Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1906-07-24
STURDY MEN WERE THEY.
Hon. J. c. Clarke Tells Of the Early Settlers Of Marathon
County.-The Countrys Progress and Develop
ment Since Their Coming.


footpaths, was all there was in the
shape of roads that extended to the
north There were no houses or dwell
lings at Portage City then except
those of the garrison at Fort Winneba-
Igo and hotel or tavern kept by Dunn
and Mcfarland. Richard Veeder built
a house across the flats at Portage in
I1S47, the real beginning of Portage
City. At Stevens Point, five miles
north of Plover Portage, now Plover
there was no house or settlement until
1916, when Matthias Mitchell built the
hotel and barns near the bank of the
river. George Stevens, who came
from Belvidere, ILL.,, in 1S41, had built
a small log house here to store his
goods that he was bringing up to Big
Bull.
The First Settler.
George Stevens was the pioneer
settler of the pineries north of flov-
er With OK teams he hauled his sup
plies from Belvidere, to the Point,
then hewed out logs to make canoes,
/, to continue the journey to Big Bull.
This was the conditions of affairs un-
til 1916 when a sled road was cut out
from Big Bull to Stevens Point touch
ing Little Bull and Little Eau Clair.
This was all that was done until 1855
when the Plang Road company was
organized here in this county and
some $4,000 expended on the plank
road between Big Bull and the county
line, south, Portage county refusing
to spend cent on the road. At that
time and even later the road was mud
puddle and sand pit In that county
for eighteen miles.
A Railroad Excitement.
"This was the situation until 1855
or 1856 when railroad excitement was
pretty warm in the state. The Mil
waukee and Horizon railway was on
paper headed this way and a promo
ter of the scheme by the name Of
/, Richards, working on a plan for the
settlers to subscribe for stock full
paid, they and the real estate owners
that lived along the line of the road
or owned property there, to mortgage
their lands at three or four times their
value for the stock Today such
scheme would be laughed out of
oourt h,,f IL noc fo1Iowod fban pinb
ards was an Industrious, busy, glib
by fellow In Wood county he got
over 100000; in Portage county he
got about $25O,000, and in Marathon
county $150,000. I own a few shares
of this stock yet. Andrew Warren,
Jr., was looked up to as shrewd busi-
ness man and many thought that if
he would invest in the scheme is was
all right. Mr.. Warren owned a good
deal of land in Portage and Marathon
counties and he put it all in to the
amount of 100000 and was honored
by being made director, and soon
found out the emtiness of the scheme.
"Those mortgages were afterward
put up as collateral for loans, still
later sold at auction to the highest bid
der, the people interested knowing
nothing about it, the mortgages then
being in the hands of third parties and
adjudged by the courts to be good.
Mr.. Warren, after much litigation,
|scheming and sharp practice, recov-
cred the bulk of the lands, as did
few others, but most of the investors
lost all. This shows the anxiety of
the settlers for means of transporta-
tion and outlet.
TN 1862, or about that time, an
other effort was strenuously made by
the people here for a railroad. A
public meeting was called and largely
attended and a delegation of five of
the most prominent of our business
men was sent to Milwaukee to see
the managers of the st. Paul road and
to get them to build the road from
Berlin by the way of Wautoma, and
Stevens Point to Wausau, for which
we would give them $4,000 but Mr..
Mitchell could not see it. He opened
his eyes, however, when he bought the
Valley road and paid twice its cost
| for it.
Grant of Lands.
II will now turn to more eyentful
efforts and struggles. When the great
grants of land were being given away
in congress to the railways to open
up the most western and northern
parts of the United States, our mem
bers of congress, Hon. Walter D. Nc
Indoe, a resident of our city, with the
aid of ris friends, secured grant of
lands for railroad from Doty island,
Fond du Lac and Portage City, by the
way of Stevens Point to Superior. He
did not selfishly mention his own
town, for it was apparent to him, and
to every one else, that, Wausau, be-
ling nearly on an air line, could not
be missed, saying nothing of its be-
ling the most central and the largest
business place in the Wisconsin val
lley. This grant lay dormant for sew
eral years. In the meantime popuia-
ltion and business grew rapidly. The
lumber interests had more than treb-
led in quantity, but all of the lumber
lhad to be RATED down at great expense
land tr.Sr Logs in ho0m ar Oshkosh
lwere worth as much as our sawed
lumber could be sold for in the mar
kets of the Mississippi river, so from
all circumstances and surroundings
it became necessary that we shonld
have means of getting our lumber to
market cther than the river.
Hen. Walter Nc Indoe.
Hon. Walter D. McIndoe, Scotch
man by birth, and one of the early
lsettlers of this section of Wisconsin