West of the “big woods” the country was largely what was called “grub prairie”—that is, land covered with low growing bushes, principally oak, basswood and elm, which, owing to the destruction of their tops by the prairie fires, had developed very large roots, though the tops were insignificant in size. To break such land required the use of very large plows, some being as wide as twenty-four inches, which were drawn by four yokes of oxen, these animals being preferred on account of their steadiness and the fact that they could get their own living from the grass, which grew abundantly everywhere. It was not an uncommon thing to find roots in the broken land six or eight inches in diameter which had been cut off by the breaking plow as smoothly as if sawed. At a later date horses began to be used instead of oxen for the breaking teams. The comparative ease with which the prairie lands could be subjugated and brought under the plow and the fact that a very large part of the ground was free from stones, which had proved so great a trial to eastern farmers, naturally tended to bring immigrants into the western part of the county, and into the valleys of the rivers, and along the shores of the Mississippi. But, however, there were many hardy adventurers who, coming from wooded countries, had learned to love the forests and they, with lovers of hunting and fishing, had settled in many places in the timber. Little hamlets had grown up around saw mills where the streams had afforded water powers or furnished sufficient water to enable the owners to operate steam saw mills. Among these hamlets were Sunrise, now Martell; Forestville, Beldenville, El Paso, and others whose names are forgotten. The larger part of the population, however, was at this time on prairie, especially between River Falls and Prescott, where, upon a beautiful tableland a short distance from the St. Croix, several fine farms had been broken up for cultivation. In the valley of the Rush river there were also some large farms and quite a number of settlers.

Pierce county came into existence by virtue of the powers conferred in an act of the Wisconsin legislature of March 14, 1853, when the then existing county of St. Croix was divided into the three present counties of Polk, St. Croix and Pierce. The northern portion was named Polk county in honor of President Polk and the southern part named for President Franklin Pierce, while the central portion retained the old name of St. Croix county. Pierce county contains about six hundred square miles, or 366,103.81 acres.[^a] It lies immediately south of the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude and between the ninety-second and ninety-third degrees of longitude west from Greenwich. It is situated in the west-northern part of the state of Wisconsin and is triangular in shape, the hypothenuse being formed by Lake Pepin, the Mississippi river and Lake St. Croix, which gives Pierce county perhaps the longest navigable water boundary of any county in the state. The mean surface of Pierce county lies about three hundred feet above the level of Lake Michigan and the rugged hills and winding vales which dominate its entire extent reflects the influences of the melting glacial floes which visited this region about 50,000 years ago, according to the estimates of the geological survey. Beneath the soil, which is accumulative of the decaying vegetation of recent centuries, is found sandstone and limestone below belonging to the silurian age, and both layers are frequently exposed in the open facings of the higher mounds.

The live stock in Pierce county in the year 1907, according to the report of Charles Eastman, county supervisor of assessments, was as follows:

Horses, 9,079, with an estimated value of $635,530, or an average value of $70 per head. Cattle, 33,439, with an aggregate true value of $470,007. Of this number 12,599 were milch cows, with an assessed value of $254,558. There were 22,984 sheep and lambs of an average value of $3 per head, or an aggregate total of $69,352. There was reported 8,478 head of swine, valued at $6 per head, or a total valuation of $50,848.

The certified statement of County Clerk O. J. Hohle, made September 17, 1907, reporting the principal farm products grown in Pierce county in the year 1906 was as follows: Wheat, 95,012 bushels; corn, 423,108 bushels; oats, 1,311,549 bushels; barley, 643,814 bushels; rye, 93,540 bushels; flaxseed, 15,586 bushels; potatoes, 118,065 bushels; beans, 67 bushels; apples, 1,509 bushels; strawberries, 38 bushels; raspberries, 59 bushels; blackberries, 141 bushels; grapes, 82 bushels; clover seed, 211 bushels; timothy seed, 1,066 bushels; sugar beets, 251 tons; tame hay, 40,006 tons; flax fiber, all produced in the town of Clifton, 74,000 pounds; tobacco, 22,650 pounds, 15,000 pounds of which was also grown in Clifton township; farm butter, 324,891 pounds, with a value of $51,677; 800 pounds of cheese, manufactured in the township of Maiden Rock, and having a market value of $85. The following figures show the number of acres of different farm products growing in Pierce county in 1907: Wheat, 4,601 acres; corn, 18,588 acres; oats, 43,799 acres; barley, 23,052 acres; rye, 6,966 acres; flaxseed, 849 acres; potatoes, 1,203 acres; sugar beets, 16 acres; strawberries, 17 acres; raspberries, 4 acres; tobacco, 21 acres; tame hay, 27,657 acres; 206 acres in apple orchards, with 8,590 trees bearing fruit. There were 33,565 acres of land devoted to growing timber. The total acreage under cultivation, exclusive of timber, in the year 1907 was approximately 136,000 acres.

This county was named in honor of President Franklin Pierce. It is situated in the western part of the state, and lies immediately south of the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude, between ninety-two and ninety-three degrees of longitude west from Greenwich, and is consequently west of the fourth principal meridian. It is triangular in shape, the hypothenuse being formed by Lake Pepin, the Mississippi river and Lake St. Croix, which secure to this county one of the longest navigable water-fronts in the state. The boundaries on the north and east are St. Croix, Dunn and Pepin counties. It embraces an area of 600 square miles, or 387,000 acres, the greater part being owned by actual settlers.[^a]

This county is situated at the junction of the Mississippi river and Lake St. Croix, the lake forming its western boundary, its southern border resting on the Mississippi. Along the river it presents the usual feature of valley succeeded by bluff, broken at frequent intervals by ravines, through which the streams from the interior seek communication with the great river. Toward the north and east the hills become less elevated and the valleys more extensive. This gives a diversity to the scene, though less bold and grand than is found in mountainous districts, yet one strongly marked. The luxuriant sward, clothing the hill-slope to the water’s edge; the steep cliff shooting up through its mural escarpments; the streams clear as crystal, now quiet, now ruffled by a temporary rapid, now forming a romantic cascade over some terrace of rocks; trees disposed in a manner to baffle the landscape gardener—now crowning the height, now shading the slope; the intervening valleys giving the picture of cultivated meadows and rich pasture lands, irrigated and drained by frequent rivulet and stream, along which, and on the hillside, are seen the farm-house and village, scenes of wealth, happiness and comfort; all these and many more are features of the county. On the summit levels spread the wide prairies, abounding in flowers of gayest hue, the long undulations stretching away till sky and meadow mingle in the horizon.

The country is sufficiently level to allow of the highest grade of cultivation, perhaps two-fifths being in an active state of agriculture. The principal part of the farming-land is in the western half of the county, which was originally oak openings and prairie; the eastern part being timber land and covered by the “Big woods.” This is a belt of hard wood timber that extends from the Mississippi river to Lake Superior. In the limits of Pierce county the timber is of the hard wood varieties, such as the red, white and black oaks, sugar maple and butternut, all timber of first-class grade for the manufacture of farm and other implements. There are numerous large streams distributed over the county, such as the Kinnickinnic, Rush, Trimbelle and Isabella rivers, with many smaller creeks which drain the region completely and empty into Lake St. Croix, the Chippewa and Mississippi rivers. The current of the streams is generally swift, and affords magnificent water-power, a resource that is used only to a small fraction of its capacity. Springs are numerous and give origin to streams in which abound the speckled trout, with bass, bullheads, pike, pickerel, carp and catfish in the rivers. The lover of wild game of the wood or prairie here may gratify his taste.

The surface of Pierce is about three hundred feet above Lake Michigan. It belongs to the lo\ver Silurian age, the lower magnesian lime-stone being the characteristic, at points overlaid by the upper sand-stone, both of which project from the hills and mounds. There is also an occasional layer of shell sand-stone covering the higher elevations. The soil, derived from the decompostion [sic] of three formations, is always of excellent quality, rich in organic matter, as well as in salts. This gives a rapid growth to plants. and a durability that enables it to withstand a long succession of crops.

Pierce county was formed from St. Croix by an act of the legislature approved March 14th, 1853, and organized with full powers.

At a meeting of the board [of county supervisors] held at Concert hall, Prescott, November 26th, 1856, a petition was presented asking for a new town with the following boundaries: All that part of Pierce county lying within the boundaries of fractional township 25, range 19, and township 25, range l8, and fractional township 24, range 18, be, and is hereby, set off from the town of Prescott, and entitled the town of Diamond Bluff; the first election to be held in the village of Diamond Bluff, at the house of Daniel Comstock.

At a meeting held in Concert hall at Prescott, November 26, 1856, a petition praying for the formation of the town of Diamond Bluff out of a part of the then existing town of Prescott was granted with the following boundaries: “All that part of Pierce county lying within the boundaries of fractional township 25, range 19, and township 25, range 18, and fractional township 24, range 18, be and is hereby set off from the town of Prescott and entitled the town of Diamond Bluff.” The vicinity of Diamond Bluff was the scene of the first visitation of the white man in these parts. He was a Frenchman who, according to tradition, was a Vendean loyalist of the army of Jacques Cathelineau and had fled from France about 1793 to Quebec, then proceeding westward until he arrived on the Mississippi river near the present city of Diamond Bluff in 1800 and naming it “Monte Diamond.” He lived there until his death in 1824, and the neighborhood was known during his residence there and for many years afterwards among the Indians as “Old White Man’s Prairie.” The first board of supervisors of Diamond Bluff consisted of James Akers, chairman, Wilson Thing and C. F. Hoyt. The first justice of the peace was S. Hunter. Susan Rogers was the mistress of the first school held in the township, and the first postoffice, established in 1854, was called Hoytstown, in honor of the first postmaster, C. F. Hoyt. The first frame house was erected by Enock Quinby in 1855. The first sermon was delivered by Rev. J. W. Hancock, a Presbyterian minister, who had been a missionary among the Indians for many years. The first white child born in the town was Mary Day, a daughter of John and Sarah A. (Vance) Day, who came to Diamond Bluff from Illinois in 1850, and the birth of the daughter occurred during the following year. The first death within the confines of Diamond Bluff was that of Daniel Crappers in 1854. There were 216 horses of all ages in the town of Diamond Bluff in 1907, with an aggregate value of $15,120; 498 head of cattle, worth $6,972; 105 head of hogs, worth $630. In the same year there was 417 acres planted to growing wheat, 246 acres in corn, 500 acres in oats, 591 acres in barley and 313 acres given over to rye, while only three acres was planted to flax. Potatoes claimed an area of 57 acres, and 286 acres were cultivated for tame hay. The principal farm products produced in Diamond Bluff township in the year 1906 were distributed as follows: Wheat, 7,185 bushels; corn, 7,200 bushels; oats, 16,625 bushels; barley, 17,340 bushels; rye, 4,700 bushels; 417 tons of hay were cut; 14,900 pounds of home-made butter were sent to market, for which the sum of $2,860 was paid.

The village of River Falls as we find it to day [sic], located on the banks of the beautiful Kinnickinnic has a population of about fifteen hundred inhabitants. The line between St. Croix and Pierce counties divides the village plat, and one-third lies in St. Croix county. The river goes dashing through the central part of the village with a current so swift that the frosts of winter are unable to check its course or congeal its surface. On its banks are located four flour mills and one saw and feed mill, which are propelled night and day by the power gathered from its water. Quite an extensive merchant flouring business is done, and the flour shipped by rail to distant markets. Various religious societies have their pleasant places of worship. The different secret societies have their organizations and comfortable lodge rooms. The public school building, located on the west side, is a large imposing structure of brick with all the late improvements, which will accommodate nearly three hundred pupils.

By an act of the legislature approved March 18, 1885, a city charter was granted to the citizens of the territory now embraced within the limits of the city of River Falls. The organization was effected April 7, 1885, by the election of city officers; those then chosen being A. D. Andrews, mayor; W. W. Wadsworth, S. M. Rosenquist, and Leonard Stiles, aldermen; E. H. Daniels, assessor; G. E. Pratt, treasurer and R. R. Bourne, justice of the peace at large.

The history of Trenton township begins with the date November 14, 1857, with James Akers as chairman of the board. The territory it occupies before that date was a part of the town of Diamond Bluff. The town of Trenton claimed 375 head of horses assessable in 1907; 1,293 head of neat cattle; 355 sheep and lambs, and 208 head of swine. The acreage of growing crops in 1907 was: Wheat, 380 acres; corn, 750; oats, 1,260; barley, 1,575; rye, 630; flax nothing, and potatoes 60 acres, also 10 acres in young apple orchards; 200 acres was in hay, and 500 acres planted to timber. The crop yield of the previous year was: Wheat, 5,000 bushels; corn, 23,000; oats, 29,000; barley, 58,000; rye, 10,000; potatoes, 14,000; clover, 500, and timothy, 50, and 1,500 tons of tame hay produced. It was estimated that 15,000 pounds of butter was manufactured in Trenton township, worth $2,000.

At the same meeting [of the board of county supervisors, called March 2d, 1855] a petition was presented for a new town, with the following boundaries: Township 26, range 18; to be known as the town of Trimbelle; first election to be held at the house of F. Otis.

March 2, 1855, Trim Belle township was organized with F. Otis and Aaron Cornelison as supervisors. These two gentlemen, with Martin B. Williams were probably the earliest settlers in Trim Belle. Trim Belle township in 1907 had 564 head of horses, 2,018 head of cattle, 973 sheep and lambs and 453 head of hogs. The crop acreage in the same year was divided as follows: Wheat 347 acres, corn 610, oats 2,252, barley 1,893, rye 585, flax 64, potatoes 79 and sugar beets 8 acres; 903 acres was sown to tame hay. The production in bushels of the principal crops in 1906 was: Wheat 4,315, corn 12,460, oats 48,160, barley 35,634, rye 5,330, flax 240, potatoes 2,293; 79 tons of sugar beets and 1,382 tons of hay, 27,556 pounds of butter was sent to market from the farms of Trim Belle that year.

Extracts from an article written by J. T. Beddall, of Trim Belle, Pierce county, Wis., and published in “The River Falls Press” February 16, 1882.

The town was named from the beautiful stream that flows through it. What is more beautiful than a trim belle, or pretty girl? In June, 1853 Franklin Otis came into the place for the Purpose of making a home. After reviewing different locations he chose for his abode a site at the foot of the hill and near the stream, at the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 17, and in the summer of 1854 he moved to his new home with his family. About half a mile to the northeast, where Aaron Cornelison located at about the same time. As towns had been organized in the western part of the county, several settlers commenced to crowd into the “Big Woods.” Among them we find John Smith, H. F. McAllister, David and O. H. Belden, Edwin Green, Noah Tripp and John Lynch in the vicinity of Beldenville; John McLaughlin, Sr., John Beardsley, O. T. Maxon, John McEwen, Lewis Sperry and “Garner” Colerud, near the present village of Trim Belle. The “Huot” sawmill was built in 1853 by O. T. Maxon, and afterward sold to John Huot. It would compare favorably with the sawmills of our earliest American forefathers, having one vertical saw doing its work, “slow but sure.” It was destroyed in 1870, and the water power given to the “Huot” grist mill, built on the opposite side of the stream. It was purchased by F. W. Haverlandt in 1874 or 1875 and operated by him for a number of years. In 1855 the “Felt” sawmill was built by Hannibal Felt, in what is now known as “Utah.” This burg received its name from the Mormonist proclivities of the mill owner. The mill did not differ materially in plan from the one built two years before by Mr. Maxon. The town was organized in the spring of 1855. For the purpose of organizing, the county board met at the home of Franklin Otis, who was a member of the board at that time. The first town election was held in April of the same year, but as the records have been poorly kept or were lost, we are unable to tell who the first town officers were except such as have been recorded traditionally. Franklin Otis was chairman of the first board of supervisors. John McEwen was the first town clerk, Aaron Cornelison, Sr., was first town treasurer. The first postoffice was established in 1855 and was called Trim Belle postoffice. Aaron Cornelison, Sr., was the first postmaster. He was also mail carrier. Mail was received from Prescott once a week, and Trim Belle was the terminus of the route. Previous to the establishment of the postoffice, Mr. Cornelison had started a store, the first one at Trim Belle; and it was through his efforts that the postoffice was established and maintained at that early date.

The next postoffice established was the Beldenville postoffice, in 1858, with J. H. Collins postmaster. This office received a weekly mail until 1873, when it was changed to twice a week, and in 1877 to a daily mail. The village of Trim Belle was laid out in 1856 by Aaron Cornelison. Directly west from this, and on the other side of the stream, a village was laid out and named Franklin, in honor of him who first lived on the spot, Franklin Otis. The village of Beldenville was laid out in 1856 by David and O. H. Belden, although they soon left the place, their name, lengthened by “ville,” has been ever since used. The first store building was put up in 1856 by A. H. Young and C. P. Sargeant. The next store building was built in 1859 by William Martin, near the residence of J. H. McLaughlin, June 1, 1855. David and O. H. Belden commenced to build a steam sawmill at Beldenville. It was completed and running by September 1. A shingle mill was also attached. A fanning mill factory by Miles and Grant was started at Beldenville about this time, this soon changed its base to Hastings, Minn. In 1862 the first church was built and in 1864 was dedicated under the auspices of the M. E. society.