History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 20

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

USA > Minnesota > Houston County > History of Houston County, Minnesota > Part 20

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).

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of rocky bluffs, partly covered with timber, and presenting a somewhat rugged and forbidding appearance. But this broken surface is character- istic of the entire township, which is made up chiefly of ridges with their intervening valleys. Both on the ridges and in the valleys the soil is good, and farming is extensively carried on. In the valleys are many springs of clear and wholesome water, and there are also many springs on the bluffs facing the river.

The land east of the Mississippi bluffs is marshy, and fit only for some varieties of timber and for hay. Oak, birch and maple are found throughout the greater part of the township.

Near the northwest corner of section 25, and opposite Fairy Rock, a branch of the Mississippi, known as Minnesota Slough, leaves the main stream, and flows south through sections 25, 35 and 2, and thence into Jefferson.

Entering the township from the west is Crooked Creek, which follows a tortuous easterly course until it empties into Minnesota Slough. This stream has several small affluents, one of which, flowing through a con- siderable valley, joins it from the southwest. Another starts from a spring in section 18, and flows in a general northeasterly direction. A spring in section 21 gives rise to another, which enters the creek near the south line of the same section, while still another little rivulet originates in a spring in section 29, and reaches the creek in the same section.

Clear Creek starts from a single spring on a farm in section 3, and runs northeast until it reaches Minnesota Slough, near the mouth of Crooked Creek. Since early days it has afforded excellent trout fishing.

On section 3 there was formerly a well defined mound, about 20 feet high and 150 feet long, but its cultivation, which began in the late seventies, has to a large extent obliterated its sharp outline.

Another natural curiosity in the township is that known as Fairy Rock, in section 23. This is a bluff in which is a cavern about 24 feet long. 10 feet wide and 7 feet high. The cavern is situated near the top of the bluff, 200 feet or so above the water. Its walls and ceiling are of sand- stone, on which for the last 60 years or more visitors have inscribed their names. In pioneer days the place was used for a while as a residence by Charles Brown, of Brownsville.

The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway traverses the eastern part of the township, running north and south, and connecting at Reno with the Reno Preston branch of the same road, which runs westward, passing through the little village of Freeburg, thus affording good trans- portation facilities in various directions.

Reno, the junction point of the two branches, was formerly known as. Caledonia Junction, and is situated on Minnesota Slough, in the eastern part of the town, 14 miles southeast of Caledonia and seven miles north of New Albin, Iowa. The western branch, which connects here, was con- structed in 1879 as a narrow gauge road. Freight going west from the main line had to be transferred here, with much waste of time and labor. These inconveniences were obviated by the change to standard gauge, effected in 1901.

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The first white settlement in Crooked Creek Township was made in June, 1852, by George Powlesland, who came up from Iowa, where he had been working on a farm, and made a claim in section 36. He made several trips back and forth, on his second arrival, in the fall, being accompanied by George Littlefield and William Oxford. Owing to the ravages of a prairie fire, he found difficulty in locating his claim, but finally found it and erected a small cabin with an earth floor and a single window, to which early in January of the following year, he brought his family. Mr. Little- field and Mr. Oxford, who had gone back to Iowa after selecting claims, also returned in 1853, and in the spring the latter drove to and from Browns- ville along an Indian trail, which he stopped to improve and which subse- quently became the regular road between the two places. His first claim was in section 30, where the village of Freeburg is now located, and his first house was of logs with an elm bark roof, and the ground for a floor. Subse- quently he entered a quarter of section 35, and also acquired other land.

When these pioneer settlers came, the nearest place for supplies was Lansing, 25 miles away, and the nearest mill was at Columbus, Iowa, about 40 miles distant. Mr. Oxford's first crop consisted of corn, turnips and buckwheat, to which he added pumpkins, exchanging his corn and pump- kins for venison, which he obtained from the Indians. Owing to the mill being so far away, the buckwheat was ground in a coffee-mill and sifted through Mrs. Oxford's green veil, similar expedients being familiar to all the early settlers in this and other regions.

The Indians above referred to belonged to the Winnebago tribe, and were probably straggling bands from the Turkey River reservation, where this tribe, or a part of it, had been sent after they had ceded their Wis- consin lands to the United States. They were always civil to the whites, who treated them with consideration. With the increase of the white population they became fewer, until they disappeared altogether, being unable to adopt civilized habits and hold their own in the presence of the superior race. One old Indian hunter used often to stop at Mr. Oxford's, and would quietly get up and go out at daybreak, and return with the steak of a deer to cook for breakfast.

The year 1854 witnessed the advent of several new settlers, including George F. Brenner, Thomas Eicher and Thomas Ryder. Mr. Brenner took a claim in section 32, and on August 6, the same year, the first wed- ding in the township occurred, that of George F. Brenner and Caroline B. Weideman. Mr. Ryder, who came here in August, afterwards lived for a while in Wisconsin and Iowa. He returned, however, to Crooked Creek, and became a prominent citizen here, at different times holding town office. The first birth in the township, however, was that of Mary Jane Oxford, which occurred May 24, 1854.

In 1855 John Palmer arrived and built a house on a ridge, where he made his permanent home. Two of the principal settlers in 1856 were John Muller and Patrick Graham, the former being accompanied by his sons. Mr. Muller started a homestead in section 3, while Mr. Graham located in section 18.

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In the following year, 1857, George Schaller rendered a valuable public service by building the first grist mill in the township.

In 1858 occurred the first remembered death, that of a child of Mr. and Mrs. David Snyder.

Among the other pioneers who arrived during the first few years of settlement were Anthony Huyck, Thomas Bayne, Nicholas Roster and family, and Mr. Dean. Mr. Huyck showed his enterprise by acquiring land and making improvements, which he sold to actual settlers, including Mr. Roster, who secured a claim from him with a timber residence, 12 by 14 feet in size, and who also succeeded in obtaining 320 acres on or near the site of the present village of Freeburg. He died in 1872, while Mr. Dean, who went as a soldier in the Civil War, died in the army.

During the war a band of lawless characters, numbering some ten or twelve, established headquarters on the Mississippi lowlands, in section 36, and committed depredations up and down the river, and on both sides, living on their plunder. The place, which was known as Robbers' Roost, was finally raided, some of the men shot, some drowned, and others were sent to the Wisconsin state prison.

The organization of the township was effected on May 11, 1858, the officers chosen being as follows: George Powlesland, chairman; George Muller and Anthony Noel, supervisors; A. N. Pierce, clerk; William Powles- land, assessor; J. P. Schaller, treasurer; William Oxford, overseer of the poor; J. P. Schaller and Lawrence Duggan, justices of the peace; John Peryer and Nicholas Krauss, constables. At this meeting J. P. Schaller was moderator, and L. D. Churchill was clerk of election. The election was held at the mill, the total number of votes cast being 43.

Probably the first manufacturing industry in Crooked Creek Township was a broom factory, established by John Muller in 1856, the year he arrived here. It was located in section 27, where he operated it for five years, and then removed to section 3, where he and his sons, under the firm name of John Muller and Sons, built a factory, 16 by 32 feet and two stories high, and continued the industry, turning out 4,000 brooms annually. The work was done during the winter season, the proprietors being engaged in farming during the summer.

The first grist mill was built, as elsewhere stated, by George Schaller, in the summer of 1857. Mr. Schaller operated the mill for eight or ten years, and then sold it to Nicholas Roster and J. P. Streif, who ran it for two years or more. It was then transferred to Michael Mander, who in turn disposed of it to Nicholas Roster, by whom it was operated until 1874, when he disposed of it to William Hill and J. M. Graf. The' mill was burned in December, 1876, and rebuilt on the same site by Mr. Graf and Garret Hurley in the summer of 1877.

Freeburg is situated on the Reno-Preston division of the C., M. & St. P. Railway, in section 30 of the township. As elsewhere shown, some of the land forming its site, or in the immediate vicinity, was claimed by John Oxford, one of the earliest settlers in the township, and soon after Nicholas Roster, another pioneer, also located here. 10

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HOKAH TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE

Hokah is the second river township from the northern boundary of the county, lying south of La Crescent, having Mound Prairie and Union to the west, and Brownsville to the south, with the Mississippi River as the eastern boundary. The name of the township is of Indian origin, and was applied by the aborigines to Root River. According to tradition, it was also the name of a powerful Indian chief, whose village formerly stood on the beautiful spot now occupied by the village of Hokah.

Root River, which in early days, before the erection of mills on its banks, was readily navigable, enters the township from the west, near the southwest corner of section 36, and winds in a generally easterly direc- tion through the northern half of the township until it empties into the Mississippi. At its point of entrance it divides into two streams, both of which run northeasterly, though at times several miles apart, until they unite in the southwestern corner of section 28. The river then takes a more northerly course until it touches the boundary line of La Crescent Township, after which it turns to the southeast and continues in that direction until it reaches its outlet. The valley of the river has here an average width of about two miles. Here and there the river is joined by other streams, the most important of which is Thompson's Creek, which is fed by springs, and furnishes a remarkably reliable water power.

The surface of Hokah closely resembles that of the other river town- ships in the county, having the usual bluffs facing the Mississippi, with interior valleys, ridges and plateaus, and in many places the scenery is very picturesque. In early days the bottom land was heavily timbered with black walnut, maple, oak and other hard woods, large quantities of which were cut and rafted down the river, and some of which was sawed in local mills.

It was this lumber that brought the first settlers, William Richmond and John Kreels, who in 1849 built a shanty on the banks of the Root River in section 34, and got out lumber to raft down the Mississippi River. They had a comfortable home but made no attempt to enter a claim.

The first permanent settler in the township was Edward Thompson, who arrived in the spring of 1851. Attracted by the fine water power, he staked out a claim, and in October brought his wife and family here, Mrs. Thompson for some time being the only white woman in the locality. With the assistance of John H. Steward he built a mill. Soon after his brother, C. W. Thompson, came and proved an active factor in the development of the community. Other early arrivals were Albert Blackinton and wife, Hiram Griffin, David House, who located in what is now Union Township; Fred Hammer, William Rielur and Jerry Jenks. Mr. Jenks was soon after- wards taken ill, and after some delay a doctor was procured from the Iowa River settlement, who gave the patient hydropath treatment, which was quite popular at the time, but it proved ineffective and the man died.

Butterfield Valley, south of the village, was first settled in 1853 by Hiram Butterfield, who came from Illinois and took a claim in section 8. He remained until about 1874, when he went to Oregon. John Densch, who arrived in 1854, was probably the first settler on the "Ridge." It is related

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that he made the experiment of using for the roof of his log cabin a piece of sailcloth which he had brought from the East.

In 1852 William James settled on section 34, but two years later moved to section 5, where he died a few years later.

The first town meeting was held May 11, 1858, the day on which many of the older towns in the county organized. The meeting, which was at the Hokah House in the village, was called to order by Clark W. Thompson. J. G. Prentiss was called to the chair, and L. S. Keeler was chosen moder- ator, with D. L. Clements as clerk. Seventy-two ballots were cast, and officers were elected as follows: Supervisors, C. W. Thompson, chairman; R. S. Wooley, and David House; clerk, D. L. Clements; assessor, S. E. Sneider; overseer of the poor, A. H. Davison; constables, Anthony Demo, Jr., and Henry Franklin ; collector, Anthony Demo, Jr., justices of the peace, L. L. West and Lewis Pond. It was voted that all hogs found running at large after May 20 should be liable to a fine of one dollar each. It was also resolved that "a fence four and a half feet high, and with not less than four rails, not over eighteen inches from the ground, shall be a legal fence." On May 29 overseers for road districts were appointed. At a meeting April 5, 1864, it was voted, 29 to 23, that the town should pay a bounty of $100 to each of those who might enlist in the army before the first of September.

Attracted here, as he was, by the water power, Mr. Thompson, in 1852, put up a sawmill. The dam, as first constructed, secured the enormous fall of 36 feet, the pressure of which, however, proved too great, so that just as the mill was ready to begin operations it gave way and started down stream. Though a hard blow to Mr. Thompson, he persevered, modi- fied his plans, and reconstructed the dam, this time giving it a head of 25 feet, and in due time had his mill in motion. It had a Muley saw and could cut 5,000 feet of hardwood lumber in a day. In 1853 his brother, C. W. Thompson, came into the concern and put up a grist mill. After- wards he started a furniture factory, which for a time did a good business.

A. M. Thompson and S. J. Prentiss started a plow factory. The plow manufactured was of steel and a very good implement, but the factory was finally sold, and one of the flouring mills afterward resulted. The manu- facture of brick was later carried on in the western part of the town by W. F. Weber, and some were also burned near the railroad shops. In 1869 William M. Wykoff started a foundry, which did mostly railroad work.

To preserve the waterpower at Hokah, Mr. Thompson achieved a nota- ble construction, starting work in 1866. He placed his head gates in the old channel at the upper railroad crossing, using the old bed between the two railroad crossings. From thence he excavated a canal six feet deep, fifty feet wide and 1,500 to 1,800 feet long through the bottoms to the mouth of Thompson's Creek, which was used as a tail race to the mills. In the con- struction of the foundation, there was used some 1,500 cords of timber and some 500 cords of stone. On top of this was placed the dam, consisting of crib work planked with three-inch plank. Then the whole dam was cov- ered with stone, making a crossing from twenty to fifty feet wide.

Hokah Village is the head and heart of the town. It is most charm- ingly situated on a ridge in a crescentic form, reached by a not very abrupt

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incline from the northeast. The principal business street is along this ridge, with a slope to the north and on to the Root River valley, and to the south into Lake Como. While the village overlooks the scenery all around, there is, in the not remote distance, a series of peaks on every side, arising with almost Alpine sharpness of outline, and only wanting in altitude the char- acter of mountain scenery, and to one who has never been beyond the con- fines of a prairie country, a sudden transition to this spot would be a realiz- ing of the poet's and the artist's dream.

Its earliest years were full of promise, and it was flourishing and building up with great rapidity, when the panic of 1857, caused by the failure of the Ohio Loan & Trust Company, of New York, dealt it a severe blow, from which it did not recover until after the Civil War.

Then better times began, when, in 1866, the Southern Minnesota Rail- road began operations. The next year the splendid railroad shops were built, Edward Thompson being the master mechanic, and the village began to revive. The streets took on a more businesslike aspect, new mills were put up, and old ones remodeled, and everything seemed to conduce to the permanent growth and prosperity of the place. Thus it went on until June, 1880, when the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Company got posses- sion of the railroad, the car shops were broken up, and the workmen scat- tered, and the business interests of the place were speedily reduced to a point beyond which they were long in advancing. When the catastrophe came there were here, in addition to the railroad shops, four first-class flouring mills, with their elevators and cooper shops, giving employment to scores of men, besides a number of stores and small shops of various kinds.

Hokah was constituted an independent village by an act of the Legis- lature of the State, approved on March 2, 1871. The first election was in May following. S. J. Prestiss and E. H. Keeler were the election judges. The first officers chosen were: Trustees, H. H. Bowdish, John F. Russell and William Wightman. Mr. Bowdish was president of the board; justice of the peace, David House; treasurer, W. F. Weber; constables, Oliver P. Sprague and H. L. Dunham. A corporate seal was procured, and the village set up for itself as an independent municipality.

HOUSTON TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE

Houston township lies on the northern tier of townships, being the third from the Missisippi River. On the north lies Winona county, while on the east is Mound Prairie township, on the south Sheldon and Yucatan, and on the west Money Creek and Yucatan. It is made up of parts of three government townships. On the southwest its outline is irregular, owing to a considerable tract, containing five whole sections and parts of three other sections, that projects out to the westward like a somewhat blunt wedge driven between the townships of Money Creek and Yucatan. Aside from this parallelogram with its greatest length running from north to south. Its arrangement is such that it takes in the valleys of the water courses consisting of the Root River and its South Fork, and Silver Creek,

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a branch coming down from the north to unite with Root River near the eastern boundary of the town. The navigation of the river was cut off at an early date by the erection of mills and bridges, and later by the diminish- ing of the water supply. The new drainage ditch, however, has deepened the channel, making a pleasant route for launches, row boats and canoes.

The projecting sections on the west, give Houston township in its southern part a width of eight miles, while its width above the two southern tiers is four miles, and its length from north to south seven miles. The river enters the township in its most western section, and flows easterly through the southern part, passing just to the north of Houston village. Its valley takes the name of the river, while that of Silver Creek is known as Looney Valley, being thus named after one of the early settlers. The South Fork of Root River enters the main stream in section 34, just east of Houston village, coming from Sheldon township. The valley of the South Fork is known as Swede Bottom, as most if not all of its early settlers were natives of Sweden. Along these principal valleys there are roads leading to the village, which is thus rendered easy of access from all parts of the township.

The soil in the valleys is of a peculiar richness, consisting of a dark, clayey loam, and as the surface is usually level or slightly rolling, these valley lands furnish many ideal locations for farms, which have been long established, especially near the upper part of the streams where the best soil is found. A little way back from the streams the land frequently rises into considerable bluffs, which form the boundaries of elevated plateaus reaching back to the next valley. The ascent is usually abrupt and con- tinues for several hundred feet, while the ridges are usually too narrow for successful cultivation, though here and there some good farms are found on them. On the river bottoms there was formerly in many places a large growth of good timber, such as oak, elm and walnut, and though it has since been greatly reduced in quantity there are many good groves and the hillsides are for the most part well wooded.

When the first white settlers arrived they found a band of Winnebago Indians living in a score or two of rude habitations situated on a bend in the river near the lower village.

The first white settler in Houston township is supposed to have been W. G. McSpadden, who arrived June 14, 1852, having tramped up the valley from La Crosse. He staked out eighty acres on the eastern part of the southeast quarter of section 33, just above the confluence of the South Fork of the Root River with the main stream, which was then easily ford- able from the Mississippi. Having secured this choice location, he re- turned to La Crosse, where he operated a ferry, doing all he could to persuade passing immigrants to locate in the Root River settlement. For two years he came and went, dividing his time between the two places, and then took up his permanent residence here, though not on his original claim. On his second visit he brought with him a Norwegian named Ole Knudson, who took a claim of 160 acres adjoining Mr. McSpadden's on the east and erected a shanty which was afterwards found to be in section 34 on Mr. McSpaddens' land, and which in time developed into a store.

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A number of other settlers came in 1852, including Walter Webster, who settled on the southwestern part of section 33, but sold out the next year to David Johnson. The latter made improvements and built a block- house, but later left the county. Lars Johnson, a Swede, in 1853 bought 160 acres of David Johnson, to the west of the latter's place. E. K. Dwyer, Charles Case and William Webster were early settlers, Mr. Case selling out to T. H. Conniff. A few others secured locations in the valley, and the place became known as "The Forks."

In Looney valley the earliest settler was Henry Hyatt, who arrived in 1852, and located on the eastern branch of Silver Creek. He expected to secure other lands for his sons and relations, but as they did not arrive, he soon left. While he was still here John S. Looney arrived with three sons and put up a shanty on section 27. He was an energetic man who had been to the lead mines of Galena and also spent some time at La Crosse; but after remaining here six years he left for Dubuque, whence he went to Illinois. His sons all secured land in the vicinity, but James left about the same time as his father. Abraham and Corydon spent most of their time on the Mississippi River, Abraham finally settling in Winona, and Corydon going to the Pacific coast. This family gave the name to the valley.

Charles Gainer came with the Looneys, taking land in section 23, where he remained until the others had left. A. B. Hunt, Isaac Thompson and Adam Coon became permanent residents. Mr. McSpadden established a valuable water-power on Silver Creek. In 1853 Samuel Cushon located on section 25 in the western part of the township. Near his place stands a high solitary peak, formerly a landmark for travelers, which was named Cushon Peak. This settler, however, left in 1854, selling his land to Mr. Hendrickson.

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History of Houston County, Minnesota, Part 20

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

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