Part 8 (1/2)
CHAPTER IV
POLK COUNTY--DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY
Polk county contains 700,000 acres of land, well diversified with timber and prairie, uplands and valleys, rivers and lakes, and fertile enough to sustain a large population The county was established by the Wisconsin legislature in 1853, and originally includedbeen formed north and east of its present domain Indian traders had visited it at an earlier period, but the first permanent white settlement was made in 1837, and the first pioneer who ca permanent improvereat part the history of the early settlee of Mr Steele himself, as he communicated it to the writer some years since:
”I ca man, healthy and aion, inhabited by savages I sought Fort Snelling (which was at that time an active United States fort) as a point from which to start In Septe the St Croix valley to the governton, Ioe started fro in a bark canoe, also a scow loaded with tools, supplies and laborers, descended the Mississippi river and ascended the St Croix to the Dalles We clambered over the rocks to the Falls, where wethe Falls on the east side and the approach to it in the Dalles We built a log cabin at the Falls, where the Upper Copper trap range crosses the river and where the oldhouse we built in the ravine at the head of navigation Whilst building, four other parties arrived to make claim to this power I found the veritable Joe Brown on the west side of the St Croix, trading with the Indians, a few rods from where Baker & Taylor built their e) Brown had also cut pine logs, part of which, in 1838, were used by Baker & Taylor, but round where they were felled
In February, 1838, Iteas at the mouth of Snake river, and had had some trouble with the Indians I helped him until he left the country Peshi+ck, a chief of the Chippewas, said, 'We have no o' He said he could not control his young men and would not be responsible for their acts
”In the spring of 1838, fro we descended the Mississippi river to Prairie du Chien in bark canoes, thence by steamer to St Louis, Missouri, where a co-partnershi+p was formed by Messrs Fitch, of Muscatine, Iowa, Libbey, of Alton, Illinois, Hungerford and Livingston, of St Louis, Hill and Holcombe, of Quincy, Illinois, and myself We chartered the steamer Palmyra, loaded her with all themechanics to do the work, and started for the scene of operations
Plans for procedure, rules and by-laere discussed and adopted during the journey on the steaanization was christened the St Croix Falls Luht”
The trip was made in safety, our immediate plans executed, and the Palmyra was the first steamboat that ever sailed the St Croix river and lake Mr Steele made an estimate for the construction of the mill and dam at 20,000, which he submitted to the coht, was placed in charge of the work, but Mr Steele sold his interest to the company before the mill was completed On examination of the records we find that W
Libbey was the first agent of the company We find also fro of the business he had undertaken With a few barrels of whisky and one of beads he busied hi with the Indians This was the first whisky sold in the valley, and it was sold in defiance of government law
Much could be written about this old pioneer company of the Northwest, and its history, could it be truly written, would containincidents and scenes worthy of reotten andno record of their lives The coes of naations, of wranglings and feuds, of losses and gains, of s In the first place, the mill was planned by men practically unfitted for such work, inexperienced in lu and unacquainted with the vast expenditures requisite for the opening up of a new country, hundreds ofThere were three requisites present, a splendid water power, abundance of timber at convenient distances and a healthful climate; but these alone did not and could not make the enterprise a success Had practical, experienced luht have been different, but impractical methods, enormous expenses, with no profits or dividends, causedtheir stock in preference to continuing with the prospect of total bankruptcy Goods were brought annually, at great expense, froe steamers which then controlled the trade of the Mississippi and the St Croix The navigation of the St Croix grew annually s floated down since 1838 wearing away the banks and increasing the nu the channel with jams
It is not known exactly hohen the name of St Croix ca it, but La Harpe, in his ”Louisiana,” gives the in: ”This name is not ecclesiastical in its associations, but named after Monsieur St Croix, as drowned at its mouth” Le Sueur, who explored the Upper Mississippi in 1683, says he left a large river on the east side, named St Croix, because a Frenchman of that name was drowned at its mouth As Duluth was the first whiteit in canoes, from near Lake Superior, which he did in 1680; and as Hennepin and La Salle ascended the Mississippi the sain, but iven sometime between 1680 and 1683 An old ives the present name of the river and lake The St Croix valley embraces an area of territory froth Its northern water, Upper Lake St Croix, is about 20 miles from Lake Superior The southern portion is a rich prairie country, interspersed with groves of hardwood tiroves of pine, tamarack, cedar, balsam and hardwoods The whole district, with a small exception, is a cereal country It abounds in wild meadows, and much of the swa, which will transforht-tenths of this entire valley is fitted by nature for agriculture
Wheat, the leading cereal, averages ten to thirty bushels per acre; the growth of taroonderful size; native wild fruits abound; cultivated fruits are being successfully introduced; cranberries are being cultivated in the northern part Wheat, stock, and pine lumber are the principal articles of export The southern portion is atered by the St
Croix and its tributaries--Kinnikinic, Willow, Apple, Sunrise, and ss The northern portion is abundantly watered by the St Croix and tributaries--Wolf, Trade, Wood, Claan, Rush, Kanabec and Kettle rivers Sest are named on the maps
The valley is abundantly supplied ater power, capable of running enough manufactories to work up all the products of the country The soil is, as a general thing, dry and arable April and May are the seeding months Crops mature, and are seldom injured by frosts The whole country adjacent to this valley will answer to this general description
On the twenty-ninth day of July, 1837, our government purchased the valley of the St Croix of the Indians at a treaty held at Fort Snelling, Gov Henry Dodge and Gen W as coress in the spring of 1838 Polk county, originally a part of Crawford, in 1840 becaanization and name, the latter in honor of James K Polk, eleventh president of the United States This country occupies the eastern part of the valley of the St Croix lying between Burnett and St Croix counties on the north and south, and Barron on the east, the St Croix river forreeably diversified with forest and prairie land, and is supplied with excellent springs, rivers and lakes Most of the underlying rock is sandstone This rock crops out along the banks of the St Croix and is extensively used for building purposes Li the river banks, sorade, notably that below Osceola, which is manufactured into lime and exported The natural scenery can scarcely be surpassed in the West The towering, precipitous bluffs along the St Croix, the picturesque trap rocks of the Dalles, and the bright clear lakes of the interior have long been an attraction to the tourist The lakes and smaller streams abound in fish, and the latter are famous for their abundance of brook trout
The county seat at the organization of the county was located at St
Croix Falls The first election held in the lianization, was at St Croix Falls, then a voting precinct, known as Ca-kang, a Chippewa na waterfall The returns of this election wereof these returns They were found to be accurate Annually since then elections were held at this point and returns made, first to Prairie du Chien, Crawford county, then to Stillwater, St Croix county, to Hudson, St Croix county, and to Osceola Mills, Polk county By an election held in Polk county just after its organization the county seat was removed to Osceola Mills, by a unanimous vote The records of the first elections can not be found, they having been stolen fro county officers were elected in 1853: Isaac Freeland, clerk of court and register of deeds; E C Treadwell, sheriff; Oscar A Clark, surveyor; Wm Kent, county treasurer; Harmon Crandall, coroner; Nelson McCarty, district attorney; J Freeland, clerk of board of supervisors The firstof the board of supervisors was held in Osceola, in Isaac Freeland's building, where the offices were located for many years The first court was held in the school house, Wyrarand juries were in attendance
Isaac Freeland was the first attorney admitted to practice Isaac W
Hale was the first county judge The first e was that of Lewis Barlow to ---- ----, at St Croix Falls The first birth in the county was that of Charles Northrup, son of Anson Northrup, at St Croix Falls (1844) The first death was that of John Kelly, by drowning (1839), at St Croix Falls The first school in the county was established at St Croix Falls by Miss Tainter, from Prairie du Chien, in 1848 The first school house was built in Osceola in 1852, the second at St Croix Falls in 1861 The first mail, established in 1840, was carried up the St Croix river by batteaus in summer and by sleds over the ice in winter The mail eekly; the carrier was Dr
Philip Aldrich The first land mail route was in 1847, from Willow River to St Croix Falls The h the woods The first stage route was established in 1855 The first deed we find of Polk county property is recorded at Prairie du Chien Sept 2, 1845, from James Purinton to John Witherell, of St Louis, Missouri, for 4,933,--a deed of trust covering a saw mill at St
Croix Falls The second deed is fro an undivided interest in a pre-emption claim, known as the Northrup or Jerusalem claim, about one mile east of St Croix Falls, for 200 The first deed recorded in the county of old St Croix was Sept 29, 1845, frouson, of the city of St Louis, Missouri,--consideration 1,552,--of St Croix Falls water power property The first store was built in St Croix Falls in 1839 and stocked with goods by the St
Croix Falls Company The first blacksmith shop and the first hotel were built at St Croix Falls The first grist mill was built at Osceola in 1853 The first crops were raised at ”Jerusalem,” the first farm in the county, in 1839 ”Jerusale, and was early noted as a resort for pleasure seekers, as a place for picnics and base ball games The first pre-emption and entry of land was ton Settlers came into the county slowly until about 1866, since which time the population has more rapidly increased
THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC
Undoubtedly the greatest curse to the pioneers of a new settleines as well, is the liquor traffic The Indians, under the influence of whisky, beca any atrocity; the effects upon the whites were not so violent but just as surely de dealers in the vile fluid there was no one more persistent and unscrupulous than Capt M M Sa the su house at the Falls The character of the whisky sold was vile beyond description Mrs H---- and son infor the su the drink that was sold for whisky Many, both whites and Indians, were poisoned by this coainst the vileness of the liquor, I append so lawyer, Hall by name, from Philadelphia, became infatuated with the peculiar whisky furnished by Samuels, and when insane froh rock overhanging the St Croix river, just below the falls, plunged in and was drowned
Another, nalas, under the same influence, tried repeatedly to drown himself, when his friends bound hied to stab histon, a es, became himself a dealer in whisky, at the mouth of Wolf creek, in a drunken melee in his own store was shot and killed by Robido, a half-breed Robido was arrested but ston, once, when on his way fro with his of whisky The Indians soon collected at the ca and danced madly about the door of the cabin, and clamored for scoot-a-wa-bo (whisky) I refused to allow any whisky to be issued