USA > Minnesota > Wabasha County > History of Wabasha County : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc. : gathered from matter furnished by interviews with old settlers, county, township, and other records, and extracts from files of papers, pamphlets, and such other sources > Part 14
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162
HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
In the time of high water, when the Mississippi seemed to dis- regard boundaries, this prairie was but an island, apparently so low and level that it was but little above the water which lapped onto its banks. A rushing torrent then flowed through the slough above, where now the embankments of the railroads form a dam. In the rear a broad current of water, three fourths of a mile wide, separated it from the mainland.
Bunnell, the trader, living three or four miles below, had learned through the traditions of the Indians from the Sioux; with whom he was intimate and had familiar acquaintance, that the whole of Wabasha prairie had been entirely submerged during some of the most extreme floods of the river.
No story was more current during the earlier days of the settle- ment of this locality, or told with more apparent candor and truth- tulness, than that about the general overflow of high-water on this prairie. From the traditionary evidence first cited, it soon reached the stage where positive proof could be readily made. Many of the old experienced river men claimed, and positively asserted, that they had passed over the highest part of the prairie on rafts and with boats. Not to be behind in experience, steamboat men stated that they, too, had found there sufficient depth of water for any boat.
The story that steamboats had passed over may possibly have started from the fact that during the high water of 1849 a small steamboat did get aground on the lower part of the prairie. The pilot of the Lynx mistook the channel one dark, stormy night, and ran his craft out on the low land, just below where the house of Mrs. Keyes now stands. To return the boat to the river it was necessary to take everything out of her, even her boilers and the brickwork ot the arches in which they were set.
It was said that during the high water of 1852 it was not uncom- mon to hear the raftsmen hail the residents of the prairie with, "You'd better get out o' there or you'l get drowned out. I've seen that prairie all under water." A raftsman was considered a green one it in his experience he had never seen Wabasha prairie covered with water.
Strangers -- passengers on the steamboats-were commonly enter- tained as they approached the prairie with the stereotyped remark, "It looks like a nice place to build a town, but it overflows." The persistent repetition of such remarks was as annoying to the settlers as it was irritating to the proprietors of the embryo city plotted there.
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EARLY LAND TITLES.
The proprietor of a rival town site was holding forth on this subject to a crowd of passengers, as the steamboat approached the prairie from below, saying, "It is true it does look like a nice place to build a town, but, gentlemen, I have passed over the highest land on Wabasha prairie in a boat." He was here interrupted by a passenger, a resident of the prairie, the dignified and gentlemanly appearing Rev. H. S. Hamilton, who removed his hat as he stepped forward and gravely said : "Excuse me, sir, but can it be possible that your name is Noah? There is no record that any one has passed over that prairie since the days of that ancient navigator of the deep." The town-site blower was forced to retreat from the laughter of the amused crowd of passengers.
To Capt. Orin Smith belongs the credit of selecting Wabasha prairie as a location for a town site. He was the founder of the city of Winona. At that time he was a citizen of Galena, Illinois, and the captain of the steamboat Nominee, running between Galena and St. Paul. He had seen western towns spring up like magic, enriching the lucky proprietors. Land speculations and town-site operations were the most common topics of conversation among his passengers. From a desire to engage in some profitable speculation, should opportunity offer, he watched for a chance to secure a town site on the river. His observations convinced him that eventually, when the Indian title should become extinct on the west side of the river in the Territory of Minnesota, an important point must spring up, and he early comprehended that Wabasha prairie possessed the most favorable and decided advantages for the rapid growth of a large commercial town when the country should become settled.
The treaty with the Sioux in 1851 presented an opportunity which Capt. Smith at once took advantage of, although the treaty had not been ratified and the Indians were still occupying the country. He was familiar with the river, and was aware that there were but two locations suitable for steamboat landings on Wabasha prairie. One, the present levee-the other about a mile below. Capt. Smith was aware, from his own personal knowledge (he had navigated the upper Mississippi many years), that Wabasha prairie was not subject to an entire overflow, neither had it been submerged within the traditional recollections of the "oldest inhabitants" among the whites ; yet he was to a certain extent influenced by the Indian traditions, by Bunnell's opinion and by the opinions of some of the old river men of his acquaintance in his first choice of location.
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
He selected the lower landing for his town site because the banks were higher, the shore bolder, with a good depth of water at all seasons of navigation. He was also aware that the upper landing was subject to overflow, although available and satisfactory at other times. He therefore decided to secure and control both landings.
In accordance with this plan he made his arrangements to take possession, and selected as his agent in this transaction Erwin H. Johnson, the carpenter on his steamboat, the old Nominee. He made a written agreement with Johnson to hold the two claims he had selected, for which Johnson was to have an undivided half of both claims. Capt. Smith also agreed to pay Johnson twenty- five dollars per month and furnish all necessary subsistence. John- son was to engage in banking steamboat wood, which Captain Smith proposed to have cut on the islands opposite during the winter.
Capt. Smith landed Erwin H. Johnson from the Nominee at the lower landing on Wabasha prairie at about ten o'clock at night, on the 15th of October, 1851. He also left with him two men, em- ployed as wood-choppers. One of these men was Caleb Nash. The name of the other is unknown; he left on the return of the Nomi- nee down the river.
Johnson was furnished by Capt. Smith with a small quantity of lumber for a shanty, a yoke of oxen and abundant supplies of pro- visions and blankets. These, with Johnson's tool-chest, a few neces- sary tools, a bucket or two, an iron pot, a bake-kettle, an iron spider and a few dishes, comprised the entire outfit.
They camped for that night on the beach where they landed, and slept under a few boards which they laid against the bank above. The next day they built a small cabin on the same locality where they had passed the night. This structure was abont 10×12, with a shed roof sloping toward the bank. The back end of this cabin was the bank against which it was built. A fireplace was formed in one corner, a hole above in the lower part of the roof afforded exit for the smoke. The material used for this fireplace was the brick thrown from the Lynx when aground about half a mile below in 1849.
This shanty, as it was called, was the first "claim shanty " put up on Wabasha prairie. It stood on the beach, below the high bank of the river, nearly in front of where the planing-mill of the Winona Lumber Company now stands. Johnson built a stable for the oxen
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on the bank ten or fifteen rods back from the river. This was made of poles and covered with coarse grass from the bottoms. In the absence of any other means of conveyance a crotch of a tree was used as a sled to transport such things as the oxen were required to haul. Johnson afterward built a rough sled for his use in banking wood on the island during the winter.
Not long after Johnson's arrival on Wabasha prairie another town- site speculator made his appearance in this locality. On the 12th of November, 1851, Silas Stevens, a lumber dealer in La Crosse, landed from the Excelsior at the upper landing, about where the L. C. Porter flouring-mill now stands. With him came Geo. W. Clark, a young man in his employ, and Edwin Hamilton, a young man from Ohio, looking for a chance to speculate in claims, who had been induced to come up from La Crosse, where he had been stop- ping for a short time.
Mr. Stevens brought with him lumber for a shanty, a cooking stove, and a liberal supply of provisions, blankets, etc. It was about eleven o'clock at night when this party left the steamer Excelsior. Mr. Stevens was aware that Capt. Smith had made a claim here and placed a man on it to hold possession, and the party at once made search for his cabin. The night was intensely dark, and they were compelled to hunt for some time before they found Johnson. His locality was unknown to either of them. Mr. Stevens had a few days before been up the river as far as Bunnell's landing, and from the bluff above had seen some men and a yoke of oxen on the lower end of the prairie, but no cabin was in sight.
Fortunately, by following down the bank of the river, they dis- covered the shanty and were furnished by Johnson with the best accommodation the cabin afforded,-a bed of hay on the floor where all slept together, covered with blankets. Johnson had not then completed his shanty. He afterward improved the interior by putting up a shelf or two to hold his supplies and dishes, and two double berths, one over the other in one corner. These were made of poles, his supply of lumber was insufficient. For comfort these berths were filled with dry prairie-grass, covered with blankets.
This party took breakfast with Johnson before beginning the business of the day. Up to this time the question of boundaries to their claims had not been considered either by Capt. Smith or John- son. Capt. Smith had simply proposed to claim the two landings, with at least 160 acres of prairie in each claim, and as much more as
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
they could control. It now became necessary to have their bounda- ries more accurately defined.
Mr. Stevens had come up for the express purpose of securing one of the landings, not being aware that Capt. Smith proposed to hold them both through Johnson, who he supposed was only an employé, without an individual interest in the matter. Mr. Stevens expected to take possession of and hold the upper landing through an employé of his own, Mr. Clark, who had come for that purpose. He was somewhat surprised to find that Johnson had already laid claim to it, with the approval of Capt. Smith, but no improvements had been made. Not being of an aggressive nature, Mr. Stevens hesitated to take advantage of this and take possession without Johnson's con- sent, which he could not obtain.
After a general consultation, in which the whole party partici- pated, it was finally agreed that the land along the river should be divided into "claims" of half a mile square, and that Johnson should have the first choice of two of the claims, one for Capt. Smith and the other for himself.
Accordingly, on the morning of November 13, 1851, the first claim-stakes were driven on Wabasha prairie, and the first defined claims made within what are now the boundaries of Winona county. The stake agreed upon as the starting-point was driven on the bank of the river below the present residence of Mrs. Keyes. From this stake a half-mile was measured off with a tape-line up the river, where another stake was driven. This half-mile was chosen by Johnson for Capt. Smith and was called "Claim No. 1." The next half-mile measured off up the river bank was called "Claim No. 2." This was at once chosen and claimed by both Stevens and Nash.
Mr. Stevens expected that claim No. 2 would be awarded to him. He had been influenced by the recommendations and per- suasions of Capt. Smith to come up and select a claim to hold possession, and he now supposed that after Smith and Johnson he was entitled to the next choice ; but he was again disappointed, and again gave way to Johnson's decision in the matter. Nash, sup- ported by and under the instructions of Johnson, claimed it by seniority as a settler. He had been a resident on the prairie about three weeks, and claimed the land by his rights of first discovery.
The next half-mile, claim No. 3, was assigned to Mr. Stevens. It could hardly be called his choice. (laim No. 4 was awarded to
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EARLY LAND TITLES.
Johnson as per agreement. The next halt-mile, claim No. 5, was selected by Edwin Hamilton, who claimed precedent. He had seen the prairie some weeks before from the deck of a steamboat while on a trip up the river with Mr. Stevens. No farther measurements were made at this time, but the next half-mile was duly awarded to George W. Clark, the junior settler and the last of the party. No one disputed his rights to claim No. 6.
These claims, made as described, were afterward designated by the numbers then given and by the names of the persons to whom they were awarded by this party until after the government survey of the public lands in this part of the territory. The township lines were surveyed in 1853. but the subdivisions were not completed until 1855.
The following copy of a lease is presented as documentary evi- dence to show that these claims were generally known by the nun- bers given, and also as a relic of early days in this locality.
" WABASHLAW, July 8th, 1852.
" Whereas I have this day moved into the shanty on Claim No. 5, called Hamilton's claim, on Wabashaw prairie, Minnesota territory ; therefore I here- by agree with John L. Balcombe, Edwin Hamilton and Mark Howard, the owners of said claim, that in consideration of the use of said shanty, I will, to the utmost of my ability, prevent all other persons from occupying or injuring said claim, and that I will vacate said shanty and surrender the possession thereof, together with the whole claim, to said owners whenever requested to ‹lo so by them or either of them. O. S. HOLBROOK.
" Witness: Walter Brown, "George G. Barher."
The original paper, of which this is a copy, is in the hands of Mrs. Calista Balcombe, the widow of Dr. John L. Balcombe, now living in the city of Winona. The shanty spoken of stood about where the present residence of Hon. H. W. Lamberton now stands. on the corner of Fourth and Huff streets. This shanty was never destroyed ; the body of it is still preserved. When the Hamilton claim became the property of Henry D. Huff, the shanty was moved from its original site and attached to the cottage in which Mr. Huff lived for several years, and which is now the residence of Mr. Lafay- ette Stout, No. 52 West Fourth street.
On the same day that these claims were measured off and located, Mr. Stevens, with the assistance of Clark and Hamilton, built a shanty on claim No. 3. This shanty stood a little east of Market street, between First and Second streets. To move his lumber and
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
supplies to the place selected the services of Johnson's ox-team and crotch-sled were obtained.
Mr. Stevens went baek to La Crosse the same evening on a boat which ehanced to come down. Mr. Clark remained to hold posses- sion of the elaim for him. Clark was to receive eighteen dollars per month and all necessary supplies furnished. He was to occupy his time in cutting steamboat-wood on the island convenient for banking. Hamilton remained and lived with Clark in the Stevens shanty. He also chopped for Mr. Stevens. No one ever accused Mr. Stevens of having made a big speculation on steamboat-wood cut on government land that winter.
The last boat down in 1851 was the Nominee. Abont November 21 Capt. Smith passed Wabasha prairie without landing.
Mr. G. W. Clark says that on December 4 he with Johnson went down the river in a canoe to La Crosse. The weather was pleasant but cool. This was their first trip from home. After having aecom- plished the objects of their visit, they started baek on the fifth and arrived at Wabasha prairie on the sixth. The river closed a day or two after.
While on this trip to La Crosse Johnson hired two men, Allen Gilmore and George Wallace, to come to Wabasha prairie with him and work for Capt. Smith entting wood. To accommodate these men Johnson secured another canoe, in which he took one of the men while Clark with the other managed their own, the one in which they went down. The weather had become very cold, with tlie wind strong from the west. Soon after they started it increased to a fierce gale. The spray from the waves as they struek against the bows of the canoes soon covered everything about them with ice and chilled them through. Being unable to manage their canoes against such a strong head-wind they landed, and towed them along the shore until they arrived at Nathan Brown's trading-station, which they reached about dark, almost frozen. Mr. Brown was absent, but finding the door of his cabin nnfastened the party took possession and soon started a hot fire in the stove with the abundance of dry wood provided. Finding a plentiful supply of provisions they made themselves comfortable for the night, and the next day safely reached the prairie. This was December 6, the date of the arrival of Allen Gilmore and George Wallace at what is now the city of Winona.
Brown's was then the only stopping-place below Bunnell's, and
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EARLY LAND TITLES.
it was often made a haven of rest to the weary traveler. Mr. Brown usually lived alone and he enjoyed these forced visits to his cabin, more for the company they afforded than for the profit of it. He seldom made any charge for his accommodations.
Bunnell's was a favorite stopping-place. It was the only place on the west side of the river where travelers could be comfortably accommodated with sheets on their beds and clean table-cloths. It was the only place on the west side of this river in the part of the territory where a white woman lived. Mrs. Bunnell was a good cook, and her guests usually appreciated her efforts to make them comfortable.
In connection with his business as a trader, Bunnell employed quite a number of men, cutting steamboat-wood and in cutting oak-timber for rafting. The following were living on the west side of the river during the winter of 1851-2, or afterward made it their residence : Harry Herrick, Leonard Johnson, Hirk Carroll, Henry J. Harring- ton and a man by the name of Myers, who came after January 1, 1852. They boarded at Bunnell's.
Two young men, Jabez McDermott and Josiah Keene, were in his employ until after the holidays, and "kept bach " in a small cabin on the banks of the river a little below Bunnell's.
Peter Gorr, with his wife and three children, and Augustus Pentler and his wife, lived together in a cabin on an island opposite Bunnell's landing. Gorr and Pentler worked for Bunnell until in February.
Soon after the river was frozen over, or as soon as it was safe to travel on the ice, Israel M. Noracong and William G. McSpadden came up from La Crosse. They brought with them two yoke of oxen and a large sleigh-load of lumber and supplies, which they took up Wabasha prairie to the mouth of the Rollingstone valley. They put up a shanty a little north from where Elsworth's flouring mill now stands, in Minnesota city. These men were engaged during the winter in cutting black-walnut logs. Black-walnut timber then grew plentifully along that stream.
About the same time John Farrell came up from La Crosse, bringing with him ox-teams and supplies and quite a number of men. He established a logging camp on the Wisconsin side of the river. His cabin and stables were at the foot of the bluff, about where the wagon-road across the bottoms strikes the mainland. He had selected his location and cut a quantity of hay early in the fall.
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
Some of the most valuable oak timber on the islands opposite the city of Winona was cut down during that winter by Farrell's gang of choppers. Many of the logs were never removed from the places where they were cut.
To aid in floating the heavy oak logs when they were rafted in the spring, almost an equal quantity of the finest ash-timber was also slaughtered and taken away.
The total number of white inhabitants living within the bound- aries of what is now Winona county at the close of the year 1849 was six-W. B. Bunnell, wife and three children, at Bunnell's landing, and Nathan Brown.
The total white population at the end of 1850 was seven. This increase of one over the preceding year was from natural cause-by the addition of another child to Bunnell's family. During the winter of 1850-1 Bunnell and Brown had a few transient wood- choppers in their employ, who lived on the islands.
The total white population December 31, 1851, was twenty-one, all of whom, if the family of Bunnell is excepted, were engaged in the same occupation, cutting timber on public lands. It was then a common practice for people who chose to do so to appropriate the timber on lands belonging to the United States for individual use and for purposes of speculation. Such operations were not con- sidered dishonorable. The choicest pine, oak, black-walnut, ash and maple timber was ent on public lands, rafted down the Missis- sippi and sold by men respected for their business enterprise and honorable dealings with their fellow-men as individuals. It will be safe to say that fifty per cent of the timber on the islands in the Mississippi was cut for steamboat wood and other purposes while the title to lands was in the United States.
Among the enjoyments of holidays observed by the bachelor settlers on Wabasha prairie was the Christmas dinner given by Clark and Hamilton December 25, 1851. Hamilton was chief cook, and made an extra effort for special dishes on this occasion.
Mr. Clark says that in addition to the best of their common fare, good wheat-bread, hot corn-bread, ham, good butter, syrup and strong coffee. Hamilton got up a most delicious squirrel pot-pie, and for dessert a splendid pheasant-pie. Neither vegetables nor fruit were on this bill of fare. They had already learned to dispense with such delicacies.
To this feast Johnson, Nash, Gilmore and Wallace were invited.
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THE PIONEERS.
All without a single apology promptly responded to the aların for help from the Stevens shanty.
This was the first special assemblage of the settlers on Wabasha prairie for social enjoyment. No rivalries or claim jealousies existed among them at that time. With this little party on the outskirts of civilization genuine friendship in the rough was the prevailing feel- ing exhibited, uninterrupted by the hilarities which accompanied. As a closing ceremony at this first reunion of the settlers on the prairie, Hamilton gave as the parting toast, "May the six bachelors here assembled be long remembered by each other." This was responded to by a shake all around as they separated.
The success of the Christmas dinner-party induced Johnson to return the "compliments of the season," and extend a general in- vitation to all to assemble around his board on New Year's day. This was marked as another of the really enjoyable days of that winter to the lonely bachelors of the prairie. The crowning dish on this occasion, the one most vivid in the recollection of Mr. Clark, was an unlimited supply of wild honey, which Johnson had secured from a bee-tree on the island.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE PIONEERS.
QUITE a number of persons came up from La Crosse on the ice about the first of January, 1852, to see the country and select claims on Wabasha prairie. As everybody stopped at Bunnell's, he, too, became infected with the prevailing epidemic of claim-making from his guests. Although he had no confidence in the success of Capt. Smith's undertaking to build up a commercial port on "that sand-bar in the Mississippi," Bunnell had the shrewdness to surmise that there might be a chance for speculation in the attempt, provided he could sell out before it should be again flooded with water. He at once concluded to take a chance in the venture, and decided that he, too, would have a claim on Wabasha prairie.
At that time Capt. Smith's claim on the lower landing, claim No. 1. was considered the most valuable and the most desirable as a
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
town site. No. 4 was estimated as the next in value. Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6 were valued in the order named.
Having determined on making a claim Bunnell went up to the prairie and looked the ground over. He found that the most de- sirable locations had already been taken. Notwithstanding this he fixed upon one of the unoccupied claims, and selected claim No. + for his purpose. This claim he considered really the most valuable.
To get possession Bunnell stated to Johnson that he had been looking for a claim, and had found one that suited him just above the Stevens claim that was not occupied, and he intended to take possession of it. Johnson replied by telling him that he could not have it ; that he had already made a claim there and should hold it. Bunnell inquired how many claims he expected to hold ; that he was already holding two at the lower end of the prairie. This Johnson denied, and explained to him that the one he was living on was Capt. Smith's and that the other belonged to Nash.
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