Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1922-02-03
BRIEF RESUME EARLY
HISTORY FROM REVIEW
June 10Th, 1903, Issue Gives Ac-
count of Mrs. Haring's Visit
After First Settlement
AZ Years Before


eNo one took more than passing
notice of an elderly lady who stepped
off the south bound passenger train
Tuesday morning. No one suspected
that the lady, Mrs. Jas. Haring, of
Ontonagon had visited these parts
nearly a half century before, and was
in fact, the first white woman to pene-
trate the forests Of Wisconsin in this
part of the state.
..In 1856, Joshua Fox and a man by
the name Of Helm located on the east
shore of Eagle lake and established a
trading post there. G. L. Perry, de-
ceased, who was at that time living
on Yellow Birch lake, was engaged to
erect suitable buildings. This settle
ment was called Kim-me-con from the
Indian word "Have You Found 1t"
and was so named from the Indian
guide asking the question of Mr.. Fox
when he chose this beautiful site for
his post. It was in this building that
the famous Bank Of Kim-me-con was
located and also where the first presi-
Dental election was held in the fall
of 1860 when Lincoln was elected.
Messrs Fox and Helm commenced
logging operations here in the fall Of
1856, the first cut being made on the
east shore Of Catfish lake just a
little south of the present Hemlock
Resort. A year or two later man
named Bonduel located on the north
shore Of the lake and as he was a
married man from that time Mrs
Fox had female companionship. This
place was afterwards occupied by a
man by the name of Hall, and was
known as Halls Place" and is thus
referred to in the government surveys
of the town.
'The first post Office was also in
the Kim-me-con bank building and was
the second Office on the old Ontonagon
mail route This route is still quite
distinct in many places. 1t started
at Wausau and came through by way
of Pelican, now Rhinelander 1t follow
ed the river much Of the way and
passed through Eagle River just
south of the court house, following
along the lake past Gagen hill and
crossed the thoroughfare Z. between
Eagle and Otter lakes little south
of the Magee farm. An appropriation
for a bridge across the thoroughfare
below Scattering Rice lake was made
by Marathon county of which the
territory was then a part. From there
the route ran north by way Of Twin
lakes and Lac Vieux Desert to Onton-
agon. Mail was carried by packers in
summer and dog trains in winter and
was received twice a week.
Mr.. and Mrs. Fox later moved to
Lac Vieux Desert where they kept a
hotel for several years on the old
military road which was built about
that time. Their house there was also
built by Mr.. Perry, and was made of
whip-sawed lumber. The house is still
standing as a part of the Thomas re-
sort. Mr. Fox disappeared from there
in a mysterious manner and it was
supposed that he either met with an
accident or was killed. Some time
after that Mrs. Fox moved to Ontona-
gon later marrying Mr. Haring.
The old mail route was utilized by
the lumbermen when they first came
up the Wisconsin River valley and was
Abandoned by the government after
the military road was completed in
1869. All supplies came up the river
by canoe It was possible for teams
to get through in winter but it was
uncertain. From Eagle River Re-
view of June 10, 1903.