Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-08-30

terest. Doomed to follow after WIN
dering fires, they journeyed onward to-
ward the sunset. Like Ponce de Leon.
in his search for the fountain of perpetual
youth, there must be no rest till the object
of their wanderings had been attained
In ''49' the vanguard of the disconnected
took up its line of march for the far-off
slopes of the Sierras. The base ores of
the lead mines were but dross to the gilt
tering nuggets said to lie on the distant
shores of the Pacific. Fifty, Ffty-one
and Fifty-two and still other years
marked the outpouring of Grant County's
people, who with their white capped
wagons joined the great national cara
van that made its toilsome way across
the great plains and deserts of the West
to the new Eldorado. That great exodus
which so depleted our population bore
with it also many turbulent spirits, who
had hung upon the arms of honest in
dustry and given to many of the mining
towns reputation for unlawful acts,
which disappeared with the more settled
state of society
feel that it should devolve upon 9th
ers, better acquainted with the PERSONAL
ity of our early settlers, to speak of the
times and actions in which they partici-
pated. Many important occurrences in
the history of Grant County, wildly inn
pressed on the minds of many of you,
took place at a time which to me is
marked alone by childish memories
Many of those, who helped to lay the
foundation of the prosperity and influ-
ence which Grant County to-day pos
sesses, are known to me only in the ull-
written history of our county.
1t was, belive, in 1927 that the Hon.
j. H. Rountree, together with few 9th
ers occupied the present site of Platte
vile, there laying, so to speak, the corner
stone of Grant County. Three score years
have nearly passed since then, and a city
has arisen where those hardy adventures
pitched their tents-a city, renowned for
its educational institutions and generally
progressive ideas, and which has not yet
ceased to feel the beneficial influences of
those early pioneers upon its welfare.
Civilization in Grant County, like that
of the New World generally, entered it
from the East. The mines of Hazel Green
had already drawn n few adventurous
miners to search for the lead ores of the
region. think it was in 1926 that James
Groshong, now residing near Lancaster,
| has told me he first came to the mines of
transferable" or Hazel Green. Potosi
| and Cassville, on the south, soon sprang
| up from the wilderness. 1t is possible
| that Cassvllle may have possessed a
| nucleus of civilization as early as Platte
vile. Certain is it that within few
| years she rose to prominence and ambi-
| tious dreams. 1t is natural in youth to
construct air castles which may in after
years topple to the ground; and, while
| the roseate dreams of youth have dis
solved into the gentle afterglow of ma
| turer years, the fortunes of Cassvlle are
fairly assured Although we no longer
| depend for our commerce wholly upon
the Mississippi which flows at her feet
along its banks rush the roaring trains,
| leaving far behind the slow-moving cur
rent of the mighty stream.
In the deep glen in which old Potosi
| stands, and which once echoed with the
| tread of so many miners, armed with
their picks and shovels, as they moved
to the assault of her rocky hillsides, the
charm OF romance dwells The pen of
| the Hon. j. w. SeatOn has delineated
the characteristics OF many of her
earliest residents who have passed from
| the stage of action. The romance and
tragedy of its early days are not 10 be
forgotten, and in the far future the
legends of its birth and early life will to
many form fruitful theme of interest.
On the west, the Humphreys, the
| Patches, the Brunsons. the Orrs, Jared
Warner and others planted their homes,
and the rumbling of mill-wheels min
| gled with the murmur of restless waters,
and wheat and corn-fields began TO
wave along the borders OF the prairies
of West Grant.
| Along our northern boundary, where
no doubt the feet of white men first
pressed its virgin soil. the mines OF
Muscoda drew their influx of miners,
and the current OF civilization flowed
from thence down the Wisconsin, to be
| quickened later on by the iron highway
laid along its shores. Centrally, during
these earliest years of settlement, the
vicinity OF what is now Lancaster, be-
came nucleus around WHICH settle.
ments soon arose. Here, at very early
date, came Dudley. Morrison, Boice.
Bushnell, Hodges, Fitzgerald and the
well remembered Tom Stanley, the
latch-string of whose big log. cabin was
always out, that rich or poor might
enter to share its hospitality Like the
ehieftains of Ara bias Golden Age be
literally went forth to invite the traveller
to the bounty of his board. A little later
there came. 10 the region of the Hurri-
cane the Bonhams, Abram Miller. Ed
ward Z. Coombs. S. B. Keen. the Nor.