Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1919-09-10
EARLY DAYS in KICKAPOO
SIXTY YEARS AGO FEW SET
TIERS IN FAMOUS VALLEY
No Meat Markets But Jerk VenisOn
Was Plenty-Wm. Miller of this
City Remembers at Age of Sew
en- Sparce Settlement Along
the River

oRdANC k1CtAiNhNhN <AtOhE
the River
Sixty years ago the KickapOo val
ley was practically an unknown will
derness with practically no white peo-
pie residing along the Kickapoo.
Sounds odd to say that doesn't it'll
and yet that is true.
In 1852 there Were but five white
families in that rich valley and they
were located at Readstown; Daniel
Reed, an old bachelor, the first white
settler and after whom the settle
ment was named, the Grin Wissel.
VIM. Austin VIM. Brown and George
Miller families-the latter moving to
the Kickapoo in the spring of 1852. |
The others had all come there the
year before. The valley had lots of
people in those days--a thousand or
more of them, but they were Winnie
bago Indians. These Winnebagoes as
a rule We're quiet people and as the
whites began to move in they moved
out, only to so back occasionally to
hunt and take away few pelts or dig
sang"
No postofiice had been established
along the KickapOo river until 1856
and that was at Bell Center ard
the second at Yankeetown, and all
mail for the kickapoo country was
sent there. In 1866 post Offices were
established at Readstown and Soldiers
Grove. The first postmaster at the
Grove" was JAS. II. Brightman who
erected the first building there in 1856
"a cabin to live inland the same
year erected a -mill-these being
the only two buildings at the place
until 1861 The village was not laid
out until 1866 and legally plated ten
years later. Alley Peterson was the
third postmaster. Samuel Hutchins
who opened the first store was the
second postmaster Brightman had
it in his home and they got mail once
every two months,
Gays Mills got on the map in 1858
when James Il. Gay bought partly
completed small saw mill and operat-
ed it until 1859. This mill and his
cabin was about the extent of the
growth and not until along in the
early COS did it begin to develop. Now
its one of the thriving centers of the
county.
Bell Center came into being in 1852
and was the leading town along the
Kickapoo river for fifteen years.
Those were great times in the Kick
apoo valley and little did the people
dream that the valueless land of half
century ago would be worth as high
as $500 an acre today. Up to twenty
years ago SIS was the ruling price
for Kickapoo soil. Hunting game was
the chief industry and the settlers
who came into the new country got
their meat by stepping out the door a
few rods and shooting deer, elk,
bear, ducks, geese, pigeons, pheasant,
quail and the like. The hides of the
big game were held for the traders
and received in exchange clothing and
such articles as they needed to keep
house" A few wore buckskin but
most of them homespun. Money was
rare, though everybody managed to
have little. II was no particular
trick to get three or four deer any
! fall night. VIM. Miller tells how
fire would be made of pitch and held
over the side of boat and the hunter
! float down the river-the deer would
come in the evenig to water and as the
boat glided by, the deer would stare
at the light and the hunter had no
| trouble to shoot all he could paddle
back in the morning. Venison was
! the main meat of the settlers in those
days, but pigeon was about as plenti-
| full. Geo Miller often stood on the
bald bluff at Readstown and fire
/ half dozen shots when they were mi
| grating. They would be 50 thick
they would obscure the sun. This
meat together with Johnnycake was
the chief diet of the pioneers and
that's probably the secret of their
ruggedness.
Aside from hunting, numbering was
the chief industry-logs, lumber, ties
and stave material Most of it was
foated in RATS sixteen to eighteen
feet wide and 70 or 80 feet long in
bents tied together These bents were
put together on the bank and then
slid into the water-six, seven or eight
made a good raft. The raftmen
would tie up to the bank and camp
over nights.
The first bridge built across the
Kickapoo was in 1857 near Gays Mills
! by J. Tallman and the raftsmen kick
ed like everything because it inter
fered with traffic" The second was
built near Steuben in 1858 by Jas.
Posey near where the old Ferris
/ bridge stood. Now there are twenty
two bridges across the stream.-By
Wm.Miller in Crawford County Press