Memories of the settler’s life

Memories of the settler’s life from the book titled Coon Prairie by Hjalmer R. Holand. Translated into English by Ovind M. Hovde.

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

Michelet cabin now located at Norskedalen Heritage Site

The first to be done after securing a claim was to build a house. Together with a neighbor, or maybe with his wife, the settler went into the nearest forest and cut timbers enough for the house walls. Since no fir or pine grew on Coon Prairie, one had to use aspen or oak trees, and it was not so easy to get these crooked logs to fit tightly together. But, between each log one had to fill the cracks with moss, wood splinters and clay. The roof was made of cloven pieces of timber covered with clapboards and sod. These clapboards were about a quarter inch thick, cloven from oak with a special ax. The floor was often only dirt, but sometimes there was made a good floor of cloven flat boards. Doors, table, chairs, bedsteads and other household items were also made of cloven and ax-formed oak. Strong hinges and latches were made of branches. One got along without nails and similar pieces of iron.

Each settler was capable of supplying himself a table and planks for household use, but this was viewed as proof of great prosperity and among most as unattainable luxury.

The day he moved into his little house was a great day for the settler, for then he felt himself as lord over the land. Although the house was probably only 12x12 feet square, it was as a palace for him, for now he had in a real sense acquired new land.

A considerable part of the settler’s food in 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 toward Coon Prairie from every angle. Timber Coulee was a hunter’s and fisherman’s paradise. Deer, bears, wildcats, raccoons and other animals were easy to find, and the streams swarmed with trout up to two feet long. They were so numerous that one could often throw them up on the ground with a bucket.

Bears were very curious and often came up to the houses. One day when Thor Sandbakken in Timber Coulee was away, his wife Rønnøg saw that a strange animal had broken into an enclosure and thrown itself on their only pig. The pig represented the greatest part of their winter food so it had to be saved. Without thinking what kind of animal this stranger was, she sprang forward to save the pig. Hastily she went by the wood pile and grabbed an oak root and threw it at the attacker in the pigpen. Remarkable enough she hit the animal right on the backbone so it stood up and dropped the pig. Meanwhile Rønnøg had grabbed the hayfork and jabbed it far into the side of the animal and yelled: “Will you get out of here, you ugly one!” The animal raised up on its hind legs and Rønnøg saw that it was a bear. It opened a great mouth large enough to swallow the whole pig, let out a horrible roar and turned toward the woman. Frightened by this, Rønnøg emitted a howl that resounded from every ridge, and took flight. The bear was also frightened by the sudden attack and decided it was best to seek the woods which it did. Everything had now reached a lucky end if only the pig had been sensible. Instead of thankfully seeking peace in the straw pile and sleeping off the fright, it became so confused that it took off after the bear, and was never seen again.

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 for the impecunious settler to dig wells. One soon found it possible to build a dam across a declivity, and soon all over the prairie there were dams which gathered the water from higher ground. But, this stagnant water soon became undrinkable for people because of all kinds of filth, so there was a daily chore to haul, carry or drag water up from the nearest valley for household needs. It was difficult to be parsimonious with drinking water when one worked in the harvest in the hot sun. Many, many years went by before one was relieved of the water burden by drilling a well.

  Although the pioneers attained a remarkable readiness to get along with the means which they possessed on the farm, and although they practiced a sacrificing contentment in doing without what they did not have, it was necessary from time to time to journey to town to make some purchases. Coffee, syrup, salt, meal, some clothes, etc. had to be bought. The nearest town where these things could be bought was Prairie du Chien, 50-60 miles southwest. If there was not too much to be brought home, one often made the journey on foot following Indian trails and at times even traveling with the Native Americans. Most often many people made the journey together in their carriages. They used to have a very merry trip.

Tosten Unseth once made such a trip to Prairie du Chien and had an experience which, although it seems funny now, was so unpleasant that he never forgot it.

They were just about out of food in his house and for several days they had had little to eat other than potatoes. The daughter therefore was exceedingly happy when she saw her father drive into the yard after several days’ journey to town. In great haste she climbed into the wagon with a bowl and found the flour barrel. Now surely she and all the others should have pancakes for supper. Lovely wheat flour, how good it will taste! But, when she opened the barrel she was so disappointed that she could not hold back the tears. Astonished Tosten looked at her and said:

“Now what is the matter? You are not standing there forever and crying?”

“Oh — if only you had brought home some flour, father,” sniffed the daughter.

“Flour! You are standing there with a large flour barrel right in front of you!”

“No, that is not flour, but sugar. I cannot make bread of sugar?”

Now Tosten had to get up into the wagon too and his face became long when he looked into the flour barrel. The daughter was right. That stupid shop boy had given him a sugar barrel instead of a flour barrel. Now there was nothing to do but to grind a little wheat in the coffee grinder.

In a few years the town of La Crosse had its beginnings, and since this was much nearer, one hauled his wheat there, when one had something to sell. The road was down Spring Coulee or Timber Coulee to Coon Valley and then up over Ramsrud Hill to Mormon Coulee which led to La Crosse. This was a very laborious journey, for there were many steep hills. Ramsrud Hill was especially bad. It reached 500 feet above the valley floor, and in some places it was so steep that neither oxen or horses could manage the load. When the pioneer came to this point he had to carry sack after sack on his shoulders to get over the worst.  

The Brye homestead remains today just as it has

for more than a hundred years at the bottom

of Ramsrud Hill, today more commonly known

as the West Coon Valley Hill.

This photo says headed towards Coon Valley

but in reality the car has left Coon Valley

and is headed up Ramsrud Hill towards La Crosse.

It was over these notorious hills that most of the settlers came to Coon Prairie and Vernon County. They came to La Crosse by steamboat or railroad; were shown the way over the large ridges to where people they knew were supposed to be living up in the hills. With shoes and stockings in their hands and small children and heavy sacks on their backs, they trudged up over the steep hills into the strange and unknown. What did the future offer them? Were these difficult hills a symbol of the future’s wear and tear? Anxious thoughts began to trouble them.

But it was good that just below Ramsrud Hill in Coon Valley lived a genial kind man from Hallingdal by name of Knut Brye. He had been a boss at a sawmill far north in the woods, had earned good money, and had built what was then considered a large house. His and his wife’s dispositions were as large as their house, for they were always ready to welcome newcomers and give them food, shelter and good advice. And, when the new arrivals heard that all this magnificence at Brye was the fruit of only a few years’ work, they got new spirits and it was with great hopes for the future that they the next day stepped forward on the last part of their journey.

But, there are many hills on life’s way, and it is good that we do not know what the future has in store for us. These pioneers in wilderness ran into many kinds of problems which they had not anticipated and which we cannot imagine because they are outside of our experience and knowledge. These experiences were not recorded and now when the old are dead, nearly all of the story is forgotten.

One of the memoirs which still lives is that of the hard frost which occurred the 22 June 1854. The frost was so strong that not only did all spring plantings freeze but also the leaves on the trees so these stood half naked the whole summer through. Only the deeply planted potatoes developed new growth and these potatoes were the main source of food for the settlers the following winter.

There followed a couple of good years and the pioneers put their energy to work building both church and school. Money was still difficult to raise and the incorporated church once had to pay 20 percent interest. But, with resolute patience they kept on and the church was completed at the established date.

Right after this great achievement there followed hard times which made life difficult for the settlers for many years. That year, 1857, there occurred a great panic and cash money seemed all at once to disappear. Prices of farm produce fell way down and credit was not to be had. 

First County Coon Prairie Lutheran Church

and the cornerstone laying of the second church

Peter H. Stigen was the name of a pioneer who worked for a time for Pastor Stub at the parsonage and had a little money owing him. He had learned that two forties of hilly land in Timber Coulee had not been claimed. These could be bought from the government for $1.25 per acre. The government permitted payment over a long period so cash was not needed, but 75 cents was needed to file the title. He therefore went to Pastor Stub to ask for 75 cents of what was owed him. The pastor asked pardon for his lack of money which he had not paid. “But soon we’ll have Easter,” said he, “and if I get 75 cents in the offering, you shall get it.” But both Easter and Pentecost came and the pastor did not get enough in the offerings of both festivals. The pioneers had to satisfy themselves by bringing him a sack of oats.

These hard times lasted many years and were followed by the straightened circumstances of the Civil War. It was because of these heartbreaking hard times that so many men enlisted voluntarily in military service. They had not been here long enough to feel any pull to offer their lives for their new country, but by going into the service they would earn enough, they thought, to keep body and soul together for those at home. But for those on the battlefields it would go as destiny willed.

Meanwhile the wife and the others struggled with the duties at home on the farm, full of anxiety and in want. It was a life full of hard work, despair, undernourishment, and fear of fateful news from the battlefields. The result was a definite lowering in the health of the settlers, with many deaths. Coon Prairie had always been clear of cholera, ague and other illnesses which raged in other old settlements. The pioneers who had settled here were strong healthy people. Therefore we found there were very few deaths during the years 1848-1855. But in the years of tribulation which followed to the end of the war, we found so many deaths that it seemed as if an epidemic ravaged the settlement. In these 10 years no fewer than 194 persons died. Of these half were under five years and 22 less that a month old.

What a striking circumstance these statistics witness to! The deaths of so many small children tell clearer than any words the sorrowful anxiety, the undernourishment and wear and tear which these  poor mothers lived under during these years of tribulation. And there was no doctor from whom to seek help. These tortured mothers had to watch their helpless children sicken without knowing what to do.

Pioneer life demanded a costly toll.

In spite of all these bitter experiences and difficult circumstances there was something about the pioneer life which moved the old to remember it with a sad longing. In spite of the sorrow free conditions in which they now live, they look back to the pioneer days as something beautiful and lovely which they no longer find. That which they now savor and which remains high in their memories was the intimated associations which then prevailed among the pioneers. It was as if everyone belonged to a large loving family. They worked and struggled; but whether they lost or won they all were participants together in sorrow or joy. Literally they bore one another’s burdens. Now good conditions endanger friendship and they according to the old is an expensive exchange.

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.

A result of this comradely spirit was the great sociability which prevailed among the people. While the cattle had their Sunday rest on the grassy fields, the pioneers with their families went on foot over the hills to visit each other. Although the houses were small and tight, the spirit of festivity was great. All the chairs and benches in the house were soon filled and a row of mothers sat on the edge of the bed to keep an eye on their small ones who played and cried with joy behind them. And, while the coffee boiled, men spoke of their work, their experiences and their future plans. Soon these voices grew and they began to lay plans for securing a pastor and probably building a small church. Sometimes too one or another hopeful dreamer would paint a bright picture of the future and foretell the time when maybe the train would not only come to La Crosse but would also climb the hills and run right over to Coon Prairie. But, then most shook their heads and decided such treat but wild fantasies would never come to reality.

Honor be to the old pioneers. Without show or complaint they gave their lives full of privation, hard work and perseverance 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.