Читать книгу Fifty Years In The Northwest - Folsom William Henry Carman - Страница 52

Clam Falls comprises township 37, range 16, and derives its name from the falls on Clam river. The surface is rolling and timbered with hardwood and pine. It is well watered by South Clam creek and its tributaries. Somers' lake, in section 27, is the only lake. An upheaval of trap rock on Clam creek has caused the waterfall from which the town has taken its name. It is a fine water power. A dam for collecting tolls on saw logs has been placed just above the Falls. Good specimens of copper ore are found in the trap. The town was set off from Luck and organized Nov. 15, 1876. The first town meeting was held April, 1877. The first supervisors were Daniel F. Smith, John Almquist and John Bjornson. D. F. Smith was the first settler, built the first saw mill, and raised the first crops.

Daniel F. Smith, a peculiar and eccentric man, was born in Chautauqua county, New York, in 1813; emigrated to Michigan in 1834, where he married Eliza Green the following year, and moved to Racine county, Wisconsin. In 1842 he engaged in lumbering on the Wisconsin river, his home being at Stevens Point. He was of the firms of Smith & Bloomer and Smith & Fellows. Mr. Bloomer was accidentally killed, on which account the business of these firms was closed, Mr. Smith removing to Galena to facilitate the settlement of their affairs. In 1852 he removed to St. Louis; in 1853 to Memphis, Tennessee, where he engaged in the wholesale grocery business, losing heavily, in fact all the accumulations of his life. In the spring of 1855 he leased the St. Croix Falls saw mill, and operated it for two years, when trouble arose and litigation ensued, in which Smith obtained a judgment against Cushing for $1,000. In 1860 he removed to Clinton, Iowa, and thence in the same year to California. He traveled much, visiting mines. He spent some time in mining, and also manufactured shingles. In 1862 he returned to St. Croix Falls and engaged in lumbering for three years. In 1868 he built a saw mill at Butternut Lake, Wisconsin. He did much to open that country to settlement. He was the founder of a town which he called "Luck." In 1872 he was the first settler at Clam Falls, where he built a saw mill with but one man to assist, and around that mill has sprung up a flourishing settlement. Dan Smith, with undaunted perseverance, has battled his way through life, and has come out victorious over difficulties and opposition that would have discouraged and turned back other men. Mr. Smith is a plain, direct, outspoken man; a man of energy and ability. He has ably and satisfactorily filled many places of trust. For many years he has been a commissioner of Polk county.