STILLWATER AND ST. CROIX COUNTY.
In September, 1844, reluctantly I bade adieu to Prairie du Chien with its picturesque bluffs and historic associations, and embarked on the steamer Highland Mary, Capt. Atchison, to seek a home and more salubrious climate further north. The voyage was without incident worthy of note, till we reached St. Croix lake, in the midst of a crashing thunder storm and a deluge of rain, which did not prevent us from eagerly scanning the scenery of the lake. The shores were as yet almost without inhabitants. The home of Paul Carli, a two story house at the mouth of Bolles creek, was the first dwelling above Prescott, on the west side of the lake. A few French residences were to be seen above on the west side. On the east bank, below the mouth of Willow river, where Hudson is now situated, were three log houses owned by Peter Bouchea, Joseph Manesse, and Louis Massey. On the high hill west, nearly opposite Willow river, stood the farm house of Elam Greely, and on the same side, on the point, in full view of Stillwater, stood the farm house of John Allen. With the exception of these few dwellings, the shores of the lake were untouched by the hand of man, and spread before us in all their primitive beauty. There were gently rounded hills sloping to the water's edge, and crowned with groves of shrubby oak, amidst which, especially at the outlet of streams into the lake, the darker pines stood out boldly against the sky. We passed on over the clear, blue expanse of water on which was no floating thing save our boat and the wild fowl which were scared and flew away at our approach, till we reached the head of the lake at Stillwater, the end of our journey. November 30th my family arrived on the steamer Cecilia, Capt. Throckmorton.
STILLWATER IN 1845.
We landed just in front of the store of nelson & co. just below the landing was a clear, cold spring, bubbling out of the earth, or the rock rather. It was walled in and pretty well filled with speckled trout. On the opposite side of the street Walter R. Vail had a house and store; north of Vail's store the house and store of Socrates Nelson. Up Main street, west side, stood Anson Northrup's hotel and Greely & Blake's post office and store. One street back was the residence of John E. Mower, and north of this the mill boarding house, and in the rear the shanty store of the mill company, where the Sawyer House now stands. Up a ravine stood the shanty residence of John Smith. In a ravine next to Nelson & Co.'s store was the residence of Wm. Cove. On Main street, opposite Greely & Blake's store, was the residence of Albert Harris. On the shore of the lake, north of Chestnut street, was John McKusick's saw mill. Sylvester Stateler's blacksmith shop stood just south of the mill. In Brown's Dakotah, now Schulenberg's addition, near the old log court house, was a log hotel, kept by Robert Kennedy. This was Stillwater in 1845.