border warrior and Indian trader, and who Is best known as Duluth. The latter seems to have come from the head of Lake Superior, crossing- the portage between the watershed of the lakes and that of the St. Croix river and descending* the latter to its mouth. He met Father Hennepin near the site of Prescott, and with him followed up the great river to the falls. This company seem to have given the name of the Falls of St. Anthony of Padua to the magnificent falls, and in their records of the expedition described them in g^lowing colors. We see from this brief sketch that the history of Pierce County, so far as its knowledge by white men is concerned, dates back to a timei almost contemporary with the settlement of New England, but that its ' growth was slow, and the incidents of its progress little known. The reason for this is found in the fact that the people who first came to Massachusetts settled there to make a home in the wilderness where they might worship God after the dictates of their own conscience,, free from arbitrary laws and relentless persecution. They came to de-' velop a new country, to establish institutions of education and religion, and with little thought of personal gain. But those who sought the western wilds did so for purpose of trad ing for furs and other valuable products of the forests. They had no idea of making homes, or of remaining longer than until they could reap the fruits of their commercial enterprises. Then, too, the region was remote from the seacoast; it was inhabited by Indians of warlike nature who, while ready to reap advantage by trading with the white men, opposed their taking rights in the soil. France too, forbade by law the establishment of forts or trading posts for private gain, and at that time that country claimed dominion over all the vast domain lying west of the Mississippi, and on the east bank of the river the English made no attempts at either exploration or settlement until a later date, the wars between the two nations preventing such attempts. 2

. ^Mêr'-pel^fT-was "declared,"' bo^^^^-we Ifia/ t^^^-TS85^7âffiaW Carver, an Englishman, visited St. AMhoajrlîi^^ ^ve> obtained a* ^rlint from the Indians of that |5arT of Wisconsin lying* b^-' tween the Chippewa River and St. Anthony Palls south of a line run:( ning ^Bt from the falls. This supposed Indian grant was never ad- imitted by the English government, and though attempts were made Fafter 1780 to obtain the sanction of the United States, it was never ^recognized by this government. The year 1803, however, marked a new era in the history of the tipper Valley of the Mississippi. In that year the United States pur chased from Napoleon that vast territory now familiarly known as the Louisiana Purchase, and from that time the real history of the valley may be said to have begun. The Government, soon after the sale had iDeen perfected, sent Zebulon Pike up the river with a small command to> examine sites for forts, the result of his exploration being the building| •of a fort upon a commanding spot at the junction of the St. Peters and Mississippi rivers, which is now known as Fort Snelling; this was built in 1819. He was sent by the government to explore the upper valley of the Mississippi below St. Anthony Falls, to drive out Indian traders who were not complying with the laws of the United States, and to procure from the Indians grants of land for the use of the government. In pursuance of this duty he arrived at the junction pf ^^St. Peters and Mississippi Rivers late in the fall of 1805, and soon^^made a treaty with the Indians by which they granted to the United States a strip of land nine miles in width on each side of the Mississippi fto^ the^ mouth of St. Peters to St. Anthony Palls. ^ But other matters took the attention of the pflBcials, ^îd it was not until 1819 that the importance of this region beg^ to jDe even dimly realized. In that year, however, a detachment w»s sent up to erect a fort at some convenient point to protect the slowly incoming settlers and prevent inroads by unauthorized English traders. That winter the detachment encamped and the flowing year com menced the erection of the fort, the cornerstone beicfg laid on the 20th of September, 1820. The name given to the new structure was Port St. Anthony. This was changed however by order of General Scott in 1824 to Fort Snelling. It is notipeable that, notwithstanding the fact that the government had purchased from France the great territory lying west of the Mississippi, it was still thought necessary to obtain grants from the Indians, who were in fact the only real owners of the soil. Hence it was that it was not until 1838 that the government asserted any complete! title to the lands; but in that year, treaties with the Indians having' been made, the land became the property of the United States. \*

NOTES. ' On Father Hennepin's expedition up the Mississippi there were with him Michel Accou and Antoine Auguel, two coureurs de bois; Accou 5 was really leader of the party. These met a party of Sioux going south; upon a scalping expedition, and persuaded the Indians to return with them. They camped about three miles below where St. Paul now is, and organized a buffalo hunt over into what is now the towns of Oak Grove, Diamond Bluff and Clifton—the first time white men ever hunted in Pierce County. 8

Du Lhut, as the tratder who^lve^airDiluth spelled his name, was just in time when he descended the St. Croix River. Father Hennepin^ and his *'friends", the Sioux scalping party, had gone down into LaJ^ Pepin, and were hunting in the dense forests north of that tatkCand along the Chippewa River bottoms. The Indians had robbed Hennepin- and his companions, who were practically prisoners. Du Lhut lost no time in correcting this, and the Sioux were very friendly to him ever after.

CHAPTER II. An almost immediate result of the erection of Fort Snelling was the formation of a syndicate composed of army officers stationed at the fort which made a claim of several hundred acres at the Junction of the St. Croix and Missis- «sippi Rivers in the yearl 1827. Among these was Philander Prescott, who was em ployed at the fort as an Indian interpreter. Prescott w as given the charge of the land by the syndicate, and erected a small trading post around which there soon grew a small i hamlet of half breeds and possibly some white adventurers. I Prescott being recalled to the fort to attend to his oflicial I duties, one Reed was left in charge, he being later succeeded by a Frenchman named Moschia. In the yea^r 1841 Congress passed an act forbidding the acquirement of public lands by syndicates of this character, and the enterprise fell through, and wê hear little of any of its promoters except Prescott. He however seemed to be well convinced of the future possibilities of this section of the country, and hence, when; the United States had acquired by treaties with the Indians! the fuU possession of the territory and surveyed the lands, throwing them open to public entry, he in the year 1849 -entered several tracts of land on the present site of the City of Prescott, and soon after had the tract laid out into vil- !iagelots. His entries were tie first m^vde in Pierce County (then 'liowever known aki i '. (i-oix* County) and the only other person to make a purchase of gcîêrnment land within the county now known as- Pierce in- that year was Walter B. Mapes, whose name, however, seems to have been used by Joel Foster, rather than for personal purposes, inasmuch as. Mr. Foster acquired the title from Mr. Mapes within a few^ months. 4

l&w sM^lers Ead^-Ke^ &t

CHAPTER III. Uncle Sam has alwaj^s exhibited a spirit of hberality toward his children in the matter of postal conveniences, and no exception was made in this toward Pierce County in Its earlier days, for we find that in 1845 J. R. Freeman was appomted postmaster for the town of Ehzabeth. The post- ^

office iteW W|S^^p5uIiiory, Tioweter, inasmiichTaslhere^ being but httle mail, the postmaster found it most con venient- to carry the mail in his hat to ensure a more prompt delivery as he met those who had been remembered by their friends from abroad. In 1851, feeling the need of school privileges for those around her, Mrs. Oliver opened a school in a dwelling house. The following year Miss Matthew^s took charge of a school. In 1852 a school district was organized with G. W. Mc Murphy, N. S. Dunbar and 0. T. Maxon as district board. In 1852 Rev. R. Hall, a missionary of the Home Mis sionary Society, organized a Congregational church at Point Douglas, opposite the site of Prescott. Within two years, however, the church changed its location to Prescott, its title being The First Congregational Church of Prescott. Following the organization of the Congregational church, but prior to its removal to Prescott, a M. E. church was ^ organized, and a church edifice was erected. The name of the town of Elizabeth was in 1851 changed to Prescott, in honor of Philander Prescott, who, aS has been already stated, was the first person to purchase lands in Pierce County. In 1854 A. H. Young commenced the publication of a newspaper kno:!^^n as the Prescott Paraclete. The following year he entered into partnership with Oliver Gibbs, Jr., and the name of the paper was changed to Prescott Transcript. In 1857 Messrs. Lusk, Wise andl^Vhipple commenced the publication of the Pierce County Democrat. At about the same time that he commenced the organ ization of the church at Prescott, Rev. Mr. Halls went to the Kinnickinnic Valley, and there, finding a few persons coming from New England who desired to found a church of their faith, he preached several sermons at a dwelling house occupi|d by Elsie Penn, about one mile north of the site of the Cify of River Falls. The result of his preaching, and the desire of the people was the forming of the First Congregational Church of River Falls, which w^as organized in February, 1855, and will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary in February next. The first pastor of this church was the Rev. W. R. Stevens, an able man of stern creed, who brought forth from his storehouse of learning things new and old for many years. ^ He was a man of large stature, being fully six feet seven inches in height. The story goes that on arriving in the county he landed at Prescott and passed the night in one of the hotels in that then new city. The room assigned to him being rather gmall, it is said that he found it con venient to raise the wdndow and let his lower limbs project 8 "alittle iartff^the outer'^/iifr B^mg asked where he passed the night, he replied, ''My head ## in the hotel, my feet in infinite space.'' / As emigration began to come in with increasing rapid ity, the importance of Prescott as the entrepot of the County began to be felt, and \^e find on the maps of those days a particular prominence given to the place. Its people began ^ to look forward to the time when the village should take a prominent place amid the cities of the land. Therefore in 1856 a city charter was obtained by act o£ the legislature, and J. R. Freeman, at the first election, was chosen mayor. The common council consisted of six alder men, there being two wards. Meanwhile, however, the favorable reports of those who had come at an earty day to spy out the land had begun to have their effect, ^^nd so we find that a few adventurous spirits had journeyed into the wilderness, seeking for land which could be got without money and without price—for much of the land was then open to preemption claims. So in 1854 we find that David Kiingensmith, John Hoffman and Anthony Huddleston had taken up claims within the present limits of the town of Ellsworth. Of these three first settlers two are still living, Mr. Huddleston having, last year, at a banquet tendered him by his Ellsworth friends, celebrated his 100th birthday. About this time Messrs. Beardsley and Lyford hadi opened a store and ware house at Prescott, and to their care the immigrants from the East consigned their household effects. The Powell Bros., who, it will be remembered, had located at what is now the site of River Falls, had erected a dwelling house on Section 1, town 27, Range 19, near the old Indian trail from Maiden Rock to the mouth of the Willow River. To this dwelling they afterwards made an addition, which became The Pioneer Store. This building stood on the same location for many years, but was at last destroyed by fire. The building stood very near the present corner of Main and Maple Streets, in the City of River Falls. The years 1854 and 1855 were rather marked for the rapid increase of population as compared with the prior times. Settlements were being begun along the banks of the Mississippi, but, notwithstanding this, the total popula tion of the county had reached in 1855, according to the census of that year, only 1720. In 1853 the large territory then comprised in St. Croix County was divided into three counties—^Polk, St. Croix and Pierce—and from that date the history of Pierce County as a political subdivision begins.

JTo be.continued.J ^^I^^^^z^ /^, /^^^

T "^ CHAPTER IV. Up to 1853 St. Croix County included within its corpor- a4e limits all of the present Polk, Pierce and St. Croix Counties. By an act of the Legislature of the State of Wisconsin approved March 14th, 1853, this territory was divided into the present counties as named above. By this act the county seat of Pierce Count}^^ was fixed at the Village of Prescott, with liberty to change the loca tion to any other point at any general election, and an election of officers for the county was directed to be held in the general election in November of that year. The govern ment of the county wâs vested in the town board of Pres cott, consisting at that time of Osborn Strahl chairman,, and Silas Wright and Sylvester Moore side supervisors. At their first meeting as a County Board H. Teachout was ap pointed clerk. -^ The first election was held at the dwelling of Mr. Moore. Preparatory to the November election J. R. Freeman, J. ^fêwitt and O. T.^Maxon were appointed as judges of elec tion. The vote cast was 110, resulting in the election of N. S. Dunbar Sheriff, J. R. Freeman Treasurer, S. R. Gunn Clerk of Court, Henry Teachout Clerk of the County Board, J. Olive Coroner, P. V. Wise District Attorney, and J. E. True County Surveyor. At the first meeting of the County Board after election —on the 16th of November—three county superintendents of the poor were chosen, being R. G. Thompson, Jonathan Bailey and J. R. Freeman. A license to run a ferry across the St. Croix was granted to Lovejoy and Tell and rates of ferriage were fixed. There having been a tie vote at the election of officer of register of deeds, a special meeting was called for Janu- Aty 18th, 1854, at which J. M. Whipple was appointed register of deeds, and directions given as to transcribing those of the records of St. Croix County which related to this county, for which Mr. Whipple was to have the usual fees for copies. The salary of District Attorney was fixed at $40.00 per annum. The town of Prescott was now divided, and a new town! named Greenwood set off, comprising about the northwest! one-third of the County; subsequently Martell was also set off, taking in the northeasterly one-third of the County, the remainder of the county being still within the town of Prescott. The first town meeting of Greemvood was held at the house of Col. Mason Stone, near Rocky Branch, and that of Martell at the house of Amos Bonesteel. ^ ^ • ^ 10 The valuation of the county as it appears Tf^?W6 Isment rolls of 1853 wâs: real estate, $24,452; personal lîperty, $3,616. ^; - The same year W. J. Copp was chosen as circuit judge' and Mason Stone county judge. The county officers seem to have had no permanent | abiding place, rooms over stores, or other partially con-1 venient places being rented from time to time, for the use | cf the board and county officers. But the need of a place j for confinement of ill behaved people being urgent, a county j jail was soon erected. { The following year we find that Hon. C. C. Washburn; received a good vote in the county for Congressman, while Moses S. Gibson was called upon to represent the county as assemblyman. J. Olive was chosen sheriff, J. Bailey County Treasurer, O. Strahl surveyor, John Truax clerk of court, A. C, Stowell district attornej^^, S. T. Otis register of deeds, N. N. Powell clerk of board of supervisors, C. B. Cox coroner. Mason Stone count}^ jndge. In 1855 the towns of Isabelle and Trimbelle were set off early in the year, and in 1857 the town of Clifton was organized. At the same time the township of Oak Grove was set off from Prescott, the town of Perry being set off at the same meeting. At a later date the town of Isabelle was divided and the part set off given the name of Pleasant Valley, and a little later the town of Hartland was taken ' from the town of Isabelle and at the same meeting the town . of Trenton was directed to be organized. March 26, 1858 the name of Greenwood township was changed to River ; Falls, the reason of the change being that there was another ' post office of the name of Greenwood in the State, and as it is a rule to allow but one post office of the same name in any state, the post office was obliged to take another name and the citizens selected the name of River Falls. At this time there arose considerable trouble in the treasurer's office, the former county treasurer having been lax in keeping his records, and Mr. Southwick, who had been acting as his deputy, was appointed in his place, the treasurer himself resigning. The settlement with the re tiring treasurer proved to be a vexatious affair, and it was some years before a final settlement was reached, and even then only at a considerable loss to the county. The population of the county in 1855 was 1720, accord ing to the census, and in 1860 it reached the number of 4672. About the year 1853 there began to be felt in the East-, ern States a desire to remove to the wonderful regions of the West. Glowing accounts had come back to those who had lived so long upon the rough, rock ribbed hills of New 11

England, or on the lands along the NortEern part of York, where land had become expensive and partly w| out by the long continued tilling of the soil, and there be3 a larger population than could be well accommodated witl ^, the limited area, the young, ardent spirits began to look fdf new homes oft the prairies, where no stone would throw out Jie plow or there were no huge trees to be^cut down before the toiler could begin to realize anything from his labors So many, taking advantage of the cheap transportation by the Great Lakes, took with them their household goods, their wives and children, and bidding good bye to their friends set out for the promised lands. Some halted by the way to settle for a few years in the fertile prairies of Illinois, only, however, at a later day to emigrate once more to tl^e beautiful and healthy regions of the North West. For the Idw lands of the southern state just opened for cultivation, and undrained, reeked with the malaria which produced the c^Us and fever so well known to its citizens in the pioneer times. X. Y. Z. [To be continaed.]

CHAPTER VI. The remîyal^^ of the County Seat from Prescott to the interior of the county was not accomplished without a strenuous resistance. Prescott was at that time the princi pal town in Ih^County. As compared with any other place, it had the larger commercial relations and best ac commodated the larger number of those who had business at the seat of county government. There were at^his time two active newspapers at Pres cott, and but one elsewhere, viz: the River Falls Journal. All of these papers were well edited, and took active part in the issues of the day^, The friends of Prescott were numer ous and deterniined, but on the other hand the organization of new towns had tended to make other centers of influence and perhaps those who desired the removal were really more active than the opponents, inasmuch as at that time it really looked preposterous to take the county buildings from a growing city, accessible to much of the county by water, and having good roads leading to the more thickly settled parts of the county, and the friends of Prescott were per- 12 liapsteo secure. ~^ " — ^ _^^ ^-^, But there Avere those who could forsee that it Was but a question of time when a change would be imperatively de manded. Prescott is in an angle at the most western part of the county; the trip from the eastern portion was then, as it is now, a long journej^, and at that time particularly hard and difficult. Members of the County Board residing in the more remote towns could hardly expect to make the ,trip, as the roads were at that time, in less than ^n entire !day. ' •; Z:: |:. It was hoped, too, by many that the removal would fiend to build up the interior of the county and draw population. All these arguments and many more were urged with the utmost zeal, and active canvasses were made for each party, but with the result .that the votes showed that the change was desired by a small majority of the voters. i And hence the County Board convened at the town of j Perry on the 16th day of , April, A. D. 1861, there being piresent at this meeting the following supervisors: E. Miner, Oak Grove; H. S. Proctor, River Falls; Wm. Hodges, Martell; J. Youngman^ Perry; Thomas Hurley, El Paso; 0. C. Whitney, Hartland; M. B. WiUiams, Trimbelle; ^ James Akers, Trenton; John Fertig, Isabelle; W. J. Copp, 'Clifton; E. Quimby, Diamond Bluff; L. R. Smith and D. S. Cheney, Prescott; 32, Holt, Jêassent Valley. , ^. ^ 0. Strahl was Clerfe-of County Board of Super\dsors atj this time, and S. R. Gunn Clerk of the Circuit Court. At the first session of the Board Sup. Hurley offered a resolution that the sum of $16000 be appropriated for the erection of a court house and office buildings and jail. This was as promptly voted down by a vote of 6 ayes and 8 nays. Nothing could show more clearly the deep opposition to the change than the action of this county board. Resolution after resolution was offered to raise different sums of money tc erect county buildings, only to be voted down by the opposition, it seeming apparently to be their fixed idea to delay the making of any appropriation for the purpose until the opposition could gain sufficient strength to reverse the determination of the voters at'the previous election. j This apparent effort to uelay matters, or at least to j revent the appropriation of any adequate sum for county j guildings, continued until at last Supervisor Hurley offered j a resolution to appropriate the sum of two thousand dollars | for the purpose of'êrecting suitable buildings for holding I courts, for offices for the county officers, and for a jail, * * * j ; and said buildings shall be the court house of said county.)7 13

These buildings were to be located on such part of SWf4 ^^ section 17, SE54 of section 18, NE14 of 19, or NW>4 of 20, in township 26 of range 17, or any part of either of the aforesaid tracts, as the County Board might determine. One of the opposition coming over, this resolution was adopted. A building committee comprised of Akers, Copp and WiUiams was appointed, with directions to superintend the expenditure of the fimds and have a building completed by August 1st, 1861. Each member of such committee was to be allowed $2.00 per day for his services. Even this appropriation was cut into, as it was pro vided, by order of the Board, that out of it the expenses of providing a place for holding the May term of Court should be paid. Tradition has it that a building was erected by Anthony Huddleston in which the May term of the Court was held, but it not being acceptable to the Judge, a log court house was erected at a later date in which court was held until a frame building was erected on the present site of the Ellsworth Town Hall, where court was held until tb6 erection of the present brick building. —^X. Y. Z. In last week^s issue the location of the new county seat was given as in range 18. It should have been 17, the town of Perry, now Ellsworth, being in range 17. (Contnued next week, j

HAPTER Vn. ™^ That the early settlers were not wanting in ^patriotism is evidenced by the fact that so early as 1857 Fourth of July celebrations were held both at Prescott and River Falls. The latter was fully reported in the River Falls Journal, then four weeks old, the report being in its fourth issue. The orator of the day was Prof. Benjamin Wilcox, -the Principal of the River Falls Academy, then in the third term of its existence. The toastmaster ^was Abner Morse, Esq., who was always peculiarly happy on such occasions, and never more so perhaps than at that early celebration of the Nation's birthday. Among those who responded were H. A. Taylor, Esq., whose toast was 'The Soldiers of the Revolution''; C. B. Cox, Esq., responded to the toast 'The Great West, Its Future Prospects; Nothing slower than the Locomotive can eyer overtake her.'' Of ten persons whose ABNER MORSE.

It may not be out of place to mention more specifically j some of those whose names appear in the events above \ mentioned. C. B. Cox, who was always known at Green-^ wôod and River Falls as *'Uncle Charley'', was a miller by trade. He came earh' in the fifties and located at first at Clifton Hollow, where there is a good water power, and there erected a flour mill. It is not now known whether this wâs the first flouring mill in the county, but if not it came very near beini? so. There being.no,buildings at,, that place when llncle Charley and his family arrived there, owing to some accident which had happened, the large dry goods boxes which contained their household goods were hastily opened, and the younger children made them their home until a shanty could be built. Mr. Cox soon after this was induced to locate at River Falls, w^here he erected the Prairie Mills. Part of this build- Jng is how standing, and is known by its old name. He also, ila company with a partner, built the Greenwood Mills. This mill is still standing, and is doing considerable business under the control of George Fortune & Co. Mr, Cox was an enthusiastic mill builder, if we may Judge by his wôrks, for he also assisted hi the erection ol; another mill near Hudson, and at a still later date, in com pany with Dr. A. D. Andrews and Geo. Fortune, he built the Junction Mills. These mills were among the very first in the country to adopt the roller system of grinding, and *'^"^,..1^f>l:r names are given in the report only three survive, the rest having fulfilled their life work and gone to rest. • At Prescott the orator was W. P. Murray, an attorney from St. Paul who has since been identified very largely with the political history of that city. J. Whipple, then an editor at Prescott, read the Declaration of Independence; Mr. Whipple was at that time one of the leading Democrats of the county, and his influence was large among the ranks of the party. 16

for a/'lirtS%ere very prosperous, fief ore this, Oox ba^l^'^dtd 6ut his holdings in this Icmmty and reino Santa Rosa, California, where he died at a ripe old age, lufl of well Served honors. As a public man he represented the County at the Legislature, and served two years on the County Board. H. A. Taylor, another of those whose names are found among the celebrants of the Fourth or JiUy, 1857, removed from River Falls to Hudson about four years later, and there became the pubhsher of the Hudson Star-Times. This paper, being well supported by prominent men at Hudson, Bas had a wide influence. Mr. Taylor, however, sold out the paper several years since and purchased i/he State Jour nal at Madison. Since that he has held the position of First Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, at Washington. Mr. Morse was ^ell known from the time of his arrival at River Fnlls as a successful business man and an ardent politician, in which calling he was unusually successful. He revived the River Falls Journal some years after it had ceased being published by the original owners, and made it an excellent local paper. He was always earnest in advoca tion of what he deemed real improvements for the Village of River Falls and vicinity, and much of the city's present development and prosperity is due to his untiring efforts for the general good. Upon his death his son, Mr. C. R. Morse, took charge of the paper, and has continued its publication to the present time. Prof. Benjamin Wilcox, the orator of the day, taught the River Falls Academy successfully for some years, but hard times at last so r'educed the number of pupils, as well as their ability to paf ^tuition, that he was compelled to re sign his position, and at a little later date removed from the County. His influence upon his pupils was excellent, and those who now surviYe look back with loving recollections to the years of his teaching. George W. Pratt had taught music for many years, traveling especially in the South. He had a rare genius for harmonious sounds, and was a remarkably successful teacher. Enthused by reports of the great prospects of the West, h-^ came to Pierce County about 1855 and entered many choice tracts of land, and for quite a number of years was very prominent in real estate circles. In this he was not so successful as in his profession, and after losing most of his means he removed to Philadelphia, where he died. As a musician he is best known. His choir in the old church at River Falls was a remarkable one, rivalling in talent and execution many in much more favored situations. River Falls became in those davs quite a musical center, and large .17 musical reunions were held 1^ several winters. Mr. Prattr was a thorough enthusiast in all that he did, and having a large acquaintance and relationship in the Eastern and Middle States, succeeded in bringing many excellent citizens to the county, some of the most prominent people in the western portion of the county having been induced to re move here by his statements. He had quite a poetical in stinct, and at the celebration above mentioned the following hymn of his authorship was sung: Freedom's morning light is breaking. Sounds of joy and rapture waking- Join the glorious jubilee; Raise on high the song victorious Of Columbia, great and glorious,— Washington and Liberty. Lo, in beautious order twining. See our Stripes and Stars are shining! Hail Columbia, great and free! Isles afar 'mid every ocean Hear the sound with glad emotion,— Washington aini Liberty. *•., r - . —X.Y.Z. [Contnued next wrek. j C^.^^ 9, /9o

CHAPTER VIII. The opening up of a new country invariably attracts a population of a heterogeneous character. The farmer, the merchant and the professional man all look towards such a place as affordmg a great opportunity for improvement in their condition, and as giving them a chance to act upon their theories untrammeled by the traditions of the older places. Then, too, the tendency is to broaden their ideas; as, coming in contact with men from different portions of the country, their views of men and things are enlarged, and each being anxious to make the best possible appearance acts with energy and zeal in the promotion of his peculiar theories and methods. Hence we find, in the United States especially, that the school and the church follow close upon the first upturning of the soil; and that professional men, often of great ability, will be found in places where the immediate prospects are far from advantageous. 18 But^r such men meet upon aTconimon lever^SdTry^ to develop the new homes of their choice with the utmost possible speed. Almost every experiment that has been tried in the older places and found successful, as well as some that have not been, are tried, in order to add as much as possible to the appearance of prosperity and advancement. In the improvement of agriculture, the County Fair has always proved a popular means of getting people to gether and in stimulating new and better methods of farm ing. Hence we should naturally expect that in a country ippppled, as Pierce County was, by many men of advanced ideas and liberal education who had determined to become farmers, a fair would be held as early as possible, both to give an impression of rapid dev<5lopment to friends abroad, and to encourage good farming at home. The first fair in the St. Croix Valley of which we have any record was held at River Falls on the 24th and 25th >f September, 1856, being under the control of the Farmt^rs and Mechanics of the St. Croix Valley. The fair was so much of a success that a second fair was held at the same place on the 23rd and 24th of September, 1857. The pre mium list was more notable from the number of books and diplomas offered than for cash, but still, considering the number of patrons, the premium list was quite liberal. The l^me of the Association at this time was the Northwestern tJnion Agricultural Society; the secretary was Geo. May Powell. Mr. Powell was a natural enthusiast. It was as nearly in his power to convert ripe cucumbers into sunbeams as has ever fallen to the lot of man. Of versatile genius, at once a typical land boomer and theorist, his part in the organization of enterprises of this nature was important and useful. He had laid out in village lots a large tract of land near Catfish Bar, whose glorious opportunities for investment, as set forth by him, filled quite a large share of the advertising columns of the Journal. Besides this, he owned an addition to River Falls, which he was also offering in the market. But alas for human hopes. The hard times came too soon, and his investments proving a failure he emigrated back to the East, where he is still living. Mr. Powell in his later life took a great interest in the I exploration of Palestine, and went personally to that coun-| try to aid in the work of the society of which he was the' principal organizer. He has of late been very earnest on the subject of Forestry, writing and lecturing on the subject | quite frequently. Such a man would naturally make an excellent secretary of an Agricultural Society in a new 19 country, where a large amount of hard work and enthusiasm is required. A third fair was held under the auspices of the same society on the 22nd and 23rd of September, 1858. At this time Mr. Salmon, of Hudson, was secretary, and we find a change in the program indicting that the spirit of horse racing had begun to infect the young people of the place, as premiums were offered for speed and also for ladies riding. The list, too, was much larger and more liberal in amount, evidencing that the country was becoming more prosperous and the fair more popular. Of the fair the ^^Journal" says /'The Agricultiuâl Fair at this place last Wednesday and •^Thursday was a successful affair. The first day the ' Veather was beautiful, and a large number of people were ^'present. The grounds were in fine order, and the prepara- /'tions well made. Fat, burly men; lean, thin men, and lots of 'Vide awake" men were there." (Note.—This was the day of wideawake hats used as a badge of political party.) ***—''Among the fast nags which drew attention were ^'Lilly Dale", ''Black Bob", etc." Apparently in^ the part of the grounds devoted to mechanic arts some one had placed a tub of fish, as we find it stated that "there were some genuine live trout, who bore "their imprisonment in a very philosophical manner, ap- "pearing fully conscious of their beauty, etc."- And the Journal adds "(N. B.—We do not claim these trout as manufactured articles.)" Prescott, for some reason, failed to contribute to this fair, but a year or two later organized a fair of its own under the name of the Pierce County Agricultural Society. This society made an appeal to the County Board for an Appropriation, which is so characteristic of the feeling in those times that a copious extract is given here. 'The society do not deem it necessary to present any ^'argumaits in favor of such ai jppro}îa^n, believing^ "that the Board full appreciates the efforts of the society "and cordially sympathizes with the growing interests of "the Agricultural, Horticultural and Mechanical resources of "the county. "The society would state that the rapid growth of the "county in the short space of five years (that being the time "since its political organization) has placed it upon equal "footing with many of the counties of the state of twice its "size. Four years ago there were but few settlements, and "those mostly confined to the river side of the county. "There was but one town, and that embraced the entire "county. We have now thirteen towns. Four years since on ôur supplij^s were in the main brought to the county by ^'steamboats^ frora the country below on the Mississippi. "During the continuance of navigation, after harvest of "last year, at the different landings in the county might "daity be seen steamboats loading with the productions of "the "^ County for the Eastern and Southern markets, the "superior qualities of which has already placed our commod- "ities first in the market. We can boast of as good farms "and scientific farming, with as good improvements, as any "part of the state, and our improvements are not confined "to the Western and Central portion of the county;—the "Eastern and timber regions can boast of as good farms 'ând good buildings, notwithstanding that it was the last "settled." Such an appeal made to men in full sympathy with the zeal thus apparent could not fail to arouse the Board to action, and an appropriation of one hundred dollars was promptly voted. After the organization of the Pierce County Society, the fairs at River Falls were discontinued. The new society fenced in its grounds at Prescott, a small but convenient building was erected, and county fairs were held there for several years. The State Agricultural Association having offered to present a banner to the County making the best display at the State Fair, the more courageous citizens of this county determined to try for the prize. With the advantage of a virgin soil, enriched by the decay of vegetation for centuries, the vegetable and grain products of the county were then, as in many respects at the present time, of a superior quality; and though there was a lack of faith in many, jêt it was determined to at least try, and try earnestly. So from the best that could be found, a liberal selection of grain and vegetables was made and forwarded to the State Fair: and it is said that, lest the best should fail to be sent, a number of school chil dren were given the work of carefully looking over several bushels of wheat and picking out the grains most likely to exhibit the large growth of wheat in Pierce County. Certainly the grain that went was very clean, and of good size and quality. The result of these "honest and patriotic" methods was the gaining of the banner, which formed a prominent part of the decoration of many a county fair thereafter. Un fortunately, however, in time it became somewhat regarded as a badge of misfortune rather than success, inasmuch as the State Equalizing Board could not be made to believe that a county which could make such a grand exhibit, and 21

carry away the prize from the more developed counties in the eastern part of the State, was not especially wealthy; and hence the assessment of the County at the hands of the Board seemed to home people rather excessive. The removal of the County seat from Prescott and its failure to increase in population as its founders fondly hoped, together with the fact that the current of commerce in the county changed, at last made it impossible to obtain suffi cient patronage to sustain the fair, and it ceased to exist. Undoubtedly the distress caused by the war and the draft ing away of so many of the active, energetic spirits also con tributed to this result. In time the increase of population near the center of the county, and the coming in of men who desired to help the interests of the county seat, resulted naturally in the final establishment of a county fair at Ellsworth; and amid many discouragements, but with a determined spirit and persistent effort, the County Fair has been placed upon a nrm basig, and m now a credit to the County in its manage ment and its annual displays. The writer has recently come into possession of facts re lating to a Fourth of July celebration held at River Falls in the year before that told about in the previous chapter, and will take occasion next week to go back and tell of that event. In a story of this kind, pubhshed at fast as written, it must often happen that unexpectedly something will be brought up requiring a return to some part of the story already past; but I trust this will not prove unwelcome to the readers. —X.Y.Z. [Continued next week.)

CHAPTER IX. It often happens to an author, when searching for in formation in regard to events of the past, that unexpectedly something may be brought to his knowledge interesting in its details, but which relates to matters of a date which has been passed by in his story. This has happened to the writer, as since Chapter VIII. was published two or three old settlers have told him inci dents about the early days of which he had had but little information, and of these some will be given in this chapter. This is the only apology for arresting the march of the story oo

and going back: m time to eventTthus given. ^ ^ ~ In that issue the Foiirth of July celebrations at Riveir Falls and Prescott were described, so far as records could be found of them. Since that article was written it has come to the knowledge of the writer that a celebration was held at River Falls the year previous (1856) at Harts Grove. Our informant dwelt with fond recollection upon the fact that a four horse team came up from the farms lying near Pierce Valley, laden with young and old full of patriot ism and cheerfulness. A flag staff had been erected, and around it the people gathered to celebrate in the good old fashioned way the nation's birthday. A flag had been procured, but when they attempted to raise it the pulley failed to work and the rope was jammed. J. A. Short, who had been a famous hunter and had crossed the plains, was called upon for his assistance; and with his trusty rifle succeeded in splitting the pulley with a bullet and the flag was hauled up amidst great rejoicing. Lute A. Taylor, then quite a young man, was the orator of the day. Mr. Taylor had an impediment in his speech, which with quick wit he often turned into a joke; and at this time he remarked: "Ladies can take their k-k-k-knitting and the men their j-j-j-jack-knives and go to whittling, for I am a slow speaker; but I will get there after a while." Another of the speakers was Col. Hughes, of Hudson, then or about that time an editor in that city. Col. Hughes was a man of rare ability as a writer and speaker, but soon retired from active life. Over the nanae of the orator of the day the heart lingers with loving remembrance. Gifted beyond his fellows with a mind of a rarely poetical nature, kind of heart, loving his fellow men, ever courteous and kindly, full of wit and humor turning by a kindly smile the weapons of a would-be enemy aside. Finding w^hen he first came West little oppor tunity for work to his liking, he commenced the publication of the River Falls Journal in company with his brother, H. A. Taylor. Their co-partnership continued for a little over a year, when it was dissolved, and Lute took it alone, but for a time was assisted by his brother in the work of the office. At the end of about four years he removed his paper to Prescott, where, having acquired an interest in The ; Transcript published there, he continued both under the name of the Prescott Journal. Every country editor then must be a politician, as from the results of getting the county printing came much of his support. Hence Mr. Taylor dipped into politics; and being , very popular, and finding many friends, his success in that ' line was very considerable. He was an ardent Repubhcan in the days when the party was young, andTcontinued to ad^ vocate its principles to the end of his fife. His ability as an editor won for him a wide reputation, and finally he was induced to remove to La Crosse, where he published the La Crosse Republican, first a weekly, and at a late date, in obedience to an almost life long ambition, he made the venture of making it a daily, and continued its publication in that form until the end of his life. While there he served the government for some years as U. S. Assessor, it being at the time when an income tax was col lected by the General Government. He wrote quite a number of essays and papers, one being a lecture on Margaret Fuller, which he gave to many appreciative audiences. After his death his brother gathered many of his writings and published them under the name of "Lute Taylor's Chip Basket" in a small volume which has found a place upon the shelves of many a home in Pierce County of those who loved and remembered the author. Mention has already been made of the impediment to his speech. At one time, so the story goes, the district meeting, partly perhaps in fun, elected Mr. Taylor, Mr. White and Mr. Levings as members of the school district board. All suffered from the same trouble, and their meet ings must have been full of amusement, as none of them when excited could speak without stammering. A young man from Hudson desired to obtain the situa tion of teacher, and came to River Falls for the purpose of \applying for the school. He was referred to Mr. Taylor, and finding him, commenced his story. While he was re citing his merits and wants, Mr. White passed by, and was called in to the conference. As the young teacher asked a question he would be answered after some delay by one or the other, after facial contortions sufficient to cast a terror upon a modest young man's heart. Finally the young man, discouraged, and thinking perhaps that thay were making fun of him, departed, having no desire to teach in a school where the district board could not enunciate the English language correctly. These are however but side lights of humor upon a lovable character. There was a depth in his nature which circumstances sometimes brought out, but never to his disadvantage. His social habits and nature sometimes caused him to be misunderstood, as he loved fun, andjpften made his best friends the subject of his jokes. But beneath and in all there was the thoughtful student and earnest advocate of good for the human rr^e. He died at a comparatively ecu\^ age, ana his remains were brought to his best loved home and now rest in Green- 24

Woo5 Cemetery at River Falls,InaSed by a marble shaft, "erected to his memory by his loving wife." We are indebted to the courtesy of a former inhabitant of Pierce County for the following items. In the winter of 1855-6 James Hunter, who then re sided in the Stirratt neighborhood in Oak Grove, taught a singing school in a log house then standing near the present home of Mrs. Helen Beardsley. In the spring of 1861 a new frame building was erected. The erection and com pletion of this building was marked by a sad affair, inas much as one of the most active young men of the district, a brother of Mrs. Beardsley, was buried from the new build ing soon after its completion. In 1854 and 1855 a man named McLaughlin, who then resided in the woods near the village of Trimbelle, killed seventy deer and ten elk. The ardent hunter overworked himself, however, and died soon after, his disease being partly caused by his exposure while hunting. A war party of Sioux Indians passed through the county the following year. They numbered upwards of a hundred braves. They were then returning frojn a battle which they had fought with the Chippewas and had with them three Chippewa scalps, waving from poles. To be carried back to the time when Indians roamed through this county and encamped in the woods near Trim belle would almost make us beheve that we were reading of an hundred years ago, instead of fifty. It is, however, only another illustration of the rapidity with which history is made in these days of progress and strenuous life. In connection with the above incidents we transcribe the following from a letter written by an old settler, who for the present at least desires to remain incognito: "Fifty years ago next October I left Beloit in company with four others. We had a double team and a saddle horse. We traveled through the southern part of Wiscon sin and crossed the Mississippi at the mouth of the Wiscon sin river, and arrived at North McGregor, where we found one hotel, two small buildings and 12 inches of mud. We started out for Decorah, forty miles*west; found a hotel on the way. Saw two deer and one bear. Land was not then in the market, so we returned to McGregor and embarked for Hudson. ^ "An acquaintance and myself took a team for Erin Prairie, but missing the road found ourselves after quite a trip at what is now New Richmond. Not a soul was living on our route until we came across three families who had settled in a bunch, and who had a few stacks of wheat. It cost them $25.00 to get a doctor from Hudson to come to New Richmond at thaT^imeTTT purcliased the SE^ oF Sect. 3, T. 27, R. 16, without having seen it. "I then took a notion to visit Pierce County, and on ^ reaching a place about a mile from Martell I found a thresh ing machine at work. At that time the place was known among the settlers as "Ratville". "Mr. Jock, Roman Kay, Joe Martell and John Deck, all of them Frenchmen, were there at that time, also a Mr. Bonesteel and a Mr. Thompson. I took Mr. Jock as a guide and we traveled over considerable of the timber until we crossed over Cave Creek on Section 2, T. 26, R. 16. Jock shot a deer which weighed over two hundred pounds; Jock carried the deer, except one ham which I took myself, and I also carried his rifle, which weighed 18 pounds. We got back at about nine o'clock p. m., rather tired and hungry. "Next day I went back to Hudson and bought 240 acres of land on Section 2. After waiting there for two days for a boat, in company with two of the Taggarts and a Mr. Gilmore, all of whom resided later at Hartland. I went oil foot to Prescott. We made the trip in three and one-half hours. I then went back to Beloit, and having secured a housekeeper returned for good to Pierce County. This was 47 years ago." —X. Y. Z.

'fU.Hi

CHAPTER X. JJJJJSoHle of the "old settlers", having become interested in|this narrative, have contributed some items of interest which will be taken up from time to time, even though the thread of the story is occasionally broken by doing so. In the previous chapters our history has brought u^^ down practically to the important era of the beginmng of the war of 1861, which was contemporary with the location of the county seat at the town of Perry, as in the same month in which the guns of Fort Sumter hurled their de fiance to the batteries at Charleston, the County Board of Pierce County met for the first time at the new location. But this chapter will take us back once more to earlier times to narrate some items of interest which had taken place in the eastern and southern portions of the county. Saw mills were erected in 1852 and 1853, one by Mr. Buckingham and one by the Phillips Brothers; the former being at the beautiful valley on the Isabelle where the vil- 26

la^W^Kl^io^v stanas.^^" "^^^ ^^ The Isa;belle Rirm^^^^Mn afforded quite a quantity of water, and its rapid descent near that place enabled the' enterprising mill man to obtain a fairly good water power. The Phillips mill was run by steam, and was located neari what is now known as Bay City. The first permanent settler at Isabelle seems to have been Adam Brown, who came there in 1853 and took up lands. Soon after this the report of possible fortunes in town lots induced a Mr. Morton to buy from the Govern ment a tract of land where Bay City is now, and to make ^ arrangements to lay out a town plot. Unfortunately a man jtamed Dexter had been occupying the same tract, supposing that by residing on the land he could obtain a paramount right as a squatter. Apparently bad blood ensued, for Mr. Morton, havinj engaged a surveyor, Mr. Markle, to survey the land, on the arrival of the engineering party at the locality, Mr. Dexter, being aroused beyond self control, fired upon it from an ambush and killed the surveyoj^ Dexter was arrested and tried for the crime, and being found guilty was sentenced to the state prison for ten years. This case being the first criminal trial of much im portance in the county naturally attracted a good deal of attention. It is said that Mr. Dexter was afterwards par doned, and returned for a short time to Pierce County. Mr. Morton subsequently laid out the plot, giving it kthe name of Saratoga. In later days the entire plot waa abandoned and relaid under the present name of Bay City. Among the new comers in 1853, or thereabouts, there appears the name of Thomas L. Nelson., Mr. Nelson, being of an enterprising character and himself a bricklayer and mason, built a brick kiln at or near Bay City in 1854, and burned 100,000 brick. This was a great boon to the settlers, as they had been unable to procure proper material for chimneys up to this time, except at great expense. In 1854 George Fletcher came to Bay City, and finding no house he rented from Adam Brown a granary. In this building, about 12x16, he resided with his family and kept boarders. Although the accommodations were rather cramped, the good nature of the occupants made amends for the small room. This incident illustrates very well the situation of many of the old settlers in the earlier times when it was necessary to adapt themselves to new con ditions. Mr. Fletcher afterwards removed to Ellsworth, and made his home at a later date at Beldenville, where he acted as an agent of the railroad company for some time. . He died recently, mourned, bj^ many friends who knew his kindly heart and devotion to duty. 27

Allusion has already been madt to the old French forts w^hich were erected, according to the French historians, about 1685 near Maiden Rock. An old resident of the county has informed the Writer that many years ago, when he was but a yoimg man, several cannon balls were found by the young people near the village of Warrentown, im bedded in the earth. These balls were about an inch and a half in diameter, and from the description given it would seem likely that they were such as were used in the culver- ins, a favorite field piece of those days.^ How they came there is of course a mystery, the theory generally „ accepted being that they might have been fired from a boat on the river, in a contest between white men and a party of Indians. A similar ball was found more recently while excavating for a cellar in the village of Maiden Rock. One of the Forts above mentioned stood near the loca tion of the village of Pepui, being built of stone; some of the ruins were still standing at a recent date, and may possibly jîll be distinguishable. It is stated that the Indians, fail ing to find any other means of reducing this fort when attacking the w^hite men, succeeded in starting a huge rock from the bluff back of the fort and rolling it down in such a manner as to break through the walls and render it un tenable. For this account we are indebted to an article in the St. Paul Dispatch of March 16th, 1904, by Ira Fuller, of Pepin, in which a drawing of the rmiis as they appeared in 1900 is given. Among the best knoWn of the settlers of the earlier times was Harvey Seeley, probably the first permanent settler of the south-eastern portion of the county. We are indebted to one of his relatives for the following sketch relating to his life. Harvey Seeley, the first settler in south-east Pierce County, settled on Rush River in the 40's. He took up about 700 acres of land along the^bottorns, where there was some natural .p.eadow. Before tfiLt he Sad be;?n Worlc'ng for a Stillw iter lumber man named Greeley,^—w.j^'* • ^ * iiim ten ye'^M '"^^^d never losing a^ day. On Rush River Mr. Seeley started what was probably the first stock farm in Pierce County. He bought cattlet "down the river," and raised them for the markets at Stih- water and St.Taul. It is said he cut the rushes along the river (it was from these the river got its name) to feed his ^ stock in the winter. ^\^ ., A man named McKinstry, who lived at Stillwater, was ; partner of Mr. Seeley, and did all the business. Mr. Seeley îârried McKinstry's daughter. 28 ":^~^t:Eis"most prosperous timellr^êeleyls~âia ^^^s^âve been worth $100,000. But later reverses overtook him. He accused his partner of ruining him. His wife left him. lie was poor—^penniless—and becoming insane he was con fined in jail at Ellsworth and afterward in the asylum. Harvey Seeley had a brother, Joseph Seeley, who was m the hotel business at Maiden Rock, and for whom the Seeley House there was named. Joseph Seeley is still living at the old home on Rush River. —X.Y.Z. [Continued next week, j

^i^^^ /^^-^™^'

r^ ^KÂX^y^^ CHAPTER XL ^j^ We have received another installment of personal recol lections from the old settler mentioned in a previous chapter, ^d we are sure-that the readers of the Sun will be glad to have it in as nearly as possible the words of the narrator. * ^*I got ready to leave Beloit in October, 1856, but sick ness and the death of my father detained me two or three weeks, making it late for starting. I shipped all my goods : two weeks ahead of me, via of Dubuque for Hudson. On .arriving at Dubuque with my wife and a brother of fourteen, i bought a stove, furniture, groceries and five barrels of flour. ^'We were bound for Hudson. There being no way of reaching there except by steamboat, it was slow^ sailing. . Before reaching my destination I found that it would be better to stop off at Prescott; we therefore got off at that place, but were obhged to wait until the boat returned from Saint Paul to have our freight put off at Prescott. We had | for luggage three trunks and a small tool chest. Dr. Beards ley was then boat agent. He charged me $14.00 for freight on the tool chest. ^Î then hired a team, agreeing to pay for it $15.00 in advance to take me to Section filT. 26, R. 16, on Cave Creek. '^We found, after leaving Prescott, that the entire country had been burned over to within a mile of Cave Creek, making it look very dismal. On our way out we passed the John Copley place, and noticed it as looking among the best on the road. Mr. Copley was working hard at his black smith shop. We crossed in at Rocky Branch and stopped at ^^Bill" Moore's for dinner and feed. Our next stop was at , Mr. Bonesteel's for supper and lodging. There we unloaded half our load. We were advised to remain there during the 29 winter. Several settlers had located in thelricinitjr^sihce 1 had left there the previous year, itmong them being Patrick Anderson, McGinley, Thompson, five of the Knights, and MeadJ Laurence. ^^We were informed that Jock had cut a road to Cave Creek. Twô miles east of there, we found a small log house and about two acres cut down, but not logged up. We came to the end of the road half a mile further on, and a deep ravine some 100 feet deep barred our further progress. We were compelled to return and take possession of the log cabin and remain there two weeks before we could get an other team, and also to give time to cut out a road. ^Ân lEastern speculator had built a saw mill two and a half miles south of Martell. I purchased the first two loads of pine lumber that they sawed. It was good lumber. I got a man named Elliot to haul two loads. One day he had two horses, and the next three. The lumber was dropped in small bunches all along the road. I had scarcely 400 feet on the ground when I needed it. His bill was onlv 118.00. ^^Two weeks later Mr. Roman Kay sent an ox team and a Mr. Owens to move us out, and it took three days for the trip. I hastened to get a pail of water from Cave Creek. We then set up a stove and soon had our supper, which we greatly enjoyed. For our covering that night we had a few boards and the canopy of heaven." Mr. Copley, who is mentioned in the foregoing sketch, will be recalled by many of our leaders as the genial gentle man who has so long held the office of Coroner of the County, and who has always taken an active interest in the county affaks. If we are not mistaken in the building, the black smith shop where he was seen working by our correspondent is still standing, one of the landmarks on the road between River Falls and Prescott. If any one will take the map he will find it quite easy to trace in general the route taken by the party from Prescott to Cave Creek, though very little of the old trail is traveled now. ^^Bill" Moore was a well known man in those days. He held the office of chairman of the Town of River Falls for many years. His residence still standing, is on section Qne of the town of River Falls, and is now owned by the Lauder Estate. The readers of the Sun need no introduction to Roman Kay, long an honored resident of the town of Martell, and whose large and fine farm is still in possession of members of the family. 80 Jockâs of French descent and was a noted hunter in ; the days when Pierce County abounded in game. More | about him later. —X.Y.Z. [Continued next week. ]

CHAPTER XII. We are pleased to once more give our readers an in stallment of the Old Pioneer's recollections. ^^After moving all my truck and building a camp, I felt that, like Robinson Crusoe, I was monarch of all I surveyed, from Martell to Carson's Mills on the Eau Gahe. ^^In all that distance there was but just one family who had just moved in to a spot known as Maple Springs. The name of this family was Bailey. This unsettled tract of country extended between the Rush and Eau Galle Rivers; at that time what is now comprised in the towns of Oilman and Spring Lake formed a part of River Falls, and was at a later date Martell. El Paso and Rock Elm formed a part of Maiden Rock. ^T was surprised to find on my land a nice log building i put up, with a fire place in it, with a good roof and the chinks packed tight with moss. It had been built while I was cutting out my road and moving in. It was not more than thirty rods from my camp on the Creek bottom. It proved to be a hunters' camp. *The first visitor I had was A. B. McGinley, who, hear ing that some one had moved in on Cave Creek, and fearing that we would starve, came to look after our welfare. The next visitant was a bear who came to see us just after dark. Which was the most frightened, myself or the bear, I never knew. After the hunters moved in we had lots of company until they left. To our dismay, Sioux Indians came in swarms after the hunters had gone. On Christmas morning ten made us a visit, one at a time, about fifteen minutes apart; each one wanted coffee and chug. Some were quite bold and hard to get rid of. 'Tn the summer of 1856 George Brill, the Schwarts boys and a Mr. Towser, all Germans, moved in on the west side of Rush River. The following winter, the snow being very deep and no roads cut out, and there being no way of crossing Rush River, we saw very little of each other until the following summer. In June, 1857, George Walker came m and put up a saw mill where El Paso village now is.~ The Wilkinsons and Newmans came about this time also." We are glad to present to our readers the following communication from a lady now residing in this county, which will be read with much interest by many of our friends. "John Beardsle^ came to Prescott in June, 1853. There were no buildings on Prescott hill at that time. Frankhi^ Otis came in at the same time we did. There was no sohool house there then. Franklin Otis built the school hpusfe: there the same year. (Note. This was in the present town of Trimbelle). So far as I know, this was the first country school house in the county. There was one saw mill there, but it was burned down the following winter., "The first church was built about the year 1856. Dr. O.T. Maxon and his father, Col. Maxon, built a saw mill on the Trimbelle Creek in 1853. About four years later an other saw mill was raised. In 1855 Franklin Otis built a grist mill on the Trimbelle. Mr. Thomas Armstrong and his sons did the work. This mill is still standing and doing good work, it being now owned by S. Colburn. The 1855 school house was built of logs, but in 1861 a nice new school house was erected. "A church was erected in Trimbelle village about thato time by the Methodist people. Mr. James Stirrat, Mr. Thayer and Mr. Hall, from Hastings, were the first ministers to preach there. The first school teacher was Margaret Ellis, from Hastings, the next teacher being Mary Davis, from Oak Grove; she was succeeded by Kate Hunter, from Oak Grove. "Quite a large colony came from Ohio and settled in Oak Grove in 1854-1855. Among these were the Stirratts, Davises, Ashbaughs, HoUisters, Albrights, and others who proved to be very prosperous and influential farmers. Many of these are still living. Of the old settlers whose names I can recall are George McMurphy, David Rissue, Lou Haans- berger, Fred Wehrmann, Oliver HoUister, Henry Schaser,. Aaron Cornelison, George Bennett, L. J. Newell, Ezra; Beardsley, David C. McLaughlin, Carlos McCray, E. B. Armstrong, John Copley, A. J. Moore, Osborn Strahl and Henry McRay. "When John Beardsley came to Trimbelle in 1853 it wasi all government land. There was but one settler here, Mr. Cornelison. The country was very wild. There were plenty of fine trout in the Trimbelle, but no other kind of fish. Deer and bears were plenty, and further east in the Big Woods there were elk. "John McLaughlin came here in 1853. He was a great hunter, and was also a land surveyor. Franklin Otis (my father) was one of the men who came with John McLaugh- 0/

lin and John lBeardsley7 who survej^Sd^Wrough^^ffie^^bi^^ to Rush River, about twenty miles east of Trimbelle. They also surveyed a good deal of the land in this section. ^'There were a good many Indians in the county then. These were Sioux, and they were at war with the Chip pewas. They came through here quite often, on their way to the battle grounds, and if successful in their raids would carry the scalps they had taken on hoops when they re- I turned. "The first two years after we came here there were a 'good many land seekers looking for lands or for places to i make homes. We have kept as many as eight at one time. j "There were five brothers who came at the same time land took up lands. They were Emanuel, Cyrus, Ezra, !George and Edmund Beardsley. John Beardsley was their /eousin. They all came from CUnton County, New York. Of these, Ezra Beardsley is the only one now living." The recollections of this Pioneer will include the history of the eastern part of Pierce County up to the present day, being especially complete in the political side. —X.Y. Z. /^^t^/^«/^-

CHAPTER Xin. The Old Settler continues his recollections as follows: "On May 1st, 1857, the snow^was two feet deep here in the timber. It had been at least three and one-half feet deep in winter, but there was no frost in the ground. "In March I made a trip to Martell and Centerville—^the hardest trip I ever made. "To show you how the market rated then, I paid $160 for an old pair of oxen, $50 for a cow, $15 for a yearling calf, $20 for twenty bushels of wheat, $20 for twenty bushels of frosted corn, $20 for twenty bushels of oats, $25 for an old wagon—^which the man agreed to repair up in good shape, but failed to do—, 50c each for chickens—all paid in gold six weeks before I got the stuff. Of course the wheat had to be taken to River Falls to be ground. "Toward the last of June I started for Hudson after my goods that I had shipped from Beloit in the previous October. "On my way out I met John Wilkens and wife, also Fred and Christ Wilkens and Godfrey Newman and wife, with teams and other stock. They had a guide from Martell with them. They followed the same route I took, but had to cut a road of some five or six miles to get onto Sections i 24 and 26. | "Half wav between El Paso and Martell I met G. P.; 88 Walker coming to look after a mill site; he was sent in by Field & Bailey, of Prescott, who owned a quantity of land on Sections 4 and 5. Mr. Walker moved in in September, and put up a house and workshop, he being more of a wagon maker than a mill man. "After going to Hudson I had to send a tracer after my goods, which had not arrived, and found them piled away in a warehouse in Galena, 111. As I would have to wait more than a week for them, I had to come home without them. "The first settlers in the timber had to put up with lots of disappointments. "Soon after this we opened up a good road from Wilkins's on good ground, which was traveled for years after, and I think was the best road we ever had. These settlers were all Germans, and were good neighbors." The hard^ips of the first settlers, of which a hint is given in our friend's recollections, would have been unbear able if it were not for the almost unbounded hospitality shown by the early settlers to travelers. Every house was a tavern, where bed and board could be found without money and without price. Log houses or frame shanties, scarce large enough to„. make a good room nowadays, often accommodated a half f dozen people, or even more wnen the exigency arose. Audi if a barn or a house were to be raised the neighbors would I come from miles around to assist the new comer in starting I upon the building of his home. j It must, even with all this, have been a weary task for j the pioneers in El Paso and Martell, and even further east, j to take their teams and haul the small supply of grain they; had clear to River Falls to be ground, for at this period— 1857—there were but three or four grist mills in the county, i one being at Trimbelle, one at Clifton Hollow, and one or; two at River Falls. Few houses could be found between the mill site at Rising Sun (afterwards Martell) and River Falls, but the road on the prairie was a fairly good one, as in fact were all of the prairie roads of the period, except where the land was grub or brush land. There werq^ however, places where the ground was swampy, and ove^ which the teams could go only with difficulty. For the newer resident it is hard to conceive the fact that there was considerable pine land in Pierce County; but the mill at Rising Sun in an early day had a good supply of fine pine timber, and this proved a great boon to the settlers in giving them lumber of good quality, easily worked. 84

TrEe~curious in such matters may still fincl la^¥]pine stiimps on the highway between Martell and Spring Valley, the re mains of the giants of those days. The Wilkens families spoken of were the first settlers at what is now Waverly, and still live on the old homesteads. There is now a numerous family of them, all industrious, thrifty farmers and stock raisers. —X. Y. Z. [Continued next week. \

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CHAPTER XIV. In the year 1861 the Legislature changed the system of County government and provided that the Board of Super visors of each County should consist of as many members (not less than three) as there were Assembly Districts in such County. This gave this County a Board of three members. The law was not to go into effect until the fol lowing winter, but the then Board was directed to divide the County into three Supervisor Districts; and on the 8th day of July, A. D. 1861, at a special meeting of the Board, the County was by resolution divided into the following districts: District No. One, to comprise the City of Prescott and the towns of Chfton and Oak Grove; District No. Two, to comprise the towns of River Falls, Martell and El Paso; and District No. Three, to comprise the towns of Trimbelle, Perry, Diamond Bluff, Trenton, Isabelle, Hartland and Pleasant Valley. The new Board was elected in that year (1861), and met for the first time January 13th, A. D. 1862, there being present Supervisors N. S. Dunbar, representing the first dis trict, C. B. Cox, representing the second district, and Jere miah Fuller, the third district. Almost the first important business transacted by this Board was procuring places for offices for the county offi cials, and some rooms were rented from Mr. Rand for this purpose. In May, 1863, a resolution was introduced and carried to erect a county office building, "such building to be fire proof, and of sufficient extent and capacity to accommodate the county officers, for rooms, and for safe keeping of the books and records of the County." Bids for the erection of this building were opened June 22nd, 1863, and were as fol lows: J. S. Rand, $3015.99, Thomas L. Nelson, $3550.00; A. 85

TSuddleston $2427.57. Mr. Huddleston having failed to file the bond required, the job was finally awarded to Mr. Rand.; ^This building stood upon the site of the present office build-1 F ing. It was erected of the local quarry stone, not over well se lected. It had an iron roof and was provided with iron shut ters. There were no vaults, and the Joists and rafters were all of wood, but it met the ideas of a fire proof building in those days, the modern system of fireproofing being entirely unknown. This building remained, and was occupied by the county officers as an office building until the commencement of the erection of the present office building, a fuller account of which will be given later. At the same meeting in May, 1863, the following resolution was adopted: "That whenev^ the County wish to occupy or improve- the whole of the two acres^riand deecled by Norris Kinne^ to the County of Pierce, tnat this Board, in behalf of said County, hereby agrees to build the whole of the division fence". It will be seen from this that the County then adopted the rule of building such fence. The change of county government to the board of three Supervisors did not, however, affect that Board of Equahza- tion, that being still constituted of the Chairmen of the several Town Boards. This Board met as usual in 1863 and equalized the personal and real estate of the county at $1,017,729.47. The U. S. census of 1860 gave the population as being 4,672, and the state census of 1865 gave as the population that year 6,324, the growth of the county from 1860 to 1865 being rather slow, largely on account of the war, as well as the hard times. In December, 1863, the Board passed a resolution to deed back to Mr. Crippen the land which he had, prior to this, conveyed to the county. This tract was situated a few rods south-west of the present town hall belonging to the town of Ellsworth, and there is a tradition that in se lecting the site, then intended to be for the county build ings, that the committee rather desired to get a poor place, hoping the county might be indticed, on account of unfavor able condition of affairs, to remove the county seat back to its old location. But it must be remembered that at that time the highways were more conveniently reached from the down town site than the one afterwards selected, the main road from Maiden Rock to Hudson passing through the upper portion of the Isabelle Valley; and it is only charitable to think that accessibility was a more prominent factor in the selection of the place than a desire to defeat the will of the people. 36

The court house, however, still remained at the old site. As has been already stated, the first building erected for a court house was built by A. Huddleston; but the funds being very limited, he was not able to make a build ing acceptable to the Court, and a log house was erected, but this not being much better and complaints being made, the citizens of the village and vicinity erected a frame build ing by subscription on the site of the building now owned by the town of Ellsworth and used for a town hall. Al though this building was not very commodious, yet it answered the purpose in lieu of anything better, and courts were held here until the present brick building was erected. Note. In vie\^ of the movement agitated this winter of making a change back to the "three supervisor" system of county government, it may not be uninteresting to note, that the three supervisors' per diem for the first year was fifty-three days, and that thej^ drew mileage for about a ihalf dozen meetings. The fifty-three days, it will be under stood, is the total for all of them, making an average of about sixteen days'to each one. As they did not constitute the Board of EquaUzation, which still consisted of,tk%.tQW^ 1 chairmen, etc., it will be seen that they were obliged to 3s^ jpend considerable time in the work, there being but fery fettle of the time expended in committee work, as the board iacted as a committee of the whole in almost everyth.ing ^brought before them. j. i^ The Old Settler again writes interestingly of his e^sqeri* ences, as follows: "Please correct a mistake in Chapter XII. where the name "phwartz" boys occurs; it shuold be "Schmidt" boys —prondhnced Smith. "James M. Baily, of Prescott, had a State Road laid out from Prescott to Carson's Mill in the spring of 1857, passing through what is now El Paso village, on the town Hne between Martell and Perry (Ellsworth), El Paso and Oilman, and Spring Lake and Rock Elm, and not leaving the line except where it was impossible to travel. He also cut out a trail, but did no bridge work. "About half way in Rock Elm township he had to work south and go through the center of the town. "A year later we had a mail route established from Prescott to Carson's Mill; G. P. Walker, our mill man, was I appointed post master. I "In the winter of 1857 Towns 26 and 25, Range 16, iwere set off from Maiden Rock under the name of El Paso, [and in the spring of 1858 we organized our town. We then I had seven voters. We elected G. P. Walker Chairman. I "John Hurley and Darius Mclntyre had moved in. Mr. ^^7

Mclntyre had a half section of land on Sees. 8 and 9, ahdT John Hurley settled on Sec. 2. "At that time, and for some time after, there were but one and one-half sections of land in Rock Elm township that were taxable. "A Mr. Wright moved into Oilman township and put up a house on what later became the Oilman farm. A Mr. Thompson built a saw mill in what is now Martell ^ vil lage, and a year later Mr. Pomeroy, from River Falls, either rented or bought the mill and made a success of running it. I "About that time Mr. Whaley, of Hudson, put up a good flour mill south of the village of Martell that was a success also, and of the greatest benefit to the whole coun try. Mr. Gray had some interest in the mill, and was also miller for many years. "In the meantime quite a few settlers arrived, not the least numerous of whom were the Indians, who continued their regular visits, though not much appreciated". / -X.Y. Z. [Continued next week. |

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CHAPTER XV. While our Old Settler was welcoming the new comers who were seeking homes in the north tier of towns in the county, other settlers were beginning to take up homes along the shore of the Mississippi. From the reminiscences of a former inhabitant of Diamond Bluff we cull the follow ing items: Diamond Bluff was organized April 7th, 1857. Its first settlers were John T. Payne, George Harpster, A. B. Wilson, C. F. Hoyt, Samuel Hunter, E. Quimby, Daniel Comstock, George Rogers, C. B. Messer, and George B. Hope. The first store was opened by Daniel Stone in the basement of a house owned by Mr. Comstock. E. B. Coulter, the follow ing year also commenced business in a building owned by C. F. Hoyt, which has been since destroyed by fire. The frame for the first hotel was put up by C. H. Grant and D. R. Clark, who, however, soon, sold out to McCue and Cleary, who completed the building. The first school house was erected the same year by A. E.; Mero and Mr. Egley at an expense of about $600. At this time the town of Diamond Bluff comprised the present town and that now known as Trenton, the latter town being Bet off about this time. 88

Charles Fisher in 1860 erected t^e first blacksmith shop. Whe first carpenters who located at Diamond Bluff were C. H. Grant and Z. Cross. The first town election was held at the house of D. Comstock April 7th, 1857, at which time the following officers were elected: James Akers, chairman, Wilson Thing and A. B. Wilson supervisors; Edmund Thing, town 6lerk. He soon resigning, C. F. Hoyt was appointed in his place. The assessors were James Akers, Geo. Harp- •ster and R. Caniff; Justices, A. B. Wilson, Wilson Thing, C. F. Floyt and Samuel Hunter; Superintendent of Schools, E. ^H. Boustead; Treasurer. A. Blaisdell. ^ As early as 1857, the town was visited with a fire which ^destroyed the Wilson Hotel, and not long after some other %uildings were burned. ^ The Village of Diamond Bluff was laid out by C. F. fHoyt in 1855, and the plat of Monte Diamond was laid out by A. Quimby, after which, in the fever for speculation in; town plats, came E. Quinby's and D. E. Clark's Additions, | which were platted in 1856, and are all now comprised in the Village of Diamond Bluff. The town of Pleasant Valley was organiiaed April 7th, 1854, and contained all of the territory now embraced in the towns of Maiden Rock, Salem, Union, and the Village of Maiden Rock. Its first officers were A. Chapman, J. Fuller, Amos Harris, supervisors; M. J. Paine, clerk; J. Fuller, ^fessessor; Amos Harris, treasurer; J. D. Trumbull, justice of -the peace; S. A. Green, superintendent of schools, the system Jof having one superintendent for the county not having been adopted. The earlier settlers of the town were as follows: Harvey 'Seeley, who came as early as 1850, J. Fuller, in 1855, J. A. Guitteau coming the same year; A. Chapman, in 1854; J. D. Trumbull, Amos Harris, G. H. ^Steele, and M. J. Paine in 1855. J. D. Trumbull laid out the Village of Maiden Rock in 1857, making the survey himself. In 1857 a schoolhouse of moderate dimensions was erected, and Miss Charlotte Isa belle, of Batavia, Illinois, was raaployed to teach for three months, her wages being paid by Mr. Trumbull, as the town could not draw any school money until the tax of 1857 should be collected. Messrs. Trumbull and Harris erected a saw and shingle imll in 1855-56. Josiah Bachelor built for Messrs. Trumbull and Harris, in 1856, the first sail boat used in trade on Lake Pepin, and the first steam boat used in like traffic was built at Maiden Rock by the same boat builder for J. D. Trumbull in 1857. yhis boat proved a great convenience to the inhabitants of the town, as the regular steamboats did not make their 89 landings at the growing village of Maiden Rock. Maiden Rock post office was established in 1856, being made a special office, and J. D. Trumbull was appointed postnlaster; this honor cost him about fifty dollars, as he was obliged to bring the mail from Wacouta, then the nearest post office. The amount of receipts was eleven dollars the first year. Father Gurley, of Pepin, was the first minister to preach at Maiden Rock, coming there in the spring of 1856. The story is told that one Saturday afternoon, in the spring of 1856, he left Pepin expecting to reach Maiden Rock before dark, but there being no road cut out he found himself at dark at Pine Creek, with no road except an Indian trail. Nothing daunted, he attempted to push ahead, but on a side hill his buggy capsized and he was thrown into the bushes. As the old gentleman weighed about two hundred and fifty pounds, he was in a very bad predicament. However, he tied his horse to a tree and wandered around until nearly day light, and as the day be gan to dawn he heard a rooster crow. In telling the story he remarked, "There is nothing that will so soon attract tht attention of a Methodist minister as a chicken crowing, foi^ it puts him in mind of two things, to-wit: a chicken pie and Peter the Apostle." He preached that day to a dozen people, and continued to come as regularly as practicable once in two weeks for the following year. Says one who knew him, "He was a grand old man, and has gone to his reward for the good things done here". ^ ^school house was erected in 1858, which served the purposes of school house and church, and continued to be used for church services until 1878, when another building was reconstructed to be used for a church. The Lake Vi^w House, the first hotel, was erected in* 1857. Henry Smi^|i opened the first store in 1858, but ip was not a success, t^. the proprietor found it convenient to^ , leave after about tSfee months. A. P. Merrill, Esq., opened! a store in 1866^ and continued in business for more than , twenty yeare. r ^^

' ^ . ^^ '^ [Continued next week.) ^

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CHAPTER XVI. ' This week we begin the reminiscences of Aaron CJor- nelison, who has probably resided in Pierce County longer than any other person now living. Mr. Cornelison's account will be very interesting to all; but we will tell it in his own words.

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Aaroi^ Cornelison. ^*I was born in Grason Co., Kentucky, March 21^ 1822, • and am still hale and hearty at the age of eighty-three. With my father I moved to Madison Go., Illinois, in 1827, that being a new country then. "I grew up in what was called frontier life. At the age of eighteen I married Miss Martha A. Reaves, w^ho was "born in Tennessee^^; and we lived together nearly sixty years, sharing each other's joys and sorrows. Raised a family of six boys and four girls, all of whom are now living but one—Mrs. Maggie Bennett, of. Beldenville, w^ho died Feb. 3, 1896. ^^Mrs. Cornehson died Dec. 19, 1900, aged seventy-six years. ^^May 18, 1844, we boarded the steamer Lynx at Alton, III., bound for St. Paul, Minn, We were thirteen days getting to Prescott, where we landed a short time while the steamer went up to St. Paul to deliver freight for the Fort Snelling inhabitants, and the Indian traders. When the boat came back to Prescott we got aboard, with a few others, and went to Marine Mills. "Here I located for two years, and worked in a saw mill as head sawyer, for $16 per month. "At this time we had two children—John and Margaret. As Mrs. Cornelison was the third white woman north of La Crosse, social gatherings were quite limited; and as wages 41 were but^^p^per moiilh, W^ could notmdialge in many luxiu-ies. PaMrwas $16 per barrel, and flour $8 per barm. "Mrs. Cornelison did washing for the mill hands, aiad made about $30 per month, so that with what I earned, as above stated, we succeeded in keeping the w^olf from the^ door. "After two y^ears at Marine I moved to St. Croix Falls! and worked for Jim Perington & Co. for another two years.^ At this time a number of settlements were made on the St. Croix River. "I then decided to quit mill work and go into farm life, so located on Section 16, town of Clifton, built a small house, and broke up seven acres with oxen. All the teams in the country then were oxen. I sowed my land to buck wheat, and raised a big crop. Threshed it with the oxen, they tramping it out. John and Maggie ground it in a coffee mill for bread—pancakes—all winter. "I tell you they were good. "Several neighbors settled in about this time, namely:; Geo. Shozer, Geo. McMurphy, Josejlh Cornelison, Geo.; Rissue, Jake True, the Baileys, and Wm. West. ^ "The first threshing machine was introduced into the; county at this time by Dexter Bailey, and was the original J. I. Case machine, very crude in construction. But there was little grain to thresh, so any kind of a machine that would thresh at all would do. The price for threshing was twenty-five cents per bushel.''—Aaron Cornelison. The Old Settler continues his interesting account as follows: "I found found Tony Severson and Ole O. Moen and a brother of the latter had settled on the south line of Martell in 1856, near El Paso. They were good people all right. "A Mr. Roche, a Frenchman, put up and run an ex cellent store in Martell.village; he was a hustler, and did a rushing business. He inherited a fortune in Paris, France, and after getting there was shut in the city a year on ac count of the German-French war. On going away he left a store full of goods to his brother, but when he returned the goods were all gone—^mostly trusted out. "In the meantime another lot of settlers arrived, among them Chas. McGinlej^ and family, L. A. McGinley and fam ily, Mr. Jennings and family, Mr. Langenback and family, and others whom I cannot remember just now. "They started a school in what is now Martell village with Mead Lawrence as teacher. "Other new settlers in El Paso were B. H. Gilman and family, who staid one year with Mr. Mclntyre, his brother- in-law, and then moved to Gilman town as its first perma- 42 nent settler, and aBer whom the town is named. f :^"In 1859 Ignid Frank Hines and family arrived, haying already the title to a quantity of land. Mr. Hines retired some years ago, but, although he is now eighty-five years old he w still hale and hearty. 'On Lost Creek I find Thomas Murphy and family, Richard Devereaux, John Hastand and family, Frank Kar- rigan and family. "On the west line of the town Berret Tostenson, Nels A. Nelson; on the south John Strong, Hilton Green, Jack Culbertson, Robert Richardson; on Sect. 24 Timothy Har- [rington and family, and further south Mr. Mountain's three Igons—Jerry, David and WilMam. • "In El Paso village Ed Welch, Thomas and Oliver SfcGee and their families, Amos McGee, John Rushenburg, and Hank Taylor. There was a Dr. Lees, w^ho later starved but, also WilHam Wilton, a preacher of some kind—I forget his denomination—but he also starved out. "Doctors, lawyers and preachers had a hard time to live in El Paso in those days, also idlers of all kinds. "In my last letter I unintentionally omitted giving the name of one of our earliest settlers-—Mr. Brown with his wife and daughter Stena. They were father-in-law and mother-in-law of John and Christian Wilkens. Miss Stena afterward married Christ Wilkens, and is hale and hearty jet. ' "In 1859 we laid out a highway through the center of El Paso township, running east and west as far as Rock Elm, until it intersected the Bailey state road. Some years later the road was opened up. The Otis road was laid out on the same route; what it ever did we never knew^, only ,it made of it a county road.'' —X.Y.Z. [Continued next week, j

C^^.c(/3. /fd C

CHAPTER XVII. .The Old Settler of El Paso continues his interesting reminiscences as follows: "Soon after Mr. Walker had his saw mill running. Rush River got booming full and carried out his mill dam. It was a big loss to him, also to the settlers. He soon put in another dam, but a year later that followed the first one down stream. 48 m^^thei T put "ihT^a third dam, and sold out to the McGee meti, going back to work in his wagon shop. '^ "After a while that third dam followed suit and thfe mill was at the same time undermined. They then put in a

liTe Sheldrew Mill at> £1 Paso, looking North-east solid dam forty rods up stream, dug a mill race, and built a new mill that proved a success, both for them and the settlers. "Just before the last dam Avent out they drove down 300,000 feet of pine logs that had been cut and put into the river near Martell village. These all went down when the dam broke. The flood also took a fine bridge on stone piers. It looked pretty tough. Still, they went on to work—and they had plenty to do. "The loss of that pine to the settlers, as well as to the mill men, was more than I can figure out. "El Paso was a lively little town then. I can remem ber counting thirty-three teams at one time while I was standing in the mill yard, all busy—^many loading lumber for St. Paul, Hastings, Red Wing and Lake City- "Soon after this the McGees put np a flour mill half a mile south of the village. The dam cost them $600. "When the dam was done they filled the pond within 44

a foot oTlhe^lopjrand left it over night; next morning it was all in Lake Pepin. That was a hard blow for them and the community; it was then winter, and no possible show for building another dam. "We turned out and built a brush dam, high enough to grind feed and what flour was made in the settlement that winter; in the spring they finished the dam—and it stands there yet, in spite of all the floods—^the only dam on Rush River that ever did stand." These recollections of Aaron Cornelison are written by his son, John Cornelison, who himself remembers most of the events. Aaron Cornehson is getting too old to handle the pen, and it is onlj^ through the colaboration of father and son that we are able to get their interesting and valu able reminiscences. Mr. Cornelison continues as follows: "The first to break up land in what is now the city of Prescott was George Shazer, and Hilton Doe was next. Louis and Ephriam Harnsberger and Aaron and Joseph Cornelison followed. "Charley Cox, in the year 1849, built a saw mill in what is called Clifton Hollow, and the next year had a grist mill ready to grind what wheat was raised. "Most everyone who raised wheat had more than was needed for their own bread, so "Uncle Charley'' bought the wheat, ground it in his mill and sold it at St. Paifl. The first variety raised was "Red River" wheat, but this was discarded the second year, being so liable to smut, and "Black Sea" wheat was sown for several years. This yielded about forty bushels to the acre. "In the spring of 1852 I sold my farm to Geo. Wright, and located in the town of Trimbelle, Sec. 17. I built a house and moved in Nov. 22, 1852, being the first settler in the town. Joseph Cornelison and Noah Tripp moved into the neighborhood a month later. The first white child born in the town of Trimbelle was born Jan. 17, 1853, to Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Cornelison—a daughter, whom they named Martha. "The first death among the white people in the town was on the 22nd day of the same month, when "Grandma" Qornelison, A. Cornelison's mother, passed away. "In 1853 the town of Trimbelle was organized, Frank lin Otis being Chairman, A. Cornelison Treasurer. In this same year A. Cornelison was appointed post master. John W. Cornelison was mail carrier, bringing the mail from Prescott. "All the settlers as far east as Rush River got their mail at Trimbelle up to the time of the establishing of a 45 post office at Ills worth, in the town of PeiT^'(noi^ worth). **Dr. Maxon, Jake True, 0. Strahl and A. Cornelison were County Commissioners, and laid the road from Prescott to Eau Galle Mills -now Eau Galle. "The first preacher-~a Methodist—was Rev. Phelps, who preached at A. Cornelison's house."—Â. Cornelison. The mill and dam shown in our illustration is not the oldest one built at El Paso, having been put in only twenty- two years ago. The Walker dam, spoken of by the "Old Settler", was about half a mile below the one show^n, but is now gone, not leaving a traê. The dam shown in this picture was made only seventy feet long at first, but the western bank has washed away until now it is two hundred feet from bank to bank. Among the pines at the right, on the hill is the Gilman house, where lived the first settler in the town now named after him; Next week Mr. Cornehson will tell of early schools and churches, of the farming, and of the great year when Pierce County took the banner at the State Fair as the best agri cultural county in the state. This has been spoken of be fore, but Mr. Cornelison gives added details. The ^Ôld Settler" will also give a very interesting chapter of life in the eastern part of the county. —X. Y. Z. [Continued next week. ]

CHAPTER XVIII. A. CORNELISON'S STORY. As to schools. The first school in Pierce County w^as taught by Mrs. Julia Olive at her home two miles north of | Prescott, in 185G. The pupils were John and Maggie Cor-1 nelison, Joseph Cornelison, Sam Newton, and Mrs. Olive's, two daughters Harriett and Scott. The first school in Trimbelle was taught by Miss Margaret EUis, in 1853, in a private building in the village of Trimbelle; she had eight pupils. The following year a log school house was built where John Beardsley's house now stands. As the town settled up very fast, the school house was^ soon full of pupils. The first teacher raised in our schools was Joseph Fuller, who started to teach at the age of sixteen. 46

In the year 1853^ Dr. Maxon, of Prescott, built a sal^ mill on the Trimbelle creek, and about the time it was ready to run John Huatt bought the mill and ran it, until he built a grist mill in 1859. A grist mill had been built in 1857 in the village of Trimbelle by F. and S. Otis. The village of Trimbelle was platted in 1853 by Aaron and Joseph Cornelison. In 1859 the first Methodist church was built. This had a membership of over sixty. Regular services were main tained every Sunday by Methodists, Baptists and Presby terians. A big event happened in 1858. The State of Wiscon sin offered a gold mounted banner to the county that exhibited the best collection of agricultural products at the Btate fair—and Pierce County won the prize. Chas. 0. Boughton, of Trimbelle, won the prize for wheat flour, which was exhibited in a barrel made by W. W- Willson, also of Trimbelle. Hilton Doe, of Prescott, had the pre mium squash, which weighed one hundred eighty-two pounds. You may be sure Pierce County was proud of that banner. But when the county fair was transferred from Prescott to Ellsworth the banner disappeared from the public. Stimulated by the achievements our county had made up to that time, her wonderful natural advantages of soil j\and water power (especially in Trimbelle and Clifton) and the extensive advertisement we had received, speculators were attracted here, and a rapid development ensued. In 1860 the Trimbelle creek had seven saw mills, two grist mills, and one furniture factory; all but two of these were in the town of Trimbelle. Quite a village sprang up around 0. Belden's mill in Section 1, which village was named Beldenville. Later, on other mills were built there, and a large plant to cut veneer ing was put in. Then a branch of the Omaha Railroad was built from River Falls through Beldenville to Ellsworth, which opened up a market and increased the value of property, and what was once a dense forest is now almost all cleared farming land. The furniture factory was owned bv J. Reave and Jno. [Park. ^ Wheat raising so developed in Pierce County that Uncle \ ; Charley Cox built another flouring mill a little way up the Kinnickinnic, having a partner, Mr. Dayton. A few years later he went farther up the creek and in conjunction with some other parties built what were known as the Junction . Mills. Then right in the citv of River Falls Cox built two 47 more mills. There was still another milF^oinhe South Fork, called the Cascade mill. AH these mills were supplied with wheat from Pierce County and the adjoining section of St. Croix County. Land Speculators carried on high hand for awhile, untit^ taxes began to increase. They held prices so high that] actual settlers could not buy. I know of one or two in-; stances where parties paid taxes for twehty years, and thenj sold the land for just what the taxes had cost them. I War tax was high, of course. And town officers did not spare the land speculators a bit.—Aaron Cornelison. THE OLD SETTLER'S STORY. In order to complete the story of the early settlement of Eastern Pierce County I must go back. In April of 1857 Mr. Seeley, the Cattle King, with an other man, came up Rush River and Cave Creek as far as my camp, hunting after and gathering up his cattle. So I got some acquainted with him. The bottoms and the side hills of the river and creek were covered with rushes, growing from three to four feet high; these extended up Cave Creek about eight miles. Stock of all kinds wintered well on these rushes, and by May 15th or June 1st were in fine condition, and brought a fancy price in market. As there were no natural meadows, of any account, these rushes' were a great blessing to all the old settlers. These rushes held out for ten or fifteen years, until fire destroyed them. It was about all we could do to clear land enough to live off from. What grain we did raise had to be cut by hand and threshed by hand. In 1855 a logging company from somewhere down the Mississippi cut a million or more feet of pine logs in the town of Martell, from government lands, and banked them on Rush River. But Uncle Sam got after them and broke up the company. bottoms, where they remained until 1858. At that time R. M. Sands, of Maiden Rock, came up with a crew of men and drove the log^ all down the river. He staid over night at our camp. He claimed to have bought them from the Government—but nobody here believed him. Mr. Sands afterward served one term as sheriff of Pierce County. In the fall of 1858 Joel Foster—or Judge Foster, as he w^as known—came in from River Falls and made a claim dn the south half of Sec. 34, town of Gilinan. He and Mr. 48 Powell took in six hundred sheep to winter on ruslies, be sides a few cattle. When he hauled in some feed he took back a load of butternut logs, for he had a saw mill in River Falls. In the spring wolves scattered his flock badly. —ji^> X . /<• [Continued next week. J

CHAPTER XVIII. A. CORNELISON'S STORY. As is well remembered by the generation of that day, in 1861 Uncle Sam called for soldiers to quell the Rebellion. Trimbelle answered by offering all but two of her able-bodied sons; 1 don^t remember the number, but I think it was over two hundred who volunteered from this one town. A. Cornelison, who up to that time had held the post office, gave that up and volunteered; his oldest son, John, also went. Of course, it is not necessary to state that we feel the effects of that camp life yet. Nearly every family had that same experience in the effects of the war. Many valiant boys never returned, and but fewM those who did come back are yet living. A. Cornelison kept in memory the names of the pioneers of Pierce and St. Croix Counties, and has noted their deaths, and today he is the oldest settler hving between La Crosse and St. Paul, or up the St. Croix valley to Superior. Many incidents which occurred in those early days are amusing to recall—more amusing now than they were at the time, by a good deal. For instance: one day in the 50's, while Mrs. Cornelison was alone in her house, with the exception of two small children, busily engaged in washing, the door opened with out warning. A large Indian came in, holding bow and arrows, and accompanied by aBusque Chamoceman squaw; then another came in, and another, and so on until there was no more room—and Mrs. C. saw about a hundred yet outside. They begged for cucush (pork), awhoapy spange (bread), tobacco, and everything else they thought they could get. Of course Mrs. Cornelison and the children were badly scared. It happened that Mrs. C. was punching and stirring clothes in the boiler with a broomhandle, and she made a desperate dash at the big buck^ with that broomhandle, re solved to get rid of the red nitches, as she called them, or 49

^^e trying. But~ thoseTSdiajaFaJITaiT as Tast"a¥~they^could, saying,'*white squaw brave,'^and made no attempt to do her harm. I tell this to show what the early settlers had to pass through; perhaps later I will tell other stories as I remember them. Social life was very pleasant in those daj^s; everj^body was generous and kindly; there were no chances for ^ ^classes'^ to form, and brotherly love was warm and strong. Living was gc^d,fe though rude The soil was fe^ls^ and everything in garden or field grew well; if the appetite craved meat, it was only a matter of a few hours until a' deer or bear could be killed, or one could secure pheasants, or prairie hens, or a bushel of pidgeons;an hour^s fishing would secure all the trout wanted. Domestic animals ran at large the year round, living on grass in summer, on rushes in the ' winter, and were always in prime condition. THE OLD SETTLER'S STORY. While the floods were playing havoc with the dams on Rush River, other settlers were coming to hew out homes in our heavy timber. Among them were Mr. Buckley and family, Mr. Fitz gerald and family, Mr. Shay and family, and Mr. Manning and family. All of these settled near what is now Waverly, and all succeeded well. Of course, they, too, had their trials. Joel Coon and a Mr. Pickett settled in what is now Rock Elm (near Olivet) then a part of El Paso. Holver and L. H. Place, Brerjal Johnson, Louis Peter son, and Mr. Bjornson and their families settled near El Paso village. Zachariah Sigerson, two Parch brothers (coopers), ''Yankee''Martin, Mr. Goodell (millwright), Holver Tollef- son, two of the Thompsons, and Mr. Bredahl (for several years chairman of Gilman) also a Mr. Thompson who g€3?v^ for many years as treasurer of Gilman and later on as chair man of the town, settled in Gilman township. Later on two Brown brothers, Mr. O'Connor, and Elias Condit (who started the first store there) settled in Rock Elm. , In 1858 El Paso was all in one school district. Our first school was taught in the house of Mr. G. Brill; it was small, as there were only a few children of school age in the town. Miss Lizzie Neylon, who came from Beloit, was the teacher. The next school was in El Paso village, called Dist. No. 1; this continued several years. Later on we divided the town into four school districts, and each district put up a school house and maintained school. 50

During all this time our religious duties were not neg lected. Our people were mostly Roman Catholics; Rev. Father Knauf,^of Red Wing, attended to our spiritual wel fare about once in three months, or whenever he could spare time away from his home duties. He was a saintly man. —Old Settler. -X. Y. Z. [Continued next week. 1

\ CHAPTER XX. A.. CORNELISON'S STORY. In those days $50 gold coins were as common as $50 bills are now. The reader should not, however, imagine that these large coins were growing on the basswood trees at that time. But as most of our settlers came from the East, and as this was the day of ^'wildcat^^ currency, they brought their wealth in the only standard form—^gold. In those days transportation to and from Pierce County was entirely by way of the Mississippi River, on steamboat. Sometimes the stage of water was extremely high, some times as extremely low. In the year 1860 the river was so low that Mrs. Maxon, wife of Dr. Maxon, of Prescott, and Mrs. Barnes, waded across the river at Prescott. —Â. CORNELISON. [The foregoing was all written and sent in at one time. Mr. Cornelison has promised us, however, further flowers gathered from the garden of his memory. We do not know when he will feel able to give them to us, but we know all the readers of the Sun will be glad to hear from him again.] THE OLD SETTLER'S STORY. The McGee brothers were men of energy; they bought out Bailey & Field^s land on Sect. 5, Township 26, cleared up quite a tract, and had the village of El Paso platted out by Wm. Howes May 16, 1868, the same being recorded May 27 of that year. They gave a free lot to each person putting up a frame building, and two lots to each person putting up a two-story i frame building. Soon a number of buildings were up. Among those who built was Ed Welch, who started the first store in El Paso. He began on a very small scale,: but succeeded so well that in a short time he was able to buy all the McGee property except the mills, and to put up a splendid store buildins; twenty-two feet wide, fifty feet 5^ longTîth twenty-four foot studding. Having'a basemen! under the store and a hall over it. This was one of the best store buildings in the county at that time. Ed Welch's father, Michael Welch, died here at the age] of eighty-seven; his mother died aged seventy-seven. He died at the age of thirty-seven, hoînever, being single—just^ in the prime of life, leaving property worth $20,000 and a^ business having four hundred regular customers. Such is life. One thing the settlers needed was a blacksmith shop, so Andrew Peterson, living on Section 10, put up a shop, and for several years supplied that êed. He also cleaned up a gooi farm, and is living today at the age of seventy-four, without a gray hair on his head, enjoying the fruits of his honest toil. His wife is also living. May they enjoy a long and peaceful old age, is the wish of the Old Settler. Some old settlers I did not mention before are: ToUef and Hans RoUefson, of El Paso. ToUef is said to be worth $100,000. Wm. Anderson, in company with Fred Larson, bought out the McGee mills; later on Fred Larson was drowned in trying to save his mill dam. This mill later came into possession of J. M. Johnson and Wm. Anderson; J. M. Johnson was the step son of Fred Larson, and Mrs. Ehza Anderson his step daughter. —Old Settler. We have been promised some recollections covering the whole history of the settlement and development of the village of Maiden Rock soon. They will be valuable and interesting.

{Continued next week. 1 —X. Y. Z. Ma^^^-^^^^- CHAPTER XXI. In the same month in which the County Board of Pierce County held its first session at the new county seat in the town of Perry, the war clouds which had been gathering along the southern sky ever since the election of Lincoln in 1860 burst with full fury at Charleston, and the flag of the Union was lowered at Fort Sumpter at the behest of the leaders of the rebeUion, after days of hot fighting. The news that the flag had been fired upon aroused all the patriotic instincts of the North, and everywhere war meetings were held and in impassioned oratory 'the young inen of the nation were called upon to wipe out the stain 5M iipoh the natioh^slionor. 1^ -—- Pierce County at that time had a population, according to the census of 1860, of 4,672 souls, or about one thousand men capable of bearing arms. Out of this force over foiir hundred volunteered for the cause of their country during the war. The drain upon the county was very heavy, and it Was not long after the war commenced before there was a scarcity of labor for gathering in the crops. The women bravely arose to the situation, and it was not an uncommon sight to see a young lady in her broad brimmed hat driving the team drawing the reaper, while her sisters or mother aided in binding the grain and putting it into the shock. Not only in the outdoor labor did the women find oppor tunity to aid in the good cause. Wherever women gathered Itogether some might be found doing some kind of work. !Here would be one unaccustomed to the work learning to knit, that the soldier boys might have proper foot gear; others would be preparing lint or bandages to supplement the supply furnished by the government. Fairs were held to provide ways and means to help the Sanitary Commis sions and provide needed supphes for the soldier boys. Nothing was too good for those who went to the front, and the resources of those at home were taxed to the utmost to ^provide what was needed. Among the first resolutions passed by the County ;poard at this session w^as one providing for aid to the families of the volunteers, and such aid was continued dur ing the war. Several thousand dollars were thus contrib uted from the countj^ treasury. The need of this was very great, inasmuch as very many of the volunteers were new settlers who had hardly commenced opening farms in the woods or on the prairies, and had not yet enough land under .^cultivation to yield a sufficient income for the support of 5those they left behind. Owing partly to the fact that so Imany found it almost impossible to provide for their families, Enlistments were slow during the first'year of the war; bift Ifs it went on the dire necessity of the nation overruled all f^i^fcher considerations, and men enlisted, trusting to the peo- p|)le to care for those dear to Ihem. The towns soon began the system of aiding by giving bounties to volunteers, laws being pas^d by the legislature to give authority to inunici- palities for this purpose. As more men were called for, and bounties in other sections increased, it became necessary to allow larger and larger sums for this purpose. This in so new a country naturally greatly increased the taxes, until they became too heavy a burden to be borne by those who had bought lands simply for speculative purposes, and in time thousands of acres were sold for the accrued taxes, and.. r*i«3

often the county was compelled to bid in the lands itself for wânt of purchasers, because demand for lands had fallen^ off, and the time came when good lands in the timber wer^^ not valued at more than seventy-five cents per acre. As ai| almost immediate result of this the county was not able tti obtain sufficient funds to redeem the county orders, ani| they in turn depreciated, until it became necessary for tlp; County Board in making contracts for public works to pro^ vide for payment in county orders. Another thing now began to add to the general dis tress, and that was the rapid depreciation of the greenback currency issued by the General Government. Prior to the war a large portion of the commercial transactions had been in gold, but now this metal had fled from the country, and the only means of exchange was through the greenbacks. Fortunately, however, for this county, crops were generally good, and wheat, almost the only marketable commodity, brought prices based upon the gold price in Liverpool. Wheat at one time brought over two dollars a bushel inj greenbacks, and as the greenback was legal tender, manyj^ were able to meet pressing obligations with the advantage) of high prices for their farm products. Hence the situation! was somewhat relieved, and though there was much dis tress, still the county seemed to hold its own during the en tire war, except in prices of real estate. Public improvements, naturally, were mostly at a stand still during the war. Yet the schools wêre kept open, and business went on as usual, though somewhat hmited in scope, owing to the absence of so many of the young and active men. It is highly creditable, too, to the volunteers of this county, that their |wages were in general carefully j ;isaved and sent home to support their families. Hence there ^ was a comparatively little suffering among the families of volunteers, though many were obliged to economize in every way. As a result of the war, cotton goods became very high and scarce. Tea and coffee were also costly, and many sub stitutes wêre used by the good housewives to economize in family expenses. Fortunate indeed was the lady who could find some palatable beverage to take the place of the real article, and not a few can remember with a smile the de ceptive roasted bran, peas or rye which with burned sugar gave the color if not the taste of good coffee. And it wâs foundThat the leaves dt some forest shrubs would, if taken by one not too inquisitive, make a beverage which could be drunk, even if not giving fully the pleasant effects of the Chma leaf. With all this the sad fact remained that th6" flower of the men of the county were away from home, nTahy^ aTa^7^^^'êY^to»l*et^^ ^^^ To those who returned the county owes a deep obliga* tion for their civil work thereafter, as well as for w^hat they • did upon the field of warfare; and it was not long before the, fact was recognized that the discipline of the war was B useful lesson for civil hfe. Hence a large proportion of the soldiers who returned was called upon for other duties after their return. Of the work done by these we will ^peak more fully in another'chapter. ™X. Y. Z. To be continued.

• THE AUTHOR. The Sun is Pei^mitted to Announce Name of Writer.

The author of the "Story of Pierce County", who has heretofore preferred to remain unknown, has gfiven permission to announce Ms name. It is Allen P. Weld, of River Palls. ; Judge of Probate of Pierce County. MY, Weld has exceptional advant- ag'es in preparinij such an account i as this. He is himself one of the oldest settlers in the county, and has always taken an active part in The readers of the Sun owe to" county matters, so that he knows Mr. Weld one of the best series of of his own knowledge much of the articles ever published in Pierce times of which he writes; lie is m.ucli County, interested in preserving" and arrang • Just how long these articles will ing the recollections of the old continue we do not know. It de settlers, having been gathering pends somewhat on the help given material for many years; he has Mr. Weld by the old settlers of the access to all records, and in addition county, in sending in recollections, to these advantages, he has a style stories, etc. The interest displayed of great clearness and force, such by the readers will also make con as very few authors possess. siderable diflerence. CHAPTER XXII. I must give you a chapter on hunting. It was in the fall of 1856, while I was cutting a road on Cave Creek; a rustle in the dry leaves on the hill side drew my attention, and soon I was surrounded by a herd of deer. All stopped at once, one not more than fifteen feet from me. I had only a shot gun, loaded with bird shot, but I blazed away at one, of course without effect. , I resolved then to have a rifle, but I soon found there was none for sale until after the hunting season was over. Hunters were camped everywhere for t^vo months each season. Two hunters from Indiana, camped on Cave Creek, killed ninety-six deer and three elk in the fall of 1856. I bought a rifle of them for $20. James and Hugh McCune, of Beldenville, and J. Fetter- dom camped on my land four or five different winters; they killed sleighloads of deer, bear, wolves, and wild cats. In the winter of 1857 Jock, the famous hunter, had dinner with us one day, and that same afternoon he killed' five elk. Next day he killed two more, and a man with him, whom he took along to help get the game, killed an other one. Jock cotild carry considerable of a load of game him self. In 1858 he shot an old bear and three cubs, and caught a fourth one alive; this was four and a half miles from home, toward Beldenville. He carried all five bears home at the same time, the live cub in his bosom, and said that the live one made him more bother than all the others. But once Jock almost met his finish from a bear. The story is still told around Martell and this whole section. A bear was seen two miles from Martell, in Gilman; Jock got its trail, followed it two miles farther—this was in summer— found it, and shot. But he failed to injure it. The bear was after him quick as a flash; all our giyisthen were muzzle loaders, so Jock had no time to reload, but took his toma hawk. This the bear knocked from Jock's hand several rods into the "woods. They clinched in a desperate fight for life, the bear fighting with teeth and claws, the man without even a knife, as he had no time to draw it. It must have been a terrible fight, as those who saw the battle field later said the bushes were trampled down for rods around. Finally Jock got his knife with his left hand—^the bear at the time had Jock's right arm in his teeth, and, wa| chewing it—and plunged it 5e

'^^^•fhe animair"'^'"""" ~"^"y rr:^-y/------>>^^ The animal knocked the knife from Jock's hand. The situation was desperate, but in some manner Jock again got his knife, and this time reached the bear's heart! Although dead, the bear still held Jock's right arm in his jaws, his teeth set fast so that Jock could not pull the arm out. Dragging the carcass by the mangled arm, Jock crept to a sapling, cut it dow^n with his knife in his left hand, and pried the bear's jaws open. Jock was in a terrible condition, even though free. His breast was cut literally into ribbons; his right arm was a mass of chewed flesh, and he was exhausted bj^ the terrible struggle and faint from the loss of blood. But he was game vet. He blazed a trail two and one-half miles to a neigh bor's, so that they could return and find the bear. It was too much for him, however, and when almost to the house he fell. Luckily for him, the neighbor saw him fall, came to his aid, and took him home -^on a stone boat. He spent several weeks there between life and death. And the first thing he did after recovering was to go hunting bears. This Mr. Jock was mail carrier for several years before this, carrying mail on foot a distance of two hundred miles, with no settlements on the road. He had to make thirty miles a day, carrying a weight of sixty pounds, and find, Mil and cook his grub on the way. As for deer, a fine pond half a mile long south of El| Paso village was much frequented by deer, and for many years they were shot there with a torchlight from a boat. 1 heard Mrs. Oliver McGee say that she had eaten a part of one hundred different deer in one summer. I have shot scores of deer by torch light. I shot five deer in three successive nights in October, when deer were fine. Some hunters were not so fearless of bears as Jock. For instance, John Hurley once shot at a bear which he came upon suddenly, then threw the gun and ran for dear life clear to my place, without stopping. I went back on his trail—a plain one—after the gun, which I found; I also found the bear—dead. —Old Settler. [Continued next week. 1

CHAPTER XXIII. It is not expected that the following sketches will give anything like an adequate idea of the work of the soldier 57 boyr^^pPlvent out in the troublous times of 1861 to 1865 to do battle for the honor and preservation of their country; but no history of the county would be complete without at least a brief mention of the men and the companies in which they enlisted. Nor should it be thought for a moment that the omission to mention the names of many indicates that they are less worthy, or have done their part with less de gree of courage and skill than many of those whose names have come before the people in a more prominent manner. But it seems befitting to call attention to those who, having been taught in the harsh school of war's experiences, were subsequently called to act in behalf of the county in civil life, as the story of the county must be largely made up of the acts of those to Avhom is committed the charge of its public affairs. In 1861 more than one hundred and fifty men, or one- sixth of those capable of bearing arms, enlisted from Pierce County. The companies in which they enlisted will be mentioned in this chapter. The first enlistments, so far as shown by the records, were in Co. G, Fourth Wisconsin Infantry, which subse quently became the Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry. This com pany was organized in Hudson, the date of the first enlist ment being April 19th, 1861. Daniel W. White, of Hudson, was chosen as its first captain; he having resigned in Oct., 1862, James Keefe, also of Hudson, took his place. Captain Keefe having been promoted to the office of Major, Warren P. Knowles, of River Falls, who had been a first lieutenant, became captain. Other lieutenants were: Isaac H. Wing, of Hudson; Edward A. Clapp, of Hudson, who was killed at Port Hudson; Joseph H. Harrington, of Hudson; and Jerry E. Flint, of River Falls. In this company eleven Pierce County men enlisted the first year, but subsequenth^- nine more w^ere enrolled, mak ing a total of twenty. Of these, three died during the war, one w^as discharged for disability, and fourteen remained ^ until their term of service expired The regiment saw hard service in the southern states along the Gulf. The regiment j was not finally mustered out until May 28th, 1866,—a full I year after the termination of the war, being retained in ser vice on account of disturbances in the Southwestern states. Captain KnoW'les was elected sheriff of the county after his dischange, and held the position for one term. Lieuten ant Flint*'was appointed Post Master at River Falls, and held the office for several years. Daniel J. Dill, of Prescott, enUsted April 27th, 1861, and was chosen captain of Company B, Sixth Wisconsin, and proceeded at once to recruit a company; and in a few 58

wêkshad the satisfaction of marching ^Mthsixty-foiu' Pierce County boys, to whom were subsequently acded twelve more, making a total enlistment in the company from this county of seventy-six men. Besides this, A. D. Andrews, of River Falls, enlisted as a regimental surgeon. Captain Dill was promoted July 22nd, 1862, to the colonelcy of the 30th Wisconsin Regiment, and was sue* ceeded as Captain by Rollin P. Converse, also a Prescott man. Captain Converse died in May, 1864, in a Rebel hos pital, from wounds received in the battle of the Wilderness, William W. Hutchins, of Prescott, succeeding to the com mand of the the company. He was killed August 19th, 1864, and Henry Smyser, of Prescott, succeeded him. The First Lieutenants of the company were: John F. Marsh, of Prescott, who had been promoted from Co. D; Henry E. Serrill, of Prescott; Arthur C. Ellis, of Aurora, 111.; Charles P. Hyatt, of Prescott; and S. B. Holman, of Pres cott. At the close of the war Darwin W. Kinne, of Perry (now Ellsworth), wâs second lieutenant; he had been pro moted to first lieutenant, but had not been mustered in as such, owing to the termination of the war. Twelve of the company died during the war. Col. Dill, after his return home, was soon elected a member of the Legislature. He has also served several terms on the County Board, and, in fact, seems to be one of those men whom the people like to call upon for public service. / Dr. A. D. Andrews has also served in the Legislature, and was among the first to suggest the possibility of obtain ing the Normal School at River Falls. He was^ a member of the County Board at the time the building of the brick court house was commenced, there being at the time but three County Supervisors. .He was chosen as the first Mayor of the City of River Falls, in 1885, and died soon after. John W. Winn, a cor|)oral of the company, was wounded in the leg at the batfcje of South Mountain, and it became necessary to amputate it. For this disability he W'as discharged. Upon his rfieturn home he was elected County Clerk of Pierce County,^ and held his office for seven years. He was also for a time post master of the post office at Ellsworth, the name having been suggested by himself in honor of the young colonel who lost his life early in the war. Mr. Winn has always been an uncompromising patriot, and earnest in promoting any project promising to increase the spirit of loyalty to the old flag. The third company leaving the St. Croix Valley in 1861 was Company F, First Wisconsin. The regiment was first enlisted for three months, and wâs at the expiration of that 59

time reSgamzed as ¥Thre^years regiment. "Co7T^^wai^ commanded by Maurice Samuels, of St. Croix Falls, who remained in command of the company until it was mus tered out Oct. 13th, 1864. Wilham J. Vincent was first lieutenant, and on hi0 resignation in 1862 wâs succeeded by P. V. Wise, of Pres cott ; and he being discharged on account of disability from wounds received in the service was succeeded by S. W. Button, of Prescott. Most of the enlistments from Pierce County in this company were in August and September, 1861, and were more largely from the country towns than had been the case with the two first companies mentioned. Twenty-six men were enrolled. Of these three wêre killed at Chaplin Hills, Ky., and one at Chickamauga, and three died in the service. This company was quite emphatically a St. Croi:x Valley Company, almost all coming from either Pierce, St. Croix- or Polk counties. P. V. Wise had been acting as county clerk of the county prior to the war, and was also at one time district attorney. S. W. Button wâs, we think, also at one time district attorney. The memory of I. N. Nichols, a sergeant of the com pany who fell at Chaplin Hills, is kept fresh in the hearts of I his comrades at River Falls, and the G. A. R. Post at that city bears his name. But the end was not yet. Pierce County had been called upon three times, and yet in the fall of the year still another company was organized at Prescott. This was Co. A, Twelfth Wisconsin, Norman McLeod, of Prescott, Cap tain, with whom there went to the seat of wâr fifty-five from this county—a number subsequently increased to ninety-five. Capt. McLeod resigned in 1862, and wâs succeeded by Orrin F. Maxson, of Prescott. Capt. Maxson resigning in 1864, Charles Reynolds, of Madison, became captain. Francis Hoyt, of Prescott, was chosen as Second Lieuten ant, and promoted to be First Lieutenant of Co. I March 19, 1862. The company lost by death from those enlisting from this county sixteen men. So far as the author has been able to learn, no one of this companj^ has held a county office; but there are many who have been active as good citizens in other lines of pub lic work, as well as in private life. The larger part were farmers, and on their return from the exciting scenes of wai* gladly took up the burden laid down for a few^ years and aided in developing the county, opening up the forest and breaking up broad acres of land. Many of those who vfent GO

first to the front are still living among us, honored for the glorious w^ork they did in the times of trial in 1861 to 1866, and the day that commemorates those w^ho have gone be fore will long be one of our best loved holidays. In the next chapter mention will be made of the com panies organized later. And in closing this chapter the author urges upon those who are still living to write out some sketches of their army life., and of the regiments or companies to which they be longed, for from them only can come the most reliable and graphic accounts of the work done|in the days when the life of our country was at stake. —^AIVLBN P./ WEIVD. To be continued.

CHAPTER XXIV. I THE OLD SETTLER'S STORY. In my last chapter I gave you the sunny side of living in the timber; I wall show some of the other side now. It is not generally known that we nearly had a bread famine in the summer of 1859. I went to the Martell flour mill after flour, and all I could get was one hundred w^eight of flour, and the same of bolted corn meal—no more to be had until the new crop came in. This was alarming. I sent immediately to Prescott— no flour there, nor at the Falls. But a man at Prescott had gone with a load of corn to be ground. After waiting a day or two for him to return, we bought a supply of the meal at a fancy price. A neighbor went at once to Prescott but could get nothing there, so he went up to the Falls, where all he could get was two sacks of bran. For three weeks we had flour biscuits for^ supper only— and short rations—and it was corn bread all the rest of the time. ^ But we got along all right, as we had plenty of pork, venison, fish and maple sweet. How^ others fared I x^i^nnot -say. As I don't think I can beat the fish story in your Trim belle chapter, I will just say that everyone could have all the trout they wanted. That was until one of our Assembly men had an act passed prohibiting fishing in Pierce County for four years. I presume this act was well meant, but it was a curse to the settlers of Pierce County, and'a fine thing to Minnesota fishermen. The Minnesota men came over and got away with full m

âcEs whenerer ffieywisTied, and" m the sparsely settled country there was no way of punishing them. They even took trout off the spawning beds with spring hooks. At the end of the four years there were no fish left. One morning in June, 1857, I heard a noise and gnash ing of teeth on the banks of Cave Creek, about thirty rods away. In a moment I was on the run with my rifle and kit; my young brother with his shot gun went with me. We ran down the creek bottom and were just in time to see a fine buck rush down the steep bank and out onto a ledge of rock where the water was two feet deep. Six wolves were right with him, but where they landed the water w4s six feet deep. I had a splendid chance to shoot one of the wolves, but as it seemed there were about twenty-five in the pack I hesitated to shoot just one; and it was well I did, for they made a desperate attempt to get the deer. As the pond was wide and deep, I had to get a long pole and a rope to get him out. The wolves4iad eaten half of one ham and all his entrails w^hile he was yet alive. While I was dressing him, cutting awây all they • had snapped at, they made another raid on us, one coming with in three feet of me—and my rifle was ten feet away. We saved two hundred and ten pounds of the deer, but while carrying a load we had to carry a gun too. In ten minutes after we left the wolves had eaten all we threw âway. On another occasion—in winter—I struck a deer's track and followed it; soon there was blood and a quarter of a mile further I found where the wolves had pulled the deer down and killed it. There were fourteen of them, as I could tell by counting the separate beds in the snow where each wolf had gone with his portion of venison to eat. They skipped when they saw me, leaving only a small piece of hide and one bone. It was always claimed by hunters that the wolves killed as many deer as the hunters did. For years we had to carry a rifle and our amunition wherever we hunted for our cows—and that was every even ing. There was always a continual howl after sun down. I had many a time to get up in the night and drive wolves away from our camp. For years calves and sheep had to be shut up at night— and that did not always save them. Now for bears. Bears have a particular liking for pork, and as our hogs ranged all over the timber they often had a ehance to indulge that taste. I w'ell remember hearing one of my hogs squeal for all he was worth, about eighty rods from where I was hpeing with a heavy grub hoe. I ran at (12 once Waid Mr^TIog, taking^ my Tioe. "^ The bear had him in his fore paws, and was backing off, standing on his hind feet, although the hog weighed about two hundred pounds. I got within ten feet of the bear before he let go of the hog, and then he would have jumped on me, but a little dog came to help me. The bear walked away a few steps, then turned, but the faithful dog stuck to him and got me out of ,the scrape. —OLD SETTLER. J^^^^t/f^^^

CHAPTER XXV. An urgent call for volunteers, made by the President in the summer of 1862, again aroused the patriotic impulses of the men of Pierce County, and in July of that year W. H. York, a lieutenant of Co. A, 20th Regt., began recruiting. Thirty enlisted in that company from this county, of whom three wêre killed and one died of wounds received in the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. Five more of the Pierce County boys died during the war out of this company. Meanwhile it had begun to be felt, that in view^ of the large number of men who had gone to the war from the county, it should receive some recognition, and that it would be wise to have a regiment commanded by a man from this <5ounty. The choice fell upon D. J. Dill, of Prescott, who had been a captain of Co. B, Sixth Wis. Col. Dill received his commission July 22nd, 1862, and enlistments for the regiment came in rapidly. Co. A was organized with Samuel Harriman as captain; he being promoted was afterwards succeeded by Arthur Cox, of River Falls, who had enlisted as a private at the outset, but became captain in April, 1864. Captain Cox was very popular among his men, who respected and loved him for his careful attention to their needs. After the war he wênt to Chicago for a while, but later in life removed to Santa -Rosa, California, where he died about twô years since. Thirty-two men from this county enlisted in Co. A. Among these we find the names of B. R. Eaton, who is well known, having been county surveyor for many years prior to 1905; Ellsworth Burnett, w^ho was subsequently promoted fto the captaincy of Co. F of the 37th regt; G. B. Merrick, pf Prescott, who after the war^ went to New York for a awhile, being engaged in business there. Returning to the West, he was for some years editor of the River Falls Press, feubsequentlv he moved to Madison, and while there com- HS piled m#îiter of Wisconsin Volunteers, from the pages of which much of the information given in these articles was derived. Co. D, of this regiment, was commanded for a while by David C. Fulton,^ of Hudson, who was subsequently pro moted to the ofiice of Major. This company seems to have particularly appealed to the Norwegians,—then, as now, forming so important and useful a part of the population,—as wê find that fourteto men from Pierce County enlisted in this company, all from Martell, and all but two Norwegians. Of these nearly all have been quite active in business matters connected with their town since the company was mustered out. The captain of Company F was at first Martin Driebel- bis, of Prescott, who was soon succeeded by Edgar A. Meacham, also of Prescôtt, the first Lieutenant being L. Dowjpi Gunn, of Prescott, and the second Lieutenant C. H. Grant, of Diamond Bluff, familiarly known after the war as Charley Grant. Ninety-four men enlisted in this company from Pierce County, seven of them dying during the war. While calls were made from time to time for more men, | the enlistments in the county from 1862 to 1864 were mostly i to fill up the depletions in the different companies occasioned by death or disability; but in 1864 it was found necessary to organize another company. This was Co. F, 37th Wis., of which Ellsworth Burnett, of River Falls, was made cap tain, being promoted from Co. A of the 30th. Nine Pierce County men accompanied him, together with several of his friends from St. Croix County. Although enlisted so late in the war, this regiment saw some hard service, being one of tjiose W'ho were called upon to assault the fortifications of Petersburg, oil which account the losses of the regiment were quite severe. Three men from this county died in the service. Captain Burnett received a brevet, and was known after the war as Major Burnett. He w as sent to the legis lature from this county, serving one term, and was after wards elected sheriff, serving in this position for a single term. He married a daughter of Uncle Charley Cox, and later in life removed to Santa Rosa, California, where he died some years since, his grave and that of Capt. Cox be ing but a few fêt apart. ^ In the roll of Co. G, 37th Wisconsin, we find the name of Hans B. Warner, possibly the best known man (except Col. Dill) of all who went forth from this county to do their country's service upon the field of war. He was then quite a young man, but lived to be of great usefulness to his county in civil life, serving it for sev eral years as county clerk, then as its representative in the legislature; retiring from this position wdth honor, he was 64

^on caTIedTupon to fill tlife'officelirC^uhty Judge, resigning this to take'his place on the Board of Control. While hold ing this office he died at Ellsworth, in his chosen home. His funeral was attended by a large concourse of neighbors and friends, as. well as by officials of the State, who came to do honor to one loved and respected by all. In the rolls of the 44th regiment we find that Co. A was commanded by O. F. Brown, of Hudson, and that in this are the names of eleven from Pierce County. The author is painfully aware of the meagreness of the details given, and his apology is that he has been unable in the short time at his disposal to fill out the records as he would have been glad to do; and he hopes that this will only be a frame work upon which those men who know from per sonal experience the histories of these regiments, and the men who enlisted in them, will build up a more complete history of the Pierce County Volunteers. The writer has seen very many of these men marching away in the strength of youth with high hopes and patriotic , impulses, and when the war was over gladly returning to their farms, work-shops or places of business to take up the burden laid dow^n only for a season; and in years that have elapsed since 1865, doing well their part in the duties of civil life. Yet each year, as Memorial Day comes around,* the ranks are becoming more and more depleted, the steps of the once erect soldiers are becoming feebler, and the forms more bowed, though often the fire of youth will flash from the eyes w^hen they recount the story of the past. Any account of events of the war from anyone who will take the pains to write even a few lines will be gratefully accepted, and possibly in time, if sufficient contributions are received, they may be compiled in a series of articles, as an aid in keeping fresh the memories of the days that tried men's souls. i Should any one discover any omissions or errors in these \ brief statements, if he will send a note of the same to the! ^^Sun'' it will be gratefully received and corrections made inj future chapters. ^ ROSTER OF VOLUNTEERS ' Following is a roster of the Volunteers who enlisted from Pierce County, as they are found in the Ptoster of Wis consin Volunteers published by the State in 1886. The compiler of this list is aware that many errors may have occurred in making up the roster, and desires that the veterans will make such corrections as they may deem desirable and return the corrected list to the Spring Valley iSun to enable the paper to give in the near future a revised list. This revised list will be mailed to all veterans who ^>5 may desii^Tt ahd^wlio wilTsehH^t^ names an3^pcSl-ofiice address, with five cents in stamps to pay postage and actual cost of the roster. NAMES OF VOLUNTEERS PLACE CREDITED REMARKS Co. F, First Regt. Wisconsin Volunteers. Button SW Prescott Bennett Hiram Trimbelle Killed in action Bennett Hiram J C( BickfordLB Diamond Bluff Brown Thomas H River Falls Burr David C River Falls Actual residence Malone, now Kinnic kinnic; died Dec. 29, 1863. Forman James W River Falls Hebert Joseph Sr. Prescott Hebert Jr. u Houston John A River Falls Hudson Thomas Maiden Rock Hunter John A Oak Grove Jackson Samuel River Falls Lovell Richard River Falls Killed in action Oct. 8, 1862. Manser Christopher Prescott Nichols Isaac N River Falls Killed in action Oct. 8, 1862. O'Connor Peter Martell O'Connor Thomas iC 1 Parmeter John F Trimbelle i Phillips Jol^n Martell Pratt Roswtjll V River Falls Now residing at Portland, 0. Saxton John Diamond Bluff Turner Daniel a a Warner James A River Falls White John G a a Now at Phila delphia, Penn. Wilkinson Wm. Trimbelle Wing George W Prescott Killed in action Oct. 8, 1862. Co. G, First Wisconsin. Anderson N N Prescott Died of wounds Oct. 16, 1862. Williams John Prescott Co. G, Fourth Cavalry, originally Fourth Wis. Infantry. Warren P. Knowles Capt. River Falls Died at River Falls Jerry E. Flint Lieut. GH

ENLISTED MEIST Balcom Dexter S River Falk fSeanett Andrew River Falls Carlton Lyman H t( cc Hamilton Jesse S Prescott Hicks Ossian C River Falls Dead Johnson Wm F u a Died Nov. 13, 1861 Knowles C G (( (( Now at River Falls Lovell David cc cc Died in Texas after war McAllister Wilson Trimbelle Died Oct. 22, 1862 Nichols Wm H River Falls Pratt RV cc cc Chief bugler Randall George T cc cc Died Aug. 7, 1862 Tinker John A Ellsworth Tozer James M River Falk ) Dead Wads worth J M i^ '' Winchester Wm H a cc Dead Co. B, Sixth Regiment. CAPTAINS Daniel J Dill Prescott Promoted Col. 30 Wis. Rollin P Converse cc Died of wounds May L 7,1864. fWm H Hutchins cc Killed in action Aug. 19, 1864. / Henry E Smyser cc FIRST LIEUTENANTS John F Marsh Prescott Promoted Capt. Co. D, Oct. 25, 1861. Henry R Serrill cc Charles P Hyatt a Solomon B Holman cc SECOND LIEUTENANT Darwin W Kinney Prescott Now at River Falls ENLISTED MEN Alverson T M Clifton Died of wounds May 13, 1864. Armstrong E B Trimbelle Detached to Battery B, 4th U.S. Artillery; now living at CHfton Bari^tt Geo C Oak Grove Killed in action May 23, 1864. Boughton Marvin B Prescott Bruce Chas H cc Clements Geo R a Douglass William Oak Grove Evans Wm E Prescott Died of wounds Ji|ly 2, 1863. 67

Tielding ESgaard ' ' •" : Tf' ' ^ — Lost an arm Fitch Michael H cc Sergeant Major July 3, 1861. Foust William Beldenville Killed in action July 1, 1863. . French Samuel B Diamond Bluff Frier Alexander Maiden Rock Gluth Frederick Trimbelle Killed in action. ,.: Sept. 17, 18^^/ Hall Franklin J Oak Grove Now at River Fall^ Hall Jerome A cc cc Now at BeldenviUe Hall Leverett C cc cc Hare Frank Trimbelle Lost a leg at Wil derness. Harvey James R W Maiden Rock Heath Jeremiah Prescott Howes William H cc 2nd Lieutenant Co. H, 30th Wis., Mar. 7, 1863. Isham Oren Oak Grove Jamison Samuel Trimbelle Johnson Andrew Martell Keeler Amos D " Prescott Died of wounds Oct. 9, 1862. Keeler Chas A cc Kelly Isaiah F cc Kelly James (c Corporal; died July 21, 1863, of wounds Kelly Philo cc Low^ery Silas E cc Ludloff Louis J cc Mallory Adolphus cc Killed in action Feb. 6, 1865. Matson Hezekiah Salem McEwin James Prescott McLaughlin John H |[ Trimbelle Detached to battery B, 4thU. S. Art., June 6, 1862. Meeds Benjamin N Perry Mikkelson Iver Martell Morrison Silas W Oak Grove Myers A W Prescott Nelson Lewis Martell Newton John Prescott Pond Joseph Jr. cc Richardson James cc Killed in action May 5, 1864. Roberts A L cc Saunders Aiiisworth cc H8

Smith James A Spencer A A El Paso Navy Apr. 24,1864 Steiner Charles L Trimbelle Taylor J M Diamond Bluff Tomlinson Robert '' Died June 28, 1864. Warren A G cc Wells James Prescott Wells Samuel Trimbelle WiUiams T H I Diamond Bluff Wilson A B '' '' Killed in action Sept. 14, 1862. Winn John W I Clifton Corp. Wounded, left leg amputated, now at River Falls. ALLEN P,WELI^J t^^^^ y^T/f^^

OLD SETTLER'S STORY. . I will tell a few incidents of the removal of the county seat from Prescott to Ellsworth; the account given previous ly did not go into details and the facts as I remember them may be of interest. In 1859 the members of the County Board favorat)le to the removal got together to talk it over, led by James Akers, whom, by the way, we elected Chairman of the Board. Immediately after this papers were served on the County Board requiring that the county records be kept in a fire proof building. (This presumably to make us build before the county seat could be changed). The records were then kept in the rented building where we met, which building was of brick, and the county had to put sheet iron shutters; on the windows of this building to save a law suit. It was agreed to defer action for one year on getting an enabling act passed. In the fall of 1860 a general move was made to have a bill passed permitting us to vote on removal of county seat. Then the trouble began — to select a location. All the river towns wanted the new county seat located four and one-half miles south of its present location at Ells worth. Trimbelle kicked like a mule on any proposition to put it east of Trimbelle. We held several meetings, and finally agreed that the geograpMcai eenter of the county^ Was the" only -goint that would carry. I In the mean time we elected James Akers Chairman o£ the Board for the second time. Mr. Akers wrote out a petition for each chairman to circulate in his home town, these petitions to be returned to him and sent to our Assemblyman at Madison. Jake Junk man, chairman from Perry, and your ^'Old Settler'' discov-| ered a trick which this same Jim Akers was {)laying on usj — the petitions to be circulated in the river towns asked to5 have the county seat located four and one-half miles south; of w^here Ellsworth now is, and our petitions (which asked to have it located at the place where it was afterward put) were to have the headings cut off and be pasted onto the doctored petition. We hunted our cute friend up and gave him his choice of either having them all read right, or we would all vote to have the county seat stay at Prescott. That fixed it. An enabling act was passed that winter and We voted on removal the next spring. By enlisting John Dale on our side, and doing some hard work, we got a majority of 150 in a total of 830 votes cast in the county. Now our trouble had just commenced. The Rebellion had begun, and the war broke all old party lines. A new party, the Union party, was formed consisting of those who favored the war, both Republicans and Democrats. It was agreed that our Assemblyman should be a man who had heretofore been a Democrat, while the Senator should be Republican. | At the county convention that fall (held in Trimbelle i village) everything went smoothly, and Dr. Beardsley was nominated for Assemblyman. This was equal to an election. To me this-looked bad for the county seat; although the doctor and I wêre the best of frineds, I felt that some-' thing might happen. Discussion was not entirely harmoni ous at this convention, as I remember that John Dale knock ed dow^n a Mr. Barnard, from Prescott^ Twelve delegates to the senatorial convention to be held at Hudson were elected. More next week. —^THE; OLD SETTLER. ^ ROSTER OF VOLUNTEERS r^fTAMES OP VOLUNTEERS PLACE CREDITED REMARKS Company A, Twelfth Regiment. ^f-^ CAPTAINS forinan McLeod Prescott F Maxson '' SECOND LIEUTENANT y^Ji70 Frances Hoy t' Prescott Prom. 1st Lieut. Com. I, Mar. 19, 1862. ENLISTED MEN Aldrich LB Prescott Ashbaugh Bartlett cc Baker Florence Died Feb. 16,1864 Barrett Albert J a Bartlett Ezra J - Beardsley Alva S Perry Blaisdell N Diamond Bluff Blaisdell Elijah ic cc ?Borner John G Prescott fBoughton Ezra Died Jan. 24, lg64 ^Boughton Hart cc Burnett William A Chfton Mills Dead Canhiff Jeremiah Prescott Caruthers John River Falls Now at Clifton Cleveland E 0 Prescott Colgan James N River Falls Died Feb. 24, 1863> Connolly WilUam T '' '' ' Died Mar. 19, 1862 Copp J M Prescott ^ Dead Costello Richard Diamond Bluff Crippen John F Prescott DaleWilberP River Falls Davis Leander D Clifton Died Mar. 18, 1863 l)eyarmond River Falls Died Mar. 7, 1862 Dickinson S W cc iC *Farnsworth E G '' '' Now at Minneap olis, Minn. Fisher Charles Clifton Gallagher Edwârd El Paso Garland Royal Diamond Bluff Garit Frederick Martell George Jasper P Prescott Gibbs James River Falls Died Oct. 1, 1863 Gibson A Dead Gifeloil Robert cc cc (Silstad H C A Martell Goodwin Geo H D River Falls Hammar N K Prescott Hanningson C cc Hope G W Diamond Bluff Howes Walter M Prescott Huddleston Samuel ^^ \ HuUWH Martell Hulverson Torbion cc Hunter John Diamond Bluff 71 UuntWG Prescott ^- ., -^ Hyatt Bruner D cc Now at Riêr Falls Hvatt Sydney G cc Jay Wm S Trimbelle Kinney M D River Falls Lester Era^tus S Clifton Levings ED River Falls River Falls Levings Homer W cc cc cc cc Doring Horace G cc cc Died at St. Louis Oct. 14, 1863 Meacham C E Prescott Merriman J M Clifton McConnell John A Prescott ' McCallum John cc McGeorge James cc Corp. Died Oct. 12, 1863 McLaughlin David W Perry Now at Trimbelle McLeod EV Prescott McMillan John cc McPilson David Trenton Miley James Prsscott Killed in action June 21, 1863 Miller Charles F cc Miller Alonzo cc Miles George F cc Nelson Peter Martell Died Jan. 27, 1863 Olson J 0 Prescott Killed in action July 21, 1864 Olin Antony N River Falls Now at River Falls Otis John A Trimbelle Died June 11,1864 Ottman W F a Patterson Jacob River Falls Died April 1, 1862 Pumpiin WLH Trenton Died July 6,1863; Quirk John Prescott Died Aug. 11, 1863 Reynolds Lewis River Falls .« Rockstad John C Martell Dead Rockstad Ole C ii Rogers J B Clifton Died July 14,1865 Severance Joseph River Falls Sorkness E G Martell Styles LC River Falls Synes M E Martell Tickner G W Prescott Tickner Charles H cc Tomlinson John H Diamond Bluft TubbsTC' Riyer Falls Died in Dec. 1861 Wells Johh cc iC Now at River Falls Weston AT a cc Whipple John M Prescott f*-^ i %: Htlock R A Mkrtell WidlinHS " Williams Ira A River Falls Dead Williams Clark M '' '' Dead Wilson Robert Prescott Died Aug. 29, 1863 iWileyPrattJ Diamond Bluff | Wiley Wesley River Falls | Wright Charles W Prescott | Young Charles E " 1 Young Joseph " | Young John F " ALLEN P. WELD. To be continued.

P^^^^^^.J90r5Z

• ^^ The civil history of the County during the war pre sents little out of the usual routine. Yet at times the spirit of patriotism made itself manifested even in the ordinary official work of the County Board, as, for instance, we find in the fall session of 1863 provision made for payment of an estimated amount of seven thousand dollars to aid the families of the volunteers from the county. This year the war spirit also manifested itself in the recognition of a duty owed to the soldier; for John W. Winn, who had lost a leg in the war, was almost immedi ately upon his return home from the hospital elected Clerk of the County Board. By act of the legislature volunteers in the field were allowed to vote, ancj the returns from the camps gave a very substantial majority for the soldier can didate. Notwithstanding the severe drain caused by the war, the population of the County continued to increase, the census of 1865 giving as the population 6,324, an increase of about one-third from 1860. The growth of the county was still hampered, however, by the fact that so large a portion of its lands were held in V ibpyance awaiting the location and building of a railroad frona the east, as much of the land was included in the land .grant. Some determined to run the risk of squatting on the land, with the idea that whenever it came into market they WQuld have the first rights of purchase, and so gradually 4h0, county began to show signs of active settlement in llfery portion. As was but natural, the opei^ country was 7'i first taKeh; iDut the fine growjh of timber attracteff^thers who were lovers of the forest and of hunting and fishing, for the game was yet plenty and the streams abounded in trout The County Board still consisted of three members The business affairs of the County were well conducted, and j are a credit to the gentlemen who served during these years. In 1867 we find a movement to erect a county Jail. At; the session in November of that year Supervisor Stirratf moved that a special jail tax of $5000 be levied that year. That was amended by inserting $7000 in place of $5000, and the Resolution as amended was carried. As the entire assessed valuation of the county was then but a very little over $2,000,000, the tax would have been half as large a percentage as one of $70,000 would be at the present time. Supervisors Stirratt and Ames were appointed as a building committee to procure plans, specifications, etc. In 1868, owing to the large amount of tax certificates which had accumulated in the County Treasury, it was thought best to sell them to a Mr. H. H. Gray. Mr. Gray and his copartners subsequently took tax deeds upon quitQ a large number of tracts of land which had been sold and not redeemed. The committee on procuring plans for a Jail seemed ta have found it inadvisable to build a jail only, and hence, irt 1868, a movement was made looking towards the erectidn of a sheriff's house and Jail in connection therewith; but a resolution for this was laid on the table. Much of the time of the Board was taken up in exam ination of tax certificates alleged to be illegal, and quite a large number of certificates were cancelled from time to time. This shows that much of the local business was done in an imperfect manner, and it was not until somewhat later that definite steps were taken to reorganize the town and business upon a satisfactory basis. In 1868 the present county farm was got from Mr. Winn at the price of two thousand dollars. There was con-?; siderable opposition to this purchase at the time, many ob-^! Jecting to the policy of having a poor-farm at all, yet iQ view of the rapid advance in value of lands since that date it may perhaps be said that the County Board at the time built more wisely than they knew, for few counties have so fine a tract of land for this purpose as Pierce County. At the special session of the Board held in January 1896 we first find the name of Hans B. Warner acting as county clerk. The Board now consisted of Supervisors Murphy, Carpenter and Andrews. A short time previous to this a suit had been com menced by W. H. Winchester, county treasurer, against W. A. Tozer, town clerk of the town of Riyer Falls, to deter- 74 lEihe quite an important question iii jcSnnection witli the financial affairs of the County. Up to this time it had been the custom to ask ^rom the towns a pro rata payment of j cash and county orders,—^that is, that in making returns of taxes the towns should pay in all the county tax collected, and the county would pay the towns in county tax certifi cates for delinquent taxes. Mr. Tozer asserted that the' law allowed the town treasurer to retain all funds collected by him to the full amount of the local taxes. The Supreme Courttdecided in favor of his contention, and from that time^ the towns have been able to receive their full taxes in money, reti^ning the delinquent taxes to the County. This has been of great advantage to all parties in making settle ments, and especially so to the towns, as it prevented the heavy discounts on county orders which had been so com mon up to this time. For a time, however, it had a tendency to embarrass the county, as it was forced to rely upon the results of sale- of lands for funds to carry on county business. However, since Mr. Gray and his partners had commenced dealing in tax certificates, there had come to be a better result from sales Of land for unpaid taxes, and it was not long before county orders were at par. In 1860 the name of the town of Deerfield was changed: by order of the County Board to Gilman, in honor of Mr. Gilman, who was the first settler in that town. Men so active in business affairs as the County Board of that day, together with the County Clerk, could not long rest easy with the meagre accommodations for public build ings; and hence we find that now active steps were being taken to build a Court House which would do credit to the county. An architect was engaged and presented his plans and estimates. It is understood that Mr. Bashford, of St. Paul, was the architect. The same architect afterwards had the charge of the erection of the splendid Court House of Ramsey County. August 9th, 1869, bids were opened as follows: J. L. Dale for a stone building, $18000. M^W. Barb, $14200. C. G. and W. P. Knowles for brick work, $5000. McGregor & Gambrel $21000.

NAMES OF VOLUNTEERS PLACE CREDITED REMARKS Co. A, 20th Regiment. FJRST LIEUTENANT William H York Prescott ENLISTED MEN Baker Horace S Prescott Barber Joseph cc Dead Bennett Geo W Trimbelle Brown Joshua D Maiden Rock Browlee Williamson cc cc Cooper A H Trimbelle Davis Geo Maiden Rock Flint Geo W River Falls Died May 10,1863 Gordon A L cc cc Died Nov. 21, 1862 Gossett Abraham Maiden Rock Dead Hammar Andrew L Prescott Huddleston Anthony Perry Dead Kinney Warren 0 Ellsworth Died in Nov. 1862 Kline Matthew River Falls Lawton Wesley D Beldenville Died Nov. 14,1862 McLaughlin E Maiden Rock Nelson Thos M Greenfield r Now at Ellsworth Paine M J Maiden Rock Parmeter Silas B Beldenville Randall Thomas River Falls Killed in action Dec. 7, 1862 Riley Wm Maiden Rock Killed in action Ridgeman Wm H Greenfield Now at Isabelle Russ Edgar Ellsworth Now at River Falls Smith John A Trimbelle Snow Herbert Maiden Rock Thomas Palmer n cc Dead Welshouce Robert L Prescott Died of wounds Dec. 15, 1862 Weston John H Trimbelle Killed in action Dec. 7, 1862 Weston Edward cc Wilkinson Wilham Beldenville Company A, 30th Regiment - COLONEL Daniel J Dill Prescott SERGEANT MAJOR / Edward Rogers Diamond Bluff 76

:^ QUARTER-MASfER SERGEANT Mj^ron W Packard River Falls Reported dead CAPTAIN Arthur L Cox River Falls Died in 1904 at Santa Rosa, Cal. ENLISTED MEN Andrews R S Trimbelle Burnett John Clifton Now at River Falls Burnett Elsworth River Falls Died at Santa Rosa, Cal, Childs Israel Doe Greenleaf cc cc Eaton Beldon R Clifton Now at River Falls Farnsworth Cyrus River Falls Flint PhineasC cc iC Died at River Falls Goodwin A J Clifton Hall William Trimbelle Hamilton John L Oak Grove Hawley Chas A River Falls Now at River Falls Healey Ezra cc cc cc cc Hotchkiss J S Hotchkiss A C Irvine Samuel Trimbelle Lagan Charles Hartland Martin George River Falls Died Jan. 15, 1863 Merrick George B Prescott Now at Madison Nichols TW River Falls Now at River Falls Nj^e "Stephen Dead iPackard Myron W Partridge George Trimbelle Pratt Allen A River Falls Died at River Falls about 1866 Reynolds Lewis A Stephens Thomas Thurston GObert R Trimbelle Now at E^Piworth Wells Silas S River Falls Williams Benjamin J cc cc Weston Isaac F Trimbelle 2^

COPYRIGHT 1905. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CHAPTER XXVII. OLD SETTLER'S STORY. I was one of the twelve delegates from Pierce County to the senatorial convention at Hudson, and I had but one object in going there —to try to get a pledge from the can- 77 didate for senator not to let aja ejiabhng act to move the county seat back to Prescott pass the Legislature without our knowledge. I knew full well that our Member of As sembly, Dr. Beardsley, would try to get such an act passed, he being much interested in the matter. I had an invitation from a River Falls delegate to come to River Falls and stop at his place over night, and ride in with him. I had to walk twenty miles to get to his place, so you can see the idea was not very tempting; but 1 was determined to do what I could. In those days (the same as noW) all ^'log rolling,^' agreeing on resolutions, etc., was done before the convention was called. I very soon found I was up against a snag. The Pierce County delegation were to a man for Hon. 'Mr. Humphrey, and St. Croix had thirteen delegates for a Mr. Comstock, both from Hudson; there were two or three other counties in the district. As soon as it became known that I intended to secure that pledge I was after, the rest of our delegation were op posed to my saying a word about it. I admit I was pretty stubborn, but I had taken a stand and would not yield an inch. It leaked out through the convention that I stood for such a pledge, and soon a leading delegate from St. Croix County, one whom I was well, acquainted with, offered to get me the pledge from Mr. Comstock. Of course, I would not desert our own delegation, but that pledge I must have. Well, I got the promise from Mr. Humphrey, though he gave it very reluctantly, that if Prescott sent in a petition for another enabling act he would notify us in time to send in a remonstrance. When the first ballot was taken there was a tie, with five votes scattering; a second ballot resulted in a tie and three votes scattering. Then there was some more *'log rolling'^ and not a little excitement; but on the third ballot Mr. Humphre}^ received one majority. We returned home safe and satisfied. In three weeks after the Legislature assembled there was a monster of a petition sent from Prescott. It was claimed that school boys signed it. There was also $300 in cash sent for a Jolly time. All this to have an enabling act passed authorizing, a vote of the county for the removal of the count}^ seat back to Prescott. We rested in peace, waiting for that notice from Mr. Humphrey — it never came. Of course, as I expected, it turned out a hard fight. We in the timber had little money to spare for electioneer ing; but we raised a little and got an attorney, a fine, smart 'fellow, who was then stopping with John Dale, to do some work for us. 78

J Prescotibought some votes; one man I knew sold his vote for a pair of boots. I am almost tempted to give his name to the pubhc, but at this late day I don't mean to be personal. We are still wondering where the other 119 votes from our camp belonged. ' Many of us thought Jim Akers and To-imbelle knew something about it — but" they kept their secrets. It certainly could not be laid to volunteers enlist ing, for there was no call up to that time. Immediately after election was over a Mr. Crippen moved a barn to Ellsworth from Prescott and worked it up into a fair hoteh There was a strong effort made to buy the present ; court house grounds from Mr. Kinney, who then owned the land; the location was much the best in Ellsworth, but his price was beyond our reach at that time. That log court house was put up by a volunteer ^'bee.'^ The first gathering there was a 15all. Your Old Settler attended, in company with Mr, Holt; about all the County Board attended, and it was almost too *^Jolly." So Mr. Holt and I went back to our hotel, where we slept in a freshly plastered room and caught such a cold that I have never forgotten it since. I wish to correct a wrong impression that went abroad in regard to holding court in that log court house. Judge Weatherbee, on coming to Ellsworth, first inquired if there was any place for his horse; he then wished to know if he could get anything to eat. These were the two essentials. As for court, he said he could hold it at the foot of a tree in lieu of a better place, if such was the will of the people. —OLD SETTLE^R.

ROSTER OF VOLUNTEERS Continued from last week. ;NAMES OF VOLUNTEERS PLACE CREDITED REMARKS Company F. CAPTAINS Martin Driebelbis Prescott Edgar A Meacham '' FIRST LIEUTENANT ' X Dow Gunn Prescott SECOND LIEUTENANT Charles H Grant Diamond Bluff ENLISTED MEN Atwood C W Prescott 79

Baker 3Jf Trimbelle Prescott 1 Bartholoinew Seldon ' i-% '[i •"• Beardsley G W Trimbelle Beardslev C L iC BejanettHG Prescott Bfckford Lyman Diamond Bluff Birkel F J Perry Bousted E H Prescott Bossoutt Lewis cc Boughton Henry H Trimbelle Brown Clark W Prescott Dead Butterfield Daniel Hartland Campbell Alexander Perry Carr H G Prescott Childs AM Clifton Clapp Wm F River Falls Cornelison J W Trimbelle Now at Trimbelle Crawford F M Martell Cross Frederick A Oak Grove CuddAbel Trimbelle Cumbey W M Prescott Dailey Edward Trimbelle Danforth Charles W Prescott Corp. Died Jan. 13, 1863 Dauser Joseph Trimbelle Davis I^eander L W Diamond Bluff Dunbar M C Perry Falls Allan Prescott Franklin C H cc 1 Fuller J H Trimbelle ; Gregory Corwin Prescott Hall W W Oak Grove Now at River Falls Hall David cc a cc cc cc il Hambhn H S River Falls Harmoan Edward Clifton Hathaway A C Trimbelle Healev Manlev Jr Prescott Dead Hill Martin Clifton Hilton Joseph D River Falls Holmes H W Prescott Houghtailing George W cc Keyster W F Diamond Bluff Keriger Frank Trimbelle Kinney Andrew River Falls Kinney Wilson Perry Dead Laberee Franklin Diamond Bluff Lord Freeman H River Falls Now at River Falls Loudon David P Trimbelle 80

Lyon Wm P "Hartland Marh Loan Oak Grove Mason Wm H Trimbelle Maynard Barney D Perry McCarty Augustus E Prescott Minneapolis, Minn. McDonald James River Falls Now at River Falls McDonald Malcomb Clifton Dead McLennan Duncan D Prescott Messer John L Diamond Blufl[' Miller John M Prescott Miner Reuben F Trimbelle Moody L J Prescott Needham John iC Nopp Nicholas Oak Grove Died in Clifton Parker Lafayette Prescott Peterson Ole Martell Pettis BelaE Prescott Pierce George Clifton Potter W C Perry Prebble Eli Prescott Rader Andrew u Los Angeles, Cal. Richert Joseph Oak Grove Dead Roger Edward Diamond Bluff Rowley Filo E Prescott Russel James cc ^Schommer John Oak Grove ShaferWmW Chfton Now at River Falls Shaver Wm Trenton Simons Peter M Oak Grove Sleeper Joseph Hartland Smith Edwin P Trimbelle Stowel Ambrose River Falls Walter Alpha Clifton Weiser George H Prescott West Thadeus J^ Oak Grove West William A' c( cc West Nelson M Clifton Died April 6, 1863 White John G River Falls Now at Philadelphia Wilson Jack Prescott Winger Matthias T Martell Winter Chas M Diamond Bluff ALLEN P. WELD. [Continued next week. [ ^J9^5^. ^^

CHAPTER XXIX. I The County Board of 1869 was a very busy one. Be-i sides having in hand the important business of erecting a' i new Court House, it was also largely engaged in examining! Jthe highwaj^s of the county and letting contracts for repair and construction of the same. The Legislature had passed an act authorizing the Board to appropriate money for construction and repair of highways, and also there was in existence a law enabling the counties to lay out and construct new roads. This proved :to be highly beneficial to this county at that time. The 5*oads in the ''Big Woods'^ were then bu^ mere tracks through ithe heavy timber, winding among the trees as more faver table places for easy construction presented themselves, it seeming to be a principle of the early road builders not to fell a large tree if it could be possibly avoided. No effort was onade to keep the roads in repair, and after a wet sea- ison mud holes were abundant. The population was too (sparse to enable the town officials to obtain sufficient, road I labor for needed work, and the taxes upon non-resident i lands were slowly paid, if paid at all. The wealth of the (county at that time was in the prairie country, and this wâs developing at a rapid rate and needed access to the woods to obtain firewood and lumber. Besides this, C. B. Cox and Co. had just erected a large flouring mill at River [Falls, and this/'with the two other mills then being operated I at that place, made a good demand for wheat. Prescott at ' this time was a very important shipping point, and had as active buyers as ever blessed a new country. It was a fcommon sight in that city, when a farmer arrived at the top I of the hill leading down to the levee, to find several buyers iawaiting his coming who were ready to take passage with I him down the hill and spend the time in bidding for his load. River Falls, therefore, was obliged to look for supphes to the east and southeast. Dr. Andrews, then a member of the county board, was wide awake to the necessity for good roads, and used his influence in obtaining new lines of access to the village. Among the early acts of the board was the appropriation of $3700 for the improvement of the State Road leading up the Rush River and thence to the Forestville Vallpy and then to River Falls. This road had been laid out at an early day by a board ôf. commissioners diBsignated in the act authorizing the :same, and had been cut through on the line of an old Indian |>rail almost all of the way, and was the only highway from Ihe City of Hudson to 'Tover^s Leap,^^ a point of rock a little southeast of Maiden Rock village. 82 The location of tKe county seat at Ellsworth made improvement of thi^ road an absolute necessity, and the propriation was welcomed by the people along the route. The Board also laid out a road leaving the state road § (mile above Forestville and running thence east about sqv< I miles to the village of El Paso, making a new outlet for th^^ village. A contract was let to Manley Healy to construet this road, and he cut it out to the full width of the road during the following winter. Mr. Healy and his three sons, Manley, Ezra and Lyman, were excellent road builders, and for many years took great interest in improving the highways in their own town, as we|l as working on these taken in charge by the county :board. The name of Lyman Healy will be recognized by • many as that of one who has served faithfully on the county board for many years, and who has generally been selected as one of the committee on roads and bridges. Mr. Healy, the elder, and his son Manley are not now living, but Lj^man and Ezra still reside in River Falls, on the old homestead occupied by the family for many years. The Legislature of 1870 again changed the system of county government, and returned to the system of a board composed of the chairmen of the different towns and super-' visors elected by cities and villages. The first meeting of the new board was in May, 1870, at which time Wm. Barker, from River Falls, was elected chairman. Mr. Barker was a man of varied experience. He was an excellent millwright, and had been induced to come to this section on account of the large amount of work being done in his line. He was a man of. more than usual intelligence, having had a wide ex perience and being an earnest student. In his earlier years he had been in the gold fields of California and had earned a competence in building mills and bridges in that golden sâte. An active worker in public matters, with good judg ment and honest motives, he was a very valuable citizen of River Fails, and did much in developing, its interests. He brought the same spirit to his work on the county board, and so long as he held his office as supervisor he was re garded as one of the most faithful of the members. A de voted husband, the loss of his wife a few years later brought a cloud over his life; and his mind failing, he lived a quiet , Jife for a few years, dying respected by all a little less than twenty years ago. f ALLEN P. WELD.

ROSTER OF VOLUNTEERS Continued from last waek. ^AMES-OF VOLUNTEERS PLACE CEEDITED REMiLJ^B Company F, 37th Regiment. 83 CAPlfAIN / E Burnett River Falls Promoted from 30th Wis.

ENLISTED MEN ••; • -t Atchison John Chfton . ^., . „ ^^^ ' ^ Carlton Hollis D River Falls Died" Aug. 22,1864] Gordon Gardner L Clifton Died Sept, 8, 1864 ' McMahon Peter River Falls Pulk David M Prescott Randall Charles H River Falls Rollins Joseph A Clifton '1 Winchester J W River Falls Dead Wise Pembroke V cc a Company G. Warner Hans R Clifton Died at Ellsworth ; Company A, 44th Regiment. Baker Asahel R Martell Bowen Gilbert Oak Grove Died Jan. 20, 1865 Breitenger John Martell • s Doe Francis E River Falls I Gilman B H Martell Dead i Gormley Henry Trenton Gormley Alexander a I Kinney Edmund River Falls Peterson John Martell Peterson Christian f Seward John Trenton Wales Sherlock River Falls Now at River Falls [Continued next week. 1

ilc^/S./f^^^' /' CHAPTER XXX. THE OLD SETTLER'S STORY. At the first meeting of the County Board in the new log courthouse in Perry it soon became plain that even if we had a majority of the voters on our side we dicf not have a majority of the County Board. A majority of the Board voted against appropriating any money for county buildings, starting in at $16000, and dfopping by degrees to $2000. All sums were rejected. Then a resolution offered by Supervisor Copp for their side appropriating $500 we rejected. It was very ^evident we had to win a number of the 84 B©ird> and we thought best from Trenton, Trimbelle and^ : Riyer Falls. From Trenton we got Ed Bousted elected the following spring, and from Trimbelle M. B. WilUams, both on our side f---^that is, in favor of theCount}^ Seat at Ellsworth. ? At River Falls there was a tie, and both candidates ^^^ualified and then both resigned. A special election re- ^suited in the election of Mr. Cox, who was also with us: but in order to win he was obliged to leave town election day, so that the voters couldn't ask him questions. It was no secret that Paver Falls expected the people would soon get disgusted with Ellworth as a County Seat, and would then move it, not back to Prescott, but to River Falls. They then intended to take a slice off St. Croix County, and make River Falls a central place, boasting of the town's beautiful location, its splendid Avater power, also its advanced schools. , * About this time Perry (or as it is now named Ellsworth) agreed to furnish the County the use of what was then a jgood building for a term of seven years, to use for county bffices and court room. This was a generous offer, and helped to destroy the ambition of River Falls.

As to that banner we won from the state, it was felt all through the county that we paid dearly for it in state taxes. It is true it cost us some extra in state taxes for a number of years. But I am convinced it was the best in vestment Pierce County ever made. It brought us a large number of farmers of the best kind, with means, from the eastern part of the state, who perhaps would never other wise have heard of Pierce County. Settlement in the eastern, or timbered part of the cdunty was slow until the County Seat was definitely located at Ellsworth; but soon so many moved in that thereafter it was useless to attempt any designs on the County Seat. We even had a swarm of office seekers hanging around.

In those days, with no saw mills near, our timber was only a detriment to us, costing $26 to $30 an acre for cutting, logging and burning. But L. L. Lewis soon put in a saw mill on Lost Creek. Fox, Hawn & White brought the first l^team mill into eastern Pierce County, locating at Rock Elm, %here Mr. Hawn's sons still run a mill on the same site, j They also had a stock of goods. They put the first life in-| to the people there; no more timber was wasted in Rocki Elm. ______1 L. Harshman built a flour mill on Lost Creek. He was certainly a hard working man—I alniOst think he worked] 85 day; and night. He had sense enough to build his dSm atal distance from his mill, and dig a race, which saved his will from the fate of all the other mills in town. Soon after Mr. Vandewater built a mill lower down the Creek—the finest equipped in the county for sawing, planning and matching lumber; but in a few. years it and all the others but Mr. Harshman's went down the river. But the Creek ran dry, and he had to put in steam.

I wish to correct a mistake that appears in Chapter 21 of the Story, where it is stated that the name of the townl of Deerfield was changed to Gilman *'in honor of the first settler of that town." I stated in a former chapter that a Mr. Wright was the first settler; I still insist that my statement is correct. In the spring of 1858 Mr. Wright came to El Paso to work for G. P. Walker on his saw mill. Soon after comitig he built a log house on the SW^ of the SE^^ of Sec. 32 of Gilm*an township. G. P. Walker, M. D. Mclntyre, Mr. Wright and your Old Settler were the crew who put up the building. Mr. Wright moved into his house as soon as it was ready. When not working for Walker he did some clearing and put in a crop. Mr. Gilman came late in the fall and lived in the village with M. D. Mclntyre until the summer of 1859, when he bought out Wright's claim—^for a gun and a dog. —OLD SETTLER

EARLY JURISPRUDENCE. , Perry D. Pierce was disbarred from practice at the Dexter murder trial at Prescott in the spring of 1855, in consequence of some impertinent remark which Judge Fuller ruled was a contempt of court. The Judge, being a kind hearted man, offered to restore him if he would apologize in open court. This he refused to do, and, quitting the county seat, he retired to Trimbelle village, was elected Justice of the Peace, and proceeded to dispense justice on his own hook, regardless of the circuit court. JleSad one celebrated case come before him. Dave Klinginsmith, of Town 26, R. 17 (afterward the town of Perry, and now Ellsworth, but then a part of Trimbelle) sued a neighbor, Mr. Campbell, on the charge of attempting to poison Dave's cow. The case came on for trial in a basswood building in Trimbelle village, and was a jury trial. The building was not large enough to hold the Court and the crowd that aV 8G

telided, and it happeneli^^iat Dave's adherents were~5pJ hand first and filled it up, Campbell's party looking and • listening from the outside through the craks of the shrunken ^ basswood. The evidence did not show there had been anything the matter with*the cow, and the only ^'proof" of the charge was that Dave's wife had seen Campbell cut open a potato, put something white into it and then offer it to the cow* The verdict was ^'guilty," and the sentence of the Court was that Campbell should pay a fine of $30 or go to jail. An uproar from the Campbell men immediately arose from the outside. Campbell got up and told the Court he had no money to pay the fine, and he would be d—d if he would go to jail. There was prospect of a lively row, but Perry D. quelled it by setting aside the verdict and arranging a compromise, satisfactory to all parties. Campbell was to enter into bonds not to hurt Klingensmith's cow for six months. The bonds were put up, court adjourned, and the case was never heard of afterward. Perry D. Pierce rose from Trimbelle obscurity to be County Judge in after years. OLIVER GIBBS. [Continued next week. 1

J26./9cJ0,

CHAPTER XlXXI. The duty and honof of completing the new court house fell to the County Board of 1870. In the session held in the fall of that year the furniture was ordered, and upon a dis cussion arising as to providing carpets for the court room, upon the motion of Supervisor Dale it was voted to sub stitute sawdust for carpets—and the motion prevailed: it evidently being more in accordance with the usages of the day to provide sawdust as a floor covering for a public build ing than carpets. The Poor Farm has now become a vital question. As stated in a previous chapter, the County had purchased, not without opposition, a fine tract of land for a county farm, but up to 1870 it had been rented out and no efforts had been made to provide the necessary buildings. In fact, more than one effort had been made by the opposition to have it traded off for village property in Ellsworth, without, however, any decisive result. In December, 1870, a com mittee on building reported in favor of erecting a frame building upon the farm for a poor house, such building to be 8 MM forty-oni and one-third feet in length by fWehty-nme M^ one-third feet in width, to have studding eighteen feet inl length, and wooden partitions. This report was adopted, though pending its final acceptance another motion was m^^de to trade off the Poor Farm, which was lost. The records of this session show that the work .on the highways, which had been commenced the previous year,-^ was nearly all completed, and that tlxe highways had been accepted generally by the committee appointed to inspect the same. Another matter of importance was a resolution idirecting that the county jail at Prescott be sold. Up to this time the County Judge held court at Pres cott, there not having been any suitable place for him to hold an office at Ellsworth. At this session, however, he was requested to hold his court at Ellsworth, There had been a contested election for this office, and each candidate was claiming the election; but Judge Howes, of Prescott, re tained the books and acted as Judge. A special session of the County Board was held in June, 1871, and the records inform us that the poor house was in process of construction and some changes were made in the plans of the same. The experience of Mr. Warner and others in public offices had taught th#m the necessit}^ for more systematic methods of keeping the accounts and records of the county; and at this session a committee was appointed to suggest an improved system of book-keeping and general arrange ment of the accounts of the county. This committee, in re porting, recommended that the books should be kept by the ;double entry system. Though this system was recommended, ^and an attempt was made for a time to comply with the order of-4he board, subsequent officers have found it easier to return to the former system of single entry. For the first time we find Rules of Order adopted for the sessions of the Board, and it is complimentary to those who framed them that very little change has been made in the rules up to the present time. At this session a contract was made with Jesse Dale to prepare a county map and furnish a sufficient number of them for the use of the county officials and the different ;towns. Mr. Dale was not a professional draftsman,"^but nevertheless succeeded in making a quite creditable map and one which was used for several years and proved of great convenience to the officers and others having need of the same. The highways of the county were delineated upon the map, as well as the rivers and creeks, as shown by the government plats. Some time before 1872 the citizens of the town of River 88

PâHs had beelT aglî^^ lie ^questioff^fW Securing" MMS^ c&tion of a^Nprmal School at River Falls. At that time the ribrmal system was comparatively new, and little was known generally as to either itssplans or methods. Allen H. Weld, a resident of the town of Troy, whose farm was only about one mile from River Falls, had been appointed a regent of the Normal Schools without ai^ solici tation on his part or on that of his friends. He had been a teacher in the East, having made it a life work, and was greatly interested in educational matters. He very soon felt a desire to secure the benefits of such a school for the grow ing Northwest. His mind was greatly impressed with the fact that this territory, though then only partially settled, promised great ^results in the near future. River Falls had been among the first places in the state to erect an academy, and the edu cational spirit in the St. Croix Valley was wide awake. Profr. Weld consulted with leading citizens of River Falls, among whom at that time were Uncle Charley Cox, 0. S. Powell, Lyman Powell, Abner Morse, Rev. Mr. Gill, Dr. A. D. Andrews, J. H. Lord, and many others wh9 were anxious to secure the best advantages possible for their village. The result of this discussion was a resolution that the people make an earnest attempt to secure the location of a school of this character at the earliest possible moment. An ênabling act was obtained from the legislature authorizing the raising of twenty thousand dollars by the towns con tiguous to the village of River Falls, and at the ensuing town election the bonds were voted. The town of River Falls voted $10,000, the town of Troy $4,000, and the towns Clifton and Kinnickinnic $3,000 each. But when the time approached for the determination of the question it was found that La Crosse, Eau Claire, Stevens Point and some other localities were also bidding for the school, and that tHey were ottermg much larger sums than $20,0(30. As the towns above named were notthen very wealthy, it was felt that an appeal to the county should be maê to add to the proposed offer; and hence a special session of the Coupty Board was called to meet on the 17th of June, 1872, to consider the matter. -An earnest discussion arose at once, and unfortunately something of the old time jealousy manifested itself, some of the people being unwilling even at this later date to for give the northern towns for their action in removing the county seat from Prescott. But finally a more liberal view prevailed, and it was voted to issue bonds of the county to the amount of five thousand dollars to aid in the matter. At a meeting of the Normal Scliool Board held shortly after, the matter of the location of the Fourth Normal SchSol^âsl^ff^^:pR^ter con^tlemble dfefiussion, it was voted by the Board to locate the schoolat River Falte. A handsome site of ten acres was purchased by the people of the village, the funds being raised by private subscription, the cost of the site being a little over one thousand dollars, and a fine building was erected. The foundation was laid in 1874, and the building was completed and opened in 1875. W. D. Parker was chosen as its first principal. The thirty years of its existence has proven beyon(l cavil that in this instance the authorities builded more widely than they knew. The school has flourished beyond the most sanguine hopes of its projectors and has proved a large factor in fostering the substantial growth of the county. Here very many of its young people have received an edu cation which has fitted them for wide fields of usefulness, and the teachers who have gone out from Pierce county graduates of this school have taken rank among the best of the profession. And it has deepened the interest in educational matters in the county itself, leading to the erection of better scho^li houses and the employment of qualified teachers; and as affi indirect result has tended to stimulate the establishment of graded and high schools in sections that previously had only^; the advantages of the ordinary common district school. p ALLEN P. WELm

HOW AND WHY. THE COUNTY-SEAT REMOVAL WAS BROUGHT ABOUT. • Up to the time of the Civil War, a majority of the people of Pierce County were better accommodated with the County Seat at Prescott than they could have been at any other place, and would have been contented to let it re main there until the railroad system of the county should become established, or the eastern part more settled up, but for a contest between newspapers for the county printing,, which brought on a demand for its immediate removal; als<^ a consolidation of the '^Big Woods'' interests, united with those of River Falls and Trimbelle, in favor of ousting Pres cott men from the county offices, as a means for furthering the removal. It came about in this way. Lute A. Taylor, was pub lishing the River Falls Journal, and Charles E. Young- the Prescott Transcript. The advertising of the delinquent taX list was worth in legal fees about $2500 per year. J. H. Southwick was the County Treasurer, and the writer of this the Clerk of the County Board. We two con trolled this patronage. iMte came to Prescott to see us, J?0_ and^ asked us to call inTCfiariey Young%nd arrange "for an^ equal division—whichever paper did the advertising, the other to have half the money. We of the county offices favored Lute's claim, but Young would not yield, saying that his was the pioneer paper, and was entitled to the en tire patronage for a while longer—my recollection is he claimed it for two more years. I Then Lute called John Dale, and they two organized the whole business of a change in the county offices and the removal of the county seat to Ellsworth. Lute said to his friends that if he could not have half the printing peaceably, he would make a fight for the whole of it. And he got it. River Falls was carried for the movement by the ex pectation of hippodroming the county seat eventually to that place; and Trimbelle had hopes of getting it back from Ellsworth herself. It took a good deal of devious work in caucuses and conventions to bring all this about—enough to split the Republican party of the county into such bitter factions as to have given the offices all to the Democrats had not the Civil War come on and united loyal men to lay aside minor matters for a time and act as a Union party. OLIVER GIBBS. [Continued next week. 1 N ^^^>/, /fOS

CHAPTER XXXII. ' The following sketch of the History of Spring Lake was Written by one of the citizens of that town in 1880. It is so vivid a picture of the times, and so painstaking in its details of facts that may not find expression again, that it is published exactly as written. Those reading it therefore must place themselves in imagination back to twenty-five years ago, when Spring Valley was but a beautiful farm set in a frame of picturesque mounds with a purling stream watering a verdant meadow—a spot picturesque, indeed, but not one apparently likely to be chosen as the site of a prosperous and enterprising village. HISTORICAL SKETCH OP THE TOWN OF SPRING LAKE. The town of Spring Lake received its name from a large spring on Section 16, near the center of the town, whiiph forms a small lake, or pond, from 20 to 50 feet in width and 50 or 60 rods long. The town was organized on the 14th day of April, 1869. William D. Akers was elected first Chaircaan of Supervisors* James Webb and L. A. Hess were^hosen side Supervisors^ Thos. F7E!eIIfey^wa^~chdseSr the first town clerk, which office he held (with the exception of the year 1873) until the spring of 1877. Samuel Sanders was chosen the first town treasurer. D. R. Stratton was the first assessor. At the first meeting $50 was voted for incidental expenses. No one seems to know the exact time that the first log cabins were built in the town. A man named Cady erected the frame for a saw mill on Cady Creek on Sec. 14, about the year 1860, and also built a log house, which is still standing; but the mill was never completed. A man named Gilmore lived in a small .cabin on Sec. 6, near Spring Valley P. O., about the same time. O. P. Gardner settled on Sec,, 22, his present farm, the next year. George Wilcox and hijfe father, A. M. Wilcox, settled on Sec. 6 in 1862, A. M. Wilcox trading a rifle for the claim of Mr. Gilmore on 80 acres of land. During the next two years John Francisco settled on his present farm on Sec. 8, A, Gossett on his present farm on Sec. 36, Aaron Ailport and Wm. Graham settled on Sec. 14 on Cady Creek, Wm. D. Akers on Sec. 18. A few more made their appearance during the next two years. The year 1866 brought large numbers of settlers. The Indiana settlement was founded by an emigration froni Indiana, consisting of eight or ten families and nearly sixtyi persons. Most of them settled on Sections 2 and 12. I$\ the same year settlers located on nearly every even Sectioft^ in the town. Settlement from this time was rapid, so that' by the year '70 or 71, nearly all of the government land— viz: the even sections—had been taken as homesteads, each settler owning 80 acres. The early settlers deserve great credit for the energy they displayed in early establishing schools, and for their good sense in creating small and convenient school districts. April 17th, 1869, just thirteen days after the town was organized, the Supervisors organized school Dists. 1 and 2. June 23, 1869, they organized Dist. No. 3. Aug. 6th, 1869, the Supervisors of Spring Lake and Gilman organized Jt. School Dist. No. 1, of Spring.Lake and Gilman, and Jt. School Dist. No. 1, of Gilman and Spring Lake. School Dist. No. 4 was organized Sept. 25, 1869; School Dists. 5 and 6, May 7th, 1870; School Dist. No. 7, July 22, 1871. Log school houses were immediately built in each district, and with very few exceptions school has been main tained in each district at least five months in a year. Mah,y' of the school houses were small, and were supplied with seats which were an ^^abomination.^/ [Continued next w^ek. \ SOME EARLY POLITICAL METHODS—SPECIMENS OF JOHN DALE'S WORK. A recent article in the series speaks of John Dale's em ployment in the county seat removal case. John was a past master in political crookedness, and he did not acquire all his art in that contest, either. The Republican candidates for county offices in the fall of 1858 sent him out through ^'the woods'' electioneering, not know ing his style of work—^for we had tried to keep our politics on the square. But after the election was over, orders from John kept coming in, drawn on the candidates in favor of the timber folks, for all sorts of the necessaries of life, ostensibly for time and services—^here a pair of pants, there of boots, or a sack of flour; and A. H. Young, candidate for Clerk of the Court, had presented to him an order for a full suit of I clothes. I have kept no name§, and I wouldn't tell them if I had. We paid the orders al sight, but we notified John that we would never do it again. And we didn't, either—for he was against all the Prescott officers two years later in the county seat trouble, and none of us even got a nomination. In the fall of 1862 I was personally the victim of an other trick of John Dale's, which, though characteristic of him and of ,his methods, was not so very bad. Osborne Strahl had served his two year as my successor in the County Clerk's office, and as I had come home from the war some what broken in health, and with an honorable discharge, I asked for my old place again, before the nominating con vention held at Ellsworth, and readily got pledged more than a two-thirds vote. Dale made his appearance as a delegate from Trimbelle, mildly suggesting John Winm supposedly for only a compli mentary vote. Just as the ballot was to be taken Dale took the floor for ti few remarks. He ^Svas not expecting to succeed with his candidate;''all he would ask was a fair show. It had been stated by some one, and passed around, that John Winn was not qualified for County Clerk^that he could not write well enough. Then Dale took up a pen and a sheet of paper, and calling Winn to the desk, told him to write something off-hand and show the convention a specimen of his handwriting. 'What shall I write?" inquired Winn. '^Write any thing—write down the names of the battles you have been in, and especially the battle where you lost your leg. What battle was that, John?" 98

vy>;->gf:?y ^i<%itw.»-,-; ''Anti^am." ^'Yes, write that, and all the rest." 'What, all of them?" ''Yes, write them every one." Winn took the pen, bent over the desk, and began to write slowly, while the convention waited and grew silent, wrapped, thinking of the carnage and horror of southern battle fields, and of friends already fallen or still engaged. When the writing was finished. Dale took up the paper and read the list to the convention. There were the names of seventeen battles. In reading the last one Dale drew a picture of Antietam, vivid, sulphurous with battle smoke; and swinging the manuscript around his head and pointing to John Winn standing there on one leg, he yelled out, with „^ an unprintable oath, "Gentlemen of the convention, he can write well enough for me." ^ The ballot followed without another word, and John. Winn was nominated by an almost unanimous vote. The convention had been swept off its feet in a burst of enthu siasm for the modest, wounded soldier. A moment later I was called upon to address the con vention. My delegates were astonished at what they had done; they wanted to hear my voice and to have the agony over with. J I was glad to respond. About all I remember to have| said was that it reminded me of the priest, to whom anf Irishman had confessed an almost impossible sin. "How did you contrive to do it, Pat?" asked the priest. Pat ex plained the method. "Ah, Pat," said the priest, "it was a very grievous sin, but nevertheless I pardon ye—for the in genuity of the thing." I told them my friends had perhaps made too much of the point of qualifications; John Winn was all right—give him six weeks to get the routine of the office, and he would be a good enough Clerk for any county. Of course, John was elected, and made a good Clerk. OLIVER GIBBS. To be continued.

CHAPTER XXXIII. ~^ History, to be of value, should be as accurate as possible; and yet it often happens that different points of view give ail entirely distinct appearance to matters of interest. 94

OuT^ra Settler,^ to whom therSfan is IndebtedToF many excellent articles touching the early history of the county, has written a letter to the Editor disputing some matters mentioned in Chapter XXIX, and we give such portion of his letter as tends to throw some light upon the facts of the case. He says, "The statement in Chapter XXIX in regard to a State road from Maiden Rock up Rush River to River Falls is a pure fabrication, as there never was a road and never will be down Rush Paver from El Paso to Maiden Rock. The facts are that the County Commissioners levied $3700 for road purposes, and divided it up in three parts to be expended on three roads, one to be laid out from El Paso to Maiden Rock on Rush River, to draw trade to Maiden Rock; one from Hogan Osen's, in Martell, to River Falls, passing over a rough and unsettled territory, accomodating few but the owners of timber lots in and around River Falls; and the third share was expended on the State Road from Prescott as far as El Paso, from El Paso east one-half mile, south to the State Road and into Rock Elm, following a laid out and traveled highway, but making it a county road." Note. The writer of Chapter XXIX did not intend to have it understood that a State road was laid from Maiden Rock to El Paso. The state road mentioned was one laid out at a very early day fromMaiden Rock, or "Lovers Leap" as it is termed in the official record, and which followed a route up Rush River to probably about the present site of the Village of Brasington and thence in a direct line to Beldenville, thence to River Falls. The writer understands that the appropriation mentioned was largely expended up on that part of the road near the Village of Maiden Rock, though it may be that "Old Settler" is correct in stating that a part of it was expended on the road leading down Rijsh River from El Paso. He is correct in stating that the appropriation was di vided into three parts, it being apparently the desire of the County Board to give better facilities for travel to and from the principal villages of the County, they being at that time Prescott, River FaliSj Maiden Rock and El Paso. It must be remembered, that the country was then new m^ unsettled in many places, that little hamlets and knots of getllers were to be found in different parts of the county, tfhose means of communication over the then poorly built roads were very difficult, and even after these highways had been partially opened there was not sufficient local highway tax to keep them in order. , Old Settler states, in another part of his ' letter, that all that was done was to cut the roads out, felling the timber 95 andTleavihg it along the road sides, making trouble fof the land owners to clear it up; and that in time some parts of the roads became grownup to brush and afforded "good berry patches." Unfortunately this is but too true of some of the pathways thus opened. Lack of local labor prevented fUfJbher improvement, and roads perhaps not so direct, be ing in better condition, drew the travel; and it is only until within a comparatively few years that the real value of the roads has been appreciated in many places. That errors were committed, both in locating some of the roads and in the methods of working them, is doubtless tru^. It is much easier now, when the trees are cut off, al lowing a full view of the landscape, to tell where the best tracks can be found, than then, when tall timber obstructed the view. Then too the.demand, always present, that high ways must run on government lines, often prevented the placing of the highways on the better grades or more favor able places for construction. The character of the men who acted as county com missioners is our warrant for saying that they endeavored to serve the public faithfully, and if mistakes did occur that they were in matters in which their judgment was at fault, i^ther than from a desire to wrong the public. And it was ^6t from want of ability, but of information often, that led to erroneous decisions. In fact, if we look at the entire work done, we must feel that it is surprising how well, on the whole, they planned for the best interests of a young but rapidly developing countv. ALLEN P.WELD. [Continued next week. |

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE TOWN OF SPRING LAKE. Continued from last week. As rude as were the first schoolhouses, the early settlers manifested a zeal in the cause of education seldom seen in the "back woods." When we take into consideration the very hmited means of the majority of the early settlers, and the fact that to build their log school houses and maintain school five months in the year, they have paid as high as ten per cent, taxes on the valuation of their property, the greater portion being school tax,, we think a medal should be given them for their zeal in education. But we are not through telling what has been done. While the people are still living in log houses, four of the log school houses have been replaced by neat frame buildings, and every one of them is furnished with the best improved school furniture. The cost of those school houses ranges from! $500 to $600 each. If Spring Lake has not 2:ot the best schools in the county, it has got some zealous workers in the cause^f ediSr cation. By the last census there were 309 children of schcK)K age in the town. ; Spring Lake is unfavorably located for mercantile busi ness, for several reasons. It is very expensive for merchants to transport goods, either from the railroad or the Mississippi River; hence are coippelled to sell them high. Farmers do npt produce a^reat amount for sale, hence money is scarce. What they do sell they tak^ either to the railroad or the Mississippi River, and then they do their trading there. W. D. Akers opened up the first store in the town about the year 1866, near the present site of Olivet. He soon re moved to the center of the town; from there to the Indiana Settlement, next to Spring Valley. The business was not remunerative. A. M. Wilcox and. Wm. Preston each kept store for a brief period at Spring Valley. The only store in the town at present is that of S. J. Hill at Olivet, ^e understand he; has a flourishing trade. The manufacturing interests of the town have yet to be developed. The saw mill of Tio & Preston at Spring Valley, and the saw mill of Curtis & Co. on Cady Creek, were both erected about five years ago. Lumber is the only article manufactured. Each mill probably manufactures 600,000 or 700,000 feet of lumber annually. At present Spring Valley is the only post office in the town. It was established about the year 1870; Geo. Wil cox was the first post master. The first mail route was from Maiden Rock to Brookville. At present there are two mail routes through the town—from River Falls to Spring Valley, semi-weekly, and from Maiden Rock to Hersfey, via Spring Valley, semi-weekly. There are no villages in Spring Lake. "^^"^ i To be continued.

HOW H. L. HUMPHREY WAS NOMINATED FOR STATE SENATOR That section of the Story of Pierce County which ap pears in the Sun of June 29 recalls to my mind the circum stances under which Hon. H. L. Humphrey, of Hudson, entered public life. Mr. Humphrey did not know that his name was to come before the convention that nominated him for the Senate in the fall of 1860, nor was it supposed that he had expectations or even ambition for public honors. He was a man of fine personal character but not as yet distinguished as a lawyer, except perhaps for a certain persistent studious- ness in his profession. Hon. John Comstock was the man agreed upon by the leaders, and up to the moment of the first ballot no other 97 ^aiimdrate~"Eaar^ne^rT[iMe^ b'eliivmg that he was being put up to defeat Senator Doolittle's re* election, under an arrangement with Lute Taylor and John Dale, inspired by Augustus Gaylord, of Osceola, Polk County, to secure, two years in advance, a vote for L;^ P. Harvey, then Secretary of State, for the U. S. Senate (Gaylord being Mr. Harvey's brother-in-law) I took a hand to defeat the deal—though at that time, in consequence of our county seat contests in Pierce County, I had dropped mostly out of local politics. A streak of unexpected luck brought John Dale to me at Prescott Monday morning, the day before the Hudsoft convention was to be held. John was in trouble over §^ mortgage on his Beldenville mill property. ^^~\ There was a $500 loan from the State School fund due me or any friend I might name, on a promise from S. D. Hastings, State Treasurer. This I turned over to John, and he fixed things up all right with the Pierce County delegates so that the conven-^ tion was tied between Comstock and Humphrey, and Dr. Beardsley, the Chairman, broke the tie, nominating Mr. Humphrey by one majority. I was not known to anybody but John Dale as being a medler in the business, till it came to the second ballot, whei^: I had to, tell the Doctor confidentially, on his demanding 'M chie, that Dale was in it^ and that his own nomination fof| the Assembly the next Friday at River Falls depended o# his breaking the tie in Humphrey's favor. Mr. Humphrey never knew exactly how it all happened, but a year later I had Dale tell him I was the means of his nomination. On going to Madison to serve the second year of his term he called on me at Prescott, and asked my ad vice as to his vote for U. S. Senator. I knew his character too well, and respected him too highly, to claim any obli gation, but left him free. And throughout his subsequent career as State Senator, Member of Congress, and Judge of the 8th Judicial Circuit I ahvays felt proud to have been in strumental in his first elevation to a public career. We were l friends and correspondents to the day of his death. The bar of the St. Croix Valley had a brilliant galaxy of young lawyers in those days—admirable men they were: •Albert Dawson, L. P. Weatherby and H. S. Clapp, father of General Clapp, the Minnesota Senator—but no one, was more loved and respected than H. L. Humphrey. John Dale told me afterward how he arranged the dropping of Comstock with the Pierce County delegates from the ^^Big Woods;" but if Tpm Hurley, of El Paso, is alive, you might ask him for the pointers he had at Hudson that day frpm John Dale, and if he ''kept his eye peeled," as re- 98

questeayûf under theTiorseî^hed, to see ^^5W thicFIôm- stock was getting to be with those Prescott fellers." Of course, Mr. Comstock was innocent of all this, but the woods delegates were there to protect the Ellsworth interests, and John knew how to switch them, on suspicion that Comstock might be going wrong, ''but Humphrey, we know, is all right." OLIVER GIBBS. To be continued. /a/f^^.

CHAPTER XXXIV. HOW PIERCE BECAME KNOWN AS THE BANNER COUNTY OF WISCONSIN. It was in the winter of 1856 that the County Agricultural Society was organized. The first meeting was held at Clif ton Mills. There was at Prescott that winter a literary society, • meeting fortnightly, which published a manuscript paper, edited and read by the ladies. It was called the "Laurel", and Mrs. J.S.Olive, who was one of the ladies who were editing the paper, is now at my elbow, and quotes from memory the following doggerel about the meeting, furnished by the reporter who went out to take notes for the Prescott Tran script : "Jericho Jingle's himself again; The breath of the spring has melted the snow. And an "Olive" branch broken the ice in the glen Where the Laurel left him a month ago— Left him ducking his head in the snow. Rubbing his ears, and wondering whether His wits would e'er again come together. In the other adventure the Laurel's aware Jericho froze his probocis there. And since he hasn't the least desire To poke it again in Arctic fire. Let Jack Frost give it another tug, 'Twould turn it into a grunter's pug. The donkey Pegasus is good as new To bring to the Laurel another view And tell his readers the when and where A meeting was held for a County Fair. Jericho Jingle, self appointed. Self announced and self annointed. On public occasions to saunter out And see what the country folks are about, 99 Betodk himself to that *b^5gin the hills " '-'-^ Comhionly known as Clifton Mills. ^ i Farmer Osborne Strahl had issued a call ; And demanded that some reporter should go 1 In spite of weather and winter's snow. Arrived at the Mills, with great anxiety We cast about to find the Society; Up the Mill stairs We went with a bound And there two score of farmers found. Jonathan Bailey was in the chair— You are always sure to find him there— And there's nothing surer under the sun Than when h^'s chairman the sciibe is Gunn.* '\W^^ i2ixme^T^ talked, resolved and wrote, And finally, by unanimous vote, Decided to let the subject go Till Monday, the 14th proximo. At River Falls, and make a rally Of all the farmers of St. Croix Valley To meet and consider then and there A plan to hold a Union Fair; And, you may depend, the undersigned ' Will try to bear that meeting in mind. And, if a speck of humor is found. Will catch it up and pass it around." '"'Hon. Smith R. Gunn, Representative in the Legislature. It Was that memorable cold winter when for three weeks the mercury never got better than 30 below. I remember attending the River Falls meeting, in that kind of weather; riding 40 miles on a roundabout way home, via Trimbelle, and coming into Prescott at nine in the even ing, blind with ice frozen over my face—my ponies going it with no guidance the last six miles, and white as sheets • with frost—so they said when I drove in. Out of thife meeting grew the Pierce County Agricultural Society. I recall now as some of its active promoters Osborne Strahl, Mason Stone, Jonathan Bailey, Dexter B. Bailey, SmitjiR. Gunn, Ellsworth Childs, and the ubiquitous, enterprising, enthusiastic George May Powell, of River Falls. It was here, or afterward, that George May was elected Recording Secretary, and the writer Corresponding Secretary. The farmers in those days were remarkable for their |)ublic spirit. They rallied enthusiastically to the support of [the County Fair at Prescott for several years. ? ^ . I think it was in 1858 that the State Agricultural Soci ety offered a silk banner costing $130 to the county that would make the best display of farm and garden products at the state fair. We two secretaries went in for that ban- .00 ner, and won it. Our strongest competitor was Winnebago| County. When George May brought the banner home you could have taken the census of Pierce County right there at the Prescott fair grounds on the day of its reception. Among the exhibits that won it I remember a bushel of white winter wheat grown by Robert M. Sproule, of Hart land, which was afterw ards sent to the London Crystal Palace Exposition and won the world's highest award. There was also a display of enormous vegetables grown by John Hurley, of El Paso, in a lot of white sand thrown up two years before from the bottom of a thirty-foot well. Where is that banner now? It was a handsome rag, and worthy of preservation. At one of our fairs Ellsworth Childs, of Clifton, had ^ wagon load of Hubbard squash. A lady asked him if he raised them on his own farm. _J:WalL_MumJ'Li^aidUncle Ells^vorth, "that's where I planted'um. I planted one hiU behind the barn; it grew an' grew, an' when I hitched up ter come ter the fair I fol- lered that vine an'loaded up. An' would you believe it, jMum, it lead me two an' a half mile down to the bank of 'Lake St. Croix, where I picked the last of the load." OLIVER GIBBS. I , To be continued.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE TOWN OF SPRING LAKE. Continued from last week. When we recollect that only twelve or fourteen years ago Spring Lake was almost an unbroken wilderness, that it was settled by people who had but very little except their hands to depend on for the support of their families, that they canae into the woods with no tools except axes, and were obliged to work out the greater portion of the time in order to obtain the bare necessities of life, that there was no niarket whatever for timber, no roads and other numberless disadvantages under which the early settlers labored, the amount of improvement that has been made is simply sur prising. The work of clearing for the first few years was necessarily slow. There is no record of statistics of crops grown previous to the year 1874. The certificate of the assessor for that year shows that tnere were growing in the town 356 acres of wheat, 164 acres of corn, 292 acres of oats, 11 acres of barley and 3 acres of rye. According to the statistics gathered by the assessor in ^^1880 there were ^growing in the town 1188 acres of wheat, 248 acres of corn, '412 acres of oats, 100 acres of barley, 47 acres of potatoes, 902 acres ol meadow, 14 acres in apple orchards, and 800, __ __ lei beStoi^irees.' raS^Mnouht^fgraJoTand other crops rafeedl in the year 1879 were:—Of wheat 13,739 bushels, corn 8,899, ^ oats 11,745, barley 2,818, rye 12, potatoes 5,828, apples 134, tons of hay 1071. The average yield per acre in 1879 was: —^Wheat 12 >^ bushels, corn 32, oats 47, barley 12, potatoes* 110; meadows yielded 1}4 tons per acre. According to above statistics there are 2,911 acres under cultivation, but we think this is considerably below the actual amount under cultivation. The excellent range during the summer season for live stock of all kinds makes stock raising more profitable than the cultivation of the soil, which is attended with many in-' conveniences, of which the principal one is ^'stumps.'' Stock raising has, therefore, increased rapidly. In 1870 there were in the town 50 horses, 389 cattle, 83 sheep, 212 hogs. The assessment roll of 1880 shows 206 horses, 1,009 cattle, 574. sheep, 554 hogs, 12 mules. There are no very wealthy men in the town. Most of our, citizens are men, who, following the advice of Horace Oreeley, went west to seek a home and grow up with the country. By industry, economy and perseverance, a goodly number have become well-to-do. There are several farms containing 30, 40 or 50 acres, and a few of 80 acres, under cultivation. A few farmers have their farms nearly clear of stumps, and are beginning to use farm machinery. We have a fertile soil, abundance of timber, abundance v of water power which will soon be utihzed by flour mills ^^ and manufactures of various kinds, a great number of springs and brooks, making the country well adapted to stock growing, and an intelligent, industrious class of citizens. With all these advantages Spring Lake must soo^ de- ivelop into one of the most flourishing and prosperous, if not / ^one of the wealthiest towns, in the county. By the census of 1880 the town contained a population of.834. To be continued.

THE OLD SETTLER'S STORY. There never was a road and never wiU be down Rushi River from El Paso to Maiden Rock. The County Com-^ missioners levied $3700 for road purposes, and divided it in to three parts to be expended on three roads, viz: one to be '. laid out from El Paso to Rush River, to draw trade to Maiden Rock; one from Hogan Osen^s in Martell to River Falls, passing over ^ rough and unsettled territory, ac- fcomodating few but the owners of timber lots in and around River Falls; the third sharfe was expended on the state road from Prescott as far as El Paso, from El Paso east (one-half 102

milesouthôf tTie~state road) a^nd into RocYÊImÎowihg^ laid out traveled public' highway, but making it a county road; also the Rush River road the same. How these roads were laid out no person ever knew, as no petition was signed and no notice given. It was the same Mth letting contracts to open these roads^—the contracts were let privately at fancy prices. Against Mr. Healey as a road builder we have nothing to say; but in this case he simply had six miles of timber on the town line between Martell and Ellsworth to cut and log. There were a hundred first class choppers and loggers near by who would have been glad to get the job, and perhaps at much less price. Why half^ a mile on the west end was left uncut we never knew. Beldenville would not cut it, neither would Ellsworth or Martell, who did not need it, so it remained uncut for years. It must be remembered that no grading was done, and ^pot a single stump dug or cut out. As the road was cut out winter, it grew up to brush and bushes for at least ten ars. It made a fine berry patch for the people of River Falls. From El Paso east private contracts were let. In dis tricts where the road had already been opened up nothing was done, but in districts that had done nothing they let con^ tracts. The contractors simply cut the timber and felled it onto adjoining land, but never cut off a single log or cut a stump That timber slashed onto the adjoining land was a nuisance to clear up. Not a single bridge or culvert was built; nor could anybody find out how much was paid for these con- [âcts. Is As the worst work was done on the Rush River road, will devote my next chapter to that. OLD SETTLER; § [Continued next week. I _^ _ _ ..

EXPERIENCES IN JOURNALISM IN PIERCE COUNTY. It was in September, 1855, that I bought a half inter est in the Prescott Paraclete, my partner, Charles E. Young, having started the paper the February previous. He'had found the name by searching for something new and appropriate in a pocket edition of Webster's diction- Overlooking the distinction, in the definition, between ''^^*^e Paraclete'^' and Paraclete, and seeing that it meant 103

^^coniforter^fie sent to Chrc^gb for a four d<3Ha5f tograyfed' heading, atid had jîs paper out ^The Prescott Fâtactete,'^ utterly unconscious of the fact that in signified 'The Pres cott Holy Spirit,'^ till the pastor of his church, the ReVr Richard Hall, a Greek scholar, came into the office, horrified, as. soon, as the first number was out, and expounded the blunder. Even then Charley €ould hardly admit or confefi|# the impropriety. If it meant *'comforter,'' why then he iti- • tended the paper should be a comfort to the people of Pierce County; and he would not consent to changing the name titi my buying in gave him an excuse for it. One pleasant morning, a week or two afterwards, I ,. >i>ounted a saddle horse and started out eastward to canvass 'W^ subscribers. Someone advised me to be careful and not 'gft drownded in crossing ''Big River." On reaching that "''kiHn^ stream, due east from Prescott, I let down the bridlf^ j»s and my horse drank off the surplus of the flood, whet| stepped over the remainder without wetting a hoofIT •Years afterwards, in fishing Big River for trout, and; iiag* its mouth at the Mississippi to be a wide lagoon, 1 >iild Relieve the legend that Pike's voyageurs, in 1805, had irned in there, thinking it was a large stream, and having followed it the half mile to where it dwindles to a small brook, looked up, exclaiming "Beeg Rivere!" and turned back, resuming their batteaux voyage up the Mississippi. I passed through Trimbelle Village, where uncle Frank lin Otis helped me to get one subscriber, a paying one; then on east into the woods, to the end of the road two miles west of where Ellsworth now stands. I brought up at a rail fence across the road, just be yond the Stafford clearing. Here a settler gave me his ,name as a subscriber; it was not Stafford, but whoever he was, he had the paper for two years without paying for it; and that was all the riches I got on that trip, and the last of my canvassing for anything but votes in Pierce County. Of several sets of files-^ê kept and bound of the *'Par aclete" and 'Transcript," one was lost in the Chicago fire,, fmother I left witif ^c«iii|6K6 when the Civil War broê ouijl |without recovery, but the thnd I was glad to find three' ^years ag6 in the library of the State Historical Society at I Madison; and I think we also furnished one to the Minne- >tB Historical Society at St. Paul. OLIVER GIBBS i To be continued.

: SKETCH OF THE TOWN OP SPRING LAKE. Continued from last Week. " %"y^ iC>4 ^The price at whichThomesteadT^lalms were sold uTearly' days reminds one of the Texan who said that he saw the I time when the whole of a wealthy county of that state #ould have been bought for a pair of boots; and when asked hy he did not buy it, replied that he did not have the oots. A young man, aged twenty, who lived just across the ine in St. Croix County, with an eye to business purchased a "squatter's" claim for the sum of $10. Being under age and unmarried his plan was to watch his claim till he be came of age, when he and his affianced were to settle upon ^ it. Seeing two or three men lookhigôV^r the claiin, he sus- \ pected that they meant to "jump'^ll^sllîm. He immediately [notified his intended of the state otaffairs and obtained her consent to an immediate marriage. Taking her behind him on the horse, they hastened to the nearest justice of peace, and were there made man and wife. Being the head of a family, he hurried to the land office at St. Croix Falls, and .made sure of his claim. The hero of this narrative .still possesses, the wife and the homestead; and, by the way, is one of our most enter prising citizens. As an example of the profits of farly farming, Mr. ^'Francisc o relates that soon, after set;fti]y|; here he raised an •excellent crop of potatoes, which th^^|?^s no market for in the fall; he buried them in large pit^fh the ground. The next spring there was no market i(St] them, and no one he could give them to; so the potato hole^Wfff,never opened. An anecdote connected with the elppôf the Indiana settlement to reach their homesteads wiî^vey some idea of the nature of the country at that^l^v^ ^ This company left Indiana in a body, with the i^^tîi of taking home-1 steads some where on government 1^^?. They came to Me- \ nomonie, where they halted to make tciffiLe inquiries. Learn- ipg from an old hunter and trapper of Sections 2 and 12, ^ (Town 27, Range 15, which he said was good land and va- pant, two of their number accompanied the hunter by a hunter's trail to see the "promised land." They reported! favorably, and the colony prepared to penetrate the wilder ness. They followed the Hudson road several miles from • Menomonie, where they stopped and camped for the night. The all absorbing idea was, how to get to their lands. It was discussed by two of the company, who each proposed a different route; one thought to follow down Gilbert Creek, by J}he direction it ran, would take thpm near the place; the_i other thought t,hey ought to follow down Cady Creek. Both were positive, and the argument was merging into a quarrel* i^t this junction Wm. W. Reed, known in the copipany as J C'5' '•''UncielKIIy," whoTiad'femained silent, Yebukedtlieih, td|* ing them that neither of them knew what tiey were talkfic^ about. They knew they had passed Gilbert Creek and that Cady Creek was ahead of them; that there was anothi^, creek called Knights Creek, which had its source somewhere^ between the other two creeks. Their land, he said, mi^t lie on the ridge between Cady Creek and Knight's Creek, ând the Sec. line of 13 and 14, Town 28, near which they were then camped,, would take them right where they wanted to go, and would be about the center of the ridge between the two creeks, and would not be much broken. The disputants seemed to acquiesce in this theory and I agreed td follow the section line through the wilderness, a distance of five miles. Mr. Reed's theory proved to hi correct. ^ ^^ * (Concluded.)

OLD SETTLER'S STORY. The County Commissioners laid out a county road from El Paso village to Maiden Rock, on Rush River. It was never known who signed a petition for such road, as there Were only four legal voters residing on Rush River in El Paso. Contracts were let privately for opening up the high* way fit for travel. By following the river bottom the grade from Maiden Rock to Centerville does not exceed twenty feet to the rhUi^ as shown by a railroad survey made by the Burlington foad^: but it would not require eight or ten bridges across RusK' River in the town of El Paso, with not over one bank at any crossing fit for a bridge, the other being a low flat place half a mile wide or more. ? Rush River is a very crooked stream, and fined with high bluffs on both sides of solid, hard limestone and flint rock, and varying from one to several hundred feet in height either perpendicular or overhanging the river. AH the riffles, are swift running, with very rocky bottom. [ The new road was laid partly on the bottom by the river, partly over the edge of some bluffs, over the tops of .others, and over deep ravines, whieh are subject to terrible I floods in spring time and after heavy rains, making it im- (possible to cross them at that time. What the contract called for no person in El Paso, ex-: cept those who had the contract, ever knew. It was said : one man cleaned up $200 on a job south of El Paso village. In no place was the dug way over seven or eight feet 10(]

wide, makmg it dangerous fd| ffiaii or team. In every case"^ it was filled on the river side by old logs and brush, witka Httle dirt on top. The greatest piece of rascality was done on a hillside near the mouth of Cave Creek. '\ This place is known as "Pikes Peak of Pierce County.'^ It is perhaps one hundred fifty feet straight down to the Water^s edge from the alleged road, and several hundred feet straight up to the top of the bluff. Brush was piled up on the river side five or six feet high, some old trash put on top, and covered with about a foot of dirt. Just there was a ledge of sand stone which would not have been such an obstacle to opening a road bed. Through some misunderstanding (or understanding, I don't know which) the Commissioners did not accept the road or declare it open until the middle cf January, when rhere were two feet of snow on the ground. As there was _uite a lot of wheat to be hauled to Lake City, we were glad ,e have the road opened, as it would save climbing the hills ifm the Range Line or going eight miles farther by way of tlost Creek. I for one made a trip down that road. That satisfied tee! I never knew of any person who made more than one trip, either. It required a well broken, steady team to keep in that road and not crowd into the river. The town of El Paso put a good frame bridge just a little north of where McLeod's mill was, as the road could not be used without a bridge there. As soon as the snow went off in the spring this bridge went out, as did the dirt on all the road over the bluff,, where it was underlaid with brush. In some places the road was left only two or three feet wide. Had the County Commissioners gone with their road no one in El Paso would have shed a tear. This left one state road and three county roads in El •Paso for the town to maintain, besides a surplus of other ^roads. ; Forcing roads through a town when the tax-payers fe^ither want nor need them is generally wrong. Of course, ^signers can be got to any petition—people who have no in terest in the town they live in. In the spring this road was washed out a worthless lot of non-taxpayers was kept in El I Paso ten days to attempt to levy a tax of $1000 to be laid out on that road, and the same was done for several years. We had some revenge, in electing Wm. Hodge, of Mar tell, county commissioner in place of Dr. Andrews, of River Falls, and if we could have reached Maiden Rock District we would have served their commissioner the same. 107 Everybody was glad whe^ the I)buhty Board syBtem, was re-adopted, as it gave each town, no matter how small, some representation in the county. OLD SETTLER. ^p^y^^cT^ CHAPTER xxxrr. I congratulate you. and so do all the readers of the Sun, who take an interest in the Story of Pierce county, on hav ing secured the valuable services of Oliver Gibbs and Allen P. Weld in giving the history of the early settlement and occurrences in the county. No two men in Pierce county are so welbquMified for writing up the early doings in the County as tney are.^'^ Your "Old Settler" served on the County Board whiW Oliver Gibbs was County Clerk, and later on Gibbs and" \ Nichols were neai* neighbors of mine, they owning land on- ^c. 2, joining nie. Oliver Gibbs was an expert at making maple sugar and catching speckled beauties, and was the owner of the finest; acre of strawberries (in Prescott) I ever saw. It never occurred to me that he was the leading spirit in that convention at Hudson that nominated Hon. H. L. Humphrey; I owe him an apology, which I freely give. I always gave John Dale credit for being the moving spirit in that convention and all the tricks attached to it; but after reading the article in the Sun of August 3rd I cheerfully give him credit for the whole affair, including the pledge ipiade to nominate Dr. Beardsley for the Assembly at the j^oming convention in River Falls. ?|^ Pierce and S|;. Croix counties constituted the Assembly ^^lstrict at that time, for which the Doctor was promised the nomination. It was so nicely planned that the Doctor and his friends had to support the Pierce County delegation nominee for Senator. The pledge hte got was as good as an election, and at the same time it was plainly to be seen his election meant another vote on the removal of the county seat, if we could not prevent it through our Senator. I must acknowledge that I was not acquainted with the inner workings of that convention. I had full knowledge of the promise made Dr. Beardsley and by 10 o'clock a. m, ^ knew Mr. Humphrey was our candidate. I also learned jthe sum and substaiMje of that lecture John Dale gave old {^Tom Hurley in . the wood shed; but as he always regarded ^that as a friendly or "family affair", he kept quiet about it. As it was the custom in those days to tap candidates for €xpenses, L would like to know how much Mr. Humph rey was charged.

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T The article W AUeh~¥,l^Wmjd Bmm^^Bt 'throws new ligM on thit faPdus Rush Ri#rr^^^ road he Md reference to is, atid always wa% known as ft^ld Seeley road, tunning from Maiden Rock up Rush Ei bottom, crossing the river at Seeley's, and continuing up ithe river for some distance, turning up a ravine leading pfeprthwest until it reaches what was known as Tear^f ^Oaer. It passed on to Beldenville, passing Buckmaster^f jpiace, Peter Shannon's place, and George Wirth's place, and mora there to the Cudd school house. I had the impression that that road was opened up the year before the other roads were opened; there was $700 e^xpended on that road. From where that road left Rush River settlers living on the river bottom had opened up a good roadway as far as the El Paso town line, and perhaps half a mile farther. From there up to El Paso village there was $1000 ex pended. John Strong had a contract on the south end of the road; he did a splendid piece of work on his contract. On the balance of the road there was considerable roguery on :^e part of the contractors, and pure negligence and in competency on the part of those accepting such work. • I did not intend to say anything more about those foads than what I wrote last week, but I had to explain the misunderstanding about that Seeley road. Personally, I have nothing to say about any member of the County Commissioners; it was the system that was to be condemned.' It was always understood that commis sioner McMurphy never went near that river road. j I ought to explain why we were so anxious to have a road open to Lake City. Most of our wheat was winter wheat, that usually brought $1.25 or $1.30 a bushel in Lake City, but much less at other markets. OLD SETTLER.

:, . POLITICAL REMINISCENCES. Pierce county was cut out for a Democratic county, ifeeing named in honor of Frankhn Pierce, elected President j of the United States in 1852. j The keystone of the Democratic arch of Pierce and St. Croix counties was the large Norwegian settlement in Martell and over the county line from there. These people were naturally antislavery in their views, but for some years could not get over the fear that, as charged by the. Demo- fats, the Republican party was the old Know-No thing; '^ rty in ^isguise. They voted for Buchanan in 1856, but in statfe and coimty election of 1858 came over to the Re- ili^lican side en masse. 109

5 Est time I eveFsaw John Dale, in the fall of 1863, w^s on the cars going east from LaCrosse. John was hold ing some federal office, was flush with money, and claimed to owe me ten dollars as part reimbursement for my ex penses in getting out a pamphlet in the Scandinavian lan guage for circulation in the Martell colony in the summer of 1850, a service I had almost forgotten, and can now hardly recall. - ^ ^ John proved it on me to such satisfaction that ^ let him shove the money into my vest pocket. But I do recall, with vivid memory, a scene the evenii^ before the fall election of 1858, at the school house nmit Hans Stromli's house in Martell. A joint debate had been arranged with the Democrats. Judge Joel Foster was on hand with his dignified argument on the "Compromises of the Crastitution"; H. N. Twombly, County Attorney,was to tackle" the Judge, and J. D. Regment, Receiver 6f the Hudson Land Office, came out to avert any stampede. He was an eloquent speaker and very popular man; but as he would not take turn and turn about with us in the debate, but lay back to have the last word, Twombly talked against time till near midnight and cut him out. As candidate for Clerk of the County Board, I^was sup posed to be needing a few Democratic votes pretty bad to recoup myself for some threatened scratching elsewhere and had come out there specially to get them. H. A. Jay, of Prescott, had furnished me with the names of several citizens of the county who had been memi^ bers of the only lodge of Know-Nothings ever organized in the county. Of course, the lodge had become extinct, but its records proved the very facts we needed to bring out, that Democrats and Whigs had gone into it together. In the list furnished me by Jay I was glad to find the names of Dr. Beardsley, "King Bee"*^ Democrat, and Henry Teachout, my opponent on the county ticket. So I had invited Henry to ride out there with me and be present at the meeting; and Jay was good enough to come along and be ready to act as my witness if need be. On the way* out Henry told me he hoped we would always remain friends, but he had got me beaten, as the de fection of which I have spoken was too great for me to overcome. We shook hands over the agreement to lef nothing in politics impose on friendship for each other, and nothing ever did: but when I got the floor at this meeting with the Know-Nothing roll, out of which I read the names of the very Democrats who had been busy retailing in pri vate the charge against us, Henry, sitting by my side, began to discount his Martell votes. 1 I said in cIosingT^^TheTKnow-Nothih^ p^^^ you have nothing to fear from it. Melnbers of both the old parties were in it together; and are now back in the Demo- pbratic party or gone into this Anti-Slavery, or Republican ^party. And now", I said, turning to Henry, "here is my good friend, Henry Teachout, my opponent on the county ticket, who can testify to the truthfulness of what I have said, for he was Secretary o( the lodge." "The gentleman is mistaken", replied Henry; "I was not Secretary of the lodge." This was almost a stunner to me. I knew he was and yet I knew also that he did not mean to tell an untruth. Then the solution flashed to mind, and, pointing my finger at him, I said, while the packed audience waited in breath less silence for the outcome,— "Henry, you have the advantage of me; you were a member of the Know-Nothing, or Negative American Organization, and I was not. You know what they called their officers; I do not. But what I mean is, you were the officer who did their writing. Of course y43u will not deny that." And he didn't.' But a few seconds afterwards, in an uproar of shouting that shook the roof of the school house, the Norwegians denied the Democratic party; and, I am informed, have not voted its ticket since then. ' Henry Teachout and Jay Whipple, candidate for clerk of the court, drove back to Prescott that night, and reported the county lost to their ticket. The result proved that I did not personally need the Martell votes; but a recurrence to the record will come nearly, if not quite, to a ratification of my memorv that I had them, all but six. OLIVER GIBBS-

v?// /90 ^

CHAPTER XXXVII. JIM EAMES. I presume tliere are to be found in Pierce County to day, here and there, quaint characters whose sayings and doings will be recalled in anecdote after many years shall have passed by. The woods were full of "odd sticks" in the early fifties, in this county, the real woods holding a greater percentage of such, perhaps, than the prairie. Out on Big River Was the voting precinct of Jim Fames and By. Eames, brothers; though while By. worked the farm, Jim 1 spent mosf of his^tlme in town. ^ HB was a middle aged man, of good appearance and 1 pleasant manners, always full of whiskey, but never drunk, j had no visible means of support, yet was generally flush with money, which, according to report, was either bor rowed of anybody who would lend it or won at draw poker. In the fall of 1856 he managed to get the nomination for sheriff on the Democratic ticket.^ A close race was ex pected between the two tickets, but nobody supposed Jim would have any show whatever. Out there in Oak Grove, the Big River town, lived th^ Rev. James A. Stirratt, well known far and near by reputa^ tio|i as the founder of the "Ohio" or Stirratt colony ift tha^ toWn. ^ By some means Jim ascertained that in the Norwegian settlement of Martell Mr. Stirratt was not known by sight. So out there he posted, a few days before the election, dressed in full clerical garb, black suit of clothes, white "choker", plug hat and all, and introduced himself as "the Rev. James A. Stirratt, of Oak Grove// He saw Ole this and Hans that among the leading men; told them he did not usually take much part in politics; did not regard it as proper for a preacher of the gospel to do so; but a neighbor of his, a good, honorable man and a member of his Church, Mr. James H. Eames, Democratic candidate for sheriff, was being so vilified by the opposition, who had gone so far as to report him a drunkard and gambler, that he had on this occasion come out, in justice to this worthy man, to dispel- the slander and ask the people to rebuke it by coming td the polls and voting en masse for Mr. Eames. Then, having got in his work, Jim put back to Prescott? and laid low for results. The appeal was not in vain; The Scandinavians rallied as requested to rebuke slander^^ and Jim Eames was elected sheriff, the oply candidate who got office on the Democratic ticket that time. Whether Mr. Stirratt ever heard of the trick I do not know, but I guess not. I had the story from Jim himself. Jim Eames served his two years, and made a good sheriff, for he was really a capable man. During his term of office his life was generally as irreproachable as the aver age politician's in those days, so much so that I own to pleasant recollections of my intimacy with him as a fisher man on the trout streams of Pierce county. We fished many a day together, and slept many a night together, when, as I never touched the bottle, the wood-ticks would leave my person and attach themselves to his, and give me an extra half hour's sleep in the morning while Jijn got up if and unscrewed them with his pair of tweezers from his own plump body. Jim had whiskey buried by the roadsides all over the county, and if, in packing up in the woods, at the close of one of our fishing trips, he had any more of it left than to last him on the road home, he would go off into some sly place and bury it. He buried a ten gallon keg of it one time on the Trimbelle, somewhere below Hans Felt's. I should hate to raise any false hopes of the present settlers out there; but if decay of barrel or bung has not released it, it is probably there yet. Jim went off to Colorado. I think it was in the winter of 1864 that I was intro duced to Governor Barns, of that state, at the room of Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, in Washington. In the course of the conversation I asked the Governor if he knew a man in Denver by the name of Eames—James H. Eames. "I know a notorious gambler of that name", he re plied. "That is the man", I said; "How is he doing?" "Well," said the Governor, leaning forward and look ing not unfriend^, "Jim has managed to lay by about eighty thousand dollars." A few years afterwards Jim Eames died, in poverty and neglect, in Muscatine, his last industry to make a living being to work a little at sign painting, his old trade. I think, if the editor prints this, there will be found no relatives to have their feelings hurt by it. "Alas, my brother!" He was kind to me. OLIVER GIBBS.

THE OLD SETTLER'S STORY. In hopes of drawing more information from Mr. Gibbs about the county printing and the part he took in the poli tics of Pierce Coi|nty for twenty years, I will give the Sun my recollection of what happened. Your Old Settler heard John Dale say that if he had an education he would make this world love and fear him. I am sure he made many fear him; about the love part I can not say so much. John was a very busy man, and always made his work pay well. He and Lute Taylor and later on Abner Morse were always credited with controling the nominations of all county officers, also Senator and Assemblyman, and even judicial elections^^^It^wag also understood that they made it pay well. In the early years of the county, officials received fees, instead of a salary, and as three-fqprths of all taxes wei^ 11

retdl'nedri^o tfie^ treasurer unpaid, it is easy to~see that the treasurer and county clerk were paying offices.' They being elected through the ring were under obligation to give the public printing to the ring paper. The ring con-1 troled the county board, or at least a majority of them, ^ Promises for positions were often made two years ahead. ; On many occasions there was an effort made by mem- • bers of the county board to divide the fees for printing among the different papers, but to no effect. In the early settlement of the^ county, land was de scribed by the quarter and half section, as the case might be, as nearly every person owning land had a quarter section or more; but the ring^had an act passed by the legis lature requiring all land to be ^scribed in forties OB less, as the case might oe. It involvecr^ tax of twenty-five cents for each description for the printer, and more than one* half the land was sold for taxes during the life of that ring. Many settlers coiild not meet their wants and had to let all but one forty be returned and sold for taxes. (In, another letter I will show how taxes were very high.) That act also made much more work for all town and county officers, who had to describe the lands. Both River Falls papers enjoyed the full benefit of that unjust if legal act. After many years a Mr. Kimball wa^s induced to move to the county seat and publish the^ "Herald", in hopes of breaking that ring. Well, he got the county printing all right; but as might makes right, he had to pay over to the others one-half his fees for many years, or else they threatened to move to Ellsworth, bag and bag gage. Of course, they had the inside track, and Kimball had a choice of two evils; so he did the printing, all of it, and paid: over half his fees to the others for the privi lege. I am not certain whether Case &Doolittle had to do; the same or not. Settlers found much fault with that act, but as a salve; to their sore, it was shown that most of the tax came out of speculators. But the settler and speculator were really treated alike. . . OLD SETTLER.;

CHAPTER XXXVIII. • COUNTY FINANCES PRIOR TO 186L In the early years of Pierce county the public finances got into a low condition. Speculation in lands and town lots made money too profitable to use it in paying taxes.' / II

More than three years were alldwed for payment before real estate could be conveyed away from owners by tax deeds; and while the annual tax sales carried the greater portion of the lands and lots, the most of them had to be bid in by the 'County, for few investors cared to put their money into tax sale certificates or tax titles. So little money could be de-J pended upon to come in promptly on each year's tax levy^ that amounts had to be levied in excess of actual disburse- tnents equal to the same discount on county and town orders, which was sometimes as much as forty or fifty per; cent. ' There were, of course, many settlers, and some non residents, who were in the habit of paying their debts when due,—taxes as well as pther debts. It was very hard on 'fiuch people, the excessive amounts they were obliged to pay because others were dilatory. If something could be donej to create a demand for the tax sale certificates that were] accumulating from the annual sales, the condition of affairs | might be remedied; but the main thing was to bring on a readier payment of taxes when due each winter after the levy. To bring all this about was a matter of considerable study. One trouble was the confusion in the county treas urer's office. This was cleared up by the resignation and settlement with the treasurer, as stated in a previous sketch, and the appointment of the faithful, competent treasurer, J. H. Southwick, in his place. But a great deal of the trouble lay in the inaccuracies of the town officers in doing their part of the assessment and collection of taxes. Finally, I think it was at the legislative session of 1857, ^ the law was amended so as to give some supervision of the method of assessment of taxes to thp county clerks, and then it was, if I am not in error as to dates, that a scheme was evolved that brought everything to par, and practically resulted, not only i^n lopping off the extra levy, but in mail ing the results the same as if the taxes were everywhere .paid when due. I, I want to pause here and pay a deserved tribute to that Norwegian town, Martell. The county officers could ^.Iways depend on receiving the assessment rolls and all the returns from there in neat, accurate shape. I remember one officer, whose returns were models, was Ciiristopher G. H. Heyerdahl. His work as a town officer was what Southwick's was in the county treasurer's office— plain, businesslike, and perfectly correct. I also remember very well that in looking over his work there came to my mind a plan of improving the assess ment rolls that was put into execution. The rolls for the i f. assessd^ of all the towns in the coiihtip were gotten., up] by contract with Cuftpêr^ Page & Hayne, of ChicagQ>rj printing the description of the lands, accordiug to the govern-! mental subdivisions, dow^n to forties. This not only pre vented errors in the description by the assessors, but leaving four lines to a quarter section, instead of one, entries of payments by forties could be made on the margin by the treasurer, without the errors that the old system entailed by careless writing or insufficient space. Another advantage of this plan was that it usually multiplied by four the a% vertising penalty, which after a year or twô, or as soon ap the new method became generally understood, resulted in f^^ more ready payment of the taxes. But something else had to be done—some provision made meantime to realize oil the tax sale certificates. Having gotten the assessment and tax rolls into better condition, and confidence in the county treasurer's office re stored, the following plan was authorized by the county board and agreed to by the board of supervisors of all the towns: as soon as the annual tax sale was over the treasure^;; made out and haAded to the county clerk a statement id| the amounts due the town on dehnquent taxes, and at tjb^ same time turned over the certificates of land sales. These were assigned to the town in blank by the county clerk, each town being limited to its own lands, but allowed to choose within that limit; and then the towns exchanged the certificates with holders of their ow^n script (town and school district orders, etc.) at par, so that usually in about thirty days after the tax sale the public indebtedness was everywhere cleared up. There would be enough certificates left over to take up the county orders, and the exchanges were now eagerly made. Public credit rose, the county and town orders came life to par, and staid there as long as the system was maintained. The certificates went into circulation in the channel of trade, never below par, and were often hoarded for investment. Money lenders would make the rounds of the stores and pick them up. A few "business men" made us much trouble about it. It broke into the profits of tax-paying agents. They could no longer buy county and town orders at 60 per cent, and turn them in at par in paying taxes for non-residents, pocketing the difference themselves.' One of them Tâs continually pestering the county board for a repeal of the system. At one session he succeeded in working up a resolution to the point of passage, so adroitly contrived, that if adopted it would have amounted to a complete change back to the old system, without appearing to the board to be for any such purpose at all. To arrest him in this scheme I w as obliged to be a little irrregular nayself. It was about fifteen minutes to 12 o'clock, noon. I wrote on a slip of paper, "Big cat und^F that meal; move to adjourn for dinner", and worked it under the corner of the table into the hand of "uncle Warr ner", supervisor from Martell. He carried the adjournment. Then I got the members into the clerk's office and showêd them the "cat in the meal". They recognized it, and in the afternoon put a finish on the resolution. The author of it was a man gifted in, and notorious for, profane language. He had detected me in the "interference" with the business of the board, and gave free release to his opinion of me, and continued to do so on all proper occa sions, finally going so far as to start a Democratic paper with the hope of getting me out of office. I may as well finish this personal part of the story by saying that it now seems to me the first six numbers of his "Northwestern Democrat", started at Prescott in 1857, were devoted almost entirely to me I enjoyed the attacks, but my friends became alarmed. So to please them I hired a whole page.of the Transcript from my old partner, Charles E. Young, set up the type myself, and came out with "A Familiar Epistle to P. V. Wise" with motto from Widow Bedott, "Have a Pickle, Elder Sniffles". Wise then let me alone, and we were good friends ever after. The tax-sale certificate system I have mentioned was afterwards done away with. I do not know when; but I do remember perfectly well that John Dale told me, years afterwârds, that if it had been continued at least a while longer as I had left it, a slump of forty thousand dollars /would have been saved to the county—a slump cumulating when a tax-title syndicate took a big bunch of tax-certifi- jcates, or tax titles, one or both, off the hands of the county. 11 know nothing about this, but of the facts I have stated about the low finances and their improvement up to 1861— di these things, though really from memory, the facts were as I have stated. OLIVER GIBBS,

CHAPTER XXXIX. I ANECDOTES OP EARLY TIMES, ^ f If in writing my sketches I make a pause here and there to record a personal anecdote that may seem frivo lous, or for any reason unavoidable, the editor of "The Story of Pierce County" knows that he has my consent to use the blue pencil and the waste basket. v Speaking of the steamboat "War Eagle" and its old captain. Smith Harris, recalls to mind many a river anecdote and scene. Besides the fleet of the Galena company, whose boats I have mentioned in a previous article, there were St. Louis packets in the up-river trade, between whom and the Ga lena boats races were occasionally enjoyed, though never to any crazy or dangerous extent, as on the lower river in ihe St. Ijouis, Louisville and New Orleans trade, where a tra dition remains of an old lady who was going to market w^h a large quantity of her pork products aboard, and wifo exacted a promise from the captain that he would not ra;6e any; but when the other boat was gaining on them at the rear, wood fuel exhausted, and the last barrel of tar that was in the cargo being emptied in, she handed the captain her bills of lading and told him to burn the whole lot of hams, bacon and lard, but "never let that boat go by". Short spurts of racing sometimes were had, but no one ever knew Smith Harris to be beaten. If he did not have the fastest boat, he knew the river better than his rivals* Stories were told of his lagging behind and reappearing away ahead of the other boat, by dodging through a short cut in some bend of the river. One of these old steamboat captains I met at Prescott in 1900, in command of the St. Louis boat "Dubuque"; when I asked him how long he had been running on the river he said he had been there ever since the Mississippi was a small brook. In the fall of 1860 a famous lower river pilot made his appearance at Prescott, and spent the winter there with the family of Isaac T. Foster His name was Alec. Creadle. He was a tall man, rather eccentric in manner, but said to be one of the most skillful pilots in the New Orleans and St. Louis trade. His home was in St. Louis, but the Civil War rising in the South had shut up the river from commerce, and put him out of a job. His friends in St. Louis were Confederate sympathizers, and he himself under suspicion, but had come north, so he stated, to avoid entanglement with either si(;le. I got acquainted with him at Masonic, Lodge first by being on a committee to examine his cr^ dentials, when he told us he was "free born, half white, ahd' willing to go in". I joined our army in December, and saw and heard no more of Alec. tiU March following, in 1862. Island No. 10 had been captured^ Memphis and other ports were in posses sion of the Union forces, the river was open a long way down for boats in the Union service, and the government^ greatly in need of experiencedrpilotsToF that section. My regiment having gone into camp'at St. Louis, Alec came to me for help to get him a job in the transport service. He said what he needed most was proof to show where he had spent the winter, as it was suspected that he had been south helping the Confederates; if I would go with him and tell the authorities what I knew of his previous whereabouts, and would put in my good word for him, he would give the government his best service, and would die sooner than be tray the flag. I took him to Col. C. C. Washburne, commander of my regiment, who went with us to the quartermaster having the business in charge, before whom Col. W. vouched for me, and I for Alec, as best I could. I heard no more from Alec, till July. My regiment was in Arkansas with the Army of General Curtis. We were marching down White River, nearly, for several days, and for a day or two quite out of provisions, subsisting on black berries that grew in great areas bj the roadsides. A fleet of transports had bee^ sent down from Memphis and up White River to meet us with, supplies, but had been obliged to turn back when a Confederate battery put a shell through the boiler of the gunboat "Mound City" and blew her up. Our army then turned east from Clarendon hurrying across the country to reach Helena and and intercept the transports there. We got through the second day. • For one day at least there had not been so much as a cracker to eat in the army of twenty thousand men; and when the advance reached the bluff at JBelena, looking down upon the river to the landing, and saw it lined with our fleet of transports, discipline and order were forgotten in one wild rush of half-starved officers and men to get their hands on the rations. I went with the rest. The very first boat I carne to was our old up-river boat the "War Eagle". Going aboard] and up the stairway I met Alec. Creadle coming down. "Hello, Alec, what are you doing here?" "Come up into the pilot house and I will show you!" "^ I went up with him, and there was his station, barri- Ipaded with mattresses, and every mattress bored full of poles, almost like a seive. "Did you stand here at the wheel. Alec, while all these •bullets were going through?" I asked. | "You bet I did", said he; "what do you think of my; loyalty now?" j There was nothing too good for me on that boat, and ; "when I took my leave of Alec, he hung over my head his thirty dollar field glass, and told me to keep it and wear it for his sake. OLIVER GIBBS.1 ' 11 My friend the "Old Settler" recalls pleasantly to my mind that spring of 1861 when Geo. H. Nichols and I lived out there on Sec. 2, town 26, range 16, from February till May, with only a tent in the woods for shelter, making maple sugar. We there got a good knowledge of the hardships in the lives of the pioneers in the Big Woods, far from markets for the little produce or stock they could raise in their small clearings,—^Uo roads to speak of, and neighbors few and far between. El Paso then comprised two whole townships, and I think in the spring election of that year there were not twenty votes polled by the entire town. If in the winter days they split rails along the section and quarter lines and charged up their time to the town for road work, or skinned the woods for the best logs to haul to Walker's mill down on Rush River, or cut butternut troughs for sugar making wherever the straightest trees came handy, nobody ever complained so far as I know. It was their work and their privations that were en hancing the value of the speculators' lands on all sides. They were a hardy, hospitable, honest race of citizens, all through those woods, and the one sad thought is that the heavy work they had to do broke them down early^ few" of them living on into old age, as "Old Settler" does, I am glad to find, enjoying the fine farms cut out in the timber land ; of Pierce County. We were laughed at^as sugar makers when we went put there that winter, but our Vermont experiences had already taught us the art of making maple sugar (all but the glucose and brown store sugar mixings, w^hich was of later date) and we won both first and second premiums at the county fair the next fall. "Old Settler" also mentions the trout fishing. There was, in one pool near the head of Cave Creek, as much as a wagon load of trout in plain sight, more than I ever saw in one place together, except in Slater's long mill pond on the upper Kinnickinnic, where, in June, 1858, there were five or ten times as many. We made a discovery out there in El Paso that I pre sume has been utilized more in that region, and this was that the clay underlying the surface soil made a good fire brick, strong enough for arches to hold up sugar boiling pans. We got this by building a double frame of iron wood poles, filling the claj^ in between the two sets of poles. By the time the inner set was burned out the clay was baked and made solid as a rock; no other foundation being needed for the pan for the entire season. We also invented and 12

used a method of clariFymg the buttemuTstalhs^buriorT^ Sap, but as the butternut trough has long since gone into disuse, it is hardly worth while to describe it. I think either of us, however, even at this day, could give lectures 'Out there in the art of making maple sugar; and it has be6n one of the regrets of my life that I did not cast my lot in the Pierce County woods, and be there to enjoy the annual sugar making as I did in my boyhood in Vermont. No, my friend, "Old Settler", there was no "tapping^^ of Mr. Humphrej^ for the expenses of that nomination to be State Senator. The nomination was a free gift, as well as a surprise to him. Old John had his "gratuity", as before stated. That was all there was of it; nor did I know at the time that Dr. Beardsley's nomination to the Assembly was to have any mix-up with the county seat question. Neither did Lute Taylor, for it was Lute's work bringing the Doctor out as a candidate for Speaker, and electing him the follow ing winter. '* I remember an incident of the trip to Madison in Janu- |ary that winter. I was on my way to Milwaukee to join my regiment, the second Cavalry. We were all in the stage coach together. Dr. Beardsley, Lute Taylor, myself, and a number of others, going from Prescott to La Crosse, then bur nearest railroad point. It was a cold night; the canvas covered coach was full, and most of the passengers got pretty full also. The six-horse team was going at a brisk trot along the side of the bluff between Wabasha and Minneiska. Suddenly it came to a halt on a flat of glare ice, when Doctor B. pushed the side flap open, sprang out and yelled: "All out, Minneiska!" The passengers all piled out, and were no sooner out than the most of them went down on the ice, sprawling or sitting on their haunches. Lute, without rising, started in to finish a story he had been trying to tell; but the Doctor, being himself a little more used to potations, assumed guardianship, and, not without |some difficulty—on his own underpinnings—got Lute onto ihis feet and was literally holding him up. • At this moment a St. Paul man addressed Lute saying, "1 don't know who you are, my friend, but from your walk and conversation I think I may safely claim you as a Demo crat." "No, no", replied Lute, with his usual stutter, "I am no Democrat, but I admit that at the present time I have the symptoms!" The laugh that followed sobered the party enough so they got aboard again and resumed their journey. OLIVER GIBBS. : ^ CHAPTER XLT T T "THE WAUKEGAN CLIQUE." The survivors of ante-war times in Pierce County will recognize in this heading an old familiar epithet in the local political contests of that day. It really meant nothing, for there was no such clique; but the Democrats were hard up for campaign arguments, and eager for any club of attack or defense they could pick up. The attitude of their party nationally was for the ex tension of slavery and against the homestead bill, and in the first campaign of the Republican party^ 1856, we had them at bay and desperate; for, with the exception of a very few of them, there was no pro-slavery sentiment in the county. Still, they had some party pride and hope for a better turn of affairs—some escape from the slavery incu- bus^—and put up the best fight they could to save their party from going to pieces like their old enemy the Whig party. Who originated the cry, "Waukegan Clique", it would be unsafe to say; but there is a gray-headed old farmer still living near River Falls, by the name of D. M. Lusk, who might possibly give its pedigree. He tame to Pierce county about that time, with the prestige of having been the Democratic candidate for Congress in his old district in Pennsylvania, and was closely connected*with the Fosters,—Judge Joel, of River Falls^ the Nestor and sage of our county Democrats, and Isaac L, of Prescott, who was (with the exception of Dr. W. Beardsley) the shrewdest and in political street conversation, the most inventive and annoying in epithet of any opponent we had. Had the party held its own in the county and elsewhere in our Congressional district, Mr. Lusk would have been booked for Congress here, probably. But there were a few Repubhcans at Prescott who had formerly lived at Waukegan, Illinois, or became connected with Waukegan people by marriage; all were active in politics, and some of them were candidates for county offices. Among themselves, however, there was no more alliance than between any other equal number of citizens. They were in no sense banded together. . :; There was Austin H. Young, a law student then, candi- Id^teior Clerk or the Court. He wâs afterwards State Sen- i atoi", and when he moved to Minneapolis became a Judge of ^District Court, and served eighteen years in that capacity. THe had three brothers in Prescott—Charles E., of the Tran- ; script, Dr. Artjiur Young, for half a century a physician I there, an^-^Frank, of the Drug Store, all Waukegjan boys. 12 ppr^. T^ Maxson, one oflhSlÔwn proprietors, was coun^ 1 a Waukegan man; so was Alvfeh Fowler, another town pro prietor ;i^lso Jesse H. Southwick, afterwards county treasurer; Horatio N. Twombly, later on county attorney; and the writer of this, the only survivor of the "Chque". We did not mind the cry "Waukegan Clique" in 1856 or 1858, for then it only came from the Democrats: but in 1860, when the county seat removal portion of our own party took it up, and John Dale began to shout it, it told against us, and did him and Lute Taylor valiant service in preventing the nomination of any Prescott man to the county offices that fall, and thus clearing the way for the removal, and for transferring of the county printing from the Prescott Transcript to the River Falls Journal. As I have stated in a former sketch, I recall with satis faction the fact that there was no "Waukegan Clique" at all, and that I never belonged to any other clique in Pierce county, if there ever was any other. I may not have another occasion to speak of the politi cal contests of that early date, it may be worth while to refer again here to the campaign of 1858. This was really a hard fought campaign, for our first Republican adminis tration in State affairs had put us on the defensive, by our Governor having sold himself for $50,000 in bonds in the disposal of the land grant for a railroad from Madison via Portage, and thence by the "St. Croix River or Lake" to Lake Superior. True, the entire State legislature and State officers, not to say Judges of the Supreme Court, with two or three notable exceptions, had been bought at the same time: but our Governor being plainly into it, we had hard work to make out that we were any better than the "Forty Thieves" of the State School fund we had, in 1856, busted. So a school house campaign was organized for our county, and H. N. Twombly and the writer made it,-—made it thoroughly and on foot, too. We were everywhere wel comed with full houses. Beginning at Diamond Bluff we ^followed all the roads, and held meetings, round among the River and Lake Pepin bluffs, through the woods to Trim belle, thence to the prairie back of Martell, where we closed the campaign by the exposure of the Democratic "Know- nothings", as mentioned in a previous sketch. Judge Foster followed us with a horse and buggy, giv ing out that he was going to "spank the boys home to prescott". .We divided the time with him everywhere. ilr. Lusk and Jay Whipple followed us to Diamond Bluff 4,nd spoke for the Democrats there, but then left the job of V'^spanking" us entirely to the Judge and went back to v|^SCOtt. 12' ^'""^ Judge Foster was a dignified speaker, perfectly fair in method and gentlemanly in manner, and a well- posted Democrat of the Old School. Twombly was a Dartmouth college graduate, brilliant, handsome—a fine speaker, thor oughly posted in political history. . If there was anything left unsaid between those two in ;he pros and cons of the Slavery question, I think no one [nîced^ tTie omission. My own part in the debates was mostly county officers. Footsore and weary wê were when we closed this cam paign the night before election in Martell. OLIVER GIBBS.

OLD PRESCOTT. William H. Seward at St. Paul, in 1858, made his fam* ous prophecy that somewhere within two hundred mile^ o^ the place whereon he then stood would grow up the great est inland city of the North American continent; but P. V. Wiise had three years before located the exact spot by mak ing a map showing Prescott to be the geographical center of the whole earth, all the important lines of transportation converging here, like spokes of a wheel to the hub, Governot Stevens' railroad, the Northern Pacific survey, being the principal line on the map, crossing the Mississippi here at the mouth of the St. Croix. The big thought of that map was dominant in the minds of all the "town proprietors" of Prescott. The land was too valuable to be given away, hence none of them, in laying out their plats, had reserved and donated ground for county buildings, and when, in 1855, it became necessafy to have a site for a jail, only one small lot could be given, that one away back on the prairie bench, and the deed of this had the string to it that if ever the county should fail to use it for a jail the title to the lot should revert to the grantors. I have stated in a previous article what it was that pre cipitated the county seat removal,—a newspape;- war over the printing; but if the portly shade of John Dale could be summoned back to testify he would tell us that probably what won the fight for Ellsworth in the first vote was his reading of that deed to the wavering voters in the central towns, and his comments on the illiberality of it. Whether the idea originated with Old John, or whether it was the shrewdness of Lute Taylor suggesting it, I do not know, but certain it is that no sooner was the fight on than John Dale came to the Register's office, got a copy of that deed and out he went over the prairie and through the woods, read ing it with many a snort and sneer, sarcastic comment and I unctions grinaaceT^f which he was such a master. At the time of the second vote, to get the county seat back again, Prescott was ready to be liberal about grounds and build ings, but it was too late. ^ Speaking of maps, the first official sectional map of the county was made in 1857 on order of the county board by Horatio N. Twombly, the brilliant young lawyer who was then serving by appointment as county attorney. It was a fine and accurate piece of pen and ink work, which I pre sume my friend Hohle could find tucked away in some pigeon hole of the County Clerk's office. Twombly charged the county only ten dollars for making this map, but years \ afterwards, when I saw him in New York, a rich business man there, h^ told me that this was the most welcome fee he ever earned, without which the financial panic of 1857 might have left him stranded. A small wooden building was built on the lot above mentioned, and for a time occupied as a jail, but as the prisoners kept getting out of it whenever tired of its seclu* sipn, a resolution was offered a year or two afterward at a' meeting of the county board to build a better jail. Ire* ttiember that this resolution was defeated by a speech from - Wm. H. Moore, of Greenwood. He said "We put the roughs into that building, they get right out and leave the county, and we have no more trouble with them. We thus rid tne community of their presence and release the tax payers of; the expenses for their board in jail for months waiting their trial before the circuit court and afterwards. I don't see what better use we can make of a stronger jail and I oppose the motion." Any argument for economy w^as good in those days, for town and county orders were at a great discount, | non-residents leaving the bulk of the taxes to drag along years unpaid, and it was hard to collect enough tax money for public expenses. But of this, and the remedy that brought the orders to par, and how the finances fell back again I have told the story in another sketch. OLIVER GIBBS.

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COPYRIGHT 1905. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED €HAPTERXLI. JUDGES FULLER AND WETHERBY. During the fifties the cpnvi- of the Eighth Judicial Cir cuit was presided over by Judge S. S. N. Fuller, of Hudson. He was an amiable man, of dignified presence; an upright judge, well liked by the people, and, itf'a co^pamon sense ap- 1 plication of the law, equal to any emergeS^Salthough ad dicted to one unfortunate personal habit—^^the inability to sit in court a full half day's session without something to wet his whistle. When, after an hour or so's restraint, he began to spit cotton pretty bad, it was not uncommon for some sympa thising member of the panel to rise and ask for an int^^j mission. In such cases the Judge would condescendingly say. "Mr. Sheriff, adjourn court for fifteen minutes for tl^ benefit of the jury!" Then he would walk out to a source of suppty and refresh himself, returning soon. Once a Prescott iîBn was on trial for a grave criminal offence, and in ordter to'clear him, his counsel, L. P. Wether- by, afterwards Judge of the Circuit, called up a witness to prove the bad character of the complainant by a statement of his own shame. "What do you expect to prove by this witness?" de-, manded the Judge. Judge Wetherby answered, disclosing the purpose. Then the Judge said, "You can swear your witness, but if he testifies to that the Court will send him to jail." "But, your honor, your honor," protested Wetherby, "the witness does not reside within the jurisdiction of this Court. He lives in Minnesota, over on the Island". The answer of the Court was given instantly and with emphasis: "I will have the bar and the people of the Eighth Judicial Circuit to understand that this court has concur rent jurisdiction over the Mississippi River across the boundary line of Wisconsin and Minnesota and the islands adjacent thereto,/row 6/^^/6> Z?/^^"—and the witness was withdrawn. In the Presidential campaign of 1860 Judge Fuller, his term of office having expired, took the stump, for the Breckenridge or ultra pro-slavery <5andidate, as against Douglas, the candidate of the other Democratic wing, and of course against Abraham Lincoln. He made but one speech in Pierce county: that was in the basement of the Congregational church, which was packed full to hear him, but most of his audience were Re publicans, who had assembled largely out of personal regiard for him, for everybody liked the old Judge personally. This was his exordium: "Fellow citizens: my handbills have announced that on this occasion I would address the Democracy of Pierce county, but as I recognize ilo man as a Democrat unless he supports John C. Breckenridge for President, and as I am informed there is only one such in the town, and he personally present, I shall now proceed to address myself tb~n^ friend, Charley Barnesr Then he went on and made a good old-fashioned and very eloquent Democratic speech. The pith of it was, of course, the equal right of the South ern settlers in the territories to carry their slaves with them there, the same as the Northern men their personal property. When he had finished. Uncle Ellsworth Childs, of Clifton, arose from the benches and made this reply: "Jedge, ye did well—a great deal better than I expect-ed; such eloquence, such beautiful language, such gestures, such sawin' of the air!" (I presume some who were present and still living will remember Uncle Childs' own sweeping, curving gesture, and his shrilly modulated voice, as he swung his short arms over his own head and chunky body, bending to the floor.) "But, Jedge, about the squatter sovereignty of yourn", he went on, "I don't know. Supposin', Jedge, you and I went to Kansas and settled on land adjinin', and I was to stock mine with sheep and cattle and hogs, and you wanted to stock yourn with skunks, would you have a right to do that and stink up the whole neighborhood? There, Jedge, there's yer squatter sovereignty!'' Then Uncle Ellsworth dropped into his seat with a;' snort and a chuckle, and round after round of applause fol lowed, which so put the Judge out of countenance that he made no reply whatever. The following anecdote of Judge Wetherby I think has been in print before, but am not certain. He was holding court in some county of the Chippewa Valley where a man was tried and convicted before him for larceny, and was about to receive his sentence when his at torney stated to the court that if the stolen property was valued .at the wholesale price the offence would be only petit larceny, and the punisl^ment a jail sentence, whereas ,if at retail price it would go'above twenty dollars, the mini mum of grand larceny, and his client would have to go to state's prison. Whereupon the Judge decided, "If a man steals his neighbor's goods in this circuit, he steals at the retail price", and the man wâs sent up to do time for grand larceny. Judge Wetherby gave me a decision once which I thought had both good and bad law in it; but as the bad law was on my side, I made no appeal. When I was serv ing the county as Clerk of the County Board, in the foolish belief that if I served along through my second term on the pittance salary of $150 a year, I could get the Board to allow the reasonable compensation the law promised after wards. _t Ijâs refused by th^ board, andûed the county for^ a thousand dollars a year, if I remember rightly. (Charley Dennison, of St. Croix County, was getting $1500 a year for similar service.) The case came on for trial before Judge Wetherby at Ellsworth. I had no difficulty in proving servicer worth all I claimed. The Judge admitted that much in his decision: but he quoted the statute which said the clerk should be al lowed a reasonable salary for his services to be fixed by the board and paid by the county, and as the board had fixed ir at $150, that was the end of the matter. Then he taxed the costs to the county, for which of course I was grateful; but thought then that in doing so that part of his decision was bad law. I recall this case and the backsets I have already men tioned in my Pierce County politics with no tinges of regret* They were among the many cases we find in our lives where our worst apparent failures are afterwards found to be our best successes. Hardly .anything can be worse for a young man than to look to public office for a livelihood, or for ambition's sake, unless it is an ambition to work where he has an honest opinion his work is needed; and that he can do it better than the other fellow. Col. Sam Harriman, of St. Croix county, who com manded a Wisconsin regiment in the Civil war and at the close of the war was a brigade commander, in Sherman^s camp with Ellsworth Burnett, of River Falls, as his adju tant, once told me this good one on Judge Wetherby, one evening in the spring of 1865, when I visited him in his camp with the rest of "Sherman's bummers" on George town heights, just after their return from the famous march through Georgia. "I It was in the year when Wetherby was running as the Democratic candidate for Circuit Judge. Harriman lived on Apple River in a lumber camp, in the midst of a lot of employes who were mostly French Canadians. He was an enthusiastic Republican himself, but being a warm friend of Wetherby's invited the Judge to be his guest, and guaran teed him a full house when he came to make his campaign speech in that vicinity. Harriman summoned a force of a hundred or more of his Kanuck "citizens", and himself on the platform intro ducing the speaker, had it well coached with a few leaders to applaud vigorously at signals, from his uplifted thumb; Wetherby spoke long, and as it seemed triumphantly, for the cheering was tremendous, the meeting closing with an ovation of handshaking, all pre-arranged, same as cheerihgs. i2 [: Walking home wi^ hisTriend, th^ Judge began to croW over his triumph, when Harriman told him there were^ but five men in the house who understood a word of English—- they two and three others. OLIVER GIBBS.

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CHAPTER XLII. THE BOOM TIMES OF THE FIFTIES. The boom time for emigration into Pierce County was in 1855 and 1856. Then, or in 1855, at least, there w^as no railroad touching the Mississippi River except the Illinois Central, at Cairo, Illinois, although the old Northwestern had a line out from Chicago to Galena, on the Fever River, where the Mississippi boats came up a few miles and took the passengers, freight and mails for the upper Mississippi. Long afterwards, I think in 1856, the road was extended to Dunleeth, opposite Dubuque; but the principal transfer to the boats was held at Galena for some time later, that being the headquarters of the great packet company whose palatial boats carried nearly all the business for St. Paul and; intermediate ports. When I left Chicago in September, 1855, to go into the newspaper business at Prescott, I carried with me, besides a ass on the railroad, a letter from Dr. Ray, editor of the ?'ribune, to Capt. Orrin Smith, Pres. of the packet company, asking him to put a chalk line round my hat, which was done with a^ hearty good will by the genial old river chief who told me to ride on his boats freely, and never miss a meal or pay a cent. Nowhere in thi^ country has there been found so pleas ant a route for steamboat travel as that was in those days. The memory of the days of the old "War Eagle," "Northern Belle," "Northern Lights," "Grey Eagle" and "Galena,^' with their commanders, who were all of them gentlemen of the old school, almost makes one regret that the extension of the railroad superceded them. Every boat came loaded to the guards. The whistle for arrival at any landing brought^ almost the entire popu lation of the town to its levee. The Prescott levee would be covered with great masses of merchandise and baggage on the up trip, and bags of wheat for the dow^n trip. In the winter of 1855-1856, the "Transcript" office got out a pamphlet to assist in the boom, and draw a share of the emigration and capital to our county. It was entitled "The First Annual Review of Pierce County" and was made ,1 2 up of article on the resources and attractions of the county, contributed by Dr. 0. T. Maxson, Smith R. Gunn, James Monroe Bailey, Dexter B. Bailey, P. N. Wise, and the ed itors. It contained thirty-two pages. Five thousand copies were printed and distributed gratis. During the spring and summer of 1856 we hired boys to distribute them among the passengers of every boat, till: the edition was exhausted. We were reimbursed by a citi zens' subscription for about one-half the expense of the pamphlet: the balance fell on the printing office, but it paid us even then. I know of but one copy of this pamphlet that has been preserved, but this, with some other papers and documents of more or less historical value, T may turn over, when I get where they are again, to the editor of "The Story of Pierce County," ^ In this pamphlet it is disclosed who was the pioneer' fruit raiser of the county. This Mr. Dexter B. Bailey, of Clifton. Besides his statement, I remember his appearance in the Prescott market in the fall of 1856, selling beautiful apples and fine Isabella and Catawba grapes. The winter following wiped out nearly all the orchard and vineyard plantings, and left the country hopeless of fruit prospects for several j^^ears, till the survival of the "Duchess," and the, introduction of Gideon's "Wealthy" encouraged a further effort. The next pioneer of note in apple culture was G. W.' Cairnes, of Ellsworth, whose route to success lay through experiments in seedling and Russian apples. His trees are still conspicuous in Ellsworth, and their products always in exhibit at the coimty fairs. The first strawberry growers were Dr. A. Young, Nathaniel Martin, and J. S. White at Prescott in 1856, their products being the old Hovey's seedling and early scarlet. The writer of this was the first to grow the "Wilson's Albany" there. They were from two dozen plants bought of L. M. Ford's nursery at St. Paul. . In late years, when I have been privileged to attend the Pierce County fairs I have lingered at the fruit exhibit in admiration of the beauty and quahty of the apples which I have nowhere seen excelled: and were I young again I would want to cover one farm on the tablelands and hillsides of the timber section with apple trees and be at the fairs and in the markets with their crops. I would rather take my chance there in this than in any land I know of called "the Land of Red Cheeked Apples," Arkansas not excepted. P. S.—I am no nursery or tree peddler, though I ad mit I still "appear to have some of the symptoms." OLIVER GIBBS. i;r

POLITICAI/ NOTES NUMBER TWO. Having lived for forty-nine years among Norwegians, I feel well acquainted with them, and can say that the reason they voted the Democratic ticket to a man was that it was forced onto them. They voted from principle, and tode-i fend their rights, which were threatened by the "Know-! Nothing" party, whose motto was "America for the Ameri^^ cans " Members of this party in 1855 dressed and paraded on horse back in such ridiculous style that hundreds of boys followed after them Is it any wonder that Norw^egians, as well as all foreigners, were forced to join the party most favorable to them—^tlie Democratic party? The Norwegians, your Old Settler thinks, showed a keen intereM in their own pohtical welfare, and probably would Iiave continued to vote the Democratic ticket until this day had they not been given a perpetual mortgage on the office i of County Clerk to pay for their support of the Republicans. ' This was no doubt hard on my friefld Mr. Gibbs, as it was his pet ambition to be County Clerk, he being well qualified for that place. Later on the Norwegians demanded Secretary of State, Governor, and United States offices, besides minor offices-— yes, and they got them. They struck a hard bargain. That Jim Eames story was a good joke on Mr. Gibbs, as it was hinted around for years that it was Mr. Gibbs who dressed himself to represent Rev. Stirratt; though your Old Settler never put much faith in the story. But it seemed the strangest combination known that a stanch Repubhcan, a temperate man, as Mr. Gibbs was, should make a boon companion of Jim Eames—go fishing with him, sleep with him, hide jugs and kegs with him—the which jugs and kegs strangely came out missing. Oliver, it looks suspicious. However, Oliver, though I don't know about the keg, I do think you and your friend took all the fish from Cave Creek, a^ weU as Lost Creek. OLD SETTLER. ^2cA^/z^yf^^

COPYRIGHT 1905. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CHAPTER XLII. I THE COUNTY TREASURY DEFALCATION. | I would dislike to have anyone infer that "graft" was conimon in Pierce County during the ante-civil war period, for it was not. There was a hi^h standard of dutvin vosue J •• i

. _^ . _ ,-.-- ,^_^ • - : %>' yj then and lived^u^ to by both county and town officers. I have lived long periods of these past fifty years in three of these Northwestern States, and in none of them have I seen such generally honest official service as we had in Pierce county during that period. But we had one serious case of defalcation in the County Treasurer's office, although, if my memory serves me correctly, it was settled up without more than an in ferential exposure on the records of that office or of the County Board. I was appointed Clerk of the Board in the fall of 1855, to fill a vacancy: and during the following year receipts of the Treasurer for taxes paid kept turning up on lands that had been sold for taxes, in so many cases that I was obliged , to complain to him and insist on his adopting more correct methods. My supposition fpr a long time was that the trouble was due to his lax methods; but as there was no amendment, after repeated promises, it became apparent that, having got the business of his office into such a tangle by mixing his private funds with the tax moneys that he could not tell himself how he stood with the county, he had probably yielded to the thought that if he could not tell nobody else could, and thereafter used the county mone3''s in his private business regardless. I found one case, and had evidence of it, that the same day he had been putting into a buckskin pouch a lot of specie paid him for taxes, he had taken out $400 in gold from the same pouch to buy land, without charging himself ;With the money; and in self defence, if for no other reason, (the clerk's and treasurer's offices being so closely connected) I had to report him privately to members of the County Board. A committee was appointed to ex&mine the books and accounts of the Treasurer's office. They worked hard for three weeks without other result than to report that while they were of opinion things were in bad shape they could make no definite statement of the accounts. The Board was about to drop the matter for the time being when, at my 6uggestion, Jesse H. Southwick was called in as an ex pert for a re-examination of the office. With him acted Henry Doe, Chairman of the Board, and himself a good accountant; and in a few days' time they succeeded in prov ing a shortage of about eight thousand dollars and obtained a settlement of it in cash and securities. This was in the spring of 1857. The Treasurer resigned. ^Southwick was appointed in his place, and elected in the fall of 1858 for the full term, and served the ^^County faith fully till 1861. He was never known to make a mistake in the office to the amount orarpenh;^;tIiough I reme^ one annual meeting, James Akers and C. F. Hoyt, on the finance committee of the County Board, reported him to be one cent off, but corrected their report after three days^ more hard work, in which they found it an error of their own. OLIVER GIBBS.

, EARLIEST TAX ROLL. In the year 1848 what is now known as Pierce County was included,in St. Croix County, that in turn then includ ing all of the present counties of Polk, St. Croix and Pierce. The writer has been favored with a copy of the tax roll of 1848^ which by some singular circumstances has been kept as a relic by the gentleman who kindly made a copy for the use of the ''Story". At that time the territory, for convenience, was divided into three districts, known respectively as the Falls of St. Croix District, the Willow River District, and the Mouth of Lake St. Croix District. As at that time the land had not been opened for entry, all who lived here held under ''squatters' rights" and only personal property was taxed. As an item in the history of those days, and with ^the hope that it may recall to some the names of old friends and -acquaintances, the list of the Mouth of the St. Croix District is given in full, with the assessment. To save time and writing, only the assessment is given; but if any curious one desires to know the amount of tax of any indi vidual it may be stated that the tax was seven mills on the dollar. As the names given are those of the earliest settlers in the county, it would be a matter of no little interest, if any one knows about the after history of any of them, if he would send a letter in regard to the matter to the Sun. NAME AMOUNT OF PROPERTY Thos. M. Finch $ 176. Mrs. Lockwood 1181. Freeman, Larpenter & Co. 300. Eras. Trudell 50. Lewis Barlow 600. A. Alhorn 200. Fox & Crownsbald 2625. J. L. Minor 183. J. R. Rice 545. G.W. McMurphy 425. H. Doe 340. Wm. Kimbrough 60. W. H. Morse 135. Wilson Thing 385i 1 W.TJrODpley ^^ 50. Willard Thing 164. Geo. Shazer 1000. ' George Rapoa 180. Joseph Monj on 235. Joseph Monjou, Jr. 60. Henry Thaxter 75. Aaron Cornelison 325. Jas. Cornelison 265. Lewis Harnsberger 75. The collector was Moses Perrin. The name of the county clerk certifying to the tax list was Wm. R. Ander son. iDf those named on the list as above given, two are known by the writer to be still living, viz: Aaron Cornelison, now residing at a ripe old age at the town of Trimbelle, and G. W. McMurphy, who lately resided at Prescott. Mr. McMurphy entered soon after this a fine tract of land near the City of Prescott, and resided there until within the past two or three years. To all old settlers his name is very familiar, as he has had an active part in the work of the county. Mrs. Lockwood was, w^e suppose, the widow of Mr. Lockwood, who came to Prescott among the first, and died there, being one of the first white settlers to pass away in the County. Willson and Willard Thing became quite prominent citizen^ of Trimbelle, where they each entered lands. H. Xtoe was one of those who laid out the village of Prescott, and he made his home there for many years. ' deorge Schaser has been mentioned in these sketches, in an earlier chapter. If the writer is correct in his recol lection, he built the first brick building in Prescott; but this may not be correct. Lewis Harsnberger entered lands, or purchased some, in the limits of Jthe dty of Prescott, as well as some ad joining the city. He lived to a ripe age, dying a few years ago respected by al^, Many of descendants of those namgd in the list live at or near Prescott, and not a few of them have taken promi nent parts in the development of their native city and its vicinity. ALLEN P. WELD-

CHAPTER XLIV. RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 1 '?

I suppose that by this time the readers of the Sun ha^! got it well fixed in their minds that n^y active connection with the history of this county extended only through a very short period, 1855 to 1863. Others who are engaged; writing up the ^'Story of Pierce County'', having resided here continuously all these past years, have much larger sources of information, and I hope will not tire of using them, but keep on industriously and complete the story. Among my pleasantest remembrances are the privileges j I had in those early years of becoming acquainted with the \ men of the State and National fame who, in one way and another, connected themselves with our county. There was Alec W. Randall, Governor for two terms, our ''War Governor'' of the early sixties. I first met him | sitting in State in the executive room at the Madison Capi-1 tol in 1858—a large-headed, large-eyed, large-framed, dis-J tinguished looking man, as I thought him, in contrast tol the pleasant looking chap who, as his private secretary, took j in my card—"Cush", as I learned to know him familiarly,] and whom I knew well afterwards as Governor of Minne-ri sota, U. S. Senator from that state, and the chairman of the committee on Foreign Affairs, on whose strong arni President McKinley leaned in the troubles with Spain— Cushman H. Davis. In running for his second term Gov. Randall canvassed the St. Croix Valley, making one of his speeches in Prescott. The fashion then was, worse than now, for a candidate speaking to take up, seriatim, the charges the opposition were making against him. The only point I remember in this speech was his quaint disposal of the common charge against most all candidates—that of getting their arms too far into the public treasury. He said he would not have to notice any such charge down home, where he was well known, for there everybody knew that he cared nothing fori money—^never even thought of it, unless he ''wanted to buy! something or go somewhere". With all his sterfmess and dignity of appearance. Gov. R. loved the pleasantries of conversation, the joke ancL story, as well as Abe Lincoln. During his governorship he was very happy in his manner of addressing all sorts of Sunday and temperance gatherings when, as their conven tions assembled at Madison, they would march around in procession to the capitol steps to pay their respects to the ipovernor. *^ Cush Davis told it on him, that after one very fine speech of this kind, he turned to his Secretary after the pro cession filed out, and said, '*Cush, this talking to Sunday School folks is dry business; where is that brandy bottle?" 18; when he was Postmaster General under Andrew JoK- son, I used to visit him in his private room in the Post office: building at Washington, with other old friends, and remem ber on one of these occasions he had just returned from a speech-making tour in Pennsylvania. Randall had "John- sonised" with our Senator Doolittle, and was sustaining the President's effort to form the new party of Conservatives.^ He said he had performed one unheard-of feat up there,— i 'he had made an elephant stand on his head; and spreading] out a local newspaper containing a report of one of his speeches, he showed where the editor had begun the column with a picture of a huge pachyderm, a real old "jumbo"^ tail up and head down, as if gyrating on the tip of his pro boscis. Our U. S. Senator James R. Doolittle I first met in Prescott in the fall of 1860. Like Randall, he had been a Democrat prior to 1856, but came over to the support of John C. Fremont, our first Republican <5andidate for Presi dent; and at at the next session of the legislature was elected to the Senate. Some one asked E. G. Ryan, of Milwaukee, what he thought of it. "Prompt pay, Sir; prompt pay!" was his reply. Wisconsin never had an abler or better man in the U. S. Senate than James R. Doolittle. He was the best stump orator, the most persuasive and convincing; I ever heard, except Carl Schurz. The last time I ever saw him was on a sunny evening in Washington. We had walked down the Capitol steps together from the Senate Wing, and were standing at the head of the fish pond. There we stood and talked a long^time. It was the da}^ before the celebrated "Padlock" Con vention at Philadelphia, when the Johnson forces were to meet and form the new party. The Senator was going over to manage the affair for Johnson. He had been such a good friend of mine that I hated to see him destroy himself politically, and I tried hard to persuade him to keep out of it. I remember saying that after such a war as we had had—the Civil War—when the feelings of the people were so wrought up, the radicals would be in control both North and South, and no man was strong enough to keep from being crushed if he got opposedly between them. "That", said he, "is a non-sequeter-^^ and so we parted. ''Nothing in Nature's aspect intimated that a great man was dead;" but when the san set on the morrow the political career of Senator Doolittle was ended. He was a magnificent man, in stature, in brain and character. In Racine, his home, "None knew him but to love him nor named him but to praise." 18 •

' Carl Schurz was another of Wi^onsin's greatest men; fbut this state did not offer him the fairest field. I had met; him at Madison a number of times and liked him well per-^ .sonally. In the fall of 1860, when he was campaigning in Minnesota, he came to Prescott to visit me. He had made eighteen speeches over there, and was to finish up at Bastings with two speeches that evening, one in English^ then in German. He was nearly tifed out in voice, and had come over for a rest, to escape a day's introductions and conversation, I took him tx) my house where he remained till evening. During the forenoon I said to him it was one of the days when there was nothing good in the meat market and he would have to take his choice for dinner between salt pork and fresh fish. "Is the fish caught?" he inquired. "No," I answered. ' "Well then", said he, "I will chose the fish, and if you cannot catch one, then we will fall back on the pork." So I picked up my rod, caught a crayfish for bait, and going out on the rocky point of the Prescott.levee, caught^ big black bass at the first throw. My wife baked it, and we fared sumptuously. Six years afterwards, while I was sauntering through the Marble room of the U. S. Senate, I saw him standing by a window in conversation with two ladies. Recognizing me at a glance, he crossed the room and took me by the hand, and said at parting, "You may tell Mrs. Gibbs I shall al ways remember the fish she baked for me as the best dinner I ever had in my life." At this simple meal, in the quiet and confidence of my home, he had spoken freely to us of his ambitions in life, and of certain obstacles the Wisconsin politicians were throwing in his way. I asked him if he would allow his friends to propose him for a seat as a Judge of the State Supreme Court; but he told me frankly it did not seem to be his right career; and afterwards 1 was not surprised to :hear of his removal to Missouri, where the way was imme diately opened to him to fulfil his ambition and reach the ^.S. Senate. He had meantime served as President Lincoln's minis ter to Spain; and tiring of this, came home and entered the army as Major General, and later on was Secretary of the Interior under President Hays. Mr. Schurz was, with Geo. William Curtis, one of the fathers of civil service reform; and is still living, now and for some time past in New York* This sketch is incomplete without mention of my life- florig Wquamtsinee with CadWalladei? C. Washbruh"e7beguft ihere in Pierce County; but it niust be reserved for another chapter. OLIVER GIBBS. OLD SETTLER'S STORY. Lest I forget, I wish to say a few words in regard to fruit culture in Pierce County, and its attendant difficulties* After an experience of over sixty years, in Massachu setts, York State and Wisconsin, I have concluded that no man should ever set out even so much as one apple tree un* less he likes the business well enough to give his attention to such trees the year around. But every man ought to raise his own fruit if he is situated so he can; one or two dozen trees is plenty for any family for home use. One acre is plenty to occupy one man's time. I have set out several thousand tress, and have no trouble to get them to grow for one or two, or perhaps three years. We have lots of enemies for fruit trees to contend with, not the least being the tree pedler. He ought to follow the lightning rod man. I In 1858 I bought several hundred trees from Rochestfer, N. Y. Every one lived and did well the first summer, but the first winter killed all but one. A year later I set out 200 trees on the north slope of a hill; these did well for three years—then the rabbits killed every one. I kept on setting out trees until I had spent over $500 for them. Finally I got otie dozen crabs from Rochester, Minn., that did well. I have one acre of fine bearing trees now that bear well every year; but it takes all my spare time. One year half of this acre was cultivated, and got way ahead of the half that was in grass; they grew so thrifty and so late that every tree of them died that winter. These were six years old, and all bearing. Last summer the trees blighted so it took half the sum mer to cut the dead limbs off. One can plant and care for ten acres of corn with^i less labor than he can one acre of fruit trees. Of course, to me and to many others it is a pleasure to work among the trees. Many times tree agents buy up a strip of nursery, and J then mark the trees for whatever their customers want, ^both in age and variety. } I heard Geo. McMurphy once say he could get all the fruit he wanted fdr a year for the money from one acre of ^barley. 1:^ After apples are full grown a man needs a loaded shol^ gun to keep woodpeckers and jay hawks from pecking all his fruit. As for the sale of apples, they are a drug on the mar ket at 40 or 50 cents a bushel. There is one sure market- that is a threshing crew in the neighborhood. If Oliver Gibbs had that imaginary big farm he would have to send his apples east to sell, or else put in a cider mill. By the way, I would like to ask a few questions of Mr. Gibbs, and should be pleased to have him aaswer through the Sun. If he knows how eastern Pierce County got let down on that railroad through the county, I should be glad to hear about it. Also why the Republicans of western Pierce County alt voted for Mr. Ives for State Senator, he being a lifelong Democrat and publisher of a Democratic paper. OLD SETTLER,

ut. nr/on/o nrtoc/rvtlJ CHAPTER XLV. FURTHER REMINLSCENSES OF NOTED MEN. ^ JAMES GATES PERCIVAL. Another interesting acquaintance here was .the Ameri can poet, James G. Percival. He was State Geologist dur ing the Barstow administration, and came up in the fall of 1856 to make a preliminary survey of the St. Croix Valley. I first saw him one evening in September. He was a stranger to everyone in town; nobody knew his business, but many on Broad Street were watching him, as he poked about among the gravels on the Orange Street hill sides, oc casionally picking up a stone and tapping it with a hammer. He was an odd looking person. His coat was some like Joseph's, of many colors, but the colors were due to the many patches of different kinds of cloth on it. On his feet was a pair of cow-hide shoes, reddish from want of grease or blacking, and on his head was an old glazed cap, or one that had once been glazed, but was now worn almost white and threadbare on the top of it. He was slight in build, thin faced, weazened and stooping, looking, from a distance, like some human derehct adrift and aimless. But on approaching and speaking to him^ what a dif ference! Then I found myself in the presence of one of the gentlest men I ever met, and in the charm of his con versa- 12 liiorTIorgot his odd appearance. Taking him home with um the next day, my partner and I monopolized his society in a ride for many miles to places of geological interest he wished to see. The nomination of Coles Bashford for Gov ernor, against Barstow, disturbed him through fear he would be removed if the Repubficans should win in this their first State campaign, and I remember how his counte nance lighted up when I assured him our party would not think of interfering with the geological survey, or ousting a man of his fame and character. On his taking leave of us we found this couplet in auto-^ graph at the Transcript office desk: I now but pass, I may return again; My visit then perhaps will be less vain. JAMES G. PERCIVAL. He died soon after at Madison, never visiting our, section again. Except in the presence of a ver}^ few friends,! Percival was a social recluse. What made him so, or why-^ he was so eccentric in di;ess, I never knew—probably sora€| early disappointment that robbed him of a man's usuali hopes and energies. His fame as a poet was high, well nigh next to Whittier, Longfellow, Bryant and Lowell, resting on one small volume of poems. W. W. PHELPS. « Coming through Lake Pepin that fall, 1856, there was a hot discussion of the slavery question between a crowd of passengers and Hon. W. W. Phelps, of Red Wing, delegate in Congress for the then Territory of Minnesota. The prin cipal theme was the fugitive slave law. Sherman M. Booth had been imprisoned by the Federal Court in Milwaukee for refusing to pay the fine of $1000 for harboring a runaway negro, and had been released by the State Supreme Court on a writ of habeas corpus by the famous decision of Judge Abram D. Smith, putting Wisconsin in the South Carolina attitude of nullification of federal law. On legal grounds the Democrats here had the advantage of the Repubhcans, but the law was so harsh that it was revolting to anybody but mere slave drivers to personally obey it. Mr., Phelps was putting it to us strongly in this way: the fugitive slave law was based on that clause of the U. S. Constitution which declared that persons held to service or [labor escaping from one State into another should be re- (turned; it was a compromise measure; the N^rth Imd eii-j Joyed on its trade, the benefits expected from the South; iti : must now act in good faith and send back the runawa}^ [slaves. I Argument becoming exhausted, I put to Mr. Phelps !this question:J '.^ .x^.^.^^ ^- , .^^^^.^...... ^-.^.î^.^ ^,...,.«^.^..-.^ 'I. I ^^Were yoiTto^liff^^^r door some morning a fugi tive slave, foot-sore, weary, cold and hungry, would you re fuse him shelter, and turn him back to his pursuers?'' i ''No, I'll be d if I would", he answered. Then the crowd applauded him for being a better man. than he was Democrat, and the debate ended. | GENERAL LUCIUS F. HUBBARD. ' During the same period, when I was editing the Tran-' script at Prescott, I used to find in every weekly issue in the Red Wing Republican a leading editorial article that I thought a model of good newspaper style, and often wished I had the writer's ability to make leading articles for my paper. Leaders were expected of an editor of a weekly paper in those days, and an editor who was lacking in the faculty to get up one regularly for his first editorial column, either by fair composition or by paste pot and scissors, was of little account, unless he had the rare talent of the bright paragrapher. I never knew with certainty who was the writer of these elegant articles till some years afterwards, when, as a resident of Lake City^ Minnesota, I became ac quainted with Governor Lucius F. Hubbard, the founder of the paper. This is not the place to say much of my long acquaint ance with this honored Minnesotean. He was a brave and very efficient officer in the Union Army, Colonel of a Minne sota regiment, a Commander of a brigade for a considerable period, and Governor of his state for two terms. I will tell only one anecdote of him, illustrating some- thing_of his character. In the executive Chamber at the St. Paul Capitol in January, 1884, he offered me what we both knew would be a very difficult position to fill in the service of the state. I agreed to take it, on one condition—a condition that I would have known to be unnecessary if I had been as well acquainted with him as I became soon afterwards; and that was, first, that there should be no politics and no ''jobs" in it, second, that if complaints came to him of what I was doing, he would promptly let me know, and third, that he îrould stand by me. This he agreed to, and he kept his word. A man to get to be Governor must be something of a politician, and perhaps all "successful" politicians have to sometimes leave the fear of God on the left hand more or less. But one who prefers not to do so, and is as quick and ready to welcome one into the public service on such conditions as I have named—well, I will not say he is a rare one; but the state of Minnesota, fortunate in a long line of good Governors, 14 ]&onorsthIsold pehcirpusher of ..our Rew;spaper crUt l^ff^ "golden opinions from all sorts of people". He still lives, in vigorous health, at St. Paul, no year passing in which the State does not commit some trust into his hands. CADWALLADER C. WASHBURNE. j •4 I have wanted to say much of this noble man, and of his relations to Pierce county and the State; but the subject, I find, is too large for more than a mere mention in these short sketches. As a public man I thought him the ablest of the four Washburne brothers who served in Congress. Pierce county was loyal to his career till towards the close oi his second term, when, under the joint leadership of Lute Taylor and Dr. Maxson, it supported Luther Han** chett for the nomination, and in the winter of 1861 again refused him its support, through the same influences, for U, S. Senator, when, after a long contest in caucus at Madison, Judge Timothy 0. Howe, of Green Bay, received the nomin ation and was elected. In his feter years Lute was an ar dent supporter of Washburne's interests, as editor of the La Crosse Leader. I had supported Mr. Washburne in all his efforts that met defeat, and to the day of his death, in suc cess or in failure, we were warm friends. It was as an officer of his regiment, the Second Wiscon sin Cavalry, that I had my short term of military service in the Civil War. When he became a General in 1862 he offered me a position on his staff, and it was his kind men- jtion^ of me in Washington, with that of Senator Doolitttei - that^gave me an acquaintance with Secretary of War, Ed**, win M. Stanton, and his assistant Secretary, Charles A^' Dana, under whom I began a six-year term of service as a clerk in the War Office. After his war service, General Washburne served again in Congress, and became Governor of Wisconsin. He loved Wisconsin and was ready to expend his fortune largely to endow her institutions; at one time he gave $200,000 for the Observatory at Madison. The ambition of his life was to reach^ the IT. S. Senate. Even when he lay dying at La Crosse, or near to death with paralysis, and one of the Senatorships became vacant by the death of Matt Carpenter, his grief was pitiful that the opportunity came too late. I think General Washburne's ambition was more^to serve his country than himself: in fact I know this to be so: but his bitter disappointment in not reaching the goal sought, like that of Blaine and Greeley, and other sad thinga I have personally seen in the lives of public men, have made me, since the time I had my small rebuffs in Pierce county in anti-war times, feel glad that I have jîanaged to worry 1.1 ông throiigh fife without any political H ijition whatever. It may seem egotistical and perh^;..:> :e illy is so; but in confidence, to my readers in Pierce couu^v, .1 recall a South Dakota incident of 1891. I was holainp: the office of Justice of the Peace in the town of Ramsey, Mci'ork county—an office that never gave me a single tliiii^^, u> do except to ^le my oath and bond; and I refused to gi^ e it up for the U. S» Senatorship of that state, offered me by a committee of Democrats holding the key to an alliance with the Popu* lists, and offering me, as I believed, and still believe, a sure thing if I would let my name he u>êd. An anecdote of President Clve.:;ter A. Arthur will show something of what was in IDV I] iad in refusing what most men would regard as a glitte^cv prize. It was in the latter pa: tji P ebruary, 1885, but a few days before Cleveland's fir inauguration as President. I was in President Arthur's room at the White House, with a committee of eight, asking him to send a special message immediately to Congress favoring an additional appropria tion of half a million dollars for the tottering New Orleans Exposition. Two of us were selected by the committee to make the argument before him. We boiled our speeches down into less than fifteen minutes. We got the message; but in leaving, the other spokesman, Hon. Edward D. Hel ton, of Milwaukee, a grand old man, could not resist the inclination to show his sympathy, and so, taking Mr. Arthur by the hand and looking into his weary face, said, ^^Mr* President, how are yoa, anyway?" 'Î would be all right," said the worn-out Executive, 'îf I could only have a little rest; but you see how it is!" and there were the great folding doors swinging open to re ceive another delegation! Within six months, Chester A. Arthur was in his grave, a martyr to the exacting duties of public life in Washington. Cleveland stood it well, because he was a fisherman; Roosevelt seems to stand it, because in the fresh mountain air he can hunt cats and studv little birds in Colorado. OLIVER GIBBS:

/^^^E^^^..^ 2i./9^lT.

CHAPTER XLV. THE CAIRNS APPLE SEEDLINGS. [The following account by Miss Gertrude Cairns, of Ellsworth, of the orchard planted at Ellsworth by her father, formerly well known throughout the county, and of his efforts to grow a êdling native to Pierce County and] perfectly hardy here, while at the same time bearing fine fruit, should interest everybody. It would seem that there should be a demand for grafts from these trees.] The greater part of northwestern Wisconsin was still but sparsely settled, when in the fall of 1867 my father, G. W. Cairns, of Ellsworth, Pierce county, paid a visit to his brother, J. V. Cairns, who was then living in the town of Middleton, a few miles from Madison. The few apples which found their way to Pierce county in those days came up the Mississippi chiefly from Missouri. So when his brother and other frfends offered my father a couple of barrels of apples Ifroâ their young orchards, which were just coming into bearing, they were a very welcome gift. The apples were picked a few from each tree, and the names of the varieties, if in the possession of the owners, were never preserved. From the choicest of these apples my mother saved the seeds, planting them and caring for the seedlings. After they gained sufficient size the more promising were removed from the nursery row and in time came into bearing. There were several very fine apples among these seedlings, some of which were displayed in the early eighties at the meeting of the Wisconsin Horticultural Society, and one, a sweet apple, was taken to the New Orleans Exposition. To this apple, if my childish taste was true, I have never found an equal among sweet apples. But the test winter of 1884-1885 did for these trees what it did for so many others, and when spring came there wa^ left alive in my father's orchard, besides the crabs and Duchess of Oldenberg, but one tfie. This tree could hardly be said to be left, as the old trunk was dead. Its death' could not be attributed to the severity of the winter, how ever. It had been unfortunate. Standing where it could be reached by the horses of careless teamsters plowing the garden, it had been repeatedly barked and broken until it had grown misshapen and unattractive, and all the care my mother could bestow upon its wounds—for my father thought it hardly worth attention—^was unavailing. Decay had set in. The old trunk was dead, but the root was still vigorous, and all about the dead tree the fresh shoots sprang up. These were carefully pruned and in due time'set out and came into bearing. In the nursery row were other seedlings which survived the severity of the winter, and among them were some grown from the apples raised on this same tree. These seedlings together with those sprouts have made the trees which are today bearing in our orchard. There are some ten or a dozen varieties of seedlings, in- 14 cliiding several crabs, but the majority of them are^proMBIp of no special merit. There is an excellent little russet sweety but the tree is a light bearer and blights badly. There are two or three early fall varieties—one of about the season ojf the Duchess, a fine-grained apple, very good for dessert and when fully mature quite yellow in color; another, much smaller, striped with red, a little later in season, also an agreeable dessert apple. Coming at the season when there are many hardy varieties to choose from, these apples have received little attention. There are two, however, that de serve more notice. One took the second premium at the Wisconsin State Horticultural Societj^ in February, 1902. Its season is late fall to early winter. It is a large and quite attractive apple, being somewhat elongated from stem to blow and heavily striped with bright red on a light green* background. The flesh is firm and white, and it is a sprightly subacid in flavor. The tree is, as a rule, a good bearer and but little troubled by blight. The other apple to which I should like especially to call your attention is the descendant through sprout and seed of that misshapen tree that did not wholly succumb to the *'test winter". We have of those some ten or eleven trees in bearing. I am thus indefinite because there are one or two trees that I cannot say positively descended from that tree, the points of difference seeming to quite balance those of resemblance. Another apple also which I did not include and which was not a direct descendant, I still suspect to have been a near relative. True, it is a sweet apple, but in appearance the two are so similar and in the variations they seem to shade off so nearly into each other thÛ I am ready to be lieve that they came originally from oi 3 stock. There is considerable variation in the fruit of this seed ling, that on some trees being larger than others, while some of the apples are quite white when mature and others re main nearly green; some even have a faint tinge of color, while the one whose parentage I question is quite visibly streaked with red. A difference in flavor is also noticeable. In general, however, the apple may be described as of small to medium size and whitish color, with flesh firm and flavor mildly subacid. It is a good keeper, lasting well into Feb ruary and March, sometimes longer. The tree is an at tractive grower, comes into leaf and bloom a little late, and the apples fully mature about the last of September. It has never winter-killed and seems almost blight proof. The past season only a very few small twigs were touched, even where the branches from a Repka, which was so badly blighted as to have scarcely a perfect apple on it, almost 11 intertwined with those of the seedling. The trees bear well, and, so far as I have noticed, with considerable uniformity. The failure in 1901 was due not to lack of apples, but to the early decay resulting from cracking on the trees, a fault that year that was not by any means confined to seedlings. I may seem extravagant in the praise of this seedling, [t is not my intention to be so. It is perhaps no better uhan many other seedhngs, unless it is for this particular ocahty. It is acclimated here. It may need another win der like that of 1884-1885 to prove its absolute hardiness, yet the manner in which it has withstood drought as well as the most severe winters since that one would give prom ise of its enduring the test. Whatever the value of the individual seedling may be, does it not support the argument so frequently advanced by my father, the foundation stone of his faith in the fruit-/ growing possibilities of this section, that trees adapted to withstand the peculiarities of our climate and at the same time furnish desirable fruit, can be best obtained by the growing of seedlings? OLD SETTLER'S STORY. In the years 1856 and 1857 most of the government land in eastern Pierce County was bought by speculatorSi very little going to intending settlers. The speculators immediately put the price of land at $10 per acre, and held it there, as if they were in a trust; this was more than its value, and the price kept actual settlers from coming into the woods. Besides government lands, they got nearly all the school and university lands. These lands cost the speculators very little actual money, as they paid very little down. Then, they paid no taxes at all, expecting to sell the land before it was sold for tax title, which would compel them to paj^ or lose their land. And when they did have to pay taxes they tvôuld pay only what was absolutely necessary. These tax sale certificates were in great demand for some years, as they bore 25 per cent, interest. This con tinued until the Rebellion. Soon after the war began, a law was passed allowing towns to vote a tax to pay volunteers to fill the quota ol such town; some towns voted this tax, and others did not* The amount was not to exceed $300 for each soldier re quired to fill the quota. Every call by the government for more men increased the taxes, until it was a case of life or death with settlers in the timber. Only a few could raise enough,to live on. ^^^ Many went out onto the prairies to cut grain; when- wheat was low in price they got two bushels a day; when it was high they got $1.50 a day, and a day's work then meant from the first daylight till dark. When gold went ''up to $2.60, tea to $2.25 and $2.50, cotton 60 cents to $1.00, wheat $2.50 and coffee entirely out, of sight, taxes followed suit. As taxes went up, tax sale certificates came down in Jumps and bounds, until they were a drug on the market. Many settlers were compelled to let all but their home steads be returned for taxes. County orders were not worth fifty cents on the dollar, as all a person could do with either town or county orders was to file them with the treasurer for paynaent that was likely never to come, or else accept tax s^^le certificates for them. The County Board got $2.00 per day, worth 80 cents cash; town officers, school teachers and road overseers got nothing but tax certificates. In order to maintain schools, settlers had to take tax certificates for boarding teachers, and also to raise liioney for their wages. I boarded the teacher many years and re member it well. But the wild speculation in land soon came to grief, m it should; land which had been held at $10 was offered at 75 cents per acre, with no takers, as money was so scarce. Among many others, your Old Settler had tax deeds on many a good piece of land, not because he wanted to - buy them, but becfause he could get nothing else for his time, and I was very glad to get back.the taxes I had paid and be rid of the land, so that I would not have to pay the taxes myself. A man never knows what he can do until he has to. So about every man in the timber learned to tan deer and cow hides, and make not only his own shoe packs, gloves, mittens and caps, but a whole dress suit of buckskin. O, how proud we were when we had a new suit of buckskin, with its fringes. While the men folks were doing this, our women folks were busy carding and spinning wool, also some flax. They could card, spin, knit, and handle wool in any shape but weaving. For weaving all kinds of cloth and carpets we had to depend on the Norwegian women, who did it in good shape. A deer skin could be tanned with vitriol in forty min utes, and a hide so tanned would be pliable while dry—^but when wet it dried hard as a sheet of iron. One manlkneW • 14' of got his buckskin pants very wet and stood before a Urge fireplace to dry, and as the heat increased he turned round and round. The pants had been tanned with vitriol—and I he was in a bad fix. I must wait till next time to tell how j he managed.' OLD SETTLER.

CHAPTER XLIX. GENERAL SPINNER. In the final editing of ^The Story of Pietee County", if not in the Sun, there will be much, I take it, to condense or lay aside; but if there should be room to bring into the Story one who never set foot in the county but was much in love with it, and by permitting the use of his name in connection with it in the sixties, did much to advertise it and bring other people here, I wish to have General Francis E. Spinner, Treasurer of the United States during the ad ministrations of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew! Johnson, enrolled as an honorary member of the Old Settlers' Society, and come into 'The Story". In 1867, I think it ^SLS, I got a leave of absence from the Washington War Office, to visit Seth Green and see his famous fi|h ponds at Mumford, New York; and on my re turn from there, Mr. Green exacted a promise from me tha/y when I got back to Washington I wpuld call at the Treasu^ building and put the question to General Spinner, whetheli he knew a man in western New York by the name of Seth Green and write him what he said. I hesitated a long while to do it, for General Spinner was a great man and I a nobody. Handling the U. S. moneys by millions, overloaded with work as I knew he must be, it seemed trivial and cheeky to take a moment of his time. I knew him. well by sight, and like everybody then and for a long time afterwards was familiar with his corkscrew signature on the greenback currency, but had, never had any personal acquaintance with him. I Finally, however, one day as I was going through the! Treasury building I looked in through the open doorway of his room, saw that he was alone, and screwing my courage up, walked in, and laying my hat on the table he was writ-; ing on, put the promised question: '^General Spinner, did; 1 you ever know a man in western New York by the name oT] Seth Green?" ''Hello"! said he, "Are you a fisherman too? Take a seat!" Then he talked to me for half an hour or more, telling me of a camping adventure among the Thousand Islands on the river St. Lawrence when Seth Green, a plain country. 'fisherman, found him and his party in trouble, because theyi t]b^ no flies the black bass would rise to; and calling fot^i I their fly books selected the r^ht feather and tied them a! I lot of flies that suited the fish at that season and taught Itbem how to make ^he flies for themselves: and asked me to ^tell Seth, when I wrote him, never to go to Washington ' without coming to see him. When I took my leave of the General at this time I little thought of the friendship and intimacy that was to follow between us. It was but a few days or weeks after wards when he sent his messenger over to the War Ofiice, asking me to come and see him that evening, and from that time on he gave me frequent invitations the same way. We were always alone together, at these interviews, in his private office. He would get out his relics and books, spread them on his table, and for hours we would talk over our favorite theme of field sports and natural history. Be sides this, he told me much of his life—one pathetic feature pf which at the last was his devotion to his employees, among whom were some four hundred women clerks, doing men's work for about half the pay the men received for their salaries. He had been the first to encourage the em ployment of women as clerks in the departments; but as time went on and the Congressmen who had recommended them dropped out of service, it was hard for this nonvoting pclass to keep their places, against the efforts of new Con gressmen to make vacancies to get their own friends in. He told me of war widows having families to support, one of them having seven young children, who were liable any time when he should leave the city for a few days rest and fresh air in the fields and woods, to be removed by the Secretary of the Treasury on the demand of the new Con gressmen for vacancies for them to fill. It was so much easier to prevent their removal than to reinstate them afterwards, and he had come to regard his faithful clerks so much like a family of children of his own, that much as he needed rest he could not leave his post, and never did except to run home once a year just long enough to vote. That devotion to others made a martyr of him. It seated upon him a disease that lost him his life when he had reached what had been his ambition for old age—a t surnmeFIibme in tK^HotiawE^Vaney ana7¥ wint^^^^ in Florida. He died at his winter home in Jacksonville. The letters to Wilke's '^Spirit of the Times" comprising the httle book the editor of the Sun so kindly mentioned a few months ago entitled, "Lake Pepin Fish Chowder", were written for his amusement. We spent many a pleasant evening together at hi^ office revising all the letters except the first one, and all of them were forwarded by him to the "Spirit" for publication. I have many of his letters yet, and have given away many to friends to keep as souvenirs of him. A German friend,—a newspaper man,—had taken me off Twombly's hands at one of my visits to New York City and showed me a right thorough hospitality, including a German Sunday dinner at Wehawken; and on his coming to Washington I gave him a day among the Departments. Passing the Treasury building, he stopped and inquired if j; knew General Spinner, and asked me if I would take him in and introduce him. We turned, walked in and found the | I General alone at his long table, busy at work franking envelopes (franking stamps had not come into use then.) I I introduced my friend, who said in his odd English, "Gen- jeral Spinner, I vants to see how you writes your name,— how you makes him with a pen, you know!" The General picked up another envelope, turned his pen holder across the inside of his right hand fingers, and run the familiar un readable signature "H. E. Spinner", off by a motion side- wise, the tip of the pen holder at a right angle to the hand instead of pointing towards the body, as is the usual way. j My friend thanked the General for his courtesy, and I would have retired, but I had to wait for a long conversa- I tion, which General Spinner opened, and the two carried on in German, of which I understood nothing except that they two were having a good time together. Seth Green came to Washington the next year, and was the lion of the hour, showing Congress and the Depart ments how to hatch shad artificially. He had them hatch ing under the faucets of wash basins at the Capitol and the departments, one box in General Spinner's bath room at the Treasury office, and hundreds of people carrying shad eggs in homeopathic phials in their pockets. General Grant got so much interested in the subject that he invited Seth to visit him at his office, General of the U. S. Army. I was privileged to be present at this interview, and that time sure I saw Grant off his usual close-mouth reticence. When Seth explained his method of hatching the shad in the Poto mac, Grant broke in with the remark, "You will fill the river chock full of them." 1..5

"Yes," replied Seth, "so fullyour steamboats can't run in it!" Seth Green was the real founder of the U. S. Fish Commission. OLIVER GIBBS.

OLD SETTLER'S STpRY. After many years of very unequal and unjust "equal ization" of the real and personal property of Pierce County, the eastern members of the Countj^ Board held a private meeting—that is, four or five of us did—and equalized the towns by lowering the timber towns and raising the prairie towns about $2 an acre. The County Board then consisted of fourteen members. This private equalization report was submitted for approval and signature to each member of the Board from the tim ber, and eight members signed it. Col. Daniel Dill, of Prescott, was Chairman of the Equalization Committee appointed by the Chairman of the County Board. Indue time this committee reported, and the report was referred back for correction. After another half day's council the comniittee was obliged to report our equalization, we having the majority of the Board. Of course, there was kicking by River Falls and Clifton. Uncle Wm. Teare, of Oak Grove, and Col. Dill acquiesed I at once, and found no fault. Nor should they. We did not I retaliate for the years when we had overpaid, but only did what was justice, and should have been done years before. We knew Col. Dill to be one of the fairest men of Pierce County, but he was not acquainted with the value of the timbered part of the county, and its disadvantages of mar ket, and referred to former reports, on record, to guide him. No amount of argument oj: explanation had any effect until we got enough votes to hold our own. As for personal property equalization, there was no remedy except for us to keep better stock of all kinds, and quit buying old machinery from the prairie. The disadvantage of being so far from market we could not overcome; but as time wore on our roads got better, and we progressed. The timber towns were able to hold for several years the majority we had gained. By the way, that map of Pierce County which Oliver Gibbs speaks about in a former chapter, furnished by Jesse Dale, was paid for by the county by a $300 appropriation which John Dale, when Supervisor from Trimbelle, got passed. The maps sold at first for $5 apiece, later on for $3, and were very good. I have one yet. OLD SETTLER. To be continued. CHAPTER L. EARLY DAYS IN PIERCE COUNTY. Prefacing what is to follow, it would not be inappro priate to state that forty to fifty years ago the platform speaker was more in evidence than at the present day. Literary and other noted men, who had acquired a national reputation, found themselves engaged by a literary bureau to speak upon the public stage in the various towns and cities throughout the county. The orator who came as far west as Pierce county, or contiguous thereto, in the fifties, received an audience from miles around. Later on the West became flooded with rostrum speakers who received from, $50 to $300 a night, for repeatedly delivering a prepared composition! Horace Greeley, Henr}^ Ward Beecher, Wen-' dell Philhps, Fred Douglas, Theodore Tilton, and a host of lesser lights in the palmy days of the rostrum orator, have visited the North-west to address ci owded audiences. But those days of delightful reminiscences are buried with the dead past. The generation which has followed has adopted other forms and assured other methods of informa tion. The innumerable metropolitan daily journals and monthly magazines, representing the literary world, beside the trade and industrial journals, exponenting every trade, industry and occupation beneath the sun, now flood the land. The adaptation of electricity to utilitarian purposes has further added to the displacement of the learned lec turer, once so popular and attractive. Well, do I remember, in the spring of 1859, being one of a party of twenty-five persons taking passage on the steamer Equator at Prescott, with a view of hearing a lecture to be delivered by Bayard Taylor at Stillwater. The passengers consisted of five ladies and twenty gentlemen. The ladies were Mrs. Chas. Jewefl, Miss Anna Harvey, and Miss Nealie Foster, now the wife of the writer, but the names of the other two ladies I do not now recall. The circuit court was in session at Prescott at the time. Judge Fuller presiding. And with that accommodating spirit characteristic of the Judge, he adjourned Court that, the Court, the bar and all hands might attend the lecture of Bayard Taylor. In passing, I might pay a tribute to Judge Fuller by stating that he was exceedingly democratic in his habits and feehngs, both on and off the bench. The austere de corum and dignified etiquette which prevails in the supreme court of the state, or the nation, found no lodgement m his court. Court was usually in session at Prescott upon the arrival of the first steamboat from below. When Charley Barnes, the steamboat agent on the levee, gave the signal that a steamboat was in sight, the news was quickly con veyed to the Judge, who at once adjourned court, that the court and the attachees, in conjunction with the citizens of the town, might welcome its arrival as the gang plank struck the levee. It would not be perversion of history to record that he adjourned court on a pretext of lesser import than the arrival of a steamboat! Sometimes, when an attorney suspected that his case Was not receiving favorable consideration from the Judge, he would intimate a recess for twenty minutes, which would be immediately acted upon. Whereupon the legal bar would disperse with the court to seek another bar, where the Judge would become the pleader, manifesting even less dignity than when presiding on the judicial bench. To resume our voyage on the steamer Equator. In: addition to the ladies mentioned, there were on board Judge Fuller and a number of the legal fraternity, among whom I now recall L. P. Wetherby, who subsequently succeeded Judge Fuller on the bench, H. L. Humphrey and E. B. Bundy (if those initials are correct), both of whom also be came judges of the Prescott circuit, Allan Dawson, James B. Gray and Judge Clapp, all of Hudson, excepting Mr. Bundy of Menomonie. From Eau Claire was Alexander Megget, and from Chippewa Falls, A. K. Gregg. Dr. J. W. Beardsley, the leading merchant of Prescott at the time, and others whose names have escaped my memory. Four miles below Hudson a terrific wind and rain storm swept down lake St. Croix, and the steamer soon became unman agable, tossed on the rohing waves like driftwood at sea. Consternation reigned among the passengers; some tore off the doors of staterooms, others loaded themselves with life preservers, while others hung to one another like very brothers. Fifteen minutes after the perilous storm had struck the "boat it was stranded on the Wisconsin shore. The pilot house and upper cabin had been swept away, and the hull of the steamer was foundered on the beach. The escape of the passengers was, indeed, miraculous. All escaped without serious mishaps; but all Avere compelled to leap into the water, several feet deep, from, the steam boat, and some of the passengers were rescued with ropes manned by the officers and crew. An hour after this perilous adventure found us at the home of Mr. Parker, whose farm house was about a mile I from the spot of our disaster. There the ladies were kindly cared for until mofning, and the gentlemen were driven in farm wagons to Hudson, some four miles distant. The next day the Court and the lawyers returned to Prescott, with out reaching Stillwater, the Judge to resume his judicial ermine, and the lawyers to vindicate the law in behalf of their clients. JAY. To be continued.

CHAPTER LI. I RECOLLECTIONS OF LUTE TAYLOR. As the writer declared to the Editor of the Sun in his introduction to these columns, my memory as to dates and names relating to Pierce County is somewhat obscure. Yet, there was one pioneer of the county who was per sonally known to almost every resident there, during the latter years of the fifties. The name of Lute A. Taylor be came a household word to the inhabitants of Pierce County. Mr. Taylor was born in Norfolk, St. Lawrence County, New York, September 14, 1835. He was upon the thresh old of his young manhood, having just reached his majority, when locating in River Falls in the fall of 1856. With his brother, Horace A. Taylor, who has since ac quired a state and national reputation in politics, he began the publication of the River Falls Journal in 1861. Horace did not remain long with the publication but moved to Hudson, where he became identified with journalism. In the spring of 1869 Lute removed'his printing outfit to Prescott, where he published the Prescott Journal until 1869. In the same year he entered upon a broader field of journalism, becoming one of the publishers and editor-in- chief of the LaCrosse Morning Leader, filling this position until a few months prior to his death, which occurred at his home in LaCrosse on the 11th day of November, 1873, at the age of 38 years. While the name of Lute A. Taylor is still green in the hearts of the old pioneers of Pierce County, since his death another generation has entered upon the stage of life's activities, who only know of him as retold by those who knew him so kindly and so well. During his career as a journalist at River Falls he had acquired more than a local reputation as a vigorous and genial writer. In addition to his humor^ his stammering gave luster to his name. While his stammering often afforded amusement to his hearers, his fine sense of humor, to an intelligent person, was more highly appreciated. His knowledge of human nature was keen and discriminating. If there was a humor ous side to life, he at once detected it^ and made the most of it. To illustrate this fact I will^ repeat two or three in stances, which occurred during his residence in Prescott. George A. Dill wa^ a leading merchant of the town,' and an intimate friend of Lute's. On the first of January Lute presented the merchant a bill of $100 for a year's ad vertising—one column. Dill said, ^'Why, Lute, this must be a mistake. I or dered out my ad a year ago, and have not been advertising smce." ^^Lute replied: ^That don't make any difference to me. My price for advertising is $100 a year, per column. And it is imm.aterial to me whether you put your ad in, or keep it out, the price is just the same''. Dill saw the demand was equivalent to a loan and gave him a check for $100. As Dill ran for sheriff the next fall, probably the sup port of the Journal liquidated the loan. There lived a man in Prescott known to the town as an easy-going, shiftless sort of fellow. He was more prone to loaf than to work. He was a frequenter of the Journal office, oftentimes remaining until he became a bore. One day he called upon Lute, and asked the loan of a dollar. Lute, not being in a very responsive mood, declined the re quest. He told him, ^'You mistake me for a bank. Now, if you want to negotiate a loan, go over to the bank, tell the cashier you want to borrow a dollar, and I will become your endorser." The fellow shortly returned with a note made out by the president of the bank saying, 'ILute, I have signed this note, and Westf all, the president, tells me if you will endorse it, he will give me the money." Lute saw the joke was on him. He replied, ''I guess I had better personally loan you the dollar, for I fear it might injure our credit if so much of our commercial paper were put afloat." During Lute Taylor's journalistic career in Prescott, in company with Charley Barnes—^as fine a gentleman as ever lived in Prescott—he went over tc^ Hastings to attend a circus. Lute sought the proprietor ard asked him why he missed PrescotiTwith hS ^^how". T& told him it wouldn't pay; the town was too small for his circus. Lute asked him what he would rent him the circus for, two performances, afterno6n and evening. The price was given. Lute and Barnes accepted the proposition, a contract was made, and a date within thirty days was arranged for the appearance of the circus at Prescott. Then the advertising began. Posters were plastered all over the surrounding country. Lute announced in the Journal that he had gone into the circus business, believing it to be more profitable than journalism. The public press took it up. One newspaper vied v/ith another to laud ^'Lute Taylor's circus". No other circus ever received so much free advertising, Lute having sent a unique '*complimentary" to newspapeiS in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Upon the morning of its arrival procession after pro- tcgsion of wheeled vehicles came rolhng into town. The steam ferry boat plying between Hastings and Prescott was Continued on paare 7.

~^^:'"""-"'^" ^^ •^"•^•'"^•""'"'•"•"^•^"" CHAPTER"iJi: ^^^"""'•' "" ----—~•— A CHAPFER ON APPLES. ^'Old Settler", in the Sun of Oct. 19, gives the common experience: failure in the first efforts through ignorance as to the best varieties to plant, and then through successive plantings afterwards, failure from neglect to properly care for the trees. His case is frankly stated. Such articles as his do the very best of service; for young farmers, wanting orchards, have got to learn that apple trees need care and protection as much as the cattle, sheep and hogs, and must have this, too, as ''Old Settler" says^''all the year round." The worst thing to contend against is blight. This can! be almost entirely avoided by selecting for the orchard the now well known varieties not much if any sul^ject to blight, and keeping aU others out. In setting out my South Da kota orchard of about 200 trees in 1886-7, I followed this plan and had no blight till I got in some experimental varieties; then the blight appeared. It ran itself out with one variety—when that row was gone the blight disappeared, ^ ^^^^ ^-^ Here in my little Prescott orchard I wanted to experi ment with a lot of new varieties, and I have blight "a plenty" and am glad of it, for the object lesson it gives in a comparison of varieties. The Lyman's Prolific, planted as a substitute for the Transcendent; the Longfield and Patteie's Greening, are, so far, entirely free from blight: some of the Yellow Transparents have blighted to death, and the Peters and Wealthies are badly blighted. I did not plant the Duchess; but whoever knew this variety to blight at all unless it was neighbored by Transcendents or other Ibadly blighting varieties? even then it seldom bhghts, and , then but little. Rabbits I had in my Dakota orchard "thick as leaves" | in the classic vale we read of, so thick there and in the \ woods adjacent that one winter afternoon, when I let in my! neighbor's boys with their dogs and guns, they lugged out^ thirty-six "cottontails" in one afternoon: and yet I never lost a tree by the rabbits. Every fall I wrapped the stems and crotches of young trees with strips of burlap, and when the snow was deep, so that the rabbits could reach the limbs, a few piles of fresh elm branches placed in the orchard showed that feeding an enemy is sometimes better than fighting him. They preferred the elm buds to the bark or buds of apple trees. Were I young again, and trying for an orchard in Pierce; County, I would try to some extent the good old New England way—grow seedlings and then topgraft to the favorite varieties; not taking the cider apple trees, but select ing from the hardiest and best non-blighting sorts, like the Duchess, for seed. But not this altogether. I would still i buy from the nurseries for a main reliance; and to keep my self posted in fruit raising I would join my State Horticul-i tural Society, attend its meetings when I could, and read; carefully the experience of others given in its annual reports. J As to prices for the surplus of the apple crops, good; fruit, carefully picked, handled well, and placed on sale iU; attractive packages, will always bring remunerative prices. It is the bruised and blackened stuff, good, bad and in-, different, mixed together, and carried to town in bags and open boxes that gluts the local market at low prices. There is no obstacle to apple raising here but what may; be overcome. Changing a line of Shakespeare to suit the case, "It is not in the climate, dear fruit growers, but in ourselves that we are underlings." OLIVER GIBBS. P. S.—I will add that my Longfields are giving us the most apples of any of some thirty varieties, and they are good ones. O. G. _ THE OLD PIONEERS OP PIERCE COUNTY. There is but one class of Old Settlers who may properly come under the head of pioneers. They belong to that band of brothers who first pitched their tents on the prairies and blazed their way through the wilderness. They were the first who felled the trees of the forest; they were the first who exchanged work in building their log cabins; they were the first who drove the ox team, as oxen and driver plodded their*^heavy way along; they first turned the virgin soil; they first built the stake and rider fence. It was they who first built the log school-house and with their own labor opened the public highway. It was they who first petitioned the national government for a mail route and a post-ofl5ce, and the state legislature for a school district. It was tliey who greeted the new-comer with open arms and extended to him a genuine welcome to their rude habitations. It was the old pioneers whp met on a common level and joined in the dance with "all hands round." It was they who extended the right-hand of fellowship one to another, and who loved their neighbors pretty well—^for in those days they were not such near neighbors as to become disagreeable to one another. No chasm between wealth and poverty had yet inter vened to mark the distinction between classes. No "Smart Set" had risen to assert its supercilious superiority. As a whole they were manly and vigorous, temperate and in dustrious, high-minded and truthful. In their homes, humble as they were, there was an atmosphere fragrant with peace, integrity, contentment and domestic virtue, j The countless misfortunes which they encountered they en dured with patience and fortitude, while the sympathy of fraternal love permeated the community. Such were the characteristics of the pioneers of Pierce County, who broke bread—and corn bread it was—a half century ago. These were the realistic pioneers. Of this noble band of men and women, comparatively few are among the living today. As the years go by and time marks the coming pop ulation, the original pioneers are rapidly passing from life's activities. One by one the death roll is called, and xâr by year their number becomes smaller and smaller. The day is near at hand when the final summons will come to the only living original pioneer of this glorious and heroic band. JAY. THE PRIMITIVE BEAUTY OP PIERCE COUNTY. The more recent settlers of Pierce County have httle conception of the charming natural beauty which every where met the eye of its first pioneers. Its native beauty was unsurpassed From its western boundary on the Father of Waters to its eastern hmits towards the waters of Trimbelle and Rush Rivers—both, streams abounding with speckled trout—where a great forest of hardwood tim- . ber was reached. The trees were principally white oak, hard maple, elm and basswood, interspersed, here and there, with a lofty pine. The wasteful destruction of this vast forest, in after years, evidently is now mourned by the inhabitants of the present day. Where once stood stately trees, whose lofty tops almost reached th^ vault of heaven, long ago have been leveled to the dust, and now dwellings and business blocks, \A herein abide a busy population of men struggling for the mastery —occupy their places. Aye! more, churches and school houses, twin sisters of civilization, whose spires and domes to heaven point, have supplanted these giants of the forest which had reigned supreme since before the memory of man could fathom. The undulating prairie which embraced a major portion: of the county was covered with luxuriant grasses, inter spersed with wild flowers of every hue and pleasing odor* The elevations dividing the valley only tended to arrest the monotony of this picturesque scene. Streams of spark ling waters fed by bubbling springs, coursed their natural way onward, to find their confluence, with identity lost in the mighty river. With supreme delight imagination fondly stops to pic ture this glorious realm, where "Lo the poor Indian! whose untutored mind Sees God in clouds or hears him in the wind." once held undisputed sway o'er the hills, through the val leys, upon the banks of ripphng streams and within the wôods of this ideal Paradise. Nearly half a century has passed since this native lovli- ness was revealed to the gaze of the first pioneers. The utilitarian purpose of the human mind has since wrought wonderful changes. The husbandman has turned the furrow, that the grasses and the flowers may decay beneath the sod. The gleaming ax of the woodman has felled the trees of the forest. The sparkling streams have been subdued to the use- i. ful wânts oFlnan. The natural landscape has vanished like a beautiful dream from the touch of American civilization. —JAY. To he continued.

Z7.y^>^.^ ^/./'/^^ CHAPTERXin. OLD SETTLER'S STORY. At the time of the early settlement of Pierce Co., and for many years after, it usually took tw^o weeks for the County Board to finish each year's business. A bitter rivalry between River Falls and Prescott showed its hand on any and all business coming before the Board, to such an extent that what could have been done in four days only ended after two weeks. One other cause for delay was the desire of some mem bers for speechmaking. James Akers, Chairman of the Board for two years, vacated the chair once or twice a day to make a speech on something or other—no matter what. As the Circuit Court was in session the second week in May and November of each year, and there was but one place for both Board and Court to meet, the Board had to adjourn until Court was through. But it seldom took more than two or three days for Court, as the people w^ere gener ally well beh^,ved and neighborly. No such thing as divorce was known. There was only one divorce in fifteen years, and that was from the Isabelle in the town of Hartland; the parties left the county soon afterward, being looked upon as moral lepers. The office of Clerk of Court went begging for many years, as the fees amounted to nothing. Then all the county officers collected fees, which they took as their pay; some were thus overpaid and some underpaid. For many years Register of Deeds Brown attended to the Clerk of Court's duties. He finally gave it up and the County Board gave a bonus of $300.00 in addition to the fees of the office to whoever would qualify for the office. As soon as Mr. Jay, of Prescott, got on the Board he changed this, and a fixed salary was given each officer, in some cases not amounting to half what the fees had been, and in other cases more than the fees: but it equalized the salaries and quite generally gave satisfaction. However, there was no lack of candidates for the offices. James Stirret, of Oak Grove, was elected Assemblyman from Pierce County, and had, a local bill passed changing the time of Circuit Court in Pierce County from May and" November to June and December. It was a good change. The busiest months in the whole year for the farmer are May and November, and the idlest are June and December. Why C. R. Morse, of River Falls, ever had it changed we never could understand. If the County had but one place for both County Board and Circuit Court to meet now, the Board would hardly get through in time for town clerks to get the tax rolls out. OLD SETTLER. LUTE TAYLOR AGAIN. Let US conclude the mention of Bayard Taylor's lecture at Stillwater, which was not listened to by the Prescott people who embarked on the wrecked steamer Equator, as recounted in a previous contribution to these columns. Mr. Taylor, however, was greeted by a large and ap preciative audience. It was upon this occasion that another Taylor, Lute A. Taylor, furnished a witticism which made a great hit at the time, and subsequently appeared in the Drawer of Harper's Magazine. At this date Lute was publishing the River Falls Journal, which he had denominated *'The Family Journal." When the President of the Association, under whose manage ment the lecturer had been procured, learned that Lute Taylor was in town, the happy thought struck him that Lute was the proper person to introduce the lecturers to the audience. The introduction was brief, and expressed as follows: '^La-d-d-ies and Gent-1-lmen:—^You all have hea-r-d the old say-i-in-ing, 'It t-takes nine Ta-ta-ylors to make a man.' I ex-ceed-ing-l}^ re-re-gret the other s-seven are ab-ab-ab- sent." This was all there was of it. As he sat down, he brought down the house. . It was reported at the time that after the conclusion-of the lecture the ''two" Taylors had a very interesting and convivial session, and in nowise missed the absence of "the other seven." JAY. Continued on page 7.

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COPYRIGHT 1905. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CHAPTER LIII. i RED WING, MISTN., AND EARLY HISTORY, ,^ The following was contributed by Ex-Gov. L.^F. Hubbard, of Minnesota, one of Red Wing's first settlers^:* who established the first newspaper there, and who has kept touch with that section ever since, as being germaine to the Story of Pierce County. For many years Red Wing was the trading center of nearly the entire sojiJthefti part of Pierce County, and still gets considerable trade from this side of the river. Esdaile, for a time one pf the chief towns for manufacturing in Pierce Cornty, was founded by Red Wing parties, and shipped all its lumber there. Gov. Hubbard says: "We learn from the records that even the earliest ex* plorers of the county were attracted by the natural beauties and advantages of the region, and were wont to linger in the vicinity as they passed to the remoter regions of the great northwest. It appears that two of the first stockades and trading posts of the early French voyageurs were established on territory now within the limits of Goodhue count}^ As early as the middle of the seventeenth century Count Frontenac landed and tarried for a time, with his party of explorers, on the peninsula that extends into Lake Pepin a short distance below the site of the present village that now bears his name. Manj^^ years later, or in 1695, La Perrie du Bouche, with his party of voyageurs, landed at the same place and established a post or stockade which they named Point du Sable, and which was maintained as a French and Indian trading post for many years. A second French post was established about the same time—some accounts giving the same year 1695—âbout eight miles above Red Wing, on what is now known as Prairie Island. A fort was erected here by Le Sueur as a barrier against hostile Indians, which served the purpose for a time of a protecting refuge for the venturesome explorers of the country. But the first repre sentatives of Christianity and civilization who attempted tc utilize the beauty and bounty with which nature invited the white man to occupy the country were two Swis? missionaries. Revs. Samuel Denton and Daniel Garvin, witl their families, who came out to the new world under th^ patronage of the Evangehcal Society of Loussane, Switzer land. They first established their mission at Trempeleau Wis., in 1837, removing tp what afterwards bocame the sit of the city of Red Wing the following year. They four'^ there a band of about three hundred Dakota or Sic Indians,ljescendants o^ made the locpli their home-^so far as these sayage wanderers of the ea^n could regard any spot their home—for many generations. The then chief of this band of Indians was Hoo-poh-hoo- \ doo-ta, which in^^m^ted means Scarlet Wing, hence, the! place came to be^TOed by the whites ''Red Wing's village." j The Indian designati^ of ^^spot was Ham-necha, which j signifies hill, water and woo^^pprQpriately suggestive of the wooded bluffs of the locality gfflbd|liîgreat river that flows j along their base. \ \ "While these missionaries were doubtless successful inl some degree in paaking less lavage than in their natural} state the Incfial^ with whom they came inctotact, and fori whose spiritual welfare tMy; we^ devoting.theipdife's work,) it does not appear that^thetf <^!rts i^^Jgrq^red to aril extent to greatly encour^^ them. Whif% ^f^^î^sion was] maintained it was inue^)f the time in ;%ian^fehing con-] dition until 1846, whenf.irom'faihng health or other cause,,! the Revs. Gar vine an^ S^ttfX gave up the|^ work and the i missioj) was transferred to thC^.are of tfei American Board fof Missions. It wa|^f); 48, when Revs. Joseph W, H*"" '^'"n wer^ ppointed by the Amîcan B' Effort humanize 'jand in some degre| ttie Indmi iton was first on the ground, ^ not long rer lie moved away in 1850. Mr. ncock arrived in e, 1849, and from that time until •resent he has resic ear the spot on which was l^ca mission house. "By this;%n]yB itions had notably Ranged in the new northwiiâ^d the beautiful region washed by the waters of t\^^^^x Mississippi had begun to attract at tention fror^^^^ venturesorpe western pioneer. The ad vantages of^^ôuntry had tc^ a limited #^tent been proven, and the result^ôme.knowjt to many, who had previously viewed the dinrpossibilitieShM3»f the region îth more or less interest. A considerable inSmx of white settlers had located at various points of vantaîn the country, mainly at St. ^Paul, St. Anthony, Stillwafa^. Mendota, Prescott, and even ifar off Pembina. The terri^ôf Minnesota had been organ ized March 3, 1849. A cegs^ of the territory was taken under the provisions of the brganic act the following June, which showed a total population of 4,780 souls—principally, it is presumed, classed as whites, though including, as we know, many of mixed blood—of which number Red Wing Village contributed thirty-three, twentj^ males and thirteen females. This was the nucleus from which has been devel oped the magnificent community of Goodhue county, num bering 31,137 souls, according to the census of 1900. I ' 'Early" settlement of locality was BOmewhaf retarded by delay in the extinguishment of the Indian title toils lands, but in 1852 a treaty was concluded which ceded a large area, in which was included most of that which sub sequently became Goodhue county. A considerable reser-^ vation was made along Lake Pepin, on which the coimty borders for several miles, but this was soon made available to settlement by the purchase of scrip representing the land, issued to the Indians and mixed bloods, for whose benefit the reservation was made. This treaty also provided that the Indians should be removed farther west, and according to its terms, they were located in 1853 on a reservation pro vided for them on the upper waters of the Minnesota river. Rey. J. W. Hancock may be regarded as the father of Goodhue-county. Though not the first white man to lo cate within its limits, he was the first who faced the dis-i couraging conditions that for a time confronted him, and maintained throughout a determination to remain and make the locality his home. His work among the Indians was fruitful of good results, and his counsel contributed greatly in encouraging and aiding the efforts of the whites, who now began to gather about him, in organizing and maintaining a civilized community. Among the first recruits who came to his aid in this behalf, and who took a leading part in the subsequent development of the locality, were John Day, Dr. W. W. Sweeney, William Freeborn, Calvin Potter, James McGinnis, E. C. Stevens, David Puckett, Charles Parks, and Warren Hunt, who came in 1852; also Matthias Peterson and Nels Nelson, who were respectively the pioneers of the Nor-^ wegian and Swedish nationalities, which early became a con siderable and most desirable element of the population of Goodhue county. H. L. Bevans, William Lauver, James Akers, Norris Hobart, Mathew Sorin, Reazin Spates, T. J. Smith, Hugh Adams, E. P. Lowater and others came in 1853. Abner Post, George W. BuUard and James Wells had come to the locality in 1850, but had established themselves some miles south on the shores of Lake Pepin. Through their efforts the village of Wacouta was started, which flourished moderately for a time as a rival of Red Wing, but failed to maintain itself in competition with its more ener getic neighbor. Red Wing was surveyed and piatted in 1853, the town proprietors being William Freeborn, Alexander Ramsev, B. F. Hoyt and C. L. Wells. This year saw a moderate over flow of the population of Red Wing onto the prairies and into the valleys in the vicinity, and the fertile soil of that region began to disclose its capabilities for the support of civilzed man. To be continued. COPYRIGHT 1905. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CHAPTER LV. RED WING, MINN., AND EARLY HISTORY. While the Minnesota side of the river was mostly prairie and therefore easily developed, the Wisconsin side was covered with a heavy growth of hardwood timber. For' jjears after Red Wing's settlement Wisconsin played no part at all in the historj^ of the city, except to furnish firewood for our use. Communication was by skiff or row boat, ex cept in the winter, when the ice made a natural bridge; and' it was then that most of the hauling was done. j Settlements gradually sprang up on the Wisconsin side] —at Trenton, Diamond Bluff, Bay City, Maiden Rock, Es daile, and other places. Red Wing was the nearest town to all these settlements, and received most of their trade. The village of Esdaile, located on the Isabelle river about three miles from its mouth, was for a time the busiest ^taanufacturing town in Pierce County, employing many men, l^hd cutting the abundant timber of that section into lumber, '^taves, spokes, hubs, etc., which were hauled to Red Wing. Chas. Betcher was the moving spirit in this develop ment of the lumbering resources of Pierce County adjacent to Red Wing. He was one of the most earnest and effective supports of the city, dying in 1903. A resident of the place for nearly fifty years, he was for much of that time at the liead of what became perhaps the largest manufacturing in dustry in the city. His contribution to the commercial activities of the locality gave to those interests much strength and character. He always took the conservative side of public questions and his restraining influence often had a wholesoine effect in determining the polic;f adopted in the management of public affairs. He was a positive char acter, not easily persuaded after he formed an opinion, but always deliberate in reaching his conclusions. One thing which has always—until recently—attracted Bfid Wing's citizens to Wisconsin was the excellent hunting afad fishing there, more especially the fishing. The streams j of Pierce County in the early days were full of trout, and | sportsmen from Red Wing fully appreciated that fact, some times to the extent of angering the local inhabitants, who considered the fish as their property. i The island which lies in the Mississippi River opposite! Red Wing has sometimes been the cause of contention be tween Pierce County and the city. According to the grant treating the i^teS 3 Minnesota ahi Wisconsin, the SEate^ boundary )ie^ in-the deepest channel, which is betw^n^JB?^; Wing and the island. Not having any local governmehl capable of maintaining order, this island became—and is yet—the resort of bad characters of all kinds, who were here safe from arrest by the Red Wing authorities. Murder and lesser crimes were committed there. An effort was recently made to have this island sold to Minnesota by the state of Wisconsin, but this effort was defeated by several whose interest lies in keeping the island free from a strong govern- nient. It is perhaps owing to the character of the country, wooded oh the Wisconsin side but open on the Minnesota side, and perhaps to the character and efforts of the first settlers, that Minnesota should have gained from Pierce County the location of the largest cities, there being several along the River opposite Pierce County. However, the re sources of the county are being developed, and the county may yet make a better growth than sections which had an earlier developement.

EARLY HISTORY OF ROCK ELM. [The following was written for the Sun by the late Ocellus P. Whipp, and was published a number of years ago; it is here republished, as many now take the Sun who did not then see it, and also in order that it may be included in ^ vour scrapbook with the rest of the Stpry.] TJntir the summer of 1861 the now town of Rock Elm was an unbroken wilderness save for a path that John L. B$iej gf Beldenville, a man well remembered by our pioneers 'for his corpulency and eccentric ways, had blazed diagonally through the town from the west center of Steven Greer^s farm, crossing the road running north from the Center ex actly where Alexander Parson^s house now stands and inter secting the present Eau Galle road at what is remembered as the Crumby place. The same John Dale is said to have built the hunter's shanty and deer lick that stood on the site of Hawn's saw mill at the time of the first settlement. Iminediately upon the passage of the Homestead Law, early in Lincoln's first administration, Joseph O'Conner and Zery Pickett filed claims upon the land noAV owned and occupied by E. R. Condit. O'Connor's claim shanty stood just east of where the Condit house now stands; it was a log roofed structure 16x22, and so low on the low side that the writer could not stand erect in it. Inconsiderable as it was, it was the first domicile in the town, and in it its hospitable owners sheltered and fed many of the first settlers upon their ar rival. Four Young Pioneers of Rock Elm ' For a year or two during the early history of Rock Elm l the above four were the only young men in the I town. They have made their homes in or near that town ever since. Two of them, O. P. Whipp and Chas. Cooke, I have lately died and been buried in the cemetery at ^ Eock Elm. Of the other two, Frank Alexander is living - \^' oil his farm in the town; he is now town clerfe, S.^ Cooke is a prosperous merchant at Olivet. ^ ^^ * During four weeks, commencing with the 3rd of May, 1864, the writer, with eighteen others, was fed and housed in it. Myron O'Connor, Jr., was born here in the spring of /62, and was the first child born in the town. Ed Alexander was born in March of ^64, and is the oldest resident born in the town. In May of ^65, Louisa, daughter of Joseph O'Connor, died of putrid sore throat. She was the first in the toAvnHo receive the sad summons. Two weeks later her sister An4 nazetta succumbed to the same disease, and in the foliowmg* January Marietta, their mother, died suddenly; and tfi%^ sadly bereft, Mr. O'Connor was left with two small chij^dren to battle with the hardships of pioneer life. ' .^;, 4 '' Mrs. O'Connor and children were the first interred iu what is now the Town Cemetery. Mr. O'Connor died in the summer of '97, while in' Colorado. Zery Pickett built the first double roofed cabin, just east of the Town Cemetery. It was destroyed by fire about two vears ago. If^'-

Thi^dest house yet standing was built in the sprifigl of '64 by Myron O'Connor, Sr ; .Among the earliest settlers were J. H. O'Connor and^ Zery Pickett in '61, Chas. Potter in '62, E. Hannan, Silas, Joy and David Chase, Jas. Collett, Jas. Alexander, S. Dicken son, (—) Coon, and Fathers Cooke and Campbell in '63, John Brown, Myron O'Connor, Sr., Jas. Clark and J. P. Whipp in '64. House-raising became an every day occurrence, the writer having been invited to three raisings for the same day. They were for Ed Brown, Geo. Jackson and Asberry Wiiitcher. Joseph O'Connor raised the first field of wheat; it con tained four acres, and grew on the ground now occupied, in / part, by the Town Cemetery. John Brown threshed it on ] the ground with a flail, for every seventh bushel. ^ ^'Star" and **Line" enjoyed the distinction of being the' first team. They were typical boviiies, and Wilt always be / remembered by the first settlers with a keen sense of admir ation. They were the property of J. H. O'Connor. Prior to the spring of '66 Rock Elm belonged, with the town of Spring Lake, to the town of El Paso; in that spring a separate organization was consummated for Rock Elm. A town meeting was held at the house of J. P. Whipp and the following officers elected: Town Board, J. P. Whipp, Ch., Asberry Whitcher, Jas. Clark; Clerk, John Brown; Assessor, Ehas Kirkland. J. P. Whipp carried the first returns to Ellsworth on foot. The first post-office was kept by Eh Heman in a cabini just back of the big fir tree on Chas. Butler's place. Thel office was supplied by a route running from Waubeek on the Chippewa to Prescott on the St. Croix River. It took a week to make the round trip and the service was performed by a Mr. Ridgeway, on horseback. This office was called Rock Elm, but was subsequently changed to Waverly, while the new office at the Center retained the old name. The first store was kept by Joy Chase in a cabin stand ing near the east landing of the Big Plum Creek bridge, on the north side of the street. Joy was a right royal good fellow, but his stock in trade was limited in the extreme. Uncle Sam's money was worth only 33cts. on the dollar at that time, and Joy had to mark his goods accordingly. Tea was $1.75 per lb.. Sheeting was 60c per yd.. Soda was 30c per lb.. Salt was 2c per lb., and so on. The first school-house was built by subscription, in the most primitive manner. It stood at the north-west corner ^ of the E. R. Condit farm, on the north side of the road. ^ ^ Hary Ann Hackett was the first teacher. '^ John Picket and Mary Coon were the first to present themselves at the hymenial altar. The late H. N. Wood, of Ono, officiated. John had just passed verdant-sixteen, but now, armed with a marriage certificate, he was entitled tif to the benefit of the Free Homestead Law and at once made claim to and subsequently proved up on the land now owned by Clarence Condit. The first law-suit was John Picket vs. Joy Chase, for larceny of two home-made sap-buckets. John Dale appeared for the defendant and Willard Dale (John's brother) for the plaintiff. The suit was conducted in the school-house before a board of three arbitrators, who rendered a verdict of ^*'not guilty." The costs, amounting to $5, fell upon plaintiff, who frankly stated, in open court, ^'I haint got no money," whereupon defendant advanced him the money to pay the lawyers and the case was thus amicably settled. The first church services were held in the house of Zery Picket by Rev. John Holt; but the first regular appointment was filled by Rev. Stout. The first settlers were poor in the extreme; but as God sent qaa^ils and manna to feed the Israelites, so did He send ginseng and maple molasses to feed the children in the wilderness of Rock Elm. While common labor brought about the same wages as now, all of the necessaries of life brought from two to five times as much. Ginseng was quite plenty in the wood^ and had ready sale at from 20 to 35cts. per lb. during the months of August and September. Expert diggers frequently dug $10 worth in a day. The writer, in the fall of '65, was a lad of seventeen and dug $6 a day for twelve consecutive days. Had it not been for these little earnings some would have been poorly fed and clad indeed. Tame meats were out of the reach of all, and maple syrup became the only condiment for both bread and potatoes. The syrup was made from sap caught in butternut troughs and was about the complexion of ^^Rising Sun Stove Polish." One tea- spoonful of it would make a slice of bread so black that Dinah's heel would look pale in comparison. Our neighbors on the prairies used to jeer us, but since we have converted the forests into attractive, comfortable homes they regard our condition as quite enviable.

To be continued* ^j;/^^^.

'm0 Vf ^m •m ^ t COPYRIGHT 1905. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ^ : CHAPTER LVI. FIRST SETTLEMENT OF PIERCE COUNTY. [Considerable has been said about the first settlement of Pierce County, at Prescott, in these papers; but much that is given below has not yet been printed, and as the whole of it is very interesting it is copied entire. It is taken from the little pamphlet entitled ^Tirst Annual Review of Pierce County, Wisconsin," and dated Jan. 1st, 1856—^just fifty years ago. This pamphlet was gotten out by Chas. Young and Oliver Gibbs, publishers of the Prescott Tran script.] ^ ^ Until within the past three years, very httle was known' of that portion of Wisconsin drained by the St. Croix river and bordering the Mississippi north of Lake Pepin, except to those early pioneers a portion of whom may be found trapping and hunting over all the inhabitable parts of America. W6re we able to give the earliest visits of these men to our countj^, with something of their history, we would gladly preserve it as the commencing point of the white man in a section of Wisconsin, destined soon to stand in the first rank of wealth and prosperity. As before stated little was known of the character of the country, except by those sent by government or those belonging to the north western fur company, which time would date back to ^bout 1820. As is well known to all conversant with the early history of the different western states, they, instead of de-; voting themselves to the services of government and their^ employers, made use of the power of office and employment- by large companies, to monopolize the possession of sudi points as nature had determined as business emporiums for the country when the same should be settled. Such was our early history. Six or seven years of that early period were allowed to pass before they commenced their blighting work; owing, no doubt, to the fact that the settled portion of the country was so far distant from them. In 1827, they made their first pitch for a town site for the upper Mississippi country; then there was not a farmer in that territory, now Minnesota or northwestern Wisconsin. A company was organized at Fort Snelling in that year, composed of the leading officers, such as Mr. Prescott, Col. Plimpton, Capt. Scott, Capt. Brady, Col. Thompson, and Dr. Emerson, all of whom were in government employ. Their * object w.as to ^secure the present site of the village of Prescott, the first claim made north of Prairie du Chein. A levy of two thousand dollars was made to make the necessary improvements to hold the claim, and Mr. P. Prescott, from wfidpi the town takes its name, was appointed to take possession of and hold the property for the company. Improvements were made in the way of log buildings; and twelve hundred acres claimed. A trading post w4s opened for the sale of Indian goods. This claim was protected until 1841, when Congress passed an act forbidding all such organizations, when Mr. Prescott claimed 160 acres, the amount allowed by the pre-emption law of 1841. In 1837 a treaty was made with the Sioux or Dakotas, for all their territory east of the Mississippi, which included the tract in question. This purchase, together with the lumbering interest of the St. Croix valley, drew pioneers from the states. Commercial points were first sought as the most desirable possessions, and a number of struggles were had with the company at Prescott to dispossess them of their claim, as, at this time, it was held by proxy. But power in high places was too strong for the weak hand of private enterprise. Finally Mr. Prescott was compelled to reside upon his claim, still the property of, or so protected by the original company or their assignees. At this time, the Fur Company having be come interested, no person was allowed to settle upon the claim for any kind of business, as fear was entertained that each settler would be a competitor for the title of the town. They succeeded in banishing all hope of a settlement at Prescott, until government should give a title to the land, which, it was known, could not be for many years. At this time very little attention was paid to the country above the St. Croix Valley, as the principal business was lumbering, and that mostly confined to the St. Croix. Fort Snelhng afforded some trade with the soldiers, most of which had been stolen. Around the fort was a reserve, which extended down the Mississippi to the present site of St. Paul. About ten years after the claim at Prescott, and when it was fully settled that no opportunity would be offered for several years to commence settling at Prescott, a few log cabins were erected where stands the city of St. Paul, for the purpose of selling whiskey to the soldiers and whiskey and beads to the Indians. Continual efforts were made to settle Prescott, but were a failure until 1851, when Mr. Pres cott obtained a title to about two hundred acres from government and by purchase otherwise. In that year a few lots were laid off for the commencement of the future vil lage; and the same year Dr. O. T. Maxson came into the place and erected a store, the first improvement of the kind in the place. The fohowing year he succeeded in negotiat ing a purchase of the town site, and in the fall of 1853 Wm. J. Copp, from the st^ate of Mississippi, came to the place, and .. / : purchased one Iialf of the townsite, Copp & Maxson siflll holding the property. In that year C. D. Stevens & Oo. erected a larg€ steam saw mill. Two public houses and four stores, two ware houses, mechanic shops and residences comprised the improvements of the season. During this year where the prairie and wood lands had previously given no evidence of the presence of the hand of cultivation, the steady tread of the emigrant land looker could be observed where previouslv only the guide, any distanceirom towUr was the surveyor's lines. Hard beaten roads were made for many miles into the country. Entering lands and i making claims engrossed the business of that year. In| the spring much land was vacant within two miles of thecl steamboat landing, but in the fall very few pieces of govern-' ment land were to be had within eight miles and on a large - portion of the land the settler might be found busily em ployed in turning up the teeming soil or erecting the log cabin, while singing ''with my washbowl on my knee," or whistling Yankee Doodle. The cabin finished, the few acres broke, and the necessary arrangements completed for the reception of the wif^ and little ones, or the young bride, and the pioneer starts back to his New England home (or rather birth place, for it has* lost its charms of home, )to bring on those waiting ones who are to participate in the joyful life of a home in the prairie wilds of Pierce county—their hearts as light and buoyant as the eagles' flight. Their report was made in almost every town and'hamlet in New England, the Middle and many of the Western States. . i *» • - f Tobe continued. ^ .- i " -• • . - • . •^•

11,. •]• ;^,._ ' • I I . . I I .. —•• ..-..'.i .. ..i...—,..».,.».,•».«,••• 11^•*•-• •»

COPYRIGHT 1906. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ---- CHAPTER LVIII. EARLY HISTORY OF ROCK ELM [The following is the beginning of a history of the Town of Rock Elm, designed to be conaplete, and to be a com-' pendium of the recollections of all the old settlers there. It IS edited by Frank Alexander, who was appointed by the last meeting of the Old Settlers' Association of that town to gather and compile all the information available. Mr. Alexander has started with his personal recollections.] On the 19th day of October, 1863, my father left Rubi con, Dodge Go., and travelled on foot, leading two mooley i cows, all the wav to Pierce Co. i ' " %f -• --- -- — -- - — In due time he succeeded in, landing the cows safe among the rushes of Plum Creek Valley, on what is now known as the 'Tlambeau Farm/' On the 24th day of November of the same year the remainder of our familj^, in company with the family of Jas. Collett, followed by rail. Arriving at La Crosse, we learned that navigation was about closed on the Mississippi Eiver, but we succeeded in getting on board the steamer'Trank Steele''and going as far as Winona, Minn. From there we went by stage to Lake City, arriving about dayhght in the morning. After breakfast as Brown's hotel, we hired a team to take us to Frontenac. Our number at this time had increased by one in the person of Mrs. Geo. Jackson, who afterwards became a prominent figure in social circles, in the role of fortune telling. The next question that presented itself to us^was how to get across Lake Pepin. Mr. Collett succeeded in hiring a small skiff, and after making several trips landed us all at the Barton House in Maiden Rock. Leaving the women an'd children there for the night, Collett and myself started out for the home of John Van Schoonhoven, who then lived in what was afterwards known as the 'Tap White Coulie," where we arrived and took lodg ings for the night. Van. had a team of horses, and he was engaged to go to the Rock and take the families to Rock Elm, while Collett and I went fof ward on foot. What we intended to do with ourselves when we all reached our journey's end was a question that I could never exactly understand. I have since been able to demonstrate the Pythagorean proposition by geometry, and place in dia gram Bryant's Thanatopsis, but at that time I was not con versant enough with the ''Black Art" to see to a certainty how two half bushels could be put into a peck measure. As I was a mere lad, I consoled myself with thei thought that '^'the Lord will provide," and that they would probably '^stack us;" all of which I found came true upon arriving at the house of J. H. O'Connor, which has been described in another chapter. The O'Connor people were really good people, for they shared with us their domicile and its contents, our goods having been left at La Crosse. I remember having to sleep on the floor with an iron wood pole for a pillow, and it caused a callous to form on my ''Occipito Frontalis" which I have since called the bump of combativeness, for when ever my thoughts revert to those times a feeling of regret takes possessson of me for having allowed myself to under go the trials of a new country. The winter of 1863 and 4 was a severe one. The I weather was cold and the snow^ deep. Instead of cattle getting their living on rushes, trees had to be felled and the tops eaten, which went by the name of "browse." We people are generally favored every winter with a typical New England snow storm, such as Whittier speaks about in "Snow Bound." I have often associated my thoughts with the following lines: *'Tell me, ye winged winds That found my pathway roar, Is there no spot on earth Where snow comes any more" Than it does in Rock Elm? The only way to get our household effects from La Crosse was to hire teams. John VanSchoonhoven and Chas. Carpenter agreed to bring them for $50. That sum would take a man around the world now. However, they were engaged, and in due time they arrived and we moved into our own cabin—about such an one as Abraham Lincoln was reared in. Deer were quite plentiful, but not being a "mighty^ hunter," I never succeeded in capturing many. Looking out of the window one morning, I saw a deer standing a few rods away. I took my musket from the hooks and blazed away. The bullet must have left the muzzle of the gun, and is no doubt still going, and the deer, too, as yet I have had no returns from either. The early settlers did not allow their entire time to be employed in worldly affairs, but gave considerable attention to their spiritual welfare. As there was no public place of worship, religious meetings were held at private houses. In the absence of a preacher, some of the brothern w^ho were well gifted in oratory would officiate. At last there ap peared among us a dispenser of the Gospel, whom we all remember as "Old Father Still well." I never heard any one accuse him of having too great a knowledge of theology, yet he was considered by a great many to be a pretty fair preacher. He was the possessor of a venerable equine of the "Ichabod Crane" type, w^hich he us|d to ride to his ap pointments, while his good wife would come trudging along behind on foot. Everybody used to attend his meetings. I was a mere boy at that time, and 1 wasn't a very bad bov either, as boys generally go; but somehow or another Father Stillw^ell got a notion into his head that I ought to join the Church and he fairly scared me out of it by laying for me after services and talking to me. At one of his pro tracted meetings, after he had "Left the Subject with us" a number of times, he requested a manifestation from all those 1 •-'

[wRo^eslfea^^SalvSioriT^mi(rWe? sing Fount of Every Blessing," he walked down to where I sat and laying his hand on my head asked me right out loud if I did not want to be saved. Of course I wanted to be saved, but I did not want it done quite so pubhcly. When a man has had a good mother he's got a good conscience, and when he's got a good conscience he doesn't need to have right and w'rong labeled for him. I did not get much good out of that meeting—but perhaps the fault was all with myself. F- A.

COPYRIGHT 1906. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CHAPTER LIX. OLD SETTLER'S STORY. I will auw finish up my story about the soldiers. About one month before the last draft, and soon after Uncle Sam. had called for 300,000 volunteers, the Chairman of every town in Pierce] Co. was notified to prepare and furnish a true list of every able-bodied man in his town, such list to form a basis from which the quota of soldiers was to be furnished. All over fifty years of a^e were exempt; so were all who had lost a forefioger on the right hand, or had lost their front teeth; rupture, and many other physical disabilities, were also ex emptions. Prior to this the draft appeared to be made from the poll lists in the county clerk's office, which proved very unsatisfactory, as many who were drafted were rejected upon examination at La Crosse. After going through El Paso township, I made a trip into what is now Rock Elm, where I found some eight or ten men, but of these not more"than four were bonafide settlers; the rest had skipped out from the draft in the eastern part of the state, and thought they were safe on Plum Creek. , It increased our quota, and they had no intention of remaining here- further than to hide from the draft. One claimed to be a preacher; when told that would not exempt him he then said he was ruptured, which was also untrue. Another claimed he had already been drafted, and rejected on account of some infirmity; but when told- to show his certificate he wilted and said he had lost it. As a last resort he and a friend of his offered money for me not to list him; of course, this was re jected with scorn. Soon afterward all these tramps-skipped out. The quuta of El Paso for that call was four. I was delegated to procure four soldiers for our town. Prior to this, the town had voted a tax equal to $300*for each soldier we had to furnish. The fif^t volunteer I secured (or thought I had) was Philo Kelley, of the Range Line. On New Year's eve he staid at our camp and com pleted arrangements for the payment of $300 as soon as he reported in 'Prescott. and was accepted. I was glad we had one good man, at least. New Year's morning he started for Prescott; it was 41 degrees below zero. I next heard that Mr, Gilman was going to enlist. I went to see him. He thought he could go for our town; he would let me know next day. Early next morning he went to Hudson, and enlisted for that city. It was said his wife was the cause of it, I then went into Perry township, where I got Pat Campbell, Pat Stafford and James MurDhv—all Irishmen^ and Democrats at that. We i y made^arrangements for the payment of $300 to the family of each. In a day or so I went to Prescott to see that all was rigtit, and the men accepted. On my way to Prescott I found that Philo Kelley had stopped at a house a mile west of Ellsworth and had staid over night; he was almost frozen to death. At Prescott I found that he had enlisted for Prescott instead of for El Paso; I think he was partly paralyzed with cold, and perhaps mesmerized at Prescott. Dr. Beardsley told me of a man in Hastings ready to go. But I was still in ill luck, as I had no money with me to pay him, and before I could come home and back no doubt the man would be picked up by someone else. Dr. Beardsley told me to get my man and he would let me have $300. I found him,—by the way, he was an Irishman, and a fine, a '" man,—brought him to Prescott, and paid him his money. One week later a draft was ordered. Many men vol uti tee red for towns othfer than their own, on account of bounty paid. More about this next week. OLD SETTLER, To be continued.

JOHN W. WINN'S STORY. Having been requested to jot down some of my early recollections of Pierce County, I take this opportunity to comply. My first advent in said County was March 3, 1854; nearly fifty-two years have passed since, and with the exception of my two years army service, I have lived here all that time. What great and marvelous, changes have taken place! There was but one dwelling ia River Falls; there were none on the Minneapolis side of the west side of Mississippi River, and very few on the St. Anthony side; St. Paul consisted of one street with one hotel. Prescott was but a small village, and it has held its own well. At that time Prescott was our commercial center. Everything centered on Prescott. Our only church, on* only school, store, saloon, courts, iail-^and I may add our only pofiticians—their proper place all centered in Prescott. It was there they held the conventions, the county fairs, the county courts, the county jail, and the county rascals. When my mind reverts to those early times, I call to mind Dr. Beardsley, Norm Dunbar, Bye Ames and his brother James, once Sheriff, Wm. Little, Ham West, Add Griffin, Griffia Miller, Cope & Max son, Dr. Whipple, Isaac Poster, G. Boughton, Johs Dale, and a host of others that have passed over the great River, I am led to wonder why lam left. There were but a few politicians at that early time outside of Pres cott; A. Corneleson, of Trimbelle, Osborne Strahl, living on his farm north, of Clifton Hollow, John Copley, on his farm (and let me add, Copley is' the only man that I can remember that is still living on his original entry). Smith R. Gunn, John and Geo. McMurphy, Wm. Teare, Joseph Foster—and he was the rankest one of them all." It was but a short while until recruits came a plentv. H. A. Jay, J. S. White, P. V. Wix, D. M. Lusk, H. Bascomb, J. Jeffers, CJucle Otis, of Trimbelle, A. H. Young, J. C. Button, and numerous others that memory fails to recall, C. B. Cox rented the Clifton Mill in 1854 to Asa P. Manning. The same year Cox commenced building the Prairie Mill in River Falls. The country at that time was thinly settled; there was plenty of Government land^ at $1.25 per acre. I took rav pre-emption 160 acres, now known as the Evert farm; B. E. Eaton 160, now the farm of Wm. Chinnock; a Mr. Mann entered several sections ia what is now Mann Valley. At this time Clifton Mill was the only mill in this part; farmers came from below Red Wing to get their wheat floured, mostly with ox teams. Top buggies and spring wagons were a luxury. Horses were very scarce, and prices high; any kind of a frame on four legs would sell for $125.00 to $150.00, and up. * To be Continued. -| ^y

EARLY HISTORY OP EOCK ELM [C. A. Hawn gives the following description of how he came to Rock Elm.] In the fall of 1866 twenty-five or thirty mechanics in the city of MiU waukee raised a purse of money for the purpose of exploring the forests of Pierce Co., Wis. They then appointed Otis Churchill, Oscar Fowler (now postmaster at Eau Galle) and Willard Rider to ascertain what the chances were to establish a colony. After having made the required investigation, Mr. Rider came to our house in Dodge Co., where D.L.White and myself owned and operated a sawmill. How he happened to come to see me I do not know, but he was no doubt looking up such men. He told me what had been done, and said they had made arrangements for about twenty-five fam ilies to settle in Pierce Co. The first thing necessary would be a saw mill to cut lumber for their houses, barns, etc. He said they were going tp build a horse railroad to Maiden Rock, establish a boat yard, build steamboats, barges, etc. He said there were but few steamers on the Mississippi river that went as far as St. Paul, and the freight rates were beyond all reason, and in many instances they charged as much as the freight was worth. He also told me there was any quantity of butternut timber, and the? lumber was worth from $60 to $80 per thousand feet when hauled toj market; that when the lumber was at Maiden Rock it could be shipped to^ any point on the Mississippi, from St. Paul to New Orleans, and they of course would revolutionize the freight business, and that there was a fortune in it. The wonderful stories he told nearly set us crazy. We thought we would be Lumber Kings in a very short time. ' We then entered into an agreement with S. J. Fox to go with us, Foi^ and myself came here in February, 1866. We looked the country over to see what the chances were for a saw mill arid store, and finally located on the present site. ^ Fox had $1000. He came here in early spring, built a log cabin, in vested tht llUOO in goods, stuck out his shingle, and kept store. As soon as White and I had oar sawing done we pulled out the machinery and shipped it by rail to La Crosse and from there by boat to Maiden Rock, hauling it overland with ox teams from there to Rock Elm. White went with the household goods, and I came here in a ''Prairie Schooner" with my wife and four children. I arrived in Rock Elm on the last day of August, 1867. We had considerable trouble in g€tting teams to haul the mill ma chinery from Maiden Rock to Rock Elm. Teams were scarce; but after a while we succeeded in getting five ox teams, and started for Maiden Rock after the boiler. After three days time we landed it in Rock Elm at a cost of $75 00 One man hauled a load of machinery; for which he charged us $20. Of course we fcuod some fault with his charges, so he knocked off $2, so he got $18, and went home after he had his dinner. I think his name was Bates. In six weeks we were sawing lumber, but not for the proposed horse railroadf Otis Churchill was the only one of the twenty-five or thirty families of the colony that ever settled in Rock Elm. As for Willard Rider, I thind he could beat the chap that coaxed our Saviour up on top of the mountain. We have since been told that the poor d— did not own a toot of land anywhere The next spring we bought sugar, and paid for it in goods from our store. We got a fair profit on the goods, but the sugar was black. We kept some of it over and used it for shoe polish the next summer. I took a load of it to Prescott. Had to cross Lost Creek, which at that time was a raging torrent. My team was not as anxious to cross as I was, but by sharp persuasion they plunged in. The slush ice was running, which carried them down the stream, but they managed to cross and secure a foot hold, and the wagon lodged against some flood- wood. I pulled the iLraw bolt, and the horses got out. I then cut poles a n^^raadê a brid g~e from "the bank to"^the wagohra^hdTâmMTh^stigar to the shore. By the time Igôt it all landed it wj^ somewhat bleached, and considerably improved in appearance. I had a long chain which I hitched to the end of the tongue, and the horses then pulled thewagon to shore I finally got as far as Ellsworth, put my team in the barn, bought a part of a suit of clothes from Ed Davis, and the next day went to Prescott. I traded off the sugar for goods, with a small amount of cash. That evening I had the pleasure of meeting Lute Taylor, John Dale iud Ike Foster, and it is needless to say it was late when we retired. The third day I was back to Rock Elm. I will leave it for you to guess 1 how much fcash was place to my credit. C. A. HAWN. I Note—Since Mr. Hawn's residence in Rock Elm, fortune has smiled as serenely upon him as could reasonably be expected. He and his two •tions are the owners of over 600 acres of land, a saw mill, a lumber yard, •a hotel and a livery stable, all operated under the firm name of C. A. Hawn & Sons. Mr. Hawn has held various offices of pubhc trust, among which were postmaster and town chairman, and in 1878 he served a term in the Wisconsin legislature.—Alexander.

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COPYRIGHT 190S. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. • - CHAPTER LX. OLD SETTLER'S STORY. John Dale had charge of some thirty men from Pierce County, sent to be mustered in at La Crosse, and as he had a government commission and was paid by the government every town felt satisfied all would be well. When a whole company went at once the Captain or some minor officer had charge, and paid their way. ^ But John Dale sold all the men he took down to some Eastern man. When the report reached Pierqe County the home people got wild, and would have hanged John up in daylight if they could have got him; and it would have needed a strong rope, too—for John tipped the scales at three hundred pounds. When John got back to Prescott and learned of the feek ing, which was mostlv in River Falls, John shunned River Falls. He had four days left to get his men, so struck in for Trimbelle, Perry and El Paso. John was a hustler, and he made his mules hustle, too. He stopped over night at O. P. Magee's, in ,E1 Paso, and soon after daylight called on me to go with him down on Plum Creek. We had a lively ride over logs, roots, and everything else in our way. On Plum Creek he secured Mr. Pickett, and had still two days to go, and only three more men to get. Well, John got all his men, and had a day to spare—and River Falls had its rope to the good. Shortly afterward, Johti filed a bill "with the town of El Paso for $75 for taking three soldiers for El Paso to La Crosse. We were astonished, as the^ov^rnment paid^all ex- p©nses from the time men were delivered in Prescott. We refused to pay the bill until we could hear from our volun teers, but kept back $25 for each from the $300 due him, in case we did have to pay. Nothing was heard from them for a long time; meanwhile a new board was elected, with O. P. Magee chairman, and they paid the $75 to John Dale. When we did hear we found that not only had John stolen the pay for taking the soldiers to the front, but he had made those thirty men walk from Prescott to La Crosse on the ice, he carrying the small satchel each had in his sleigh behind the mules. • Now for this town bounty business. It was no trouble to vote the tax—but collecting that tax was trouble. Each man liable to draft had to buy a certain amount of the bounty orders, and pay cash down for them; he re-J eeived in exchange tax sale certificates, perhaps worthless, i which at best eventually entitled him to a tax title. And| the more tax titles a man had the worse off he was. j Some time later it was current talk that a call would bei made of either 300,000 or 500,000 men; the voters of El Paso decided not to vote any more bounty tax, but to stand draft. From the start every man in El Paso would prefer to volunteer, were it not for leaving a wife and helpless family with only a small stumpy piece of land to live off from, and not a neighbor within miles. 1 hope we may never see such times again. OLD SETTLER.

JOHN W. WINN'S STORY. : Continued from last week*- ; In 1856, 57 and 58 Chfton was in its zenith of glory. \ Manning had a large interest in lumbering, besides his flour mill and lime burning, with headquarters in the Hollow. With all these interests he had from 25 to 35 men and boys about him, and of course in those days they would occasioM ally make the echoes ring. It has been recorded of Manning! that he never slept—if he did no one ever caught him at it. I have classed Strahl with the early politicians, and to show you that in those early days politicians did not al ways win out, I will state one instance. Mr. Strahl was Chairman of Clifton and was running for re-election. We boys did not like him any too well, so we had a little private caucus, made some changes, and got Mr. Young to print our tickets on'the same kind of paper as the regular ticket. Of | course, on election day we attended to our business. Mr. Strahl did not discover there were two tickets in the field until the polls closed at noon; then he made the remark that the boys must have their fun, and if they Wanted to vote a roorback all right, the regular ticket was all right. But T^en the canvas was completed he was beaten two to one, and he never forgave me for the interest- I took in that election. I think it was in 1858 that the question of the location of the County Seat was agitated. Some were in favor of River Falls, others for Perry, while others favored Prescott. ^ The feeling kept getting more to the front, and at last a votd was taken, which resulted in favor of Perry, very much tm the disappointment of everybody. At that time the village^ of Perry consisted of five families—three Kinne5^s, Mr. Hoff man and Mr. Bruce or Bush. The roads from the top of Trimbelle Hill were full of stumps and were one continuous mud hole from the top of said hill until you reached Sparta. It was thought by jnany that if the removal was urged im mediately it would disgust enough voters to get it relocated again at Prescott or River Falls. But the vote showed it. w^as located to stay. Arrangements were made for the several offices in pri vate houses and the Hotel, built b}^ Mr. Crippen after the vote was taken. A log court house was erected on the side hill in rear of where the foundry now stands, and it was a good, strong, substantial building, with 2x12 inch planks for seats and clean saw dirt scattered evenly over the ground floor^ We belieTa justice was administered just as inh. partially as it will be in our $100,000.00 court housB now ia^ course of building. - At this time competition in steamboating was at its highest; a person could ride from St. Paul to St. Louis free, and board thrown in. I was offered one dollar and a re turn ticket by the Captain of the old''War Eagle.'^ The 'steamboat ''Kentucky No. 2'^ was owned by the Rissues and run by George, who was Captain. In the fall of 1856 I went into partnership with a young^ lady, which arrangement has continued up to the present time, and I may add we don't either of us feel like dissolving, (Not any). Living at this time expensive. Flour $8 per bbl., sugar, 12>^c per lb., eggs, $1 per doz., oats, $1.10 per bu., corn, $l,and hard to get, pork, $18 to $24 per bbl., and other things in proportion. I think it was in 1857 that McMurphy had 40 acres of of Black Sea wheat that yielded 40 bus. per acre/ which he disposed of at $2 50 per bu. Black Sea and Club Wheat were the only varieties to be had. In 1859 the wheat crop was a failure, owing to drought, many fields yielding 15 to 18 bus. and weighing about 40 lbs. per bu. It was about this time that Judge Fuller, of Hudson, dispensed Justice (between drinks) in this circuit; his decisions were generally fair, but he was always very, dry, often adjourning court to lubricate his throat. , To be continued.

EARLY HISTORY OP ROCK ELM [E. R. Condit writes briefly as follows:] I was born in Mount Claire, New Jersey, in 1833. I came West with my father in 1849, and landed in Mil- w^aukee. .My father bought lands, and. made a home in Dodge Count}^ i came to Pierce County in the spring of 1867, and bought the N. J^ of N. W. ^ of Sec. 20, where I have made my home up to the present time. In the fall of 1867 I built a log house, bought $1000.00 worth of goods, and opened a general store on the farm. In 1880 I built a store in the village of Rock Elm, and moved my goods from the farm store into it. On the 8th day of March, 1898, I bought the S. J. Fox store building, and once more moved my goods, and in this last place you will now find me doing business with my son, W. C. Condit, under the firm name of E. R. Condit & Son. In the fall of 1880 I bought what seemed to me to be a large amount of green ginseng. I had on hand at one time two tons; ginseng was the only legal tender in exchange for goods at the store, bringing 15 cents per pound. * In an early day deer were quit€ plentiful.. I hav0 bought sled loads of them and taken to Lake City, Minn. We also had a few bears and some wolves. I never had any trouble with bears but once. C. A. Hawn came down to my farm one day in the fall of 1868, and claims he met a bear on the road; well if you could have been there and heard that row, you would have thought lightning had destroyed 40 acres of timber. The first school district was organized in the spring of 1867, and a log school house built that fall on the N. W. corner of Sec. 20. M. C. Guest was elected cl&k and E. R. Condit treasurer. Our first teacher was Hary-Ann Hackett. In 1868 thi6 school district drew all of the town, county and state school tax, amounting in all to $70. Thirty-nine years ago I moved onto Sec. 20. There were eight families living on the section at that time; today I am the only one left. In 1870 I was elected one of the supervisors of the town, and have served a number of terms since; was chairman for three years, postmaster one term and president of Poplar Hill Cemetery for a number of years. This place I often visit, and as I look upon the two hundred marble statues that mark the spots where my <)ld I neighbors lie, I ask where are they ? And as T tHnk oF^ time when my eyes shall be closed forever, 1 look with calm and quiet resignation "Into the Great Unknown, Into the Silent Land." E. R. CONDIT.

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COPYRIGHT 1906. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CHAPTER LXI. EARLY SETTLEMENT OP ROCK ELM [David Rice writes of his adventures and tells a bear story.] After I had returned from the War, I began looking around for some desirable place where I could make for my self a permanent home. I had heard of Rock Elm, and after looking in other places and finding nothing to suit me, I de cided to go there. I told my wife that, from the descriptions we had had of Pierce Co., it would not be necessary to in stitute investigation. So accordingly we packed our goods and left Northport, Waupaca Co., Wis., in October, 1867, going by rail to .La Crosse and by boat to Red Wing, Minn. Had I known more of the geography of tliis country I would have landed at Maiden Ropk. ;With my wife and two children we took lodgings at the Metropolitan House, and after breakfast the next morning I started out to look for a team to take us to Rock Elm, when, to my utter dismay, I could find no one who had ever heard of the place. We consulted the map of the U. S., thinking it must be somewhere within its confines, but no trace of Rock Elm could be found. When I had about given up in dispair I came across a man who thought he knew where it was, and agreed to take us safely there for $12. Crossing the Mississippi River on the ferry, we made our way to Esdaile, and there I met John P. Whipp and Lawrence O'Conner, who told us that after we crossed Rush River we would find a cow trail that went up Brush Creek, and by following that we would come out to Rock Elm. We followed their instructions, and finally made our way to E. R. Condit's, on Seo. 20, arriving there on the 5th day of October, 1867. We staid all night^with Condit, and the next morning I • wênt back to Red Wing with the driver to see about my goods. I had to stay in Red Wing that night, and the next morning I wandered down to the ferry to see if I could not^ TunT across some teamTthat I could get to take rny goodsTo^ I^ck Elm. I saw one coming, and found the drivec to be no more or less than John VanSchoonhoven. I finally en gaged him to take a load to Rock Elm for $12. Among my household goods wâs an old fashioned, ele vated oven stove. On my way to the freight depot I met a man driving a team, and in his wagon was my elevated oven stove. , '*Hellor' said I, ^Vhere did you get that stove?'' ^'A neighbor of mine in the country sent in by me after . his stove, and I am taking it to him,'' said he, 'Î want you to understand, sir," said I, '^that I have an my possession a writ of habeas corpus, signed by a .Humpus Cumpus, that will take that stove just as well where it aint as where it is, and if you do not, without any delay, replace that stove in the freight house, I shall not be responsible for your early decease." He replaced. VanSchoonhoven loaded on all of my goods but one large box, and that I had shipped by boat to Maiden Rock, and afterwards brought it home with E. R. Condit's ox team. Not wishing to encroach too freely on the kind hospi tality of E. R. Condit, and anxious to get to living by my self, I set out in search of a house to live in. I finally got one from A. A. Spencer, who then owned the farm where Ernest Abair now" fives. After getting settled, I looked around to see if I could find a piece of land that wôuld make a desirable home. I found that all of the choice pieces of homestead land had been taken, so I selected a piece of R. R. land on Sec. 15, and started to build a house. I used to walk to and from my work, morning and eve ning, and one morning after a light snow I struck a bear track. Henry Turner lived in the neighborhood where X was building my house, and knowing ^*01d Hank" to be a veritable *'Nimrod," I reported the fact to him. Arming ourselves with a rifle apiece, we started in pursuit. It was a monster of a track, and I expected to see a stupendous : bear. Turner got the lead on me and kept it. We travelled in a northerly direction, but just w^here we went I canno| say. After we had come in sight of the north pole, we C(^ eluded it was useless to go any further, so turned our foot steps homeward. All that we had ever seen of the bear was his tracks. Weary and hungry, we sought the cabin of Wm. Turner, where we staid all night, having to sleep three in a bed. My wife, becoming alarmed on account of my long absence, instituted a search, and in company with Simon Dickenson and Henry Krienbaink, found me the next inorn- I H ing working on my Tiouse. I completed the biiSdingimd moTed onto the place December 13, 1867. I have been Supervisor two years. Assessor three years, and Treasurer ten years. I claim the distinction of holding office more years in succession than any other man in the town. DAVID RICE. JOHN W. WINN'S STORY. Continued from last week. In 1859 a great rehgious revival occurred: a great many joined the church. Preachers were scarce, but thejpmade up in zeal what wâs lacking in numbers. Societies were formed; churches built and the good work prospered. " Tn 1859 and 60 pohtics ran high. 'The nigger" was all the talk. Who shall we have for President? I believe, through John Dale's influence and Judge Foster's opposition, Pierce County wâs led to declare for Lincoln. ___ I wôuld add that at that time wê young fellows did not pay much attention to politics; we voted more from instinct, I think, than political knowledge. The most of us voted for Lincoln, and as it proved we were right. In 1861 came the war, and when Lincoln called for 75000 volunteers I helped make up a company at Prescott, called the 'Trescott Guards." We drilled about three weeks under the instructions of such mihtary instructors as J. S. White, Michael Fitch, and others, but our services not being needed we were disbanded and went home. When the eau for 300,000 wâs issued we re-organized, elected D.J.Dili Capt., Marsh 1st and Serrell 2nd heutenants and Michael Fitch orderly. We were sworn into state service May 10, 1861. Left Prescott on the ^War Eagle" for La Crosse; from there by cars to Madison, where we camped and drilled un til July 28th; then to Washington, D. C. On my return from the army in 1863 I found things in a bad mix up. Gold was at a premium, and paper money correspondingly at a discount. Politics raging, some favor ing the prosecution of the w^âr, others opposed. In January I took the office of Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, and was appointed post master of the town of Perr3^ Mr. Cairns and myself sent a petition to the Legisr lat'ure to have the name changed to Ellsworth, which was granted. In 1866 the County Board system was changed to con sist of three Commissioners, but was soon changed back to the present system. Martell at this time embraced three townships, I think with but five votes; El Paso two . townships, which were I H

soon separated. I think the Ames Hotel was built in 1869, and the ^^Forest House" the same year. In 1866, 7 and 8 county orders were almost worthless. We could use them only to pay County tax. The County was nearly bankrupt. Tax sale certificates had accumulated in my office to the face value of $20,000 nearly, a good share of this amount being on the cities of Bay City, Tren ton, Diamond. Bluff, River Falls, and Prescott additions. In 1868 the County Board sold about $15,000 of tax certificates to Hudson parties; I think the consideration was $7000, or about that. This action relieved the treasury so that county orders were again at par. The first school house in Clifton was in the Hollow^, and was put up in 1867, if my recollection is correct. I think the first death in Ellsworth was a Mr. McEwen, found frozen to death about forty rods north-west from where the depot now stands. Uncle Charley Dunbar kept the first store in Ellsworth. Anthony Huddleston owned and used the first horse in the town ^f Perrv. JOHN WINN.

A CORRECTION. I wish to correct a statement made by ^'Old Settler" in the Sun of Feb. 15th, in regard to Philo Kelley. I want to say that no one ever offered me $300 to en list, and I never made any contract to enlist for the town of El Paso. I went to Prescott of my own free* will, and enlisted there on Feb. 23, 1864, and I never even heard of the '^camp" where ^'Old Settler" says I stayed over night on New Year's eve. On my way to Prescott I stayed over night in the village of Ellsworth, and rode from there to Prescott with a Mr. Gardiner, of that place. I was not drafted, and I did not go as a substitute; neither did I have my teeth pulled out to escape the draft, as I was told one man of the town of El Paso did. I think ^'Old Settler" must have been the one who was *'mesnierized" or '^paralyzed," or he W'ould not have made the mistake of thinking he had got me to enlist for El Paso., PHILO KELLEY. - Mzic/r./l^A. : -—'

CUPYmWTTTWOWv ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CHAPTER LXIL EARLY SETTLEMENT OP ROCK ELM [Wm. Craig writes as follows.] My boyhood days were spent in Canada. While yet a young man I crossed the St. Lawrence River into the United States. In the course of time I made mv way to Dodge Co., Wis. I lived on rented farms, and thought I would like to have one of my own. I had not only heard of Pierce Co., but knew some people who were living there, viz: George White, and Henry Van Schoonhoven, of the town of Salem. On the 2nd day of May, 1865,1 started from Woodland, Dodge Co., with the intentions of seeing what Pierce Co. looked like. Coming to LaCrosse on the cars, I took steam boat for Lake City. I stopped at Brown's Hotel and there made inquiries as to how 1 could get to Maiden Rock. I was informed that the ferry boat had gone and would not be^ back until the next day, but that there was a man by the name of Harvey Seeley just over from the Wisconsin side in a skiff, and that I might be able to get to Stockholm wdth him. He was there to meet his wife and his mother-in-law, Mrs. McKinstry. Having sought the man, I had no trouble in securing passage. It was nearly dark when \ye landed at Stockholm, but Mr. Seeley hitched up his team and we all got into a lumber wagon and started for his home, which was a few miles up Rush River from Maiden Rock. It must have been long after midnight when we arrived there, and how we ever succeeded in making the trip is a miracle, for the roads seemed perpendicular in many places. The next morning, after breakfast, I started out on foot for Rock Elm. ^ After proceeding a few miles I saw a man and a boy coming on another road, driving a cow and a calf.* When they came up I found them to be John P. Whipp and his son. Ocellus. We journeyed along together until we came to Geo. White's, where we took dinner. After dinner we continued our journey until we came to Derk Lammers,' where Waverly ^now stands. The cow and calf being tired, and night fast coming on, we held a consultation and concluded that I had better go on ahead, as it would be late at best by the time I could get to Dan Fox's. I did so, and soon after came to a man cut ting wood by the road-side. That man proved to be J. H. O'Connor. Having learned who I was, w^here I w^as going, and that I had never been over the road before, he took out a IH

pencil and rnapped out the tmil. Instead of turning to the south when I got to where Fred Van Nortwicfe now lives, I kept straight on east until I lost track of yny trail. I con cluded I must be wrong, so retraced my steps. Soon I heard a rooster crow, and it was not long before I w^as with my friends. I looked around for some homestead land, and finally located on Sec. 8. I cut logs and rolled up a body of a house, and then re turned to Dodge Co. to do my haying and harvesting. In November, in company wdth the families of Adam Keyser and C. E. Keyser, I left Woodland, having our goods shipped to Maiden Rock. Arriving here I put a roof on my house and the three families moved in. Our goods had not yet arrived, so we had to use a work bench for a table and blocks for chairs. After I had finally got settled, I found I had 50 cents in cash left. We brought plenty of clothing and provisions with us to last for some time, but I had to go to work. I helped to clear the ground where Hawn's mill now stands, and assisted in building the first mill; and for several years after was head sawyer in the same. My experience since I came here was not much different from the other settlers. I kept on improving the farm from year to year, until, my health failing, I was compelled to sell out, which I did and moved to Olivet. After living there for a few years, I again sold out and moved to Spring Valley, where I now live. WILLIAM CRAIG.

[Wm. H. Miles writes a good, comprehensive story, which will be continued through several chapters.] In writing my story I shall have to go back to the year 1862, in the little tow^n of Frankford, in the state of Minne sota, at which place I was then living with my parents, Mr. and Mrs. James C. Miles. I was then a boy of 19 years. In March of that year (the Civil War having broken out at that time) a recruiting officer came to our town for jôung bloods to serve in Uncle Sam's volunteers, and of course, with others in the town, I had to^go. Arriving at Ft. Snell ing on the 12th day of March, 1862, I was put on duty on the 13th, and served from that time until the 24th day of April before being sworn into service. After serving my three years—and a month to boot on each end of it—I was discharged at Montgomery, Alabama, and started home to the North land. While I was fighting for Uncle Sam, early in the spring of 1863, my parents moved from our old home in Minnesota to Pierce County, into what is now the town of Rock Elm. IH Of course, I had to come direct home to my parents, arriv ing at my destination somewhere in the fore part of June, 1865. My trip home was made both by rail and steamboat; as there was no landing at Maiden Rock at that time for large river boats, I came from Lake City over to that place with Capt. Doughty, in a small cockle shell of a sail boat. The wind was strong that morning, and the lake v-^ry rough; it seemed to me that We were in more danger than wê would have been facing the rebel hosts of the south in battle. However, we riiade port safe, although very uncomfortably wet. I started on foot from there, carrying my knapsack and clothing on my shoulders the same as though I was a soldier. I came up as far as Wilkinson's, the north and south road on Range Line passing his house at that time. From there I turned east, on what seemed to me to be a very poor ex cuse of a wagon trail; its windings here and there to get through the timber wêre numerous, but the farther I went east the more complicated matters became as far as roads were concerned. But everything looked beautiful and bright, it being a fine, sunshiny day, and I had served my time in the army and was again a free American citizen and on my way home. I came along to where the village of Rock Elm now stands, and drank from a fine spring that issued from the ground almost in front of what is now our village drug store. After Charles Hawn and Silvester Fox came and settled at that spot they dug out the spring and put in a wall and kept it in^good condition for many years, but it is now filled up, it being in the road. From there I followed the trail on east. The trail was not at that time where the road is now, being farther north, and winding around among the trees. I travelled on until I came within the sound of an ax, and a man's voice sing ing some good old Methodist hymn finely. I came in sight of the woodman; he saw me at about the same time, dropped his ax, and came to meet me, ex tending his hand, caUing me Mr. Miles and shouting ^'Thank God" all in the same breath. His actions fairly took my breath; I thought to myself. What manner of man is this? finally asked him his name, and how he knew me so well. He told me his name was Lanford Canipbell, and that he knew me from the description my parents had given him of their soldier boy, whom they expected home some time that summer, they did not know when, as I ha^d not written them in regard to the time. I asked him about my people and about where they lived and found to my joy I wa^ within less than one mile from home. I w as then very anxious to be going on, but I could not get away until Father Campbell told me many things of interest at that time concerning the few settlers that were then in the tow^nship of Rock Elm. And now my story begins. I fear it will not be very interesting, as it will consist mostly of short anecdotes of hunting, etc. As I have never mixed to any grât extent in town politics, I cannot give you anything in regard to our growth in that line. But I had not got quite home when I switched off. Well, as soon as I could get away from Father Campbell, I travelled on and soon came in sight of my father's log cabin on Sect. 14, N. W. ^ of N. W. % ; but before I got to the house my father, who was at work in his little corn patch hoeing the young corn, bare headed and his sleeves rolled up above his elbows, and burned to the color of an Indian, saw me, dropped his hoe and came running. He caught me, and he being a strong man at that time, I thought he would crush me right there; but I came out whole. My mother was away to one of their neighbors, one and one-half miles from home. I wished to see her very much and give her a surprise, so started to find her, father directing me where to go. I met her and my oldest sister, Mrs. Harriet Bates, who had settled with her husband on the N. E. 14 ^^ the N. E. 14 ^f Sect. 14, coming home; my mother commenced to cry for joy—she could not speak. My sister laughed and danced and went through all manner of movements really entertain ing, or at least it seemed so to me. Well we went back home. There we found George, my brother, and my sisters Mary a,nd Emma. We had a happy reunion, one of the happiest in my life, but from that time on work with me had com menced. In the last of June, 1865, I went out to the County Seat and took out homestead papers on 80 apres of land join ing my father's on the east, and my brother-in-law's on the west, and started to make a home for myself. I was single, of course, but I thought there might be a chance of me getting married some time, as it eventually happened. Soon after taking my homestead I built me a hewn log house, the best in the town at that time. During the sum mer of '65 I went to very many log raisings, both of houses and barns, and a jolly crowd always assembled on such oc casions. So time drifted on until fall and winter. To be continued. IH '-t^/^. /f^^ CHAPTERLXIIT. EARLY SETTLEMENT OP ROCK ELM Continued from last weeV» About the first snow that fell, which was quite early and the weather quite mild, my brother George and myself discovered the track of a large bear that crossed the wagon trail between my father's house and their neighbor's joining them on the ^êst, who was Wm. Turner. Well, we shouldered our rifles with blood in our eyes, determined to^ eat bear meat for supper. The track led us south across hills and hollows, some times in a circle, sometimes in a straight line for long distances, sometimes to the right, some times to tKe left, until nearly sundown; we hardly knew where we wêre, and our ardor commenced to cool, as well as our physical selves, so we concluded to go without bear meat for supper and find, if possible, our way home. After wandering around for some time we struck a trail leadir^, we thought, in the direction we wanted to go. We arrived at home quite late that night, tired and hungry, without any bear meat to make our stomachs glad. But as it turned out we got some of the same old Bruin to eat, and we did it justice, you may bet. During the night Bruin took it into his head to investigate a part of the country w^here he had been the night previous; so, taking a circle to the north and coming around crossing the trail with in a few rods of where he did the night before going the samei direction, and by doing so he made a great mistake, for he left a fresh track to be discovered by Fras Campbell and Wm. Turner, two good hunters, who took the track and by noon the next day had the hide and carcass of Mr. Bruin in two separate bundles. Of course, after the custom of all new countries, they divided the meat with their neighbors, George Miles and myself getting a very liberal share. I must tell you of an incident that took place in the fall of 1863, as I have heard my people tell it. My folks were all gone from home except my mother; while she was in the house doing her work she heard a hog squealing as if some thing very serious was the matter. She rushed from the hpuse and discovered a large bear lugging off a hog they had Dut into a pen to fatten. She grabbed a hoe and took after Druin, hollering and screaming, thinking she could frighten the Dear to drop the hog—but it wâs of no Svail;the bear didn't scare, but lugged the hog into the woods and left it in a thicket of hazle brush a short distance from a large tree that had fallen and lodged in another tree at an angle that was easy to walk up. l^r ^"^~ Twjo of our neighbor IK^^ Cooke and Yank^ Campbell, were hunting in that vicinity, and found the hog; kndwing by the appearance the thing had been recently done, they concluded to walk up the leaning tree and watch, for bruin to reappear for his supper. In the meantime, George Miles had returned home. Mother told him of what had happened and he started on the hunt for the bear. In his hunt he found the boys in the tree, and he also went up the tree and hid with the other boys in the limbs and leaves of the trees. It'was getting well along towards sundown, and they had not long to wait until they heard a crackling in the brush; looking in the direction from which the sound came, they could see the bear coming through the brush. At the same time Charles Cooke says, ''Here she comes, an old bear and two cubs." But it proved to be only one bear; he had seen her legs through the brush and mistaken them for cubs. The bear came directly towards them, passing under the tree where the boys were hiding; as soon as she got a reasonable distance from them Yank Campbell drew his rifle to his face and fired, sending one-half ounce of lead directly through the heart of the animal. The bear ran a short distance, and grabbing a small hickory tree in her teeth, fell dead. The winter of '65 and '66 passed away as it does in all pioneer settlements: chopping off the timber to make room for crops in the spring, hunting deer for their meat, or hustling in some form or other for the necessary food and clothing, until they could raise something to sell. The aettlers were all poor, and the sources of revenue very limited. Those who had teams (oxen, of course they were—no other teams here, and few of them) could haul a few logs to Eau Galle and sell to Carson, or get out a few tight barrel staves and sell to him. In the spring time maple sugar mak ing was something of a source of revenue. Ginseng was very plenty here, and worth ten cents per pound green. i But what was the most plenty of anything was sociabil ity and good fellowship. The privations were many, but we lived through them all and were happy. Now we come to pe summer of 1866. In the month of July, the 29th day, I was married to Sarah Shaffer, my present wife, and moved onto my homestead, where I lived the specified time and proved up. I afterwards sold the place to Richard Mc- Dermott. I will now pass over to the year 1867. There are many things I could speak of between July, '66 and the year '67, but I desist. 1']

My father by this time had got him* a team, and yoke of three-year-old steers; they were wild as deer, and not very well broke, but he used them to do his work—hauled his wood, did his plowing, and so on. He had taken them one day, I think it was in July, and had gone to Eau Galle grist mill to get some corn ground into meal He had got his grist and was on his way home; had got withilf one-half mile •of the old Bailey farm when through some cause the steers became frightened and began to run. In order to stop them father got as far ahead on the wagon as possible so he could hit them over their heads with his whip lash, thinking he could stop them by so doing; but before he got them stopped the wagon wheel struck a stump and he lost his balance an<| slipped down with one leg between the hounds of the wagon and the axeltree. The steers still kept on running. Finally father's leg was broken between the ankle and the knee, letting him drop to the ground, and the wagon passed ov^r his body. He was picked up by someone and taken to Mr. Bailey's, at Maple Springs. P. P. Mellon was sent for, who lived not a great distance from there, and who was considered quite efficient in setting broken bones. He came, set the limb, put on wood splints and bandages, got him fixed up in very good shape, put him in a comfortable bed, and then sent word to his faniily. We wished to gqt him home, and Mr. Mellon thought we could do so by plac ing a bed on a pair of bob sleighs, getting him onto it an^. getting a trusty, steady ox team and driving carefully. * Accordingly^ George Miles -and myself engaged a team of that kind of one of our neighbors, Mr. Ailport by name; but the team was in the woods, and had to be found. Now commences a little story, incident to pioneer life in the woods. We began our search for the cattle, but, contrary to the general rule, took no rifles wath us; we ha(i searched for several hours without success, and were about to give up the search when we saw a short distance away a small sized black bear standing erect on his hind feet^ looking at us. We had with us a small w hite dog, and we^ tried to get him to see the bear, but all in vain, he could not see anything bigger than a chipmonk. We took our hats off and" started towards him on a run, swinging our hats and yelling like a pack of Indians, thinking we could scare him to tree. He stood there until we got within a few feet of him, then got down and ran off a few rods and stood up again, watching us same as before. He repeated the same thing a third time and then left us for good. We thought we could tree him, and one of us keep him up while the other went and got a rifle; but the bear knew more than wê did. v^ At the same time, the incident helped us to findTthS oxen, for foUowing in the direction the bear went, in hopes of seeing him again, we ran across our cattle. We fetched our father home without any trouble the following day. The neighbors came in to see him. Some were so anxious for his welfare that they did the very thing (unconsciousjiy, of course) that ruined him for hfe. Not having much faith in Mr. Mellon as a doctor, they persuaded him to send to Durand for Dr. Crocker, who came full of whiskey as usual; he took the splints and bandages from father's leg, examined, pulled and twisted it nearly enough %o kill, did it up in pasteboard, ordered it kept in cold water for a certain length of time, and left him to his fate. The consequence was the bones got out of place, became crooked, itid healed that way, leaving him a cripple him for life. There are numerous things between the summer '67 and '68 1 would like to mention, but I fear it would only be tiresome to the readers, so I will content myself by mention ing a few minor details. During all this time everybody was busy; they had to make their homes; you could hear the clang of the ax and the falling of the timber in all directions, the merry whistle j.nd song of the woodman keeping time to the stroke of the %x and falling of the trees. Everything was busy, every thing was happy. New settlers were coming in, new cabins to be built, which of course called for the co-operation of the neighbor hood to raise them. By this time there had got tobe quite a few young people in the town. Of course, they must dance. The Ranees, being at our private houses, there being no others, everybody attended, young and old; they wêre good, social, moral dances, without discord of any kind. Church, prayer-meetings. Sabbath schools, etc., were held in private houses until wê began to raise our little log school houses. Can you conceive a happier community than the old pioneer in a timber country? Of course, the work wâs hard, but they minded it not. In giving you this I simply comply with a request to write something in regard to the pioneer life of the town of Rock Elm. I am well aware that it is poor and weak, but I hope y:ou will appreciate it. I am not a scholar, neither am I a writer; my memory is poor, and I cannot remember incidents and dates well enough to give you a,good, compre hensive storv. WM. H. MILES. To be Continued.

OLD SETTLER'S STORY. Id I must ask space in the Sun to answer'Philo Kelley^s corrections. I hate to think bad of him, I prefer to think ]bis memory fails him. At first I thought I would not notice it. The part I have written of the Pierce County Story m all facts, not fiction, and I shall stand by it, even if I have stepped on somebody's corns. If PhilQ Kelley will think back he will find that on Dee. 26th, 1863, between 3 and 4 p. m., he came to Old Settler's camp. As he said then, he had followed a wounded de^ since early that morning; he was both tired and hungry; he looked all of ttat. Soon the cook got some dinner for him. After dinner he told me he had made up his mind to enlist. I own I was surprised. I asked him where he in^ tended to enlist for; he said he thought he would go to Pres cott, as he heard they were paying a big bounty there. I asked him how much he heard they would pay. It was $300. Then I asked him why not go for El Paso, as we paid the same. Up to that he did not know we paid a bounty. Philo Kelley, inside of ten minutes, agreed to go for El Paso, in presence of another witness, who is still alive. One con dition he reserved until he returned in a week or ten days; he had not made up his mind who to leave his bounty money with. Of course, that was all rights I was surprised to see tiim come to camp on New Year's eve, which was sooner than I expected or wanted him, as I wished to go into Prescott with our men. He then, in presence of another witness, ordered me to pay his bounty money to John Bates. By the way, Philo, you told us you shot a deer on your way home Dec. 26th, and it was so late you could not dress him until next morning. On the morning of Jan. 1st, 1864, it was 41 degrees be low zero. I tried to have him wait until it got more moder ate, but he said he would go on and be getting acquainted with the boys. He says he stopped over night in Ellsworth village, and rode in with Mr. Gardner, of that place. No, Philo, you stopped at L. G. Santmire's, on Sec. 23, Towq of Trim belle, audit being cold you did not start from there until Mr. Gardner, who slept in El Paso village that night, at G. P. Walker's house, came along and took you in to Prescott, where he belonged. Now try and refresh you memory. Almost the first man I met in Prescott was Mr. Gardner, who told me you deserted El Paso for Prescott. I also found you changed your mind and did not leave your bounty tmone^ to John Bates, YQ% had 1^ for Jer^cpttêToreTr got in, a week, perhaps. You could account for the time between then and Feb. 23rd, 1863, at which time you claimed you enlisted: that is none of my concern. ^ OLD SETTLER. 7 ^_ / Catj^.'^^/j„„ ,..,.,s.w.,s,^^ ^^^"COPYRIGHT 1906. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CHAPTER LXIV. EARLY SETTLEMENT OP ROCK ELM ; [Wm. Miles continues his story.] In continuing my story of Rock Elm, I will say that I have forgotten just w^here I left off in my preceding chapter, but I don't know as it makes much difference in particular, as I have skipped many incidents which it seems to me might be interesting to recall. The pioneers of all countries, as a rule, are a working class. It is necessary to be so in order to*establish a hdme and home comforts. At the same time there are always more or less sports mixed in, such as hunting and fishing, and many others which I will not mention at present, but instead give you a few anecdotes wherein I figured (in one or two, as I thought, most too conspicuously,) The streams of Rock Elm and surrounding country were at that time full of trout, speckled beauties of the finest type; so one fine morning in April of the year 1866 I organ ized a trouting party, consisting of my brother George, my self, and a very small dog. We started for Cady Creek full of life and anticipating lots of fun and a finehau l of trout. We had got as far on our trip as what is now called Park ville, and there, seeing about a half or two-thirds grown groundhog cross the path in front of us and run up a small tree standing close by a dead tree picked full of holes by the birds, we naturally concluded to have some fun with the little dog and Mr. Groundhog. So up the tree I went, intending to shake his lordship off and let him have it out with the dog, which was but very little larger than himself. But I was doomed to disappointment; the chuck kept going higher and higher as I came up after him, until the tree wâs so slender I could go no farther with safety, but still I could not shake him off. I thought if I had a long pole (my fish pole, which was on the ground at the foot of the tree) I could whip him off; so I went part of the way down the tree and George tossed me the pole, which had the line on. Then up I went, with the intention of winning the battle, not at the point of the bayonet, but at the point of the fish ing rod. I got in position where I could reach him, but I had to steady myself, so taking the pole in one hand, hang- 12 ing to a limb with the other, resting one foot on a HniF of the tree I was on while the other foot I put against the diy tree. And now comes the funny part of the whole affair (at least George thought so—I did not.) The very second I put my foot against the dry tree the whole air was full of buzzing, swarming hornets of the white faced kind, and they Were not a bit careful where they struck me. I deceiided as rapidly as possible, with the whole kit after me, getting in their work most too often for my comfort and happiness. I got within eight or ten feet of the ground and jumped, leav ing fishing rod and line tangled in the tree, the woodchuck looking down upon me, grining, as much as to say. You fool^; George was rolling and laughing on the ground and the little dog was standing on his hind feet with his back against a tree, one fore paw up to his nose, blinking at me, as much as to say. You did it grand,, My face, eyes and nose weres woollen to a prodigious size, and the hornets were masters of the field. This was interesting, but it|didn't stop our trout fishing, as I had more lines and hooks. I cut me a nice rod of ironwood and then went on to the creek. We had very good luck; our catch amounted to one hundred and eighty as fine brook trout as I ever saw. This somewhat compensated me for the swollen face and eyes I carried for several days. I must tell you one or two short hunting stories, al though I never was very successful in killing deer myself, but I have been at the killing. I tell these stories to illus% trate the characteristica of a new country and people. It is about the year 1867 of which I how write. Mr. Wm. Rector had come to this country in ^65 or'66; had taken a homestead on Sec. 22, in town of Rock Elm, and built a log house; married my sister Mary, and was keeping house on their new farm. It was getting quite late in the fall, and wê might have snow at any time. My brother George and myself had made a compact to go hunting deer the first tracking snow. It was quite necessary that we should kill a deer to re plenish our stock of food, so we got our breakfast, shouldered our rifles, took our hunting knives and hatchet, and started. We got as far as the door and looking wêst saw Wm. Rector and his wife coming with their ox team about one-fourth of a mile awây; we knew they wêre coming to our place to make a visit, so we started on a run for the woods, about j fifteen rods from the house. We continued to run foraj short time after reaching the woods, and then slackened our I pace to a walk; we had walked but a short distance when aJ little to the left of where we were up jumped a fine buck and! l>r

r^n directly towards the house. George threw his rifle to his shoulder and fired before I had time to think what I was there for. The shot put me in mind that we were hunting deer on Sunday, that we had really found one, that George had fired at it and had wounded it badly; but the deer continued to run directly north towards the house. We took his track and soon found him stone dead in the edge of the clearing. We took him by the horns and hustled him to the house as quick as we could, getting there just as my brother-in-law and sister drove up. Of course, we had made a great deal better time than Wm. B. Rector had with his horned horses. We dressed our venison, and then had a regular old pioneer visit th6 rest of r 3 day. \ Wnen I look back in review of those old days it gives :^me a desire that we could be placed back to enact, the same old drama over again, just as it was at that time; the same old associations, the same old neighbors, kind and true, all in the same social standing. Just think of it, you who are now riding your sulkey plow, you who are doing all your farm labor by machinery, your plow, your binder, your husker, your thresher, your reream separator, and maiiy other farm machines; think of ;i how the pii^neer of the country took his ax, felled the tim-* ber, chopped it into logging lengths, piled it up in great heaps, burned it, and by so doing became the possessor of a fine field of stumps, which of course he must raise a crop from. Think how he would take his ox team, if he had one, and shovel plow or jumping shovel and go out into that field and commence digging up the soil, ihe plow jumping from root to root, quite often breaking a root and having it come back against his legs, causing him, I am afraid, to use some very strong language. But the next minute he is whistling or singing, until the next root comes. And so it goes. The last few words I have written bring to my mind rather an amusing incident which occurred some time after thehttle red schoolhouse was built at the village of Rock Ehn. 1 don't remember the year or month, but it was some time when the weather was pleasant. There was being held a series of meetings at the school house; among the regular attendants were Geo. Miles, Chas. Cooke, Yank Campbell, Edwin Cooke, Fras Campbell, and myself. We had been to meeting one fine evening and were returning home; coming along where Father Campbell lived at that time, our wavs home were in different directions; w'ig were Stbout to separate, birt Chas. Cooke w^khedu^ to go home with him and have a visit. He finally prevailed on •Geo. Miles and Yank Campbell to go with him. The rest of us w^ent home. Before coming to the house where Chas. Cooke lived with his parents there was a rail fence to climb; Yank Campbell, feeling good and wanting to show his dexterity in jumping fence, started on a run, singing ^*0 happy day I that fixed my choice,^'and gave the leap, landing on the \ opposite side of the fence squarely on a polecat. He shouted 'Traise God and damn the skunk," both in the same breath. Well, of course he w^as well scented; he didn't have to buy any cologne for some time, neither could he wear that suit of clothes, (and it was a good suit) to church again until they had been thoroughly renovated. But he didn't quit his church going on that account; he went just the same, wearing his evervday working clothes, and was happv. WM.H. MILES.

U . OLD SETTLER'S STORY. In January, 1857, my next and only neighbors were preparing to move away and take their game with them, which consisted of many deer, six or eight bears, a wôlf or two, and some wild cats. A week or two before Jim told me of twô deer hanging up on Plum Creek, near a camp built where Mr. Hawn's mill stands, later on I see it was credited to John Dale. One week later he told me the hunters had left, and wolves had eaten up half of one deer. He asked my opinion of w^hether to leave them for the wolves or take care of them. I thought he had better fake them than to leave them for Môlf-feed. So he took them home to camp. Hugh McCune had gone out to get a team or two to move out; he was then gone a week. Jim came late one evening to my camp somewhat excited. He had two fine deer hanging on the town line between what is now El Paso pnd Gilman tow^ns, on Sect. two. Somebody had stolen ihem, inside of two days. Of course, he wanted me to go with him to help find. I did not like to go, but could not refuse him, for he^ wênt after a doctor for us a short time before, clear to Mr. Bonsted's, in Martell. We started at daylight next morning; got to where the deer hung. It wâs foggy—a genuine thaw, with snow" three feet deep. We tracked men's feet a quarter or a half mile, when they got tired and had dragged their deer perhaps a half mile. i Then wê came to where a team had been turned around,^ which went off east. We decided that was a clear case of stealing, as no hunters would âl from one another those days. Never having heard of a settler east of us, we were at a loss to "know what to do; nearly all hunters had gone out of the woods two weeks before. McCune thought his deer wêre woxth $30, and that was too much to lose. By this time we wêre wet to our knees. We followed on through El Paso and Rock Elm, or at least w^hat is now Rock Elm^. I wanted very much to see the country and what it looked like. Between 3 and 4 p. m. we came in sight of that sled and found the deer hanging in a small building. If circum stantial evidence ever convinced me of steahng that did- McCune was pretty hot by this time. We found out soon that we wêre at a Mr. Bailey's place. Certainly that family did not look like thieves, by any means. They could not'and did not deny- taking the deer. They told us a fair story about four hunters coming in from the east and building that camp at the Center; later on two went out and twro, getting grub from the Bailey's, returned ifor twp wêeks. On their way out they told the Baileys they left two deer hanging up near the camp for the Baileys to come and get as pay for what they had. The Baileys missed their wax and followed on until their oxen gave out; then they werft on afoot until they ran onto the defer they supposed to be theirs. I will finish this jshapter next week. OLD SETTLER.

7 câ^^r^^"^^^. CHAPTER LXV. OLD SETTLER'S STORY. Continued from last week, I will finish the account of mv first trip through Rock Elm. Mr. Bailey did not seem quite satisfied to let the deer go, or to settle for them. McCune had to show^ proof they were his deer. As deer all look a good deal alike, except those with antlers, McCune had to show where they were shot through, this being the only positive proof he could show, and that before he could examine them.g They both wênt to examine them w^hile I got up close to a good fire to w-arm and dry "myself, and have a visit with the women folks. I saw they had a very comfortable I house,^n# a goad-sized field chojfped ready to l<||Th the] spring, Iâlso learned they had made quite a lot d maple I syrup in the fall. That was news to me, to know they could make syrup in the fall. They were then tapping trees; had about 600 troughs made. For new beginners they certainly were well fixed. When the men returned, McCune said, ^^Most likely those deer hung up near a camp on Plum Creek must be. yours.'' He told about ho:w far south of the track he took; they were? j Mr. Bailey asked if they were there still. McCune said No, he took them home, thinking the owners could not find them and had gone home, and the wolves had already eaten half of one. Mr. Bailey said at once; '1 took the deer thinking they were mine; but you took the deer, knowing they were not yours/' Seeing they were both honest, I then interfered and i settled between them; first, finding out that the deer Mc Cune got were not so large, and half of one was eaten up, I proposed that Mr. Bailey should pay McCune $5.00, which he did, and I think they were both satisfied. It was then quite late, and as they did not ask us to stay over night, we started for home. After going thirty rods I told McCune I would go back and ask to stay over night, if I had to pay two dollars. He would not go back. After going about a mile it got dark, so we could hardly keep in the sled track. It looked pretty blue. After going a qaarter of a mile farther, we discovered a light about 80 rods north of us; wê headed for the light. It proved to be a hunters' camp. They invited us in; we were well treated, had a good fire, got a good supper, and a warm shake down on straw, all of which we enjoyed. After break fast we were feeling fine, being well dried and fed. We bid the boys goodbye. I am sure I never felt more thankful than I did that morning. We struck out for that sled track, and got home about three p. UK, all wet. Some twô or three years later on, just before dark, a man with a yoke of oxen came to my camp. It proved to be Mr. Bailey. Well, I did my best to take care of him and his oxen. That trip taught me never to let a man leave my camp when it was late. I have had many that were either lost or belated stop; I was always glad td help them. OLD SETTLER. :ii

EARLY SETTLEMENT OP ROCK ELM [A. J. Weeks writes of his coming to Rock Elm.] - My reasons for coming to Pierce County were, no doubt, the same as many others; to get for myself a^home. I had never owned any land up to this time, and to get any, where I lived, required a small fortune. James Ingalls, who is my brother-in-law, had gone before me, and through him I learned about the place. In October, 1872,1 left Marshall, Dane Co., Wis., with a span of horses and a wagon, driving all the way. I came alone, leaving my family until I had found some place that I thought would suit us. I drove from Marshall to La Crosse, and then up the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River to Rock Elm. I sold] my team and wagon, and hired out to C. A. Hawn, for whom I worked one year. In the fall of 1873 my family came. They took train to La Crosse and boat to Lake City, whence they crossed Lake Pepin to Maiden Rock on the steamer'Tolly-Wog," and then came by team to Rock Elm. By this time the homestead land was all taken. The country looked rather wild to me, and how I was going to^ mak6 a farm out of any such land was a hard question for me, but I thought that *'what man has done man can cjo,'' so I bought 40 acres of Lathrop Rider, on Sect. 16, where I now live. I used to goto Minnesota in harvest with the rest of the boys, and on the whole I got along fairly well, not hav ing to undergo the hardships that some did. I have never jfeeen sorry that I came here. I have never figured much in politics, simply holding the office of Supervisor for two years. A. J. WEEKS. [Mrs. F. W. Lohrie's letter is as follows.] The spring of 1871 found us living at the Dawson homestead in Pewaukee, Waukesha Co., my birthplace. It is4)icturesquelv situated on the Lake Pewaukee, Milwaukee &St. PaulR.R. Mr. Lohrie was born near the city of Colburg, in northern Prussia. Some kinfolks of ours had gone West, and were writmg come out to Nebraska,—lots of homestead laifd. About this time W. H. Washburn, of our town, later a member of the Wisconsin legislature, called; he had just returned from a trip through Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota; had taken some land in Pierce County. He advised,''Do not cross the Mississippi River for a farm. Pierce Co. has fine chances for beginners." [ lS[r7âshburn said E. F. Leischery a^Tewauke¥^man, j was going to Pierce County, and wished to buy his claim; also a Mr. Griswold, late of Rock Elm, had a claim he would sell, his wife had become homesick, tired of pioneer life. Mr. Lohrie called on Mr. Griswold; he" ^sked $200.00 for his claim. Next Mr. Leischer was interviewed; his bright, cheery ideas of outlook were a complete conquest. We decided to try the new County. A few preliminary plans and purchases, and wê were ready to emigrate. On March 25th wê said farewell, sweet home, we are going West. Mr. and Mrs. Leischer, Mattie and Frank, Mr. Lohrie, Bennie and myself made the party* In the gloaming we took a parting glance of the towil| there W'cre islands of ducks all over the lake. A few minutes after the cars moved out through Hart land, Pine Lake and Oconomowoc, and sometime during the night we changed cars at Camp Douglas. The West Wis. R. R. had been extended to Menomonie, Dunn C-o., W'hich place we reached next day. Much of scenery along the route was quite monotonous; sand and pines and sawmills. Eau Claire wâs out in spangles to receive her delegates from Madison; they were trying for an appropriation for improving the Delles. They had a cavalcade of beautiful horses. They paddled a canoe drawn by horses through the streets. We soon found ourselves very comfortable at the hotel at Menomonie. How pleased the babes were to be free frorn car rumble. Bennie worried some during the evening, and the proprietor's wife came into the room. She had the sweetest voice I ever heard. One eye was disfigured. 1 thought she wôuld be lovely with no eyes. They told us wê were thirty miles from Rock Elm. They I soon found a man who agreed to take the party and two I trunks to Rock Elm for $12.00. Next morning, soon after I seven, Mr. White drove up with sorrel ponies. Out over ithe sand, past Dunnville. The weather was mild and golden sunshine all day. Pigeons Were flying, partridges drumming and little birds trying to "sing. Sighted the Pine Tavern about noon. Mrs. Fuller soon served a good dinner. Mr. White arranged with Mr. Fuller ;to take us to Rock Elm. i The people said we were going up into the woods and \ maple sugar bush. Scenic features had changed—soil, tim- Lber and roads. There was some snow. j Mr. Leischer had arranged to stay with J. Young. We I did-not know where we would find shelter. I Soon after dusk March 27th our driver said ^'Here we I are." Mrs. Young was a school friend of mine, and they^ were very kind. T do not recairanyb the babes did not worry; wê enjoyed the drive. Can the reader imagine the road in places? A delicious supper wâs soon served, and they arranged we should stay with Father Adam Keyser, a nearby neigh bor. Mr. Fuller went to stay with J. W. Springsted. W^ sojonrned a week with Mother and Father Keyser; they talked hke parents; I love them yet. Every odd section here was R. R. land, and belonged to the West Wis. Co. Homesteads were mostly taken. Next daj^ the men looked around. On the Griswold claim was a log house, 16x22, with a shake roof; there was an acre and a half chopped and partly logged. A Mr. Lorent had the key to the house; Ave moved in. Mr. Chidester and Mr. Sanders went out to Menomonie and brought in the rest of our goods for $1.00 per cwt. We looked around and concluded to offer Mr. Griswold $75.00 for his im.provement;the land was not in the market. He accepted the offer. So many names often remind me of days when I was a school ma'am in Dodge County. We engaged some of our neighbors, who represented Minnesota, lUinois and Indiana, to help; we got three acres chopped, logged, brushed and fenced, and sowed to winter wheat. Early settlers here crossed to Minnesota to help in har vest time; wages were $3 or $4 per day. Self binders wêre a particular blessing to Minnesota farmers, with their acres and acres of wheat. We engaged a neighbor's girl to care for Bennie, and house keep, and I taught school in the John Brown log school house. In connection with clearing, we took a piece of land on shares of Wm. Craig, for corn and a garden spot; also of an Englishman named Jennings for potatoes and millet. Good fCrop. The w^heat went 90 bushels. Mr. Lohrie bought a cradle of Mr. Marsh for $5.00. We paid Mr. Nobles 10 cents per bu. for threshing. The land came into market in December, 1872. We took a contract for deed, paying the Company $300.00 in $50 payments. Robert, our second son, was born in 1879; Bennie was a babe in mj^ arms when wê came to Rock Elm; he will soon be forty. How time flies! Neighbors have changed. Some have moved; some are in the church yard. The people here are mostly industrious and prosperous. The land is improved and valuable. The larmiers drivel)ifrm carTiages with fine horses. Sheep, husbandry, dairying, corn and hogs enrich the town year by year: For several years a yoke of moolie oxen, Moses and Gabriel, helped lighten awây the rugged crags of pioneer work; wôrthy progeny of the blessed cow. MRS. F. W. LOHRIE.

L 2yU^ ^7 yy-"^ CHAPTER LXV7 ^^ EARLY SETTLEMENT OP ROCK ELM I did intend these to be my closing chapters but since I wrote this I have concluded to write some more if acceptable. Writing, as I do, at intervals of several days, and keep ing no copy of former chapters, it is impossible for me to ^ take up and foliow" with accuracy the thread of my narrative; how^ever, I will try and not repeat any of my former writ ings. How different it seems now to what - it did when this was a pioneer country! You can look around now and see! nice improved farms, clear of stumps, with their fine pastures dotted with horses, cattle and sheep, their fine barns,; granaries, houses, etc., where forty years ago it was a dense forest of giant trees, where the wild deer and bear roamed at will. There were also great quantities of partridges, squirrels and small game of that order, which your humble servant did love to hunt. Not being very successful in killing deer, he j naturally fell back on game of the smaller order, of which he could bag as much as any expert hunter in the same length of time. I will tell you of a hunt I took in the fall of 1866. It was getting quite cool nights, frosting nearly every night; but the days were fine. I started out to kill a deer, going north from my home, crossing hills and hollows, points of bluffs, and wandering around here and there without seeing any deer (it being so noisy in the fallen dry leaves), and I was getting tired of so unsuccessful a hunt, and concluded to go onto the Eau Galle river flats and get some partridges. I came onto the river bottoms a little below where the road bridge now crosses the river, the road running east and west past Pat McParland's; the river bottoms at time were a dense mass of undergrow^th, such as small trees and wild grape vines. I had been there but a very short time when I discovered in a grape thicket a large flock of partridges, and of course opened fire on the beautiful little 2!t

birds with a tTiree-â^relswivelbreech gun-—l:'WoliHel)arre& ftnd one shot barrel. To my surprise, when IjKed my first shot none of them flew, but stretched up their necks and commenced running around, makings that peculiar clucking fioise characteristic of that bird. The outcome of the whol6 business was I stood almost in my tracks and loaded and fired untiL I had twenty-twô birds killed, and then the, balance^^ of the flock began to fly and I got no more of them. Well, I had a load at all events. I was nearly as well pleased as I would have been had I got a deer; by the time I got home with my game I was tired, sure. I must tell you of a little incident that happenedin the fall of '65. I was yet unmarried, and living with my par ents. I had been away from home and had stayed over night with one of our neighbors, a Mr. Pooler, about one |nile from our place. I was going home early in the morning, iCarryijig on my shoulder a light fouling piece loaded with bird shot; got within thirty or forty rods of our home (it was all timber then on both sides of the road, up to a few rods of our house). I heard a noise at the right of the track, and looking in that direction discovered a large black bear nosing around on the ground, like he was getting some thing to eat. I was within four or five rods of him. First I thought to slip around him, get to the house, get a rifle (of which we had five at that time) get back and perhaps get Bruin;but I changed my mind and called to Geo. Miles to fetch a rifle. Mr. Bruin did not seem to notice it the first time I called, nor the second; but receiving no answer, I shouted again at the fop of my voice. This time the bear looked up, âve a peculiar kind of a grunt, whirled around on his hind feet and started north as fast as he could go. I discharged both barrels of my fouling piece at him, to give him more speed, if possible, and then started for the house. I got to the top of the rise of ground that intervened and saw my father and my brother George and Mr. Whitcher all coming, 6ach carrying a^rifle, but they were too late; his Honorable :5earship, judging from the rate he started off, wâs some where in the vicinity of the north pole. ; , I must tell you one more little hunting story, I had no part in with the exception of helping to get the game in and dressing and having a good liberal share for my trouble. It j\fas, 1 think, in the early part of the wînter of 1867; my brother George started from my house (I was then married and hving on my homestead) hunting deer; he started north, but had ^not gone far before finding where three deer had passed along very recently; he accordingly took their trail and followed after them. After following them for two or three hours he got sight of them a long distance our of rifle • - 22^ range, he followed oji, seeing them several times but stii out of range. By the middle of the afternoon he was a long distance from home, and was about to give up the chase, when he found that the deer had changed their course and were going in a southerly direction, towards our home; this gave him new courage, so, getting up all speed, he came up to them, or at least within rifle range, just as they were emerging from the timber into a small clearing made by Alvy Pooler, one-fourth mile east and one-half mile north of where I hved. He fired and dropped one just in the edge of the clearing; reloading quickly, fired and got another one of them; beforft the third one had got out of range he had fired and brought him down also. He then came down to my house and he and I took a large handsled I had, wqnt back, piled them onto it, bound them on with a cord, took them down to my house, andT skinned and dressed them. He gave me one of them for my trouble. He had the sport of kiUing, the tired limbs and bodj^ owing to the long chase, while I had one deer without th^ long tramp, which I have always thought the best end of the deal. I want to say in conclusion there were many men here at that time tJhat were good successful deer hunters; I will give a few of their names: there wêre Henry Turner, Wm. Turner, Fras. Campbell, Yank or Lanford Campbell, Chas. Cooke, Geo. Miles, Jaines Ingalls, and others I will not men tion. As far as I was concerned, in that line I wâs no goodv- WM. MILES. . •

U^t2(/^ ^ A.t^^ .

COPYRIGHT 1906. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CHAPTER LXVL The Story of Pierce County. OLD SETTLER'S STORY. While the County Seat was yet at Prescott, I happene^ to be on the County Board; but as usual the County Board^ had to adjourn in order to accomodate the Circuit Judge to hold court. ^ •Not wishing to loaf round town, and being thirty miles from home, I thought I would attend Court in order to kill time and keep off the blues. I sat in the Court room until about 10 a. m.—nobody else there. About 10 the Judge came in, also a olerk of the court, then John Dale, ne:s

EARLY SETTLEMENT OP ROCK ELM [The conclusion of Wm. H. Miles' letter.] Saturday, the 17th day of March, 1906, T was in Mr. Condit's store; Chas. Condit was there, and several others. ^)i y

Condit asked me why 1 didn't kill the bear instead dFMfcing Sanford Cam|bell, Jr., kill him. I told him I was no hunter on big game, w^hicE was true; but the best of all reasons w as, I was not in the country at that time. By the way, this puts me in mind'of an incident that will clearly illustrate the manner of hunter I wâs. It was somewhere along in the year 1866 or '67, in warm weather, that George and I were hunting in the wôods south of bii; place; I don't think we were hunting deer particularly^ buf j at all events he had his rifle and I was carrying a large army ( revolver in my hand, ready for action. | We were going down the south slope of a hill or blti^ on which there were some large rocks. I was a little iffi^ advance of George, and was passing by one of those lar^^ rocks at a distance from it of perhaps thirty feet. I hacf got past it a few feet and looking back saw a large deer standing behind the rock, looking at me as if he was too frightened to jump. Instead of opening fire on him with the artillery I wâa carrying, (with which at anything but big game I was a dead shot) I yelled to George, '^Come quick, shoot him." Then he made one long bound and was out of sight. Now, to change the program, I will tell you of an ex pedition a number of young men made in search of the Almighty Dollar in the shape of ginseng. That particular^ root was quite plentiful in our own town, but you know; ^ there is always something a little better in some other local-, ity. A Mr. Osmond Bailey, who lived in the Township ^ Eau Galle, and was once a merchant at the village of Eau Galle, and to whom I paid 45 cents per yard for dreSs prints in the year 1865, was buying ginseng. I think this was in year 1866. Bailey had been up above Menomonie at a place called Vansburg, and had made inquiry as to the ginseng crop in that country. He received glowing accounts of enormous quantities of ''Sang." He came home and organized a party of us, consisting of Alvy Pooler, Harvey Brittel, Joseph Shaffer, Albert Pooler, Geo. Miles and your humble servant, Wm. H. Miles. There were one or two others in the party, but I can't place them now. , ^ Bailey was to furnish transportation for us and our camp equipage, furnishing also the necessary ingredients for our inner man. Every pound of the grub was to be weighed and charged up to ufc/ /hich we v;^^6 to pay for, providing I we found the ''Sang" fields as he had represented them to '.us. Well, we started out; had fine weather and a good time golngTîTrvearal^CMaFâ^ due time, ^nd pitched^ camp late in the evening of the second day out. The next morning we rose earlj^, got breakfast, washed our dishes, which consisted of tin plates and cups,' common knives and forks, a frying pan and an iron kettle, and thus started on our hunt for goM, or its equivelent. We hunted faithfully and earnestly until time to go to camp for dinner, each one by himself in different directions, without any success to speak of. In the afternoon we searched again, with no better success as far as ^'Sang" wâs concerned. But there was a nice stream not very far from our camp, "and we found there were trout in it in abundance. The next morning the men were to make another effort to find the coveted ginseng, but I concluded I had got search ing enough in mine, and told the men I would stay in camp and have supper ready for them when they came in; they i were to take a lunch with them for dinner, as they expected to go quite a distance from camp and could not be back for dinner. All this time I had the trout brook in mind, but didn't say anything about it. Accordingly, when the men had all left camp, I cut a fishing rod in the woods, got out my lines and hooks, of jwhich I had plenty, and securing some worms for bait started for the creek. I had wonderful success, catching 11 fine lot of the speckled beauties and having lots of sport all by myself. I wênt to camp in time to have the trout cleaned and fried and supper all ready by the time the men all got to camp, tired, hungry, and without *'Sang." The party wâs then ready to give up the hunt for wêalth in that particular locality; but Mr. A, 0. Bailey Was to take them home, and he was not expected in camp for severaldays. So we had nothing to do until he came,'only to fish, hunt, tell stories and have a good time, and wê im proved the time to the best of our ability in that line. I must tell you a joke we came on a member of our party. But before telling it I must ask that particular party to take no offence at my making it public. \ We had been—that is the company—discussing the j different small animals for food, such as coon, muskrat, squirrel, skunk, and others, even to the groundhog, or woodchuck. When we came to the groundhog Joseph Shaffer took exceptions to that animal. No sir, he would not eat a piece of that animal under any consideration. But here I must say Joseph was quite a young boy at that time. Nevertheless, Alva Pooler and myself took oar rifies and v/ent hunting, ostensibly for parfcridges, but reall\ for wôodchucks. We found one, and also a few birds; too^ them to camp, dressed them, put them in a large pan witii \\ ater in it to cool and keep fresh. The chuck was very fat and soaked out white and looked nice. We had the whole bunch cooked for supper, and gathered round the festal board to eat. Joseph, noticing the fat pieces of meat, asked what they were; we told him, I fear, a little lie; we told him we had killed a small cub bear, and that was a part of it. He ate it with a relish. After supper we asked him how he liked the meat, and he said "fine." Then we told him what it was. We were obliged to stay there a few days longer, but we were having a good time, and didn't mind. Finally Bailey camicup; wê struck tent, packed our track into the wagon and started home, wiser if not richer men. Now I think I will draw my story to a close. There are many things, similar to what I have been waiting, that I could mention, but I will give space to something morf; liubstantial. There are pioneers in the town who, if they- will, can give a good detailed account of the growth of the town in all matters pertaining to the town, public, and pri vate, socially, spiritually and financially; let those men com.e forward and give us something good. Thanking the Editor for his indulgence in printing my narrative, I remain. Your Obedient Servant,. WM.H. MILES. UW^ /^/^^^

COPYRIGHT 1906. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CHAPTER LXVII. INDIAN PICTURES ON CAVE CREEK LEDGE. [To give our Old Settler and the other contributors to this^Story a short breathing spell, let us dip again into that delectable little book,^ Oliver Gibbs' "Lake Pepin Fish Chowder." Here in one of his letters is a description of one; of the old Indian relics of Pierce County, which is known tcfi but few of its citizens; for being hid in the perpendiculai Rush River country, only an occasional fisher ever sets eyes upon the spot.] Dear General: Here you are, gazing at the Indian pictures on the sandstone ledge by the Cave Creek camp. After fishing down the rapids a couple of hours, and culling the choicest pleasures of the wild woods and sparkling waters, this ledge was the next object that attracted your attention. #f course, as you approach it you caBt yôur flies a few times upon the clear, deep waters of the creek g^t its base, and called out a few trout from their covers by the sunken rocks and in those curious pot-holes which the eddy ing wâters have dug out in the sandstone on the bottom, by the rotary motion of boulders. The water is six feet deep at the base of the ledge, and yet it is perfectly transparent. See those pretty trout down there on the jsMte sand, their crimson spots as clearly visible as if the water were but six inches deep, instead of six feet! Here, upon the face of this high ledge, the Indians have written the history of their hunting exploits for ages with brush and chisel. That rude figure of a monstrous bear cut into the sandstone, with the hieroglyphics around it, tells, perhaps, ^to the savage reader the details of a terrible encounter, in ^'hich the bear was killed. Let us gather up these details in imagination, and see how they look. These pictures mx;st have been made far back in the happy days when Siou:5c and Chippewa met in peace upon this ground, which was oDi the boundary line between their respective territories. In war they had no leisure for the cultivation-of the arts of painting and sculpture. No battle scenes are represented on these rocks,—no scenes of torture or postures of con tempt, and no looks of hate: the adventures and epics of the chase alone are here recorded. Fire-arms were un- Jknown or unused by the common hunter, which that figure of a savage with bow and arrow aiming at a deer, conclu sively proves. Hence, we see it must have been only the most daring hunter that would attack King Bruin of the forest: What extraordinary causes led to the struggle with the subject of this picture? Did some exacting Chippewa J)eauty tell the young hunter who asked her to become the Mght of his Icxige that she demanded proof of his s*kill and ^courage to hunt and provide skins for their couch, or food niid clothing for themselves and little ones; or that her re lations were great hunters, and would despise her for choos ing one whom they could not regard as their equal, proved ;in the light of heroic deeds? Or was she unmindful of these |)rudential reasons, and blind to all but love? And was it her father who disdainfully bade the young hunter go forth and bring some proof of his worthiness to claim the maiden, fairest flower of the forest, and to sit in the councils of the brave? What trophy was he required to bring? Must he fling at her feet the bearskin for her bridal couch, and come to the wedding with the claws of the vanquished brute dan gling at his belt, and bringing the bear-meat for the mar riage feast? This would prove the strength of his arm and the courage of his heart. And must he also give evidence of finer skiJi by fetching her the skins of tlie artful lodns, or the fur of the wary and frolicsome otter, for her bridal robe? With no look of unmanly fear, or of heart-sickness from hope deferred, did the hunter listen to any of these con ditions. If he had such emotions, he knew how to conceal them. Trifles were they all, before his eagle eye, his strong ] heart,--and his arm of bow-wood sinews,—mere holiday sports for a hunter like him! Fancy him now, proudly stalking into the forest, chant ing his challenge to the bear to come forth from his cave or thicket, and meet him in combat. He hears the wandering ; bear's halloo among the hills. It is nearly like a woman's^j cry or shout, and has no thought of conflict in it; and ye^[ the enamored hunter, in his egotism, thinks^his good spirit-^ —his totam—has made the woods alert wdth only his busi ness on that day, and therefore believes that the voice of the bear is the signal that the gauge of battle has been taken up. He springs forward, like the panther, to find his enemy. The bear, accustomed to civil treatment from the Indians,— who usually give him a wide berth whenever seen,—does not run from the sight of man, as in these later days, but stands his ground, wôndering at the intrusion upon his haunts, as he snuffs or hears the approach of the savage. Now they stand face to face! Twang! goes the bowstring,- —the strong bow bent as none but an Indian's arm could do it, and the wêll-aimed arrow pierces the tough hide of thel bear. Is this all? Does the arrow quiver in his''vitals? Does the brute lie prostrate, gasping in death? A hundred to one that he is but slightly hurt; and as the pain begins fe& rankle in his flesh, he responds with only a growl, and swinp around to face his assailant. Advancing to closer quarters^ the hunter's tomahawk is thrown, and whirls at the head of the beast. This, if not fatal, fills the bear with rage, and he is ready to give battle in earnest. The spear is knocked by one pass of the bear's paw from the hand of the hunter, who draws his knife,—that last resort in all close bear-fights, —and the bear, rushing, upon the hunter, rises on his haunches, reaches for him,.and clasps him in an embrace that must make one or both of them change his climat€; quickly In that embrace it is foot to foot and breast jfel breast, and, if the hunter kpows his business, it is mouth to ear, on his part. For his sake, let us hope there is no meet ing of the lips in that embrace. Let us not be in haste t^ learn the result, but rather pause and study the tactics. The' bear depends mainly upon two things to win the battle: the first is to hug the breath out of his enemy's body; if not im mediately successful in this, he raises one of his hind feet, to clavToutTEe hunter^^FCTitrails. The Hunter's~biny cliance^ is to keep one arm free, and plunge his*knife int4 tfe^ vitals of the bear at the instant that the bear enfolds hin in his paws. It looks ^'to a man up in the tree" as if th^ bear had the odds in his favor in this kind of fight; but skillful bear- hunters generally win it, and none but such—and they of the bravest—ever come to close work with a wounded bear, if they can keep out of his way. If we are right in our con jectures that some such encounter is told by the figure of a bear and the hieroglyphics we are contemplating, wê know^, of course, how the fight ended: our hero lived to tell his story, and here recorded it. We w-ill give him a '^breathing- spell," time to heal his wounds, pass over his pastimes cap turing the loons and otter, and then fancy him bearing his trophies to the lodge of his mistress, and again appealing to the stern parent in these words, which were the fashion in those days: ''Father I love 3"our daughter; will you give her to roe, that the small roots of her heart may entangle with mine, so that the strongest wind that blows shall never separate them?" —You see there v/as some poetry and tender sentiment in the breast of the Chippewâs before civilization, fire-water, trade, and the white man's devil entered their wild abodes together. But this ^^sculpin" of a bear on the rock may have another signification. Maybe an Indian who had adopted the bear as his totam pictured the figure at this frequented spot, to remind him, whenever he passed this way, that never, under any circumstances, no matter in what locality, or from what provocation, must he allow himself to slay a bear. It was a superstition of the Chippewas for each one to have a totam, qr favorite spirit, which he believed watched over him. It Y^B believed to assume the shape of some beast, and they Iiever killed intentionally a beast of the species whose form their totam was supposed to have taken. The painted figures on these rocks are nearly obliter ated, and those that are cut in are much worn by the action of the elements; still, there is enough to be seen to make the spot an object of curious interest and contemplation. How ^%Q Indians ever reached up there so high on the perpendic- l}i§r ledge to make these figures, is a mystery; and if you evpr actually see them, this point alone will give you—as it has given others—a subject for much study. The water is six feet deep at the base of the ledge, as before stated, and it never freezes; so it will be seen at once that they never could have had ice for a foothold; and as for climbing, with out some scaffolding, that, it is equally evident, was an im possibility. (^^^^. yf^<^

' COPYRI0MTf9m^. ALkM^QHTS RWSERV£P. / ?n CHAPTER LXVIII. OLD SETTLER'S STORY. In an early chapter of the ^^Story of Pierce^County" there is a partial account of a donation of $5000 by^Pierce County towards the Normal School at River Falls. Such account failed to give all the facts in regard to it. l^^Zj ^ It was regarded at the time that it wâs secured by graft,^ and it is considered so still by all old settlers in the eastern part of the county. The same as| with murder, graft will| out sooner or later. ^' I The facts in the case are as follows: after River Falfg secured the location of the Normal School a provision TBA quired them to raise a large sum, I think it was either $25,- 000 or $30,000. This sum was apportioned, according to convenience and benefits to be derived from its location, so that River Falls was to furnish $10,000, Clifton $5,000, and Troy, in St. Croix County, $5,000, these three towns being the only towns to reap any particular benefit from its lo- cattion. River Falls^ as usual, wishing to have the big end of the loaf, secured signatures enough of members of the County Board so there was a special meeting of such Board called. As spon as the County Board was in session, a resolution was offered to appropriate $10,000 of the County funds, or^^ in other words levy a tax of $10,000 on the property in thg§ county, to be paid or applied towards what River Fal^ wâs to furnish for the building of the Normal School. This meeting of the County Board was attended by one- third of River Falls' tax payers, and all its great orators^ including Mr. Lusk and J. TK Putman, Lusk being a mem ber of the Board. Mr. Lusk occupied all the forenoon of the first day trying to show us the great benefit the school would be to all Pierce County. The noon hour (or rather two hours) was used up in logrolling for and against the ap propriation. In the afternoon Ed Boustead, of Trenton, showed w^fth some force and a good deal of truth that the school would be of no benefit to any town in the county outside of River! Falls and Chfton, and farther, that the people were not ablM to bear the tax, as it was all wê could do to live by work-J ing sixteen hours a day. • Mr. Putman took the stand and tried to show that the eastern part of the county was well off and wôuld not miss paying such tax: as proof he named several, particularly in in the town of Gilman, that had good houses and were well 2-:

4xed and able tây the tax. He also tried to convince us that it Would make such a market for everything we raised among the stumps; for instance, beets and turnips would bring about 10 cents each, cabbage 20 cents a head, potatoes #1.00, and other things in proportion, and he would guar antee board for students for $2.00 a week. Some member of the Board told Putman that neither he nor the people of River Falls would like to have our buildings for hog pens. After the Board adjourned, both sides counted noses to see how the vote would stand for the morning session; iti showêd amajority of three against levying the tax. So the East end rested on their oars. The meeting of the second day was a repetition of the first, only more men from River Falls and more logrolling. It may be that some of your readers will not under stand .what logrolling is. It means a bargain and sale—^lots of promises and some patting on the shoulders, and once in a while a drink thrown in. The day wore away slowly. Some of our East end ©embers, fearing we had a Judas in our camp, and ieariiing that River Falk was determined at any cost to win, en deavored to put the resolution to a vote. ^ ] One or two of our men wanted to wâit for another day. It showed us plainljr there wâs a nigger in the fence, or, m other words a bargain and sale going on. We could not force a vote without those men. WeTe- tnained at their mercy. We had nothing on our side to offer but the injustice of levying such a tax, for we were not able to bear it. Before adjournment a friend of mine on the Board told joae that a certain man from River Falls offered him for his ^pport to pay what tax would fall to the whole town. That Ikme man is ^ living witness yet, hale and hearty. He Would scorn to take a bribe or cash for himself, but was sorely tempted to accept the offer of paying the tax of his town. He asked me as a friend what I thought he had better do; I told him not to vote against us, as we must stand by one another, and some day he wôuld need our help; and besides it would leak out if he took the bribe. Well, we had to adjourn without daring to take a -ôte. Next week I will give you the rest of the logrolling. OLD SETTLER.

RUSH RIVER AND CAVE CREEK. [Quoting again from Ohver Gibbs' little book, '*Lake Pepin Fish Chowder," we find the following interesting ac- caunt of the origin of the names of Rush River and Cave Creek.] 'J ^

^^Whence and wherefore these names. Rush River md Cave Creekf ^^Green grow the rushes, 0!" on the river bottom; herds of cattle and many deer get their living on them all winter. In some winters the cattle will not go home except when salt-hungry. As to Cave Creek, there are supposed to be some caves up here within a few miles of us, but just where and what they are we have never kngwn^ Nichols and I have a fair-sized bunip of curiosity, but not enough to takg us into a bear's den in search of hidden wonders: that is what's the matter with the caves in this, region. ^ ^ A party ol young fellows from River Falls found the^ mouth of a cave om day, somewhere about here; one of them made b6M tpênter; directly his companions heard a low growl .â^y ba^k in the cavern, and in a minute after the explorer came tearing out over the rocks, on his hands and knees,:making Ills very best time, with eyes considerably^^ expanded. ''What is the matter, Jim?" said the boys, as: they saw hini^*coming. ' "Oh, nothing, nothing — only I want to see the outside!" He had waked up an old she- bear with her cubs. Another party from the same neigh borhood did better; they tracked a very large bear intb one of these caves. Two of them volunteered to go in side by side, one carrying a torch and the other a revolver. They penetrated the cave quite a distance v/ithout finding the ^bear; but finally, reaching a rock that lay across the passage, they rose up and looked over it, and there saw the beair: crouching on the other side of a roomy place, which proved to be the further end of the cave and the bear's den. The bear growled and showêd his w hite teeth, awaiting develop ments, while the glare of the torch lit up the cavern and made the whole scene hideous. The boys gave one glance at the ferocious beast, and then turned their faces towards each other a moment, each quizzing the other's ccMirage. '1 say, Jo!" said the torch-bearer with a hideous grin, 'ihe's a stub-nosed old cuss—ain't he?" At this the other boy raised his revolver, took steady aim over the rock, shot the bear through the head, and killed him dead in his nest. The names of these two brave hunters were afterwards written pretty well up on the scroll of army fame at Port Hudson and The Wilderness.- There are two settlers near the head of this Cave Creek —the Hurleys—who had much trouble-with depredations of the bears. Neither of them is a hunter, but the bears must let their swine alone, or there is war at once. John Hurley told me of his chasing a bear that was beairing off one of his sôatSr John gave such vigorous ^hfe.se^f^rthree-quai^rs of a mile, yelhng like murder, that the bear stopped, threw \A I

liown theryoumg hog^ and turned at bay. Says John to me, *'He wasn't more than four rods off. I just put my rifle up against a tree, and aimed at his vitals, as near as I could guess where the darned things lay and let him have it. The moment 1 fired I dropped my rifle, and ran home as fast as my legs could carry me, without once looking back to see whether the bear was coming or not!" ''What the deuce did you run for, John?" "Why, you see, I knew if I had killed the bear I should find him there the next morning, and if I hadn't killed him it was the best thing I could do! I didn't want to take any risks, waiting to see whether my shot had done the business for him or not." "Did you ever see the bear again, John?" "Yes, sir!" he replied, with some show of pride in bis marksmanship. "I found him an4 the shoat lying side by side, dead as a stone, right where I shot him." John's discretion in this case was, perhaps, the better part of valor: although, if he had been a pro fessed hunter, he Would have stood the chance of being "chawed up" by the bear. Tom Hurley, his brother, at tacked a bear with a hoe and made him drop a porker and (juit the clearing, without damage to either one of the three individuals involved. M^ 3' /^^^.

COPYRIGHT 1906. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CHAPTER LXIX. FISHING ON RUSH RIVER. [Oliver Gibbs tells of a fishing trip to Rush River—ex tract from "Lake Pepin Fish Chowder."] Now, here wê are, at Maiden Rock Village. This little town under the bluffs is full of good people. Familiar and kind faces will greet us, and as we step off the plank we shall have a little hand-shaking to do for the memory of old times, when the junior member of our party did the county-clerking for these folks, and "fished, fit, and bled" among the old settlers of Pierce County; while the friends will rjecognize another face from its reisemblance to the copies in their pockets, and be glad to pay some kindly greetings, that you may bet on for genuine and honest ones. Rush River comes in.half a mile above here. Some one will be ready to take us ten miles up, to Hicks'. We drive a little way Up the lake, at thB foot of the bluff", strike Rush River, and follow up its valley. This valley is half a mile or more of level bottom, partly cultivated, and then the bluffs on each side, timbered or grassy-slope^, cut with Irequent cobleysT^l^^ to admjre T}arpenteFs^^pring7 which bursts out by the road-side in large volume, and makes a run through a deep, natural ditch to Rush River, something less than a quarter of a mile. What a place for a trout-pond—how easily made -and cared for—^right here by Carpenter's house! If Seth Green were with us, he would have his pocket-thermometer into that spring, and look at the water-insects among the stones with his magni- fying-glass, in half a minute; and in five minutes more he would tell us (if we would only show him our '^sore toe") just how many trout could be hatched and kept there, and the number of'pounds of natural food per day the spring would furnish for them. "Gim me piece o'that apple, and I'll show you my sore toe!" said the poor boy to the rich one by the street apple-stand. That is Seth Green's favorite story—^he says he don't know any other. Seth would sell his last cow for a sight of any friend's "sore toe." But some day I want to see you throw three to five flies at a time, eighty feet, falling like a snow-flake, with line straight as an arrow's flight, into some of the pools of Rush River. Our road has led us along at the foot of the bluffs on the right-hand side of the valley. We now strike through the bottotn to the brigde at Seeley's, at the foot of the opposite bluffs. As we cross the bridge, we see the first ripples of Rush River and cannot'lielp pausing to take a good view of the stream. You would know by the "liv6ly air" and clear water of this stream, as viewed from the bridge, that it is the home of the trout—and, by its abund ant volume, big ones. Its musical voices above the bridge invite us, to "set in" right here, and your fingers tingle for a trial of your tackle. But we are too near the lake,—a black-bass or a pike-perch wquld be likely to show himself. We are after better things, and drive on, with Rush River now at our right. You noticed the large, fertile meadows by the bridge, and that white cottage at the left as we crossed over? This place was the Seeley and McKinstry stock-farm, from which the St. Croix and Chippewa pineries were supplied with beef and work-oxen, many years before this Northwestern Wisconsin and Minnesota country was settled by the grain raising farmers. First the explorers, then the fur traders, next the lumbermen and stock-raisers, and, years afterwards, the wheat-growers. The stock-raisers took possession of the grass lands on the bottoms of the larger streams. Their only human neighbors were the Indians. All of them got rich. 'Some families Uved in luxury here in the wdlds, and their homes—as well as those of the rich lumbermen with whom they were connected— were not^ for hospitality and refinement. St. Croix Falls, at a time in the early days wheiTT^sited that« seefion, hadT six dwelling-houses and eight pianos. Over on the Zumbro, on the Minnesota side, back of Lake City, still lives one of the pioneer stock-raisers^—"Old McCracken," as he calls him self. 1 sought shelter in his cabin last fall, in company with ilon. A. Tibbets, of the Minnesota Legislature, and was en tertained by some scraps of his'^ personal history. Mutual respect and confidence existed between him and the Sioux. His garret was the depository of their furs and traps, and ^he kept and used their surplus ponies when they were on a distant hunt, or on the war-path. When they were hungry he fed them, naked, he lent them a blanket; cold, his chimney-fire was piled with logs and roared for their com fort. Were he or any of his family sick, the squawks dug and prepared the "black-root," and made them well again: and when his first wife died, they were the most numerous of the mourners, crying, "0, the poor papooses! O, the poor papooses! What will they do now?" The Indians "never stole anything from Old McCracken." "I want to have an other stock-farm on the frontier," he said; "away off, be- twêen the white men and the Injuns." "But they would scalp you now." "Not if they knowed it was Old Mc Cracken." I thought he was doing very wêll where he was: for he had sold six hundred dollars' worth of cattle the week before, and his wife told me she had two hundred hens, and so many ducks and geese that she hadn't counted them. Old McCracken is a Scotch Presbyterian of the strictest sect, and firm in his adherence to the Bible and his conscienc The raising of mules he considers an abomination, practical forbidden by the Almighty, and no money can tempt hin. to undertake this branch of stock-raising. His wife cooked us an ample dinner on short notice. "Come again," said Old McCracken; "and give me a day's notice, and I'll have aôose on that corner of the table, a duck on this^ a turkev on that one, and ajphicken on the other!" As we drive along the side of the bluff, we ofteii catch a glimpse of Rush River, now near and- then distant, as it winds down the valley among the trees, and occasionally we hear again the music of its ripples. This has a cheerful ef fect upon us. The bold, rocky bluff on the other ride of the river, with overhanging pines and cedars, is an object of interest. An artist would be busy with his pencil here;but we are thinking there may be a deep pool by that ledge, where a four-pound trout is "waiting for the right fly prop erly presented." The wild flowêrs have charmed us all along the val^—the various phloxes, the columbine, the hairbell, the rose, the lily, and the bright scarlet "queen of the prairie.}j" 21 T^^^ log house over InTthe ffeldT oij the ^rigif is^ the baehe^r home ol John Strong, the great-dee^-hunter and general woodsman—slayer, it is said, of a thousand deer and many bears. We must have John meet us some even ing at Hicks', and tell us some of his best stories. A mile above thia place, we drive close by a deep pool, where Rush River bends towârd the road, and, if we had a mind that way, we could fish from our wagon and catch two or three, big trout. We can see them, if the lights are properly ad justed, near the bottom, standing against the strong current of the pool, their tails beating now and then, as they puslj up to recover lost ground. ^ :i

7 /^a^/0. /yo L^

COPYRIGHT 1906. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CHAPTER LXX. OLD SETTLER'S STORY. - Early on the morning t)f the third day of the County Board m.eeting River Falls people were on hand in full force, and with a new program. They seemed to be wêll supplied with cash, and wôuld be satisfied with $5,000.00, instead of $10,000.00. The new program worked wêll for them, particularly the cash part of it. j In the forenoon session it was quite evident that ihM Eastern part of the County was sold out. A couple of ou^;i^ (self-constituted) leaders who had so much to say the firs^ day could not be induced to say one word for or against the appropriation. Guilt was stamped on their faces, in spite of the extra drinks they got that morning in order to hold up their courage. The forenoon wore away slowly, listening to certain River Falls members repeating for the tenth time the ad-' vantages it would be to the whole county. During the noon hour or two those two suspected mem bers shunned us all they could. In a private caucus we de cided to have a vote taken early in afternoon, least they might vote the $10,000.00 appropriation. As we expected, River Falls won by two majority, and went home rejoicing, even if they emptied out a part of their cash. It was well known in Ellsworth that a certain member of the. Board on our side was in debt in several stores in Ellsworth, also in hotels for board; after the Board ad journed he was known to be flush with money. He paid^ up all his bills in town and had a snug roll of bills left—but his reputation was gone. He served a year or two on the^ 22

^oard after that, bu^his influence was gone;soon he TefF the county for Western Minnesota. His bargain and sale followed him out to the Red River Valley, where he died without a friend; even his own family shunned him. What the other deserter got he kept quiet about, but was not returned again by his town. Two or three years after the Normal School was running in full blast I happened in River Falls; being anxious to know if J. P. Putnam's promises were up to what he agreed they would be, and seeing a man from the country Avith a wagon load of fine cabbage, I asked him what he was getting for his cabbage. He told me he could not sell it; he had offered it for two cents a head. All dealers had their cab- ^bage engaged of River Falls and Clifton farmers. I enquired what Normal students had to pay per week for board, and learned they had to pay $3.00 and $3.50 per week. I un derstand from students they have to pay $3.60 to $4.00 now, and for some time past. Such prices compel many students to club together and board themselves. One of the Powells asked $30,000.00 for one of their , waterpowers: that is more than a whole township was worth 'In Eastern Pierce County at that time. OLD SETTLER.. - ; (' To be continued.

^ ^ CHAPTER LXXL INDIAN HUNTING PARTIES. [An interesting selection from Oliver Gibbs' '^Lake ^Jêpin Fish Chowder" tells of the Indian way of hunting êr J There are some curious chapters in the history of the, deer in the Northwest. These ^'big wôods" extend from- Lake Pepin along the dividing ridge between the Chippewa | and St. Croix rivers, and join the immense pine forests and] tamarack swamps that stretch out from the head waters of | these rivers to Lake Superior. On both^ sides of the''big woods", there is a strip of prairie and oak openings several miles wide. In early times, when the Chippewas came down for their fall and winter hunting toward Lake Pepin, they would gather in large parties—sometimes several hundred f hunters,—and drive the deer, slaughtering or badly wound; i ing hundreds in a day, as they got their quarries into closed quarters near the lake. The driving-cry of the Indians and • the howl of the wolves then filled the woods at once, as the \ wolves knew that cry and were sure to assemble in large 22 pac^s^hen, th€y heardlt, ahdT fbI16w~the Indian î^^rs toT run dowm the wounded deer. The Indians were notorious for their bad shooting, and probably where they brought down one deer for themselves, they left ten wounded ones running away, with a pack of wolves pursuing on the bloody trail, to pounce upon their victims and tear them to pieces when exhausted from loss of blood. As soon as these driving-hunts began, thousands of the deer broke for the prairie and openings on each side of the big woods, scattered, and made their escape, reentering the woods far on the back track; and thus, although the hunts were terribly destructive, the deer continued to exist in; large numbers. But when the settlers came in and too^j possession of the prairies, building their houses close by tbj little groves and thickets, springs and creeks, Avhere the de^" had their run-ways, the poor animals found that means escape cut off; and then the Indians and the wolves threat ened their extermination. The deer decreased in numbers^ rapidly from year to year in the big woods, which had been their favorite grounds, till the hunting was scarcely worth going for. A similar state of things existed not only here, but in Minnesota. The deer are now becoming plenty again, and for these reasons: Firstly, the offer of $50 apiece for Sioux scalps by the State of Minnesota, after the horribly New Ulm massacres, scared the Indians away, Sioux an<^; Chippewas alike,—they were quick to leave as soon as th0| white men wanted hair; secondly, the white hunters of .the j frontier nearly all went off to fight for their country in the. war of the Rebellion, and left the deer to increase and mul-j tiply in comparative security, and thirdly, the States of; Wisconsin and Minnesota have been making vigorous war^ on the wolves with liberal bounty law^s, and at the same, time using fair diligence, in some localities, in the execution of laws for the protection of the deer. Last fall there was good hunting in all the old deer haunts of this northwestern country, and doubtless wall be in many of them for years^ to come. Venison saddles were selling last year at eight to tenj cents per pound, and the market wâs full of them in all the towms above La Crosse.; If you want to take home something neat for the little folks, to reconcile them to your absence on a fishing excur sion, find them a spotted fawn, or a pair of them before you leave the woods. The settlers' boys frequently capture them, w^hile hunting up the cows in the thickets on the river or creek bottoms. I hardly ever visit this country in the sum mer without having more or less of them offered me at a small price. When found in June, they are not always wild. 32- ê-lheir olderl-elations, buflî Sfce approach of man oF ^&y without suspicion, and after being once fed by their pi&ptor will follow him like a lamb, and remain as docile, ^^^fidijttg, and gentle as anv domestic animal. Therejgjafv prettier or more interesting pet for children than one of these spotted fawns. They are playful, neat, and inoffensive, and wdll not jump out of an ordinary enclosure till they grow up to deerhood.

To be cont.iqi£L£(l.„. _.._.-,