Reminiscences of Early La Crosse, Wisconsin : An Account of the Men and Women Who Lived in La Crosse and Vicinity ... / by L.H. Pammel. Liesenfeld Press, 1928.

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Reminiscences
of
Early
La Crosse, Wisconsin

In Account of the men and women who lived in
LaCrosse and vicinity and who shared in its
progress and in the building-up of its commercial,
professional, and educational
interests, with notes on
conservation of plant
and animal life
BY
L. H. PAMMEL, B. Agr, M. S., Ph. D., D. Sc.
Professor of Botany, Iowa State College of
Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.

Former President of Iowa State Board of Conservation.

Former President General of Phi Kappa Phi.

Vice President, Section G, American Association for
the Advancement of Science.

President, Iowa Academy of Science, Cosmopolitan Clubs;
Iowa Forestry Association.

Author of Manual of Poisonous Plants, Weds of the Farm and
Garden, Weed Flora, Flower Ecology, Prominent
Men I have met and many other papers.

REPRINTED FROM The
LA CROSSE TRIBUNE AND LEADER PRESS,
LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN.

LIESENFELD PR8IE
1928.

PREFACE

I brought together in these reminiscences times and events in the
seventies and the eighties. I had contact with many of the persons mentioned,
with some only a passing acquaintance. I have added to this material
chapters on conservation and something about the animal and plant life.
I have gone more into detail concerning the scientific work done by men who
lived in La Crosse and this vicinity. I thought best to embrace southeastern
Minnesota as far north as Winona and adjacent regions, Houston, and LaCrescent,
Minnesota; Westby, Sparta, West Salem, and Viroqua, Wisconsin.

I have gone to considerable pains to look up the biographical data, in
many instances, going to original sources for information. Also, I consulted
freely the Wisconsin State Historical Library, the Milwaukee Public Library,
the Public Library of La Crosse, and the State Historical Library in Des
Moines, Iowa, and the Iowa State College Library. I have been in correspondence
with a large number of persons concerning the lives of these men
and some of the martial about them has never been printed before.

It is interesting to, note the number of men who have been reared in
La Crosse who are occupying an enviable place in literature, science, and in
statesmanship.

In the preparation of this material, I have received many favors from
Professor Albert H. Sanford, La Crosse State Normal School, who has freely
put at my disposal much of his valuable material on the historical events of
La Crosse and vicinity; to Miss Lilly M. Borresen, of the La Crosse Public
Library who has shown me many courtesies; to Mr. Wells Bennett who has
helped me in many ways; and from Baldwin & Bosshard who also assisted me
in getting material. I want to thank especially Mr. Mark Byers ant the
La Crosse Tribune and Leader Press for kindness shown me in the printing
of the articles that have been published in the La Crosse Tribune and Leader
Press. Mr. Karl Kurtenacker assisted me to get material on the Gtsrman
Press. Also, I thank the many readers who have spoken to me about their
interest in these articles.

Ames, Iowa, L. H. PAMMEL.
July 1, 1928.

SOME LA CROSSE HISTORY

By L. H. PAMMEL

I.
Exploration
IN this series of sketches of early La
Crosse, I will begin with the period
of exploration. Two very early explorers
visited the region about La
Crosse, namely La Sueur, who touched
the region to the north of La
Crosse in 1683, and Nicolas Perrot
in 1685. Perrot wintered on the east
bank of the Mississippi river near
Trempealeau. Father James Marquette,
the French missionary among
the Hurons, was in the region to the
south of La Crosse near the present
siet of Prairie du Chien, on June 17,
1673. He was accompanied on this
trip by Louis Joliet. It was in June
that he beheld the, green verdure of
the trees and the beautiful early
summer and late spring flowers. The
exploits of Father Louis Hennepin
and Du Lhut in 1680 are also a part
of this history.

Ceded Territory in 1763

It should be remembered in this
connection that the French ceded
this territory to Great Britain in
1763. Great Britain ceded its rights
to the United States in 1783 and
English domination was continued
until 1796. The United States, however,
did not have full possession or
control until 1796. Carver visited
the, region of Prairie du Chien in
1766. (Carver's Travels, Philadelphia,
1796, p. 31.) Jehn Nicolet,
when the French authorities sent him
as an ambassador to the Winnebago
Indians, set foot on what now is Wisconsin
in 1634. He had spent several
years among the Indians. He had
lived in Canada since 1618. He ascended
the Fox river and portaged
to the Wisconsin river where
the present town of Portage is
located. We may now also recall
that the Roman Catholic missionary,
Father Claude Allouez, arrived at
Ashlmad Bay October, 1665, and
erected a chapel. The migratory
mission, St. Francis Xavier, was
founded in December, 1669, the
permanent one at De Pere, Brown
county, in 1671.

Pike's Exploration

The region was visited by Zebulon
Montgomery Pike on September 12,
1805. Pike played such an important
part in the history of the upper
Mississippi valley that I am going to
take the liberty of giving a sketch of
his life because he made a name for
himself by his explorations in this
valley and in the Rocky Mountains.
Pike published his Journal under the
title "The Expeditions of Zebulon
Montgomery Pike to the headwaters
of the Mississippi River through the
western parts of Louisiana territory
and a tour through the interior part
of New Spain during the years 1805-
6-7." (It was published in 1810).
This work was republished as a new
edition by Elliott Coues, the ornithologist
in 1905. The edition containing
the memoirs of Pike by Coues is
an invaluable historical document.
Coues followed the trail of Pike and
in the numerous footnotes gives details
of the journey, describing the
sloughs, rivers and bluffs.

Zebulon Montgomery Pike was
born at Lamberton, now Trenton,
New Jersey, January 5, 1779, and for
a while lived in Burks county, Pennsylvania.
He was a man of fair complexion.
He was a man of resolute
purposes and a genial companion.
Pike evidently had little education
and that was in the common school,
because he enlisted in the federal
army from New Jersey in 1794 as a
cadet in his father's company. As a
mere boy, 15 years old, he became an
ensign or second lieutenant in the
Second Infantry March 3, 1799; first
lieutenant of the same regiment on
April 24, 1800; First Infantry, in
1802; became first lieutenant First
Regiment, United States Infantry,
April 1, 1802. Pike came of a good
family which had resided in New Jersey
for several generations. His father,
Zebulon Pike, acquired the title
"Captain" because of his service in
the Revolutionary and Indian wars.

Heads Expedition

He came to head the Mississippi
Valley Expedition by order of General
James Wilkinson, who had his

4 EARLY LA CROSSE

headquarters at St. Louis, Missouri.
He was ordered to explore the Mississippi
from St. Louis to its source,
select sites for military posts, treat
with the Indians, make peace between
the Sioux, Ojibways and find
out about the British traders who
still occupied parts of the United
States territory. Pike, with 20 men,
started from St. Louis on the 9th of
August, 1805, and in his exploration
reached St. Anthony Falls; here at
the mouth of St. Croix he bought nine
miles square of land upon which to
build a fort. He also reached Sandy
Lake, Grand Rapids, Pokegama Falls,
mouth of Leech Lake river to Leech
Lake, Cass Lake (known as Upper
Red Cedar), mouth of Turtle river.
He considered Leech Lake drainage
area as the source of the Mississippi
river. He did not know that the
stream flowing into Cass Lake came
from Lake Itasca. In this expedition
Pike mentioned the upper Iowa
(Oneota) river in Allamakee county.
This was probably the same stream
given on the map of Franquelin in
1688. On September 10, 1806, he
camped on the Wisconsin side of the
Mississippi river, where he met the
Indians and had a parley with them.
In his Journal of September 11th he
mentions the numerous islands of the
Mississippi river. He camped on
what is now known as Brownsville,
Houston county, Minnesota, below the
Root river. He observed, he says,
"Hills or rather prairie knobs on
both sides," and passed Racine river
(Root river). (Later explorers, like
Nicollet and Owen, called this river
Hokah or Root river. The Franquelin
map of 1688 called it R. des Arounoues).
He passed a prairie called La
Cross (La Crosse), and mentions
Wild Cat creek (Coon) slough, a
mile below Geneva. The Vernon and
La Crosse county line is between
Stoddard and the mouth of Mormon
creek.

The Mississippi river divides on the
Wisconsin side into Coon or Raccoon
slough. This was two miles below
what is known as Warner's Landing
-according to Dr. Coues. Pike and
his party also call attention to the
Black river and the large delta at the
mouth. For this Father Hennepin
used the Sioux name Chabedeba or
Chabaondeba, La Salle using the
word R. Noire and Chabadeba (Beaver)
river, Noire in Franquelin's
map. J. N. Nicollet, who made :sone
explorations in this country and
whose work was published in 1840,
called it Sapah or Black river, the
Sapah Watpa of the Sioux. (See F.
Cassee-Fusils in Beltrami 2:178).
Pike did not reach the mouths of the
river until the 13th of September,
and Coues suggests that the mouth of
the river must have changed. On the
13th they went to the foot of the hill
situated on the river. This hill rises
abruptly from the water's edge. The
French called it la montague qui
trempe a' l'eau which was later
changed to Mt. Trempealeau---Mt.
Trombolo. Coues has some interesting
comments on these names, Dresbach
is Teutonic, Dakota is Siouxian,
Onalaska is suggestive of Captain
Cook's voyage, Richmond and Queen's
Bluff, English. Pike's party on the
return voyage in 1806 again stopped
at Prairie La Crosse on April 10th.
killed a goose, shot a pigeon, trees
were blooming.

First Voyage in 1805

It will not be necessary Io mention
in detail the return trip of Pike
down the Mississippi river. The first
voyage, in 1805-1806, was up the
Mississippi river starting from St.
Louis. The second trip was made
westward from St. Louis in 'he then
new territory of Louisiana to the
source of the Arkansas river. On
this trip he left St. Louis for the
Rocky Mountains July, 1806, went to
the Pawnee village on the Republican
river, Nebraska, then south to Arkansas,
touched the Great Bend, he
ascended the river in Colorado as tar
as Pueblo, then went north to Pike's
Peak, climbed Cheyenne Mountain
and said the great mountain (Pike's
Peak) was too terrible to climb. In
making this trip he got into Spanish
territory where he was captured. He
saw the Sangre de Cristo range in
San Luis valley. found himself on the
Rio Grande del Norte river where he
was captured by Spanish authorities
and ordered sent to Santa Fe and
Chihuahua to General Salcedo by
way of El Paso, Durango, Coahulla;
San Antonio, Mexico, Natchitochei
and Louisiana. He was released July
1, 1807.

His army service may be briefly
given. Captain United States army
August 12, 1806. Major 6th Infantry
May 3, 1808, Lieutenant Colonel 4th

EARLY LA CROSSE 5

Infantry, 12, 13, 1809. Deputy
Quartermaster General's office April
3, 1812. Colonel 18th Infantry July
6, 1812. Brigadier General March
12, 1813. Before this order was
confirmed he was killed in action. At
the time of his death he was 34 years
three months and 22 days old. The
following description appears on a
tablet in St. Michael's Episcopal
church, Trenton, New Jersey, "Sacred
to the memory of General Z. M. Pike
of the United States army, who fell
in defense of his country on the 27th
day of April, A. D. 1813, at York,
Upper Canada." Pike dedicated his
volume on the account of his expedition,
etc., to Fellow Soldiers and
Citizens.

Pike at Prairie La Crosse

Pike was at the site of La Crosse
on September 12, 1805, and called it
Prairie La Crosse. He states it
was a very handsome prairie with
hills back of it similar to those
found at Prairie du Chien. Mr.
Frazer, a member of the party,
"found some holes dug by the
Sioux in expectation of an attack into
which they first put their women and
children and then crawled in themselves."
These holes are round about
ten feet in diameter. The prairie was
given the above name because the Indians
used to play here a kind of
ball which the French called la
crosse. Captain Carver, who visited
Wisconsin in 1766 (North America
364) describes the games. Long's
work, edited by Keating, uses the
work "Prairie La Crosse." There has
been much discussion as to the origin
of the word La Crosse. Henry B.
Coons of Potosi, Wisconsin, insisted
that the French Catholic missionaries
erected a cross and called it Prairie
La Crosse (See History of La Crosse
County, 328). This is, however, discounted
by many Leut. Martin
Scott, who was in command of a
party to explore St. Peter's river,
halted at La Crosse and spoke of the
prairie as well suited for the game
La Crosse. No doubt this word is
French. There were Indian names
like Enook-Wagera, meaning woman's
breast, Topaktaype-from topa,
four, and Iktayke, killed, Wazuvleca,
a Sioux name meaning strawberry.
Pike was one of the heroes of the
war of 1812 and especially the hero
of our early explorations. He is
commemorated in the names of many
places, as Pike's Peak, Pike's Bay
(Cass Lake). Port Pike in Petites
Coquillas Island, Louisiana, in Orleans
Parish near New Orleans. Counties
named after him are many in
Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois,
Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania.
Many villages and small cities
in California, New York, North Carolina,
Illinois. A man of war was
named after him in 1813, also a regiment.

II.

LONG'S EXPEDITION

ANOTHER interesting expedition
was that made by Stephen H.
Long. The account of this expedition
was edited by William H. Keating under
the title of "Narrative of an expedition
to the source of St. Peter's
river, Lake Winnepeck, Lake of the
Woods, etc., performed in the year
1823, by order of Hon. J. C. Calhoun,
secretary of war, under the command
of Stephen H. Long, U. S. T E., compiled
from the notes of Major Long,
Messrs. Say, Keating and Calhoun."
William H. Keating was professor of
mineralogy and chemistry as applied
to the arts in the University of Pennsylvania.
He was geologist and histographer
to the expedition. This is
a two volume work printed in London
by George B. Whittaker, Ave. Marie
Lane, in 1825 (Vol. 1:1-456, Vol. 2,
96-134, 8 plates). The author of
this work refers to the history of the
discovery of the Wisconsin and Mississippi
River at McGregor. He refers
to what he calls Pike's Mountain,
now known as Pike's Peak on the
west bank of the Mississippi river, opposite
Prairie du Chien which they
state is 550 feet high. This was the
site recommended for a fort by Pike.
From the top of this bluff they got a
magnificent view of the Wisconsin
and Mississippi rivers. Prairie du
Chien then was a great center for Indians
to gather. In Keating's account
there is frequent reference to Major
Long's M. S. No. 2, folio 5. I take it
that all of Major Long's material was
not published.

Major Long had orders from the
war department to start the expedition
from Philadelphia, the order being
dated April 25, 1823. The expedition
started a few days later on
April 30. The route as planned was
via Wheeling, Va., (now West Virginia),

6 EARLY LA CROSSE

thence to Chicago, via Fort
Wayne, to Fort Armstrong on to Dubuque's
lead mines, thence up the
Mississippi river to St. Anthony Falls,
thence to the source of St. Peter's
river, thence to the point of intersection
between Red river and the forty-ninth
degree of north latitude, thence
along the northern boundary of the
United States to Lake Superior and
homeward by the lakes. The party
reached the mouth of the Wisconsin
river on June 19, 1823, where the
party remained for five days. Mention
is made of the wide prairie and
the writer notes that the distance
traveled between Chicago and Prairie
du Chien is 228 miles. The party
traveled fairly rapidly. They reached
Hoka (Dacota language) river (Root
river) on the 27th of June. This is
supposed to be the Riviere Longue or
Riviere Monte Lahoutan which Coxe
called Meschauay (in a work published
in London, 1771).

At Prairie La Crosse

The Long party was at Prairie La
Crosse on the 27th of June. Keating,
in his narrative, calls particular attention
to Prairie de La Crosse which
"has been incorrectly called Cross
(Croix) prairie. "He states the ground
is very level and excellent for playing
this game now called la crosse.
The region was formerly much visited
by the Indians to play this game.
The remains of encampments of Indians
were noted. "There were several
graves and flags flying over
them," an indication that the graves
were those of some men of importance.

Early next morning the party was
at the mouth of Black river. This
stream was at this early day used to
raft timber down the Mississippi to
Prairie du Chien and St. Louis. He
mentions pines and fine timber growing
on the banks of the river, and is
an important supply for the cities
mentioned above. They also note
that the islands were numerous and
that bluffs occurred at the mouth of
the Black river. These bluffs on both
sides of the Mississippi river approach
each other within 800 yards. On the
28th the party reached a "great natural
curiosity." Montagne qui
trempe dans l'eau." The French
translation meaning "the mountain
that soaks in the water." It is a rocky
island. So far as the party could see
there was no water between the
mountain and the left bank of the
river.

Trempealeau Mountain

Major Long estimated the height of
Trempealeau Mountain to be 500 feet.
The Burlington railroad now uses
the depression for its right of way.
No doubt in the distant past a channel
of the Mississippi river did go
through this valley forming an island.
Schoolcraft in his narrative of Travels,
etc., states that this is the third
island of the Mississippi from the
Gulf of Mexico to this point. I suppose
really what he meant by this
was that with a considerable elevation
of land. As stated, however, it
is not a recent island in any sense of
the word.

It is interesting to trace the origin
of names. Keating in Long's report,
publishes a map. On the Iowa-Minnesota
side of the river, the west
bank, these names occur: Wapsipinicon
(empties into Mississippi river below
Clinton, source in N. E. Iowa,
Howard county). Tete de Mort, Turkey,
Yellow, Upper Ioway, Root river
(the party was at this point on June
27). Wisconsin side, BadAxe creek, La
Croix river, Black river, Bluff Island
river (Trempealeau). The party traveled
overland on the Iowa-Minnesota
side of the Mississippi river. How
names of streams and places have
changed is shown by the name La
Crosse, as I have indicated. The case
of Pecatonica is of interest. Keating
gives this Pektannons, which means
"muddy" in the Siouxan language
and is a diminutive of Pektannon.

Expedition of J. N. Nicollet

After an interval of some twenty
years another expedition was ordered
by the United States government, J.
N. Nicollet, a Frenchman, was ordered
to make a survey of the hydrographic
basin of the upper Mississippi
river. This report was intended to
illustrate a map of the hydrographic
basin of the upper Mississippi river
(26th congress senate (237) 1:170.
Large folio map. List of fossils. Appendix
B 143-165). This report describes
the territory in a general way
to St. Anthony Falls but there is no
special reference to La Crosse. There
is a short account of Ft. Crawford,
Bloody River creek on Iowa aide of
the Mississippi on which the town
of Marquette is located, Painted Rock

EARLY LA CROSSE 7

above Bad Axe river on the Wisconsin
side of river. The only well
known Painted Rock is at McGregor
which makes me think that Nicollet
was not very familiar with the region.
He refers to Bad Axe river on the
Wisconsin side of the river, Raccoon
river on the same side, Hokah river,
now Root river, which is further
north on the Mississippi river, Prairie
La Crosse river and Tiger, east bank
of river. The Mankato river which is
in Minnesota and empties into the St.
Peter or Minnesota river at the bend,
indicates the location Lake Okamanpedan,
and Lake Okoboji, northwest
Iowa. The map refers to Devil's Lake,
mentions St. Peter's river frequently.
No doubt Nicollet did not come in
contact with the La Crosse region. He
describes Coteau des Prairie of the
Dakotas and the intervening country
west of the Mississippi river. A publication
of a list of plants by John
Torrey is given. The plants were
collected by Geyer. Many of these
were prairie plants and western but
a few like bristly sarsaparilla, undoubtedly
belong to the forest flora
of Wisconsin.

Last Exploration

The last of the early explorations
was the David Dale Owen survey
made in 1848. The results of this
survey were published under the title
"Report of a Geological Survey of
Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota," and
incidentally of a portion of Nebraska
territory. It was made under instructions
from the United States treasury
department. David Dale Owen, Unit-
ed States geologist (Philadelphia
Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1852,
Quarto pages 1-638, numerous illus-
trations and plates). David Dale
Owen was a geologist. C. C Parry,
whom I knew personally, was the botanist.
I said above this was the last
of the early surveys. None others
have been made except the Coues
expedition retracing the trail of Pike.
This, so far as I know, was at his own
expense and was not under government
auspices. I find only a few references
to Prairie La Crosse except
some localities where reference is
made to some geologic formations.
The party ascended Prairie La Crosse
river 50 miles above the mouth and
this mast therefore have brought the
exploring party to the east of Sparta.
This trip was made by a Dr. Litton. A
list of streams and places are given
for this region. On right hand side
of river West branch of Kickapoo river,
Bad Axe river, Raccoon creek,
Mormon creek, La Crosse river, Black
river, Montgiu-trempe-a-leau river,
Pecatonica river. On left hand side
of Mississippi river, Tete des Morts,
Catfish creek, Maquoketa creek
Wapsipinicon, Turkey river, Yellow
river, Upper Iowa, Hokah
or Root river. The following
places, Prairie a La Crosse, Dubuque,
Gutenberg, Clayton City,
Bellevue, McGregor landing between
Turkey and Yellow river, Mountain
Island on left side above mouth of
Trempealeau river. It seems strange
that the Owen party did not verify
the location of this island.

III.

PLANT COLLECTIONS
Carver, Pike, Nicollet and Owen

THE earliest reference to plants in
this region was that made by Carver
who explored the upper part, of
the Minnesota river in 1767. "Wild
rice grows here in great abundance,
and every part is filled with trees
bending under their loads of fruit,
such as plums, grapes and apples;
the meadows are covered with hops
and many sorts of vegetables; whilst
the ground is stored with useful roots
with angelica, spikenard, and ground
nuts." He speaks of the maple trees
(Upham Fl. of Minn.) Prof. D. B.
Douglas of West Point, in the expedition
of Governor Cass in 1820 in
the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi,
collected plants which were
listed by Dr. John Torrey. The
Schoolcraft Expedition through the
upper Mississippi to Itasca Lake in
1832 published a list of plants collected
by Dr. Douglass Houghton.
Dr. I. A. Lapham in 1865 published a
valuable catalogue of plants of Minnesota
which embraced a part of this
region in Minnesota.

Scientific Notes of Explorers
Pike paid little attention to the
geological formation and but little to
the plant and animal life. Occasionally
there is a note about plants and
animals. Long's expedition did give
some attention to the scientific features
of the region. Keating was a
geologist and Thomas Say was a zoologist.
Say later in life described
many insects. He is frequently quoted
by entomologists. Say made a

8 EARLY LA CROSSE

collection of plants of the expedition
which later was placed in the hands
of Louis David von Schweinitz. They
were listed in the appendix (p. 105)
in the work of Long. The geology
of this whole region was described
also. It was the beginning of better
scientific work. The Long party, in
their overland journey, north from
Prairie du Chien, took pains to note
the type of trees and other plants observed.
They noted basswood, ash,
elm, white walnut, sugar tree (hard
maple), birch, aspen, hazel, hickory,
wild roses, wild strawberries with
very fragrant fruit and wild rice
they found in bottoms. They mention
seeing elk on the upper Iowa,
and they observed two acres of maize
cultivated presumably by the Indians.
They noted many birds on the trip
such as the prairie chicken, chipping
sparrow, red headed woodpecker,
ferruginous thrush, and crow. At
other points they noted Cassida
(Cassia chamaecrista) our well
known partridge pea of sandy soil,
common to the prairies. They mention
sinks which they encountered in
their overland journey.

Nicollet and his party, who in the
early forties made an exploration of
the upper Mississippi basin, also
called attention to the plant and animal
life and gave more attention to
the geology than any of the previous
explorers. They published a list of
fossils and a list of plants (26th Congress
Senate (237) 1843). The plants
were collected by Charles Geyer under
the direction of J. N. Nicollet.
During the exploration of the region
between the Mississippi and Missouri,
so far as I know, none of these plants
are listed from La Crosse. The published
list of plants was prepared by
Dr. John Torrey, the eminent New
York botanist (Appendix B-143-165).
Definite localities are given, e. g.
Council Bluffs, Iowa, Devil's Lake,
South Dakota, St. Peter's river. Nicollet
mentions such trees as American
elm. soft maple, black walnut, nettle
tree (hackberry), red and white ash,
basswood, red and bur oak, prickly
ash, red birch, hawthorne, and such
other plants as bristly sarsaparilla,
wild fox-grape, yellow ladies' slipper,
tuberous sunflower. It is evident
from this list of plants that the party
must have seen these plants on the
Mississippi river. The bristly sarsaparilla
is not found much west of the
Mississippi river and in southern Minnesota
and Wisconsin. The white
ash is rare in Wisconsin. They probably
observed this in northeastern
Iowa and near La Crosse. On this
trip he met Dr. George Engelmann,
the eminent botanist and physician
of St. Louis, who at this early day
kept a meteorological record which
Nicollet had occasion to use. In one
of the appendices Nicollet gives a
table of geographical positions for
points along the Mississippi river.

The Owen and Parry Surveys
The David Dale Owen geological
survey, published in 1852, gives a
much more thorough discussion of
the geology of the region in the survey
of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota
than any other previous report.
In literature, therefore, it is more
frequently referred to. There is frequent
reference to lower magnesium
limestone which caps the bluffs and
outcrop of St. Croix sandstone, at La
Crosse. They mention cranberry in
marshes, huckleberries on arid ridges,
On the Bad Axe river the thickness
of the lower magnesium limestone is
175 feet, the sandstone 488 feet.
Owen was evidently a thorough student.
He called attention to the importance
of studying the geology and
the relation of plants to geologic formations.
Dr. C. C. Parry, he botanist,
gave an account of plants from
Davenport, Iowa, to the St. Croix
river. The systematic list of plants
collected in 1848 is published on
page 606 of the survey report. Dr.
Parry reported white pine from Muscatine
county and the fragrant fern
from the falls of St. Croix river. La
Crosse localities do not appear in this
catalogue. Undoubtedly some plants
were collected here.

There was a long period of inactivity
from a scientific standpoint. In
the year 1873 the legislature of Wisconsin
ordered a geological survey of
Wisconsin. Subsequently, Dr. J. A.
Renggly, a physician of La Crosse,
Wisconsin (History of La Crosse
County, 309) tells, in a well written
account, how the sandstone of
the Slurian system was laid down.
"There were no grass plains, no
brush, no forests yet to stop the colossal
rain streams rushing down hills
and dales in their course. The rough,
bare stone plateaus were at the mercy
of the rapid streams." He gives an

EARLY LA CROSSE 9

excellent account of the topography
of the region. Dr. T. C. Chamberlain,
the state geologist, refers in a general
way to the geology of western
Wisconsin, including the La Crosse
area (History of La Crosse County,
Wisconsin, 115-116). The Potsdam
sandstone of the Wisconsin age and
the lower magnesium limestone.

Strong's Geology
Prof. Moses Strong (Geology of
Wisconsin 4; 28, 29, 30), discusses
the topography and physical geography
of the region north of the Wisconsin
river. There are accounts of
the several townships, Shelby, in
which La Crosse is located. He notes
the precipitous cliffs and that the
lower magnesium limestone covers
one-sixth of the township and notes
that it is a good limestone. The
Potsdam sandstone covers the remainder
of the area. The thickness
of this sandstone at La Crosse is 937
feet which includes the area above
the surface and 400 feet to granite
rock below. He refers to the clay
ridges, chiefly covered with white
oak. There are some references to
the geology of the adjacent Wisconsin
territory with its sandstone. T.
C. Chamberlain (Geology Wis.
1:269) refers to the driftless area of
La Crosse.

IV
PAPERS BY HOY, KING, RENOGLEY
AND OTHERS

Other scientific facts brought out
by the survey was a study of the
natural history. Incidentally La
Crosse is mentioned in the article by
Dr. F. R. Hoy (Geology Wisconsin
1:422). The glass snake (Opheosaurus
ventralis L.) is mentioned. The
frequent occurrence of the rattle
snake on the Mississippi bluffs is
mentioned. Moses Strong (Geology
Wis. 1:436) publishes a list of mammals,
such as the raccoon, prairie and
gray wolf. Localities are not given
but by inference La Crosse is included.
These animals were found in La
Crosse. There is a most excellent
treatise, the best of the biological papers,
by Dr. F. LI. King on the Economic
Relations of Wisconsin birds
(Geology of Wis. 1:441). Dr. King's
work was done in .Waupaca and several
other counties. He lists many
birds, quail, partridge, prairie chicken,
passenger pigeon. He suggests the
protection of the quail and prairie
chicken but nothing about the passenger
pigeon, which must, therefore,
have been a common bird. The report
is valuable pioneer work in connection
with a study of the contents
of the stomachs of birds, this should
be included in the pioneer work carried
on also by S. A. Forbes and F. E.
L. Beal. This work was started in
1873. Prof. King also studied moths
and butterflies. (Geology of Wisconsin
1:406, 415.)

La Crosse and Lotus
A catalogue of plants was by G.
D. Sweezey (Geology of Wisconsin
1:376) and a few localities are given.
La Crosse is mentioned for the American
lotus. In other cases by inference
Western Wisconsin (La Crosse) is included
in their list, some plants certainly
not correctly determined. Dr.
W. F. Bundy, published a partial
list of fungi (Geology of Wisconsin
1:396). Localities are not given.
Dr. J. A. Renggly was interested in
botany-no doubt knew the botany
of the region from the standpoint of
an amateur. There came into my
hands a part of his library, the reports
of the Geological survey of Wisconsin
in which there is a catalogue
of plants by Dr. F. R. Hoy. and a
list of fungi by Dr. Bundy that seemed
to have interested Dr. Renggly. He
also had a copy of Woods Botany
which had shown much use. A few
years before his death, after I had a
little knowledge of plant life, he mentioned
finding on the sandy prairie
a stipa which was native to Europe.
This I found later to be a native
species-the needle grass (Stipa
spartea). I therefore have my doubts
of his great knowledge of plant life
of the region.

Dr. R. Gmelin with distinguished
ancestry once lived near La Crosse.
I was fortunate a few years ago to
have met a Mr. Henry Gmelin of Elkader,
Iowa, who had in his possession
some 269 species of flowering
plants collected by his father, Dr.
Rudolph Gmelin. This collection was
made between the years 1874 and
1894. An account of the scientific
work of the vicinity of La Crosse
would not be complete without a
mention of the botanical work, since
Dr. Gmelin had some very distinguished
connections in Germany. Mr.

10 EARLY LA CROSSE

R. I. Cratty, the curator of the Iowa
State college herbarium,, has an interesting
account of Dr. Gmelin's
life:

"He was born at Darmsheim, Wurtemburg,
Germany, October 30, 1831.
He was the son of Reverend Heinrich
Gmelin and Christina Louise Pfeiderer
Gmelin, a graduate from the University
of Tuebingen in medicine,
April 9, 1854, and took further medical
work at Vienna, Munich and
Prague, practiced his profession for
a while in Germany, was a surgeon
during the Franco-Prussian war, married
Sophia Alt and came to America,
October 20, 1873. After coming to
this country he practiced his profession
at Chicago, Ill., Milwaukee, Wis.,
St. Paul, Minn.; St. Cloud, Minn.,
Fountain City, St. Joseph's Ridge, La
Crosse, Wis., and at Lincoln, Neb.,
Guttenberg, Elkader and Garnavillo,
Iowa.

It is his connection as a scientist at
La Crosse, St. Joseph's Ridge, that I
want to mention. He collected a fine
set of plants, determined them correctly
and made notes on the native
plants of St. Joseph's Ridge. Like
many other physicians of the old type
he had a splendid academic training
along many lines and thus became interested
in natural history and natural
science. This taste of out-door
life led him to make a collection of
plants. Dr. Gmelin's ancestors were
all distinguished men. One of the
Gmelins was the author of the revised
editions Linnaeus, Species Plantarum.
A number of others were botanists
of considerable note, so that
Dr. Gmelin of St. Joseph's Ridge naturally
became interested in plants,
and it may be of interest to know
that one of the very common puccoon
plants found everywhere in the
sandy soil of Wisconsin is named after
one of his ancestors, namely the
(Lithospermum Gmelinij).

Interested in Plants

After several courses in botany, especially
cryptogamic botany, at the
University of Wisconsin in 1883 I became
greatly interested in plant life,
especially lower forms and so I began
to collect these plants. La Crosse was
a mecca of these parasitic fungi, not
so very unusual but the seasons were
favorable for their development. During
the years between 1882-1885 I
made a large collection especially in
the summer. The collections were
mostly made in the vicinity of La
Crosse on the Pammel farm, State
Road Coulee and the sand prairies
some in the tamarack marsh northeast
from La Crosse, Hokah and
Brownsville, Minnesota. The specimens
were sent to Dr. Wm. Trelease
who was then professor of botany in
the University of Wisconsin, who
kept a set for his herbarium and
some placed in my own collection.

During my University botanical
career some two hundred parasitic
species were found. Some for the
first time in this country. The specimens
I sent to Dr. Trelease, along
with his own collection, were published
by him under the title "Preliminary
List of Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi"
(Trans. Wisconsin Acad. of
Sciences etc., 6:106). This was my
first real botanical collecting. It
meant that I had to become familiar
with the flowering plants in order to
identify the parasitic species. Several
new species of fungi were discovered.
One on a grass with interesting spore
characters. Another rust on the white
flowering spurge was named after
me, the Ascidium Pammelii which
later was connected with a rust on
Switch grass. I also found a downy
mildew upon lettuce, the first time
it was reported in Wisconsin, and one
year a great deal of the early blight
of the potato was found. The first record
in this country of the downy
mildew of green foxtail and millet
Is of special interest as it is a most
destructive parasitic fungus on millet
and green foxtail. It was common in
our gardens. An interesting rust was
found on mesquit grass, the Puccinia
vexans, was found on the slope of
the hill entrance to State Road Coulee.
It is a real pleasure to go back after
collecting these plants 40 and 45
years ago and recall the exhilaration
of finding a new thing in plant life.

Large Collection

A large collection of flowering
plants also was made. This has been
preserved in Missouri Botanical Garden
and my own collection which was
given to Iowa State College. Dr. E.
M. Freeman has an interesting (Univ.
Bot. Studies 2 Ser. pt. IV p. 423) account
and reference of the powdery
mildews of Minnesota in which a
few references occur to this region.
In another paper on Minnesota rusts

EARLY LA CROSSE 11

in Minnesota Botanical Studies (2nd
Ser.Pt. V. p. 537) he refers to the
rusts found by the writer in Houston
County, Minnesota.

The next paper dealing with the
flora was an article I prepared first
for Colman's Rural World, St. Louis,
on some weeds, which was later expanded
and published in the Report
of Minnesota State Horticultural Society
(1887) under the title of Weeds
of Southwestern Wisconsin, in which
I listed 83 different kinds of weeds
and first reported squirrel tail grass
July 1886. Ox-eye daisy, quack grass
etc., were reported later (Ia. Acad.
Sci. 1:11, 76.) Somewhat later, I prepared
for Garden and Forest, a series
of articles on The Forest Vegetation
of the Upper Mississippi (4:460, 472,
530) in which I listed the common
trees referring to white pine, maples,
oaks, birch, etc., occurring between
Dubuque, Iowa, and La Crosse Wisconsin,
and at the same time a list a
woody plants of Western Wisconsin
(Iowa Acad. 1:11). In 1898 I prepared
an article on Botanizing in
Western Wisconsin for Plant World
(1:154)). I referred to the occurrence
of some interesting plants like coffee
bean first reported by J. S. Harris, La
Crescent, Minnesota and the occurrence
of the fringed orchis, the
pasque flower and some interesting
ferns. In another article in the same
journal (4:151) I regretted the disappearance
of the cranberry, and
large pink lady slipper in the peat bog
seven miles from La Crosse on the
West Salem Road. In another article
in Plant World (.226, 1902) I called
attention to an old Sphagnum bog
with its cranberry, pitcher plant and
sundew and how the bog was passing.

Botanist Writes

The first article published in Plant
World brought a short note from an
eminent botanist, the Rev. Edward
Lee Greene, at one time a rector in
an Episcopal Church in Wisconsin
and later Prof. of Botany in the University
of California and later connected
with Catholic University, who
stated (Plant World 2:37 1898) that
he had collected in this region, citing a
Sparta locality for one of the
St. John's Worts and he lists also the
tumbling pigweed and a fox glove.

Dr. Wm. Trelease in a paper on
puff balls and morels, lists several
collected at Sparta by Mrs. H. J. Taylor

In a somewhat lengthy paper, "A
Comparative Study of the Vegetation
on Sandstone of Wisconsin, Minnesota,
and Iowa," I gave an account of
the plants found on the Potsdam
Sandstone near La Crosse, comparing
coal measure sandstone in central
Iowa (Proc. Davenport Acad. Sci.
10.31). There was also an incidental
reference to the peat bog flora of La
Crosse county in my paper. "Peat
Bog Flora of Iowa." Dr. Bruce Fink
in several papers on lichens refers to
the lichens found in this region. One
of these is on a collection made by Dr.
C. C. Parry in 1848 and later, (probably
not all in Wisconsin (Ia. Acad.
Sci. 2:137) and in a paper an addition
to lichens distribution in the
Mississippi Valley (Proc. Iowa Acad.
17:173) This is the first definite report
on such plants for La Crosse.

Other Scientists

Some other botanists have contributed
to a knowledge of the plant life
of this region. Prof. Warren Upham,
formerly of the Minnesota Geological
Survey, in his catalogue of the Flora
of Minnesota published in 1884
(Geol. and Nat. Hist. Survey Pt. VI,
1883) mentions several localities in
southeastern Minnesota, Root River,
Hokah, etc. He lists the occurrence
of swamp white oak, mulberry, coffee
bean and a few other plants.
Frederick E. Clements, C. Otto Rosenqahl
and Dr. Frederick K. Butters.
in that excellent book "Minnesota
Trees and Shrubs," refer to species of
trees found on the west side of the
Mississippi River near La Crosse.
W. A. Wheeler in a contribution to
knowledge of the flora of southeastern
Minnesota in Minnesota Botanical
Studies (Ser. 2 pt. VI 353) notes
plants of the region. This paper consists
of a catalogue of the plants and
some notes on the plants found in
marshes, sandstone, and limestone
ledge water, springy places, mud flats
and' alluvial bottoms. It has some
most excellent illustrations. The
plants were collected in Houston
county, Minnesota, on Winnebago and
Crooked Creeks. The Mississippi River
flora was considered, also. It is the
most complete of the floras of this
region published.

Conway McMillan in a book on the
Minnesota Valley plants should also
be cited in this connection. Prof. McMillan

12 EARLY LA CROSSE

gives localities and distribution
for many plants of the region.
His southeast refers to Houston County.

The writer and Miss Charlotte M.
King published an extensive paper on
the vascular cryptogams of Iowa,
Southeastern Minnesota and western
Wisconsin (Proc. Ia. Acad, Sci.
9:134, 1902). It permanently fixes
the localities for these plants. Many
localities of plants have disappeared.
There is an excellent list of plants
for Winneshiek County, Iowa, by Dr.
B. Shimek and several papers of
mine that deal with the flora of the
Yellow River where I call attention to
the occurrence of the balsam fir and
many interesting northern plants like
the monk's hood, high bush cranberry,
buckthorn, white violet, etc.
The geology of this same region was
admirably discussed by Drs. Samuel
Calvin and James Lees published in
Iowa Geological Survey, Iowa Academy
of Science, and an especially readable
article by Dr. J. H. Lees, "Touring
with a Geologist in Iowa."

V
LA CROSSE PLANT LIFE AND
PARKS

WILD flowers in the old days were
abundant everywhere. It will not
be necessary for me to enumerate the
pasque flower of the sandy prairie
which carpeted the vacant untouched
spots. The same plant was common
on the sand hills. They are still
there but not in the profusion they
once were. In the same areas there
were great quantities of the yellow
and orange puccoon, associated with
the crowfoot violets, and a little later
blue-eyed and yellow star grass,
the goat's rue (Tephrosia) and partridge
pea, in midsummer the goldenrod,
and in August wild bergamot
(Monarda punctata). In late summer
and fall came the silvery, blue and
white aster.

Interesting Flowers

Our woodlands teemed with a large
number of most interesting flowers,
the yellow and blue violet, hepaticas,
blood root, wind flower, May apple
blue cohosh, Dutchman's breeches,
yellow crowfoot, Trillium. The yellow
lady slipper was common in woods
and armfulls could be picked on any
afternoon. In protected places there
were great quantities of the large
pink lady slipper. I recall that in an
hour or more, we picked a great armful
on our farm. Not a single one is
left now. It is rare, indeed, that one
can find the yellow lady slipper. The
columbines and shooting star (Dodecatheon
Media) were common in
rocky places. In marshy places there
were great quantities of the yellow
cowslip, but few of these are left.
There were great colonies of the
skunk cabbage right close to our
farm house, not a single plant left.
There were quantities of the Philadelphia
lily and tiger lily, fringed orchid
and saxifrage in marshy places,
not a single plant left.

Trees

At one time there were
many beautiful and large trees in the
vicinity of La Crosse. I remember
seeing a large red oak on our farm,
five feet in diameter. I do not suppose
that there is a single tree left
in the county of that size. There were
also large white oak, basswood and
elm. The ridges were known for the
fine white oak. Trees of this species.
three and three and a half feet in diameter
were not uncommon. There
also were very large bur oak.

The drier slopes were covered with
Quercitron or black oak and there
were some really fine trees of these.
The elms were not of large size but
there were trees three and a half to
four feet in diameter. The large ones
were found in the bottoms. The cottonwoods
generally occurred in the
bottoms but there were a few large
trees in State Road Coulee five and a
half feet in diameter. The hard maple
was common in some places, abundant
on the west slopes of hills below
Mormon Coulee. These were rare in
State Road Coulee. There were, in a
few places black walnuts and some
butternuts as well as paper birch,
iron wood, black cherry and slippery
elm in State Road Coulee.

There were many fine plum patches.
There were two or three well
marked types on our farm and some
especially well selected types on the
old Ramsey place below the road,
now our farm, no doubt selected and
planted by the Indians.

During my time in the seventies,
the farmers in the winter made a
business of selling cordwood at $3.00
per cord. The best wood came from
the ridges where the timber was particularly

EARLY LA CROSSE 13

good having been protected
from fire. Railroad ties were also
cut. The wild fox grape was common
everywhere. There was also another
kind less common on the clay ridges
in Coon Valley, wild strawberries of
two kinds were abundant. Blueberries
occurred in the north part of the
county. Cranberries in peat bogs.
Blackberries, black cap raspberries
and red raspberries were all common
in this region.

Prairie and Forest Fires
I shall never forget the numerous
prairie fires which were annually
started in the region of La Crosse.
Dozens of these fires could be seen
from our house for a number of weeks
during the spring season. There were
long lines of fire up the hills and
down, and these of course destroyed
everything in their path. Consequently,
many of the bluffs were not covered
with trees, and they were prairies
on a hillside, largely due to the
fact that these annual fires destroyed
the young tree growth. Later
when the communities became more
stable, these fires did not occur so
frequently. It was often a man's job
to put out the fires, and I recall many
of these that I helped put out on our
farm, because my father was quite
careful that the young growing trees
should not be burned. It may be noted
that when fires ceased to do their
destructive work, some of these
slopes recovered themselves with a
forest of trees and shrubs and one
could see the gradual encroaching of
paper birch, hazel, and oak on these
bluffs. For instance, at the mouth
of State Road Coulee the east slope
of the bluffs was quite bare in the
early days, but later since the fires
ceased, the trees have practically covered
the entire east slope.

Pine Specimen

A rather interesting incident occurred
that is well worth remembering.
A white pine, probably the only
one, occurred in State Road Coulee
on our farm. There were others in
Mormon Coulee and in Bostwick Valley.
This very fine young specimen of
the white pine was carefully transplanted
by us to our yard. This is at
least 50 years ago. A fire, soon after
planting this tree, swept over the
area on the right hand side of the
Coulee and destroyed all the young
tree growth so that this tree really is
quite interesting. It is now something
over 2 feet in diameter.

Preserve Sand Bur

I was very much interested in the
note by Mr. Mark Byers under the
title "The Drifter," in which he refers
to the sand bur, which at one
time was so very common everywhere
on the sand dunes and on sandy
fields and the prairies of La Crosse.
Mr. Byers' interesting note interested
me and I would certainly say, yes, by
all means preserve some of the sand
bur. In a recent brief survey that I
made on the matter of our wild flowers
in the vicinity of La Crosse I noticed
many things of interest.

I am glad to note that there are
still places where our wild flowers
have undisputed sway in certain
areas. It certainly adds charm to
one's ramble through the fields and
woods to see the array of wild flowers.
They are not as abundant as
they were fifty years ago when I was
a boy, but still our by-ways, the little
used roads, offer unlimited opportunities
for the field naturalist and
those who are interested in the great
out-of-doors, and I am reminded here
of the splendid array of spring flowers,
and prominent among these is
the bristly puccoon, named after Dr.
Gmelin, and I am also reminded of
the fact that great sandy stretches of
La Crosse and vicinity were covered
with white spurge or flowering
spurge, which certainly adds charm
to the region.

By the way it is a matter of general
interest that the introduction of
this as a cultivated plant first came
through the efforts of Dr. N. E. Hansen
of Brookings, S. D., who saw
this plant growing in great quantities
and recognized its superior merits
as an ornamental plant, and subsequently
it was placed on the market
by some of our enterprising florists
like Mr. Kienahs. Now this plant is
quite generally used for bouquets and
for its aesthetic value.

I was particularly charmed with
the splendid array of wild flowers
found on the right-of-way of several
of the railroads like the Northwestern,
the Burlington and the Milwaukee,
especially the many wild flowers
on the sandy soil. There were great
quantities of one of the small sun
flowers which is adapted to sandy

14 EARLY LA CROSSE

soil and has a slightly brownish
stem. The technical name in this
connection is Heiianthus occidentalis.
It has large yellow ray flowers and a
yellow disk. It was abundant everywhere
where the prairies remained
untouched, and indeed it is a wonderful
plant. Great quantities of the artichoke
used by the Indians, the cultivated
form known as Jerusalem artichoke,
were in bloom on border of upland
woods.

Prairie Coneflower

I was also greatly interested in
great quantities of the prairie coneflower
(Lepachys pinnata), which
occurred not only on this sandy soil
but in open spaces on gravel knolls
and on hillside prairies. A little earlier
in the season along these railroad
right-of-ways were beautiful specimens
of purple coneflower, and during
my visits to La Crosse I saw several
interesting Sick trefoils, one of
them known as Canadian tick trefoil
(Desmodium canadense) in gravelly
prairie soil or somewhat sandy places
along the Milwaukee and Burlington
railroads' right-of-way, and how
charming and what an aesthetic value
the flowers along the railroads have.
Can we not preserve them? The railroads
should help in this movement
to make their rights-of-way, preserves.
In the woods I found an interesting plant,
the large flowered tick trefoil
(Desmodium grandiflorum.

I was also particularly interested in
the abundance of the hoarypea (Tephrosia
virginiana) with silky leaves.
This occurred in great quantities on
the sandy soil underneath the black or
northern pin oak. The prairie clovers
of which the purple one was the most
interesting and conspicuous were
common, not only on the uplands and
prairies on limestone soil but also
equally common in sandy prairies
along the right-of-way of the railroads
and where cultivation had not
destroyed the original habitat. The
white species (Petalostemum candidum)
was also common, but less conspicuous.
The lead plant (Amorpha
canescens) with wooly or whiteish
leaves and purplish flower was found
on the high gravelly and limestone
prairies.

Partridge Pea

Everywhere there were great
quantities of the partridge pea (Cassis
chamaecrista) and associated with
it was a native species of bean, and
then the Culver's root (Veronica Virginica)
was in its height of flowering.
How conspicuous and beautiful. It
was common on borders of woods and
in rich prairies. I was, likewise, interested
particularly to find how
abundant in rather rich sandy prairies
the compass plant or rosin weed
occurred. It reminded us of the devotion
paid to it by Henry Longfellow.
The air was fragrant from the
flower of the bergamot, which was
in full bloom and the bees were getting
their spicy honey from this wonderful
plant which our pharmacists
have found so useful for the thymenthol.
I noticed species of wild horse
mint (Monarda mollis) which was
abundant and in full bloom. Along
the borders of woods the virgin's
bower was also in full bloom, a
unique and interesting plant, the
flowers with the fragrance of vanilla.
The bottom lands were covered with
the boneset and joe-pye weed, and
some species of sunflower and sneeze
weed were bundant in similar situations,
and also the Spanish needles
which bloom of course much later. I
was interested, also, in the abundance
of the American lotus not far distant
from La Crosse, the fine beds on the
islands north of La Crosse and again
in the bayous south of La Crosse.
Certainly La Crosse should preserve
some of these lotus beds for their
beauty. Why not a lotus park?

Visit to Scout Camp

In this connection, too, may I mention
the trip I took from La Crosse
to the Boy Scout camp on the Black
river, the beautiful array of flowers
found on the way, the various tints of
flowers making a very pleasing effect.
And I want to commend the care being
taken in preserving some of the
plants in this area, from the standpoint
of conservation, and may I mention
in this connection two very interesting
areas between Holmen and
the Black river where the red pine
and jack pine occur. There is too
some jack pine occurring nearer La
Crosse than the Holmen area, namely,
between West Salem, Bangor and
Sparta. So far as I know the Holmen
area of red pine and jack pine is the
most southern distribution of these
trees, on the heights adjacent to the
Mississippi river. The areas are not

EARLY LA CROSSE 15

large but they should be preserved.
The areas are pretty thoroughly pastured,
but sometime the botanist will
want to know that these plants occurred
here. I, therefore, want at
this time to put on record the occurrence
of these groups on these rocky
out-crops of the Mississippi river, associated
with interesting plants like
the rock rose, Missouri goldenrod,
silky aster, the prairie rose, the harebell
or bellflower and the bird-foot
violet, the pasque flower, St. John's
wort, etc., and I think there are also
some blueberry. I also visited the
tamarack swamp on the West Salem
road beyond the Four-mile house.

Interesting Plants

During my early botanizing in La
Crosse this tamarack swamp yielded a
large amount of interesting plants
like the sundew, pitcher plant, fringorchis,
pogonia, calopogon and moccasin
flower, besides the cranberry.
With the tamaracks there were the
red osier and the alder. The red osier,
tamarack and certain willows still occur
in abundance but the silty material
carried down from the valleys
has utterly destroyed the bog so far
as the rare plants are concerned. I
do not know, of course, how it would
be possible to restore the old peat
bog with its sundew, pitcher plant
and rare orchis, but at any rate it
would be worth while to reclaim part
of the tamarack swamp as a county or
city park, because more and more
persons are becoming interested in
the great out-of-doors. Persons want
to know the names of plants.

Parks and Recreation

Under the head of Conservation,
something should be said about the
recreational opportunities in the past,
the present and the future. One of
the earliest references I find to the
scenic bluffs in the vicinity of La
Crosse was made by a Baptist clergyman
quite early in the history of La
Crosse. He referred to the fine hills
with a wonderful view of the river.
This scenery could not be equaled
anywhere in the United States, and
he said that it was a rare opportunity
to see the Mississippi River with
its numerous islands. During the early
days the various organizations
such as the Germania, Turnverein,
and others made use of private property
in the vicinity of La Crosse
for recreational purposes. The places
most frequently visited were those
of Oehler's Mills in Mormon Coulee,
our own farm in State Road Coulee,
and Bostwick Valley.

And in those days it meant that
usually in going to these places it was
by hiking. Sometimes wagons and
carriages were used, for it was generally
a long hike. At the time of the
Sangerfest in the seventies, our place
was used for a large picnic. There
were no parks near La Crosse in the
early seventies. There were a few
squares in the city. Some of these
were gifts of private individuals. The
Pettibone Park opposite La Crosse
was created later. It was formerly in
the state of Minnesota, but an act of
the Minnesota legislature turned this
over to the state of Wisconsin. Pettibone
Park on Pettibone Island is a
most interesting place and has been
made usable in recent years. Several
other parks have also been created in
recent times. One of the more notable
ones is the Hixon Park around
the city reservoir on the bluff. La
Crosse has never utilized the hills and
bluffs for recreational purposes as it
should. The bluffs at the entrance to
State Road Coulee, Grandad's bluff,
and other bluffs afford one a superb
view of the Mississippi with its
numerous islands, lakes and streams.
This rough land is of little value for
agricultural purposes and I am sure
that at some time all the bluffs to the
east of the city of La Crosse will be
used for recreational purposes, and
in the not far distant future land on
these bluffs will be used for residences
in order to get the exhilarating
air and the view of the Mississippi
with its islands. It seems to me
that La Crosse should lose no time in
making use of this potential wealth
from the standpoint of recreation. It
is an asset that should be considered
from the recreational, scientific and
historical points of view.

VI
WILD ANIMAL LIFE
The Passenger Pigeon

THIS was an extremely common
bird in the seventies. At least I
recall seeing large numbers of these
birds, during the migratory periods
flying north during the spring and
the return migration south in the fall.
In the seventies (about 1876) hundreds

16 EARLY LA CROSSE

of these flocks were seen by me
in a continuous stream. These flocks
reached from the hills to the Mississippi
River. These flocks were a quarter
of a mile to a mile long and went
in a continuous stream. They would
go in seemingly endless procession.
W. T. Hornaday, in his Vanishing
Wild Life, quotes Alexander Wilson
that when his notes were made 2,230,272,000
birds occurred and Wilson
thought the number was probably
much greater. About 1876 at La
Crosse, the pigeons were caught in
great nets. The net was one that was
used with several live pigeons. The
birds descended and landed on this
net, the cord was pulled and birds
caught. I have seen wagon loads of
these skinned birds taken to market
at La Crosse. Some of these traps
were set in State Road Coulee on the
Hageh farm just to the east of our
farm. There is nothing in the story
that these birds were destroyed in the
ocean in one of their migrations. The
last bird was killed near Detroit
Michigan on September 14. 1908, so
Dr. Hornaday tells us. The last female
passenger pigeon in the Cincinnati
Zoological Garden died a
few years ago. The pioneer hunters of
La Crosse did their share towards the
extinction of this magnificent bird.

Prairie Chickens

This wonderful bird was common
formerly in the vicinity of La
Crosse. The pioneer sportsmen of La
Crosse, in the seventies, could in a
few hours shoot a dozen or fifteen
of these birds. Many birds occurred
on our farm, especially on
the lower forty, and in driving
through the country many of these
birds would fly up along the roadsides.

They were especially common in
fields where grain had been cut. I
have not seen a prairie chicken in
La Crosse since the early eighties,
though Mr. Wells Bennett states that
he saw some near the stone quarry
on our farm in State Road Coulee a
few years ago.

Prof. F. H. King in the seventies
recommended that the state enact a
law providing for a closed season
(Wisconsin Geology 1882). Many
states have since provided a closed
season. The bird is now protected in
many states. Within the last twenty
years, I have seen several large
flocks in Iowa, largely migrants from
South Dakota, and Dr. Guard has observed
a few in the vicinity of Ames
as late as 1926. The bird is doomed.

The Quail

The quail was common in the late
seventies and early eighties about
La Crosse. There were large numbers
of them on our farm. One could find
them at any time along fences and
open clearings. It is now protected
in many states. They still occur. I
have seen then in some numbers in
recent years near La Crosse. In the
early days they were shot by the hundred
near La Crosse. It is well enough
to remember according to the U. S.
Biological Survey that each quail is
worth $20.00 annually to the farmer
for the insects and weed seeds it
devours. Dr. Hornadlay thinks the
bird is doomed. He has given us some
statistics on these matters.

The Partridge or Ruffed Grouse

This bird in the early days was
common in the woods. They occurred
in the woods within a short distance
of our house and any afternoon
the hunter could bag a few of these.
I have shot them myself. The grouse
on the whole is more common than
the prairie chicken, though once more
widely distributed than now. There
are a few left near La Crosse. This
bird occurred through eastern and
central Iowa. There are still a few
left in Van Buren and adjacent counties
in southeastern part of the state
and in Allamakee and Clayton Counties
in Iowa.

Other Birds

Some other common birds should
be mentioned. The whippoorwill was
common and during the summer and
spring dozens of these birds could
be heard in the evening. Many of
these nested on the ground on our
farm in the seventies. The Brown
thresher, robin, bobolink, oriole and
blue jay, black bird, crow, ruby throated
humming birds, barn swallow,
phoebe, blue bird, pewee, cat
bird were some of the common birds.
Red bellied woodpecker, yellow hammer,
rose-breasted grosbeak, Canadian
goose, canvas back, etc., were some
of the birds noted by me in the late
seventies.

Other Animals

I may -now note a few of the
animals. The fox was not uncommon

EARLY LA CROSSE 17

in our woods. There was an occasional
wolf; the raccoon was fairly common,
badgers were common, gray
squirrels were common, an occasional
black squirrel, chipmunks were common.
Ground squirrels and ground
moles were abundant. The bob-cat
was not infrequently reported. I remember
seeing one caught in a trap
on a neighboring farm in the early
seventies. There were no beavers but
muskrats were common. There were
no deer although stray animals passed
through our farm in the early seventies.
I remember seeing three of these
on an occasion and on another occasion
a single animal.

My father told me that a large
number of these animals were killed
during the hard winter in the late
fifties (1858). It was during a season
with a heavy snow fall, followed
by a sleet. The poor animals broke
through the ice, could not readily extricate
themselves and were killed by
would-be sportsmen with clubs. There
were many reptiles; among the most
common in the early days were the
prairie bull, blue racer, garter, water
snakes of several kinds, greenish and
brownish. The most dreaded of all
was the rattlesnake, some of these
of large size. I cannot vouch for the
size given by some. It was said the
larger ones were about as large as a
good sized wrist and 6 feet long, at
least. Some had 20 rattles.

Many Poisonings

Frequent cases of poisoning were
reported in the seventies. I recall seeing
one bite our pet dog. We gave the
dog treatment which saved it. In
some way the dog had lost its sense
of smell. I had a little personal experience
in a part of our farm which
was not pastured. I was passing
along a little used road, saw a rattlesnake
on the bank, admired its color
and said, "You are too pretty to kill"
and threw a stick at it. The snake
crawled away. I crossed the little
brook and as I did so a snake jumped
for me without any evidence of rattling.
I take it the snake had been
coiled. Fortunately it did not strike
me. In the early seventies I saw the
only glass snake, not a true snake
but one of the lizards, I have ever
seen. It was on the Hagen farm adjacent
to ours. Our dog picked it
up and shook it. I recall the pieces
flying in several directions, I
thought this, indeed, very strange.
I do not see that there has
been much change in the number of
toads and frogs.

Fish Abundant

Fish in the early seventies were
abundant: bass, sunfish, pickerel,
catfish. The latter were of enormous
size. I remember some that must have
weighed 100 pounds. They were
caught by the wagon load. There were
enormous quantities of the common
clam. The Indians evidently used
them as food. They were found on the
sandy banks of the Mississippi river.
The common land turtle was
fairly abundant. The snapping turtle
was a common inhabitant of the
Mississippi river. The eggs of this
species were laid in the sandy banks
of the river. The eggs were frequently
used by the Indians.

I did not know enough about insects
to recognize many of the species.
I do recall the enormous quantities
of the Monarch butterfly in the
seventies. They were especially numerous
on the left hand side of the
entrance to State Road Coulee. These
were there by the hundreds of thousands
and I wondered where they
came from. There were many of the
yellow papilio the larvae of which fed
on the celery. The cabbage and small
yellow butterfly and Vanessa were
common, as well as the little blue
butterfly.

Beetles Common

As to moths, a few of the Lunar
moths were found, and also, a few of
the Cecropia moths. The Colorado
beetle was common in the seventies.
My earliest recollection was the gathering
of these insects to save the potato
crop. I recall also the appearance
of the 17 year locust and the abundance
of the cinch bug in the late seventies.
It was especially destructive
to wheat, the oats, corn and also
fed on foxtails. The loss to the crop
was very large.

As to diseases of plants I recall
that in the late seventies there was
much grain rust and some smut and
bunt. This was very severe in a few
places. In one case in Mormon Coulee
the wheat crop was almost a complete
failure because of rust and smut. I remember
also potato blight but this
was in the eighties. In the early
eighties our plums were attacked by
plum pocket. I could not understand
why plums became large so rapidly.

18 EARLY LA CROSSE

I did not know that these enlarged
plums were caused by a parasitic
fungus.

VII.
INDIAN MOUNDS AND
EARLY SETTLERS

The Indians, both men and women,
were common enough in the vicinity
of La Crosse during my boyhood
days. They used to peddle fish,
mostly catfish, which they caught in
Mississippi river sloughs. Occasionally
during the summer they sold
blueberries. These were no doubt
gathered by the Indians at Tomah
and shipped into La Crosse on the
Chicago and Milwaukee railroad.
They would trap and hunt. I recall
on one occasion that an Indian
brought to my brother Hermann,
scalps of some young wolves which
the Indians claimed were caught in
the town of Shelby, but which my
brother suspected were really caught
in Houston county, Minn. I think
there were several cases of this kind.
The scalps were prima facie evidence
that these wolves were in Wisconsin,
contrary evidence was not at hand
and so my brother, as a township official
had to sign the document which
enabled the Indians to get the bounty.
This happened in the eighties, perhaps
1884 or 1885.

I recall seeing a few camps on the
bank of the Mississippi river below
La Crosse. I also recall that the Indians
used to gather a kind of tuber.
The tubers dug by the Indian on our
farm, I afterward learned, were those
of the native artichoke of which there
were two kinds on our farm; one,
from which the Jerusalem artichoke
came, a kind of native sunflower,
and the other, also called artichoke,
but now commonly called the mea-
dow sunflower. The Indians in the
early day claimed a kind of divine
right to pick wild plums and wild
grapes which were common everywhere
in this region.

Pictured Cave

One of the interesting events that
occurred during my residence in State
Road Coulee was the finding of a
cave on the farm of David Samuel by
a son, Frank Samuel, in October,
1878. It seems that young Samuel
had set a trap for raccoons at the entrance
of a little hole. He found
that without difficulty he could
crawl into this and found a cavern.
He found that the walls were covered
with pictures of various kinds.
Rev. Edward Brown made a study of
them in 1879 and reported his findings
to Prof. T. C. Chamberlain and
the La Crosse Chronicle (History of
La Crosse 313). Rev. Brown carefully
removed the earth out of the
cave and brought many of the hieroglyphic
characters so they could be
seen. He had impressions made of
these. Our family visited this cave,
I think, in 1879, and saw many of the
pictures on the wall. Hon. John A.
Rice also has an account (History of
La Crosse County 314) in which he
states that the hieroglyphics are of
Indian origin. Rev. Mr. Brown found
pottery, rotten wood, bones of birds,
etc. He notes that there were four
distinct periods of occupancy. Mr.
Rice estimates the age from 300-800
years. I have visited the place since
in the nineties and it is regrettable
that this remarkable cave has not
been preserved and protected. Many
Indian mounds occur in the region,
some interesting mounds in the Stoddard
region. I looked these over a
great many years ago. Surely these
mounds, the cave and Indian camp
sites should be preserved.

Sink Holes

Sink holes are not uncommon in
this region. Some small and fine
types can be seen in State Road Coulee
above the limestone cap, on the
east end of State Road Coulee near
the road to St. Joseph's Ridge. Further
east, they are numerous. During
my time they frequently contained
water. These sink holes in the
woods were surrounded by the interrupted
fern, spleenwort, hazel nut
rose, bush honeysuckle, white and red
oak, hickory, cranesbill and dogwood.
These sink holes are connected with
underground caverns. Such a cavern
was in the cave near Brownsville,
Minnesota. Prof. A. H. Sanford has
called my attention to an unusually
fine lot on the North Salem road.
These caverns are formed by the solution
of the softer material in the
rock. When the weight is too heavy
the cover drops in. A very interest-
ing sink hole recently made its appearance
near Westby, which is described
in the La Crosse Tribune,
May 20, 1928. It is on a farm operated

EARLY LA CROSSE 19

by Mr. Egeness. Mr. Egeness
has plowed his field for fifteen years.
This sinkhole is about three hundred
yards west of the triple sandstone pillars
which are known as The Chimneys
between Westby and Viroqua.
This sink hole appeared suddenly one
day in April, 1928. The earth sank
and left "an opening in the earth's
surface which measures 55 feet in
length, thirty-five feet in width and is
forty feet in depth at the deepest
point." "The sink hole is cone shaped
and extends downward into the
sandstone bedrock terminating in
what appears to have been a subterranean
stream."

Old settlers recall seeing other
sink holes of the same nature when
they first moved to the district. Mr.
Egeness plowed over the place many
times and with a heavy tractor a
short time before. It is worth while
to give this sinkhole a more permanent
place in history, as its recent
formation is quite unusual for Wisconsin.

Early Agricultural Conditions

The town of Shelby, adjacent to
La Crosse, was the scene of the early
agricultural settlement of La Crosse
county, Wisconsin. The rugged
bluffs were prominent in the history
of La Crosse county long before farming
operations began. One of the
most conspicuous of these was named
Grand Dad's Bluff, consisting of an
uplift of Potsdam sandstone which
comes to the surface at numerous
points. The thickness of the sandstone
is several hundred feet above
the plain. The lower magnesium
limestone serves as a cap. This cap
varies in thickness of 10-15-150 feet.
The bluffs facing the Mississippi are
steep, hence of little agricultural
value. The region is intersected by
numerous small and narrow valleys.
At one time these valleys were densely
covered with hard woods like red
and black oak, hickory, slippery elm,
white ash and basswood. The region
lying immediately to the east is
known as State Road Coulee, to the
southeast Mormon Coulee, so called
because a small Mormon settlement
of 20-30 families, came here in 1843.
State Road Coulee is so called because
the old State road between
Prairie du Chien and Fort Snelling
passed up this small valley to the
ridge southward to Prairie du Chien.
This was in 1845. Later it was used
as a connecting point between La
Crosse, Madison and Milwaukee, at
that time the metropolis on Lake
Michigan. The small stream which
meandered through the valley emptied
into a slough which finally found
its way into one of the sloughs below
the old Greenfield house near the
home of John Markle.

Nagles Were First Settlers

The earliest permanent settlers
were John and Charles Nagle, who
took up some land near the mouth of
State Road Coulee. The very best
land in Shelby township, except the
large flat part of Mormon Coulee, is
near a tamarack swamp, where John
Linse resided. The mouth of State
Road Coulee consisted of about 400
acres of rich and fertile land. This
area had received the silt from the
adjacent hills and at one time was
more or less of a bayou or lake which
connected northward with an old
bayou that came from the La Crosse
river basin. Even during my youthful
days on the farm in State Road
Coulee, there was a pond below the
hill on the poor farm. This had no
outlet, although there is much evidence
that the water from State Road
Coulee may have found its way to
the bayou of the Mississippi river below
the bluffs.

John Nagle afterwards moved further
up the valley near the present
location of the rural school which is
on the right hand side of the road.
Mr. Nagle could neither read nor
write and he was a most picturesque
character going and coming from the
city of La Crosse. He would take
wood and hay or grain to market almost
every day. The first school
house in State Road Coulee was on
the northwest corner of the farm
which my father purchased from Governor
Ramsey of Minnesota. It is
here that I first went to school. There
is a nice grove on this lot. It was
here that the Turnverein and other
organizations held their picnics and
entertainments in the summer. David
Mader settled between State Road
Coulee and Mormon Coulee in 1853.

VIII.
CHANGE IN EARLY
SETTLEMENTS AND FARMING
Some Farm Folks of 55 Years Ago

It is an interesting study to follow
the migrations of people in a new

20 EARLY LA CROSSE

country. The first permanent settler
in the township of Hamilton was
a Scandinavian, Mr. Emfinson, who
settled in this township in 1850. He
was followed by Thomas Leonard and
a Scandinavian. Mr. Emfinson did
not remain very long. Such names as
William Bingham, John Hemstock,
Thomas J. Paddock, James Tuttle, L.
Osborne, M. L. Tourtellotte, Daniel
Bacon, Victor M. Adams, Hiram T.
Bolles, John M. Coburn, indicate the
main source of the immigration into
this township. During the civil war
and much later, and down to the time
I was familiar with West Salem, it
was essentially American, at least
American for several generations.

The township of Barre was originally
settled in 1850 by Martin Bostwick,
after whom the valley is named.
He was a Vermonter. A little
later Hugh Hogan, an Irishman, settled
there in 1850. Several Scandinavians
also arrived. A few Germans
like Herman Sander and Dietrich
Sandman came in 1853. The population
in the seventies became almost
exclusively German. The early settlement
of the township of Bangor
was made by John Bosshard, Swiss
Florin and Christian Ruedy. They
were largely Swiss and Germans and
this was still true during my younger
days in La Crosse county. Joshua
Ridgley lived between Sparta and
La Crosse in the middle fifties.

Greenfield Settlers

The early settlers of Greenfield in
1853 were Americans-W. Symes,
Daniel Raymond, A. Pruett, and in
1855 came the Germans, Joseph
Tausche, Joseph Janel. In the township
of Shelby the early settlers were
in Mormon Coulee. They were not
permanent. Germans followed. The
Germans settled in State Road Coulee.
During my time they were essentially
all Germans except the
Whipples and Bells in Mormon Coulee.
The early settlement of Vernon
county was of American stock, but
the population has changed from this
to Scandinavian. Coon Valley and
other valleys were Scandinavian during
my time.

Perhaps on the whole the foreign
element were better suited to pioneer
agricultural conditions. Certain it is
that many of the pioneer American
farm element had the "wanderlust"
and migrated to a newer country.
They were a part of our pioneer population
who were of the adventuresome
type. The Daniel Boone type of
pioneer were explorers. They loved
the out of doors. They did not want
company. Daniel Boone was not at
ease in company. He wanted to move
on. Men of this type never could
have made good farmers. It is my
purpose to call attention to a few of
these farmers with whom I was acquainted.

Eliakim Barlow, a progressive farmer,
to whom I have referred in another
connection, was a soldier of the
civil war, a clean cut progressive
farmer, a fine neighbor. He made a
specialty of growing melons, some
strawberries and some other small
fruit.

Peter Kienholz, Jr., was born in
Switzerland, a progressive up-to-date
general farmer. He did his larger
service as a township officer and
clerk. A man of fine poise and respected
in the county. Another Swiss,
John Schildt, Jr., a progressive farmer
of Mormon Coulee was frequently
elected to public office. He served
faithfully and well. Mr. Albert Marshall,
a New Yorker, a progressive
farmer in the town of Shelby, did
general farming. Mr. John Markle
left his impress on the life of the
town of Shelby. He was a bee-keeper
and gave much attention to the
growing of small fruits, as did Mr.
Bell who lived in Mormon Coulee. He
was a progressive farmer. He also
established a good sized orchard on
the ridge between Mormon and State
Road Coulees. The orchard was set
out in the seventies and is still there.
Mr. Whipple had a small farm in
Mormon Coulee and gave much attention
to beekeeping. He had a
large apiary, with hives made of pine
lumber in the shape of boxes. The
bees were of the German kind, much
more vicious than the other.

Italian Bees

The Italian bees were introduced
by Mr. John A. Salzer, I think, in the
late seventies. Mr. Frank Mader's
family were neighbors. The family
did some farming but their chief occupation
later was making brick.
They furnished most of the brick for
many of the old buildings in La
Crosse. The Weimars farmed and
made brick. They were substantial
citizens as were the Schnells.

EARLY LA CROSSE 21

One of the most progressive of the
farmers in La Crosse county was
Charles Linse who lived in Mormon
Coulee. He was born in 1848. He
was the first to introduce blooded
livestock, Jersey cattle. He early began
the selling of butter, always receiving
a fancy price. His farm was
a wide expanse in Mormon Coulee
probably at one time an old marsh.
Not far distant to the east is a tamarack
swamp, one of the few occurring
in the county. This swamp is
quite isolated from all others in the
county. Mr. Linse was frequently
elected county supervisor, chairman
of the township board, and served
most credibly in the legislature.

IX.
SKETCH OF LOUIS PAMMEL, SR.

ANOTHER of the pioneer farmers of
the township was George Gabel,
born in Germany who settled in La
Crosse in the early sixties. He made
the trip across the states to seek his
fortune in gold mining in California
but lost his "bag of gold" on the return
trip. He was interested in small
fruit growing and had a very good
orchard. The farm interested me because
as children some of our Sunday
trips used to be made there. I recall
that in the seventies there were great
fields of the wild carrot. And my
aunt had a way of making rye
bread, a mixture of rye and wheat
flour. Sometimes the families would
make longer Sunday trips to Linse's
or to Sanders in Bostwick Valley.
Such meetings were most helpful in
exchanging ideas about horticulture
and agriculture.

Sketch of Father

I may be pardoned for giving a little
longer sketch of the life of my
father. He was born in Hoexter, Germany,
in the province of Westphalia
on the 19th day of April, 1829. His
father died when the lad was seven
years old. In a few years it fell to
his lot to assist in looking after the
welfare of the home. His grandfather
also died while he was young.
His grandmother was a tall, heavy-set
woman whose second husband was
state councillor. My father's brother
William took over the meat market
business and the land connected with
it. He also became a state councillor.
The Pammel side of the family originally
were of Dutch ancestry and
were sea folk. The name was written
Van Pammel but when the family
settled in Germany this was dropped.
A few years ago while spending a vacation
in Whitehall, Mich., I met a
man who told me the name Pammel
was very familiar to him. He said:
"I knew a Roman Catholic priest in
Muskegon, Mich., by that name. "I
found that this Van Pammel was a
Belgian priest who was brought to
Michigan by Bishop Faber. My father's
mother was a Freise. Two of
the brothers, Martin and Frederick,
went to Stade where they started a
meat market business. My father,
in his biography, dedicated to me, refers
to his "dear mother" Henrietta.
The other Freise sisters connected
with us were married; their names
were Mrs. Waldeck, Mrs. Bolte and
Mrs. Strickling.

Confirmed Lutheran

My father was confirmed in the
Lutheran church, probably at about
14 or 15 years of age. My father was
sent by his parents to Stade to learn
the butcher business from Mr. Freise,
and said, "Here am I. My parents
sent me to learn the slaughter business."
He served three years as an
apprentice, and then entered the
Prussian service and was stationed at
Berlin. His company, the Royal
Guard, made up of men six feet tall
and over, was often called on to
guard the king's castle.

The Royal Guard owed its existence
to Frederick the Great. This
company was always exceptionally
well drilled, and at 70 years my
father walked straight and erect. He
was in Berlin four years and two
years in Magdeburg. My father took
a sailboat from Liverpool to New
York in February, 1854. His destination
was Wisconsin, arriving May
13, 1854. Milwaukee then was an important
place.

Terrible Journey

The journey from New York to
Milwaukee was indeed a terrible one
as Asiatic cholera was raging. There
were one to two deaths daily on the
train. The trip from New York to
Chicago took eight days. The immigrant
trains were sidetracked and often
delayed for hours. He wanted to
farm but took a temporary place with
the Plankinton Packing House, Milwaukee.

22 EARLY LA CROSSE

He remained here during
the winter and in the spring of 1855
decided to go further west which at
that time was thinly settled. "I went
west through Janesville, Galena to
Dubuque, then the largest city between
St. Louis and St. Paul. The
Mississippi river was the only means
of transportation."

The larger boats carried 1000 passengers.
My father landed in La
Crosse April, 1855. The town was
new, buildings were all one and a
half stories high, but the town was
booming. Lots at that time on the
Mississippi river front were selling
at ten dollars a front foot. He decided
to locate on Third and King
streets. He paid $300 for this lot.
It had been sold the previous year
for $200. He dug the cellar himself
and built a one and a half story
frame house, 16x24 feet, partly with
his own labor. The lumber was
brought down the Mississippi river in
rafts and sold direct to the consumer.
My father got the material himself.
Before the lumber could be
used it had to be piled up to dry. In
going to the raft he met a countryman
from Westphalia who helped
him build the house. It was to have
been used only temporarily but it was
in use for several years when the
brick house was erected in 1858. This
was the second brick building in La
Crosse. For many years after my
father sold the place, it was used first
as a meat market and then as a hotel,
the "Norge House." My uncle, George
Gabel, furnished the brick for this
building and Charles and John Michel
laid the brick. One of the first
persons my father met was John
Levy, one of the early settlers, the
Josten brothers, Andreas Pfiffner,
Oehler and Wehausen, the latter was
in the tobacco business, Echel and
Jacobs were other prineers. He opened
up his business with a partner in
the fall of 1855. He decided to marry
in the winter of 1855-56. "I therefore
returned to Germany to get the
lady of my choice, Sophia Freise, of
Stade, Germany." They were married
March 18, 1856.

Takes Out Papers

Before sailing for Europe he took
out his first naturalization papers in
New York. The second papers were
not taken out until many years later
in the seventies in La Crosse. They
sailed for America, so the diary of
my mother states, the Saturday before
Easter on the steamer Washington.
The only other American steamer
at that time and a companion boat
was the Hermann. It was possible at
this time to take the railroad to Galena,
Ill., (C. & N. W. R. R.) At Talena
they took the steamboat. The
boat was so crowded they could
scarcely find room to sleep. My mother
was a great help in the meat market
business. She waited on customers,
cut meat, etc. My mother used
to help make sausage when my father
ran the meat market, also to sell
meat over tile counter, and also hours
and hours were spent in making candles
because in those days the only
available light was the candle. I remember
the days, too, that we still
used candle lights frequently on the
farm, and I also remember the time
when the kerosene lamp came into
use with its long red wicks. My father
relates that he often bought cattle
in Clayton county at Guttenberg
where there was a large German settlement.
They had excellent cattle
and hogs. They lived in La Crosse
until 1866 when they moved to the
country. About the only thing I can
remember about the home in La
Crosse is an Indian scare but of
course there was nothing to it.

I missed ray opportunity to go to
Germany while living in the city of
La Crosse. My mother took my older
sister and a younger brother to Germany.
My parents moved back to
the city of La Crosse in the late
eighties where they enjoyed the remaining
days. My father died on October
12, 1912, and my mother several
years later.

Mrs. C. S. Van Auken in one of
her series of interesting stories published
in the Tribune under the title
"Why I Am Attached to my Home
Town," says: "Then on a mild October
day when the hickory nuts were
ripe on the trees an old neighbor, Mr.
Louis Pammel, who formerly owned
the site of the present Nora House,
would invite us all to spend the day
and go nutting. Mr. Pammel had
bought the Ramsey farm. Mrs. Pammel
was a most hospitable entertainer,
and it was a treat to go there."

Social Life

I want to say, all honor to the
pioneer farm women of La Crosse

EARLY LA CROSSE 23

county, they certainly had strenuous
times. While it was customary for
the women of my time to do farm
labor, and work in the garden, etc.,
my mother never had to do this. She
frequently entertained some of the
ladies of the Germania and her German
club. She was a fine hostess,
jovial and good natured. My father
also entertained his friends, especially
his bowling club. He enjoyed this
game very much. He was an active
member of the Germania society.
Some of his warm, personal friends
were Fred and William Tillman,
Messrs. Heil, Doerr, Ulrich, Michel,
Gund, Schintgen, Platz, Dr. Ottillie,
Kurtenacker, Metzger, Rose and Pamperin.
Though he did not have the
advantages of training in a gymnasium
he was a close student of history
and was well read along various lines.
He received his inspiration to study
during his military service in Berlin.
He was drafted for the civil war but
owing to the several small children
and the growing family did not enter,
but my uncle, Henry Freise, did his
full duty as a soldier. My father was
loyal to the union. He was a fine and
exemplary citizen as were most of the
pioneers. They were homebuilders.
To pioneers like these the present
generation owes much. He was up to
date in agricultural matters. He was
a subscriber for the German edition
of the American Agriculturist. My
parents always had several German
newspapers and magazines. My mother
insisted that I learn the German
language. I have never regretted this.
While living in La Crosse he was an
alderman. He served as a member of
the township board of Shelby township.
My mother was baptized and
confirmed in the Lutheran church,
but they did not attend church very
regularly. My father was a Democrat
to begin with. He voted for Stephen
A. Dougles, later became a Republican,
but voted for Horace Greeley for
president. He later voted for Grover
Cleveland.

Believed in Banks

An item of interest here is that my
father believed in taking his money
to the bank. Soon after the opening
of the Batavian National bank in La
Crosse with Mr. G. Van Steenwyk as
president, he made regular deposits
which were continued through his
life. It was my pleasure frequently
to have met Mr. Van Steenwyk. A
fine type of business man, reliable
and honorable in all of his dealings.
Another of the fine pioneer bankers
of La Crosse was Mr. E. E. Bentley.
During my school days I had an
intimate friend, Mr. L. V. Bennett,
who was at first messenger boy and
then teller of the bank. He moved
west. I had the pleasure of meeting
him in San Diego, California, during
February, 1926. He is now connected
with the California Bank of Italy.

One of the interesting matters connected
with my farm experience was
the visit we had from my mother's
father, Herr Freise. He spent the
entire summer with us. His polite
ways and his fine genial personality
left an impression on me.

Several of my mother's family,
Freise, became early settlers in La
Crosse. I recall their love for the
outdoor sport of hunting and frequent
game they brought in.

X.
The Pammell Farm

The farmstead now belonging to
the Pammel estate was only partly
under cultivation when my father
purchased it about 1866. The lower
farm (Ramsey) was purchased later.
The creek, a winding stream, zigzagged
across the Ramsey farm. At
one point there was an elevation with
numerous plum thickets and wild
crabs. It was here that John Nagle
built his cabin. At least I have been
told so. My father conceived the
idea of straightening the stream. He
therefore cut through this little hill.
Many shells, arrows and pottery were
found in digging the ditch.

It is evident that before white settlers
came this was the site of an
Indian village. I recall also that the
American plums found here were of
a superior kind and that on this
place the white sweet clover occurred
plentifully. The first introduction
of this plant probably dates back
to the sixties. My father moved to
the farm he long cultivated shortly
after the Civil war in 1866. He al-
ways had a longing to farm. His
tastes were gratified, although he
owned the lower forty for several
years previous. He settled first on
the north side of the road and with
his family lived in a log house. Then
he built the stone house. Both are
still standing and a fine set of farm

24 EARLY LA CROSSE

buildings, kept up to date until he
left the farm. I think the log house
in which I lived was on the f arm
when my father bought the place.

One of our early neighbors was
Eliakilm Barlow, who was born in
Clinton county, New York in 181.3,
came to La Crosse in 1851, and
bought a farm adjacent to our lower
forty. Later this place was owned
by Charles Linse. Barlow was a
volunteer in the Civil war. He was
an intelligent, wide-awake. Progressive
citizen. He gave much attention
to the growing of watermelons
and musk melons since a part of his
eighty acre farm was quite sandy.
This crop did well. Some strawberries
were also grown by him and many
others on this sandy prairie soil.
They were also grown by Markle on
the prairie. The Whipples and Bells
in Mormon Coulee also were in the
strawberry growing business.

My earliest recollection of farm
life was on the farm on the north
side of the road. We had not acquired
the Ramsey farm. The land
was devoted to the growing of small
grain and some dairy operations.
During his early farming operation
my father had a good many sheep
which he raised for mutton and wool,
and later had cattle. My father also
set out an orchard. I remember the
apple orchard in the seventies with
the Duchess, Astrakan, Fameuse and
Russett apples.

THRESHING

A few persons occasionally used
the flail for threshing in the early
days. I remember that my father
threshed a few bushels of rye with
the flail.

Threshing was a community affair
in a way. When it came time for
threshing, neighbors helped each
other. It would take about two
weeks to make the rounds. When
the threshing outfit came to our place
such neighbors as the Hagens,
Schnells and Nagles would help and
in turn, we would help them. The
threshing gang would consist of
twelve to fourteen men. One or two
men to pitch the bundles from the
stack to the man who passed the
bundles, one to the band cutter, two
men to take charge of the threshed
grain from the machine, one person
to take the grain to the granary, four
or five men to take care of the straw
from the threshing machine. The
straw was usually well stacked. I
took part in nearly every phase
about the threshing machine except
to "feed" the thresher.

One of these pioneer threshers was
a Mr. Hesler. The threshing bee was
enjoyed by every one. There was
the morning lunch about 10 o'clock
and the afternoon lunch. These
lunches consisted of sandwiches,
warm coffee and sometimes whiskey
was served. This varied greatly
with different individuals. I think
we seldom served this stimulating
drink. I have said nothing about
lunches served in the harvest field.
These were served twice a day.
Just as at threshing time. During
harvest time we had to pay itinerant
laborers from $3.50 to $4 a day.
Many of these men in our district
were lumber jacks in the winter and
spring.

Reaper Tried Out

Grain farming was important during
the early days. These were the
days before the reaper and mower.
All grain had to be cradled, which
was done by the hired help but my
father also took a hand at it. I remember
handling a cradle a little bit
in 1873. I recall distinctly in the
early seventies the fine yellow heads
of wheat and the cradles cutting big
swaths in perfect rhythm. There
was much talk at that time about
a McCormick reaper. Such a machine
had been sent to La Crosse. My
father had the experiment tried of
cutting grain with this reaper. Two
teams of horses were hitched to the
reaper. It was after a rain, the
sandy loamy soil was soft but In
spite of the best efforts the matter
of harvesting this grain with a reaper
had to be given up. In the afternoon
the harvesters with cradles
went out and cut this fine club
wheat. A few yeas later the Buckeye
drop harvester came out. This machine
was light and did perfect work.
There were five men in a field to
bind the grain after it was dropped
from the dropper. It was interesting
work. I myself, as a lad of 14 took
part in this binding. A few years
later another advance was made. McCormick's
side reaper came into use.
This was an advantage since it was
not necessary to have five men bind
grain in a field. A little later the
self binder with wire bands came into

EARLY LA CROSSE 25

use. A man at La Crosse had been
working on the problem of a self
binder but the invention of others
preceded his. When this wire was
used great care had to be taken in
cutting the wires at threshing time so
they would not get into the cylinder
of the threshing machine.

Still Used Oxen

Our grain in those days was all
shocked and then stacked to go
through the sweating process. Our
grain consisted of wheat, oats, barley,
rye and some corn and clover and
timothy yielded well. It was not uncommon
to get 25 bushels of wheat
per acre on these virgin soils and 50-
60-75 bushels of oats per acre. In
those early days, mostly spring soft
wheat club wheat and fife were some
of the varieties used. A little later,
in the early seventies, there was
brought in a Russian wheat, called
the Odessa, which was sometimes
sown in the fall and sometimes in the
spring. My earliest recollection is
that some farmers in the neighborhood
still made use of oxen, although
we never used them on our farm.
We had horses and mules. All of
the buildings on the place were up
to date. The place was kept orderly.
My father was always wishing
to try something new. One year he
planted a considerable quantity of
mangold to feed the livestock. He
fed cattle in the winter and received
a fancy price for the stock in the
spring. My father also had a large
root cellar for rutabagas and mangolds.
By the way the rutabaga
crop on new land always was good.
In those days fine turnip rooted
celery or celeriac and cauliflower
were cultivated on irrigated land.
One year in the seventies, through
the efforts of C. C. Washburn,
who lived in La Crosse, a good sized
sugar beet patch was grown on our
farm. The senator wanted the sugar
beet introduced. I recall when C.
C. Washburn and several newspaper
representatives came out to see the
sugar beets grown on the ground
next to the log cabin. They looked
at the sugar beets with admiration.

Even in those days dairying had
started. Mr. Charles Linse, an energetic
and progressive farmer of Mormon
Coulee, introduced Jersey and
Ayrshire cattle. Mr. Linse at one
time represented La Crosse county in
the legislature with great credit to
his county.

Other Crops

In addition to the small grain nearly
every farmer planted some corn,
which was at first planted with a
hoe and later with a drop planter,
and a sulky plow. Late cultivation
was given, using the shovel plow. My
father, who was a very progressive
farmer, was the first to use a drop
corn planter and a sulky plow for his
corn cultivation. Much land was
used for hay and in some cases irrigation
was practiced on the farm.
Some of my early recollections are
in connection with the making of
hay. My father gave up grain growing
and went into the hay business,
mostly timothy or a mixture of clover
and timothy and blue grass. We had
the mower (Buckeye and later McCormick),
tedder and hay racks. The
hay was placed in our large barn. The
meadows were irrigated, a system my
father had seen in operation in Germany.
Subsequently my father devoted
much attention to pasture. The
irrigation kept fields green during
the summer.

A few farmers fed cattle but much
of the livestock was not of the best
type. They were at most grade cattle.

In the sixties much attention was
devoted to the growing of hops. This
was particularly true of the West Salem
district. But some hops were
cultivated in the town of Shelby in
the early seventies. The farmers
were receiving $1.00 a pound for
hops. Money was plentiful. Newer
regions for growing hops came in and
therefore these farmers had to turn
their attention to the growing of other
crops.

Many of the fine old mansions in
the West Salem district were built
when the growing of hops was the
business of the farmer. These hop
growers became rich and spent their
money lavishly. Many of the smaller
farmers of Shelby township later
turned their attention to the growing
of small fruit like strawberries and
raspberries, crops splendidly adapted
to the loamy soil. Of these I recall a
Mr. Bell of Mormon Coulee and Samuel
Markle. There were some early
beekeepers. Of these I recall Emmanuel
and J. Markle and Mr. Whipple,
both of Mormon Coulee. The introduction
of the movable frame hive
was an important thing for the beekeeper.
I believe Rev. John A. Salzer
was the first to use these frames. He

26 EARLY LA CROSSE

was a florist and later started the
seed house of that name. It was
through Mr. Whipple that I became
interested in bees and before I went
to college had more than 100 hives.
One of the early nurserymen of
the county, Mr. E. Wilcox, did much
to stimulate fruit growing. He lived
in the town of Shelby on the farm
now owned by Mr. Baldwin. Mr.
Phillips of West Salem was one of
the pioneer orchard growers in Wisconsin.
He lived in West Salem,
Wis. J. S. Harris of La Crescent,
Minn., was another worker in this
line.

On December 26, 1879, there was
organized in La Crosse the Northwestern
Horticultural society, with
such charter members as Dr. Charles
Otillie, Rev. L. W. Brigham, J. S.
Harris, E. Wilcox, Mons Anderson,
F. Tillman, J. W. Losey, I. H. Usher
and L. H. Pammel. This society
continued in existence for a number
of years. It met in La Crescent,
Minnesota, June 22, 1881. In that
year there were 52 members. This
society took an active part in the
horticultural exhibits of the County
Fair. Mr. E. Wilcox was active in
promoting the planting of home
grounds and the planting of orchards.
Some of the fine evergreens on our
farm in State Road Coulee were
planted about 1877 and come from
the Wilcox nurseries. Mr. H. J. Phillips,
of West Salem, for many years
spread the gospel of good fruits. He
had a large and fine orchard near
West Salem.

The La Crosse County Agricultural
society was organized on October 16,
1858. This organization did much
for the agriculture of the region.

XI.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS, CRONON
AND FRUIT

I AM going to give my impression of
the public schools of La Crosse and
La Crosse county long ago. I mean
of the seventies and early eighties.
La Crosse, it appears to me, has always
been blessed with a fine lot of
public school teachers who were truly
consecrated men and women. I knew
little of the parochial schools. The
Roman Catholic church, as well as the
Lutheran church, maintained parochial
schools. No doubt they gave excellent
service. A kindergarten
school was also operated a few years
by Miss Clara Muhlberg at first in the
Jewish synagogue and later in the
Germania hall. There was also the
La Crosse Business college in the seventies
which I attended for several
winters. It was organized by B. T.
Atwell and E. T. Ely, but when I attended
it in the seventies the school
was operated by J. L. Wallace, a very
fine gentleman who knew his business
well. The instructor in penmanship
was Mr. Lambert. The school
was located in the Solberg building,
Third and Pearl streets. I shall not
go into the early history of the public
schools of La Crosse. Suffice it to say
that the first school was organized
in 1851-1852 and was taught by Abner
S. Goddard. he school was located
where the present court house
stands.

Fine Public Service

Many prominent citizens, in a truly
fine way, have done a fine public service
in acting as directors and officers
of the school board. I recall with
pleasure the fine service of such men
as Howard Cramer, John Ulrich,
George Scharpf, Mons Anderson, A.
Steinlein, Dr. W. A. Anderson, G. M.
Woodward, G. C. Hixon, John Paul,
D. D. McMillan, Fred Tillman and
Mr. William Luening, who has served
longer as president of the board than
any other man. He has done his
work most faithfully. La Crosse owes
him much.

My first school experience when I
was five years old, 1867-1868, was in
the old frame building which was located
in the northeast quarter of the
old Ramsey farm, now a part of the
Pammel estate. The first teacher
was a Mr. Moore, an impetuous, hotheaded
teacher. About the only
thing I can recall is the punishment
meted out to the boys who did not behave.
It was a relief to the children
to have a real teacher take charge of
the school. This teacher lived in La
Crosse; and this man was a Mr. Edward
Cronon who took a real interest
in every one of the pupils. I had a
real start here. I think there were
some 25 or 30 children in this school
mostly from State Road Coulee. I received
my early start in reading and
arithmetic from him. The school, a
little later, was moved to a brick
building nearly one-half mile up the
coulee. It was here that I got my
first insight into history, grammar,

EARLY LA CROSSE 27

arithmetic, geography, etc. I remember
the McGuffey readers and Swinton's
Grammar.

Interested in History

I was really greatly interested in
history. I came to this naturally because
my father was greatly interested
in this subject. The ground work
of what I have accomplished was laid
in this brick district school and I can
thank Mr. Cronon for this start. He
was a man with real sympathies and
who impressed his personality on the
school children. I have always had
a profound respect for him. He taught
this school for fifteen years. I am
sure the readers of the La Crosse Tribune
and Leader-Press will pardon
me if I give a short sketch of his
life.

Mr. Edward Cronon or Judge Cronon,
as he was later known, was a civil
war veteran. He was born at
Schaghticoke, New York, October 17,
1836, the son of James and Honora
Cronon, natives of Ireland. He came
to La Crosse county with his parents
in 1855, settling in Chipmunk Coulee
on government land. The father died
in 1857. He received his early education
in the public schools of La
Crosse county and at the age of 12
years was compelled to leave school
and assist his father to support the
family. He did not, however, neglect
studies because we find later that he
prepared as a teacher. Edward
Cronon was also engaged in steamboating
and rafting on the Mississippi
river. While thus engaged in the
state of Mississippi in 1861 the civil
war broke out, and he returned to La
Crosse, enlisted on September 19,
1861, in the famous Eagle regiment.

Soldier and Teacher

He lost an arm in the Battle of
Corinth on October 3, 1862. He was
discharged November 24, 1862. His
regiment was under the command of
the famous General Rosecrans. After
his service as a school teacher in
State Road Coulee, he became a deputy
collector in the internal revenue
office which he held four years. He
was constable for several years and a
coroner for a like period, and became
police justice in 1909. He was one of
the first mail carriers of La Crosse.
Every position he filled with fidelity,
being always kind to everyone. He
was married to Mary Mellor, a woman
of fine and noble qualities, on June
9, 1877. Her father was a member
of Judge Cronon's regiment and was
killed in action in the battle of Nashville.
Seven children were born to
Judge and Mrs. Cronon, of whom five
survive, Alice H. Cronon, La Crosse;
Mrs. George F. Cady, Spring Valley;
Mrs. W. D. Burford, Aurora; Edmund
D. Cronon, Minneapolis, and Mrs. L.
V. Markgraf, Beloit. One son, James
Cronon, was drowned in 1901, in
Lake Como, Hokah, and a daughter
died in infancy. Mr. Cronon was the
first organizer of the local post Grand
Army of the Republic at La Crosse.
He was a patriot and on numerous occasions
had an opportunity to bring
out high and lofty sentiments on patriotism.
The La Crosse Tribune and
Leader-Press of February 27, on his
death, which occurred on February
26, 1926, said: "For many years
Judge Cronon was patriotic instructor
in the public schools, and he made it
his business to talk in all the schools
during the month before Memorial
Day, dwelling upon the significance of
this day and stressing the cardinal
principles of devotion and loyalty to
the nation embodied in the flag of our
country.

His High Character

Judge Cronon was a Republican,
and a member of the Presbyterian
church. He attended church regularly
and was a devout Christian. He
was a man of high ideals and had
strong convictions on many questions.
The life of this fine citizen
was an inspiring one. I frequently
visited him on my return to La
Crosse. I respected him for his
wholesome influence on life, and
for the great out-of-doors. To me in
my early youth he was indeed a real
teacher. God bless him for what he
did for me and many others-all
without ostentation. A self-made
man, well informed and a good speaker.

J. J. Fruit

Another teacher of my acquaintance
was J. J. Fruit. He was born in
Grant county, Wisconsin, in 1849. He
was graduated from the Platteville
Normal school and became principal
of the La Crosse public schools in
September, 1871, serving in this
capacity for five years. He afterwards
was admitted to the bar. I did
not know him personally as a teacher

28 EARLY LA CROSSE

but he had the reputation of being a
fine teacher. Mr. Fruit was a fine
type of citizen and a man of most
pleasing personality.

XII.
BURNHAM AND HARDY

ANOTHER of the early teachers of
my time, J. Burnham, was principal
of the Second Ward school. He
was elected in 1879. He was born
March 7, 1831, in Caledonia county,
Vermont. His father was one of the
first settlers of Kenosha county, Wis.,
in 1841. Mr. Burnham was educated
in Waukegan academy and Antioch
college and began his school work in
Lake county, Illinois, went to the Pacific
coast, Nevada and California, remained
until 1864, when he returned
to Wisconsin. He taught in various
public schools in Wisconsin, and was
elected county superintendent of
schools for two years and in 1879
came to La Crosse. I had a somewhat
more close contact with Prof.
Burnham than other public school
teachers of La Crosse since I had
private instruction from him in algebra,
geometry, grammar and other
subjects needed so I might enter the
University of Wisconsin. He certainly
was most careful and painstaking
in giving me instruction in this preparatory
work. He resigned the
principalship of the La Crosse public
schools, moved to Portland, Oregon,
where he taught in the public schools.
Prof. Charles A. Rice writes me as
follows: "He was principal in the
Portland schools for 26 years. Mr.
Burnham died in November, 1906, as
I recall it. I followed him as principal
of the Couch school. His widow,
Mrs. J. Burnham, was a teacher in
our schools until 1916. She still lives
in Portland."

Prof. John P. Bird writes me as follows,
concerning Mr. Burnham:
"Mr. Burnham was for several
years principal of the Second Ward
school at Fourth and King streets.
He had had some experience in the
mountains of the west and was very
fond of outdoor life. His favorite
subject was geography. He had made
a large globe some three or four feet
in diameter on which he had drawn
the continents and principal islands.
He made large use of it in his teaching.
Geography was a live subject
with him. He went from here to a
principalship in Portland, Ore., where
he was very popular and taught for
several years."

I called on him during the Portland
exposition. Although 70 years old
he was as alert as ever. I have been
unable to find much of his record.

About Prof. Hardy

Prof. Albert J. Hardy, with whom
I became acquainted soon after his
election to the principalship of the La
Crosse High school in 1880, came
from Milwaukee, Wis. His work as
principal of the high school was so
eminently successful, that at the January
meeting of the board when Fred
Tillman took his seat, Prof. Hardy
was elected superintendent of schools.
He served in this capacity for many
years.

I knew Professor Hardy very well,
although I never had the pleasure of
his instruction. He was a fine teacher
and a fine citizen. La Crosse has
been fortunate in the character of
the teachers connected with its public
schools. The following items concerning
his life will be of interest:

His Early Life

The subject of this sketch was
born April 24, 1840, in Lancaster
township, Ontario, Canada, of revolutionary
ancestors, his great grandfather
on his fathers side having
served under Washington during the
Revolutionary War. His father was
born in Princeton, N. J.; his mother
was of Pennsylvania stock.

Albert Hardy was brought up on
a farm, and attended Oberlin college
in 1859, partly earning his way,
working in gardens, sawing wood and
teaching district school in winter.

Civil War Service

In 1863 he was teaching in the
village of Cannonsburg, Kent county,
Mich., when Father Abraham made
his call for "300,000 more." The
teacher and several of his young men
pupils enlisted in Company D, First
Michigan Engineers and Mechanics.
The regiment served at Chattanooga
and in Sherman's army on the
"march to the sea," and through the
Carolinas to Washington, and took
part in the grand review at Washington.
After the battle of Lookout
Mountain and Missionary Ridge, as a
large number of Company D were
from the "pineries" of northern
Michigan, they were detailed to refit

EARLY LA CROSSE 29

and run a large sawmill on the bank
of the Tennessee river at Chattanooga.
Hardy was detailed to keep the
books of the mill and remained there
until the fall of Atlanta.

During the siege of Chattanooga
about 10,000 horses and mules died
of starvation and their bodies were
dumped into the Tennessee river. At
one time for nearly a day the river
was so full of bloated carcasses that
it seemed one could cross the river
by stepping from one carcass to another.
The earth and wells of water
were saturated with poison from the
putrifying bodies. Little was known,
or at least practiced, of sanitation, so
many soldiers suffered from dissentery
and some died. Hardy overheard
one say, "Hardy is going to
die." This remark did not in the
least affect him.

About a month before the start on
the "march to the sea," the First
Michigan Engineers were sent by rail
to Atlanta where they destroyed the
railroad shops and public buildings.

On the march to Savannah the regiment
was often under fire while repairing
roads and building bridges,
and had much extra marching to do
from one wing of the army to the
other for such purpose. The regiment
was also exposed about two
weeks before the capture of Fort McAlister,
and the surrender of the city.

Much of the time during the siege
the regiment was without rations and
the boys were obliged to pick up
from the ground scattered grains of
corn the horses and mules had left,
wash, then parch them in the frying
pan and eat them.

March Through Carolinas

After a month in Savannah the
army started on the march through
the Carolinas. The regiment endured
much fatigue and many hardships,
marching from one wing of the army
to the other, building "corduroy"
roads of pine saplings, often working
in water up to the armpits, often in
the night, and often without food except
"nigger" beans, replacing
bridges, sometimes working all night
under the fire of the enemy. One
incident of all-night bridge building
over the Edisto river is very vivid.
The firing of the "reb" sharp-shooters
was hot and quite constant, so
much so at one time that nearly all
the boys left work for safety. Hardy
and one or two others would not
leave without orders, when Lieutenant
"Himmy" E. came running down
the hill to the river and shouted,
"What the hell are you fellows doing
here-you'll all be shot." So the "fellows"
retired in "good order." Soon
a battery was planted on the bank
and shelled the woods on the other
side of the river, upon which the
"Rebs" soon departed, and the company
returned to their work on the
bridges and worked all night. The
bridge was ready for crossing next
morning. A description of the work
may be of interest.

Posts Left Standing

Only the posts of the "bents" of the
former bridge were left standing in
the water, extending some feet above
the surface. These posts were about
two feet square, their charred tops
burned to points. Some of the boys
made a raft, floated out to the tops
and sawed them off down to the
sound wood. Others cut down pine
trees about fifteen inches through,
cut them into logs of required length,
hewed them flat on two sides for
stringers, which were placed on the
tops of the posts; thus two lines of
stringers, running over the tops of
the posts formed the foundation of
the bridge. Auger holes were bored
through the stringers down into the
posts. Hard wood pins about two
and one-half feet long, the size of the
holes, were driven down through the
stringers and holes into the posts,
thus holding the stringers firmly in
place. Small poles about six inches
in diameter were pinned down to the
stringers, and these formed the floor
of the bridge. Wagon trains and soldiers
then crossed safely over the
bridge. After passing the Edisto, the
regiment marched through Columbia,
S. C., when it was a mass of smoking
ruins, with blackened corpses scattered
about.

After sixty-three days of hard
marching, building roads and bridging
streams, Goldsboro, N. C., was
reached, and for the first time in two
months the men heard from home
and "God's country" and there rested
and refitted for the "final lap."

March for Raleigh

After two weeks' rest Sherman's
army started after Joseph E. Johnston's
army, marching for Raleigh, N.

30 EARLY LA CROSSE

C. While the regiment was trudging
on the road one morning, an officer
came galloping by, his horse in a
foam, the officer shouting "Lee's surrendered-
Lee's surrendered." You
should have heard the glad shout of
the boys. The army marched two days
beyond Raleigh when Johnston surrendered
his army to Sherman. Sherman's
army then marched back to
Raleigh, where it lay two weeks and
rested. While at Raleigh the sad
news came of President Lincoln's assassination,
and a terrible gloom settled
down on the men, and hardly a
word was spoken for days. Then came
the march to Washington and the
"grand review."

After the review the regiment was
sent back to Nashville, Tenn. There
Hardy was detailed to regimental
headquarters, to work for the quartermaster,
where he stayed until mustered
out in September. When leaving
Nashville, the adjutant of the regiment
said to Hardy, "Hardy, I'm
coming back to Tennessee to go into
the lumber business and I would like
to have you go into partnership with
me." The reply was, "Thank you,
for the honor, but God's country for
me."

On his return to Michigan, Hardy
married Cordelia Ann Kromer and
resumed teaching, which he followed
for fifty years, voluntarily retiring,
having acted as superintendent of
schools of Owosso, Mich., Grand Haven,
Mich., principal of the high school
of Milwaukee, Wis., principal and superintendent
of La Crosse, Wis.,
schools; vice president and institute
conductor at the Platteville, Wis.,
State Normal school.

In Wisconsin Hardy was State visitor
to the University of Wisconsin, at
Madison, State visitor to several
Wisconsin State Normal Schools, and
served seven years on the State Board
of Examiners for teachers' State certificates.
He was president of the
State Teachers' association.

In 1914 he retired from teaching.
Upon his announcement to the comrades
of Wilson Colwell post, of
which he had been a member for
years, of his intention to remove to
California, he was gratified to have
their expressions of friendship and
farewell in a cherished message from
a committee of the post. Since the
date mentioned he resided in San
Diego, Calif., until his death.

Albert Hardy died February 21,
1927, at his home in San Diego, Calif.
He is survived by sons and daughters:
Edward L. Hardy, San Diego; Mrs. K.
H. Dickson, San Diego; Charles A.
Hardy, Eugene, Oregon; Ella M,- S.
Hardy, Glendale, Calif.
I am indebted to Prof. Edward L.
Hardy for much of the above information.

XIII.
JOHN P. BIRD

JOHN P. BIRD, with whom I was
well acquainted and who has taken
an important and splendid part in the
educational system of La Crosse, is
worthy of some space in your paper.
In addition to his service as a teacher
he has, for many years, been interested
in conservation, and is an
ardent lover of the great out-of-doors
and a fisherman, which came to him
naturally from the association with
a trout stream that ran through his
father's farm in Massachusetts. The
chief events of his life are as follows:

John P. Bird was born August 10,
1845, at Northampton, Mass. His father
and mother came from Aberdeen,
Scotland, coming to this country in
the early thirties. He was a granite
cutter and mason and some of his
work may still be seen in the large
corinthian columns in the front of
the Exchange building on Wall
Street, just below Broad, New York
city, or the Gothic Stone Church,
Episcopal, in Greenfield, Mass., or in
the largest stone arch bridge on the
Erie railway at Sturrucca, Pa. John
P. was the next to the youngest of
six brothers.

Boyhood Spent on Farm

In 1849 a farm was bought among
the hills of western New York where
the most of his boyhood was spent.
Through that farm ran a stony trout
brook, acquaintance with whose denizens
began before he was six, an acquaintance
that has been a source of
pleasure through all the years since
then, and still gives pleasant and
healthful exercise in the presence of
trees and birds and flowers-a companionship
that is of the best. Although
few view it that way at the
time, any boy is fortunate whose early
life is spent on a farm. Although
the work may at times be distasteful.
money a very scarce article, entertainments
few and far between and

EARLY LA CROSSE 31

opportunities for schooling very limited,
yet he learns much that is of
value in after life that he otherwise
would not get. So great was the variety
of things a boy could find to do
in greater or less measure he was unconsciously
getting very valuable education
in learning by doing, in the
effect of persistence in the accomplishment
of any task, in the adaptation
of means to ends, in finding that
little of value is to be had without
effort. When money was not to be
had to buy a handsled he could, with
persistent effort, make one, searching
for a suitably curved birch, generally
found on some steep side hill, for
the runners, hewing or sawing them
out, shaping the knees, fastening
them in place with wooden pins
through the raves and into the runners,
not a scrap of metal in the finished
sled, but serviceable, and wholly
his by virtue of persistent effort,
and so giving greater real pleasure in
its use whether sliding down hill in
the snow or hauling in a backlog for
the fireplace. When money was not
available for a new fishline he learned
how to make a very serviceable
one with hair from the horse's tail,
and incidentally, that hair from the
tail of a white or grey horse was more
effective in securing the wily denizens
of a clear stream than one made
from black hair. Necessarily he had
to learn the ways and characteristics
of the chickens and the turkeys, the
sheep and the pigs, the cows and the
calves, the oxen and the horses.

In a household with six sons and
no daughters much that is usually
done by girls he had to learn how to
do, to sweep and dust, to make a bed,
to set the table, to prepare vegetables
for cooking, to wash and wipe dishes,
to darn stockings, to milk the cows,
to set the milk in pans, to skim the
cream, to churn the butter in the old
fashioned wooden dash churn, wearisome
though it sometimes was when
the butter was slow in "coming."

Chopped Wood

A man advertised for choppers to
put up cordwood in a tract of timber
a mile or so away. Here was a chance
to earn some money. Men's wages
were then about seventy-five cents a
day and a good chopper could put up
two cords a day. Though only boys,
he and his brother next older decided
to put up a few cords. With great
diligence it was possible for them together
to cut and put up a cord in a
day. It was heavy, hard work. What
would a twelve year old boy of today
think of going to the woods with his
lunch, chopping down beech and hard
maple trees, cutting into four foot
lengths, splitting and piling it up for
the munificent sum of thirty-seven
and a half cents a cord! All such
things have an influence in the formation
of character and habits and
tend to develop a resolution to succeed
that does not find him helpless
in the presence of a new or unexpected
problem.

His four older brothers volunteered
for service in the Civil War and
the failing strength of his father put
more responsibilities onto him to take
care of the farm or help provide for
the family. The swing of the scythe
and the cradle were interesting experiences.
He attended the district
school and it was necessary to climb
over two hills. In the first summer
his first punishment for some misdemeanor
was to be tied for a time
to the pipe of the big box stove with a
fishline. That may account for his
continued interest in fishlines since
then. As the seasons went by he
gradually "ciphered through" the
arithmetic, becoming better than the
average, was a good speller, got a
little grammar, and a taste for reading
that has continued through life.
Such was the early life of the young
lad.

Moved to Minnesota

The close of the war brought a decision
to sell the farm and move to
Minnesota, a wise decision. The long
journey was made with two span of
horses and two covered wagons, going
by boat from Buffalo to Milwaukee
and thence via La Crosse to Fairmont,
Minn. He little thought when passing
through La Crosse that the chief
part of his life would be spent there.
They camped out all the way and to
him it was like a continual picnic.
The older two brothers drove the
teams and managed matters, the
years of their service in the army
having made them expert campers.
The other two had not yet been discharged
and came west later, all four
having survived the more than sixty
engagements in which they had taken
part. Such feathered game as prairie
chickens, ducks, geese, brant and

32 EARLY LA CROSSE

sandhill cranes were very abundant
and formed the chief source of meat
for food. Into his possession had
come a double barrelled, muzzle-loading
gun weighing twelve pounds, one
barrel rifle and the other for shot,
heavy for off-hand work, but it did
its part in providing meat for the family.
Incidentally it developed a
measure of skill in its use and a liking
for hunting that has persisted
through the years since then. Materials
hauled by team from Owatonna,
80 miles away, provided a little hunting,
a boat 18 inches wide on the bottom,
the sides only eight inches high,
was the means for securing many
ducks and geese that would otherwise
not have been obtainable. Such experiences
will never come again. Also
it was an effective means of education
in the art of paddling and balancing
to keep it right side up when
the wind blew. In that little boat
was made his record score with a rifle.
Muskrats when swimming in
still water show but little more than
the upper part of the head. When
shot other than through the head the
skin is seriously damaged if not entirely
ruined, so it is quite necessary
to hit only the head. One afternoon
with 23 consecutive shots, mostly
when standing up in the little boat,
he killed 22, nearly all of which
were swimming. Rat skins were almost
a legal tender in those days,
bringing about ten cents each, as
money was very scarce, the ruling
rate of interest being from two to
three per cent a month.

Comes to La Crosse

When the first school house was
built in Fairmont he attended the
first term taught in it, although familiar
with nearly all that was taught
there. He took an examination for a
certificate, passed, and the next winter
taught the same school. Gradually
there had been growing a conviction
that to succeed whether as a farmer
or something else, he must have more
scholarship. He had gradually picked
some knowledge of shorthand. The
rub was to get money to pay expenses
while away from home. Gun and
traps furnished fur enough to make
a beginning. A new State Normal
school had just been opened at Mankato
and more by accident than with
any design of becoming a teacher, he
went there. During that first winter
contact with its faculty led him to
believe he could be of more service to
his fellowmen as a teacher than as a
farmer and he went home with a determination
to bend every energy to
complete the course of study there.
By work out of school hours, with
some borrowed money and some other
help, he was graduated with honor
in 1871, and immediately secured a
position as principal of the school at
Winnebago City. He remained there
nearly two years, going from there to
Wells in the same county to a similar
position and remaining there a little
more than two years. While there he
went before the State board of examiners
and took the examination for a
State certificate which was granted.
In summer vacation he was employed
by the State Superintendent to do
some institute work which was well
received. While at Wells he was persuaded
to put in an application for a
principalship at La Crosse. It was
accepted and he went there in the fall
of 1875. He was assigned to the
Fifth Ward school which then comprised
the entire north side. That was
then a somewhat turbulent part of
the city as the lumber and logging
interests were at their height and
when the spring drive of logs on the
Black river came down with its hundreds
of men set loose from a winter
in the woods it was a lively place, its
long list of open saloons not adding
anything to its peace and quietness.
Something of the same spirit was noticeable
among the pupils and obedience
to the rules and regulations of
the board could hardly be called entirely
popular. But it was a part of
his duty to see that they were obeyed
and he took measures to secure such
obedience. The first month's report
showed the school at the foot of the
list in the city in the matters of attendance
and punctuality, but the
June report showed that it had passed
to the head of the list, and a group
of the biggest boys and young men
that were almost ready to mob him
in the fall joined heartily in giving
him his finest set of Shakespeare's
works. At the end of the year a vacancy
having occurred in the principalship
of the Third ward he was
transferred to that school where he
remained for 21 years. In the summer
of '76 a month spent at the Centennial
Exposition at Philadelphia
gave much information of value to a
teacher.

EARLY LA CROSSE 33

Prof. Bird had good training in education.
The ability to express to
others most effectively one's thoughts
and feelings seemed of much importance
to him and led to the study of
elocution and several succeeding
summers were spent as a student in
the National School of Elocution in
Philadelphia, from which he finally
graduated.

Studies Photography

Becoming impressed with great
value and possibilities in the field
of visual instruction in education he
took up the study of photography and
making lantern slides. Feeling the
need of a better knowledge of chemistry
in that work he spent several
summers in attendance at the summer
sessions of the State University
at Madison, taking work under Prof.
Daniels and having for a time as his
more personal instructor Louis Kahlenberg,
then a senior student specializing
in chemistry. Prof. Kahlenberg
later became a great chemist. Six
hours a day in laboratory work in
addition to class instruction gave him
more than was required for the general
course in chemistry. During
some of those summers, courses in
botany under Prof. Barnes were taken
and in physiology and zoology under
Dr. Birge, who later became
president of the University. At the
close of one summer a delightful
week was spent in camp with Dr.
Babcock, the agricultural chemist,
and two other University professors.

In 1879 he was very happily married
to Miss Nellie R. Hanscome, of
La Crosse. Another summer was
spent at Amherst college in the study
of Latin under Dr. Soveur.

At the close of the first twenty
years' service in La Crosse the board
of education very kindly gave him
without deduction of pay a month's
leave of absence. This was deserved
and merited for his constructive
work. This vacation he chose to spend
with two friends on a big game hunt
in Colorado. The party outfitted with
saddle horses, pack animals and
guide at Marvine Lodge where Roosevelt
had outfitted not long before
on one of his hunting trips. The hunt
was eminently successful, yielding
deer, elk, antelope and by great good
fortune two silver tip grizzlies, many
interesting negatives and a store of
pleasant memories. The skull of one
of the grizzlies is now in the National
Museum given at the request of the
head of that institutions. Another
vacation included a beef round up
with cowboys at the edge of the Bad
Lands in South Dakota with many interesting
negatives; the remainder
being spent with a brother who was
prospecting in the Cascade Mountains
many miles from any human habitation.
Another vacation was spent
with that brother in the mountains,
their camp being at the forks of the
Sauk, a branch of the Skaget, from
which trips into the mountains were
made, adding many negatives and a
goat to his list of big game. Two
other trips through the Yellowstone
Park were made, one of them by pack
train from Landis up the Wind river,
over Black Rock Pass, through Jackson's
Hole and into the park from
the south.

In 1882 occurred the death of his
wife and baby son, the most sad and
disheartening event of his entire life.

With La C1rosse Schools 35 Years

At the close of the school year in
'97 he was elected to the superintendency
of the city schools of La
Crosse and conti3nued in that position
for thirteen years, resigning in 1911,
after thirty-five years of continuous
service in the public schools of the
city. He performed a great work
which was generally appreciated.

During his administration one notable
event with far reaching results
was the introduction of penny savings
among the pupils by which hundreds
of boys and girls have begun the establishment
of a sound business habit
that will be of great value to them in
their later years. Another was the
introduction of manual training and
domestic economy, a difficult and uphill
work at that time, but they have
so proved their value that it would
be only with the greatest opposition
that they could now be removed. Another
was securing the site and erection
of the Central High school
building. With its provision of
modern laboratories, pleasant and
convenient class and recitation rooms,
an auditorium and a gymnasium. It
marked the beginning of the great increase
in high school enrollment and
the sustaining interest for the school
throughout the community.

I am indebted to Prof. Bird for the
many interesting items about his life.

34 EARLY LA CROSSE

Cadwallador Calder Washburn

THE name of Washburn is a familiar
one not only in this northern
Mississippi valley but in the east
where the family came from. There
were men of that name in Massachusetts
and Maine. The ancestry stock
of this family is excellent. C. C.
Washburn was born in Livermore,
Maine, April 27, 1818, went to the
public schools of that place, completed
his preparatory studies, moved to
Wisconsin, located at Mineral Point.
Here he studied law, was admitted
to the bar, elected as a republican to
the thirty-fourth, thirty-fifth and
thirty-sixth congresses from March
4th, 1855, to March 3, 1861. He
was active in politics, and was delegate
to the national republican convention
in 1860. He served in the
Union army as colonel of the Second
Wisconsin Cavalry. In March 1862
he went south and was on duty in
Missouri, then went to Arkansas, was
Brigadier General of volunteers,
July 16, 1862, and at the close of
the war was one of the three major
generals from Wisconsin in the
Union army. The other major generals
were C. S. Hamilton and Carl
Schurz. He resigned May 25, 1865.
He was elected to the fortieth and
forty-first congresses, March 4, 1867,
to March 3, 1871. He was elected in
the fall of 1871 as governor of Wisconsin,
serving one term, 1872-3.

Warning Unheeded

Governor C. C. Washburn in 1873
declared in his message "Many vast
and overshadowing corporations in
the United States are justly a source
of alarm and the legislature cannot
scan too closely every message that
comes before them, which proposes
to give additional rights to the rail-
ways of the state."

This warning went unheeded. The
governor was not re-elected. The
Grangers joined with the democratic
party, and the democratic-liberal reform
party elected William R. Taylor.

"Three Centuries of Wisconsin"
tells us in regard to the term of
Washburn as governor:

"He was nominted by a vote of
142 to 111 for Smith. In the legislature
of 1872 we get the first
glimpse of W. D. Hoard, afterward
governor, in politics. He was elected
sergeant-at-arms of the senate. In
his message Governor Washburn
touched quite as much upon affairs
of national import as upon purely
state matters. He advocated a telegraph
postal system and took a strong
stand in favor of a reform of the
federal civil service. This legislature
passed the general incorporation
act, which did away with separate
acts incorporating private companies.
An unsuccessful attempt was made
to repeal a number of railroad charters.
By far the most important act
of the legislature was the enactment
of the civil damage law, known as
the Graham law. This law was almost
as radical as its predecessor,
the Bond law of 1849. It made the
vendor of liquor liable in damages to
the family of a drunkard to whom he
sold liquor. Robert Graham, afterward
superintendent of public instruction,
was the author of the bill,
and the contest over it was very bitter.
In the general election in the
fall Wisconsin gave Grant a plurality
of 19,000."

Wisconsin For Garfield

During the presidential convention
of 1880 Wisconsin did her full
share for the nomination of President
Garfield. Washburn had some
friends in this convention who wanted
him to run for president.

Washburn died in Eureka Springs,
Arkansas, May 16, 1882. I saw
Washburn a number of times but
never had a talk with him. He did
something for La Crosse, and for
the state, in a public way, by establishing
the observatory at the University
of Wisconsin. Like many
other New England people he was
frugal and honest and gave the state
a fine administration.

Angus Cameron

It was my pleasure to have known
Honorable Angus Cameron, one of
the able members of the Wisconsin
bar; a man who rendered his state
and city of La Crosse a fine public
service. I met him in the law office
of Cameron, Losey & Bunn. He was
sparely built, possessed a vivacious
spirit and was a splendid, earnest
talker. Mrs. Angus Cameron, whose
maiden name was Mary Baker, of Urbana,
Steubin county, New York, was
particularly nice to me. She was
married to Angus Cameron, February
21, 1856. The last time I saw her

EARLY LA CROSSE 35

was at the Omaha exposition, where
I accidentally met her coming out of
one of the exposition buildings. She
inquired about my work and what
phase of botany I was interested in.
The little thoughtful things are long
remembered. Mrs. Angus Cameron
was a decided asset to her church
and to the La Crosse community. I
remember distinctly the surprise to
the people of La Crosse when the announcement
was made that Angus
Cameron was elected United States
senator. It was commonly reported
in La Crosse that John W. Losey had
used his great influence in securing
the election of Cameron. The National
Cyclopedia of American Biography
has an account of his life in an
abbreviated form.

Born in New York

The senator, was born at Caledonia,
Livingston county, New York,
July 4, 1824, son of Duncan Angus
and Sarah (McCall) Cameron, both
natives of Scotland. After completing
a public school education, he
spent three years at the Wesleyan
seminary, Lima, New York, and one
year at the Geneseo Academy. He
taught school for seven years and in
1850 became a student in the law office
of Wadsworth and Cameron, at
Buffalo, New York, and later (1853)
he graduated at the National Law
school, Ballstan Spa, New York. He
returned to the office of Wadsworth
and Cameron as partner. This firm
lasted until 1856, when, with Frederick
H. Wing, he founded the banking
house of Cameron & Wing. The
lure of the west appealed to him and
so in 1857 he settled in La Crosse,
Wisconsin, where he resided until his
death. In 1861 he formed a partnership
with Joseph W. Losey, which
was not dissolved until he retired
from active practice in 1886. He was
a member of the state senate in
1863, 1864, 1871, 1872; and of the
assembly in 1866 and 1867, serving
in the last year as its speaker. He
became United States senator from
Wisconsin in 1875. He was sent as
a delegate to the national republican
convention in Baltimore in 1864.

Had Great Influence

In the senate at Washington members
acquired more influence as a
worker, especially on committees. He
was placed on many important committees.
He assisted in the investigation
of the South Carolina election
of 1876, and as chairman of the committee
for this purpose returned an
able and exhaustive report. This report
is a classic one. He was regent
of the University of Wisconsin, 1866
and 1870.

Senator Cameron in the United
States seldom made a speech, at least
our La Crosse papers seldom referred
to him as a speaker, and yet it was
quite generally thought that he had
a large influence through his committee
work. His quiet ways were
most effective in securing legislation.
The election of Cameron was brought
about through the combined votes of
democrats, republicans and liberals.
He was in favor of the election of the
brilliant and capable attorney of Milwaukee,
Mathew Hale Carpenter, who
was a great orator and had won distinction
in the civil war, and though
a democrat, ably supported Abraham
Lincoln for the presidency. Cameron
was a Carpenter man. He recognized
the greatness of the man, and wanted
to keep the republican party intact
on the election of United States senator.
Cameron had as an active opponent
C. C. Washburn, who, however,
soon gave up the contest.

Election Stirring Event

The election of Cameron in 1875
was a stirring event. In "Wisconsin
in Three Centuries" (Vol. 4:279)
there is this interesting incident related:

"A dramatic incident occurred
when the vote was being taken which
elected Cameron. As the names were
called, the democrats and bolters all
gave Cameron their votes, and just
when the call had progressed to a
point which gave Cameron a majority,
and in the midst of a tremendous
cheer that went up from the bolters,
a democrat arose and addressed the
chair, saying: 'I desire to change my
vote from Cameron to Carpenter.'
When they subsided the clerk announced
the vote giving Cameron the
election."

In 1881 Cameron was defeated by
Philetus Sawyer, for the second term
in the United States senate; Sawyer
was a man of wealth. I heard Colonel
William F. Vilas on more than one
occasion, while I was a student at
the University, roundly score the
principles and policies of Sawyer.
Honorable E. W. Keyes, or as we

36 EARLY LA CROSSE

students called him "Boss" Keyes,
was a candidate for the seat of Angus
Cameron. He was a great party leader
but did not fare well when he came
up for election to an office. He served
at regent of the University of Wisconsin
during my college days. He
was a capable and able man. On the
death of Mathew H. Carpenter in
1881, Senator Cameron was elected
to the vacancy. This expired on
March, 1885, and at that time Colonel
John C. Spooner was elected to
succeed him. Mr. Spooner was general
solicitor for the C. M. & Omaha
railroad (now the C. & N. W. railroad).
He was a fine public speaker
and a capable lawyer, a much more
forceful speaker than Cameron. The
question of representing corporations
did not enter into policies then as
now. I think we must admit that
Wisconsin was worthily represented
in the United States senate.

By L. H. PAMMEL

GILBERT Mortier Woodward, of the
law firm of Losey and Woodward,
was a fine writer, a great linguist,
and whose name should be brought
up in this connection because of his
editorials in the Liberal Democrat
and other papers of La Crosse. He
was born in Washington, I). C., December
25th, 1835, learned the printers
trade in Baltimore, Maryland,
and in 1850 became printer and
proof-reader in Baltimore. He lived in
upper Marlborough, Maryland, and in
Washington, D. C., and was connected
with the National Intelligencer in
Washington, D. C.

Came Here in 1860

Woodward moved to La Crosse
February 1860, studied law in the office
of Messmor and McKinney, was
admitted to the bar at Black River
Falls, Wisconsin, enlisted in the La
Crosse Light Guard, Company B, Second
Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
May 22nd, 1861 and was marshaled
in the United States service for three
years at Madison, Wisconsin, June
11, 1861. He was with this-intent
in all the campaigns of the army of
the Potomac until the expiration of
his terms of enlistment. He became
orderly sergeant Septembers 1861, second
lieutenant 1862, first lieutenant
September 1862, adjutant of regiment
June 1863. He was acting aide-de-camp
in general James S. Wadsworth's
division, was in the battle of
Gettysburg, was wounded, and his
services as aide-de-camp continued
during the Wilderness campaign
from May 1st to June 11th, 1864.

His division was a part of the picked
corps. He was mustered out at
Madison, Wisconsin, June 30th, 1864,
returned to La Crosse April 1865, was
elected city attorney November 1865,
district attorney 1867, and re-elected
in 1869 and 1871, formed a law
partnership with S. S. Burton January
1868, which partnership was
continued until 1576. He was mayor
of La Crosse 1874, was elected city
attorney of La Crosse April 1876,
and held this position for several
years; was a delegate to the National
Liberal convention at Cincinnati,
Ohio, 1872 and delegate to
the national Democratic convention
in the same city in 1880; elected
member of congress 1882 from the
seventh district, subsequently was
defeated. He was Democratic candidate
for governor of Wisconsin
1886 and was delegate at large for
Wisconsin to the national Democratic
convention at St. Louis 1888 and
chairman of this delegation.

Law Partnership

On January 1, 1889 he formed a
partnership with Losey. the firm becoming
Losey and Woodward. He
was an extraordinary man. I knew
him personally and had an intense
admiration for him. Mr. Woodward
was one of the finest linguists of the
state of Wisconsin. He could speak
fluently in German and at the time
of the meeting of the Saengerfest in
La Crosse he made an address in
German. A most delightful man personally
Gilbert Mortier Woodward
left a large impression the community.

Mr. Charles Seymour has said
"Our state press, which has always
ranked high in the estimation of the
entire county generally conceded that
La Crosse newspapers have displayed
as much enterprise and vim as those
of any locality if similar population."
S. D. Carpenter, the editor of
the Old State Journal of Wisconsin
as well as David Atwood of the State
Journal praised the La Crosse daily
papers in the highest terms.

Establishes Weekly

In 1874 Mr. George W. Peck with-
drew from the firm of the Liberal
Democrat and established his popular
weekly paper known as Peck's

EARLY LA CROSSE 37

Sun and I can well remember this
weekly paper full of fun and satire.
Peck was universally conceded to
have been one of the wittiest writers
in the West. I knew Mr. Peck very
well, met him on numerous occasions,
and I along with others enjoyed the
wit in his paper. George W. Peck was
born in New York in 1840 but spent
most of his life in Wisconsin, and
died in Milwaukee in April 16, 1916.
He was connected with papers at
Whitewater, Jefferson, La Crosse and
Milwaukee, and he was editor of the
Cyclopaedia of Wisconsin. Volume
number one of the Cyclopaedia contains
a fine account of the state, its
history, institutions, towns, cities
and rivers. Of his other contributions
to literature mention should be made
of "Peck's Bad Boy," "Peck's Compendium
of Fun," "Peck's Sunshine,"
and "Pecks Boss Book." It was believed
by many that the descriptions
in some of the books gave an account
of himself.

Budget of Fun

Peck's Bad Boy was called a privileged
budget of fun and satire. On
the strength of his books, and these
books were widely sold on the trains,
he was elected mayor of Milwaukee
and later governor of Wisconsin from
1891 to 1895. Personally he was a
delightful man to meet and I think a
man of rather striking personality.
The little talks, as a boy, which I
had with him were always pleasant,
full of good cheer. He left his impress
on the newspaper work of La
Crosse and the state.

In 1875 Mr. Symes sold a half interest
in the Liberal Democrat to
Ellis B. Usher, and the paper was
published under the firm name of
Messrs. Symes and Usher. The name
of this paper was changed to the
Morning Chronicle by Usher and
Howard. Mr. Howard had purchased
a half interest from Mr. Symes in
1878. The name was changed in order
not to conflict with the name which
previously had been used by Mark
Pomeroy. I was a reader of this paper
for many years and always enjoyed
the editorial and news account.
Mr. Ellis B. Usher was a warm personal
friend. He was born in Buckston.
York County, Maine, came West
when a child two years old, lived a
year in Muscatine, Iowa, then removed
to Wisconsin. His father, Isaac L.
Usher, was in the lumber business.
In 1856 the family moved to a farm
near Onalaska, La Crosse county, and
in 1862 moved to La Crosse. In 1867
he was a reporter on the Republican
for a time. He spent one year at
Lombard College, 1867 and 1868. He
was also chairman of the democratic
state convention in Wisconsin in
1887, a position he held until 1891.
Ellis B. Usher while editor of the
Chronicle from 1874 to 1891 wrote
many fine editorials. After severing
his connection with the Chronicle in
1901 he became connected with the
Allis-Chalmers Company at Milwaukee.

Fine Citizen

Mr. Usher was a fine type of citizen,
and during his regime the
Chronicle made great progress. He
did fine service for the city. The paper
was welcome everywhere among
republicans and democrats. The editorial
management of that paper was
under W. L. Osborne, who was a respected
and honored citizen of La
Crosse for many years, and who now
lives in Florida. He was a man of
superior ability as a newspaper man,
wrote fine editorials, and kept the
La Crosse Chronicle on a high plane.
He left his impress on the newspapers
of La Crosse.

La Crosse Daily News was established
in 1880 by John Shuart. Mr.
Alexander Nevins was the editor. The
Daily News has long since passed out
of existence. He did train in this
newspaper office Mr. Henry Legler
who became a famous librarian. I
will take u, Mr. Legler more in detail
a little later in connection with
some of his literary productions. Another
newspaper venture of La
Crosse was the La Crosse Star
published in North La Crosse
edited by B. W. Reynolds, which was
succeeded later by the La Crosse
Free Press, edited by Mr. William
Doty in 1877, and the Sunday Free
Press, edited by A. S. Foote in 1877.

C. P. CROSBY

THE TRIBUNE readers I am sure
have been interested in the many
interesting articles appearing in Sunday
issues by C. P. Crosby. Mr. Crosby
certainly has written a fascinating
story about early times in La Crosse.
It would be well worth while to get
these in pamphlet or book form. I
could not help but feel how interesting
our young forestry students

38 EARLY LA CROSSE

would be in the account Crosby has
given of lumbering in the early days.
The year 1882 and 1883 does not appear
to be so long ago. Think of it.
The lumber days and logging over in
the region where Mr. Crosby was a
scaler. I think Mr. Crosby is altogether
too modest when he says:

Enjoyed Telling It

"And now my story of logging and
river work is over; I have enjoyed
telling it and have had a number of
letter and compliments on it from old
friends and new ones. One wanted
me to write a book, but I haven't
the editorial ability to make a story,
such as Stewart Edward White or
Rex Beach or Zane Grey can do.
There is not enough of the movie
idea, the fight between aspirants for
the girl's hand, the plunge over the
precipice, the ride over well paved
roads with the bandits in close pursuit.

"I have not been careful enough
to explain those things that are so
plain to me; many of my readers
would not understand them anyway.
The old river men and lumber jacks
are mostly gone now. There are no
more sawyers and filers in the La
Crosse district. The land that the
pines grew on is either burnt over
or is growing up again to brush, or
is being turned into farms. The timber
cut from them served to build
countless homes, farms, barns, on the
western prairie states, as well as for
our own state. The industry kept
alive thousands of men and their
families for years. It was the backbone
of Wisconsin for a long time.

"From the time my father came to
La Crosse in 1854, when the lumber
industry was just getting a start, until
now is about 72 years, and in that
period the timber and lumber business
grew up, thrived, and is now far
down toward the end. Ten years
more will see hardly a dozen of the
large lumber concerns operating in
this state."

Sad About Conservation

This is a sad note about conservation.
It is splendid that some of
these "old timers" have gone to the
trouble to place these interesting pioneer
times on record.

The further interesting notes from
time to time in the Tribune as gleaned
from the letters, Lucius C. Colman
collection, presumably presented to
the Tribune by Professor Sanford
makes interesting reading.

"Fishermen and geologists say that
the lack of timber in the headwaters
of the Black and Mississippi rivers,
and all tributaries to these two principal
bodies of water in upper Wisconsin,
has lowered the stage of water.
One old veteran said that at one
time the water stage remained at 14
feet for a long period of time. Now
the water is down to the zero mark,
or just above, for long periods each
year. River commerce has been
greatly impaired because of this fact,
and now only barges with a small
water draft can navigate the upper
waters of these rivers, where once
steamboats and lumber rafts had
little trouble in going.

"The fact that lumbering is no
longer a recognized industry, in fact,
it has not been for a great many
years, is hard to imagine. But the
condition exists everywhere through-
out the nation, and the government
is fact taking a hand to prevent the
cutting down of the remnants of forests
that still remain."

In this connection you should read
again the interesting account by Mr.
Crosby of lumber rafting chances in
the issue of August 29, 1926.

Dam Up Flow

"While the drive itself was in
progress it was an interesting sight
to see the men in their red and blue
mackinaws, their stagged off trousers,
high caulked shoes, loosening
up wing jams and center jams, which
gather on tow heads, small islands or
rocks, in the center of the river. Logs
would collect against such obstacles
until they would form jams that
would dam up the regular flow of
the logs. It was necessary to keep
such places free, and drivers would
work out upon them, and with their
peevies attack some vulnerable spot
and break a hole in the wing, till the
waters would get behind it and swing
the logs off into the stream."

Mr. Crosby has given the reader a
very graphic account of the Light
Guard. Two men mentioned in those
articles on October 3, 1926, interested
me very much. Governor Jeremiah
M. Rusk, who by the way was
a frequent visitor in La Crosse in the
early days, and Captain Charles King,
who was one of the notable literary

EARLY LA CROSSE 39

men of Wisconsin. I had military
drill under him at the University of
Wisconsin, and met him later at
Ames.

He was one of the most interesting
lecturers I have ever heard. I think
the one on General Garfield was the
finest descriptive lecture it has ever
been my pleasure to hear. His stories
are most fascinating. General King
has given us a fine portrayal of early
military life on the plains.

He was a great man in spite of
some of his short-comings, as his
failure sometimes to meet his obligations
as a drill master or as a lecturer
on the public platform. He did
on more than one occasion come to
La Crosse. On several occasions he
inspected the military camp at Sparta
in 1883. At this time Captain King
was connected with the state university.

Jeremiah McLain Rusk

AM sure the readers of The Tribune
will be interested in an account
of a few of the men who have given
their service to the state and nation
in a political way. I have not known
many of these men, but it was my
good fortune to have known a few
and of these Jeremiah Rusk looms
large in my memory. I met him
while I was a student at the University
of Wisconsin. It must have been
in the early eighties. There was quite
a spirited presidential campaign on.
I had heard the eloquent words of
Colonel William F. Vilas who was the
spokesman of the democratic party.
Incidentally I called on Governor
Rusk, although I was not a member
of his party at that time because Colonel
William F. Vilas made a greater
appeal to me. It was my first chance
to vote. In order to vote it was necessary
to make a trip home. Most of
the students received passes to go
home, I among other democrats received
my transportation through
Colonel Vilas. The republicans received
theirs through Governor Rusk.
I went with some of the republican
boys to call on Governor Rusk. The
prohibitionists had no friend in court.
Some years later I shifted from the
democratic to the republican party.

Outstanding Personality

Governor Rusk was an outstanding
personality in Madison, respected and
loved by every one. He was a man of
fine physique, lovable and friendly.
The last time I saw him was in Chicago
where I had a pleasant visit
with him. He had then retired and
was living on his farm near Viroqua.
He then told me about his early experience
in driving the stage and his
frequent visits to La Crosse. He
mentioned the fact that he knew
quite a few of the old pioneers of La
Crosse. He said he knew where our
farm was located.

Jeremiah M. Rusk was born in
Morgan county, Ohio, June 17, 1830,
and died at Viroqua, Wisconsin,
March 21, 1894. He was of Scotch-Irish
descent. His grandfather, James
Rusk, was born near Londonderry in
the north of Ireland, and "fled to
North America after knocking down
the insulting agent of his absent
landlord," says Professor Edward N.
Wentworth, who prepared a sketch of
his life for the Saddle and Sirloin
club. His father came to Pittsburgh,
and then moved to Deerfield, Morgan
county, Ohio, after the war of 1812.
Jeremiah Rusk was one of ten children.
His education was limited to
the public schools. His father died
when he was 14 years old, and the
responsibility of looking after the
family fell to young Rusk. At 16
years of age he was a practical farmer
growing wheat, corn and hops, and
selling butter, eggs and fruit which
were marketed at Zanesville, Ohio,
20 miles away.

Stage Coach Driver

At an early age he became stage
coach driver between Zanesville and
Newark, Ohio. Here he became acquainted
with General James A. Garfield,
then a mule driver on the canal.
Ohio in those days was known for its
fine timber, and Rusk became a cooper.
He married Mary Martin of Ohio
in 1849 and moved to Viroqua, Wisconsin,
in 1853, becoming a tavern
keeper and a stage driver. He owned
a stage line which operated between
Prairie Du Chien, Sparta and Black
River Falls. In 1855 he was elected
sheriff, and this incident is so interesting
that it is worthy of quoting.
Lester S. Ivins and A. E. Winship in
"Fifty Famous Farmers," say:

"The first incident which marked
him as a man of extraordinary capacity
brought him the office of sheriff
in his county. Two officers arrived
in his home asking for a horse

40 EARLY LA CROSSE

thief; and, upon their describing the
object of their pursuit, Rusk learned
that the thief was a man who had
breakfasted at his inn earlier in the
morning. While the officers took the
road by which the man was most
likely to attempt his escape, Jeremiah
Rusk jumped on a horse and
took another. He rode hard and overtook
the fellow riding along in his
buggy. Without any warning he
jumped from the horse to the carriage,
overpowered the man by sheer
physical force, and brought him back
a prisoner. Such a rough-and-tumble
capture of course attracted attention,
and the news of it was carried from
community to community.

He was elected coroner in 1857
and member of the Wisconsin assembly
in 1861.

Major in Civil War

During the civil war Rusk became
major of the 25th Wisconsin infantry
and later colonel. He was in the
siege of Vicksburg. He was a member
of General Sherman's army, and
after his service was brevetted brigadier
general because of conspicuous
gallantry for crossing the Salkehatchie
river, South Carolina, in February,
1865. General Rusk was honor-
ed by Wisconsin in many ways. After
being mustered out of service he returned
to Viroqua, became a partner
in the Vernon County Censor. He was
elected state bank comptroller in
1865, and was re-elected in 1867. He
was elected to congress in 1870, serving
seven years.

In congress he was a member of
the committee on agriculture. It was
in congress that he met his old friend,
James A. Garfield, and in 1880 he
used his influence to have Mr. Garfield
nominated for the presidency.
After this service he returned to his
four-hundred acre farm. He organized
a bank and was instrumental in
getting the Chicago, Milwaukee &
St. Paul railroad to extend its line
from Sparta to Viroqua. The Wisconsin
friends of Honest Uncle Jerry
wanted him to run for president in
1888. Several important missions in
foreign fields were offered to him,
one to be minister to Paraguay and
Uruguay, but he did not wish to accept.
Later Garfield tendered him
a mission in Denmark but he declined.
The people of Wisconsin wanted
him to run for governor. He was
elected in 1880 and was re-elected
serving seven years. He was one of
the great governors of the state of
Wisconsin. He helped put the agricultural
department of the University
of Wisconsin on its feet through
Professor W. A. Henry. Professor
Wentworth tells us:

Recommends Agric Station

"In 1883-85 he secured the services
of John Gould of Ohio to do institute
work on silage, and to this one influence
can he traced Wisconsin's
leadership in the use of ensilage today.
So pertinent was his work that
in 1883 Governor Rusk recommended
that an agricultural experiment station
be created under W. A. Henry's
direction. With the adoption of this
plan Dean Henry became professor
of agriculture, and in 1885 at the
suggestion of Senator Vilas he conducted
the first short course with an
attendance of nineteen students. In
1887 he was officially christened director
of the Wisconsin experiment
station, and three years later he opened
Wisconsin's first dairy course
for students.

He never neglected the common
people. He was always sympathetic,
reared in the farm and always a toiler.
In his second message he said:

"Agriculture is the foremost interest
in our state. The societies
which have been organized for the
advancement of the various branches
of agriculture should be liberally
sustained. The time has arrived
when means should be provided for
gathering accurate monthly crop and
and livestock reports during the
growing season and complete labor
statistics and their prompt circulation
among the people. The dairy interest
of our state has grown with such
wonderful rapidity that it stands today
second to none in the union."

To quote from Ivins and Winship:
"Governor Rusk never neglected the
common people, for his heart was
filled with a sympathetic understanding
of their needs as was shown,
when in 1884 instead of taking a
party in pomp and ceremony to a
soldiers' convention in Minneapolis,
he took an escort of crippled soldiers."

He helped create the Farmers' Institutes
and wherever possible helped
Dr. W. A. Henry in his great work.

EARLY LA CROSSE 41

Secretary of Agriculture

He was appointed the first secretary
of agriculture in President Benjamin
Harrison's cabinet. He did a
great service for agriculture as secretary.
His reports were always substantial.
Professor Edward N. Wentworth
has said, quoting President
Harrison:

"Secretary Rusk was perhaps the
least educated of the members of my
cabinet, but he possessed the shrewdest
native judgment. He could not
prepare a state paper, but he was the
keenest and best informed critic of
such a paper, once prepared, that I
could secure."

The agricultural report for 1889
is a classic because in it he gives
his views of a new dignity to agriculture.
It was the inauguration of
an entirely new system of treating
the agricultural problems of the
country. He became secretary March
7, 1889, twenty-six days after the
approval of the law creating an executive
department of what had hitherto
been a bureau. It was necessary
to reorganize the work into an executive
office under his charge and a
scientific office under the assistant
secretary. The department had an
appropriation of $1,359,000, "an
amount which should not be measured
by what it had in the past, but
rather by what a great agricultural
country should pay at this time toward
sustaining, protecting and promoting
a calling which lies at the
foundation of its prosperity and power."
This statement of Rusk's is a
significant one. He wanted the department
organized on a broader
basis and he succeeded in doing this.
He has given a good summary in regard
to botanical work and said what
the south needs today is "a productive
grass." All or his reports are interesting.
In the United States department
of agriculture report for
1890 Rusk calls attention to the
depressed condition of agriculture
when he made his first report, and in
1890 the improved outlook in agricultural
matters.

Promises are Bright

"The subject was discussed in the
press, the views of the farmers themselves
were made known, and it is
gratifying to be able to point out that
today the cloud which for some years
seemed to rest gloomily upon American
agriculture has been lightened,
while the civic economic legislation
already secured holds out still brighter
promise for the future." He urged
the great desirability of national
meat inspection at the time of slaughter.
He encouraged indigenous sugar
industry, referring to sugar cane
areas in Florida and beet sugar in
Nebraska. He secured the necessary
legislation to reorganize the United
States department of agriculture. He
praises the energy of the department
force. He was interested in forestry
and notes with pleasure the increasing
appreciation of the importance
of forestry. The resources are still
great, but signs of approach of exhaustion
are noted by him. In speaking
of the botanical work he notes the
two aspects, the scientific and practical.
The collecting and classifying
was the scientific while the study of
grasses, for instance, was the practical.

Secretary Rusk was greatly concerned
about the livestock industry
and so had Mr. S. W. Campbell work
up a paper on "condition of the livestock
industry of Wisconsin." In
this paper mention is made of the
farm of Phillip McConnell of West
Salem, who had a lot of improved
livestock. The improved livestock of
George C. Hitchcock and H. F. Ballis
of West Salem are also mentioned.
There is also a reference to the Poland
China herd of C. C. Elwell.

Diseases Interest Him

The question of the diseases of cattle
and cattle breeding was of special
interest to him. He, therefore, had
Dr. D. E. Salmon of the bureau of animal
industry get material together
on this matter under the title "Special
Report on Diseases of Cattle and
Cattle Feeding," the latter subject no
doubt because his friend, Prof' W. A.
Henry, had become deeply interested
in the matter and prepared a paper,
'The Feeding and Management of
Cattle," which a few years later was
expanded into a good sized book on
Feeds and Feeding by Dean Henry.
His friend, Dr. V. T. Atkinson, prepared
a very readable article on "Poisons
and Poisoning." Rusk started
important lines of research work.

HON. JOHN JACOB ESCH

A warm personal friend from college
days at the university, whose career

42 EARLY LA CROSSE

I have followed with more than
ordinary interest, was born near Norwalk
in Monroe county, Wisconsin,
March 20, 1861. His parents, Henry
and Matilda Esch, were born in Germany.
The parents moved to Milwaukee
in 1865, and five years later
to Sparta. Young Esch graduated
from Sparta high school and entered
the state university at Madison, from
which he graduated in 1882, receiving
the degree A. B. Esch was a
good student and well liked by the
faculty and student body. He later
matriculated in the law school of the
University of Wisconsin, from which
he received the degree LL. B. in 1887.
Between the time of graduation from
the university and entering the law
course he taught school. He was city
treasurer of Sparta in 1885. It was
here that he organized the Sparta
Rifles in 1883, which later became
Company I, Third regiment of Wisconsin
National Guard. In 1883 he
was commissioned captain and retained
this office until 1887. He married
Miss Anna Herbst of Sparta on
December 24, 1890.

Governor W. H. Upham in 1894
commissioned him acting judge advocate
general, with the rank of colonel,
which office he held for two
years, 1894 to 1896. He was admitted
to the bar in 1887, began the
practice of law in La Crosse in 1887
and was a member for many years
of the firm of Winter & Esch which
later became the firm of Winter, Morris,
Esch & Holmes. He was elected
a member of congress from the seventh
congressional district to the 56th
congress in 1898. He was ten times
re-elected, serving continuously for
twenty-two years as a republican. He
served on several important committees,
especially on the committee of
railways, his name being connected
with the Esch-Cummins railway legislation.
His work gave him such an
important prestige that later he was
appointed a member of the interstate
commerce commission on March 22,
1921. He has done splendid work.
His fine judicial mind has been of
great help in the important work the
commission is doing.

Congressman Esch, while a member
of the lower house of congress,
was in great demand as a campaign
speaker. I recall his visit to Ames
to stump the seventh Iowa district
for Captain John A. T. Hull, who
represented the seventh Iowa in congress.
He made a very able and logical
address, setting forth the principles
of the republican party on the
tariff and made a strong plea for
Captain Hull.

Mr. Esch is a pleasing and persuasive
speaker, a man of fine personality.
In his work in congress and on
the interstate commerce commission
he has brought credit to La Crosse.

John Edwin Brindley

ANOTHER one of the notable men
who lived in this vicinity was Dr.
John Edwin Brindley. He was a
relative of the late Judge John Brindley
who served La Crosse so faithfully
as municipal judge for many
years. Brindley at one time
taught school at Soldier's Grove.

The family was of English ancestry.
Dr. John E. Brindley was born
at Boscobel. Wisconsin, March 31st,
1878, son of William and Jane Brindley.
He married Mabel Iverson of
Eastlnan, Wisconsin, June 25, 1910.
IHe received his early education in the
public schools of Boscobel, and graduated
from the University of Wisconsin
in 1902 with the degree of A. B. and
M. A. in 1906.

Debater in University

At the University he was a member
of the Hesperia literary society, and
was one of the joint debaters. He
received the Ph. D. degree from the
State University of Iowa in 1911. He
became connected with the faculty of
Iowa State College of Agriculture and
Mechanic Arts in 1907, and was made
professor of economic science in 1916.
He was secretary of the Iowa special
tax commission in 1912, and tax expert
for the Iowa code commission,
rearranging and codifying the tax law
laws of the state in 1919. He was also
tax expert for the joint legislative
tax commission (1923), and a member
of several economic associations,
and the national tax association.

Dr. Brindley is a man of pleasing
personality, a splendid teacher and a
research man of high order. He has
published much on taxation. The two
volumes on "History of Taxation in
Iowa" published by the Iowa Historical
society is an outstanding piece
of research work on taxation. Another
important work is his "History
of Road Legislation in Iowa." He
has published many articles on economic
subjects in journals, all being

EARLY LA CROSSE 43

marked by a clear, concise style.
With Professor Agg he has published
a test book on "Highway Administration
and Finance."

Excerpts of Work

His literary style may be seen from
the following excerpts taken from
History of Taxation:

"The subject of taxation as presented
in these volumes has been
treated essentially from the standpoint
of historical research; and for
that reason, the work is logically included
in the publications of The
State Historical Society of Iowa.
While the facts outlined in the narrative
constitute a study in public administration,
the monograph considered
as a unit is first of all a contribution
to Iowa history."

"According to the provisions of the
Organic Act the legislative power of
the Territory was made to include 'all
rightful subjects of legislation.' In
matters of taxation only two restrictions
were placed on the Legislative
Assembly: first, no tax shall be imposed
upon the property of the United
States; and second, 'nor shall the
lands or other property of non-residents
be taxed higher than the lands
or other property of residents.' The
first restriction is still universally
imposed upon all States and Territories,
it being held by the Supreme
Court of the United States that no
State, Territory, or minor political
unit can tax the instrumentalists of
the general government. The second
restriction, however, as we shall note
later has been so loosely interpreted
as to violate practically all rules of
interstate comity in taxation.

Dr. N. E. Hansen and Emma Pammel
Hansen

I am sure that it would be quite
appropriate to include in this review
of sketches an account of Dr. N. E.
Hansen, who has been not only a frequent
visitor in La Crosse but is connected
through marriage with an old
pioneer family. The work Dr. Hansen
has done in a literary and scientific
way is quite outstanding.

Niels Ebbesen Hansen, a nationally
well known horticulturist, was born
on January 3, 1866, near Ribe, Denmark,
son of Andrew Bodil (Mitgaard)
Hansen. He came to the United
States with his parents in 1873
and for the first three years he lived
in New York city and Newark, N. J.,
then came to Des Moines. He was
eight years old when he started his
school work and he succeeded in making
the eight grades in five years, attending
the East Des Moines High
school for two years.

Began Study of German

At the age of 11 he began to study
German, which afterward was of
great use to him in making his tours
in Europe. His preparation for college
was continued under private tutors.
He worked some sixteen
months before his freshman year at
Ames, and between the freshman and
sophomore years he worked in the office
of Hon. John A. T. Hull, who was
then secretary of state. Mr. Hull noticed
that the young man was taking
a great deal of interest in studying
and this appealed to Captain Hull.
Between his sophomore and junior
year he spent the winter at Elkhorn,
as a teacher in English in a Danish
Lutheran school in Shelby county. He
did some studying in Danish also at
this time, which gave him proficiency
in that language.

Plants had always interested him
because his father was an artist and
therefore the aesthetic side of his
life was developed. While in Des
Moines he came in contact with Prof.
J. L. Budd, the professor of horticulture
at Ames, and C. E. Bessey, the
professor of botany. These men influenced
him to attend Iowa State college,
from which he graduated in
1887. He was a special graduate
student in botany and horticulture,
receiving his M. S. degree in 1895. It
was while he was an assistant at Iowa
State college and doing graduate botanical
and horticultural work at
Ames, that I came to know him. It
was here that he met my sister, Emma
Elise, to whom he was married on
November 16, 1898. Miss Emma
Elise Pammel attended the La Crosse
high school.

On one of my visits to La Crosse I
persuaded my sister to take a course
at Ames, and her father and mother
consented to let her do this. She began
during the summer and had to
make up half a year's work. She received
the bachelor's degree from
Iowa State college in November,
1894. She graduated in three and
one-half years and stood at the head
published by Professor H. E. Summers,
in Proceedings of Iowa Academy
of Science (12:XI).

44 EARLY LA CROSSE

She taught in the East Des Moines
High school, as well as in Wahpeton,
N. D. She was a remarkable woman.
Two children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. N. E. Hansen, Mrs. David L. Gilkerson
and Carl Andreas. Mrs. Hansen
died on December 16, 1904. The
second marriage of Dr. Hansen was
to another sister, Dora Sophie Pammel
on August 27, 1907, also at La
Crosse, Wis.

Degree at South Dakota

Dr. Hansen received the honorary
degree from the university of South
Dakota in 1917. After graduation
from Iowa State college Dr. Hansen
became connected with several practical
nurseries, 1888 to 1891, among
these that of C. L. Watrous of Des
Moines. In 1891 he became an assistant
to Professor J. L. Budd at
Ames, where he remained until 1895,
when he was elected to the professorship
of horticulture and horticulturist
of the State College of Agriculture
of South Dakota.

Dr. Hansen is well known throughout
the United States, as an agricultural
explorer. The first trip to Europe
was made in 1894 to study horticultural
conditions in Europe including
Germany and Russia. In
1897 and 1898 he made a second trip
to Europe for the United States department
of agriculture through the
influence of Secretary of Agriculture
Honorable James Wilson, who knew
of his work at Ames. On this trip
he collected economic plants and
seeds in Russia, Turkestan, western
China, Siberia, Mongolia and Transcaucasia.
A third trip in 1906 made
under the same auspices included a
visit to Siberia, Russia, Manchuria,
Lapland and Finland. The exploring
trip for 1908 and 1909 took nine
months. :The countries visited by him
were the Mediterranean region,
northern Africa, Sahara Desert, Siberia,
Russia, Mongolia, Manchuria,
Turkestan, Irkutsk, Japan, China and
Lake Baikal. The fourth trip was
made for the state of South Dakota.
In 1924 he made a trip to northern
Manchuria along the Siberian railway
to get seed of blight resistant
pears. He secured sixty-six pounds
of seed picked from fresh fruit. The
work with pears has really made a
splendid showing. He has produced
a great many hybrids fruiting.

Dr. Hansen has given a most interesting
account of the northern circumpolar
exploration in an address
before the Minnesota State Horticultural
society, St. Paul, December,
1919. (South Dakota Hort. Soc. Rep.
17:113). This was in the nature of
an illustrated lecture. He has been
frequently called on to make lectures
on his exploring trips, and horticulture
and plant breeding work. He is
always entertaining.

Discusses Many Problems

In these lectures and addresses he
has discussed many problems such as
acclimatization, "Can plants be acclimated?"
(S. Dak. Agr'l, Exp. Sta.
141:33), compares annual and perennial
plants. He goes on to say: "The
writer does not believe in giving
plants winter protection, as that is
horticulture on crutches, and hence
undesirable." On his first trip to
Russia in 1894, he became interested
in the results of Russian experiments
with seed of evergreens from the
northern regions of Russia and western
Siberia as compared with seed of
the same species from western Europe.
He has tried to work with nature
and not against it. He quotes
De Candolle that plants have not
within historic times been acclimated.
The discussions of Hansen's are
always philosophically given. He
quotes De Vries on mutation, and its
relation to plant breeding. He sees a
great future for alfalfa in America.
He made personal studies of alfalfa
in Europe and Asia. "No one alfalfa
has all of the good points."

It is a splendid field for the plant
breeder. Nature has pointed out the
way in Sand lucerne (Medicago media).
It is a natural hybrid of the M.
falcata and the M. sativa.

Studies in Russia

In 1913 he made a five months'
trip to Russia to study alfalfa and
brought back many fine types of these
plants, also a large number of fruits,
forage plants and seeds, which have
proven their worth. He also introduced
the Siberian fatrumped sheep
from which Dr. James Wilson has developed
a tailless breed of sheep.

The area of the cultivation of alfalfa
has been greatly increased through
this introduction of the Cossack alfalfa,
largely grown in the northwest,
and several other species and strains.
Dr. Hansen is the originator of the

EARLY LA CROSSE 45

idea of transplanting the roots of alfalfa.
A spoonful of seed of the Cossack
alfalfa brought to South Dakota
by him in 1906 attained a production
of 1,600 bushels in 1916. This
is certainly most wonderful and
shows the value of this strain of alfalfa.
He also says, "Transplanting
Alfalfa."-"My machine method of
transplanting alfalfa was first noted
in South Dakota Bulletin 141, January,
1913, and later in South Dakota
Bulletin 159, April, 1915, and-Bulletin
167, June, 1916. It is a special
method for the quick production of
seed of new varieties but has never
been recommended for field culture.
It is interesting to note that, aside
from small lots, the first large lot,
one thousand pounds of Cossack alfalfa
seed, was raised in 1913 by machine
transplanting. By transplanting,
one pound of seed is sufficient
for twenty acres, instead of the old
method of twenty pounds for one
acre. When fully standardized and
perfected, I believe it will be the
means of reclaiming millions of acres
of dry western uplands where present
varieties and methods have been
found unequal to the task because the
plants dry up before the roots get
down to permanent moisture."

Early Work at Ames

His interest in plant breeding
work came through professor J. L.
Budd and much of his very early
work was done at Ames, and at other
points in Iowa he worked with apples,
pears and roses. One hybrid rose was
developed with professor Budd from
the hardy Chinese, Japanese Rosa or
Siberian Rosa rugosa.

Professor Budd was kind to him in
every way. He once told Dr. Hansen
that he could thing of more new
things in one week than many could
think out in a hundred years, thus
recognizing his originality and method
of thinking.

Dr. N. E. Hansen stands out preeminently
as a plant breeder. This
has been the major part of his life
work at the South Dakota Agricultural
Experiment Station. This work
began there in 1895. He brought to
his work at Brookings a broad foundation
backed with a will to do something
for the horticulture of the
northwest. I say the northwest, not
South Dakota, because his plant
breeding work is for the entire northwest.
Some of this fine fruit is now
cultivated in Iowa, Wisconsin (La
Crosse), Minnesota, North and South
Dakota. Much has been done by the
orchardists of the northwest and we
do not wish to minimize this kind of
work. He tells us in his latest publication
on Plant Introductions (Bull,
S. Dak. Agr'l Exp. Sta. 224), "One
must not be too hasty to praise or
condemn any new apple but wait until
it comes in full bearing as a budded
or grafted tree."

Grains Many Varieties

The magnitude of his work can be
seen from the fact that ten thousand
seedling apples have been grown and
discarded. What is true of the apple
was repeated with the plum and other
fruits like the plum and pear, roses,
gooseberries, currants, strawberries,
etc. In his most recent publication
Dr. Hansen has described his hybrid
seedlings and plant introductions.

It took me more than half a day to
go through this great breeding plant.
There are hundreds of these, and they
have added materially to the wealth
of South Dakota. Luther Burbank
has been given credit for doing much
fine plant breeding work for the
country. No doubt many of Burbank's
creations are valuable. Burbank was
really not a great plant breeder in the
scientific sense. There are no records
of many of his creations. Many
fine hybrids are to be credited to Dr.
Hansen like the Gold apple. He is
also doing a lot of fine work in connection
with the wild crab apple.

DR. HANSEN'S work on the other
hand is scientific. There are
complete records of crosses and re-crosses.
His breeding work will always
stand out as an invaluable service
of North American plant breeding
work. Many of these hybrids
have been given names, and early in
this work of naming these new
creations Dr. Hansen adopted
Siouxan and other Indian names,
which in itself is a recognition of
what the North American Indian did
for horticulture and agriculture, for
instance, the Cikana is the Siouxan
name meaning "small." It is a hybrid
of the Dakota sand cherry and
a Japanese plum. Hanska plum is
the Siouxan word for "tall," and is a
hybrid between the common American
plum and Prunus Simonii of

46 EARLY LA CROSSE

China. The Anoka apple is a Siouxan
name meaning "on both sides." It is
a seedling of the Mercer or Fluke
Crab.

An Innovation

One of the Hansen innovations is
the method of hybridizing the plants
in the green house. The plants in
this way are under better control and
the work can start earlier in the
season. He early became interested
in plums. Some of the early introductions
were the Hanska and Opata.
He tells us in his report of the South
Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station
(S. Dak. Hort. Soc. Rep. 17:152)
of his early interest in choke cherries,
wild plum and hazelnuts which
he brought from Manitoba, and Pin
cherries from the Saskatchewan.

Dr. Hansen in his paper, Progress
in Plant Breeding (Bull. S. Dak.
Agr'l Exp. Sta. 159:177, 1915) gives
an account of the many varieties
originated by him like the Kahinta
which is the Siouxan name for sweep.
It is a cross between the American
and Japanese plum introduced in
1912. The Tokata plum also introduced
in 1912 is a cross of the Desoto
and P. Simonkii; Cikana plum
is a hybrid between the cherry
(Prunus Besseyi) and a Japanese
variety, the Gold which was originated
by Luther Burbank. He introduced
a fine American crab apple in
1912.

He also produced some pears
which are free from pear blight. The
Ojibwa of Hansen's is a fine plum and
a complex hybrid of four types. The
Opata is a sand cherry and plum hybrid.
The Sapa is another one of the
fine hybrid. These are described in
the South Dakota Bulletin. Dr. Hansen
has also produced a number of
graft hybrids.

Important Handbook

Dr. Hansen has published much in
addition to papers in South Dakota,
Iowa and Minnesota horticultural societies
and Iowa and South Dakota
agricultural experiment stations. An
important handbook of fruit culture
and tree planting in Danish and in
Norwegian, and Systematic Pomology
with Professor J. L. Budd under the
title Horticultural Manual Part I,
comprising the leading principles
and practices connected with the
propagation, culture and importance
of fruits, nuts, ornamental trees,
shrubs and plants in the United
States and Canada (John Wiley and
Sons, 1902, Part II, 1903, 487 pages).
Professor Budd in this paper says:
"My able associate, Professor N. E.
Hansen, has read the manuscript of
Part I, and assisted in various ways,
and he has given much time and labor
to the responsible and difficult
work of describing and deciding the
status of the many varieties as given
in Part II. The description of the
subject begins with the seed, seedling
varieties, soaking of seeds. A good
historical background is given from
the early origin of the apple such as
the Anoka, etc., ornamental planting,
etc."

Writes About Apple

Dr. Hansen is the author in Part
II of the pages devoted to the apple
such as the Anoka, and much of the
material there is of great value. The
note by Hansen tells of the friendship
between Charles Downing and J. L.
Budd. Dr. Hansen and J. L. Budd
also describe the cranberry, banana,
Juneberry, filbert, hickory nut, date
and fig.

He presented a paper, "Shall we
tame the native fruits or rely upon
importations?" at the International
Congress of Plant Sciences (Fourth
Botanical Congress) at Cornell University,
Ithaca, New York, August
16-23, 1926; also a paper, "Some
sterile and fertile plant hybrids," at
the International Conference, a paper
on fruit and flower sterility, August
12-24, 1926, at New York City
and Yonkers, New York. He also
prepared a paper entitled "The relative
value of homozygous and heterozygous
parents in the breeding of
the apple, plum, cherry, grape, and
other fruits," for the International
Genetics Congress at Berlin, Germany,
September 11 to 18, 1927.

Dr. Hansen has also published
some poetry, of which I may mention
the following from the Hobo Day
South Dakota Agricultural college:

Invitation

Through the haze of Golden October
Come in your chariots of steel,
Rejoice at the glory of autumn,
This magic beauty you'll feel.

The air will blossom with melody,
And this is their message dim:

EARLY LA CROSSE 47

"He who careth for flowers
Will also care for Him."

Some fine sentiments are expressed
in the college song of the South Dakota
State College of Agriculture and
Mechanic Arts in "The Yellow and
Blue," from which we quote a couple
of stanzas:

We come from the Sioux and Missouri,

The Cheyenne and the Jim,
From pine clad peaks of the Black
Hills,

Brimful of vigor and vim,
We sing the song of the prairie

The home of the Yellow and Blue,
The gleaming gold of the corn field,

The flax of azure hue.

Old S. D. S. C. Hurrah for the Yellow
and Blue,

Old S. D. S. C. all honor and glory
to you,
Forever raise the song in praise both
loud and long with loyal
hearts and true,

Oh, loyal hearts and true.

Biographical Sketches

In addition to the publications
enumerated above, Dr. Hansen is the
author of a number of biographical
sketches. One of these is of Professor
J. L. Budd. His literary style is
shown in this publication:

"As a teacher and investigator
Professor Budd was marked by keen
discrimination, boundless enthusiasm,
great ingenuity and fertility of resources.

"The death at Phoenix, Arizona, of
Professor Budd, professor emeritus
of the Iowa State College of Agriculture
and Mechanic Arts, removes
from the stage of action one of the
greatest and best masters of horticulture,
one of international reputation
and one who has carved a lofty and
permanent place in the history of
horticulture

"Professor Budd was truly a Columbus
of the uncharted sea of western
horticulture. As a result he discovered
rock-bound continents of
truth upon which they are now building
temples defying the tooth of
time."

Clear Diction

Dr. Hansen's clear and concise diction
can be seen from the following
excerpt on the apple:

"The cultivated apples are said to
have descended since pre-historic
times from six different species in the
temperate parts of Europe and western
Asia. In later years, the native
wild apples of Suberia and eastern
Asia and the native wild apples of
America must be added to the list of
ancestors. The hybrid origin of all
cultivated apples is indicated by their
variable pollen, as compared with the
uniform pollen of the pure wild species.
The hybrid origin is also apparent
in the very great variation in
apple seedlings."

Dr. Hansen has been honored by
the Massachusetts Horticultural society
in receiving the George Robert
White gold medal for eminent service
in horticulture.

The life of Dr. Hansen is worthy of
emulation. He came to this country
from Denmark and largely through
his own resources he has enriched botanical
and horticultural science for
his fine constructive work. The prairies
will scent the air by the bloom
of the wild crap apple and the wild
rose, and generations to come will
sing praises for the fine luscious fruit
of the apple, cherry, pear and black
currant that have been brought out
through his efforts.

Important Discovery

A short time ago, Mr. Frank C. Pellett
of the American Bee Journal, had
some interesting comments to make
on the introduction of a hardy white
sweet clover from Siberia. Mr. Pellett
said this would extend the beekeeping
far northward and was one
of the most important introductions
that Prof. Hansen had made. This
sweet clover has a wide distribution,
being reported from Northern Africa
and Europe as far north as 15 degrees,
16 seconds, it goes without saying
that sweet clover introduced from
southern Europe or Africa would not
be hardy in the northern sections of
the United States. It was found that
the common sweet clover as used in
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, was not
hardy. Consequently the importation
of a strain which would be hardy
was eminently worth while. Prof.
Bracken, who was a premier of Manitoba,
has introduced a form of this
which they call the Arctic clover,
though as a matter of fact the introduction
is due entirely to Prof. Hansen.
Prof. Hansen tells me that he

48 EARLY LA CROSSE

has applied this principle: "That hardiness
depends on the original habitat.
Seed from northern Africa or
southern Europe would not be as hardy
here in the north as sweet clover
from Siberia although it may have the
same botanical name. I presume geographical
forms of species could be
applied to this condition. The first
and only importation of this Hansen
strain of sweet clover came from Sempalatinsk,
a region with only 8 inches
of rainfall and temperature ranging
from 50 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit,
in the winter, to 100 above in
the summer.

Dr. L. R. Jones

A person whose name is quite familiar
to La Crosse and who spent
many days in this city is Dr. L. R.
Jones, who married into a La Crosse
family, that of Charles C. Bennett.
Dr. Jones married May Ida at La
Crosse, 1891. Mrs. Jones was an unusually
fine woman of high ideals.
Dr. Jones was born at Brandon, Wis.,
December 6, 1864, attended Ripon
college from 1882 to 1886, received
his Ph. B. degree from the University
of Michigan in 1889, and was a student
of the University of Michigan,
receiving his Ph. D. degree in 1904,
and honorary doctor of sciences from
the University of Vermont in 1910.

He was instructor of science at Mt.
Morris academy of Illinois from 1887
to 1888, and professor of natural history
at the University of Vermont,
1889 to 1890, assistant professor
1891 to 1892, associate professor
1892 to 1893, and professor of botany
1893 to 1909. He was Botanist
of Vermont experiment station from
its early organization in 1890 to
1909. His work here was largely
with plant pathology. He was elected
professor of plant pathology at University
of Wisconsin in 1909, and his
valuable work is universally recognized
not only in Wisconsin but throughout
the world.

Has Large Class

He has turned out a large number
of men who are now in plant pathology.
Of these we may mention Dr.
I. E. Melhus, head of plant pathology
at Iowa State college; Dr. J. C. Gilman,
plant pathologist and mycologist,
Iowa State college; Professor
C. S. Reddy, assistant chief experiment
station, Iowa State college; Dr.
Orton of the U. S. department of agriculture,
and many others. He was
special agent of the bureau of industry,
U. S. department of agriculture,
in 1894; vice chairman of the biological
and agricultural natural research
council, and since 1920 has
been a member of this council. He is
a member of the National Academy of
Science; Fellow of the American Association
for the Advancement of
Science; member of the Botanical society
in 1910, and president in 1913.
He is a member of the Pathological
society and was president of this organization
in 1909; was a member
of the Philosophical society, New
England Botanists' club and Vermont
Botanists' club, and was president
from 1907 to 1909; a member of the
Wisconsin Academy of Science and
also a member of the Philosophical
Academy. He has been a prominent
man in connection with the Society
for Preservation of Our Native Landscape.
He has many varied interests
along botanical lines. His name is
starred in "American Men of Science."
He is one of 600 names recognized as
an outstanding scientist.

Publishes Paper

He published such papers as Bacterial
Disease of Plants, Disease Resistance
of Plants to Bacterial and
Fungus Diseases, Relation of Environment
to Diseases of Plants.

Close relationship between plant
diseases and weather conditions was
noted in the last report. In order to
give a basis for continued comparison
the following record for the year
is inserted, based on data furnished
by Messrs. W. B. Gates, observer at
Burlington, and W. A. Shaw, observer
at Northfield, for the weather bureau
of the United States department
of agriculture.

While Dr. Jones was botanist at
the Vermont agricultural experiment
station many things interested him
in connection with plant life, and he
gave many interesting accounts of
weeds, especially his account of the
shrubby cinquefoil. His special attention,
while in Vermont, was directed
to diseases of plants; for instance,
a study of diseases, such as
downy mildew, potato rot fungus and
resistance to potato diseases; club
root of cabbage, asparagus rot, lettuce
rot, bean rust, etc.

He made an extensive study of

EARLY LA CROSSE 49

weeds of Vermont, like quack-grass,
ox-eyed daisy, hawk weed and wild
carrot, giving a list of the worst
weeds of that state. One of the unusual
things was his recognition of
the shrubby cinquefoils as a weed. His
literary style is shown in the following:

"The shrubby cinquefoil (potentilla
fruticosa) is widely distributed
in the north temperate zone. It is
usually a botanical rarity, but in certain
sections of southwestern Vermont
is "the most aggressive weed invader
known, taking almost complete
possession of the pastures and pushing
over into tilled lands. The plant
passes under many local names,
grows from 1 to 5 feet high, is a
pleasing shrub used in ornamental
plantings, and propagates as a weed
by a great abundance of seeds which
are scattered by the wind like the
dandelion, and by sprouting freely
from the crown of cut back Its only
serious weed development is in a belt
extending from northwest Connecticut
through western Berkshire county,
Mass., into Bennington and Rutland
counties, on calcareous soils. It
has no economic value."

Dr. Jones had an unusually fine
perspective on all the problems he has
undertaken, as is shown in the following
paragraph:

"A considerable part of the time
of the writer has been given to the
preparation of a report on potato diseases,
with special reference to disease
resistance of varieties. This is
the outcome of several months spent
in a visit to the chief potato growing
sections of Europe, supplemented by
inquiries in America. It was undertaken
in connection with the bureau
of plant industry, U. S. department
of agriculture, and has been just issued
(December, 1905) from the
press. (Report of Vermont Agri.
Exp. Sta. 1904-09, pg.264)."

Letter from Students

I take pleasure in presenting herewith
a letter from three of his former
students, Dr. I. E. Melhus, Dr.
J. C. Gilman and C. S. Reddy, which
shows the broad perspective of his
work:

"Dr. L. H. Pammel, Botany Department,
Central Building, Campus.
"Dear Dr. Pammel:

"It is with considerable hesitancy
that we undertake to comply with
your request to write you a letter
about Dr. L. R. Jones. We hesitate
because of our inability to say as effectively
as we should the things we
think about him.

"First of all Professor Jones is a
very inspiring teacher. He is much
loved and respected by his students,
not only those that had the privilege
of going far with him, but also those
that had only a brief contact. Blessed
is the memory of a good teacher. No
other individual in this country has
had a greater influence on the development
of plant pathology than Dr.
Jones. His first teaching position
was in the University of Vermont
where he served both as a teacher
and an investigator from 1889 to
1910. From this place he went to
his present position in the University
of Wisconsin. His own research work
together with that of his students
has had a profound influence in shaping
the trend and development of our
present understanding of plant diseases.
He holds a big place in the
scientific world. The state of Wisconsin
recognizes Dr. Jones as one of
its outstanding and noble sons.

"Yours very truly,
"I. E. MELHUS,
"C. S. REDDY,
"JOSEPH C. GILMAN."

Splendid Paper

A splendid type of paper was his
paper on bacterial soft rots in which
he interested some of his students so
that two of them prepared a fine
monograph on soft rots of vegetables.
An equally important paper was the
one he wrote on bacterial soft rot of
the muskmelon, which piece of work
was done by N. J. Giddings under
his direction.

Dr. Jones has left a great impress
on plant pathology of North America,
and he stands easily as one of the
leading plant pathologists of this
country and of the world. He is an
unusually fine type of citizen, a fine
teacher and respected by his co-workers
and his students; a splendid lecturer,
persuasive and convincing because
his manner and personality impress
all who come in contact with
him that he has an important message.
His work in connection with
plant pathology of the cabbage, melon,
potatoes and disease resistance
has been of very great importance
and value to agriculture. It has

50 EARLY LA CROSSE

made the state richer because of his
investigations.

He always inspired people to do
fine work. I wish to mention in this
connection the fine type of work
which has been done by two of his
students, Dr. I. E. Melhus, on some
of the downy mildews, and Dr. J. C.
Gilman on cabbage yellows.

Broad Interests

Dr. Jones' interests are not narrow,
but they are broad, which is shown
by his book on Vermont Trees,
Shrubs and Woody Vines, a book published
by the Vermont agricultural
experiment station and Mr. Rand in
1909 containing splendid descriptions
and notes on the importance in
connection with distribution and their
usefulness to man for ornamental
purposes. The literary style is shown
in the following quotation:

"It is now just ten years since this
station issued bulletin 73, The Trees
of Vermont. Three years later bulletin
94 appeared on Vermont Grasses
and Clovers. The present publication
is the third in the series having a like
general aim. It includes an account
of the native shrubs and woody vines,
with briefer mention of such introduced
species as are of special interest.
Like the earlier publications
it is primarily addressed to readers
who have little or no botanical training,
but who wish to learn the names
of these plants as well as the main
facts relative to their occurrence and
characters. In this connection especial
attention has been given to any
matters of human relation, such as
edible qualities, poisonous nature, ornamental
values, etc. In numerous
cases pains has been taken to record
facts concerning the use of these
plants made by the Indians or early
settlers, for such purposes as dyeing
and basketry. These things are of
sufficient historical and educational
worth to justify the space thus given
to them; but, in addition, it seems
probable that the revival of interest
in the handicrafts, which is coming
with industrial education, is prophetic
of the return to the usage
of some of these things. Certainly
it is a wholesome thing for all of us
to be reminded of such matters of
early woodcraft."

In connection with plant pathology
this significant statement was made:

"Clean seed, clean soil, clean crop,
should be the motto of every Wisconsin
potato grower. The potato is now
one of Wisconsin's important cash
crops and is destined to become even
more so. While it is grown successfully
everywhere, it is at its best in
the newer lands of the central and
northern sections, owing to the favorable
combination of climate and
soil conditions. At the outset, the
crop in this new territory is comparatively
free from disease. This not
only insures the greatest yield with
the least care, but it makes the crop
from these lands of especial value for
seed purposes. (Circular, Wisconsin
Agri. Exp. Sta. 30-54, Pg. 3-Circular
52.)

Dr. Ludwig Hektoen

I am glad to include in this series
of sketches an account of the life of
Dr. Hektoen, who was born on a farm
near the village of Westby on July 2,
1863. He is the son of Peter P. and
Olave Hektoen. He was married to
Ellen Strandh, July 7, 1891, at Habo,
Sweden. His methods are of especial
interest to the physicians of this region.

I became acquainted with the work
of Dr. Hektoen early during my work
as a teacher of bacteriology during
the nineties. My friend, Dr. A. J.
Ochsner, frequently mentioned his
name to me as a man who was doing
splendid work in bacteriology in connection
with contagious diseases of
man. I have followed his scientific
work with a great deal of interest, although
I am not familiar with his recent
work, because the subject of
bacteriology has not engaged my attention
in recent years.

Proud of Him

Western Wisconsin may well feel
proud of Dr. Hektoen, since his
achievements in pathology are outstanding
in the United States and he
ranks among the best pathologists of
the world. Dr. Hektoen's name is
starred in Cattell's American men of
science which is a full recognition
given to him by the contemporary
pathologists. His life should be an
inspiration to the youths of the land
who have aspirations to do something
worth while. He attended the public
schools of the community in which he
lived and had the usual experiences
of a farmer's boy until he went away
to school at the age of 14. After that
he spent the summer months on the

EARLY LA CROSSE 51

farm, until he became a medical student.

Dr. Hektoen graduated from Luther
college in 1883. Luther college
is one of the smaller denominational
colleges of the country. Its liberal
arts work is splendid. The training
received here gave him a strong foundation
for his future work. Luther
college gave him the A. M. degree in
1896. He was also a student at the
University of Wisconsin-working
under Dr. E. A. Birge. He received
his degree of doctor of medicine from
the College of Physicians and Surgeons,
Chicago, in 1887. In 1896
Rush Medical college also conferred
the M. D. degree on him. Dr. Hektoen
recognized the importance of
coming in contact with the best medical
men in Europe, he therefore studied
with eminent men in the Universities
of Berlin, Prague and Upsola,
1890 to 1896. In 1911 the University
of Christiania, Norway, conferred
on him the honorary degree of doctor
of medicine. In 1913 the honorary
degree of Sc. D. was conferred on him
by the University of Michigan. In
1916 the University of Wisconsin
conferred on him the same degree.
The degree of LLD. was conferred by
the University of Cincinnati in 1920.

His Professional Work

I suppose he served as an interne
in one of the Chicago hospitals. He
became pathologist to the Cook County
hospital in 1889, serving until
1903. He was lecturer on pathology
in Rush Medical college 1890-1892;
physician to the coroner's office, Chicago,
1890-1894; professor of pathology,
College of Physicians and Surgeons,
1892-1894; professor of morbid
anatomy, 1895-1898; professor of
pathology Rush Medical college, Chicago,
1898; head of the department
of pathology, University of Chicago,
since 1901; director of the John McCormick
Institute for Infectious Diseases
in 1901. Dr. Hektoen better
than anyone else in the country could
carry out the wishes of the founder
of the institute. It was natural that
an institute founded to study infectious
diseases should have been
founded by John McCormick and natural
that Dr. Hektoen should be selected
as the director. It was a recognition
of the importance of bacteriology
and a study of infectious diseases.

Memberships and Societies

Physicians and the progressive
citizenship of Illinois during the early
part of this century and in the nineties
became aroused at the numerous
cases of diseases resulting from certain
occupational diseases in industrial
centers. Regulation was needed
to cope with diseases following such
occupations. Adequate legislation
could not be formulated without an
investigation. A commission was created
to investigate the problem and
Dr. Hektoen became a member of
this commission serving from 1899-
1911. He rendered the state a fine
service on this commission. In addition
to these professional activities
Dr. Hektoen has been a director of
the John Crerar Library in 1923, and
a trustee of the Sprague Memorial Institute
the same year. He was chairman
of the medical division National
Research Council, 1924-1926. He
was president of the Association of
American pathologists and Bacteriologists
in 1902; vice president
medical section American Association
for the Advancement of Science
1909; member of National Academy
of Sciences and American Medical association,
Chicago Pathological society,
president from 1898-1902;
emeritus member American Physicians;
Chicago Medical society, president
1919-1921; Chicago Institute
for Medicine; honorary member Philadelphia
Pathological society; foreign
member Norwegian Medical society
and also foreign member Swedish
Medical society.

Editorial Work

Dr. Hektoen has shown great ability
as an editor. Since 1904 he has
been editor-in-chief of the Journal of
Infectious Diseases, one of the outstanding
technical bacteriological
journals of the world. The highly
technical articles of his own and
many of his own and other contributions,
edited by him, show his skill
and knowledge of the subject of bacteriology,
animal pathology and immunology.
His skill is also shown in
his editorial work in connection with
Durock's Pathologic Histology and
his important work as co-editor and
contributor to the American Textbook
of Pathology published in 1902
is recognized by all.

Scientific Papers

Dr. Hektoen has written many scientific

52 EARLY LA CROSSE

papers on pathology and bacteriology.
First, I am impressed with
the logical way of presenting the subject
matter; second, the citation of
the literature on the subject; third,
the clean concise English, and fourth,
the fine summary always given. Most
of the articles are too technical for
the average reader. In a paper on
"The Precipitin Reactions of Extracts
of Various Animal Parasites," the results
of these experiments indicate as
expected, that the precipitin reactions
of materials derived from animal
parasites follow the general law of
"species-specificness."

In a paper "The Precipitin Test for
Blood," which is of interest to us because
of the use now made by the legal
profession, he says:

"The study of immunity as manifested
by the reactions of the animal
body to microbes, toxins and protein
materials in general has given us
many tests of great value. Speaking
generally the only way now known to
trace protein substances back to their
source, that is, to the species from
which they come, is by means of their
immune reactions; and in the case of
blood and other animal products,
practically the only method for purposes
of biologic differentiation is
the precipitin test. Because of the
determination of the ultimate source
of blood spots and stains often is vital
to the administration of justice, the
precipitin test is of special forensic
value and interest, and it is primarily
from the mediocolegal point of view
that I wish to discuss the test at this
time.

The precipitin test rests on the fact
that when a suitable animal is injected
with foreign protein, its serum,
when mixed with a solution of the
foreign protein, will form a precipitate.
This reaction is due to the accumulation
in the blood of the injected
animal of newly produced substances,
which are called precipitins."

Studies Important

His studies of blood reaction isoagglutination
are an important addition
to our knowledge of medical science.
In a paper on "Old and New Knowledge
of Immunity," he tells us that
immunology may be divided into two
periods. (1) The premicrobic, from
remote times down to about 1880 and
this microbic or modern period down
to our day. I"t is said that, long before
the Christian era African peoples
let snakes bite their children in order
to protect them against bites by
venomous snakes." Dr. Hektoen tells
us that Dr. Thomas Fuller in 1739, a
country physician, made a clear statement
on immunity, and also tells us
about the work of Jenner in 1796 and
the work of Pasteur and others. Dr.
Hektoen certainly is familiar with every
phase of the literature of immunity.
He has shown this in all of his
papers. I was much interested in his
paper on Dr. Thomas Fuller, who was
born in 1654 and died in 1734. At
first a disbeliever in contagion. "The
pestilence can never breed the smallpox,
nor the small-pox the measles,
nor they the crystals or chicken-pox
and consequently one sort cannot be
a preservation against any other
sort."

Dr. Hektoen tells us this was the
wrong Fuller. "When the right Fuller
was found I was amazed to meet with
a neglected pioneer in the recognition
of the specificness of infectious diseases
and of immunity." Those who
may be interested in the early history
of contagious diseases will find
this paper of Dr. Hektoen on Dr. Fuller
of absorbing interest because he
was a good observer interested in
nature, a man with a masterly grasp
of the subject, as is shown in the account
given of the inoculation
against small-pox and his account of
the specific nature of infectious diseases.
Another most interesting pa-
per dealing with the early history of
infectious diseases is the one on "The
History of Experimental Scarlet Fever
in Man." He refers to the comment
of Erasmus Darwin on scarlet
fever stating that "this disease is contagious,"
in 1796. A paper on "Experimental
Measles," by Hektoen refers
to early inoculation made by
Francis Horne in 1759.

Style Well Known

The Hektoen literary style is well
shown in this paper:

"The only animal proved susceptible
to measles so far is the monkey,
but the susceptibility is not marked
and seems subject to variation. The
disease in the monkey is mild and
takes the form, after an incubation
of several days, of a brief fever, with
which may be associated more or less
typical skin changes, respiratory
symptoms. Koplik spots, and the

EARLY LA CROSSE 53

characteristic measles leukopenia.
The results in monkeys show that the
cause of measles is present in the
nasopharyngeal secretions and the
blood at least twenty-four hours be-
fore the rash, as well as for a day or
two afterward."

On scarlet fever he says:

"This brief review of the recorded
attempts to produce scarlet fever experimentally
in man reveals that it is
exceedingly doubtful whether a single
positive result has been obtained.
In view of the ease with which scarlet
fever appears to be transmitted
under natural conditions and the not
infrequent occurrence of surgical
scarlet fever, the failure of the efforts
at experimental transmission is
a perplexing puzzle that awaits solution."

Dr. Hektoen from a scientific and
medical standpoint has left a large
impression on the medical profession
of this country and western Wisconsin
may well be proud of his achievements.

NICHOLAS SENN

One of the great men of the country
who lived among us, so to speak,
in the vicinity of La Crosse, was Mr.
Nicholas Senn, the distinguished surgeon
and physician, one of the greatest
in the west. I never had the
pleasure of shaking hands with him,
but have heard him make a talk. He
was an imposing man of strong features,
kindly, animated and energetic.
His name was almost like a household
word to me.

Few Text Books

When I began to give instruction
in bacteriology at Ames, Iowa, in
1889, to my veterinary students,
there were not many text books on
the subject. There was a fine treatise
on bacteria by the celebrated
German botanist, Anton De Bary, of
the University of Strassburg; there
was a work by Dr. Cohn of the University
of Breslau, and other books
by Zopf, Klebs, Loeffler, Baumgarten,
all Germans. There were some
treatises by Louis Pasteur, Passet, a
few English lectures by Tyndall on
spontaneous generation, Klein's
Watson Cheyne, and Crookshank's
"Practical Bacteriology." It was refreshing
for a young man just starting
out to teach the subject of bacteriology,
(the first course given by)
me a year later to the general students
was the first in this country),
to get a book so full of information
as the work of Nicholas Senn on
"Surgical Bacteriology," published in
1889.

Dr. Senn was born in Buchs Canton
of St. Gall, Switzerland, October 31,
1844. He came to this country with
his parents, who settled in Ashford,
Wisconsin, in 1852. His early school
training was at Ashford. He graduated
from the Fond du Lac high
school in 1864. He began to study
medicine, as was the custom in those
days, with a practitioner, Dr. E.
Munk of Fond du Lac. He became a
student at the Chicago Medical college
in 1865 and graduated in 1868.

Shorter Training

In those days many of the medical
colleges gave only two to three years
of training. His graduation thesis
was on "The Modus Operandi of Digitalis
purpurea," another name for
fox glove. In 1869 he was married
to Miss Aurelia Muehlhauser of La
Crosse. He practiced in Ashford for
five years and then moved to Milwaukee
where he became attending physician
in the Milwaukee hospital. I
suppose that Dr. Senn did not feel
that he had sufficient training, therefore,
in 1877 he went to Europe to
study in MIunich, receiving a degree
in 1878. In Munich he devoted his
attention to research in medicine,
particularly in pathological studies.
Koch had made some important
studies in Anthrax, a matter that the
young man became familiar with.

It was during the Franco-Prussian
war that Koch made an important
contribution on wound infection,
which became well known to the
medical men of Germany. His country
practice had given him some
valuable experiences for his future
work. It was in his Milwaukee
home, under the sidewalk, night after
night, that he worked in his private
laboratory on some original investigations
which made him famous. He
moved to Chicago where he became
professor of surgery in the Chicago
College of Physicians and Surgeons,
and later professor of surgery and
clinical surgery at Rush Medical College,
resident physician, Cook County
hospital.

Abdominal Surgery

Of course Dr. Senn was best known

54 EARLY LA CROSSE

for his work in abdominal surgery.
His methods for the use of decalcified
bone plates for intestinal anastomoses
began to be used by the medical profession
after an extensive series of
experiments by Senn. This new
method revolutionized intestinal surgery
and made possible the many
later improvements in abdominal
surgery. Also his researches of intestinal
preparations on gunshot
wounds were valuable. The method
used by him was the inflation of the
gastro-intestinal tract with hydrogen
gas, as a means of detecting the perforation.
He also made valuable discoveries
in connection with tuberculosis.
His tumor studies also were
important.

His publications on surgery gave
him a fine reputation. He was in
the medical service of the United
States government during the Spanish-
American war, where he revolutionized
this branch of medical service;
He was founder of the Association
of Military Surgeons, and its
first president when it met in Milwaukee.
He left a large practice to
do this public service work for the
United States government.

This interesting incident occurred
during the Spanish-American war. It
was upon the occasion of the exchange
of Spanish and American
prisoners that he met the Spanish
surgeon, Rodondo, who was in charge
of the Spanish ambulance. Rodondo
said: "Not Nicholas Senn of Chicago?
Then if the army is composed
of men such as you we cannot hope
for success." The Spanish surgeon
afterward translated Senn's "Practice
of Surgery" in to Spanish.

Wrote Numerous Books

I am bringing Dr. Senn up in this
connection because of the numerous
scientific papers and books published
by him. Some of these are "Principles
of Surgery," "Tuberculosis of
Bones and Joints," "Contribution to
Intestinal Surgery," "Practice of Surgery,"
and "Surgical Bacteriology."
More than 300 papers are credited to
him. He was president of the American
Medical Association in 1891, and
the year following. He was also the
founder of the society of military
surgeons of Illinois, and during the
entire time of its existence, the president.
He was lieutenant-colonel in
charge of the medical work of the
Sixth Army Corps of the Spanish-
American war. He made a study of
typhoid fever. He was a member of
many medical societies in this country
and abroad. Several foreign societies
honored him by election to
their membership.

Familiar With Subject

First of all, it should be noted that
his papers bring out in a clear, logical
way the important points. One
marvels at his familiarity with the
literature of the subject. One only
has to look over the chapters dealing
with suppuration and pus infection
in his surgical bacteriology to
see what a thorough student he was.
The literary style is shown in the
following:

"The wonderful results which
were obtained by the antiseptic
treatment of wounds made it exceedingly
probable that all wound infective
diseases were caused by living
micro-organisms. The probability
was increased when Koch, in 1879,
showed the direct connection existing
between certain transmitted infective
diseases in animals and the
never-absent definite micro-organism."
Again read the succinct account
of tuberculosis:

"Of all microbic diseases, tuberculosis
is of the greatest interest and
importance to the surgeon. *** The
results obtained from the crude inoculation
experiments, which were
made by Villemin, pointed strongly
toward the infectiousness of tuberculosis,
and since that time diligent
search was made to discover and isolate
a specific micro-organism, which
should be characteristic of this disease.
** Theories were advanced,
microbes were found and described,
** but nothing definite was known
on the subject until Robert Koch in
1882, announced to the profession
his great discovery.

"The recent advances in surgical
pathology laid the foundation for
the wonderful accounts of modern
surgery."

Introduces Subject

In his work "The Principles of
Surgery," which is a broad, comprehensive
outlook of the subject of
surgery, and quite unlike most of the
previous works dealing with the subject
of surgery, he introduced the
subject of pathogenic bacteria. The
arrangement of the work is splendid,
it is logical. One naturally thinks

EARLY LA CROSSE 55

of regeneration as the first step of
the healing process after an operation
or injury, and the subject begins
with the regeneration, and the
literary style is shown as follows:
"Regeneration includes a multitude
of processes which are intended to
repair the normal physiological
waste of the tissues in the living
body, or to restore tissues lost by
injury or disease."

"Studied from the surgical aspect
regeneration includes the process observed
in the healing of wounds produced
by a trauma, and the complete
or partial restoration of parts
damaged or destroyed by the action
of chemical substances, extremes of
cold or heat, and the various destructive
inflammatory processes caused
by the presence of specific pathogenic
micro-organisms.

Dr. Senn was somewhat of a traveller.
He visited Asia Minor, Egypt,
Europe, and South America, where
he climbed one of the high peaks,
16,0ff0 feet, which hastened his
death, which was due to chronic interstitial
myocarditis.

Donates Library

Dr. Senn gave his fine library to
the Newberry. now John Crear, library.
The Senn clinical building
of Rush Medical College, the Senn
professorship and Senn fellowship,
and the endowment of the Senn
rooms in the St. Joseph's Hospital
for the profession are other benefactions.

He was a great man, towering
above many of his profession, honest,
generous beyond measure. He
wanted to aid his fellow man. The
Journal of the American Medical Association
for 1908 has a fine sketch
of his life.

A modern work in English on the
principles of surgery had become a
general and ever recognized necessity,
and Senn, therefore, produced
a notable piece of work in his book
on surgery.

After his death the funeral services
were held on January 5, 1908.
The Reverend Frank W. Gunsaulus
officiated and the Second Illinois Infantry
acted as escort. "Nicholas
Senn was truly great; master of his
profession; a patriot, always ready
to sacrifice his personal interests
and comfort for the service of his
adopted country; intensely loyal to
his friendship; generous to a fault;
simple minded; too honest to harbor
suspicions; a man of singularly clean
speech, never profane or vulgar."

He had great capacity for work
which was shown in the numerous
scientific papers he has produced. A
man with a marvellous mind, who
could cite off-hand many of the authorities
used by him in his lectures
and papers. He knew just where the
publications were found.

DR. A. L. BAKKE

Among the scientific men who lived
in La Crosse for some time I want
to mention the name of Dr. A. L.
Bakke. Dr. A. L. Bakke was born
near Horace, North Dakota, on June
26, 1886. Dr. Bakke is of Scandinavian
descent and the Scandinavians
have been an integral part in the development
of La Crosse, and this article
I think, will be of interest to a
great number of people in this vicinity.
He lived in North La Crosse between
1890 and 1894, and attended
the public schools of North La
Crosse.

His grandfather, Mr. Ole Bakkee,
lived near Decorah. The P. 0. Rask
family, relatives of Dr. Bakke, still
live in North La Crosse.

To Forest City

Dr. Bakke afterward moved to
Forest City where he attended the
high school, and he graduated from
Iowa State College in 1909, received
his Master of Science degree in 1911,
received his Doctor's degree from
the University of Chicago in 1917.
He was instructor in science at Elgin
Academy, Illinois, and made instructor,
assistant professor, and later
associate professor and professor
of Botany, Iowa State College, in addition
to plant physiologist of the
experiment station. Dr. Bakke was
associated with the Desert laboratory,
Tucson, Arizona, 1913-14, also
connected as assistant plant physiologist,
U. S. Department of Agriculture
1914, 1917-1918.

He is a member of numerous scientific
societies, and also a member of
several honorary societies. He has
published numerous valuable scientific
papers along the line of plant
physiology. One of the important
papers published by him that is of
interest to city dwellers was "The
effect of city smoke upon plants",
also an important paper in connection
with the wilting in plants, and another

56 EARLY LA CROSSE

paper on the effect of weeds
upon crop production.

I have followed the career of Dr.
Bakke with a great deal of interest
since he came to me as a student in
the fall of 1906. He is a man of
pleasing personality and he has made
his impress in plant physiology work
in the state of Iowa and elsewhere.

PROFESSOR ARTHUR RANUM

Professor Arthur Ranum, one of
the outstanding mathematicians of
this county, was born in La Crosse,
Wisconsin, December 13, 1870. Dr.
Ranum lived a long time in North La
Crosse, and was associated with many
of the present Scandinavians living
in that part of the city of La Crosse.

Professor Ranum received his A.
B. degree, University of Minnesota,
1892; fellow in Cornell University,
1893-96, and fellow in University of
Chicago, 1896-97; received his Ph.
D. degree from the University of Chicago
in 1906. He was professor of
mathematics and astronomy, University
of the state of Washington, 1897-
1904; instructor in mathematics,
University of Wisconsin, 1904-1905,
then became assistant at Stanford
University, 1905-1906; instructor
Cornell, 1906-1910, then made assistant
professor, and in 1923 full professor.
He has published more than
twenty scientific mathematical papers
which are said to be of the highest
type.

W. D. MacMILLAN

NE of the notable scientists of the
country born in La Crosse on July
24, 1871, and reared here, is Dr. William
Duncan MacMillan. The fine
brick residence of D. D. MacMillan
on the corner of West avenue and
Cass street opposite the John Paul
residence, was familiar to all of the
older residents of La Crosse. The
father of Dr. MacMillan died in Chicago
in 1908 and came to La Crosse,
Wisconsin, in 1856, being one of the
La Crosse pioneers, who prospered
in the lumber business. He married
Mary Jane MacCrea. Mr. D. D. MacMillan
engaged in the lumber business
with Alexander MacMillan, the
firm name being A. & D. D. MacMillan.
He retired from the lumber
business in the eighties. Mr. MacMillan
was president of the Black
River Improvement company and
president of the State Bank of La
Crosse for many years. Mr. and Mrs.
MacMillan were universally respected
people of this community. As a
business man he has left an enviable
record. A sister of W. D. MacMillan,
Mrs. J. A. Rowles, lives in La Crosse,
and two brothers, John H., is president
of the Cargill Elevator company
of Minneapolis, and Daniel D.
is vice president of the same company.

Graduated Here

Dr. MacMillan graduated from the
La Crosse high school in 1888. He
attended Lake Forest college in
1889-1890, University of Virginia in
1895. He received the degree A. B.
from Fort Worth University in 1898.
Master of Arts, University of Chicago
in 1906, and Ph. D. in 1908.

He was research assistant in geology
in the University of Chicago in
1907-1908 and associate in mathematics
University of Chicago in 1908-1909,
instructor in astronomy from
1909-1912; assistant professor from
1912-1919; associate professor from
1819 to 1924, and was made full
professor in 1924. He served in the
late war as major in the Ordnance
department of the U. S. army. He is
a member of many scientific associations,
Fellow in the American Association
for the Advancement or
Science, member of the Royal Astronomical
society, American Mathematical
society, American Astronomical
and Astrophysical society, Society
Astronomique de France, member
Quadrangle club, Chicago. MacMillan's
name is starred in Dr. Cattell's
"American Men of Science." That
means his associates in mathematics
and astronomy consider him one of
the outstanding men in his field in
this country. He has made many important
scientific contributions in
pure mathematics. It would be impossible
for me to review these contributions
because they would not be
intelligible to a non-mathematician
and, therefore, I shall not review
these for the La Crosse Tribune.
Suffice is to say these contributions
are outstanding. I feel sure that Dr.
F. R. Moulton of the University of
Chicago who has been especially interested
in celestial mechanics and
astronomy, did much to stimulate
Dr. MacMillan's interest in astronomy,
as did Dr. Thomas C. Chamberlin
and Dr. Salisbury in geology. In
mathematics, Dr. MacMillan published

EARLY LA CROSSE 57

such papers as Elliptic Functions,
Periodic Orbits, Real and Implicit
Celestial Mechanics. During the past
ten years of his life Dr. MacMillan
has been interested in cosmology. He
tells us in an excellent paper published
in Science (62: No. 1595, '96 '97
X), Some Mathematical Aspects of
Cosmology, an invitation paper read
before the American Mathematical
society in 1925:

His Paper

"Cosmogny deals only with the
mode of origin of the various celestial
objects. But the mode of origin is
of no more interest than the mode
of dissolution, and both of these are
but particular stages in a process of
transformation that goes on unceasingly.
The study of these transformations
in their widest possible aspect
is what I understand by the
word cosmology. It does not belong
to astronomy any more than it does
to physics and chemistry, for cosmology
is as much concerned with the
life history of molecules, atoms and
electrons and their inter-relations, as
it is with the life history of planets,
stars and galaxies. If it were a mature
subject, instead of being, as at
present, a mere infant, the crystal,
the cell and the living organism
would play a role which we might
well call vital. To the cosmologist
each of these things is a physical unit
which comes into existence, plays its
allotted role upon the stage of time,
and passes out of existence. The
mode of its organization is definite,
its properties are specific, and is dissolution
is liable to be more or less
abrupt or catastrophic. Throughout
all these transformations we recognize
that there is something which
persists, and that something we call
energy. Energy itself is not defined,
but it can be measured and with that
measurement we must remain content,
for the thing itself escapes us."

Dr. MacMillan is responsible for
giving us an entirely new picture of
cosmic evolution. In a letter to me
he says:

"You will see from these papers
that I have constructed an entirely
new picture of cosmic evolution--extending
our ideas in the domain of
time as widely as the astronomers
have extended our ideas in the domain
of space. I am responsible for
the idea, which you may or may not
have noticed in recent scientific literature,
that the energies of the stars
is derived from the consumption of
their masses and that the stars are
very old as compared with the ideas
of their age which was formerly entertained.
Also that matter is generated
by the radiation of the stars out
in what we call empty space. These
ideas are quite largely prevalent at
the present time."

Comment on Planets

He makes a further interesting
comment on the matter of life on
other planets:

"There is a corollary to such a
universe as we have postulated that
has a strong human appeal. Life is
not a phenomenon peculiar to the
earth. It exists upon the earth because
the conditions upon the earth
have been favorable for a sufficiently
long period of time. In the past
million years or so, it has developed
a certain small degree of intelligence,
and the race of man is beginning
to pry into the secrets of
nature with a real curiosity. Elsewhere
in an infinite universe there
are other suitable abodes, infinitely
many, with races of living beings upon
them. Some of these races are
young, some of them are vastly older
than ours, more highly developed,
much wiser. Such races existed before
the earth was formed or even
before the sun started upon its career
as a star; after the earth and even
after the sun has passed out of existence,
other races of living beings
elsewhere will be repeating with infinite
variations the experiences
which we are having upon the earth
at the present time.

"Atoms, living beings, stars and
galaxies are permanent forms in the
universe. It is the individuals only
that come and go."

Then there is this interesting comment
of the physical universe as infinite:

"For myself, I wish to think of the
physical universe as infinite-it jars
upon my sensibilities to think of it
otherwise. I am unwilling to admit
that we occupy an essentially peculiar
position in either space or time. As
for the universe as a whole, it has
always been and always will be essentially
as it is today. It is infinite,
eternal and unchangeable."

58 EARLY LA CROSSE

On the Universe

And on the structure of the universe
he says:

"The phrase, 'the structure of the
universe,' is apt to bring to mind only
the great and majestic forms which
are revealed to us by the telescope,
the stars, nebulae and galaxies. In
the present discussion, however, I
wish to include in one view the entire
range of physical things from
the infinitesimal to the infinite; for
to the mathematician there is no such
thing as absolute size-a thing is
either large or small only by comparison.

"Up to the present time we have
succeeded in extending our vision
equally, so to speak, in both directions.
We find ourselves almost midway
in a series of physical units. On
the one side we have the electrons,
atoms and molecules, and on the
other we have the ordinary masses,
stars and galaxies. The galaxies are
more or less definite aggregations of
stars. The stars are amazingly great
organizations of hot gases."

He tells us in a paper on cosmic
evolution that the source of the
sun's heat does not lie in the gravitational
contraction of the sun:

"It is true that if the sun had contracted
from infinity to its present
size the heat thus generated would
be sufficient to supply the sun's present
rate of radiation for about 20
millions of years. Not only is there
no evidence that the sun was ever
larger than it is at present, but even,
though we grant that it was larger,
20 millions of years is altogether inadequate
to satisfy the geological requirements
as to the age of the
earth."

Then he tells us that the estimates
of Chamberlain and Lord Rayleigh
places the age of the earth from
three billion to ten billion years. It
is interesting to note when the dynamics
of the stellar systems are
noted that there are 80 groups of
stars in the globular star clusters,
they contain many thousands of
stars. Dr. MacMillan has in his paper
given a splendid graphic account
of stellar energies and the greatness
of this universe. It is worth while
for the layman to read this fascinat-
ing story as well. And he tells the
story in a masterful way, clear, concise
and splendid English. He tells
us in another paper in the French
Journal Scientia:

"It is clearly not true that every
statement can be proved or disproved;
for there are many propositions
which are wholly outside of the domain
of evidence. In the foundations
of every system of thought there lie,
and there must lie, assumptions
which cannot be proved, and words
that cannot be defined. These assumptions
and undefined concepts
constitute the very essence of the
system and define its character, if
we grant that the logic is faultless."

Knows Astronomy

Dr. MacMillan has a splendid grasp
of the literature of astronomy,
physics and geology. One has only
to glance through the splendid paper
"Problems of Cosmogony and Stellar
Dynamics," published in the Astrophysical
Journal (51: No. 5):

"The discovery of the radioactive
processes some 20 years ago seemed
for a time to offer the astronomers a
way out of their embarrassment, but
at best the relief was but a partial
one, and their time estimates are far
below the demands of the geologists.
But worse was still to come, from the
Laplacian point of view. Not only
have the geologists attacked the Laplacian
implication as to time, but
they have also attacked the Laplacian
implication as to a once molten earth.
Professor T. C. Chamberlin finds the
evidences of earth structure out of
harmony with a once molten condition,
and in collaboration with Professor
F. R. Moulton has offered a
hypothesis as to the origin of the
planetary system which is more acceptable
than the Laplacian hypothesis,
not only to many geologists
but also to many astronomers. The
formulation of the planetesimal hypothesis
by Chamberlin and Moulton
has necessarily involved renewed attacks
upon the Laplacian hypothesis,
so that even Jeans casts his vote
against it so far as the formation of
the planetary system is concerned."

In this review he has gone into
the conservative nature of man.
When a theory is once established it
persists generation after generation
like the Laplacian nebular hypothesis.
Dr. MacMillan occupies a
large place in the science of astronomy
and La Crosse may well be proud
of one of its great sons.

EARLY LA CROSSE 59

I want to express my obligation to
Mr. Wells Bennett for many courtesies
shown me in the preparation
of several articles on file including
this one.

Sheldon Jackson

An early Presbyterian missionary
at La Crescent, who introduced the
reindeer in Alaska.

Early in May, 1927 I told Professor
P. W. Jacobson of Coe college,
that I was writing a series of sketches
about early La Crosse. He said,
"you should mention Rev. Sheldon
Jackson, who at one time lived in the
village of La Crescent, where he established
a Presbyterian mission."
That set me to finding some records
of his life and the time he spent in
that field. He was missionary to the
Choctaw Indians, Indian Territory
(Oklahoma) in 1858. As the climate
was unsuitable for him he was
transferred as missionary to western
Wisconsin and southern Minnesota,
and became pastor of the Presbyterian
church at La Crescent, Minn., in
1859. He held services in various
Presbyterian churches and missions.
During the service at La Crescent he
was agent of the United States Christian
Commission of the Army of the
Cumberland, in 1863. In La Crescent,
a rival of La Crosse, streets and
avenues had been laid out. The
boom, however, collapsed. I have no
doubt that Sheldon Jackson actually
held services in La Crosse, Wis.

Schools and Reindeer

Most of us have heard something
about him in connection with the introduction
of the reindeer in Alaska.
It is singular, how we think of persons.
I thought of him only as connected
with the school system of
Alaska and the reindeer.

Reverend Sheldon Jackson was
born in Minaville, Montgomery county,
New York, May 18, 1834 and died
May 1, 1909, at Asheville N. C. He
was the son of Samuel Clinton and
Delia Sheldon Jackson. His early
training was in the public schools.
He graduated from Union College,
Schenectady, N. Y., in 1855, and
Princeton Theological Seminary in
1858. He was licensed to preach by
the Albany Presbytery May 14, 1857,
and ordained May 5, 1858 by the
same presbytery. He was married to
Mary Voorhees May 18, 1858 and
then located as a foreign missionary
at Spencer Academy, Indian Territory,
from which he was transferred
to La Crescent, Minn. The further
story of his life work is a most interesting
chapter in missionary work
of this country. In 1864 he became
pastor of a church at Rochester,
Minn., having general oversight of
the church of that denomination in
southern Minnesota until 1869 when
he moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa. In
that year he was appointed superintendent
of Missions for Iowa, Nebraska,
the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana
and Utah, without salary. Three
missionaries were selected by him,
whose support he pledged. It was
possible for him to carry on this
work through contributions from
friends. He was the chief supporter
of the woman's executive committee
which later became the Woman's
Board of Home Missions.

To Denver Next

Denver was his next field of operation.
In March, 1872, a Presbyterian
periodical was established, in
that field the publication of which
he continued until 1882, when it was
transferred to the Board of Home
Missions. His work as a missionary
became so important that he was
transferred to the Board of Home
Missions in New York. He was a
commissioner of the General Assemblies
of this church in 1860, 1865,
1867, 1870, 1880, 1897, 1898. He
was chosen Moderator in 1897. He
helped organize the Synod of St.
Paul, Colorado, 1870; Washington,
Chippewa, southern Minnesota, Wyoming,
1871; Montana, 1872; Alaska,
1884. He was a tremendously
active man, establishing 150 churches.
His travels covered a large territory,
1,675,000 square miles, and
travel in pioneer days was not easy,
in covered wagons, steamboats, stages,
on horseback, and on foot, and
on the pioneer railroads. The hardships
can never be told graphically
and it is really too bad that this has
not been attempted in this case.

Dr. Jackson saw the need of some
great work in Alaska, when he visited
that remote territory in August,
1877. He became the first ordained
missionary from the United
States to Alaska. The orthodox Russion
Greek church had its representatives
distributed over the territory,
but the work was not altogether effective.
Sheldon Jackson located a

60 EARLY LA CROSSE

teacher at Fort Wrangall, and established
the North Star newspaper at
Sitka, Alaska. He was interested in
science and ethnology, helping to establish
a society of Natural History
and Ethnology. He became deeply
interested in education and missionary
work, as shown in letters written
to the commissioner of education,
Honorable John Eaton. In these letters
he deplores the lack of education
and tells how the natives appreciated
the establishment of elementary
schools. He was appointed superintendent
of education in Alaska in
1885.

Few Educated

He tells us in these letters how few
of the Alaskan people were educated;
how he helped put an end to the
practice of selling of the daughters;
how through education he helped
stop the practice of witchcraft. In
some of these early letters, written
from Denver, Colo., he tells us graphically
about the work at Sitka and at
Fort Wrangall. On October 20th,
1879, he said: "The desire for education
is universal." His work seems
to have impressed its worth upon the
United States government. In 1879
he was accompanied by Henry Kendall,
these two men having been commended
by John Sherman and Carl
Schurz to make the investigation of
Alaska. This investigation made by
Dr. Jackson brought out the necessity
of doing something for the starving
natives. He proposed to the government
that it sponsor the introduction
of the Lapland reindeer and use
the natives as herders. He purchased
through private funds some rein-
deer. From this early beginning and
later importations there are now
350,000 head-110 herds. In addition
125,000 have been killed for
food and clothing. In 1924 and 1925
one million pounds of reindeer were
shipped from Alaska.

The government began to introduce
reindeer in 1893. He was special
agent for the United States government
to secure Laplanders for
Alaska in 1898. He was sent by the
government to Lapland and Norway
to buy reindeer, where he purchased
five hundred and thirty-nine, and secured
a colony of one hundred and
thirteen Laplanders to look after
them. He organized the first reindeer
mail service in Alaska in 1898
and 1899. He was commissioner to
represent Alaska at the International
Exposition, City of Mexico, 1896.
He was awarded two diplomas and
two medals at the World's Columbian
Exposition, 1893, and the PanAmerican
Exposition, Buffalo, 1901.

Delivered 3,000 Addresses

Dr. Jackson did a prodiguous work
from 1869 to 1898. He delivered
more than three thousand missionary
addresses. In addition to the establishment
of churches and schools he
helped found a college in Utah in
1895, through an inheritance he received.

The missionary did a great piece
of constructive work for education
and for agriculture for Alaska.

It is to be regretted that his papers
and letters have not been brought together.
They would tell a most fascinating
story. He prepared the
handbook on Alaska, Alaska and Missions
of North Pacific coast in 1880.
Education in Alaska, (Wash. 1881),
a paper on the introduction of reindeer
in Alaska, first Annual Report
on Education in Alaska (188E). He
was on the editorial advisory council
on the publication of the World's
Best Orations, eleven volumes,
World's Best Essays, ten volumes,
besides he supervised the publication
of the many reports for the Bureau
of Education in Alaska. He received
the degree D. D. from Hanover College,
Indiana, in 1874, and L. L. D.
from Union University, New York,
in 1897.

Towards the end of his life he lived
at The Concord in Washington, D. C.
His office was with the United States
Bureau of Education, Washington,
the Alaskan Division.

The fine ethnological collection
collected by him was given to Prince-
ton University.

Life is Inspiration

Dr. Jackson's life is one of inspirations.
He left a rich legacy for the
Christian church and his life is one
worthy of emulation. There were no
impassable barriers for him to climb
He accomplished his great task almost
single handed. His was a modest
life, lived in the age of constructive
pioneering. We of his generation
owe much to men of the Jackson
and Bishop Whipple type.

I am indebted to Reverend L. Myron
Boozer for giving me some additional
facts on "The Last Chapter of

EARLY LA CROSSE 61

Sheldon Jackson's Life," by Rev.
Clarence G. Reynolds, D. D. Mr. Renolds
said:

"In the providence of God, the
closing of the life of Dr. Sheldon
Jackson was written in Asheville. It
was appropriate that the great missionary
should finish his earthly career
and start on his journey to the
Celestial City from the delectable
mountains of this 'Land of the Sky,'
where are located the Asheville
Schools, the pride of the Woman's
Board of Home Missions, of which
Dr. Jackson was the founder thirty
years ago.

"His coming among us was his joy
and our benediction. Since he was
known by every girl and boy of our
schools as 'Dear Dr. Jackson.' He
was genial and deeply interested in
the young folk.

Loved Comradeship

"He loved comradeship. He sat at
our tables and dropped into our homes
without formality, posting himself on
the news of the (lay and the progress
of the kingdom of his Divine
Master. Sometimes we persuaded him
to tell of his experiences. He never
regarded himself as a hero, and spoke
as if the hardness he had endured
was not worth mentioning.

"His last address was memorable.
It was in the Oakland Heights
Church less than three weeks before
his death. to the pupils of the schools,
the French Broad Presbytery, the
Woman's Presbyterial Society, and a
multitude of outsiders. He spoke with
old-time vigor and enthusiasm.

"The young people who heard him
that day will never forget him, and
influences were started that will count
for eternity. He worshipped with us
the next Sabbath, but was unable to
attend services the Sabbath following,
and on Monday went to the hospital
to undergo an operation. The brave
man made ,a great fight, but was not
to be spared.

"All day Saturday, May 1st, and
all night we watched the great man
slipping away. Then, just as the
Sabbath dawn was breaking, Sheldon
Jackson, like a great ocean liner,
'crossed the bar' and was gone beyond
our horizon. A Memorial Service was
held in the Oakland Heights Presbyterian
Church, Asheville. N. C. Funeral
services were held in the Church
of the Covenant, Washington, D. C.,
Tuesday, May 4. It was a distinguished
gathering.

"The burial was in the old home
cemetery at Minaville, N. Y.
" 'So He giveth His beloved sleep.' "

His Autobiography

The following autobiography of
Sheldon Jackson's life. It has not
been published in any of the biographies
I have seen. It is a most fascinating
story and I am sure will interest
the Tribune readers:

"I was born in Minaville, New
York, in 1834, Valley of the Mohawk.
My father was a well-to-do farmer.
I was sent through the usual routine
of schools, Union College, Princeton
Theological Seminary, where I graduated
in 1858, when I was ordained:
graduated, ordained and married
within one week. The missionary
meeting in the seminary called my attention
to Foreign Missions. A band
of us held a Sabbath evening prayer
meeting in our rooms where we cultivated
a spirit of missions. But my
applications to the Board of Foreign
Missions were refused because of the
physician's certificate. I offered for
Bogota. S. A., an intimate friends of
mine having been appointed to Brazil
to open a mission there. The Board
declined sending me there also, on account
of health, but as they could get
me home easy did commission me for
the Choctaw meetings. They thought
I was not strong, but I had an iron
constitution with the exception of
dyspepsia. My wife and I went to St.
Louis across the country, and took a
river steamer down to the mouth of
the White River, Arkansas, and
staged across to Little Rock. Staged
it down through Arkansas to a county
seat-a town by the name of Washington.
From there we hired a private conveyance to take us across
to the mission which was our destination.
That was in 1858. During
that first year I had three attacks of
malarial fever, which necessitated my
going North for health, and in the
fall of 1865 I settled in Minnesota, in
order to get beyond the malaria. In
Minnesota I remained ten years, doing
the pioneer work, covering an
area of country 160 miles long and
an average breadth of 75 to 100
miles.

Began Preaching

"I was preaching; started in ,a
hard place, but my commissioner said
he would like to have me try it, and
I stayed over five years. No Presbyterians
in the place. My first communion

62 EARLY LA CROSSE

was just two women and myself.
Then I went into the service of
the Board on a salary of $300-in
Minnesota we sometimes suffered on
this salary. My wife used to take the
bread and potatoes to bed with her to
keep them from freezing so that we
would have something to eat in the
morning. After ten years in Minnesota,
the Iowa Senate asked the
Board of Home Missions to appoint
me. I agreed that if the Presbyterians
of Northern Iowa would appoint me
I would come and serve without salary.
I went to Council Bluffs in 1869.
The superintendent of the railroad
told me that at the end of the divisions
there would be repair shops and
small populations, and I went to those
points and organized Presbyterian
Churches in every one for a thousand
miles around. I supplied the churches
as far as I could, and I also got ministers
for them. I went East and got
money to support these missions. I
ran a little Board of Home Missions
on my own hook, and the Board of
Home Missions commissioned most of
the men I had set to work, and also
myself. During that year I raised over
$8,000. I was fifty miles ahead of the
locomotive at Denver. I have organized
over one hundred churches. I
had free passes on all stage lines over
the whole western coast from
Nebraska to the Pacific Coast, and
from Mexico to Canada. I was sometimes
absent from home six weeks or
two months. Staged it twice to the
Pacific Coast-south through Colorado
and New Mexico to Messilla;
then west through New Mexico and
Arizona across to Los Angeles, Cal.,
and so on down to Santa Monica. In
1875, in a stage ride across Arizona,
I found that the Board of Home Missions
had a missionary in every state
and territory of the United States except
Arizona and Alaska, and I wrote
to Dr. Kendall that the best salutation
they could make to the Centennial
would be to announce that the Presbyterian
Church was represented in
every state and territory in the United
States, which meant that they
should send missionaries to Arizona
and Alaska.

To Eastern Oregon

"In 1877 the Board sent me into
eastern Oregon and eastern Washington
to make a tour of inspection
and see what was necessary to
be done for the establishment of
the Presbyterian Churches in that
region. When I got there the Chief
Joseph War had broken out, and the
farmers had fled and the villages
were depopulated, and there was no
(hence for mission work. At the
General Assembly held in Chicago,
preceding that trip, a letter was
placed in my hands by one of the
commissioners from Oregon or Washington,
pleading for a missionary id
Alaska. The letter was published in
The Interior of Chicago, and the
original given to the Board of Home
Missions, who, at their first meeting
after the Assembly, appointed a missionary
for Alaska. Before he heard
of his appointment he had accepted a
call to a church in California, and
never went to Alaska. When I
reached eastern Oregon and found the
country practically depopulated by
the Indian scare, I thought it was a
good opportunity to go on through
Oregon, which I did in 1877. Finding
in Portland Mrs. A. R. McFarland,
who, with her husband, had been in
charge of the mission church at Santa
Fe, New Mexico. under my control,
looking for a field, her husband having
died, I took her with me to Alaska
and left her there in charge of a
school which had been established by
a native Christian from the British
missions. Returning to the East, I
raised the money from the Board of
Home Missions to pay Mrs. McFarland's
salary, and which enabled them
to erect a suitable building for her.

Sent His East

"At the same time I continued my
superintendencey of the Rocky Mountain
region. In 1584 the Board took
me East. Among the Indians my work
was establishing schools, getting
teachers, ministers, etc. In 1884,
through my personal representations,
the Hon. Benjamin Harrison, then
United States Senator, pushed the
matter of legislation in Congress and
secured an appropriation for Alaska,
under which a small proportion was
made for government schools for the
church of that country without distinction
of race. When the government
came to look around for some-
one to take charge of those schools, I
was selected and appointed by the
Secretary of the Interior as educational
missionary for Alaska, the
Board of Home Missions appointing
me as Presbyterian missionary for
the same region.

"In 1890 I was sent by the government
to see to the establishment of

EARLY LA CROSSE 63

schools among the Esquimaux in Alaska,
north of the Arctic Circle. Upon
arriving there I found that they were
decreasing in numbers through a lack
of food. The whales and walruses
along the coast, which had for ages
previous furnished their forefathers
with an abundance of food supply,
had been nearly destroyed by the
American whalemen. In the interior
of the country the introduction of
loaded fire-arms was destroying the
fur-bearing animals which were used
as food, more rapidly than they could
increase, so that the whole country at
times was on the verge of famine.

Finds Uncivilized People

"Visiting the Siberian coast the
same year I found an uncivilized, barbarous
people, similar to those on the
coast of Alaska, having an abundance
of food through the possession of
large herds of tame reindeer. The natives
of Siberia were well fed, and
the question was agitated among the
officers of the ship and myself what
to do for the famishing people of
Alaska. Some thought Congress
should be asked to feed them, but this
would have a pampering effect in the
end. Seeing these reindeer in Siberia
suggested to me the idea of the government
purchasing a number of them
and transporting them to Alaska and
teaching the Esquimaux their management
and care. Application was
made to Congress for an appropriation
for this purchase, but they were
skeptical with regard to its being
practical, and declined doing anything.
Then it was suggested that
the reindeer was not such a fastidious
animal that it would not bear transportation,
and others said that if we
transported them the Indian dogs
would destroy them. Failing to receive
aid from Congress, application
was made through the newspapers of
New York, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia
for contributions to make the
experiment, and benevolent people
sent in some $2,000. In 1891 sixteen
head of reindeer were purchased in
Siberia, kept on shipboard three
weeks and finally landed on the Island
of Unalaska, 1000 miles from
where they were taken on board.
This demonstrated that they could be
bought and transported. In 1892, 164
head were purchased and placed in a
herd on the American side of Behring
Straits. Four trained Siberian herds-
men were brought over to take charge
of them, and some fifteen or twenty
Esquimaux young men were associated
with the Siberians as apprentices.

Appropriation Made

"In 1893, the experiment being
;successful, Congress made a small appropriation
and has continued its an-
nually since. In all, up to the present,
something over 500 have been purchased
in Siberia. From those over
500 have been born, so that at the
present time there is a herd divided
in three bands, aggregating about
1100. In 1894, some seven families of
Laps were brought over from Lapland
as instructors of the Esquimaux
young men in the management of
reindeer. The present season it is the
intention to send thirty head of reindeer,
trained to harness, into the
newly found gold mines of central
Alaska for the purpose of freighting
provisions from the mines there; so
that the experiment of introducing a
new food supply, which was intended
to save the Esquimaux people from
starvation, is proving likewise valuable
to the development of the country
by the whites.

Reverend P. WV. Jacobson

Reverend P. W. Jacobson, who is
professor of Bible History at Coe college,
was born at Lanesboro, Minn.,
had his public school education in
that county, and graduated from the
Macalester college, St. Paul, Minn.,
in 1903, and later attended the McCormick
Theological eminary,
where he graduated in 1906.
His first charge was the Home
Mission church at Ely, Minnesota,
1906 to 1909, then he was pastor
at the Presbyterian church at Panora,
Iowa, for four years, 1909 to 1913,
and later at Knoxville, 1913 to 1917,
and at the Central Presbyterian
church at Central Park, Cedar Rapids,
Iowa, 1917 to 1927. He became
connected with Coe college in 1923
and at present is professor of Bible
history. Coe college conferred the degree
D. D. on him in 1923.

He has published numerous news
paper articles. He is a forceful and
pleasing speaker. He has left his
impress not only upon the communities
where he has lived, largely
through lectures and his work from
the pulpit, but also upon the student
body at Coe college. He is noted
for his fine diction.
It is a pleasure to me, also, to include
this man in with the history

64 EARLY LA CROSSE

of La Crosse, as Lanesboro is only
a short distance from La Crosse. His
parents were married in La Crosse in
1872 and lived in the city for a
time.

IN the preparation of these articles
I have scanned the La Crosse library,
and the library in the city of
Milwaukee. I appreciate the splendid
cooperation from Miss Lily M. E.
Borreson of the La Crosse library as
well as from Miss Anna A. Nunns of
the state historical department, Madison,
and John P. James of the reference
library of Chicago, I am, also,
indebted to Mr. Carl Kurtenacker and
Mr. Robert W. Lowry of La Crosse,
Prof. Albert H. Sanford and Mr.
Mark Byers of the La Crosse Tribune
for information. To each of these I
wish to express my thanks for this
kind cooperation.

Literary Men

In this series of letters I will take
up some of the men and women who
have had an influence in the literary
life of La Crosse. As far hack as 1856
a debating society was formed in the,
then village, of La Crosse. Lectures
were given by such men as F. A.
Moore, "His Views of the Times;"
D. W. Gillfillian on "Know-Nothingism,"
and H. E. Hubbard on "Women's
Rights", and "Prohibitory
Laws".

The Press of La Crosse has always
been open to a discussion of
public questions and open to those
who ventured out in the field of literary
endeavor. The editors of these
various papers have made many fine
contributions.

Mr. Charles Seymour. with whom I
was acquainted in the seventies made
a fine contribution to the history of
the La Crosse Press in "History of
La Crosse County" published in 1881.
Mr. Seymour occupied positions of
trust for the United States government
as one of our consuls in China.
He became the postmaster of La
Crosse in 1872. He said in this history:
"It must be truthfully said
that in dispensing their patronage to
the Press the citizens of La Crosse
have been tolerant and magnanimous;
as they have been reasonably
generous to journals of all parties."
In reviewing the influence of the
press Mr. Seymour notes that the
records of current history, the local
press should be preserved for future
reference. He notes it was impossible
for him to have access to complete
files of the press.

Splendid Work

Mr. Seymour, a dark complexion-
ed, courteous gentleman of the old
school wrote splendid articles for the
La Crosse Republican. I did not
know Mr. Seymour while he was associated
with Leonard Lottridge in
the publication of the Independent
Republican which was a contemporary
of the Democrat published by
Mr. Pomeroy.

Charles Seymour edited a straight
going Republican paper while Pomeroy
a democratic organ. They did not
mince words in expressing themselves
on city, state and national politics.
This is all interesting history. I recall
a little incident that occurred at
the county fair in West Salem in the
late seventies. Mr. Seymour had
been invited to make an address. He
eloquently espoused the cause of Republicanism
and made some allusion
to agriculture. Just as he was about
through with his address some one
saw Mr. Pomeroy driving in front of
the speaker's stand and called out
"Brick Pomeroy." Pomeroy was of
course invited to speak. He at once
launched a tirade against Mr. Seymour
and the principles for which
he stood. It seemed to me quite uncalled
for.

Delighted in Sarcasm

Mr. Pomeroy delighted in sarcasm
and ridicule. I am mentioning this
merely to show how generous Mr.
Seymour was when he wrote the article
for the "History of La Crosse
County" in overlooking the eccentricities
of Marcus Pomeroy.

During my residence in La Crosse
and since I have known many of the
editors of the papers, some I have
not. Nor have I been as familiar
with some of the La Crosse papers
since I left forty years ago. In recent
years I have had considerable contact
with The La Crosse Tribune and I
have come to admire and appreciate
the special articles and editorials of
this excellent paper. I am therefore
including in this series of sketches
about Literary La Crosse, Mr. Mark
Byers and Mr. A. M. Brayton.
I am not quite able at this distance
to enumerate all of the papers of La
Crosse. There have been many. The
first paper, the "Spirit of the Times"
was established in 1852 by P. A. and

EARLY LA CROSSE 65

A. D. La Due. Hon. Albert D. La
Due came from eastern Wisconsin.

Democrat in 1853

The La Crosse Democrat was established
in 1853 by Charles A. Stevens
who was associated with William
C. Rogers. The latter was trained
under Thurlow Weed of the Albany
Evening Journal.

The "La Crosse National Democrat"
was established by Theodore
Rodolf and Judge Cyrus K. Lord in
1854. I knew Judge Lord, an unusually
well balanced, capable man, a
fine business man. He was more than
seventy years old when I knew him.
The "Independent Republican" was
established in 1854 by William C.
Rogers. It was a finely edited weekly
paper. The "Democrat" and "Republican"
were changed into daily
papers. The "Daily Union" was established
in 1859 by A. P. Swineford
who had previously published
papers at Albert Lea and La Crescent,
Minnesota. He was associated
with U. P. Olin and C. P. Sykes.

The La Crosse Mirror was established
by Harry Hayden in 1860.
This paper representing the Union
Conservative party did not last long.
The Nordstern, which was established
by Mr. Fisher and others in the
late fifties was taken over by John
Ulrich in 1857. Mr. August Steinlein
also became connected with this
paper in 1857. Steinlein has an
interesting history. He was born
in Treves on the Rhine, Prussia,
in 1823. He was educated
in the gymnasium of that town and
after teaching school for about two
years he came to America in 1844
landing in New York city with only
a few cents left in his pocket. He,
found work with the publishing
house of Henry Ludwig and Company
on Vesey street, where he remained
for three and a half years.

Began Proof Reading

In New York he made himself acquainted
with the English language
and began proof-reading in English
and German for that house. He came
to La Crosse county in 1856, where
he purchased one hundred and twenty
acres of government land in one
of the valleys in Bostwick valley. He
remained, however, at the occupation
of farming for only six years.

While, conducting his farming operations
he gave his attention during
the winter to the publication of the
"Nordstern," which paper he helped
to firmly establish, and in 1862 he
became a partner in the business. He
remained with the paper for a number
of years, and was then elected
register of deeds for La Crosse county,
holding that office for four years.
lie was a democrat in politics, and
became poor house commissioner and
later justice of the peace, beginning
in 1879.

Steinlein Poetic

August Steinlein was a man of fine
literary taste and one who did much
to further literature among the Germans.
I knew him more intimately
than any other of the writers I have
mentioned.

On numerous .and frequent occasions
Mr. Steinlein was called upon
to deliver addresses and make funeral
orations and sometimes as the
one in connection with the "Saengerfest,"
were very scholarly. Steinlein
on many occasions expressed himself
in poetry. His poetry was gotten together
afterward in the form of
"Bunte Bluten." I like his poetry; it
has a ring of pure, fine German sentiment.
Mr. Bryant says August
Steinlein has been called, not inappropriately,
the "poet laureate of
Wisconsin." He married Louise
Yearke who was born in Frankfort-on-the
Rhine.

Mr. John Ulrich was born in Switzerland
in 1828 and came to this country
in 1855 and to La Crosse in April
1856. In March 1857 he bought the
Nordstern. The Nordstern, which has
a democratic paper, became republican
and vacillated several times on
the question of party organization.

Fearless Writer

Mr. Ulrich, whom I knew for many
years, was a fearless writer, wrote
splendid editorials and had the respect
of the community. He was a
fine type of citizen and did a splendid
service for La Crosse county and this
region. A man of high ideals who
did much through his writing to
shape and mould public opinion
among the German Americans of La
Crosse. I am glad to say that I
counted Mr. Ulrich as one of my
warm personal friends.

Mr. Adolph Candrian succeeded
Mr. Ulrich in the publication of the
Nordstern. Mr. Candrian was a very
successful business man, and a very

66 EARLY LA CROSSE

successful newspaper publisher. He
was born in Canton Graubunden,
Switzerland on December 12, 1849,
,and came to La Crosse in October
1883, acquiring the Nordstern from
Mr. John Ulrich. From time to time
Mr. Candrian enlarged the paper, and
at one time published a daily paper
called der "Abenstern" in addition to
the weekly and semi-weekly papers.
He was in the newspaper business
for thirty-eight years, from October
1883 to September 1921. He also
published a monthly magazine of
health called "Vigor!" largely devoted
to the subject of hygiene.

Had High Ideals

The editorial policies of Mr. John
Ulrich and Mr. Candrian have always
been fearless. They had high ideals;
coming as they did from Switzerland
they cherished the ideals of liberty,
which were in harmony with that
government but they recognized, also,
the importance of cementing together
the ties of friendship by having
social organization, consequently
they were important members of der
Deutscher Verein Frohsinn and Concordia.
In politics Mr. Ulrich vacillated
but Mr. Candrian was a republican,
Mr. John Ulrich was with the
union. Such men as Carl Shurz wielded
a strong influence on these German
Americans. Mr. Carl Kurtnacker
writes me in a recent letter: "It is
my opinion that La Crosse has been
very fortunate in having such a cosmopolitan
population of typical pioneer
Americans and the sturdy immigrants
from the European countries,
which form a splendid, strong
generation of enlightened happy people.
That sort of combination and
blending of the different nationalities
produced loyalty for the American
cause and the golden rule of life,
which was a most sacred rule of the
early pioneers and I consider Mr. UI
rich one of that type."

CARL KURTENACKER, with whom
I am intimately acquainted and
who sometimes came to our little literary
club, made up of H. Legler,
Louis Bennett, Frank Walker and
myself, was connected with the Nordstern
in the capacity of a printer, and
sometimes translated from the English
and sent in material to this paper.
He was born in the province of
Nassau, Germany, February 24, 1856,
came to America in May, 1869.

Owing to the early death of Mr.
Kurtenacker's father his grandfather,
Henry Kurtenacker, took a special interest
in the welfare of the young
man. Mr. Kurtenacker came to this
country at the age of thirteen years
with his grandfather who had a son
and several daughters residing in
Iowa. He was placed in the family
of the older daughter where
young Kurtenacker worked on the
farm, in the vicinity of Spring Brook,
Jackson county, Iowa.

Came Here in 1873

He came to La Crosse in 1873 hoping
to learn some trade. He obtained
a position in the office of the Nordstern
for the purpose of learning the
printer's trade and to be a typesetter.
Although he wanted to learn the milling
trade which had been the business
of his grandfather and father, the
opportunity was not at hand so he accepted
a position with John Ulrich.
His term of appointment lasted three
years. He had board and lodging
with the Ulrich family which was a
fine thing for the young man, as Mr.
Ulrich looked after Carl Kurtenacker
like he would any of his own children.

After completing his apprenticeship
in the printing business he was transferred
to the book and stationery
business which Mr. Ulrich had established,
at the same time doing some
editorial work, especially translating
from the English press. Mr. Kurtenacker
remained with the Nordstern
until 1882 when he became manager
for the John Pamperin cigar business.
Mr. Pamperin was another one of the
worthy pioneers of La Crosse county.
In 1884 Mr. Kurtenacker became
clerk of the circuit court, an office
which he held six years and then he
became justice of the peace and then
tax commissioner of the city of La
Crosse, secretary of the La Crosse
Mutual Loan and Building association
for thirteen years when he became
manager for the John Gund
Brewing company which he held until
1918. He was a member of the Wisconsin
general assembly from 1914
to 1916.

Retires from Printing

Since then he has been actively re-
tired from the printing business. In
addition to Mr. Kurtenacker's connection
with the Nordstern I might say
that he was active in the Germania

EARLY LA CROSSE 67

and frequently was one of the chief
actors in the dramatic plays put on
by this society. I remember in particular
the superb acting of Mr. Kurtenacker
and his wife in the Schillers
"Die Rauber." Mr. Kurtenacker has
left a fine impress upon the city of
La Crosse through his good business
sense and his fine citizenship.

Mr. Mark M. Pomeroy, who was
editor and publisher of the Horicon,
Wisconsin, Argus, came to La Crosse
on April 28, 1860. He was connected
with the Union and Democrat and
correspondent of The Milwaukee
News. He was a supporter of Stephen
A. Douglas, while Swineford was
for Buchanan. A. P. Swineford withdrew
from the Union and Democrat,
leaving Pomeroy and Moore to publish
their paper three times a week,
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and
the Independent Republican was published
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Each paper, therefore, published
tri-weekly at $4 each per year. Mr.
Pomeroy became sole proprietor of
the Democrat on November 28, 1860.
Pomeroy was an annihilator. He pursued
his newspaper competitors with
relentless energy.

Big Circulation

During the civil war, while in La
Crosse, he worked up an enormous
circulation. If I recall the circulation
of his paper after the civil war
was some 90,000 copies per issue.
He was a secessionist. Apparently
in the Democrat of April 17 and
19, 1865, he was sorry for the death
of Lincoln but the later issues of
June 19 and October 2 speak in quite
different terms concerning Abraham
Lincoln. In these he vilified Abraham
Lincoln, but he never had very
much use for Lincoln because his
favorite candidate was Stephen A.
Douglas. Down deep in his heart he
was always against Lincoln and did
not like him.

The La Crosse Daily criticized Mr.
Pomeroy for his traitorous remarks.
It was an Abraham Lincoln paper.
How Pomeroy was permitted to remain
in La Crosse, a good loyal city,
is hard to understand.

He left La Crosse and edited Pomeroy's
Democrat in New York where
he attacked the Tweed and Tammany
ring, no doubt this was to obtain notoriety.
He did not prosper in New
York and came back to La Crosse in
April, 1879. His newspaper business
in New York, Chicago, Denver, and I
think also in Kansas City, were all
failures. He ventured in the mining
business during the Colorado mining
boom days in 1879 and 1880.

Plays Up Mining

At that time his paper was filled
with material pertaining to fabulous
wealth to be made out of mining in
Colorado. He visited Colorado, I believe,
and wrote the stories about the
mines himself and did it in a way to
attract people who were eager to buy
stock in this mining venture. Some
twelve years ago, while I made an ascent
of Gray's Peak, near the end of
Clear Creek Canyon, Colorado, I came
across an old abandoned mining
shack, "Brick Pomeroy's mine,"
which had been abandoned long since.

At one time the suggestion was
made that the shaft sunk be used as
a tunnel for some transcontinental
railway. The altitude was about 11,000
feet and the Fraser tunnel later
built by the city of Denver is further
north. So Pomeroy's ventures came
to naught.

Brick Pomeroy published "Sense
and Nonsense." This contained much
valuable material. Like all of his
writings it was trenchant and forceful.

A Great Worker

Mr. Charles Seymour said, "He is
and ever was, a great worker, and a
hard fighter in journalism; and many
of those who have had no word of
kindness for Mark Pomeroy may well
regret they could not equal him in industry,
devotion and ability with
which he carried and carries on his
warfare with avowed or supposed enemies
and opponents." I met Mr. Pomeroy
in his office some forty-seven
years ago. I had a little business
dealings with him. He could be
pleasant. He was a smooth and convincing
talker. All over the office
were signs, "No smoking allowed in
these buildings." Nor did he permit
any one in his employ to smoke or
drink. He wrote numerous articles
on the subject.

His family relations were not altogether
pleasant. He was married
three or four times with at least three
divorces. When the Foote forgeries
occurred there were many ugly rumors,
but Mr. Pomeroy was in this

68 EARLY LA CROSSE

instance wholly blameless. He received
the nick-name "Brick" from
the large brick building he put up
on Fourth and Main. This is where
he edited the second newspaper venture
in La Crosse, The Free Press, if
I recall correctly. The Nordstern
later occupied the same office as the
Pomeroy paper. Colonel Theodore
Rodolf, a highly educated gentleman
born in Switzerland, started the
Weekly Appeal on March 8, 1861.
This came from the ashes of the Daily
Mirror which occurred March 4, 1861.

Buy Democrat in 1871

Messrs. Peck and Symes bought
the Democrats in 1871. The name of
the paper was changed to the Liberal
Democrat. The Weekly La Crosse
Leader was established in 1869.
Lute A. Taylor was one of the owners
and editors. He was one of the prominent
early writers of La Crosse. He
was born at Norfolk, New York, and
came to River Falls in 1856, and became
editor of the "River Falls Journal"
in 1857, removed his paper to
Prescott, Wisconsin, in 1861, and
called it the Prescott Journal, and in
1869 became one of the publishers
and editor-in-chief of the La Crosse
Morning Leader which later consolidated
with The Republican. He became
assistant collector of internal
revenues and surveyor of the port, assessor
of the sixth district at La
Crosse. He died at La Crosse, November
11, 1875.

Mr. Charles Seymour who wrote an
excellent account of the La Crosse
Press in the History of La Crosse
County for 1881 states that "the La
Crosse Leader under the editorship
of Lute A. Taylor acquired a fine reputation
for its literary feature and the
wit of its chief editor." He was humorous
and had a fine taste along literary
lines. Some of his editorials
were published in book form under
the title "Lute Taylor's Chip Basket."
he book has much material
of high literary merit with lofty ideas
and much of this was presented in a
very clear and interesting way.
"here is a thread in our thought
and there is a pulse in our heart; he
who can hold the one knows how to
think; and he who can move the other
knows how to feel." About Chicago
he wrote in the St. Paul Pioneer
Press, "There are lots of ships here,
and horse cars, but the horses don't
ride in them, though, and the water
works. They are a big thing. Much
water is used in Chicago. Fastidious
people sometimes wash in it. Chicago
has fine clear water now, and plenty
of it. She has built a tunnel, two
miles long and tapped Lake Michigan
that distance from the shore."

Papers Consolidate

The La Crosse Republican and
Leader were consolidated through the
efforts of General C. C. Washburn.
Mr. Lottridge, who had been the editor,
was succeeded by W. R. Finch. I
knew him personally, a high type of
man, splendid business man, a splendid
writer. Mr. Finch had charge of
the paper from 1866-1871 and became
chief editor and business manager
of the Republican and Leader.
From 1871 to the eighties the newspaper
was prosperous.

In the year 1871 the La Crosse
Democrat passed into the hands of
Symes and Peck. Mr. Symes was the
superintendent of the La Crosse Democrat
and Mr. George Peck was connected
with Pomeroy's Democrat in
New York and La Crosse about three
years. The name of the paper was
changed to the Liberal Democrat in
1874, and it was during this connection
with the paper that Hon. G. M.
Woodward, a prominent attorney,
wrote many editorials for the Democrat
while it was under the management
of Mr. Symes. Mr. Seymour
says "that no articles have ever been
published here which raised legitimate
points of political discussion in
a fairer, clearer and more perspicuous
style."

ANOTHER paper which came to La
Crosse much later was the Herold
and Volksfreund, a paper edited by
Mr. William Ratzmann at Reedsburg,
Wisconsin, and came to La Crosse in
1891. He was later succeeded by Mr.
John Baenziger; and in 1904 by Maximilian
Hahn. There were so many
Scandinavians in La Crosse and vicinity
that the need was felt for another
Scandinavian paper. On August 10,
1881, T. J. Widrey published The
Varden in the Norwegian language,
but long previous to this the Scandinavian
Press association established
the Emigranten at Inmansville, Rock
county, Wisconsin, in 1852. This was
moved to Madison in 1857 and removed
to La Crosse and consolidated

EARLY LA CROSSE 69

with the Faedrelandet. The Faedrelandet
was established in 1865 by
Frederick Fleischer and published in
1874 at La Crosse with Fleischer and
Schroeder as editors. It was taken
over by F. A. Husher in 1879. The
Scandinavian population was so large
that this paper had a larger circulation
than any other paper in La
Crosse. It had a very large influence
among the Scandinavian population
of La Crosse, and adjoining states.

Many Changes

Subsequently many changes were
made in the newspapers of La Crosse.
I am not so familiar with those of
more recent occurrence, but the newspapers
of La Crosse have always exerted
a wholesome influence on the
community.

One of the notable contributions in
a literary way is the work of Benjamin
F. Bryant-"Memoirs of La
Crosse County"-published under the
auspices of the Western Historical association.
Mr. Bryant tells us that
"La Crosse in the early days did not
lack for literary life. There was included
an unusual number of brainy
men among its pioneer citizens. They
edited papers, served in the legislature,
inaugurated lyceums and debating
societies and circulating libraries,
took an active interest in the
schools, and encouraged in every possible
way the intellectual life of the
people."

Benjamin F. Bryant was a native
of Maine, having been born in Rockland
in September, 1837. He was of
English and Scotch descent, his ancestors
having come to New England
in the seventeenth century. He was
educated in the public schools of
Maine and the Maine Wesleyan Seminary
at Kentshill, and was a member
of the class of 1863 at Bowdoin college,
Brunswick, Maine. He entered
the civil war and served in the Chickamauga
campaign. He acted successively
as sergeant, first lieutenant,
and captain, and served until the end
of the war. His regiment was always
in front in the army of the
Cumberland. He was known as Colonel
Bryant, being commissioned colonel
on the military staff of Governor
C. C. Washburn and Will E. Smith.

Came Here in 1868

At the close of the war Benjamin
F. Bryant read law in the office of
Kennan and Stewart at Norwalk, and
was admitted to the bar in April,
1866. He opened an office in that
city and came to La Crosse in 1868.
He served as county judge, an office
held from 1870 to 1874, elected district
attorney in 1873. He was always
an ardent republican, and was district
commander of the G. A. R. in 1890.
He married Moss Augusta A.
Stevens of Foyette in 1864.
He was a communicant of the Christ
Episcopal church of La Crosse, Wisconsin.

It was my pleasure to have known
Colonel Bryant; a man of fine poise,
scholarly taste, a fine writer and a
splendid speaker. He was one of the
men that La Crosse can be proud of;
one of the fine pioneer writers who
did much for La Crosse in a literary
way.

Mrs. Helen A. Manville, nee Nellie
A. Mann, started her literary career
by writing for the La Crosse Press
and Pomeroy's Democrat, a collection
of poems under the title "Heart
Echoes," which were published in
New York in 1878. Her poetic expression
found sway in such poems as
"In Faith," "Voices in My Heart."
Her sentiments are shown in the following:
"Slowly now the clouds of amber
O'er the blue hills roll away,
As the feet of night-time clamber
Higher up the hills of day."
From Baby is Dead, the following
lines:
"Blue as the violets down in the
meadow
Friend, were her eyes
Now, 0 my God, what a wonderful
shadow
Over them lies."

Mrs. Helen A. Manville was a nature
lover. She voiced especially
well gladsome sprinf, the summer
verdure with its flowers and leaves,
and the falling blossoms of the fall,
and the snow white of winter.

Talented Writer

Mrs. Marian (Manville) Pope was
a daughter of Mrs. Helen Manville,
herself a talented writer of La Crosse
county. Mrs. Marian (Manville)
Pope inherited from her mother her
talent for composition. One of her
interesting productions is "The Ascent
of the Matterhorn."

Another fine descriptive account is
given in "The Land of Teakwood,"

70 EARLY LA CROSSE

first published in the "Century." This
production established her literary
reputation. She had wonderful power
of description, as shown in "A Day
in Tophet," which was descriptive of
the disastrous forest fires that swept
over parts of Michigan. Wisconsin
and Minnesota.

Mrs. Pope lived for a time in Chile,
South America.

In 1888 Mrs. Marian Manville Pope
published a second edition of her
poems "Over the Divide," and other
verses. The poet has expressed many
fine sentiments in such poems as
"Over the Divide" which is a typical
pioneer tsory:
"Wal, Kern'l, this 'ere's th' shanty,
an' this all 'round's the camp;
It don't look over-invitin', 'spacially
when it's some damp.
But a feller who's come here concluded
he'll try on his luck in a
mine
Can't look for ter find things regardless,
ner got up overly fine."
Then the following fine sentiment
on the white pine and the memorial
it stands for:
"Wal, Kern'l, that pine-tree I show'd
ye, 'a-fore it begin ter git
dark,
Has had a piece cut from its south
side, an' onter that place is a
mark
O' a cross; an' beneath it, a-lyin' thar
side by side,
Is Bill, an' Mary, an' Baby, gone over
the Big Divide."
Mrs. Marian (Manville) Pope was
a nature lover and she has expressed
this in some of her poems, especially:
PUSSY-WILLOW
"I'm a little pussy-willow,
And I come out in the spring
Like a puffy kind of pillow,
Never good for anything."
And this sentiment on the whippoorwill:
"O voice that wanders through the
world,
Detached from mortal ken and sight,
Invisible, yet wondrous sweet,
Thy single sentence as complete
As any star set in thy night."

PERHAPS the greatest literary contribution
La Crosse County has
made to the world was Hamlin Garland.
He was born at West Salem,
Wisconsin, September 6th, 1860, the
son of Richard and Isabella (McClintock)
Garland.

I did not know him while I lived
in La Crosse county but it has been
my pleasure several times since to
have met Mr. Garland when he lectured
at Amues, Iowa. In every sense
of the world he is a self-made man.
Hamlin Garland was educated in the
common schools of Wisconsin and
Iowa. He also attended the Cedar
Valley Seminary at Osage for one
year. He spent the year 1881 in the
Boston public library where he met
many prominent men. This gave him
a larger outlook on literature and literary
productions. Here he came under
the influence of a great man, Professor
Alonzo Abernethy, who later
became State superintendent of
schools of Iowa.

Had Good Influences

Hamlin Garland came under the
influence of Moses True Brown of the
Boston school of oratory, Oliver Wendell
Holmes, William Dean Howells,
Edward Everett Hale and Edwin
Booth. It was through men of this
type that his literary style was chiefly
formed.

Hamlin Garland taught school in
Illinois in 1882-83 and about this
time moved to McPherson county,
South Dakota, where he took up
some land. Evidently he was not only
an omnivorous reader but made the
best of his opportunity by coming in
contact with the literary men of cultured
Boston. He returned to Boston
in 1884 where he began to write fiction.
He taught English literature in
the Boston schools 1884-1890. In
1889 he married Miss Zulime Tuft,
sister of the noted sculptor, Lorado
Taft. He met her while he was a
teacher in Illinois.

His first book was published in
1890 under the title "Main-Travelled
Roads" which gives us a glimpse of
his early life and its hardships. He
began his career as an author with
the publication of his poem "Lost in
a Norther" and became a contributor
to Harper's Weekly, Youth's Companion
and Century. Mr. Garland is
a pleasant, amiable man, a fine conversationalist,
and as a lecturer presented
his subjects in a splendid way.
He is the author of many books.

List of Works

A list of Mr. Garland's works tollows:
Main-Travelled Roads, 1890;
Jasen Edwards, 1891; A Member of
the Third House, 1892; Prairie Songs,

EARLY LA CROSSE 71

1893; A Spoil of Office, 1893; Rose
of Dutcher's Coolly, 1895; Wayside
Courtships, 1897; Ulysses Grant,
1898; Trail of the Gold Seekers,
1890; Boy Life on the Prairie, 1899;
Prairie Folks, 1900; The Eagle's
Heart, 1900 Her Mountain Lover,
1901; The Captain of the Gray Horse
Troop, 1901; They of the High
Trails; Other Main-Travelled Roads;
The Little Norsk Victor Ollnee's Discipline;
Hesper; Light of the Star;
Money Magic; The Long Trail; The
Moccason Ranch The Tyranny or the
Dark; The Shadow World; The Forester's
Daughter; Cavanagh Forest
Ranger; and also Trail Makers of
the Middle Border, 1926. There is almost
complimentary review of this in
the Saturday Review of November 6,
1926. He has been honored in many