The county, originally a part of Polk, was set off March 1, 1856, and included also at that time, and till the year 1877, the present county of Washburn. It was organized in 1865. The first county officers, appointed by the governor, were: Judge, Nimrod H. Hickerson; clerk of court, Canute Anderson; register of deeds, Peter Anderson; treasurer, S. Thompson; sheriff, Martin B. Johnson; district attorney, Jacob Larson. Grantsburg was selected as the county seat. The first county supervisors, consisting of Michael Jenson, chairman, Thore Ingebritson and Peter Anderson, met Jan. 24, 1865. The first election was held at the house of Nimrod H. Hickerson, Nov. 7, 1865. The first frame house in the county was built at Grantsburg in 1865, by W. H. Peck. The first crops were raised in township 39, range 18, by Charles Ayer. The finances of the county have been managed discreetly. The state drainage fund was judiciously expended. The first deed recorded in Burnett county was a tax deed from Polk county to Simon Estonson, of the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 35, township 38, range 19. It bears date Jan. 20, 1866. THE PINE BARRENS. So prominent a feature in Burnett and other counties in Northwest Wisconsin, consist of sandy stretches of undulating, though sometimes of level lands, sparsely covered with a growth of young pines, generally of the Black Prince variety. In some places, where the trees are crowded thickly together, they are not unlike immense cane-brakes. The trees, from their proximity, have grown very tall and slender. The lateral branches, crowded together and deprived of sunshine, have perished early and the growth of the young trees is chiefly vertical. The lower dead limbs remaining attached to the trunks give the young forest a peculiarly ragged and tangled appearance. There is abundant evidence to prove the existence of ancient pine forests where these pine barrens are now the only growth. In fact some of the larger trees are still standing, and the charred trunks and decaying remnants of others. The gradations from the younger to the older growth may be very plainly seen. Fire is undoubtedly the efficient cause of the stunted and irregular growth of the pine barrens. The matured forests are destroyed by fire, and are succeeded by the young pines which are further reduced and injured by annual fires. It is a mistake to suppose that the soil of these barrens is necessarily poor. Many of them have a black, sandy soil, capable of producing fine crops. In most of them there is a dense undergrowth of blueberry bushes, producing annually millions and millions of bushels of their small but luscious fruit. MURDERS.