USA > Wisconsin > Vernon County > History of Vernon County, Wisconsin, together with sketches of its towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 57
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the first part for himself, his heirs, executors and administrators, do covenant and agree to and with the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, that he will warrant and for- ever defend the aforesaid premises to be free and clear of all claim or claims of all and every person or persons claiming or to claim the whole or any part thereof, by, through, or nnder him, and none other.
In witness whereof, the said party of the first part have hereunto set his hand and seal, the day and year first above written.
DANIEL READ.
Sealed and delivered in presence of
THOMAS J. DEFREES, HIRAM G. RICE.
TERRITORY OF WISCONSIN,
CRAWFORD COUNTY. SS.
I, Thomas J. DeFrees, a justice of the peace of said county, do certify that Daniel Read, whose signature appears to the foregoing deed, and who is personally known to me to be the person described in and who executed the same and acknowledged that he executed the said conveyance, for the uses and purposes therein mentioned.
Given under my hand [and] seal, this seven- teenth day of May, 1848.
THOMAS J. DEFREES, Justice of the Peace.
OFFICE OF REGISTER OF DEEDS, CRAWFORD COUNTY, WIS. March 1st, 1850.
I hereby certify that the within deed of con- veyance, from Daniel Read to John McCulloch, was this day produced to me, in my office, at 12 o'clock noon, and there upon duly recorded in Book F of Deeds, [on] pages 408, 409.
THOMAS BUGBEE. Reg's of Deeds, C. C. Wis.
AN INDIAN SCARE.
In 1846 the citizens living contiguous to the Wisconsin river were treated to a genuine "In- dian scare," and, as the Winnebagoes were the
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY
supposed enemies, an account in this history is properly given of the event.
In the winter of 1844-5, and while the Legis- lature of the State was in session at Madison, the capital, a rumor that an Indian war had broken out, came to the ears of the legislators with a thousand fearful forebodings, and pro- ducing intense excitement. At this time the militia laws had all been repealed, probably with a view to counteract the supposed influ- ence of Gov. Doty, and the capital he might have made by the organization of the militia, and the appointment of the officers from among his friends, the majority of the Legislature be- ing opposed to Doty. At this juncture, however a change in the administration of the general goverment had changed governors, and Gen. Dodge was again at the helm of the terri- tory. But the law which abolished the militia service with a view to hamper and trammel Doty, was now, in a time of need, found to trammel and hamper Dodge, for though great fear was excited, that plunder and murder would be, or were actually being committed by the Indians, the governor's hands were tied by the law, which he had himself approved. The representations of the Indian disturbanees made to the governor he communicated to the Assem- bły.
The emergency of the case was such as to call the two Houses together at an evening ses- sion, to receive the governor's message on the subject, and to devise ways and means for the public defense. And while one was looking at another, at a loss to know what to do, a mem- ber penned and offered a bill to repeal the aet by which the militia organization had been abol- ished, and to restore the former laws upon the subject. In offering the bill which contained only a few lines, he moved a suspension of the rules, so that the bill passed at once, and was sent to the council; and, by the same process, it was passed there, and in about half an hour from the time it was first offered, the governor had approved of it, and the whole militia of the
territory was organized, officers and all, and measures were said to be taking to call out a portion of it, to chastise the supposed maraud- ers, when a second communication to the gov- ernor showed that there was no occasion for it. The first report had grown out of exaggerated statements of some white hunters, who had come in contact with some Indians in the same pursuit, and who probably took some game which the whites would have been glad to have taken; and possibly some pigs had been taken on the credit of the Indians, but this was never proven against them.
By reference to the Legislative journals, it ap- pears that this matter happened on the last evering of Feb. 3, 1846. The governor com- municated the proceedings of a meeting of the citizens of Muscoda, on the Wisconsin river, in Grant county, dated Sunday night, Feb. 1, 1846, stating as follows: "The citizens of this prai- rie and surrounding country, having been for the last several months annoyed and harrassed by the depreda ions of the Winnebago Indians, and submitted to their bullying and insults, have at length been forced to the dernier re- sort; to take up arms for our protection. This evening a skirmish took place between the In- dians and the citizens, in which four of the former were severely, if not mortally wounded; and from the known character of the Indians, we may naturally expect more serious conse- quences to ensue. A true and correct state- ment of the occurrences of the day is substan- tially as follows: A number of the Indians came down the north side of the Wisconsin river to Capt. Smith's, and stole his canoe. He discovered them and called to them to bring it back, which they refused to do. The captain, with several other men, came over to this shore, found the Indians who took his boat and chas- tised one or two of them with a stiek, and in the melee one of his men was severely hurt with a club in the hands of one of the Indians. The Indians then ran, and the citizens, a num- ber of whom had by this time collected, followed
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
them a little way and returned. In a short time the Indians came back also. All the citizens having by this time assembled, Capt. James B. Estes and Booth advanced towards them, unarmed, and in a peaceable manner, making friendly manifestations, all of which time the Indians threatened, by drawing their knives, throwing off their blankets, wav- ing their guns in the air, and pointing them toward the whites. Finding it impossible to pacify or appease them, they separated, and in a moment they fired upon the citizens; the next minute their fire was returned, and four of them fell." They then add, that the Indians have sent their runners to collect their scattered bands, and the whites have sent for aid; that they want the governor's assistance, and are de- termined to kill or drive every Indian on the Wisconsin over the Mississippi; have upwards of forty men under arms, and have chosen James B. Estes for captain.
Gov. Dodge recommended the adoption of a memorial to the secretary of war, asking for a corps of dragoons to protect the frontier settle- ments. "In the course of half an hour," says the Madison Argus of that period, "resolutions were adopted to that effeet, and the militia law of the territory revived ; " and on the adjourn- ment of the Legislature, the governor set out immediately for the scene of disturbance, but the excitement had died away and no more trouble was apprehended.
TOWN OF BAD AX, 1849.
Aggregate valuation of the taxable real and personal property in the town of Bad Ax in November, 1849:
(1) Valuation of lands, including improvements $17,451
(2) Valnation of personal property. 6,135
Total. $23,586
1850.
Assessed valuation of real and personal estate $30,320 EXTRACTS FROM THE "RECORD OF THE PROCEED- INGS OF THE CRAWFORD COUNTY BOARD."
At a regular meeting of the board of county commissioners for the county of Crawford, W.
T., held pursuant to law on the 3d day of April, 1843, present: David Clark, Jr., Samnel Gilbert, I. P. Perret Gentil; the board proceeded to set off and divide and name the different precincts in the county of Crawford, viz .: No. 1. First precinct to be called the "The Prairie du Chien precinct," bounded as follows: On the south and east by the boundaries of said county of Crawford; on the west by the Mississippi river, and on the north by a line drawn due east from the mouth of Coon river, so called; and the following named persons are hereby appointed judges of election: Stephen G. Tainter, H. L. Dousman and Daniel G. Fenton. * (An assessment district was included in the same boundaries.)
The clerk of the board laid before the said board his certificate, stating therein the com- pensation to which the judges and clerks of election are entitled for their services at the annual election held Sept. 7, 1846, which was allowed, and the following orders issued in numerical order for the same, to wit: Mt. Sterling precinct (No. 2) : William T. Sterling, $2; S. G. Riec, 82; E. Tainter, $2 ; John McCulloch, $2; Lewis Sterling (mileage), $4.60.
The board on the Ist day of January, 1847, proceeded to select from the poll book the fol- lowing named persons (from what is now Ver- non county) to serve, along with others, as grand and pettit jurors, for the year 1847 : grand jurors, Hiram G. Rice, Lewis Sterling, Ezekiel Tainter; pettit jurors, Henry Seifert, John Miller, George P. Taylor and Lee Grant Sterling.
The statement of the clerk of the board of supervisors of Crawford county, showing the compensation to which the judges and clerk of the election in the Mt. Sterling precicnt (No. 2) are entitled for their services at the annual election held on the first Monday (the 6th day) of September, 1847, which was allowed and orders issued for the same, as follows : W. T. Sterling, judge, one day, $2; S. G. Rice, judge, one day, $2; Ezekiel Tainter,
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
judge, one day, $2; Orrin Wisel, clerk, one day, $2 ; John McCulloch clerk, one day, $2, and forty miles travel (by said McCulloch) in making returns, $4.
The following petition signed by twenty- three citizens, was presented to the board of commissioners of Crawford county, on the 4th day of October, 1847 : "We, the undersigned, citizens of Crawford county, respectfully ask for an order authorizing the location of a county road beginning at Winochick (Winne- shiek, now De Soto) on the Mississippi, and in- terseeting the Black river road at or near John McCulloch's. We further ask that S. G. Rice, Lewis Sterling and George Nichols be ap- pointed viewers to locate said road ; and the petitioners further state that they will be at all expense in locating and building said road. (Petitioners' names not given).
Said petition, after due consideration, granted by the board and ordered by said board that the said S. G. Rice, Lewis Sterling and George Nichols be and hereby are appointed viewers to view and establish said road agreeable to said petition ; and it is further ordered by said board that said viewers report their proceed- ings to the next regular session of said board, to be held on the first Monday in January, 1848.
At a session of the board of county commis- sioners for Crawford Co., Wis., begun and held at the office of the clerk of said board on the 9th day of January, 1849, in pursuance of law, Thomas J. De Frees and Jacob Spaulding ap- peared and filed their certificates and oath of office as county commissioners of said county ; and the board proceeded to elect their chair- man ; and, on examining the votes, Jacob Spaulding was found duly elected.
The board then procceded to divide the county into four towns ; and the following is . the description of said towns, to-wit :
Prairie du Chien ( town No. 1) comprises that part of the county lying south of the line between townships number 9 and 10 north.
Bad Ax ( town No. 2) comprises that portion of the county lying north of township number 9, and south of the line between townships number 16 and 17 north, including not only the whole of what is now Vernon county, but parts of the present counties of La Crosse and Craw- ford.
Albion ( town No. 3 ) comprises that part of the county lying north of the line between townships number 16 and 17 north, and south of the line between townships 22 and 23 north.
Pine Valley ( town No. 4) comprises all of the county north of township 22.
The board then proceeded to designate the places in said towns, at which the first town meetings shall be held to-wit :
Prairie du Chien ( town No. 1 ) at the court house in the village of St. Firiole.
Bad Ax ( town No. 2 ) at the residence of Hiram G. Rice.
Albion (town No. 3 ) at the residence of Jacob Spaulding, at Rock River Falls.
Pine Valley ( town No. 4 ) at the residence of James O'Neill.
EARLY ROADS IN VERNON COUNTY.
At the date of creating, in Crawford county, the town of Bad Ax, Jan. 9, 1849, which included not only the whole of Vernon county, as at present constituted, but part of what is now La Crosse county on the north, and part of the present Crawford county on the south there were in that town the following laid out roads within what is now Vernon county :
(1). A road leading north from W. T. Ster- ling's residence, by the home of S. G. Rice, on through where Viroqua is now located, until the north line of the town was reached.
( 2). A road leading from Warner's Landing on the Mississippi, through Springville, where it branched ; one leading to Thomas J. De Frees' and the other northeast.
(3). A road leading from Winneshiek, De Soto, to McCulloch's and Rice's, now Liberty Polc.
25
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
(4). A road leading from what is now Lib- erty Pole, in southeasterly direction to Reed's mill on the Kickapoo.
AGRICULTURE IN THE VERNON COUNTY REGION. [By Alfred Brunson, 1851.]
The general formation of the country is hilly. Some portions of our original county, (including what is now Crawford, Vernon, La Crosse etc.,) is level, but more of it undulating. The level portions of it are at the heads of the largest streams, where it is apt to be swampy and marshy. Near the Mississippi the hills, or bluffs, rise in some places 500 feet above the river; but as you ascend the streams the hills lessen down to a gentle undulation on the small streams, and to a level or marsh and swamp on the larger ones. In the present limits of the county the land is generally billy or rolling. The level or marshy portions are on the margins or bottoms of the great rivers. The whole of the original, as well as the present county, abounds in streams of pure water, and abundance of water power. The purity of the waters in the smaller streams and lakes-those that are fed entirely from springs-may be judged of from the fact that they abound with speckled trout. But those larger streams, which rise in swamps and marshes, many of them being tam- erack swamps, show the effects thereof in the highly colored state of the water.
The prairie region extends from the Wiscon- sin, north, by a width of from thirty to fifty miles from the Mississippi, to within ten miles of Lake Superior at its western extremity, with sufficient timber for farming purposes the most of the way. Between the Black and Chippewa rivers, on the present mail route, the timber is too scarce to encourage a general settlement; but along the river hills, and also east of the mail route, timber is more abundant. East of the Kickapoo, and on the head waters of the St. Croix, Chippewa and Black rivers, and on the western branches of the Wisconsin, all within the original county of Crawford, there is no lack of timber; indeed it is generally a dense forest of Pine, mixed with hard wood. Within the
present limits of the county, except a dense for- est on the east side of the Kickapoo, the county is divided between prairie and timber, and open woodland, so that no portion of it can suffer for want of timber; and except along the precipi- tous bluffs of the river, there is but little waste land. It can mostly be ploughed, grazed, or kept for timber; and is not more uneven than some of the best cultivated portions of western Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio, along the Ohio river.
The general character of the soil is good; within the present limits of Crawford county, in Bad Ax, La Crosse, the western portions of Chippewa, and southern parts of St. Croix, it may be considered as first rate. Indeed, it is hard to imagine how it can be improved. Fur- ther east and north, when you reach the pine re- gion, the soil becomes of less value, except in places where the pine doesnot grow.
The soil in that portion of the country first named is mostly a vegetable mould, formed from the decay of vegetable matter, or its ashes, when burnt over. It is mixed with sand suffi- cient to give it warmth; and this seems to in- crease as we go north, showing that nature, or nature's God has provided against the vicissi- tudes of the climate. The poorer soils spoken of are, in the pines too sandy, and in the marshes too wet, and in a few instances a cold clay.
Of the crops and the general yield, it would be difficult for me to speak, because I have not sufficient data. Much depends on the mode of cultivation and the season; 50, 40, 30 and 20 bushels of wheat to an acre have been raised. So far as I know, 30 of wheat, 50 of corn and oats, and from 100 to 200 bushels of potatoes, are considered an average crop.
In the cranberry marshes, which are found at the head of the larger streams, the crops in good seasons are said to average several hundred bushels per acre.
Of the manner of cultivation, and of its de- fects, I can say but little. The old French set- tlers, when the Americans first came among
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
them, wrought things as their fathers did 200 years before.
To yoke oxen, they tied a pole across the backs of their horns. They had no wagons, and their one-horse carts were without tires, boxes or skeins on the axles. They usually put in only spring crops. Their wheat, oats, barley and peas were sown on the ground with no other preparation than burning off the weeds, stubble and grass of the last years growth, and plowed in-the ploughing being usually in the same direction-no crossing and no mannring.
The ground cultivated was in a narrow strip at the foot of the bluffs, where was the best soil, say from forty to eighty rods wide, and en- closed in one common field from five to seven miles long, having but one fence on the west side and across each end, the bluffs on the east answering for a fence on that side. The corn planted was of the early Indian variety, which ripens in the early part of September, yielding from thirty to fifty bushels per acre, according to the mode of cultivation. The wheat, cats, barley and peas being harvested in August, and the corn in September; the field was usually thrown open in October, as soon as the potatoes were gathered, as common pasture. If wood was searce in the ensuing winter, or before the ice became good for procuring it from the islands and bottom lands of the river, most likely the fence would be used in their stores, being dry, and the place of the rails would be supplied before spring by new and green ones. These annual changes of the rails rendered it of little consequence whether they were made of oak, ash, maple or willow, the three latter being usually the easiest obtained, composed the most of the fencing material of the farms.
The grain cradle was not known here until the arrival of Americans, the scythe and sickle being the only instruments used for that purpose. The French bind their grain with willow withs to this day. In other respects, they have availed themselves of the improvements intro-
duced by the American immigrants, and some of them are now among our best farmers.
Most of the new inventions for ploughs, harvesters and threshing machines are now in use.
The markets are good, and also the facili- ties for reaching them. From the earliest settlement of the country the military and Indian departments, including the fur trade, always furnished a good market for our surplus produce until a short time since, when the amount produced has been greater than the de- mand from that source. To supply the defi- ciency, the lumber trade since 1838 has kept the demand more than equal to the supply; add to this the demand growing out of the immigra- tion, so that hitherto the demand for every thing, except wheat, in the two last years, has much more than equalled the home supply. And our prospects for a market are good for a long time to come in our own country, and nearly at our own doors. The lumber trade; the Indian trade and annuties; the military posts at the north and west of us, together with the continued tide of emigration; to which may also be added the mining interests; all together bid fair to consume the most of our surplus produce, except, perhaps, wheat.
Within two or three years past, the produce of wheat has been larger than the demand in the country. But the facilities for transportation by steamboat on the Mississippi has sup- plied us with a market in St. Louis. Our merchants purchased the wheat, cleaned it thoroughly, had sacks made of coarse domestic cotton, holding over a bushel each, and sent it to St. Louis, where its superior quality and clean state commanded the highest price, mak- ing it profitable for both the producer and the merchant.
The opening of the navigation of the Wis- consin and Fox rivers, already gives us a choice of markets, between St. Louis and the lakes, for all we have to spare over and above the up river and home demand. And if, as is expected, the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad should
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
reach the river, we should have an additional facility for reaching an eastern market. Nor will it make much difference, if any, whether the road reaches that river at this point or not, so far as the surrounding country is concerned. The road must reach the river somewhere, but if not, some other one will, within a short dis- tance, by steam; so that before one surplus produce gluts the market on this great river, we shall have the double facility of steamboat and railroad whereby to reach an eastern mar- ket, and that too at but a trifling expense. As it is well known that the average of our crops exceed that of the eastern part of our State, after deducting the expense of reaching the lake, we shall have equal, if not greater profit per acre than will our more eastern neighbors.
Our stock is that which is most common to the country. We have no animals of special note, unless it is the pony breed of horse ; and not many of them. Our early French settlers came to the country by water, and in bark ca- noes or Mackinaw boats, and could not bring with them the real Canadian or Norman horse. Indeed I do not remember of seeing one of that breed in this country. If there is one or more, they must have come by land from some States bordering on lower Canada The original stoek of horses here probably came from the south and west, and were from the stock intro- dueed by the Spanish into Mexico, Santa Fe, ete., and from thence spread among the Indians. Carver mentions an expedition of the Winneba- goes towards Santa Fe, and the capture of eighty horses at one time, which they brought home with them. The French settlers here may have obtained horses from their brethren at Kaskaskia, or in Missouri. But in either ease they were originally obtained, most prob- ably, from the Indians to the south and west of them.
The present breed of horses or ponies are not generally of an extraordinary character. Only a few very great travelers have been found among them. I have, however, seen one of but
moderate size, which is said to have traveled before a light train on the ice, from Mount Trempeleau to this place, 120 miles, between sunrise and sundown, in February, and that withont any visible injury. But whether any of such bottom can be now obtained, I am una- ble to state. Our stock of horses has greatly improved of late from immigration.
The horned cattle in this country originally came from the States of Illinois and Missouri, and were not of the first quality. Some few of a good quality were obtained from the droves brought up, but generally they were of the ordinary character. Immigration has lately brought some of good quality among us, but I know of none of the imported breeds of the day, though, no doubt, we have some of mixed bloods, which are quite valuable.
Sheep have done remarkably well, so far as they have been tried ; they are very hardy, and produce good and heavy fleeces. To show their hardiness and the adaptation of the climate to their growth, I will give the following faet : In 1837 a drove of sheep was brought to this place for slaughter. One of them, a wether, strayed from the flock and took up its abode in the hills east of this prairie, and within three fourths of a mile of my house and strange to tell, but nevertheless true, he es- caped notice of men, dogs and wolves, through two winters, and was discovered and killed in the spring of 1839, in good eating order. His hoofs were so worn by traveling over the rocks, that they were but square stubbs. We know that he must have strayed from the said flock, because there had been at that time no other such drove on the prairie, from which he could have strayed. At this time there are a few small flocks of sheep which do exceeding well, and show, most conclusively, that our hilly and healthy country is well adapted to raising them on a large scale. I have never heard of any disease among them.
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