Rock County, Wisconsin - Chapter 3, 1879 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 3

Rock County is bounded on the north by the counties of Dane and Jefferson ; east, by Walworth County ; south, by the State of Illinois ; and west, by the county of Green. Its eastern boundary is about fifty miles west of Lake Michigan ; its western boundary, about seventy miles east of the Mississippi. It covers an area of about seven hundred and twenty square miles. This territory, with all the Northwest, was claimed by France from 1671 to 1763, when' it was surrendered to the British. By the " Quebec ^ct" of 1774, the whole was placed under the local administration of Canada. It was, however, practically put under a despotic military rule, and so continued until possession passed to the United States. Before the last-mentioned event, and during and after the Revolution, the conflicting claims of Virginia, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut to portions of the country were relinquished to the General Government. All these claims were based upon chartered rights, and Virginia added to hers the right of conquest of the "Illinois country" during the Revolution. As early as October, 1778, she declared, by an act of her General Assembly, that all the citizens of that commonwealth who were then settled, or should thereafter settle, on the western side of the Ohio, should be included in a distinct county, which should be called Illinois. No Virginians were then settled as far north as what is now Wisconsin ; and, as none thereafter located so far north before she relinquished all her rights to the United States, it follows that no part of our State was included in Illinois County, and that she never exercised any jurisdiction over any portion of Wisconsin ; nor did. she make claim to any portion of it by right of conquest.

Notwithstanding the passage of the ordinance of 1787, establishing a government over the territory northwest, of the Ohio River, which territory was acquired by the treaty of 1783 from Great B ritain, possession only was obtained by the United States of the southern portion, the northern part being held by the British Government until 1796. Arthur St. Clair, in February, 1790, exercising the functions of Governor, and having previously organized a government for the country under the ordinance above mentioned, established, in what is now the State of Illinois, a county which was named St. Clair. But, as this county only extended north " to the mouth of the Little Mackinaw Creek on the Illinois," it did not include, of course, any part of the present Wisconsin, although being the nearest approach thereto of any organized county up to that date.

The next and much nearer approach to Rock County was by the organization of Wayne County in 1796, which was made to include, beside much, other territory, all of the present State watered by streams flowing into Lake Michigan. Still, no part of Rock River Valley had as yet come into any county organization. However, from 1800 to 1809, what are now the limits of Rock County were within the Territory of Indiana, and in the last-mentioned year passed into the Territory of Illinois. It is probable that Indiana Territory exercised jurisdiction over what is now Wisconsin to the extent of appointing two Justices of the Peace - one for Green Bay and one for Prairie du Chien. In the year 1809, the Illinois Territorial Government commissioned three Justices of the Peace and two militia ofiicers at Prairie du Chien, St. Clair County having previously been extended so as to include that point and, probably. Green Bay. In the course of time, other Illinois counties subsequently had jurisdiction, until in 1818, what is now Wisconsin became a poraon of the Territory of Michigan. Under the government of the latter, the district of country now forming Rock County was flpafc included within the limits of the county of Brown, afterward Milwaukee, and so continued until it became itself a county, constituted by name and boundary.

A little over a month after; the arrival of John Inman and his company upon Rock River, where they began the first settlement in Rock County, there arrived out, Samuel St. John and his wife - the last mentioned the first white woman settler of the county. On the 15th of January, 1836, Dr. James Heath and wife joined the little colony. All wintered in the log cabin together. Settlements soon followed in other parts of the county. Particular accounts of these will hereafter be given ; for the present, the reader's attention will be invited to personal narratives of pioneers and others, to be followed by a description of pioneer life as it stands revealed upon the pages of history. ,

Pioneer Reminiscences

We have hardly seen a flake from that snowstorm which you have (according to the papers) luxuriated on in the way of sleigh-riding. I have rode three hours in a sleigh. The consequence was, a stop of three hours to mend and a haul of ten miles on the bare ground. This is a southern county, on Rock River, about midway east and west between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River.

The high reputation which, the Rock River country enjoys has brought many here, who have now well-built houses and highly cultivated farms. I think the soil on Rock Prairie is not surpassed by any in the Territory. The prairie [Rock], with its windings, is not far from twenty miles long and from two to fifteen miles wide, and the wheat raised on it is immense. I am told they consider that 100 acres under cultivation is but moderate. Many farmers have not threshed their wheat, a43d on every side you may see stacks in clusters, numbering as high as twenty. A large portion of the tillers of the soil have already reached that desired condition of which Gov. Tallmadge speaks, " honorable independence."

The country is adapted to the various branches of farming ; but, as much is said at random on the productiveness of capital invested in agriculture, I will give a few items in figures, which may be relied upon.

A gentleman here bought eighty acres of prairie and raised from it a crop of wheat, hiring all the work done. Here are the items of expense and the value of the crop :

This may look very fair ; it is not unfair reckoning if Providence sends a good seed-time and harvest. The yield per acre is not above the average, and I am informed the price is only medium.

The settlers are apparently well contented on this and other garden-like prairies. You may call this one side - " the boy said he would like to slide down hill if there was no drawback to it." I will give the worst of the other side by informing you that for timber here, in good locations, they pay from $3 to $20 per acre, and, in addition, that all parts of the country are not well watered. From forty to one hundred and twenty feet is the distance which is dug in some places for a living spring.

With these impressions, I may tell you of a large trade that is now going on in the way of transportation from the southern to the northern country. Thousands of emigrants who arrived the last season have to purchase all they consume. Many sage remarks are made on the appetites of the initiating " Badgers ;" and I am a witness that if men are divided into two classes - those who labor /or an appetite and those who strive to satisfy one, the latter class are here most strongly represented by thousands of hungry men, making their first winter's stay. There is yet too little capital invested by the agriculturists to supply the demands of the emigrants. Fifty miles north of this, potatoes are from 37 to 50 cents per bushel, and I have paid as high as 75 cents for a bushel of oats.

It is a matter of remark that a great proportion of the settlers in this region are from the Eastern States ; and as the new-comers seek for Government lands, they push across the river, where they find good advantages but an inferior soil. It would be difficult to enumerate the sunny spots in this region of country. -

Janesville is the county seat, and the center of at least twelve stage-routes, on which are driven four and six horse coaches. The town, with 400 inhabitants, is fast increasing, and improving in appearance.

In the year 1818, I was a resident of Detroit, and the owner of a large mercantile establishment located in that place, and from this had branches at Fort Gratiot, the outlet of Lake Huron, and at Mackinaw, Green Bay and Chicago. In May of that year, business required my presence at each of the branches, and I accompanied the army Paymaster, Maj. Phillips, who was ordered to pay the troops stationed at those places - then military posts. We left Detroit in the month of May in a small schooner for Mackinaw-, and from thence on the same mode of conveyance to Green Bay. After our business was finished at the bay, and we were looking for a conveyance to Chicago, Inspector General Wool arrived, and requested we would not leave until he had inspected the troops and he would accompany us to that place. In the interim, we purchased a bark canoe and had it fitted up for our voyage. Maj. Z. Taylor, afterward President, commanding the post, furnished us with seven expert canoe-men to manage our frail bark.

We left Green Bay garrison after dinner, and went to the head of Sturgeon Bay, forty miles, and encamped for the night. The next morning, we carried our canoe two and a half miles over the portage to the shore of Lake Michigan, and, after getting the baggage over, we were willing to encamp for the night. The next morning found us in our canoe afloat on the waters of the lake, paddling our way to Chicago, where we arrived the third day from our lake-shore encampment. On our passage, although we frequently landed, we did not meet with a white man ; we were, however, informed that one was trading with the Indians at Milwaukee. At Twin Rivers, Manitowoc, Sheboygan and Milwaukee the shore of the lake was lined with Indians ; near Manitowoc, many were out in canoes spearing whitefish. I am reminded of these reminiscences, having recently noticed in the public prints a census of the inhabitants of the cities and towns that have grown up on this very lake shore, which for beauty and population are equal to many of the cities and towns of the old States, and which shores, when traversed, were then peopled by savages ; and, indeed, from the shores of Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River, was one wide waste of unoccupied country. Indeed, from Chicago to Detroit, you had no track but the Indian path from one city to the other, and without any shelter for the weary traveler, where now in Michigan there are nearly a million of inhabitants, with all the facilities of" conveyances and comfort you will find in the older States.

The same may be said of the States of Illinois and Wisconsin - two of the greatest grain; producing States in the Union ; for their population, with farms and improvements equal to any in any part of the United States. Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin now contain a greater population than did the old thirteen States when we contended with England for our independence.

This, reader, is truly a progressive age ; within the last thirty-seven years, the three States herein named have grown into existence, and now contain nearly three millions of people.

What flattering inducements are still held out here for the hardy sons of New England ; plenty of the best lands under the sun are yet left unoccupied, and only want industry and hardy hands to find plenty of gold, and without the fatigue and expense of a journey to California for this precious metal.

The valley of Rock River is the most beautiful and most productive country I have ever seen in any part of the United States, from the head-waters of the river to its entrance with the Mississippi. But this I do not wish to say in disparagement of thousands of acres in Illinois and Wisconsin that only want the husbandman with his team and plow to produce a rich harvest.

Chicago, in 1818, was only a garrison, commanded by Maj. Baker, with no settlements near ; now it contains probably a population of over 70,000, probably 10,000 more than can be numbered in the old city of Albany. In June, 1818, from the garrison at Chicago to Twin Rivers, 170 miles on the west shore of Lake Michigan, there was but one white man resident - he an Indian trader. Since then, Chicago has become what it is - a large city ; Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee and Sheboygan, all incorporated cities ; Port Washington, Manitowoc, Twin Rivers, and several other towns - all important business places - have grown into existence, and now probably contaip, all together, 150,000 souls ; and the wide uncultivated waste of country then lying between the western shore of Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, numbers now over two millions of inhabitants.

When I look back over the last thirty-seven years of my life, I can hardly realize the wonderful changes that have taken place under my observation in this country, and still much greater may be expected for the next thirty years. What flattering inducements are still held out for emigration to this almost boundless empire.

It was on the 26th of November, 1835, that I first set foot in Wisconsin. The weather was extremely cold, with one foot of snow upon the ground. I was in company with some families, consisting of women and small children, some of the latter but a few months old. As we were compelled to camp out upon the ground, our first lesson of Wisconsin pioneering was not the most agreeable. However, we made the best of it. I made a claim two miles north of Skunk Grove, in Racine County, and there spent the winter. In a few days after my. arrival, I became acquainted with Henry F. Janes, and, as his name is so intimately connected with the early as well as the subsequent history of Janesville, a brief description of the man may not be entirely uninteresting.

Mr. Janes was a man full six feet and two inches in height, and well proportioned, of rather dark complexion, good natured, free and easy in conversation, fond of company, especially of a political chum, and an old pioneer. He never tired in hearing or telling a good story, and had a fund of incidents connected with the first settlements and late wars. He was among the first settlers of Racine County, and made his claim about four miles north of Skunk Grove, before the land was surveyed, and found, afterward, that a part of his claim was on the school section (No. 16), and fearing he might be troubled to get a title, he concluded to go farther west. He was of a roving disposition, and liked the excitement incident to a new country, and not much inclined to work himself, but to plan for others. He never was wanting for a good excuse to change his location. Accordingly, during the winter, he fitted out a horse team, and, with a small party, started west for Rock River. On arriving at Muskego Lake, they found the outlet frozen over, and, in attempting to cross, the ice broke, letting in the team, and, in getting the horses out, he hurt one of them, so that its lip became paralyzed and hung down, and it refused to eat, or could not, and, of course, soon died. Janes gave the name of " Lip Creek " to the stream. This accident, and other discouraging circumstances, caused the party to return. This name of " Lip Creek," as applied to the outlet of Muskego Lake, was retained for a long time.

The next time they started, they concluded not to take a team ; but Janes and a man named Harness commenced their journey to Rock River, and, as they were told by the Indian traders that it was but sixty miles, they concluded they would pack through with a single horse. The weather was extremely cold, and there being no trail to follow, their progress was very fatiguing, and when they arrived at what is now called Mount Zion [in the present town of Harmony], and seeing the prairie stretching away to the west until bounded by the horizon, and supposing that Rock River was still west of that, and their provisions likely to fail, they became discouraged, and returned back for a further supply of food.

Again they started with full supplies, and reached Rock River in safety. Janes traveled about for some time, and, in consequence of cold weather and being exposed as one must be in camping out, together with the glare of the snow, his eyes, became so affected that he could scarcely see at all. But on the 15th of January [February], 1836, he made his claim where the city of Janesville now stands. Many have given him great credit for his foresight in making his location ; but in the absence of any " sight," it was probably " more by hit than good wit."

Returning to the Skunk Grove settlement, .Janes patiently or impatiently awaited the proper time to commence the removal of his family to Rock River. The winter of 1835-36 was very cold, and the spring late and backward, so that he had to wait till the middle of May before grass was large enough for stock to live upon. I was engaged to accompany him, to assist in driving the cattle. We started on Sunday, May 15, 1836. The company consisted of Janes and family, Richard Miller, Levi Harness, a Mr. Beasley and myself." The first six miles were passed without difficulty. Then came a storm of rain and hail, with so strong a wind that we were obliged to halt with the family wagon in the leeward of the one that was loaded with provisions and farming tools, or get capsized. In a short time, the storm passed on, and so did our company. The first night we camped among a few scattering trees on Section 3, Township 3 north. Range 20 east, and flattered ourselves that we should enjoy a good night's rest ; but in this we were disappointed.

May 16. - Rained nearly all night. The most of the family slept in their wagon, but some of the men and myself had a bed on the ground ; and the first that I knew of the rain was on waking in the night and finding water under and around me, until I was half covered, and more coming down. I could not stand that, although lying down, so concluded to try it sitting up in one of the wagons that was loaded with goods, and covered with cotton cloth - the canvas being so low that I could not sit upright without my head coming in contact with it, when the water would come through in streams on my head and neck.

I found, in the morning, that I was not an " upright man," however much I might strive to be, for my neck was stiff at an angle of forty-five degrees for several days. However, my misfortune did not impede our journey west, and we made slow progress, as the sloughs were soft, and a great many of them ; and in one place, in following along near the outlet of Muskego Lake, we were obliged to have ropes to hold the wagons from turning over. Some time after noon, we forded the Fox River, at what is now called Rochester. There wag but one family there at the time, that of a Mr. [Levi] Godfrey. He came out to see us, and seemed quite pleased, as it was the first train of the season, and although we were going to settle on Rock River, he was very glad he should have neighbors so near him. He also cheered us by saying that our road would be much better, and less wet marshes. We di'ove about four miles, and camped at Honey Creek, on Section 1, Township 3 north, of Range 18 east. We had thus far found a few wagon tracks to guide us, but no wagons had ever yet been west of Godfrey's.

May 17. - Spent some time this morning in searching for a good place to ford the stream, as it was quite deep from the recent rain. At last we selected a place, removed some of the turf with our spades at the steep banks, and hitched all the cattle to one wagon, and started.

The cattle had but little difficulty until the fore-wheels struck the steep bank, when the rear team of old stags on the tongue came to their knees and fell down flat, when the lash was applied to the forward ones, who pulled them out, wagon and all. As the load raised the bank, the old short-horns righted, but looked rather hard after their morning exercise. By repeating the operation, we finally got all safely over. We followed on or near a section line which we took at Rochester, and so had no difficulty as to the course, as we knew where the line would strike an Indian trail that led to Rock River, where we wished to go.

At noon to-day, we turned a little to the left, and went down a steep hill to get to water and grass. Janes told us he believed this stream was called Poc-a-chee-woc. I think it must have been Sugar Creek. In raising the hill after dinner, one of the leading cattle balked, and then came the tug of war. This was the first time I had seen Janes angry ; but the way he did make the fur fly, was a caution to all balky oxen. After we left that place, our route lay south of where West Troy now is ; and all went well until we came to a large marsh, southwest of TrOy, where it was about one mile across, as our course lay. Janes had crossed it when frozen in winter, and thought he would find no difficulty in doing so now ; and it extended some miles south, and, as he supposed, north also. We got along quite well for three-fourths of the way, and had begun to flatter ourselves that we would not stick, when the old mare, on which the oldest boy rode, began to scrabble and to show signs of going under. The old lady, Mrs. Janes, called to the boy to jump off', and the old man, to stick on, which last he obeyed ; and the old nag stuck fast, with all legs out of sight. We stopped all the teams and loose stock, held a council, and examined the mud.

We first took the young colt some two rods ahead, and then I held it so as to entice the old mare to use her utmost exertion to get to it. Janes and Beasley put a strap under her and lifted on that, while Harness and Miller helped what they could, and repeating the effort a dozen times, at length brought old Betty on terra firma. We then unyoked the old short-horns, as they were so heavy they could not draw without miring down, and left them to get through as best they could, and put all of the rest to one wagon and took it through, but not over. We took off the barrels of flour and pork from the wagon and left them on the marsh until we got the wagons to dry ground ; and then, with the sideboards laid down, we rolled the barrels some forty rods over the mire to hard ground. Not an ox escaped miring down, except the balky one, and he would not pull, so all he had to do was to carry his owii weight. If there was but one ox down at a time, we would not stop, but pulled him out by the head. After crossing the marsh, we camped for the night on Section 34, Township 4 north. Range 17 east. I have since learned that Othni and Alexander Beardsley were then encamped, in hearing of our cattle-bells, in search of claims, and located theirs at West Troy.

May 18. - This morning left camp cheerfully, and with jissurance that we would not be troubled with marshes. About noon came to Turtle Creek, where we let the teams drink and feed, as tkey would get no more water until we got to Rock River. Here we became aware that even an old pioneer sometimes forgot the needful, as we had no empty keg to carry water in for cooking our supper and breakfast, as well as for drink during the next twenty-four hours or more. The only thing that could be spared was the vessel with twenty gallons of maple-sugar vinegar in it. So the vinegar was poured upon the sandy shore of Turtle Creek, and we filled it with water and started again ; and, after a few miles travel, we came on the far-famed Rock Prairie, the paradise of the West ; and certainly I never saw it when it looked so fine as at that time. The prairie grass was now green and largely interspersed with flowers. There was not the mark of a plow to be seen, and but very few wagon-tracks ; not a house nor a fence, nor anything to show that civilized man had ever been there. The country was alone in its glorious grandeur. We drove a few miles and encamped near where John A. Fletcher, of Johnstown, since located his residence.

May 19. - Started this morning very early, as the teams would have to reach the river before they could drink. We used most of the water, but when we were three miles from the river one hog we were driving gave out with fatigue and thirst. We dug a place in the prairie, and poured the last of the water in it, and let the hog wallow in it awhile, which served greatly to revive him, and then we went on. When near the Spring Brook, about a mile below where the city [Janesville] now is, the cattle that were loose started on a run for drink ; and the first water they came to was in deep holes, with perpendicular banks, and the cattle plunged all under, to the great danger of drowning a part of them. They at length satisfied their thirst, and got out in safety. We stopped awhile at the house of Samuel St. John, fed our teams and took our dinner ; and he went with us to show us the best way to get to the house of Mr. Janes, which he had previously built upon his claim. Spring Brook was very much swollen by rain, and in many places was eight or ten feet deep. We had to go some distance up the valley of the creek toward Black Hawk Grove, cross over, and follow up a ravine to get on the high land, and then down another ravine to the river. We found the log cabin which had been raised and covered with " shakes " by men that Janes had hired to do it for him, as when he was previously here his eyes were sore, and he could not work himself. The cabin was made of logs not very straight, and not chinked. It had no door, and was not well calculated to keep out the rain, as we had abundance of evidence in a few hours ; for there was an uncommonly severe thunder-storm and hard wind, and the best we could do was to hold a blanket at the door as well as we could, and put the wagon-boards down to keep out the water.

There were four families then near and on what are now the city limits of Janesville. Samuel St. John lived nfearly a mile below where Milwaukee street bridge now stands, and Dr. James Heath's house stood a little above the Monterey stone quarry on the south side of the river ; the house of William Holmes, Sr., was on the west side, and John Holmes' cabin on the east side, near where the old brickyard was, above the steam saw-mill. I think these were all of the families then in Wisconsin, in the Rock River Valley.

On Sunday, the 22d, I was at St. Johp's, and there saw Mr. Caleb Blodgett and some others that were looking claims, and while there a Frenchman, of whom they had hired some horses, came for them, as they had been retained beyond the time engaged, and he became uneasy about his pony stock. Seeing the ponies feeding on the flat, he caught'them before coming to the house ; and when he came,, he was very angry ; but a little soft sawder and the milk of human kindness put all right ; and the old man told us much about the country and the Black Hawk war, as he was here all through it, and said that he and Gen. Scott made the treaty at Rock Island. Blodgett bought the old man's claim where Beloit now stands ; he had previously moved to the foot of Lake Koshkonong, where I afterward was well acquainted with him. He often told me that he was an interpreter in making the treaty spoken of. I think he spelled his name Joseph Thebalt, but he was called Tebo, or Thiebeau.

I stopped a few days with Mr. Janes, and made a claim on the farm since owned by Mrs. Strunk and children, and built a cabin to secure it in my absence. On the 25th of May, I started, in company with Beasley, to return to Racine. We provided ourselves with food for dinner, but not for supper, as we expected to reach Rochester by night. We filled a pint flask with water and put it in our pocket, thinking it would last to Turtle Creek, twenty miles ; but, with fast walking, we soon got thirsty and drank it, and after that allayed our thirst with the water we found in the cattle tracks along our route. We were not able to reach our "neighbor's " house at Fox River, and consequently were compelled to camp out, without food, fire or blanket. We had one overcoat between us.

We were awakened next morning without being summoned by that modern contrivance, called a gong, and, before sunrise, forded Honey Creek, waist deep, and in good time for break- - fast arrived at neighbor Godfrey's, where we discussed his hospitalities in a manner to flatter the ambition of the most fastidious cook in the country. At this place, we met the families of Maj. Meacham, Mr. Spoor, and two others,v on their way to Troy. After breakfast, and a short chat with the new-comers, we started on ; as there was no boat, we were obliged to ford the river, which was much deeper than when we crossed it on our way out. It was our only chanpe. I placed my journal in my hat to keep it dry, not being then troubled with money with which to take the same precaution, and with my overcoat rolled up and placed upon my shoulder, taking a long stick with which to steady myself, we took to the water, like true believers in hydropathy. Beasley was a man above the usual size, and he succeeded well, but I not being well built for wading, should certainly have been compelled to swim had I not taken the precaution to provide myself with a stick.

Our transit across the river was watched by our new acquaintances with deep interest, and I cannot but say that the thought that they were watching us with anxiety, inspired us with courage, and a sort of pride to stem the angry current, and aided us much in making a safe passage. At least, it gave us great pleasure to know that we were watched with interest by those strangers. I have since renewed the acquaintance I then made, with some of them, and found them such people as one would choose for neighbors and friends. At the time of taking the precaution of securing my journal in the top of my hat, I little thought of ever being called upon for an extract from its pages.

Toward evening of the same day, I arrived at my home, having traveled through some of the best, and certainly some of the most delightful and beautiful country I had ever before seen. In sixty-five miles, I passed but one house. At that time, I did not know of a family residing in what is now Walworth County, if there were any, they must have lived on the extreme south side.

I will note the origin of a few of the names applied to localities in Rock County. Thiebeau, the old French trader, and early settler at Beloit, told me that the name Koshkonong, was of Winnebago derivation, and means "the place where we shave," as when he and another trader first came into the country, they left their razors at the lake, and would travel around among the Indians trading for furs, but when they wahted to shave, they returned to their headquarters at the lake. The Pottawatomies had a village on the east side, and their name signified " the lake we live on."

Emerald Grove was named by Dr. James Heath. Mount Zion was first so called by James Wood and Erastus Coddington. Johnstown derived its name from John A. Fletcher; Prairie du Lac, from the small lakes on the northeast side of the prairie ; but our letters being frequently miscarried to Prairie du Sac, or, as we generally called it, Sauk Prairie, northwest of the Wisconsin River - in order to remedy that annoyance, we met and named the town Milton. Otter Creek took its name from the number of otter slides along its banks at the time of surveying.

A claim was made, where I now reside, on the 4th of March, 1837, the day Martin Van Buren was to have taken the Presidential chair. It came on Sunday, so he put it off one day ; we did not, but came twelve miles in a sleigh and marked our claim.

In company with Dwight Foster, F. A. Jewett, Gilbert McNaught and my brother, we left Milwaukee in the month of September, 1836, with an ox team, wending our way westward for the Rock River Valley, for the purpose of finding homes in this then far Northwest, so recently the theater of the severe and protracted conflict between Black Hawk and his savage hordes and the "pale faces," in which the Indians had the worst of the conflict, not to say of the cause, and in which they were completely subdued and driven beyond the Mississippi, and a permanent peace established. We took aboard a bag of flour, some pork, aiid a very few cooking utensils - sufficient for "baching it" on the frontier.

After leaving Waukesha, we found but one settler before reaching what is now the city of Janesville. Here Mr. Janes kept a small log tavern. This was the only building in the " city." We stayed here all night, sleeping on some, deer-skins, thrown on the floor; and this, indeed, we thought to be very good lodging, we were so fatigued with our travel.

The next morning, we started on Atkinson's trail, a little east of north, and traveled across Rock and Du Lac Prairies until we arrived at Otter Creek, in the north part of the county. From this point, we traveled due west until we reached Rock River, at the foot of Lake Koshkonong, where the village of Milton is now situated, with its two giant iron arms diverging and reaching out already to Madison and Janesville, and yet, in a short time, to grasp the " Father of Waters" at Dubuque and Prairie du Chien. Here we concluded to stop and commence our future homes. My brother, a few months previous, had been here and built a small log cabin, in which we at once commenced housekeeping.

My claim included the camp-ground of Black Hawk, and, from indications, the Indians must have remained several weeks, living on clams, fish, wild rice and game. We found heaps of clam-shells, three or four feet across and a foot deep, and even at the present day I frequently run my plow through these heaps of shells. This old camp-ground covered nearly two acres. His tent-poles were then standing, together with his flag-staff, painted in a fantastic manner. These poles remained standing several years. Here were several recent graves, also one skeleton, placed in a wooden trough, with another turned over it, inside of a small pen, laid up of poles, all on the surface of the ground. I have plowed out, at various times, large shells, at least a foot and a half in length, shaped like the periwinkle - undoubtedly sea-shells ; but how they came here is the question. A large number of ancient mounds are here. I have, however, leveled several of them with my plow, and turned out several relics, such as human bones, beads, pieces of wampum and stone battle-axes.

Thiebeau , (pronounced Tebo), a Canadian, the former and earliest proprietor of Beloit, with his two Indian wives, resided near my claim, on what is now known as Thiebeau's Point. He, with his family (he had three or four children), remained here until the winter of 1837-38, when he was murdered, no doubt, by his son Francis and his mother - one of his wives. This resulted from a family quarrel, he wishing to remain here and cultivate the land ; they were anxious to follow the Indians west of the Mississippi.

The Indians, in considerable numbers, remained around in this vicinity for several years ; and even until very recently they have made annual visits, to fish and gather rice, which formerly grew in great abundance on the borders of the lake. I was in the habit of trafficking with them, selling them " quashagon," bread ; " coocoosh," pork ; " wahbumbra," melons and squashes, and received, in payment, buckskins, venison, moccasins and buckskin coats.

At one time, I came near having trouble with a company of six Indians. I had a grindstone, the only one, perhaps, in Rock County, and I allowed the Indians to grind their knives and tomahawks whenever they wished to. This was in the latter part of the winter, when these Indians came to my shanty and asked the privilege of grinding, which I readily granted, a3 usual. After grinding, they came into my shanty. I was alone - the only white person in the settlement. They asked for food. I had been in the habit of giving it to them frequently, but, at this time, I was almost out myself and did not know when I could get more from Milwaukee. I knew they were nearly famished, having consumed their winter's stock of rice and muskrats, and pitied them ; but was obliged to refuse them. They then offered me money, even to a handful of half-dollars for a small piece of bread ; but I told them how little I had, and that I knew not when I could get more. I could talk Indian considerably then. Still they insisted on having something to eat, and one of them stepped to my pork barrel and took off the cover and looked in, where I had a few sma,ll pieces of pork swimming in the brine, and manifested a disposition to take it, when I took my ax and resolutely stepped toward him and told him to "puckachee" - clear out. I was fully determined to split him down if he had not desisted; and he undoubtedly thought so, for he stepped back, and, after some consultation, they left me unmolested. I almost tremble, even at this late day, when I consider the risk that I ran and my fortunate escape from my probable and almost inevitable fate had I struck the Indian down with such odds against me, and the probable effect that would have been produced on the others under the circumstances.

I arrived with my family at Rock River, October 5, 1836, and went into a log house on the farm now owned by Mr. Cobb, with my brother, his wife having died the June previous. The first election in the county was held at my brother's house, five days after my arrival. The number of votes cast -was very small.- I at that time knew and traded with every man in the county, having brought in leather, boots and shoes. At this time, there were only six white women within six miles of Janesville, and none at Beloit. We procured our provisions with great difficulty, and were obliged to pay $3 per hundred weight for hauling from Milwaukee or Chicago, which, added to the cost, made our flour stand us at $21 and pork $40 per barrel ; salt 15, and saleratus 25 cents per pound, and butter from 3 to 6 shillings. But the greatest trouble, after all, was to procure seed for sowing. I rode into Illinois, and, at the end of four-days' travel, succeeded in obtaining only three bushels of buckwheat, for which I paid $6, and thought myself very fortunate at that. For the first twelve bushels of oats that I sowed I paid $24. Bred as I was to the business of farming and tanning, in the quiet old town of Hubbardton, Vt., I had very little idea of what vicissitudes a frontier life subjected a man to. I have frequently camped on the prairies or openings, rolled myself in my blanket and gone to sleep, with nothing to break the stillness of the scene but the howling of the wolves. At that early day, the Indians were quite numerous in this part of Wisconsin. I have frequently visited their camps, gone into their wigwams, and bought honey and maple sugar of them. At times, as many as a dozen Indians would ride up to my house, armed with tomahawks, knives and loaded guns ; and I have at such times thought how easy a matter it would be for them to butcher my family, if they were so disposed. It was reported, from time to time, that they intended to have a general rising, and massacre all the whites ; in fact, they did murder a man on Rock River, near its head, of the name of Burnett, and wpunded another. But they were always friendly with me, and I have traded a great deal with them. They learned to be quite shrewd in their traflSc. If they had a large lot of peltries or fish to sell, they would only show a few of the poorest at first, and then producing more, and so on, until they sold out. The Indians are remarkably generous, always offering their visitors something to eat. I was generally in the habit of feeding them when they called at my house. I have frequently given a loaf of bread to a company of half a dozen, when the one who received it would divide it, reserving the largest share for himself. Indians always share together ; no matter whose papoose it is, he has his spoon in the succotash as long as it lasts. But the Indians, together with the deer and wolves, have left.

Those were days of romance, when the rules of etiquette were laid aside. The highest tax was for the necessaries of life. We then enjoyed ourselves in visiting, riding in a two-horse or ox wagon or cart, with old Golden and his mate, snuflSng up the fragrance of the prairie air. There were no political or road contentions, for we traveled where we pleased, and voted for whom we pleased. But those good and bright days are gone, and are succeeded by fashion and exorbitant taxes.

On the 4th of March, 1837, a company of us took a team and sleigh and started for Otter Creek to make claims. D. F. Smith made his claim where the Milwaukee and Mineral Point road crosses the creek on the lot where I now reside. [Mr. Smith lives now (1879) in Colorado.] It was at that time considered valuable as a water-power ; was selected for the purpose of building mills, as well as to make a farm. I made a claim on Prairie du Lac, on what is now occupied as a farm by Joseph Goodrich and John Alexander. The 27th of the same month, I hired a team and some men to come here and help me put up a cabin for a family to move into. The weather was cold, and, as we had to camp on the ground, we worked livelv to make as short a job as possible. In our haste in preparing our camp equipage and eatables, we forgot the article to raise our hoe-cake, and were obliged to eat it in an unleavened state. That would have satisfied the most rigid Jew of old. ,

We put up two cabins, each fourteen feet square, and covered them with "shakes," as long shingles were then called, the gable ends being finished with logs and the shingles held to their places by weight-poles on top, instead of nails. That style of building is fast goitig out of practice; and, if we do not preserve a description of these primitive cabins on paper, the people will soon forget the style of Western pioneer cabins. I took up my residence here on the 10th of April, in company with a man named Lyman C. Smith ; but in one week's time he tired of our way of living, and I bought him out. My nearest neighbor south was Daniel Smiley, where Col. H. P. Culver now resides, and on the north was John Allen, above Lake Koshkonong. I lived by myself until D. P. Smith moved his family here, about the 25th of May, the same spring. Like all early settlers, I was pleased to have those seeking locations call, and, if I could show them a place that suited them for a farm, to do so. Sometimes my family was large for a house of this size, as I had no chamber-room and a cabin but fourteen feet square, and, to show you how many can stay in a small house, I will give the names of my family - on one occasion for a couple of nights it consisted of the following persons: D. F. Smith, L. C. Smith, Simon Smiley, Franklin Griffith, William Voice, John B. Babcock and three others. There came up a severe thunder-storm. D. F. Smith l^ad a small Indian pony that he paid a high price for ; said it was too bad for the pony to stay out in such a storm, so I moved my dishes, and it was led in and tied to my cupboard, or rather a pin in the log that was part of my cupboard. Eastern housekeepers will be curious to know how we slept, as I had but one bedstead, and that had but one post, the logs of the house answering instead of the other three posts. Three of us lay on the bed and as many under it, while the rest ranged around the fire in one corner and the pony in the other. The flour that I used was made at Adamsville, in Cass County, Mich., and hauled on wagons by the way of Chicago and Racine to this place and was current at $20 per barrel. Pork was worth $45 per barrel; potatoes $4 per bushel. One day, while I was gone to my former boarding-place, where I still had my washing done, a neighbor, some eight miles distant, came near my cabin looking for his horses that had strayed, and, being very hungry, called to get something to eat, but, finding the door fastened on the inside (a precaution that I had taken to keep the Indians from taking my eatables), he looked for another place to enter, thinking if I got out, he could get in, so, climbing to the top of the house and taking off some shingles, was soon making a fire to cook supper for himself, which, with what I had on hand and some prairie-chickens' eggs that he had found, made a rare supper for a new country. On leaving, he went out as he came in, and the next time I saw him, he told me he had helped himself, and, of course, it was all right.

I think Jason Walker was the next one that came to this town, and soon after that G. B. Hall and J. Giblet settled above us, on the creek. N. G. Storrs, S. D. Butz and G. T. Mackey came in soon after, but I am unable to say which one first, or what time. G. W. Ogden was one of the first, in the west part of this town [Milton]. After our first supply of flour gave out, we were obliged to go" to mill down to Aurora, on Fox River, in what is now Kane County, 111., or in some cases to Green's mills, at what is now called Dayton, within three miles of Ottawa, La Salle County, same State. When we could get grinding done at Beloit, it was quite a relief, as it took but two days to go to mill, and I have done it in one.

Our breaking-plow was made by Mr. Stevens, of Pleasant Prairie, near Kenosha ; and, when worn until it needed a new lay, it could not be had short of Racine, and Dr. F. Smith took two yoke of oxen and started with it for the shop, sixty-five miles off. The people at and around Rochester had raised a bridge at that place across Fox River, and got one track planked, and when he drove his team on, the leaders were afraid, and seeing the danger of their falling ofi", he unhooked the chain just in time, for one ox pushed his mate over, and he held him by the neck, his mate hanging down toward the water. Smith put his shoulder to the other, and tumbled him off too. Both cattle struck the water with their backs down. Then he jumped in, and succeeded in unyoking them, and getting both out. After getting the plow fixed, he started at noon from Racine, and it was dark when he came to the river, and'not liking the bridge, thought best to ford it, and found, when too late, that the river had raised so as to make fording dangerous. The cattle had to swim some, and the wagon box was like to leave, but by holding the stakes, he kept it on, but the groceries were worse for water, that lay in the box.

Janes sent a man to Racine with three yoke of oxen and a wagon, and when there, he met several of his old acquaintances, who had not the practical importance of the " Maine Law " before their eyes, and, after drinking awhile, it occurred to the said driver, that it would be wisdom in him to look out well for the cattle, lest they should stray while he was drinking with his party. He put a bell on one ox, and to make sure, chained him to a tree, thinking the others would not leave the bell. When he went to yoke his team, the bell-ox was all that could be found. This vexed him much, and he started for the old place where they had been kept before moving to Rock River, and being somewhat cast down with his error, he passed a yard in which a man had turned the cattle (as they had started back), but not seeing them, he went eight miles to the old place, and then to Janesville, thinking they had gone home. He footed it to Janesville, and then back, and finally found his team after several days' delay. A few more of such snaps would make an advocate of the Maine Law of almost any man.

As many people often inquire if the Indians were not troublesome, I would say that they never stole a dollar's worth from us, and we felt as secure when they were about as while gone, and always allowed them to sleep in the house, if they wished. I never slept at home with the door fastened, yet.

My father, William Lawrence, formerly a resident of Northern Pennsylvania, visited Wisconsin on a tour of observation in the fall of 1836. Caleb Blodgett, then of Beloit, and since deceased, claimed at that time, probably, thousands of acres in the town of Beloit, and in various other portions of the county of Rock, particularly along the Turtle Creek ; of him my father purchased a couple of claims, one very near the village of Beloit, the other, a few miles out. Passing the ensuing winter in Pennsylvania, he returned to make some improvements on his claims in the spring of 1837, accompanied by my brother and brother-in-law, C. W. Lawrence, and P. Bostwick. But his most valuable claim, the one bordering on the village, was out of his reach. It had been re-sold, I think ; at all events, it was occupied ; hence his right and title were extinguished ; the occupant had decidedly the advantage over him. Speculation was rife in those days, in the matter of making and selling claims.

I came into the county in July, 1838. Previous to this, various persons had made claims extensively, some for settlement and cultivation, and others for purposes of speculation, on and in the vicinity of Turtle Creek, and in other places where it was thought farms could be made. The central portions of Rock Prairie were considered, at that time, unavailable for farming purposes. Turning a furrow round an eighty-acre lot, for instance, was the simple process of making a claim. The man who had thus inclosed his piece of land with a plow-mark would then sell his claim, perhaps, to some new-comer for as much as he could get. My father was not the only one who was "taken in," somewhat, in buying claims ; there were many who lost in this way what they bargained for, and the money which they expended in the fictitious purchase.

This plan of money-making, or gouging, did not succeed very well after the public land sale of 1839. In the period of which I speak, a man who desired to make a home in the country, would make or buy a claim ; while on his trip East for his family and effects, some interloper would come along and take possession, in the most deliberate manner, of the absentee's contemplated property. This was called jumping a claim, and unless the original claimant had made some improvement, such as throwing up a few logs, poles or boards in the shape of a shanty, plowing or fencing a few acres, he had no remedy, and could only obtain possession by turning off the intruder forcibly, without the aid or intervention of law. In case he had made slight improvements, and was designing to become an actual settler, it was thought he had a right to the premises, and the sympathies of the people, if they did not prevent the jumping of his claim, were frequently of great service in assisting him to recover it. Thus much in relation to making, selling, buying and jumping claims, in the early settlement of Rock County.

Beloit was my first stopping-place. The harvest of 1838 coming on, I went into a wheat field near by, owned by Caleb Blodgett, the largest 1 have ever seen, embracing, I should think, from eighty to one hundred and sixty acres. Her? 1 took my first lesson in raking and binding wheat. John Hackett, who was the worthy Postmaster at Beloit in those days, was in the habit of exercising himself in a similar manner. In the lapse of eighteen or twenty years, he has become rich ; but I presume he is not ashamed of his early history as a worker. David Noggle, I think, tilled Mother Earth for a living during the first year of his residence in the West. He left the plow for the bar. During the period to which I refer, it was fashionable to work - I mean with the grain-cradle, the mowing-scythe,, the ax, the shovel and the hoe. The farmer's and mechanic's tools in those days were handled without gloves.

The inhabitants of Rock County, in July, 1838, were not numerous - probably somewhere from three to four hundred ; perhaps a trifle over the last figure. At all events, persons living from five to ten miles apart considered themselves neighbors, and there was a good deal of sympathy and kind regard for each other.

The first death occurring, to my recollection, after I came to Beloit, was that of a brother, Amos Lawrence, who died in August, 1838. His attending physicians were Drs. White and Bicknell, the former now deceased, the latter still a resident of Beloit. My brother's remains were among the first deposited in the Beloit burying-ground. The funeral service was conducted by a Rev. Mr. Adams, a Congregational or Presbyterian clergyman living at the mouth of the Pecatonica, now Rockton. About a year afterward, if I am not mistaken, I was present at the funeral of a Mr. Pickett, near Johnstown, where Mr. Adams also officiated. On funeral occasions then, people would assemble from far and near, thus indicating their sympathy for bereaved and sorrowing hearts.

The first numerously attended public meeting at which I was present was held on Jefferson Prairie, to make arrangements in reference to the approaching land sale of 1839. The objects of the meeting were to fix upon the amount of land which each settler might be allowed to claim ; and in the effort to secure this quantity (whether it was a quarter or a half section, I not pretend to say), they agreed to protect each other on the day of sale, should any attempt be made to overbid them. Another object of the meeting was to appoint bidders for certain districts, who were to bid for the specified lands in the names of their real or contemplated occupants. The sale was held in Milwaukee. There was but very little overbidding.

In the spring of 1838, the village of Beloit was mostly made up of inhabitants who were dwelling in shanties erected merely for temporary occupation ; aside from these, three or four regular frame buildings, and perhaps as many more log houses - and we have Beloit before us as it was then. But the year 1838 was one of enterprise and activity. Before its termination, quite a village was under way there, and it gave promise of a brilliant future. It is but just to say it has made steady progress ever since.

At that day, Janesville had scarcely a name to live, and, indeed, there were very few persons in the place, or out of it, who believed it ever would amount to much. It had very few attractions at that time. An item or two in reference to it touching its early educational history, and I am done. The first public school, I think, was opened in the summer of 1840. The first teacher was Miss Cornelia Sheldon, daughter of Gen. Sheldon, now Mrs. Woodle. The writer of this followed her as instructor through the ensuing winter. The schoolhouse was a log building, situated in the woods near Main street, and some three or four streets north of Milwaukee street. Here I let patience have its perfect work for the space of four months. The first debating club of Janesville was organized during this winter. The meetings for discussion and mental improvement were held in my schoolroom. Prominent among those who participated regularly in our debates was one James H. Knowlton, who, I think, was just about that time undergoing the initiative of public speaking. He was a good debater, and contributed largely toward making our meetings interesting and profitable. He is now not unknown to fame. Harrison Stebbins, now of the town of Porter, I think, opened the first select school in Janesville, either in the latter part of the year 1841, or in the beginning of 1842.

Pioneer Life

Records of the olden time are interesting, and they are not without their lessons of instruction. By the light of the past, we follow in the footprints of the adventurous and enterprising pioneer. We see him, as it were, amid the labors and struggles necessary to convert the wilderness into a fruitful field. We sit by his cabin fire, partaking of his homely and cheerfully granted fare, and listen to the accounts which he is pleased to give us of frontier life, and of the dangers, trials, hardships and suiferings of himself and others in their efforts to make for themselves homes in regions remote from civilization, and unexplored hitherto, save by wandering Indians and beasts of the forests and prairies. Through these ancient records, we make our way along to the present. From small beginnings, we come to the mighty achieve- ' ments of industry, the complex results of daring enterprise, subduing and creative energy, and untiring perseverance.

Following on in the path of progress and improvement, we see once waste places rejoicing under the kindly care of the husbandman ; beautiful farms, with all the fixtures and appurtenances necessary to make the tillers of the soil and their families contented and happy, are spread out before us ; villages and cities have arisen as if by magic, and by hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands, human souls are congregated within their precincts ; the mart of trade and traffic, and the workshop of the artisan are thronged ; common schools, academies and colleges have sprung up ; young and ardent minds - children of the rich and poor - may press forward together in the acquisition of science ; churches are built, and a Christian ministry is sustained for the inculcation of religious sentiments and the promotion of piety, virtue and moral goodness ; the press is established whence floods of light and glory may emanate for the instruction and benefit of all ; railroads are built to bring the products of every clime and the people from afar to our doors; and the telegraph, "upon the lightning's wing," carries messages far and near. Let the records of the olden time be preserved ; in after years our children, and our children's children, will look over them with pleasure and profit.

The first important business of the pioneer settler, upon his arrival in Rock County, was to build a house. Until this was done, some had to camp on the ground or live in their wagons - perhaps the only shelter they had known for weeks. So the prospect for a house, which was also to be a home, was one that gave courage to the rough toil, and added a zest to the heavy labors. The style of the home entered very little into their thoughts - it was shelter they wanted, and protection from stress of weather and wearing exposures. The poor settler had neither the money nor the mechanical appliances for building himself a house. He was content, in most instances, to have a mere cabin or hut. Some of the most primitive constructions of this kind were half-faced or, as they were sometimes called, "cat-faced" sheds or " wike-ups," the Indian term for house or tent. It is true a "claim" cabin was a little more in the shape of a human habitation, made, as it was, of round logs, light enough for two or three men to lay up, about fourteen feet square - perhaps a little larger or smaller - roofed with bark or ckpboards, and sometimes with the sods of the prairie, and floored with puncheons (logs split once in two, and the flat side laid up) or with earth. For a fire-place, a wall of stones and earth - frequently the latter only, when stone was not convenient - was made in the best practicable shape for the purpose, in an opening in one end of the building, extending outward, and planked on the outside by bolts of wood notched together to stay it. Frequently, a fire-place of this kind was made so capacious as to occupy nearly the whole width of the house. In cold weather, when a great deal of fuel was needed to keep the atmosphere above freezing point - for this wide-mouth fire-place was a huge ventilator - large logs were piled into this yawning space. To protect the crumbling back-wall against the efi"ects of fire, two back-logs were placed against It, one upon the other. Sometimes these were so large that they could not be got in in any other way than to hitch a horse to them. The animal was driven in at the door, when the log was unfastened before the fire-place. It was afterward put in proper position. The horse would be driven out at another door.

For a chimney, any contrivance that would convey the smoke out of the building would do. Some were made of sods, plastered upon ih.e inside with clay ; others - the more common, perhaps - were of the kind we occasionally see in use now, clay and sticks, or " cat in clay," as they were sometimes called. Imagine, of a winter's night, when the storm' was having its own wild way over this almost uninhabited land, and when the wind was roaring like a cataract of cold over the broad wilderness, and the settler had to do his best to keep warm, what a royal fire this double back-log and well-filled fire-place would hold ! It was a cozy place to smoke, provided the settler had any tobacco ; or for the wife to sit knitting before, provided she had any needles and yarn. At any rate, it gave something of cheer to the conversation, which very likely was upon the home and friends they had left behind when they started out on this bold venture of seeking fortunes in a new land.

For doors and windows, the most simple contrivances that would serve the purposes were brought into requisition. The door was not always immediately provided with a shutter, and a blanket often did duty in guarding the entrance. But, as soon as convenient, some boards were split and put together, hung upon wooden hinges and held shut by a wooden pin inserted in an auger-hole. As a substitute for window-glass, greased paper, pasted over sticks crossed in the shape of sash, was sometimes used. This admitted the light and excluded the air, but, of course, lacked transparency.

In regard to the furniture of such a cabin, ' it varied in proportion to the ingenuity of the occupants, unless it was where settlers brought with them their old hoi^hold supply, which, owing to the distance most of them had come, was very seldom. It was easy enough to improvise tables and chairs ; the former could be made of split logs - -and there were instances where the door would be taken from its hinges and used at meals, after which it would be rehung ; the latter were designed after the three-legged stool pattern, or benches served their purposes. A bedstead was a very important item in the domestic comfort of the family, and this was the fashion of improvising them : A forked stake was driven into the ground diagonally from the corner of the room, and at a proper distance, upon which poles reaching from each were laid. The wall ends of the pole either rested in the openings between the logs, or were driven into auger-holes. Barks or boards were used as a substitute for cords. Upon this the tidy housewife spread her straw tick, and, if she had a home-made feather-bed, she piled it up into- a luxurious mound, and covered it with her whitest drapery. Some sheets hung behind it for tapestry added to the coziness of the resting-place. This was generally called a "prairie bedstead," and by some the "prairie rascal."

The house thus far along, it was left to the deft devices of the wife to complete its comforts, and the father of the family was free to superintend out-of-door affairs. If it was in season, his first important duty was to prepare some ground for planting, and to plant what he could. This was generally done in the edge of the timber, where most of the very earliest settlers located. Here the sod was easily broken, not requiring the heavy teams and plows needed to break the prairie sod. Moreover, the nearness of timber offered greater conveniences for fuel and building ; and still another reason for this was that the groves afforded protection from the terrible conflagrations that occasionally swept across the prairies. Though they passed through the patches of timber, yet it was not with the same destructive force with which they rushed over the prairies ; though, from these fires much of the young timber was killed from time to time, and the forest kept thin and shrubless.

The first year's farming consisted mainly of a " truck patch," planted in corn, potatoes, turnips and other vegetables. Generally, the first year's crop fell far short of supplying even the most rigid economy of food. Many of the settlers brought with them small stores of such things as seemed indispensable to frugal living, such as flour, bacon, coffee and tea. But these supplies were not inexhaustible, and once used were not easily replaced. A long winter must come and go before another crop could be raised. If game was plentiful, it helped to eke out their limited supplies. ,

But even when corn was plentiful, the preparation of it was the next difficulty in the way. ' he mills for grinding it were at such long distances that every other device was resorted to for reducing it to meal. Some grated it on an implement made by punching small holes through a piece of tin or sheet-iron, and fastening it upon a board in concave shape, with the rough side out. Upon this the ear was rubbed to produce the meal. But grating could not be done when the corn become so dry as to shell off when rubbed. Some used a coffee-mill for grinding it ; and a very common substitute for bread was hominy - a palatable and wholesome diet - made by boiling corn in a weak lye till the hull or bran peeled off, after which it was well washed to cleanse it of the lye. It was then boiled again to soften it, when it was ready for use, as occasion required, by frying and seasoning it to the taste. Another mode of preparing hominy was by pestling. A mortar was made by burning a bowl-shaped cavity in the end of an upright block of wood. After thoroughly cleaning it of the charcoal, the corn could be put in, hot water turned upon it, when it was subjected to a severe pestling by a club of sufficient length and thickness, in the large end of which was inserted an iron wedge, banded to keep it there. The hot water would soften the corn and loosen the hull, while the pestle would crush it.

When breadstuffs were needed, they had to be obtained from long distances. Owing to the lack of proper means for threshing and cleaning wheat, it was more or less mixed with foreign substances, such as smut, dirt and oats. And as the time when the settlers' methods of threshing and cleaning may be forgotten, it may be well to preserve a brief account of them here. The plan was to clean off a space of ground of sufficient size, and, if the earth was dry, to dampen it, and beat it to render it somewhat compact. Then the sheaves were unbound and spread in a circle, so that the heads would be uppermost, leaving room in the center for the person whose business it was to turn and stir the straw in the process of threshing. Then, as many horses or oxen were brought as could conveniently swing around the circle, and these were kept moving until the wheat was well trodden out. After several "floorings " or layers were threshed, the straw was carefully raked off and the wheat shoveled into a heap to be cleaned. This cleaning was sometimes done by waving a sheet up and down to fan out the chaff as the grain was dropped before it ; but this trouble was frequently obviated when the strong winds of autumn were all that was needed to blow out the chaff from the grain. This mode of preparing the grain for flouring was so imperfect that it is not to be wondered at that a considerable amount of black soil got mixed with it, and unavoidably got into the bread. This, with an addition of smut, often rendered it so dark as to have less the appearance of bread than mud ; yet upon such diet the people were compelled to subsist for want of a better.

Not the least among the pioneers' tribulations, during the first few years of the settlement, was the going to mill. The slow mode of travel by ox teams was made still slower by the almost total absence of roads and bridges, while such a thing as a ferry was hardly even dreamed of. The distance to be traversed was often as far as sixty or ninety miles. In dry weather, common sloughs and creeks offered little impediment to the teamsters ; but during floods and the breaking-up of winter, they proved exceedingly troublesome and dangerous. To get stuck in a slough, and thus be delayed for many hours, was no uncommon occurrence, and that, too, when time was an item of grave import to the comfort and sometimes even to the lives of the settlers' families. Often a swollen stream would blockade the way, seeming to threaten destruction to whoever would attempt to ford it.

With regard to roads, there was nothing of the kind worthy of the name. Indian trails, were common, but they were unfit to travel on with vehicles. They were mere paths about two feet wide - all that was required to accommodate the single-file manner of Indian traveling. When the early settlers were compelled to make these long and difficult trips to mill, if the country was prairie over which they passed, they found it comparatively easy to do in summer when grass was plentiful. By traveling until night, and then camping out to feed the teams, they got along without much difficulty. But in winter such a journey was attended with no little danger. The utmost economy of time was, of course, necessary. When the goal was reached, after a week or more of toilsome travel, with many exposures and risks, and the poor man was impatient to immediately return with the desired staff of life, he was often shocked and disheartened with the information that his turn would come in a week. Then he must look about for some means to pay expenses, and he was lucky wlio could find employment by the day or job. Then, when his turn came, he had to be on hand to bolt his own flour, as, in those days, the bolting machine was not an attached part of the other mill machinery. This done, the anxious soul was ready to endure the trials of a return trip, his heart more or less concerned about the affairs of home.

Those milling trips often occupied from three weeks to more than a month each, and were attended with an expense, in one way or another, that rendered the cost of breadstuffs extremely high. If made in the winter, when more or less grain-feed was required for the team, the load would be found to be so considerably reduced on reaching home that the cost of what was left, adding other expenses, would make their grain reach the high cash figure of from $3 to $.5 per bushel. And these trips could not always be made at the most favorable season for traveling. In spring and summer, so much time could hardly be spared from other essential labor ; yet, for a large family, it was almost impossible to avoid making three or four trips during the year.

Among other things calculated to annoy and distress the pioneer was the prevalence of wild beasts of prey, the most numerous and troublesome of which was the wolf. While it was true, in a figurative sense, that it required the utmost care and exertion to "keep the wolf from the door," it was almost as true in a literal sense. There were two species of these animals - the large, black, timber wolf, and the smaller gray wolf that usually inhabited the prairie. At first, it was next to impossible for a settler to keep small stock of any kind that would serve as a prey to these ravenous beasts. Sheep were not deemed safe property until years after, when their enemies were supposed to be nearly exterminated. Large numbers of wolves were destroyed during the early years of settlement. When they were hungry, whicii was not uncommon, particularly during the winter, they were too indiscreet for their own safety, and would often approach within easy shot of the settlers' dwellings. At certain seasons their wild, plaintive yelp or bark could be heard in all directions at all hours of the night, creating intense excitement among the dogs, whose howling would add to the dismal melody. It has been found by experiment that but one of the canine species - the hound - -has both the fleetness and courage to cope with his savage cousin, the wolf. Attempts were often made to capture him with the common cur, but this animal, as a rule, proved himself wholly unreliable for such a service. So long as the wolf would run the cur would follow ; but the wolf, being apparently acquainted with the chai'acter of his pursuer, would either turn and place himself in a combative attitude, or else act upon the principle that " discretion is the better part of valor," and throw himself upon his back in token of surrender. This strategic performance would make instant peace between these two scions of the same house; and not infrequently dogs and wolves have been seen playing together like puppies. But the hound was never known to recognize a flag of truce ; his baying seemed to signify "no quarters;" or, at least, so the terrified wolf understood it.

Smaller animals, such as panthers, lynxes, wildcats, catamounts and polecats, were also sufficiently numerous to be troublesome. And an exceeding source of annoyance were the swarms of mosquitoes which aggravated the trials of the settler in the most exasperating degree. Persons have been driven from the labors of the field by their unmerciful assaults.

The trials of the pioneer were innumerable, and the cases of actual suffering might fill a volume of no ordinary size. Timid women became brave through combats with real dangers, and patient mothers grew sick at heart with the sight of beloved children failing in heialth from lack of commonest necessaries of life. The struggle was not for ease or luxury, but was a constant one for the sustaining means of life itself

When the actual settlement of Rock County was first begun in 1835 and 1836, the pioneers were confronted with a twofold difiiculty in selecting the land upon which they designed to make their future homes. The lands west of the river had been regularly subdivided, and disposed of by the Government to non-resident purchasers, who had secured it for the purpose of exacting from hona-fide settlers an advance upon the minimum Government price - $1.25 per acre. The early actual settlers were not only indisposed to submit to this exaction of speculative greed, but, being in the large majority of instances men of slender means, were absolutely unable to do so had they been ever so willing. While the lands west of the river were thus efifectually barred against occupation by the hardy adventurers who had sought this fertile valley to carve out a new empire by the development of its extraordinary agricultural and industrial resources, the condition of those lying along the eastern bank was but little more promising. Not one acre was open to entry. The settler taking possession of any portion of this territory was, in the eye of the law, a trespasser, liable to ejectment if the Government should, subsequently, either decide to use the land for any purpose of its own, or, by sale or otherwise, convey it to any person other than himself, in which event, not only the land itself, but all the labor expended and all the improvements made would be lost.

In this dilemma the settlers had to choose between trespassing upon the property of individuals, with the certainty of ultimate ejectment and consequent loss of time and labor, and appropriating to their own use Grovernment lands to which they might probably obtain an indefeasible title in the future ; or, being unwilling to accept the risk involved in either of these courses, they must seek other localities in which they might avoid the difficulties encountered here. To have adopted the first of these courses would have been folly, and the last involved the possibility of protracted journeyings through an entirely new country without roads or bridges, ending in bitter disappointment and utter failure. As the only alternative, therefore, the settlers determined, with absolute unanimity, to encounter the risks of trespassing on Government land, and became " squatters " - that is, the occupants of land to which they had no title.

As the entire community held their land by the same uncertain tenure, and all were menaced by the same possible danger, they naturally and necessarily combined for the protection and preservation of their mutual interests and irregularly acquired rights. As the result of this combination, the "squatters" gradually adopted a series of rules governing the acquirement and occupation of "claims," which were, in the process of time, developed into a recognized, though unwritten system of "border law," to which universal obedience was expected, and, when necessary, was unhesitatingly enforced. By this " law," every actual settler, capable of performing a day's work, was entitled to " claim," occupy and cultivate a certain amount of land - one half-section (320 acres) being the maximum, and " a half-quarter " section (80 acres) the minimum. An unmarried man's right was limited to the smallest quantity ; a married man, without children, could "claim" a quarter-section (160 acres), and the head of a family was entitled to "take up " the largest allotment, one-half section (-320 acres). Though inflexible in its main features, this "law" was susceptible of enormous expansion, as a settler with a number of sons between twelve and twenty years of age could " claim " " a half-quarter ' for each of them, and the like amount for each hand he might employ, and could even extend the right to the " stranger within his gates," provided only the requirement of ability to do a day's work was met. It was in this manner that some of the earliest settlers acquired a recognized, though purely nominal, title to the large tracts which they subsequently traded off, or sold to later comers.

The manner of establishing these " squatter " titles to " claims," though uniform in its general features, differed somewhat in its details in different localities in the territory which now constitutes Rock County. The essential requirements were first to establish definitely the limits or boundaries of the tract " claimed," and then to do some work upon the land so claimed, as an earnest or guarantee of the claimant's intention to occupy and cultivate it as a home. The method of "marking off claims" differed according to circumstances. Where the Government surveys had been completed, and the corners and section lines were clearly indicated by the posts put up by the surveyors, the task was simple enough. The " squatter " had only to follow up the lines established in the Government's subdivision, cut his name or initials on the posts found upon the boundaries of the tract " claimed," and his work was done. Where " claims " were made prior to the surveys, however, the task was not only more difficult, but necessarily much less accurate. In such cases, the " squatter " first established a corner for himself, and then, guided by a compass, if he had one, or by the sun where he had not, "stepped off" his claim, as nearly in a right line as possible, to the next corner, which was marked by a stake bearing his name or initials ; another line was then run at right angles with the first, another stake driven; the third line was then "stepped ofi"' at right angles with the second and parallel with the first, and the fourth by returning to the point whence he started. In this system of measurement, so many "steps" were universally accepted as constituting the limits of a half-section, half that number a quarter, and half that again a half-quarter.

This primitive method of measurement presented certain insuperable difficulties to the squatter, and subjected him to no inconsiderable uneasiness, lest he might ultimately lose not only a part of his claim, but his labor and improvements as well. This will be evident when it is remembered that all these ''claims " were made with the view of eventually obtaining a title from the Government, after the surveys and subdivisions had been made. The squatter's corner might or might not be in the exact spot it should have occupied ; the lines " stepped off" would almost inevitably deviate from those run by a theodolite, and the distances would quite as certainly exceed those measured by chains and links. It might easily happen, therefore, that the Government survey would demonstrate that he had claimed and had been working and improving upon two or three, or even four, different half-sections, quarter-sections or half-quarter sections, as the case might be, and that he would find it difficult, if not impossible, to secure the benefits of his time and labor when the Government placed the lands in market.

Having marked off or staked out his claim, the squatter's next step was to do the work upon it necessary to secure recognition of his title under the "border Jaw." To do this in the case of the smaller claims, it was necessary to run a furrow along the four lines marking the boundary of the claim, and erect a shanty or cabin anywhere on the tract thus plowed around. Where larger tracts were claimed, it was permissible to do some breaking, more or less, upon each of the quarter-sections, and erect a single cabin to serve as the home of the squatter's entire family, including employes and visitors. As this " border law " or usage permitted a squatter to claim, and hold a fixed number of acres, it followed, as a matter of course, that if he disposed of a half-quarter or quarter-section to a new-comer, he was at liberty to take up as much more, and to repeat the operation as often as a sale was effected ; provided, of course, no existing claim was infringed upon.

As the settlements filled up, the lands naturally increased in value, and attracted others anxious to secure claims to land, which it was easy to foresee would be worth much more than the Government price when it should be placed in the market. JMany of these adventurers, more anxious to promote their interests than scrupulous as to the means employed, attempted to take possession of claims already taken up, insisting that, as they were neither occupied nor cultivated, the simple furrow plowed around them did not protect them from occupation. This was termed by squatters "jumping a claim," and they immediately took measures to protect themselves against these unscrupulous interlopers. In each settlement, a Register was appointed to keep a record of the names of the individual squatters, and of the extent and boundaries of their respective claims, which record was to be received as prima facie evidence of ownership of any specified claim. To still further protect their individual and collective interests, they appointed a committee of arbitration, to which all disputes as to land title should be submitted, its decision to be final and without appeal. To enforce its decree, this irregular court was authorized to call upon the entire community. Thus, a "jumper" was complained of by the squatter to the committee. He was waited upon and notified that he was an intruder and must establish his claim befoi'e the committee, or vacate. The Register's records were then examined, and evidence heard, and if, after investigation, the committee or court decided adversely to the "jumper," it was optional with him to submit with the best grace he could, or to be summarily and forcibly ejected, possibly with broken bones or a cracked skull. So perfect was the organization of the " squatters," however, and so universal the obedience to the behests of their court, that violence was necessary only in very few instances. The defeated "jumper" knew he could expect no sympathy and but little mercy, and was therefore disposed to take the least possible amount of risk.

When the lands east of Rock River were at length brought into the market by the public sale at Milwaukee, in 1839, the squatters were menaced with the loss of their lands by the readiness of non-resident speculators to buy them up at a much higher price than the minimum fixed by the Government. But the former were a determined class of men, ready to maintain their rights, or what they deemed their rights, even though their defense involved a technical violation of the law and some degree of personal danger. In addition to this, they had for years protected themselves, and success had given them confidence in their organization. When informed of this new danger, therefore, they became boldly defiant, called meetings in the several settlements, and selected one individual in each, who should attend the sale as the representative of the several committees, and make a bid for each tract of land, as it was offered, at its minimum price, in the name of the squatter who had claimed it. This done, they caused the speculators to be notified that they would not be permitted to run up the price of the lands they had squatted on, and that, if they insisted upon bidding in spite of this notification, the bidder would bring a fight upon his hands certainly, whether he secured the coveted piece of land or not. Nor did they content themselves with this precautionary notification. They attended the sale in large bodies, with arms in their hands, and, by force of numbers and their manifest determination, so overawed their competitors that but little opposition was made to their purchasing their claims at the lowest Government price.

By an act of the Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin, approved December 7, 1836, Townships 1, 2, 3 and 4 north, of Ranges 11, 12, 13 and 14 east, of the Fourth Principal Meridian, afterward the towns of Newark, Plymouth, Center, Porter, Beloit, Rock, Janesville, Fulton, Turtle, La Prairie, Harmony, Milton, Clinton, Bradford, Johnstown and Lima, were taken from Milwaukee County and constituted a separate county, called Rock. It took its name from ' the " big rock " on the north side of the river, now within the limits of the city of Janesville, which had been for years one of the recognized land-marks of the country to the Indians, the traders, and later to the settlers, as indicating a point where the river might be safely forded.

By an act, approved June 21, 1838, Townships 1, 2, 8 and 4 north, of Range 10 east, subsequently the towns of Avon, Spring Valley, Magnolia and Union, were added to Rock County, thus giving it the boundaries and configuration it has since retained. Though thus enlarged, the new county remained attached to Racine County for judicial purposes, until its organization ; meanwhile by an act, approved December 27, 1837, the seat of justice was located on " part of the northwest quarter of Section 36, in Town 3 north, of Range 12 east, of the Fourth Principal Meridian."

By the records of the Board of Commissioners of Racine County, dated April 2, 1838, election precincts were established at what is now Beloit, at " the public house - Mr. Hackett, Dr. White and Mr. Field, Judges," and at the public house of Nevins, in the village of Janesville - Hiram Brown, Daniel Smilie and Henry F. Janes, Judges. At the second annual session of the Commissioners, April 2, 1839, Rock County was divided into two road districts, by a line running east and west about the middle of the county. An election was held May 28, 1888, at the precincts established by the Supervisors as above, for " Path masters," which resulted in the choice of Lucius G. Fisher in Beloit, and John P. Dickson in Janesville.