Trempealeau County, Wisconsin - Chapter 10: Historical Papers, 1917 (part 1 of 4)

The Trempealeau County Historical Society is in possession of a number of historical papers relating to the settlement of various minor valleys and cooleys in the county, and incidents of the early days, as well as to the personality of many of the pioneers. These papers are for the most part still in manuscript, and they are here printed to add interest to the general story of the pioneer period that has already been told. The collection is increasing, and in time the society will doubtless possess the history of every locality in the county. The papers already preserved are largely from the pens of Hon. H. A. Anderson, Hon. Stephen Richmond and Dr. E. D. Pierce. In addition to these, many papers have been gathered especially for this work.

Recollections of Antoine Grignon.' (Eben D. Pierce, Wis. Hist. Soe. Proceedings, 1913, 110-136.) I was born at old Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien, January 9, 1828.- My father, Amable Grignon, who was of French and Winnebago descent, was born at Portage, Wisconsin;' my mother, Archange La Bathe, was born at Prairie du Chien, of a French father and Sioux mother, being a cousin of Wabashaw, the Sioux chief whose village was located on the site of Winona, Minnesota.* She was a sister of Francois La Bathe, the noted trader, long a trusted employee of the American Fur Company. Amable Grignon acted as interpreter for the Federal Government on various occasions, and was stationed for a number of years at Fort Crawford as interpi-eter for its comman'dant. Colonel Zachary Taylor."

There were three children in the family, Paul, Archange, and myself, and although our parents had but a limited education, they determined to give their children the best opportunities within their reach. So I was taken to Col. Zachary Taylor, who permitted me to attend the school conducted in the garrison, thus laying the foundation for an education.

I next went for two terms to a private school conducted by a Mr. Cady [Cadle],' then John Haney became my teacher. There were no public schools in that day at Prairie du Chien, and the parents of the pupils in the private schools paid the teacher a certain amount each month for their instruction. I remember, too, my French teacher, a Mr. Gibault, who also taught English, and a lady by the name of Mrs. Crosby, who held school in her home.

When I was a little past twelve years of age I went to school to Rev. Joseph Cretin, a Catholic clergyman, who afterwards became bishop of St. Paul.** By the time I was fifteen years of age I had a fair education in the common branches of English" and was ready to go out into the world better equipped than most French Canadian boys of my time.

pany under a sub-agent named Alexis P. Bailly, of Wabasha, Minnesota.'" I was sent out to Turkey River, Iowa. We went by wagon, fifty miles southwest of Prairie du Chien, where a store building was erected and trade opened among the Winnebago. A few months later I came back to Prairie du Chien, and went by the steamboat "Otter" up the Mississippi to Trempealeau, which was then known as Reed's Landing or Reed's Town. James Reed had married my widowed mother and I visited her at his home, a large log house near the river."

There were but a few families in Reed's Town. John B. Doville'- and family were living there. He had been conducting a wood yard over on the island opposite Trempealeau for a few years, having been sent in 1838 by Francois La Bathe to occupy the island and furnish cord-wood for the steamboats passing up and down the river. Joseph Reed, a French Canadian, accompanied him.

The real object in holding the island was to secure the fur trade, and to keep Wabashaw's band of Sioux from giving their trade to rival companies.

Doville was quite an agriculturist; he cultivated the land formerly broken by Louis Stram at the Swiss mission,'^ and also broke up more on the flat near where the city park is now located. He sowed oats, wheat, flaxseed, potatoes, and beans. He has the honor, I think, of being the first farmer in Trempealeau County. Stram broke the first land, but did not sow any seed except for garden purposes.

Alexander Chenevert" was hving upon the site that afterwards became the old Grant place. Farther up the river near Fred Ford's present residence, lived the Bunnells - Willard and Lafayette. Willard lived here until 1848, when he moved across into Minnesota. Lafayette Bunnell had moved to Minnesota a couple of years before his brother Willard.'^ There was another Frenchman here at that time by the name of Michael Goulet, who chopped wood for Reed, and worked at odd jobs whenever opportunity offered. He did not remain long, a few years perhaps, and then went farther north.'"

I worked for Mr. Reed, who was farmer for Wabashaw's band of Sioux at Winona, and as he could get home only occasionally I helped look after his stock, and built some pole fences for him in the fall of 1843, on what afterwards became the Van Engen farm. This was the first fence built in the county. Reed had considerable stock, several head of cattle, a bunch of ponies, and some blooded horses. They grazed on the hills, and out on Trempealeau Prairie, and required little attention summer or winter, although we always put up some wild hay for them in case deep snow should make the grazing difficult. Cattle suffered more during the deep snow than the horses, who could more easily paw the snow away.

In 1844 a Frenchman, Assalin, came to Reed's Town. He was a carpenter by trade, and manufactured for Mr. Reed the first wagon in the county, that is, he made the woodwork, but the iron had to be shipped up from Prairie du Chien. Besides carpenter work and wagon-making Assalin manufactured sleds and French trains.

Peter Rousseau, who helped Reed build his house. Rousseau was an expert with a broad-ax, and hewed the logs for Reed's house. This had two stories, was large and roomy, and served well its purpose as an old-fashioned backwoods inn.

Reed kept a bar, and I have often seen travelers sleeping on the floor rolled up in their blankets. Beds were a luxury seldom indulged in at that period. Around the old-fashioned fireplace in Reed's inn was often gathered a strange and varied company - traders, surveyors, trappers, and hunters, and a few blanketed Indians. As they sat smoking by the blazing fire in the evening, you might have heard stories of adventure that would thrill the heart of the dullest listener.

About the same year, 1844, there came to Trempealeau (Reed's Town) a Frenchman by the name of Antoine La Terreur, who was a cabinet-maker. He manufactured chairs, bureaus, chests, and other furniture, and was the first in our county to do work of that kind. Some of the chairs he manufactured are still, or were a few years ago, in the possession of La Vigne in Cedar Valley, Minnesota.

In 1845, Michel Bebault came here and hired out as a wood-chopper over on the island at the steamboat wood yard. He was about the best wood-chopper I ever saw at work. Three years later Leander Bebault and John La Vigne'' came with their families to settle in Trempealeau. La Vigne bought a little piece of land up in the tamarack, but had not lived there long when he decided to move across the river into Minnesota, where he settled in Cedar Valley.

Joseph Reed became a mail-carrier, and I think it worth while to relate some of the hardships he underwent in performing his duty. His route lay along the Mississippi from Prairie du Chien to Wabashaw's village at Winona. At the latter place he met the mail-carrier from Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, and after exchanging mails the two returned to their respective starting points. The trip was made by canoe in summer, and by French train on the river ice in winter, and by pony with saddle-bags at times when neither canoe nor French train could be used.

One year, in the latter part of winter, early in March, I think, Joseph Reed started from Prairie du Chien with the government mail bound for Winona. When he arrived the carrier from St. Paul was not there. It was mild weather, so Reed concluded to proceed on his journey until he met his partner from up river. By the time he reached Holmes' Landing,'^ the weather had grown considerably warmer, and the ice showed signs of breaking up. Still he pushed on, and urging his pony over the ice, sped away towards the north. On nearing Minneiska'-' he heard the ice begin to give way - groan, crack, and move ; looking about he saw that an island in the river offered his only place of escape from drowning, as the ice was fast breaking up. He made his way thither, and arriving in safety started to explore his new quarters. He had gone but a short distance when he ran across the St. Paul mail-carrier, who had likewise made the island in safety. By this time the ice in the river was moving fast, and before another day had nearly cleared. So there they were with little provision, shut off from mainland by a wide channel.

After their provisions gave out, they subsisted on rose-apples; they halloed in vain for help, but it was a sparsely-settled region at that time and no one heard them. After living on the island nearly two weeks, they were rescued by a party of Sioux who were coming down the river in canoes. The Sioux took the two mail-carriers into their canoes and left them at Holmes' Landing, where after two weeks of recuperation they resumed their routes. They were weak, emaciated, and nearly starved to death.

I remained in Trempealeau until the year before the Mexican War broke out, when I returned to Prairie du Chien and went to work in a blacksmith shop. When war with Mexico was declared, I enlisted in Governor Dodge's regiment of home guards, serving therein for a year. We did not go out of the State, but were held in readiness in case we should be needed.-" While in service at Prairie du Chien during the winter of 1846-47, a report came to our commander that the Indians were massacring the whites in the locality where Vernon County now is. We were ordered out and with great difficulty marched up through the deep snow to the supposed scene of murder. When we arrived we found the report was false; the whites had not been disturbed in the least, and no Indians had been seen in that region for a number of weeks. So we returned ingloriously to our quarters at Prairie du Chien.

After getting my discharge I went to work as clerk for the American Fur Company in their store at Prairie du Chien under B. N. Brisbois."^ I remained in their employ until June, 1849, when I decided to go north and took the steamboat, "Lady Franklin," for St. Paul.

I soon secured employment at Fort Snelhng, helping to get up hay for the cavalry stationed there at the time. I drove team and helped stack for a few weeks, when a man from St. Paul came and asked if I would run a boarding-house and bar for him at that place. I complied with his request, and worked for him for two months ; at the end of this time I went down the river in one of A. P. Bailly's boats as far as Wabasha, where I went to work for Bailly. He was postmaster, and I carried the mail to and from the boats and also worked in the store as clerk. While there I was appointed deputy sheriff, and served papers on a man who was accused of stealing goods from my employer. I had a search warrant and went and looked over the man's house, but found none of the stolen goods in his possession.

In the winter of 1849 Bailly fixed me up a big load of goods on a French train, with a pony to haul it down the river ; I took my departure for the site of Fountain City, where there was a large camp of Sioux. I traded among them until the spring of 1850, when I loaded my goods in a canoe and made my way down the river and through the sloughs to the present site of Marshland, where there was also a Sioux camp. I sold my pony and train to the Indians and bought a canoe of them, and traded with them for a number of weeks. They had been trapping up Trempealeau River, and had a fine lot of beaver, otter, marten, mink, and muskrat pelts. I had for my store a Sioux hut made out of buffalo hides - as comfortable as one could wish. After the spring hunting and trapping was over I returned to Wabasha, but not until I had an opportunity of attending a medicine dance at Minneowah, not far above the present town of Homer, Minnesota.

In the early fifties I assisted H. M. Rice, S. B. Lowry and David Olmsted in removing two bands of Winnebagoes from a point near Sugar Loaf, Winona, and a point on French Island, a few miles above La Crosse, to the Long Prairie reservation in central Minnesota. A few months later I secured employment with the Hudson Bay Co. at Long Prairie.

In 1854, I returned to Trempealeau and remained at home with my family until 1856. In the latter year Nathan Myrick, the pioneer settler of La Crosse,- wrote me a letter asking me to take charge as interpreter of his store at Blue Earth, Minnesota. Accordingly I went to Blue Earth and began work for Myrick. The Winnebago had meanwhile been removed from Long Prairie to the Blue Earth agency,-'' and Myrick opened a store at the latter place secure their trade. Myrick told me to trust all Indians that were honest, but to look out for the rascals, and said, "You have traded with them a long time and know them well and so you know the good ones from the bad ones." I trusted them to the amount of over $3,000, and when they received their government annuity I got all the money they owed me, or very nearly all ; I think I lost less than ten dollars in dealing with them.

I remained at Blue Earth until winter and then returned home to Trempealeau. I did not like the Prairie country and I wanted to be with my family, although Myrick offered to fix up a place where my family could stay at Blue Earth.

In 1850, I married Mary Christine de La Ronde, a girl from Portage, Wisconsin.-' Fourteen children were born to us, six of whom are still living, three boys and three girls.-* The girls when they were young ladies were noted in this part of the country for their singing; one of them became a school teacher and was very successful in her work.

In 1881, Major Halleck came from Washington, D. C, to enumerate the Winnebago, and wrote for me to assist him in the work.^" We went to Eland Junction and enumerated Big Black Hawk's band,^" and then proceeded to Black River Falls ; after completing the work there, we went to Portage and Kilbourn, and wherever we could locate a camp of this tribe. Next spring I went with Major Halleck to Stevens Point to make a payment to the Indians and was with him a year, and whenever a payment was made I helped to locate and get the names of the Indians on the pay-roll. I also helped survey the land above Black River Falls, and assisted in locating the Indians on their homesteads. I have acted as interpreter on various occasions for the Federal Government, and on matters of business have helped the Indians whenever I could. I have lived here most of the time since I quit work for Myrick, and have always made my home in Trempealeau, being away only on business for short intervals. I live in the same house that I bought in 1857.

I would like to say a word about James Reed. He was a remarkable man for his time, when just such a man was needed. I first saw Reed in Prairie du Chien when I was a boy and he was keeping tavern there. He was not a tall man, medium in height but thick-set, with a deep chest. He had bluish-gray eyes and a sandy or florid complexion. He was a good shot, one of the best I ever saw, and the Indians far and wide were aware of his skill with the rifle. I have seen him kill eleven prairie chicken in twelve shots, in the trees on the island across from Trempealeau. He was several rods away from the game when he shot. I have also seen him shoot the head from a partridge at a good distance.

One day a merchant from Rock Island, Illinois, who had advanced suppUes to some lumbermen at Black River Falls, called at Reed's inn and asked the ways to the Falls. Reed inquired if the man intended to go alone, and he answered he did. "You will find it difficult to make your way," replied the old hunter, "there are no roads and the trails are unmarked and hard to find unless you are acquainted with the country." The man said he had a compass and thought he could find his way all right. He remained all night, and in the morning Reed and I accompanied him on ponies to Beaver Creek, and saw him safely across the stream before we took our departure for home. One afternoon a week later the man came crawling into Reed's inn almost exhausted. He had lost his way and wandered about in the neighborhood of Decorah's Peak for a number of days, subsisting on roots and berries. He was scratched about the face and hands, his clothing was in shreds, and when he reached Trempealeau Prairie, he was so exhausted that he had to crawl for three or four miles on his hands and knees. He remained at Reed's cabin about two weeks and then went home without attempting to visit the lumbermen at Black River Falls.

Reed could speak several Indian dialects and was as well acquainted with Indian character as any man I ever knew. He was of a kind disposition and generally used mild measures in his dealings with the Indians ; but when diplomacy failed, he was a different man and his temper once aroused, he feared nothing, and could bring his rifle into play as handily as any backwoodsman I ever saw. He was noted for his fearlessness as well as for his expert marksmanship.

1 - This aged pioneer died at Trempealeau, July 24, 1913. He was one of the few survivors of the fur-trading regime in Wisconsin, and his recollections were secured by his fellow townsman. Dr. Eben D. Pierce. The transcriber writes, ' ' I have written most of this narrative just as Grignon told it to me. In some places I have not used his exact words, but have tried to convey his meaning in language of my own construction." The interview was written in the shape it is here presented in December, 1912, and January, 1913. - Ed.

2 - The record of Antoine's baptism is preserved in the Prairie du Chien Register. He was, in fact, born Jan. 9, 1829, and baptized Jan. 17 by Father F. V. Badin. His godfather was Francois La Bathe, represented in his absence by Denys Cherrier, and his godmother was Virginie Fisher. A copy of the Megister, the original of which is in Montreal, is in the Wisconsin Historical Library. - Ed.

3 - For a brief sketch of this person, see Wis. Hist. Colls., xx, p. 157, note 21. Antoine, in an interview in 1909 with Charles E. Brown, of the Society's staff, stated that in 1825 or 1826 his father had a trading post on the site of the present Dakota, Minn, - Ed.

6 - Col. Zachary Taylor came to Prairie du Chien in 1829 as commandant of Fort Crawford ; the same year he determined to remove the fort to higher ground, and began the new fort, finished in 1831. He continued in command until 1836. - Ed.

7 - Rev, Richard Cadle had been in charge from 1827 to 1836 of an Episcopal mission school at Green Bay (see Wis. Hist. Colls., xiv, passim). The latter year he resigned, and was soon after appointed chaplain at Fort Crawford, where he remained until 1841. He was probably the teacher to wliom the writer refers. - Ed.

8 - Joseph Cretin was born in 1800 in France, came to America as a missionary priest, being stationed in 1839 at Dubuque, There in 1844 he began a school for Winnebago children, wliicli T\as next year discontinued by the governor of Iowa. Grignon does not say the school he attended was at Prairie du Chien, and it is possible he went to the mission school at Dubuque. Cretin continued at that place until the see of St. Paul (Minn.) was erected (1850), whose first bishop he became, dying there Feb. 22, 1857. - Ed.

9 - Grignon told C. E. Brown in the interview referred to, ante, note 3, that he attended for a time the mission school at Yellow Elver, Iowa, of which Eev. David Lowry had charge. For an account of this school, see Wis. Hist. Colls., xii, p. 405. - Ed.

12 - John Doville (spoken of as James Douville in Id., p. 252) was a son-in-law of James Eeed, and the first permanent settler of Trempealeau. His companion, Joseph (also called Antoine) Eeed, was a French Canadian, not related to James Eeed.- - Ed.

14 - According to the Prairie du Chien Register, Alexander Chenever, son of Francois Chenever and Marie Louise Giard, was born at that place Jan. 10, 1827, and baptized Aug. 16 of the same year. He married a daughter of James Eeed. - Ed.

15 - WUIard B. Bunnell was born in 1814 at Homer, N. Y. He ran away and sailed upon the Great Lakes as pilot until 1832, when he settled at Detroit and there married, in 1837, Matilda Desnoyer. Having entered the fur trade, he spent the winter of 1841-42 at the site of Escanaba, Mich.; then removed West, arriving in Trempealeau, July, 1842. In 1848 he made arrangements to remove to the Minnesota side of the river, where he occupied in 1849, by permission of the chief, Wabashaw, the site of the village of Homer. There he died in 1861. His brother, Lafayette Houghton, was born in 1824, removed to Detroit in 1832, and accompanied his brother to Wisconsin in 1841-42. He enlisted in the Mexican War, sought for gold in California, and after studying medicine, enlisted as surgeon of the 36th Wisconsin Infantry, and in 1865 served in the same capacity in the 1st Minnesota Battalion. He was fte historian of Winona, Minn., where he died in 1903. - Ed.

17 - Jean Baptiste Lavigne was an early settler of Green Bay, see Wis. Hist. Colls., xx, p. 159, note 22. Probably the Trempealeau settler was his son. Louis Bibeau (Bebault) was an early Hlinois trader, possibly the progenitor of these pioneers of Trempealeau. - Ed.

IS - Holmes's Landing was near the site of the present Fountain City, Buffalo County, and was settled in 1839 by Thomas A. Holmes, previously of Milwaukee and Eoek County. It was a well-known port of call on the upper Mississippi. - Ed.

22 - H. M. Eice (1816-94) came from Vermont to Minnesota in 1839, where he engaged in the fur trade. In 1853-57 he was territorial delegate, and later first senator from the new state (1858-63). - Ed.

2.3 - Syvanus B. Lowry and David Olnvstead were both American Indian traders. The former had a post near the present Brockway, Minn.; was adjutant-general of the territory in 1853; laid out the town of St. Cloud, and died there in 1861. Olmstead (1822-61) came from Vermont to establish a trading post at Long Prairie; was president of the first territorial legislature, and first mayor of St. Paul. - Ed.

25 - Nathan Myrick (1822-1903), founder of La Crosse, came there in 1841 from Westport, N. Y. In 1848 he sold out his landed interests and removed to St. Paul, but continued to traiie at several places on the Mississippi. He celebrated liis golden wedding, 1893, in St. Paul, and died there ten years later. - Ed.

27 - For her father, see Wis. Hist. Colls., vii, pp. 345-365; his obituary is in Id., ix, p. 431. According to an article in the Trempealeau Herald, Dec. 17, 1909, Mary Christin de La Eonde Grignon was born at Portage, Christmas day, 1835, married at Long Prairie, Feb. 4, 1851, and diod at Trempealeau, Dec. 8, 1909. She was at the time of her death one of the oldest settlers of the town. - Ed.

28 - The newspaper article mentioned in the preceding note gives the names of these children as follows: Ralph J. Grignon, of St. Paul; Alexander Grignon, of Oshkosh; Guy A. Grignon, of Glen Flora, Wis.; Mrs. Mary Jebb, of PaynesvUle, Minn.; Mrs. Camilla Dederich, of Sandusky, Wis.; Mrs. Nettie Coyle, of Trempealeau. - Ed.

29 - Jan. 18, 1881, Congress passed an "Act for the relief of the Wisconsin Winnebago," one of the provisions of which was that a complete census of the members of that tribe, scattered throughout the northern woods, should be taken, and their share of the Winnebago trust funds allotted to them: also that they should have titles to their lands assigned them in perpetuity. Maj. Walter F. Halleck, a retired army officer, was appointed special agent to take this census. Grignon appears to have been in his employ until 1884, when Halleck retired from the agency. Transcripts of several letters from Halleck to Grignon, showing appreciation of the latter 's services, are in the Society 's Library. - Ed.

James Allen Reed. (Eben D. Pierce, Wis. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, 1914, 107-117.) Among the restless Scotch-Irish pioneers that Kentucky, in the early day, sent into Wisconsin and the Northwest, there are few with a life so picturesque and full of interesting incidents as James Reed. Born in Kentucky in 1798, he early became part of the rough, hardy life of the frontier. As a child he heard with eager delight the stirring tales related by Indian fighters, trappers, and traders who enjoyed the hospitality of his father's fireside ; tales of thrilling encounters and hair-breadth escapes from the wild beasts and still wilder red men of the forest. Like most boys of the frontier he was unlearned in the lore of books, though he could read and write, but in the school of nature he early became an adept. To him the great, deep forest stretching away to the unexplored westland, was an open book ; and he could follow a trail, wield the hunting knife, or throw the tomahawk with more cunning than the native Indians, while as a rifle shot he acquired, even on the western frontier where every man is an expert, wide renown.

When a mere stripling Reed resolved on a military career, and the War of 1812 furnished his fighting blood and martial spirit an outlet, some claiming that youthful as he was he saw service in the latter part of that war. Some time after the close of the War of 1812 Reed enhsted in the regular army, and was sent to Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien. Here his skill with the rifle, his knowledge of woodcraft and Indian customs, and his utility as a scout, interpreter, and courier quickly attracted the attention of his superior, and before his term of enlistment had expired he had risen to the rank of sergeant. Although Reed was an excellent soldier, his greatest service to the government was in the capacity of scout, and long after his term of enlistment was over he was employed by the commander at Fort Crawford to conduct bodies of soldiers through the wilderness on expeditions against the Indians.

he had five children, Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary, Madeline, and James. Upon her death in 1830 he was married a second time to a Menominee mixed blood, widow of the trader, Russell Farnham. Two children, Margaret and John, resulted from this union. He later married the widow of Amable Grignon. whose son Antoine was the chief source of this biography.

While in the United States army service at Fort Crawford Reed learned the carpenter trade and helped in the construction of some of the frame buildings of Prairie due Chien. He found plenty of work both in the army and outside, but he had planned to become a fur trader. Accordingly, after getting his discharge, he entered the employ of the American Fur Company, devoting his time to hunting, trapping, and trading with the Indians. He was stationed for over a year at Red Cedar, Iowa, where he opened a trading post among the Indians, sending his accumulated furs overland by cart to Prairie du Chien. During the absence of his cart-train he had but a single companion, a Sioux boy about sixteen years old. One morning while this boy was alone a band of fifteen Sauk warriors passing by murdered him, and were in the act of scalping him when Reed appeared on the scene. Angered at the brutal murder of his helpless Indian boy he turned his rifle on the fleeing band of Sauks, and fired, kiUing one of the warriors. He then called out to the Indians, daring them to return and fight like braves, in loud and angry tones naming them cowards and murderers. They continued their flight, however, over a distant ridge, being fully convinced that the trapper not only was in earnest but was an excellent shot as well. Reed, expecting the Sauks to return that night and give him trouble, prepared everything for a surprise, sleeping with his loaded rifle on his arm ready for instant use. For weeks afterwards he was entirely alone at the trading post. Years later he told Grignon it was the most lonely and hazardous position of all his life, living in constant expectation of hostile Indians, and traveling on perilous expeditions through the surrounding territory in quest of furs. He had no further trouble with the Indians while at Red Cedar, but after remaining a year he decided to return to Prairie du Chien, where he again entered the government service. During the Black Hawk War he was engaged to help take a keel boat up the Mississippi to Bad Axe. Returning to Prairie du Chien he vi^as sent as a courier with important messages to the army, which was nearing Bad Axe. He traveled the distance on a pony and arrived in time to witness the battle that ensued. =

Although in the government service, Reed always denounced the cruel, unrelenting slaughter of the half-starved, dispirited Indians, who had tried in vain to surrender to the army opposing them, and were peaceably withdrawing with their wives and children to the west side of the Mississippi. During the battle Reed saw two Indian maidens embrace each other and jump into the river, and as they rose to the surface of the water the soldiers fired on them and the crimson streaks of blood mingling with the tawny waters showed where their lifeless bodies sank from sight. It was a pitiful sight to watch the slaughter of the helpless women and children of the unfortunate Sauks, and what added to the horror was the appearance of the Sioux, who had been notified of the coming conflict, on the opposite side of the river, finishing the slaughter by shooting, tomahawking, and scalping the poor, bedraggled Indians as they landed on the Minnesota shore.

When the struggle was over Reed started on his pony for Prairie du Chien, and while riding through the woods he came upon a lone Sauk woman, who had made her escape from the soldiers and ill-fated Indians and was hiding in the woods in a half-starved condition. Reed spoke kindly to her, assuring her of his protection, and dismounting gave her a portion of food from his saddlebags. After she had eaten he helped her into the saddle, and with his rifle in hand led the way along the homeward trail. They took turn about riding and walking until they reached Prairie du Chien, stopping only at night to camp, and at intervals for refreshments. When their destination was reached Reed turned his captive over to the military authorities, who in turn sent her to join her people in Iowa.

After the Black Hawk War Reed was sent among the Iowa Indians on business for the government. He started on his French train, which consisted of a sled made of oak hewn from the tree, and fastened together with wooden pegs. The sled, about three feet wide and seven feet long, was just wide enough to seat a man comfortably. It had hewn slabs fastened from runner to runner, on which was placed a pair of blankets rolled up in a tanned buckskin. Two poles were attached to the front top of the runners and to these the Indian pony was hitched by means of a harness made of buckskin straps, sewed with deer sinews ; the whippletree was fastened with the same material. "I started on my train," said Reed, "taking my old flintlock rifle and ammunition to last the trip, for I was expected to kill game enough for my living. On my way I chanced to kill a big, fat bear, and when I reached the Indian camp and exhibited my game a howl of joy went up among the redskins. We dressed and cooked the bear Indian fashion, making soup of him, which I ate with the natives in their manner, and in order to show my appreciation I ate the last drop of soup and then licked the dish as the Indians did. That Mck gained for me and the government our point without a thought of bloodshed, and after shaking hands with my Indian friends I took my departure on my French train for Prairie du Chien."

The next three years after his return from Iowa Reed occupied himself as tavern keeper in Prairie du Chien. His reputation as a fearless hunter and Indian trader, and the many hardy adventures he had experienced, equipped him with a fund of frontier stories as thriUing as the varied life of that day afforded. He could speak sevei-al Indian dialects, and his long association with the French at the Prairie settlement enabled him to acquire a fair command of their language. To the French he was known as Reed I'Americain; while by many, on account of his military record, he was called Captain Reed.

Around the fireplace in his tavern was often gathered an interesting throng of hunters, trappers, traders, and Indians, and the usual town loafers. Many strange tales of frontier life and backwoods lore were told, and wanderers from far up the Mississippi brought glowing accounts of the northern country, where game and fur-bearing animals abounded, and where Indians roamed wild and undisturbed by white settlers. The long- ing for the wild, free life of the trapper caused Reed to abandon tavern keeping and resume his employ with the American Fur Company. While on his journeys up and down the Mississippi in the interests of the fur company, as well as when in the government service, he had remarked the beauty of the situation of Trempealeau and had decided to locate there whenever a favorable opportunity should offer. Circumstances delayed him until 1840, and gave his son-in-law, John Doville, the credit of being the first settler. However, Reed had chosen the site for a town and had in view plans for its future settlement some time before Doville came. In the summer of 1840 he built a log house on his well-selected site a few rods from the banks of the Mississippi and hither he brought his family, resolved to make this his permanent home. One day while hewing logs with his broadax for the construction of his building a drunken Sioux by the name of Face-on-Fire came along and began to abuse him. Reed said very little but at last, the taunting continuing, his temper gave way, and raising his broadax he threw it at the Indian. It came so dangerously near the Sioux that he was frightened and left, not daring to show himself again for days.

Reed, after finishing his log house, followed his favorite vocation of hunting and trapping in the Trempealeau valley. A few months after his arrival his wife died, and within two years he married the widow Grignon, who was a relative of the Sioux chief Wabashaw. Her relationship with the noted chief gave Reed great prestige among this band of Sioux, which together with his experience with the Indians while in the government service secured for him the position of government farmer for Wabashaw's band of Indians, who were then living on the site of Winona, Minnesota. He entered on his new occupation as government farmer and storekeeper some time in October, 1842, and two years later with the help of L. H. Bunnell, erected the first house built in Winona. This was a government storehouse, constructed of white ash logs. Reed retained his appointment until the signing of the Ti-eaty of 1851.

In May, 1844, an incident occurred at Winona which illustrates the fearlessness of Reed in a "crisis. He had learned from the trader La Bathe.^" an eye witness, of the murder of an old friend, Sheriff Lester, by a Sioux of Little Crow's band named 0-mah-haugh-tay. Chancing to be in the tent of his relative, Wabashaw, when the murderer dropped in for a visit, he was angered at the consideration with which the fellow was received, and declined the courtesy of smoking the pipe which was offered him. The murderer, emboldened by the success of his crime, seized the pipe and himself presented it to Reed, with unfeigned malignity in his eye. Reed, whose resentment was kindled into flame by this fresh act of audacity, dashed the pipe to the ground, and denouncing the Sioux as a dog, informed him there was one white man who did not fear him. It was the gravest insult that could be offered to an Indian, but 0-mah-haugh-tay was cowed, and soon after took his departure from the village.

At the first town election held April, 1851, at La Crosse, James Reed was elected justice. Trempealeau was then included in La Crosse County. Whether there were any cases for the justice court during Reed's term of office is doubtful. Differences were likely to be settled in the more primitive way of hand to hand encounters, and if this failed an appeal to the higher court of firearms was taken.

While in Trempealeau Captain Reed had occasional differences with the Indians. He burned the old mission house^ at Trempealeau Bay to keep the Winnebago from catching and riding his horses which gathered in its shelter, thus galling their backs with heavy loads.

One autumn day in the early fifties a number of Indians came to Trempealeau to do some trading, and brought along the usual number of dogs. Reed had some hogs running loose near his house ; the dogs began to chase them and succeeded in killing one of their number and injuring several others. When Reed saw the Indians coming he took down his rifle and, walking into the yard, shot seven of the dogs; this done he returned to the house, reloaded his gun, and waited results. Nothing more was heard of the Indians that day, but the next morning about fifteen of their number returned and began grumbling about their dogs being killed and demanded pay for them. Reed listened a while to their complaints, then becoming angry he took down his rifle and pointed into the muzzle, saying : "I have something in here which I will give you as pay if you don't all clear out of here at once." Without waiting for the contents of the well-known rifle the redskins fled, knowing the old trapper was in earnest. As a result of this trouble one of the Winnebago, named Hakah, plotted to kill Reed, and went so far as to hide in ambush behind a pine tree along the trail where Reed came after his horses every evening towards sundown. When Reed appeared the Indian noticed the well-known rifle slung across his shoulder, which so unnerved Hakah, that he kept in his hiding place until his enemy had passed, not wishing to take a chance of missing Reed and being killed for his pains.

In 1853 Reed sold his Trempealeau property to Benjamin B. Healy and moved with his family onto a piece of government land in the Little Tamarack. This was in some respects a better situation for one of his temperament, as it was in closer proximity to the most desirable hunting ground. From here he took the trail over the bluff on many a long hunting expedition.

When George Luce, formerly of Galesville, was a boy he went on a hunting trip up the Trempealeau valley with Captain Reed. They camped in one of the valleys near the present town of Acadia, and as several hunting parties of Indians were in the immediate vicinity Reed deemed it advisable to take precautions against surprise, inasmuch as the Indians looked upon the white hunter with jealous eyes. Therefore the men set to work digging a hole in the ground for their night's camp fire. After completing this they cooked their supper, and enjoyed it smoking hot from the fire.

After nightfall the sound of howling wolves disturbed the hunters, and as the night wore on the howling became louder and more hideous; apparently the campers were surrounded by wolves, but Reed began to mistrust the origin of the sounds and called out loudly in the Winnebago language: "If you want our scalps come and get them." At this the howling stopped. Reed and Luce sat up all night with their rifles across their knees, expecting the Winnebago wolves to return, but no more disturbance occurred, and after finishing their hunt the men returned home in safety. Luce told of Reed's skill as a hunter and said the old trapper always rode with his rifle across the pommel of his saddle Indian fashion. At the time of the New Ulm massacre in Minnesota during the early part of the Civil War, the people of Trempealeau and vicinity were one day thrown into a panic of fear by the announcement that a large party of hostile Sioux was advancing from Black River upon Trempealeau. With one impulse the settlers turned to Reed for protection, and the wary old trapper responded with energy. He knew the cunning savage and did not proposed to be taken by a night surprise. All night long he patrolled Trempealeau Prairie, mounted on his favorite pony and carrying his trusty rifle ready for instant use, but it turned out that the report was false and no Indians came to disturb the frightened settlers.

Reed's numerous journeys throughout the Trempealeau country in quest of furs made him familiar with all of its streams, its ranges of hills, its numerous valleys as well as its woodland haunts and expanses of rolling wild grassland and marshes. Indeed he learned the country as thoroughly as a Mississippi River pilot learns the river, and was able to make serviceable use of his knowledge of the trails, the short cuts, the passes, and the divides.

"We were following along a range of hills one day mounted on our ponies," said Antoine Grignon, "Reed, his son John, and myself. It was past noon and we were getting mighty hungry. As we came over a hog's back and neared a rocky peak. Reed pointed down a valley and said, 'Boys, this is the nearest way to Beaver Creek, where we can go and catch some trout for dinner.' We gladly turned our ponies towards the valley, and in a short time came to the creek. Reed cut a small pole and took from his pocket a fishline and hook and after catching some grasshoppers for bait started to fish. Inside of half an hour we had all the trout we needed for dinner, and cutting some forked sticks to hold them, we built a fire and broiled them. It was a splendid meal, and I believe that is the best way to cook fish - all you want is a little salt."

As a trapper Reed could not be excelled. He caught all varieties of the fur-bearing animals which at that time abounded in this region, such as the muskrat, mink, marten, otter, raccoon, and beaver, but made a special effort to get beaver.

Late one afternoon in 1863 Reed came to my father's house on foot and said his pony was mired in a marsh just over the hill from our place. My father secured the help of two neighbors, and in company with Reed went over the hill to help extricate it. The men worked hard for nearly an hour, and succeeded in getting the pony out without injuring it. On the pony's back was a large pack of beaver pelts and traps. When, the men reached our home it was dark and Reed remained all night. My father offered him a bed, but he preferred to sleep on the floor, with his pack of furs for a pillow and a blanket spread over him. Early in the morning he departed for his home in the Little Tamarack.

known as Trapper Reed, and often the remote settler would see his solitary figure, mounted on his pony, winding along the hills or threading his way through some woody solitude over the unblazed trail to the haunts of the beaver.

While living in the Little Tamarack Reed had two hunting dogs of which he was very fond. One day while hunting with them near the present town of Dodge they came upon a panther and chased it into the bluffs, where it turned and offered fight. The dogs flew at it, and although they fought furiously, the panther seemed to be getting the best of them, and had one of the dogs nearly disabled when Reed came up. He did not dare use his rifle for fear of wounding his dogs and yet he was bound to help them ; so, drawing his tomahawk he entered the fray, working his way into the fighting mass as best he could, and at length by a well directed blow succeeded in killing the panther. The wounded dog recovered and lived to join in many a subsequent hunt.

James Reed was a man of medium height, with bi'oad shoulders and a large chest; his complexion was florid, and his hair light brown, almost a sandy hue, while his eyes were a grayish blue. He was a quick, active man, alert and ready for any emergency. He often dressed like the Indians with a blanket thrown over his shoulders and fastened around his waist with a belt. In disposition he was kind and genial and he was an accommodating and friendly neighbor.

After the death of his wife Reed lived alone in his log cabin in the Little Tamarack. He still made journeys on his pony up the Trempealeau valley on hunting and trapping expeditions, and continued his backwoods hfe until a year before his death, when the increasing infirmities of age caused him to abandon his favorite vocation. He then lived with his son John for a time, and during his last illness stayed at the home of his old friend and neighbor, Charles H. Perkins, where he died in June, 1873.

He had been such a man as the frontier demanded ; he understood the Indians, and dealt with' them kindly or severely as occasion demanded; while his firmness and fairness won for him the respect of all his associates.

Perhaps a future generation will build a monument to this romantic character. If so I hope it will be erected on old Liberty Peak, and will represent Reed mounted on his pony, with his rifle across the pommel of his saddle, looking out upon the peaceful bosom of the Mississippi, where the scenes of his eventful life were enacted. Such a monument, expressive of the pioneer hunter and instinct with the spirit of a departed age, would fittingly grace the noble crest of Trempealeau's venerable bluff.

1 - The material for the following sketeh «as furnished largely by Antoinc Grignon, who was a stepson of Eeed, and had a longer acquaintance ^^-ith him than any person now living. For Grignon 's " Reeolleetions," see Wisconsin Historical Society Proceedings, 1913, 110. Others who 'have furnished recollections of Reed are : John Perkins and Mrs. Mary House, children of Eeed 's friend, Cliarles H. Perkins, Sr., and Mrs. Charles H. Perkins, Jr., a daughter-in-law; Mrs. John Eeed, daughter-in-law of the pioneer; and Mary Brandenberg, who wrote down at his own dictation the account of E<>ed's trip into Iowa on a I'rench train. C. R. McGilvray, whom Reed taught to trap beaver, furnished many interesting incidents; also S. D. Noyes, William Huttenow, William Bennett, Mrs. Charles Cleveland. Mrs. Louise Wilson kindly lent me a daguerreotype of Reed, the only picture of the old pioneer known to be extant.

Among references in print that have been consulted are the volumes of the Wisconsin HistorU-til. CoUcctions, and L. H. Buniioll, Winona and Its Environs on the Mississipi/i in Ancient and Modem Days (Winona, Minn., 1897). Data concerning Eeed's career as a soldier and a farmer for the Siou.x at Winona have been furnished by the War Department, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Washington.

Irish Settlers. The Irish settlers of Trempealeau County have not been very numerous, although there are some among them who have taken a prominent part in the development and history of the county. There are only live sections of the county where they have settled, and, with the exception of Beaver Creek, the number who have settled in these sections are very few.

Thomas Drugan was perhaps the first Irish settler in Trempealeau County. He came to Trempealeau in 1853 and settled on a farm in the town of Trempealeau. At that time Trempealeau was a part of La Crosse County.

Patrick Lowery and Patrick Drugan, the latter a brother of Thomas Drugan, came to Trempealeau in 1855. Lowery settled on the place which had been previously occupied by one Winkleman in 1848, and which is now known as "The Old Grant Place," while Patrick Drugan settled in the town of Trempealeau on the place now owned by Patrick Lowery. The Drugans came from the county of Tyrone in the North of Ireland and lived some five years in Illinois before coming to Trempealeau.

Frank Feeney settled in Trempealeau in 1855 and bought a place near the old Ed Elkins home. Daniel Gallagn came to Trempealeau in 1856 and settled on the place where John Reid now lives. In 1858 James Brady settled under the Bluff which bears his name, and in 1859 Sullivan settled on the place now owned by Fred Ford.

About this time McCarthy, who was quite a character in his way, settled on a farm lying west of the village of Trempealeau along the Mississippi. McCarthy was a man who took great pride in his physical prowess, and on many occasions attempted to settle his diff'erences with others without the intervention of the law. When under the influence of liquor there was always something doing when Jack McCarthy was around, and yet withal he was generous to a fault and had many qualities that commend him to the admiration of people.

These men were all typical Irishmen, and were the earliest Irish settlers in Trempealeau County. They cultivated the soil in a small way, accumulated but a small amount of this world's goods, and were not very active factors in the organized movement of their local communities.

J. H. Pierson came to Trempealeau in 1860, but did not take up his residence there until 1861. He came from Dublin, Ireland, and was in the constabulary service in that city before coming to America. He had been trained as a druggist in Canada and worked in the drug store at Trempealeau until 1871, and later bought a stock of drugs and opened a drug store of his own. The store is still run and known as "The Pierson Pharmacy." He was the father of James and Charles Pierson, who are residents of Trempealeau, and of Fred Pierson and Lottie Pierson, who have moved out of the county. He was a fine type of an Irish gentleman, refined, law-abiding in all respects, and left a deep impression upon all with whom he came in contact. He died at a ripe old age in Trempealeau in 1911.

James Dolan came to Trempealeau and settled in the town of Caledonia in 1857. A typical Irishman who came to Trempealeau in 1867 is Barney McGraw, who still resides there. McGraw can tell you more of Irish lore than any other Irishman in the county, unless it be Dennis Lawler, of whom something will be said hereafter. The greatest regret of Barney is that although every inch an Irishman, he was born in New York City instead of Ireland.

A few, but prominent, Irish settlers lived in the town of Hale. The first Irish settler there was Robert Warner, who came to Trempealeau County in 1863. He raised a family of ten children, five boys and five girls, all of whom are now living except his oldest son John. Two of his gii-ls are now living in the towns of Unity and Albion, one Mrs. Margaret Wingad, and the other Mrs. Catharine Wingad. One son, Robert, is a Methodist preacher, and two of his sons, Raymond and Rufus, are living with their mother on the homestead in the town of Hale. Robert Warner died February 10th, 1908, and is buried in the Hale cemetery. He was a prominent, successful and respected resident of the county, and had much to do within his sphere in the development of his community.

Another Irish settler in the town of Hale is Honorable M. J. Warner, who moved to Hale in 1861 and took up a homestead of one hundred sixty acres in Section 33, Township 23, Range 8 West, where he still resides. He was born in Ireland, February 15th, 1842, emigrated with his mother to Massachusetts in 1854, moved with his brother Robert and mother to Adams County. Wisconsin, in 1856, enlisted as a member of Co. K, 25th Wisconsin Infantry at Friendship, Adams County, August 15th, 1862, and was discharged in September, 1863, on account of disabilities contracted in the line of duty. He was married to Sarah Risk, November 17th, 1868, and became the father of five children, four boys and one girl, all of whom are still living. M. J. Warner has been one of the most active and prominent citizens in Trempealeau County. He has been an oracle of Democratic wisdom, has served his state in the Legislature, and has a great many times served the town of Hale on the county board. He is one of the very strong characters who has had much to do, not only with the pioneer development of the county, but in its more recent history.

Another early Irish settler who had much to do with the development of the town of Hale was David Maloney, who moved there in 1866 and took up a homestead on Section 28, Township 33, Range 8 West. He raised -x family of seven children, all of whom were a credit to his name, five girls and two boys. Of the girls, two, Mrs. Catharine Bucholz and Nellie, who died at the age of four years, are laid to rest in the Hale cemetery. IMary Rorabeck is living at Ryegate. Montana; Maggie Harrington in Liberty, Canada: Mrs. Esther Elsom at Britton, South Dakota: James, the oldest son. is living on the old homestead and cultivating as many acres as any farmer in Trempealeau County, while the youngest son, David, lives at Ladysmith and is the County Judge of Rusk County. David IMaloney and his wife are both dead and buried in the Hale cemetery. Mr. Maloney, although deprived of the opportunities of an early education, was a great reader and became a man of wide information and very set in his convictions.

This trio of Irishmen had as much, if not more, to do with the early development and history of the town of Hale than any other set of more numerous individuals who could be selected, and were all types of the better and more prosperous class of Irish.

The next Irish settler of the town of Hale was Charles Donnelly, who settled on a homestead in Section 30, Township 23, Range 7 West, in the year 1867. His early experience coincided with that of most of the pioneers of Trempealeau County. He came to Hale without a dollar, but in a few years, by industry and thrift, he became the owner of a comfortable home. He died about thirty years ago and was buried in the Hale cemetery, where a few years later his wife was laid to rest.

The difficulties to be overcome were hard enough in the pioneer days for men to face, but how much more discouraging was the work for a woman, yet there came to the town of Hale in 1866 an Irish woman by the name of Mary Bryan, with seven small children, four girls and three boys, who took up an undeveloped homestead in Section 30, Township 23, Range 8 West, proved up, broke and cultivated it, and continued to live there until the children married. Mrs. Bryan died and was buried in the Hale cemetery about three years ago. Her son Thomas now lives on a farm near Eleva.

In the town of Preston there have lived only two Irish settlers of whom I have knowledge. One was a strong character and left behind a family of strong individuals who have had much to do with the development of this county. I refer to James McKivergin, who was born near Belfast, Ireland, February 13th, 1818, and who was married to Annie Conway, who was born at Limerick, Ireland, June 20th, 1830. Mr. McKivergin came to Grant County, Wisconsin, in 1845, and worked in the lead mines there two years, when he moved to Troy, Walworth County, Wisconsin, where he engaged in milling. He moved to the town of Preston in 1862, where he continued to live until he died, August 15th, 1886. At the time he came to Trempealeau County there was no railroad nearer than La Crosse. Henry Lake then drove a stage from La Crosse to Osseo and carried passengers and baggage. Mr. and Mrs. McKivergin and their six children, and what baggage they possessed, went by stage with Mr. Lake from La Crosse to the log hut of Mr. Carpenter's near the present McKivergin homestead. As soon as the Homestead Law was passed in 1863, Mr. McKivergin homesteaded the farm now occupied, in the town of Preston, by his wife and son Edward. In the early days their markets were Sparta, Trempealeau and La Crosse, with no conveyance except by oxen. There is now surviving him and residing in Trempealeau County his widow and seven children, Edwai'd McKivergin, William McKivergin, Mary Young, Rose A. Immell, Alice McKivergin, John McKivergin and Maggie Immell. Mrs. McKivergin's father, John Conway, came to Trempealeau County in 1864 and lived with Mr. McKivergin until he died in 1886.

Another Irish settler in the town of Preston was Patrick Bennett, who settled on what is now known as the Densmore farm about 1856 or 1857, who continued to reside there until 1864.

A number of Irish have resided at or near Arcadia. The first Irish settler at Arcadia was James Gaveney, who came there in the Fall of 1856. He was born at Balla Bay, Monaghan County, Ireland, April 25th, 1825. At the age of 20 he entered the constabulary of the city of Dublin and served for three years. In 1848 he came to America and worked in the lead mines at Mineral Point for two years, and in 1850 crossed the plains to the gold mines of California, where he became acquainted with a man, though not Irish, who had very much to do with the pioneer history of Trempealeau County - Noah D. Comstock. He settled at Arcadia in 1856 upon a farm, which is now part of the village limits of the village, where he continued to reside until the time of his death, June 18th, 1889. He was engaged quite extensively in farming at Arcadia and in the town of Burnside, and also in milling and in the lumber business at Independence.

Among the Irish settlers in the town of Arcadia are J. H. Gleason, Michael Arrigan, Patrick, John and James Manning, Edward Creeley, Michael Gleason, James Gibbons, Jerry O'Brien, Thomas Moriarity, Daniel English and Phillip English.

A strong character among them was Daniel English, who was born in Tipperary, Ireland, and came to America in the latter '50s. He was engaged for some time in the construction of the Vermont Central Railroad and of the Chicago & North Western Railroad, and settled in the town of Arcadia about eight miles south of the present village in 1861. He was a fine type of an Irishman, who made the most out of life without having any of the advantages of an early education. He cleared a farm of heavily timbered lands into one of the fertile and most valuable farms of the town, and raised a family of four boys and one girl, two of whom, Michael English and John H. English, now reside at Arcadia. He was the father of Dr. William E. English, who died some years ago at Winona, and also of Edward G. English, who is one of the wealthy lumbermen of the State of Washington. No finer example of the possibilities of this county can be found than in the history of this family. Although the father and mother came to the county with httle book education and with practically none of this world's goods, they raised and educated, some with college educations, a family of five children, and left besides an accumulation of several thousands of dollars.

The three Mannings, John, Patrick and Michael, were all good citizens, but men of no marked characteristics. John was born in Limerick, Ireland, June 12, 1835, and died March 19, 1895. He emigrated from Ireland in 1855 and settled at Arcadia in 1862 on a farm two miles south of the village. Patrick Manning also was born at Limerick, Ireland, in 1838, came to America in 1858, and located at Arcadia in 1863, and Michael Manning, who was born at Limerick, Ireland, in 1840, came to America in 1863 and located at Arcadia in 1864. They all raised respected families, some of whom are railroading and others farming.

He located on a farm about two miles south of Arcadia in the latter '60s, where he continued to live until about ten years ago, when he moved to the village of Arcadia. Besides being a farmer, he was an engineer, and put in part of his time working for different railroads. He was, in some respects, an eccentric character, with a genius for machinery. He patented several devices for locomotives, none of which ever proved of practical utility. He is survived by his widow and three children, two of whom now reside at Arcadia.

Michael Gleason was also an unusual personage - a marked character for a novel. He was politeness personified. He homesteaded a farm in Bills Valley, three miles south of Arcadia, in 1866, which is now owned by the family. His wife was Mary A. Cashel, a sister of Michael Cashel, a very strong and active character who had much to do with the development of Buffalo County. He leaves his widow and several children, who are now farmers in Trempealeau and Buffalo counties.

Another marked character was John H. Gleason, who was born in Tipperary, Ireland, May 18, 1818, and came to America in 1848. He purchased land from the government in 1856 four miles south of Arcadia, and settled on this land in 1857. The log house which he built first is now used as an ice house on the farm. He died May 19, 1894. His wife was an unusual woman, whose predominating characteristics were friendliness and generosity. She was born in Tipperary in 1826 and came to America in 1849. She died July 11, 1910. They left a family of one boy and four girls, none of whom are now residents of the county, although the homestead is still owned by the family.

Another Irishman who located in the town of Arcadia was Phillip English, a native of Tipperary, Ireland, and whose wife was a native of Galway, Ireland. He came to America in 1850 and settled in Trout Run in 1872.

Jerry O'Brien, a native of the County of Cork, Ireland, located at Arcadia, July 4, 1864, and homesteaded a farm two miles east of Arcadia. His wife was Catharine Higgins, who was born in the County of Cary, Ireland. He left a family of three children, one girl, Catharine O'Brien, who married Edson Morgan, a well-known character in Trempealeau County during the '70s, and Michael O'Brien and Francis O'Brien, none of whom reside in the county. Mr. O'Brien was an impulsive, decisive character who took an active part in the affairs of his town in the earlier days and was in all respects a good citizen. The farm he developed is now one of the leading dairy farms in the town.

Another Irishman who prided himself on his Irish ancestry, and who was a very marked character, is Thomas Barry, long a resident of Arcadia. He came to Arcadia in 1867 and peddled books through Trempealeau and Buffalo counties. He afterwards was in the implement business and was known over a wide area as a successful auctioneer.

One of the early settlers was James Bigham, who located in Buffalo County in 1855 and moved to Trempealeau County on a farm eight miles south of Arcadia in 1858. He died in 1874. He left behind several children, three of whom are well known in Trempealeau County, Daniel and John Bigham of Arcadia, and Mrs. C. W. Thomas of Trempealeau.

Another Irish character particularly worthy of mention is Dennis Lawler, who is now living in the northern end of the county, at a ripe old age. Anyone who has ever met Mr. Lawler will recall him as one of marked characteristics. He is a man of many ideas and of strong memory for details. He was born in the County of DubUn, September 25, 1823. He was married to Catharine Brown in 1846, and started for America in 1850. when he was shipwrecked and returned again to Ireland. Seven years later crossed the ocean and landed at La Crosse, which was then a very small place. From La Crosse he went to Black River Falls by stage, and from there to the Beef River Valley, where he settled on Section 24, Township 23. Range 8. At that time there were no neighbors within twelve miles. He squatted upon the land. When war broke out he enlisted, and after his return homesteaded his farm. It is a matter of pride to Mr. Lawler that his grandfather was a chum of the noted Robert Emmet, and is buried in the same churchyard. Mr. Lawler is now living with his son, at a ripe old age, in the town of Sumner.

Another Irishman of marked character who has had much to do with the development of Trempealeau County and Northern Wisconsin is E. J. Matchett. He came to Trempealeau County in 1866 and settled at Osseo. He came to America in 1862 and for several years followed the business of railroad construction. He has held many local offices and has always been an active man of affairs. Few men have impressed themselves as strongly upon Trempealeau County as has Mr. Matchett. In his day he made much money and lost much, but whichever way the tide of fortune turns, he has always been the same persevering, plodding worker. It is needless to say that such a character will never rust out. Time only can wear him out.

An early Irish settler of the northern part of the county was William Henry, who settled in the town of Sumner in 1854. He is now alive and living with his son, E. J. Henry. Michael Merty settled in the town of Sumner in 1859, and died about 1884. Another Irishman of Osseo was Charles Shores, who was well known by the people of the county during the '70s and '80s. He ran a store for some time in the village of Osseo.

This article has now grown to such length that I can barely mention the Irish settlers of the town of Ettrick. They are the most numerous lot that settled in any section of Trempealeau County. Among them was John Mahoney and Dennis Mahoney, John and Daniel Kennedy, Thomas and Andrew Bierne, Peter and Timothy Dufficy, Daniel Nefficy and Patrick McCormick, all of whom are now dead ; Michael Connolly, who is yet hving on a farm ; Pat Cain and Henry Whelan, who now lives at Mankato, Minnesota ; James Connors, who left the county years ago ; Cornelius Lynch, who came to Wisconsin in 1859, but did not settle in Trempealeau County until 1869. The older people will remember him as the one-armed school teacher who for a number of years was a marked character among the school teachers of Trempealeau County. James Quinn, who died last year and is now succeeded by his son, WiUiam ; James McLaughlin, who is dead a long time and who left no children behind him ; John O'Neil, who was a Civil War veteran and who is succeeded by a son ; Peter Crogan, who has now moved to Galesville; Hugh Crogan, now succeeded by his son Henry, and

Thomas Crogan, who is now dead and is succeeded by his son Wilham; Timothy Lane, who is now dead and whose farm is now owned by strangers ; Ed Rielly, now of La Crosse ; Owen Thomas and Patrick Mulligan, who left no inheritors ; Daniel McGiUindy, who was a Civil War veteran, and Michael McGillindy, whose son Wallace now lives on the farm he occupied ; Jeremiah McGillindy, who is now dead, but whose sons reside on the farm; James McCarthy, a marked character and excellent type of an Irish citizen ; Sylvester McAvoy; Dennis Cavanaugh, who served in the army under General Miles and gave his life for his country; Daniel Cullity, also a Civil War veteran ; Thomas and Michael Cullity, both of whom are now dead ; Darby Whelan and his father, Thomas Whelan, who lived upon the homestead now occupied by Darby's son ; John Harmon ; James and John Corcoran ; Thomas Wall and Walter Wall, who also served in the Civil War; Patrick Wall, John Wall; John, James and Richard Cantlon, all of whom are now dead, excepting Richard ; Thomas Sheehy, whose boys now occupy his farm ; Daniel Cahill and Bernhard Brady, now succeeded by his son, Thomas Brady. I should also mention Maurice Casey, a sucessf ul farmer whose land is now owned and occupied by his son and who was a nephew of John and Daniel Kennedy of Ettrick ; James Larkin of Crystal Valley, who is now succeeded by his two sons, Michael and Fred ; James Dolan, who years ago moved to St. Paul; John Bierne, John Hunt of Crystal Valley, also Thomas Roach, John Dolan of Galesville and Thomas Shaw of Crystal Valley.

All these were early Irish settlers in the towns of Ettrick and Gale. The data of their lives and work should be gathered and preserved before it is too late, but the hmits of this article are such that I cannot now attempt it. It is worthy of mention that these men established the only Irish Catholic church in Trempealeau County, which was built in 1872 and is known as St. Bridget's Church.

A number of the Irish settlers in the county who should have been mentioned have perhaps been omitted. It is safe to say, however, that all told there has not resided in Trempealeau County to exceed one hundred Irish families. Perhaps no other nationality has had among its numbers more men of marked personality, when we consider the number from which to choose.

As a rule they have been good citizens. Some may have been impulsive, some may have been improvident, and it may be possible that some may have been deceitful, yet I venture to say there has been a chord in the make-up o^' nearly every one which, when touched, vibrated into harmony with the higher and better elements of human character. No two have been alike. Every one has had an individuahty that separated him from all others. Very few have seen the clouds - they look more for the sunshine - upon the more optimistic side of life. Every situation to the average Irish settler in this county has had its sunny side, its humorous side. They have mainly lived in an atmosphere of good nature, and they should not be censured too severely if sometimes some of them have taken artificial means to bring it about.

They have been typical in their race. Their friends have been all the people, their faith their own. No climate has been so cold as will not produce a shamrock, no soil so barren as will not grow a shillalah. They have been foremost at a fight, at a frolic and at a funeral, where their generous nature has always found a blow for the bad, a smile for the glad and a tear for the sad. (Written at Arcadia, November 12, 1912, by John C. Gaveney.)

Polish and Bohemian Settlers. It is impossible to obtain the exact date of the day, or even month of the year, when the first Polish or Bohemian people came to this county, for the reason that there cannot be found anyone that kept any kind of data, and there are only three left in this county of the very first ones that came here - two men and one woman. Those that are alive are all past the age of eighty and their memory is beginning to fail noticeably, and what information I was able to gather is such as these people were able to give me from recollection only, except in one instance, that of the woman I just mentioned. She fixes the dates of their arrival by the age of one of her daughters. She has the names of all her children and the date on which they were born written down on the inside cover of a prayer book, and she seems to be sure that the age of the girl I mentioned was three weeks.

It seems that the Polish and one Bohemian family settled in two localities in this county at about the same time, and as near as I have been able to learn, they did not know of the existence of each other at the time, nor for a good many years after - the length of time no one seems to be able to tell.

During the winter of 1862 and 1863, there came to what is now known as Pine Creek, in the town of Dodge, several Polish famihes, as follows: Paul Lessman, Paul Libera, Mike Lessman, Frank Weyer, Joseph Lubinski, Joseph Wnuk, and some others whose names I did not get. Of these, all but Paul Libera are now dead. With them came one Bohemian family, that of Math Brom. He is still living, although past eighty years of age and quite feeble. All of these people came from the city of Winona, Minnesota.

You notice that there were several famihes that came at the same time, and they settled in close proximity and formed a colony of their own. They claim the distinction of having the second oldest colony in Wisconsin, one in Polonia, Wisconsin, being older, and they claim their colony as the third oldest in the United States, one in St. Mary's, Texas, being first.

The other settlement that took place, which I mentioned before, was in the Town of Arcadia, what is now known as North Creek, and in what is now known as the Town of Burnside.

Here is the history of the settlement in the Town of Arcadia and Burnside as was told to me by the lone survivor, Mrs. Albert Bautch, Sr. The lady is also past the age of eighty, and although her memory is failing, and faihng noticeably, yet after a little conversation with her she recalled quite vividly some of the hardships of pioneer life, and recalled a good deal of its history.

She told me that her daughter Johanna was three weeks old when they came to this county, and, from the entry on the inside of the cover of the

With Mr. Bautch and his family came his brother Lawrence and his family, and Peter Sura and his family. Those three famihes came together from New Lisbon, Wisconsin, where they had lived seven years prior to their coming to this county. Albert Bautch, Sr., settled with his family in the town of Arcadia, what is now known as North Creek, and Lawrence Bautch and Peter Sura settled with their families in what is now known as the Town of Burnside. As near as she could remember, no other Polish or Bohemian families came over to this county, to her knowledge, until about two years later, when several families came over from the State of Ohio.

All those speaking the Polish language settled in the different locahties I have mentioned, and came originally from the German Empire, what was formerly Poland. They all came from agricultural districts and quickly adapted themselves to this country. They proved themselves to be sturdy, hard-working and thrifty fellows, and they have greatly assisted in improving the localities in the colonies that they settled in, and the great majority of them have accumulated considerable property.

You may have wondered why I speak of the Polish people and do not have much to say about the Bohemian race. This is the reason. There are now, as near as I have been able to learn, only about a dozen Bohemian families in this county, and those, particularly the younger generation, after living among the Polish people and associating with them, have all, without any exception, learned to talk, read and write the Polish language. They belong to and attend the same church, send their children to the same school, and to all intents and purposes have practically become Polish themselves.

They have in this county four Polish churches, four Polish parochial schools. The combined wealth of their churches, church furnishings, school buildings, real estate, and other buildings belonging to said churches is estimated at about $200,000.00. The largest church is located at Independence, the largest colony of Polish is in the vicinity of Independence, and the total number of all Polish people in this county is about 3,700.

The principal business of the Polish and Bohemian people is farming. There are a few engaged in mercantile affairs, but only a few. The great majority of them, especially the early settlers, were accustomd to farming, and, being poor, came here looking for an opportunity to better their conditions, jumped at the opportunity this country offered them in the shape of homesteads, and went to farming as best they knew how.

Some strong men were found among the early settlers. For example, take Math Brom, the sole survivor of the Bohemian early settlers, a giant in stature, a pleasant, lovable fellow to meet, well balanced intellectually, of sturdy character, honest and upright in all his dealings, a true and loving husband and father, a true man, and respected by all who know him.

Another striking character was Albert Bautch, Sr., a big man in stature, a kind, loving husband, father and neighbor, a man who was absolutely true to the principles of American citizenship, a hard worker. He rapidly accu- mulated considerable property - a big-hearted fellow who was always ready to advise and assist his fellowmen in so far as was in his power to do so.

There were other of the early settlers who possessed- strong characteristics and who became prominent in developing this county, but time limit does not permit me to dwell on the individual cases. It stands as the undisputed fact that the Polish and Bohemian people of this county have prove themselves to be worthy men and women, have done their share in the development of this county, have taken pride in and have learned to love this country, and although a great many, especially the younger generation, some years ago went West seeking to better their condition and find cheaper lands, yet as they become older you will find, by going back with me tc some of their localities, that after a number of years of absence and after accumulating some property, they come back and settle in Trempealeau County in their declining days. Only the other day I met one who is not very old yet who has returned from the Dakotas and bought a farm in this county, and intends to live here permanently. I asked him: "What is the matter? Why did you come back?" "Ah," he said, "this is where I was born. I love those trees and those hiUs, and I wish to spend the rest of my life here and be buried here."

Although they, the early settlers, mostly all came from the German Empire, they came from different provinces. Those living near Pine Creek came mostly from the Province of Posen and Pomerania, and those near Arcadia and Burnside came from the Province of Silesia. They all speak the Polish language, but the dialect is decidedly different. The great majority of them are of the Catholic faith. One of the strong characteristics of the race is they are cheerful givers to churches. Another is that they are hard losers and do not readily forget when some harm has been done them, and they frequently carry their animosities to their death bed. One other 'prominent characteristic they possess, and that is dancing. Not only the young, but in a great many instances men and women past middle age, derive a great deal of pleasure and enjoyment out of dancing. (Written at Independence, November 12, 1912, by John F. Kulig.)

Scandinavian Settlers. The Scandinavian landseekers usually had three things in view, wood, water and hay, as necessary to the establishment of a home. Where any of these essentials were lacking or the soil too sandy, it was ordinarily considered undesirable. Therefore we find them among the hills, if they had a choice.

Gulick Olson was one of a company that came up from the Bad Axe country in Vernon County and settled three miles east of what is now Blair, in 1855. He was the first Scandinavian settler in Trempealeau County. Ebert Olson, his son, now marshal in Blair, is the first child born in Trempealeau County of Norwegian parents.

About the same time came Bjorgo Olson, Jacob, Peter and Salve Tonneson and Nils Halvorson. A little later Ole Teppen, Syver and Iver Iverson came from Oleana, Ole Bull's renowned colony. Teppen Coulee is named in honor of this Ole Teppen. In 1858 Terjan Thompson, 1859 Tosten Torrison Forkerud and Helge Opland settled in Tromps Coulee. Settlers continued coming in from older settlements and direct from Scandinavia, mostly from

North Branch Beaver Creek received its first Scandinavian settlers in 1857, when Iver Knutson Syse and his son Orias Torblaa settled there, coming from Kosh Konong. Torblaa, however, located just across the line in Jackson County. In 1858 many others followed, among them Knut and Paul Hallenger, Amund Olson Haaheim, Knut Rocholson, Thomas and Nels Herreid, Ole Nilson Skaar, Tosten T. Ringven, Nels Henderson, Lars Hanson, Ole EHingson, Ole Iverson Dale, Erick Grer and Nils Okland. Rev. Nils Brandt organized a congregation here in 1858, and a church was built in 1861. The congregation paid Ole Olson, a Swede in South Branch, who had some fine timber, $4.00 for the privilege of cutting the necessary material for their meeting house. The whole congregation came together, cut and hauled the logs and put up a structure 30 by 24 by 12. This church was built just across the line in Jackson County, and was the first Scandinaviar church in Western Wisconsin. This old historical structure is now occupied by Baard 0. Herried as residence. Among later arrivals are D. 0. Hagestad, the first chairman of the town of Ettrick, Henrick Swendson, Arne Arneson, Torkel Gunderson, Berge Torkelson and his sons, Iver and Haldor, who came in 1859. K. K. Hagestad came in 1860. Many of the above came from the vicinity of Lodi, Wisconsin. This settlement is mostly by people originally from Hardanger, Norway.

Another distinct Norwegian settlement is French Creek Valley, where Peter Anderson Hogden located in 1859. He came from Halfway Creek to Trempealeau Valley, where he lived a short time before coming to French Creek. He was the first Scandinavian in this valley. The same year his two brothers, John and Andrew Hogden, also settled in this valley. Ole E. Gilbertson, with a large family, arrived in 1860. Among other early settlers can be mentioned Ole 0. Onsrud, James Emerson, Anders Skundberg, Peter Olson, Lars Tolvstad, Iver Engehagen, Peder Ofsdahl, Christian Iverson, Andred Onsrud, Ole Smehaugen, Lars and Martin Larson, Ole Hovre, Fredrick Svern, Andrew Linrud, Peter and Ole Nilsestuen, Gilbert Jacobson, Hans Madson, Lars and Olaus Thompson, Nils Olson, Marcus P. Benrud, Tobias Olson, Ole Engelien, Ole Schie, Hans and Andrew Mustad. This is a very rich valley and one of the most prosperous settlements in the county. A good church was built in the early '70s, which was enlarged and remodeled about 20 years later.

The next Norwegian settlement in point of time is a little prosperous valley in the town of Gale that bears the name of that sturdy Scotchman, James Hardie, or Hardie's Creek Valley. Christian Larson Hoff and Gilbert Emerson Ekern came across the Black River from Lewis Valley and settled here in 1860. They were the first Norwegians there. Shortly afterward we hear such names as Andrew Ekern, M. J. Scarseth, Ole J. Hemma, Amund Quisselstuen, Anders Trondson, Amund Bjornstad, Peter Amundson, Andrew Larson (Hovensholm), Michael Michaelson, Lars Syverson, Mathew Larson, Otto 0. Rindahl, Ole 0. Semb, Nils 0. Sagen, Bernt Everson, Anders

C. Haugstad, Mikkel Hanson, Hans Anderkvern and Even Fredrickson. La Crosse County contributed the most of these settlers, and a large majority of them came from Biri, Norway, originally.

Pushing across the ridge northward from Hardie's Creek into South Branch Beaver Creek, another Norwegian settlement was formed. Peter Larson came up from Coon Valley and located there in June, 1861, the first Norwegian in that valley. In the fall of the same year came Even Swenson and Gilbert Nelson, shortly thereafter Christian Olson Syljuberget, Lars Anderson Osley, Ole 0. Brendhaugen, Peder Johnson Bratstiengen, Svend Larson Bergum, and others.

In 1862 we find Ole Gutormson locating in Tamarack Valley, the first Norwegian in what shortly became a very extensive Norwegian settlement. The following year arrived Tollef Egilson, Sigurd and Berger Bergerson, John Gunderson, Knut Leofsen Strand, Egil Mikkelson, Trond Osovsen, John Hanson, John Hendrickson, Hendrick Olson and Hans C. Olson. Others among early arrivals are Andrew Amundson, John Nilsestuen, Ole Olson, Lars Amundson, Ole Dove, Hans Hagen, Ole Heram, Ole Lindem, Lars Christianson, Christian Brennom, and the list could be continued to a great length.

Hans Herbjornson settled near that natural monument called Chimney Rock in 1865. Soon after him came H. Kjentvet, Mr. Brynjulson and others, until this whole town, which derives its name from this peculiar rock, is largely Scandinavian.

The large and beautiful valley of the Pigeon Creek, which now no doubt is the finest in the county, was for a long time shunned by the early landseekers on account of its scarcity of wood and hay, and distance from market. It was not until 1867 that any Scandinavian located there, when Erick Larson from La Crosse County, who, as near as I have been able to learn, was the first Scandinavian to locate in this valley. Then came P. Pederson, Mikkel Hagen, Mathias Tuv, and the list of prominent Scandinavians who have settled here would be so long that I shall not attempt to mention later arrivals. These settlers located mostly on land claimed by the Wisconsin Western Railroad Company, but this land had not come into market, and on account of its distance from the tracks it was thought the railway company could not hold it, and that the land would revert to the government and become homestead land. The settlers selected their claims and sat on them awaiting the outcome.

One Anders Christianson, locally called "Ringerikingen," a man of rather extravagant ideas, claimed a whole section. His neighbor, Mr. Elsom, who had bought an eighty of State school land just across the road from "Ringerikingen," wanted a forty out of the section claimed by "R" adjoining his own, and conceived the idea to build on that forty, and commenced operations with a view of crowding "Ringerikingen" off. This happened to be one of the forties that would eventually be "Ringerikingen's" homestead. He, of course, felt aggrieved, his neighbors viewed such proceedings with alarm, as under such rule no one would be safe from invaders. Several neighbors got together for the purpose of visiting Mr. Elsom to see if a little moral suasion would not induce him to withdraw from his neighbor's claim. When they came to the place Mr. Elsom was absent, but Mrs. Elsom, a beautiful young woman of considerable fortitude very much in evidence, was informed of the purpose of their visit - namely, to move what had been done toward a building back to her own side of the road. Mrs. Elsom objected in very unmistakable terms, and to emphasize her objections brought out a double-barreled shotgun and promised to put a hole through the first one that laid hands on her property. This did not put any more ambition in the house movers, as no one knew what she might do.

G. F. Steig, always resourceful, was among the company, saw that something had to be done, approached her jokingly and said: "What do you want of that gun? You daren't fire it off, and if you did you could not hit the side of that big bluff." She contended she could hit any mark they would give her. They wanted the gun discharged and she was anxious to show her marksmanship. So E. Larson, another member of this company, hung his hat on a bush a fair distance away. She brought the gun to her face. Bang ! Lo and behold, the hat was so full of holes it hardly made a shadow. But there was still one charge in the gun and the gun in the hands of a marksman of proved ability. It would suit the visitors better if this also was out. Steig insisted this was an accidental hit. She vowed she shot like that every time. Just then a woodpecker lit on a little tree a few rods distant. Steig said: "Bring him down and we will admit you have made your claim good. Thinking that another hit would be still more awe-inspiring, and she had plenty of ammunition, she placed the gun again to cheek, pulled the trigger, and down came the bird fluttering to the ground. "Now, boys," said Mr. Steig, "to the task, and hurry before the gun is reloaded." Several men on each corner of the just-commenced building picked it up and carried it across the road and set it on Elsom's own land. This was done so quickly that she, in her astonishment, did not attempt, nor found time, to reload. Seeing how she had been outgeneraled, she did not further molest the men, who fixed up the building in the new location with cornerstones and excavations precisely as it was found. When Mr. Elsom came on the scene, after the first impulse of wrath had subsided, he took it philosophically and admitted the rule was just and the action of these men was as binding as a decision by a jury. Thus was established the rule no one should molest another on these loose titles. As is usual, the railway company secured extensions and additional grants, got title to these lands, and the settlers each bought his claim.

I have been told the first Scandinavian in the town of Sumner was Mrs. Silkworth. She came up from Richland County to work for Green & Silkworth at Beef River Station in 1855. She afterward married Mr. Silkworth. I have been unable to learn her maiden name. JohnChristianson located in the vicinity of Eleva, Anders Skei, A. Staa, Gunder Johnson, Anders Tvet, Nils Larson, John Larson, Halyren Torbjorn and Ole Knutson.

In 1874 the first Scandinavians came to Plum Creek. They were Lars Davidson, Ole, Tom and John Jackson. In 1875 Knut Everson, Oliver A. Hegg, Syver Amundson and Bennet Anderson, and shortly thereafter Ole Thompson, Ole Narveson and Andy Anderson came.

The early Scandinavians, like most other emigrants, were poor, came here to get cheap land and build themselves homes, some at first living in dug-outs with sod for walls, marsh hay for thatch, and kind Mother Earth for floor. Others, yes, a large majority, had small and hastily-constructed log huts chinked and plastered between the logs with clay. Their farming implements were wood-beam plow, a drag, Morgan cradle, snath and scythe, hand-rake and two-tined fork, wagon with wooden skein and lynch pin, spring seat of two sapplings, rear ends of which were fastened to a cross piece under the wagon box, resting on a cross piece on top of the wagon box, the front ends extending to which was nailed a board for the seat. Oxen, their faithful beast of burden, and their beef when too old for work. They tilled the early settler's soil, marketed his produce and took the family to church. This condition, however, was not peculiar to the Scandinavians alone, but to all early settlers.