Histories: Trempealeau Co. Historical Accounts:
"Trempealeau County" by Clarence J. Gamroth:
Volume 1A:
Miscellaneous: Trempealeau River Steamboat Line
by Luke Roskos, 1947
This story was told by Albert Bautch who lives in the city of
Independence, Wisconsin. He was 88 years old in January 13, 1897.
In 1860, the government donated a sum of land to the Fox Brothers of
Massachusetts who were to build bridges around here, to help people to
get from place to place and to help transport their goods. As
there weren't many farmers here, these bridges and the selling of Wis.
land at $1.25 an acre made people com from places all over the United
States, especially Massachusetts where the Fox Brothers had relations
and friends. Here the people began farming. The bridges to
be built were 3 in number; one in Glencoe (near Arcadia), another in
Sherwood, and another near Arcadia which is called the "Three Mile
Bridge."
The river (Trempealeau) at this time was wider, deeper, and about two
thirds larger than now.
At this time the St. Louis Navigational Company had a steamboat line
which ran up the Mississippi River and came up the Trempealeau River
and this made it so that the bridge had to be taken down so the boat
could go through.
The farmers and the people of this territory protested. They
wanted the bridges to be rebuilt as the boat moved out. In a
couple of years later, the St. Louis Navigational Company had to
discontinue this line and the bridges were rebuilt. The steamboat
went through here about 1866.
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