5sz KArVd h$$$ i-*Mw.i\ Class Book, COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT '■& * £,3 %\ ut^io _^\ (Fit K PK APOfl j iy Iffi haughton. _ VV ~ '^'^' ^''^ , ^ ^^^'l lll U ii iinmfi i iiim i i iii iiii i; i i i i iii ii iiii i ii i iii ii iiii i ) i ii i i i i i iiii ii:iiiiiiiiiiiiMllllllllllllllllll ll[||||||llllllllllll |||||lll||||| ii iii i i i ii iiimii iiil l l l llll l lll When heaven's creative hand was laid Upon these gorgeous hills In emerald sheen and gold arrayed, And cleft by Hashing rills, I traced in beauty mead and dale With charms forever new, But left its blessings on that vale Where flows the Kickapoo. i)ljjjfc0 favored land ! — No foot has trod . ,^-< ; _""> Through fairer paths than thine ,"^Where hills uplift their heads to God/ ;.- c- And speak His power divine, ^~ ■ Where valleys breathe of peace and restj ■ \ '« Fresh as the morning dew, - w .. Arid Vernon on her own warm breast t ; Impearls the Kickapoo. Above me bend the clustering boughs; The cliffs around me stand And heavenward rear their giant brows In beauty calm and grand, — ,/^ : I linger lovingly and long Beside these waters blue ^ '< And yearn to give thy name to song O peaceful Kickapoo ! •"' "' -. But men will come in after days ,^~ >» r^" • _ Thy wondrous charms to see, f. •*; j/.^.And many an abler pen will praise ^i^ \ Thy matchless scenery — ' X ,4;God shield thee by His mighty arm t Viola. lately been leased by a company who arc stocking it with Chinese Pheasants, imported direct from Asia. The woods invite not onh' the sportsman with his deadly gun; the botanist may fairly revel in the wealth spread out at his feet. Space forbids any- thing like an enumeration of the thousands of var- ieties of plants native to this valley. Almost every family is here represented. A visitor to the woods in spring time is sure to be rewarded with many kinds of ferns, delicate anemones, modest violets, nodding trilliums, buttercups, wild roses, lady slippers, colum- bine, honeysuckles, harebells, wood orchids, oxalis, finer de lis, Dutchman's breeches and Jack in-the- pulpit. Later in the season the roadsides are gor- geous with golden rod, asters and ox-eyed daisies. Aromatic mints grow profusely in many localities. Berry patches abound everywhere, and in their sea- son vast quantities of red and black raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries and elderberries are picked. Wild strawberries, plums, black haws, chokecherries and black cherries delight the youngster, who, later in the season, gathers and hoards up for winter an abundant supply of hazel nuts, butternuts, walnuts and hickory nuts. From many of the trees hang fes- toons of hop vine and grape vine laden with fruit. Water cress grows in the spring brooks. A drive through the country in winter when the snow is deep may bring one upon a brook filled with this growth. The sight of that long, dark green, velvet ribbon lying in knots and loops upon the white field will not soon be forgotten. One thinks instantly of the soft cushions of thick moss lying beneath the 13 snow and already green waiting for the first hint of Spring. Underneath all these multifarious forms of vege- table life lie vast beds of building stone of a fair quality. It is of limestone formation. Rocks from which lime is burnt are picked up from some of the ravines, where they have been washed by the rains. Each season of the year seems to us who live here the most beautiful. Winter with its skating and sleigh-rides and nipping cold is a well beloved season. Springtime with its awakenings to life and activity, aside from its vernal beaut}', is always a time of de- light to an industrious people. The Summer with its promises of plenty is ever welcome. The Fall, when these pledges are fulfilled, woods and fields and gar- dens and orchards overflowing with fruitfulness, calls forth expressions of most sincere praise. When one attempts to describe the scenery in the Kickapoo V alley, words utterly fail to set forth the glory of the autumnal woods when the hillsides put on their Fall colors. The purple of the ash, the many tints of yellow and red affected by the maples, the dark rich- ness of the oaks — all bathed in the violet haze of the Indian summer — such scenes must be viewed daily to be realized. Mingled with these are the reddish- brown bobs and red or yellow leaves of the sumac, the clusters of wild grapes, the magnificent coloring of the Virginia creeper and the wax-like berries of the honevsuckle. "I know not how, in other lands, The changing- seasons come and go; What splendors fall on Syrian sands, What purple lights on Alpine snow ! Nor how the pomp of sunrise waits On Venice at her watery gates; A dream alone to me is Arno's vale, And the Alhambra'shalls are but a traveller's tale. 'Yet, on life's current, he who drifts Is one with him who rows or sails; And he who wanders widest lifts No more of beauty's jealous veils Then he who from his doorway sees The miracle of flowers and trees, Feels the warm Orient in the noonday air, And from cloud minarets hears the sunset call to prayer! 'The eye may well be glad, that looks Where Pharpar's fountains rise and fall; But he who sees his native brooks Laugh in the sun, has seen them all. The marble palaces of Ind Rise round him in the snow and wind; From his lone sweetbrier Persian Hafiz smiles, And Rome's cathedral awe is in his woodland aisles." (Whittier.) Ristory of KicKapoo Ualky. There is abundant proof that the Kickapoo Valley was a thickly inhabited region hundreds of years before the Red Man descended upon it. The valley of the Wisconsin River from the por- tage to the mouth of the stream is believed to have been the great central seat of population during the dominance of that mysterious race, The Mound Builders, about whom so much is conjectured and so little known. North of the Wisconsin River and between it and the Mississippi there were thousands of earthworks built by this race. But these mute monuments of an extinct people can tell us but little more than the fact that they existed. Even their name has perished from off the face of the earth. They loved the Kickapoo Valley as an abiding place, for here they built some of their most remark- able works. They seem to have been alive to the advantages offered by the site of our fair village, for mounds showing some of the highest skill and inge- nuity displayed by them nre found in Mound Park 16 addition to Viola. The land on which this part of the village is built was formerly owned by Mr. H. L. Turner, and we quote from the History of Vernon County parts of an article written by him for that work: — "There are thirty-two mounds on the place. Scattered around in groups of one or more on about 100 acres of land, of a dry, sandy soil, being above high water mark, the mounds are always on good dry land. They are of various forms and sizes. Some are round, some are long straight mounds of earth; some are in the form of animals, and some of birds; all are very distinct, and show clearly what they are. But they vary from the animals and birds of the present time. "The first group consists of three mounds. Two of these are nearly in the form of deer lying down on their sides, facing each other, their heads about two rods apart. They are about six rods long in their bodies; their tails six or eight rods long. The knee joints of both forward and hind legs are bent back, and the tails are very long for deer. The other mound is in the form of a bear lying on his side, and is about five rods long. "Group No. 3 consists of thirteen round mounds, in two rows; one of the rows is straight — the largest mounds are in the middle. The other row is in a curve, in which there are seven mounds. "The largest mound on this farm is called the Eagle. His wings and tail are extended as though sailing in the air. From tip to tip of wings is about thirty rods. "About thirty rods to the northwest of j the Eagle is Hawk mound. It is about eight rods long and has extended wings and tail. "Group No. 5 consists of two mounds, one in the form of a beaver crouched on the ground, his legs under him; the other mound is the same animal lying on his side and forward of the other. They are about six rods in length. "Group No. 6 consists of two mounds in the form of birds. They are alike, both flying the same way. They are side by side, the tips of the wings just touching each other. The}- are flying south. These are called the Wild Geese." For directions as to exact location and further description the reader is directed to the History of Vernon County. There are other mounds on same place in the form of birds and beaver as well as of regular forms. The adjoining farm of Mr. David Sommars contains mounds of like character. Indeed, they abound all about here, and not only in the vicinity of Viola, but in all parts of the Kickapoo Valley. The average height of these works when the country was first settled was from two to three feet. People have supposed from the name of the Kickapoo Valley that it was once inhabited by the Kickapoo Indians, but such has not been found to be true. At the time of the discovery and settlement of this region it was peopled with Winnebagoes. By the terms of a treaty with the U. S. government in 1837 this tribe agreed to remove to the west of the "Father of Waters" within eight months. It was 18 p Oo a much longer time before they really made good their treaty, but they finally all disappeared from the Kickapoo Valley which has not since been the home of any Indian tribes. It is some times visited b} r small bands of Indians, but even this is getting to be rare. The Kickapoo River was explored by W. T. Sterling in 1832. Mr. Sterling was born at Lexing- ton, Ky., in 1808. He came to Wisconsin in 1827. He passed through two Indian Wars in Wisconsin and shows a wound received at the Battle of Bad Axe. He was in the first Territorial Legislature which convened at Belmont, W 7 is., and of the second one at Burlington, la. He represented Crawford and Chippewa Counties in the first and third State Legislatures. He now makes his home with his son at Petersburg on the Kickapoo. Mr. Sterling is still a vigorous old man and remembers much of the pioneer days of Wisconsin in which he took a prominent and useful part. The writers had an interview with him and he very kindly furnished the following information: — "In 1832 I started out to explore the conn try. My home was at Madison, Wis. I went to Prarie du Sac and there purchased a large canoe from an Indian. In this, accompanied by my wife and two children and two white men, I started down the Wiscon- sin. I passed down this river until I reached the mouth of the Kickapoo. I went up that stream, the party camping at the mouth of each tributary until I had explored it. The valley was a veritable wild- erness, the timber being principally oak in lower course and pine in the upper. The river at that time contained three times the volume of water that it now does. I found some difficulty in getting- the canoe through the fallen timber in some places. There was an Indian village at Hanev Valley and an extensive one at the forks of the Kickapoo. At the latter place they had about one hundred acres under cultivation. They raised pumpkins, potatoes, squashes, and a species of wild tobacco. They manu- factured lead which was brought from Galena. The bullets used at the battle of Tippecanoe were manu- factured at the forks of the Kickapoo. I could speak the Indian language fluently at that time and found the Indians very friendly. They belonged to the Winnebago tribe." The earliest white inhabitants were trappers and hunters and the men who carried on lumbering. Mr. A. M. Rosencrans of Wauzeka, says that the first company of trappers was composed of twelve Ger- mans who came from New York. They crossed the Wisconsin River at Wright's Ferry and went to Coon Prairie. Here the party broke up and went to differ- ent parts of the Kickapoo Valley. This party of men were a rough set and it is said they added the making of counterfeit money to their avocation of trapping. The company comprised "Dutch Charlie," McBee, McFee and Troutwine. A little later another lawless company of men had their headquarters on what is now the Olson farm near Viola. A doctor by the name of Hill owned the place and kept a station for a band of horse thieves who were thought to operate in Illinois. 21 * j xmm&BB m imm- ;H 1 m m mm m & pi « O £d 22 But the number of honest, law-abiding settlers in- creased very rapidly about this time. These people wished to make their homes here and did not propose that the thieves should go unpunished. The trappers emigrated to pastures new, and the citizens assisted the officers of the law to capture the horse thieves. In 1864 they were sentenced to three years in the penitentiary; but, "Like the vase in which roses have once been distilled," Which though "You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will, The scent of the roses will cling round it still," the names Kickapoo and Kickapoogian have for over thirty years been associated in the minds of some narrow-minded people with horse thieves. Rather should the inhabitants of this Valley have been honored for not harboring such persons among them. From Mr. Sterling and other sources it was learned that Esau Johnson was the first white man to go up in the "pinery" to work. The "pinery" then extended as far south as Seeleyburg. Mr. John- son carried on lumbering all along the Kickapoo but settled about two miles above Ontario. The dates given us by different people vary so much that it is impossible to say just which point was first settled, but it is certain that saw-mills were built at Wau- zeka, Oays Mills, Readstown and Odin previous to 1850. The earliest settlers we found now living on the Kickapoo were Mr. A. M. Rosencrans, of Wauzeka, who came to that place in 1846, and Mr. John An- derson, a Scotchman, who came to the Kickapoo Valley in 1849, and who now lives at Star. A touching story of pioneer life was told by Mrs. Giles White, of Ontario. She came with her husband to the Kickapoo Valley in 1855. She did not see a white woman for eight months after landing here. The woman she then saw was Mrs. Ostrander of Odin, near Rockton. Months after this, Mrs. White was taken in a canoe to visit a white woman, Mrs. Myron Tuttle, who lived down the river a few miles. Mrs. Tuttle had heard of the intended visit and came down through the woods toward the river to meet them. Although strangers, the two women em- braced and kissed each other and wept as if they had been sisters. There was no place for the formalities of fashionable life in such a wilderness. No matter how much Nature may smile, human companionship is the dearest thing to the human heart. All hail to the brave pioneer women who were deprived of it! towns and fiamim. Uiola, "Beautiful for situation," under the protecting shadow of Mount Nebo, lying on both sides of the county line, and the center of a rich farming district, is almost the geographical center of the Kickapoo Valley. Among the many citizens of which Viola is justly proud, there are none more entitled to respect than are the pioneers of the village. Mr. Samuel Estes had a hunting shanty below the village at an early day, but the first man to settle with his family in the near vicinity of the village was Mr. Laal Clift, who was followed in a short time by Messrs. Salma Rogers, Hartwell Turner, Cyrus D. Turner, Win. Turner, J. L. Jackson and John Fuller, with their respective families. These people became citizens of the Kickapoo Valley in 1854. Mr. Cyrus I). Turner assisted by his brother Hartwell, laid out the village of Viola in the summer of 1855. The name Viola is a tribute to a young lady who had been their teacher in New York. The first store was kept by 25 Cyrus Turner, and the first saw mill built by H. L. Turner. The following year, 1857, H. L. Turner erected the first grist mill. These early pioneers were intelligent people and within a few T months had a school organized and taught by Miss Helen Jack- son in a building that also did dut}^ as a dwelling- hotise and a store. A church was instituted among them at an early day. Rev. Jas. S. Lake acted as sponsor to the \iola M. E. Church in 1856. Indeed, the residents of Viola have always been fond of organizing themselves into bands for the pur- poses of systematic benevolence, good fellowship, and reform. At the present time the village sup- ports many societies beside the churches, Sunday School, and other religious bodies. The oldest of these societies is the I. 0. 0. F., wmich was organized July 23, 1870, with five charter members. At present the membership is forty-seven. Two hundred and twenty have passed the portals of this lodge since it was established. At this writing the N. G. is Mr. Salma Rogers, V. G. is Mr. John Schroeder. This lodge owns a building worth $2,000, well furnished, neat and tasty. The Ancient Free and Accepted Masons w r ere organized here in Dec. 1892. Present membership sixteen, and officers, N. H. Burgor, Master; Jas. Treseder, Senior Warden, and A. J.McCarty, Junior Warden. Castle Rock Camp of Modern Woodmen No. 2720, was organized Feb. 12, 1895, with ten mem- bers. This society represents about $50,000 insur- ance. The membership is twenty-seven, and officers, J. C. Hull, V. C; N. H. Burgor, Clerk; Jas. Treseder, Banker. Jerry Turner Post No. 85 Grand Army of the Republic, was organized May 24, 1885. Present officers, Commander, G. W. Wise; S. V. C, W. P. Clift; J. V. C, C. H. Downer. Ks membership num- bers 36. The Woman's Relief Corps of Viola began its existence in May, 1894, and at present numbers nineteen members. The president is Mrs. Cena Clift, and secretary is Miss Bertha Loveless. A secret society including women as well as men is known and hailed as Mt. Nebo Lodge No. 29, Rebeknh Degree. This society was instituted Oct. 10, 1889. Membership thirty; officers, Mrs. Cena Clift, N. G.; Mrs. Amelia Clark, V. G.; Mrs. R. C. Poff, Sec. The "White Ribbon Army" of women has been represented in Viola since Feb., 1887, when a Woman's Christian Temperance Union was organized by Miss Amy Kellogg. This society has served the people of Viola well in various ways, but in none better than in fostering a spirit of piety and devo- tion to the right among all wdio have been influenced by them. This band of loyal women is led by Mrs. Loveless as president and Mrs. Angie Cushman, secretary. The offices of president and secretary of Richland Co. W. C. T. U. are held by members of the Viola Union, Mrs. R. C. Poff, and Miss Kate West, respectively. The various societies here enumerated show the citizens of Viola to be an enterprising people. If there • Store and Residence of Win. J. Waggoner, Viola. Wis 28 were any doubt on the subject, a glance at the different places of business and the men who preside over them, would dispel it, and a glance at the streets on almost any da} r would show that Viola commands the trade of a large section of country. The mercantile business is done by Wm.J. Wag- goner, C. F. Matthews, A. J. Anderson, and C. A. Hen thorn carrying general stocks; N. H. Burgor and C. F. Matthews with lines of drugs; J as. Treseder, hardware and undertaker's supplies; A. W. Guess & Son, clothiers; 0. G. Barnes, furniture and under- taking; Thaddeus Kendall, groceries, and H. Cal- kins, jewelry. Hull Bros, with a meat market help to feed the five hundred people who live in the village, while A. W. Guess of the Viola House and Geo. Gerlach of the Commercial House care for the traveling public. And if your horses, weary traveler, need to be shod, or your wagon or any farm machinery needs repair- ing, it can be clone at any one of four blacksmith shops. While you are waiting you may have your choice of two tonsorial parlors, and should you chance to fall sick, either of two physicians, Dr. W. E. Belt or Dr. C. M. Poff, will restore you. When you are able to leave town, you may get a team and fine turnout of either of two livery firms, Bar- ber