The county of Dunn, named in honor of Charles Dunn, chief justice of Wisconsin territory, was created by an act of the legislature in March, 1856, and included all the territory inside of a line beginning at the mouth of Rush river, thence running east on the south line of Pierce county, thence north, on the eastern boundary of Pierce and St. Croix counties, to Polk county; thence directly east to the range line between ten and eleven; thence south on said line to the township line between twenty-four and twenty-five north; thence west to the Chippewa river; thence down the channel of that river to the Mississippi, and up that stream to the place of beginning. By the same act the county seat was located at Colburn’s (now Dunnville) also named after Judge Dunn, who held the first district court there, as the county seat. The second section of the act attached the county to Chippewa for judicial purposes.

The county is situated on the east and west meridian line, and in the third tier from the western boundary of the state, and, as now constituted, is bounded on the north by Barron county, on the south by Pepin county, on the east by Chippewa and Eau Claire counties, and on the west by St. Croix and Pierce counties. It embraces a territory thirty-six miles long from north to south, and twenty-four miles wide from east to west, comprising 860 square miles, or about 522,965 acres.[^a]

Dunn Township is irregular in outline and contains about fifty-nine square miles. It is bounded on the north by the towns of Menomonie and Red Cedar, on the south by Pepin county, on the east by the towns of Spring Brook and Peru, and on the west by the towns of Weston and Eau Galle. the Menomonie (Red Cedar) river runs through it and joins the Chippewa at the southern end of the township.

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The formation of Pepin county in 1858 cut off the balance of power in the southern part of Dunn county, and by a vote of the people in 1860 the county seat was changed [from Dunnville] to Menomonie.

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The population of the township for 1890 was 1,258.

Weston Township contains forty-two square miles, and is irregular in outline. It is bounded on the north by the towns of Lucas and Menomonie, on the south by the town of Eau Galle, on the east by the towns of Menomonie and Dunn, and on the west by Pierce county. It is watered by the Eau Galle river and its tributaries. There is a post-office at the hamlet of Weston, which is five miles from Downsville, the nearest shipping point. The township had, in 1890, a population of 690.