p. 343

364 Sauk Co.

The principal settlement in this county is on the river at a placed called "Prairie du Sac" twenty five miles north west from Madison. The prairie is about eight miles wide and extends eighteen miles along the Wisconsin. Its name is given in allusion to its form, being that of a "sack" or bag, and not from Sauk, the tribe of Indians. The Naumatonan or Honey Creek enters the Wisconsin a short distance below, upon which mills have been erected. [The first settlement was commenced here in 1839]. On the Baraboo river a branch of the Wisconsin that enters a short distance above the Portage there has been a settlement commenced. The remainder of the county is usually represented as very rough and broken; and to some extent unfit for cultivation and improvement.

In 1840 one year after the first settlement of this county, it contained 30 horses, 148 meat cattle, & 82 swine; and the produce of 1839 [stated] was at 464 bushels of wheat, 1795 of oats, & 1235 of potatoes; and 264 tons of hay. There was one store.