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Bryant, Benjamin F. / Memoirs of La Crosse County from earliest historical times down to the present with special chapters on various subjects, including each of the different towns, and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in the county, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information 

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MEMOIRS
OF
LA CROSSE COUNTY

FROM THE EARLIEST HISTORICAL TIMES DOWN TO THE PRESENT
WITH SPECIAL CHAPTERS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, INCLUDING
EACH OF THE DIFFERENT TOWNS, AND A GENEALOGICAL
AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF REPRESENTATIVE
FAMILIES IN THE COUNTY, PREPARED FROM
DATA OBTAINED FROM ORIGINAL
SOURCES OF INFORMATION

BENJAMIN F. BRYANT
EDITOR

MADISON, WISCONSIN
WESTERN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
1907
 

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.
NATURAL CONDITIONS.
 

Geological Formations - Topography - Drainage - Soil - Climate - Annual
     Meteorological Summary - Fauna
PAGE 17 

CHAPTER II.
INDIAN AFFAIRS.
 
Indefinite Boundaries of Indian Domains - Limitations of the Algonquin
     Family - Western Wisconsin a Neutral Ground - Occupation by the
     Winnebagoes - Indian Game the Origin of Name "La Crosse" -
     Attitude of the Indians toward the Early Settlers - Treaty of 1837 -
     Indian Cave in Barre Township - Indian Villages - Mound Building
     In La Crosse County
PAGE 22 

CHAPTER III.
TERRITORIAL AND PRE-TERRITORIAL HISTORY.
 
Early Claims to the Territory - La Crosse County on the Highway to the
     Northwest - Early Visitors - British Dominion - Treaty of Paris, 1783 -
     Claim of Virginia - Jurisdiction of the General Government -
     Ordinance of 1787 - Territory of Indiana - Visit of Major Pike - Territory
     of Illinois - Indian Rendezvous in 1814 - Jurisdiction of Michigan
     Territory - Division into Brown, Crawford and Michilimackinac
     Counties - Influence of the Black Hawk War - Wisconsin Territory
PAGE 27 

CHAPTER IV.
VILLAGE OF LA CROSSE.
 
Location - First Settler - Arrivals Previous to 1845 - Platting of Village -
     Arrivals Between 1850 - 1853 - Rapid Growth of 1853 - Land Office -
     Statistics of 1853-54 - Nationality of Early Settlers - Advantages of
     Location - Railroad Projects - Professional Men of 1854 - Growth of
     Business - Personal Sketches, Nathan Myrick, H. J. B. Miller, John
     M. Levy, Harvey E. Hubbard, Samuel L. Smith, Samuel D. Hastings,
     Theodore Rodolf, Cyrus K. Lord, Col. T. B. Stoddard - Some Early
     Marriages
PAGE 31
  

CONTENTS

CHAPTER V.
LA CROSSE COUNTY, EARLY HISTORY.
 

Original Bill Creating the County - Present Dimensions - Conditions of
     Soil and Climate - Picturesque Scenery - Character of the Early
     Settlers - A Journey across the County in 1851 - Agriculture - Lumbering
     - Value of Real Estate in 1858 - Outlook in 1863
PAGE 46 

CHAPTER VI.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
 
Organization - First County Election - County Seat - Organization of
     Trempealeau County - La Crosse County Reduced to Present Limits -
     Early Political Preferences - A Political Document of 1858 -
     Congressional District - Senatorial District - Assembly Districts - State
     Senators - Assemblymen - Speakers of the Assembly - Governors -
     Congressmen - United States Senator - Comparative Strength of Political
     Parties - Present Political Representatives - State Officials from La
     Crosse - Present County Officers - Personal Sketches, Timothy Burns,
     E. D. Campbell, C. C. Washburn, Geo. W. Peck, Angus Cameron,
     Charles Seymour, W. A. Anderson, W. R. Finch
PAGE 51 

CHAPTER VII.
THE POSTAL SERVICE.
 
The First Postoffice, 1844 - Early Post-masters - Increase of Mail in 1851 -
     Discontent with Mail Service - Introduction of Boxes - Location of
     La Crosse Office from 1860 to 1870 - New Postoffice Building -
     Contrasts of Postal Service - Present Officials - Statistics of 1905 - 1906 -
     List of La Crosse Post-masters - Stage Routes and Postoffices in the
     County - Early Country Postoffices - Postoffices in 1878 - Present
     Offices and Free Delivery Routes
PAGE 62 

CHAPTER VIII.
WATERWAYS, HIGHWAYS AND RAILROADS.
 
The Mississippi River - Advantages of La Crosse for River Navigation -
     The First Steamboat - Early Packet Lines - Wharf Building -
     Increase of River Commerce and Travel - Recent Efforts to Increase
     River Traffic - Capt. P. S. Davidson - Wagon Roads, Dirt and Plank
     - The First Railroad - The Southern Minnesota Railroad - The
     Dubuque Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad -
     The Green Bay & Western Railroad - The Chicago, Burlington &
     Quincy Railroad - Personal Sketches, W. R. Sill, H. I. Bliss - Freight
     Handled by the Railroads - The Railroad Bridge Across the
     Mississippi - The Street Railways - The Interurban Railway -
     Wagon Bridges
PAGE 67 

CHAPTER IX.
LA CROSSE COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR.
 
Difficulties of Compiling a Correct Record - Public Sentiment at the
     Beginning of the War - The La Crosse Light Guard (Company B,
     Second Inf.) - Soldiers in the Third Infantry - Company I, Eighth
     Infantry - German Citizens of La Crosse in the Ninth - Company D,
  

CONTENTS

Fourteenth Infantry - Scandinavians in the Fifteenth - Company A,
     Twentieth Regiment - Company F, Twenty-fifth Regiment - Company
     D, Thirty-sixth Regiment - Company G, Fortieth Regiment - La Crosse
     Men in the Forty-fourth - Company C, Forty-ninth Regiment -
     Companies A, B and C, in the Fifty-third - Representatives of the County
     in Other Regiments - Company B, Second Cavalry - The La Crosse
     Light Artillery - First Captain, J. J. Foster - The Missouri
     Sharpshooters - Early Promotions - Press Comments - "What to Send
     the Soldiers" - The Grant Firm in La Crosse, J. S. Medary - List of
     Commissioned Officers from La Crosse County
PAGE 77

CHAPTER X.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND INSTITUTIONS.
 
First Jail - New Jail - Poor House and Farm - County Hospital for Chronic
     Insane - Court Houses - Federal Building - City Hall - Fire Department
     - Water Supply - Police Force - Public Library - Traveling
     Libraries - Opera House - La Crosse Theaters - Other Public Buildings.
PAGE 92 

CHAPTER XI.
THE BENCH AND BAR.
 
Settlement of Legal Difficulties in the Early Days - Members of the Early
     Bar - Organization of the La Crosse Bar Association - County and
     Probate Judges - First Term of Court at Prairie La Crosse - Circuit
     Judges - District Attorneys - Distinguished Members of the La
     Crosse County Bench and Bar - "The First Judicial Stove"
PAGE 102 

CHAPTER XII.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
 
The First Doctor - Physicians in 1854 - The Profession at Present - The
     La Crosse County Medical Association - The St. Francis Hospital -
     The City Hospital - The Lutheran Hospital - Birth Rates - Death
     Rates - R. S. MacArthur, M.D
PAGE 108 

CHAPTER XIII.
LA CROSSE COUNTY PRESS.
 
Characteristics of Early Editorial Writers - First Paper Published - Spirit
     of the Times Succeeded by the Democrat - Changes in Name and
     Editorial Management - The Independent Republican - Pen
     Portraits of La Crosse Editors in 1857 - "Brick" Pomeroy and the
     Democrat - The Chronicle, Ellis B. Usher - The Star and Free Press - The
     Leader, Lute A. Taylor - The Leader and Republican - The La
     Crosse Sun - The German Papers - The Norwegian "Faederlandet"
     - Other Early Publications - City Papers in 1907 - The Onalaska
     Record - The Nonpareil Journal, West Salem - The Bangor Independent
     - Clippings from the Early Press
PAGE 113 

CHAPTER XIV.
EDUCATION.
 
First School District Organized - First Officers - Early Teachers - Statistics
     of the First Year - First Schoolhouses - Teachers' Wages in the
     Early Days - Some Ideas as to the Mission of Schools Fifty Years
  

CONTENTS

Ago - School-rooms Overcrowded - Demand for Country Teachers -
     Private and Parochial Schools - Organization of the La Crosse High
     School - First Graduating Class, 1876 - City Superintendents -
     School Statistics, 1906 - New High School Building - Parochial
     Schools, 1906 - Commercial Schools - Onalaska Schools - Village
     Graded Schools, West Salem, Bangor - County Statistics - Parochial
     Schools Outside of La Crosse
PAGE 126

CHAPTER XV.
CHURCH HISTORY.
 
First Religious Meeting - Non-Orthodox Societies - Religious Sects
     Represented in 1854 - Baptist Church, Organized 1851 - First Church
     Building Erected - Later Baptist Churches - First Congregational
     Church - First Methodist Church - Later Methodist Churches -
     Catholic Churches - St. Rosa's Convent - Episcopal Church -
     Lutheran Churches - Jewish Congregation - Presbyterian Church - St.
     Paul's Universalist Church - German Evangelical
     Association - German Reformed Church - Adventist Church - Church of Christ,
     Scientist - Young Men's Christian Association - Young Women's
     Christian Association
PAGE 135 

CHAPTER XVI.
LODGES AND OTHER ASSOCIATIONS.
 
Free Masons - Odd Fellows - United Workmen - Knights of Honor -
     Royal Arcanum - Knights of Phythias - Jewish Organizations -
     Later Organizations - Temperance Societies - Agricultural and
     Horticultural Societies - Athletic Associations - Board of Trade -
     Historical Associations - Literary Clubs and Reading Circles - Military
     Organizations - Musical Societies - Patriotic Societies - Philanthropic
     Associations - Social Organizations
PAGE 153 

CHAPTER XVII.
BANKS AND BANKING.
 
First Bank in 1856 - John M. Levy, First Banker - Second Bank Opened
     by S. D. Hastings - Third Bank, Cramer, Clinton & Company - Bank
     at Onalaska - Bank of La Crosse - Green Bay and Other Banks -
     Batavian Bank - National Bank - State Bank of La Crosse - Exchange
     Bank - Security Savings Bank - Banking Statistics for 1906 - La
     Crosse County Bank of West Salem - West Salem State Bank - Bangor
     State Bank - Gysbert Van Steenwyk
PAGE 166 

CHAPTER XVIII.
LA CROSSE HOTELS.
 
The First "Tavern" - Hotels of the Village - List of Hotels in 1861 -
     Hostelries of Today, North La Crosse - Hotel Section on South Side -
     List of Hotels - "The Stoddard"
PAGE 170 

CHAPTER XIX.
PUBLIC GROUNDS AND DRIVES.
 
Pettibone Park - A. W. Pettibone - Myrick Park - Burns Park - Cameron
     Park - Schaghticoke Country Club Grounds - Interstate Fair Grounds
     - La Crosse County Fair Grounds - Oak Grove Cemetery - Joseph W.
     Losey - Catholic Cemetery - Neshonoc and Hamilton Cemeteries - Fair
     View Cemetery, Bangor - Grand Dads Bluff - Drives - Losey Boulevard
PAGE 172 

CONTENTS

CHAPTER XX.
LITERARY LA CROSSE.

Literary People Among the Pioneers - "The Occasional Contributor' -
     Early Poets - What They Read - Editorial Writers, "Brick" Pomeroy,
     Lute Taylor, George W. Peck, E. B. Usher, Helen A. Manville -
     Marian Manville Pope - Hamlin Garland - Sterling W. Brown
PAGE 176

CHAPTER XXI.
LATER COUNTY HISTORY.

Increase of Population since 1860 - Population per Square Mile -
     Proportion of Males and Females - Proportion of Native and Foreign Born -
     Value of Real Estate in the County - Principal Farm Products -
     Value of Stock-Number of Homes - Creameries - Cheese Factories -
     County Officers
PAGE 181

CHAPTER XXII.
THE CITY OF LA CROSSE.

Incorporation as a City - First Mayor - Immigrants in 1856 - Improvements
     Needed in the Infant City - Results of Panic of 1857 - Growth
     in Population - Beginning of Lumber Business - Other Manufactures -
     Effect of Railroad on Prices - Business Houses in 1861 - Increase
     of Population, 1882 - 1892 - Other Statistics - Fur Trade in La Crosse -
     Large Business Houses in 1907 - List of Corporations with Capital
     Stock - Other Business Interests - Trades and Professions -
     Manufactures - Merchandise Handled - Telephone Companies - City Lighting
     - Streets and Sewers - Real Estate Valuation - Financial Condition
     - Municipal Expenses in 1905 - 1906 - List of Mayors, 1856 -
     1907 - Amalgamation of Nationalities in La Crosse - Personal Sketches,
     Chas. L. Colman, Abner Gile, The McMillans, Mons Anderson, Other
     Families
PAGE 186

TOWNS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY.
 
[Towns] [Page]
Bangor 206
Barre 209
Burns 212
Campbell 215
Farmington 217
Greenfield 221
Hamilton 222
Holland 227
Onalaska (City and Town) 228
Shelby 231
Washington 234
Biographical Sketches 237

  

MEMOIRS OF

LA CROSSE COUNTY

CHAPTER I.
NATURAL CONDITIONS.
 

GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS - TOPOGRAPHY - DRAINAGE - SOIL - CLIMATE -
     ANNUAL METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY - FAUNA. 

   Although the geological formation of Wisconsin as a whole presents
varied and interesting phenomena, the rock structure appearing on or
near the surface in La Crosse county is limited to two varieties, the
Potsdam sandstone and the Lower Magnesian limestone, the latter
overlaying the former in the original formation and both belonging to
the Silurian age. The greater portion of the county exhibits the
sandstone formation, and while north of Trempealeau and south of La
Crosse county the Magnesian limestone formation appears very near
to the Mississippi river, yet in the two counties mentioned the
sandstone predominates, even up to the line of the river. The glacial
deposits, which form so interesting a study in eastern portions of
the state, are absent from this region.
   The lines of conjunction between the sandstone and limestone
formations are extremely ragged. Near the center of the county and also
in the southern portion the limestone formation appears. The Potsdam
sandstone, owing to the uneven surface of the underlying formations,
varies greatly in thickness, but in some places it is over 10,000
feet in depth. The overlying Magnesian limestone was doubtless
originally a uniform band encircling the older deposit, but it has been
so eroded as to present at the present time a jagged and irregular
outline, about the nucleus of outcropping sandstone.
   The surface of La Crosse county is broken and hilly. Lofty bluffs
outline the course of the Mississippi, probably indicating the shores
of a mightier stream of an earlier day. The land near the river is cut
up by many intersecting streams, showing that, at even a comparatively
recent period, the volume of water flowing through these channels
was much greater than at the present time. The land between these
bayous is mostly lowlying and much of it marshy, although in the
vicinity of La Crosse it is being drained and transformed into parks.
 

17

 

18                     MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY

In common with the rest of the state where the sandstone appears on
the surface much of the scenery is remarkable not only for its bold,
striking features, but for its beauty as well. The sandstone being
easily eroded by the action of water, many curious cave and other
formations are the result.
   The exceptions to this broken surface are the river valleys and the
tops of the ridges. These ridges are usually capped with the Lower
Magnesian limestone, as is also an irregular table-land in the north-
central part of the county. The country being in the driftless area,
the topography is of the typical erosive type.
   One cave, situated in Barre township, has attained considerable
celebrity, less on account of its formation than for the record which
it preserves of the earlier peoples who inhabited this country. More
detailed mention of it is given in connection with the race whose
occupation it commemorates.
   The county is well drained by the Black river on the northwest
boundary, the Mississippi on the west and the La Crosse which crosses
the county from east to west emptying into the Mississippi just
below the mouth of the Black and within the city limits of La Crosse.
All of these rivers have numerous smaller tributaries.
   The general slope of the county is that of the greater portion of
the state from northeast to southwest, following the lines of the five
large rivers, the St. Croix, Chippewa, Black, Wisconsin and Rock,
wholly or partly within the state. In La Crosse county, however, this
general slope is modified by the watersheds and valleys of the smaller
streams whose general direction is toward the north and northwest
and the south and southeast.
   Some of the principal streams wholly within the county are Fleming's
and Half-way creeks, tributary to the Black river; Burns,
Thrasher's, Fish, Dutch and Bostwick's creeks flowing into the La
Crosse, and Morman creek emptying into a bayou of the Mississippi.
The extreme southern part of the county slopes to the valley of the
Coon river in Vernon county.
   The soil of La Crosse county is less productive than in some other
parts of the state, especially in the sandy portions. Along the river
valleys the soil is generally poor, but in the coulees it is very productive,
and the valleys of the smaller streams are generally fertile.
   Except in the southeast the soil is generally sand or sandy loam,
especially along the valleys of the Mississippi, Black and La Crosse
rivers. In the southern and southeastern parts the soil is loam and
clay. At some points along the La Crosse river the soil shows vegetable
constituents, and there are small areas where a mucky soil, composed
largely of humus and peat appears. An irregular table-land lies
somewhat north of the center of the county.
   While the variations in the geology and topography of a country,
within any given period are practically inappreciable, yet the soil
and to some extent the climatic conditions are changed or modified
by the forces of civilization. The cutting down of the great forests
about the headwaters of the rivers, and the draining of the marshes

                      MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY                     19

tend toward a dryer atmosphere than was known to the earlier inhabitants
of this section of the country. The porous nature of the sandy
soil also tends to the same end, largely modifying the conditions that
obtain at lower points along the Mississippi.
   The climate of La Crosse county is about the same as that of other
sections of the state in the same latitude except where it is influenced
by the proximity of the Great Lakes. The average temperature in
summer is 68º, in winter 19° and the average for the year about 45º.
From these means to the extremes of heat and cold the variation is
very considerable. During the very cold winter of 1872-73 the thermometer
dropped below zero about fifty times, reaching on January
18, its lowest point, -43º. The thermometer in the heat of summer
often reaches 90º.
   The subjoined table prepared for this work by Mr. E. C. Thompson
of the United States weather bureau at La Crosse, gives not only the
extreme and mean temperature for each month of the past year, but
the precipitation, prevailing winds, and clear and cloudy weather, etc.,
and the extremes of heat and cold for the past thirty-three years.

 
ANNUAL METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY.
Lat. 45º 49' N.; Long. 91º 15' W.

 

MONTH.
Monthly, Mean.
TEMPERATURE.
PRECIPITATION.
1906.
EXTREMES FOR 33 YEARS
1906.
Maximum. Minimum. Maximum. Year. Minimum. Year. Total. Maximum in
24 Hours.
 
º
º
º
º
º
º
 
In.
In.
January 22.8 47 -9 57 1874
1879
-43 1873 1.76 0.96
February 19.1 50 -15 65 1882 -34 1875 0.61 0.52
March 25.6 53 3 78 1894 -23 1873 2.69 1.54
April 51.6 80 26 87 1902 10 1881
1875
0.73 0.24
May 58.4 84 35 96 1874 29 1890 5.92 1.47
June 68.0 92 50 98 1901 33 1897 4.72 1.61
July 71.8 91 53 104 1901 46 1895 3.17 1.24
August 73.2 93 49 101 1894 30 1891 5.30 2.00
September 66.6 91 40 97 1895 24 1899 7.11 2.70
October 49.7 78 24 88 1897
1893
6 1887 1.90 0.79
November 36.0 66 12 72 1897 -21 1875 2.05 0.94
December 24.2 44 -2 61 1889 -37 1872 1.79 1.13
YEAR 47.2 1893
Aug. 20
-15
Feb. 15
        37.75 2.70
Sep. 16, 17

  

ANNUAL METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR ENDING
DECEMBER 31, 1906.
MONTH.
WIND.
NUMBER OF DAYS.
BY SELF-REGISTER.
              MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE.    
Average hourly velocity. *Prevailing direction. Maximum velocity. Direction at time of maximum velocity. Clear. Partly cloudy. Cloudy. Precipitation.
.01 inch and over.
Snow. Hail. Dense fog. 82º or below. 90º or above. Minimum temperature 82º or below Electricity
Thunderstorm.
  m.p.h.   m.p.h.                        
January 8.7 N 34 NW 10 4 17 9 7 0 2 14 0 30 0
February 8.8 N 30 N 11 9 8 5 5 0 0 14 0 27 0
March 7.9 N 38 NW 9 6 16 9 6 0 1 11 0 28 1
April 6.3 S 28 N 11 8 11 9 1 0 0 0 0 1 3
May 8.0 S 28 W 7 12 12 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 8
June 6.6 S 33 NW 13 8 9 12 0 2 0 0 1 0 7
July 5.4 S 30 W 15 12 4 11 0 0 0 0 3 0 6
August 6.0 S 23 NW 10 12 9 11 0 0 0 0 3 0 7
September 6.4 S 25 S 15 7 8 11 0 0 1 0 2 0 8
October 7.7 S 38 NW 9 7 15 10 0 0 1 0 0 5 0
November 7.9 S 24 NW 4 6 20 10 2 0 0 6 0 18 0
December 8.0 S 24 N 7 5 19 8 7 0 0 19 0 30 0
YEAR 7.3 S 38 NW 121 96 148 121 28 2 5 64 9 139 40

 
     The natural fauna of this section of the state, with the exception
of some of the smaller animals, has largely disappeared with the
destruction of the forests. Of the large game only the deer remaining,
and that has to be found in the regions farther north. Elk, moose,
antelope and caribou are among the species mentioned by the earlier
records of which there are probably no specimens remaining. Buffalo
remained in Wisconsin until 1825 and there is a claim that one was
shot on the St. Croix river as late as 1832. These animals had a range
of the whole northern forest, which up to a comparatively recent
period included the greater partion of La Crosse county. The coulees
and ravines running down to the streams were the natural haunts of
wolves and wolverines, and these lingered upon the outskirts of
settlements after many other of the wild denizens of the forests had
disappeared and are in fact still abundant in parts of the county.
   The last reports show that bounties were paid on twenty-three
foxes and seventeen wolves killed in the county during the year.
Most of the wolves were killed in the town of Farmington, and two
of the foxes within the city limits. The nearness of the bluffs and the
intersecting ravines account for the latter fact. Six wild cats were
also killed during the year. The actual number killed probably far
exceed these figures, as many wolves and foxes are killed on which
no bounty is paid. The clipping off of the ears spoils the pelt for a

                      MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY                     21

rug, and many prefer the unmutilated skin to the bounty. Many
amateur hunters also like to retain the entire pelts as trophies. Furriers
of the city also report the pelts of other animals captured or killed
in the vicinity, the lynx, mink, muskrat, pole-cat, and the smaller
animals, the woodchuck, coon, rabbit, squirrel, etc. As these are
sold directly to the furrier the county has no account of them. It
is evident from these reports that the native fauna is not yet extinct.

 

 

CHAPTER II.

 

 

INDIAN AFFAIRS.

INDEFINITE BOUNDARIES OF INDIAN DOMAINS - LIMITATIONS OF THE
     ALGONQUIN FAMILY - WESTERN WISCONSIN A NEUTRAL GROUND -
     OCCUPATION BY THE WINNEBAGOES - INDIAN GAME THE ORIGIN OF
     THE NAME "LA CROSSE" - ATTITUDE OF THE INDIANS TOWARD EARLY
     SETTLERS - TREATY OF 1837 - INDIAN CAVE IN BARRE TOWNSHIP -
     INDIAN VILLAGES - MOUND BUILDING IN LA CROSSE COUNTY.

 

   The Wisconsin Indians, - of whom the principal tribes belonged to
the Algonquin family, - at the time when this region became known
to the whites, grouped themselves about the upper lakes, Green Bay,
the Fox and Wisconsin rivers and southern Wisconsin along the Lake
Michigan shore. The Algonquins were circumscribed in their wanderings
by the relentless enmity of the Iroquois in the east and the
Sioux or Dakotas in the west. While the Chippewas, even from an
early day, occupied the region bordering on Lake Superior, south to
the headwaters of the Menominee, Wisconsin and Chippewa rivers,
the country immediately south was for a long time neutral ground,
occupied only by occasional hunting or war parties. Thus it appears
that the present territory of La Crosse county, while frequently visited
by different tribes of Indians, was not the settled abode of any during
the earlier period of which we have definite knowledge, the fear of
the savage Sioux across the great river effectually holding in check
the permanent establishment of any of the Wisconsin tribes of the
Sacs and Foxes or even Winnebagoes, who were more friendly with
the Sioux, whose wanderings in the land between the Mississippi and
the Wisconsin are most frequently noted.
   With the encroachments of the whites upon the ancient hunting
grounds in eastern Wisconsin, there was a gradual moving westward
of the Indians, and at the time when the settlements began in La
Crosse county it had come to be considered the territory of the Winnebagoes.
They wandered through all the country between the Wisconsin
and Mississippi rivers and the site of La Crosse had come to
be a winter camp where their festivals or games were held.
   One game in particular was played on the little prairie above the
river, a game of ball was adopted by the whites, and which with some
modifications has become the national Canadian game. It was called
la crosse by the French Canadians, owing to the resemblance of the
curved netted stick used by the players to a bishop's crozier or crosse.
Although there are several plausible theories as to the origin of the

 

 

22

 

                      MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY                     23

name of the county and city, the fact that the site of the present city
was a place where this game was annually celebrated has been accepted
by the most careful students of Wisconsin history as the true origin.
   Henry E. Legler, in a little volume entitled "The Origin and Meaning
of Wisconsin Place Names," gives the etymology of La Crosse as
doubtful, but quotes the legend of a cross found fastened to a stump
by the first settler, Nathan Myrick. This, however, seems an unlikely
derivation, as the French word used to designate a cross is croix and
not crosse which is used to indicate a bishop's crosier. It seems
likely that, although the two words have a common origin, if the story
of the finding of the cross at this point were true, that the name would
have been La Croix and not La Crosse.
   While the capture of Hennepin by the Sioux, and later the abandonment
of the post on Lake Pepin indicates that the savages resented
the earliest intrusions of the whites into this territory, yet their
sanguinary encounters were principally between the various tribes who
lingered about the borders of this neutral ground rather than with
the white intruders. When the permanent settlers came the Winnebagoes
manifested some irritation at their encroachments, and a number
of instances are recorded where their hostile attitude caused some
uneasiness to the first comers; where property was taken, men
threatened and women frightened.
   This was, however, never the scene of the cruel and murderous warfare
whose records form so large a part of the early history of eastern
Wisconsin. This was doubtless due to the fact that the Black Hawk
War had demonstrated to the Indians the hopelessness of a warfare
against the whites rather than to a radical change in the nature of the
treacherous savage or of his grasping and unwelcome neighbor.
   The rumor of an Indian uprising, following the New Ulm massacre,
spread in a curious manner over all of southwestern Wisconsin between
the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers and La Crosse did not
escape its "scare." The uneasiness of the Winnebagoes and their
gathering together at different points gave some foundation to the
rumor. The tension of the times, the absence of the men from many
isolated homes, together with the general knowledge of Indian characteristics,
made a situation which required only a slight impulse to
bring to the hysterical point. This impulse was sometimes given by
genuine fear, sometimes by a practical joke, and under which head
the La Crosse "Indian scare" came has never been definitely decided.
Fortunately nothing serious developed, and the only inconvenience
which the early settlers experienced, beyond that already noted, was
occasional petty thieving and begging.
   By a treaty concluded November, 1837, the Winnebagoes ceded all
their land east of the Mississippi to the United States government,
agreeing to remove to Long Prairie, Minn., within eight months.
They were gathered at La Crosse for the removal, and came with
little trouble. In a few months, however, most of them had returned,
and, as the Indian scare of 1862 showed, there were large numbers of
them in the state at that time. They were subsequently removed to a

24                     MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY

reservation in Nebraska, from which some of them also returned.
There were still wandering bands of them in the forests of their old
haunts as late as the seventies. At the present time only a few stragglers
remain, objects of curiosity to the younger generaton of to-day.
   An interesting and characteristic record of the earlier occupation
of this region by the Indians is found in a cave in Barre township.
The first account of it was published in the La Crosse Chronicle of
June 14, 1879. It was discovered by a young man, Frank Samuels,
on his father's farm, about eight miles northeast of La Crosse. Originally
it was an enlarged fissure in the soft Potsdam sandstone and is
situated near the edge of a small marsh which is surrounded on all
sides except the north by a high ridge of this sandstone. The original
opening was near the level of the marsh and was about fifteen feet
wide, being in reality, only rock shelter with a western exposure.
The roof is an irregular arch extending about thirty feet back, and at
the time of discovery was about eight feet in height, above the layers
of sand, which were a number of feet deep. The cave was carefully
examined by an expert geologist, the layers of sand removed and examined,
revealing the fact, through the alternate layers of ashes, that
the cave had had four different periods of occupation with considerable
lapses of time between them.
   The most interesting fact in connection with the discovery of the
cave, however, is that concerning the rude carvings and drawings
on the walls of the cave. There are rude representations of the
buffalo, elk, lynx, rabbit, heron, a man with bow and arrows in the act
of shooting, another with plumes or feathers. These are referred to
the third or fourth period of occupation, from their height upon the
walls, and also the fact that portions of the carved rock had scaled
off and were buried in the sand layers. In the second and third layers
of sand were found pieces of pottery, the earlier plain, but the later
ornamented on the outer surface. From similarity of work these
carvings are supposed to be the work of the Sioux. The front of the
cave was closed by a landslide, at least a hundred and fifty years
ago, as indicated by the growth of trees upon it, and the antiquity
of the drawings variously estimated as from three to eight hundred
years. If La Crosse county and the vicinity was originally the hunting-
ground of the Sioux and they were driven across the Mississippi
by inter-tribal wars, it would be a reason for their determined hostility
toward the tribes that attempted to supplant them, and explains
why this region was for so long a neutral ground.
   Careful accounts of the discovery of the cave and its examination
and copies of the carvings were made for the Wisconsin Historical
Association, and are preserved in their publications.
   There are a number of authentic accounts of the later occupation
of La Crosse county by the Winnebagoes, preserved by the Wisconsin
Historical Association, among them the journal of Capt. T. G. Anderson,
during the War of 1812 and following the capture of Prairie
du Chien by the British. During August and September of 1814
there are repeated orders sent to Little Corbeau and his band to meet
at the Praire La Crosse and there await further orders.

 

                      MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY                     25

   Moses Paquette, the government interpreter for the Winnebagoes,
also locates several Indian villages of that tribe; one, the village of
Big Canoe, on the La Crosse river where West Salem now stands.
Snake Skin (Waukoncauhaga), had a village in the early times at
the headwaters of De Soto creek, below La Crosse. Spoon Decorah
also stated, "During the Black Hawk War my father had his lodge
near La Crosse," and also, "My father, Winnebago Black Hawk, had
a hunting lodge on the La Crosse river, near where Bangor now stands."
   The relations of the Indians and the whites are shown by reference
to the early papers where the former are frequently spoken of in a
half-friendly, half-contemptuous fashion. On May 3, 1853, a white
man named Will Sutcliffe was rescued from drowning in the Mississippi,
by an Indian called "John," for which service he was rewarded
by the citizens with a new red blanket and a sum of money. This
Indian sometimes took part in the street exhibitions of native dancing
and music and was a skillful dancer.
   On July 26 of the same year, the Democrat, in commenting on the
presence of the Indians in the neighborhood, said: "They appear
harmless and inoffensive, and are dangerous only to game and an
occasional porker. They pay no more respect to the game laws than
some of our own hunters."
   Of the occupation of La Crosse county by that earlier people
known as the "Mound Builders" there is considerable evidence.
   Frederick W. Putnam, in a report of an archaeological excursion in
Ohio and Wisconsin in 1883, says:
   "It is well known that the earthworks of Wisconsin, between Lake
Michigan and the Mississippi river, are remarkable from the fact
that a large proportion of them are in the forms of animals and men,
a fact that is of great ethnical importance when we remember that
such effigy mounds have not been found in adjoining regions. The
only works in North America with which they are at all comparable
are three in Ohio, known as the 'serpent mound' and the 'alligator
mound' and 'Whittlesey's effigy mound' and the two 'bird mounds'
in Georgia.
   "In Wisconsin the effigies of animals and men are very numerous*
and there is scarcely a lake or river from Lake Michigan to the
Mississippi on the borders of which they cannot be traced in large or
small groups. They are entirely of earth and stand out in low relief;
those visited being from two to four or five feet high, although
generally they were of great linear extent."
   In the same report Professor Putnam describes his visit to the
"turtle mound" in what is now called Myrick Park in the city of La
Crosse, and the three small conical mounds near, which were carefully
and scientifically explored by trenches dug the whole length and
width, two feet below the surface on which the mounds rest. The

   *See "Man-shaped Mounds in Wisconsin", by I. W. Lapham. Wisconsin
Historical Collections, Volume IV, page 365. (1859)

26                     MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY

effigy mound was only about two feet in height, but evidently reduced
from its original proportions by the action of the elements and the
trampling of men and beasts. In the center of this mound remains of
a human skeleton were found, which was the first record of the finding
of human remains in an effigy mound. There also were found
fragments of a pottery vessel, a chipped stone implement and several
flint flakes. In the largest of the conical mounds human bones and
a few potsherds were found. In this case the burial had been made
on the summit of the mound and was of the class called "intrusive,"
that is, it had no connection with the object for which the mound was
raised. The park authorities wished to preserve the mounds, so after
the examination the trenches were carefully refilled, great care having
been taken during the examination to preserve the outlines.
   A very similar account of the La Crosse mounds is found in the
seventeenth report of the Peabody museum of archaeology and ethnology.
   Recent discoveries along this line in Trempealeau county, not far
north, suggest that La Crosse county still presents an unexplored
field for the archaeologist, as in places where the ground is still
covered with timber, mounds slightly raised, may pass unobserved by the
eye which is not trained to accurate observation.
   An article in the La Crosse Tribune of January 21, 1907, by G. H.
Squier, of Trempealeau county, speaking of the prehistoric mounds
in that county, discovered by John Dye, formerly of La Crosse, says:
   "The mounds of Trempealeau and La Crosse counties form a typographic
unit. Externally they differ somewhat from the mounds in
the eastern part of the state. The mounds are built, apparently, for
religious purposes."
   The platforms which were discovered on the crest of the Trempealeau
bluffs were about twice the size of the temple site at Aztalan, Jefferson county.

 

CHAPTER III.

 

 

TERRITORIAL AND PRE-TERRITORIAL HISTORY.

EARLY CLAIMS TO THE TERRITORY - LA CROSSE COUNTY ON THE HIGH -
     WAY TO THE NORTHWEST - EARLY VISITORS - BRITISH DOMINION -
     TREATY OF PARIS, 1783 - CLAIMS OF VIRGINIA - JURISDICTION OF
     THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT - ORDINANCE OF 1787 - TERRITORY OF
     INDIANA - VISIT OF MAJOR PIKE - TERRITORY OF ILLINOIS - INDIAN
     RENDEZVOUS IN 1814 - JURISDICTION OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY -
     DIVISION INTO BROWN, CRAWFORD AND MICHILIMACKINAC COUNTIES
     - INFLUENCE OF THE BLACK HAWK WAR - WISCONSIN TERRITORY.

 

   The annals of the territory now known as La Crosse county, previous
to its legal existence under that specific name, in the history of the
state and its fragmentary story during the territorial days, is the
history common to most of the great northwest. The nominal Spanish
claim, the French regime, the British domination, made little impress
upon this part of the state that has remained to the present day.
   It is, nevertheless, a matter of pride to the native Badger that his
state shared in that early romantic period. Even while the Puritans
and their immediate followers were reproducing on the Atlantic coast
the prejudices and theological quarrels of the Old World, through
the vast forests of northern Wisconsin, across the prairies of the
south, through the coulees of the Mississippi valley and along the now
historic waterways, the coureurs des bois voyageurs and adventurous
priests had found their way. Neither the Puritans of rock-bound
New England, the cavaliers of Virginia nor the Spanish conquerors
of California can present to the seeker after a picturesque setting for
historical romance a more attractive field than is found in the early
history of this state, and it is upon this foundation of romantic
adventure that the later superstructure of authentic history is based.
   Of the part that the region under our immediate consideration played
in that early day there is little record. Of necessity, however, La
Crosse county and its immediate vicinity must have come under the
observation of the very early explorers and their contemporary trappers,
churchmen and other seekers after conquest, fame and wealth
in this virgin forest. Following the natural highways of the Wisconsin
and Fox rivers to the southwest and the Mississippi to the
northwest, the line of travel and exploration passed by, and, without
doubt, sometimes tarried at points within the present limits of La
Crosse county; for it is a historical fact that the sites where the

 

 

27

 

28                     MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY

principal cities and towns of Wisconsin are located had natural advantages
which indicated them as the points for the erection of the earliest
trading-posts, and even before the advent of the whites the native
tribes had already noted their strategic or other superiority.
   The earliest visitor to this region of whom we have authentic record
is Father Hennipen, who, in 1680, under orders from La Salle,
set out to explore the upper Mississippi. He was accompanied by two
voyageurs, Accau and Anguil, and they passed the mouth of the
Wisconsin, the present site of Prairie du Chien, the mouth of the
Black river, and, a little below Lake Pepin, were taken prisoners by
the Sioux and taken north to the present site of St. Paul. In the
autumn of the same year, Du l'hut (also given Du Lhut and Du Luth),
coming south from Lake Superior, met Father Hennepin, and the
two traveled together, returning to Green Bay by the Fox - Wisconsin
route.
   In 1683, La Sueur and in 1685, Nicholas Perrot came by the Fox -
Wisconsin route to the Mississippi, ascended the river, exploring its
immediate vicinity. The latter wintered on the east bank of the
river about a mile above the present village of Trempealeau, and
twenty miles from the present site of the city of La Crosse. It is
altogether probable that La Crosse county, the upper part of which
lay within a few miles of his camping-place, was visited by him at
this time. Four years later Perrot took possession of the St. Croix,
St. Peter and upper Mississippi valleys in the name of the French king.
La Sueur continued to trade with the Sioux in the upper Mississippi
valley until about 1702, his last journey having been made from Louisiana.
   Perrot had a small fort near the mouth of the Chippewa river
within the present limits of Pepin county, which he maintained for a
number of years. In 1727 a subsequent attempt was made to establish
trading relations with the Sioux, and Fort Beauharnois, a stockade
and trading-post was built on Lake Pepin, but after a period of
ten years the enterprise, and with it the fort, was abandoned on account
of the hostility of the Sioux.
   In 1763 the territory of New France, including the present state of
Wisconsin, was ceded to the English, and shortly afterward (1766)
the noted traveler, Capt. Jonathan Carver, visited the northwest
country, passing up the Mississippi, and sojourned for a time near
St. Anthony's falls.
   By the Treaty of Paris, in 1783, the territory east of the Mississippi
was ceded to the United States and although Wisconsin was nominally
under the jurisdiction of the United States from the time of the
treaty, yet it did not come into full control until two years subsequent
to the Jay treaty of 1794, and the first claim to the territory
was carried over from the colonial period and was advanced by Virginia.
The Virginian claims, however, were very soon ceded to the
general government, and in 1797 was passed the famous ordinance
for the government of the Northwest Territory, with Arthur St.
Claire commissioned governor.

                      MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY                     29

   After the division of this region was commenced the present state
of Wisconsin was, in July, 1800, attached to the territory of Indiana.
Three years later the first authentic account of the present site of La
Crosse and the vicinity was given by Maj. Zebulon M. Pike, the
distinguished explorer, who visited the country September 12, 1805.
   In March, 1809, Wisconsin was, with the exception of a small fraction
(the greater part of the peninsula lying between Green Bay and
Lake Michigan, now included in Door and Kewaunee counties), transferred
to the territory of Illinois, and remained under that jurisdiction
until the admission of Illinois as a state in 1818, when it was attached
to the territory of Michigan.
   In the meantime the War of 1812 had occurred. This was carried
into the frontier settlements of the Mississippi valley by means of the
hold which the British had never relinquished upon the Northwest
Territory. Its chief interest in this connection is in relation to Prairie
La Crosse which was used as a rendezvous for the Winnebagoes under
Chief Little Corbeau, and by the directions of Capt. T. G. Anderson,
an officer with the British command at Prairie du Chien.
   In 1818, by a proclamation of Lewis Cass, then governor of Michigan,
the area included in the present state of Wisconsin was divided
into Brown, Crawford and a part of Michilimackinac counties. The
last included the northern part of the state, the division line running
east and west about sixty miles south of the present city of Ashland,
and a part of the northern peninsula of Michigan. Another line running
north from the Illinois state line through the Fox - Wisconsin
portage divided Brown county on the east from Crawford on the west.
In 1829 Iowa county was set off, including all that part of Crawford
county south of the Wisconsin river.
   As the county of La Crosse was not created until after the admission
of Wisconsin as a state, whatever of historic interest attached to this
section was recorded in the annals of Crawford county, and during
this period most of the events of importance centered about Prairie du
Chien. An exception is noted in the visits to Prairie La Crosse, in
1817 and 1823, of Maj. Stephen H. Long, of the United States army,
who records a friendly reception by the Winnebago Indians who were
camped there.
   There were, however, some events worthy of record in this history
as bearing upon the development of the section as a whole, rather than
upon any particular locality; one of these is the Black Hawk War.
Although La Crosse county was not the theater of this war, yet the
event had an important bearing upon its development in common with
the rest of western and southwestern Wisconsin. The knowledge of
the country which that event made public, was immediately followed
by a tide of immigration which made its way up the Mississippi. Between
the settlements in the lead regions and the fur-bearing country
of the great northwest, the traffic increased, and beside the boats that
followed the windings of the river, trails were cut through the forest,
one of the earliest passing up on the eastern shore, and through the
present site of La Crosse.

30                     MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY

   One event, notable as foreshadowing the line of commercial development
was the coming of the first steamboat up the river in 1823.
The great flood of 1826, when the river rose twenty-six feet, was also
a notable occurrence, although the destruction of life and property
were slight in comparison to what would have been had such a flood
occurred a few years later.
   In 1836 the prospect of the admission of Michigan as a state had
a direct bearing on the fortunes of Wisconsin, as it was at that time
that the territory was set apart under a separate jurisdiction. Henry
Dodge, born at Vincennes, Ind., October 12, 1782, who had associated
himself with Wisconsin history during the exciting epoch of the Black
Hawk War, was commissioned governor and superintendent of Indian
affairs by President Jackson, his commission dating from April 30,
1836. The subsequent disputes concerning the boundaries of Wisconsin
belong to the history of the state rather than to any county, the
only fact of local interest being the fixing of the Mississippi as the
western boundary, by an act of Congress, approved June 12, 1838.
   During the next decade which preceded the admission of Wisconsin
as a state there is little to record. Prairie La Crosse was principally
known as a camping ground for parties, both whites and Indians, following
the river trails to the northwest. A Frenchman named La
Batt, or La Bath, established a trading-post just south of the present
city, but remained only a short time. Later events belong to the
founding and development of La Crosse settlement into a village and
later a city.
   In a government report prepared by Iosepho Nicholas Nicollet in
February, 1841, and printed at Washington, the Black river is called
the "Sappah" river, and the two principal openings between that river
and the Mississippi are called "Old Mouth" and "Broken Gun Channel."
From the accompanying map it would appear that the country between
the Mississippi and the Wisconsin was at that time practically unexplored,
the only stream marked being the La Crosse river, which is
called the Prairie a la Crosse river. All of the streams in the upper
Mississippi basin have, on that map, Indian names, and of those that
are retained in the present nomenclature most of them have the spelling
modified. Minnesota, for instance, is spelled 'Minisotah." The
Indian name for the La Crosse river was the Mazwina river.

 

CHAPTER IV.

 

 

VILLAGE OF LA CROSSE.

LOCATION - FIRST SETTLER - ARRIVALS PREVIOUS TO 1845 - PLATTING OF
     VILLAGE - ARRIVALS BETWEEN 1850 AND 1853 - RAPID GROWTH
     OF 1853 - LAND OFFICE - STATISTICS OF 1853-54 - NATIONALITY OF
     EARLY SETTLERS - ADVANTAGES OF LOCATION - RAILROAD PROJECTS
     - PROFESSIONAL MEN OF 1854 - GROWTH OF BUSINESS - PERSONAL
     SKETCHES, NATHAN MYRICK - H. J. B. MILLER - JOHN M. LEVY -
     HARVEY E. HUBBARD - SAMUEL L. SMITH - SAMUEL D. HASTINGS -
     THEODORE RODOLF - CYRUS K. LORD - COL. T. B. STODDARD - SOME
     EARLY MARRIAGES.

 

   The founding of the village of La Crosse antedates any general
movement toward settlement in the outlying districts by a number of
years, and as the history of that period is confined to the little outpost
of civilization on Prairie La Crosse, that will be considered before the
later movement which included the larger territory.
   The derivation of the name, according to the best authorities, has
been already given. Its location is in latitude 43° 49' and longitude
west from Greenwich 91° 15'. It is in the western part of the county,
upon a small plateau, some forty feet above the water level. This
little prairie contains about thirteen square miles, being about seven
miles long and two and a half wide in the widest part, and is backed
by lofty bluffs. It was known in the early days as Prairie La Crosse,
or, as some of the early writers give it, a Prairie a la Crosse, or Prairie
de la Crosse. From the river the land originally rose gradually to
the height of about forty feet and was then level or gently undulating.
The soil is sandy, light and loose near the river, darker and more compact
about the center and having a strip of very fertile soil directly
under the bluffs.
   Bluffs on both sides of the Mississippi river, - on which the city is
built, - here rise to the height of five hundred feet, ascending gradually
until within sixty or seventy feet of the summit where there appears
an outcropping of perpendicular rock, above which are hilly slopes
covered with hazel bushes and other shrubs interspersed with groups
of oaks. The valley between the bluffs on opposite sides of the river
is at this point four or five miles wide, and the outlook from the vantage
ground of the bluffs is inexpressibly beautiful.
   Within the present limits of the city both the Black and the La
Crosse rivers empty into the Mississippi, and this conjunction tells the
story of the growth and prosperity of this metropolis of western
 
 

31

 

32                     MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY

Wisconsin, now the second city in population and commercial importance
within the borders of the state.
   The record of the city proper begins with the advent of Nathan
Myrick, a native of New York, who arrived in November, 1841. He
came up the river on a flat-boat, from Prairie du Chien, and brought
goods for trading with the Indians. The latter were not pleased with
the prospect of farther encroachments on the part of the whites, and
at first, by their hostility, seriously interfered with Myrick's plans.
Later they became more friendly and he transferred his goods from
Barron's island, where he first located, to the mainland. In February,
1842, he built the first cabin on the present site of La Crosse, now
the northeast corner of State and Front streets. The same year
Myrick formed a partnership with H. J. B. Miller, another native of
New York, and the following year he returned to the east and was
married, bringing his bride to his frontier home. Mrs. Myrick was
accompanied by a young friend, who not long after married Mr. Miller.
A little daughter born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller in 1847 was the first
white child born in the county.
   The first survey of the land was done under the direction of Mr.
Myrick who hired Ira Brunson, a surveyor of Prairie du Chien, to
come up in the summer of 1842 and lay out the town site. This preceded
the government survey of the land, and was therefore not
recorded, but the survey covered the original plat of the village. The
land did not come into the market until 1848, when the first settlers,
Nathan Myrick, Samuel Snow, Asa White, J. M. Levy and Peter
Cameron went to Mineral Point, where the land office was then established,
to enter their claims. The official plat of the village was made
by William Hood, in 1851, under the direction of Lieutenant Governor
Burns.
   Mr. Myrick gave the following as the early arrivals in La Crosse
county, who, however, did not remain in the vicinity of La Crosse,
but went on up the Black river to engage in lumbering: Horatio
Kurts, a Mormon, came in 1841, in company with Myrick on his first
trip to Prairie La Crosse; in 1842, Jonathan Nichols, James O'Neil,
H. McCollom, and some others; in 1843, John Morrison, William and
John Lewis, Andrew Shepard, Valentine Thomas, and William Douglas;
in 1844, Thomas and Peter Hall, William Pauley and Andrew
Ferguson. All of these were lumbermen and made but a transient stay
in La Crosse. In 1844 the entire population of La Crosse consisted
of the Myrick and Miller families, Asa White, an Indian trader with
a squaw wife, Dr. Snaugh, known as the "Dutch doctor," another
Indian trader, and Dr. Bunnel and his family. Lafayette Bunnel had
arrived in 1843 or 1844, and had taken up a claim adjoining Asa
White's. Newell Houghton, who was killed in the New Ulm, (Minn.),
massacre, came in 1844, also John Nagle and Charles Nagle, who
took up claims south of the State Road coulee. About the same time
several Swiss families came into the county. There have been in all
a considerable number of Swiss immigrants in La Crosse county, although
not many came directly to this point. Most of them moved

                      MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY                     33

on from the Swiss colony in Sauk county. Peter Cameron, Samuel
Snow, J. M. Levy, E. A. C. Hatch and George Fetherline are other
pioneers who came before 1845.
   In 1845 and 1846 there were a good many arrivals, but few tarried
at La Crosse. The lumbering points on the Black river held out
greater inducements and gave promise of greater returns than the
sandy prairie with its scrubby oaks. Other immigrants attracted by
the farming lands in the coulees and smaller valleys, also passed
through La Crosse without tarrying.
   For the first few years the settlement was slow and the outlook
anything but encouraging. In 1845 the total white population was
twelve. The Douglasses, a family of four adults, came in that year.
In 1846 J. M. Levy, an Englishman, visited the little frontier post
trading with the Indians, and shortly after opened a little tavern there.
In 1847, Timothy Burns, afterward lieutenant governor, passing
through La Crosse, perceived its commercial possibilities, and purchased
a half interest in the business of Myrick & Miller. To him is
really due the honor of founding La Crosse, for he engaged a surveyor,
William Hood, had the village platted and put in operation
the forces which began its prosperity. In 1850 he brought his family
and spent the remainder of his life in his western home. The survey
was completed in May, 1851, and recorded on July 9, following. The
first building erected after the survey was John M. Levy's store.
   In volume IV of the Wisconsin Historical Collections, printed in
1859, - when the events recorded were still fresh in the minds of the
participants, and before the prophecies of La Crosse as the second city
of Wisconsin had approached fulfillment, - there is the following brief
but comprehensive review of the situation in the late forties.
   "There was but little advancement in this settlement, except an
occasional settler in the vicinity, until the year 1850, when some men
of enterprise, among whom were the late Timothy Burns, T. B. Stoddard,
F. M. Rublee, S. D. Hastings, C. A. Stevens, Robert Looney
and several others, called the attention of the public to the favorable
position of La Crosse in a commercial point of view. About this
time, they with several others, brought their families to the place.
Previous to this Lieutenant Governor Burns, being convinced that the
place was destined to become a large commercial town, had moved
there with his family, and purchased one-half of the Myrick and
Miller claim - I think in the year 1847 - and got William Hood, a
surveyor, to survey a few lots, which he disposed of on easy terms to
actual settlers. To him, more than to any other man, is La Crosse
indebted for her favorable start and growth."
   Lieutenant Governor Burns' outlook on the situation was not, at the
time, shared by all of the pioneers. Harvey E. Hubbard, a young attorney
who came in the summer of 1851, and who was for many years,
a leading citizen of La Crosse, was little disposed to remain after a
few months' experience, but was urged to do so by Timothy Burns.
He was offered his pick of the lots on the river for $100, and ten or
twelve of the best lots on the prairie for $25 apiece. Mr. Hubbard

 

34                     MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY

excused himself from buying on the ground that he had no money
and did not want to run in debt. Burns told him he would give him
a bond for a deed and he could take his own time for payment,
whereupon Hubbard responded, "I wouldn't give $25 for all the sand
knobs on the prairie." Timothy Burns did not live to see his hopes
realized, but Mr. Hubbard saw the wildest dream of those early days
far surpassed.
   The village of La Crosse in July, 1851, consisted of the following
buildings: a small board shanty at the foot of State street used for
freight; a small log-house at the corner of State and Front streets,
used by H. J. B. Miller as a residence, hotel and postoffice; a long, low
building on Front street used as a bowling alley; an old barn near the
present location of the Cameron House; a small frame building on the
corner of Front and Pearl streets was used as a hotel by Simeon
Kellogg and was called "The Western Enterprise"; one small frame
building on Front street was used as a law-office by Stevens and
Cramer, and opposite it F. M. Rublee had a frame building partly
constructed; north of Kellogg's hotel was the store and residence of
J. M. Levy, in front of which was a small lumber yard; between Pearl
and Jay streets was a small frame building, and a log-house occupied
by a German named Fetherline; south from there was the log-house of
Thos. D. Stoddard and on the corner of Second and Pine streets was
the log-house of Valentine Deininger; these with two or three claim
shanties comprised all the buildings of La Crosse in the summer of
1851. Front street was a dirt wagon road running parallel with the
river, the banks of which were at that time high and irregular and
could be reached only by footpaths at the end of the present State
and Pearl streets. There were high sandhills on Second and Third
streets and the footpaths running eastward across the prairie wound
about to avoid them.
   During the next three or four years settlers came in not only to
the village of La Crosse, but began taking up farms in the outlying
country. From 1850 the progress was rapid and steady, although it
was a period of transition which was discouraging to those who were
not able to look a little way into the future. As the settlers began
taking up the lands the Indians retired into the more distant forests;
with them also disappeared many of the most valuable fur-bearing
animals which had up to this time been the great wealth of the north-
west. The settlers were poor, led a hand-to-mouth existence, and had
nothing, in the early years, comparable in value with the furs of the
Indians, to barter with the traders. It was a dreary existence, without
the comforts of civilization and far from a base of supplies and only
men and women of heroic mold could have remained and carved their
fortunes out of such unpromising conditions.
   In April, 1851, F. M. Rublee, a native of Vermont, came, was
pleased with the location and the next month located and went into
business. That year the village was organized, the land came into
the market, and the claim shanties with which the prairie was covered
began to give place to bona fide homes. The character of the early

                      MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY                     35

comers may be suggested by the fact that four or five of the mayors
chosen after La Crosse had attained the dignity of a city were selected
from the group who came in the early fifties, among them Col. Thomas
B. Stoddard, the first mayor; David Taylor, John M. Levy and Alex.
McMillan. Among others who gave character to the settlement and
were prominent in the annals of the city were Albert La Due and
Chase A. Stevens, early editors; Howard Cramer, B. B. Healy, B. F.
Reynolds, H. J. Miller, Walter Brown and Judges Geo. Gale and S.
S. Hastings. The last two had much more than a local reputation
and were well and widely known throughout the state.
   In 1853 the New York Tribune noticed the little, ambitious faraway
settlement and prophesied that "La Crosse must figure as the
second city of Wisconsin," and the settlement did its best to make
good the faith reposed in it. It reports "Hotels crowded. Everybody
busy but the doctors," and again, a little later, reference is
made to Chicago as "Getting to be considerable of a village, but it
has one drawback, - it is almost too far away from La Crosse." By
May of 1853 twelve or thirteen new residences had been put up and
improvements made on four or five others, and J. M. Levy built a
wharf boat 86 by 26 feet, with a warehouse and receiving-room. This
last greatly facilitated the handling of goods and produce.
   In answer to certain allegation made by one of the steamer captains
reflecting somewhat on the claims of La Crosse, the state tax of $936,
which "was not only assessed, but paid in silver and gold" is quoted.
Later in trying to prove another point this claim to consideration is
weakened by the assertion that the property of La Crosse was grossly
over-assessed. There was, however, no refutation of the fact that
during the season immediately past (May, 1853), that the La Crosse
merchants paid out between $6,000 and $7,000 in freights.
   Among the settlers of 1853 were Dr. Wolf and his family from
Indiana, who arrived June 5, and had temporary shelter erected before
sundown. Others were a company of immigrants from the vessel
William and Mary, which was wrecked on the coast of Florida and
deserted by her officers. The passengers were rescued by a wrecking
schooner and taken to New Orleans, and a number of them found their
way up the river. Their misfortunes appealed to the citizens and they
were cared for and helped to secure homes in the vicinity of La
Crosse. Much credit was due to the officers in the newly opened
land-office in this as well as other instances.
   Certain citizens of La Crosse claimed the appointment to this land-
office, but they went to outside parties, Cyrus K. Lord as register and
Theodore Rodolf as receiver. The fealty to local claims is exhibited
in the following comment: "Although we had no personal affection
for the applicants, yet we'd rather had them than appointments from
abroad. We understand that Messrs. Lord and Rodolf are excellent
men and that they and their families will both be valuable acquisitions
to the village." Noticing their arrival the following week the Democrat
"assures our citizens that there is nothing to complain of in the
appointments. They are sterling Democrats who have done good
battle in the cause of their country."

36                     MEMOIRS OF LA CROSSE COUNTY

   The editor was right upon this assumption. These officers remained
and became two of the leading and