Wisconsin Historical Collections, Volume IV (1859)

              early events in the four lake country by prof c b chapman m d of madison although not one of the pioneers of the four lake country it has been a cherished object to preserve such mementos and reminiscences as would become matters of interest in the future history of the country some of these early settlers are still in our midst while oth ers hare passed away either by death or removal among those recently deceased was abel rasdell who i believe was one of the very first settlers in the four lake region his first settlement was at porter's grove which is situated about nine miles from the blue mounds at which place he had charge of some business in connection with mr james morrison — this was in 1828 and the same year they were joined by col ebenezer brigiiam our worthy mrs morrison joined her husband in january 1829 gov henry dodge preceded them but by one year in the occupancy of this region having located near his present home in 1827 mr morrison built two cabins in 1828 near the locality now known as porter's grove one of which was designed as a repository of goods the means of traffic with the indians was then very limited consisting mostly in the exchange of goods of various cheap kinds for furs of which the indians had no just knowledge their goods consisted mostly of calico woolen cloth wampum and beads there was nothing like a fixed system of exchange an article of goods worth one shilling would often readily ex change for the skin of an otter worth five dollars the indians had no idea of the value of anything and had no frugal ideas with regard to means of living they subsisted mostly upon animal food which generally consisted of ducks and fish there