From, "The History of Houston County", Taylor Publishing, 1982 - Page 27

Hokah Township is the second river township from the northern boundary of Houston County, lying south of La Crescent, having Mound Prairie and Union Townships to the west and Brownsville to the south, with the Mississippi River as the eastern boundary.  The name Hokah is of Indian origin and according to tradition, it was also the name of a powerful Indian chief whose village stood on the beautiful spot now occupied by the Village of Hokah.

Root River enters the township from the west and winds in an easterly direction through the northern half of the township until it empties into the Mississippi.  The valley of the river has an average width of two miles.  The river is joined by other streams:  the most important of which is Thompson's Creek which furnished reliable water power.  As of other river townships, Hokah has the usual bluffs facing the Mississippi, with interior valleys, ridges and plateaus and the scenery is very picturesque.   In the early days, the bottom land was heavily timbered with black walnut, maple, oak and other hardwoods, large quantities of which were cut and rafted down the river and some of which were sawed in local mills.

The first permanent settler in the township was Edward Thompson, who arrived in the spring of 1851.  Attracted by the fine water power, he staked out a claim and brought his wife and family here.

Butterfield Valley south of the village was first settled in 1853 by Hiram Butterfield who came from Illinois and took a claim in Section 8.  John Densch, who arrived in 1854, was probably the first settler on the "ridge".  His log cabin had a sail for a roof which he brought from the east.

The Root River Brewery was located on Section 28.  It was erected in 1867 by Joseph Pfeffer, Jr at a cost of about $10,000, and it had a capacity of thirty gallons a day.

A union cemetery on Section 10 was divided by an imaginary line into two equal parts; one half of which belonged to the Roman Catholics and the other half to the German Lutherans and the German Methodists.  The first burial was in 1859, a son of Fred Glassert who was about 12 years of age.

An Academy of the Sisters of Notre Dame was erected in 1866 in the northeast corner of Section 28.  There were accommodations for borders as well as day scholars and at times there were as many as forty regular boarding pupils in this large building of stone on this 200 acre plot of land.  There was a small burial place for the sisters and the priests.  Another cemetery was blessed about the year of 1873 on this land and the wife of J. G. Streigel was the first burial here.  There are still people being buried in this cemetery in the 1980s and the perpetual care makes it a pleasant resting place.

In the last half of the 20th century, Hokah Township provided excellent building sites for people who had employment in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  The plotted additions that are recorded are as follows:  Brookwood Hills, Sept 7, 1972, First Addition to Brookwood Hills, Aug. 21, 1974, Wagner Addition, Dec 27, 1971, Root River Terrace, Nov 10, 1970; E. E. Bentahl's Fox Chase Road Subdivision, March 23, 1973, E. E. Bentahl's Fox Shadows Subdivision, Nov 28, 1978.

The 1982 Township Officials for Hokah Township are: Clerk, Barbara Ratigan; Treasurer, Gertrude Wieser, Chairperson, Robert F. Tschumper and Supervisors, Lloyd Welke, and Duane Frauenkron.

Submitted by Mrs. Bernard Wieser.