USA > Wisconsin > Trempealeau County > History of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin > Part 31
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Remains of a French Post Near Trempealeau .. I-Archaeological Sketch by Eben D. Pierce. In the early '80s Dr. Lyman C. Draper, then secretary of the State Historical Society, received a request from the French Academy of History for information regarding the location of Perrot's post, as indicated on Franquelin's map of 1688, a few miles above the mouth of Black River on the east bank of the Mississippi. Doctor Draper sought the assistance of A. W. Newman, of Trempealeau, later justice of Wisconsin Supreme Court, who was much interested in local history. He enlisted the services of Judge B. F. Heuston, then at work on a history of Trempea- leau, who took up the work with enthusiasm and carefully searched the riverside of the bluffs for some mark of the ancient fort. He made several journeys to Trempealeau Bay in the vain effort to find some trace of the early post, as the bay would seem to have afforded an excellent site for wintering quarters.
Meanwhile, some of the workmen engaged in grading the Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railway along the river discovered, about two miles above the village, the remains of fireplaces or hearths. Judge Heuston, hearing of these finds, decided to visit the place and investigate. He selected George H. Squier to assist him and accompanied by Antoine Grignon and W. A. Finkelnburg, of Winona, they went to the place where the fire- places had been uncovered and began excavations. The next spring, Judge Newman having communicated these facts to the State Historical Society, Reuben G. Thwaites, then the newly-elected secretary of the Society, came to Trempealeau and on April 18, accompanied by W. A. Finkelnburg and the
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local historians, made a historical pilgrimage to the site of the post that had been found, and continued the excavations.
The first fireplace had already been laid bare, and Mr. Squier had suc- ceeded in tracing by a line of charcoal the former wall of the building. The dimensions of the building were about 20 by 30 feet; the fireplace was 21/2 feet in depth and 4 feet long with enclosing walls at back and sides. The chimney had undoubtedly been a wooden structure made of small logs with clay daubing, as there was not enough stone found to indicate a stone chimney.
A blacksmith's forge was also unearthed, together with some scrap iron, and a pile of charcoal which had evidently been used in a smelter. A pile of slag, some 16 feet in diameter, was found, showing that the occu- pants of the post had attempted smelting. The slag consisted of a mixture of iron ore and limestone. The remains of the smelting furnace were also found. Other relics discovered included some hand-wrought nails, buffalo bones, an old-fashioned flintlock pistol, a gun barrel, and an auger. The pistol was of excellent make, which led Mr. Squier to believe that the ex- plorers had excavated the officers' quarters. Seven of the original build- ings were unearthed in all ; one was left undisturbed.
James Reed, the first settler in this county, said that when he first came to Trempealeau in 1840, he had noticed the elevated foundations at this place, where part of the fireplace protruded above the sod, but as the region abounded in Indian mounds of various types, he had attached no especial significance to this particular elevation. There was, however, a lingering tradition among the Indians of the locality concerning a French fort near the sacred Trempealeau Mountain.
In the summer of 1912 George H. Squier, Antoine Grignon, and the writer did some excavating at this site. By a cross-sectional excavation we were able to pick up the charcoal line of the main building and follow it several feet, and from this it was possible to verify Mr. Squier's early estimate of its dimensions. We also found, besides charcoal, numerous bones, among which were the jawbone of a beaver, the toe bones and claw of a bear, and some large bones either of elk or buffalo.
The place was well selected for wintering quarters. It lay near the head of a slough which, setting back from the Mississippi, afforded a quiet harbor free from the menace of floating ice. Springs exist in the side of Brady's and Sullivan's peaks a quarter of a mile away, but the river water was drinkable, and there was an abundance of firewood. The bluffs pro- tected the post from the cold north and east winds.
II. Additional Archaeological Details : by George H. Squier. It is now nearly 30 years since the French post at Trempealeau was first discovered, and those who had part in that discovery have nearly all pased away. As it chanced the writer was the first to uncover any portion of the remains, and it was also his fortune that this first site explored was that of the most important and best constructed of the group and afforded a key to the construction plan and the identity of the remains. To the brief account given in the tenth volume of the Wisconsin Historical Collections, the writer
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is the only one alive who is able to add from first-hand knowledge, details that were noted but not recorded at the time the post was first laid bare.
In describing the remains one basic fact must be borne in mind, namely, that they show two distinct periods of occupancy, the earlier of which was probably that of Perrot, the latter with little doubt represented by Linctot. Most of the descriptions, therefore, must apply to the latter rather than to the earlier post. The only portion of the remains which can confidently be ascribed to the earlier period is the lower of two hearths occupying the same site. If there were any other remains of this earlier period, they were indistinguishably mingled with those of the latter. This earlier hearth was less carefully constructed than the latter, hence we may conjec- ture that Perrot's accommodations were cruder than those of Linctot. So far as the character of the construction could be judged from the remains, it by no means equaled the average squatter's cabin in solidity and per- manence, and there was nothing whatever to indicate any attempt at defensive construction.
Of the hearths other than the largest one, which was the first to be uncovered, it is believed there were five, two of which were removed in grading the railway. In comparison with the first, these five were much inferior in construction, the hearthstones being very irregular in form with no indications of backs or chimneys. As this would indicate that the smoke escaped through the roof, it would point to structures very little removed from Indian tepees slightly modified for white occupancy. Their true positions with reference to Number 1 and to each other were not determined, but their distribution was rather irregular.
In front of the supposed officers' quarters were two constructions representing the industrial equipment of the post. One of these was the blacksmith's forge. The excavations about this were conducted by the owner of a private museum at St. Paul, Minn., assisted by Antoine Grignon. As was to be expected, this furnished the greater portion of the metal relics. Among them I remember a pistol, an auger, a staple, some nails, and several bits of scrap iron. The other construction, which was explored by myself, undoubtedly represented an attempt to reduce our local iron ores by the open-hearth process. There were the remains of a large pile of charcoal several feet in diameter, and a considerable pile of the resultant slag, representing material in all stages of fusion from the glassy to that showing unfused fragments of the ore and limestone intimately commingled. That this ore, a residual from the decay of limestone and usually associated with flint, is not now very abundant about the Trempealeau bluffs is believed to be in part due to the fact that it was largely gathered up by the occupants of this post, since it occurs in considerable abundance in many other Missis- sippi River bluffs.
It seems probable that Linctot's occupancy was something more than temporary, and represented a tentative attempt to establish a permanent post, which, however, was soon abandoned. There are evidences that the French scoured the region for a considerable distance around the post- an ax of the period having been recovered from a shallow pond three miles eastward.
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The relation these remains bear to Indian antiquities is worthy of notice. A considerable group of mounds occurs only a few rods west of the site, and a single mound appears on the rather prominent stony point in front of the post. There are some peculiar features, not found elsewhere in this region, in the manner of disposal and burning of the skeletons covered by this mound ; while conspicuously different from the usual Indian methods they are much like primitive methods practiced in Europe. It seems reasonable to suppose that the French were in some way concerned in these burials. It may be noted that the lower of the two hearths on the supposed site of the officers' quarters was itself built over an Indian bake hole in which ashes and bones were found.
Before the uncovering of the site there was nothing in any way resem- bling a tumulus. Indeed, the surface was more even than it is now, for in the process of excavation the dirt was heaped up in places. At the largest hearth the clay with which the chimney had been plastered formed a cover- ing a few inches thick over the natural surface, but the rise was so small and the slope so gentle that it was scarcely recognizable. The one feature noted by James Reed and Antoine Grignon, which led to the final discovery of the place was that the sides and back of the hearth, formed of small flat stones, projected an inch or two above the surface. The construction was so rude, however, that Judge Heuston, W. A. Finkelnburg, and Antoine Grignon, who preceded me to the place, after examining some of the top stones concluded that it was not artificial and went on to the bay. Coming up after they had left, there seemed to me something in the arrangement not quite natural, and working around carefully with a garden trowel I quickly exposed the outlines, and by the time they returned from the bay the hearth was fully exposed. The hearth proper was about 2 by 4 feet in dimensions, while the outside dimensions of the chimney were probably about twice as large. The sides and back were built of small flat stones laid in clay to a height somewhere between one and two feet, above which the chimney construction must have been of small logs plastered with clay, in which a considerable amount of grass was mixed for better binding. The hearths themselves were of such flat stones as could be found in the vicinity, the best of them being used in this hearth at the officers' quarters. With the possible exception of some slight trimming of the edges no tool work had been given them. But this and the underlying hearth were covered by several inches of ashes with which were mingled numerous fragments of bones of birds and small animals. The larger bones were thrown out back of the hearth which was evidently at the western end of the principal building.
It is probable that the stone construction did not extend much more than a foot above the hearth and that these stones were mostly in place when the remains were discovered. Very few stones were found mingled with the debris around the hearth, which could hardly have been the case had any considerable height of such construction fallen down. It is prob- able that the log enclosure was built up from the ground of sufficient size to permit a protective interlining, which at the bottom was of stones laid in clay. After the supply of stones gave out the construction was continued
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of clay alone as high as needed. Used in this way the stones were added as fillers, much as we do in concrete constructions, with little effort to arrange them in orderly sequence.
According to cross-sectional excavations made in the summer of 1912 the dimensions of this building were 20 by 30 feet; but these figures are to be looked upon as merely a conjectural estimate. There was nothing whatever to determine the position of the south wall, and the evidence concerning the location of the east wall was very slight. The distance from the northwest corner to the south side of the hearth was about 10 feet. Five or six feet should be allowed for a door, which there is reason to believe existed on the west side south of the hearth, so that an estimate of 20 feet for the width of the building can not be regarded as excessive. As far as traced, the north wall was a straight, even, sharply-defined line of charcoal, perhaps ten inches wide. Nothing which could be regarded as its counterpart was found on the east side. (See Wisconsin Historical Society, Proceedings, 1915, pp. 111-123.)
Organization of County. AN Act to organize the County of Trempe a l'eau. Published, Jan. 30, 1854.
The people of the State of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows :
1. All that portion of country embraced in the following boundaries, is hereby set off into a separate county to be called and known as the County of Trempe a l'eau, to-wit: Beginning at the point on the Mississippi River where the line between townships 17 and 18 north, strikes said river ; thence running east on said line to the main channel of Black River; thence up the main channel of Black River to the line between townships 18 and 19 north; thence east on said line to the range line between ranges 6 and 7 west; thence north on said range line to the line between townships 24 and 25 north ; thence west on said line and to the range line between ranges 9 and 10 west; thence south on said range line to Trempe a l'eau River ; thence down the main channel of the Trempe a l'eau River to the Mississippi River; thence down the main channel of the Mississippi River to the place of beginning.
2. There shall be an election held in said county on the first Monday of September, 1854, for the election of a suitable person for county judge of said county, which election shall be conducted and the returns thereof made as now required by law for the election of county judges; and the judge so elected shall hold his office for the term of three years from and after the 1st day of January, 1855, and until his successor is elected and qualified.
3. At the general election to be held in the month of November, 1854, there shall be elected in said county, all proper county officers ; which officers shall qualify as now provided by law, and enter upon the duties of their several offices the 1st day of January, 1855.
4. The board of supervisors of the Town of Monteville, in said county, shall have power to act as the board of supervisors of said county until other towns in said county shall be organized and elections therein held for town officers as now provided by law.
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5. The seat of justice in said county shall be, and the same is hereby located, on the northwest quarter of section 33, in township 19 north, of range 8 west.
6. The said County of Trempe a l'eau is hereby attached to the County of La Crosse for judicial purposes, until the 1st day of January, 1855, after which time the said county shall be fully organized for judicial purposes and shall be attached to the sixth judicial circuit.
7. The county court for said County of Trempe a l'eau shall be held at the county seat thereof, on the first Monday of March, the first Monday of June, the first Monday of September, and the first Monday of December in each year, after said county is organized for judicial purposes as provided in this Act.
8. This Act shall take effect from and after its passage.
Approved, Jan. 27, 1854. (Chap. 2, General Laws-State of Wis- consin.)
CHAPTER XI
MODERN VILLAGES
Trempealeau County has eight incorporated villages. Trempealeau, Galesville, Osseo and Eleva were started on their present sites with their present names before they were supplied with railroads. Before Arcadia was started, Old Arcadia, a mile away, was a thriving village, at that time the third in importance in the county. Before Whitehall was started, Old Whitehall, a mile away, was a thriving hamlet. Before Blair was started, there was a store and a postoffice not far away.
Trempealeau was platted April 21, 22 and 23, 1852 (as Montoville, April 7, 1852), was incorporated nearly two decades later and reincorporated March 10, 1900. Galesville was platted April 22, 1854, and incorporated June 13, 1887. Arcadia was platted Jan. 27, 1874, and incorporated Dec. 17, 1878. Whitehall was platted Jan. 20, 1874, and incorporated June 14, 1887. Eleva was platted Sept. 10, 1877, and incorporated Jan. 14, 1902. Osseo was platted Sept. 22, 1857, and incorporated Sept. 4, 1893. Inde- pendence was platted May 13, 1876, and was incorporated Dec. 16, 1885. Blair was platted April 16, 1877 (as Porterville, Sept. 2 and 3, 1873), and was incorporated Sept. 6, 1894.
The census of 1910 shows the population of the villages as follows: Arcadia, 1,212; Galesville, 873; Whitehall, 703; Independence, 664; Trempealeau, 535; Osseo, 548; Blair, 486; Eleva, 319.
The census of 1900 shows this population: Arcadia, 1,273; Galesville, 862; Trempealeau, 609 ; Independence, 630; Whitehall, 600 ; Blair, 438.
The census of 1890 shows this population: Arcadia, 659; Galesville, 537 ; Independence, 382 ; Whitehall, 304.
The census of 1880 shows this population: Arcadia, 720; Galesville, 410; Independence, 365; Whitehall, 267.
Dodge, Pigeon Falls, Ettrick and Strum are thriving places of between 150 and 300 population each. Dodge was platted Feb. 20, 1874 ; Ettrick, June 30, 1877 ; Pigeon Falls, May 30, 1894; and Strum, Sept. 26, 1898. Pleasant Valley is a trading center platted Feb. 16, 17, 19, 1877. Caledonia, platted Sept. 14, 1855, is now merely a neighborhood center. At Coral City, platted on May 28, 1864, there is a mill, a mill dam and a number of houses. At Old Whitehall, platted May 23, 1862, there are two or three houses and a cemetery. East Arcadia, platted April 23 and 24, 1874, and West Arcadia, platted Aug. 15, 1874, adjoin the village of Arcadia. West Prairie is a com- munity center, with a cemetery, a church, a band stand, a mill and a school- house. Other places, such as Elk Creek, Tamarack, Centerville, French- ville, Hegg, Iduna, Norden, Pine Creek, and Russell, are community or trading centers.
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Arcadia
Arcadia is the metropolis of Trempealeau County. It is situated in the western part of the county on the banks of Trempealeau River. Rail- road facilities are furnished by the Green Bay & Western. The flats east and west of the river furnish a well-shaded and well-laid-out residence section in which are many beautiful buildings. The business section is situated on the flats east of the river. Circling this section is a plateau with handsome residences. The street from the business section to Old Arcadia is also lined with sightly homes. The commanding churches, the new high school, the Carnegie Library, the macadamized streets, the spread- ing lawns and magnificent shrubbery all go to make up as pretty a village as is to be found in Western Wisconsin.
The village has two banks, a newspaper, two creameries, a brewery, two mills, three elevators and a stock yard. The principal shipments are cattle, hogs, sheep and grain.
There are six churches in Arcadia-the Church of Our Lady of Per- petual Help, St. Stanislaus church, St. John's German Evangelical Lutheran, St. John's Christ German Evangelical Lutheran, the Methodist Episcopal, and the Evangelical Association. The little church on the hill, first the Baptist church, then a People's church, and then a Unitarian church, is now unoccupied.
Arcadia was platted Jan. 27, 1874, on land owned by H. Ketchum, D. M. Kelly, George Hiles and I. A. Briggs.
Late in the fall of 1878 a movement was started looking to the incor- poration and organization of the village. A census was taken therein by D. B. Stitt on Oct. 30 and 31, and the proposed limits were found to contain 710 people. A survey of the territory was made Oct. 31, 1878, by Hiram B. Merchant, who was a practical surveyor and who made a map thereof. On Dec. 9, 1878, E. A. Morgan, A. F. Hensel, J. P. Mallinger, Otto Gazal and J. C. Muir petitioned the court that an order be made incorporating the village of Arcadia. The order was duly issued Dec. 17, 1878, by Hon. A. W. Newman, judge. On Feb. 18, 1879, an election resulted in the choice of E. C. Higbee as president, W. W. Barnes, Seth Putnam, Otto Gazal, J. C. Muir, John Maurer and J. Martin Fertig as trustees; John N. Stariha as clerk; A. F. Hensel as treasurer; Dr. F. L. Lewis as supervisor; Math Danuser as marshal; George Schneller as constable; Douglas Arnold as justice of the peace, and C. M. Mercer as police justice, all for three months. The first annual village election was held May 6, 1879. Mr. Higbee was elected president ; Messrs. Barnes, Fertig, Mueller, Mergerner, Putnam and Jacob Schneller were elected trustees ; John N. Stariha, clerk; A. F. Hensel, treasurer; C. M. Mercer, police justice; Douglas Arnold, justice; Math Danuser, marshal; George Schneller, constable; Dr. F. L. Lewis, supervisor.
The present officers of Arcadia are: President, John Roesch ; trustees, E. G. Bigham, A. C. Foster, William Knoop, J. F. Muir, F. Steinhauser and George Weisenberger ; clerk, Robert Barlow; assessor, J. K. Cysweski ; jus- tice, John F. Beon ; supervisor, Dr. J. A. Palmer ; marshal, William Hogan ; health officer, Dr. G. N. Hidershide.
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The municipal improvements of Arcadia consist of an electric light plant, a waterworks system, a fire department, a village hall, a village clock, a Carnegie Library, a high school, a public park, macadamized roads, and several bridges.
Street lighting had its beginning Oct. 9, 1891, when the village council voted to purchase twelve oil street lamps, and made arrangements for their lighting and care. Electric lighting had its inception June 19, 1893, when W. R. Wolfe was given a franchise to erect an electric light plant and place poles in the streets. After considerable discussion of the question, the Arcadia Electric Light Plant, with John Grover (president), W. R. Wolfe (treasurer) and Louis Hohnmann as owners, was given a contract to supply the streets with arc lights for four years. But, owing to restrictions placed upon the company, the streets were never lighted under this con- tract. Mr. Wolfe, however, put in a plant and furnished the leading busi- ness houses with electricity for some six months before he sold to Benton & Son, who removed the plant. The next move made toward street lighting was on Jan. 10, 1896, when a franchise was granted the Arcadia Milling Company. A contract for street lighting was made Jan. 17, 1896, and several months later the first street lights were installed. The village purchased the plant Oct. 16, 1903, practically renewed the system, and connected it with the power plant at the waterworks.
Fire protection in the early days was furnished by a volunteer bucket company and a hand pump. May 20, 1891, it was voted to buy a fire engine and bell. In the fall the engine arrived, wells were dug, and additional equipment was purchased. On Oct. 30, 1891, the fire ordinance was passed and a few days later, on Nov. 3, 1891, the fire company was organized with the following officers: Secretary, Charles J. Larson; treasurer, Archie Hunter; chief, John Durisch ; trustees, C. Wohlgenant, C. W. Lubs, J. P. Runkel and Joseph Hild. The company now consists of forty-two volun- teers, and is well equipped with modern apparatus. The village bell is in the village hall, and the fire whistle is at the village power plant. The village clock is in the belfry of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. and was installed in the spring of 1903, under a contract signed May 15 of that year.
The village hall was erected in 1893-94 at a cost of about $4,000. The lot was purchased from the Board of Trade Feb. 10, 1893, a special election to vote bonds was held June 9, 1893, and work was started in the fall. It was occupied in the spring, being officially accepted April 20, 1894. The lower floor is devoted to the fire department, jail, council chambers and. clerk's office, while the upper floor is used for lodge purposes.
The first macadamizing in Arcadia was done in 1895, bonds of $5,000 for that purpose being voted on March 22 of that year. A stone crusher was purchased and operations commenced on an extensive scale. The vil- lage now has a macadamized street extending from the Buffalo County line through the village to the "Two Mile Corner," so called, beyond the mill. The road to the Arcadia Mineral Spring is also macadamized, as are several of the cross streets.
The waterworks plant consists of an artesian well, a pumping station
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