Histories: Trempealeau Co. Historical Accounts:
"Trempealeau County" by Clarence J. Gamroth:
Volume 1A:
Communities: Chapultepec
Chapultepec, 1948
Chapultepec mound and the school by the same name are located on County trunk I in the Town of Ettrick about 5 miles northeast of the village of Ettrick and about 7 miles southwest of Blair.
Chapultepec hill is a rocky mound rising 125 feet above the range of hills that separate French Creek from Bear Creek. This hill is now a part of the farm of Norman Greenwood. Near the foot of the hill is a little white school bearing the same name.
One of the two stories concerning the origin of the name of this mound Chapultepec, is that Charles J. Cleveland, an early settler in Big Tamarack, located at North Bend in the Spring of 1856. Here he was put in charge of Thomas Douglas lumber and rafting business. On one of his trips to La Crosse in the Fall of 1856, he purchased a rifle and instead of returning to his home by the usual route, he sent his team home with a hired man and came back by way of McGilvroy's ferry and traveled through Galesville, up along Beaver Creek and crossed the divide into Trempealeau Valley. He said he wanted to see "what the country looked like."
He tells it thus, "I found one place that looked almost exactly like Mount Chapultepec, Mexico, as I heard my father, who took part in the battle there, describe it. It is an extra mountain set up on top of the divide between Beaver Creek Valley and Trempealeau Valley. I named it 'Chapultepec' which means 'Hill of Grasshopper' and by that name I hope it will be known to our grandchildren."
A Frenchman on hearing Mr. Cleveland tell of this peak said, "yes sar, I see one time dat shapple-te-pec. I kill three bear der one day. He is one big Trempe."
The other story of its name is that an Indian boy by the name of Chapulta lived in this vicinity and when her body was buried on or near the top of this mound. Since then this peak has been Chapultepec.
"Trempealeau County" by Clarence J. Gamroth:
Volume 1A:
Communities: Chapultepec
Chapultepec, 1948
Chapultepec mound and the school by the same name are located on County trunk I in the Town of Ettrick about 5 miles northeast of the village of Ettrick and about 7 miles southwest of Blair.
Chapultepec hill is a rocky mound rising 125 feet above the range of hills that separate French Creek from Bear Creek. This hill is now a part of the farm of Norman Greenwood. Near the foot of the hill is a little white school bearing the same name.
One of the two stories concerning the origin of the name of this mound Chapultepec, is that Charles J. Cleveland, an early settler in Big Tamarack, located at North Bend in the Spring of 1856. Here he was put in charge of Thomas Douglas lumber and rafting business. On one of his trips to La Crosse in the Fall of 1856, he purchased a rifle and instead of returning to his home by the usual route, he sent his team home with a hired man and came back by way of McGilvroy's ferry and traveled through Galesville, up along Beaver Creek and crossed the divide into Trempealeau Valley. He said he wanted to see "what the country looked like."
He tells it thus, "I found one place that looked almost exactly like Mount Chapultepec, Mexico, as I heard my father, who took part in the battle there, describe it. It is an extra mountain set up on top of the divide between Beaver Creek Valley and Trempealeau Valley. I named it 'Chapultepec' which means 'Hill of Grasshopper' and by that name I hope it will be known to our grandchildren."
A Frenchman on hearing Mr. Cleveland tell of this peak said, "yes sar, I see one time dat shapple-te-pec. I kill three bear der one day. He is one big Trempe."
The other story of its name is that an Indian boy by the name of Chapulta lived in this vicinity and when her body was buried on or near the top of this mound. Since then this peak has been Chapultepec.