USA > Wisconsin > An illustrated history of the state of Wisconsin : being a complete civil, political, and military history of the state, from its first exploration down to 1875 > Part 48
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As to the character of the bills that were passed, it is hardly time to ven- ture an opinion. The railway legislation was enacted as a sort of a com- promise, and consequently cannot be regarded as entirely satisfactory to anybody. The appropriations were large, but not greater, in most in- stances, than were warranted by a strict regard to the public interests.
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The following are some of the important laws passed : an act relating to the Wisconsin Central Railroad, amending the law of 1866; to more fully define and punish the crime of bribery; to encourage the building of narrow-gauge railroads and to secure cheap transportation; to render women eligible to school offices; to provide for taking a census, or enumeration of the people of the State; to provide for the revision of the statutes; to facil- itate the artificial propagation and preservation of fish; to amend the election law, abolishing registration of electors except to incorporated villages and cities; to provide for levying a State tax, for the year 1875, of 8236,125 in addition to the amounts authorized by existing laws; to protect public libraries; and to authorize the regents of University of Wisconsin to erect a building for scientific purposes.
The whole number of bills passed was three hundred and forty-four, seven joint resolutions, and twelve memorials to Congress.
At the election in April, 1875, Hon. Edward G. Ryan was elected chief justice of the Supreme Court for the term of six years.
Under a law of the session of 1874, approved March 19, providing for a geological survey of the State, Gov. Washburn, after the adjournment of the legislature, appointed I. A. Lapham, LL.D., chief geologist, and a competent corps of assistants.
In the senate, in the month of February, the question was raised, whether the State geologist had been properly appointed. The matter was referred to a committee, which committee made a unanimous report, that, Dr. Lapham's nomination never having been sent to the senate for confirmation, the office of State geologist was vacant. Gov. Taylor sent to the senate the name of Dr. O. W. Wight as State geologist; and his nomination was confirmed by the senate on the 15th of February. This appointment was criticised by some of the newspaper press; and it was charged that great injustice had been done to Dr. Lapham in the premises, after considerable work had been carried on in the survey by the geological party, who were unaware of the fact that Dr. Lapham's appointment had not been legally confirmed. On the other hand, it was said that the work, as performed in the Lake Superior country by the party, was not satisfactory ; and the members of the legislature from that section were strenuous for a change in the manage- meut.
The Republican State Convention for the nomination of State officers to fill the places of those now in office, whose terms expire Dec. 31, 1875, was held at Madison on the 7th of July, Ex-Gov. James T. Lewis, president. The following were nominated: for governor, Harrison Ludington; for lieutenant-governor, H. L. Eaton ; for secretary of state, H. B. Warner; for state treasurer, Henry Baetz; for attorney-general, J. R. Bennett ; for super- intendent of instruction, Robert Graham.
The Democratic State Convention is called to meet at Milwaukee on the 8th of September.
Inasmuch as this history will close on the 1st of August of the present year, 1875, it will, of course, be impossible to refer to future events. Both
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
the political parties are very confident of the result of the election of their State ticket the approaching campaign. It will undoubtedly be an active canvas, as it will be the last held prior to the presidential election of 1876.
In writing up the public events of the Territorial and State Governments, it has been the design of the compiler to give an unbiassed account of public occurrences, and measures of public policy. The time has not arrived for a writer on the history of this State to give his own views on these matters freely, without giving offence. Parties are still on the field of action who came here in the early day, and took an active part in the political history of the State and Territory, and were honest and decided in their convic- tions, whether right or wrong. The future historian will be better pre- pared to write what is now unwritten.
The information contained in this volume has been collated from original documents and authorities ; and it is hoped that few, if any, important errors will be found.
Since the Territory of Wisconsin was organized, it has had fourteen gov- ernors, - three under territorial rule, and eleven as a State. The Territorial governors were, Henry Dodge, James D. Doty, and Nathaniel P. Tallmadge. These men have all gone to their rest. The first State governor was Nelson Dewey, who still remains a quiet citizen of the State. The second was Leonard J. Farwell, now residing at Grant City, Worth County, Mo. The third, William A. Barstow, died some years since, in Kansas. The fourth, Coles Bashford, is now secretary of the Territory of Arizona. The fifth, Alexander W. Randall, died a few years since, at Elmira, N.Y. The sixth, Louis P. Harvey, died in office in 1862. The seventh, Edward Salomon, is . now practising law in New York City. The eighth, James T. Lewis, is a quiet citizen of Columbus, in this State. The ninth, Lucius Fairchild, is now consul at Liverpool, Eng. The tenth, C. C. Washburn, retired from office on the inauguration of his successor, William R. Taylor, the eleventh governor, on the 5th of January, 1874. The lieutenant-governors have been John E. Holmes, S. W. Beall, Timothy Burns, all dead; J. T. Lewis, after- wards governor; A. McArthur, Supreme Court judge in Washington City; E. D. Campbell, deceased : B. G. Noble, now in New York ; Edward Salomon became governor on the death of Gov. Harvey; Wyman Spooner, residing at Elk Horn, Wis. ; Thaddeus C. Pound, doing business at Chippewa Falls, Wis. ; M. II. Pettitt, deceased; and C. D. Parker, the present incumbent.
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CHAPTER LXVI.
SKETCHES OF COUNTIES.
The Agricultural, Mineral, Lumbering. Educational, and Manufacturing Re- sources and Developments of Wisconsin, by Counties -Notes and Statistics of the Leading Cities of Wisconsin.
IN addition to the foregoing general, civil, and political history of the State, we give the following sketches of the several counties, by which the reader may become familiar with the various interests and industries of the State, get a view of the principal cities, and observe the relative growth of various localities. Wisconsin is a great State: its undeveloped resources are marvellous to contemplate: its developments in agriculture and manu- facturing are well advanced, and in a prosperous condition. The internal improvements of the State testify to the intelligence and enterprise of the people. Everywhere throughout the State, evidences of thrift and industry are to be seen, as a perusal of the following county sketches will show.
ADAMS COUNTY.1- We refer readers ; which can be entered as homesteads; to the accompanying map for the loca- and the most of this will, if taken up by actual settlers, and properly culti- vated, make good and profitable farms. About four thousand five hundred acres are yet owned by the Milwaukee and La Crosse Railroad Company; and a large portion of this is still occupied by actual settlers. These lands are generally of a good quality. tion of the several counties. The south- ern part of the county is rolling, and the central part flat. It gradually rises from south to north. The soil is of a sandy loam, well adapted to the raising of rye, oats, barley, corn, &c. There is some worthless land in the county, but also much that is very good; and, with proper cultivation, it can be made to bear excellent crops.
There are about one hundred and thirty-nine thousand acres of laud in the conuty; and fifty thousand of these are under cultivation. About eighty per cent of that now unimproved is capable of cultivation. Abont fifty per cent of the land is owned by actual
The county is well watered by beau- tiful running streams; and many water- powers exist that are yet unimproved, especially in the central part of the county, north and south, on White Creek, and the Big and Little Roche-à- Gris. The prevailing timber is oak, ash, and maple along the streams, and oak, ash, and pine ou the uplands. There are settlers, at a price of from two dollars many valuable stone quarries in the to thirty dollars per acre; forty-nine thousand five hundred acres, by the State, at fifty cents per acre; and forty thousand to fifty thousand acres is yet owned by the General Government,
county, and one or two good brick- yards. Clay for the making of the very best brick is readily found almost anywhere in the county. The Wis- consin River runs along the western border of the county; and Big Roche-à- Gris, Little Roche-à-Gris, and White Creek are beautiful streams running into the Wisconsin River. Lake Jor-
1 We are Indebted for materials for this sketch to C. A. Capron and A. O. Holm of Friendship, Wis. - C. R. T.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
dan is situated in the south-eastern part of the county; is about four miles long, and two and a half wide; and is a very picturesque body of water. The county poor-house is very beautifully located upon the banks of this lake. Fish is found in this iake in great abundance, as well as in the streams; and game is very plentiful in the northern part of the county, con- sisting of deer, prairie-chickens, grouse, quails, ducks. of all kinds, wild geese, and other small game.
The principal source of industry in this county is agriculture; the crops raised being wheat, rye, corn, barley, and all kinds of garden vegetables. All kinds of roots are very prolific. Some attention is also paid to the pro- duction of lumber in the northern and north-western parts of the county. Cran- berries are cultivated to some extent, and are soon destined to play an im- portant part in the industry of the county. "A large portion of the county is well adapted to the cultivation of fruit; and twenty-five thousand acres have been purchased by parties for that purpose alone. Hops are also raised to some extent; and some attention has been paid to the raising of the sugar- beet. The county is proverbially healthy, the water good, and the cli- mate about the same as in the other central portions of the State. There is a foundery in operation at Big Spring, also a machine-shop, iron, lathe, and planing mill at that piace. There are also, in the county, several good flour- ing-mills, numerous small saw-mills, and one of the largest steam saw-mills in the State, situated at Barnum.
ASHLAND COUNTY.1- Ashiand County is the centre county of the northern bor- der of the State, on Lake Superior. It contains an area of about one million two hundred thousand acres, of which upwards of one hundred and fifty thou- sand acres belong to the State, while a large majority of the territory embraced within its limits still belongs to the General Government; large tracts being valuable ore and pine lands. Ashland Bay extends south-west, into the inte- rior of the county, some twenty miles, affording a most perfect harbor for commerce, and the largest white-fish fishery on the lake. Upon this mag- nificent sheet of water is situated the new town of Ashland, a terminus of the Wisconsin Central Railroad. The Penokee iron range lies east of Ash- land, about twenty-three miles, and is pierced by the Wisconsin Central, which taps the country that will be developed, affording excellent facilities
1 We are indebted to S. S. Fifield of Ash- land County for the materials for this sketch. -C. R. T.
for shipping ores and manufactured iron. "The work of prospecting these rast mineral deposits is now being pushed ahead; and the parties engaged receive the most flattering encourage- ment. Iron ore, at a depth of eight feet, has already been taken out, that is judged, by competent men, to yield sixty per cent. If the iron companies are successful in opening their mines, they will, in a very short time, give em- ployment to a vast army of miners and other laborers, at good wages.
"The country in the iron regions is rough and uneven; but the range of hills is covered with a heavy growth of maple and other hard wood. The soil is good for grain and other products; but the seasons are too short to raise corn, with the exception of the small Yankee variety. All varieties of vegetables can be grown successfully, and yield largely. The country is a natural one for tamne grass, which, where tried, does splen- didly. The whole county is heavily tim- bered with pine and hemlock forests, interspersed with belts of hard wood. A number of large streams, together with numerous branches and springs, affording abundant water-powers, water
the whole northern slope. Several good- sized inland lakes, full of fine fish, are to be found in different portions of the county. Fruit does well, far better than in the more central portions of the State. Apples, pears, tame and wild plums, thrive and grow rapidly. Of course there are no orchards as yet; but the experimental gardens prove, to a certainty, that fruit can be success- fully raised. There are several apple- trees now in Ashland, where nice apples can be seen growing. Small fruits can be raised here as well as anywhere. The whole country is a dense wilder- ness, but is now receiving that atten- tion it has so long deserved; and with the coming of railroads will also come the sturdy emigrant, the skilled me- chanic, the adventurous American, and the genuine inquisitive Yankee, who, with his inventive genius, will soon help to make the wooded hills resound with the hum of industry. It is the beginning of a new era in the history of our noble State, -one laden with great enterprises and wonderful devel- opments. The great inland sea of North America can no longer be a mere outline on the maps, to be talked about by school-children, but the live and busy centre of commerce, bearing burdens from Eastern climes and the fertile North-west, to the East Atlantic cities and commercial depots."
BAYFIELD COUNTY. 1-This county joins Ashland County on the north and west. It has an area of about " I am indebted for this sketch to Messrs, S. S. Fifield and J. D. Chuttenden. - C. R. T.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
eight hundred thousand acres, of | this county is gently rolling, although which a large portion belong to the State, and are known as "school, uni- versity, and swamp lands." These lands, although denominated "swamp-lands,' are, in many instances, far from being 80, as, in a majority of cases, only a fraction of the subdivision is wet and marshy; the balance being high and dry. The lands contain vast belts of valuable pine and other timber, and are being entered very fast by pine-land speculat- ors, as also are the government lands; a large portion of the county still be- longing to the United States. Bayfield County has more sandy soil than Ash- land; and, on the whole, the timber is not as dense as that of either Douglas on the west, or Ashland. The village of Bayfield is the county-seat. It con- tains a population of about a thousand souls. It is a well-built place; contains several saw-mills and stores; and is the head-quarters of one of the largest fishing-houses on the lake. This firm ship annually ten thousand packages of white-fish and trout. They go to Chicago and Buffalo markets princi- pally. Others do an extensive business in this line; and the catch can be safely set down at fifteen thousand packages annually. The United States Land Of- fice for the Northern District of Wis- consin is located at Bayfield; and, during the present year, business has been quite brisk in the office. The har- bor of Bayfield is undoubtedly the best on Lake Superior, and is accessible from three points of the compass for ship- ping. As a harbor-refuge, it is visited during the season by almost every vessel that plies the lake. During the summer season, Bayfield is crowded with pleas- ure-seekers from all parts of the Union. It is fast becoming a noted watering- place, and, in a few years, will excel all places of resort in the north. It has al- ready two good and well-kept hotels, the Bayfield House and Smith's Hotel. The county is in good condition finan- cially, and prosperous. The building of the Central Railroad to Ashland helps, rather than retards, the growth of Bay- field County.
Houghton Point is another beautiful place in Bayfield County, and bids fair to rival Bayfield as a place of resort. The scenery about Ashland, and the group of islands known as the " Apos- tles," is probably the finest on Lake Superior in many respects, and annual- ly attracts the tourist and traveller to view the ever-beautiful landscapes. Bayfield County has many sources of wealth, and will, ere long, contain a thrifty and prosperous population.
BARRON COUNTY.1-The surface of
1 I wish to acknowledge the assistance of Orville Brayton in the preparation of this sketch. - C. R. T.
the northern part is hilly and swampy. The southern and central portion of the county has a soil of dark clay loam; while the north-east part, which is prai- rie, is lighter, and mostly sand. There are about five hundred and sixteen thousand acres in the county, twenty thousand of which are under culti- vation; and about nine-tenths of the balance are capable of being worked. Of the whole amount, nearly twenty thousand acres, owned by actual eet- tiers, are held at an average price of seven dollars per acre. In the neigh- borhood of eleven thousand acres are State lands, located throughout the county, and for sale at from seventy- five cents to one dollar and a half per acre. Subject to entry under the Home- stead Law, and owned by the General Government, are one hundred and ninety-two thousand acres, mostly cov- ered by heavy timber. The facilities for water-powers are excellent. Streams traverse the county that are capable of indefinite improvement. White-pine, white and red oak, maple, ash, linden, balsam, and - aspen are the principal timber. The natural meadows consti- tute a very attractive feature of this region. Some are quite extensive; but they generally range from five to ten acres, and are scattered along river- bottoms and creeks throughout the en- tire county. Their present available area can be doubled by a little labor in clearing the margins of brush, and burning the ground. The principal varieties of grass are the flat-leaved, red- top, and blue-joint. All are of good quality and luxuriant growth, parti- cularly the blue-joint, which often at- tains the height of four or five feet, producing a marvellous yield of coarse but very sweet and excellent hay. Be- ing indigenous, they exhibit but little tendency to run out. Some of these meadows have been mowed by luinber- inen for twenty years, without any perceptible diminution of crop. The facilities which here exist for water- power are practically inexhaustible. Taking into account only such as can be cheaply utilized, they are more than sufficient to turn the wheels of all the manufacturing establishments in Mas- sachusetts; and considered in connec- tion with the fertility of the soil, the great quantity of timber adapted to mechanical purposes, and certain other conditions, real and possible, that ren- der this region favorable for the devel- opment of large manufacturing inter- ests, this vast water-power assumes a peculiar importance. With the rich iron inines of Superior lying in close neigh- borhood on the north, and the prairies and bottom-lands of the Mississippi Valley bordering on the south, only a
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
few miles of railroad are necessary for the profitable employment of labor and capital in founderies, woollen-mills, wagon-factories, and all the wood and iron-working shops for the manufacture of farming-implements and domestic furniture demanded by the greatest agricultural region in the world. As yet, but little has been done for the improvement of these extraordinary ad- "antages. Influenced, however, by their attractions, and believing in the proin- islug future of Barron County, a few enterprising capitalists and business- men have erected several fine mills for p""viding the settlers with lumber for building-purposes, and converting their grain into flour and feed.
Another great material interest, more peculiar to this region than any other, consists in extensive beds of catlinite, or Indian pipe-stone, a sort of red clay formation, found in stratified deposits of various thicknesses, convenient for quarrying, in the eastern portion of the county. According to the analysis of Dr. Jackson of Boston, as reported in "Silliman's Journal," it is composed of, in a hundred grains :-
Water
8.4 grains.
Silica
48.2
Alumina
28.2
Magnesia
6.0
Perox. iron
5.0
=
Ox. manganese
0.5
Carb. lime
2.6
Loss
1.0
The practical importance of this sin- gular compound cannot easily be over- rated. It is of a brownish crimson or mahogany color, exceedingly fine- grained, susceptible of a high polish, and, when first taken from the quarry, Is so chalky and soft as to be easily cut with a knife, or dressed with a plane, yet, after a few days' exposure to the air and light, assumes a flint-like tenacity and hardness, which resists the action of moisture, heat, and cold. For cen- tre-tables, counters, chimney-pieces, tes- Bellated pavements, facings of buildings, columns, monuments, and busts, for every thing in which it is necessary to unite the beauty of marble with the strength of granite, it possesses an adaptation of qualities which need only to be known to create a demand that even the exhanstion of these beds may not supply. Its exquisite richness and beauty, the great ease with which it can be wrought, together with the fact of its scarcity (geologists having reported its existence at but one other point on the whole continent), will render it a source of wealth to this county, in gen- erations to come, which might not be surpassed by mines of silver and | gold.
BROWN COUNTY. 1-This was the first point settled in the State. The county has an area of abont four hundred and fifty square miles, located at the head of Green Bay, a mighty arm of Lake Mich- igan, nearly a hundred miles in length, and with an average breadth of fifteen miles. The mean latitude is about 44º north, being a little higher than the southern coast of France. The climate is much colder than is experienced in Europe at the same parallel; but such is the dryness of the atmosphere, and steadiness of the temperature, that the winters are, in some respects, the most pleasant, as they are certainly the most healthful, portions of the year. A solid bed of dry snow for nearly three months affords highways of nnequalled facility for passage and transportation. It is a gratifying sight, on a fine winter's day, to witness the processions of Bel- gian and other farmers, with their sleds loaded with shingles, made by their own hands, from wood grown on their own soil, and wending towards the city of Green Bay, sure of being waylaid by some eager shingle-buyer "cash in hand." 'The only unpleasant portion of the year is the two months in the spring, beginning about the 10th of March, during which period the weatlı- er is usually wet, windy, and variable; but with the middle of May commences a season of sunshine and warmth, and ripening power, which urges on every kind of vegetation with a rapidity hard- ly equalled at any other spot of the earth's surface. The antumn, however, commencing about Sept. 28, is the pecu- liar boast of the climate in this part of the North-west. The cool but comforta- ble weather, the sunny days, and clear, frosty nights, have made the Indian- summer of this region famous and at- tractive throughout America. The county is exceedingly healthy.
There is hardly an acre of barren land in the county. The prevailing character of the soil may be called a sandy loam, easily worked, and susceptible of the highest degree of cultivation. Other descriptions of soil, of course, exist, varying with the changes of surface, the proximity of water, &c. ; but, what- ever the peculiarity of particular spots of ground, the one characteristic of fertility may be relied upon as existing almost everywhere with slight excep- tion.
The noble Fox River, navigable for the largest vessels, finds its outlet with- in the limits of the county, and fur- nishes the best harbor on the Great Lakes; while its several tributaries, and other streams which flow into the bay, make this peculiarly well watered. As
1 The reader is indebted to Hon. J. S. Cur- tis of Green Bay for this sketch. - C. R. T.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
might be expected in such a laud of | cific Railroad has just been le? to Messrs. wool and streams, there is no difficulty anywhere in obtaining wells supplied with abundant spring-water, by digging a moderate distance below the surface.
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