Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-11-18
WITH THE
PIONEERS
BY JUDGE WILMOTT
A Brief History OF BeetOwn

A Brief History of BeetOWn
| This town dates back in antiquity
| to a date when the Indians and their
French allies roamed through this
| Southwestern region. That mineral
| had been found on the bluffs of Grant
river at an extremely early date is
proven by the remains of their rude
smelling works that were plainly Wis
ible up to a date within the memory
| of the present generation. The first
knowledge of Beetown as a fixed place
of abode for any number of people
was in the early part of 1927 when
James Meredith, Curtis Caldwell, Cy-
rus Alexander and Thomas Croker
| stumbled across the evidences of min
eral at the foot of a large hollow bee
| tree that had been blown down by
some of the storms passing over that
section. Upon closer examination a
chunk of mineral weighing 425 pounds
| is said to have been discovered How
ever this may be the lead thus dis
covered was known from this time
forth as the "Bee Lead" and proved
among the richest of the many rich
discoveries in this section. During the
cayed in and killed a workman by the
name of Jack Bowling. His body was
dug out and buried on the ridge west
of the diggings. His coffin was split
| "puncheons" laid in the grave. The
grave was discovered accidentally in
1852 but all that could be seen was
the fast decaying "puncheons" and
moldering bones.
Indian Warfare
During the 'Winnebago fuss the
mines were deserted and left to care
for themselves. AS the excitement died
away greed for gain proved stronger
than fear of the Indians and parties
began to struggle back. During the
fall of 1927, Henry Bushnell settled at
Muscallunge with his newly married
bride. Mr.. Bushnell had been in that
section earlier in the year and leav-
ing became impressed with the beau
ty and richness of the country, mar
ried and Immediately returned to be-
gin his new home in the wilderness.
Here he erected a log cabin and a
short distance away he built a log
blacksmith shop which was still
standing for many years thereafter.
To Mr.. and Mrs. Bushnell was born
the succeeding year the first WHITE
child born in the county, Dorothy j..
Bushnell In 1928 Mr.. Bushnell re-
moved with his family to Lancaster
and settled at what has since been
known as Bushnell Hollow" In 1927
George Hackett built rude furnace
near Muscallunge and commenced
smelling. He also had diggings on the
stream known as Hackett branch.
One White Woman
In 1928, Solomon Arthur and wife
came to Beetown from Vermont and
located there, the first actual settlers
in Beetown. Mr.. Arthur had reached
Fort Dearborn, Chicago, in the fall
of the preceding year, but meeting
General Cass at this point, who was
advising people to put themselves I'M
der the protection of the fort, re-
manned there until spring. In three
days after his arrival at Beetown he
had his log cabin rolled up and here
he lived until his death in 1876. 1t is
said that for five years Mrs. Arthur
was the only white woman in Beetown,
her nearest neighbor being six or sew
en- miles distant. She was often COM
PEELED to subsist on parched corn and
would spend many days and nights
alone with no companion but the
house dog.
Other Arrivals
Quite number of adventures came
to Beetown in the spring of 1928, with
them A L. Johnson from Baltimore.
He brought stock of goods, opened
a store and in company with Mr.. Ar
thur built log smelling furnace. At
the same time came Capt. Robert Reed
and DR.. Hill, afterwards residents of
Lancaster. Messrs. Snyder, Fuller and
Robert Dougherty from Baltimore, al
so James Walsh, who started the first
blacksmith shop, but all left in the
fall. Orris Mccartney was also among
the newcomers in the spring of 1928
but in the fall moved out to and set
tied near Cassville. From this time un-
til the close of the Black Hawk war
few persons made their appearance at
Beetown. Occasionally someone would
come in from Galena, Prairie du Chen