Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1918-05-16
First Permanent
Settler i'm Baraboo
Written for the Sank County Historical Society by Dr. Louise
Phelps Kellogg, Madison Wis.,

Some time ago the information as
to the name of the first permanent set
tier at Baraboo was desired, and let
ter of inquiry was sent to the state his
torical society at Madison. DR., Louise
Phelps Kellogg made a search in the
rich store of the state society and OBJ
tanned some information not general
ly known. Miss Kellogg is we'll in
formed in state history, is the author
of many volumes and spends much of
her time in research work. Sf1e
writes as follows:
We appreciate your difficulty in de-
termining the time of the advent Of
Abraham Wood on your river, because
of the conflict in the authorities. So
far as we can determine, the account
in the Wisconsin Historical Atlas
seems to be the most authoritative
The sketches in this volume were care
fully written, and were obtained from
that statement the first man who at
tempted settlement at the BarabOo
rapids in 1897 was Archibald Barker,
who then lived at Portage. He was
driven off by the Indians. Meanwhile
the treaty at Washington had been ne
gotiated, and there seemed more hope
that a settlement might be made. In
the spring or early summer of 1889
man named James Alban discovered
Devils Lake; he went back to Portage
and told Eben Peck, first settler at
Madison. Peck had just sold out at
the latter place to Robert Ream, and
he and Alban set out up the Baraboo
and marked out site at the Rapids,
was going back (after stay of some
weeks) apparently, he met Wallace
Rowan and Abraham Wood, whom he
had known we'll at Madison, coming
up from Portage. They staked out
their claim at Lyons, where Wood
spent the winter. In the meanwhile
James Van Slyke came up from Wal
worth County in the fall of 1889 and
determined to jump Peck's claim.
Van Slyke had had his claim at Lake
Geneva jumped by other parties, and
was in a bitter and retaliatOry frame
of mind. After stalking out his claim
, to the Rapids of the Baraboo he went
! back to Walworth ,and interested
in T11o nf q
persuaded him to furnish the irons
and equipment. Van Slyke went up
in the spring of 1910 and built a dam,
which was carried out by the freshet
! of June. Meanwhile, Peck had brought
his claim before the court at Madison
and obtained judgment against Van
Slyke. The latter had already aban-
doned the enterprise! Van Slyke sold
his irons to Wood and Rowan, who
during the summer started sawmill
, at the upper rapids.
There seems to be every evidence
that the source of this account was
| the Peck family, who were in posi-
| ton to know tn facts. If this account
is true, we suppose Wood might be
called the first settler, since he re-
mained in the vicinity during the win
ter of 1S39-40; but no doubt he lived
as the Indians did, if not with them,
since his wife was a squaw. He was
thus not much more of first settler
| than Barker, Alban, Rowan, Peck or
Van Slyke.
To return to Wood. We are unable
to discover when or how he came to
! Wisconsin. He was probably a fur
trapper or trader, one of the rough
frontiersmen of Scotch descent from
the backwoods of Canada. In the
course of trade he came in contact
with the Decorah chiefs and took to
wife one of the daughters of the tribe.