Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1902-03-04

ran IL for two years. Then Warren
ran it for some two or three years
when il was leased by Goodrich and
l. A. Jones and afterwards purchased
by b. 4. Cooper and o. B. Smith, who
for several years ran it and did very
extensive business. The property then
went into the hands of Harrison Combs
and f. Nj. Andrews and from them
t. b. Scott came mtg possession, and
by his influence the railroad was built
I to Jenny and the name changed 10
Merrill, in honor of s. s. Merrill, VINO
! was at that time general manager of
! the G. NJ. d St. Paul railway.
We now will take another phase of
Jenny In the fell of 1S4S hired out to
( O. B. Smith and Isaac Gunsolly to cook
( in their camp On October 22d the snow
came and lasted until in April The
J camp was located where A. c. Norway's
! house, on the bank of Prairie, now is
( | was a resident of Jenny until the fall
of 1855, having as river pilot and iobber
run many a fleet of lumber from there
J to the markets on the Mississippi river.
The last trip was made in 1866 for the
I Norway Bros. Since then my vocation
or occupation, in my business life, has
given me knowledge of what | write.
J
Warren, Jr, and stood about in front
J of the new Lincoln house; it was used
us mill boarding house. The first
hotel was built and kept by Alex Watson
in 1854. This house stood near the bank
corner, near Poirier's it was burned
} down in 1856. In 1857 e. Strobridge
! built the hotel on the ground where
{ Poirier's saloon now is. In lS5SZ. Space
built the Clarion house. Dan Kline and
Frank White built their houses in 1859.
!, A small school house was built up the
} road, west, az there the buying
! ground was un.d dug away for the rail
road. i. p. Mathews became resi-
dent there in 1856 or 1857. Gid Young
and Omar Russell moved there about
1856 Henry Kyes moved there about
} the same time. The first store was kept
by Warren and then by successive mill
iproprietors up to the advent of the rail
( road, and Merrill commenced to put on
! city airs and fashion.
Would say what | have heard stated
many times about Indian Jack Bates
and Mong, his sister of their great ages
and they were looked on by many as
antiquities of the dim past. In the win
] ter of 1916 and 1S47 the scourge of small
pox was raging through this country
! and it got among the Indians. Many
of the whites died of it and hundreds of
the poor Indians also. When it would
! break out in an Indian camp the H.
j dians not afflicted would flee away leav-
ing the sick, weak and old, behind to
! care for themselves. There was camp
of Indians on the bank of the Wisconsin
river near the Prairie house, the well
! Indians all left and put out leaving an
J old Indian and his squaw and daugh-
\ bA hn Of
Mong When the whites heard of the
matter some four men went down and
( found the old Indian and his squaw
J dead, also the mother of the two chill
J dren The men came back and reported,
J and Harvey Bates and Patrick Fehaley
J went down the same day and got the
children. Bates took Jack to raise and
/, Fehaley took Mopg. The children then
! were not over trSo years old, and the
J famous Indial Pete that is about Toma-
} hawk is only about four years older
than Jack Bates was. | have known
them ever since that time.
One of the most noted events in the
social life of Jenny was the opening of
J the Watson hotel in January, 1866. 1t
was great day. A big turkey feast with
plenty roast beef and all the vegetables
used in primative life. 1t was strictly
a stag party with liquor galore. The
guests to the party came to the number
of between three and four hundred from
J all over the pinery. Such a time was
never before known. 1t took some of
the guests three or four days to get in
condition to go home. Alex Watson
was a genial old Scotchman, kind
hearted, who never was known to re-
fuse favor to any one if in his power
to grant it. When he left Jenny he
went to Lake Superior and died at On
tonogan. j. =. CLARKE.