Memoirs of Waukesha County. From the earliest historical times to the present with chapters on various subjects, including each of the different towns, and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in the county, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information.

              72 MEMOIRS  OF WAUKESHA  COUNTY
In 1837 there was a large addition to the settlement. Alex. F. Pratt, a resident of Milwaukee up to this time, but a frequent visitor at Prairie Village, moved to that point. Others were Orrin Brown, who located on a quarter section near the stone quarry, E. D. Clinton, Z. Bidwell, Henry Bowren, James X. Watson, J. M. Well, J. Rice, J. W. Rossman, E. Churchill, Ezra Mendall, Joel Bidwell, Daniel Thompson, Robert Love, Moses Ordway, Sabrina Barney, Asa S. Watson and Peter N. Cushman, all locating on claims in the town.
In 1837 John Gale, of Milwaukee, bought Cutler's water-power for $6,600 and the next season built a flour and saw-mill. He sold an undivided interest to W. A. Barstow and Robert Lockwood, who laid out the quarter section into town lots, giving bonds for deeds while the title still remained with the general government.
In 1838 H. N. Davis, James Buckner, Charles Crownheart, Ira Boliver, B. F. Chamberlain, O. M. Higley, Albert White, James and Ed. W. King, I. C. Owen, Daniel Chandler, Allen Clinton, Lyman and E. W. Goodnow, and several others came. James Buckner and Mr. Bowren built what was afterward a part of the Prairieville House, and Robert Love and Alex. F. Pratt each built small frame houses, at that time the only frame houses in the county. These settlers did not all remain in the vicinity of Prairie Village, but scattered about the county. In the summer of 1836 Messrs. Camp and x\ndrews settled in Mukwonago, Hatch and Rockwell at Oconomowoc, and Fuller and Porter at Pewaukee. In 1837 Messrs. Edgerton and Dousman took up claims in Summit and Ottawa.
In 1839 the land was brought into the market, but at this time all the choice locations had been taken up. The settlers were permitted to buy their claims at public auction at $1.25 per acre. Many of the pioneers were too poor to pay even this small sum and were obliged to borrow at the most exorbitant rates, sometimes at from twenty-five to fifty per cent annual interest, with the result that many lost their land and improvements to the land speculators and were obliged to start again somewhere else. Those who were able to keep their claims, came, almost without exception, to possess what is called wealth in a farming community.
The fare of those days was anything but luxurious. It was said that if a man could obtain a barrel each of salt pork, flour and whiskey, he had all the outfit necessary for starting a hotel. " With the addition of potatoes these articles covered the usual bill of fare, which, although limited, could scarcely be called cheap. Flour was worth from $16 to $17 per barrel, pork from $30 to $33 and potato'es from $2 to $3 per bushel. Much of this expense was due to the freight charges. There were, previous to 1838, few settlers between Milwaukee and Prairie Village, and the roads, as one early traveler says, were "any¬ where where one chose to travel.'* He added that each traveler usually chose a new route, knowing that ^ change was necessarily an improvement.