As the year advanced, the arrivals were more than occasional, and some attempts at improving the place made. These were more prospective than completed, however, and it was not until the year following that they took definite shape. The new comers were, of course, promiscuous in character and unsettled as to their movements, while not a few of them were by no means desirable acquisitions to the place. They were consumers exclusively, and levied for contributions upon the resources of producers. As soon as their object was discovered, they removed elsewhere.

Among these objectionable classes, horse-thieves were by no means few, though they never to any extent trespassed upon the stock of settlers about La Crosse, confining their operations, as a rule, to the horses of the Indians, who, it will be remembered, returned hither from their reservations for the third time this year. These depredators were unblushingly bold in their conduct, and frequently made overtures to eitizens to join with them in their nefarious operations. "We'll accuse you if we're caught," they would say; "there's money in it, and you might just as well have the game as the name." But they enlisted no crusaders under their black flag of theft and murder; and as the settlement began to assume the proportions of a village they were weeded out by public opinion and the enforcement of the law. While in existence, they fulfilled their threats and saddled the theft of missing horses upon parties who were guiltless. In one instance reprisals were made by those who suffered at the hands of the band, but upon ascertaining the facts, as was soon after done, those who had been imposed upon admitted the innocence of those accused, and, so far as they were able, returned the property seized by way of compensation.

The question which will naturally suggest itself, Why was this state of things permitted? is answered by reference to the time, place and circumstances under which the people lived. Society was not even in a transition state. There was no law, council or judiciary. Man was a law unto himself, and carried his life in his hand for any one to peck at who could get the drop. If a man was injured by his neighbor, traverse juries were not accessible, and no one ever thought of appealing to them. The disputed point was adjudicated by the parties immediately to be affected, and the arbitrator was a weapon or test of strength between the contestants. Only those injured sought redress; and as long as the thieves refrained from attaching the property of residents, they were not apprehended.

As a result of this condition of things, fights and brawls, while not an every-day amusement, were of frequent occurrence. On days when the village was more generally visited, on election days and days apportioned on the calendar for feasts or celebrations, the squabbles which in many cases are bred of liquor, were neither few nor bloodless; on the contrary, fierce and constant.

An instance will illustrate the case as it existed. On election day, in the fall of this year, a day so cheerless and chill that fires were indispensable, and warm drinks very acceptable, a party, including "Scoots" Miller, old man Reed, of Reed's Landing, Bill Bunnell, Napoleon Frank, the exile for a theft of flour some years previous, and one or two others, congregated at Levy's Tavern, and over a roaring fire and bowl of methiglin, recounted each his ideas and beliefs of the times. It seems that "Scoots" Miller had made himself obnoxious to one or more of the party, on a former occasion, and availed himself of this opportunity to not only intensify it with those previously offended, but antagonize the remainder of the company. This could not be endured, and after the exercise of a commendable patience, they told him if he didn't cease they would throw him in the fire. "Scoots" declined either to "simmer" or "sizzle," and defied their efforts. But the company were in earnest, and evinced the character of their intentions by picking him up bodily and thrusting him upon the coals. He struggled manfully, and releasing himself from the grasp of those who held him, attempted to escape. In this, also, he failed; and, yielding to the force of superior numbers, was again launched upon the burning log. By this time it began to look serious, and "Scoots" fully comprehending that there was no trifling in the business, once more sought to escape, and failing, was once more subjected to the influences of flames that were penetratingly painful in their effects.

The noise made by the crowd attracted the attention of others in the house, who hastened to know the cause and witness the spectacle recited. Mr. Levy, with the assistance of one known as "Old Mack," interposed before the salamander qualities of "Scoots" had been more than thoroughly tested, and interposing in his behalf, with entreaties and promises, secured the release of the victim and escorted him home.

This incident is a fair type of those which occurred in La Crosse thirty years ago when disorder would have been preferred to the quiet and peace which has become more supremely regnant with each succeeding year since the settlement was begun, since the memorable phrase go West, young man," has been changed almost from a malediction to a beneficent recommendation.

The arrivals of 1850, as already stated, though not numerous, were of the character and influence to teach the world outside the limits of La Crosse of the fair land here to be found. Of the land which for years was known only to the Indian tribes, adventurous Frenchmen, friars and priests, who wandered in at occasional intervals to locate trading posts and church sites, or to trade with and proselyte savages. Those who had come before 1850, accomplished much to recommend the country, and that their labors had not been without results was evident when Wisconsin was wedded to the Federal Government as a State, with La Crosse County as one of her choicest marriage gifts. But those who came after, were not slow in advertising the advantages to be found in a commonwealth which has since shown its ability to nourish an almost unlimited population, whose climate is regular and seasonable, whose soil is fertile beyond estimate, and the monotony of whose landscape is broken by streams and rivers that have wandered for miles in and out among the bluffs and coolies, until they are lost in the broad bosom of the Father of Waters which bears them to the sea. In earlier times, it may have been a byword and reproach; in later days, it has become a glory and a boast. Among those not to be forgotten, who came in this year, was Joshua Ridgley, who settled in the town of Campbell on the north road between La Crosse and West Salem.

A YEAR OF REAL PROGRESS.

Taking 1851 as the first year of vigorous effort toward, and progress in building up La Crosse, the endeavor is ventured to preserve the list of persons who were identified with the county and city previous to and during that year. The list is not long, but embraces N. Myrick, J. M. Levy, H. J. B. Miller, Peter Cameron and John Garrett and families, also Peter Burns, D. D. Cameron, Timothy Burns and possibly one or two more, besides a few farmers, lumbermen, mechanics, etc., whose names have already been mentioned, and who settled in the country then, as now tributary to the city. The list of residents known to have been here in 1851 compared with that of the beginning of 1854, showed conclusively that during the years 185152 and 1853 all went lovely, as the number of families rose from about half a dozen to about half a hundred, besides about thirty-five single men and women. So far as can be ascertained, the names included on the first list were as follows: Lieut. Gov. Timothy Burns, Mr. Beardsley, Frank Baker, Eliakim Barlow, George Carleton, Hugh B. Callahan, J. R. Cowdrey, the Rev. W. H. Card, Ebenezer Childs, Valentine Dinninger, Adam Doerflinger, Sr., A. Eldred, Joseph Ebner, Anson Ferris, Edwin Flint, George Gale, James Gallagher, William Hood, Benjamin B. Healey, George W. Havens, Samuel D. Hastings, Nicholas Hintgen, John Halvorson, Simeon Kellogg, Robert Looney, Albert D. La Due, Abram Looney, William G. McSpadden, Jacob McCreary, William McConnell, Mr. McDowell, James W. Polleys, Benjamin W. Reynolds, Francis W. Reynolds, Francis Manville, Francis Rublee, Ohio Simpkins, Norton R. Smith, Orrin L. Smith, the Rev. John C. Sherwin, Samuel T. Smith, Sylvester Smith, Cyrus B. Sinclair, Thomas B. Stoddard, Chase A. Stevens, Morgan M. Taylor, David Taylor, William Whelpley, Enos P. Williams, G. H. Wilson and their families; also Messrs. Anderson, Milton Barlow, Walter Brown, A. W. Barron, Henry B. Beardsley, Samuel Baumgardner, Howard Cramer, H. B. Crookston, William Fales, Michael Hart, Edmund Hart, S. C. Johnson, Justin Jacobs, John McMillen, M. M. Manville, F. A. Rublee, W. Sutcliffe, David Wright, H. N.

Solberg, William Bennett, G. W. Haven, Samuel Weston, E. S. B. Vail, Lawyer Janson, Mr. Patterson, J. R. Crossette, Ole Knudson, D. S. Harris, and a very few others unmarried whose names could not be accurately ascertained.

In April of this year, B. F. Colburn identified himself with the county, coming from Massachusetts for that purpose, and locating in the present township of Burns, where he entered 160 acres of land, and planted five acres to corn and potatoes.

In the summer following, a party of Swiss, who had previously settled in Sauk County, changed their base by removing to La Crosse, and established themselves in the section of the county now comprehended within the limits of Bangor Township. Among those who came in first were Joseph Wolf, John Bosshard, Florian Reudy, Christian Reudy, Michael Darms and Joseph Summerson, a portion of whom settled on Dutch Creek, the remainder in nearer proximity to the village

Beside the above, there were several persons out buying lands or engaged in business in the immediate vicinity of the present city, including John Clark and his sons, Thaddeus and P. L. Clark, H. J. Peck, Phillip Young, and John and Charles Nagley, already referred to; Orange Smith, R. C. Van Rensselaer, Eustace L. Brockway, Abram Pruett and Mrs. Markle, Byron L. Viets and others, who visited La Crosse frequently, as also did Jacob Spaulding, Hugh Douglass, Thomas Douglass, Mark Douglass, William T. Price, W. J. Gibson, James O'Neill, Col. Chase and Mr. Decker, the latter coming from Black River, in the interests of the lumber business, in which they were engaged. Now indeed did it seem that the county was to be built up in earnest, and travel the highway to success it has since attained. During the month of April, Mr. Levy states the people came in very fast. The hotel and houses appropriated to hotel uses by the exigencies of the occasion, were crowded to repletion. People came in wagons, canoes, by river, prairie schooners and stages. The cargoes of settlers borne hither were "multitudinous and miscellaneous, and often contained metal decidedly not adapted to the times or the country.

In the stage which bore John Clark hither was a passenger of "quality," who despised the primitive ways of locomotion in use, and the arduous exercise the travelers were often subjected to, that distance might be put between the place of departure in the morning and terminal point at night. Several times daily the passengers were compelled to alight and pry the coach out of the mire, in which the horses, after vainly struggling to extricate the vehicle, cried quits and awaited the logic of events. The gilt-edged speculator, upon each succeeding "stalling" of the team, and, when his fellows combined to aid in making a fresh start, remained in the stage solemn as an undertaker and mulish as his quadrupedal prototype. This was borne during one day, and when Mr. Clark retired that night, he sank to rest with a well-defined determination that if the coach came to a halt and required his assistance to proceed, the fastidious fashionable would have to descend from his high estate and lend a hand.

The following morning the conveyance had hardly begun its weary routine when one of the wheels lodged in a "chuck hole" and evidenced an inclination to remain. All were called upon to lighten the weight of the stage, to which all but the Jonah of the trip responded with alacrity. He remained at his post, and, upon its being hinted that the passengers were becoming somewhat shorn of their patience at the selfishness displayed by him, he replied in a vernacular peculiar to the times, "that he'd be if he would."

"Well, you will," said Mr. Collins.

"I'm

if I do and no one can make me,' was his replication.

This was the final stroke which settled dispute, and dropping adjectives for force, Mr. Collins reached into the stage and drawing forth the obnoxious prospector, dropped him into the mire with the ease and complacency of a Samson bearing the Gates of Gaza. When he emerged from his bath, he was not only a sight to behold, but as plastic to manipulation as clay in the hands of a potter.

The character of men was made manifest in these troublous times, and if it contained the element of selfishness or covetousness, these features were but once expressed and never repeated.

In the hotels observers are familiar with the situation; there may have been preaching in one room, swearing and drinking in another, and excitement in all. The new-comers seemed to take no thought for the morrow, and lived only for the present. And here is as good an opportunity as will occur to speak of two of the prominent arrivals of this year, one of whom did much to mold public sentiment, conserve public morality and leave a reputation that will ever be associated with La Crosse County.

Judge Gale and Chase Stevens are referred to. The former was the founder of Galesville University in Trempealeau County, which place became his residence during the memorable term of his Circuit Judgeship. He is represented to have been a tall and large-framed Vermonter of great natural endowments of intellect, with will-power and executive ability, which made him a formidable adversary or a useful friend. He aimed to achieve good, and his efficiency was everywhere acknowledged, but his blunt and harsh ways seemed, it is said, to extinguish the ordinary powers by which men accomplish their ends.

No one ever doubted the correctness or purity of his motives, but many objected to his uncompromising disposition and savage logic. It would perhaps be proper to say that he was almost intolerant in his sense and administration of justice, either on or off the bench. Judicious lawyers understood the consequence of incurring his serious displeasure, and usually avoided that calamity. He was a strong man, with strong purposes, strong attachments and strong aversions; and when he decided war against a man he made the fur fly. He struck boldly, and caused his friends to join in what might be termed an "anvil chorus" when he gave the time for "music from the entire band." His devotion to the excellent educational institution at Galesville, now flourishing under the presidency of Prof. J. W. McLaury (who was the first man to shake up the citizens of La Crosse to the necessity of greater efficiency in the public schools), did not permit any of his friends to lose an opportunity to contribute to the success of his favorite enterprise.

The Judge never allowed the bar to "cram" him with spurious, irrelevant law and precedents to influence his decisions, and sometimes unceremoniously disputed the authorities cited by counsel. It is related that upon one occasion, while Judge Gale was holding court at Viroqua, Bad Axe County, Attorney William H. Tucker (father of the famous American vocalist, "Blanche Roosavella," or Blanche Roosavelt Tucker), of La Crosse, tried to "cram" the court with irreg ular citations, and came to grief thus:

Tucker-Your Honor is familiar with the laws and decisions quoted?

The Judge The Court has no knowledge of them.

Tucker They are as related.

The Judge-I disbelieve the staternents.

Tucker-What I stated is true.

The Judge-It isn't.

Tucker-It is.

The Judge-Bet you $50.

But Tucker was equal to the occasion, and, after realizing his discomfiture and defeat, rallied himself and caused irrepressible explosions of laughter and applause among the crowd assem bled, by deliberately thrusting both hands in his pockets and remarking slowly, "I back down; your Honor has oversized my pile."

Col. Chase A. Stevens, who was in 1854 elected as a Representative of the counties of La Crosse, Buffalo and Chippewa in the Legislative Assembly of 1855, was also one of the pioneers who came in this year, and was far from being an easy man to baffle. His resources and strategy are said to be manifold and unfathomable. But his faults shall not here be narrated, the purpose being merely to confirm and establish the premises above ventured, that in those early days of La Crosse pioneers there were men whom it was not safe for shallow-pated adventurers to trifle with; and, in grouping the leaders of the conflicting forces, the wish is expressed to place the reader in possession of points that will convince him there were wide-awake men on guard.

Col. Stevens, say those who knew him intimately, will never be duplicated in this world. He was the son of a clergyman and born in Maine. He was an uncommonly handsome man, of commanding appearance, fully six feet tall, of about two hundred pounds, with black and glossy hair and beard, a fascinating eye, and a laugh that could be heard for a long distance. He was as subtle as lightning, and when he seemed to be most frivolous, he was doubtless concocting some of his severest plots. His putative or principal place of domicile was at the south end of Sixth street, being the property now owned and occupied by the family of the lamented ex-Mayor Colwell, who laid down his life for the Republic while leading the immortal Light Guard in the battle of South Mountain. His residence was here, but he was ubiquitous, and the stories that are told of him and his capacity to enlighten, edify and astonish, almost to paralysis, the populace, are wonderful, not to say incredible.

He left La Crosse during late years, and, after an absence of some months returned here, but so perfectly disguised in the garb of a Quaker as to defy detection, and for a fortnight "theed" and "thoued" old-time acquaintances with a familiarity that bred surprise and curiosity. Finally, his laugh betrayed his identity and abandoning the comedy, he disappeared and has been in La Crosse but a limited number of times since. He died in May, 1881, in the city of Baton Rouge, La.

ORGANIZATION OF LA CROSSE COUNTY.

In February of this year, a bill was adopted by the Legislature of Wisconsin, providing for the division of Crawford County, and the organization of La Crosse and Bad Axe Counties, the former to be constituted out of that portion of Crawford County lying north or west of the limits of Bad Axe County, which was described as follows: Beginning at the northwest corner of the county of Richland, thence running south on the range line between Ranges 2 and 3 west, to the northeast corner of Section 24 of Township 11, north of Range 3 west, thence west on the section line to the boundary line of this State, in the main channel of the Mississippi River, thence northerly on the boundary line of this State in the said river to the point of intersection of said boundary line, and the township line between Townships 14 and 15 north, thence east in said township line to the northeast corner of Township 14, north of Range 1 east, thence south on the range line between Ranges 1 and 2 east, to the southeast corner of Township 13 of Range 1 east, thence west on the township line between 12 and 13 to the place of beginning.

The act further provided for an election for town and county officers to be holden on the first Tuesday of April next ensuing, for the location of the county seat at La Crosse upon condition that the people furnished suitable buildings, and for other purposes of minor importance.

Accordingly, an election was held at the time designated, when there were thirty-six votes polled, with the result as follows: Timothy Burns was chosen Chairman; Lloyd L. Lewis, Supervisor; C. A. Stevens, Town Clerk; Robert Looney, J. Bean and James Reed, Justices of the Peace; Lodowic Lewis, Treasurer, and Lorenzo L. Lewis, Town Superintendent. At this time, as has already been noted, La Crosse County embraced the present counties of Jackson and Trempealeau, and was of immense dimensions.

Immediately upon the organization of the county, the town of La Crosse was surveyed by William Hood, a surveyor who had settled here late in 1850, or early in 1851. The original plat was made on land owned by Timothy Burns and H. J. B. Miller, and now constitutes the most valuable portion of the city, being comprehended within Fifth, River and Mount Vernon streets and the Mississippi River. There were originally 34 blocks and 266 large lots. While the survey was in progress, Levy, La Due, Stoddard and Cameron, foreseeing that La Crosse was at some time in the near future destined to become a large city, endeavored to procure an extension of the streets then being laid out down through their claims, and thus make, at the beginning, a village of straight streets, with some system, and suggesting the river front, he vacated for lease purposes. But Burns and Miller decided to plat their own land only, leaving petitioners to lay their claims out as additions to the original plat. This fact gives the reason for whatever lack of symmetry there may seem to be in the surveys of some of the streets.