Hokah Township

Hokah Township

Is situated on section 5 and 6, town 1 03, and section 39, town 104, and is a plateau or bencli at the confiuence of Thompson's Creek with Root Hirer, and about 2.5 feet above the level of tho water of Root River. This bench is formed by the lower ends of valleys radiating from this point in almost every direction and each one atiordiug a good natural road back into the country and towards the Mississippi, a distance of five miles. This place is the first eligible pnint*^ for & town f^i te up the Root River, and occupies the g-ap between the blufis at the outlet of the Root River Valley. The bluffs from this point tall back from the river rapidly and give the mouth of the Valley a bell shape, witli low bottom larids between Kokah and the Mississippi River. The Root River Valley here is about 2 miles in width and supports a heavy growth of timber from the mouth 25 miles up the stream. Among the timber is to be found the finest quality of oak, black walnut, butterniu-,. hard and soft maple, white and black ash,basswood, cottouwcod, hackbeny and elm. The trees grow very tall, and large logs ai-e now lying h\ the mill yard, measuring 50 feet in le)iji,th, 4 feet through at the butt, and 3 feet at the top. Its'prineipal use here is for ship plant.

The cbief engineer of the ^outliern Minnesota (Land Grant) R. R. Company, D. J. Whittemore, Esq., in his report to the Board of Directors, on the 1st of January, 1858, mentions this tract of timber as follows: "The Root River line (of railroad) passes through twenty miles of dense timber land. In this vaUey all the varieties of oak witli maple, basswood a:id elm arc faund In abundance of l]ie largest growrtli and finest quality." This body lies princi] ally above Hokali and is easily rafted or ^mted dcven to this point to supply the yai'ious manufactories already in operation.

Hokah is the Indian name of Root River, as also the name of ii chief, who formerly had his village located en the.se same grounuK -vrhere there arc still innumerable Indian graves and other tnicos of Indian remains.

The first settlement at Hokah vras made by Ed^vavd Thon)p- Bon, Esq., as early as 1651. He was first induced to locate here by the fine opportunity offered to obtain a heavy water power upon a stream falling into Root River at tliis point, which subsequently received the name of Thompson's Creek. His first design was to raise the water 36 feet, but his dam pro'^^d insufficient, and, about the time his saw mill was ready for operation, the dam broke out. There being scarcely a white family in Houston County at that time, it seemed like a reckless undertaking. The water power obtained would be much heavier than demanded, but eraigr;ition soon set in, and Edward Thompson persevered in his undertaking, rebuilt the dam, obtaining 25 feet fall, and started his mill in the spring of l85i. In 1855 C. "W. Thompson bought into the water power, and erected a grint mill, and laid out the town. In 185(i about 30 buildings were erected ; in 1857 as many more. The water power was improved and a large shop erected, 44 by 80, four stories higli, with wattr wheels and line shaftijig, the design being to rent room and pov%-er for driving any kind of rcachinciy. The waJer power obtained by this dam is sufficfPnt to drive fifteen run cf stone. There is ako another and htavier water power in contemplation. By damming Root River three foet and racing across a short flat 6^ feet fidi can be obtained, with the whole of the water of Root iiiver, thereby creating an enormous power and the only heavy one that can be obtained as near the Mississippi for a hundred miles abo^ or below this point. The proximity of Hokah to the great ra^road crossing, (La Crosse,) with timber above on Root Kiver to supply all kinds of manufactures, and navigation on the river below to La Crosse, (10 miles, by way of the river,) to facilitate the transjDortation of manufactiu-ed articles, certainly settles its claims as a manufacturing town.

In 1855 a charter for a railroad fi'om Hokah, via the South Bead of the Minnesota, to the Great Bend of the Missouri River, with a branch from Hokah to La Crescent, and fifom Hokah t& Brawnsville, was obtained. In 1857 Congress granted lands to aid in the construction of several railroads in the territory among which was a grant for a road from La Crescent, via Target Lake, and Root River Valley, to some point of Jnnct'on east of range 17 with the road from Winona to the Big Sioux River. This grant was given to the company already organized imder the charter obtained in 1855, and "in accordance with the act of 'incorporation of said Root River Valley and Southern Minnesota Railroad Company, approved March 2nd, 1855, and all subseq\ient amendments thereto."

The La Crosse and Prairie du Chien Railroad is soon to be built, making a connection fi'om Brownsville to Prairie du Chien, and when it is completed it makes Hokah the junction of the two great lines of Western travel, i, e., from Milwaukee via La Crosse and up Root River Valley, and from Chicago via Prairie du Chien, Brownsville and the point of junction, at or neai' Hokah.

There are several mail routes crossing each other at this place. The route from Brownsville to Maukato, from La Crosse to Decorah, and from La Crosse to Chatfield run through Hokali,

Hokah presents inducements for all kinds of business men. It has not at present a tithe of tlie capital or business men requii'ed by the surround Jng country, and especially wants manufacturers of farming utensils, furniture, castings and machinery, and any thing, in short, made of wood. Mechanics would find liere good water power, good timber, readily made available, with the whole of Southern Minnesota for a market, or, in case of a surplus, a direct communication with tlie North or South by the Mississippi or East by the La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad, of wliich there is a certainty of being finislied to La Crosse by the coming fall. At the present time there is little manufactured in Minnesota; the farmer imports his reapers, fanning mills, ploughs and oven rakes. Ail furniture,-doois, blinds and sash are imported, and all mill caslisigs and machinery, etc., are made abroad, that might as well be made here as anywliere, and thereby save transportation and two or three dealers' profits.

Property in Hokah has always been low and the inflation usually considered to be in the West has never reached tin's place. There is scarcely any property held on speculation, no buildings put up by thus-i interested in the property for show simply, but on the contrary built up by actual settlers and from actual business necessities. The present inhabitants are generally from tlie East, and have brought with them Eastern ideas nf supporting school houses and churches, and have put those ideas in practice.

Source changes here: from History of Houston County, Minnesota, by Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, published 1919; 887 words in this source stream.

Hokah Township

The village has two papers, the Houston County Chief and the Hokah Tribune ; two strong banks, the Farmers' State Bank and the Hokah State Bank; a grain elevator, a sawmill, a hotel and a creamery, as well as a telephone exchange. The creamery is owned by the Hokah Creamery Co., the elevator by the Hokah Grain and Stock Company, and the Hokah Shipping Association is equipped with excellent stock yards. The Hokah Telephone Exchange has local, rural and long-distance service. The Beatrice Creamery Co. has a shipping station here. The Hoffman Flour Mill is operated by water power and two miles southwest is the Bemsdorf Feed Mill.

The village owns a hose house and has a volunteer fire department of 30 men. There are twa hose carts, with 1,000 feet of good 21/2 ii^ch hose. A bell is provided for a fire alarm.

The waterworks system consists of a reservoir of 150,000 capacity located on a hill 100 feet above Main Street. The water is pumped by a gasoline engine, giving a gravity pressure of 50 pounds. The village has one mile of 6-inch and 8-inch mains, and nine double hydrants.

The Hokah Chief as originally established was started in 1856 or 1857, but the exact date is not known, as the early files were not preserved. After a time it was suspended, but on April 26, 1859, it was revived by H. Ostrander, a practical printer from New York State, who, in early life was associated with Thurlow Weed, one of the leading journalistic supporters of Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams. Mr. Ostrander was an indomitable worker, and a man who knew no compromise of principle, but who attacked every wrong he saw regardless of its connections or associations. His paper was Republican, and in those trying days just before the Civil War, when party passions were at fever heat, he battled nobly for the Union and became a terror to its enemies. He saw the triumph of the cause for which he fought, but on May 23, 1865, scarcely more than a montn after the end of the war, the paper was discontinued for want of support and patronage.

Unincorporated Villages

Money Creek is a hamlet in Money Creek valley which dates back to the earliest days, having been selected by John Campbell as a mill site in 1853. He platted the village and a store and tavern were erected. The village has a good school building and two churches, the Baptist and the Methodist, the latter of which is the prettiest rural church in southeastern Minnesota. There is a good store and a blacksmith shop. A mill does gristing, and not far away is a good creamery. The place attains some importance as being on the main thoroughfare from Winona to La Crescent.

Eitzen is a flourishing village near the Iowa county line in Winnebago township. Situated on the road between New Albin, la., and Spring Grove and Caledonia, routes that in the early days were much traveled, it early attained considerable importance. The village started about 1865, when Conrad Laufer began keeping travelers at his tavern. In 1867 Charles Gilbert put in a small stock of goods, and the same year C. Bunge, Jr., opened a store in an old log cabin. The hamlet attained considerable importance which diminished with the building of the railroad. But in recent years it has taken on new life. It now has a postofRce in charge of Berfha Bunge, the Eitzen State Bank, a good school, German Evangelical and German Lutheran churches, the Crystal Co-operative Creamery, a feed mill and several business places. A daily stage brings passengers and mail from New Albin, Iowa.

Ricefordy in northwestern Spring Grove township, near the Fillmore county line, was platted in the early days and once bade fair to become an important place. At one time it had several mills, to which the people came from miles around. But the coming of the railroad carried the business to other places, and the village now consists of a school, a church and a store, with several residences.

Newhouse, in Spring Grove township, was established on the Reno- Preston branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul as a convenient shipping point for the farmers in that vicinity. It has a railroad depot, grain elevators, a store and several residences.

Reno, formerly called Caledonia Junction, is important as the junction of the Reno-Preston branch with the La Crescent-Dubuque division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul. It has a hotel, a store, and a school, in addition to the railroad equipment. In the early days there were sawmill activities across the slough, but all that now remains are the dilapidated buildings.

Freeburg had its beginning with the arrival of William Oxford from Boston in 1852. The village is located on his land. George Powlesland, who came the same year, was not far away. It is in section 30, Crooked Creek township, on the Reno-Preston branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul. It has a Roman Catholic church, a creamery, a bank, a feed mill, a postoffice, and several business houses.

Sheldon has a Presbyterian church, a school, a store and an empty mill. Pine Creek Valley has a mill, a creamery and a blacksmith shop. It is in La Crescent township.