Early Overland Routes of Travel To La Crosse
                         KATHARINE WESSON

     The first settlers came to Prairie La Crosse by river, paddling
their way upstream from the older settlements below. As a rule these
pioneers remained close to the banks of the Mississippi as that was their
only means of communication with the outside world. There were In-
dian trails leading to the settlement on the prairie but they were little
used by the whites in the early days, since no one lived in the back
country and there was need for travelling them. Nathan Myrick, a trad-
er, was the first to decide that La Crosse would be a profitable place to
establish a trading post. After looking over the! ground in 1841 he re-
turned with his partner, H. J. B. Miller, in 1842 and they took up
claims. These men brought their wives later but the little settlement did
not acquire many permanent settlers until about three years later.
When John M. Levy came in 1845 he found only nine men and four
women living here and Mr. F. M. Rublee, who came in 1851, reports
only five families and a population totalling thirty people. Up until
this time the surrounding country was still largely uninhabited, with
the exception of an occasional settler at the foot of the bluffs. However,
by 1854 the population had grown to seven hundred and forty-nine.1
                          INDIAN TRAILS
     Prairie La Crosse was an old gathering place for Indians living in
the vicinity. They met here frequently for council and sports. Numer-
ous trails merged here coming from all parts of the surrounding ter-
ritory. One came from the south following the east bank of the Missis-
sippi, leading from the lead region in the southern part of the State to
the pineries and fur country in the north. Practically all the trails fol-
lowed the rivers and small streams as much as possible. Mr. John E.
Hauser, who came to the La Crosse region with his family in the early
1850's, says that at that time trails were numerous and most of them
met on what we now know as Indian Hill where in his boyhood the
Indians frequently held meetings. These various trails came from the
valleys of the Black River, Bad Ax and La Crosse Rivers and      Coon
Creek in Wisconsin and the valley of the Root River in Minnesota.2
Another well defined trail led westward in Minnesota from the Indian
village at the site of present Winona.
    Note: I have arbitrarily divided this paper into several parts in order that I
 might treat separately of the various travel routes. They are in general; Indian
 trails, early roads, mail and stage routes and early development of the railroad.
 Since the development of all these various means of travel naturally overlap and
 the attempt to give chronological history would be confusing, I have adopted
 this plan.
    1. Oarr, Brief Sketch of La Crosse, Wisconsin. 1854.
    2. La Crosse Democrat. February 21, 1854.
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