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 58
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As for hogs, we have some Berkshires, but they have become so mixed and erossed with
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other kinds, that but few of them can be dis- tinguished. Poultry of all kinds do well.
The adaptation of the country to grazing, as compared with tillage, is a question I am not as well prepared to decide as are those of more experience. A few facts, however, may serve to show the grazing qualities of the country. The French here who usually own large droves of horses, seldom, and some of them never, feed them in winter, except such as they use ; and, in the spring, they are in tolerable order. In our low bottoms and ravines where the wild grasses grow high and rank, they are some- · times beaten down by the fall rains and snow; in which case the snow usually covers a large quantity of green substance which the horses reach by pawing away the snow, if snow there is. If the grass is not beaten down by the snow, but stands up and reaches above it then they eat off the tops. And what is remarkable in this country, this dry grass, reaching above the snow, is eaten with avidity by the horses ; and from the fact that they keep in good order on it, it must have considerable nutrition in it, even in that dead and dry condition.
There are, however, other means of grazing in the country. On some of the islands and river bottoms, there are not only thickets of underbrush on which the animals browse, but rushes abound in many places on which horses and cattle will even thrive through the winter. These rush beds are not very numerous ; they abound most in the thick timbered regions where the wild grass is thin, or does not grow at all. In the winter of 1842-3, when, the hay failed at the falls of the Chippewa, the cattle not wanted for immediate use were driven to, and watched in the rush bottoms.
In the same winter a party of us voyaging with horses through to Lake Superior and back, our hay and oats having failed, we were obliged to resort to the rushes, on which our horses subsisted three days before we reached the settlement.
The quality of our prairie hay is said to be
better than the same article further south. Those who have lived in the southern parts of Illinois and Missouri say that they can winter cattle easier in this region than in the former places. They think the grass here makes more substantial hay, probably from not being so much drenched in summer by the rains.
But a principal reason why catttle can be easier wintered is the character of our winters. We are not one day in mud and wet snow, nor being drenched with rain, and the next day frozen into icicles. Cattle, under such sudden and repeated changes, cannot do as well as with us, where but few changes occur, probably not more than one or two, and sometimes not one through the whole winter. Dry snow, and dry cold weather, even if somewhat severe, when it comes on gradually and is uniform, does not et- fect man or beast as does the contrary kind of weather. If it requires much labor to provide a winter's stock of provender, we have good health and physicial strength to perform it, and we are satisfied to work if we have health, rather than get along without it, and shake half the year with the ague and fever. If our cattle cost us more to raise and keep they bring a better price when raised than do those that come up them- selves in sickly regions.
As between grazing and tillage I think there is but little to choose if either is to be pursued by itself. But both together is certainly prefera- ble; because the straw and stalks from tillage go far in wintering cattle, which would be a loss if we had no cattle to eat them.
Of dairies we cannot say a great deal, having but few; but we could say much in favor of their establishment. What few dairies we have are on a small scale, but have been and are very profitable, and would, no doubt, be more so on a larger scale. I have already stated the facility we have for raising and win- tering cattle;these, of course, are necessary to a dairy, and so.far it is an encouragement. The next, and indeed the great question is, as to the I market for the products of the dairy and of
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this, let facts answer. The most of the cheese consumed in our mines, our pineries and on this entire frontier, is made on the western reserve in Ohio, and transported 2,000 miles by the rivers; and having changed hands several times, each of which must have some profit to pay for freight, storage, commission, etc., the price realized by the producer cannot equal more than half the cost to the consumer. Having lived myself on that reserve, and having some knowledge, by experience, of the cost of clearing land, and getting it into grass, the crops obtained, etc., I am certain that cattle can be raised and kept in this region for one-half the expense necessary to be incurred for the same purpose in that country; and, of course, if the products of the dairy here equal the products there, per head of cattle, and the producer here realizes no more than the producer does there, the busi- ness must be much more profitable here than there; but if the producer here realizes double what the producer docs there, and that too at one-half the expense for raising and keeping cattle, then the business is proportionately more profitable. The only difference and the only drawback in this country to this business is the difference in the wages of hired help. But the difference in costs and prices in favor of this country will more than balance the difference in wages.
The extent of our horticultural experiments are but limited. That the country is adapted to the growth of fruits is evident from the faet that the wild fruits indigenous to this climate are very abundant; such as crab apple, plums of some dozen or twenty varieties, grapes, cher- ries, currants, raspberries, blackberries, straw- berries and several other varieties.
The French who first settled Detroit planted apple trees, pear trees and various other kinds of fruits, and, judging from that fact, I expected to find such trees in abundance in this region. But in this I was disappointed; finding of their planting but a few apple trees and these of an indifferent quality.
About the year 1830 Gen. Street, the Indian agent, brought a lot of apple trees from Ken- tucky to this place, and set them out on a lot at the north end of this prairie. They have had but little care and are natural fruit, yet they have grown well and are very fruitful when not injured by the frost. In 1838 I procured fifty grafted fruit trees from Kentucky, the nearest place from which I could then procure them. But the distance of transportation and change of elimate must have affected them. Further- more the warmth of the steamboat caused them to bud in the moss in which they were done up so that but four or five of them lived. I have since tried seedlings of this country's growth, and though I have had bad luck, the mice and careless ploughman injuring the trees, yet there are some fine and very promising orchards in the country. What is wanted is a nursery in the country, so that the trees will become ac- climated, and there can be no doubt but that apples, pears and plums will do as well as in any country as far north as this.
As for peaches onr hopes and prospects are not so flattering. In 1846 I had twenty peach trees, which, in March, showed buds for as many bushels of fruit; but a severe frost in April killed them down to the very roots. A neighbor of mine had beat me, in that he had thirty or forty bushels of the fruit the season before, and had hopes of a hundred at the time but his shared the fate of mine, or nearly so. A few sprouted and made a great effort to live. We could raise peaches here if we could prevent the sap from starting before the late severe frosts in the spring. I do not agree with the theory that hard freezing before the sap has started kills these trees. For forty years I have watched these trees in the west, and I have never been satisfied that either the fruit or the tree has been injured by the frost before the sap starts in the spring. But invariably if the sap has started, and is followed by a black frost, that is, something harder than a mere white frost, the fruit, if not the tree, is killed.
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Various remedies have been tried and recom- mended for this evil-a northern declivity, cov- ering the roots with straw when the ground is frozen, etc. But the best, as I think, is engraft- ing the peach upon the wild plum. The plum we know seldom fails of bearing fruit on ac- count of frost, because it is late in putting forth its sap; and if the peach top is dependent on the plum root for sap it cannot get it, nor start its buds, until the plum root, according to the law of its nature, gives it. And as that period is so late, the frost usually does not injure the plum, neither can it injure the peach. Another advantage of this mode of grafting is, that the worm has sometimes killed the peach by goring its roots; but that occur- rence, as far as I know, never happened to the phun.
The raising of peaches in this climate is a desideratum of which most persons despair. It is laid to the climate; but in this I think they are mistaken. Lower Canada, Vermont, New York, northern Pennsylvania, Ohio and I think Michigan once were favored with abundance of of this delicious fruit. In 1812, when I first emigrated to northern Ohio, those farms which had been long enough cleared to have peaches on them abounded in this fruit, and the trees and fruit continued to grow and do well until about the year 1830, when the late spring frosts began to kill, not merely the fruit, but the trees themselves. And what is singular, the frost took those in the valleys in one year, and those on the hills in another; and so on from one lo- eation to another; until, in 1836, when I left that country, there were but few peaches left, and from the newspapers I learn that since then this same cause has worked farther and farther south until fears are entertained of the loss of this fruit as far as Philadelphia and Baltimore.
Now, from all this, the evil appears to be in the changes of the seasons and not in the elimate. The climate in the same place must be the same. But seasons have changed and re-changed
since the settlement of America and favorable seasons may yet come round to us again in this matter.
FIRST WHITE MEN WIIO WERE EVER IN VERNON COUNTY-AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR VOYAGE UP THE MISSISSIPPI .*
We set out from Fort Creve Coeur (on the Illi- nois river) the 29th of February, 1680, and to- ward evening, while descending the river Seig- nelay (Illinois) we met on our way several parties from Illinois returning to their village in their periguas or gondolas loaded with meat. They would have obliged us to return, our two boatmen were strongly influenced, but as they would have had to pass by Fort Creve Coeur, where our Frenchmen would have stopped them, we pursued our way the next day, and my two men afterward confessed the design which they had entertained.
The river Seignelay on which we were sail- ing, is as deep and broad as the Seine at Paris, and in two or three places widens out to a quarter of a league. It is skirted by hills, whose sides are covered with fine, large trees. Some of these hills are half a league apart, leav- ing between them a marshy strip, often inun- dated, especially in the autumn and spring, but producing, nevertheless, very large trees. On ascending these hills you discover prairies further than the eye can reach, studded, at intervals, with groves of tall trees, apparently planted there intentionally. The current of the river is not perceptible, except in time of great rains; it is at all times navigable for large barks about a hundred leagues, from its mouth to the Illinois village, whence its course almost always runs south by west.
On the 7th of March we found, about two leagnes from its mouth, a Nation called Tama- roa, or Maroa, composed of 200 families. They would have taken us to their village lying west of the river Colbert, six or seven leagues
* The leader of this party, it will be remembered, was Acau; with him went Father Louis Hennepin, who wrote the account here given. It was first published in 1683.
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below the mouth of the river Seignelay ; but our two canoemen, in hopes of still greater gain, preferred to pass on, according to the advice I then gave them. These last Indians seeing that we carried iron and arms to their enemies, and unable to overtake us in their periaguas, which are wooden canoes, much heavier than our bark one, which went much faster than their boats, despatched some of their young men after us by land, to pierce us with their arrows at some narrow part of the river, but in vain ; for soon discovering the fire made by these warriors at their ambuscade, we promptly crossed the river, gained the other side, and encamped on an island, leaving our canoe loaded and our little dog to wake us, so as to embark more expeditiously, should the Indians attempt to surprise us by swimming across.
Soon after leaving these Indians, we came to the month of the river Seignelay, fifty leagues distant from Fort Creve Coeur, and about 100 leagues from the great Illinois village. It lies between 36 deg. and 37 deg. north latitude, and consequently 120 or thirty leagues from the Gulf of Mexico.
In the angle formed on the south by this river, at its mouth, is a flat precipitous rock, about forty feet high, very well suited for building a fort. On the northern side, opposite the rock, and on the west side beyond the river, are fields of black earth, the end of which you can not see, all ready for cultivation, which would be very advantagious for the existence of a colony. The ice which floated down from the north kept us in this place till the 12th of March, whence we continued our route, travers- ing the river and sounding on all sides to see whether it was navigable. There are, indeed, three islets in the middle, near the mouth of the river Seignelay, which stop the floating wood and trees from the north, and form several large sand-bars, yet the channels are deep enough, and there is sufficient water for
barks ; large flat-boats can pass there at all times.
The river Colbert ( Mississippi ) runs south- southwest, and comes from the north and north- west ; it runs between two chains of mountains, very small here, which wind with the river, and in some places are pretty far from the banks, so that between the mountains and the river, there are large prairies, where you often see herds of wild cattle browsing. In other places these eminences leave semi-circular spots covered with grass or wood. Beyond these mountains you discover vast plains, but the more we approach the northern side ascending, the earth did not appear to us so fertile, nor the woods so beautiful as in the Illinois country.
This great river is almost everywhere a short league in width, and in some places, two leagues ; it is divided by a number of islands covered with trees, interlaced with so many vines as to be almost impassable. It receives no considerable river on the western side except that of the Olontenta and another, which comes from the west-northwest, seven or eight leagues from the Falls of St. Anthony, of Padua. On the eastern side you meet first an inconsider- able river, and then further on another, called by the Indians Ouisconsin, or Wisconsin, which comes from the east and east-northeast. Sixty leagues up you leave it, and make a portage of half a league to reach the bay of the Puans ( Green bay ) by another river which, near its source, meanders most curiously. It is almost as broad as the river Seignelay, or Illinois, and empties into the river Colbert, 100 leagues above the river Seignelay.
Twenty-four leagues above, you come to the Black river, called by the Nadouessious ( Sioux ), or Islati, Chabadeba, or Chabaoudeba, it seems inconsiderable. Thirty leagues higher up, you find the Lake of Tears ( Pepin ), which we so named because the Indians who had taken us, wishing to kill us, some of them wept the whole night, to induce the others to
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consent to our death. This lake which is formed by the river Colbert, is seven leagues long, and about four wide ; there is no consid- erable current in the middle that we could perceive, but only at its entrance and exit. Half a league below the Lake of Tears, on the south side, is Buffalo river, full of turtles. It is so called by the Indians on account of the num- bers of buffalo found there. We followed it for ten or twelve leagues; it empties with rapidity into the river Colbert, but as you ascend it, it is always gentle and free from rapids. It is skirted by mountains, far enough off in some places to form prairies. The mouth is wooded on both sides, and is full as wide as that of the Seignelay.
EARLY EXPERIENCE IN THE NORTHWEST,
r
By Thomas G. Anderson .*
About the beginning of March, 1800, I left Cornwall for Montreal, to join my bourgeois, Robert MeKinzie, who, by the by, was bred a tailor, but had made a pile of money by the In- dian trade, which as a matter of course en- abled him to take rank among the "big wigs" of society. I was nearly a month too early for the canoe start to commence. I had, therefore, in the meantime, to live an idle, lonely life at a boarding house. My boss was, however, fully employed laying in his goods and engaging his men and canoes.
My personal outfit consisted of a corduroy roundabout, pants and vest, four striped cotton shirts, four pair socks, and four "two and a half point blankets" sewed up in canvass, with two pair of blankets to cover me, forming my bed and bedding. A gun, powder-horn and shot- bag filled, fitted me for the hunt; and a travel- ing basket, containing a boiled ham, some sea biseuit, salt, tea, sugar and pepper, with a tea- pot, a small tin kettle in which to boil tea water, a tin enp for tea drinking, two tin plates, two knives and forks, two iron spoons, and a small
canvas tent for fair weather. These articles, with $200 salary, formed the usual outfit and wages for a clerk in the Mississippi Indian trade for the first year. During the long eve- nings of that youthful period, lots of youngsters sought my acquaintance, but a kind providence kept me from their evil ways.
The 3d of April being now arrived, I was con- veyed to Lachine, our starting point from civil- ization. I took a look at the bark canoe which was to transport me to savage wilds. These canoes are about forty feet long, over five feet wide and three feet deep, and made of the bark taken from the white birch tree, and sewed to- gether with the small roots of the hemlock tree. The strips of bark were eut into the proper shape and stretched upon a strong frame, com- posed of split cedar, and firmly sewed to it with the hemlock fibres. It is now ready for piteh- ing, or rather, "gumming," which is performed by spreading on the seams a kind of resin pre- pared from the sap extracted from the pine tree, carefully laid on, and pressed firmly with the thumb. It hardens, and stops every leak.
Next morning at daylight we were prepared to load. The canoe was placed in the water, when four nicely smoothed cedar poles, the length of the canoe, were laid in the bottom, in order that the cargo may bear equal pressure on the frail vessel throughont; and the most weighty packages laid on them to bind and con- fine them to the shape of the canoe. On these the heavier articles were placed, such as shot, axes, powder; then the dry goods to the brim. Over all was piled a month's provisions for all hands, consisting of pork, peas and sea biseuit, the latter contained in canvas saeks, which, when filled, were five feet long and two feet in diameter.
About 10 o'clock all was ready, and we em- barked. On leaving the wharf I was near eaus- ing the eanoe, now top heavy, to turn over and send all down the Lachine rapids. Wishing to give all the eclat on my departure, I fired off my
* A biographical sketch of Mr. Anderson will be found ap- pended to this narrative.
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gun, which so surprised and startled all hands, that the canoe was nearly going over, which taught me to confine my rejoicings on future occasions to terra firma.
After proceeding a few miles the guide, who is commodore, and is responsible for all dur- ing the journey, ordered a halt and all hands to debark. A heavy rapid was before us, which must be surmounted. Among other necessary articles of the outfit was a rope about twenty yards long, one end of which was securely fast- ened to the prow of the canoe. Two of the men were ordered to strip to their shirts, whose duty it would be to wade to their middles up the rapids, one at the prow, the other at the stern of the canoe, to keep it clear of the rocks. The prowman or guide and steersman, each with a long pole to ward off, while the remaining five men, sometimes in the water, and some- times on shore, to pull at the rope.
When all was ready the guide directed me to a very narrow path, which led me by the verge of a precipice, from which I had a view of the poor men below struggling against the cold rapids, which for two miles ran at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles an hour. At the end no fire was made to dry the men's clothes and warm their feet; but all was hurry and away to the camping ground, about three miles. The paddling was brisk, the song lond and lively, the water smooth, and the hungry mouths soon reached the end of their first day's journey.
The guide and all hands were very attentive to me, in carrying me in and out of the canoe, setting my tent in order, boiling my kettle, ete. I had nothing to do with the drudgery of cook- ing. The men's practice in the culinary art was very simple, but good. The tin kettle in which they cooked their food would hold eight or ten gallons. It was hung over the fire nearly full of water, then nine quarts of peas, one quart per man, the daily allowance, were put in; and when they were well bursted, two or three pounds of pork, cut into strips, for seasoning, were added, and all allowed to boil or simmer
till daylight, when the cook added four biscuits, broken up, to the mess, and invited all hands to breakfast. The swelling of the peas and biseuit had now filled the kettle to the brim, so thick that a stiek would stand upright in it. It looked inviting, and I begged for a plate full of it, and ate little else during the journey. The men now squatted in a circle, the kettle in their midst, and each one plying his wooden spoon or ladle from kettle to mouth, with almost electric speed, soon filled every cavity. Then the pipes were soon brought into full smoke.
Our encampment being at the foot of a small fall or eascade, over which canoes and all had to be transported, the guide would not allow talking; so all was bustle, each man's duty be- ing at every trip to carry two packages of eighty-four pounds each over the portages; and six men to carry the canoe, which counted for one trip for each of them, it remaining for them to carry a package afterwards. All was soon over, the boats re-loaded, when the paddle would again resume its strokes with the merri- est songs accompanying its play. I conclude that the breakfast on pea soup, with the con- dition of the atmosphere, so affected the nasal organs that the men suffered intensely the first few days.
With respect to camping, cooking and scen- ery, there was little variation during the jour- ney. 1 may, however, mention the beautiful sheet of water falling about forty or fifty feet into the Ottawa near the present city of that name, where at the time of which I write, sev- enty years ago, there was not even a shadow of a mansion. This fall was very properly called Le Ridean, for it has the appearance of a beau- tiful curtain.
At length we reached the Portage de Vause, three miles from Lake Nipissing. At the end of the portage was a log hut, with three or four Canadians; a northwest trading post; the only house or human beings we had seen since leav- ing Lachine. The people were very kind, giv-
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ing me some fish and offering me lodgings for the night; the former I thankfully received, but preferred my tent to the latter. Parts of two days were spent in getting all things over this long portage, while the peas, pork and cakes had been considerably lessened. The second day, however, we crossed the lake and pitched our tents on the French River.
We had mounted seventeen portages, and we had to descend seventeen more to Lake Huron. The poor men were sadly worn out with the roughness of the last carrying place, and the guide considerately brought to an hour earlier than usual to give them a good rest and an op- portunity to wash, a business in which they had thus far spent little time and lesser soap. The only time I tried the experiment of carrying packages was at the last long portage, where I got the guide to tie a pair of strings to a bag of biscuits and load me with it; but it swayed about, and being top heavy, I could not walk steady. Before proceeding twenty yards down I came with the bag in the mud. The men ran to unharness me, and laughed to see me enjoy the fun.
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