Transcribed and submitted by Kay Scholtz <scholtz@tznet.com>
Source: 1918 History of Clark County Wisconsin; Compiled by
Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge. Reviewed by James O'Neill, Chicago and
Winona, H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co. 1918, “Historical Contributions”,
pages 690-1
ROSANA HOREL thus relates her experiences: “I was born at
Belfast, Maine, in 1839, and lived there until 15 years old. In
1854, with my parents, I left the place of my birth for
Wisconsin. We traveled by way of the Erie Canal and the Great
Lakes to Milwaukee and by railroad from Milwaukee to Madison. In
October of that year we went to Black Earth, Dane County. The
next spring we moved to Richland County, where we lived for four
years. In 1859 my mother died and I came with my father to Osseo,
Trempealeau County. I was married there and lived there for six
years, then came to Clark County with my husband and settled on a farm
three miles west of Humbird, where I lived thirty-seven years, moving
to the hamlet of Humbird in 1902. When I came to Clark County in
1865 there was no town of Humbird or Fairchild. The whole country
was covered with tamarack and oak timber. The land where Humbird
now stands was owned by Almond Alderman. The place was once
called Rocky Mound City. Jake Humbird built the railroad through
here in 1869, and the village was named for him. The town
experienced quite a boom when they talked of building a railroad from
here to Neillsville, but when the plans were changed to Merrillan it
subsided. G. W. King had five sawmills and D. D. Travis owned and
operated a mill two miles from this town. We used to haul all our
grain from the farm to Sparta and bring back our supplied from there,
taking about three days to make the trip to Hudson, and the settlers
used to take turns going to Garden Valley once a week from the
mail. There were lots of Indians here but they gave us no trouble
only by their everlasting begging. When we first came to Clark
County we used oxen, which at night were turned out. One night
our dogs made such a noise and fuss that the men got up to see what was
the matter. When they went out there was a whole pack of wolves
surrounding the open(ing?). We used to have plenty of wild game,
and used bear grease for cooking. It was nothing to see a drove
of deer pass by the door. One day a bear went by acting as
thought he was wounded and we thought we would get him, but when we got
close to him Mr. Bear leaped over a five-rail fence and was gone.
All our furniture in those days was of the homemade variety, including
beds, chairs and tables. Everyone was sociable and all acted
together, and while we had many hardships, we had some pleasant
times. John Branstedter, Peter Beaver, A. Webster, Joseph Emer,
Orin Wilson and Mr. Colgrove were some of the early settlers.”
