"The BIOGRAPHICAL History of Clark County, Wisconsin"

Compiled by Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, Chicago and Winona, H. C. Cooper Jr., & Co. in 1918.

 

E. L. WICKER contributes the following reminiscences of the early history of Colby: "My parents, James D. and Adelaide Wicker, were both born in the State of New York, and went to Iowa in 1871, coming from there to Marathon County, Wis., in 1873, when I was three years old. They settled two and a half miles from what is now the city of Colby. Father walked from Steven's Point, following the trail through the forests as blazed on the trees. At that time there was nothing but heavy timber where Colby now stands. The land was owned by Mr. Coleman and the Wisconsin Central Railroad. In 1873 there was a sawmill, and the Commercial Hotel, built by George W. Ghoca, who put up the first building in the town, which was used for a hardware store. There was also a log shanty used as a trading post. Bune Bros. Patterson built and operated the first real store, which was located on the Marathon County side. The town was started in 1872 and 1873, to supply the logging men, but settlers commenced to come in and the village began to grow. The town was first platted on the. Marathon County side. The first post office was located at the old sawmill, which was owned by Ira Graves. The railroad was built in 1872 - 73. Pine lumbering continued until about 1889. Then came the hemlock and hardwood period. In 1875, E. Decker Co. built a sawmill two and a half miles from the town. In 1877, A. Lamont bought the Decker mill and operated it until the late eighties."