Fifty Years In The Northwest
school house, four churches, two hotels, five stores and numerous
shops and dwellings. There are two resident lawyers and one physician.
Grantsburg is the terminus of the St. Paul & Duluth (branch) railroad,
completed in 1884. The scheme of building a branch road to connect
with the St. Paul & Duluth railroad at Rush City was long cherished by
Canute Anderson, and through his efforts the road was finally built.
The county voted $20,000 bonds, at seven per cent interest, which
bonds the state of Wisconsin cashed. The road was graded from
Grantsburg to the St. Croix river in 1878, from Rush City to St. Croix
in 1882. The St. Paul & Duluth Railroad Company built the railroad and
assumed the bonded indebtedness, payable in fifteen annual
installments. Cars ran to the St. Croix river in 1883. The bridge over
the St. Croix, completed in 1883, cost $20,000. The road was opened to
Grantsburg Jan. 22, 1884. At this opening over a thousand persons were
present, five hundred of whom came in on the train. Canute Anderson
made an address of welcome, followed by James Smith, president of the
road. Congratulatory letters were read from Hons. S. S. Fifield, Henry
M. Rice, and W. H. C. Folsom, the tenor of which was highly
complimentary to Mr. Anderson, and full of hope for the future of the
railroad and its terminus.
CANUTE ANDERSON was born in Norway, 1830. He came to America in 1851,
and three years later settled in the northeast quarter of section 2,
township 37, range 19, making a large stock farm, part of it being a
fine natural meadow, with running stream. In 1858 the first post
office in the county (called Anderson) was established at his house,
and he was appointed postmaster. In 1878 he represented Ashland,
Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, and Polk counties in the
legislature. He is and ever has been a master spirit in his county,
using all his influence to further the interests of his adopted home.
Many of the early settlers were poor,--strangers in a strange
land,--and for them Mr. Anderson's house was ever a resort. It was
also an intelligence office, where the inquiring immigrant could
obtain reliable information as to the country and its resources, and
facilities to the settler. In 1860 Mr. Anderson was married to
Catharine Nelson, daughter of Magnus Nelson, one of Burnett county's
first settlers.
THE HICKERSON FAMILY came from Ohio to Wisconsin. Nimrod H., the
oldest brother, settled on Wood river in 1859, built a saw mill, kept
a hotel and established a post office on the St. Paul and Bayfield
stage route in 1860. Mr. Hickerson went to California in 1875, and
died there. Joel, the second brother, is a merchant at Grantsburg. He
served during the later years of the Civil War as a soldier, Company
C, Seventh Minnesota Volunteers, and was pensioned for disabilities.
He was married in 1868 to Mary Anderson. Perry D., the third brother,
keeps a hotel in Grantsburg. He was also a member of Company C,
Seventh Minnesota Volunteers, and with his brother was mustered out at
the close of the war, and has received a pension for disabilities. He
was married to Ellen M. Anderson, daughter of Peter Anderson. They
have eleven children. Newton, the fourth son, lives in Grantsburg. He
was a soldier in Company D, Twenty-first Ohio, during the war. Was
wounded and totally disabled. He has no pension. He is unmarried.
THE ANDERSON FAMILY.--The four brothers, Peter, George, Hans and
Martin, with their aged parents, came from Norway and settled in
Grantsburg in 1883. The father but recently died. The mother is still
living, having reached the extreme age of ninety-seven years. During
the last six years she has been blind. Peter Anderson was married in
Norway in 1846. His wife died in 1877, leaving three sons and four
daughters. He was married to his second wife in 1878. Peter has served
as county supervisor, and filled other offices. The brothers have been
active in promoting the interests of their town and county.
ROBERT A. DOTY was born in Niagara county, New York; lived some years
in Genesee county, Michigan, and settled in Sterling, Polk county, in
1865. He subsequently became the first settler in the town of
Marshfield, Burnett county. He was accidentally killed in 1879 by
being thrown from his wagon. His widow and two sons live in
Grantsburg. John H., the oldest son, resides on the old homestead in
Sterling.
THE CRANBERRY MARSHES.
The cultivation of the cranberry is an important industry in Burnett
county. The berry is raised chiefly in townships 38 and 39, ranges 17
and 18. The writer of these sketches visited the localities named in
1873, and although there have been many changes and improvements since
then, the description quoted from an essay read before the
Horticultural Society will still be generally applicable:
"The scene on approaching these marshes, where the native
cranberry was found, before the white man had commenced to
improve them, was picturesque in the extreme to those who
have a taste for Nature's handiwork. There are extensive
tracts of land covering thousands of acres, dotted here and
there with islands of young pine and points of highland
projecting in various shapes into the marshes. It reminded
me of an ocean bay, in a calm, only changing the ocean water
color to endless green. There are in these marshes somewhere
from one to two townships of land, on which cranberries were
then growing, or susceptible of being improved so that
cranberries can be raised thereon. One township contains
23,040 acres. The parties operating on the marshes I visited
already have some 30 or 40 miles of ditch made, averaging 5
feet at the top, 3 feet at the bottom, with an average depth
of 4 feet, at a cost of about 75 cents per rod. These
ditches are to drain the water from the marshes when
desired. They have dams across these ditches, to flood the
marshes when desired. The flooding of the marshes aids in
subduing the wild grasses and other incumbrances, also is
essential to the growth of the berries. On these marshes,
wherever the flowage is killing the grass, the vine is
rapidly spreading, without transplanting. Undoubtedly they
would yield a quicker return by transplanting. Large tracts
of these lands, which, at this time have no vines, are
bought by companies, mostly from the cranberry lands in
Eastern Wisconsin, who are experienced in this business, and
know what they are doing. They openly declare that vines can
be grown on these marshes, where sufficient water can be
obtained and controlled to flow the lands. Mr. Irvine
informed me that this flooding process, and the manner in
which it was controlled, was the key to success. I examined
the effect which one year alone had accomplished, as these
companies commenced operations in 1872. It surprised me when
I saw the mode, and heard it explained, that so little was
generally known of this business. After the marshes are
subdued, dams and ditches built, there is comparatively
small cost in raising the fruit until the harvest, when men,
women and children flock in from the farming countries to
pick, to pack, to store, to dry, to box, and convey to
market. An expert will pick from five to ten bushels per day
by hand, no rakes being allowed. In 1873 these marshes had
an abundant yield. These companies paid to outsiders one
dollar and fifty cents per bushel. There are several
companies operating in Burnett county. They have made and
are making substantial improvements, in building roads, dry
houses, dwelling houses, etc. The past year a saw mill was
erected for sawing staves for barrels, lumber for boxes,
etc. These marshes are about twenty miles east of the
Superior railroad."
WASHBURN COUNTY.
Washburn county was organized in 1883, and embraces townships 37 to
42, inclusive, and ranges 10 to 13, inclusive, a total of 24
townships. It is drained by St. Croix waters with the exception of the
southeast corner, which is drained by a branch of the Chippewa river.
It has been a rich timbered region and large forests of pine still
remain. The greater part of the county is adapted to agriculture, and
is settling rapidly. Two lines of railway traverse the county, one
from south to north, and the other from southwest to northeast, giving
the county excellent facilities for transportation and marketing of
products. The county is divided into two towns, Bashaw in the south
and Veasie in the north. These towns were organized in 1877, while
Washburn was a part of Burnett county. The first supervisors of Bashaw
were: L. E. Thomas, chairman; John Arbuckle and John McMullen. The
town of Bashaw was the first settled. John McMullen settled in
township 38, range 13, in 1872, in Bashaw valley. He married a member
of the Hart family, old settlers of the town. He died in 1878. L. E.
Thomas was the second settler in Bashaw and in Washburn county, and
has been officially connected with the town and county organization.
He is a native of Michigan, and has followed lumbering and farming. L.
E. Thomas built the first house. Nellie Raberge taught the first
school in Bashaw, in 1881. Miss Raberge has since become the wife of
Milton Stratton. The first post office was established in 1880, Mrs.
Malcolm Dobie, postmistress. The first sermon was preached by Rev.
Ellingwood. G. P. Pearly was the first physician; A. L. Bugbee, the
first lawyer. Messrs. Hart, Baker, Gardner and others have large farms
in Bashaw valley. By the act organizing the county,
SHELL LAKE
was made the county seat. It is beautifully located on the shores of
Summit lake. It has a court house, built at a cost of $11,000, in
1885, one of the most tasteful buildings of the kind in the St. Croix
valley. The town is built on railroad lands, purchased by the Shell
Lake Lumber Company, and by them surveyed into lots. The streets are
from sixty-six to eighty feet wide. A restriction in the deeds to the
lots and lands against the sale of alcoholic drinks has been
continuously violated. In 1883 the town board fixed license at five
hundred dollars, a plain violation of the original agreement.
A fine school building with four apartments was built in 1885, at a
cost of $5,000. Prof. Halphyde is principal of the schools. The
Episcopalians and Catholics have church buildings. The Baptists,
Methodists, Lutherans and Presbyterians have church organizations. The
Masons, Good Templars and Knights of Labor have organizations.
Summit lake, on the west bank of which the town is situated, is about
two and a half miles broad by three and a half long. It has bold,
gravelly shores. The water is deep, clear and pure. The slopes
surrounding it are covered with evergreen, and hardwood timber. One
small steamer floats upon its waters.
The first board of county officers was as follows: Treasurer, Leander
E. Thomas; clerk, Frank B. Nelson; sheriff, James Wynne; attorney,
Frank Gudette; register of deeds, Albert L. Bugbee; judge, L. H. Mead;
clerk of court, A. Gibson; superintendent of schools, Clara Stratton;
surveyor, Patrick Kelly. The first circuit court was held in June,
1883, Hon. S. S. Clough, presiding. The county has two court terms for
the year, in June and December.
The Shell Lake Lumber Company was organized in 1880, under Iowa laws.
It is composed of C. Lamb and David Joice and sons, of Clinton, Iowa;
Laird, Norton & Co., of Winona; Weyerhauser & Dinkeman, of Rock
Island, Illinois; S. T. McKnight, of Hannibal, Missouri; D. R. Moore,
Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Their mills are located on the northwest side