Until the year 1836, the territory now composing the State of Wisconsin composed a part of the Territory of Michigan, but in that year Congress and the people erected that that Territory into a sovereign State, and the organic law was passed creating the Territory of Wisconsin, which also included Iowa, and in October of that year, (1836), the first Territorial Legislature convened at Belmont, Iowa County, which with three others (Brown, Milwaukee and Crawford,) had been organized under the former territorial Government, and comprised what is now the whole State of Wisconsin. The later (Crawford County) included about one-half of the Wisconsin Territory, and of course this valley, and was entitled to two Representatives, but no member of Council. At the First session, James H. Lockwood and James B. Dallam, were chosen to represent this county, and the next year 1837, the Legislature convened at Burlington, Iowa, Jean Brunet and Ira B. Brunson, were elected. There was a special session of this Legislature called, and Mr. Brunet attended both. He was also engaged quite extensively in trading with the Indians, and in lumbering. At the treaty spoken of in the preceding chapter, held at Prairie du Chien, in 1825, it was stipulated that the Government should maintain an agency at La Pointe for the distribution of annuities, and to establish a farm and blacksmith shop with a competent workman therein at some point on the Chippewa River not far from the Falls. Mr. Lyman Warren of La Pointe, formerly of Newburg, New York, was appointed to the position of Farmer, Blacksmith and Subagent, and subsequently, by Governor Dodge, as Justice of the Peace, and established himself at Chippewa City, five miles above the Falls. The Gothy family now located at the Lac Courte Oreilles Agency, and several other half-breeds of note located there, and it soon became a very important place for the sale of goods and the collection of furs, the whole being under the direction and control of the American Fur Company and its agents. But in 1837, immediately after the treaty at Fort Snelling and the cession of these lands by the Indians, a number of those agents, including H.L. Dousman, General Sibley, Colonel Aiken, and Lyman Warren, fitted out an expedition under the supervision of Mr. Brunet to erect a sawmill at the Falls of the Chippewa. Why this point should have been chosen in preference to the Dells, either upper or lower, seems unaccountable; it is probable, however, that the difficulty of booming the river and securing the logs was never taken into account. Had men of larger experience in lumbering on large rivers, in damming, booming, and storing large quantities of logs been employed by this company, the probability is that the mill would have been located at some point where, by setting the water back over some lagoon or marsh flat, a safe reservoir for logs could be formed entirely outside of the rapid current. There were such points on the river, above and below, but no more expensive and difficult place could have been found on the whole river than the one selected, in which to spot and retain a season's supply of logs, as the result has shown by repeated disasters. Experience has also proved that it is far less difficult to obtain a head of water to drive a saw mill than to secure a stock of logs, on a rapid river like the Chippewa, hemmed in as it is between steep banks, and if there should ever come such a freshet as occurred in 1838, and again in 1847, I am afraid there would be few logs left in any boom on the river. In was necessary to engage all operatives, boatmen, axe men, mechanics, loggers, etc., and to bring all necessary supplies from Prairie du Chien, or points below, and those employed by Mr. Brunet in the construction and management of the mill at the Falls, were mostly the old voyageurs, and Canadian French and half breed, previously employed in the fur trade, and amongst the first who came to settle permanently, was Louis Demarie, notable conspicuous as the father of five blooming daughters; he was pure Canadian French blood, from Montreal, and his wife a French and Chippewa half-breed born in Detroit. She was a woman of uncommon natural abilities, and with an education and culture would have graced a high social position in any community. She was a born physician, and for many years the only one in the valley; and in making a diagnosis of disease, and her knowledge of the healing properties and proper application of many of the remedies used in the Materia Medica, exhibited extraordinary insight and skill in her practice. She was frequently called to attend upon myself and family, and her prescriptions were simple, natural, and always efficacious. Several of her daughters had attained the age of maidenhood before leaving Prairie du Chien, and were much admired belles in that old pioneer town, whose young swains sang their praises on many a night's camp ground. The work of building the mill progressed slowly the first year; a great many unexpected obstacles impeded the undertaking; the rock encountered in excavating the race was of such intense hardness that the contractors threw up the job and in re-letting the work a price almost fabulous had to be paid, running into many thousands. During the ensuing winter the supply of provision failing, recourse was had to the stores of H.S. Allen, at Menomonie. On such occasions every one looked out for himself, and amongst those who suffered was Mr. Demarie, whose family being large, soon found it necessary to obtain a supply form that quarter. As the spring advanced and the ground became bare, so that trains, (a short one-horse vehicle on runners much used in Canada) could not run, it was sometimes necessary to pack provisions over on their backs, and on one occasion, the two older girls, Mary and Rosalie were dispatched thither for flour, and other necessaries, which led the way to more intimate relations. At this time, the Green Mountain adventurer and successful lumberman on the Red Cedar River, had rebuilt the oldest of the Street and Lockwood mills, and looked forward to prosperous career in the business he had chosen. One thing he yet lacked, God's last, best gift to man, a wife, in the multiplicity of business cares he had neglected to take 'unto himself,' perhaps too, away down amongst his native hills some school girls face still haunted his dreams, and he might have longed for the time to come when he could get away form these wild scenes, and claim it as his own; but then, would she be willing to share with him the hardships and social privation to which she subject in his exile home? Such reflections made him hesitate, and when the fair but bashful Mary Demarie presented herself at his counter, it is not to be wondered at that she made an impression upon him that set at defiance all those preconceived notions of propriety, family pride and youthful fancy, and to ally himself with this unsophisticated girl of the pine woods. After several months wooing, they were married by Mr. Warren, and she being a devoted Catholic, their union was subsequently solemnized at Prairie du Chien, according to the rites of that Church. In the spring and summer of this year, 1838, there came the most terrible flood ever known on this river, in the month of June; from Eau Claire to the Mississippi, the bottom lands, from bluff to bluff, were covered with water from ten to fifteen feet deep. Mr. Brunet's keel boats were at Menomonie for lumber, when the water was highest, and entered through the woods and over the prairie bottoms, keeping close to the bluff's in order to enable them to reach bottom with their poles.

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