History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 12

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1919
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1343

USA > Minnesota > Houston County > History of Houston County, Minnesota > Part 12

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Oct. 4, 1854, Peter Cameron was granted a license by the county com- missioners to operate a ferry across the Mississippi at his landing near the northern line of the county. That year he had started a canal beginning in the lower part of section 13, in La Crescent township and terminating near the center of section 14, at a point in Pine Creek where a fragmentary lake or slough extends well up to the first terrace. A steam ferry boat was also built at La Crosse, 150 feet in length but the machinery did not arrive, the proprietor died, and the enterprise was abandoned.

July 5, 1854, William McConnell was granted a license by the county board to operate a ferry across the Mississippi River. He was to pay the county an annual fee of $25. This license was on July 2, 1855, transferred to Smith, Clinton & Bates.

In 1855 Mr. Bates put on a steam ferry boat known as the "Honey-Eye," but which the settlers nicknamed "Mu-Chick-e-Vous." It was an antiquar- ian and dangerously dilapidated affair. The early settlers used humorously to relate that, sometimes, while crossing the river, it had to tie up to an island, let the steam go down, take off the safety-valve, and with buckets fill the boiler, then get up steam again and finish the trip. For two years the people had to submit to such ferry accommodations as this boat furnished. Before the boat was finally abandoned the Kentucky Company had become the owner, and when it was too much impaired to attempt another trip, a new boat was brought from Pittsburgh, Pa., and this ran up to the spring of 1857, when it was cut down by a field of ice and sunk, while tied up at La Crosse.

Feb. 7, 1857, Thomas McRoberts, the agent of the Kentucky Company, was granted the exclusive privilege of maintaining a ferry across the Missis- sippi at a point near the foot of Mississippi Avenue in the village of La Cres- cent, subject, however, to the provisions of the charter granted to the Wi- nona & La Crosse Railroad Co. The rates he was allowed to charge were as follows : For each foot passenger, 20 cents; for each horse, mare, mule or ass, with or without rider, 50 cents; for each head of loose cattle, 35 cents; for each head of sheep or swine, 10 cents; for each two or four horse wagon, 75 cents ; for each pair of horses, mules or oxen, in wagon, 75 cents; for each single horse, carriage or cart, 75 cents; for each two horse carriage and driver, $1.00; for lumber a thousand feet, $1.00; for freight a hundred pounds, 10 cents.

Under this license, after the sinking of the former boat in the spring of 1857, a large boat, called the "Jo Gale," was then chartered for the summer

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

business, and at the same time a new boat was ordered at New Albany, which reached here in the fall of 1857. This was the "McRoberts," named as a compliment to the agent of the company. This boat ran 21 years, or until August, 1878.

For several years, about the time of the war, there was great dissatis- faction with the ferry. The company charged $1.50 each for passengers. This high rate caused an opposition boat, the "General Pope," to be put on, the fare on which was fifty cents each way. Freights also were so reduced that a farmer with 500 bushels of wheat to transport would save $25. At one time Gen. C. C. Washburn became interested in the ferry question, and materially assisted in securing cheaper rates.

In 1877 the McRoberts was sold by the Kentucky Company to J. C. Day, and was later owned by J. C. Day, Thomas McRoberts and P. S. Davidson. Its successor as a ferryboat was the Warsaw, which, when the river was free of ice, made regular trips, in the summer time, making as many as eight round trips a day.

O. W. Streeter was by act of the legislature approved March 3, 1855, given the exclusive right of maintaining a ferry across the Mississippi, at a point to be selected by him in Section 11, Township 104, Range 4, for fifteen years, no other ferry to be established within a mile of him. He was to be under bonds of $500 to keep safe boats in good repair, and to give good service at all hours, though allowed to charge a double fee for those who crossed after 9 o'clock at night. The regular rates were established as fol- lows: Foot passenger, 20 cents; horse, mare, mule or ass, with or without a driver, 50 cents ; single horse carriage, 75 cents; two horse, two ox or two mule team, loaded or unloaded, with or without driver, $1.00; additional horse, mule, or cow, 30 cents; additional sheep or swine, 10 cents; for lumber, a thousand feet, $1.00; all articles of merchandise in barrels, ten cents a barrel; for other articles, a hundred pounds, six cents.

Mr. Streeter, on Oct. 31, 1855, sold his rights to Cyrus K. Lord. The first regular boat was run by Captain W. G. McSpadden, and was called the "Wild Kate." The first part of the name was peculiarly expressive and appropriate, for, while it was a most valuable assistance to the emigrants and settlers, it had no regular time table, and, like a train running out of schedule time, was always "wild." The great bulk of travel in those days was from the east, and so the "Wild Kate" used to remain over on that side until somebody desired to come over, when, by the aid of two horses working treadmill fashion, it would be slowly propelled to the shore on the Minnesota side.

The Target Lake Plank Road & Ferry Co. was incorporated Feb. 28, 1856, for the purpose of constructing a single or double track road from a point within a mile of section 24, to a point within half a mile of section 28, in township 104, range 4. Toll gates were to be erected at convenient inter- vals and tolls collected not exceeding the following rates: For each vehicle, sled, sleigh or carriage drawn by two animals, five cents a mile, if by more than two animals, two cents a mile for each additional animal; for each vehicle, sled, sleigh or carriage drawn by one animal, two cents a mile; each horse and driver or led animal, one cent a mile; each score of sheep or swine,

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

one cent a mile; each score of neat cattle, four cents a mile. Persons attend- ing religious services on Sundays were to be exempt from toll traveling both ways, and men liable to military service were exempt from toll while going or returning from any military gathering at which presence was required by law. The capital stock was placed at $1,000 and divided into a thousand shares. Commissioners appointed to receive the stock subscriptions were Nicholas Hintgen, Thomas B. Stoddard, Joel Marsh, John W. Thompson, Ole Rundson, William Hunter and C. W. Jenks.

On March 1, 1856, E. A. Goodell was granted a charter for fifteen years to operate a ferry across the Mississippi at any point he might select in Brownsville; no one else for that period to operate one within one and a half miles of the point he should select. In the day time he was allowed to charge the following rates: For each foot passenger, 10 cents; for each horse, mare, mule or ass with or without a rider, 25 cents; for each two horses, two ox or two mule team, loaded or unloaded, with driver, 75 cents; for each single horse carriage, 50 cents; for each additional horse, mule, ox or cow, 25 cents; for each swine or sheep, 5 cents; for lumber per thou- sand feet, $1; for articles of merchandize in barrels, 5 cents a barrel; all other articles a hundred pounds, 6 cents. During the night hours from 8 P. M. to 5 A. M. he was allowed to charge double.

In 1863, the steamer "Spray" was put on, operating between Browns- ville and La Crosse. It was owned by Harvey Rumsey and operated by Captain Whittaker. After about three months it was succeeded by the "Express," a stern-wheel boat of 35 tons register, operated by Captain G. L. Winslow. In 1872, Captain Winslow had a boat of 24 tons register built at La Crosse which he named the "Vigor" and with which he replaced the "Express" the following year. About this time, however, the railroad com- pany but on the steamer "Jessie Girden" as a transfer boat. Finding that it would not pay to continue in competition, Captain Winslow went further , down the river and engaged in business. But when a few years later, the railroad bridge was built and the railroad ferry discontinued, Captain Wins- low returned and operated a ferry for many years.

A charter to be in force for twelve months only, was on Feb. 27, 1856, granted to J. L. Wertz, to establish and maintain a ferry across the Root River in section 28, township 104, range 4. The rates were established as follows: Foot passenger, 5 cents; horse, mare or mule, with or without rider, 15 cents; each ox or cow, 10 cents; each two horse, two ox or two mule team loaded or unloaded, with driver, 25 cents; each single horse car- riage, 20 cents; each additional horse, mule, ox or cow, 10 cents; each swine or sheep, 5 cents; all freight of lumber, merchandise or other articles not in teams at the rate of 10 cents a barrel, 50 cents a hundred feet of lumber; and 5 cents a hundred pounds for all other articles.

At Houston, a ferry was operated for many years, beginning about 1858.

Transportation on the Root River has never been of great importance, though during the early days there was a shipbuilding yard at Houston, and boats laden with goods went as high as Rushford. The completion of the present improvements to the river will make it available for launches,

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

row boats and canoes, though the current will be so swift that the use of the deepened river for either pleasure or transportation will be almost negligable.

One of the largest single projects in Houston county has been the straightening of Root River for drainage purposes under the state judicial ditch law. Due petition being made, the court heard the petitioners and the remonstrances in 1917, and damages and benefits being duly assessed, and the county bonds provided for, the work was started. It will be com- pleted in 1919. The river has been dredged, in many places a new channel has been built, and other improvements made. While much of the picturesqueness of the river has been ruined, and while there has been since the beginning considerable opposition to the project, it is believed by many that the project will reclaim considerable overflow land and regulate to some extent the disastrous spring floods to which the Root River Valley is subject.

The project of improving the Root River is by no means a new one. In the early days, when the river was navigable to above Houston, and many goods were brought up that way, it was believed that with a little deepening, the river would become an important highway of commerce. In 1856, the Minnesota Legislature memorialized Congress to this effect, asking $15,000 for deepening the river. The facts as set forth in the Memorial are an interesting statement of conditions as they then existed. It was stated that the navigation of Root River from its mouth to Rush- ford, a distance of about fifty miles by the river, was obstructed by drift- wood and snags, which a moderate appropriation, judiciously expended, would easily remove, and therefore render the river navigable for that distance. It was further stated that the valley of the Root River was already thickly inhabited, that large amounts of goods and merchandise were being transported into the valley by tedious and circuitous overland routes, at heavy expenditure, whereas the Root River if cleared would form a convenient and comfortable route of travel. It was also set forth that there was already a surplus of production in farm products, and that the opening of the Root River would provide a market for these products on the upper Mississippi, to which region supplies were then being brought from points in Missouri, Iowa and Illinois, further down the Mississippi River.

The money was not granted, however. With the passing of the years the river diminished in volume, the tilling of the soil caused the stream to fill up with loose earth washed from the fertile fields, dams were con- structed, and navigation was impossible. The dams in time were washed out, but the other river obstructions continued to increase. Thus condi- tions remained until the dredging of the judicial ditch.

All the railroads of Houston County are owned by the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul Railway Co. The lines are the River Division, the Southern Minnesota Division, the Reno-Preston Division and the La Crescent-Dubuque Division. The Mississippi is bridged near La Crescent, thus giving connection with La Crosse.

The thoughts of the pioneers early turned to the necessity of railroads

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

in developing the newly opened regions of the upper Mississippi River valley. This was especially true of the people of Houston county, which was the point of entrance of so many of the pioneers who were seeking lands in Minnesota. Brownsville had not long been settled when a railroad was pro- jected which was to have its eastern terminus at that village on the Mis- sissippi and extend westward over the rich Minnesota and Dakota prairies.

The Louisiana & Minnesota Railroad Co. incorporated by the legisla- ture March 3, 1853, was authorized to construct a road along the western bank of the Mississippi from St. Paul southward to the Iowa boundary. The Minnesota & Northwestern Railroad Co., incorporated March 4, 1854, was authorized to construct a railroad from the northwest shore of Lake Superior by way of St. Anthony (Minneapolis) and St. Paul, to Dubuque, crossing the Iowa boundary at any convenient point. Thus both these roads were authorized, should they desire, to cross Houston county. But on June 29, 1854, Congress passed an act which bestowed a grant of alternate sec- tions, designated by odd numbers, six miles on each side of a road which should enter the state somewhere between sections 9 (in Fillmore county) and section 17 (in Freeborn county), thence northward to St. Paul, and thence by the most practical route to the eastern boundary of the terri- tory in the direction of Lake Superior, thus fixing the route of the Minne- apolis & Northwestern.

As early as 1855, the Territorial Legislature took action toward estab- lishing a railroad through Houston county. By an act approved March 2, 1855, the Root River Valley & Southern Minnesota Railroad Co. was estab- lished with an authorized capital of $5,000,000. The road was to have its eastern terminus at Hokah. From there it was to extend westward by the most feasible route to the Great Bend of the Missouri River. The privilege was also granted of extending a branch from Hokah, up the west bank of the Mississippi by way of Target Lake to Eagle Bluffs in Winona county, and to connect at any point the directors might think proper with the line to be established by the Lake Superior, Puget Sound & Pacific Railroad Co. Authority was given to complete a steamboat canal from the main channel of the Mississippi River, through Target Lake to Root River, in section 28, township 104, range 4, and to remove all obstructions to navigation be- tween Hokah and that point. A right of way was granted for both canal and railroad, not to exceed two hundred feet in width. Elaborate direc- tions for operating the railroad were included in the act. The holders of the charter were Edward Thompson, Samuel McPhail, James Smith, Ed- ward Bell, Ole Knudson, T. B. Twiford, W. B. Gear, Benjamin Thompson, John Looney, Joseph Sovesse, William F. Dunbar, B. Pringle, James Mc- Cann, H. N. Farnham, W. W. Bennett, Robert H. Shankland, J. S. McCuen, David Olmsted, Benjamin F. Brown, Joseph P. Hamelin, H. D. Huff, Thomas Foster, Jacob Mccrary, and William Bross. In those days riders were often attached to bills entirely foreign to its original purpose, and this act incorporating the railroad also provided that the county seat of Fillmore county should be at Carimona, and that Wright county should be fully organized. March 1, 1856, the act was ammended, allowing the con- struction of a branch from Hokah to Brownsville.

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

On Nov. 3, 1855, the officers met at their headquarters at Chatfield. The board then stood as follows: Clark W. Thompson, president; C. A. Stevens, vice-president; H. L. Edwards, secretary; T. B. Twiford, treas- urer; H. W. Holley, chief engineer. The executive committee were T. B. Twiford, Edward Thompson, T. B. Stoddard, William B. Gere and T. J. Safford. Soon after this a survey was made by the chief engineer, H. W. Holley, from the Mississippi River to Hokah.

On Dec. 8, 1856, a public meeting of those favorable to the construc- tion of the road was held in Chatfield. The meeting was called to order by William B. Gere, who stated the objects of the meeting, and gave a brief history of the enterprise, stating that $50,000 had been subscribed to the stock. G. W. Willis was appointed chairman of the meeting, and Edward Dexter was selected for secretary. Earnest speeches were made by several gentlemen. A committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions to defray the expenses of an agent to Washington, to secure, if possible, congressional aid in the form of a land grant. This committee succeeded in raising about $1,300 in Chatfield, and James M. Cavanaugh, afterwards member of con- gress, was appointed to proceed to Washington and look after a land grant. The thanks of the meeting were voted to Col. Thomas B. Stoddard, of La Crosse, for his services in behalf of the enterprise.

But in spite of these elaborate preparations, not a foot of roadbed was graded, nor were there any railroads in Minnesota until some years later. Railroad service was approaching, however, and in the middle fifties the Mississippi was linked to the east with iron rails. Oct. 14, 1858, the Mil- waukee & La Crosse started operating trains to La Crosse, thus establish- ing direct railroad connection from the Atlantic to within a few miles of Houston county.

To encourage the building of railroads in Minnesota, Congress, by an Act approved March 3, 1857, granted to the Territory of Minnesota in trust for prospective railroads vast tracts of government land. In ac- cordance with this Act, the Legislature, by Act approved May 22, 1857, designated four Land Grant roads, granting them alternate sections designated by odd numbers, six miles in width on each side of their lines, 120 sections for each continuous twenty miles located, and 120 more for each continuous twenty miles in operation. One of these roads was the Root River Valley and Southern Minnesota.

In this grant, the charter of the road was considerably amended. Its eastern terminus was to be at La Crescent instead of Hokah. From La Crescent it was to extend westward by way of Target Lake up the Root River Valley and westward. Numerous branches were authorized, includ- ing one from Hokah to Brownsville. A certain limit was placed on the time allowed for completing the various lines.

The Southern Minnesota Railroad Company was the name taken by the Root River Valley & Southern Minnesota Railroad, May 23, 1857, the day after the land grant was conferred. On April 3, the railroad had a meet- ing at La Crosse, and a survey by the chief engineer, H. W. Holley, was or- dered to be made at once, to begin at or near St. Peter and to extend thence eastward to La Crosse. The party, accordingly, started to make this survey

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

from Chatfield to St. Peter on April 6, 1857. The survey from St. Peter to La Crescent was completed early in June. About this time the Milwaukee & La Crosse Company became interested in the proposed road.

The survey being completed, the grading was started. A number of bridges were built, including one over Thompson's Creek at Hokah, and a trestle over the slough east of La Crosse.

After the Five Million Dollar Loan Bill was passed, the company exe- cuted a mortgage, issued bonds and deposited them with the state, receiv- ing therefor $575,000 in state bonds, having at that time granted 371/2 miles on its branch up the Minnesota, and about 201/4 on its Root River branch. The company defaulted on the payments April 1, 1860, and the Governor advertised the property at public sale, and there being no bidders, trans- ferred it to the state. In the next three years the state conferred the prop- erty and rights on various persons, but they were not able to comply with the conditions. On May 13, 1863, a meeting of those interested was called at Riceford, and a reorganization of the old Root River Valley & Southern Minnesota was perfected with the following directors: T. B. Stoddard (president) ; Luke Miller (vice-president) ; Charles D. Sherwood (secre- tary) ; Edward Thompson, Richard Chute and Hiram Walker (executive committee) ; Parker Paine, A. G. Chatfield, Thomas McRoberts and Charles H. Lee. But the Civil War was raging and this company, like the others, was unable to take up the work, and the property and rights again reverted to the state.

Another attempt was made the following year. March 4, 1864, the Root River Branch of the road, projected from La Crescent up the Root River Valley, through Chatfield to Rochester, was transferred with all its rights to a revived Southern Minnesota Railroad Company, consisting of T. B. Stoddard, C. D. Sherwood, Luke Miller, Daniel Cameron, Clark W. Thompson, William D. Hurlbert, Hiram Walker, William Meighan, B. D. Sprague, H. W. Holley, Thomas McRoberts and William Morin. It was required that ten miles of the road be completed for operation within a year. But the time elapsed and the ten miles did not materialize. The time was accordingly extended a year. In 1865 work was commenced in earnest. The war was over, general conditions were resuming their normal tenor, and new settlers were flocking to the Mississippi Valley. The original inten- tion was to have the line started from the river near the present railroad bridge, thence across the bottoms to the village of La Crescent, and curving around southward, run three miles in that direction to the point of the bluffs at the entrance of Root River Valley into that of the Mississippi, and then to follow its present course toward Hokah. But a new route was adopted, several miles of the old grade now occupied by the River Division were abandoned, and a line ran straight west from a lower point, leaving the eastern terminus several miles from the village of La Crescent, greatly to the disappointment of the people of that hamlet.

The grading was accomplished with much difficulty, and a considerable amount of trestle work had to be constructed across the Mississippi bot- toms. In September, 1866, railroad iron was barged up the Root River dur- ing the high water, and unloaded at convenient points, so the track was laid

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF HOUSTON COUNTY

up the valley as far as Hokah without the use of construction trains. Then a locomotive and some platform cars were brought over the river from La Crosse, and before the end of the year the requisite ten miles had been completed, and the line was at once pushed on to Houston. It was in 1866 also that a machine shop and foundries were erected at Hokah. There a good water power was obtained with a fall of twenty feet. At this place the company began to manufacture its own cars, and by the close of 1870, some 300 had been turned out.

Rushford remained the terminus for about two years. In the mean- time, the company on July 4, 1866, had secured a grant of lands westward to the state line. The people of Chatfield were turning their attention to- ward the Winona & St. Peter, to which they hoped to secure a branch, and the people of Rochester were content in that that road had reached their village the year previous. It was therefore decided that the Southern Min- nesota, instead of going to Rochester by way of Chatfield, should extend westward through the southern tier of Minnesota counties.

Accordingly the road was pushed on to Lanesboro in 1868. In October, 1867, the Minnesota Central Railway Co., building southward from St. Paul, reached Austin. Leaving a gap west of Lanesboro, the Southern Minnesota, in 1869, started at Ramsey, a point on the Minnesota Central, a short dis- tance north of Austin, and built their line west to Alden in Freeborn county. The next year the gap between Lanesboro and Ramsey was filled, and on Oct. 26, 1870, the road was open from the Mississippi to Alden. Before the end of the year, the line had been extended west to Winnebago City in Fari- bault county. In the years following the road was gradually extended clear across the state and into South Dakota.

In 1872 the shops at Hokah were abandoned except as repair shops, and the construction shops established at Wells. The company at that time had seventeen locomotives and more than 300 cars. The locomotives were chiefly wood burners, but the great coal fields of Iowa now having been brought within reach, five were sold, and the others altered so as to allow the use of coal. Later the repair shops were removed from Hokah.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 12

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1343

Author: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Publication date: 1919
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1343