USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume I > Part 34
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AN OLD TIME MAIL COACH
Well, that was one of the interesting incidents of the trip and it was pleasant on a pleasant day to watch the proceedings. The ferry was known as Matt's Ferry. Even though it had passed its prime and seen its day of greatest usefulness, but it was far more serviceable and better managed than it has been since the railroad came. The stage was drawn onto the boat, a large, stout stick thrust through both the hind wheels to prevent any forward or backward movements of the wheels and so keep it safely on the boat. The rope connecting the boat with the cable was then wound up until it was taut at the bow, and let out at the stern, thus placing the boat at a sharp angle with the current, the glancing of which along the side constituted the propelling power that moved the hoat. The time it took to cross depended on the strength of the current. When the river was very low the current was weak and the forward motion was slow, but at a good stage of the water it seldom required
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more than twenty minutes. I remember on one occasion I crossed with Mr. Cowles when the water was as high as he had ever known it, when the blocks on the ropes reached the end of the water, and we had to eut loose from the cable and resort to poles for propulsion. This perform- ance lengthened out the time of passage. The trip was quiek while con- nected with the cable, but the poling made it a long passage.
INCIDENTS ALONG THE WAY
"As to the passengers, Mr. Cowles was not often burdened with more than he could comfortably carry, though he was sometimes. He had a faculty of talking pleasantly and entertainingly with them, which served to relieve the tedium. I remember one trip from Baraboo to Madison, when, as we got within a mile or so of Merrimack, we overtook Mr. Walter P. Flanders going along the same way on foot, and Mr. C. asked him to get in and ride, which he promptly did. A gentleman passenger immediately engaged him in conversation, and among other questions was :
"'Can you grow fruit in this country ?'
" 'No, we can't,' said Mr. Flanders. 'Not but that it will grow well enough, but as soon as it gets to be good for anything some d-d thief will come along and steal it all.'
"Mr. Flanders at one time owned pretty much all the country about Merrimack and had a large dairying farm there, and although his home was in Milwaukee he was at Merrimack a large part of the time, and was a very prominent man there.
"Mr. Cowles did some express business, carrying packages between the capital city and Baraboo, and I do not believe another instance can be found where a carrier was blessed, with such implicit confidence ou the part of the people he served as was Mr. C. Money was freely en- trusted to him to buy goods in Madison and bring to any home on the route, and I never heard any complaint made of any misuse of the money placed in his hands. I was with him one day coming to Baraboo, and when we had got about one mile out of Madison a buggy was driven up beside the stage and a voice called out :
" 'Jim, stop a minute.'
"He stopped and Simeon Mills, the Madison banker and capitalist, handed Mr. C. a package, saying: 'There is $1,000 in that package. I want you to carry it to Baraboo and give it to Mr. Thomas.'
" 'Well,' said Mr. C., 'I will do it this time, but I do not want you to follow me out of town again in this way to give me money to carry. Everybody who saw you coming after me knew well enough what you wanted of me, and it might lead to my being followed, murdered and robbed for the money I was supposed to have in my possession.'
Flander: 'en' pl h. souter
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JIM ALWAYS "GOT THERE"
"And now to bring the matter to an end, I will say Mr. C. belonged to the 'get there' family. It mattered little what the weather or the roads might be, it was known that the stage would be along about the usual time, or possibly an hour or two late if mud or snow made the going very bad. So confident were the people along the roads that 'Jim' would be along soon after, if not on time, that they frequently waited for him to break the roads for them. Sometimes, perhaps, they would help him in digging through a snow drift, or help him mend a bad piece of road. I do not know whether he forfeited anything by a failure to get to Madison or Baraboo on time or not, but his dogged determination to get through would let no ordinary obstacle prevent his doing so. If it was not a physical impossibility, he would get.there and be ready for the return trip next morning.
"Mr. C. was a kindhearted, genial and companionable man, always ready to do a good turn for a neighbor. It was my privilege to get into his stage at any time and ride either way, and if not convenient to pay at the time, to pay later when I could.
" 'A merciful man is merciful to his beast,' the good Book tells us, and Mr. Cowles was always careful to see that his horses had all that was coming to them to aid them in their arduous work of forty miles a day. "I do not know why he stopped his stage line. Probably his contract for carrying the mails expired, or some other man underbid him and got the job, or he may have wearied of it and thrown it up of his own free will. While he had the job he did it well, and I do believe Uncle Samuel never had a more faithful servant than James Cowles."
JAMES CURRY, LAST OF THE OLD STAGE DRIVERS
The only living driver of long ago is James Curry, residing on Four- teenth Street, Baraboo, who works on a big farm of three acres in the city limits and enjoys it. Although he has seen eighty years, he enjoys good health and is the kind who still thinks the old days were just as good, if not better, than the present-he has forgotten the thorns.
Before taking the comparison of the road conditions let us hear from Mr. Curry and determine whether the present conditions are better or worse than the old. Mr. Curry arrived in Baraboo in 1849; in 1860 hired out as a stage driver, and after two years made a bid on the stage route and was successful in getting the job of carrying the mail between Baraboo and Kilbourn for $300. He did a large express and passenger business and often used the second team, which was driven by Mrs. Curry, who, according to Mr. Curry, was as competent a driver as he. They had only one son, and "Little Jim," as he was known to them during his early life, frequently accompanied her on these trips, but
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he had a habit of going to sleep on the way home. Mr. Curry stayed with this job for eleven years-until the North Western arrived at Baraboo in 1871, which cut down the express business.
In speaking of the express business, Mr. Curry says that one night he brought from Kilbourn a package of $40,000 to be used for paying off the employees on the North Western construction. He received $20 for this express, the price being fifty cents per $1,000. He never carried a gun, but one night when he had a package of $12,000 two strangers rode with him and during all the way they conversed in whispers and the driver felt that every minute they would make an attack and get the money. He says the stage made the best time that night it ever did.
Another interesting event of this venerable stage driver's expe- rience was brought to the mind of the writer when the new stage rounded the corner on Eighth Avenue to pass through, or adjacent to Oschner's Grove, which was a forest on either side of the road when Mr. Curry was the stage driver. As he was going out one morning the officers and everyone else were looking for Pat Wildrick, who had been in jail for the murder of Gates at Portage. It appears that Wildrick had broken out early that morning, and as the stage was passing along that road or street Mr. Curry espied Wildrick hiding in the woods. He called to one of the others and both went to make the capture. Mr. Curry was well acquainted with Wildriek, and when the sheriff started for the jail with the prisoner, Wildrick called to the stage driver and said, "Young man, I'll see you later." Pat was in the habit of keeping his word about such things and the "young man" was not pleased when the prisoner was again at liberty. However, he was soon arrested for jumping his bond and was placed in jail in Portage, where his career was soon ended by a mob.
LEADING STAGE LINES
Mr. Curry states that when he got into the stage business just before the war the two great state proprietors of the middle West were Frink & Walker, who controlled Illinois from Chicago, and Moore & Davis, who had a monopoly of the Wisconsin lines. The headquarters of the latter were in Milwaukee, where Mr. Moore lived; Davis resided in Baraboo. Stanley & Bacon was also a strong stage firm who worked from Lodi. In the days when Mr. Curry was in his prime as a stage driver and proprietor, Moore & Davis had a big barn where the City Hall now stands, and frequently had forty or fifty horses in it to supply their stages. After Mr. Moore died, the firm of Moore & Davis was suc- ceeded by Emory, Houghton & Buell, who retained control of most of the stage lines in this part of the state until the North Western invaded the territory with such effect.
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CAZENOVIA, IRONTON & LA VALLE STAGE TAKEN OFF
With the completion of the new Cazenovia & Sauk City Railroad, and the awarding to the company of the Government contracts at the beginning of 1911, an institution passed from existence which had been a vital element of the community for forty years-the Cazenovia, Iron- ton and La Valle Stage. The route of seven miles was established in 1871, soon after the North Western Railroad was extended from Madi- sou to Sparta, and became the connecting link between the great outside world and the lonely inland farms and villages. Those were pioneer days in the little valley and Indians often came from their tepees along the river to watch the wagon that passed so often. Those, too, were re- construction days after the great war, and echoes of the conflict were often heard. Those, too, were furnace days at Ironton and the grim "Iron King," John F. Smith, rode over his thousands of acres by day and watched his white-hot molten pour into the earthen bed prepared for it, by night.
From the first the stage was an important factor in the life of the people. Its comings and goings were events of the quiet days. It brought missives to and from loved ones and newspapers, rare and precious in the early years, were eagerly awaited. Like the tides of the ocean, the stage came and went, giving and taking, in the ebb and flow.
How faithful it was-sometimes late, but unfailing! Through torrid' heat or fiereest blizzard, through blinding dust or frowning rains, the old stage persevered. The first to plow through bottomless mud holes or high piled snow drifts or to ford treacherous high water-fearless and undaunted. Then, too, there were days of wonderful beauty when the road was all too short, when the birds sang and flowers bloomed ; hazy Indian summer days, and sharp bright frosty mornings when the icicles hung from the trees, a glittering mass.
And what a motley throng through all the years passed "over the line!" Returned soldiers, in early times, told many a thrilling tale of prison and starvation, forced night marches and the slaughter of fellow men. Young and old, rich and poor, of many races and creeds, and conditions of life, "knights of the grip" galore-good fellows and good travelers, with a good cigar and story for the driver. Sons and daugh- ters of the old homes, coming or going, on business or pleasure bent. Often merry crowds whiled away the trip with song and jest. Strangers at the beginning of the ride were friends at its close and many romances began within the curtained recesses of the old stage.
NOTED STAGE HORSES AND DRIVERS
No one ever mistook the stage horses. They seemed to acquire a certain indefinable air of importance and many good teams gave their best years to the service. A pair that always swung proudly around the
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corners was the Hanzlik grays. Everyone remembers the one that couldn't get used to the trains. Though driven daily to the station for years she would rear and plunge at each approach of her dreaded enemy.
Neither shall we forget the drivers-they are a long list through all the years. Alonzo Scott was among the first. Alf. Banks and John Fitzgerald, Jr., Charles St. John and Daniel Wright, were old favorites. Martin Hanzlik owned and drove the route for twelve years. His courtesy and ready wit could always be relied upon and his circle of friends was indeed a wide onc. Petie Duren was a popular driver, and during his term passengers of the fair sex usually occupied the front seat of the vehicle. Big, genial John Leimkuehler was the last (but not the least) owner, and "Jolly Jim" Kitson held the reins on the last trip of the old stage over the familiar road.
FAREWELL TO THE OLD STAGE COACH
Farewell to the old system! The iron horse has superseded it and we would not wish it otherwise. The march of progress, even when delayed, is ruthless, and all in its path must succumb. But we need not be forgetful of the friend that served us so long and faithfully-the standby of less prosperous days, the forerunner of, we trust, a greater prosperity. The coming generation will scoff at it, but time will veil the many imperfections and shortcomings and leave us only pleasant memories of the old stage coach.
AN AUTO STAGE LINE
Since August, 1915, the line between Baraboo and Kilbourn has been equipped with a couple of "autos"-an International truck car and a powerful Buick coach. Probably no road in the county has been more thoroughly improved, and there is no route along which more improvements are pending. Writing in the year mentioned, a local newspaper man has this to say regarding the line mentioned: "In all probability the greatest improvements or changes is the road between Baraboo and Kilbourn, and the method of travel. Those who knew the road five years ago can have an appreciation of the changed conditions. There were several sand hills that kept the autoists guessing and fre- quently they had to cut brush and place in the road to keep their cars from being 'buried alive.' " Now they can go over those hills at twenty- five to fifty miles an hour. With present methods of road building and the auto-way, the two places, which were two and a half hours apart, have been brought to a distance of one hour apart with the new stage. But when it comes to comfort and an enjoyable ride, there is no com- parison. The price then was $1.25, and today it is $1.00. The change for the better is more than that. The time is less than half, while the money consideration is twenty per cent less.
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REPORT OF HIGHWAY COMMISSIONER FOR 1916.
Total
Town or Village
Road or Street
Am't avail- able
Surface
Width
Length Expended Balance
Ableman-Broadway
$6896.50
Brick, Ableman gravel
18 ft, 15 & 9 ft
4400 ft
$5272.70
$1613.80
Ableman-River street.
1613.80
15 ft
2400 ft
1194.64
419.16
Baraboo-West Sauk
2245.44
9 ft
1520 ft
934.83
1310.61
Baraboo-Woolen Mill
1738.01
Ableman gravel
9 ft
1892 ft
1569.66
168.35
Delton-Baraboo-Reedsburg
1399.94
Ableman gravel
9 ft
1320 ft
1006.55
393.39
Delton-New Port
1583.01
Graded
2640 ft
184.00
1399.01
Excelsior-Chappel
565.56
9 ft
1700 ft
565.56
Excelsior-Ableman-Reedsburg .
1267.50
15 and 9 ft
2994 ft
1186.97
80.53
Excelsior-Freedom-Baraboo
2240.00
Local gravel, Albeman gravel
9 ft
5280 ft
2156.56
83.44
Excelsior-Baraboo-Reedsburg
1600.00
Local gravel, Albeman gravel
9 ft
2800 ft
822.51
779.49
Excelsior-Reedsburg-Delton
500.00
Graded
9 ft
4250 ft
242.30
257.70
Fairfield-Cemetery
413.29
9 ft
650 ft
2345.23
53.70
Freedom-Marsh and Loganville.
1173.63
Slate
9 ft
3440 ft
1171.01
2.64
Honey Creek-Leland
2515.20
Honey Creek-Prairie du Sac.
400.00
Stone
38 ft
400 ft
1517.93
808.77
Merrimack-Prairie du Sac. .
1450.88
Graded
2600 ft
272.72
1178.16
Prairie du Sac-Honey Creek.
6977.87
Stone
9 ft
6600 ft
5119.23
1858.64
Prairie du Sac-Honey Creek No. 903 ..
1858.64
Stone
9 ft
2800 ft
1814.79
43.85
Vill. Prairie du Sac-Water Street.
5725.11
Briek
18 ft
1600 ft
4658.91
1066.10
Vill. Prairie du Sac-Prairie Street .. ... 3513.99
Rock and gravel
15 and 9 ft
2600 ft
3414.71
99.28
Reedsburg-Lime Ridge and Fish Pond. 3302.04
Ableman gravel
9 ft
4100 ft
3302.04
Reed-burg-Halhersleben
1054.65
Ableman gravel
9 ft
1600 ft
1132.69
...
Reedsburg-Gifford Hill.
1398.59
Ableman gravel
9 ft
1700 ft
1234.13
164.46
Sauk City-Water Street. .-
5197.56
Concrete
15 ft
2640 ft
5196.73
.83
Spring Green-Beaver Hill.
7715.23
Rock
9 ft
6700 ft
7719.10
6.13
Spring Green-Big Hollow.
3411.43
Rock
9 ft
4000 ft
3332.37
79.06
Troy-Spring Green and Black Hawk .. .. 4353.62
Rock
9 ft
7920 ft
4255.96
97.66
Troy-Sauk .
799.44
Rock
9 ft
1400 ft
799.44
Washington-Hill Point-Sandusky .....
822.26
Grading
35.85
786.41
Washington-Hill Pt .- Buehl S. House ...
822.27
Grading
9 ft
7710 ft
7181.79
58.84
Westfield-Spring Green
4666.80
Rock
9 ft
5280 ft
4591 40
75.40
Road and Bridge Contingent Fund.
816.38
2517.53
Moving Fund
2160.84
550.97
Machinery Fund.
13629.02
2683.45
Gravel Pit Fund.
15523.58
1055.53
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
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..
17.50
804.77
Westfield-Hill Point
7240.63
Rock
9 ft
3250 ft
1303.51
1211.69
Honey Creek-Prairie du Sac No. 355 ..
3000.00
118.03
171.35
228.65
Lime Ridge-Main Street ..
2376.70
Rock
413.29
Fairfield-Leech Creek
2398.93
Rock
2881.97
Ableman gravel Ableman gravel
Ableman gravel Stone
in 1916
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
There is a feature in this present staging business that has not been so well overcome, however. It is the winter weather. The hot weather and rain storms do not interfere now as they used to, but the cold weather and drifts are more difficult, and it looks now as if the only solution is the flying machine-but that must be left to a few years of development.
In mentioning the weather we are reminded of the "Cold New Year's Day" in 1864. It was thirty-seven degrees below and James Curry, the stage driver, was an hour or so late that morning. He had but one passenger and his sleigh tipped over several times on Webster's Prairie. The passenger, although bundled in blankets, nearly froze, while Mr. Curry, without overshoes, did not suffer. There were six stage routes out of Kilbourn at that time and several drivers eame in with frozen hands and feet." It is such times that try the metal of the stage drivers, or anyone else.
This was the first trip the writer ever made on a stage, and it was Mr. Hulbert's last trip as stage driver. In many respects he enjoyed the work. We speak advisedly in saying "work," for stage driving is not pleasure-it just looks like it to the visitor who takes a trip. In taking the mail the driver visits all the boxes along the line within two or three miles of the Village of Delton. One is reminded of the street ears the way the big car is so frequently stopped and started. In some places the houses are about a block apart. Then when one makes two round trips to Kilbourn, delivering the half-dozen or more passengers to the right places, besides collecting the express packages and parcels, he is a busy man.
PRESENT SAUK COUNTY STAGES
Besides the Baraboo-Kilbourn line operated by Ernest Newell, there are four routes in the county.
The line between Spring Green and Plain is owned and operated by E. T. Hill of Spring Green.
There are two lines from Reedsburg. The White Mound stage, via Loganville, is owned by J. R. Donahue, Reedsburg. The Sandusky stage, via Lime Ridge, is also owned by Mr. Donahue.
After the railroad between La Valle and Cazenovia was opened, the stage was abandoned, as previously narrated in this volume. On Decem- ber 1, 1915, the line was again opened, the service of the railroad not being satisfactory to the residents of Ironton and Cazenovia. The line is owned by Jesse Frye, who usually drives. His substitutes are Harry McNamer and Clinton Bernamon.
THE GOOD ROADS MOVEMENT
The Good Roads Movement, as something effective and a producer of practical results, in Sauk County, is something less than a decade in age
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and, in consideration of that faet, the progress made is certainly a cause for pride. The central and southern townships have generally taken the lead in the pushing of these improvements, and, among the citizens of the county who have been working along these lines with energy and faith none have shown greater zeal and effectiveness than the highway commis- sioner now serving, John Gunnison. The report of that official for 1916 shows what was done throughout the county in the way of road building for that period, and in a general way is a gauge of the relative prom- inence of the different localities in the work under consideration. It shows the localities where the improvements have been carried on, the nature of the improvements, the dimensions of the roads, the amounts available for the work, the expenditures for that year and the balance carried over to 1917.
The first stone road in the county was built about thirty years ago near the center of seetion 11 in the Town of Freedom, about a mile south of the Village of North Freedom. The land was very soft and the hauling of hundreds of cords of wood over the road made it practically impassable. The road was built with volunteer labor on the part of the citizens roundabout and the stones placed there have been covered by crushed rock during recent years.
The towns of Baraboo and Sumpter were the pioneers in road con- struetion under modern methods. The first road built in the Town of Baraboo was near St. Michael's Cemetery northwest of the city. This was without county aid. The first stone road in Sumpter was on the bluff in the north part of the town.
At the annual meeting of the Town of Baraboo on April 7, 1903, Wil- liam Toole introduced a resolution providing that the town road lead- ing into Baraboo receiving the largest donations be paved, providing arrangements could be made with the City of Baraboo to connect the paved portion of the city streets with the town road. The road leading toward Reedsburg through Lyons received the most subscriptions and was paved with erush rock from a quarry west of the city and near the highway. The resolution introduced by Mr. Toole presupposed the granting of county aid as provided by an act of the 'Legislature in 1901. In 1904 the county voted the Town of Baraboo $964.28 county aid.
November 17, 1905, the road and bridge committee of the Sauk County Board of Supervisors recommended that the petitions of the Town of Sumpter for $700 and the Town of Baraboo for $1,000 county aid to build roads of crushed rock be granted as requested. H. E. Stone was the supervisor from the Town of Sumpter and Henry A. Hill was the supervisor from the Town of Baraboo. The resolution was adopted.
At the November session of the county board in 1906, the commit- tee on roads and bridges recommended that the petition of the Town
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WEST SAUK ROAD BEFORE AND AFTER IMPROVEMENT
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
of Baraboo for $1,000, Sumpter for $715 and Greenfield for $1,000 county aid to build macadam roads be granted. Adopted. The super- visors from the three towns respectively were HI. A. Hill, II. E. Stone and W. C. Pruyn.
The State Legislature of 1907 having adopted a law relative to the establishment of a county highway system, Supervisor J. T. Donaghey of North Freedom presented the following resolution at the meeting of the county board on November 20, 1907: Resolved, That the chair- man of the county board appoint a committee of seven members, to report at the next session of the board, a system of prospective county highways and present with their report an outline map for considera-
ROAD SURFACED WITH CRUSHED STONE
tion of the members of the board. The following composed the com- mittee : H. E. Stone, Sumpter; E. M. Davies, Village of Spring Green ; William Halbersleben, Reedsburg; R. B. Griggs, City of Baraboo; HI. E. Pettit, Ironton ; Theodore Steele. Delton; and J. T. Donaghey, Village of North Freedom.
June 11. 1908, the report of the committee was presented by J. T. Donaghey, the secretary, and a resolution demanding a better system of highways was submitted and adopted. A map accompanied the report. The salary of the highway commissioner was fixed at $1,000 for a term of three years. J. T. Donaghey was elected the first highway commissioner.
At the June session of 1909, H. E. Stone, G. Scharnke and F. E.
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HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY
Shults were appointed as a committee on county highways. The towns of Baraboo, Bear Creek, Delton, Fairfield, Freedom, Merrimack, Sumpter, Troy, and Winfield asked for county aid amounting to $7,532.35 which was granted. The total amount appropriated by the county in 1909 was $24,732.35.
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