Fifty Years In The Northwest by William H. C. Folsom
1865. He subsequently became the first settler in the town of
1510 words | Chapter 100
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
of Summit lake. They have a capacity of 50,000,000 feet per year. The
capital stock amounts to $500,000. Employment is furnished to 250 men.
In 1880 the hour system of labor was adopted. A narrow gauge railroad,
twelve miles long, supplied with two locomotives and fifty cars, is
used for bringing logs to mill. This road has a steel track and 3,000
feet of piling. The refuse burner of the mill is 20 feet in diameter
and 102 in height. There are 63 tenement houses to accommodate the
laborers. A. H. Earle superintends this vast concern.
Sawyer creek obtained its name from Seth M. Sawyer, of Stillwater.
This stream flows into Yellow river, five miles from Summit lake. It
rises from springs three hundred feet from the lake, and one hundred
feet lower down, and may be considered its subterranean outlet, as
visible outlet there is none. The lake, literally a summit lake, the
receding and descending slopes, the springs uniting to form a larger
stream, form a peculiar landscape, quite park-like in some of its
features, and worthy of being converted into a park.
SPOONER,
In the township of Veazie, on the north branch of the Yellow river,
township 39, range 12, is a dinner station on the North Wisconsin
railroad. The railroad company have fitted up an elegant eating house,
and a few neat buildings, the nucleus of a much larger village,
cluster around it.
VEAZIE VILLAGE
Is in township 41, range 10, and has a post office. The town of
Veazie, occupying the northern part of the county, was organized in
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