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THE
LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF
CAPT. STEPHEN B. HANKS,
FIRST RIVER WORK IN LUMBER CAMPS
May 28
Albany had now become a business place
of fair importance. There was a steam ferry plying to the
Iowa shore and landing as nearly opposite the town as the
islands and channel would permit. A large portion of the
ferry trade was from immigrants, in factor that was really the
heaviest part of the traffic for there were thousands crossing
here going to different parts of the west reaching in later
years even to California and the ferry owner grew rich out of
the franchise. Warehouses went up along the whole river front
had plenty of business in the storing and shipping of grain
and produce. Wheat lead in the aggregate amount but there
were thousands of bushels of corn, oats and potatoes raised
and shipped to St. Louis and southern markets. Some of these
warehouses were of large capacity, the largest being that of
Hopper and Mclvine, but his was erected somewhat later than
this period.
Settlers were becoming so numerous that
the capacity for storage in all the buildings and prices fell
to discouraging figures at times. I have known wheat to be
sold for forty cents a bushel and hundreds of tons of beef and
pork hauled to Galena, and sold for four cents a pound and
even less for beef. Thousands of hogs were brought to Albany
for shipment and frequently there would be two steamers at the
levee loading at one time and many a boat has pulled out on
her trip fully loaded. Other interests were equally active
and a number of small manufacturing plants were started, a
wagon factory among them. People were pouring in from all
directions by boat and stages not all stopping at Albany of
course, but his was one of the main points of direction and
divergence. The little stage had become coaches drawn by four
horses. This may give the reader a faint idea of the business
activities here before the advent of the railroads. Then it
began to ebb and so far as Albany is concerned, recieved its
death blow when the tornado of June 3, 1860, got in its deadly
work. But that is another story.
River traffic had increased enormously
and steamers grew in numbers and capacity, some elegant in
appearance, some speedy and some built for carrying and
business only. The North Star, Capt. Moorehouse, was a
very pretty little boat. Then the Knickerbocker was a
powerful single engine craft. I do not see much improvement
in the boats of today over the boats of that time. Then they
were as fast, as pretty and fully as good carriers.
During the season of 1841, I was as
busy as ever. Alfred Slocumb was continually enlarging his
operations and adding to my cares and responsibilities. Among
other things that season we had a one hundred acre field of
corn and C. H. Slocumb and myself did all the work on it in
addition to my numerous other duties.
In the month of September there came to
Albany a Captain Holcomb representing the firm of
Hungerford Livingston & Co. a lumber concern of St. Louis. He
had made a trip down the river with a small raft, part of
which had been left at Albany, and was on his way back and was
buying stock to take to the logging camps for winter use. He
had not succeeded very well previous to his arrival in Albany,
but here he found everything he wanted except one yoke of
oxen. He now had some eighty head of cows , calves, horses
and mules and only one man with him. I had long wanted to get
out and do for myself and was much pleased when I found that
Capt Holcomb, would give me two hundred dollars for a year’s
service. I was to help him drive the stock through to
destination and then work for the company the remainder of the
year. Right here I will say that inside of six months the
company voluntarily raised this salary to twenty dollars a
month for the remainder of the year.
In due time we started north and at
Galena we picked up the yoke of an oxen we wanted and were
joined by an Indian agent named Russell who went with us to
Prairie du Chien where we got a man named Rice, brother of the
man who came to Albany some years before with the breaking
team. We had some delays in our trip thus far. At
Platteville we lost three or four days hunting strayed
cattle. Another time hunting for a strayed ox that we found
hidden in a gully some two or three miles away.
At Prairie du Chien we hired a half
breed guide and Mr. Russell, the Indian agent, assisted us in
getting together the necessary outfit as we were now to leave
civilization and live largely to ourselves until we reached
our destination. This trip was to be different than those
across the prairies of Illinois, where the more or less
reliable prairie schooner could be used. Here it was woods,
in the main, with only trails at best and mules carried our
baggage.
Capt. Holcomb left us at Prairie du
Chien and took a boat for Stillwater. On our way we passed
through La Crosse, then a trading post of some importance and
the last settlement, except at the crossing of Black river,
until Mennonie was reached.
When we reached the mouth of the Eau
Claire river, where the city of that name is now located, we
had to get our traps over on a raft of slabs we picked up on
shore and swim the stock over. In driving the stock into the
water one calf escaped and would not take the water but became
as a deer when we attempted to surround it and finally ran
into a tamarack swamp near by and we lost it.
By this time we were about out of
provisions and we sent the guide to a point some twelve or
fifteen miles for some supplies. He failed to return until
about the third day during which time we had been living on
high bush cranberries. When he got back, late in the day, he
had nothing, having drank and gambled away all the money given
him. Rice, who was the oldest, the rest of us being only boys,
at once mounted a horse, put the guide on another one and the
two started out to find the settlement. They returned about
nine o’clock at night with food which was gladly welcomed, as
we were nearly starved.
Mean time at evening the day after we
lost the calf, the mother went down to the river’s edge and
bean bawling for her calf. The calf heard and soon came to
the water on the other side but would not go into the water.
Now, mark the wonderful sagaeity of an animal we often
consider stupid. The mother swam across to the calf but would
not go high enough out of the water for the calf to suck.
After the calf had been coaxed into the water the cow swam
back to the herd, the calf, following. After they had landed
the calf got his fill and afterward instead of being wild,
that calf was under foot all the time.
Our next objective point was then known
as Menomonie Mill. A short time before arriving, as we were
going over a small prairie, on the top of a little hill, just
off our route, there appeared a herd of elk which scrutinized
our outfit very closely and seemed very curious about our
cattle. As their horns stood out against the blue sky it
seemed to me they were at least ten feet high.
Menomonie Mills at that time was
controlled by Oliver Gilbert who was hauling logs to his mill
on trucks, the timber being around the mill and near by. We
remained here a couple of days resting up and laying necessary
supplies for the next stage of our trip, which would take us
to lake St. Croix. |
