SKETCH OF PIERCE COUNTY by Oliver Gibbs, Jr. and C.E. Young 1857 Pierce County, Wisconsin *************************************************************************** This web site and its contents in the format presented, except where otherwise noted on the page, are copyrighted by Debbie Barrett and may not be copied, altered, converted nor uploaded to any electronic system or BBS, nor linked from any "pay-for-view" site, linked in such a manner as to appear to be part of another site including "frame" capturing, nor included in any software collection or print collection of any type without the express written permission of the author of this site, namely, Debbie Barrett. Please report any such violations to Debbie Barrett, mrsgrinnin@home.com. If you are caught in someone else's frame, please go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~wipierce and click on the link provided to free you. *************************************************************************** Pierce county lies immediately south of the 45th parallel of north latitude, between the 92d and 93 degree of longitude west from Greenwich, and is, consequently, west of the Fourth Principal Meridian. It is bounded on the north by St. Croix county, east by Dunn, south by Dunn, Lake Pepin and the Mississippi river, and west by the Mississippi and Lake St. Croix. Its boundaries secure to it the longest navigable water front of any county of its size in the State. The surface generally has a south-western slope, and is diversified by rolling prairies, bluffs and intervales, with groves and forests of excellent and beautiful timber. It is watered by several streams flowing into the St. Croix, Chippewa and Mississippi. Pierce county, though bounded by two lakes of surpassing beauty, (St. Croix and Lake Pepin,) has none within its own limits, or marks indicating their former existence. Its scenery, however, forms a view of ever-varying magnificence and beauty. The abrading forces which have changed its original features, have scooped out broad valleys, leaving as boundaries on every side rounded and graceful mounds, towering above the general surface from seventy to eighty feet. These mounds really occupy but a small portion of the surface, although from their number, a first view would give a different impression. Seen in the summer months, their tops covered with groves of timber, and their sides with rank and matted vegetation, bedecked with the bright hues of wild flowers, contrasting with the fresh and green shade of the surrounding prairies, no object in nature afford more prefect scenes of all that is lovely and attractive. Many of these mounds are worn into semi-circular forms, with gentle sloping prairies in front, stretching down to some rippling rivulet, and then rising with easy grade to similar mounds at the distance of a mile or more. These places, numerous all over the county-paragons of rural beauty-are the favorite selections of the pioneer settlers. “The log cabin is found in places which art could scarcely adorn, or cultivation add to the quality of the soil, sheltered from the wintry winds, situated upon the margin of the groves, with ever-living water gurgling up in freshness and purity near its door sill. In such sequestered spots, but just invaded for the purposes of settlement, the wildness of primitive life is best seen in contrast with the coming change which will speedily transform the country into a great garden. The cultivated field, loaded with the virgin crop, is but a mere point in the extended landscape. The geological structure of the county is worthy of special notice, since the quality and durability of the soil of any given district are determined by the composition of its rocks, and the materials washed down from its highlands. A vertical section through any of the mounds or ridges immediately east of Prescott, would exhibit the following as the descending order of superposition of the stratified deposits: Blue Fossiliferous (shell or Trenton) limestone about - 30 feet “Upper Sandstone” - 50 feet Lower Magnesian Limestone (of Owen) - 250 feet Abrading forces have worn off and carried away a large proportion of the two first named superior deposits. They are found only as outliers in the numerous mounds or ridges which ornament the county. But very few hills of drift are met with, and if ever deposited in quantity, the material has been subsequently removed from the surface. The soil of Pierce county has been formed of decomposed rocks and crumbling ledges, which, washed by rains, constantly add their fertilizing elements tot he lower levels, mixing with the clay and fine sand there accumulated, and possesses an unsurpassed strength and productiveness. As we journey inland, the land rises moderately for twelve miles, until we cross the Trimbelle river, when the blue limestone is largely developed, and doubtless marks the limits of an extensive and dense forest of hard wood timber, which covers the interior of the county, some fifteen miles through, east and west, by twenty north and south. Beyond this forest, and some thirty miles east of Prescott, the sand-stones reappear, and still further eastward, the primary rocks will be found in place. It will thus be seen, how extensively limestone’s are developed throughout the county, and from a gentle rolling surface, how thoroughly ever portion of its soil is impregnated with one of the most essential elements to profitable agriculture. In this respect, no portion of the West can claim a superiority. Although the county has no interior lakes, it is by no means destitute of water and lake scenery. Lake Pepin borders it on the south-a sheet of water celebrated for its beauty. Its shores are rock bound, often vertical, and rise to a height of from two to four hundred feet. “Lovers Leap” is a precipice of this description, on the eastern side, and near the center of the lake, which is thirty miles in length. The Mississippi river, with its deeply worn channel, winding its way amidst numberless islands, cannot be seen without awakening an enthusiasm in the breast of the beholder. And Lake St. Croix, deeply embosomed in hills, margined by sloping prairies and verdant groves, its bright waters flashing in the sunbeams, is an object of ever varying interest and loveliness. This lake, also, is thirty miles in length. Fish, in innumerable multitudes, embracing a great variety of species, swarm in the lakes and rivers, and are to be had “for the taking.” All the interior streams abound in speckled trout. The lovers of wild game-of water, wood, or prairie-may here gratify their taste, however nice or fastidious. Starting from Prescott, eastward, after reaching the second beach, about half a mile distant, we enter magnificent oak openings, which margin the Mississippi and Lakes for about six miles in depth. The openings then dwindle away into a lighter growth of timber, and finally terminate in prairie, which continues for about six miles, to the banks of the Trimbelle. From hence, for fifteen miles eastward, the country is covered with a dense hardwood forest, abounding in sugar maple, oak, ash, walnut, butternut, basswood, elm, white elm, cotton-wood, &c., Passing this, we again enter the prairie, which some ten miles further eastward, terminates in light openings, and finally merges in the pinery region of the Chippewa. The prairie country abounds in groves; and timber, for all purposes, is plentier than in the southern counties of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. The whole surface of the county is gently rolling, with no large level prairies, or pestilential marshes. There are no deep and abrupt ravines in the interior-no quagmires-but board and grassy “coolies,” graceful swales and a due proportion of “hill and dale and sunny slope.” We have spoken of the quality of the soil-a deep and rich mold, with a subsoil of clay, fine sand and lime, in intimate mixture,-we will now speak of climate, &c. It is a common, yet very absurd opinion, that the climate of the North-West is much colder than in the same latitude in the Eastern States. The altitude of the country generally, is only about eight hundred feet above the Atlantic-not much higher than the table lands of New England and New York. The great lake of the north, the largest in the world-a sea of fresh water-tempers the northern blasts, as the Atlantic does in the Eastern States. the interior of Wisconsin and Minnesota is a lacustrine region, filled with countless lakes and threaded by great rivers, all of which aid in preserving uniform and even temperature. That there are extremes of heat and cold need scarcely be stated-but that the average annual temperature is colder than in New England, remains to be proved. All the old settlers-New Englanders-claim that it is warmer. The fall season is the most agreeable of the year. Cold weather comes insensibly on, with a bright sky, and the smoky haze of Indian summer. Winter comes on with snow, when, for some months, sleighing is excellent. The north-west trade-wind, having crossed the Continent, has parted with its humidity, and is bracing and agreeable. Long winter winds, however, are uncommon-but a dry atmosphere is not a cold one to the human system. The culminating point of winter, takes place sometime between the middle of January, and 20th of February, when the weather becomes milder, until spring opens. For the following figures, we are indebted to one of our oldest settlers, J.M. Bailey, Esq. EARLIEST FROSTS 1849 October 16th 1850 September 29th 1851 October 11th 1852 September 29th 1853 September 9th 1854 October 13th 1855 September 27th FIRST ARRIVAL OF BOATS FROM BELOW 1850 April 9th 1851 April 3d 1852 April 17th 1853 April 9th 1854 April 6th 1855 April 18th ACCOUNT OF THE COLDEST DAYS SINCE 1850 1850 December 29th 1851 January 17th 1852 February 2d 1853 February 8th 1854 January 22d 1855 February 25th The coldest day in six years, was Jan. 22d, 1854-temperature, 35 degrees below zero. The greatest amount of snow which fell at the same time, was four feet six inches, in the winter of 1849-50. The greatest depth which fell at any one time, was twelve inches, which fell March 23d, 1855. PRESCOTT Until within the past three years, very little was known of that portion of Wisconsin drained by the St. Croix river, and bordering the Mississippi north of Lake Pepin, except to those early pioneers, a portion of whom may be found trapping and hunting over all the inhabitable parts of America. Were we able to give the earliest visits of these men to our county, with something of their history, we would gladly preserve it as the commencing point of the white man in a section of Wisconsin destined soon to stand in the first rank of wealth and prosperity. As before stated, little was known of the character of the country, except by those sent by Government or those belonging to the North-Western fur Company, which time would date back to about 1820. As is well known to all conversant with the early history of the different Western States, they, instead of devoting themselves to the services of Government and their employers, made use of the power of office and employment by large companies, to monopolize the possession of such points as nature had determined as business emporiums for the country when the same should be settled. Such was our early history. Six or seven years of that early period were allowed to pass before they commenced their blighting work; owing, no doubt, to the fact, that the settled portion of the country was so far distant from them. In 1827, they made their first pitch for a town site for the Upper Mississippi country; then there was not a farmer in that territory, now Minnesota or North-Western Wisconsin. A company was organized at Fort Snelling in that year, composed of the leading officers, such as Mr. Prescott, Col. Plimpton, Capt. Scott, Capt. Brady, Col. Thompson, and Dr. Emerson, all of whom were in Government employ. Their object was to secure the present site of the village of Prescott, the first claim made north of Prairie du Chien. A levy of $2,000 was made to make the necessary improvements to hold the claim, and Mr. P. Prescott, from whom the town takes its name, was appointed to take possession of, and hold the property for the company. Improvements were made in the way of log buildings, and twelve hundred acres claimed. A trading post was opened for the sale of Indian goods. This claim was protected until 1841, when Congress passed an act forbidding all such organizations, when Mr. Prescott claimed 160 acres, the amount allowed by the pre-emption law of 1841. In 1837 a treaty was made with the Sioux or Dakotas, for all their territory east of the Mississippi, which included the tract in question. This purchase, together with the lumbering interest of the St. Croix valley, drew pioneers from the States. Commercial points were first sought as the most desirable possessions, and a number of struggles were had with the company at Prescott to dispossess them of their claim, as, at this time, it was held by proxy. But power in high places was too strong for the weak hand of private enterprise. Finally, Mr. Prescott was compelled to reside upon his claim, still the property of, or so protected by, the original company or their assignees. At this time, the Fur Company having become interested, no person was allowed to settle on the claim, for any king of business, as fear was entertained that each settler would be a competitor for the title of the town. They succeeded in banishing all hope for a settlement at Prescott, until Government should give a title to the land, which, it was known, could not be for many years. At this time very little attention was paid to the country above the St. Croix valley, as the principal business was lumbering, and that mostly confined to the St. Croix. Fort Snelling afforded some trade with the soldiers, most of which had to be stolen. Around the fort was a reserve, which extended down the Mississippi to the present site of St. Paul. About ten years after the claim at Prescott, and when it was fully settled that no opportunity would be offered for several years to commence settling at Prescott, a few log cabins were erected where stands the city of St. Paul, for the purpose of selling whiskey to the soldiers, and whiskey and beads to the Indians. Continual efforts were made to settle Prescott, but were a failure until 1851, when Mr. Prescott obtained a title to about two hundred acres from Government and by purchase otherwise. In that year, a few lots were laid off for the commencement of the future village; and the same year, Dr. O.T. Maxson came into the place and erected a store, the first improvement of the kind in the place. The following year, he succeeded in negotiating a purchase of the town site, and in the fall of 1853, Wm. J. Copp, from the State of Mississippi, came tot he place, and purchased one-half of the town site, Copp and Maxson still holding the property. In that year, C.D. Stevens & Co., erected a large steam saw-mill. Two public houses and four stores, two warehouses, mechanic shops and residences, comprised the improvements of the season. We will here avail ourselves of the reminiscences of our worthy pioneer friend, J.M. Bailey, Esq.: “In the year 1849, I first came into this country; that which no comprises the county of Pierce, was called the town of Elizabeth, in he county of St. Croix. The winter of 1849-50, found only eleven families in the town of Elizabeth, and but three families in w hat is now the village of Prescott. In the month of September, in the year 1849, Mr. Prescott made pre-emption to the present village plat, but in consequence of some informality, the papers were returned from Washington. Then followed the attempt of sundry individuals to wrest the claim from Mr. Prescott, but they all failed; Mr. Prescott, by another attempt, obtained his papers the following winter. In the month of November, 1850, Mr. Prescott laid out a few lots. The following winter, by an act of the Legislature, the name of the town was changed to Prescott, to conform to that of the village plat. In the summer of 1851, there were two small houses built in the village, but none at all in the country back, and but few claims taken. The land was not in market until late in the season. The Government lands were offered for sale late in August- the State lands on the first of November, but little of either was bought up. At the commencement of the year 1852, there were but four small wooden buildings in the village of Prescott, and but fourteen in the present county of Pierce, so, properly speaking, that year should date the settlement of the county. There was considerable building done in the town and county, and a good deal of the lands were bought up, during the year 1852. In the winter of 1853, Pierce county was set off from St. Croix county, and the summer following increased three-fold the number of buildings, farms, and inhabitants in the county and village, and more land was taken up than had been previously purchased. In the fall of 1853, we elected our first county officers; and the third Monday of the May following the first circuit court was held in the county, Judge Knowlton presiding. There were no cases tried, and the court adjourned with but one sitting. In 1852, the post office was opened, and Dr. O.T. Maxson appointed postmaster. However, several years previous, there had been a post office established at the mouth of Lake St. Croix, and opened on this side of the Lake, but afterward moved to Point Douglas.” During the year 1853, where the prairie and wood lands had previously given no evidence of the presence of the hand of cultivation, the steady tread of the emigrant land-looker could be observed, where previously the only guide, any distance from town, was the surveyors’ lines. Hard beaten roads were made for many miles into the country. Entering lands and making claims engrossed the business of that year. In the spring much land was vacant within tow miles of the steamboat landing, but in the fall very few pieces of Government land were to be had within eight miles, and on a large portion of the land, the settler might be found busily employed in turning up the teeming soil, or erecting the log-cabin, while singing “With my washbowl on my knee,” or whistling “Yankee Doodle.” The cabin finished, the few acres broke, and the necessary arrangements completed for the reception of the wife and little ones, or the young bride, and the pioneers starts back to his New England home, (or rather birth-place, for it has lost its charms of home,) to bring o those waiting ones who are to participate in the joyful life of a home in the prairie wilds of Pierce county-their hearts as light and buoyant as the eagles’ flight. Their report was made in almost every town and hamlet in New England, the Middle and the Western States. There were big stories by creditable eye-witnesses, of the fifty bushels of wheat to the acre; corn and oats in like proportion; beets three feet long and ten inches in diameter; turnips fifteen inches in diameter; potatoes, not only surpassing in yield any other part of the United States, but possessing qualities not previously found, making them as much prized by Yankee as they are in the Emerald Isle. But with all this, the most important part was not told; for while Illinois, Iowa, and many other sections of the Western States, could raise a surplus, climate was a point on which no opposition could be brought to bear. The absence of marshes, consequently of that poisonous malaria which keeps up the bleaching process of the inhabitants of Indiana and Illinois; our country rolling, and the prevailing winds being westerly, bringing the balmy breeze of a thousand miles of flower-covered prairie, giving a cheer and balm to the atmosphere, such as make old limbs sprightly, and young ones strong-these reports turned the attention of citizens of the older States, from Maine to Texas, to the Upper Mississippi country, sot that the following spring was a new era for our county. The first, as also every other steamboat that season, came crowded-deck and cabin-to the utmost capacity. Prescott, at this time, had three large three-story public houses, which were filled from first floor to garret, and with these, but a small portion could be thus accommodated. Citizens threw open their doors to the families, thereby protecting them until shelter could be provided. The ware-houses were converted into sleeping apartments; and the levee as well as the prairie back of town, into a kitchen; thus were hundreds provided for during the season. The village of Prescott this year, took it position among the business points of the State. Public houses, ware-houses, stores, mechanic shops and dwellings, were seen springing up as if touched by some magic wands for their existence. Three steam saw- mills were commenced, one by Messrs. Pewit & Leona, one by D.W. Strickland, and one by Copp & Maxson, all of which were pushed forward to completion the following year, and which are now furnishing lumber to the place and the surrounding country. But the season of 1855 presented quite a new order of business for town and country. Previously a very large majority of the farmers of the country, purchased all their provisions, and grain, either from the old settlers, or merchants in town. This year, their farms were sufficiently cultivated to furnish a large surplus; daily the different roads leading to Prescott, might be seen lined with loaded teams, conveying the productions of the land to market-Prescott, being the principal shipping point on the Mississippi, for North-Western Wisconsin. This enabled the farmers to commence improvements in the way of farm building, as also adding to the amount of their cultivated lands, while its effect in the country, is scattered over the whole. It gave to the market-town a new impetus-such an one as the market-towns upon Lake Michigan received, when the adjacent country began to pour in its surplus for market. Our merchants were enabled to expand very much in business, a wholesale trade brought into demand, and our ware-houses loaded with flour and grain, most of which are taken to the west side of the Mississippi, to supply that vast territory recently opened for settlement. While many thousands of dollars have been expended in the erection of mills, business houses, shops, and dwellings, it is probable that more than double the amount would have been expended, had it been possible to have obtained lumber sufficient. Prescott, like all other towns in the Upper Country, suffered from this cause this year. The village of Prescott is located in the north-west corner of the State, at the junction of the Mississippi river and Lake St. Croix. The streams are about one thousand feet wide, with an average depth of 15 feet. The bank slopes easily to the river, forming an excellent levee, and rises in a vertical ledge generally along the Lake. The entire front is nearly in the form of a crescent. The lower part of the village ascends gently from the Lake and river for a distance varying from thirty to sixty rods; it then rises about seventy feet, and there spreads out into a beautiful prairie, half a mile in width. This elevation is also semi-circular. The front is worn out in scolloped shape, and upon the summit of each “scollop” the Indians have erected mounds. From every portion of this prairie, the most charming views are presented-long stretches of the Mississippi, up and down the river, dotted with islands, with bold, precipitous banks, and the green prairies and rounded hills of Minnesota stretching away far in the distance. Lake St. Croix, too, opens a long vista of gorgeous scenery. No description, however, would give an adequate impression of the beauties of the place. Nearly opposite the center of the water front, there is a narrow, low peninsula, stretching southward, between the river and the Lake, called Point Douglas, and some half a mile up the river there is a small village of the same name, containing two stores, a hotel, and several dwellings. Since the survey of Copp & Maxson, mentioned in the foregoing pages, there have been three additions made to the town; one bordering on the Lake shore, and one on the river, by Messrs. Hilton Doe and George Shazer, the oldest resident farmers in the vicinity, and another in the south-eastern part of the town, by Alvah Fowler. In these additions there are very desirable building sites, many of which have been sold, during the past season, to persons designing to erect dwellings next year. Near the Lake, Mr. doe has erected a large and handsome dwelling house, and laid out grounds, which he intends to adorn with fruit and shade trees, flowers and shrubbery, and an early day. The town proprietors have made very liberal provisions for sites for public building and grounds; they are located on the prairie near the center of the town. The public square alone contains 360 square rods. Mr. Doe designs to lay out another addition, in the north-western part of the town, and will also reserve ample grounds for religious and educational purposes.