History of northern Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development, and resources; an extensive sketch of its counties, cities, towns and villages, their improvements, industries, manufactories; biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers; views of county seats, etc., Part 83

Author: Western historical co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1052

USA > Wisconsin > History of northern Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development, and resources; an extensive sketch of its counties, cities, towns and villages, their improvements, industries, manufactories; biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers; views of county seats, etc. > Part 83

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In 1879 there was raised :

Wheat . 38 541 bushels.

Corn

73,4TI

Oats 12,SOI

Barley 762

Rye 868

Potatoes

666

Add to this showing the stock, vegetables and dairy products, and there is a respectable aggregate.

The county is a regular parallelogram, the greater length being from east to west. It is composed of the following named towns : Union, Eau Claire, Sey- monr, Ludington, Brunswick, Washington, Lincoln, Bridge Creek, Drammen, Pleasant Valley, Otter Creek and Fairchild. Only the towns of L'rammen and Fair- child are identical in size and shape with a township of government survey.

Brunswick, bounded by the Eau Claire River on the north, has about the same number of acres.

The town of Seymour is twelve miles long and three wide, having of course the same amount of ter- ritory as one six miles square.

Eau Claire Township is the smallest in the county, having but a little more than sixteen square miles- not quite half the size of a government town.

Bridge Creek is a large township ; it contains 106} square miles, nearly three regular townships.

Ludington is sixteen miles from east to west, six miles wide, and has ninety-four square miles.

Pleasant Valley represents a whole township, on the northwest and southeast, respectively, seventy-two square miles.

Wasbington has sixty-six square miles, is rectangu- lar, but irregular in outline.

Otter Creek has a length of nine miles and a width of six, with fifty-four square miles.

Lincoln has an irregular outline on the north, is nine miles in the longest part from north to south, and eight from east to west, and has a little over sixty square miles.

Union is nearly the size of a regular township, hav- ing thirty-four square miles.

As the towns fill up with inhabitants, they will be

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HISTORY OF EAU CLAIRE COUNTY.

divided to meet the requirements of the various locali- ties.

The whole county contains 648 square miles, 414,- 720 acres. The length from east to west is thirty- six miles, and from north to south eighteen miles.

There is a large amount of good farming land in the county. It is well settled from Fall Creek to be- low Augusta on the railroad. Otter Creek has splen- did farms all over its territory. Bridge Creek and Lincoln are good farming towns. Washington is also quite a good town. Ludington has hard wood timber in abundance. A large part of the west center of the town is the great maple sugar region. Pleasant Val- ley has good but light land.

The post-offices in the county are : Eau Claire, Au- gusta, Otter Creek, Fairchild, Fall Creek, Nooks Hill, Norseville and Hadleyville.

The total debt of the county is only $43,000.

The value of real estate as fixed by the State Board in 1880, was $5,079,086.

The State tax for the county in 1879, was $5,258 .- 42. Total town, city and village taxes $121,322.06. Of this amount $35,327.07 was for school purposes.

The State tax for the county in 1880, was $9,085.21.

The population of Eau Claire County, according to the Federal and State census, was: In 1860, 3,162; 1865, 5,281 ; 1870, 10,769 ; 1875, 15,991; 1880, 19,992. A larger proportion than in many Wisconsin counties are natives, there being of this class 13,501, and 6,491 foreigners, and 25 colored.

The census, of 1880, showed :

Eau Claire. 10,118

Bridge Creek 1,894

Brunswick

898

Drammen

40I

Fairchild

887

Ludington and Seymour

727

Lincoln

1,481

Otter Creek

1,060

Pleasant Valley

941

Union

631

Washington

954

Total Towns. 9.847

In whole County 19.992

The present county officers are: County Judge, George C. Teall ; Clerk of Court, M. B. Hubbard ; Sheriff, A. W. Munger ; County Clerk, L. P. Hotchkiss ; Treasurer, S. H. Wilcox ; Register of Deeds, L. E. Strum ; Coroner, W. H. Willard.

There have been but five judges on the county bench since its organization. They were elected and served in the following order: Ira Mead, John E. Still- man, II. W. Barnes, George C. Teall, A. C. Ellis, and George C. Teall again, the present incumbent.

Eau Claire County was not represented in the State Legislature until, when, it having been associated with Chippewa and Dunn counties as an Assembly District, it was represented in the Assembly by William H. Smith, of Eau Galle.

EAU CLAIRE.

Eau Claire is a rapidly growing and enterprising city, situated on both banks of the Chippewa River, about sixty miles from its mouth. The river is navigable to the Falls,

eleven miles above. It enters the city from the north, hav- ing just described in its course a well defined, but reversed, letter S, which has been cut across to secure boomage. . The Eau Claire, a stream perhaps one-third the size, arises in the adjoining counties on the east, and, receiving accessions north and south, enters the Chippewa at right angles, near the center of the town.

The Chippewa has a general southwestern course, and has a dam, a lock, sluice-ways, etc., just at the north of the town.

The city is composed of three villages. The east side is only a few blocks wide down the river from the Eau Claire, being skirted on the east by a sandy bluff, once the bank of the river. The north side gradually ascends a hundred feet or so above the river bank. The west side is level and already well covered with dwellings and some business blocks. Most of the general business is on the east side, with some, however, on the north side.

It is well authenticated that Louis de Marie, a Canadian, of French extraction, and his wife, a woman born in De- troit, Mich., of French father and Chippewa mother, and family, consisting of five sons and three daughters, came up the Chippewa in August, 1832, and remained as an In- dian trader, through the Winter. This adventurous man had previously gone to the Red River of the North, and from thence to Prairie du Chien, where he, with others, had settled. In the year above named, he moved his family to what is now West Eau Claire, and erected a log cabin not far from the bank of the river, nearly opposite the mouth of Eau Claire, to serve as house and store. Near the mouth of the river he was stopped by hostile Sioux, who demanded $300 worth of goods from him, for the privilege of ascend- ing the stream and afterward trading with the Indians un- molested. He remained but one season at Eau Claire, going back to Prairie du Chien in the Spring of 1833. The two subsequent Winters were spent by him higher up the Chippewa. He was very successful as a fur trader. In the Winter of 1836-37, he located his trading post at the Falls. His wife was a most capable woman, and was greatly respected by those whom she met, both for her industry and her skill as a doctor. She attended the sick gratuitously, and was a welcome visitor to those who were afflicted. She is still living, at the advanced age of eighty-five, two miles north of Chippewa Falls, with her daughter, Mrs. George P. Warren. The daughters of De Marie locate the year of their father's first trip by the fact of noticing, as they passed the scene, the unburied slain on the battle field of Bad Axe, which contest occurred August 2, 1832.

This region, visited by Carver so long ago as 1767, and brought more closely within the influence of civilization by M. De Marie in 1832, was allowed to rest undisturbed from the time of the departure of the trader, until 1845, when another cabin was erected on the present site of Eau Claire. The spot chosen was in front of what is now the property of the successful Eau Claire Lumber Company.

Other settlements had been made at the Falls and on the Red River, but none at the junction of the Chippewa and Eau Claire. Hence it follows that Arthur McCann, Stephen S. McCann and Jeremiah Thomas were the first actual settlers of this city. A shanty was erected, as above mentioned, and also one lower down, near the Chippewa, which was dignified by calling it a warehouse. Another was built by Arthur McCann, opposite the present site of the Galloway House in the second ward. The parties had no means to build a mill, but succeeded in putting up a couple of logging camps on the Eau Claire, for the Winter. Arthur McCann was shot by an employe, named Sawyer, the following year, at his own door. A single frame house was built that year by Arthur McCann, near where Hart's

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

Hotel now stands. There was also a cabin near the upper or water-power mill. on the Eau Claire.

Arthur McCann and J. C. Thomas had, in 1844, built a saw-mill on the river, at what is now called the Blue Mill, a few miles above the city.

Stephen McCann died in 1880, very much reduced in circumstances but for a pension procured a short time be- fore his death.

Philo Stone and his brother, Roswell, took up their res- idence here at about that time. They had come on to the river in 1838, and were engaged in hunting, and as this was the neutral or non-fighting ground between the Chippewas and Sioux, which was seldom visited by either tribe, the hunting was most excellent. Philo was said to have been a turbulent, quarrelsome man, a champion among the light- weights, when any fight was possible. He had a squaw who became a remarkably good housekeeper. Indeed, it is the general testimony that these Indian women were tractable, and readily acquired habits of industry, giving their homes an air of comfort not much behind their white sisters.

The buildings alluded to were little better than mere shanties, to establish the right of the claimant to an uncer- tain amount of Government land. McCann's house, how- ever, was quite a comfortable dwelling.

The object of these settlers was not to till the soil. Its sandy character seemed uninviting for that pursuit, although a thorough test of its quality for agricultural purposes re- veals a value altogether unexpected and quite satisfactory. These men came here to build mills and manufacture lum- ber from the pine forests on the upper branches of the Eau Claire, which had a natural outlet here and which could be placed upon the highway of the Chippewa and floated to a market on the Mississippi. It is true that neither of these men had the adequate means to prosecute such an enter- prise. They must have secured the location with a trust in the future, realizing that at no distant day capital would seek the place where its enlargement and aggregation must follow.

The next year McCann & Thomas associated themselves with some new comers, Simon and George Randall. They proceeded to erect a mill and build a dam on the site of the present mill of the Eau Claire Lumber Company. It was completed and ready to commence operations, when an un- looked for misfortune came upon the struggling firm. A tremendous freshet swept away the mill, together with the booms and the logs which had been accumulated by so much toil. All was gone; nothing was left for their sea- -on's labor or the money invested. Their means had been expended, and to rebuild it required more capital. Mc- Cann and Thomas retired from the firm, and the following year, 1847, the mill was rebuilt on the opposite side of the river, where the flouring mill now stands. The new firm that erected this mill was Gage, Dix & Reed.

The Winter of 1846-7 was most remarkable. Very lit- tle snow fell, and the cold was so intense that the water in the Chippewa, at the falls, froze solid to the bottom, and as the water overflowed there was a fresh layer of ice formed ev- ery night, and this process went on until rocks and trees were submerged and imbedded twenty feet deep in the frigid em- brace. Nothing like this has since occurred. The want of snow on the rivers was seriously felt. But Messrs. Colton & Moser, on the Yellow River, for the Falls Company, and the Hoosier Logging Company on the Eau Claire, managed without snow, to get a good stock of logs for their respect- ive companies.

The Spring was even more remarkable, for there was practically no rain through April or May, and not a log floated on the Yellow or Eau Claire up to June 5, which

was foggy early in the day and then very hot and windy. In the evening, rain began to pour down in torrents, con- tinuing until 8 o'clock the next morning, accompanied with lightning of the most vivid and bewildering kind, and long continued reverberations of thunder exceeding any thing of the kind since experienced in this region. The river rose twelve feet and was covered with logs, lumber, driftwood. and the debris of piers and booms from the Falls, whose there was a total wreck of all the costly improvement placed on the river the previous season to hold logs. Nothing was left there but the mill ; all else was swept away in that fearful night. More than 10,000 logs, the re- sult of a Winter's hardship and labor, were a total loss. E. T. Randall, the historian of the Chippewa valley, in trying to save part of his boom where were lodged the logs to supply the Blue Mill on the Chippewa, was carried down the river on the logs. but fortunately his improvised raft shot out of the mighty current into an eddy near the location of Sherman's mill before the flood of 1880, and grounded so that he escaped impending death. It was about an hour after this adventure, about noon on the 6th, that the mill was carried almost bodily down with the flood as already mentioned.

That these young men, who had sustained such a heavy calamity, were not entirely discouraged, speaks volumes for their energy, perseverance and faith in ultimate success. Here were the savings of years of toil and struggle, all in- vested in these undertakings, and now, as they had a right to suppose, when the legitimate reward for their industry and enterprise was wellnigh within their grasp, it was all hurled from their sight as with a besom of destruction. And perhaps more than all this, there were the heavy lia- bilities that had been incurred, with no possible adequate provision to meet them. Capital, with its proverbial timid- ity, could with difficulty be induced to locate on a river with such a reputation for inordinate swelling and remorse- less bursting of its confines, with its destructive results.

Philo Stone and H. Cady went in with S. & G. Randall and rebuilt the mill on the Eau Claire in the Winter of 1847-8.

It must be remembered that at that time there was no way of getting to or from the settlement but by the river. The nearest post-office was Prairie du Chien. and the mail came by private conveyance. In 1848, the State Legisla- ture authorized and appropriated the funds to defray the expense of building a road from Prairie du Chien via Spar- ta, Black River Falls and Eau Claire to Hudson. And while there were thousands pouring through this intricate throughfare to locate on the prairies of the St. Croix and in Minnesota, the forbidding features of the country sur- rounding the settlement deterred them from stopping here.

Judge Knowlton had the contract for building this road and it was pushed with commendable energy through the Winter of 1849-50, and became passable so that it was ex- tensively used as above mentioned.

The whole valley for several years had an immunity from serious damage by floods and began to recover from the previous disasters, were adding to their facilities for handling and manufacturing lumber. The whole region was, however, practically without laws. Prairie du Chien was the nearest place where the forms of justice were ob- served, but only the most serious cases were taken there.

Personal quarrels and assaults were not uncommon, and these were usually settled by the decisions of mutual friends. Offenses against property were much less common, and were disposed of without resort to the county seat, with its for- malities and delays. Previous to 1851, land district was composed of the States of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. In 1851, a new district was designated, with headquarters

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HISTORY OF EAU CLAIRE COUNTY.

at Hudson. John O. Henning was appointed Register, and Dr. -. -. Hoyt, Receiver. Some twenty townships along the river were soon surveyed and in the market, and the settlers were thus relieved of the difficulties attendant upon their previous occupation of the lands on account of the absence of Government lines, for no one could tell whether his improvements might not be thrown into various sections, or fortunately be surrounded by the Government lines.

The line of the fourth principal meridian was surveyed very carefully by Henry A. Wiltse, a competent engineer ; it was for a standard meridian, from which the ranges of townships across the State, east and west, were numbered. The terminus was fifteen chains west of the mouth of the Montreal River, and, according to the U. S. Topographical Engineers, seven miles west of the starting point.

This same year a mail route was ordered by Congress over this road. This was a mile stone in the early progress of the town. George W. Randall received the appointment of Postmaster. The office was called Clear Water Post- office, and was the first in the whole Chippewa Valley, af- fording mail facilities for all the settlements on the river. The whole country between here and Prairie du Chien was then included in Crawford County. The lands were un- surveyed, and, of course, not in the market. In 1850, how- ever, most of these lands were placed in the market, and an era of land speculation commenced. The United States Government now has the best system for surveying land ever adopted, and had the system for the sale and settle- ment of the Government domain been equally judicious much of the suffering and many of the hardships of the early pioneers would have been materially lessened.

The homestead laws, practically as they now exist, were the instruments for building up this region, and, indeed, the whole northwest, as they afford every possible encourage- ment for the industrious seeker after a home. From 1850 on, to the present time, with fluctuations more or less dis- tinct, the settlement of the country has been going on.

The first man to open a farm in Eau Claire County was Rev. Thomas Barland, who was the first man to appreciate the climate and the value of the land in this new region. He came from Illinois, where he had been interested in set- tling that State, and in work for the American Tract Socie- ty, and in spreading the Anti-Slavery sentiment, which was of such interest at that time. He arrived in the Fall of 1852, and procured about 200 acres of land, on the Sparta road, almost two and one-half miles southeast from the city, where he and his son, John C., and a sister still re- side.

His first neighbors, E. W. Robbins and David Wyman, came in 1854. During 1852-53 Mr. Barland had started preaching in Gage and Reed's boarding-house, near the spot where the Eau Claire House now stands. This was the first regular service in the place. Mr. Barland was born in Scotland, had a thorough education, is a man of ideas, and has made many suggestions by which others have prof- ited. He married Margaret Wilson, and they had ten chil- dren, of whom three sons and three daughters are now liv- ing.

Having thus briefly gone over the history of Eau Claire during the first period of its existence, it may not be unin- teresting to go back in review of some of the points already alluded to, and introduce incidents which were intimately connected with the welfare of the settlement.

As a matter of speculative interest as to "what might have been," an account of the earliest attempt to build a dam and improve the "Lower Dell," which improvement subsequently excited such a long and bitter contest, will be here presented.

In 1842, H. S. Allen and G. S. Branham were associated in business on Wilson's Creek, where the Menomonie vil- lage now stands, and having, by their lumbering operations, accumulated considerable capital, began, in 1845, to exam- ine the various points on the Chippewa, with a view of en- larging their business. Why they did not retain their prop- erty on the creek, which has since become so valuable, is one of the mysteries so often met with in business ventures. After a careful examination of numerous locations, they fixed upon the Lower Dells as the place, above all others, where logs could be controlled in all stages of the river. It is worthy of remark that their plan was substantially the same that so many years afterwards was successfully realized.

Simon and George Randall, already alluded to, were as- sociated with them, under the firm name of Allen, Branham & Randall. Without doubt, they expected to encounter great opposition from the lumber companies, located at the Falls, in addition to the natural obstacles which such a work would involve.

Their plan of operations included a dam half the dis- tance across at the foot of the dells, and a wing dam up along the raft channel, and other spurs, so as to raise a suf- ficient head of water, but not to interrupt navigation. Their plan was feasible, and contracts were made with E. T. Ran- dall, who then operated the Blue Mill, for plank. The tim- ber was got out near Half Moon Lake for a large mill. Having gone so far, the parties who had personal interests to look after separated to look after them, and work was sus- pended, with the supposition that it would soon be resumed. But the first news received from the parties was that the whole project was abandoned ; that the firm had dissolved, and that Mr. Allen, who was the head of the firm, had as- sociated himself with Mr. Bass, at the Falls, constituting a team that would pull through the necessary force to over- come the serious obstacles and disadvantages there.

Had the original design been carried out then the sub- sequent history of Eau Claire would have been entirely un- like what it now is, and that of the whole valley changed.

The first funeral attended in the settlement was at the death of a dusky woman, the wife of Simon Randall, who died in the Winter of 1846-7. E. T. Randall officiated, preaching a sermon from ist Cor., XV, 21-22.

The first religious service was held in September, 1846, by Mr. Randall, who had appointments on alternate Sun- days at the Falls and Eau Claire. He was connected with the Methodists, and his wife was also an earnest worker in the same cause. George W. Randall was married about this time, to Miss Mary La Point, of Prairie du Chien. Mr. and Mrs. McCann provided a wedding on a scale commensurate with their ability. Mr. Bass, a Justice of the Peace, from the Falls, with his commission from the Territorial Gov- ernor, came down and solemnized the marriage, assisted by E. T. Randall, who invoked the divine blessing on their union.

At the time of the flood, on the 6th of June, 1847, a party of surveyors, charged with a geological and minero- logical examination of the northwest, were detained here by the rise of the rivers. Among them was Dr. Gwyn, who was afterwards known in political life, and particularly as a Senator from California.

In 1847, provisions were not high. A transaction where provisions were made the consideration put mess pork at $7 a barrel, and flour at $2.75 a barrel, delivered at Lake Pepin, after having been transported from Rock Island.

From 1850 to 1855, was an uneventful period in the history of Eau Claire. The county was slowly filling up with sturdy settlers. All supplies came up the river, prin- cipally on keel boats, from Galena-which was a thriving place at that time-and Prairie du Chien. The mills al-

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HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

ready erected were kept in operation, the lumber being rafted down the river.

Not a dry-goods store, blacksmith shop, or any business outside of the mills, existed in the whole valley.

In a population of 100, in 1855, it is said that there were only two houses owned in the settlement, and $25,000 would cover all the capital.

The first white man buried was William Reed, who died in June, 1855.

During this period, there were several encounters be- tween the Chippewas and Sioux. There was a constant succession of stealthy assassinations and dastardly encoun- ters, which cannot honestly be dignified even as guerrilla warfare. A party of Sioux was encountered on the Red Cedar, in 1840, and all cut to pieces-not a brave was left to tell the tale. The next year, a party of six Chippewas fared the same. They afterward met several times, the last in 1846, and smoked the pipe of peace, evidently distrust- ing each other all the while.

The last war party in the vicinity was what was called "Anamoose's band." They camped up the river, near the North Fork. They built a fortification, and were in evi- dent fear of their terrible western neighbors. Two men had been scalped by the Sioux down the river the Fall be- fore, and Anamoose's band was probably sent to punish them, and the doughty warriors fortified themselves when within fifty or sixty miles of the enemy! This was in 1851-2.

The last battle between the Chippewas and Sioux in this vicinity was fought in 1854.

Of the 100 people who lived in Eau Claire in 1855, most of them were laboring men. The proprietors were cool- headed, energetic men, of tact and experience, who had selected this place on account of its natural advantages over any other unoccupied location in the valley, or, indeed, any where in the northwest.

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Author: Western historical co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company Number of Pages: 1052

Author: Western historical co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1052