Clark County Press, Neillsville,

February 8, 2006, Page 12

Transcribed by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon.

Index of "Oldies" Articles 

 

 

Compiled by Dee Zimmerman

 

 

Clark County News

 February 1936

 

(Fred W. Draper was an educator, businessman, agriculturist and public official of Clark County, a resident of Loyal in the late 1880s and early 1900s.  Being intrigued about stories of the “Mormon Ripples,” on the Black River, he did an extensive research on its history. D.Z.)

 

“The early settlers used to tell of driving logs through the “Mormon Riffles” on the Black River, a rapids below where the village of Hatfield now stands.  No one seemed to know why clearings were made, here and there, extending from the southern boundary of Clark County to about six or seven miles north of Neillsville, in the earlier days and known by the early settlers as the Mormon clearings.

 

An early settler, E. M. Holden, who later lived in Neilslville, stated he first came to Clark County in the early 1850s.  At that time, there were still some Mormon settlers living along Black River, at Hatfield, and at Black River Falls.

 

As to why they were there and how they came, he did not know.  However, there was a rumor that they first came to cut pine logs for lumber to be used in the building of a temple at Nauvoo, Ill. and these settlers were some who remained behind when the logging operations were suspended.

 

During the summer of 1935, I commenced doing research work to prove as an actual fact that which before had only been a tradition.  Prof. B. E. Draper, of the Department of History, University of North Carolina, assisted with information as did Joseph Fielding Smith, Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Later Day Saints, or Mormons as they are more commonly known, of Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

Receiving opposition from other church bodies, the Mormon members moved westward to Illinois where they founded the city of Nauvoo, along the banks of the Mississippi River.

 

It was at this time that in the search for lumber the advance guard of pioneer loggers left Nauvoo, going by boat to Prairie du Chien to Black River, thence up the river to the lumber woods.

 

In searching the library, I found a pamphlet or correspondence of Bishop George Miller, one of the 12 Apostles of the Mormon Church published by him in 1855, in which he gives a full account of the Black River Valley logging operations.

 

He states that the purpose was to furnish lumber necessary in building the temple and the Nauvoo House, an immense building used to shelter immigrants until they were established in homes.

 

Miller and several associates left Nauvoo some time in May 1841, and came up the river to a point about 14 miles below Black River Falls.  This would be approximately at the site of the present village of Melrose.  There they bought a saw mill from Crane and Kits, then proceeded up the river and commenced their logging operations at a point somewhere above the rapids 12 miles above Black River Falls, which would be north of the present village of Hatfield.  Those rapids, referred to by Bishop Miller, were ever after known by the river drivers and the early settlers as the Mormon Riffles.

 

The pine logs were cut upon the banks of Black River and its tributaries and driven down the river to their mill; there they were sawed into lumber.  As the river was too low by the time they had their lumber manufactured, they had to wait until the spring of 1842, before rafting the lumber to Nauvoo.

 

Sometime during the spring or early summer of 1842, they traded their mill to Jacob Spaulding for a mill he had built at Black River Falls. Thereafter, their entire manufacturing of lumber was done at that site.

 

Jacob Spaulding, a millwright by profession, joined an expedition organized at Warsaw, Ill., in 1838.  He made the first permanent settlement at Black River Falls, and continued as a resident there until his death, which occurred in January 1876.

 

May 12, 1843, Bishop Miller arrived at Nauvoo from Black River Falls with a raft of 50,000 feet of pine lumber from the Black River Falls mills.  He reported that the snow in the pineries had been 2 ½ feet deep the previous winter.

 

During the summer of 1843, there were 150 men in the pineries besides the women and children; clearings were made north along the river, scattered from the falls to six or seven miles north of the mouth of O’Neill Creek.  In the fall of 1843, they threshed 500 bushels of wheat, which had been grown in the clearings.

 

During this season, timber was cut upon the main river, the East Fork, Wedges Creek, and the Cunningham, and probably some along the O’Neill Creek.

 

On July 18, 1843, Bishop Miller arrived at Nauvoo with 157,000 feet of lumber and 70,000 shingles, which he states were all sawed within two weeks and brought down the river in two more weeks.

 

These extensive lumbering operations created jealousies among other lumbermen operating along the river and they informed Bishop Miller that all of the timber in the Black River Valley belonged to the Chippewa and the Menomonie Indians.  Evidently the lumbermen also informed the Indians of the Mormons’ operations, as a delegation of Indian tribes, headed by Chief Oshkosh, came to Black River Falls and informed them that they were trespassing upon tribal grounds.  They claimed an order had been issued by a Federal agent, whose post was on the Wisconsin River, for removal of all trespassing lumbermen.

 

Bishop Miller and a companion returned with Chief Oshkosh to the agency by the Wisconsin River.  They traveled across the country afoot in the dead of winter, a distance of 40 miles through snow 18 inches deep to the agency.

 

Here, they found the agent hostile to any agreement, which they tried to make.  However the Indians remained friendly.  Finally, the agent reluctantly agreed to confirm any agreement, which the Indians made with them as to the logs that had already been cut, but refused to consent to any further cutting of timber upon the Black River until he had time to consult with the authorities at Washington D.C.

 

It appears that a satisfactory arrangement was made with the Indians as the records show that during the summer of 1844, two rafts of lumber were landed at Nauvoo, one containing 87,000 feet and the other 68,000 feet.

 

This was the last lumber received at Nauvoo from the Black River pineries. Bishop Miller, in his memoirs, states that shortly after the arrival of these rafts, he was sent on a mission through the Southern states.  Upon his return, he found that those left in charge of the Black River logging operations had sold the mill and their other holdings; to Black River Falls lumbermen and most of the families had returned to Nauvoo.

 

The forgoing account was taken principally from Bishop Miller’s account of logging operations upon the Black River.

 

In the Wisconsin magazine of History of December 1918: an article entitled Alfred Brunson, Pioneer of Wisconsin Methodism by Ella C. Brunson, quote 1843:

 

“Following one stream after another, he reached the settlement of La Crosse, undergoing hair-raising experiences, enroute.  Then, he went upstream to Black River Falls where he arrived before the caravan did.  The mills at these falls were then in the hands of the Mormons who were preparing to build a city and temple at Nauvoo.  They were prevailed upon to ferry the wagons, horses and men across the river, while the cattle swam.”

 

In the Magazine of History, Vol. 111 No. 2, Dec. 1919 – an article written by James H. McManus, “A Forgotten Trail,” speaking of Brunsons trail, pages 142-143 quote: “Upon reaching Black River Falls, the party found a company of Mormons operating a sawmill getting out lumber for their colony at Nauvoo, Ill.  This was the White Man’s outpost at this time.

 

On the other side, about ten miles above Black River Falls, the river emerges from what at that time was the Southern boundary of the Wisconsin Forest tract in which is has its source and to which it flows to the head of what is known as the Mormon Riffles. The reach is a two-mile stretch of “white-water” confined within high walls of the oldest rocks, just below the present Village of Hatfield, now the site of a great power dam.  It must have been at this site, and above, that the Mormons cut their logs and floated them down to their saw mill at Black River Falls.  That act is commemorated and their sect perpetuated by the name given to the long stretch of swift water.”

 

(Note: J. J. McMagnus was a Methodist minister of the West Wisconsin Conference, well known to this area as he often returned to fill the pulpits at Neillsville, Spencer, Merrillan and other nearby churches.)

••••••••••

Archie Van Gorden’s crew made a discovery while excavating in the feed elevator basement, while preparing to install fertilizer machinery.  The men found, beneath the 13 inch concrete floor in the earth, an ax with a handle five feet long with both ax and handle in a good state of preservation. The helve is shaped like the ones now on sale in hardware stores, and differs only in its immense length.

 

The machinery for the new fertilizer plant of H. H. Van Gorden and Sons arrived and has been unloaded on the floors, ready to be put into place.  It consists of an immense mixer, grinder, pulverizer, and elevators.

 

The basement, formerly used as a barn for farmers’ teams, will house the machines and the big stalls will be converted into bins.  Various materials will be stored in the bins, which will be ground, pulverized and mixed together on scientific formulas to make productive fertilizer.  Some remodeling is being done on the second floor and a portion of the low roof is to be cut out and raised 15 feet to make room for parts of the plant above the basement.

••••••••••

Don’t forget the pancake supper at the Masonic Temple tonight, Wednesday, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  All the pancakes you can eat for 30 cents.

••••••••••

There will be an auction held Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. at the Fremont Town Hall in the Village of Chili.  The old, 24’x36’x16’, town hall building will be sold.  It was built of excellent pine lumber, and is in good condition.  It can be inspected at any time, one mile north of Chili.  The key may be had at Otto Speigelberg’s.  Terms made known on day of sale.

••••••••••

O. J. Warren and his son, Neil, were among the large number of travelers who were marooned along the state highways by the big snowstorm.  They took a truckload of cattle to Milwaukee and on their return trip were stopped by snow drifts at Nenno, a crossroads village in Washington County.  The two taverns there were crowded with travelers, Saturday night and Sunday night.  There were no places to sleep but plenty of food was provided at reasonable prices.  A nearby farmer killed a hog and sold half to each of the two taverns. By hiring, or bribing, the snow plow drivers of Dodge County, the plows came over the line, just three-quarters of a mile, and opened a way for the cars.  Then, Mr. Warren and Neil got on their way, arriving home Monday night.  All along the road were cars and trucks still stuck in the snow, among them a truckload of strawberries, all frozen solid.  Trains were buried in snow, some for hours.

••••••••••

Otto Eberling of Eberling & Schultz produce dealers here in Neillsville, reports the egg market to be in an unstable condition due to the blocked highways.  A large number of egg trucks were reported stalled in snow drifts and as a result, a brief shortage of eggs was felt in the Chicago market, resulting in higher prices.  Mr. Eberling said he feared the price would slump slightly as soon as egg shipments were again able to reach the market.

••••••••••

Clark County Treasurer James H. Fradette, on Friday, filed an application on behalf of Clark County for the entry of 17,000 additional acres of county owned land under the Forestry Crop Law.  With the approval to be made by the state, Clark County will have a total of 106,000 acres entered under the law.

••••••••••

Clark County Relief Funds will be exhausted about April 1, unless Clark County Board makes further appropriations, the office will cease to operate at that time.

••••••••••

Clark County Clerk Calvin Mills received word Tuesday from the La Crosse PWA office that the project covering the building of several office rooms in the basement of the courthouse had been approved.  An architect is due here, Thursday to plan the rooms, which must be approved by the Industrial Commission.

 

It has not been decided which offices will occupy the new space, but it is possible that the new Forestry Office, headed by Allan Covell and the Relief Office will be assigned to the quarters.

••••••••••

Among the car sales listed at the Seif & Byse Ford Sales Co., this week are: A new Ford dump truck to Clark County; a Ford 2-door touring sedan to R. M. Horswill; a Ford 4-door touring sedan to Oscar Rear, Greenwood, and a Ford pickup to Vernie Suckow.

••••••••••

May & Ruchaber United Stores will have their Fifth Anniversary Specials, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

 

Albert Lea Flour 49 lb. bag, $1.67; Monarch Fancy Red Salmon, 1 lb. can 24c; 3-minute Oatmeal, 5 lbs. 19c.

••••••••••

Violators of wood cutting permits in the Clark County Forest Crop area have received notification from the district attorney’s office of amounts due the county as damages, and unless reimbursement is made prosecutions will be started, it is stated.

••••••••••

Wisconsin Trivia

Q. What two Ripon College students became acting superstars?

A. Spencer Tracy and Harrison Ford.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

 

 

The Clark County Courthouse, circa 1900, was photographed at the front and west side of the structure.  The front lawn area provided a shaded park that was ideally suited for the weekly summer band concerts held there during that time period.  (Photo courtesy of Bill Roberts’ collection)

 

 


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