The Beginnings of Bangor

          By ANNA M. JENKINS


  First organized as a town govern-
ment as a part of the Town of
Pierce in 1852, the township of
Bangor became a separate govern-
ing organization in 1856. In 1852
the Town of Pierce, changed in
1853 to the Town of Barre, consist-
ed of 15 sections of the Town of
Hamilton, and all of the Towns of
Burns and Washington.
  The first officers of the Town of
Bangor in 1856 were John Whel-
don, president; Charles Mackenzie
and D. J. Williams, supervisors;
David J. Jenkins, clerk, and John
Hauser, treasurer.
      Homeseekers' Paradise
  Forest clad hills separated by the
valleys which they sheltered, gush-
ing springs of clear water which
were frequented by deer and other
wild animals holding undisputed
ownership of this land in the early
days, the creek at the bottom of the
main valley, and   the   luxuriant
vegetation proclaiming the fertility
of the soil all helped to make this
region a veritable paradise to the
homeseekers who visited it.
  Some of these homeseekers had
come from the eastern states which
even at that early date were becom-
ing too densely populated for those
of an adventurous spirit; others had
left the rugged slopes of Wales to
found new homes in this land of op-
portunity, while others had come
from Switzerland.
  Of these groups of settlers the
Swiss were the earliest to arrive.
John Bosshard, Florian and Chris-
tian Ruedy, Andrew Wolf, Michael
Darms, and    Joseph  Zimmerman
coming to Bangor in 1851. At this
time there was a colony of Swiss
in Sauk county, and those coming
to Bangor traveled across country
by ox team.
  Florian Wolf, one of the last of
the early settlers and recently de-
ceased, took great delight in telling
his early impressions of the trip.
He was a boy of four when his
family migrated to Bangor, and the


thing that stood out in his memory
was the loss of one of the family
cows. A bag of salt had been tied
to the wagon, and in some way the
cow loosened the bag and ate it
with disastrous results.
  The settlers in   1851 brought
cows, pigs, chickens, and young
horses into this territory.
         Choose Locations
  Reaching their destination the
families chose their several loca-;o
tions, land watered by small creeks
being considered desirable holdings.
This land, some of it wooded, wa-
tered and most of it fertile, awaited
only the hand of the toiler to pro-
duce abundantly. The land was pur-
chased from   the government at
$1.25 and acre.
  Bosshard, both Ruedy brothers
and Jacob and Christian Hatz set-
tled in Dutch Creek valley south of
the present village of Bangor, while
a Mr. Buol, Darms and Zimmerman
settled on what was then and is still
known as "the prairie." Mr. Wolf
chose his homestead west of the vil-
lage.
  The main    Indian  trail to La
Crosse went by Mr. Wolf's home-
stead, and frequent visits from In-
dians were had. Oft times the wom-
en and children were frightened by
these uninvited guests who laughed
gleefully when they detected any
evidence of fear on the part of their
reluctant hostesses. At that time
there were but two homes between
the Wolf homestead and La Crosse.
Camping parties of Indians were
common, and women had a feeling
of insecurity when left alone, al-
though the Indians were always
friendly.
  John Bosshard was the first white
child born in the township. When
but a small lad he wandered from
home while playing, and a search
by his frantic mother was unsuc-
cessful until someone suggested the
Indian camp near a creek a short
distance from the farm. He was


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