Memories of the settler’s life borrowed from the Coon Prairie Book

The settlers on Coon Prairie and the surrounding country were nearly all very poor and had no money either to purchase implements or to pay for the land which at that time could be bought from the government for $1.25 per acre. For many years, until they could acquire ownership, they were only “squatters”. In the first year, before they got their land worked up, they naturally did not have any harvest to sell. Their only income was to work in the timber forest where they worked during the winter. Toward the end of October it was customary to leave with a sack on their backs in which they had the most necessary things, to travel on foot fifty miles through the uncultivated expense to Black River Falls. Syver Galstad had not only his sack on his back but also had his six-year old little girl, Mathia. His wife was dead and he had to therefore take the child with him into the timber forest. Ole S. Rude and Bernt Olson were among those who made these annual trips into the north woods.

Located on the Black River Indian trail one mile south of the current
intersection of State and Main Streets, Coon Prairie General Store,
owned by Peder Evenson Gullord, the first store in the area,
also served as postoffice from 1857 to 1880.

Meanwhile the women and children had to get along as best they could in the small dwellings and barns in the settlement. The present generation has no idea of what this half year separation meant in privation and loneliness. A half hundred miles from the nearest Norwegian settlement, unacquainted with the country’s language and customs, the women sat and shuddered at what the future had in store. There was neither pastor or doctor to get help from — what could be done if sickness came? Soon comes the winter with its biting cold and drifting snow which blocks every access to her neighbors, and then she feels as if she is on a deserted island far out at sea. Unknown conditions always seems dangerous and here everything was new and unknown.

But those pioneer women who sat there with their children, had a trust which lightened all burdens and gave courage for each day’s living. This trust was their faith in God, built on the religious instructions which they had received in their childhood. The Bible was more than a parlor ornament for these women. It was regularly read, and there was with them a heartfelt convictions that God was near when the young wife read:

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and your savior; my God is my rock in whom I trust, my God is my shield and my refuge”.

This humble confidence in God’s protecting care gave her the courage to overcome all fear of wild animals and evil people, need, sickness, and the unknown conditions of the wilderness. She was more concerned about her husband, far away in the timber forest, than about herself and every day ended with a humble prayer to God that he would protect him — protect him both from spiritual bodily harm and bring him back to her healthy and unblemished.

Finally when spring came, the husband also returned, ragged and bearded, so a horror to behold, but joyful and ready to work as spring itself. He also had a little money, which after careful consideration was used for improvements both in the house and it the fields. The future seemed mild and promising as the spring sun itself.

It was this bring, trusting spirit which made it possible for the settler to overcome the numerous hardships which met him in the wilderness. Although they could have had luck in both the inner and outer man, the settlers did commonly possess a though patience, a desire to work and a hopeful spirit.

The first to be done after securing a claim was to build a house. Together with the neighbor they went out into the hearest forest and cut timbers for the walls. After these were laid they were packed with mass and chips to make it tight. The roof was of cloven timbers covered with sod. The floor was often just dirt but sometimes it was covered with cloven flat boards. Doors, bedstead tables and chairs were made cloven and axe formed oak. Tables and planks for the household was considered a luxury. Doors and hinges were from wood.

The day he moved into his house was a great day for the settler, for then he had in a real sense acquired new land. Although the house was only a 12 x 12 foot square, it seemed more like big palace to the settlers.

A considerable part of the settler’s food the first year consisted of what he could supply himself by hunting and fishing. There was an abundance of game especially in the forest covered, well-watered small coulees which reach up towards Coon Prairie from every angle. Timber Coulee was a hunter’s and fisherman’s paradise. Deer and other animals were easy to find. There was also an abundance of large trout in the streams.

There was one thing which many had to complain about on Coon Prairie and that was the scarcity of water. The prairie was several hundred feet above the valley floor and it was impossible to dig wells. One soon found it possible to build a dam across a declivity so water could be stored for the animals. But, household water had to be transported from the springs in the coulees. This was an everyday chore. Many years later the settlers were relieved of this water burden when they started to drill wells.

Although the pioneers attained readiness to get along with the means they possessed on the farm, there were some things such as coffee, syrup, meal, clothes, etc. Had to be bought in Prairie du Chien a journey of 50-60 miles by foot.

Honor be to the old pioneers. Without show of complaint they gave their lives full of privation and hard work that their children and grandchildren might obtain more of the good things in life than they had. May the younger generation show themselves worthy successors.