McCann brothers

Between 1846 and 1850, more than 1.5 million Irish people immigrated to America. By 1860 more than 60,000 Wisconsin residents were of Irish descent, many working on construction projects, serving as mill-hands, or working as policemen. Three Irishmen who had a profound impact on the organization of Chippewa County, Wisconsin in the mid-nineteenth century were the McCann brothers, who had migrated to the Chippewa Valley from Marietta, Ohio in the spring of 1839. Stephen Smith, Arthur, and Daniel McCann were notorious in the Chippewa Valley for their extremely separate, yet distinct undertakings. In the Chippewa Herald Telegram article, McCann Brothers Were Symbolic of Valley (1959), the author states that:

"there were no better men on the Chippewa river than the McCanns. No man along the entire front of this rampaging giant could ride logs better; no man could handle a pike pole, or his fists, with as much finesse. And their hearts were as large as the Chippewa Valley."

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Stephen Smith McCann

(October 4, 1811 - November 1, 1880). The eldest McCann brother developed a partnership with Jeremiah C. Thomas in the summer of 1845, erecting a plain shanty on the Eau Claire River (Chippewa River). He and Thomas started a sawmill and were the first to make a permanent home in the Chippewa Valley. Stephen S. McCann also built a cabin near the confluence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa rivers. Stephen McCann then constructed two more buildings within the area. These buildings would come to be known as the Badger Mills. The main objective of McCann and Thomas was to create an enterprise that would manufacture lumber from logs obtained from the pine forests along the Eau Claire River, floating them down the Chippewa River (Wisconsin) to markets along the Mississippi River.

A terrible flood struck the mill in the summer of 1847, causing the Chippewa River (Wisconsin) to rise twelve feet. By noon on the 5th day of June, 1847,

"every log, pier and boom on the Eau Claire was swept away by the fast swelling flood. In another hour the new double sawmill that had just been erected and was ready to be operated was borne almost bodily away by the resistless current."

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After the destruction of the saw mill, Stephen McCann retired from the mill industry to pursue a life of farming. In 1861, he left to fight for the North in the American Civil War along with three of his sons. He died of dropsy in 1880 and was buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Eau Claire.

Daniel McCann, Sr.

January 26, 1816 - October 2, 1890

A document from Past and Present of Chippewa Co., Vol. 1, pg. 238, states that Dan McCann:

"was the only hope of any terpsichorean assembly in this valley and it was to the touch of his fiddle bow that every light fantastic toe must yield active or passive obedience."

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Although Dan McCann could not read music, he could play countless marches and cotillions, and his services were desired at numerous balls and parties throughout the valley, which were the principal sources of entertainment in mid-nineteenth century Chippewa Valley.

Another historic figure entertained by Dan McCann's fiddle playing was the infamous Civil War eagle, Old Abe. A Chippewa Indian named Chief Sky found Old Abe when he was just an eaglet and traded him to Daniel for a sack of corn. Dan adopted the bird as a family pet, and at night,

"Farmer McCann played the fiddle, and the eagle would hop up and down in time to the music. Soon neighbors came from all around to see the 'dancing' eagle jig while Farmer McCann fiddled."

^[4] In 1861, many of Dan McCann's neighbors, including his brother, Stephen S. McCann, left to fight for the North in the Civil War. Because of a childhood leg injury, Dan McCann was not allowed to fight, but sent Old Abe in his place. When he took the bird to Company C to offer him as a mascot, the soldiers laughed, thinking Old Abe incapable of providing protection, but when Dan asked for a fiddle, the soldiers complied and as he

"cuddled the fiddle under his chin, closed his eyes for a moment and began to play Bonaparte's Retreat from Moscow,"

^[5] the soldiers were amazed to see the eagle dance back and forth to the music. The young eagle passed to the ownership of the local company who changed their name from 'The Badgers' to the 'Eau Claire Eagles,' a

"regiment of which this company was then an isolated unit was destined later to become famous as the 'Wisconsin Eagles.' "

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On December 21, 1838, Dan married Margaret LaPointe, who stated that he had never left their home for more than a week's time during their marriage. He died from stomach cancer at the age of 74 and is buried in O'Neill Creek Cemetery in Eagleton, Wisconsin.

Arthur McCann

The youngest McCann brother, Arthur, joined his brother Stephen in the saw mill industry, erecting a shanty to establish claim along the Eau Claire River (Chippewa River). He also partnered with Jeremiah Thomas to form the Blue Mills on the Chippewa River (Wisconsin). He married Rosalie Demarie, daughter of well-known fur trader Louis Demarie, at the Falls in Chippewa Falls, WI in 1840. That same year he purchased a tavern from his brother-in-law, Samuel Lamb, located on the bank of the Red Cedar River (Wisconsin), 12 miles from Menomonie. In 1843, Arthur, Jeremiah Thomas, along with Stephen and Dan McCann, began operating the Blue Mills, named after "Blue Tom" Thomas. This first saw mill in the Eau Claire area changed hands and was later operated by the Badger State Lumber Company. Operation was discontinued in the 1890s due to a shortage of logs.

Arthur McCann's time in the valley was shortened by an argument with an employee named Sawyer who had been hired by Arthur to work at Blue Mills.

One evening, Sawyer came to Dan McCann's home asking for his pay. It is said that:

"McCann offered him a drink. The first drink led to another and another. The two men sat down and began to play cards. "Art figured he'd get those wages back," brother Daniel McCann said, shaking his head. The cards led to an argument. McCann stood up and dropped Sawyer with his fists. Sawyer pulled himself to the door, swearing to get revenge. He went to the cabin of Philo Stone nearby, pulling a loaded rifle off the pegs above the door, and returned to McCann's place. Knocking on the door, Sawyer waited until McCann stood in the opening and he pressed the trigger. McCann fell, mortally wounded, on his own doorstep. The waters of Spring Creek (now located in what is Eau Claire County) ran red for days, but the murderer of Arthur McCann was never apprehended."

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Thus, Arthur McCann came to be known as the first white man to die at the hands of another white man in the Chippewa Valley.^[7] Sawyer made his way up the river to Eau Claire, then to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin where his pursuers lost him. He was never apprehended.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} McCann Brothers Were Symbolic of Valley, Chippewa Herald Telegram. October 26, 1959, from Tales of a River Series.
2. ^ W.F. Bailey. History of Eau Claire county, Wisconsin, past and present; including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county. Chicago, C.F. Cooper, 1914.
3. ^ Debra McCann. Historical Accounts: Selected texts and articles on the McCann family.(2004). Retrieved from [1]
4. ^ Young, P. (1965). Old Abe: The eagle hero. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
5. ^ M.G. Muggah and P.H. Raihle. (1944). Forty-seven Wisconsin stories. Chippewa Falls, WI: Chippewa Falls Book Agency.
6. ^ Daniel McCann, son of man who sold Old Abe to Soldiers lives here: Here's a bird's history.Eau Claire Daily Telegram. June 9, 1930.
7. ^ Traders, First Settlers Tread Unknown Paths Eau Claire Leader Telegram, Bicentennial Edition. July 4, 1976.