Sauk City Village (part 2 of 2)

L. C. Draper, secretary of the Wisconsin State Historical Society, addressed a note to me some two years ago in which he asked for information about Wallace Rowan, who lived for a few years at Baraboo, and, believing that a daughter lived near this place yet, said he would like to have me visit her and collect what information I could get of her father's life. I could get very few accurate dates, but learned that Wallace Rowan was a Kentuckian. Soon after his majority he went to Jacksonville, Morgan County, Illinois. He married Elizabeth Metcalf, a North Carolinian. They had here three children born to them, Emila, Archibald and Mary Ann. Then they moved to Platteville, Wisconsin, where Alminda was born. He then moved to the four lakes, in the neighborhood of where Madison now is, and thence to a place called Odds and Ends, afterwards Hanie 's - Hanie kept a house of entertainment here - and now named Black Earth. While here, a new country incident occurred. A difficulty between Hanie and a man named Pelky arose about a claim. Hanie shot Pelky, not fatally,' however.

Prom here Rowan moved to Poynette, where he lived seven years. Three children were born here, Robert, Elizabeth and Clarissa. While there he was obliged to move to Portage on account of the Black Hawk war. Prom Poynette he moved to a point on the military road from Port Crawford to Fort Winnebago, fourteen miles from Winnebago and twenty-eight from Madison, on a creek that carried the name of Rowan Creek for many years, now generally known as Token Creek. Mr. Archibald Barker and Rowan went into company in the Indian fur trade business the next year after he moved here. Barker thinks the Rowan family moved to this point in 1837 or 1838. He feels quite confident that it was in '37. He built a large double log house and opened a place for entertainment. It proved to be well located for such a house. Often every bed (and he had many) and every foot of floor room would be occupied by sleepers, so great was the travel to and from the pineries.

But Mr. Rowan loved the Indian traffic so much that he turned his attention to it once more, leaving his large family and a hired man to attend to the farm and the house of entertainment. (The whole family could speak Winnebago fluently.) Rowan and Barker had an Indian trading point at Portage and another at Lake Puckaway on Fox River, and one in the Wisconsin pinery. While on the way with goods to the pinery, they had an altercation with the Indians. For a few minutes there was a sharp little battle. One Indian drew a knife and broke the blade in attempting to use it. Some Indians were knocked down. The whites, three in number, soon drove the Indians away. These melees with the Indians were of no uncommon occurrence in this trade.

"At Portage Mr. Rowan formed an acquaintance with Abraio Wood, a brother Kentuckian, who had a Winnebago squaw for a wife, and entered into co-partnership with him to build a saw mill at the Baraboo rapids, knowing that there were nice pine groves at the head of most of the branches of that stream. Wood moved onto the claim in the fall of 1839 and commenced work. Rowan moved his family here in 1841. Mr. Rowan's eldest daughter married a man by the name of Mason, who stayed at their Rowan Creek place for two or three years, when the place was sold to James Enspringer. Mason moved to Baraboo. On August 19, 1844, we had one of the greatest freshets ever known on the Baraboo River. Their boom full of logs, the first ones ever brought down the river, broke, and most of them went over the dam next to the mill. This had the effect to dig out a deep hole beside the mill, undermining it The mill tipped over into the stream and floated off.

"Mr. Rowan lived by farming at Baraboo until February, 1846, when he died very suddenly. In the afternoon he was taken with a pain between the shoulders and died before daylight the next morning. We are sorry to say that there are so few exact data in the above sketch, but we believe the incidents are quite correct.

"In some respects Air. Rowan was a remarkable man. He was of medium size and well built and possessed an endurance for a pioneer life far, far above, that of ordinary men. A small volume could be filled with relations of privations and hardships he endured. He was always pleasant and very slow to anger. His word was, however, always law in his family. A person that had been long a member in it says he never saw him chastise a child but once. Two quite good-sized lads of his had so serious a difference that they came to blows. He happened to witness the altercation. He stepped in between them, took each by the collar and mildly walked them into the house. The boys, fired up with passion, tried to tell their grievances. But the father said: 'I saw it : say no more.' lie stood one on one side of the room and the other on the opposite side. Calling in the family, he told the boys to meet half way and kiss, with their heads up and pleasant. They complied, but very surily and sour. The father said he was not satisfied; they must try again and be more pleasant : which they did, and the father said that was a good deal better and would do. Our informant says that as long as he was acquainted with the boys they were pleasant towards each other. Mr. Rowan's home was always welcome to his neighbors and to strangers. He was very far from being a penny-fisted man in his dealings with them. On his death the neighborhood very much missed his genial society. His remains were interred in a pleasant knoll about forty rods northwest of the dam, with nothing to mark the spot, together with some other members of his family and some other early settlers."

There has been some doubt as to when Abraham Wood came to Baraboo and as to who the first settler really was. Under date of October 18, 1917, Dr. M. M. Quaife, superintendent of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, writes:

"We appreciate your difficulty in determining the time of the advent of Abraham Wood on your river, because of the conflict in the authorities. So far as we can determine, the account in the Wisconsin Historical Atlas seems to be the most authoritative. The sketches in this volume were carefully written, and were obtained from survivors then alive. According to that statement the first man who attempted settlement at the Baraboo Rapids in 1837 was Archibald Barker, who then lived at Portage. He was driven off by the Indians. Meanwhile the treaty at Washington had been negotiated, and there seemed more hope that a settlement might be made. In the spring or early summer of 1839 a man named James Alban discovered Devil's Lake; he went back to Portage and told Eben Peck, first settler at Madison. Peck had just sold out at the latter place to Robert Ream, and he and Alban set out up the Baraboo and marked out a site at the Rapids, including the water power. As Peck was going back (after a stay of some weeks) apparently, he met Wallace Rowan and Abraham Wood, whom he had known well at Madison, coming up from Portage. They staked out their claim at Lyons, where Wood spent the winter. In the meanwhile James Van Slykc tame up from Walworth County in the fall of 1839 and determined to jump Peck's claim. Van Slyke had had his claim at Lake Geneva jumped by other parties, and was in a bitter and retaliatory frame of mind. After staking out bis claim to the Rapids of the Baraboo, he went back to Walworth, and interested James Maxwell in a plan for a mill and persuaded him to furnish irons and equipment. Van Slyke went up in the spring of 1840 and built a dam, which was carried out by the freshet, of June. Meanwhile, Peek had brought his claim before the court at Madison and obtained judgment against. Van Slykc. The latter had already abandoned the enterprise. Van Slyke sold his irons to Wood and Rowan, who during the summer started a sawmill at the upper rapids.

"There seems to be every evidence that the source of this account was the Peck family, who were in a position to know the facts. If this account is true, we suppose Wood might be called the first settler, since he remained in the vicinity during the winter of 1839-40; but no doubt he lived as the Indians did. if not with them, since his wife was a squaw.

"To return to Wood. We are unable to discover when or how he come to Wisconsin. He was probably a fur trapper or trader, one of the rough frontiersmen of Scotch descent from the backwoods of Canada. In the course of trade he came in contact with the Decorah chiefs and took to wife one of the daughters of the tribe. He had probably been on the Baraboo often before 1839, since his squaw's native village was near its mouth, and there her father died in 1836. Wood was not then at the Baraboo, since he was wintering near Madison. He was not at this site in 1832, so sometime between that date and 1836 he set up his wigwam at Squaw Point on Third Lake opposite the modern city of Madison. His neighbor at this place was Wallace Rowan, a rough, goodhearted frontiersman from Indiana with a white wife. There is a good account of Rowan in the 'History of Dane County' (Chicago, 1880), pp. 382-83. Rowan seems to have permitted Wood to place his wigwam, or whatever kind of dwelling he had, on his claim, which he entered with William B. Long in 1835. Wood was on Third Lake during the winter of 1836-37, and during the summer of 1837 he aided in building Madison, being employed as a mechanic on Peck's log house. It seems probable that Wood spent the winter of 1837-38 at the same place as there is no record of him at Portage before the spring of 1838.

"Probably Wood moved away from Squaw Point, because Rowan that spring sold his claim and improvements to William B. Slaughter. Rowan moved to Poynette and opened his noted tavern. Wood went to Portage, where, no doubt he had often been before with the relatives of his squaw. In 1838 work was begun on the Portage canal, and Wood opened a house of liquid refreshment just below Carpenter's on the Wisconsin river. There probably in the spring of 1839, Wood killed Pawnee Blanc, a noted Winnebago chief. Wood's brother-in-law, John T. de La Ronde, tells the sordid story in 'Wisconsin Historical Collections, VII, 360.' He does not give the date of the murder; Moses Paquette says (idem, XII, 431) that it was in 1837. Paquette probably remembered that it was after his father's death in 1836; but it could hardly have been in 1837, since Wood was then at Madison. Our inference is that the death of Pawnee Blanc occurred in 1838 or 1839. Wood was probably anxious to leave Portage at this time; moreover, in 1839 Winfield Scott went to Portage and held a council with the Winnebago Indians concerning their removal from Wisconsin. Wood knew the Baraboo valley would soon be open for settlement. He persuaded his old friend, Rowan, to go prospecting with him. But on their way out they found Peck and Alban had been there before them. Wood, not wanting to go back to Portage, spent the winter in the Baraboo woods, and the next autumn (1840) with Wallace Rowan began a sawmill, as La Ronde states (Wis. Hist. Colls.. VII, 360).

"The foregoing hypothesis appears to reconcile all the accounts except Moses Paquette's date of the killing of Pawnee Blanc. The record of Wood's trial may sometime come to light. Possibly it may be preserved in the records of the court of Brown County, still kept at the courthouse at Green Bay."

"Being solicited by the editor of the Northwestern Horticulturist' to give a reminiscence of our early fruit growing experience, I will give you our ' greenhorn ' experience, and to make it more complete must mix with it early settlement reminiscences.

"I am come into the heavy timbered belt in the town of Brooklyn, now Baraboo, on Skillet Creek, in the spring of 1842. My father was a friend of Smith and Thorpe, those large nursery-men at Syracuse, New York. He wrote me relative to starting a nursery to supply demands that would be required as the settlement should grow. My replies were that it was already a fruitful count ry in many ways. Groves of wild apples and plums were here in abundance and some of the plums were delicious. We have butternuts and hickorynuts. The black and red raspberries and gooseberies, the vine and bush cranberry, leeks, onions, mandrakes, cherries; wild honey so plentiful that a good hunter could sometimes get a barrel of honey in the fall, and we have old Indian sugar bushes to supply us with sugar. Our waters filled with fish, and the air with game birds, and the rock ledges with rattlesnakes, and the woods with large game, such as deer, bear, etc. We have no skunks, Canada thistles or mean men.

"My father had already settled in two new countries and those letters of mine determined him to make one more. So in the fall of 1843 he made me a visit and stayed the winter, and in the spring had his nursery stock shipped to Beloit, thinking to plant it there, but finally concluded to have it brought to Baraboo. So in the spring I went with my ox team and got it. Of that trip I will only mention two events. One was on my way down. One night I stopped for the night, it being my first 'camp out' in my life. I had got a fire started when a wind cloud came up and blew it entirely away and a heavy rain storm set in. I lost my supper but managed to keep dry through night. Tt sleeted, rained and froze. In the morning the oxen were coated with ice. At daybreak I 'hitched up' and started and got to Madison, a ten-mile drive, to a 10 o'clock breakfast. On our return trip we had a similar experience. T then had Dick, our black boy, with me. On this occasion T got under the wagon with my blanket, and Dick took to a great white oak tree and sat against it, wrapped in his blanket. About midnight we concluded that we might just as well move on. I drove the team and Dick felt the road out with his feet After all we had some pleasant days.

"At 2 o'clock, Friday, April 29, the first nursery stock that ever came into Sauk county was anchored on Skillet Creek, town of Brooklyn (now Baraboo). It consisted in main of 200 orchard trees, a barrel of peach pits, a bushel of apple seed and shrubs, etc. We committed it to the earth as soon as possible. The following year we budded peaches, apricots, etc., by the thousands. There were two, three or four favorable winters on tender varieties of fruit trees; still, within this time we had enemies to contend with. First, in 1845 or 1846 we were visited by the army worm. We fought them as best we could by plowing ditches and using the spade to finish them up, and made pit holes every rod or so in the bottom of the ditch. This saved the nursery mostly. These traps caught the chief rank and file of this army of worms. The next season or two the Aphoid destroyed whole rows of trees. We checked them by making a strong decoction of tobacco, putting it into a shallow basin and bending the young tree over into the fluid and giving it a tobacco bath.

"During these mild winters Mr. Alburtus, in Honey Creek, had a peach orchard that gave him two crops of fruit, but at least the winters came that swept out of existence the peach, apricot and quince, and badly damaged apple trees. Still, we found a few of our list of apple trees more hardy than others which we largely propagated and sold, such as Tallman8, Sweeting, Strawberry, Swan apple or Fameuse, Early Richmond Cherry. The fine variety of plums, Bleeker's Gauge, Ballmars, Washington and Green Gauge, seemed to me to stand the winters quite well, but the curculio was so great an enemy we stopped growing them. For several years I' sold a considerable of that fruit. I have had for the past five years quite a desire to send to Syracuse, or Rochester and get those noble old varieties and start me a plum orchard. There is no richer fruit raised. Trees are quite hardy and I believe that the curculio could be handily destroyed.

"In 1848 James M. Clark, a gentleman, scholar and an honest man, came amongst us, settling in what is now the town of Greenfield, two and one-half miles southeast of the village, now city of Baraboo. For several years he did quite a large nursery business. George Holah did some business in this line. His large old orchard looks quite well yet. On Sauk, Ransom E. Stone followed close after my effort. Payne and Perkins, also on Sauk, dabbled some in fruits. Charles Hiraehinger, a graduate of the Canfield nursery, commenced in a small way and worked np, and is now a leading man in the business, both in the tree line and fruit, with his great and beautiful orchard.

"A. G. Tuttle commenced a nursery business in 1858 and rapidly enlarged his orchard and small fruit acreage. He has introduced many varieties of new and hardy fruits, especially apples. From the fact of his taking the first premiums for many years on apples in succession, in both county and state fairs, this locality has been placed as first in the state for apple growing. William Fox's several state premiums upon grapes, successively, proves possibilities in that line of fruit culture. At horticultural meetings there is much said about the causes that contribute to hardiness, winter killing, etc., of our cultivated fruits.

"I believe that the soil and humidity of the atmosphere plays the greatest part in the whole matter. Plants, like animals, require food congenial to it The cow, horse, sheep, goat, deer, moose, elk, etc., etc., require each its proper regime. In the oak family each variety is partial to and flourishes best on its God-given proper food. Red, black, white and burr oak get their best foods in different soils. Common observation tells us of a white oak soil, a burr oak, etc. The linn, maple and elm get their best, food from different soils. A proper prairie soil will not allow a tree to grow in it if left free to fight its own battles. How many times we have seen heavy timber growing up to a prairie line not four feet wide; the great trees leaning over the prairie side to get the most sunlight and, of course, dropping their fruit onto the prairie, yet in the lapse of time there is no encroachment of trees on the prairie side. Babb's prairie in Sauk county gives a good illustration of this. Hence, with our cultivated fruits to flourish best and stand our winters best each must have its proper food and a good degree of humidity. I would not, however, ignore the fact that climate has something to do with the condition of the cultivated fruit tree. Most fruit trees will stand a great degree of cold if there is moisture enough in the atmosphere. Pomological physiology should be closely studied by him who deals in fruit raising and in schools it should be taught as much as animal physiology."

Lydia M. Williams Cammack writes as follows from Ontario, California, in 1910, regarding the early history of Woodland Township and the Quaker settlement of the Little Baraboo Valley: "Away back in New York City a beautiful opera singer, of a wealthy family, became the bride of a popular young man. Life was roseate for them until the wine eup, the curse of all ages, held A. D. R. Mitchel in firm bondage. Determined that this disease (we now call it) should be broken, Mr. Nehetniah Austin, brother of Mrs. Mitchel, and his wife, Mrs. Lucretia Austin, planned an adventure for the two families into the wild and lonely forest of the Little Baraboo Valley. Mr. Austin and his wife chose a piece of land and settled where I ronton now stands, while Mr. Mitchel settled about three and a half miles west. These were the first houses between Reedsburg and the Kickapoo river (1847). During the next five years three or four other families chose laud near these people.

"In 1852 a few families of Friends (Quakers) from the aguey low lands of Indiana drove in covered wagons westward in search of a more healthful country and climate and for some unknown reason, perhaps because of the pure water supply, took up land in the Little Baraboo Valley near the Mitchel home.

The first schoolhouse in the valley was known as the Blakeslee schoolhouse and was located about two miles east of the Quaker settlement. Here the matrimonial fates of many of the stable men and women of the community were decided.

"The first postoffice was established at Irontou and later one at a country place four miles west, called Oaks. This last was discontinued and one established beside the Quaker church, about three miles west of Ironton, named Friendswood. Later this was discontinued and the Oaks postoffice re-established.

"When immigration was most rapid into the valley, a sort of inn was instituted at the old Coryell place, kept by Mr. Sands, and called the Valley House.

"The first burials, made in the little graveyard in the woods about half a mile east from Oaks Cemetery, were those of Nellie Davis, mother of Neil Davis, and Elizabeth Stafford, mother of Elizabeth Bundy.

"The winters of 1856 and 1857 are still remembered as the Cold Winters, the snow falling four feet deep and crusting. The temperature reached 46 degrees below zero. There was much sleet and the winter was long and the new settlers in their small log houses, with their stone fireplaces, had not a little exercising to keep wood in and cold out.

place was bought from Mr. Aaron Benbow for a small wooden bucketful of gold, $1,000. The Williams place of 108 acres was bought of Levi Bunker for $1,000. In 1869 Mr. Stowe bought 80 acres for $200 and a double-barreled shotgun.

"Most of the families coming into the valley spent their money for land and depended on their own labor to clear up the farm and raise or earn a living; and if the family chanced to be large, or had sickness, the pinchings of poverty were often felt. 'Store goods' were sparingly indulged in for food or clothing. Sheep were raised, and the spinning wheel, loom and knitting needles were kept busy. As much pride was felt over the new linsey-woolsey as over the finer fabrics later on.

"The discovery of ginseng growing wild in the woods was, to the early settlers, a source of a meagre income, as the commodity brought, in the market, six or seven cents a pound green, or twenty-five cents dry. Many wild adventures were related of evenings, caused by searching for the precious root. The many wild fruits and nuts found in the forests and along the creeks furnished the settlers with that which they missed from the eastern orchards. The maple groves in spring furnished the sweets and the gardens were supplemented by the wild greens. Very little marketing eould be done until after the railroad was built in the early '70s. Then the timber began to be valuable.

"By 1855 it was thought that a sufficient number of Friends had settled in the valley to maintain a Friends' meeting or church. Accordingly one was organized in the home of Jabez Brown and his father, who then lived in the little log house beside the creek, later owned by the Gray family. Thirty charter members were recorded, including four ministers. As Friends' ministers never received salaries in those days, and spoke only when tlm Spirit moved them, there was no thought of any embarrassment over the four preachers for the congregation of thirty. In 1856 a little log Friends' meeting-house was built about three miles west of Ironton and a Sabbath School organized a little later.

"Death early claimed three of the original ministers and James Stanley, the saint of all the valley and the only man of whom none spoke ill, remained as shepherd of the flock for more than forty years, helped, of course, by others who came to the calling of preacher later."

"This last text was once illustrated in an amusing way. Uncle James always prayed with his eyes open and one day, during his prayer, he noticed that his horse was unhitched from the post. He abruptly left off praying, arose, walked out of the church, tied his horse, returned, kneeled, and went right on with his prayer as though nothing had occurred.

"After the Friends had worshipped a number of years in the little log meeting-house they began talking of a new building, and during the '60s began the erection of a large two-story frame house, 60 by 30 feet, proposing to have a school in connection with the church. This was several years in building and its timbers hewn from logs were massive. It was built by the carpenters of the valley, John Williams and Solomon Cook putting into it much gratuitous labor. ' '

"There were several notable teachers among the Friends, Jabez Brown being the one of largest service and one of the ablest. He had been a student at Spiceland Academy, Ind., and soon after his arrival in the Quaker settlement, in 1855, became a teacher in the district school. He continued to teach for over fifty years, and many of his pupils followed in his footsteps.

"If Jabez Brown may be called the educational father in the church, his sister, Mary Cook, who became a minister, may be called the spiritual mother. She, and later her daughters, Antoinette Coryell and Ella C. Veeder, had great interest in the spiritual welfare of all, especially of those of the church.

"Antoinette Coryell was the moving spirit in the founding of the Friendswood Academy, which was opened October 6, 1884. After three years there was a wholesale migration of the Quakers of the Little Baraboo Valley to a locality near Whittier, California, and Antoinette Coryell transferred her activities in education thither.

The position of Friends on the temperance question has always been positive. "But when the price of hops was high, and many of the people were putting out hop-yards, the connection between the drinking of liquor and raising the commodity from which it was made, was quite obliterated to a few of the Friends, though the stanchest ones held to their principles and would neither grow hops nor let their children pick the hops. With money so scarce and hops so high-priced, this was a sore test. One of the pillars of the church finally yielded to the temptation and planted out a yard, but his conscience was not clear over the matter, and while the price was still very high and his vines strong and healthy, he plowed them all up and joined the anti-hop people. This was a legacy in which his children delight. That fall (of 1868) hops went down from 60 cents to 3 cents per pound, and the year will long be remembered as the year of the Hop Crash. Many who had gone heavily in debt on the strength of the hop crop were not able to pay their debts, and some even lost their homes. After that, it was not hard to see that hop-raising was wrong.

"The Jabcz Brown family moved to Madison and from there scattered to the extremes of the continent, Melissa alone remaining in charge of the College Hook Store. Three of the family are in the Brown Preparatory School, of Philadelphia, founded by the eldest son, Alonzo. One is in Portland, Oregon. The graves of our honored teacher and his wife are side-by-side in a quiet spot in the Madison Cemetery. Others of the church are scattered to almost every corner of America. The advantages of the West appealed to many, and Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Dakota beeamc homes of some of them. The migration to California in 1888 took the mainstays of the church. But the few remaining members tore down the big church, and of its timbers built a smaller one near the Oaks schoolhouse.

"Above the pulpit hangs that, same framed motto that Monroe Hammer on his death bed bequeathed to the church - ' In God We Trust. ' In 1909, after eighteen years' absence, the writer entered that little church one Sunday afternoon, expecting to see nothing familiar. I had but sat down when I recognized the very same old seats our fathers and mothers sat upon. I had but to close my eyes to see each member of the olden time in his or her familiar place, and realize that in silence we are still communing with our God."

"Having been requested, as one of the pioneer preachers of Sauk county, to contribute some reminiscenses of early times, I very cheerfully comply. I have kept a tolerably copious journal, so that I am not compelled to rely on memory as to dates and events and persons to which and of whom I may have occasion to speak.

"It was my privilege to be one of those inevitable men on the frontier, a Methodist itinerant preacher, as early as the spring of 1841. I was not, however, the first of my class to visit Sauk county. That honor, I think, belongs to Rev. James G. Whitford,* now of Volga City, Iowa.

"Mr. Whitford, after spending a number of years of widowerhood, part of them near St. Paul, and an Indian and frontier missionary, very naturally desired to find a fellow sufferer of the gentler sex, hoping, as many do, that by uniting their sorrows they could bear them more joyfully. Mrs. Sarah Sayles, the widowed daughter of Henry Teel, who had removed to the Bluffs on Sauk Prairie in 1840, attracted. During his visits here he preached to the few settlers that gathered for the purpose, and, I believe, formed the first class in Sauk County, but of the date, and of all the names he has no record. The class was formed at the house of Father Teel, still standing at the foot of the bluffs, which for several years was the place of meeting. Mr. Whitford and Mrs. Sales were united in marriage by Rev. Mr. Simpson, on the 15th of August, 1841, and this was probably the first marriage in Sauk County.

"My first record relating to this county mentions meeting Rev. Henry W. Reed, now of Epworth, Iowa, Presiding Elder of the Dubuque District, and J. G. Whitford, on their way to Sauk Prairie, May, 1841, to hold a quarterly meeting. Mr. Reed was then presiding elder of the Platteville District, Rock River Conference, which embraced all this region of country; and Mr. Whitford was stationed at Mineral Point, associated with this county circuit. I was his assistant. They left an appointment for me a few weeks from that time, and promised the people a preacher for the next year. I reached the Prairie on the 23d of June, 1841. The only road then from Mineral Point was by way of Blue Mounds, and the only vestige of habitation between Brigham's tavern and the river at about where the Lower Bridge now is, was Mr. Thomas' Station, near Cross Plains. All the supplies for the Upper Wisconsin pioneers were drawn on the military road leading to Fort Winnebago, now Portage City. Mr. Thomas had established a waystation for teamsters and travelers. From this road a way was opened from about the present Alden's Corners to the river. The crossing at Lower Sauk village was the only ferry then between the Fox and the shot tower at Helena. I copy the entry in my journal as made on my first visit on the above date :

" 'After riding through a heavy rain storm, on a very bad road, I crossed the river and got to Father Teel's at the Bluffs, just at dark. I have often heard of this prairie, but like the Queen of the South, I can say, "The half has never been told me!" It is on the west bank of the Wisconsin river, eight miles long and four wide, being about eighty-five miles from the mouth of the river. The lower part of it is about ten feet above high water mark, and it gradually rises until the northern part is fifty or more feet high. The soil is in places sandy, but very productive, and all adapted to cultivation. This was once the great headquarters of the Sac nation of Indians, and large fields of their corn hills are yet plainly visible. These were driven hence by the Winnebagoes, and subsequently they gave place to the whites, some of whom first settled here about two years ago. There are now about 270 inhabitants on the prairie. A flourishing little village is commenced on the river.

' ' ' There is here a Hungarian Count - so he calls himself - who claims to have large quantities of money, and is expending it liberally in improvements. There is also an Englishman here who claims to have been a Lord in the old country. He is in partnership with the Count. They both look life savages, wearing a long beard above as well as below the mouth. And they are the great men of the place, and others adopt their customs, and make themselves as ridiculous as possible.' "

"On Thursday evening, June 24th, I preached at the Bluffs from 1 Cor. 13, 13; Friday evening at the Lower Village, in an unfinished school house, from Rev. 3, 20; Sunday, A. M. at the Bluffs, and in the evening again at the village.

"At the Rock River Conference, held at Platteville, closing September 2, 1841, I was appointed to Muscoda mission, in Platteville District, Rev. Henry W. Reed, Presiding Elder. The mission embraced all the settlements on both sides of the river from Muscoda to Fort Winnebago. Before the close of the year I had appointments at Muscoda, Blue Mounds, then known as Centreville, near Meeker's lead furnace (Highland, four miles north, was not even thought of then), Helena, Ridgeway, Blue Mounds, Sauk Village, Honey Creek Mills, Bluffs and Baraboo. It required three weeks to make my round, involving a travel of more than two hundred miles, for there were scarcely any roads.

"My first appointment at Honey Creek Mills, where several families bad settled, was September 16, and the text was James, 4, 8, the meeting being at Mr. Gould's, and there were eighteen present. At this point we afterwards held the meetings at a Mr. Crain's, whose wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

"Finding the distance so great to go and return by way of the Mounds, I crossed the river at Helena, Mr. Alva Culver, who boarded the shot tower men, keeping a scow for the purpose, on the 30th of September, and went up to Sauk on the old Indian trail. This route I traveled eight or ten times during the year. The trail was circuitous, bearing out from the river, and crossing several wet marshes, where my little Canada pony could not bear me up. To avoid the inconvenience of dismounting in a quagmire nearly knee deep, and wading twenty rods, as I often did, I sought a better route. Sometimes I went up the river bank, but the logs and gorges, to say nothing of the bluffs coming to the water's edge, made that a difficult road. I tried several times to vary the former track, to split the difference between the impassable river bank and the swampy trail, but like almost all bargains on splitting the difference, I found myself badly sold. I settled down at last to the conviction that it is safe to follow the trails of Indians until civilized highways are made.

"There were no settlors in your county west of Honey Creek till the fall of 1841, or the spring of 1842. Mr. Wilson, the Aot tower cooper, moved his family to the mouth of WTilson's creek in the latter part of

1841. He was a well informed Scotchman, and had a family of well posted children. I stayed with him one night, when I was informed it was an established family order that, by turns, one should read history or some other solid work, of which he had a good library, each night, while all the others worked and listened. Hence the intelligence of the children was remarkable for a frontier family.

1842, I preached in Mr. Turner's house to the family and three young men who came in. My text was 'The time is short,' 1 Cor. 7, 2!). That was undoubtedly the first attempt at preaching in Spring Green.

"In 1841 there was a temporary bridge built across Honey Creek at the mill which saved me trouble. Before that I had made my pony swim the creek at the crossing of the trail, and had taken my baggage across on a log. Sometimes my pony concluded it was as easy for me to walk and carry that and me too. Once I walked immediately behind him for about seven miles. West of this bridge a Canadian, Mr. Brisset, with a young Yankee wife, settled in 1842. I spent one night in their cabin. Still west of him a mile or two, in a beautiful valley, after the burning of the grass, I saw a field of several acres of parallel ridges about five feet apart, very nearly straight, that must have been used many years before, for large white oak trees grow all among them. They were more artistic than any remains of Indian cultivation I have ever seen.

that time the sawmill had been repaired, a new dam put in and some men employed. An old man, Dr. Draper, a member of the Baptist Cburch, was some way interested in the mill, and it was called Draper's mill, lie invited me to come and establish meetings there. A Mr. llill, from one of the New England states, had built a log cabin about ten or fifteen rods east of the mill, and boarded Mr. Draper and the hands. This mill was not far from half a mile above the ford on the Baraboo river.

"On the 16th of October, Tuesday evening, 1 preached in Mr. Hill's house to eleven persons, from 2 Cor., 5, 20; which was certainly the opening of the gospel for the first time in the Baraboo valley. None of those present professed to be Christians save Mr. Draper. After that my appointments were regularly filled there, except once, when the roads were impassable.

"On Sunday, February 6, 1842, I formed a Methodist class at Baraboo Mills, consisting of Solomon Shaffer, leader, Ollie Shaffer, and Parmelia Gilson, all of whom were Methodist immigrants, recently arrived. Mr. Shaffer was the mill blacksmith, and lived in a house newly built south of the mill. Mrs. Gilson and family had settled about a mile above the river, on the north side. Before I left the circuit there were one or two families moved in above the Gilsons, I think about five miles up the river. I visited them once, but have no record of the names. My impression is that one of them was a Jones.

"On the 10th of April Mrs. Mary J. Hill, the woman of the house where our meetings were held, joined the class. She was the first convert to religion in the valley, having made a profession in the early spring of 1843.

"The unfinished schoolhouse at Lower Town, as Sauk City was then called, was very uncomfortable as a place for meeting; besides the people there were chiefly Germans and had little sympathy with our forms of religion. Early in the winter of 1841-42 we got the privilege of holding our meetings at the house of Mr. Skinner and thereafter had no services at Lower Town.

"About the first of April, 1842, Rev. Phillip W. Nichols came with his family to Upper Town, as a Presbyterian Home Missionary, under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for the Home and Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, ne had formerly been a Methodist itinerant preacher, but for reasons satisfactory to himself and his church, his connection with that body was dissolved. He had connected himself with the Congregational body, but at that time in Wisconsin Territory, under what is known as the 'Union,' a minister of either the Congregational or Presbyterian Church eould serve the other without change of ecclesiastical relations. So he was a Presbyterian pastor, but a Congregational minister. The scattered Presbyterian friends here had received him as a missionary, with an appropriation from the mission fund of four hundred dollars, they agreeing to furnish him a dwelling, fuel and provisions for one year, as their part. He was the first regular pastor for Sauk exclusively, for, although I preceded him, my parish embraced Grant, Iowa, Dane and Richland counties, besides Sauk and all the settled regions beyond. Again, his salary equaled $700 or more, while mine could, according to our law, be no more than $100. He had $100 missionary funds; I but $50, aside from which I only received during the whole year $0.92. He had a pleasant home with his family ; I boarded round like the schoolmaster of the times. He was a man of years of experience in the ministry and knew the inconveniences of Methodist pioneering; I was inexperienced in both. It is therefore no wonder at our first interview, at the house of Mr. Skinner, after I had preached and called on him to close, he gave me and the audience to understand that he thought I had vast room for improvement. We first met April 13th - after which we alternated in holding meetings at Upper Sauk.

"My principal home during the year was at Father Teel's. I spent nearly a week there once in three weeks, and myself and horse shared the best they had. The family consisted of two old persons and George, about seventeen, and Charles, about twelve. Mother Teel was more than a mother to me, for she saved my life, once at least, by her skill in treating a dangerous disease successfully. No poor itinerant ever met with more generous hospitality than I did at that 'Methodist Tavern,' and my home there is among the most cherished memories of my life.

"I finished my year on July 20th, having traveled about 3,500 miles, besides visiting generally about the settlement, preaching nearly 200 times to congregations ranging from two, the lowest, to thirty, the highest, averaging eight. I could count my congregation every time for the whole year without making a mistake ! The people were generally poor, consisting in most instances of newly married couples, just beginning life for themselves. Put they were exceedingly kind, and I may add, patient; for I was often ill, and at best could poorly interest, much less profit them. Put it was a valuable year to me, rich in privations, trials and opportunities, and one I can never forget because of its pleasures.

gentiles - that is among the Chippewa Indians at the head of Lake Superior. Mr. Stover is still living near Chicago. His connection with the Sauk county people did not prove very happy. At the end of his year the mission was left off the minutes. In 1844 it was again favored with mention, but not called 'Sauk Prairie,' and left 'to be supplied,' being yet in Platteville District, Benjamin T. Kavanaugh being the Presiding Elder. Being far away, 1 have no knowledge as to who was the supply for that year, but he probably was a Badger."

An alphabetical epitome of the history of Sauk County Ls fairly contained in a brief consideration of the origin of the localities therein - geographical, archaeological and political. As complete a list as is compatible with the space at the disposal of the author is given below.

Ableman - Village named for Col. Stephen Van Rensselaer Ableman. The place was once called Ablemans Mills. Rock Springs and Excelsior. The name of Rock Spriugs was given from the springs at the base of the rocky bluff, and Excelsior from the seal of New York. See Excelsior.

Badger State - On the authority of Dr. Reuben G. Thwaites and other historians of Wisconsin and the Northwest, the term badger was popularly applied to the commonwealth because of the habit of the lead miners, many of whom came from the far-eastern states. As they were unable to return to their homes in the winter they dug into the hillsides, burrowed there like badgers, awaiting the opening of activity in the spring. They called themselves Badgers, and the name was fastened on the state.

Bald Bluff - Hill in the eastern part of Greenfield. Years ago there was no timber on the land, but since the coming of the early settlers trees have covered the hill. From this elevation or from that region several streams have their origin and among them are Jackson, Sibertz, Calydon, Clark and Palmer creeks.

After all that has been written by numerous historians as to the origin of the name Baraboo, the only certainty is that there was a Frenchman by the name of Baribeau who established himself as a trader on the Baraboo River early in the last century or near the close of the century before. When Dr. Reuben Gold Thwaites of Madison edited the Mackinac Register he found that Sieur F. Baribeau (pronounced Baraboo), voyager, was god-father at the baptism of a female neophyte, July 22, 1747. There is nothing to indicate which one of the Baribeaus came to Wisconsin, and had a trading post at the mouth of the Baraboo River. Tanguay's record does not come beyond 1791; and all it proves is that there was a well known family of that name and that the "f. Baribeau" mentioned in the Mackinac Register (1747) was probably Francois, the progenitor of the family. Francois (3) was married in 1742 at Montreal, and was probably the signer at the baptismal service as written in the register in 1747.

One writer says that Baribeau was a young man, only seventeen years old, when he sought the Wisconsin wilderness to secure pelts for the Hudson Bay Company and later for the American Fur Company. Portage was the nearest settlement and when speaking of him it would be natural to say down at Baribeau 's or Baraboo 's. Hence the name appeared in various ways on the early maps and in the early annals of this region.

In an interview of Dr. L. C. Draper with Spoon Decorah in 1877, the old chief told Dr. Draper he was born on the Baraboo near Portage. The name of the village was the same as that of the river, which was Hocooeh-ra or Shoot Fish River. Baraboo was the white man's name. Indians never used it. In the Winnebago vocabulary Dr. Draper, on the authority of two old Indians, Big Bear and Old John, calls this stream " Ho-gooch-er-rah, Fish-Shooting River. Ho is the abbreviation of horah, fish; and Gooch-er-rah, shooting with arrows." In the same book he gives for the site of Baraboo City "Och (as in German) -arrow; Gravelly Riffles. ' '

Baraboo - The county seat which, on the maps and in the early accounts, was spoken of as "On the Baraboo," similar to saying "On the Wabash" or "On the Lemonwcir. " Afterwards it was "Baraboo Rapids" and "Baraboo Mills." When a plat was made by Charles 0. Baxter for Prescott Brigham, Mr. Brigham decided to call the place Adams as he held John Q. Adams and the Adams family in Massachusetts in great esteem. Soon after George Brown made a plat of his property and called it Baraboo. Much of Brown 's land was south of the river. On January 14, 1849, the board of county commissioners ordered the plats of Adams and Baraboo to be called Brooklyn, but the villages continued to be separate until May, 1866, when a village charter was obtained uniting the two under the present name. At the suggestion of the postal authorities in 1852 the name Adams was dropped and the postoffice was afterwards known as Baraboo.

Bassinger Island - Island in the Wisconsin River opposite section nine in the Town of Merrimack, named for Dr. Samuel H. Bassinger, formerly of Prairie du Sac and member of the legislature.

Bear Creek - Town and stream in the southwestern part of the county, so called on account of the prevalence of bears in that vicinity in the early days. The town was named after the stream. The Winnebago word for Bear Creek is Hoonge-Nee-Shunick.

Big Hollow - The name of a canyon or valley three miles long and three miles wide in the Town of Spring Green, named for size. There are a number of these so-called hollows along the bluffs.

Black Hawk - Discontinued postoffice in the Town of Troy named for the Indian Chief, Black Hawk, leader of the Indians in the Black Hawk war. After the battle near Sauk City the Indians fled through the wilderness near where the hamlet is located.

Brooklyn - One of the original towns in the northeast portion of the county. It was named by R. Q. Camp for Brooklyn, New York, that city being named for Breuckelen, Holland. The name signifies "broken upland" or "marshy land."

Calydon - When the United States geological surveyors were at Durwards Glen at the time of making the contour map of this region they asked B. I. Durward, the poet-painter who resided there, for the name of the stream flowing through the glen. He replied, "the Calydon." It comes from Caledonia, an ancient name in Scotland, the native land of Mr. Durward.

Cliff House - Abandoned hotel and discontinued postoffice on the north shore of Devils Lake. It was originally called Minnewaukan, after a lake by that name in North Dakota.

Climax - A railroad siding between La Valle and Wonewoc. The fanners in the neighborhood called it Poor Dickie and finally it simmered down to the meaningless word, Podunk. The place is sometimes called Crossmans Crossing, for a land owner there.

Clinton Square - Park in Lyons named for Governor Dc Witt Clinton of New York. Governor Clinton was one of the projectors of the Erie Canal and W. H. Canfield was a surveyor on the new waterway. Afterwards, in 1846, Mr. Canfield, deputy district surveyor for Sauk County in the Territory of Wisconsin, made a plat of Lyons and named the public square or central park for the Empire state executive.

Congress Hall - Glen between Delton and the Wisconsin River named by the Topping family about 1850 from the form of the first chamber at the entrance.

Copper Creek - Stream in Winfield named because copper ore was found there. The ore came down from the north in glacial times and was known as "floating ore." The land was held by the government for a long time on account of the supposed mineral wealth and in the meantime much of the ore was hauled away.

Dead Mans Spring - On Section 21, Town of Excelsior. In 1846, a man died near a spring and it was afterwards named Dead Mans Spring, by James Babb. The man who died there was a surveyor.

Dell Creek - A stream in the northeast portion of the eounty. The word Dells, as applied to the region of the Wisconsin River above and below Kilbourn, comes from the French, Dalles, meaning the narrows of a river or between the cliffs. No doubt the place was given the name by early Frenchmen who came to this region. From the word dells we get Lower Dells, Upper Dells, Dell Prairie, Fern Dell and Dell Creek. Delton, as applied to the town and village, is a contraction of Dell Town. Dellona, the name of a town, is from the same source. Dell Creek was named from the number of dells along the stream. The name appears as early as 1845, as shown by the government plats of the surveys.

Delton - Village in the Town of Delton, platted by Edward Norris and called Norris, for himself. When the postoffice was established it was called Loretto, the first name of Mrs. Norris. Afterward the name was changed to Delton.

M. M. Quaife, superintendent of the State Historical Society, Madison, under date of October 18, 1917, writes: "We find Devil's Lake, To-wahcun-chunk-dah, Sacred lake - no bad meaning."

Tradition : Long years ago, a good Winnebago went on the bank of the lake offering his devotions aloud and crying to the Supreme Being for twenty days, fasting, when he saw an animal resembling a cat rise to the surface and, hearing the Indian's sorrow, told him he would help him live a long and happy life. He did long live. The prayer or worship was called "naah-tock-ke-nutch." The animal was called "Wook-

The lake has unusual echoing powers and for this reason the Indians supposed the bluffs were infested with spirits. The belief is current that the Indians were afraid to eainp there because of the evil spirits in the hills. When I. A. Lapham visited the lake in the fall of 1849 he wrote in his held notes, now in the Sauk County Historical Society: "The lake is vulgarly called Devils Lake from the wild, rocky place in which it is found." The first recorded visit of any person to the lake is James S. Alban, the first permanent settler in Sauk County. While wandering through the hills in 1839 he caught a glimpse of its sparkling surface through the trees. On the early maps it is called Lake of the Hills or Devils Lake.

Devils Lake - Station formerly called Eirkland, for Noble C. Bark. When the Cliff House was occupied the postofficc there was called Devils Lake and at the same time the railroad called the station at Kirkland, Devils Lake. This was confusing to the postoffice and railway company so the postoffice at Kirkland was changed to Devils Lake when the one at the Cliff House was discontinued.

Devils Nose - The eastern extremity of the south range of bluffs, named by the employes of the Chicago & North Western Railway, who built the road.

Draper Creek - A stream which flows into the Baraboo River at the pumping station named for John Draper. It was formerly called Crawford Creek for James Crawford.

Excelsior - One of the towns, named by Col. S. V. R. Ableman. The name appears in the seal of the State of New York, the native commonwealth of Colonel Ableman.

Fairfield - Town, probably named for Fairfield, Massachusetts. The town was first named Flora by Timothy Adams for an old sweetheart. The residents did not like the name and a petition was circulated by John Crawford which resulted in a change. The counties and towns of New England named Fairfield were so called from the beauty of their fields.

Garrison - Abandoned village and discontinued postoffice at the Lower Narrows of the Baraboo River, named for Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Garrison, residents there.

Glenville - Region southeast and near Baraboo, named by C. L. Pearson for the glen-like appearance of the locality. The little red school house was once the name of the section.

Gordon - A telegraph station established between Reedsburg and La Valle when the Chicago & Northwestern built a second track. The origin of the name is unknown unless it be for William W. Gordon, president of a railroad in Georgia.

Greenfield - Town named by Nathan Dennison for Greenfield, Massachusetts, his former home. Greenfield, Massachusetts, was named for a river which intersects it. Before its incorporation as a town the settlement was known as "Green River District."

Honey Creek - T. A. Lapham in his "History of Wisconsin," published in 1836, says the stream is called Naumatonan or Honey Creek. The former name is probably Winnebago but its meaning is unknown. The name of noney Creek was applied to the stream on account of so many wild bees with rich stores of honey being found there by the early settlers. Honey Creek is the largest stream wholly within the county.

Horse Bluff - An elevation just west of the Village of La Valle named in a peculiar way. H. C. Palmer relates that in an early day several hunters were camped there and while seated around the blazing fire, smoking their pipes, they were startled by the neighing of a horse. Very soon a pony, saddled and bridled, came trotting into the camp. For two days a search was made for the owner, without avail. The only white men known in that vicinity at the time were James W. Babb and his son, John, on Babbs Prairie. The mystery was never cleared and since that day the elevation has been known as Horse Bluff.

Ironton - Town and village, named by Jonas Tower on account of the presence of iron. Early surveyors reported iron on account of the variation of the needle.

Iroquois Mine - An iron mine in the Town of Freedom, tirst called the Sauk Mine for the name of the county. It was originally owned by the Iroquois Iron Company, which operated the Iroquois Furnace Company. When the Oliver Iron Mining Company purchased the plant the name was changed to Iroquois for the name of the furnace. The word Iroquois is from one of the five great Indian nations which once inhabited Central New York, and is said to come from "hiro," I have said, and from "koue." a vocable, which expresses joy or sorrow, according to the rapidity with which it is pronounced.

Jackson Creek - A stream which enters the Baraboo River near the Jackson bridge in Greenfield and is usually called Jackson Creek for -I. Jackson, an early settler. On the United States topographical map issued about 1897 the stream is called Rowley Creek, the name being that of another resident. Tn territorial times the stream, or at least the . upper portion of it, was known as Leambros Creek. Leambro lived with a group of Indians at the headwaters of the creek. He was a Frenchman and had a squaw for a wife.

Jonesville - Discontinued postoffice, northeast corner of section 19, Town of Spring Green, named for Thomas Jones, the first postmaster. The office stood on an Indian burying ground which has since been eaten away by the Wisconsin River.

Kirk wood - Railroad siding west of Baraboo. Steunett says the name was given for N. C. and Timothy Kirk. La Bars Pond - See Mirror 'Lake. Lake of the Hills - See Devils Lake.

La Rue - Village site platted in the Town of Freedom and named for W. G. La Rue, a former resident of Baraboo, who was instrumental in locating the vast beds of ore in the region.

La Valle - Town and village. The name means "the valley." There is some dispute as to who should have the honor of applying the term. See Marston.

Leach Creek - John Brink named Leach Lake and Creek from the fact that the water leached or percolated through the soil. Brink was a United States surveyor from Crystal Lake, 111., and when he made the subdivisions of Fairfield he camped near the creek.

Litchfield - Portion of the plat of the City of Baraboo, named by R. G. Camp for Litchfield, Connecticut, which in turn was named for Litchfield, England.

Loddcs Mill - Discontinued postoffice in the Town of Prairie du Sac, named for Martin Lodde. The postoffice was once called Rowells Mills for Henry Rowell.

Loretto - Discontinued postoffice in the Town of Bear Creek, named by Rev. Fr. T. A. Byrne for Loretto, Italy. It is sometimes spelled Loreto.

Lyons - Suburb of Baraboo named by Harvey Canfield, for Lyons, New York, where he once resided. Lyons, New York, was named for Lyons, France.

Man Mound Park - A park in the Town of Greenfield, named for large Indian effigy mound shaped like a man, the only known man mound in the world.

Marston - Town formerly in the northwestern part of the county, no longer on the maps, probably named for some resident or eastern town by the name of Marston. There was a postoffice called Marston which was changed to La Valle on account of it being similar to Mauston in the next county.

County of Merrimack in New Hampshire. It should be spelled with the final k, the same as the New Hampshire name. The Village of Merrimack was first called Matts Ferry for Chester Mattson who operated a ferry there. When the postoffice was established it was called Collamer for the postmaster general. The name was afterward changed to Merrimack. Gannett says the Indian word Merrimack means "sturgeon" or "swift water."

Mirror Lake - Once known as the "upper" or LaBar's Pond. It was formed in 1860 by the erection of a dam near the Village of Delton. As the people came to visit it for pleasure or fishing, the remarkably clear reflections attracted attention and exclamation, "what a mirror," and the like. In this way the name gradually changed. It is said that Mrs. C. A. Noyes of Kilbourn is credited with first applying the name.

Narrows Prairie - A level tract west of Ableman, named for Narrows Creek, which flows through the prairie and quartzite narrows. Also, discontinued postoffice.

Narrows, Upper and Lower - Narrow gorges in the quartzite hills where the Baraboo River enters and emerges from the canoe shaped Baraboo Valley.

New Buffalo - Town once in the northeastern part of the County but no longer on the map. Many of the residents came from Buffalo, New York, to New Buffalo.

North Freedom - Village located in the northern part of the Town of Freedom, hence North Freedom. Where the roads meet in the center of the section was originally called Hacketts Corners from the families residing there. When the railroad was built two plats were made, one called Bloom for George W. Bloom and one called North Freedom. Afterwards Bloom Station was changed to North Freedom. Iron ore used for paint was later discovered and the name became Bessemer in honor of Sir Henry Bessemer, who invented the process of reducing iron ore. The name of North Freedom was later decided upon.

Pewits Nest - A water-fall and gorge on Skillet Creek. W. H. Canfield says in his "Outline Sketches" that the place received its name in 1843 from the circumstance of an ingenious, eccentric mechanic building a workshop in a recess of the solid sand-rock, ten feet above a deep pool of water. The shop could not be seen from the mouth of the canyon or from the top from any direction save one. Hence, by the early settlers it was dubbed "Pewits Nest."

Plain - Village in the Town of Franklin, once called Cramers Corners because Solomon Cramer, John Cramer and Adam Cramer owned the land. A number of rough buildings were put up at the corners and the place became known as Log Town. J. H. Carpenter of Spring Green says the place was called Plain because the inhabitants were plain people.

Point Sauk - The highest land in Sauk County, being about 1,620 feet above sea level. The point was named by the United States Geographic Board in 1907 and is located on the P. Fitzsimmons farm, near the center of section 15, Town of Greenfield.

Riches Postoffiee - Discontinued postoffice in the northeast portion of the Town of Troy, named for Robert Riches. Rock Springs - See Ableman.

Rosalietown - Deserted hamlet on the Wisconsin River between Merrimack and Prairie du Sac, named for Mrs. Rosalie Naffz, wife of Charles Naffz.

Sauk - The county, from the tribe of Sauk or Sac Indians. When the county was organized January 10, 1849, the word Sauk was familiar, the Indians having formerly dwelt at Prairie du Sac, where they had quite a village. The words Sac, Sauk and Saukies are synonymous and Ozaukee is the Chippewa form for the tribal name of Sauk. According to Legler the wprd is commonly asserted to mean "people living at the mouth of a river," while Gannett interprets it as signifying "people of the yellow earth. ' ' In 1849 Alfred Brunson wrote that Sauk County received its name from Sauk Prairie within its limits.

Sauk City - Village first called Harszthy for Count Augustine Harszthy, one of the founders. The name was difficult to remember so it was changed to Westfield, but as the word city, when attached to names of places, was popular then,' it was later called Sauk City, after the name of the county.

Sauk Prairie - In his history of Wisconsin published in 1846, I. A. Lapham says: "The prairie is about eight miles wide and extends eighteen miles along the Wisconsin. Its name is given in allusion to its form, being that of a sack or bag and not from Sauk, the tribe of Indians."

Skillet Creek - Capt. Levi Moore built a cabin near Skillet Falls and named the stream and falls from the waterworn holes in the soft snnd-rock because they looked much like iron vessels called "skillets."

there has been much discussion as to the naming of Spring Green. The Spring Green News of July 10, 1902, says that according to the late Samuel Huntley the prairie was the first in the spring of the year to show vegetation; hence the town was known by that name many years previous to the existence of the village. As Spring Green lies in the bend of the river the cold ice water keeps the vegetation back, but when it comes it comes with a rush.

Sumpter - Town once called Kingston. When Fort Sumter was fired upon the name of Kingston was changed to Sumpter on account of there being another Kingston in the state. The name Sumpter was wrongly spelled on an early map and the letter "p" is still inserted.

Tuckerville - Discontinued postoffice in the Town of Washington named for William Tucker. The vicinity is now called Hill Point, from a hill located there.

Westficld - Town, named for the Village of Westfield, now Logan - ville. C. P. Logan came from Westfield, New York, and gave the name to the village. The original Westfield was in Massachusetts, so named because on the western boundary of an early survey.

Wilson Creek - A stream in the southwestern part of the county named for Thomas Wilson, a Scotchman, who came to Helena to work in £he shot tower. He crossed the Wisconsin River as early as 1838 to explore the country and moved into Sauk County in 1840. Discontinued postoffice in the southwest corner of Troy, named for Thomas Wilson.

Wisconsin - The early French missionaries, travelers and cartographers rendered the name Miskonsing, Miskous, Meskousing, Ouisconsing, Ouriseonsing, Ouisconsink, with other variations, although before the arrival of the Americans Ouisconsin seemed to be in the majority. The English spelling was first Wiskonsan (closely phonetic), but Congress seemed to prefer the hard c, and this was retained in place of k, despite the protests of Governor Doty and many territorial newspaper editors. Thus the official spelling became Wisconsin and the territorial legislature on January 30, 1845, approved by resolution the act of Congress nine years before, concludes the historian. The territorial legislature, January 30, 1845, passed a resolution declaring the name of the territory, "Wisconsin." The same orthography was used by Congress in establishing the territorial government. The act by Congress was approved April 20, 1836. As to the meaning of the word, it is doubtless obscure. Scholars arc generally agreed, however, that it is of Chippewa (Algonquin) origin, and has been given such varied translations as wild, rushing channel, beautiful little river, gathering of the waters and muskrat house.

In the summer of 1872 the old settlers of Sauk County formed an association, both for social intercourse and for the purpose of preserving historical data relating to the county, whether in the form of documentary evidence or individual narratives. Their annual meetings were made the occasions of thus gathering as friends and colaborers in various walks of life, and of periodically presenting such facts as fell within their personal experiences in their native or adopted county. These proceedings were published regularly and contained much matter which has been utilized in the preparation of this history, and for which due acknowledgment is hereby given.

The first meeting of the Old Settlers' Association of Sauk County was held June 20, 1872, in the grove near William Johnson's (Uncle Billy's) house, in the Town of Sumpter. In the following, its officers, well represented some of the best known pioneers then living: President, Charles Halasz, Sauk City; vice presidents, Cyrus Hill, Columbia County; William Johnson, Sumpter; J. Hatch, Baraboo; A. Hill, Prairie du Sac; Marvin Blake, Town of Baraboo ; J. Thilke, Town of Prairie du Sac; Enos Kimball, Freedom; secretary, William H. Canfield. Its members, who numbered more than 140, had settled in territorial times, previous to 1849. Archibald Barker, who came in June, 1837, the first of the living pioneers, gave place, in the estimation of some of the members, to Jonathan Hatch, the oldest actual settler then living in Sauk County. Uncle Billy Johnson came only a few months after Mr. Hatch.

Mr. Hulas/ continued as president for a couple of years and was succeeded by Capt. Levi Moore, William H. Canlield continuing as secretary and giving such general satisfaction that at a meeting held in June, 1884, he was elected to the office for life, "provided he would serve." This he did, and no other personal force was so strong as his in keeping the association alive. In fact, with his death in 1913, it may be said to have dissolved as a tangible organization.

Charles liirschinger also made a popular president and long served - as treasurer of the association. T. M. Warren, S. J. Seymour, D. K. Noyes and Frank Hackett also headed its affairs with credit.

With the organization of the Sauk County Historical Society in 1905, the association virtually resolved itself into a body of rapidly dwindling old settlers and friends who met wherever the spirit moved and the enfeebled body would allow ; and even the social feature of the association was largely impaired by the numerous sectional and family "homecomings," which became so customary. During the eight years which was spared to him after the formation of the Historical Society, with its infusion of new blood and interests, Mr. Canlield, who seemed never to grow old mentally, applied himself with characteristic enthusiasm and helpfulness to its promotion.

With the organization of the Sauk County Historical Society and its incorporation on November 25, 1905, the formation of a museum was begun. Rooms were secured in the new courthouse and the Board of Supervisors from time to time has made appropriations for the building of cases and the purchase of other equipment.

Special attention has been given to four classes of objects, archaeological specimens, pioneer relics, war souvenirs and written or printed matter, including books, documents, letters and the like, which are of a historical value.

As to the Indian artifacts, the collection contains rare pipes, caches, discoidals, banner stones and gorgets, besides thousands of axes, arrows, spears, drills and other of the more common objects. The Christian Schmidt Collection contains over six hundred specimens from a remote neighborhood of the county and were saved from being scattered or going to some other instituion by the generosity of the donor. Of three caches reported from various parts of the county, the society is in possession of two of them.

In the Grand Army of the Republic room may be seen the largo collection of badges worn by the late Philip Cheek and by his wife, also the collections of Judge and Mrs. William A. Johnson and C, S. Blanchett. Other cases are filled with guns, swords and other relics from the fields of conflict of half a hundred years ago. A few of the objects come down from the Revolution and other wars. D. Joseph Johnson, the curator and a veteran, has made a special effort in this department.

The strongest feature of the museum is the display of pioneer relics, particularly hand-made tools. Not only are there flails, rakes and shoes of wood, but also a great array of objects wrought in iron and other metals. The display is said to be the best of its kind in the state. From territorial times there have come to the society flint lock guns, candlestick lanterns, bear traps, hoe cake griddles, trade axes and other tools.

The Alford Page collection deserves special mention. One case is filled with polished Baraboo and Wisconsin River unios and with specimens made from stalactites found in a quarry near Prairie du Sac. The

An effort has been made to obtain copies of the school books used in pioneer times; books written by local people, and records left by early school boards and other officials. The society has become a depository for the records of cjubs and similar organizations.

Things pertaining to rafting, staging and pioneer farming, to the political and religious life, to the early industries and amusements that are now gone, are being collected and exhibited.

"Hanging on like a tar bucket." is a familiar expression; yet tar buckets of the '30s and '40s are rare today. Of the many brought to the county dangling behind the slow-moving, loud-creaking linch pin wagons, the society rescued the last in the region roundabout and the wooden affair may be seen to the right and near to the top of the illustration.

The educational value of these many relics may readily be appreciated and they are a source of pleasure and profit to the thousands who view them day after day.

The first schoolhouso in Raraboo was of logs and built in 1843. It stood on Seventh Avenue between Hirch and West streets. Drawing by Ronald Hargrave