Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-05-14

candidate and we sneered with right
good will after each cheer for our
man from Mexico.
How that stage load of passengers
and all of the home folks laughed and
clapped their hands as the tribe So
berly, with head thrown back,
marched past How the head man
blushed and side-stepped when his
father, an ardent whig, caught him
in his arms, planted a kiss on his lips
and said: Captain, that's a mighty
fine company you are commanding"
To make it still more embarrassing
Billy johnson, a fat little Indian,
called for three cheers for the captain,
and the gang, my white brother with
the rest, cheered as loud as they had
for Taylor, ending, as they always
did, with a regular war whoop.
That night we marched, cheered.
whOoped and hammered tin pans until
late bed time and when, in few days,
news came to the Corners that Taylor
and Fillmore were elected and that
Cass had gone up Salt river. the reds
and whites of that campaign club
we're sure that they had large part
in securing the result. l am free to
confess that my part in the campaign
of 1S4S was the only time | have ever
deemed myself a political leader.
And that was sixty years ago. the
year Wisconsin became a state. be-
fore any of the candidates for presi-
dent this year, were born-when
James X. Polk was president; when
Webster and Clay were in the senate,
when the population was twenty mil
lions; when there was not a mile Of
railroad in Wisconsin.
! But enough of that picture.
The next April our people moved
Through a dense forest, cutting our
Iroad part of the way, to what is now
/ Hayton, Calumet county. We saw
|OnIy one house on the journey east
! from Lake WinnebagO, twelve miles,
and that was made of logs-the only
|habitation then at what is now Chill
! ton.
Our lean-to house was made Of the
lumber hauled from Snake creek
The nearest neighbor was two miles
away. Only a half acre had been
CHOPPED. The land was not cleared,
except the small spot needed for the
lean-Jo.
Through the trees and under-brush
we could see the dancing, singing
waters of Manitowoc river and Pine
creek, and a quarter of a mile away
there was a camp of 800 Winnebago
Indians Howling wolves made music
for us at night. Bear, lynx and deer
came close enough to see the new
corners and went away shaking their
heads, as some of the Indians did.
There were no game and flsh war
dens, then. We had venison three
times a day with red-horse fish on the
side. and some times bread and pota-
toes. Fat from salt pork and honey
made a pretty good substitute for
y =
IpIenty of honey, but the pork fat often
ran low. Bee-trees were abundant. A.
dozen or more rich ones were cut,
that summer, within half a mile of our
house" The telling of a bee-tree
called out the townspeople-ou whole.
family The boy that could stand the
most singing while harvesting the
honey was looked upon as the best fell
low. The child commander Of the.
whites and reds in the rough anG
READY campaign usually dug away at
the sweet riches until singers had
closed his eyes. Those were days OF
hardship and often want, but there
was a lot of happiness in them, too
for the children. No other honey has
tasted so sweet. No other waters
have sung danced and laughed SO de
IlightfuIIy. No other birds so charm
ing with their songs.
They were pioneer days to remem-
! Der.