History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 109

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298

USA > Wisconsin > Richland County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 109
USA > Wisconsin > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 109

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the unevenness of the surface a symmetry and a certain system easily recognizable. As this action upon the rocks occupied the period preceding the glaciers, we, for convenience, call it the pre-glacial.

2nd. The modifications of the surface constitut- ing the first class of topograpical features were produced by running water; those of the second class, which follows next in order of time, were formed by ice, in the form of glaciers, and by the various agencies, brought into action by their melting. The work of the ice was two-fold; first, in the partial leveling of the surface by planing off the hills and strewing the finely pul- verized rock npon the surface of the valleys; second, in the creation of a new, nneven surface by the promiscuous heaping up the clay, sand, boulders and gravel, thus giving the land a new aspect. Among the features produced by this movement of gigantic mountains of ice, are par- allel ridges, sometimes many miles in length, having the same general direction as the ice movement; hills of a rounded, flowing contour, like many found along the shores of the Wiscon- sin river ; half embosomed rocky ledges crop- ping out of the billside, like giant battlements on titanic castles ; all of which combine to form a peculiar and distinctive contour of surface easily recognizable. All these apparent freaks of nature being due to the action of the ice are therefore denominated, glacial features.

3d. Subsequent upon the subsidence of the glacial period the streams resumed their wearing action, but under different conditions, and carved out a new surface contour, the features of which may be termed post glacial or drift.

There are no evidences of any violent disrup- tions of the earth's crust in the county, but the region has owed all its peculiarity of aspect en- tirely to the above agencies.

GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY.

The county of Richland is situated in the southwestern portion of the State of Wisconsin, but one range of counties separating it from the line between this and the State of Illinois,

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

and is in the second tier of counties east of the Mississippi river. It is bounded on the north by Vernon and a small portion of Sauk, the latter also forming the eastern boundary; to the south lie Iowa and Grant counties, from which it is separated by the Wisconsin river; on the west it has Crawford and Vernon counties for a boundary. The general shape of the county is almost a square, except upon the southern bor- der, where the line follows the sinuosities of the river, and is therefore of an irregular shape. Containing, as it does, some sixteen townships, it covers, in area, 620 square miles, or nearly 400,000 acres. The general character of the land is steep, bluffy hills and fertile valleys, and streams course down each dale. When the white man first settled within its boundaries, the face of the earth was covered with a dense primeval forest, and much of the county is, to this day, heavily timbered.

Great timber masses of trees cover the hillsides and the ridges, and fully supply all the needs of the community for fuel, rails and building lumber. The principal varieties are: white oak, (Quercus Alba), black oak, ( Quercus Tinctora), red oak, (Quercus Rubra), burr oak, ( Quercus Macrocarpa), elm, (Ulmus Amer- cana), white maple, ( Acer Dasycarpum), sugar maple, (Arer Succharinum), white ash, (Frar- inus Americanu), basswood, (Tilia Americana), pine, (Pinus Sylvesteris), white and black wal- nut, and cherry. These timbers support one of the principal industries of this section of coun- try, saw-milling.

The broken face of the country, while its cli- matorial effects are very pleasant, modifying the rigidity of a prairie winter, does not present the advantages of Illinois or Iowa, for large capitalists who desire to open up immense grain or stock farms. The peculiar topography of this county marks out its future destiny, to be divided up into small tracts, occupied by in- dustrious, thrifty farmers, raising a comfortable living, and each having a surplus, sometimes large and sometimes small, to spare for invest-

ment in manufactures or any other scheme called for by the recourses or progress of the country. The principal attention of the rural population is engaged in the raising of stock, and notably that of sheep, although the dairy interests are by no means small. It is claimed that the county of Richland has the elements of greater superiority, in the rearing of this class of stock, over any other part of the State; besides the abundance of water power affords unusual fa- cilities for investment in woolen manufacturies.

The geology of this section of the State is marked throughout the county by the outerop of Trenton limestone, near or at the top of the bluffs or hills ; this strata varies in thickness from a few feet to twenty, and invariably over- lies a substratum of Potsdam sandstone, which is of a friable nature, and varies from a light cream or buff color, through all the gradation of shades to a reddish brown. This rock is largely quarried, and is extensively used for building purposes. The Trenton limestone is well known for its caves and the fantastic shape it often puts on where exposed to the elements. One of these curious freaks of nature is quite noted throughout this county. We refer to the natural bridge, at the town of Rockbridge, of which the following description has been writ- ten by one of the early pioneers of the county : " Richland county boasts a natural bridge, which, though of less pretensions than the Nat- ural Bridge of Virginia, is still a curiosity wor- thy of an examination. It is located in the town of Rockbridge, the name being suggested by it. The visitor, in traveling north through the town of Rockbridge, is struck with the utter abandonment of style or purpose in the distribu- tion of the rocks and ledges, until he arrives at this bridge, consisting of a mass of rocks about a half mile in length, from thirty to ninety feet in height, and varying in width (we should judge) from three to five rods at the top, but shelving so that it is much less at the bottom. Here a purpose might be assigned, and that, the damming up, or changing from its channel the

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

meandering west branch of the Pine river, though it heeds not the obstacle, but pursues its serpentine windings to the ledge and along its side, and seeks, successfully, for escape through an aperture beneath the massive strue- ture, which its action and old Father Time have evidentiy enlarged beyond its primitive size. The arch is irregular, about ten feet high, ex- clusive of a narrow seam which extends far up toward the top, and some eighteen or twenty feet wide at the bottom ; and has formerly been utilized by building a flume to run a grist mill."

While upon this subject, it were perhaps as well to give a description of some caves in the town of Sylvan, located on section 34, which have not been as yet thoroughly explored. One of these eaves has long been known as the Bear Den, their lair, which had been supposed to be the extent of the cavern, having been often seen. The entrance to the cave, about 200 feet above the level of the creek (west branch of Mill creek), and from a sink hole of about ten feet in depth, is through an opening in the solid rock; the passage of twenty feet is high and wide enough for a man, followed by a wider one for forty feet further, after which, by change of direc- tion, the Bear Den is reached ; after this a pas- sage of ten rods brings the explorer to a small hole, just a close fit for a man's body, through which they can climb, then making their way through a difficult passage of twenty rods, which will bring them to a round room, about thirty feet in diameter, from the center of which a small stream of water is constantly drip- ping. Two passages lead off from this room ; the one from the left is through rock, ten rods, where a pool of pure, clear water, about two feet deep, is found ; passing this, the end of that cavern is reached in about four rods ; the passage leading from the right of the central room also discovers a pool of good water, larger than the other. After passing the water, at the distance of ten rods, a small opening is found, but what remains beyond has not been explored.

On the other side of the creek, from the caves above described, on the bluff, another, equally curious, has been visited. The two, or either of them, will well repay an exploration. The distance from the Centre is about fourteen miles, and it does seem curious that the citizens of that place are not more fully acquainted with these natural curiosities.

The county abounds in fine springs and pure streams of water, among the latter of which some swell to the dignity of rivers, while others rejoice in the nomenclature of creeks. Pine river, which is probably the most important, rises just over the line in Vernon county, trav- erses the entire length of Richland county in a general southerly direction, sometimes inclin- ing to the eastward, watering the towns of Henrietta, Rockbridge, Richland, Buena Vista, and a small corner of Ithaca. The principal affluents are Indian, Melancthon, Soules, Hawk- ins, Fancy, Willow and Ash creeks, and the West branch.

The Kickapoo river traverses sections 6, 7, 18 and 19 of the town of Forest, its principal affluent, Camp creek, running from the east, westward across the whole town, and fertilizing with its waters the surrounding country.

The little Baraboo river rises in the town of Westford, flowing in an easterly direction, passes into Sauk county, crossing the county line in section 12.

The west branch of the Baraboo river just enters the county, in section 1 of the town of Westford.

Besides these rivers, several creeks of some cou- siderable dimensions are found within the limits of the county, of which the most notable are: Knapp's creek, in the western part of Akan and Richwood; Eagle or Mill creek, which rises in the southern part of the town of Forest and flows southerly through the towns of Sylvan, Eagle and Dayton; Willow creek and tribu- taries, which water the eastern part of the county, and Bear creek, whose waters lave the

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY,

bosom of Ithaca and Buena Vista towns, and finally empties into the Wisconsin.

SOIL, PHYSICAL FEATURES AND CROPS.

Richland county is said to be within the mineral range. In the southern part some lead ore has been found, but always in small quanti- ties, never in large enough bodies to induce the mining of it to be extensively entered into. Iron ore is, however, present in many places, and considerably good sized leads of it have been found at several points, the most impor- tant being at or near the town of Cazenovia. There has never been sufficient development, except at the latter place, to ascertain whether it exists in very extensive veins or not. Occa- sional specimens of copper ore have been also found, principally in the form of float or surface pieces.

The soil, throughout nearly the whole of the county, is found to be, in the valleys, a deep black, rich, alluvial loam; in some places, however, more particularly about the river bottoms, it is quite sandy. The soil upon the upland ridges seems quite often to be a species of clay, and is claimed to be the very best land for the lux- uriant growth of winter wheat. The land upon some of the hill sides is too steep for cultiva- tion, and the narrower ridges are deemed un- suitable for that purpose, but they are very valuable for grazing purposes and for the tim- ber. ' About one-fifth of the territory is under cultivation; one-half to two-thirds of the re- mainder may be easily tilled; while very little will be lost to the economical, thrifty and in- telligent class of farmers who make it their home.

The soil and climate are well adapted to the cultivation of wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn, po- tatoes, tobacco, hops, all kinds of vegetables, clover, timothy and other grasses, and plenty of all these are raised for home consumption, besides having a large surplus for export. Ap-

ples and grapes can be raised with more than moderate success, and all the small fruit thrive abundantly, while wild plums, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries are indigenous. An article published in the Richland county Observer, written by W. M. Fogo, thus speaks of the capabilities of the county:

"While the county is well adapted to almost everything known to agricultural economy, its best hold is stock raising. No section of the State is better adapted to it; the hills and val- leys and crystal brooks affording convenient range, protection and water. Until recent years the farmers have paid but little attention to this industry, but latterly they are engaging in it extensively, and there are numerous fine herds and flocks, which are rapidly increasing in number and quality as the years roll on."

The industries of the county are : farming, in all its various forms; butter and cheese- making; lumbering, principally in fine hard woods ; milling, manufacturing of various kinds, and nearly all of the varied mechanic arts and employments. There are some twenty grist, thirty saw, and two woolen mills within the county. Many good water powers exist all over the county, quite a number of which re- main to be improved. The villages of the county are : Richland Centre, Lone Rock, Sex- tonville, Richland City, Orion, Eagle Corners, Port Andrew, Excelsior, Boaz, Viola, West Lima, Spring Valley, Woodstock, Rockbridge, Stalwart, Cazenovia, Loyd and Ithaca.

Of these Richland Centre is by far the larg- est, and is a thriving village and the county seat and commercial center, and is the terminus of the Richland Center branch of the Prairie du Chien division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad.

There are some thirty-three postoffices in the county, but Richland Centre and Lone Rock are the only money order ones within its limits.

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

CHAPTER II.

MOUND BUILDERS AND INDIAN OCCUPANCY.

The historian, looking back away down the dim corridor of time, perceives faintly in the mythical light of that far off, pre-historic period, before the red man's foot had desecrated its soil, the traces of a race who evidently peopled these hills and valleys of Richland county ; a race who lived in semi-barbaric civilization, akin to that of the Aztec that Cortez found on the plains of Mexico ; a race who lived and died and left no trace of their existence except the mysterious mounds and ridges that they have built or that mark the site of their ruined buildings; a race of whom no tradition even exists from which their history can be written ; a people of mystery, and probably ever to re- main so-the Toltecs or Mound-builders.

The high bluffs and the broad, level bottom lands along the Wisconsin river are in many places thickly dotted over with these reminisen- ces of a vanished race. In many localities these relics have attracted much antiquarian at- tention, and many theories have been advanced, plausible enough, but apparently only based upon vague speculation, accounting for their origin and purpose. The few slight traces of bones and implements, with, in some instances, pottery, are all that are left to tell us of a race that has been extinct for centuries.

In the neighborhood of Excelsior, Port An- drew, Richland City, and all along the Wiscon- sin river, these mounds are quite numerous, and are of various shapes and sizes; but we have failed to find that any attempt has been made to elucidate their mystery by a careful research.

During the summer of 1881, a party from Mineral Point made some research, near Lone Rock, in this county, under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, and in the interest of anthropology, of which the following account is given:

"The mounds opened were in the meadow of Mr. Loomis, two miles north of Lone Rock, where was found a group of about twenty mounds-all round, except one, which was ob- long, and about 200 feet long. The land and mounds had been cultivated, but are now in grass, and no doubt, by these means, the mounds have been greatly denuded; they were in diam- eter the same as those above mentioned, but lower; no regular design in their position was observed, except in those farthest east, where were seven round mounds in a north and south line, with a mound to the east and west of the second mound, from the south end of the line, each mound about thirty feet in diameter, and distant sixty-six feet from center to center, thus forming a cross. The second mound from the south end or center of the cross was opened, but at the depth of four feet, they were satis- fied from the appearance of the earth, that it had been opened before, and the excavation re- filled, as it showed no outward signs of having been interfered with.

"Another mound to the west was then opened, and at the depth of three feet the bones of three persons were found; they were so decom- posed, fragile, and near to dust that it was only with great care, that parts of them could be preserved; these bodies had been laid upon the

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HISTORY OF RICIILAND COUNTY.

surface of the ground, and the mound erected over them; they were doubled up at the knees and hips and laid east and west, with the head alternately each way; one of them is thought to have been a man six feet three inches, and the others of ordinary stature. Strong evidence that part of the remains had been burned, were obtained here, as also the greater part of the genuine skull of a mound builder; many bones and fragments, some charred to coal were taken from here, as also many of the teeth, which were best preserved of all.

"Another mound about 100 feet southeast of the last one mentioned, was then opened, and at the depth of two and one-half feet were found the bones of two persons of ordinary stature, in the same condition, and buried in the same manner, as those last described."

Some idea of the antiquity of these mounds, so called, may be gathered from the fact, that some of them in various portions of the State, represent the form of a mastodon, which leads to the inevitable conclusion, that those ancient buil- ders were cotemporary with that long extinet an- imal. This theory has been strengthened by the presence of mastodon bones found in the mounds. And the conclusion is reached that, either these Toltees were of earlier date than has been generally supposed, or that the masto- don or mammoth is of later.

Many other monuments of this long banished race are to be found throughout the county, but it would seem that no further effort has been made toward investigating them. Whether they were a race with all the refinements and civilization of the Egyptian or Babylonian, as has been claimed for them, or whether they had but the ruder culture of the more primitive races, remains as ever an unwritten mystery ; their history has perished in the lapse of ages, and been buried under the dust of centuries.

Of their successors, the red Indian, the Seythi- an American, but little has been preserved. Their traditions, like the traditions of all bar- barons races, border so much upon the marvel-

ous ; are so inter-warped with the myths and creations of the imagination, that what is faet and what is fable it were difficult to determine. The early French explorers in their wanderings to and fro, throughout what is now the broad domain of the State of Wisconsin, record about all that is positively known of the whereabouts of the various tribes that then had a habitation or that hunted and fished within the limits of the State.

We are told, that the earliest that is known, with any degree of accuracy, of any tribes in- habiting the vast wooded solitudes of Richland county, is, that, it was the hunting ground of a portion of the tribe of Sauks or Sacs, and their friends and allies, the Ottagamies or Foxes. These tribes are of the great Algonquin family and are perhaps one of its most noted branches, and the first mention is made of them by the French Jesuit missionary, Allouez, during a voyage made by him in 1665. The valley of the Wisconsin river seems to have been a favorite locality for them. They were, as is told by the Jesuits, an industrious Nation, singularly so for Indians, and cultivated large tracts of corn lands. History still records the fact that they had quite an extensive village on the northern banks of the Wisconsin river, within the limits of this county, not very far from the present site of Port Andrew, perhaps just west, near what is now known as the Coumbe farm, as the large amount of graves of the red hunter and warrior, found upon that place would lead one to believe.

The northern part of the county was claimed and held by a portion of the Winnebagoes, or men of the sea, as the name is translated, show- ing that they had migrated from the shores of the great salt water in previous ages. These two tribes, with a small sprinkling of Potta- wattamies, formed the bulk of the aboriginal inhabitants before the advent of the white man.

The Foxes and Sacs ceded all their portion of this county to the United States, by a treaty,

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

signed in 1804, so that they were no longer owners of any land within its limits, nor were they found in any great numbers this side of the Mississippi river, until the episode of the Black Hawk war, in 1832. However, this was, from the date of its cession to the general gov- ernment, by the Foxes and Saes, the favorite hunting gronnd of the Winnebagoes. These people had some settlements also in the south- ern and central portions of the county, accord- ing to tradition, and were for many years inimi- cal to the Americans, having espoused the cause, and taken up arms in favor of the British, dur- ing the War of 1812-15.

In 1816, however, a treaty of peace was en- tered upon with them by the general govern- ment, at St. Louis ; and finally, in November, 1837, the Winnebagoes ceded to the United States, all their lands east of the Mississippi river. Nothing was reserved, and it was agreed npon by the contracting parties, that within some eight months from the time of the sign- ing of the treaty, the Indians would all move west of the "Father of Waters." This arrangement was not fully carried out, the rich

forests of Richland and adjoining counties proving too strong a temptation, and many still lingered in their former home. The history of these nomadie inhabitants has been treated here in rather a cnrsory manner, as the full details will be found elsewhere in this volume.

Close in the neighborhood of Port Andrew, in the southern portion of the county, tradition still points out the place of a battle, between two bands of rival Indian claimants, for the right of hunting in the rich region of the Wis- consin bottoms.

Another fact in history is, that Black Hawk crossed Richland county in his retreat from the infuriated settlers of Grant and Jo Daviess counties, just before he made his last stand at Bad Ax. The trail along which he passed was plainly visible to many of the early settlers, and was followed by many of them. The trail, as seen by them, crossed the Wisconsin river near the mouth of Honey creek, then passed northward through the towns of Buena Vista, Ithaca, Rockbridge and Bloom, following one of the creek valleys.

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

769

CHAPTER III.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

Coming down to what may more properly be | ing twenty years of age, he, in company with called the historic age, it suffices to say that prior to 1838 the region now constituting Rich- land county was known only by a few adven- turous hunters and trappers, who had pushed their way into the depths of its pristine woods in search of the game that then abounded in its solitudes.

The wide, rushing current of the tortuous Wisconsin river, together with the presence of the wild denizens of the land, had checked the flow of emigration that had peopled the region lying south of that river in the previous years. In those early days a dense forest covered the face of hill and valley, and the bear, elk, deer and other smaller game literally abounded be- neath its umbrageous shades, and myriads of fish disported in its crystal streams. It was a favorite hunting ground of the Winnebagoes, who guarded it as the apple of their eye from the growing encroachments of their white neighbors, and who resented with violence the few faint attempts made to erect cabins thereon, by the few hunters and trappers that ranged its depthis.

The first white man who ever attempted a settlement within its borders was John Coumbe, of whom the following account has been written by Dr. R. M. Miller, who knew him well. Of him it says : " Captain John Coumbe was born in Devonshire, England, March 25, 1808. llis boyhood days, or a portion of them, were passed in the city of London, where he received his edneation. During the year 1828, then be-

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History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 109

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company Number of Pages: 1298

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298