Читать книгу Fifty Years In The Northwest - Folsom William Henry Carman - Страница 49

The town of Balsam Lake embraces township 34, range 17, and takes its name from a lake within its bounds. It has an undulating surface, covered with heavy oak, pine, and maple timber principally. Balsam creek, the outlet of Balsam lake, flows through it in a southerly direction, affording fine water powers. About one-sixth of the surface is covered with lakes. The largest of these, Balsam lake, in the Indian language An-in-on-duc-a-gon, or evergreen place, gives name to the town. Deer, Long, Wild Goose, and Mud lakes are fine bodies of water with bold, timbered shores, and abundance of fish. The town is near the geographical centre of the county. The first white man, prior to the organization of the town, to locate within its present bounds was a disreputable trader named Miller, who in 1848 built a shanty on Balsam lake, from which he dispensed whisky to the Indians. This man was not long afterward driven out of the country. (See history of St. Croix Falls.) The town was organized in 1869. The first board of supervisors consisted of Geo. P. Anderson, Wright Haskins, and Joseph Loveless. The clerk was H. J. Fall; the treasurer, F. R. Loveless. The first school was taught by Jane Husband. Aaron M. Chase built a shingle mill at the outlet of Balsam lake in 1850, and he seems to have been the first actual settler or the first man to make improvements. As he had neither oxen nor horses, the timbers for the mill were hauled by man power with the aid of yokes and ropes. Other persons came to the mill and lived there awhile, but the first permanent settlers came in in 1856. They were J. Shepherd, Joseph Loveless, Joseph Ravett, and John M. Rogers. Mr. Rogers raised the first crops in the town; Joseph Ravett was the first postmaster. The first marriage was that of J. K. Adams to Miss L. A. Millerman, by W. H. Skinner. The first white child born was a daughter to R. S. Haskins. The first death, that of a child, occurred in 1870. A first class flouring mill has been erected at the outlet of Balsam lake. It is owned by Herman Corning; a saw mill is also in operation at this point. A Methodist church, 30 × 40 feet ground plan, was erected at Balsam Lake by the Methodist society in 1886.