The board met in special session on the 10th day of October, 1855. There were present J. B. Brunett and S. S. McCann. The Chairman, E. A. Galloway was absent. James Ermatinger, Justice of the Peace, was called upon to act with the board and was accordingly duly sworn.. It was ordered that the clerk of the board be authorized to procure a suitable desk for the use of the register of deeds. It was ordered that George Downer be employed at the expense of the county to search for John Maskell, who was represented as insane and wandering at large, and that he be authorized to employ such assistance as he may deem expedient. It appearing that the office of district attorney was vacant, the board at it's January meeting in 1856 appointed P. Murray McNally to the office. At the January meeting of 1856, Daniel McCann was issued a tavern keeper's license upon the payment of $30. February 18, 1856, the board selected a site for the purpose of a courthouse in what was designated on the plat as Court House Block.

        To the board of said county, the treasurer would respectfully report that there has been paid into his hands on taxes assessed for the year of 1855, the sum of $841.13, as seen by reference to paper marked A and to tax duplicates where the parties paying are properly credited. He would further state that owing to the illegality of assessments and to the late date that the tax list came into his hands, he was unable to enforce the payment of taxes. He would state that he has received the sum of $113.70 specifically paid by said tax, and the sum of $75.24 as school tax, of which both sums are included in the full amount of total receipts. The orders presented and paid amount to $656.75, which with the said school tax to be accredited from the whole amount would leave a balance due the treasurer of $4.46, as may be seen by reference to the papers and orders attached, all of which is respectfully submitted. Chippewa Falls, March 31, 1856, H. S. Allen, County Treasurer

        Record of paper marked A in the preceding report is the amount paid by different individuals on their taxes for the year 1855:   Carson and Eaton, state 103.26, S. S. McCann Co. 61.43, J. Cook paid all his taxes 6.61, Cochran and West in part 24.24, M. Cook 3.30, James Ermatinger in part 5.25, David Hendrick in part 79.19, Leop. Hoover in part 15.00, J. King in part 7.00, George Mishler in part 27.82, J. B. Morton 6.61, C. D. Rogers 2.63, Joseph Trepania 44.96, O. Walker 30.85, A. Walker 50.12, William Wiley 8.20, J. O. Wiley in part 5.00, William Henneman 15.00, R. Goodrich 136.94, S. F. Weston 207.72. Total $841.13.

        The board met in regular session, April 16, 1856, and there were present C. M. Celey and William Wiley. The latter was elected chairman. B. F. Manahan absent. In the same meeting it was resolved and determined that the amount of school money be raised by order of the board of supervisors in this county, in the several towns be as follows: In the town of Eagle Point $50, Chippewa Falls $100 and Eau Claire $50. By this time is was found by the board that the town of Eau Claire's assessment amounted to $185,580.80, Chippewa Falls $132,056.25 and Eagle Point $87, 612.76. Total $405,249.81.

        Chippewa County is bounded on the N. by St. Croix and La Pointe, on the E. by Marathon, on the S. by La Crosse, on the S. W. by the Mississippi river, and on the W. by St. Croix. The southern boundary is rather indefinitely defined. It was established from Crawford on Feb 3, 1835, but has never been organized. Since the organization of La Crosse county, March 1, 1851, the county and judicial connection has been changed from Crawford to La Crosse. The boundaries were somewhat changed Jan 14, 1846. Population in 1850 was 615. The soil in the Western portion is good, in the Northeastern less valuable, and covered with forests of excellent pine timber.
        It is watered by the Chippewa river and it's branches, and tributaries of Buffalo and Mississippi rivers. The tributaries of the Chippewa river are numerous, and pass through large portions of the county, watering lands as valuable as any in the State. There are now in successful operation 11 saw mills, capable of cutting 30,000,000 feet of lumber annually. The largest of these mills is owned by Allen, at Chippewa Falls; Menomonee, owned by Knapp, Williams & Taintor; and Carson & Eaton, at the mouth of the Eau Galla, which average about 5,000,000 of feet each, per annum, and furnish employment for about 200 hands each. The county seat was established by an act of the legislature, at the Jan session 1853, at Chippewa Falls, on the Chippewa river.

        One of the largest counties of the State, extending from the line between towns 24 and 25 north, to the line between 40 and 41, being 91 miles long, and averaging about 66 broad. Not one-half of the County is yet surveyed and brought into market. The County is watered by the Chippewa and Yellow Rivers, and their numerous branches, both large and small. It is, in its full sense, a well watered County. Our further description will apply only to the surveyed or Southern part of the County, which will undoubtedly soon be subdivided into several Smaller Counties.[p.53]
        The soil in the western part of the County is good, and great progress has been made in settlements for agricultural purposes. In the northeastern part, the soil is less valuable for farming purposes, but rich soil for the lumbering business, as it is covered with excellent pine.
        Chippewa county contains one of the best and most extensive pineries in the State. There are now in successful operation twelve saw mills on the Chippewa River, capable of cutting 40,000,000 feet of lumber annually. The largest of these mills is located at Chippewa Falls and is commonly known as Allen's Mills; Menomonee, Mills; and at the mouth of the Eau Galla, is Carson and Eaton's. These mills average about 6,000,000 feet annually, and furnish employment for about 600 men.
        The most of the land in the county is still subject to entry. It affords inducements to the immigrant both agricultural and mechanical, as the resources of the county are such as to give permanency to business, and a sure market is always to be found for the products of the forest.
        Chippewa Falls, on Chippewa River, is the County seat. It is the principal depot of the lumbering operations on that River, the pines being above this village. Messrs. H. S. Allen & [p.54] Co. have an extensive sawmill at these falls, sawing daily about 60,000 feet, and giving employment to about 400 men in the business connected with it. A road from Steven's Point to Hudson, passing this place, is soon to be opened.

        Chippewa is one of the largest counties in the state, embracing 114 townships, or over 2,600,000 acres of land. About two-thirds of the land in the county has been entered by actual settlers or by speculators for the timber. Some good land still remains in the possession of the state and government, and can be bought at prices ranging from 75 cents to $1.25 an acre, land grant lands. Wild land is held at from three to ten dollars an acre; improved lands at $25 and upwards. About 15 percent of the county is prairie, 65 percent timber, and 20 percent marsh. The soil of the prairie is a rich, black loam; that of the heavy, hard timber is what is termed a clay soil; that of the pine land is lighter, but is very productive when tilled. Wheat, oats, barley, rye, corn, and all kinds of vegetables can be raised here of as good quality, as large a quantity, and with as much certainty as in any other part of the state; and owing to the demand to furnish supplies for the lumbermen, better prices can be obtained than at the markets on the lake shore.
        Census returns give 9,290 acres of wheat raised in 1875, 10,118 acres of oats, 3,435 of corn, 719 of barley, 60 of rye, 8 of hops, and 2 of tobacco; total, 23,632. Much of the marsh land is already started with cranberry vines, and by a small amount of labor could be made to yield a large profit. There is an abundance of wild hay, which, when cut, brings high prices in the pineries. Lumbering is the main industry of the county; many millions of feet are shipped each year, mostly pine. The hard wood timber is excellent and abundant. On the Chippewa river and its tributaries there are a large number of water powers, most of which, except near Chippewa Falls, are still unimproved. In the northern part of the county there are indications of copper, lead and silver, which further exploration may show to be valuable. Population, 13,995; native born, 7,954; foreign born, 6,041; from Canada, 2,420; from Germany, 1,614; Sweden and Norway, 773; Ireland, 702; England, 268; Switzerland and France, 223.

        Twenty-five years ago, when the pioneers of this county entered its forests for the sole purpose of lumbering, they supposed that pine lands would only produce pine trees; and, consequently, they brought their flour, pork, corn, beans, potatoes and in fact, all the necessaries of life, up the Mississippi, in keel boats from Prairie du Chien. Times are changed. Now the county produces both winter and spring wheat, twenty bushels per acre, which sells in Milwaukee for No. 1. Our oats are No. 1; average crop, forty bushels to the acre. Barley and rye grow equally as well. Hay grows wild in great abundance, and yields two tons to the acre. They also raise first quality of Timothy hay, two tons to the acre. As for potatoes, the world cannot surpass them in quantity or quality: the average crop is two hundred bushels per acre. Almost all kinds of wild fruits grow in abundance. Quite a large numuber of apple-trees and fruits have been set out the past few years; and, as apples do well fifteen miles south, we hope soon to raise fruit in abundance. The stock of the county is of good average quality, but is mostly brought calls for capital to turn our water power into untold wealth. Farm labor is always in demand; and, during the spring and summer season, some three hundred men are employed on the Beef Slough.
        The three principal villages in the county are Alma, the county seat, with a population of thousands, three churches, a good grade school, several good sawmills and one grist mill; Fountain City, with a population of eleven hundred, three churches, one grade school, two sawmills, one gristmill and a foundery; and tandovi, in the northern part of the county, with a population of about a thousand, four churches, a good grade school, a flourmill and a foundery. The condition of the common schools throughout the county is good, the schoolhouses are ordinarily in fair condition.

        The country which is now Wisconsin continued to be occupied by French traders and missionaries, until the treaty of 1763, by which it was surrendered to Great Britain. The territory was governed by the laws of Canada until after the Revolution. Great Britain parted with it reluctantly, and did not withdraw her garrison from the post at Green Bay, until 1796. It was then made a part of the Northwest Territory of the United States. In 1809, it was included in the Territory of Illinois, and continued to form a part of it until 1818, when, Illinois became a State of the Union. Then Wisconsin was joined to Michigan for purposes of government. In 1836, Michigan was erected into a State, and Wisconsin was organized as a separate Territory. In 1841, a heavy emigration set in, and continued during 1842 and 1843. In the last year, the number of persons who settled in the Territory is estimated at over 60,000. The population increased rapidly, and on the 29th of May, 1848, Wisconsin was admitted into the Union as a State.

        The Chippewa Herald was founded by George C. Ginty in 1870, and became a daily publication in 1894. In 1926, the Herald consolidated with the rival Telegram, and was known as the Chippewa Herald-Telegram for most of the rest of the century. From the 1950s to the 1980s, an influential and colorful local editor, Holly Meier, was the man most associated with the Herald, and many of today’s readers still remember him fondly. In 1964, Max Lavine bought the paper, with his son, John, taking over on Max’s death that same year. Lavine sold the paper to Independent Media Group in the early ’90s, when the “Telegram” part of the name was dropped. The Herald joined Lee Enterprises in 2000.