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The History of
Trempealeau
--Transcribed
from the book
"The History of Trempealeau County Wisconsin,
1917",
pages 72 - 78
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Reed's Town in
the (18)forties consisted of about half a dozen log cabins
scattered along the river front near James Reed's large log
house, and occupied by French families, most of whom had moved
into the new settlement from Prairie du Chien. Beside these
there were a few French-Canadians, and after 1846 a few
American families joined the community.
The fur trade
and the Indian trade furnished the principal industries,
though some farming was done on a small scale, and the
inhabitants kept their stock (cattle, hogs, and horses) on a
common range which extended across Trempealeau Prairie and
included the Trempealeau Bluffs.
Life in the
French settlement was filled with adventures of the backwoods
type, and the hunter and trapper matched his skill of
woodcraft with the Indian. With an abundance of fish and game
and wild berries and plums, and with the vast expanse of wild
grass lands for grazing, there was little need of food
shortage.
John Doville,
who maintained a wood camp on the island opposite Reedstown,
had the first farm in Trempealeau. He sowed oats, wheat,
flaxseed, potatoes and beans.
Stram broke the
first land in the county, but he used the ground for garden
purposes only, while Doville extended his agricultural
pursuits to grain raising, and has the honor of being the
first Trempealeau County farmer. Though Doville worked on the
island and had a temporary camp there, at the wood yard, he
found it necessary, on account of high water, to erect a
permanent cabin on the main land near the river and not far
from the lower end of the present main street. He afterwards
built a house on the site, used later for Melchoir's brewery.
In 1842 James
Reed found employment in the Government Indian service at
Winona (MN), where he was engaged as farmer and storekeeper
for Wabasha's band of Sioux. A few years later he was joined
by John Doville and Charles H. Perkins, who likewise entered
the Indian service. They still kept in touch with Reed's
Settlement, however, and when their contract with the
government expired, they returned to their Trempealeau homes
and became permanent settlers in the county.
Intermarriage
between these early inhabitants of Trempealeau and the Indians
took place as in other frontier settlements, with a resultant
mixed blood offspring, whose descendants can be traced down to
the present generation.
But few family
records of this perion remain, though one has been preserved
of the Willard B. Bunnell family, which discloses the fact
that his son, David Porter Bunnell, who was born in November
1843, was the first white child born in the territory of
Trempealeau County. His daughter, Louise, born in 1848, was
also the first white girl born in this locality. Bunnell
located on land about a mile above the present village of
Trempealeau, which later became the Jack McCarty farm.
The
Americanization of Reed's Town came about rather slowly, and
it was not until after 1850 that the influx of Americans
began.
Travelers and
traders journeying up and down the Mississippi often stopped
at Reed's hospitable log tavern, and on their departure
carried to the outer world rather glowing accounts of the new
country, but the town site speculator had not visited as yet
the locality, and little thought was given by the frontiersmen
to the future possibilities of the place, and they looked with
aversion on the increasing settlers as a hindrance to their
wild, free life of hunting and trapping.
In the fall of
1851 there arrived at Reed's Town a man who grasped at once
the possibilities of the location for a town site. This was
Benjamin F. Heuston, and it did not take him long to interest
Ira Hammond and James Reed in a project to found a village.
In partnership with Mr. Hammond, he began the erection of a
warehouse on the river front, which was completed the
following summer.
Others who came
in the fall of 1851 were A. A. Angell, Charles Cameron, N. B.
Grover, Horace E. Owen and Elizur Smith.
On April 5,
1852, William Hood, as surveyor, made a plat of Reed's
Landing, with B. F. Heuston, Ira Hammond and James Reed as
proprietors. The new village was formally name Montoville,
but almost before the ink on the plat became dry another
survey was completed under the direction of Timothy Burns, F.
M. Rublee and Benjamin B. Healy, and the name Trempealeau, the
terminal of the sentence which the French voyageurs gave to
Trempealeau Mountain, was adopted for the doubly named
village.
Montoville-Trempealeau thrived for a few weeks, and though
over-burdened with new names, it was still known as Reed's
Town or Settlement by the inhabitants, and as Reed's Landing
by the river men.
On May 9, 1852,
according to the records of the Post Office Department at
Washington, a post office was established at Trempealeau, with
B. F. Heuston as postmaster. On January 15, 1853, the name of
the office was changed to Montoville, but on July 17, 1856,
the name of the office was again changed to Trempealeau.
For a period of
fifteen years Trempealeau remained the only settlement in the
territory comprising Trempealeau County. The first ten years
of hits period was devoted almost entirely to the fur trade.
Then came the land seeker, tradesman, speculator and
adventurer, and with the rapid influx of settlers from 1854 to
1856, new portions of the county were opened for settlement,
and Trempealeau history thereby became limited to one section
of the county.
When B. F.
Heuston came here he secured a residence by purchasing the
house of John Doville, a small story and a half building,
standing on Front street, below what is now (1917) the
Burlington station. Thus possessed of a permanent location,
he prepared to erect a warehouse designed as a steamboat
shipping point for the agricultural produce which the
promoters believed would result from the rapid influx of
settlers and the consequent development of the rich valleys
and prairies adjacent to the proposed village. Before winter
set in he had completed the stone foundations. In the
meantime he procured lumber at Black River Falls, floated it
down the stream to the mouth of Beaver Creek, carted it over
to the building site, and in the spring completed a warehouse,
24 by 50 feet, two stories high, located on Front street, two
or three rods east of what was afterward the site of the Utter
House. In the fall James A. Reed, as justice of the peace,
married his daughter, Madeline, to his stepson, Paul Grignon.
Early in
February 1852, N. B. Grover, who had previously traded here,
came up from La Crosse and opened a shoe shop opposite the
later site of the Utter Hotel. In this store he sold notions
and a few dry goods, thus establishing the first store in the
county. In May of this year George Batchelder and his wife
made their appearance and put up a house below the Hammond &
Heuston warehouse. Later they opened a hotel, but not before
the wife of Charles Cameron had arrived and established a
boarding house in the residence which Mr. Heuston had
purchased from John Doville. Thomas Marshall came in that
spring and put up a house above the Big Spring. Isreal Noyes
came about the same time. He boarded with the Camerons until
October, when he was joined by his wife, and went to live in
the second story of the Hammond & Heuston warehouse, where
shortly afterward a child was born to them. Marvin and James
Pierce came and built a small house on the north side of Front
street, above what afterward became the site of Melchoir's
brewery. Ira E. Moore and Alvin Carter built a residence near
the present location of Hoberton's blacksmith shop. About the
same time Alexander McMillan came up from La Crosse and put up
a blacksmith shop, the first in the village. These, with
Alexander McGilvray, C. S. Seymour, B. B. Healy, Robert
Farrington, William Cram, Charles Holmes, Mary Huff, Catherine
Davidson, A. M. Brandenburg, Rev. Mr. Watts, and possibly a
few others, constituted the list of arrivals in 1852.
There were two
interesting social events this year. One was the opening of
the Trempealeau House, at which was served a banquet which was
long remembered by the old settlers, Mrs. Batchelder, the
landlady, having secured many dainties from points further
down the river. The Fourth of July celebration was another
important event. It was held in the upper story of the
Hammond & Heuston building. Mr. Heuston read the Declaration,
and talks were made by several citizens.
"In 1852,"
says Mary Brandeburg, "when the Brandenburgs landed in
Trempealeau, then called Montoville, they found among other
settlers James Reed in a log house on the river bank at
about the Barney McGraw place. Other settlers were George
Batchelder, the first merchant, first school teacher, first
store keeper and first hotel keeper; Isaac Noyes, the first
postmaster, and Alexander McGilvray, who afterward ran the
first ferry boat, and N. B. Grover, an Indian trader, and
his brother, Archelaus, both single men, and B. B. Healy.
These were most of the early settlers."
In 1853, 1854
and 1855 the arrivals were not numerous. La Crosse was a
thriving village and attracted those who desired to grow up
with a future metropolis, while the Black River country, with
its timber, its springs, and its open meadows, attracted those
who were seeking farm lands and rural homesteads. Among the
arrivals of these years were J. D. Olds, who had selected a
claim in 1851; A. P. Webb, Patrick Drugan, Thomas Drugan,
Aaron Houghton, Joseph Gale, Patrick Lowry, Gilbert Gibbs,
Oscar Beardsley, Lewis Huttenhow, William Olds, Frank Feeney,
Hiram Brown and others. Some settled in the village, others
scattered back on the prairie.
The real influx
of population began in 1856. In this year the pioneer mill of
the county was erected. That spring, the Messrs. Bredenthal
and King, with the determination of establishing a mill in the
Black River country, shopped some machinery to the mouth of
that river, and made inquiries at La Crosse as to a suitable
location. Meeting J. M. Barrett, they persuaded him to join
them in their venture, and the three called on S. D. Hastings,
who was the La Crosse representative of the town site
proprietors of Trempealeau. Mr. Hastings, in the name of his
employers, offered a free site for the new mill south of the
village. At that time the river was unusually high, and the
location seemed a most suitable one. But while it was in the
progress of construction, the water subsided, and the owners
of the mill began to realize that their venture was not likely
to prove profitable. When they began to operate, these
apprehensions were fully verified. Access to the mill was
difficult, and the expense of hauling was great. After a
while the venture was abandoned, the mill was sold and moved
elsewhere, and of the proprietors, only Mr. Barrett remained
in Trempealeau.
But the mill
was the cause of a rapid growth for the village. Property
advanced in value and importance. Many eastern people were at
that time seeking in the West opportunities for investment
which they believed would bring them large returns. The
village was filled with new settlers, houses, cabins and
shanties were put up, and the incomers began to buy land in
all directions.
This demand
created the utmost excitement, and the price of lots
appreciated so rapidly that no one was able to predict a
possible value in advance. In the spring, the most desirable
lots could have been purchased for from $40 to $50. In May,
when the building of the mill was arranged for, double this
price was demanded, and when the mill was completed, as high
as $1,000 was refused for the same pieces of property that
could not have found a purchaser a year previous. As an
instance, it may be stated that while this scale of prices was
maintained, $2,100 was offered for lots on the river bank
opposite what was afterward the Melchior Brewery, and it was
declined. They could not now be sold at anything like that
figure.
Among the
prominent arrivals for 1856, were O. S. Bates, S. D. Hastings
and family, Noah Payne and family, W. T. Booker, J. H.
Crossen, J. P. Israel and family, S. F. Harris and family,
Thomas Van Zant, William Held, A. W. Hickox, C. W. Thomas,
John Smith, Dennis Smith, D. W. Gilfillan, D. B. Phelps, C. C.
Crane, and many others. The improvements consisted of part of
the mill and a large house adjoining for the accommodation of
hands employed therein; the Congregational Church put up under
a contract with C. C. Crane, and numerous private buildings
for residence and commercial purposes. Gilfillan built a
hotel. Hastings erected a residence opposite the public
square. Robert Jones, a brick residence on Third street, the
first birck house in the village, and the Rev. Mr. Hayes put
up a frame house on the hill. In addition to Gilfillan's
tavern, C. S. Seymour was proprietor of the Trempealeau House,
built in 1852, by A. A. Angell, and Frederick Harth occupied
the old log house of James Reed, as the Washington Hotel.
Jasper Kingsley maintained the only saloon in the village, and
the commercial and river interests were divided between J. P.
Israel, W. T. Booker, Mills & Van Zant and N. B. Grover.
J. A. Parker
came in this year. He was the first lawyer in the village.
Dr. Alson Atwood also came in and built a house, and is
claimed by some as the first physician to settle in
Trempealeau, though it is contended by others that this honor
legitimately belongs to Dr. E. R. Utter. Lafayette H.
Bunnell, who settled here in the forties, was not a physician
until later in life. Money was plenty, it is said, and times
unprecedentedly prosperous. Almost every steamer bore hither,
as passengers, people who were out prospecting, ready to avail
themselves of any opportunity that presented itself for
purchase. The Fourth of July was celebrated with unusual
pomp, the Baptist Society was organized, and a terrible
cyclone passed over the village in August, doing great damage.
A pioneer, John
H. Crossen, arriving in Trempealeau on November 13, 1856, has
this to say of the village in those days:
"There were
three stores on Front street, and a few frame residences,
with here and there a log house. Further back on Second and
Third streets were other residences, perhaps thirty all
told, very much scattered. People were coming and going
constantly. Each boat brought a new crowd of prospective
settlers and took away some that had looked the country over
and gotten their fill, so to speak, and had made up their
minds to look elsewhere for locations. And so it went,
coming and going, here today and gone tomorrow, although, of
course, some remained and became permanent settlers in the
village.
"But the
steamboat was not the only means of bringing people to
Trempealeau. Many came overland in covered wagons. During
1856-57 a number of caravans of settlers passed through here
and were ferried across the river to Minnesota, where they
took the road leading up the Pickwick Valley onto the
Minnesota prairie. I have seen the old ferry owned by
Wilson Johnson busy a week steady ferrying teams across the
river. This ferry was a horse tread power, and it carried
many a prairie schooner over the river.
"These long
strings of covered wagons made a picturesque sight winding
along the road with their white tops showing against the
green landscape, always reaching towards the west -- the
land of the setting sun -- and many of the occupants of
these prairie schooners became the sturdy pioneers of
Minnesota.
"During the
wheat times, Trempealeau was surely a lively place. I have
seen wagons loaded with wheat reaching from the loading dock
down Front street and part way up the hill, waiting for
their turn to be unloaded -- a procession half a mile long,
composed mostly of ox-teams, with a few teams of horses. At
night you would see fires out on Trempealeau Prairie where
the wheat haulers were camped for the night. Every idle man
in Trempealeau could find employment there loading wheat on
the steamboats, and I have seen two or three boats loading
at a time, and steamboat men scouring the town for more
help. The flush wheat times lasted until a few years after
the Civil War."
With the
opening of the river in 1857, the hopes of the villagers ran
high. Every steamboat was bringing new arrivals, new
buildings were being erected, the prairie was being settled,
the county was growing. But in the midst of this busy
activity came the financial crash, nation-wide in its scope.
Provisions became scarce and rapidly rose in price. Flour
jumped to $12 a barrel, port to $10 a hundred pounds, and
other commodities in proportion. Wild game became an
important article of food, and kept many of the settlers from
starvation. Elk and deer, which even at this late date were
to be found herded in the brush of the bluffs, supplied the
absence of meat.
However, great
faith was still maintained in the future of Trempealeau, and
many strangers attempted to take advantage of the situation to
secure land at a low price. But the people of Trempealeau,
with dogged perseverance, stuck to the high prices that had
been maintained during the "boom" years. The result was that
many desirable citizens who would have located here and helped
to build a metropolis, secured cheaper land in La Crosse,
Winona, Red Wing, St. Paul and other places, and the advantage
of their money and enthusiasm was lost to the little village
in the shadow of the mountain. This short-sighted policy,
together with he money stringency, retarded the growth of
Trempealeau, and though with returning prosperity, the village
was an important shipping point until the coming of the
railroad, those who had demanded such high prices for their
land never saw their hopes realized, and values of village
property gradually declined.
Among those who
settled here in 1857 were W. P. Heuston, R. W. Russell, N. W.
Allen, Harvey Bowles, F. A. Utter and others, including Wilson
Johnston, who established the first ferry from Trempealeau
Village to the Minnesota shore.
A good crop of
wheat was raised in 1858, and much of it was purchased at
Trempealeau for shipment to various points down the river.
Fully 1,000 bushels of wheat were shipped this year, and
prosperity was revived. The absence of railroads in the
interior, and the fact that Trempealeau was the most
accessible point for the farmers of this region to merchant
their produce, brought the pioneer agriculturists here in such
number that the streets lining the river were often packed for
hours with teamsters waiting for a chance to unload.
A later
settler, Stephen Richmond, arriving September 8, 1870, a year
before the opening of the railroad, has said of the village:
"Its one main
street extending along the river from Melchior's hotel and
brewery and Octave Batchelor's hotel, running east with the
then numerous warehouses and business places crowding close
together, and its neat homes nestling in sunshine on the
hillsides and down to the foot of the Trempealeau Bluffs
which appeared as mountains of moderate elevation -- the
town itself facing the Mississippi River, its streets filled
with farmers and lined with farm teams of one hundred or
more, a majority of the teams being oxen with wagons loaded
with grain for the market, or with goods and supplies for
the farmers' homes; and the most disconcerting and puzzling
condition to me was the language spoken by many of the
people -- German, the Polish, the Bohemian, and
Scandinavian, this talk being coupled with the oddity of the
dress of many and the general inter-social manner of the
people and their truly democratic manners and customs, no
notice appeared to be taken of difference in nationality.
Even the half-breed and the Indian were kindly recognized.
I counted 98 teams along Main street loaded with grain,
waiting for a turn to unload at the warehouses, then under
the management of Solomon Becker, Christ Reiminschneider,
and Paul Kribs."
The village
trade increased in volume until the completion of the railroad
in August 1871. Farmers came here with their wheat not only
from this county, but also from adjoining counties, and during
the last few years before 1871 it is said that the shipments
sometimes averaged 5,000 bushels a day from the opening
harvest season until the closing of the river in the early
winter. A vast amount of money was thus put into circulation.
The village,
however, did not grow materially. A few stores were put up, a
few business houses opened, and a few residences constructed,
but the men who would have contributed so materially to its
prosperity had been frightened away by the high values at
which the village proprietors held their property. When the
railroad from the east was completed to La Crosse,
Trempealeau's importance as a shipping point was increased,
and La Crosse grew rapidly. It was therefore felt that with
the building of the La Crosse, Trempealeau and Prescott
Railroad, Trempealeau would retain its standing as a steamboat
point, and grow to great importance as a railroad point. But
when the railroad was put in operation it tapped many points
that had hitherto been tributary to Trempealeau, and the hopes
of the promoters were blasted forever.
In recent
years, however, a group of active young business men of
another generation are making the village a busy and important
little center and the recent creation of Trempealeau Mountain
as a State park has revived its former importance.
For a lot more information on the history of Trempealeau
County:
Click here
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