Fifty Years In The Northwest
disemboweled them, burned the entrails and sunk the bodies in the
lake. Their bodies were never found. We append the following newspaper
clipping:
"FINALE.--The friends of the two Indians that shot Grover and Knight,
last Tuesday delivered to P. B. Lacy, of St. Croix Falls, the
valuables that were taken from the bodies of the murdered men. They
consisted of $113 in gold, $282.05 in greenbacks, $160 in silver, one
silver watch, one wallet and one pocket knife. This is probably the
closing act of the bloody tragedy which cost two innocent men their
lives at the hands of Indians steeped in liquor, and who, fearing the
vengeance of the white man, committed suicide."
The two murderers had confessed the crime and shot themselves.
GEORGE P. ANDERSON.--Mr. Anderson was born in Fulvana county,
Virginia, 1825; was educated in the common schools; lived in Ohio
eighteen and in Indiana fifteen years, and came to Balsam Lake in
1866. Few men have been more active in the opening up of a new
settlement. Mr. Anderson has been several times elected to office in
the new county, and was a principal actor in the establishment of the
Polk County Agricultural Society in 1886. He has a family of fifteen
children living.
LAKETOWN.
Laketown includes township 36, range 18. It is named from the lakes
that dot almost every section in the town. Trade lake, with its
tributary from Butternut lake, are the principal streams. The town was
set off from Sterling and organized April 6, 1875. The first
supervisors were L. Bell; S. P. Heard and N. Fornell. The town was
settled largely by Swedes, Norwegians, Danes and Alabamians. The
latter settled in the northwestern part of the town. In 1869 Caleb
Cushing bought the agricultural college lands in the town to the
amount of 7,200 acres. The first school house was built in 1870, in
section 8. P. Tierney taught the first school. Lindsey McKee was the
first settler. He was also the first to sell out and leave. Daniel
Swensbarger, a German, bought him out, and a number of his countrymen
settled near him. Jacob Swensbarger started a store. N. Grondund built
the first blacksmith shop. Peter Olsen built the first saw mill, at
the foot of Long lake, in 1875. The first marriage was that of L.
McKee and Mary Addington, by L. Bell, Esq.
LINCOLN.
Lincoln includes township 33, range 16, and the eastern tier of
sections of township 33, range 17. It is abundantly watered by Apple
river and its tributaries, and has numerous lakes of which Sucker
lake is the largest. The soil is well adapted to the culture of wheat.
There are many fine farms in this township. The surface, originally
covered with timber, is undulating. The town was organized in 1860,
being set off from Osceola. The first town meeting was held April,
1861. A. A. Heald, M. C. Lane and John Hurness were the first
supervisors. The post town is at Lincoln Centre. The Polk county poor
farm is pleasantly situated on a lake in Lincoln, and has been well
managed for a series of years by Capt. Wilkie.
AMERY village is located on Apple river, at the crossing of the "Soo
Line" railway. It has two saw mills and a stave factory. The
Minneapolis, Soo & Atlantic railway passes through Lincoln from
southwest to east, and has a station at Apple River crossing, named
Amery, in honor of William Amery, one of Polk county's best citizens.
WM. WILSON was born in 1828, at Armagh county, Ireland. At four years
of age he came to America with his parents, who located at Canada
West, where he learned the baker's trade. In 1849 he came to Osceola
and followed lumbering eight years. He was married at Osceola to Leah
Moody and located on his homestead in Lincoln in 1870. He has three
sons. Mr. Wilson has been a useful citizen and has done his full share
of pioneer work.
LORAINE.
Loraine includes townships 36 and 37, range 15. It is a heavily
timbered district, with hardwood and pine interspersed. The surface is
undulating and the soil is much of it good. It is well watered by
South Clam creek and tributaries, and has a multitude of small lakes.
There are some fine farms in the northern part of the township.
Loraine was organized Nov. 14, 1872. The first town meeting was held
April, 1873. The first supervisors were, Frank J. Williams, George
Phelps and John Klinch. Wm. Gallespie built the first hotel and opened
it in 1873. The first school was taught by Georgia Lacy. The first
marriage was that of James Lago and Almeda Johnson. The first white
child was George Phillips; the first death that of a child of J. L.
Ellis.
The first settler was C. Loraine Ruggles. He was somewhat eccentric.
He published a book embodying his own adventures during the Rebellion,
which he called "The Great American Spy." The town was named after
him. N. B. Bull and Chas. Anderson were the next settlers.
WM. WALLACE GALLESPIE was born in Louisville, Kentucky; lived in his
youth in Illinois and came to Marine Mills in 1844. In 1851 he married
Cecilia M. Ring, widow of Charles Turner, of Taylor's Falls. In 1878
he moved to his homestead in Loraine, where he has a good farm and
hotel. He has two sons and one daughter.
LUCK.
Luck includes township 36, ranges 16 and 17. It is a good agricultural
region and contains already many valuable farms. The eastern half of
the town was originally a rich pine wood region. Much of the timber is
yet standing. The town is well watered by Upper Trade and Straight
rivers and has many beautiful lakes, the principal of which are
Butternut and North. Luck was organized as a town Nov. 9, 1869. The
first supervisors were Wm. H. Foster, M. C. Pederson and J. J. Bille.
The first settlers were Wm. W. Gallespie, W. H. Foster and D. F. Smith
(1857). The first marriage was that of W. H. Foster, and his oldest
child was the first white child born in Luck. Wm. Gallespie raised the
first crops. D. F. Smith built the first saw mill. W. H. Foster was
first postmaster. At present there are two post offices, one at the
village of Luck, the other at West Denmark. Laura Jones taught the
first school in Luck. The town has been settled chiefly by Danes,
mostly direct from Denmark. A Danish high school was established in
1884, K. Noregaad, principal, at which different languages are taught.
The building cost $3,000. It is beautifully located on Butternut lake.
The Lutherans have three flourishing church organizations in this
town.
WILLIAM H. FOSTER was born in Bangor, Maine, in 1828; came to St.
Croix valley in 1844; settled in Luck in 1857 and engaged in farming
and lumbering. He served in the army during the Rebellion, and was
postmaster at Luck for eighteen years. His father, Daniel Foster, came
with him to the St. Croix valley in 1844 and died in 1876. His native
place was New Hampshire.
MILLTOWN.
Milltown includes township 35, range 17. It is a good agricultural and
stock growing town. It is watered by the small streams flowing into
Balsam, Half Moon and other lakes. The timber is mostly hardwood.
There is pine in the eastern part. The Patterson post office is
located in section 7, Milltown in section 36. Milltown was set off
from St. Croix Falls Dec. 20, 1869. The first town meeting was held
Jan. 8, 1870. The first supervisors were John Lynch, M. Fitzgerald,
Sr., and John Hurley. The Roman Catholic church was organized here in
1864. Their new house of worship was built in 1870. The first settlers
were James and John Rogers. The first school (1865) was taught by
Maggie Crawford. The first school house was built in 1866. A grange
was organized in 1884. The town has now a good brick school house and
a saw and flour mill.
PATRICK LILLIS was born in Ireland in 1807. He came to Polk county in
1856, and, with his amiable wife and enterprising sons, made a claim
on what was afterward styled Milltown, an inappropriate name, but
given by Mr. Lillis himself, as he humorously remarked, "because there
was not a stream large enough for a mill site in the town," and
Milltown it remains to this day. Mr. Lillis prospered and made himself
a good home. He died Feb. 26, 1886. Mrs. Lillis died December, 1885.
They left six sons. John C. is in Greene county, Texas, Simon C. is in
Southern California, and Richard is in Memphis, Tennessee. Henry, the
youngest, aged twenty-nine years, has for the past six years been a
resident of Tacoma, Washington Territory. The residence of Martin and
James is not known.
OSCEOLA.
Osceola contains all of township 33, range 18, except the eastern tier
of sections, and ten whole sections and some fractions of range 19,
made somewhat irregular by the St. Croix river boundary, and the
obtrusion of three sections of Farmington in the southwestern part. It
is a rich agricultural town, consisting chiefly of prairie, the whole
forming a tableland, terminating westward on the precipitous bluffs of
the St. Croix. It has a good steamboat landing and two good water
powers, Osceola and Close's creeks. These are both fine trout brooks.
The bluffs overlooking the St. Croix are bold and high, and, for a
great part, precipitous. Most conspicuous of these bluffs is the
promontory known as Eagle Point, situated just below the Osceola
landing. An escarpment of limestone, about two hundred feet above the
river, projects over its base, not much unlike the celebrated table
rock at Niagara Falls. A tall and solitary pine tree stands upon the
extreme verge of this rock, the whole forming a conspicuous landmark,
visible to a distance of several miles down the river. The cascade on
Osceola creek, a few rods above its mouth, has scarcely a rival
amongst the waterfalls of the West. It has sometimes been called the
Minnehaha of Wisconsin, but while it resembles somewhat in the lower
part of its descent that celebrated cascade, the scenery around it is
much wilder, perpendicular rocks towering over it to a great height,
while the upper part of the fall is over an inclined plain, broken
into steps. It is a favorite haunt for artists and photographers.
There are several minor waterfalls of great beauty in the vicinity.
The trap rock formation crops out in the eastern and northern parts of
the town, rich in specimens of copper and silver. Silver is also found
in ledges at East Lake.
The first land claim in the town, made May 14, 1844, by Milton V.
Nobles and Lucius N. S. Parker, included the cascade and the present
site of the village. The claim was made with the intention of building
a saw mill at the outlet of Osceola creek. The mill company, organized
in 1841, consisted of M. V. and W. H. Nobles, Wm. Kent, Wm. O. Mahony
and Harvey Walker. Mr. Nobles sold his interest and removed to Willow
River; Wm. Parker removed to St. Anthony. The mill commenced cutting
timber in 1845. It was run at first with a small flutter wheel, which
was replaced by a an overshot wheel, 30 feet; that by another, 45
feet, and that by one 50 feet in diameter. In 1845 the company built a
two story boarding house, also a shop and office, near the mill. After
the completion of the mill Walker withdrew from the firm and Anson
Northrup was for a short time a member. Kent & Mahony for a number of
years operated the mill, selling lumber in Galena and St. Louis.
Mahony left for California in 1852. Around this mill, as a nucleus,
the settlement of Osceola and the village were built up. The mill,
with its immense water wheel, for so many years a conspicuous object
on the river, has long since disappeared.
Osceola has had many enterprising business men engaged in
merchandising and manufacturing. The first flouring mill was built by
Kent Brothers in 1853, just above the cascade. This mill changed
owners several times, and was burned in 1880. It was rebuilt by
Lovejoy & Sutton in 1883. Its present capacity is one hundred barrels