Histories:  Trempealeau Co. Historical Accounts:

"History of Trempealeau County Wisconsin, 1917":

Chapter 3


-As transcribed from page 26

It is so rarely the case that our present political divisions correspond closely with the outlines of any of the older tribal domains, or habitats that when such happens to be the case, it is not only a matter of interest, but it furnishes a peculiarly satisfactory theme for the writer.

The lack of correspondence between political divisions and archaelogical provinces is due to the fact that the latter were determined far more by topographic conditions than are the former, and the fact that Trempealeau County furnishes an exception is due to the circumstance that the Trempealeau Prairie, constitutes the major portion (the adjoining portions of La Crosse County making up the rest) of a peculiarly compact and sharply defined area which we may judge to have been very attractive to the Indians.

There are, several reasons why it should have been so. It is a region of unusual beauty and charm. This was due not alone to the bluffs, for the prairie with its rolling grassy hills, free from woods or brush; the park-like aspect of the "oak openings," and the picturesque outlook, all tended to impress themselves on the senses and enthral the imagination of those who came under their spell.

There was an abundance of productive and easily cultivated soil. The bordering streams and lakes yielded ample supplies of fish and water fowl, and the back country the larger game. For them it might well have been a veritable "Garden of Eden," such as one of our local writers has pictured.