Fifty Years In The Northwest

OTHER THEFTS

At another time, shortly before payment, when the Indians were unusually hungry and troublesome, two barrels of pork and one of butter mysteriously disappeared. The pork barrels were found empty in the river, and also the butter barrel with one-third of the contents missing. The Indians lay all day in camp sick, but protested their innocence. Nevertheless, at payment day a claim of two hundred dollars for the pork and one hundred and fifty for the butter was allowed and kept back. They made no objections to paying for the pork, but protested against paying for the butter, as it did them no good and made them all sick.

In September, an old Indian came to the cabin, begging for something to eat. The agent went to the pork barrel and held up a fine piece of pork weighing about twelve pounds, to which the tail was still attached. At sight of this his countenance fell and he went away silently and sullenly.

Shortly afterward a yoke of oxen was missing. They had been driven off over some bare ledges of trap to break the trail. An Indian was hired to hunt for them. He found that this same beggar who had been so disgusted with the offer of a piece of pork with the tail attached had driven them off and slaughtered them. Payment day made all right, and the Indians were compelled to pay a good price for rather poor beef.

HARD TIMES

Mrs. Mary C. Worth communicated to the writer the following incidents, illustrating some of the vicissitudes of the early settlers:

It was in the fall of 1842. There were about two hundred people in the village, most of them in the employ of James Purinton, company agent. They were already short of provisions and the winter was rapidly coming on, and the expected boat, with its cargo of provisions for the winter supply, was long delayed. September passed, October came and nearly passed, and still no boat. Snow covered the ground, and thin ice the river. The ice, in finely broken pieces, floated down the rapids and was beginning to gorge in the Dalles, and still no boat. Provisions were allotted to the resident families, and the gloomiest anticipations filled all minds at the prospect of the long, dreary winter without food; when, on the twenty-eighth of October, the long expected whistle was heard from the coming steamer. The people rushed frantically down to the old warehouse, but the ice was so gorged in the Dalles that no boat could make the landing. No boat was in sight, nor was the whistle heard again. Had it all been an illusion? The eager throng were again in despair. Another night of cold would blockade the river. Just then the voices of white men were heard from the rocks of the Dalles, and to their great joy they perceived the boat's officers and passengers clambering down from the rocks, with the glad tidings that the boat had reached the landing, half a mile below, and was then unloading her cargo. The boat, as soon as unloaded, hurriedly departed to avoid being frozen in. The winter passed merrily enough, but clouds and darkness gathered in the spring. Provisions were again short, and had to be apportioned sparingly and equally. Occasionally a deer or a fish eked out the supply, but starvation was again imminent. On this occasion they were relieved by the reception of condemned pork from Fort Snelling. The St. Louis proprietors sent up another boat load of supplies after the opening of navigation, and all seemed well, when, during the prevalence of high water, the boom and mill race gave way and the logs, their main dependence, were swept down the river and beyond their control. This important occurrence, as it then seemed to be, opened up for the company and people a new trade from the valley below, which has been a source of immense profit. It suggested the idea of booming and rafting their logs for points down the river, and led to the building of the first saw mill at Stillwater.

UGH! UGH!

Mr. Purinton at one time invited a few noted Indians who were begging for food to be seated at his table. He politely asked them if they would have tea or coffee. "Ugh! Ugh!" (equivalent to yes, yes) replied the whole party. So Mr. Purinton mixed their tea and coffee.

MRS. WORTH AND MUCKATICE

Muckatice, a Chippewa chief, heard that a barrel of whisky had been stored for safe keeping in the cellar of Mrs. Worth, at Balsam Lake. Muckatice forced himself into the house and attempted to raise the cellar trap door. Mrs. Worth forbade him and placed herself upon the door. Muckatice roughly pushed her aside. He raised the trap door, and, while in the act of descending, fell. While falling Mrs. Worth suddenly shut the trap door upon him, by which one of his legs was caught. Mrs. Worth held the door tightly down. When at last Muckatice was released, gathering a crowd of Indians he returned and demanded the whisky. Thayer, with ropes, managed to get the barrel out of the cellar and out upon the ground, and seeing the peril of giving so much whisky to the Indians, knocked in both heads of the barrel with an axe, and the earth drank the poisonous fluid. Muckatice then shook hands with Mrs. Worth, called her very brave, and departed.

CHAPTER V.

BIOGRAPHIES

The biographical histories of the early settlers of Polk county considerably antedate the organization of the towns to which they would be referred as at present belonging, and we therefore group together those earliest identified with the history of the valley, and its first settlement at St. Croix Falls, referring also some, such as Joseph R. Brown, Gov. W. R. Marshall and Frank Steele, to localities in which they had been more intimately connected.

Gov. Wm. Holcombe was one of the active resident proprietors and agent of the St. Croix Falls Lumber Company from 1838 to 1845. He was born at Lambertville, New Jersey, in 1804; left home when a boy; went to Utica, New York, where he learned the wheelwright trade. He married Martha Wilson, of Utica; moved to Columbus, Ohio, and was successful in business, but lost all by fire, when he moved to Cincinnati, and from thence to Galena. While in Galena he embarked in steamboating on the Mississippi. Mrs. Holcombe died in Galena. From Galena he came to St. Croix Falls, where he devoted his time as agent to selling lumber and keeping books. Mr. Holcombe took a deep interest in opening the valley to public notice and improvement. He traveled over the wilderness country from Prairie du Chien to St. Croix Falls before there was a blazed path, driving horses and cattle. He helped locate the two first roads in the valley from the mouth of St. Croix lake, via Marine, to St. Croix Falls and from St. Croix Falls, via Sunrise and Rush lakes, to Russell's farm, on Pokegama lake. He supervised the cultivation of the first crops raised in Polk county, at Jerusalem. He settled in Stillwater in 1846, where he became an active worker in behalf of education, and did much to establish the present excellent system of schools. In 1846 he was a member of the first constitutional convention of Wisconsin Territory, representing this valley and all the country north of Crawford county. He was a faithful worker on the boundary question, and effected a change from the St. Croix to a point fifteen miles due east, from the most easterly point on Lake St. Croix, from thence south to the Mississippi river and north to the waters of Lake Superior. His course was approved by his constituents. In 1848 he took an active part in the formation of Minnesota Territory, and was secretary of the first convention called for that purpose in Stillwater. He was receiver of the United States land office at Stillwater four years. He was a member of the Democratic wing of the constitutional convention for Minnesota in 1857, and was honored by being elected first lieutenant governor of Minnesota in 1857. The name of Gov. Holcombe will long be remembered in the valley of the St. Croix. He died in Stillwater, Sept. 5, 1870, and was buried with masonic honors. He left two sons, William W. and Edward Van Buren, by his first wife. He married a second wife in Galena, in 1847, who died in 1880.

William S. Hungerford was born in Connecticut, Aug. 12, 1805. He was married to Lucinda Hart, at Farmington, Connecticut, in 1827. He came to St. Louis, Missouri, at an early age and engaged in mercantile pursuits in the firm of Hungerford & Livingston. In 1838 he became one of the original proprietors of the St. Croix Falls Lumbering Company, and gave his time and talents to its welfare. He was of a hopeful temperament, and even in the darkest hour of the enterprise in which he had embarked, cherished a most cheerful faith in its ultimate success.

Hon. Caleb Cushing, whose name was to be associated intimately with that of Mr. Hungerford in the future history and litigation of the company, recognizing St. Croix Falls as a point promising unrivaled attractions to the manufacturer, in 1846 purchased an interest in the company, which was at once reorganized with Cushing and Hungerford as principal stockholders. The acute mind of Gen. Cushing recognized not only the prospective advantages of the water power, but the probability of the division of Wisconsin Territory, which might result in making St. Croix Falls the capital of the new territory, and formed plans for the development of the company enterprise, which might have resulted advantageously had not he been called away to take part in the Mexican War and thence to go on a political mission to China. During his absence there was a complete neglect of his American inland projects and the enterprise at St. Croix suffered greatly; the new company accomplished but little that was agreed upon in the consolidation. Cushing had inexperienced agents, unfitted to attend to his interest. He furnished money sufficient, if judiciously handled, to have made a permanent, useful property here. Conflicting questions arose between Hungerford and Cushing's agents, which terminated in lawsuits. The first suit was in 1848, Hungerford, plaintiff. Different suits followed, one after another, for over twenty years, which cursed the property more than a mildew or blight. During this time the parties alternated in use and possession, by order of court. Hungerford, during these trials, pre-empted the land when it came in market. For this he was arrested on complaint of perjury. Hungerford, by order of court, was, on his arrest, taken away in chains. He was soon after released. Hungerford was an indefatigable worker. The labor of his life was invested in the improvements of the company. Cushing, being a man of talent and influence, could fight the battle at a distance. He employed the best legal talent in the land; he met Hungerford at every turn, and Hungerford became a foe worthy of his steel. They unitedly accomplished the ruin of their town. Mr. Hungerford had an excellent family, making their home at the Falls during all their perplexities. On the occasion of his arrest he was manacled in presence of his family, who bore it with a fortitude worthy the name and reputation of the father and husband. The litigation ended only with the death of the principal actors. The perishable part of the property, mills and other buildings, has gone to ruin. The whole history is a sad comment on the folly of attempting to manage great enterprises without harmony of action and purpose. Mr. Hungerford died in Monticello, Illinois, in 1874. Mrs. Hungerford died in Connecticut in 1880. Mr. Cushing died in 1876.

Hon. Henry D. Barron. – Henry Danforth Barron was born in Saratoga county, New York, April 10, 1832. He received a common school education, studied law, and graduated from the law school at Ballston Spa, New York. He came to Wisconsin in 1851; learned the printer's trade, and was afterward editor of the Waukesha Democrat. In 1857 he removed to Pepin, Wisconsin, and in 1860 received the appointment of circuit judge of the Eighth district.

In September, 1861, he came to St. Croix Falls, as agent for Caleb Cushing and the St. Croix Manufacturing and Improvement Company.

He was elected to the lower house of the Wisconsin legislature in 1862, and served as assemblyman continuously from 1862 to 1869, and for the years 1872 and 1873. During the sessions of 1866 and 1873 he was speaker of the assembly. A portion of this time he held the responsible position of regent of the State University, and was also a special agent of the treasury department. In 1869 President Grant appointed him chief justice of Dakota, which honor was declined. The same year he was appointed fifth auditor in the treasury department, which office he resigned in 1872 to take a more active part in advancing the interests of his State. He was chosen a presidential elector in 1868, and again in 1872, and served as state senator during the sessions of 1874, 1875 and 1876, and was at one time president pro tem. of the senate. In 1876 he was elected judge of the Eleventh Judicial circuit. During his service as judge he was highly gratified that so few appeals were taken from his decisions, and that his decisions were seldom reversed in higher courts. He had also held the offices of postmaster, county attorney, county judge, and county superintendent of schools.

Although formerly a Democrat, at the outbreak of the Rebellion he became a Republican. Of late years he was a pronounced stalwart. Throughout his life he never received any profit, pecuniarily, from the prominent positions in which he was placed, his only endeavor seeming to be to advance the interests, influence, worth and ability of the younger men with whom he was associated, and hundreds who to-day hold positions of prominence and responsibility, owe their success and advancement to his teachings and advice. Of a disposition kind, courteous and generous, he was possessed of a remarkably retentive memory, which, with his intimate associations with leading men, and familiarity with public life, legislative and judicial, afforded a fund of personal sketches, anecdotes and biographies, at once entertaining, amusing and instructive.

The judge was twice married, his first wife having died at Waukesha, leaving him an only son, Henry H. Barron, who was with him at the time of his death. His second marriage was to Ellen K. Kellogg, at Pepin, in 1860. For some time she has made her home with her mother in California, on account of ill health. At the time of his death, which occurred at St. Croix Falls, Jan. 22, 1882, he was judge of the Eleventh Judicial circuit. His remains were buried at Waukesha.

George W. Brownell. – Mr. Brownell, though not among the earliest of the pioneers of St. Croix valley, yet deserves special mention on account of his scientific attainments, his high character as a man, and the fact that he was an influential member, from the St. Croix district, of the Wisconsin territorial constitutional convention, he having been elected over Bowron on the question of establishing the new state line east of the St. Croix.

Mr. Brownell was born in Onondago, New York, and when a youth lived in Syracuse, where he learned the trade of a carriage maker. He was a resident of Galena, Illinois, over thirty years, where he engaged in mining and geological pursuits. He spent two years in the lead mines of Wisconsin. He was connected with the Galena Gazette some years. In 1846 he visited the Superior copper mining region for a Boston company. He formed the acquaintance of Caleb Cushing, Rufus Choate, Horace Rantoul, and others, and located for them mineral permits at St. Croix Falls and Kettle river, and became, this year, a resident of St. Croix Falls. In 1847 he was married to Mrs. Duncan, of Galena. He was elected this year to the constitutional convention. In 1851 he returned to Galena and engaged in the grain trade and cotton planting near Vicksburg, Mississippi, in which he was not successful. In 1865 he visited Colorado and made investments there. When on a trip to Colorado, in 1866, the stage was attacked by Indians. Brownell and another passenger alighted to resist the attack. He was armed with a rifle, and, if properly supported, would probably have been saved; but most of the passengers remained in the stage. The driver, getting scared, whipped his horses and drove rapidly away, leaving Brownell and companion, who were overpowered and killed. Their bodies were recovered, shockingly mutilated. His remains were forwarded to Galena for burial. Mr. Brownell had a scientific mind, and passed much of his life in scientific studies and practical experiments. He attained a good knowledge of geology, mineralogy and chemistry. The foresight of Mr. Brownell on the Wisconsin boundary, and in other public matters, has been, in time, generally recognized. He was a good neighbor and kind friend.

Col. Robert C. Murphy. – Col. Murphy, a man of fine address and admirable social qualities, made his home at St. Croix Falls in 1860-61 and 62, during which time he was in charge of the Cushing interest and property, which position he left to accept the colonelcy of the Eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. His military career was not fortunate and its abrupt termination was a sad disappointment to himself and friends. An article in the Milwaukee Weekly Telegraph, from the pen of one who knew Col. Murphy well, thus sums up some of the salient points in his character and career. We make a few extracts:

"Col. Murphy was educated and accomplished. He had been instructed in the Patridge Military School, and was possessed of some experience in Indian fights on the plains with Burnside, bearing scars of that experience, and a recommendation of skill and courage from Gen. Burnside to Gov. Randall. His great intuitiveness, his ready manner, his cultivation of mind, gained for him the respect and charity of his superiors, and brought him the respect and confidence of his regiment. His father, a native of Ireland, was a successful practicing lawyer and politician in Ohio, without much education; a man of strong natural talent and integrity. Upon his son he showered all his earnings, in the form of that which the father lacked the most – books, schooling and polish. Judge Murphy (the father) was the bearer of important dispatches to Texas from the Tyler and Polk administrations in connection with the annexation of that republic to this country, and is referred to in Benton's 'Thirty Years' as Tyler's 'midnight messenger.' Young Murphy was appointed by President Pierce American consul in China, while Gen. Caleb Cushing was minister to that country, and he discharged important consular and judicial duties there with credit to himself and his government. Upon his return Gen. Cushing selected him to take charge of the Cushing interest and property at St. Croix Falls, in this State. From there he went 'to the front,' and his military career was cut short by his failure at Iuka and Holly Springs. Gen. Grant dismissed him in brief, terse words, but was willing afterward that he should be heard by a board of army officers detailed for that purpose. Stanton was inexorable and refused."

After his dismissal from the army he removed to Washington and accepted a clerkship in the post office department where he still remains. It is due to him to say that his own version of his military troubles is ingenious and plausible, and would, if sustained, quite exonerate him from the charges that have pressed so heavily upon him.

Edward Worth. – Mr. Worth came to St. Croix Falls from New York State in 1842, where he continued to reside the remainder of his life, experiencing the vicissitudes of pioneer life to their fullest extent. He died in 1863, leaving a widow, an only son (Henry) and two daughters, Myra, wife of W. T. Vincent, and Sarah, wife of John Blanding.

Mrs. Mary C. Worth. – Mrs. Worth was born Oct. 14, 1812, was married to Edward Worth, Dec. 24, 1835, and came to St. Croix Falls in 1842, where she lived till Jan. 12, 1886, when she peacefully passed away. She was a woman of rare mental ability, untiring industry and skill in managing her household affairs, and unquestioned courage, as many incidents in her St. Croix experience will evidence. She was a member of the Episcopal church and went to her grave with the respect and admiration of all who knew her.

Maurice Mordecai Samuels, better known as Capt. Samuels, was born in London, of Jewish parentage. It is not known exactly when he came to this country. I first met him in 1844, at Prairie du Chien, at which time he was a traveling peddler. In 1846 I found him in the Chippewa country, living with an Indian woman and trading with the Indians at the mouth of Sunrise river. In 1847 he established a ball alley and trading post at St. Croix Falls, where he lived until 1861, when he raised a company (the St. Croix Rifles) for the United States service, received a commission and served till the close of the war. After the war he became a citizen of New Orleans, and in 1880 changed his residence to Winfield, Kansas. While in St. Croix he reared a family of half-breed children. He was a shrewd man and an inveterate dealer in Indian whisky. Capt. Samuels was sent as a government agent to the Chippewas of St. Croix valley and the southern shore of Lake Superior, in 1862, to ascertain and report their sentiment in regard to the Sioux war. It may be said of Capt. Samuels that, however unprincipled he may have been, he was no dissembler, but outspoken in his sentiments, however repellant they may have been to the moral sense of the community. He died at Winfield, Kansas, in 1884.

Joseph B. Churchill was born in New York in 1820; was married in New York to Eliza Turnbull, and came to St. Croix Falls in 1854. He has filled various offices creditably, and has the respect and confidence of his acquaintances. His oldest daughter is the wife of Phineas G. Lacy, of Hudson. His second daughter is the wife of Joseph Rogers. He has one son living.

John McLean. – Mr. McLean was born 1819, in Vermont; was married in 1844 to Sarah Turnbull and settled on his farm near St. Croix Falls in 1850. Through untiring industry and honorable dealing he has secured a sufficiency for life, a handsome farm and good buildings. A large family has grown up around him, and have settled in the county.

Gilman Jewell came from New Hampshire; was married in New Hampshire and came to the West in 1847. He settled on a farm near St. Croix Falls. He died in 1869. Mrs. Jewell died January, 1888. One son, Philip, resides on the homestead. Ezra, another son, resides at the Falls. The other members of the family have moved elsewhere.

Elisha Creech was born in West Virginia, 1831. He came to St. Croix Falls in 1849, and was married to Mary M. Seeds in 1863. They have four children. Mr. Creech has been engaged much of his life in lumbering. Through industry and temperate habits he has made a good farm and a pleasant home.

James W. McGlothlin was born in Kentucky; came to St. Croix Falls in 1846, and engaged successfully in sawing lumber at the St. Croix mill in 1846 and 1847, but in 1848 rented the mill, being sustained by Waples & Co., of Dubuque, Iowa, but by reason of bad management, he failed and left the valley in 1849. He afterward went to California, where he met a tragic fate, having been murdered by his teamster.

Andrew L. Tuttle. – Mr. Tuttle came to St. Croix Falls in 1849, and was engaged many years as a lumberman and as keeper of a boardinghouse. He settled on his farm at Big Rock in 1856, where he made himself a comfortable home. He went to Montana in 1865, and died there in 1873. Mrs. Tuttle still resides at the homestead, an amiable woman, who has acted well her part in life. One of her daughters is married to Wm. M. Blanding. One son, Eli, died in 1883, another son, Henry, died in Montana. Perly, John and Warren are settled near the homestead.

John Weymouth was born at Clinton, Maine, in 1815, and came to St. Croix Falls in 1846, where he followed lumbering and made himself a beautiful home on the high hill overlooking the two villages of St. Croix Falls and Taylor's Falls. By frugality and industry Mr. Weymouth has accumulated a competence. He was married in St. Croix Falls in 1850, to Mary McHugh. One son, John, is married to Miss Ramsey, of Osceola, and a daughter, Mary J., is married to Samuel Harvey, of St. Croix Falls.

B. W. Reynolds, a tall, thin, stoop-shouldered man of eccentric manners, was receiver at the St. Croix land office from 1861 to 1864. He was a native of South Carolina, and a graduate of Middlebury College, Vermont. He had studied for the ministry, and, if we mistake not, had devoted some years of his life to pastoral work, but devoted later years to secular pursuits. At the close of the war he returned to South Carolina as a reconstructionist, but in two or three years came North, and located at La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he edited the La Crosse Star. He died at La Crosse Aug. 17, 1877.