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 696-7
MRS. JOHN SHANKS, in relating her early experiences, says: “We left
Ontario, Canada, in 1866, traveling by rail to West Salem, Wis.
When I reached Bangor in 1866 I was married to Mr. Shanks, and in the
fall of that year we came by team through Sparta with William
Shanks. We stayed the first night at Tom Emery’s tavern, south of
Black River Falls. There were many men staying there who were
bound for the woods. The second night we stayed at Paddy’s Rest,
and the third night at Staffordsville, reaching Henry Huntzicker’s the
afternoon of the fourth day. We traveled in lumber wagons, loaded
when we started with supplies, but at each place we stopped we were
obliged to leave some. It was on this trip that I saw my first
deer. The roads were bad on account of heavy hauling and we had
to get out many times and cut our way through the brush to avoid the
bad places in the roadway. I worked for Mr. Huntzicker that
winter and stayed there the following summer. Henry Huntzicker
kept a hotel for the lumbermen. On New Year’s night, 1867, John
Huntzicker was born, and I cared for him during that summer. In
November, 1867, I went to camp on the Popple River, walking the
distance. There I cooked for the men during the winter, leaving
on March 17, 1868. That was my first experience in a logging
camp. That summer I stayed at Huntzicker’s, and in the fall
we built a log hut sixteen feet square, with a scooped roof. My
occupation was making buckskin mittens, shirts and buckskin trousers,
which I sold to the boys going into camp. The buckskin I secured
from the Indians. Mr. Shanks during this time was driving logs
down the Black River. We commenced clearing our farm in
1868. Later we built a good log house and lived there and farmed
until we moved into town. We hardly ever saw any women but
Indians.”
