Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1896-04-09
FIFTY YEARS AGO.
LANCASTER AND SURROUNDINGS IN
EARLY TIMES.

Jerry Garner.
In looking over the present site OF
eur city my mind goes back to the
DAYS of fifty years ago when you and
/ were young. Maggie. think OF
the time when the woods resounded
with the characteristic sounds OF the
many birds and animals. Where we
now see the busy trade and hear the
hum of traffic, was heard the boo OF
the prairie chicken. the drum OF the
pheasant and the hiss of the rattle
snake, followed by night with the
howl of the wolf.
Prairie chickens were very plentiful
then. At sunrise they could be seen
coming from the west in tlocks of hum
dreds going east to the praires to
feed. AT sunset they returned TO
Grant bluffs to roost. They frequent
Iy lit in trees but invariably roasted
on the ground, which made them an
easy prey to animals. They pair n
about the first of May and are seldom
seen about the Matching time. They
re-congregate about the last of August
and remain in flocks during the re-
mainder of the year, until May again.
Pheasants were also very numerous
in those days They made their homes
along the ravines and hollows where
now stand the homes of some of our
leading citizens. 1t is a singular fact
that. although they hatch from twenty
to twenty-five at brood, they have
almost disappeared. The rattlesnake
was very common sight then. There
were number of kinds: the yellow,
the black and the prairie, as they were
called. The yellow rattlesnake was
the largest, followed in size by the
black which was about half the size.
The prairie rattlesnake was not so
large but its bite was as poisonous as
the largest yellow rattler.
Early in the forties one Manchester
built mill near where VIM. Raines
now lives. The late Dwight Parker S
first work in Grant county was the
digging of the race OF this mill on con-
bIdCb. l'uIlu2 IuO l'Aos5ASTo " NNS
work on this mill the workmen were
much annoyed by yellow rattlesnakes,
this vicinity being dangerous on ac-
count of their prevalence. The fol-
lowing spring some men were out
upon the bluffs near this mill. They
came to a cove in bluff where the
spring sun was shining in fell force.
The ground around this cove
was literally covered with yellow rat
tlesnakes in very stupid condition.
AS they had just emerged.from their
winter quarters they were not danger
Gus. The men eXterminated the en-
tire number which easily reached the
hundreds. After this, snakes were
very scarce in this vicinity.
1t is strange when we think of the
disappearance of the numerous flocks
of wild geese and ducks which were
so plentiful They made their regu-
lar flights to the North in the spring
and back in the fall. Their flight in
the spring was hailed with Joy as a
sure sign of the opening season. Their
FIGHT in the fall was considered as
just as sure sign of approaching
winter.
One other strange thing is the dis
appearance of wild pigeons They
always made their appearance in the
spring passing to the northwest. In
April Of 1920 the sun was darkened at
times by these large fiocks passing
overhead.
In the early DAYS Lancaster got its
supply of wood from the rough tim
Der land bordering Grant river. This
was government land then, 1t was
afterward taken up under the gradua-
ton Act at fifty cents an acre. Dur
ing these DAYS cattle were allowed to
roam at large on these lands and con-
sequently often strayed away and had
TO be looked up by the owner. The
writer was once hunting some stray
cattle in this way. AS he was pass
inc along he noticed dog and wolf
coming toward him nearly together
and acting more as playfellows than
as pursued and pursuer passed or
and soon met an odd character carry
inc a long fiint-lock rifle, leather
shot pouch and large powder horn.
| stopped to examine his gun. in
ferred from what he SAID that it was
a female gun. He said that she was
powerful good gun and that he called
her '.Old Betsy" He then asked me
if had seen dog and wolf up the
road / told him that | had. He
then wanted to know how they were
making it Well, the last saw of
them the dog was ahead. He passed
on with a puzzled look on his face.
Deer were very plentiful in those
days. The writer once saw and
counted twenty-one in a herd not far
from the northern city limits. Venison
was so abundant that hunters used
frequently to leave the fore-quarters
of the deer for the wolves to devour.
The noted hunters in those times were
Elijah aud Edmond Hearlson. Peter