Reminiscences of a La Crosse County Pioneer

                     By WILLIAM VAN ZANDT


MY earliest recollections go back
   to the year 1832, when, as a lad
of six years, I went with my father
and his family of seven or eight
children  from  Columbia county,
Pennsylvania, to Trumbull, Ohio.
   One incident I remember espe-
cially well. We were traveling with
horses and wagon     and passing
through a defile in the mountains
from which springs gushed along
the way. I had been allowed to get
down and walk and drink of the
refreshing water, following the ex-
ample of the older boys, but, being
a very small boy and the big horses
being good walkers, I soon found
it hard work to keep up and began
to whimper.
       Legs "Touched Up"
   My father finally stopped the
team, and, coming back to where I
was, touched up my bare legs with
his blacksnake, and told me to get
into the wagon and stay there.
  When we arrived at Trumbull,
where we had planned to settle, we
found scarlet fever raging. We
went on to Lake county, but did
not escape the fever. I was taken
down on the way, and all the rest
of the children caught it. My moth-
er nursed them   all successfully,
giving them a decoction of chick-
weed. Only one of the children, Da-
vid, a little older than myself, died.
  We remained in Lake county on
the shore of Erie for ten years on
a rented farm, moving from there
to Wisconsin, settling in Walworth
county. My father took up a claim
of 240 acres, but as there was no
house and no cleared land we set-
tled at Sugar Creek Prairie, north
of Elkhorn, for the time.
  My father was a good man with-
out much education, and all the
chance I got at schooling was three
months in the winter, spending the
rest of the time on the farm. At
the age of 16 I finished arithmetic,
and as I did not want Latin, I
studied surveying with my teacher,
who was also a surveyor.


   At that time my brother Isaiah,
five or six years older than myself,
proposed to clear up some of the
claim my father had taken. With
an Englishman for cook we set
out and built a fence and log house.
   Walks 60 Miles to Janesville
   At the age of 18 I began think-
ing about things, and found I had
a fair knowledge of arithmetic,
some geography, but no grammar.
I felt the need of more schooling,
and as I had a little money saved
up I walked 60 miles to Janesville
only to find that board could not be
had for less than $2.50 per week.
At that rate "my pile" would not
last long, so I walked on to Madi-
son. There I found a man who
would board me for $1.50 per week,
so I went to studying.
   Before the end of the term my
savings were nearly gone, and I
told the landlord I could not come
back for another term. He declared
I must, and that he would trust
me for board. So I remained there
the rest of the year, and then set
out to earn money to pay my debts.
  I walked to Milwaukee, and there
heard I could get work at good
wages at Marinette, but when, I
learned that if I went there I could
not get back until the next spring
I gave it up as I wanted to return
to school in the fall. I then walked
to Waukesha, then to Madison,
Beaver Dam and Ripon looking for
work. I was not exactly a tramp
and was not treated as one for I
had some money. People all along
the way were cordial and willing to
give me meals and lodging. Th.v
needed help, but times were hard
and they could not pay.
  Wheat was only 40 or 50 cents
a bushel, and money was scarce.
Even at 50 cents per day work was
hard to get.
  At Ripon there was an old school
friend of mine who had promised
me work, but when I got there he
had already hired men for cradling.
He told me to come back during


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