Trempealeau County, Wisconsin - Chapter 8: Locality Settlements, 1917

When the first white man gazed upon the Trempealeau country he beheld a vastly different land physically than we live in today. It was dressed in its primitive clothes, so to speak. The bluffs, save for the work of the mound builder, had not been defaced by man. The contour of the hills and valleys was influenced only by the alluvium and the wash of storms, for scarcely any land was cultivated, in the modern sense of the word, by the Indians.

Here and there in secluded places along the hills were forests, but generally the country was untimbered and covered with brush and wild grass, which was burned over each year by the Indians.

The Indians, no doubt, had some particular reason for doing this, though it is difficult to conjecture why they deemed it necessary to burn over the land annually. No doubt they could travel through a burned-over country much easier than over one obstructed with a tangle of grass and brush, and traveling more swiftly mean more game. New grass grew better also in the burned-over places, and thus the ponies of the Indians had better grazing on account of this primitive method of land clearing.

Indian trails took the place of our modern roads, and no guide board pointed its inartistic hand to direct the inquiring traveler. Along these indistinct trails many of the early settlers made their way with difficulty and along the wooded streams were obliged to pick their way by blazed trees.

There were many small lakes or sloughs in the county when the pioneer came that have since gone dry. On Trempealeau Prairie were a number v of these tiny lakes where James Reed trapped muskrat, but today we see no sign of the former outline of these bodies of water. Arcadia was built in a marshy slough which has since been filled with dirt hauled from a range of hillocks in the rear of the village. On the other hand, we have a number of lakes in our county that were not here in the early day. These artificial bodies of water represent our waterpower and are usually designated by the undignified name of mill ponds. One would hardly dare apply that name to beautiful Lake Marinuka of Galesville, reposing in the valley of Beaver Creek, and possessing all the charm and reflecting qualities of a natural lake.

But perhaps even greater changes have taken place in the flora and fauna of our county since the early day than in the physical features. In order to appreciate more fully these changes, let us picture the early settler and his wild environment ; his log cabin in the clearing of one of our secluded valleys, nestling at the foot of a hill where a spring trickles into a dugout water trough a few feet from the cabin door. Standing against the log barn is the yoke for the oxen, and near-by is the upturned breaking plow, while the mattock and ax repose on a half cut log near the woodpile. At the side of the cabin is the rude wash bench made from a slab of wood and four wooden pegs for legs. We may also see the grindstone in the back yard, and hanging under the rafters of the barn is the scythe, the cradle and the flail. And we must not overlook the lye-leach and soap kettle, nor the half -sled and stone-boat.

Herds of deer can be seen grazing on the hillside, and in the spring and autumn days the honking of wild geese fills the air. The boom and hoot of prairie chickens can be heard in the early spring days, and, during the summer, from across the hot green fields, comes the plaintive note of the plover and the whistle of the gopher. The sound of the drumming partridge comes from the thicket near the clearing, and the whistling quail proclaims his presence by his far-carrying "Bob White."

The bark and chatter of the grey and red squirrel can be heard in the woodlands, while at night the hoot of the owl mingles at times with the howl of the wolf or barking fox.

During the spring and summer the woods ring with the songs of a variety of birds. From early dawn until dark the tireless songsters fill the air with music, and in season the whip-poor-will lashes the silence of the night with his rhythmic strain.

Wild flowers grow in profusion, and many a sloping hillside blushes scarlet with painted cups in the May days, and in June time the wild roses light with a pink glow the wilderness where the pioneer came to build his cabin home.

Along the hills grow blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, while wild plum and cherry thickets offer their fruits in many of the valleys and by the streams in the bottom lands.

In June the odor of wild strawberries comes floating from some hidden patch - a breath of perfume that has the aroma of shortcake, and what a pleasant adventure to hunt out the hidden patch and gather the luscious berries in ruddy clusters.

But time and change have wiped the picture out. Cultivation and pasturing has removed the wild touch - the rustic element - and obliterated many of our wild flowers, while the hunter has killed oi driven away ali of our big game.

The buffalo disappeared from this region before the coming of the white settler, but elk were found here as late as 1865, and wild deer were seen in our county as late or even later than 1890. The wild pigeons disappeared about forty years ago, and our decreasing wild ducks will soon be of the past. The beaver, the otter, the martin, lynx, the bear and panther, have long since disappeared from our county, and of all the larger native wild animals we have the woK fox and bobcat, still to be found in the wild recesses of the county today.

The process of extermination is taking place among our wild flowers, and many of the rare varieties will soon become extinct unless some means is taken to preserve them. The white lady-slipper is becoming a very rare flower, and even the yellow lady-slipper is growing alarmingly scarce, as is also our painted cup that grew in such abundance in the early days ; still rarer is the showy orchid and other species of the orchid family.

There seems to be an increasing demand to preserve our noble forests and to keep in a wild state our most beautiful mountain districts. The government has seen fit to establish a large number of forest reserves, besides maintaining its national parks. We all appreciate this, though we cannot all visit these national wonders of beauty, and that is the reason why it seems to us that each county should have its wild playground.

In order to appreciate sweet sounds there must be silent places, and in order to appreciate our tame and subdued surroundings we need the wild touch to recuperate our blunted senses, to rest our minds and restore our mental poise. The natural park, with its native forests, its wild flowers and unsubdued grandeur offers the only relief to these conditions, and it also offers a solution to the problem of keeping our native flora from extermination.

Trempealeau - Reed's Town in the forties consisted of about half a dozen log cabins scattered along the river front near James Reed's large log house, and occupied by French families, most of whom had moved into the new settlement from Prairie du Chien. Beside these there were a few French-Canadians, and after 1846 a few American families joined the community.

The fur trade and the Indian trade furnished the principal industries, though some farming was done on a small scale, and the inhabitants kept their stock (cattle, hogs, and horses) on a common range which extended across Trempealeau Prairie and included the Trempealeau Bluffs.

Life in the Fi'ench settlement was filled with adventures of the backwoods type, and the hunter and trapper matched his skill of woodcraft with the Indian. With an abundance of fish and game and wild berrier and plums, and with the vast expanse of wild grass lands for grazing, there was little need of food shortage.

John Doville, who maintained a wood camp on the island opposite Reedstown, had the first farm in Trempealeau. He sowed oats, wheat, flaxseed, potatoes and beans.

Stram broke the first land in the county, but he used the ground for garden purposes only, while Doville extended his agricultural pursuits to grain raising, and has the honor of being the first Trempealeau County farmer. Though Doville worked on the island and had a temporary camp there, at the woodyard, he found it necessary, on account of high water, to erect a permanent cabin on the main land near the river and not far from the lower end of the present main street. He afterwards built a house on the site, used later for Melchoir's brewery.

In 1842 James Reed found employment in the Government Indian service at Winona, where he was engaged as farmer and storekeeper for Wabasha's band of Sioux. A few years later he was joined by John Doville and Charles H. Perkins, who likewise entered the Indian service. They still kept in touch with Reed's Settlement, however, and when their contract with the Government expired returned to their Trempealeau homes and became permanent settlers in the county.

Intermarriage between these early inhabitants of Trempealeau and the Indians took place as in other frontier settlements, with a resultant mixed blood offspring, whose descendants can be traced down to the present generation.

But few family records of this period remain, though one has been preserved of the Willard B. Bunnell family, which discloses the fact that his son, David Porter Bunnell, who was boi-n in November, 1843, was the first white child born in the territory of Trempealeau County. His daughter, Louise, born in 1848, was also the first white girl born in this locality. Bunnell located on land about a mile above the present village of Trempealeau, which later became the Jack McCarty farm.

Travelers and traders journeying up and down the Mississippi often stopped at Reed's hospitable log tavern, and on their departure carried to the outer world rather glowing accounts of the new country, but the townsite speculator had not' visited as yet the locality, and little thought was given by the frontiersmen to the future possibilities of the place, and they looked with aversion on the increasing settlers as a hindrance to their wild, free life of hunting and trapping.

In the fall of 1851 there arrived at Reed's Town a man who grasped at once the possibihties of the location for a town site. This was Benjamm F. Heuston, and it did not take him long to interest Ira Hammond and James Reed in a project to found a village. In partnership with Mr. Hammond, he began the erection of a warehouse on the river front, which was completed the following summer.

On April 5, 1852, William Hood, as surveyor, made a plat of Reed's Landing, with B. F. Heuston, Ira Hammond and James Reed as proprietors. The new village was formally named Montoville, but almost before the ink on the plat became dry another survey was completed under the direction of Timothy Burns, F. M. Rublee and Benjamin B. Healy, and the name Trempealeau, the terminal of the sentence which the French voyageurs gave to Trempealeau Mountain, was adopted for the doubly named village.

Montoville-Trempealeau thrived for a few weeks, and though overburdened with new names, it was still known as Reed's Town or Settlement by the inhabitants, and as Reed's Landing by the rivermen.

On May 9, 1852, according to the i-ecords of the Post Office Department at Washington, a post office was estabUshed at Trempealeau, with B. F. Heuston as postmaster. On January 15, 1853, the name of the office was changed to Montville, but on July 17, 1856, the name of the office was again changed to Trempealeau.

For a period of fifteen years Trempealeau remained the only settlement in the territory comprising Trempealeau County. The first ten years of this period was devoted almost entirely to the fur trade. Then came the land seeker, tradesman, speculator and adventurer, and with the rapid influx of settlers from 1854 to 1856, new portions of the county were opened for settlement, and Trempealeau history thereby became limited to one section of the county.

When B. F. Heuston came here he secured a residence by purchasing the house of John Doville, a small story and a half building, standing on Front street, below what is now the Burlington station. Thus possessed of a permanent location, he prepared to erect a warehouse designed as a steamboat shipping point for the agricultural produce which the promoters believed would result from the rapid influx of settlers and the consequent development of the rich valleys and prairies adjacent to the proposed village. Before winter set in he had completed the stone foundations. In the meantime he procured lumber at Black River Falls, floated it down the stream to the mouth of Beaver Creek, carted it over to the building site, and in the spring completed a warehouse, 24 by 50 feet, two stories high, located on Front street, two or three rods east of what was afterward the site of the Utter House. In the fall James A. Reed, as justice of the peace, married his daughter, Madeline, to his stepson, Paul Grignon.

Early in February, 1852, N. B. Grover, who had previously traded here, came up from La Crosse and opened a shoe shop opposite the later site of the Utter Hotel. In this store he sold notions and a few dry goods, thus establishing the first store in the county. In May of this year George Batchelder and his wife made their appearance and put up a house below the Hammond & Heuston warehouse. Later they opened a hotel, but not before the wife of Charles Cameron had arrived and established a boarding house in the residence which Mr. Heuston had purchased from John Doville. Thomas Marshall came in that spring and put up a house above the Big Spring. Israel Noyes came about the same time. He boarded with the Camerons until October, when he was joined by his wife, and went to live in the second story of the Hammond & Heuston warehouse, where shortly afterward a child was born to them. Marvin and James Pierce came and built a small house on the north side of Front street, above what afterward became the site of Melchoir's brewery. Ira E. Moore and Alvin Carter built a residence near the present location of Hoberton's blacksmith shop. About the same time Alexander McMillan came up from La Crosse and put up a blacksmith shop, the first in the village. These, with Alexander McGilvray, C. S. Seymour, B. B. Healy, Robert Farrington, William Cram, Charles Holmes, Mary .Huff, Catherine Davidson, A. M. Brandenburg, Rev. Mr. Watts, and possibly a few others, constituted the list of arrivals in 1852.

There were two interesting social events this year. One was the opening of the Trempealeau House, at which was served a banquet which was long remembered by the old settlers, Mrs. Batchelder, the landlady, having secured many dainties from points further down the river. The Fourth of July celebration was another important event. It was held in the upper story of the Hammond & Heuston building. Mr. Heuston read the Declaration, and talks were made by several citizens.

"In 1852," says Mary Brandenburg, "when the Brandenburgs landed in Trempealeau, then called Montoville, they found among other settlers James Reed in a log house on the river bank at about the Barney McGraw place. Other settlers were George Batchelder, the first merchant, first school teacher, first store keeper and first hotel keeper; Isaac Noyes, the first postmaster, and Alexander McGilvray, who afterward ran the first ferry boat, and N. B. Grover, an Indian trader, and his brother, Archelaus, both single men, and B. B. Healy. These were most of the early settlers."

In 1853, 1854 and 1855 the arrivals were not numerous. La Crosse was a thriving village and attracted those who desired to grow up with a future metropolis, while the Black River country, with its timber, its springs, and its open meadows, attracted those who were seeking farm lands and rural homesteads. Among the arrivals of these years were J. D. Olds, who had selected a claim in 1851 ; A. P. Webb, Patrick Drugan, Thomas Drugan, Aaron Houghton, Joseph Gale, Patrick Lowry, Gilbert Gibbs, Oscar Beardsley, Lewis Huttenhow, William Olds, Frank Feeney, Hiram Brown, and others. Some settled in the village, others scattered back on the prairie.

The real influx of population began in 1856. In this year the pioneer mill of the county was erected. That spring, the Messrs. Bredenthal and King,- with the determination of establishing a mill in the Black River country, shipped some machinery to the mouth of that river, and made inquiries at La Crosse as to a suitable location. Meeting J. M. Barrett, they persuaded him to join them in their venture, and the three called on S. D. Hastings, who was the La Crosse representative of the townsite proprietors of Trempealeau. Mr. Hastings, in the name of his employers, offered a free site for the new mill south of the village. At that time the river was unusually high, and the location seemed a most suitable one. But while it was in the progress of construction, the water subsided, and the owners of the mill began to realize that their venture was not likely to prove profitable. When they began to operate, these apprehensions were fully verified. Access to the mill was diflScult, and the expense of hauling was great. After a while the venture was abandoned, the mill was sold and moved elsewhere, and of the proprietors, only Mr. Barrett remained in Trempealeau.

But the mill was the cause of a rapid growth for the village. Property advanced in value and importance. Many eastern people were at that time seeking in the West opportunities for investment which they believed would bring them large returns. The village was filled with new settlers, houses, cabins and shanties were put up, and the incomers began to buy land in all directions.

This demand created the utmost excitement, and the price of lots appreciated so rapidly that no one was able to predict a possible value in advance. In the spring, the most desirable lots could have been purchased for from $40 to $50. In May, when the building of the mill was arranged for, double this price was demanded, and when the mill was completed, as high as $1,000 was refused for the same pieces of property that could not have found a purchaser a year previous. As an instance, it may be stated that while this scale of prices was maintained, $2,100 was offered for lots on the river bank opposite what was afterward the Melchior Brewery, and it was declined. They could not now be sold at anything like that figure.

Among the prominent arrivals for 1856, were 0. S. Bates, S. D. Hastings and family, Noah Payne and family, W. T. Booker, J. H. Crossen, J. P. Israel and family, S. F. Harris and family, Thomas Van Zant, William Held, A. W. Hickox, C. W. Thomas, John Smith, Dennis Smith, D. W. Gilfillan, D. B. Phelps, C. C. Crane, and many others. The improvements consisted in part of the mill and a large house adjoining for the accommodation of hands employed therein ; the Congregational Church put up under a contract with C. C. Crane, and numerous private buildings for residence and commercial purposes. Gilfillan built a hotel. Hastings erected a residence opposite the public square. Robert Jones, a brick residence on Third street, the first brick house in the village, and the Rev. Mr. Hayes put up a frame house on the hill. In addition to Gilfillan's tavern, C. S. Seymour was proprietor of the Trempealeau House, built in 1852, by A. A. Angell, and Frederick Harth occupied the old log house of James Reed, as the Washington Hotel. Jasper Kingsley maintained the only saloon in the village, and the commercial and river interests were divided between J. P. Israel, W. T. Booker, Mills & Van Zant and N. B. Grover.

J. A. Parker came in this year. He was the first lawyer in the village. Dr. Alson Atwood also came in and built a house, and is claimed by some as the first physician to settle in Trempealeau, though it is contended by others that this honor legitimately belongs to Dr. E. R. Utter. Lafayette H. Bunnell, who settled here in the forties, was not a physician until later in life. Money was plenty, it is said, and times unprecedentedly prosperous. Almost every steamer bore hither, as passengers, people who were out prospecting, ready to avail themselves of any opportunity that presented itself for purchase. The Fourth of July was celebrated with unusual pomp, the Baptist Society was organized, and a terrible cyclone passed over the village in August, doing great damage.

A pioneer, John H. Crosen, arriving in Trempealeau on November 13, 1856, has this to say of the village in those days : "There were three stores on Front street, and a few frame residences, with here and there a log house. Further back on Second and Third streets were other residences, perhaps thirty all told, very much scattered. People were coming and going constantly. Each boat brought a new crowd of prospective settlers, and took away some that had looked the country over and gotten their fill, so to speak, and had made up their minds to look elsewhere for locations. And so it went, coming and going, hei-e today and gone tomorrow, although, of course, some remained and became permanent settlers in the village.

"But the steamboat was not the only means of bringing people to Trempealeau. Many came overland in covered wagons. During 1856-57 a number of caravans of settlers passed through here and were ferried across the river to Minnesota, where they took the road leading up thi Pickwick Valley onto the Minnesota prairie. I have seen the old ferry owned by Wilson Johnson busy a week steady ferrying teams across the river. This ferry was a horse tread power, and it carried many a prairie schooner over the river.

landscape, always reaching towards the west - the land of the setting sun - and many of the occupants of these prairie schooners became the sturdy pioneers of Minnesota.

"During the wheat times, Trempealeau was surely a lively place. I have seen wagons loaded with wheat reaching from the loading dock down Front street and part way up the hill, waiting for their turn to be unloaded - a procession half a mile long, composed mostly of ox-teams, with a few teams of horses. At night you would see fires out on Trempealeau Prairie where the wheat haulers were camped for the night. Every idle man in Trempealeau could find employment there loading wheat on the steamboats, and I have seen two and three boats loading at a time, and steamboat men scouring the town for more help. The flush wheat times lasted until a few years after the Civil War."

With the opening of the river in 1857, the hopes of the villagers ran high. Every steamboat was bringing new arrivals, new buildings were being erected, the prairie was being settled, the county was growing. But In the midst of this busy activity came the financial crash, nation-wide in its scope. Provisions became scarce and rapidly rose in price. Flour jumped to $12 a barrel, pork to $10 a hundred pounds, and other commodities in proportion. Wild game became an important article of food, and kept many of the settlers from starvation. Elk and deer, which even at this late date were to be found herded in the brush of the bluffs, supplied the absence of meat.

However, great faith was still maintained in the future of Trempealeau, and many strangers attempted to take advantage of the situation to secure land at a low price. But the people of Trempealeau, with dogged perseverance, stuck to the high prices that had been maintained during the "boom" years. The result was that many desirable citizens who would have located here and helped to build a metropolis, secured cheaper land in La Crosse, Winona, Red Wing, St. Paul and other places, and the advantage of their money and enthusiasm was lost to the little village in the shadow of the mountain. This short-sighted pohcy, together with the money stringency, retarded the growth of Trempealeau, and though with returning prosperity, the village was an important shipping point until the coming of the railroad, those who had demanded such high prices for their land never saw their hopes realized, and values of village property gradually declined.

Among those who settled here in 1857 were W. P. Heuston, R. W. Russell, N. W. Allen, Harvey Bowles, F. A. Utter and others, including Wilson Johnston, who established the first ferry from Trempealeau Village to the Minnesota shore.

A good crop of wheat was raised in 1858, and much of it was purchased at Trempealeau for shipment to various points down the river. Fully 1,000 bushels of wheat were shipped this year, and prosperity was revived. The absence of railroads in the interior, and the fact that Trempealeau was the most accessible point for the farmers of this region to merchant their produce, brought the pioneer agriculturists here in such numbers that the

"Its one main street extending along the river from Melchior's hotel and brewery and Octave Batchelor's hotel, running east with the then numerous warehouses and business places crowding close together, and its neat homes nestling in sunshine on the hillsides and down to the foot of the Trempealeau Bluffs which appeared as mountains of moderate elevation - the town itself facing the Mississippi River, its streets filled with farmers and lined with farm teams of one hundred or more, a majority of the teams being oxen with wagons loaded with grain for the market, or with goods and supplies for the farmers' homes ; and the most disconcerting and puzzling condition to me was the language spoken by many of the people - languages with which I was not then familiar, many persons speaking the German, the Polish, the Bohemian and Scandinavian, this talk being coupled with the oddity of the dress of many and the general inter-social manner of the people and their truly democratic manners and customs, no notice appeared to be taken of dilTerence in nationality. Even the halfbreed and the Indian were kindly recognized. I counted 98 teams along Main street loaded with grain, waiting for a turn to unload at the warehouses, then under the management of Solomon Becker, Christ Reiminschneider, and Paul Kribs."

The village trade increased in volume until the completion of the railroad in August, 1871. Farmers came here with their wheat not only from this county, but also from adjoining counties, and during the last few years before 1871 it is said that the shipments sometimes averaged 5,000 bushels a day fi-om the opening of the harvest season until the closing of the river in the early winter. A vast amount of money was thus put into circulation.

The village, however, did not grow materially. A few stores were put up, a few business houses opened, and a few residences constructed, but the men who would have contributed so materially to its prosperity had been frightened away by the high values at which the village proprietors held their property. When the railroad from the east was completed to La Crosse, Trempealeau's importance as a shipping point was increased, and La Crosse grew rapidly. It was therefore felt that with the building of the La Crosse, Trempealeau & Prescott Railroad, Trempealeau would retain its standing as a steamboat point, and grow to great importance as a railroad point. But when the railroad was put in operation it tapped many points that had hitherto been tributary to Trempealeau, and the hopes of the promoters were blasted forever.

In recent years, however, a group of active young business men of another generation are making the village a busy and important little center and the recent creation of Trempealeau Mountain as a State park has revived its former importance.

tion ascribes Indian village sites to Decorah and Red Bird, Winnebago chiefs, in this immediate region. The first white settlers were sturdy Scotchmen.

Caledonia early received settlers in that portion lying along the Mississippi adjacent to Trempealeau. James D. Olds was the first to take a claim in that portion lying properly in the Black River Valley. He came to Trempealeau on May 6, 1851, and walking out on Caledonia Prairie, selected a claim in Section 7, in what is now Caledonia Township. He cut logs, rolled them up for the body of a cabin, and marked out a claim, cutting the name and date on the log.

In 1853 came Joshua Rhodes, accompanied by William Hanson, who lived with him for a while. During the same year came Rufus Comstock, who settled on the claim of James D. Olds. The same year William Olds came in and purchased William Cram's place. Alexander McGilvray, who had reached Trempealeau in 1852, moved his family to the banks of the Black River.

Bostwick Beardsley led the vanguard in 1854 by settling on Section 28. There were numerous other arrivals about the same time. He found in the neighborhood, John, Richard and William NichoUs, Charles Holmes, B. B. Healy and Alexander McGilvray.

This year marked the opening of McGilvray ferry. The ferry was started by Alexander McGilvray. In the summer of 1854, J. D. Olds purchased property at the ford, and built a store and blacksmith shop, and opened a farm.

Beaver Creek Valley. According to Winnebago tradition, Joseph Roque, a famous Indian guide and trapper, erected a cabin on Beaver Creek near the present village of Galesville, possibly soon after the War of 1812. His son, Augustin, likewise a guide and trapper, is said to have built a cabin and spent a winter hunting in the same locality about 1820.

But to Americans Beaver Creek Valley was not opened for settlement until after the purchase of the Indian rights to all this territory, in 1837, and even then it was several years before an actual settlement took place.

James A. Reed, the first permanent settler in Trempealeau County, hunted and trapped along Beaver Creek as far back as 1840, and in 1843, in company with Willard Bunnell and Antoine Grignon, explored the headwaters of the valley.

While the fur trade played an important role in the opening of Trempealeau County for settlement, but few of the trappers remained to till the soil after the fur had been gathered, but pushed on westward to the unsubdued wilderness.

The agriculturist who came to find a permanent home in the fertile valleys of Trempealeau County was the natural successor of the fur trader, for here there was no pinery to bring the lumberman, as in other portions person of Abram Trepena, who came up from Racine County to look for a Homestead. Mr. Trepena came from Oswego, New York, to Racine in 1848, and had resided in the southern part of the State since that time.

There was a vast amount of unoccupied land in this section in that early day, and the homeseeker could take his choice of locations. After looking over the country thoroughly Mr. Trepena finally selected a quartersection of land in the Beaver Creek Valley about a mile and a half southwest of the present village of Galesville. He then returned to Racine and in the fall of 1852 in company with his family and John Hess came north. They drove two yoke of oxen and carried all of their household goods in two immigrant wagons. On the night of October 11 they arrived at their destination and went into camp, but before they had hardly settled for the night a snow storm of unusual severity came up and continued with unabated fury until morning, and when the new settlers awoke they found the ground covered to a depth of ten inches with freshly-fallen snow. This was indeed a wintry greeting for the pioneers, but with dauntless courage they went to work and arranged their camp for the winter; protecting it with wagon boxes, and making as comfortable a home as a tent could afford.

In the spring the men began the construction of a log house which was completed and occupied by the first of May. They also cleared and broke eight acres of land, and the crop raised during the season indicated the fertility of the Beaver Creek soil.

In 1853 Judge George Gale of La Crosse purchased about two thousand acres of land, including the present location of Galesville, with the water power on Beaver Creek ; and, in January, 1854, he procured from the state legislature, the organization of the new county of Trempealeau, with the location of the county seat at Galesville, and at the same time obtained a charter for a university, to be located at that place. In June of the same year the village plot of Galvesville was laid out, and subsequently the flour mills were erected. A. H. Armstrong was the first man to put up a building in the new village and Ryland Parker opened the first grocery store, keeping it in conjunction with a hotel.

One of the first to settle in the township of Gale after Galesville was conceived was B. F. Heuston, who had settled in Trempealeau in 1851. During the winter of 1853 he moved into a house which he had built about half a mile south of what afterward became the site of the county courthouse at Gale. In the fall of 1853, or early in 1854, Peter and George Uhle settled in Crystal Valley, three miles from Galesville. John Dettinger also settled near-by in that year.

Galesville grew rapidly, and in a short time new settlers were turning their eyes to the upper Beaver Creek region. The land seekers were looking for a farming section, and it is not strange that the rolling lands of this fertile valley attracted their attention.

As early as May, 1855, John Cance settled in what is now the town of Ettrick. Cance came from Glasgow, Scotland, to America in 1854, and remained in Jersey City, N. J., a short time, when he decided to move west to Freeport, 111. He remained in Freeport all winter, and in the spring of 1855 he started for Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, and on May 25 arrived at Beaver Creek. His brother-in-law, Andrew C. Purvis came with him, and the two men took up land and selected suitable building place within a few days of their arrival.

In 1856 Charley White and Mike Cullity settled in the valley, and in 1857-58 Robert Cance and Alexander Cance arrived and located land adjoining their brother's farm. During the next few years Dan Kennedy, Thomas Wall, John Mahony, Darby Whalen, John Lynch and James Corcoran joined the Beaver Creek settlers.

In 1858 K. K. Hallanger, Amund Olsen, R. Richelson, Thomas and Nels Herreid, Ole Skaar, Simon Nelson, T. R. Thompson, N. B. Henderson, Lars Hanson, Ole Ellingson, Orians Torblaa, Ole Dale, Erick Tronsen and Nels Oakland came. Anve Olsen, Arne Arneson, Torkel Gunderson and Torkel Halderson came in 1859, and Knudt Hagestad in 1860.

The first settlers in the French Creek district were Peter A. Hogden, John A. Hogden and Andrew A. Hogen, who came in 1859. Ole Gilbertson came in 1860, and the same year Gilbert Nelson and Hans Johnson moved into the South Beaver Creek region.

When a postoffice was established in the new settlement and John Cance received the appointment of postmaster, he turned to his native land for an appropriate name for the office. He was a great admirer of Scott's works, and in Marmion introduction to canto second appears the following couplet : and again, further along in the same canto, mention is made of "pathless Ettrick." According to a foot note in Marmion, Ettrick Forest was a mountainous region anciently reserved for the pleasure of the royal chase. The game preserve was known far and wide throughout Scotland as Ettrick Forest or Ettrick. And so John Cance chose this ancient Scotch name for the new postoffice, and when the town was organized at the first town meeting held in Cance's residence April 17, 1863, the name Ettrick was again chosen.

Settlers poured into the valley rapidly during the next ten years, and though markets were distant, the slow, but sure, ox team hauled the farm produce that brought a harvest of gold to the hardy pioneers.

L. L. Grinde of Galesville many years afterward recalled many incidents of pioneer life in upper Beaver Creek, where he settled in the fall of 1860. Speaking of that period, he said, "Many of the early settlers lived in dug-outs - just holes burrowed in the side of a hill or bank, and they remained in these cave dwellings until they were able to buikt log houses. Often two families would work together on a log structure and when it was completed would occupy it jointly until circumstances were such that another log cabin could be built. Markets at that time were La Crosse, Sparta and Trempealeau, and it took sevei'al days to make the round trip. What was called speculator land could be bought in the valley then for five

Cornelius Lynch of Ettrick told of his first visit to Beaver Creek in 1859. "A number of settlers were living here then," said Lynch, "in their log houses, but a comparatively small amount of land was being cultivated. There was an abundance of game here at that time, such as deer, wolves and bear and the prairie chickens, pigeons, native pheasants and quail."

Nora Cullity, who was born in Galesville September 22, 1855, and reputed to be the first child born in Beaver Creek Valley related experiences of the early settlers. Our nearest neighbors, she said, were John Cance and Dan Kennedy, and neighbors were appreciated in the sparsely settled country, for it was sometimes necessary for a family to borrow flour suflficient to last until they could get to the distant market. It was customary to change work in the pioneer day, and people turned out to help at a house or barn raising or in threshing time the men generally helped each other and the women were as eager to lend a hand at the quilting bee.

"I have often heard mother tell of watching the wolves on the hills through the chinks in the log house as she sat knitting by the fireside, and their howl often broke the white silence of a wintry night with a startling suddenness."

What changes have taken place in this valley in the last sixty years, The dugout was soon obliterated and the log house that took its place, though it stood for years, has long since faded into oblivion and made way for the frame house, which in turn has been succeeded by the modern pressed brick residence. There are some of the old-time frame houses left in the valley, but no log cabin remains to mark the pioneer epoch - np log school house lingers by the way. No savage war cry has echoed from these hills since the days of Decorah, but of a summer evening one can hear the farmer boy calling the cattle home, and the wildest sound in all the broad valley is the bay of the watch dog.

The large valley, whose length is approximately thirty-five miles, has some of the most progressive farmers in the state. One may find plenty of farms with registered stock, and with modern dwelling houses that would grace the residence section of any city, and then the splendid barns and other farm buildings are in accord with the dwellings. And one will be surprised with the equipment, which is the best that money can obtain, and consists of electric lights, water works, sanitary feeding stalls, the silo and all of the very best and latest farm machinery.

Looking over the names in this locahty one is struck with varied human activities, remote and present, which they suggest : The trappers' paradise, Beaver Creek, so named on account of abundance of beaver in its waters in former times ; French Creek and Frenchville, names that point back to the days of Rocque, the trapper and trader, who built a cabin near the present Galesville in 1820 ; Iduna, a name taken from one of the characters in Norse mythology; Ettrick, the ancient Scotch name, and Hegg, which brings to mind the fame of our state in the Civil War ; Galesville, which suggests the sturdy character of that man whose brain felt into the future ; the sentinel peak, Decorah, named from an Indian chief with a corrupted French name.

Over a century ago the Winnebago and Dakotas divided hunting ground in the Beaver Creek territory. A century has fled since Decorah stood on his famous peak and watched his braves battle with the Chippewa, and sixty-one years have passed since John Cance came into the valley and built his log cabin, thatching the roof with wild grass so that it resembled the low thatched cottages of far away Scotland.

In the years to come no period of American history will be filled with more romance and hardy adventure than the heroic pioneer age, nor fraught with greater interest, for on this rough hewn foundation our national character has been developed.

Frenchville had its first store in 1867, when Iver Federson and Ole Scow came from Coon Valley, La Crosse County, and opened a general mercantile establishment. In 1870 Mr. Federson sold out to Mrs. Ole Scow and moved to Ettrick.

Ettrick had its first store in 1870, when Iver Federson came here from Frenchville. Seven years later he laid out the village plot of Ettrick, and thenceforth this Beaver Creek settlement took its place among the progressive Trempealeau County villages. Mr. Federson's enterprise and business capacity were soon revealed in the growth of the new village. As new methods were advanced he adopted them, and before many years had elapsed his business eye saw the need of a flour mill in Ettrick. With characteristic energy, he turned his attention to this new industry, and in 1884 completed a flouring mill having a capacity of seventy-five barrels per day. He was also instrumental in establishing the woolen mills and creamery at Ettrick and was one of the promoters of the Ettrick Bank, of which institution he was president.

Ettrick and the upper Beaver Creek country, though somewhat distant from a railway, has made its disadvantage its opportunity, and instead of hauling large quantities of grain to market, the dairy feature of farming was developed to a high degree, and produce from this source proved to be not only more profitable, but much more conveniently handled than bulky grain, potatoes and hay.

Galesville was founded by Judge George Gale, jurist, educator and author. Unable to enthuse the people of La Crosse with the idea of securing for that place an institution of higher learning, he determined to establish somewhere in the vicinity a university city. After looking about for a while, he selected a beautiful spot in the Beaver Creek most admirably suited to his purpose. Here, amid a picturesque stretch of hill and dale, lay two tables or plateaus, separated by a wide depression or flat, and watered by the meandering course of the creek, whose gorge-like bed seemed especially designed for the building of a dam and the creation of an artificial lake. The land was unsettled and cheap, and Judge Gale had no difficulty in securing 2,000 acres in the vicinity of his chosen site.

in inaugurating the future village. Mr. Armstrong erected a residence on what is now known as the lower or courthouse table, and as soon as the weather of the late spring permitted, superintended the construction of a mill and dam, the stone and the timber being obtained from the gorge itself.

Dr. William M. Young, a brother of Mrs. Gale, arrived a short time later, followed by Michael Cullity, who erected a shanty on the lower table on the south side of what is now Allen street, between Ridge and Main streets. An interesting example of conditions in those days is seen in the fact that Dr. Young and Mr. Cullity started out at sunrise to obtain the material for this shanty, and before night had it ready for occupancy by the Cullity family. Ryland Parker opened a small store east of the southeast corner of the public square on the present site of the Bank of Galesville. He started a hotel on the corner of Main and Allen streets, lot 2, block 3, original plat. Captain Finch started a home northeast of the northeast corner of the public square, but later sold out to Captain Alexander A. Arnold. Work on the mill progressed slowly. The dam proved inadequate and the harnessed waters soon broke their bonds. Judge Gale therefore secured the services of William 0. Clark as builder and Ebenezer Batchelder as millwright, and under their auspices the dam was repaired and sawing started. The grist mill, obtaining power from the same dam, was not put into operation until later.

While the lower table, now the business district, was thus the scene of pioneer activity in 1854, the upper table, now the residence district, was receiving its first settlers. Isaac Clark established his home near the west end of what is now the north side of Clark street, and John French located on the west side of what is now French street. A Mr. Crawford came in about the same time, accompanied by his sister, and lived here a while in their pioneer wagon. The sister was a strong-minded woman, a follower of Lucy Stone, and wore a bloomer suit instead of the conventional feminine attire, thus provoking much satirical and sometimes cruel comment on the part of the other settlers. A. R. Wyman ei'ected a house on the upper table, but later moved onto a farm, leaving his original home to be used for many years as a boarding house for university students. The village was platted on both tables April 22, 1854.

The population of both tables probably did not number thirty people on New Year's Day, 1855. A few settlers arrived during that year. Early in 1856 J. W. Armstrong, then registrar of deeds, occupied a house on Ridge street ; Ryland Parker was a merchant on the corner of Allen street and the square; Daniel McKeith had a primitive home; WiUiam P. Clark was engaged with Judge George Gale and Ebenezer Batchelder in building a grist mill and operating a sawmill ; Franklin Gilbert resided down on the flats upon what afterward became Mill street; A. R. W^mian resided on Ridge street ; Isaac Clark on Clark street, and J. C. French on French street. The hotel, of which Ellsworth was landlord, corner of Allen and Main streets. was finished, and in the full flush of success. The improvements completed included among others the courthouse and a schoolhouse. The schoolhouse was on the site of the present high school. The courthouse was still standing as a west part of the building north of the west corner of the public square.

Later in the year the village saw a considerable growth. J. W. Canterbury opened the first blacksmith shop. C. E. Perkins, afterward a prominent county officer, erected a residence on Free street ; W. H. Wyman on Elizabeth street ; George W. Swift on Clark street ; R. B. Cooper on Ridge street, and G. H. Burnham on Allen street. C. C. Averill, Nathaniel Stearns, who had been to Gales.ville in 1855, and George W. Stearns located here, and the latter two moved into the Armstrong house on Allen street. The Rev. D. D. Van Slyke, organizer of the Methodist church in the village, also built a house. Captain Bartlet completed a house in which the postoffice was this year opened, with Dr. William M. Young as postmaster. Several of the pioneer shanties were replaced with frame houses.

With this beginning, the village experienced a quick growth, enjoying a heyday of prosperity until the close of the Civil War. The panic of 1857 apparently did not retard the progress. In 1859 an attempt was made to transfer some of the business from the lower to the upper table. J. M. Dodge built a store on Ridge street and soon sold to R. A. Odell, who conducted it for several years. This was the only store ever started on the upper table.

Work on Gale College, on the upper table, was started in 1858, the preparatory department opened in the courthouse in the summer of 1859 and the collegiate department opened in the fall of 1861. The first county fair was held in the fall of 1859. The Galesville Transcript was established in 1860.

During this period of prosperity many houses were erected, several church societies perfected their organizations, and the Rev. John Frothingham, first Presbyterian minister to be settled in the county, took charge of his work.

. On June 2, 1866, the dam went out, and destruction and desolation marked the rush of waters. The hotel on the flat, put up in 1857 ; the saw and grist mills and other improvements were swept away in an hour, entailing a loss of not less than $10,000. The next spring Webster Davis purchased the water power privileges and the debris left by the flood, and began the construction of a new dam and mill on the present site several rods above the old location.

"It was a beautiful, thriving and famed little city, nestling in the shade of the mighty cliff, which then as now, forms the east bank of Beaver Creek, under the shadow of which towered the granite walls of the Davis Flouring Mill, the whir and busy trundle of which bespoke an active industry. Galesville University stood near the western boundary or outskirts of the village after the fashion of southern colleges and was then a flourishing school under the presidency of Professor Gilliland and a corps of strong, active teachers. The public square in the center of the business part of the village on the lower table was also a reminder of southern cities and villages, on the north side of which stood the courthouse, the remainder of the square being built about by business places, all active with bustle and an air of successful local commerce, presenting a scene and fixing in my memory a very pleasant remembrance of that day, then bespeaking the intelligence, business ability and financial foresight of a community of people able to cope successfully with all municipal problems. It was a sight not to be in all the years since effaced from my memory.

"On the day of which I try to sketch my mental picture, the public square, the streets, and along the bank of the creek were many teams from the country, and many of the active, hardy, intelligent fai'mers, their wives and children, who were tributary to Galesville, as their market place, were present. Good order was manifest everywhere, and the democracy of which so many have spoken and written was surely there. Away to the north spread in a sheen of golden ripple lay the Davis mill pond looking in all respects like a lake formed by the handiwork of Providence, whil to the southwest could be seen the mighty bluffs and rugged hills in Minnesota ranged along the western side of the Mississippi River. Every line of local municipal activity now present in, and the boast of modern days, appeared to be actively and intelligently represented. The ragged edge of the frontier town and the far-western outpost were absent, and there was an air of permanency, tradition and stability usually lacking in new towns."

Trempealeau Prairie lies in the southern part of Trempealeau County, about fifteen miles long and from three to five miles wide. Over this prairie all the early settlers of the county hauled their grain to market. There were three main routes from the Trempealeau Valley after the ridge was crossed. The Beaver Creek Valley and the Tamarack Valley route joins at Centerville, then called Martin's Corners. The Pine Creek route reached the prairie at Wright's Corners. After the hills, sloughs and log ways were passed, the early settlers were assured of a safe, steady passage to Trempealeau, situated on the south edge of the prairie on the Mississippi River, then the great highway of commerce.

Settlers began to locate on the prairie surrounding Trempealeau at an early date. Their story has been told in connection with the history of the village. Not long afterward a populous settlement sprang up a+ what is known as West Prairie. The first permanent settler on West Prairie was HoUister Wright, who located in 1853 at what was afterward known as Wright's Corners. He bought out an earlier claimant who had selected a location and planted potatoes. It is said that Wright was walking over the prairie, met a man digging potatoes, and bought him out after a fiveminute conversation. In 1854 came W. A. Cram, D. A. Segar, 0. Whitcomb and William Lee. These four, with Wright, all had their crops harvested when D. 0. Van Slyke arrived in November of that year.

About 1855 settlers came in large numbers, mostly i/i wagon trains drawn by oxen. They crossed Black River at McGilvray's Ferry on a flat boat propelled by poles and held in place by a rope stretched from one bank to the other. The oxen were often the cause of a great deal of trouble, for, after being turned loose on the prairie at night to feed, it often took all the forenoon to round them up ready to move on.

On the east bank of the Trempealeau settled Isaac Nash, who, with his large family, were well adapted to a new country, because they were versed in the use of the natural resources of the land. From the woods they secured logs for a house and fuel for their stove, while the river abounded in fish and the land in small game. With the family came Jacob Holbrook, also a man of resource. With an ax and auger he could fashion a bob-sled or an ax-yoke. He operated the first miU and made sorgum syrup.

Among the first settlers were Avery Wellington (he was called "Duke," and the street on which he lived bears that name), William Burns, Seba Atwood and Amos Whiting, educator and leader in pubhc affairs. One of the interesting characters of the time was Dow Ladd, a down-east Yankee, who served as justice of the peace. He was full of whims, and a bitter feud existed between him and the boys of the neighborhood, who often raided his melon patch and annoyed him in other ways.

John Gillies and family, Alex Stevens and family, and John and George Brewin arrived in June, 1855, and settled on South Prairie. No lumber could be obtained at Trempealeau, and John GiUies and Alex McGilvray went to Douglass Mill, near Melrose, and rafted timber down to McGilvray's Ferry, whence it was carted to the prairie.

The early settlers were for the most part New Englanders, and, coming from a hilly and rocky country, were attracted by the easy turning of the soil and its quick production.

Often on Sunday evenings the people gathered at some home for kindly greeting and mutual comfort. By common impulse their thoughts turned to far-off New England, with its religious atmosphere, and as their memories lingered on the familiar scenes and places of the past, there floated out on the evening air the hymns and songs of other days - to the boys and girls evenings never to be forgotten.

The first schoolhouse on what is known as West Prairie was built east of the present brick structure as the result of the work of Amos Whiting. The building was later replaced on the present site by a large building which more recently gave place to the brick structure. A Union Sunday school has been held there almost continuously since 1858.

In 1863 a cemetery was laid out on the corner of the farm of I. D. Carhart, under the direction of Amos Whiting, whose daughter was the first to be buried there. The land was given by Mr. Carhart. The cemetery in charge of an association, has been several times enlarged and is now permanently fenced. An artistic pagoda has been erected and a permanent fund provided for its maintenance.

From Trempealeau Prairie the settlers gradually penetrated the Little and Big Tamarack, and slowly working up that valley, settled in Holcomb Cooley, Thompson Valley, Norway Cooley, and in numerous other branching cooleys and valleys.

Dodge was settled in the middle fifties from Trempealeau, Trempealeau Prairie and the Tamarack Valley. The poi'tion first settled was that lying tributary to Tamarack Valley and that lying in the Trempealeau River flats and small cooleys adjacent to West Prairie. In 1855 Martin Whistler crossed Whistler Pass and settled in the Pine Creek Valley, and within a year Ichabod Wood had settled in section 14. Other early English and American settlers in the vicinity of Whistler Pass were John L. Sanderson,

Almon A. Johnson, Joseph Utter and Charles Keith. The first Polish settler in Dodge was Michael Chisin, of Winona, who, in the spring of 1862, settled on the abandoned claim of John Banner.

It was probably about 1862 when the PoUsh people began to settle in Pine Creek. They were induced to locate here by John Schmangle, a man who spoke English, German and Polish. The first six families were those of Paul Libera, Paul Leishman, Paul Rudnick, Joseph Zabrinsky, Anton Zabrinsky and Felix Kamarowski. These Polish families were living in the valley when Mathias Brom, a native of Bohemia, settled there in 1863.

In 1863 there were no improved roads into Pine Creek. The market points were Trempealeau Village and Fountain City all the year around, and Winona when the river was frozen. With no improved road over the ridge communication with Arcadia was most difficult.

The fii'st German settler in the Trempealeau Valley in Dodge township was George F. Staflin, who settled in section 11, east of the present village, on March 10, 1857. About the same time came Casper Walwand, the first settler in the immediate vicinity of the present village.

Above Dodge one of the first settlers was John Latsch, afterward a prominent wholesale grocer of Winona. He came here in 1856 and settled near a creek at the mouth of the valley that now bears his name. In 1865 Frank Pellowski settled in the same valley, and in the next five years there arrived so many settlers from Hungary that the valley came to be called Hungary Valley. The name of Latsch Valley is being gradually resumed, especially for that part of the valley near its mouth."

Arcadia, the first settlement in the Trempealeau Valley above Trempealeau Prairie, had its beginning in 1855. Soon after the Indians relinquished their rights to this region, in 1837, James Reed, the first permanent settler of Trempealeau County, made several journeys up the Ti-empealeau River in search of furs. The Bunnells, Willard B. and Lafayette H., came to Trempealeau in 1842. Willard B. Bunnell hunted and trapped on some of the tributaries of the Trempealeau in the autumn of the same year, naming Elk and Pigeon creeks because of his successful hunts thereupon. In the autumn of 1843 the two brothers Bunnell, in company with Thomas A. Holmes and William Smothers, ascended the Trempealeau as far as the present village of Independence, where the party camped and spent several days hunting elk in the surrounding country.

The valley had been a favorite hunting ground of the Indians long before the coming of white hunters, and tradition concerns itself with some of the principal landmarks, such as Barn Bluff ; but the occasional hunters and trappers who penetrated into the interior, enjoying their wild life of adventure, had no purpose to settle the country, and little dreamed the low marshy grounds along the Trempealeau River would ever afford a site for a village such as Arcadia is at the present day.

When the first settlers arrived at Arcadia they found a defense of breastworks, proving that some time soldiers had visited the place. The apparent age of the excavations at that time indicated they had been built several years before. Julius Hensel, a veteran of the War of Secession and an early settler in Ai-cadia, reports that the Indians claimed that a company of soldiers came up the valley shortly after the Black Hawk War, and near the present village of Arcadia met a band of Indians. No hostilities occurred, but the soldiers deemed it prudent to be prepared in case any evidence of enmity on the part of the tribesmen should be shown, and therefore erected breastworks. Where the soldiers were going or what their mission may have been has never been ascertained, and any effort to gain more information concerning their movements has thus far been futile.

The first permanent settlement of Arcadia came about in the autumn of 1855, when four men came up from southern Wisconsin by way of La Crosse, with a drove of cattle. They crossed the Black River at McGilvray's Ferry and made their way across country to Fountain City. The few people they met had much to say of the Trempealeau Valley, a region as yet little frequented except by hunters and trappers.

These men were Colhns Bishop, George Dewey, George Shelley and James Broughton. Having reached Fountain City and disposed of their stock, they started out one bright autumn morning to see for themselves whether the Trempealeau Valley was a suitable location for their future homes, for they were actuated by no other motive than home-building.

They had lived for several years previous to this time in Dodge County, where the stone was so numerous in the fields that the only sales of land were made when the snow was deep. They spent so much time in looking over the country as they came along that they only got as far as George Cowie's that day, where they stayed all night, and the next morning resumed their journey to the river. Arriving there, they drew cuts to see who should cross and find a suitable fording place. This was soon found, and they crossed the river near the site of the present bridge. For several years all the travel to Fountain City was through this ford.

After passing through the river they followed an Indian trail east to the table land over nearly the same ground now occupied by Main street. Upon reaching the hill they looked around for some mark to indicate a section corner, and about a half mile due east from there saw two burr oak trees standing close together.

These trees were at that time about six inches in diameter at their base, and proved to be witness trees, or, as the pioneers sometimes called them, "bearing trees," so the settlers had no difficulty in establishing section lines with these for a starting point. They located four homesteads, now owned by W. E. Bishop, George Schmidt, J. I. Dewey and M. N. Lehnerts, respectively.

The settlers returned to Mr. Cowie's for the night, and the next day came back and completed their preparations for entering the land, and picked out building spots. They were well satisfied with the appearance of the soil, and while the distant hillsides were covered with brush through which a team could make its way anywhere, they did not doubt that when prairie fires were no longer allowed to run, there would be a sufl[icient growth of timber for all their needs. The manner of choosing those homesteads was so unique that a brief mention may be of interest.

They agreed to draw cuts for choice of quarter-sections, and the man A'ho had first choice paid $100 into a common fund, the second paid $90, the third $75, and the fourth $60, and then the whole amount was divided equally between them.

They returned to Fountain City, and late the same autumn Collins Bishop hired James Broughton and a Mr. Davis to build a house on his land. They erected this near the bearing trees, using logs mostly, and boards for the roof. This was the first house built in Arcadia, and some of the boards are still doing service in a barn on the place, built a few years later.

One of the trees was used for firewood the following winter when the snow fell to the depth of four feet on the level, but the other still stands, having now a circumference of twelve feet at its base, and is a fitting emblem of the lives and character of the pioneers who first reposed beneath its branches.

In 1856 the settlers petitioned the county board that Preston township be divided and a new town formed. Then it became necessary to decide upon a name. Hitherto the neighborhood had been known either as Bishop's Settlement, in honor of its founder, or as Barntown, on account of the number of barns erected by the early settlers. The petition regarding the formation of a new town was granted, and so, one winter day, the pioneer neighbors met at Bishop's cabin to name the town. The families represented were those of James Broughton, George Shelly, David Bishop, Collins Bishop, Mrs. Annie B. Bishop, Jessie Penny and Noah D. Comstock. To the women was accorded the privilege of selecting the name. Mi's. David Bishop, afterward Mrs. Chai'les Mercer, offei-ed the name of Arcadia, which had been suggested by Noah D. Comstock.

Mr. Comstock was a man of varied experience and possessed a broad and practical mind. He had crossed the continent in quest of gold in the excitement of the days of "Forty-Nine," but he saw in the quiet valleys of Arcadia a richer promise of gold than in the mountain regions of California. As he gazed on the numerous ranges of hills and the nestling valleys, he was thrilled with the grandeur of the scene. Its pastoral beauty appealed to him, and he saw the agi'icultural possibilities of the rough land and thought of the rugged mountain region in faraway Greece, the old home of the Arcadian peasants, who led a life of simple contentment amidst their wild surroundings. From Mr. Bishop's window the pioneers looked out on the New Arcadia, and on their way homeward admired with a new pleasure the scenes of their daily life. Rising above the low range of hills that skii-t the western horizon was "Barn Bluff," its clear-cut sides white with snow and with the little round peak contrasting sharply with the smooth contour of the distant hills. Toward the southeast rose "Noah's Bluff," and in every direction were ranges of hills encircling the lower basin, where stood the new-born town. And in among those hills were valleys, indented nooks and cooleys, with here and there a flat table land. Winding along among the low bushy bottom lands was the Trempealeau

Until this time it had been known as Bishop's Settlement. In 1857 Daniel C. Dewey and Dr. I. A. Briggs moved to Arcadia. The good doctor not only attended to his medical practice, but found time to cultivate more or less land, and one summer, a few years later, it was noised around that he had a fine watermelon patch. They were not all old settlers in Arcadia by this time, and some of the young settlers started out one pleasant afternoon to investigate the truth of the report, supposing the doctor to be far away. They had no difficulty in finding the melons, but, unless all signs failed, there were no ripe ones. Just at the moment when they were busiest thumping on the melons and hunting for one that might do, they were startled by a slight sound from the fence alongside the patch. They looked up to see the doctor's blue eyes beaming on them in kindly humor as he said, "Well, well, boys, better wait till they are a little riper."

In the spring of 1857 George Shelley began keeping store at his home on the present site of the George Schmidt residence. The first town meeting was held this spring, and Collins Bishop was elected chairman. The school system of Arcadia dates back to 1857 when District No. 1 of the town of Arcadia was established and Sarah MacMaster installed as teacher. The schoolhouse, which afterwards occupied three or four different sites and was used in turn as courthouse, printing office, feed mill and dwelling house, was originally located just across the street from John Danuser's residence in East Arcadia. It was built by James Warren, with lumber rafted down the river to Fountain City and hauled from there with ox teams. But such lumber can scarcely be found today.

Two-by-fours were two inches by four inches, and generally a little more, and the builders had the privilege of throwing out any board found having a knot in it. The next year Albro C. Matterson started a blacksmith shop, and near it stood a frame for shoeing oxen.

In 1860 Dr. Briggs and David Massuere undertook to build a flouring mill, but on account of the Civil War breaking out, were unable to complete it until five years later. In the meantime it was used as a residence until 1865, when the machinery was installed, and the settlers were no longer obliged to make the long trips to Trempealeau or Pickwick for flour. The same year Gay T. Storm erected a store with lumber hauled from Trempealeau, and two or three years later built a brick store building, which still stands. That fall D. C. Dewey, with Dr. Isaac Briggs, opened a store at Dewey's Corners, now called Old Arcadia.

Up to the outbreak of the war the arrivals, while not by any means unusually large, were fairly numerous and were composed of a superior class. With the advent of that calamity immigration entirely ceased. From 1860 to 1867 times were dull and little improvement of anj^ kind was undertaken. During the war the Federal Congress passed a Homestead Bill that attracted a large foreign element which was distributed over the country tributory to the village, and furnished the means of developing the agricultural resources of the vicinity to a wonderful extent. From 1867 times began to improve, and considerable progress was made in all lines, increasing with each year and culminating in 1873 with the completion of the Green Bay & Minnesota Railroad. The lower town was built up at once, and many buildings from the upper town or "Old Arcadia" were removed to the new location.

In looking over the Arcadia of today, we see the dreams of the pioneers more than realized. Since the day they waded the river and looked for the first time on the Trempealeau Valley, Arcadia has changed from a favorite hunting ground of the Indian to a productive agricultural land; from the home of wild fowl to a populous community, where instead of hills and valleys in a wild state of nature, we have all the evidences of an advanced civilization which is doing its part to "make two blades of grass grow where one grew before."

Bishop's Settlement became the center for travelers looking for land, and in time the valleys leading into Trempealeau Valley received their first settlers.

Burnside was first settled in 1856. Located as it was at the mouth of Elk Creek (Pleasant) Valley, it was a natural center, and its bottom lands near the junction of Elk Creek and Trempealeau River presented an attractive site. The first settlers were members of the Markham family. The story is told in full elsewhere.

Hale. The first settler in Pleasant valley above Burnside was George Hale, the pioneer of the township that now bears his name. He came in 1858 and settled nine miles up Elk Creek. Other early families in Hale were: Allen, Barry, Bruce, Christianson, Donley, ElUs, Heath, Mallery, Maloney, Lockman, Michaels, McFarlin, Olson, Scott, Spaulding, Lally, Smith, Stewart, Tull, Teller, Tallman, Van Tassel and Weeks.

Chimney Rock Township, owing to the nature of its surface was not settled until after the other townships in the county. The first permanent settler was Daniel Borst, who brought his family here in 1865. About the same time Hans Herbjornson settled in Bennett Valley. He was followjid by Austin Gunderson, Halvor Austinson, Aslak Torgerson and Gudmund Knudson, all of whom settled in the same valley. A few years later there came an influx of Scandinavian settlers, until the township is now almost entirely peopled by that nationahty.

Lincoln Township was settled in 1856 by men who came down the Trempealeau Valley from older parts of the state, men for the most part of English or New England birth. The first were Deacon Alvah Wood, Moses Ingalls and his two sons, Moses D. and Francis W., and Hiram and Albert Stratton.

The Galesville Transcript of September 28, 1860, describes a visit to these pioneers. The first house encountered in the valley after coming up over the ridge from French Creek was that of Henry Lake, the pioneer of Lake Cooley. Lake had arrived from Walworth County New York, in 1855 with 100 head of cattle. In 1860 he already had a large farm, with 130 acres of small grain, 80 acres of clover and 14 acres of peas. He had adopted the plan of sowing timothy with his small grain and thus had pasturage for his stock just at the time the prairie grass failed in the fall. In section 7, Preston, was S. S. Rice, who likewise had a fine farm.

Then came the farms of James Hopkins and Wessel Lowe, in sections 6 and 7, Preston. Wilham Van Sickle was near-by in section 31, Preston. D. W. Wade was in section 36, Lincoln Township. Next down the Trempealeau Valley, in section 25, Lincoln, was Deacon Alvah Wood, upon whose farm was one of the first pieces of land cultivated in this region. A few farms had been opened between the Deacon Wood farm and the home of A. L. Sherwood, in section 21. Mr. Sherwood, whose home was on the bank of the Trempealeau, had beautified his place with a fine lawn shaded with many native trees. Not far away was Hiram Stratton, in section 15, and E. F. Wade, in section 28. Near-by, too, was the home of Frank W. and Moses D. Ingalls and their venerable father. Rev. Moses Ingalls. On the farm was a good field of sorghum, a good acreage of potatoes, a field of large onions, and many roses and other flowers. The people of the valley were doing their trading at Sparta, owing to the fact that there was no good wagon road to Galesville, Trempealeau, La Crosse or Fountain City. A little later, when the roads were improved, Trempealeau became the shipping and trading point for these pioneers.

Whitehall was started in 1860 or 1861 in the locality now known as Old Whitehall, about a mile from the present village, by Ole Knudtson. His biography in the custody of the Trempealeau County Historical Society states that he was born in Norway in 1819, came to Chicago in 1844, located at Woodstock, McHenry County, Illinois, four months later, and in 1859 settled at Mineral Springs in Jackson County. He came to Whitehall June 25, 1860, and opened a hotel and blacksmith shop.

Soon after the village was started some 200 Indians camped along the flats in the vicinity, and Georges did a flourishing business selling them whiskey. To prevent this, Mr. Knudtson bought him out, on condition that he leave the region.

"The people of Trempealeau Valley in the vicinity of Pigeon Valley have long felt the need of a market for their wheat and a business center in their midst. To this end they are now engaged in erecting a new village and making the waters of the Trempealeau River serviceable in carrying off their produce to the Mississippi. Last week a meeting was called by the citizens to enquire into the practicability of making use of the river for flatboats, and the opinion was confidently expressed by those acquainted with the stream that by laying out $1,000 in removing obsti'uctions, boats carrying from 15 to 30 tons could be made to run the river. A committee of three was appointed to examine the river and report. If their report is favoi'able, it is proposed to organize a company, obtain a charter, and raise funds for clearing the channel.

"The site of the new town (which has received the name of Whitehall) is on the bank of Pigeon Creek, one half mile from its confluence with the Trempealeau. As respects its situation for building a town, it cannot be surpassed. It contains within its limits an excellent waterpower. Arrangements are to be made for the erection of a gi-ist mill early next season.

"Mr. Knudtson has nearly completed his new dwelling - the first in the place. He is a blacksmith by trade, and is now situated to look after the wants of the people in this line. Messrs. Wing and Georges, proprietors of the town site, are building a store. It will be completed and filled with goods before winter. They have the assurance that several families will come to settle in the place next spring. They are selling lots on very reasonable terms to those who intend to build on them."

Pigeon Township lies largely in Pigeon Valley, branching from the Trempealeau Valley near Whitehall. It was first settled about 1860 or 1861 by Edwin Cummings, who located in section 19. Joshua D. Southworth was the second. In 1863 came Phineas Wright, who opened the mill at Coral City. At this point a flourishing village sprang up.

The vanguard of the sturdy Scandinavian element which now peoples the valley arrived in 1864 in the persons of Ole Anderson Aga and Hans Ole Nielson, who came with ox teams from Dane County.

Preston Township was settled in 1855. There were two distinct groups, one group consisting of men of some means from the Eastern States, and the other group consisting of a Scandinavian colony from older Wisconsin counties. Among the Americans were Ebenezer Thurston, Robert Thompson, E. M. Reynolds, John B. Dunning, Simon S. Rice, John Hopkins and others. Richard Porter, by some believed to have been the first settler in the township, died a few weeks after his arrival, before his cabin was erected, as a result, it is said, of an encounter with a band of wolves. In the Scandinavian colony were GuUick Olson, Sivert Johnson, Lars Olson, Bjorgo Olson, Sigbjurne EUickson, Peder Pederson, Gullick A. Storlee, Bengt Danielson, Nels Halverson, Jacob Tenneson and others. Family traditions and family Bibles differ considerably as to the date of the arrival of these pioneers. Some place Gullick Olson's arrival the year previous, and give him the credit of being the first settler. Others declare that Sivert Johnson and not Gullick Olson was the one who arrived in 1854.

Albion, lying in the Beef River Valley, was settled in 1856, in which year William Moon, Burden Cross, David Chase and A. U. Gibson arrived with their families. Moon, Cross and Chase settled in the eastern part of the township, south of the Beef River, in the vicinity of what afterward was known as Hamlin. Gibson settled some three miles back from the river in the western part of the township adjoining what afterward became the village of Norden. Preparations were at once made for the coming winter. On July 3 Moon broke the virgin soil, put in potatoes the following day, and in the fall gathered a fair quantity, the first crop in the township.

The experience of the Gibsons is a typical one. The family arrived October 7, 1856, from Argyle, Lafayette County, where Mr. Gibson had settled in 1839, and where he had gained a thorough knowledge of coping with the difficulties of pioneer life. Upon coming to Albion with their yoke of oxen, their goods and their stock, the family set to work erecting a home. It was made of tamarack logs, chinked on the inside with moss from near-by swamps and sodded over from the ground up. There was no floor and no windows, and only one room. A little wild grass was cut for hay, but after being dried proved inadequate for feeding purposes. While planning their life here the Gibsons had shipped a great quantity of flour, pork, beans and other provisions from Galena to Fountain City. But before these provisions could be moved to the cabin home the winter came on, a winter more severe than has since been experienced. Snow started to fall on November 7, 1856, and continued for three days and three nights. When the calm came at last the snow lay seven feet deep on the level and was heaped in great drifts against the hillsides and in the valleys.

The Gibsons, thus shut off from the rest of the world, were miles from their neighbors. To the north, five miles in Eau Claire County, was the Gunn family. To the west, in Buff'alo County, Mondovi was seven miles away, and the family of George Rosman was the only one to be found on the trail. Sam Cook, of Dover, ten miles away, was the nearest neighbor to the south. Five miles to the east were the three families at Hamhn.

The Gibson family nearly starved, and all of their stock except the oxen died. The family was kept alive by purchasing a few bushels of seed wheat from the Moon family at Hamlin, carting it five miles over the crust on a hand-sled, and grinding it in a coffee-mill to make coarse flour for bread. A little hay was secured from the same source and transported in the same way. In March, 1857, a child was born to the Moon family. In order to be in attendance, Mrs. Gibson had her two sons take her over the snow five miles on the hand sled, which on the return trip was utilized for carrying a load of hay for the oxen.

An interesting story is told of De Lorma Gibson, a fourteen-year-old boy, and William Morton, a member of the Gibson household. In March, 1857, the man and the boy were hunting, when they came across some bear tracks. Following the dog along the trail, they encountered an unusually large black bear. The man lost his courage, but the plucky Ijoy took the gun, and with one shot broke the bear's neck and cut his throat. With the assistance of Mr. and Mrs. John Gibson, who were summoned, the bear was taken home, where he furnished food for many days to come.

When spring came, Moon, discouraged at the privations of the winter, determined to leave the county. He accordingly traded his 400-acre claim at Hamlin for an 80-acre tract in Dane County, on which a mortgage of $500 had been placed. Russell Bowers, with whom he traded, arrived in Albion toward the end of June, 1857. His sons are still in the township. At the Bowers home the Hamlin postofRce was established.

Cross, after remaining a few years, became discouraged, and returned to Dane County, from whence he came. Chase enlisted in the Civil War and was killed. Gibson spent the remainder of his life in this vicinity. He lives in history as the one who gave the township its name, Albion, the ancient title of Britain, a word for which he had a great fondness.

M. B. Gibson, a son of A. U., is now the sole authority on early Albion history. He arrived June 9, 1857, bringing the remainder of the family belongings, together with some cattle and a pig. The trip of 200 miles was made with a team of horses, the first horses owned in the township. A stray pig, also the first of his kind in the township, followed the team all the way, arrived in good condition, and furnished the family with pork the following winter. A flag which Mr. Gibson brought with him was hoisted near Norden July 4, 1857, probably the first time that the stars and stripes had been flung to the breeze in Beef River Valley.

Soon after the arrival of M. B. Gibson a trip was made to Fountain City for the provisions which had reached there the previous autumn. This food did not last to harvest, so later another trip to Fountain City was made. There corn was obtained. But no milling facilities, so a long trip had to be made to Eau Claire, to have the corn ground into meal. On this meal, with such wild game as deer, elk, bear and rabbit, the family subsisted. Tea, coffee and sugar were almost unknown luxuries. A beverage which was used as a substitute for coffee was made from parched corn and toasted bread crusts. After a few years sugar and syrup were obtained by tapping the trees on the Chippewa River, a considerable distance away.

In 1857 the crops were good, though only a small acreage was planted, and the agricultural equipment was meager. Owing to the lateness of the arrival of the Bowers, the Gibson family rented the 20 acres which Moore had broken, and in the fall the first corn grown in the township was harvested from this tract. The first wheat was raised this year by Barden Cross. The method of threshing was most primitive. A wide circle of ground was cleared, several shocks of wheat laid thereon, and the oxen driven back and forth over it until the grain was all threshed out. The first threshing machine in the neighborhood was a two-horse tread-power owned by George Cole, near Augusta.

An interesting feature of pioneer life was the presence of the Indians in 1857. A band of Sioux and Winnebago camped a short distance below Norden. One day they killed three elk on Beef River. Bear, wolf, deer and elk were then plentiful, and an elk was killed by Russell Bowers as late at 1865. In the fall of 1857 the Indians, about 100 in number, moved to a site just below the present village of Eleva. From there they had trails all over the country, through the most accessible, and over the most convenient crossings of the rivers and creeks. These trails remained for many years thereafter.

Unity Township was not settled until after the two townships on either side. A number of claims were taken in 1856, but so far as is known, none of the claimants were living here at that time. Nearly all the first settlers have moved away. Probably the first two settlers were Dennis Lawler, who settled south of the Buffalo River in the eastern part of the township, and P. B. Williams, who settled in the central part of the township and had land on both sides of the river. These settlers came about 1859. It was not until 1870 that the real influx of settlement came to this township. Among the pioneers may be mentioned Esten Johnson, Ole E. Johnson, Engebret Pederson, Anders Larson, Even Evenson, Martin E. Rognlien, Simon Rise, John Rise, Ole Svendson, Simon Olson, Peder Inislund, Ole Dahl, Paul Christopherson, Nels Kleven, Peder H. Bjornstad, Ole Thomasgaard, John Christianson, Hans Paulson, Martin Olson and Andrew Call.

Sumner was settled in 1856 in the vicinity of the present village of Osseo. The first settlers were E. M. Sexton and W. A. Woodward. A year later a postoffice was established at Beef River Station, a mile from the present village, and George Silkworth appointed postmaster. The present village had its beginning in 1858, when W. H. and C. G. Thomas built and operated the first store. Excellent articles on the subject are found elsewhere in this volume.

Land Office Records. The land office records are of but little value in determining the names of the early settlers. Many people filed on land which they had never seen and which they never occupied, others who were early settlers filed on land a year or more before their arrival, while on the other hand there were those who did not file until they had occupied their land for a considerable period. The list is, however, here appended, as it gives the names of the first land claimants, resident and otherwise, of the various townships in Trempealeau County.

Tax Records. The early tax records, to a certain, are valuable in fixing the earlj^ settlers in the various townships. Their insufficiency, however, as a foundation in compiling the story of the early settlers lies first, the fact that "resident owner" on the tax books often meant resident of the county rather than resident of the township; second, in the fact that no effort was made by the assessors to secure a correct spelling of names, and, third, to the fact that many of the actual settlers were not payers of real estate taxes.