USA > Wisconsin > Grant County > History of Grant County, Wisconsin > Part 82
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The " Galena & Southern Wisconsin Narrow-Gauge Railroad " was projected in 1871. It was a Galena institution, originated by capitalists of that city, with a view of drawing to it the trade of the fertile region of the east half of Grant, and the west half of Iowa and La Fayette Counties, to the Wisconsin River. Surveys were made during 1871, and the route reported as feasible.
In May, 1872, the contract was let for building the road from Galena to Fennimore, to be- completed as far as Belmont the same year. On November 14, an election was held in Platte- ville to vote on the question of taking sufficient stock to induce the company to build it by way of that village, which was not at first intended. The proposition was carried by a vote of two to one, assuring the building of the road to Platteville. Work was carried on during the sum- mer and fall. During that year, officers of the road visited the towns asking subscriptions of stock. The terminus of the road was to be at Cassville. In the fall of 1874, the road had been graded and bridged to Platteville, and the iron and material was on hand to place the road in running order. Under the agreement by which Platteville had been induced to aid this project, the road was to be in running order in one year's time from the time such aid was voted ; an ex- tension had, however, been granted until the 1st of January, 1875. At that date, the first train ran into Platteville, but the rails had been hastily laid without any attention being paid to bal- lasting or security, and as soon as the train had been run out, the track was taken up and relaid later in a substantial manner and in the May or June following, the trains commenced running with regularity.
During 1873, the project of the " Chicago & Tomah Narrow-Gauge Railroad" was agitated. Meetings were held at various points and petitions of tax payers in favor of aid were filed, which, by August 14, amounted to over $100,000 in the county ; a meeting held in Lancaster in June- was favorable to voting $100,000 ; a vote in Fennimore, July 10, resulted in the defeat of any aid by fourteen votes ; on this account, a proposition of the company to Lancaster was with- drawn and no vote was ordered.
In 1872, a route had been surveyed from Lancaster to connect with the road up the Kick- apoo. But the project seems to have blown over for the time. In January, 1875, Lancaster had another severe attack of the railroad fever. A meeting was held January 16, largely attended, which voted unanimously in favor of a 5-per-cent tax on the assessed valuation, provided a road was brought to Lancaster from any point. Some favored connection with Dubuque, others with Platteville and Galena. Enthusiastic meetings were held at Potosi and Ellenboro, also February 11 at Dubuque, attended by delegates from Lancaster and Potosi, at which resolutions were adopted favoring railroad connection by any feasible route with Grant County. A ponton bridge was to be built at Dubuque, and the road run from Lancaster to Potosi and so to Dun- leith. A meeting was held early in the spring at Lancaster. H. A. Moore was authorized to employ a competent engineer to survey a route from Lancaster to Platteville, ascertain the cost and report. A company was organized under the State law known as the Lancaster, Platte- ville & Dubuque Railroad Company, capital $300,000. A survey was made and several routes to-
545
HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.
Platteville found practicable. The company was chartered and organized as the "Grant County Railroad Company," President, A. A. Moore ; Vice President, Addison Burr; Treasurer, John Schreiner ; Secretary, John G. Clark. Much discussion followed, and many projects were started through the summer of 1875. The Dubuque people were expected to assist, i was proposed that the road should be built to Specht's Ferry, and a tracked barge be put on the ferry, and a third rail on the road from there to Dubuque so that narrow-gauge cars could be run through. A special election was held at Lancaster, November 2, 1875, to vote on a prop- osition of the Grant County Railroad Company to build a road to Platteville on receipt of bonds for 5 per cent of the town valuation, viz., $43,000, the same not to be delivered till the road should be ready for the cars, and stock to be issued for the amount of the bonds. The result was 320 to 78 in favor of the proposition. During the winter and spring (1876), meetings were held and the enthusiasm continued. At a meeting February 25, it was voted that books of subscription be opened, and the Dunleith route be chosen, and Potosi asked to join hands. April 10, a meeting was held at Lancaster, and the Platteville route advocated ; $80,000 to $100,000 would be required, of which $15,000 was subscribed at once. June 6, an election was held in Liberty to vote on aiding this road to the amount of $5,350 (2} per cent on the town valuation) which resulted in the defeat of the proposal. Whether this vote cast a wet blanket upon the whole scheme or not, certain it is that all the projects under consideration shared the fate of their predecessors, and Lancaster became discouraged in regard to its pros- pects of ever having railroad communication with the outside world. Up to the close of 1877, out of all the efforts that had been made for nearly forty years, the only result was a few miles of the Milwaukee & Prairie du Chien road, along the eastern part of the north line of the county ; a still fewer number of miles of the Platteville & Calamine road, and the small end of the Galena & Southern Wisconsin Narrow-Gauge terminating at Platteville, and as the railroad- building era seemed to have passed, it was not supposed that any would ever be built. Matters remained thus for a year or two, when D. K. W. Williams, President of the Chicago & Tomah Railroad Company, again appeared upon the scene early in 1878. In March, he published a pamphlet or prospectus, in which the cost of construction was estimated at a trifle over $6,000 per mile, including rolling stock, which would be less than one-quarter the average debt of rail- roads in Wisconsin.
May 1, a large meeting was held at the court house, to consider a direct proposition from the Chicago & Tomah Railroad Company, namely: That if the town of Lancaster would vote a 5-per-cent aid (to wit : a subscription to first mortgage bonds to amount of $42,000), the whole amount of bonds not to exceed $5,000 per mile, the company would complete said road from a connection with the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad to Lancaster on or before November 1, 1878. The sense of the meeting was favorable to accepting the proposition; the necessary legal steps were taken, both in Lancaster and the towns between that and the Wisconsin River; Liberty and Fennimore also voted aid sufficient to make up a subscription of $5,000 per mile, and by May 16, the railroad force was actively at work in the county ; and with such expedition was the work pushed that, although the cars were not running from Woodman to Lancaster by November 1, they did actually enter the town Jannary 1, 1879, and thus the only successful attempt was made to penetrate with a railroad the interior of Grant County.
During 1879 and the first part of 1880, this company made efforts to continue their road from Fennimore east to Wingville, and thence to Madison, along the Military Ridge; and also from Wingville southward toward Freeport, the original destination of the road. In 1880, the Chicago & Northwestern Company purchased the Galena & Southern Wisconsin Narrow Gange, which was then being extended northward from Platteville toward the Wisconsin River; and very soon after, also purchased the Chicago & Tomah. The termini of the two roads were, at that time, only a few miles apart, and the gap was soon filled np by the Northwestern Company, and trains were run from Galena to Lancaster, thus giving the interior of the county an outlet in a southerly direction. The intention of the Northwestern Company is to change the gauge
546
HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.
1881; and an extension will probably be built westward from Lancaster, toward the Mississippi, to command the trade of the fertile region around Bloomington known as Blake's Prairie.
TELEGRAPH LINE.
In 1849, visions began to flash with a rosy radiance through the minds of sundry residents of the county, as in misty, prophetic dreams, they seemed to stand on the brink of a rich vista, down which their glances rested on the bright and pleasing picture of Grant County as the dis- seminator of news for the teeming thousands and unborn millions. All this upon the word of one Henry O'Reilly, who held or pretended to hold, a patent for an improved system of Morse telegraphy. The bright and finely-spun rails on which passed, with the rapidity of thought, the chained lightning, carrying the news of weal or woe, should, said Mr. O'Reilly, be at once erected, and the county take a proud stand in the van of civilization, provided the inhabitants of the region would co-operate with him in the role of benefactors of mankind and advancers of the county's interests. The role of benefactor is ever an enticing one, and what wonder that the investors were numerous. A line was erected from Dubuque to Potosi, from that point to Lancaster, thence on to Platteville, and finally terminating at Mineral Point. The line was opened in November, 1849, and communications opened with the outside world. Mr. O'Reilly passed under a cloud and went into bankruptcy, while his deluded victims struggled manfully to continue to operate their new toy with wavering success for a few months longer. In May, 1850, the Grant County Herald proposed that thirty-eight subscribers take one copy more of the paper, paying in advance, in which case the telegraph line would be sustained. This last effort, however, came to naught, and a short time later, the "connecting link " yielded up the ghost; as the wires were of galvanized iron, numerous thoughtful dwellers along the line, daily cogitating on the bankruptcy of the affair, and consequent waste of good material, concluded that the wires would serve as excellent and indestructible clothes lines, and to this day pieces of the Grant County Telegraph Line may be seen doing duty in the lower and useful domestic scale of supporting the week's washing. This experiment is believed to have cost the investors between $6,000 and $8,000.
CENSUS OF GRANT COUNTY.
Population .- In 1836, the number of residents of this county was 1,643. The early Ter- ritorial Legislature soon after its organization, ordered that a census be taken throughout the Territory. By these returns, it was shown that Grant County then had a population of 2,763. The census of 1840 showed 3,926. In 1842, this had increased to 5,937. Four years later, in 1846 the population was found to have more than doubled itself, the county then containing residents to the number of 12,034. One year later, this had dropped away to 11,720. At the Governmental census in 1850, the returns for the county showed 16,169 for its population. From that time on, censuses have been taken every five years, by which Grant County shows the following steady increase: 1855, 23,170; 1860, 31,207; 1865, 33,618; 1870, 37,975; 1875, 39,086. From various causes, but principally owing to the fact that Grant County's population has ever been composed in a large per cent of miners, whom "fresh fields and pas- tures new" in other localities will call in that direction, the census returns for 1880 show a slight percentage of loss, the present population being reported as 37,852.
547
Assessment Rolls .- Following are the abstracts of the assessment rolls of the several cities, villages and townships of Grant County, as returned to the County Clerk for the year 1880:
TOWNS.
Number.
Value.
Number.
Value.
Number.
Value.
Number.
Value.
Number.
Value.
Number.
Valne.
Number.
Value.
Number.
Value.
Number.
Value.
Value of Merchants'
Value of all otber
Total Value of all
Number of Acres of
Value of aforesaid Acres of Land.
Value of City and Village Lots.
Beetown ...
576
19618
1740
19409
17
730
2436
4490
2905
7765
251
4322
19
125
12
285
1625
9362
67731
30357
239929
9695
Bloomington.
668 19931
1724
16319
17
488
1112
1888
3549 144
6816 423
161
4255
95
1485
24
2525
500
38070
48444
106633
5868
42695
172695
Cassville
458
16715
1216
11245
4 210
270
440
1450
2290
210
3330
27
175
25
360
7950 1200
3944
28056
22702
61204
875
486
18450
1660
20341
15
680
991
1984
4855
225
4415
29
230
18
636
$140
26377
78162
23003
269760
14060
Eilenboro.
355
11066
1291
13591
6
160
1044
1581
2124
102
2276
7
36
9
265
740
9153
40991
22977
136200
1300
Fennimore ...
683
20506
2027
22075
8
340
693,
1389
2117
5481
284
3991
13
125
21
790
13900,
7974
76571
2240
235347
26520
Glen Haven ..
624
20395
1440 15368
15
545
1722
5166
2289
239
4630
21
270
14
545
9345 14068
76935
21790
309155
17910
Harrison ...
460
13546
1339
14877
12
575
850
1760
1688
250
4773
18
8
320
.....
39406
109341
22854
317587
43415
378
13070
1353
12525
7
235
423
932
852
1771
167
2127
30
2
45
7084
37920
23030
80657
398
7665
911
10155
22
565
275
393
1799 6209
14699
403
12435
94
1702
69
4890
42300
86811
241156
45548
611188
144696
Liberty.
447
14970
1330
13129
6
260
937
1912
4238
280
4572
23
308
15
325
10100
12267
61406
2297]
196745
4355
373
13185
1505
19270
20
965
1547
2475
1437
2875
102
2350
8
195
651
3650
45030
22¿65
164275
346
13853
940
9191
677
1015
1095
2053
2776
6
21
6
35
3
100
839
3141
1249
4139
44275
23040
162780
3853
Muecoda.
343
9510
1139
10142
5
165
252
345
1004
1680
181
3211
67
488
16
513
18702
21741;
66497
21104
72985
Parig.
399
9330
800
7217
14
335
227
227
1658
1557
198
1270
6
27
6
79
1000
4209
25351
23140
118130
462
14738
1737
19860
28
873
18
715
486
873
3535
666+
601
14173
124
2120
166
8520
64645
71006
215854
21663
336630
388820
Potosi
780
27716
2005
21477
19
837
1186
2324
3960
7264
491
9973
27
360
40
1945
12745
25000
109640
34108
205335
46412
Smelser.
655
20214
1706
17792
23
716
672
1102
3496
8532
351
6277
2285
14
68
13
540
800
5305:
32088
26437
104965
Waterstowo ..
210
7239
703
6879
5
210
175
238
563
1106
1466
2
20
25
995
9760
9900:
72255
22938
247846
16050
Woodman
259
6260
775
7666
2
76
250
369
878
1180
99
9
50
85
870
2325
19870
17181
36215
5735
Wyalusing ...
381
11919
940
10151
675
426
610
812
1260
223
2872
11
115.
11
360
105
9029
36996
25339
117869
3865
Totale ..
14848 490388
43572 459178 404)
15088| 25119 47364
64557 128741 7444 131080
806/ 9637| GG0) 30646 500 1250 285698 807499, 2206665
732062 6684432| 1102178
HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.
HORSES.
NEAT CATTLE MULEE AND SHEEP AND ASBES.
LAMOS.
SWINK.
CARRIAGES WATCHES. AND MELO- & SLEIGHS. DEONO.
SHARES OF BANK STOCK.
and Manufectur-
Personal Property.
Personal Property
as aforesaid.
Land.
349955
65845
Boscobel ..
268
6880
275
3261
26
40
590
590
954
999
118
1567
2
55
1
35
1250
11805,
55120
22403
136525
40720
Castle Rock.
325
9946
1264
9720
24
725
287
646
4901
399
6672
23
135
46
1095
7650
6432
45320
23060
132724
Hazel Green.
713
21702
2162
22135
20021
10
425
528
1298
2013
5224
147 3570
16
95
10
336
3446
7673
58301
22986
139758
980
Lima ..
Little Grant
550
16917
1446
11938
28
905
743
1486
2625
4640
192
2735
12
91
10
175
318
8536
1004
9474
20
620
1317
1942
1596
2664
194
2413
10
81
14
384
..
...
6395;
31909
19:04
69110 77964
304373
8293
Waterloo ...
435
11272
1024
8837
9
280
353
559
1732
2142
245
4404
4648
10
70
300
2262
19720
18438
68383
2265
Wingville ...
561
20740
1429
19407
6
240
838
2092
1923
3385
296
3:02
29
288
10
480
5030
31311
81661
20953
243206
6960
Platteville
789
27290
1746
32770
27
1510
2805
5604
2709
228
1734
19
60
12
116
1200
8125
32722
19518
189616
6876
Lancaster.
318
38435
2954
301
2786
4
130
324
324
366
569
63
893
..
.....
1917
30826
22548
82048
Millville
82
2465
11288
13308
26268
Mt. Ida
Mt. Hope ..
408
16225
1746
Marion ...
Hickory Grove.
6
40
1713
16723
47337
116729
14787
283
5560
82
954
Clifton ..
1938 1172
6613
2984
7
Jamestown.
Patch Grove,
46
1406
9305
65917
130260
22993
1188
2291
1965
298
1100
13
WAGONE,
PIANOS
ers' Stock.
19848
501
156
9275
. i
548
HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.
Products .- The following table shows the acreage of products growing in Grant County in May, 1879 :
NUMBER OF ACRES.
MILOH COWS.
TOWNS.
Wheat.
Corn.
Oats.
Barley.
Rye.
Potatoes.
Acres.
Bearing Trees.
Flax.
Grasses.
Growing
Number.
Value.
Beetown.
804
3017
2153
49
101
216
92
3292
709
1509
5226
378 $
4737 00
Bloomington
600
4454
2371
139
252
71
119
3167
1002
1564
2916
467
5837 50
Boscobel.
178
249
17
132
6
3
70
76
198
2415 00
Cassville.
2393
2243
1517| 144
144
90
92
4380
132
527
10120
437
5410 00
Castle Rock
1719
849
946
124
48
32
5
250
109
691
2179
404
4848 00
Clifton
1247
2764
2232
61
62
85
3283
1483
199
3764
495
6765 00
Ellenboro.
617
1274
1012
64
60
927
3546
232
1082
3933
250
3740 00
Fennimore.
1498
2793
1887
18
134
59
138₺
6077
925
2861
4924
525
7885 00
Glen Haven
1853
4068
2449
144
162
103
147
8805
1211
1949
931
478
7250 00
Harrison
680
2209
1301
35
145
108
148
6365
275
1200
9645
417
6020 00
Hazel Green
1068
5827
4546
84
35
200
120
11499
165
1200
614
8985 00
Hickory Grove.
2957
1492
1410
24
1:21
74
121
2715
155
1562
5170
572
6730 00
Jamestown
1791
2591
2391
160
137
216
148
70
43%
1821
382
1664
362
6516 00
Lima.
1083
2476
1867
48
111
132
553
572
1144
372
2723
6777
576
7242 00
Marion.
2014
1400
1071
19
123
48
44
1642
556
1935
358
4759 00
Millville
233
340
262
22
343
19}
458
506
132
1344 00
Mount lda.
999
2937
1850
11
103
58
125
4870
1137
3263
2809
446
5414 00
Mount Hope.
846
1617
940
57
112
563
673
2540
949
259
3071 00
Muscoda
1490
1065
727
83
191
53
21%
308
247
2029
491
7200 00
Paris ..
1098
1254
1784
186
77
90
31
521
177
988
967
257
3198 00
Patch Grove
3346
162
342
5445
445
6923 00
Platteville.
654|
4445
3420
107
175
220
218
152
6203
363
1783
7820
658
8095 00
Smelser
878
5442
3842
240
92
128
85
4179
1860
1910
361
538
6946 00
Waterloo.
1364
2462
1023
20
138
105
93
22491
68
181
351
4212 00
Waterstown.
1564
1156
784
50
162
41
68
2270
16
6580
6599
257
3227 00
Wingville.
1067
2368
1748
40
50
48
59
22981
1681
1167
3326
456
7167 00
Woodman
1244
943
980
40
114
56
29
10
555
228
2825 00
Wyalusing.
796
1397
967
78
232
95
97
4402
1498
6361
275
4222 00
Total.
38189 82150 56695 2316 3923 29874 27605 115858, 14470 46934 109856 13553 $188791 50
The vote of Grant County at the different gubernatorial elections since the admission of the State into the Union, is as follows :
1849-Nelson Dewey, Democrat, 1,030; Alexander L. Collins, Whig, 1,103; Warren Chase, Free-Soil, 16.
1851-L. J. Farwell, Whig, 1,026 ; A. J. Upham, Democrat, 985.
1853-E. D. Holton, Abolition, 1,026 ; William A. Barstow, Democrat, 988; Henry S. Baird, Whig, 195.
1855-Coles Basford, Republican, 1,581; William A. Barstow, Democrat, 1,145. 1857-James B. Cross, Democrat, 1,260; Alexander W. Randall, Republican, 1,681. 1859-Alexander W. Randall, Republican, 2,496; H. C. Hobart, Democrat, 1,715. 1861-Lewis P. Harvey, Republican, 2,907 ; Benjamin Furgeson, Democrat, 741. 1863-James T. Lewis, Republican, 3,404; Henry L. Palmer, Democrat, 1,313. 1865-Lucius Fairchild, Republican, 2,577; H. C. Hobart, Democrat, 1,131. 1867-Lucius Fairchild, Republican, 3,093; J. J. Tallmadge, Democrat, 1,649. 1869-Lucius Fairchild, Republican, 4,404 ; Charles D. Robinson, Democrat, 1,476. 1871-C. C. Washburn, Republican, 3,154 ; James R. Doolittle, Democrat, 1,971. 1873-C. C. Washburn, Republican, 2,405; William R. Taylor, 2,104; Scattering, 1. 1875-William R. Taylor, Democrat, 2,318; Harrison Ludington, Republican, 3,182.
172
1193
7105
339
2327
2379
560
12972 00
Potosi.
16:4
3135
1863
160
64
693
92
3603
687
1794
414'
438
6498 00
Little Grant,
685
2950
1928
113
37
2233
102
6235
177
1823
507
5134 00
Lancaster
184
6715
641
3840
7770
724
11104 00
Liberty
1319
1912
1571
3125
23
40
1523
1285
6760
4161
2710
74
Apple Orchard-
No. of | No. of
Timber.
..
531
112
549
HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.
1877-William E. Smith, Republican, 2,630; James Mallory, Democrat, 1,938.
1879-William E. Smith, Republican, 3,111; James E. Jenkins, Democrat, 1,703 ; Col. May, Greenback, 625.
The Presidential vote, for the same period, has been as follows :
1848-Zachary Taylor, Whig, 1,649; Lewis Cass, Democrat, 1,148; Martin Van Buren, Free-Soil, 144.
1852-Winfield Scott, Whig, 1,341; Franklin Pierce, Democrat, 1,379; John P. Hale,
Free-Soil, 129.
1856-John C. Fremont, Republican, 2,809 ; James Buchanan, Democrat, 1,419; Millard Fillmore, American, 186.
1860-Abraham Lincoln, Republican, 3,579; Stephen A. Douglass, Democrat, 1,922; John Breckenridge, Ultra Democrat, 33.
1864-Abraham Lincoln, Republican, 3,247 ; George B. McClellan, Democrat, 1,561.
1868-Ulysses S. Grant, Republican, 4,640; Horatio Seymour, Democrat, 2,071.
1872-Ulysses S. Grant, Republican, 4,307; Horace Greeley, Liberal, 2,319.
1876-Rutherford B. Hayes, Republican, 4,723; Samuel J. Tilden, Democrat, 3,108.
1880-James A. Garfield, 4,654; Winfield S. Hancock, 3,038 ; James Weaver, 179.
AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION.
November 6, 1855, a meeting was held at Beetown for the purpose of organizing a society which should be known as the Grant County Agricultural Society. Mr. J. E. Dodge was elected Chairman, and John Dodge, Secretary of the meeting.
On motion of Mr. James Prideaux, a resolution was passed averring the expediency of such an organization. A constitution was then presented and adopted, after which the following offi- cers were elected : President, J. E. Dodge; Vice Presidents, William Humphrey and Edmund Harelson ; Secretary, John Dodge; Executive Committee, Henry Patch, Sr., George Morris, William Carter, E. Kilby and Dr. Young. The first fair under the auspices of the new society was held at Lancaster, October 7, 8, 1856. Premiums on stock and farm produce, to the amount of $69, were offered at this meeting. Since that date a fair has been held annually at Lancaster, generally during the latter part of September. The fair grounds lie about a half-mile east of the city on a high, commanding site, and, from its dryness and general location, is well adapted for this purpose. This tract was purchased by the society, and fitted up especially for exhibition purposes. The leading men of the county have taken considerable interest in the association, and its list of life-members has numbered among the roll many of the illustrious names of the county whose bearers have passed on before.
The business of the association is managed by a board comprising the President, Vice Presi- dent, Secretary and Treasurer, and the Executive Committee. All the officers are chosen annu- ally on the second day of the fair. The present officers are President, L. M. Okey, of Cassville; L. J. Arthur, of Lancaster, Secretary ; Executive Committee.
550
HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.
CHAPTER VI.
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES-JAMES GRUSHONG-COL. JOSEPH DICKSON-ORRIS MCCARTNEY-SAM- UEL DRUM-HAWKINS TAYLOR-IRA W. BRUNSON-T. M. FULLERTON-J. W. SEATON-ILLUS- TRIOUS DEAD-JAMES GATES PERCIVAL-MAJ. JOHN R. COONS-M. DE TANTABARATZ AND. THE DESERTED VILLAGE-ASA EDGERTON HOUGH.
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
The following interesting sketches were prepared by the pioneers whose names appear at the beginning of each paper, and are descriptive of early experiences, privations and successes. incident to those times :
BY JAMES GRUSHONG.
It was in the spring of 1826 that I started from Missouri for the newly discovered mines near Galena. The country was then uninhabited, only few places showing evidences of the previous presence of the white man. From the lower rapids to Rock Island there were no signs. of settlement. At the latter place there was a fort garrisoned with United States troops. From Rock Island again to Galena there stretched out on either side a wilderness broken only by the numerous Indian towns which lined the west or Iowa side. Those little docks with their long piles of wood which are now so numerous along the great river's banks were then unknown; and the means of obtaining the supply of wood needed for the steamer's furnaces was as primitive as the country itself. Fifteen axes were included in the list of necessaries needed by the steamer, and when fuel run short the boat would be " laid to" alongside one of the numerous islands that dotted the bosom of this broad estuary, and fifteen pairs of stout arms would bring the ashes in crashing ruins at the feet of the choppers. These trees would then be cut into two or three lengths and rolled onto the lower deck, where they would be worked up more at leisure as the boat proceeded up the stream.
On arriving at Galena, we found that present thriving city to contain only three houses, and a smelting furnace, owned and run by a man named Comstock. It was an old-fashioned log furnace, but little better than the earlier furnaces in use by the Indians. All the land was owned by the government, who stood ready to give lots to any one who would occupy. In case min- eral was found it had to be delivered to a licensed smelter, who was supposed to turn over to the government the sixteenth then demanded as rent for the land. A strong suspicion grew up among the miners in after times that these agents did not allow the government to benefit much by this tax, and as the mines became filled with the miners from all quarters, this practice of paying government rent was more honored in the breach than in the observance.
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