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THIRD  ANNUAL  REPORT 


AND 


COLLECTIONS 


OP  THE 


STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


OF 


WISCONSIN,     • 

FOR  THE  YEAR  1856,  .  (t^  ^ 


VOLUME  III. 


MADISON  : 

CALKINS  &  WEBB,  PRINTERS. 
1857. 


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INTRODUCTORY. 


In  presenting  to  the  public  the  l^hird  Annual  Report  and 

-A 
Collections  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin,  m6 

Publication    Committee  would  respectfully  state,  that  they 

have  earnestly  and  assiduously  aimed  to  bring  together  such 

a  collection  of  historical,  descriptive  and  statistical  papers  as 

would  prove  useful  both  for  the  present  and  the  future.     How 

far  they   have  succeeded  in  this  endeavor,  they  leave  for 

others  to  judge. 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind,  that  these  annual  volumes  are  not 
designed  as  complete  histories  of  the  whole,  or  scarcely  any 
one  portion  of  the  State.  They  are  simply  intended  to  servo 
as  lumber-yards  of  history,  from  which  future  histbrians — 
for  State,  County  and  Town  histories  —  can 'Jfelect  appropriate 
materials  for  the  construction  of  such  finished  historic  edi- 
fices  as  may  hereafter  be  required.  Oiir'aim  theii'''i§^,'^'fo 
"gather  up  the  fragments  that  nothing  be  lost,"  and  preserve 
them  in  our  published  Collections;  and  by  disseminating 
them,  to  place  them  in  the  reach  of  all. 

It  is  not  always  easy  to  foresee  precisely  what  character  of 
facts  will  hereafter  be  most  wanted — and  consequently  most 


iv  INTRODUCTORY. 

sought  for  in  our  volumes.  Probably  all  classes  of  informa- 
tion relating  to  our  State,  will  have  their  interest  and  value, 
and  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  we  are  apt  to  imagine. 
Therefore  it  is,  that  our  present  volume  will  be  found  to  con- 
tain quite  a  variety  of  communications  and  subjects — some 
relating  to  the  old  French  regime  of  over  a  century  ago  — 
others  to  events  in  the  North- West  during  the  War  of 
1812-'15  —  others  still,  to  some  of  our  old^r  settled  Wisconsin 
counties  and  settlements,  and  yet  others  to  the  more  newly 
i^pttled  regions,  and  some  even  to  the  distant  shores  of  Lake 
Superior.  Some  of  our  pioneers  relate  the  story  of  their  ad- 
ventures and  primitive  hardships.  Interesting  glimpses  are 
also  given  of  the  Red  Men,  whose  curious  and  mythic  history, 
so  far  as  we  can  snatch  its  fragments  from  the  rapidly  reced- 
ing  past,  should  be  gathered  with  pious  pare ;  for  that  strange 
race  must  shortly  forever  disappear  from  our  borders,  and  fu- 
ture generations  will  only  know  of  them  what  history  pre- 
serves, and  the  exaggerated  views  conveyed  in  such  characters 
as  Gertrude  of  Wyoming,  Hiawatha  and  Minnehaha,  and 
other  equally  fanciful  conceptions  of  the  poet. 

But,  varied  as  these  narratives  are,  they  will  serve  unitedly 

to  show  the  wonderful  advance  the  ereat  North- West  in 
genersd,  and  Wisconsin  in  particular,  are  making  in  all  the 

^eq^ents  of  greatness  and  prosperity. 

L.  C.  D. 

0 

Madison,  Wisconsin. 


1o    . 
laofi! 


<,f . 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

FOR  185T. 


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president:  ^.»i»i».f  • 
Gen.  Wm.  R.  SMITH,  Mineral  ?oint. 


9  edJ  •» 


VICE   presidents: 

Hon.  JAMES  DUANE  DOTY ,.«-^..  Menaska, 

INCREASE  A.  LAPHAM Milwaukee, 

Hon.  ALBERT  G.  ELLIS Stevens'  Point, 

Hon.  morgan  L.  MARTIN. g.ia'^iliaVLtiVi'-.  Green  Bay. 

CYRUS  WOODMAN Mineral  Point. 

BERIAH  BROWN Delajield. 


-T 


Corresponding  Secretary — LYMAN  C.  DRAPER. 
Recording  Secretary— J ORN  W.  HUNT. 
i«5mWaw— DANIEL  S,  DURRIE. 
Treasurer—PROF.  O.  M.  CONOVER. 


Hon.  L.  J.  FARWELL, 
^  Hon.  J.  P.  ATWOOD, 
Hon.  D.  J.  POWERS, 
B.  F.  HOPKINS, 
B.  A.  CALKINS, 
HORACE  RUBLBE, 


curators: 

Cot.  DAVID  ATWOOD, 
Hon.  H.  XI.  BULL, 
J.  T.  CLARK, 
S.  V.  SHIPMAN, 
S.  H.  CARPENTER, 
P.  G.  TIBBITS, 


Hon.  SIMEON  MILLS, 
W.  B.  JARVIS, 
EDWARD  ILSLET, 
H.  K.  LAWRENCE,       m 
0.  T.  FLOWERS,  4 

S.  <J.  BENEDICT. 


i  ,IiiUm\, 


STANDING     committees: 

On  Puhlications.—DRAVWR,  J.  P  ATWOOD  AND  HUNT. 

On  Auditing  Accounts.— ILShEY,  CONOVER  AND  DURRIB. 

On  Finance.— FARWELL,  POWERS,  JARVIS,  TIBBITS  AND  DRAPER. 

On  Library— Purchases  and  Fixtures.— DB.AVER,  DURRIE  AND  RUBLBE; 

On  PWnttn^r.— HUNT,  CALKINS  AND  CARPENTER. 

On  Picture  GaZZery.— CARPENTER,  TIBBITS  AND  HOPKINS. 

On  Literary  Exchanges.— SEVEDICT,  FLOWERS  AND  DRAPER. 

On  nomination  of  ifemBer*.— MILLS,  DRAPER  AND  SHIPMAN. 

On  Obituaries.— RTJBLEE,  CALKINS,  D.  ATWOOD,  CARPENTER  AND  DRAPER. 

On  BuUding-Ut.— BULL,  FARWELL,  TIBBITS,  MILLS  AND  DRAPER. 

On  Building  Hall.— J.  P.  ATWOOD,  HOPKINS,  HUNT,  CLARK  AND  SHIPMAN". 

Soliciting  Committee.— J>B.APER,  ILSLEY,  RUBLES,  BULL  AND  J.  P.  ATWOOD. 

The  regular  meetings  of  the  Bxeoutire  Committee  ara  held  on  the  fiwt  Taenday  oventng  Of 
each  month. 


ORJECTS  OF  C<H.I>ECTION  DESIRED  BY  THE  SOCIETY.  ^ 


1.  MaawKsrlpt  statoraents  and  narrat1vw»  of  pione<'r  settlers — oIdl«tt«n  aod  Joarnale  relative 
to  the  early  history  and  8ettlemc«t  oC  WlecoiiBin,  and  of  the  Blaok  Qawli  War;  biographical 
Doticef  of  our  pjoneers,  and  of  emiaoatcitizon'S  deceased;  and  fapts  lllastratire  of  cor  Indian 
tribe*,  their  history,  characttristica,  sketches  of  their  prominent  chiefs,  orators  and  warrior% 
together  witli  rontribntions  of  ladiitn  iinplrmento,  dre^e,  ornaments  and  cnrioMtles. 

2.  Pile«  of  ne\vspivi>er9,  books,  pamphlet*,  cjU^ge  eataloguee;  minutes  of  eccleeiastical  eot^ 
Tontions,  •onferencos  and  eynods,  and  other  publications  relating  to  this  State,  or  Michigan 
Territory, of  which  Wisconsin  formed  a  pirt  from  1818  to  1S35 — and  hence  the  Territorial  Ljiwh 
and  Jonrnikls,  and  files  of  Michignn  noitrfpaperd  for  that  period,  Wb  are  peculiarly  anxions  t* 
obtain. 

3.  Drawings  and  descriptions  of  our  ancient  mounds  and  fortifications,  their  ffiea,  ropresenta- 
tion  and  twCHlity. 

4.  Information  refprcfing  any  ancient  coins,  or  other  cnrfosities  found  in  Wisconsin.  The 
eontribntion  Of  such  articles  to  Ihe  Cabinet  of  tho  Society  is  respectfully  solicited 

6.  Indian  jroograpliical  names  of  stroAms  and  loealitios  in  tliia  Rtatn,  with  their  slgniftcationa. 

6.  lk)ok8  of  all  kinds,  and  eepccUliy  snch  ae  relate  to  American  historj,  travels  and  biography 
In  general,  and  the  West  in  particular,  fiiiuily  genealogies,  old  magazines,  pamphlets,  files  ©i 
newKjiJiiiei 8,  maps,  hiatoriciil  manuscripts,  nutogiaphs  of  diirtinguished  persons,  coins,  medals^ 
paiutini;-',  p-irtr.uts,  stitmry  and  enjjravings. 

7.  We  solicit  Crom  Historic  d  Societies  and  other  loarnoi  bodies,  that  interchange  of  books  and 
Oth«r  xnatenal.i  by  which  the  nsefulnes*  of  lustitutions  of  this  nature  is  so  esiseiitially  enhanced 
—pledging  ourselves  to  rep  'y  such  contributions  by  acts  in  kind  to  the  full  extent  of  our  ability. 

8.  Tho  Society  piinicularly  begs  the  firor  and  conipllmeBt  of  authors  and  publishers,  to  pro- 
Bent,  with  tlieir  autograph'*,  copies  of  their  r  pp.ctive  works  for  its  Library. 

9.  Bflitora  and  iinldLjIuTH  of  novvsp:ij)ers,  m  igaaioes  and  reviews,  will  confer  a  lasting  ft»vor 
on  the  Society  by  coutributlng  their  piiblicjitions  regularly  for  its  library — or,  at  last,  such 
nnmlKtrs  Jis  my  contain  article*  bearing  up>n  Wisconsin  history,  biography,  geography,  or  aa- 
tiiiuiiioa;  a}l  wliicb  will  be  o(irelully  preservwl  for  binding. 

l»Hc;tages  for  the  S«iciety  may  be  sent  to,  or  dcposltwl  with,  the  following  gentlemen,  who  hare 
liiudly  coiisentwl  to  take  chnrge  of  them.  Sucli  paaoels,  to  prevent  mistakiw,  should  be  pr«iHnly 
enveloped  and  addressed,  even  if  bnt  a  single  article;  an  I  it  would,  furthermore,  be  ilwirablo, 
that  donors  tihouM  forward  to  tho  Correspjuding  Secretary  a  epeclfication  of  books  or  article* 
duuatod  and  deposited.  1  0  KA  '  '-  *I  .T. .' 

aw  A  ; 

depositaries: 

T  f  "TO 
a.kJ.  A.  Rbmssv,  at  J.  B.  Lippin©f>tt  k  Co.'b,  Philadelphia. 

^nMUElQ.  Prask,  Antit]uarian  Book  Store,  Boston.  tiR.  itO 

Chaklbs  B.  Noetom,  Appleton*8  Building,  New  York.  «<> 

JOBi  MONSELL,  Publisher,  78  State  Street,  Albany.  «0 

OBOaoE  OoDEN  DauTH  *  Co,,  WashiuKton  City.  nO 

C.  K.  STARKWBATnEO,  No.  102  Michigan  Arenna,  Cbicaga  5,0 

I.  A.  LvPttAM,  Milwaukee.  lO 

David  And£I»on,  Cincinnati. 

|IS»Donora  to  the  Society's  Library  and  Collections  will,  In  retom,  be  placod  npoo  tb«  list  9i 
CKCbaosw,  and  receive  equi\aleut  publications  of  tho  Soeiety.  .dittota  ib;. 


INDEX  OF  PAPERS. 


Introdoctioii, iii-iT 

hist  of  Officers  and  Ck>miiiitt««s,  f«»r  1857, ▼ 

0hjeci8  of  collection  dveired  bj  Iho  8oeictj, vi 

Third  Annual  Report  of  Executive  Committee, 1 

Treafiiirer's  Rept>rt, 37 

List  of  Donors  to  the  Library,  185tJ, 39 

Donations  for  Literarj  exchanges, 41 

Donoifi  of  Pamphlets,  Documents  and  2da|)a, 42 

List  of  Peiiodicals  received, 43 

Report  on  Picture  Gallery, 45 

Bulogies  on  J  G.  Perci^al, 66 

Notices  of  William  A.  White, 80 

Early  Jesuit  Mii^sionaries  in  the  North- We«t, 87 

Indian  Tribes  of  Wibcorssin, 125 

The  Ca«8  Manuscripts, 139 

Antiquities  of  Crawford  County, 178 

Antiquities  of  Wisconsin, 185 

Seventy -two  Years*  Rt'Colled  ions  of  "Wisconsin, 197 

Reminiscences  of  the  North- We»>t, 297 

The  Chippewas  of  Lake  Superior, 338 

Eai-ly  History  of  Kenosha, 370 

First  Settlement  of  Kenonha, 395 

Early  History  of  Green  County, ^ 421 

Sketeh  of  Whitewatxjr, 4-27 

The  Upper  W^i8«onbin  Country, .-  435 

Sketch  of  Preftcott  and  Pierce  County, 453 

Hudsim  and  its  Tributary  Region, 466 

New  London  and  Surroundins^  Country, 478 

Resources  of  North  Eastern  Wivconj-iu, _  4b9 

Wisconsin  and  its  Internal  Navigation, 496 

Lemon wier  River, -  500 

Baraboo  Valley,  a  Dairy  Region, 502 

Lieut.  Gov.  Cruzat's  Message  to  the  Sauks  and  Foxc*. - 5(f4 

Public  Libraries  of  Wisonaiii, i^. 606 

Corrections  and  Additions, ...._.....  .^.. •  508 


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THIRD  ANNUAL  REPORT. 


ju  :> 


To  His  Excellency,  Coles  Bashpord, 

Governor  of  the  State  of  Wisconsin  : 

Sir:  —  By  the  acts  of  the  Legislature,  granting  to  the 
State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin  one  thousand  dol- 
lars annually,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  Executive  Commit-, 
tee  of  the  Society,  to  present  herewith  the  report  of  the. 
Treasurer  for  the  past  year,  exhibiting  the  manner  of  the^ 
expenditure  of  the  appropriation,  with  the  accompanying 
vouchers.  The  total  receipts  of  the  year,  including  the  small 
balance  on  hand  on  the  1st  of  January  last,  have  beea. 
Jll,206  30;  and  the  disbursements,  gl,136  71  — leaving  a  bal- 
ance in  the  Treasury  of  ^^6  9  59. 

Prosperity  and  Standing  of  the  Society. 

'i 
It  is  with  undisguised  gratification,  that  the   Executive 

Committee,  in  presenting  their  Third  Annual  Report,  can 

state  that  the  unexampled  success  which  has  hitherto  attends 

ed  their  labors,  has  continued  during  the  past  year*     This 

can  be  better  understood  when  we  state,  that  at  the  time  of 

the  re-organization  of  our  Society  three  years  since,  with  but 

fifty  volumes  in  the  library,  there   were   at  least   eighteen 

similar  Societies,  and  probably  more^  in  t]^<e  country,  which 

im 


2  REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.   . 

surpassed  ours  in  the  extent  of  their  collections ;  a  year  later, 
Jan.  1855,  there  were  but  twelve;  in  Jan.  1856,  seven,  and 
now,  but  five  —  those  of  the  the  American  Antiquarian  Soci- 
ety, and  the  Historical  Societies  of  New  York,  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut  and  Maryland ;  nor  would  the  latter,  had  it  not 
recently  received  a  large  acquisition  by  the  addition  of  the 
collections  of  the  Baltimore  Library  Company. 

Increase  of  the  Lihrary. 
The  increase  of  the  library  has  been  as  follows  : 

Jan.  1854, .VrTTT" total,   50  vols. 

"  1855, "   1050  "  T 

"  1856, "  2117  " 

1J^- .--^V%tr-^ "  3122  " 

Thus  showing  an  increase  of  over  1000  volumes  annually; 
and  this  is  exclusive  of  about  3300  pamphlets,  and  unbound 
documents,  and  many  files  of  unbound  newspapers  and  peri- 
odicals. Of  the  1005^  volumes  of  additions  the  past  year, 
611  were  by  purchase,  and  394  by  donation  and  exchange. 
The  purchases  of  the  two  preceding  years  together,  were  but 
^S  ^-volumes.  But  where  so  large  a  portion  of  the  increase 
6f  the  library,  as  the  past  year  has  exhibited,  has  been  by 
|5lirchase,  as  a  matter  of  course,  it  has  been  more  select,  and 
in  most  instances,  more  rare  and  desirable.  While  the  tw# 
previous  years  exhibited  less  than  half  tlie  increase  of  works' 
on  history,  biography,  travels,  bound  newspaper  files,  and 
publications  of  Historical  and  Antiquarian  societies,  the  result 
this  year  shows  over  eight-tenths  of  the  increase  of  works  of 
this  desirable  character.  Nearly?-  our  entire  collection  relates 
to  our  own  country,  and  of  its  kind,  must  be  regarded  as  the 
most  valuable  library  of  reference,  not  only  in  our  own  State, 
but" 'anywhere  in  the  West.  It  considerably  exceeds  in  its' 
library  collections  alone,  to  say  nothing  of  its  Picture  Gallery 
and  Cabinet,  those  of  all  similar  societies  combined,  located 
west  of  the  Aileghanies. 


U.L  A 


REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.  3 


Classification  of  the  Library. 
The  library  may  be  classified  as  follows : 

"Works  on  histoiy,  biograplij,  travels,  bound  newspaper  files,  and  publications 

of  Historical  and  Antiquarian  Societies, 1778  •  vols. 

Congressional  publications, .'. 598       " 

Agricultural,  Mechanical,  and  Scientific,..,.  ..'.'.*11^4li.t;i.  172       ** 

State  Laws  and  State  Legislation, .V^j  ixii 171       ?*jt  (1 1 


\ 


Miscellaneous, ...--,^ 403       " 

vrv  1  \  

Total, ......  .-,,/;]f. . ,^  *?.♦-  ^. i*  *  A* -'. , :;.' 3 1 22       " 

Of  these,  207  volumes  are  folios,  242  quartos,  the  rest 
chiefly  of  octavo  size.  There  are  probably  few  public  libra- 
ries extant,  that  possess  so  few  duplicates,  or  comparatively 
worthless  works,  as  ours — a  statement  in  which  we  are  amply- 
borne  out,  by  the  voluntary  assurance  of  many  literary  and 
other  intelligent  visitors.  )V* 

Character  and  principal  work^  added. 

As  already  intimated,  eight-tenths  of  the  increase  of  the 
library  the  past  year,  has  been  by  purchase ;  and  the  pur-, 
chased  works  having  been  selected  with  great  care,  and  chiefly 
obtained  through  the  medium  of  the  Society's  intelligent  and 
faithful  agent,  Charles  B.  Norton,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  and^ 
those  donated  having  been  unusually  choice  and  appropriate,  ^ 
render  the  additions  of  the  past  twelve  months  far  more , 
intrinsically  valuable  than  those  of  any  former  year.     Prom-, 
inent  among  the  purchased  works  may  be  mentioned,  the^ 
Gentleman^ s  Magazine,  from  its  commencement  in  1731,  tO- 
1833,  in  152  vols.,  containing  ihuch  useful  matter  on  Ameri- 
can history  ;  Dodsley^s  Annual  Register,  from  its  commence- 
ment in  1758  to  1850,  98  vols.,  also  valuable  for  its  American 
historical  matter  and  statistics ;  Rees^  Cyclopedia,  45  quarto 
volumes;    London  Gazettee,  1767-1810,  55  vols.;    Parliu- 
mentary  Chronicle,  1790-1802,32  vols.;  BritishlPeerage  3ind 
Baronetage,  1 1   vols. ;  Biographical  Dictionary,  8  vols. ;  an- 
other Biographical  Dictionary,  5  vols.,  quarto ;  Columbian 


M  REPORT  or  EXECUTIYE  COMMITTEE. 

Magazine,  178  6-' 91,  6  vols.;  Gordon's  History/  of  American 
War,  1787,  4  vols.;  Murray's  History  of  Jimerican  Revolu- 
tion, 2  vols, ',  Andrew's  History  Late    War,  1785,  4  vols.; 
Political  Tracts,  1758-'76,  4  Vols. ;  Paint's  Tracts,  4:  Yo\sr, 
True  Orbis,  1570,  vellum,  folio;  Frarriptoft's  t/o^^w// iVez^e,? 
out  of  the  New  Found  Worlde,  black  letter,  .1596  ;  De  Bry^s 
Travels,  1599,  illuminated  title,  folio;    Purchas^  Pilgrims, 
1617,  folio ;  Creuxius'  History  of  Canada,  1664  ;  Hennepin's 
Travels  in  America,  English  edition,  1798  ;    Cotton  Mather's 
Magnalia  Christi  Americana,  or  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of 
New  England,  from  1625  to  1698,  in  seven  books,  folio,  1702  ; 
Cotton  Mather's  History  of  New  England  Salvages,  from 
1702  to  1714;  Life  and  Works  of  Wm.  Penn,\120,  2  vols., 
folio;  History  of  Florida,  1731,  2  vols. ;    Stith's  History  of 
Virginia,  1747  ;  Jeffrey's   History  of  French  America,  folio,^ 
1760  ;  Bu  Pratz's  History  of  Louisiane,  2  vols.,  1763;  Rog- 
er's Journals  of  the  French  and  Indian   War,  editions  of 
1765   and   1770 ;    Bouquet's  Expedition  against  the   Ohio 
Indians,  1770  ;  Royal  American  Magazine,  1774 ;  Hubbard's 
Indian  Wars  of  New  England,   1775;  Hevvat's  Historicaf 
Account  of  Carolina  and    Georgia,  1779 ;    Hutchins'   De- 
scription   of   the    Western    Country,   with    curious    maps,,. 
French  edition,  1781  ;  Winthrop's  Journal  of  the  first  settle^, 
ment  of  Massachusetts,   179J;  vols.  II,  III   and  V,  quarto,^ 
of  the  Transactions  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society^. 
Philadelphia,  1786,  1793,  1802;    Hutchinson's  and  Minot's 
J^istories  of  Massachusetts  Ray,  Peters'  History  of  Conneory^ 
twut ;  Backus'  Church  History  of  New  England,  and  many 
Others,  less  rare,  but  equally  valuable. 

Donated  Rooks.    '""^^ 

Among  the  more  importanjfrbf  the  donated  works,  the  fol-^^ 
lowing  are   particularly    noticed':    Bequest   of  the   late   Dr.^, 
Stephen  W.  Williams,  an  intelligent  antiquary,  formerly  of 
Deerfield,  Mass..  but  latterly  of  Laona,  III,  66  volumes,  most- 


REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.  5 

ly  on  New  England  apd  American  historyj  received  through^ 
tne" kindness  and  courtesy  of  his  dan ghter,  Mr^*  Helen  M* 
Huntington  ;  Jimerican  Archives^  or  Documentary  History 
of  the  American  Revolution,  an  invaluable  work  in  9  folio 
volumes,  collected  and  edited  by  Col.  Peter  Force  ;  Annals 
of  Congress,  9  vols.,  and  other  valuable  works,  from  State 
Department,  Washington ;  Com.  Perry's  Japan  Expedition^ 
Government  quarto  edition,  2  vols.,  and  other  works,  from 
Senators  Dodge'  and  Durkee;  Colonial  Records  of  Massor 
cJiusetts,  1628 — 1686,  in  6  quarto  volumes,  superbly  printed, 
and  published  by  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  and  other  worksjr 
from  Wm.-S^,  FarmerI  the   beautifully   printed   land   finely' 
illustrated  Pield  Book  of  the  Revolution,  an  invaluable  workr 
in  2  royal  octavos,  History  of  the  United  States,  and   Ot^r, 
Countrymen,  from  the  author,  Benson  J,  Lossing;  Cyclope-^ 
dta  of  American  Literature,  a  valuable  standard  work  in  twQ^ 
royal  octavos,  Trom  the  joint  authors,  Messrs.  E.  A.  &  G.  L.,_, 
DuYCKiNCK ;  Narrative  of  Caheca  de  Vaca,  also,  Narratives  of 
De  ^oio  and  Fontaneda,  quartos,  privately  printed,  and  pre^ 
seiited  by  G.  W.  Riggs;  Jr. — works  deserving  to  be  placed  by^ 
tne  side  of  i^e  Vries\ Early  Arnerican  Voyages,dsA  Washing-^ 
ton^s  Farewell  Address.,  privately  printed,  by  the  enlightene^^ 
miinificence  of.  James  iiENOx,  of  New  York,  by  whom  they^ 
were  formerly  presented  to  the  Society ;  Colonial  History  qf 
New   York,  quarto/published  by  the  State,  and  presented, 
withothe'rworkSjbytTie  Regents  of  the  tJnivpsitjj  the  (M)n-g 
tihuation  of  th'e  noble  quarto  History  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of 
the  United  States,  by  the  learned  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft, 
from  Hon.  G.  W.  Manypenny,  Commissioner  of  Ii!dia;n'  Af- 
fairs;   Memoirs   of  Protectant   Martyrs,  folip^^illunci.ii\at^ 
title  page,  London,  1668,  from  L.  H.  Whittlesey;  the  ./2c?- 
t;er/25er 3^  a  literary  periodical,  after  the  style  of  the  Spectator^j 
and  Guardian,  1752,  from  G.  H.  Rountree;  Hinton^s  His^f 
tory  of  the  United  SHites,  2  vols.,  quarto,  from  Dr.  A.  Scp^J^.^ 
and  many  other  valuable  works. 


^  '      REPORT  OF  EXECUTIYE  COMMITTEE. 

To  these  may  be  added,  as  obtained  by  exchange  of  dupli- 
cates, a  copy  of  Ancient  and  Modern  Uiiiversal  History,  in 
38  vols. ;  Prescott's  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  Miscellanies, 
4  vols. ;'  and  History  of  England,  by  Hume  and  others,  6  vols. 

Works   Promised, 

We  have  every  confidence  in  the  continued  growth  of  the 
Society.  It  has  effected  a  system  of  exchanges  with  other 
Historical  Societies  and  learned  institutions,  by  which  a  steady 
increase  will  naturally  result.  A  number  of  important  works 
are  promised  the  Society— the  Record  Publications  of  Great 
Britain,  in  sonie  65  volumes,  secured  for  the  Society  from  the 
British  Government,  through  the  courtesy  of  Hon.  George 
M.  Dallas,  the  American  minister  at  London ;  some  20 
vols.  Democratic  Review^Joy  Hon.  C.  H.  Larrabee  ;  Transac- 
tions oj  Am^erican  Philosophical  Society,  10  vols,  quarto,  by 
the  Society ;  Works  of  John  Jidams,  10  vols.,  by  his  grand- 
son, Hon.  Charles  Francis  Adams  ;  Collections  and  Pro- 
ceedings  of  the  N,  Y.  Historical  Society,  and  several  vols,  of 
old  Laws  of  U.  S.,  by  Geo.  H.  Moore,  librarian  N.  Y.  Hist 
Society ;  some  thirty  odd  vols.  North  Jimerican  Review,  by 
D.  W.  Ballou,  Jr. ;  his  genealogical  publications,  by  W.  H. 
Whitmore  ;  proof  impressions  of  his  fine  engravings  of 
Stuart's  Washington,  and  Sully's  Jackson,  beside  several 
volumes  of  books,  by  the  enterprising  publisher,  Geo.  W. 
Child s  ;  other  works  promised  by  James  J.  Barclay,  James 
S.  Buck,  Gen.  Prosper  M.  Wetmore.  and  Col.  Ebenezer 
Brigham. 

Works  of  Historical  and  other  learned  Societies. 

We  have,  during  the  past  and  former  years,  received  the 
C(5niplete  publications  of  the  following  Historical  and  other 
learned  Societies — the  Maine,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island, 
New  Jersey  Historical  Societies,  and  nearly  complete  of  the 
New  Hampshire  and  Minnesota  Historical  Societies ;    com- 


REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE,  7 

plete  also  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  and  of  the 
New  England  Historic- Genealogical  Society.  We  have  re- 
ceived, in  part,  the  publications  of  the  following  Societies — 
Royal  Society  of  Northern  Antiquaries,  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland,  Virginia  and  Ohio  Historical  Societies'* 
American  Philosophical  Society,  Smithsonian  Institutions- 
Regents  of  the  New  York  University,  Boston  Natural  History 
Society,  American  Ethnological  Society,  Harvard  College^ 
Philadelphia  Library  Company,  Essex  Institute  y  Topograptf- 
ical,  Indian,  Pension,  Surgeon  GeneraPs,  Coast  Survey,  and 
Patent  Office  Bureaus,  Washington,  and  Lieut.  Maury's' wind 
and  current  charts.  The  American  Geographical  Society, 
Dorchester  Antiquarian  Society,  and  the  Historical  Societies 
of  Vermont,  Iowa,  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  have  ex- 
pressed friendly  wishes  of  co-operation  and  exchange. 

Bound  Newspaper  Files. 

That  part  ,of  the  Society's  labors,  connected  with  collecting " 
files  of  newspapers,  we  still  regard  as  very  important — if  not 
for  the  present,  at  least  for  the  future.  The  whole  number 
of  bound  newspaper  files,  reported  at  the  commencement  of 
last  year,  including  a  complete  set  of  Niles^  National  JRegis- 
ter,  from.  1811  to  1849,  was  206  volumes — many  of  these 
volumes  embracing  singly,  several  years'  papers,  and  some 
few  dailies  but  half  a  year  each  ;  we  have  now  to  report  an 
addition  of  sixty-seven  bound  volumes,  making  altogether 
273  bound  volumes  in  the  library,  to  which  we  would  point 
with  no  small  pride  and  satisfaction.  These  newly  added 
files  consist  of  the  London  Gazette,  from  1767  to  1810,  in  55 
volumes,  purchased;  London  Times,  Nov.  1831  to  Jan.  1834, 
in  four  volumes,  from  D.  H.  Richards;  Water  town  (Wis?) 
Chronicle,  the  pioneer  newspaper  of  Rock  River  Valley,  from 
its  commencement  in  July,  1847,  to  Sept.,  1854,  bound  in  3 
vols.,  covering  an  interesting  period  of  nearly  seven  and  a 
half  years,  and  containing  among  other  matters  of  interest, 


g-  REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

the  proceedings  and  narratives  of  the  annual  Pioneers'  Fea^ 
tiyal  of  Jefferson  county,  from  E:  W.  SkInner;  Christian 
Advocate  and  Journal,  from  Aug.,  1832,  to  May,  1834,  from 
Rbv..  Alfred  Brttnson,  containing  communications  by  Mr. 
Brunson  and  others,  relative  to  Wisconsin  at  that  early  period  j^ 
Boston  Weekly  Magazine,  from  Oct  1803,  to  O^t  1804,  from 
Hon.  Levi  Alden  ;  New  York  Herald,  IBOS-' 9,  from  Hon. 
Sa.t.  Clark;  Columbian  Detector,  Tpa-Tt  of  1809,  and  The 
War,  June,  1812,  to  June,  1813,from  Mrs.  Louisa  RocKwood; 
Madison  Daily  Patriot,  vol.  4,  abound,  from  Messrs.  S.D.  & 
S.  H.  Carpenter. 

U^ibound  Newspaper  Files. 

"'During  tH^]i5S§t\ekr,^th'e' Society  Hali^'also  been  enriched  in 
its  newspaper  collections,  by  the  addition  of  a  large  number 
of  unbound  files  of  Wisconsin  papers.  From  Hon.  Joshua 
Hathaway,  an  early  and  enterprising  Milwaukee  pioneeer, 
hfwsitbeen  recerved  a  very  important  collection,  chiefly  of 
Milwaukee  and  Madison  papers,  from  1836  to  1851,  more  or 
less  imperfect,  yet  probably  equal  to  thirty  volumes  ;  Prairie 
du  Chien  Patriot,  somewhat  imperfect,  from  its  commence^^^ 
ment,  1846,  nd*  iS^Sly'^five  volumes,  from  Mt^  Hiram  1A§' 
Wright;  Watertown  {Wis.)  Register,  ixora  Mareh^  1850,  to 
Feb.,  1854,  four  volumes,  from  E.  B.  Quinbr  ;  Mineral  Point 
7W6w7ie,  for  1848,  1850,  and  1851,  from  Cyrus  Woodman; 
Milwaukee  Flughlsetter^%  vols.,  from  V.  Naprstek;  Hudson 
^  North  Star,  from  U.  B.  Shaver  ;  the  Weyauwegian,  from  W.- 
C.  Tompkins  ;  Columbus  Republican,  from  Mallo  &  Thayer, 
and  Temperance  League,  1853,  from  Rev.  W.  A.  NilIjs,  each 
opta.^wolume. 

Newspapers  and  Periodicals  received  regularly. 
ff 

Besides  these  unbound  files,  there  are  a  large  number  of 
others,  which  have  been  regularly  received  since  the  re-organ- 
ization of  the  Society,  and  which  have  now  sufficiently  accu- 


yj-   rV,v    'T>*T:/S.c*?;r».r 


REPORT  OF  EXiiGUTlV^  OOMMlt^TEE.  '^ 

mmaied  to  require 'biiMitTg-J—asltlirefe  years  of  a  weekly  paper 
make  a  very  conveni^^nt  size  for  binding  and  lettering.  The 
number  of  papers  and  periodicals  which  are  kindly  and  gen- 
e^otisly  sent  t8^  tite  Society,  remain  about  the  same  as  report- 
ed  last  year ;  some  few  have  been  discontinued,  but  others 
newly  commenced  have  been  made,  more  than  to  supply  the 
deficiency.     A  full  list  will  be  found  appended  to  this  Report. 

^c:  Newspaper  Files  promised. 

Among  the  newspaper  files  promised,  we  may  mention  tha 
fftlowing:  Wiscorisin  T'erritorial  files  of  1836,  '37,  and  '38, 
probably  the  most  complete  extant,  atid  covering  a  period  of 
which  the  Society's  files  are  the  most  deficient ;  and  a  bound 
fite  of  the  Waukesha   County  paper  for  1848, '49  and  '50,' 
from  Hon.  Geo.  Hyer,  an  intelligent  pioneer  newspaper  pub- 
lisher, and  much  in  public  life;  Mitieral  Point  Tribune,  8 
volumes,  from  Geo.  W.  Bliss  ',  Lancaster  Herald,  1851-'56, 
from  J.  C.  Cover;  Stevens^  Point   Pinery,   1853-'56,  frprp." 
G^. -A.  G.  ^lAAny  Menasha  Advocate,  1854-''5B,  from  Jere-' 
MiAH  Crowlef:  J^o^/on  iPecorcfe?',  1808,  from  Horatio  HjitL: 
and   several  files   of  BataVia   (N.  Y.)   papers,   from  Lucas, 
Si^ayer.  '*  '^  ' 

Nef/^sjm^ers  and  Periodicals  desired. 

Other  early  newspaper  files,  and  particularly  those  rdating" 
to  Wisconsin,  are  known  to  be  extant,  which,  it  is  anxiously 
hoped,  i^ill^dooifi-find  their  proper  place  in  the  Society *s  col-*^ 
lectibnsi^    Let  a  Spirit  of  patriotism  prompt  those  wfio'pofeeiF" 
such  files,  to  promptly' and  cheerfully  contribute  them  to  the 
Society,  and  thus  augment  and  enrich  this  already  valuable 
add  interesting  departhieht  of  our  library.     Will  not  the 
newspaper  editors  -  and   publishers,    especially  of   biir    own 
State,  who  have  not  yet  sent  the  Society  their  publications^*^ 
commence  at  once  to  do  so  regularly,  and,  if  possible,  forward 
theilr  back  files.     Too  mtich  value  and  importance  cannot  be 
2  m 


10         REPORT  OP  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

placed  upon  newspaper  files — the  day  will  surely  come,  when 
they  will  be  truly  regarded  as  invaluable  treasures  of  the  his- 
tory and  progress  of  our  young  and  gigantic  State.  We  can 
and  we  must,  have  the  best  and  most  complete  collection  of 
newspapers  preserved  by  any  State  in  the  Union. 

Pamphlets. 

The  pamphlet  additions  have  not  been  large — three  hun- 
dred have  been  received.  Many  of  them  are  very  rare, 
relating  to  Wheelock's  Indian  Charity  School,  the  battle  of 
Lexington,  and  other  Revolutionary  and  ante- Revolutionary 
events,  orations,  eulogies,  historical  discourses,  public  speeches, 
religious  conventions,  etc.  The  total  number  of  pamphlets, 
and  unbound  public  documents,  now  amount  to  about  3300. 

Maps  and  Atlases. 

To  our  collection  of  Maps  and  Atlases,  we  have  made  a 
very  satisfaQtory  addition — 18  maps,  and  11  bound  volumes 
of  Atlases.  A  rare  map  of  Wisconsin,  in  August,  1835,  by 
J.  Hathaway  and  others,  from  Hon.  Joshua  Hathaway  ;  map 
of  Madison  as  platted  in  1836,  from  David  Holt  ;  Lapham's 
large  map  of  Milwaukee,  from  I.  A.  Lapham  ;  map  of  Mad- 
ison in  1855,  from  D.  S.  Durrie  ;  a  view  of  Madison,  a  map 
of  Madison  and  the  Four  Lake  Country,  and  Harrison's  large 
mounted  map  of  Madison,  from  Hon.  L.  J.  Farwell  ;  six 
sectional  maps  of  Winnebago  County,  from  Joseph  H.  Os- 
BORN  ;  t\yo  maps  of  Central  America,  from  Hon.  H.  Dodge  ; 
two  maps  of  U.  S.  and  Mexican  Boundary  Survey,  from  Maj. 
W.  H.  Emory  ;  a  large  folding  map  of  the  world,  from  J.  H. 
CoLTON ;  and  a  large  new  mounted  map  of  the  U.  S.,  British 
Provinces,  Mexico  and  Central  America,  six  feet  square,  from 
S.  Augustus  Mitchell.  Twenty  maps  were  reported  last 
year. 

The  atlases  are — Sansom's,  published  in  1674;  AUard's, 
1696  ;  Bowen's,  2  copies,  1752;  Robert's,  1755  ;  Moll's,  1755; 


REPORT  OF  EXECUTIYE  COMMITTEE.  ii 

Palairet^s  1755;  Faden's  1790— purchased;  Atlas  Minor,  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  from  V.  Naprstek;  Colton's  new 
Atlas  of  the  world,  a  most  comprehensive  and  invaluable 
work,  in  2  folio  volumes,  from  Hon  L.  J.  Farwell. 

*,^ntographs.  ^a  i  au  • 

r.f     \'  A 

The  autograph  collection  of  the  Society  has  been  greatly 
augmented  and  enriched,  by  the  donation  of  one  hundred 
autograph  letters,  mostly  of  the  great  chiefs  of  the  Revolution, 
by  Hon.  Henry  S.  Randall— among  them  Generals  Wash- 
ington, Gates,  Greene,  Conway,  George  Clinton,  James  Clin- 
ton, Howe,  Huntington,  Hand,  Heath,  Knox,  Lincoln,  Mc- 
Dougall,  Israel  Putnam,  Rufus  Putnam,  Parsons,  Schuyler, 
Lord  Sterling,  Steuben,  Sullivan,  Stark,  Ten  Broeck,  Van 
Rensselaer,  Van  Courtlandt,  and  Wadsworth;  Cols.  Ganse- 
voort,  Willett,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Humphreys,  Lamb,  James 
Monroe,  Pickering,  and  Varick ;  the  following  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence, — Samuel  Adams,  Wm.  Floydj^ 
Thomas  Jefferson,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Robert  R.  Livingston, 
Francis  Lewis,  Robert  Morris  and  Thomas  McKean ;  Charles 
Thomson,  Secretary  of  the  Congress  of  the  Revolution ; 
eminent  stateismen — Henry  Laurens,  Gov.  Thomas  Cushing, 
De  Witt  Clinton,  John  Dickinson,  John  Jay,  John  Hanson, 
Arthur  Lee,  Gov.  William  Livingston,  Governeur  Morris, 
Edmund  Randolph,  and  Gov.  J.  Trumbull ;  celebrated  British 
officers — Sir  William  Johnson,  Joseph  Brant,  the  celebrated 
Mohawk  partisan  chief.  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  Cadwallader  Col- 
den,  Admiral  Digby,  Major  Gen.  V.  Jones,  Maj.  Gen.  Pattison, 
Maj.  Gen.  Vaughn,  and  others. 

Also,  autographs  of  Samuel  Adams  and  others,  from  Mrs. 
Louisa  Rockwood;  Samuel  Huntington,  Aaron  Burr,  Chief 
Justice  Ellsworth,  Sir  Francis  Head,  Gen.  John  E.  Wool,  and 
Hon.  John  C.  Spencer,  from  S.  R.  Phillips  ;  Col.  Ethan  Allen, 
and  Gen.  Ira  Allen,  from  J.  P.  Wheeler;  Gov.  Jonathan 
Trumbull  and  Gen.  William  Walker,  of  Nicaragua,  from  Dr. 


fgf  IllfPORT  OF  EXEOtrf  if  E  COMMITTEE. 

J*oHN  W.  Hunt  ;  President  Zachary  Taylor,  from  Gen.  Charles 
Bracken  and  Rev.  A.  Brunson  ;  Hon.  Silas  Wright,  from  Geri. 
John  Crawford;  Eleazer  Williams,  the  Dauphin  claimant, 
from  Hon.  H.  Eugene  Eastman;  Lord  Palmerston, from  Dr. 
J.  HoBBiNs ;  Lord  Eliot,  from  Dr.  J.  Seaton  Kelso  ;  Gen.  J. 
A.  Sutter,  the  celebrated  California  pioneer,  from  Hon.  N.  W. 
Dean;  and  Hon.  Jonathan  Riissell^  one  of  the  American 
Commissioners  at  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  from  J.  R.  Bates. 

Jidditions  to  the  Cabinet. 

.Ancient  Newspapers. — Several  old  newspapers  of  various 
datfes,  from  1775  to  1814,.  have  been  received  from  S.  U. 
Finney,  Hon.  A.  W.  Farr,  Hon.  A.  W.  Randall,  Lorenzo 
Merrill,  Alanson  Holly,  and  0.  R.  Bacon;  also,  a  fac- 
simile reprint  of  the  New  England  Cour ant,  Feb.  11,17235' 
the  first  newspaper  ever  issued  by  B'eh.  Franklin,  then  seven-v 
teen  years  of  age,  from  Wm.  Dudley  ;  a  fac-simile  reprint  of 
the  New  Hampshire  JCrazette,  Oct.  7,  1756,  from  S.  G.  Drake. 

^mmm^  y^:^^^^cmm^  to^^ftom  i690^to^iwi7 

signed  by  the  colonial  Gov.  Clark,  of  N.  Y.,  Col.  Jelles  Fonda, 
of  the  Mohawk  Valley,  and  others,  from  L.  Van  Slyck  ;  two 
MSS.  letters  of  the  Revoluliori;  otite  ih' 1776;  tliW  other  in  1778, 
by  Maj.  Ben.  ThrOOp,  from  Geo.  S.-  WATERkAN;  the  MfS?  pa- ' 
pers  of  the  late  Lieut.  Matthew  G.  Fitch,  of  the  Black  Hawk 
war,  who  died  at  Mineral  Point,  in  April,  1844,  from  Cyrtts' 
WoodmaI^P  ^ 

Washington  Autographs.— A  beautiful  and  very  early  au-,. 
tograph  of  Washington,  dated  in    1764,  from  his  venerable 


->u.* 


step-son,  and  only  surviving  meinber  of  his  family,  George 
WASHik^ToS  Parke  CusTis;  a  fine  autograph  letter  of  the 
Father  of  his  country,  dated  Mount  Vernon,  August  8th, 
1796,  returning  thanks  for  a  copy  of  a  Fourth  of  July  Ora-_' 
tion,  delivered  by  one  who  had  participated  in  the  Revolution- 
ai^  struggle — a  family  relic,  in  a  gilt  frame,  and  protected  by 
glass,  from  Charles  R.  Rogers. 


REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.  13 

Continental  Paper  Money. — From  Geo.  0.  Tiffany, 
ItoBERT  G.  Waud,  and  Col.  Ebenezer  Childs. 

Easily  Wisconsin  Shin-plaster  Currency. — From  Hon. 
James  S.  Baker,  and  Rev.  A.  Brunson. 

Ancient  Indian  Implements,  &c.  —  From  Albert  C. 
Robinson,  Wm.  WiNfiltoss,  G.  0.  Tiffany,  and  J).  S:  Durrib^ 
and  bones  and  pottery,  from  ancient  tumuli  in  Alabama, 
from  Dr.  A.  Bigelow.  ^ 

A^piENT  Coin. — From  S.  C.  Yont,  and  John  W.  Ford/ 
Ffom  Capt  George  S.  Dodge,  we  have  the  kind  promise  of 
his  noble  collection  of  coin.  • 

Relic  of  Black  HAwK.^i^^'^iece  of  ribbon  taken  from 
Black  Hawk's  hair,  immediately  after  his  capture,  in  August, 
1832,  by  the  late  Hon.  Thos.  P.  Burnett,  from  Rev.  A,  Brun- 
son. " 

The  Great  Seal  of  Michigan  Territory,  probably 
brought  to  Wisconsin  in  1835,  when  Gov.  Horner  came  west 
of  Lake  Michigan,  to  organize  Michigan  Territory,  when 
l^ichigan  had  been  formed  iiita  a  Sta;t^p— aM^thd  shot-pouch 
atad  powder-horn,  marked  1828,  of  Lieut.  M.  G.  Fitch,  un-^ 
q^uestionably  worn  by  him  during  the  Black  Hawk  war,  from 
(^rus  Woodman. 

A  Relic. — ^A  section  of  a  pine  tree  from  Black  River,  hav- 
i^^  an  ancient  cut  of  some  sharp  instrument,  made  some  200 
fears  ago,  judging  from  the  concentric  circles  which  had 
osirergrown  it,  from  Hon.  W.  J.  Gibson*  ^'^   '• 

Charter  Oak  Relic, — A  section  of  the  celebrated  Chartei 
Oak,  of  Hartford,  in  which  the  Connecticut  charter  was  se? 
(Steted  and  preserved  in  1687,  and  which  fell  Aug.  21,  1850^ 
from  H.  G.  Bliss. 

Wild  Rice,  Beaver  Chips. — A  bottle  of  wild  rice,  gatheiVvj 
ered  in  Chippewa  county.  Wis.,  and  two  chips,  as  gnawed  bj^ 
buyers,  from  Hon.  D.  J.  Powers. 


^4  REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

A  Certificate  of  a  Share  in  the  Western  Emigra- 
tion Company,  which  led  the  way  to  the  settlement  of  Pike 
River,  afterwards  Southport,  now  Kenosha,  dated  March  9th, 
1835,  from  Rev.  Jason  Lothrop. 

.D  Revolutionary  Relig. — A  pair  of  brass  spoon-moulds, 
used  in  the  Revolutionary  'war  for  running  pewter  spoons, 
from  Dea.  Daniel  Gorum. 

Japanese  Curiosities. — Japanese  alphabet,  written  upon 
the  native  bark  paper  of  the  country ;  a  specimen  of  paper 
made  by  murderers  in  the  government  prison,  Agra,  India, 
obtained  there  by  Bayard  Taylor ;  a  water*  color  of  a  Japan- 
ese lady,  and  also  of  the  Governor  of  Uraga,  Japan,  in  the 
threatened  act  of  suicide,  called  Hari  Kari,  both  drawn  in 
Japan,  by  Bayard  Taylor ;  autograph  signatures  of  the  five 
Japanese  Imperial  Commissioners,  who  made  the  treaty  with 
Com.  Perry ;  and  two  Japanese  views,  in  water  colors,  six  by 
ten  inches — all  from  Wm.  B.  Draper,  who  accompanied 
Com.  Perry's  Japan  Expedition. 

A  Promised  Relic  of  King  Philip's  Indian  War. — An  an- 
cient musket,  once  owned  and  used  by  John  Prescott,  who  - 
figured  in  King  Philip's  Indian  war  of  1675,  from  his  lineal 
lescendants,  Col.  Ebenezer  and  Prescott  Brigham. 

Engravings  and  Photographs, 
0 

£,To  the  department  of  engravings  and  photographs,  the  fol- ' 

lowing  have  been  added :  A  beautiful  and  accurate  steel 
engraving  of  the  Hon.  N.  P.  Tallmadge,  one  of  the  Territorial 
Governors  of  Wisconsin,  in  a  gilt  frame — a  gift  from  Gov. 
Tallmadge  ;  a  fine  colored  photograph  of  Gen.  Albert  G* 
Ellis,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  useful  of  our  pioneers,  taken 
by  Fowler  and  Horn,  Milwaukee,  in  a  gilt  frame,  15  by  19 
iiicHes,  gift  of  Gen.  ElLis;  a  beautiful  engraving,  22  by  30 
inches,  of  Gov.  Gardner  and  24  other  State  officers  of  Mass- 
achusetts, from  Wm.  S.  Farmer  j  a  fine  steel  engraving  of  the 


I 


REPORT  OF  EXEICUTIYE  COMMITTEE.  J^ 

learned  historian  of  the  Red  Man,  and  early  Wisconsin  explorer, 
Henry  Rowe  Schoolcraft,  from  Mr.  Schoolcraft  ;  and  an 
elegant  photograph  of  Bayard  Taylor,  from  the  well  known 
photographist,  A.  Hesler,  Chicago. 

Principal  Donors.  '' 

The  principal  donors  to  the  Library  and  Cabinet,  are-^ 
State  Department,  Washington ;  State  of  Wisconsin ;  on? 
honorable  and  attentive  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Con- 
gress ;  Regents  of  the  University  of  New  York ;  the  late  Dr. 
Stephen  W.  Williams,  Hon.  Henry  S.  Randall,  Hon. 
Joshxta  Hathaway,  Henry  C.  Baird,  Benson  J.  Lossing^ 
Elisha  W.  Skinner,  E.  A.  and  G.  L.  Duyckinck,  Mrs.  Lou- 
isa RocKwooD,  V.  Naprstek,  Hon.  Wm.  B.  Towne,  Rev.  A. 
Brunson,  Hon.  James  T.  Lewis,  and  Dr.  A.  Schue. 

T)iese  and  other  steady  friends,  who  never  weary  in  well 
doing,  have  been  constant  in  their  attentions  and  services  to 
the  Society.  Our  worthy  Senators  and  Representatives  in 
Congress  have  given  us  the  assurance  of  continuing  to  send  our 
Society  works  published  by  Congress — books,  reports,  docti- 
ments,  maps,  pamphlets  and  speeches.  Nothing  relating  to 
our  country's  progress  and  policy,  can  be  regarded  as  too 
trivial  or  unimportant  for  preservation  by  such  a  Society  as 
ours — for  such  as  these,  in  the  estimation  of  Daniel  Webster, 
form  "the  elements  of  history." 

Picture  Gallery. 

,  ^  Since  the  last  Report,  the  Gallery  of  Portraits  of  our  pioneers 
and  early  public  men,  has  received  some  important  additions, 
— the  two  pictures  of  the  Wisconsin  Heights  and  Bad  Ax 
battle-fields,  worthy  and  truthful  memorials  of  those  memora- 
ble historic  localities  of  Wisconsin^ — the  former,  the  generous 
gift  of  Hon.  Hiram  C.  Bull,  and  the  latter  obtained  by 
purchase,  and  both  sketched  on  the  spot,  and  painted  by 
Messrs.  Brookes  and  Stevenson  ;  portrait  of  the  late  Hon.  B, 


• 


IQ  REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 

C.  Eas w^Nj,  from  Mrs..  E^-STMAN  J  of  Daniel  Bread,  the  in- 
telligent old  chief  of  the  OneidaSj -near  Green  Bay,  from 
Brookes  and  Stevenson;  of  Hon.  John  P.  Arndt,  Judge  Jas, 
H.  LocKwooD,  Gen.  Charles  Bracken,  Gen.  John  H.  Rount 

A.  f 

TREE,  Hon.  Levi  Sterling,  Edmund  D.  Clinton,  Hon. 
Mason  C.  Darling,  and  Hon.  Montgomery  M.  Cothren, 
presented  respectively  by  those  meritoriouspioneers  and  early 
public  men  of  Wisconsin,  and  all  executed  by  those  talented 
and  V deserving  artists,  Messrs.  Brookes  and  Stevenson,  of 
Milwaukee.  A  portrait  of  Hon.  A.  A.  Townsend,  and  of 
Hon.  Edward  Pier,  the  one  a  well  known  pioneer  of  the 
L^^d  Region,  and ^he  other  of  Fond  du  Lac,  have  also  been 
received.  For  a.full^  a^cpunt  of  thqse  pictures,  we  beg  to 
refer  to  the  appended  report  of  the  Picture  Gallery  Conamitr^ 

tee.  -^ijvfnr^  .A  '    T 

Last  year's  report  exhibited  twenty-one  portraits,  and  one 

landscape  view-— twenty- two  paintings;  and  now;, twelve  ad- 
ditional portraits,"- and  two  historical  paintings  or  views -^^ 
making  altogether,  thirty-three  portraits,  and  three  views,  of 
a  total  of  thirty-six  oil  paintings.  This  is  indeed  a  creditable 
collect^oft  as  th;ei  result  of  three  years'  effoi^ts,  since  the  Society 
commenced  its  formation  —  creditable  alike,  ta?.jhe  Society, 
and  to  the  liberality  and  hearty  co-operation  of  our  noble  and 
public  spirited  pioneers,  and  of.  the  several  talented  and  ap- 
preciative artists  who  have  generct^^sljf^  ^ntributed  to  this 
gratifying:  result 

Portraits  Promised. — The  following  forty-one  persons,  all 
more  or  less  intimately  connected  with  Wisconsin  history, 
have  kindly  consented  to  furnish  their  portraits  for  the  Picture 
Gallery :  Hon.  Lewis  Cass,  so  long  the  Governor  of  Michi- 
gan Territory  when  what  is  now  Wisconsin  formed  a  part  5 
Ex-Gov.  John  Reynolds,  of  Illinois,  so  prominently  connect- 
ed with  the  Black  Hawk  War;  Gov'rs  Dodge,  Horner, 
Tallmadge,  Dewey,  Farwell  and  Bashpord  ;  Hon.  Moses 
Meeker,  Col.  D.  M.  Parkison,  Hon.  Morgan  Lu  Martin^ 


REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.  n 

Gen.  A.  G.  Ellis,  Col.  James  Morrison,  Col.  Samuel  Rya^', 
Capt.  R.  H.  McGooN,  Rev.  Alfred  Brunson,  J.  V.  Suydam, 
Hon.  Charles  Durkee,  Col.  H.  M.  Billings,  Chief  Justice 
Whiton,  Hon.  Stephen  Taylor,  Bishop  Kemper,  Dr.  B.  B. 
Cary,  Rev.  Jason  Lothrop,  Col.  John  B.  Terry,  Gen.  Hercules  . 
L.  DousMAN,  Wm.  N.  Seymour,  Col.  James  Maxwell,  Cyrus 
Woodman,  Hon.  Augustus  A.  Bird,  Hon.  Charles  C.  Sholes, 
Darwin  Clark,  Hon.  Patrick  Rogan,  Hon.  Daniel  Wells, 
Jr.,  Maj.  John  P.  Sheldon,  Hon.  Joshua  Hathaway,  Bishop 
Henni,  Hon.  Charles  H.  Larrabee,  Hon,  Samuel  Crawford, 
Hon.  Asahel  Finch,  Jr.,  George  P.  Delaplaine  ;  and  also  of 
the  late  Gen.  George  W.  Hickcox,  John  Messersmith,  and 
the  distinguished  Stockbridge  Chief,  John  W.  Quinney,  from 
their  respective  friends ;  and  of  Wau-me-ge-sa-ko,  a  distin- 
guished Indian  Chief,  painted  in  1839,  by  Healey,  an  Irish 
artist,  promised  by  the  late  Hon.  Solomon  Juneau,  and  his 
two  sons,  Hon.  Paul  Juneau  and  Hon.  Narcisse  M.  Juneau. 

Wau-me-ge-sa-ko,  or  The  Wampum,  was  head  chief  of 
the  Chippewas,  Pottawattamies  and  Ottawas,  who  resided  at 
Manitowoc,  where  he  died  in  1844,  aged  about  fifty- five 
years.  He  had  acted  a  prominent  part  at  the  treaties  of 
Butte  des  Morts  in  1827,  at  Green  Bay  in  1828,  at  Prairie  du 
Chien  in  1829,  and  at  Chicago  in  1833  —  at  the  latter  of 
which,  the  Indian  title  was  extinguished  to  all  that  fine  tract 
of  countiy,  commencing  at  Gros  Point,  nine  miles  north  of 
Chicago,  to  the  source  of  Milwaukee  River,  and  thence  west 
to  Rock  River,  which  was  ratified  in  1835.  The  origina^l 
portrait  of  this  distinguished  Indian  chief  of  Wisconsin, 
must  ever  be  esteemed  as  valuable  and  interesting. 

Beside  this  long  list  of  desirable  portraits,  the  following 
distinguished  artists  of  our  country,  whose  fame  is  co-exten- 
sive with  the  Union,  have  most  kindly  and  courteously 
promised  or  intimated  some  gift  of  their  pencil  to  the  Society, 
viz :  John  R.  Johnston,  G.  N.  and  John  Frankenstein,  John 
Neagle,  J.  McMuRTRiE,  P.  F.  Rothermel,  William  Hart, 
3m 


18  REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

W.  D.  Washington,  John  F.  Francis,  Alvah  Bradish,  John 
Phillips  and  A.  Hesler.  The  subjects  have  not  generally- 
been  determined;  those  which  have  been,  are — portrait  of 
Jackson,  by  Johnston  ;  an  historical  piece,  by  John  Frank- 
enstein ;  and  a  copy  of  his  original  portrait  of  the  venerable 
Seneca  Indian  chief.  Gov.  Blacksnake,  by  Phillips.  These  will 
prove  honorable  free-will  offerings  from  artists  of  the  highest 
rank  in  our  country,  and  will  greatly  add  to  the  interest  and 
attraction  of  our  Picture  Gallery,  already  enriched  by  the  skill 
and  genius  of  the  two  Sullys,  Catlin,  Cropsey,  Brookes, 
Stevenson,  Edwards,  Head,  Carpenter  and  Stanley. 

Statuette,  Bust,  and  Photographs  promised. 

The  celebrated  artist,  Clark  Mills,  has  most  liberally  and 
courteously  promised  the  Society  a  statuette  of  Gen.  Jackson, 
cast  in  metal;  A.  R.  Stanley,  of  ShuUsburg,  has  generously 
tendered  a  bust  of  his  own  execution ;  while  A.  Hesler, 
Fowler  and  Horn,  and  Lund  and  Joslyn,  well  known  pho- 
tographists, have  as  kindly  promised  specimens  of  their  skill 
in  their  profession. 

System  of  Interchanges, 

From  M.  Vattemare,  we  confidently  expect  to  receive^ 
before  the  close  of  the  present  year,  a  valuable  addition  to 
fedt  Library  and  Cabinet.  Beside  the  generous  grant  of  State' 
publications,  set  apart  by  the  State  for  transmission  to  the 
International  Literary  Agency  at  Paris,  as  well  as  to  public 
libraries  in  the  United  States,  the  Corresponding  Secretary 
has  taken  special  pains  to  solicit  and  secure,  both  for 
transmission  to  M.  Vattemare,  and  for  exchanges  with 
the  Societies  of  our  own  country,  all  works,  bound  volumes 
and  pamphlets,  published  in,  and  relating  to  Wisconsin,  its 
laws,  legislation,  history,  geography,  statistics,  growth,  pro- 
gress, commerce,  and  literary  institutions — thus  aiming  to 
make  our  Society  the  medium  of  supplying  prominent  pub- 
lic libraries  at  home  and  abroad,  with  all  the  leading  works 


BEPORT  OF  EXECUTJVE  COMMlTa^JiE.  1  g 

illustrative  of  our  wonderful  growth,  policy  and  progress — 
thus  disseminating  information  that  must  ultimately  prove  of 
incalculable  importance  to  the  fame  and  prosperity  of  Wis- 
consin, beside  adding  largely,  by  their  kindred  returns,  to  the 
literary  treasures  and  accumulations  of  our  Society.  In  fur- 
therance of  this  system  of  exchanges,  established  by  the  So- 
ciety, over  two  hundred  bound  volumes  have  been  xjb- 
eeived,  and  a  large  number  of  pamphlets — in  addition  to 
several  hundred  volumes  of  books  and  pamphlets  from  the 
State.  A  list  will  be  found  appended,  and  the  sources  from 
which  they  have  been  derived. 

Death  of  Percival,  Messersmith  and  Hickox. 

The  death  of  James  G.  Percival,  the  State  Geologist,  and 
an  honorary  member  of  our  Society,  one  of  the  most  learned 
and  one  of  the  most  timid  men  our  country  has  produced, 
has  been  properly  noticed  by  the  Society.  The  appropriate 
eulogies  of  E.  A.  Calkins  and  Horace  Rublee,  Esqrs.,  on 
the  occasion,  will  be  found  appended  to  this  Report.  The 
4eath  of  John  Messersmith,  which  took  place  about  the  time 
the  last  Report  was  made,  and  that  of  Gen.  George  W. 
Hickox,  which  soon  followed, — both  worthy  and  intelligent 
pioneers  of  Wisconsin,  and  corresponding  members  of  this 
Society,  who  evinced  a  lively  interest  in  its  success  and  use- 
fulness— deserve  to  be  properly  noticed.  Our  venerable  Pres- 
ident has  furnished  a  memoir  of  the  former,  and  we  hope 
soon  to  secure  one  of  Gen.  Hickox. 

Death  of  Solomon  Juneau, 

Solomon  Juneau,  whose  name  is  intimately  interwoven  in 
the  history  of  Wisconsin,  and  its  commercial  metropolis, — a 
member  of  this  Society,  and  one  who  had  devised  liberal  con- 
tributions to  its  historical  archives  and  Picture  Gallery,  has 
recently  been  called  away.  It  is  fit  that  the  Society  should 
institute  efforts  to  secure  a  deserved  tribute  to  the  worthy  ser- 
Tices  and  memory  of  a  man  so  universally  beloved^-*-on€  vho 


20         REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

had  done  so  much  for  Wisconsin^  and  bore  for  his  adopted 
State,  where  he  had  spent  the  best  years  of  his  Ufe,  the  love 
and  affection  of  a  son. 

William  A,   White, 

The  mysterious  disappearance,  early  in  October  last,  of 
William  A.  White,  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee 
of  this  Society,  is  an  event  full  of  pain  and  solicitude  to  us  all. 
A  man  of  generous  impulses,  an  earnest  lover  of  his  race, — 
freely  devoting  his  time,  means,  and  cultivated  intellect,  to  the 
advancement  of  education,  agriculture,  and  everything  having 
the  remotest  prospect  of  bettering  or  ameliorating  'the  condi- 
tion of  man, — a  member  and  officer  of  this  Society,  who 
labored,  as  is  known  to  but  a  few,  and  labored  successfully, 
at  critical  periods  in  its  history, — such  a  man,  so  kind  and 
generous  to  all,  so  full  of  public  spirit,  so  simple-hearted,  so 
all  'unselfish  and  unostentatious  in  all  his  intercourse,  if  it 
were  possible,  we  would  gladly,  joyfully  recall  to  our  midst. 
But  if,  in  the  ways  of  an  inscrutable  Providence,  we  are  never 
to  behold  his  face  again,  we  shall  ever  revere  his  memory,  as 
a  true  fellow-laborer  and  a  warm-hearted  friend  of  humanity.* 

<f  j  Sinpe  this  Annual  Report  was  made,  the  remains  of  Mr,  White  have  been 
found,  on  the  ijank  of  Lake  Michigan,  about  foiir  miles  north  of  Milwaukee. 
Th6y  were  diseovered  on  the  1st  of  Slay,  1857,  but  were  so  decayed  as  to  render 
it  impossible  to  determine,  with  any  certainty,  the  cause  or  manner  of  his  death, 
though  all  the  circuttistances,  •  his  pecuniary  embarrassments, — having  just 
returned  from, Chicago,  where  he  had  in  vain  sought  relief, — his  depression  of 
miiid  when  last'seeii,  oh  the  morning  of  October  lOth,  1856,  by  C,  W.  Olnet, 
Esq.,  of  Madison,  as  he  walked  in  company  with  him  from  the  steamboat  land- 
ing, in  Milwaukee,  to  his  hotel,  half  abstracted  and  frequently  in  tears,  all  go 
to  convey  the  idea,  however  painful  to  his  friends  to  believe  it,  that  he  destroyed 
himself  by  poison.  Such. 4s  the  opinion  of  Wm.  B.  Jarvis,  Esq.,  and  Rev.  H. 
F.  Bond,  the  intimate  personal  friends  of  Mr,  White,  who  examined  the  re- 
maitis  arid  wei-'o '^miliar  with  £tll  the  circumstances,  and  such  too  was  the  opin- 
ion of  Dr.  JSTaumanx,  of  Milwaukee,  There  was  no  weapon  around  him.  His 
valuable  gold  watch  -rt^as  fourld  in  his  clothing ;  which,  with  his  Madison  and 
Milwaukee  r»ilfroa^  ticket,  anti^slavery  newspaper  cuttings,  peculiar  watch- 
key,  clothing,  color  of  the  hair,  filling  ol  the  teeth,  and  size  of  body,  all  proved 
conclusively  thalb  thp  remains  were, those  of  Mr,  White.  He  was  the  soul  of 
honor,  and  could  nut  brook  the  idea  of  being  unable,  to  meet  his  obligations, 
and  w^as  perhaps '^rfei'ed,  chagrined,  and  dejected,  that  those  to  whom  he 
had, the  .best,  right  to  look  for  aid,  and  who  had  every  ability  to  grant  it,  should 
yet  refuse  to  extericf  liira  the  needed  relief.  '  His  estase  will  not  only  pay  all  his 
indebtedjiiesSi  but -leave  several  .thousani^l  dollars  for  his  sumving  family.  For 
sk'etchies'of  Mr.  White's  life  and  character,  see  Appendix,  No.  8.         L.  CD. 


REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.         21 

Meetings  of  the  Society — new  Members. 

During  the  past  year,  all  the  stated  meetings  of  the  Society 
have  been  held,  together  with  two  special  meetings  ;  and  as 
an  evidence  of  the  unabated  interest  manifested  by  the  offi- 
cers and  members,  no  meeting  has  yet  failed,  since  the  re-or- 
ganization of  the  Society,  for  want  of  a  quorum.  Twenty- 
four  active  members  have  been  chosefi,  and  a  number  of  Life 
and  Honorary  members,  and  a  large  number  of  Correspond- 
ing members.  From  many  of  the  members  of  all  classes, 
repeated  evidences  of  kindness  and  attention  have  been  re- 
ceived, evincive  of  their  appreciation  of  the  objects  and  labors 
of  the  Society. 

Reports  and  Collections. 

The  First  Jinnual  Report  and  Collections  of  the  Society, 
a  thin  volume  of  160  pages,  proved  a  great  benefit,  by  way 
of  sending  in  return  to  donors  ;  and  the  Second  Jinnual 
Report  and  Collections,  a  volume  of  548  pages,  published 
the  past  year,  has  proved  an  additional  help  to  the  Society,  in 
remunerating  donors,  showing  them  what  the  Society  is  doing, 
and  stimulating  them  to  renewed  contributions.  The  two 
volumes  contain  much  valuable  matter,  pertaining  to  our 
history  and  progress,  which,  without  the  efforts  of  the  Society, 
would  never  have  been  preserved.  It  is  gratifying  to  state, 
that  the  Legislature  has  directed  by  law,  the  Secretary  of 
State  to  audit  the  postages  of  the  Society,  thus  enabling  us  to 
send  forth  many  copies  of  our  Reports  and  proceedings,  that 
we  could  not  otherwise  have  done,  husbanding,  as  we  must, 
the  small  means  of  the  Society  for  the  purchase  of  rare  old 
works,  paying  rent,  insurance,  freight,  fuel,  lights  and  inciden- 
tal expenses.  There  are  quite  a  number  of  historical  papers 
prepared,  and  in  course  of  preparation,  for  the  third  volume  5 
and,  we  trust,  they  will  add  largely  to  the  general  stock  of 
knowledge  relative  to  the  early  history,  growth  and  develope- 
ment  of  Wisconsin. 


5? 


REPORT  OF  ESbtliitS  CO^MITtfeE. 


We  adverted  in  our  last  Report  to  the  desirableness  of 
having  at  least  a  portion  of  the  edition  of  onr  annual  volume 
printed  on  better  paper,  and  put  up  in  cloth  binding.  The 
reasons  we  then  urged,  still  constrain  us  to  urge  this  matter 
upnontthe  respectful  consideration  of  the  Governor  and  Legis- 
l«ttire.  In  all  else,  our  Society  takes  rank  with  the  most  use- 
M'  and  successfal  in  the  Union  ;  but  in  the  style  of  issuing 
our  publication,  we  are  not  only  behind  theage,  butfar  in  the 
rear  of  all  other  Societies.* 

Bequests  and  Endowments  Desired. 

A  Society,  like  ours,  that  has  proved  itself  so  eminently 
successful  in  all  the  objects  of  its  formation — out-stripping,  in 
three  short  years,  all  kindred  institutions  in  the  West,  having 
already  collected  more  than  all  others  west  of  the  Alleghanies 
&l3iT)i'hed,  though  several  of  them  have  been   a  quarter  of  a 

'  <  r        r 

dMtatt  iri  ei^istenci^';'  wiiH  But  five  other  Societies  of  thiekinid 
iti  the  tFnion  now  sui'passing  it  in  the  extent  and  value  of  its 
collections — such  a  Society,  just  entering  upon  an  unexampled 
Career  of  usefulness,  ^ppieals  with  peculiar  appropriateness  to 
Mir  ota  i)ione(^rs,  and  other  ffitelligent  and  wealthy  citiz^fe, 
for  a  'pbrtion  of  their  ^p^re  means.  The  bequest  of  sixty-six 
jJlfe  Vblunies,  by  a  citizer/ 6f  an  adjoining  Ststte^'to  our  Soci- 
ety, should  be  an  incentive*  t6  our  own  enlighteiied  fellow 
cYti^fens  to  imftktej  iarfd  ifidprove  upon,  so  worthy  an  exara'i 


ur  Society  not  onl^  iiebds  and  solicits  donations  and  bequesits 
of  'books,  but  of  material  aid  also,  for  an  ample  permanent 
feMowment — the  interest  of  which  only  to  be  used  in  ad- 
vaAci'h^  the  objects  of  the  Jy^ofeia^tibn. 

As  an  act  of  private  niunificence,  the  forecast  and  liberal- 
ity of  John  Jacob  Astor  in  founding  and  endowing  the  AstoT 


*  It  is  pleasing  to  add,  that  since  this  Ropoit  was  submitted,  the  Legislature 
ia  additior*  to  the  usual  onliuar}'  etJiiion  iii  sticht-d  covers,  has  authorized  th« 
annual  publiration  of  two  tl  ousanri  (ilracoi  ies  of  its  annual  volume,  for  the 
use  of  the  Society,  on  a  good  quality  of  double  medium  book  paper,  and  bouod 
in  muslin.  L.  C.  D. 


REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.         j^5 

Library,  which  now  numbers  its  one  hundred  thousand  vol- 
ames,  is  probably  unequalled ;  and  his  son,  Wm.  B.  Astor, 
has  recently  contributed  ^200,000  towards  the  expense  of  an 
additional  building  for  the  accommodation  of  that  vast  col- 
lection of  the  knowledge  and  wisdom  of  the  past  The  State 
of  New  York,  as  early  as  1814,  granted  to  the  Historical  So* 
ciety  of  that  State,  ^12,000,  as  an  endowment,  and  this  fund 
has  yielded  an  annual  income  which  has  done  much  towards 
placing  that  institution  at  the  head  of  the  kindred  Societies  of 
the  country,  having  accumulated  a  noble  library  of  25,000 
volumes.  The  late  Hon.  Samuel  Appleton,  of  Boston,  be- 
queathed ^10,000  to  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society; 
and  Thomas.  Doy^sE,  who  had  spent  a  long  life  in  the  business 
of  a  tanner,  and  had  accumulated  a  valuable  library  of  not 
less  than  five  thousand  volumes,  embracing  the  finest  and 
rarest  editions  of  the  best  authors  in  English  literature,  valued 
at  from  ^30,000  to  ^40,000,  just  before  his  death  presented  the 
whole  collection  to  that  worthy  Society;  and  the  executors  of 
Mr.  Dowse,  in  accordance  with  the  trugt  imposed 'upon  them, 
have  bestowed  ^10,000  as  the  "Dowse  Fund  of  the  Mj^ssa- 
chusetts  Historical  Society/'  the  principal  to  be  kept  intapt, 
and  the  income  only  used  foj^^jthe  benefit  of  the  Society.      ->  * 

The  late  benevolent  Elliot  Cresson,  of  Philadelphia,  be- 
queathed ^10,000  to  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  the 
income  of  which  has  imparted  new  life  to  that  institution,  as 
ie  seen  in  the  increased  frequency,  apd  improved  style,  of 
jtts  published  volumes  of  Collectioris.  This  worthy  Society 
is  endeavoring  to  raise  by  subscriptions  of  ^20  each,  the  sutii 
M  ^lOjOOQ,  for. a  permaneijjt.PuhUcation  Fund,  and  has  met 
-thus  far  with  encouraging  success. 

The  Virginia  Historical  Society,  which  has  languished  for 
^jmany  years,  has  commenced  securing  by  donation,  a  perma- 
nent fund,  and  h^.s  partially  succeeded — complete  success, 
will,  undoubtedly,  give  increased  vigor  to  all  its  operations. 
.The  Hon.  Stephen  Salisburv,  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  has  re- 


24         REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

Gently  bestowed  ^5,000  upon  the  American  Antiquarian  So- 
ciety, the  income  of  which  is  to  be  exclusively  devoted  to 
binding  purposes ;  there  being  previously  an  invested  fund 
for  the  general  objects  of  the  Society,  of  some  ^30,000.  May 
these  worthy  examples  quicken  the  patriotism  and  generosity 
of  the  liberal  men  of  Wisconsin,  and  cause  them  to  remember 
our  State  Historical  Society  in  the  distribution  of  their  wealth, 
their  bequests  and  endowments. 

A  Fire-proof  Edifice  Needed. 

Upon  the  subject  of  an  edifice  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the 
Society,  we  cannot  express  our  views  more  to  the  purpose, 
than  to  repeat  what  we  have  formerly  submitted,  with  regard 
to  the  matter — with  the  single  additional  remark,  that  anoth- 
er year's  harvest  in  the  field  of  historic  research  and  collection, 
has  largely  increased  the  precious  store  of  material  exposed 
to  danger  by  every  hour's  delay.  "  Our  collections  are  already 
becoming  so  large  and  valuable,  as  to  impress  the  minds  of 
the  Committee  with  the  importance  of  a  fire-proof  building, 
for  their  safety  and  preservation.  We  should  be  admonished 
by  the  destruction,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  public  archives  by 
'fire  on  many  occasions — in  New  Hampshire  in  1736,  in 
Massachusetts  in  1747,  besides  having  been  damaged  by  three 
previous  fires;  in  New  York  in  1740-41,  and  1773;  in  New 
Jersey  in  1686  ;  in  North  Carolina  in  1731  ;  in  South  Caroli- 
na in  1698;  and  in  Canada  in  1854 — all  which  were  acci- 
dental; and  in  Virginia  in  17S1,  by  the  fratricide  Arnold. 
Five  times  have  the  national  archives  suffered  by  conflagra- 
tion— in  1800,  when  the  buildings  of  the  War  department 
were  destroyed  ;  in  1814,  when  the  British  troops  burned  the 
public  buildings  ;  in  1833,  when  the  Treasury  buildings  were 
destroyed;  and  again  in  1836,  and  lastly  in  1851,  when  the 
Congressional  Library  was  burned.  Until  our  Society  secures 
a  fire-proot  building  for  the  custody  of  its  inestimable  treas- 
ures, its  friends  cannot  entirely  repress  their  fears  and  anxie- 


REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.         2S 

ties.  Several  public-spirited  citizens  of  our  State,  justly 
appreciating  the  importance  of  preserving  the  Society's  col- 
lections, have  each  pledged  fifty  dollars  towards  a  fire-proof 
building  fund  ;  others  stand  ready  to  contribute  liberally  when 
it  shall  be  deemed  a  proper  time  to  make  an  efficient  move- 
ment 

"  The  American  Antiquarian  Society  has  a  fire-proof  build- 
ing which  cost  about  ^18,000,  of  which  its  President,  Hon, 
Stephen  Salisbury,  contributed  ^.5,000,  and  the  ground  on 
which  the  building  stands  ;  the  New  York  Historical  Society 
has  a  commodious  building  nearly  ready  for  occupancy,  the 
foundation  fund  for  which  was  the  generous  bequest  of  a 
maiden  lady,  of  five  thousand  dollars ;  the  Pennsylvania  and 
Maryland  Historical  Societies,  possessing  each  a  library  and 
collections  scarcely  larger  than  ours,  have  their  permanent 
quarters ;  while  the  Maine  Historical  Society  has  received 
from  the  Legislature  of  that  State  a  donation  of  land,  valued 
at  ^6,000,  to  aid  in  erecting  a  permanent  edifice.  The  His- 
torical Society  of  New  Jersey,  whose  collections  are  about  the 
same  in  extent  as  ours,  has  raised  funds  for  a  building ;  and 
even  the  young,  energetic  Society  of  Minnesota,  has  purchased 
a  lot,  and  is  rearing  a  commodious  structure. 

"  If  we  had  a  fire-proof  depository  for  our  collections,  they 
would  be  largely  augmented  by  books,  manuscripts,  papers, 
pictures — comprising  the  most  authentic  materials  for  history, 
now  scattered  over  the  State,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  those 
who  might,  for  public  or  historic  purposes,  wish  to  consult 
them.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  that  if  the  State  should  soon  erect  a 
new  capitol,  or  enlarge  the  present  edifice,  the  Legislature 
would  provide  a  permanent,  safe  and  commodious  Hall  for 
the  use  of  our  Society ;  and  if  this  cannot  be  effected  within 
a  reasonable  period,  that  the  Legislature  be  memorialized  for 
an  appropriation  to  aid  in  the  erection  of  a  fire-proof  building, 
on  condition  that  a  certain  additional  amount  be  raised  among 
the  citizens  of  the  State  for  that  purpose.  A  Hall  of  this 
4m 


25  REPORT  OF  EOJOUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

character  is  greatly  needed,  and  we  cannot  too  soon  take  the 
Tnatter  into  consideration,  and  devise  the  best  means  to  secure 
the  object  in  view.'-"^ 

Commendations  and  Encouragements. 

Judging  ourselves  by  ourselves  is  not  wise, — let  others,  who 
a^fr  disinterested,  judge  us ;  and  when  universally  favorable, 
the  opinions  of  such  men  should  stimulate  us  to  renewed 
efforts  in  the  prosecution  of  the  noble  labors  in  which  we  are 
engaged. 

The  Hon.  Jared  Sparks,  so  wetl  known  in  the  republic  of 
letters,  writes:  "  I  am  glad  to  learn  the  success  of  your  State 
historical  Society.  During  the  time  since  it  was  founded,  it 
ibeetns.  to  have  done  more  than  any  other  similar  Society  in 
the  ^country.  It  has  set  an  example  of  enterprise  and  activity 
%hich  any  Society  may  be  proud  to  follow." 

ilii  the  most  encouraging  manner  writes  the  Hon.  James  K, 
iPibLwk^:  "When  I  coMenriplate  the  rise  and  progress  of 

f ) .* jit  ^8 a  Bihgnlar  co-iricidfence,'  tHat  at  the  ver^  hour — Jan.  6,  lb57,  abont  7 
o'clock  in  the  evetiing — while  this  Report  was  beiDg  reatl,  the  State  House  at 
Montpelier,  jV^t,,  with  many  \aluable  collections  of  Wve  natural  and  civil  history 
of  that  State,  w as  total'''  destroyed  by  fire  ;  and arrong  the  properly  destroyed 
was  the  large  collection  of  newspaper  files  which  Mr,  Henry  Stevens,  Presi- 
dent of.  Pie  Yernpont  tlislorical  Society,  had  been,  we  believe,  forty  or  fifty 
years  in' bringing  together.' 

And  pertinent  to  thissubject,  is  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  H<>a. 
Henry  S.  Randall,  formerly  Secretary'of  State  of  New  York,  and  who  recently 
preseiited  the  Society  with  one  hundivd  rare  and  precious  letters  of  the  great 
phiefs.of  the  Revolution;  "  But  is  one  all-important  thing  attended  tt>  t  Are 
you  safe'frura  fire  ?  'If  tiotVsbmenn  propitious  day  will  leave  your  Society  and 
^tate  plundered  of  theste  thirjgs,  which  can. never  be  replaced.  If  any  member  of 
your  Society  tliinksitVn  eass^'  thing  to  picK  up  theSe  interesting  remains  of  the 
past  in  the  high^-ay,  let  him  go  to  ^';ork,  arvd  see  how  hmg  it  will  take  him  to 
get  together  a.i;ain  only  the  one  hundred  letters  I  Sf-nt  you  I  The  chances  are 
two  to  onei,  that  he  will  fail,  with  all  the  time  he  chooses  to  take.  It  would  be 
a  worjj  of  the  merest  chance,  to  get  them  together  again.  By  all  manner  of 
Bfifeans,  have  ajirc-proof  building.  Don't  now  look  at  size  and  splendor — but 
safety.  A  brick  house  in  an  iH)lated  position,  with  iron  shutters  and  shelveB, 
icbuid  be  coTistructed  at  a  very  moderate  cost,  if  you  will  only  let  the  fancy  toork 
go,  and  let  fancy  wait  till  the  nextgi-neration.  It  can't  be  but  your  Legislature 
would  mako  tlu^  necessary  appropriation.  If  not,  appeal  to  the  public  spirited 
citizens  ot  your  State  to  raise  the  necessary  means  by  subscription. 
.  ."1  believe  I  mentioned  that  I  have  noi  done  with  y«ui,  but  now  hope  toraak* 
jckit  Society  the  residuary  legatee  of  a  large  collection  of  autogra|jhs,  after  I 
get  a  ta«k  off  my  hands,  and  make  my  own  eventful  selection  for  my  family." 

li.  0,  D, 


REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.  27 

Wisconsin,  and  reflect  what  a  few  years  ago  was  a  path-way 
for  Savages  in  their  wars  of  extermination,  is  now  the  seat  of 
literature  and  science,  and  that  a  Historical  Sociiety  now  «*^ 
ists  on  the  spot  recently  occupied,  or  rather  roamed,  by  savage 
hordes  equally  ignorant  of  both,  I  compare  the  past  with  the 
pifesent,  and  absolutely  lose  myself  in  contemplating  the 
Aiture  destinies  df  my  country,  should  the  peopte  not  commit 
suicide  by  plunging  into  sectional  dissensions,  fatal  to  their 
]f)resent  happiness  and  prospective  glory.  I  feel  proud  in 
having  my  name  associated  with  the  rising  glories  of  your 
infant  Hercules;  and,  as  a  member  of  your  Society,  shall  in 
future  lay  claim  to  its  honors  and  rights  of  citizenship." 

Henry  R.  Schoolcraft,  the  distinguished  historian  of  the 
Red  Man,  writes:  '^f  receive  occasionally  your  interesting 
summary  sketches  of  what  your  Society  is  doing.  I  am  of 
Opinion  that  the  course  you  are  pursuing,  in  obtaining  per- 
ibnaX  memoirs  from  your  pioneers,  is  precisely  that  which 
promises  to  secure  you  the  most  valuable  materials  for  pos- 
terity. Fifty  years  hen6^',  'it'one  of  this  class  will  be  living  to 
answer  these  questions,  and  the  information  will  then  have 
an  intense  value." 

Hon.  Wm.  €.  Preston,  of  South  Carolina,  remarks:  "I 
wkk  not  a  little  touched  and  gratified  by  ^ur  announcement 
to  me  of  the  fact,  that  I  had  been  elected  an  Honorary  mem- 
ber of  the  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin.  I  thank  the 
Society  for  this  honor,  and  would  willingly  contribute  to  the 
Amherance  df'iM  ^efnlighf^jiied  ptif^d§^  bf  the  d'ssc^^ldtiM; 
but  my  remoteness  from  it,  and  my  own  decrepitude  and  di- 
lapidation, restrict  me  to  the  mere  offering  of  thanks,  which  I 
Sincerely  tender. 

"  This  enterprise  of  an  Historical  Society  cognate  with  your 
State,  will  secure  so  accurate  an  account  of  its  origin  and 
progress  as  to  leave  nothing  to  future  conjecture  or  research, 
And  will  furnish  a  sort  of  auto-biography  of  Wisconsin  from 
its  infancy  onward.     It  seems  to  me,  that  the  State  can  hardly 


28         REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

be  said  to  have  growth  or  development,  but,  Uke  the  first 
man,  to  have  been  created  with-  full  faculties  and  endow- 
ments ;  or,  like  those  of  the  ancient  myths,  which  sprang  all 
armed  from  the  forehead  of  Jupiter,  or  rose  all  beautiful 
from  the  foam  of  the  sea.  The  growth  of  your  State  has 
been  a  potent  fiat.  She  rose  like  an  exhalation,  and  was  or- 
ganized while  the  gaze  of  the  beholder  was  fixed  upon  it.  It 
is  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  age  in  which  we  live,  and  is  an 
exhibition  of  the  concentrated  and  concrete  influence  of  all 
those  mighty  agencies  difi'used  through  the  system  of  modern 
society.  Our  great  commonwealth  of  the  United  States 
seems  to  have  been  endowed  with  creative  energies.  She 
said,  'Let  us  make  States  after  our  image,'  and  they  were 
created  in  her  likeness,  and  made  to  multiply  and  replenish 
the  Earth  —  and  all  that  was  made,  was  very  good. 

"  I  hope  it  may  be  consistent  with  the  plan  of  your  Society 
to  publish  yearly  chronicles  of  your  State,  in  an  authentic 
form,  for  the  instruction  and  admiration  of  the  community. 
In  the  course  of  nature,  I  shall  live  to  see  but  very  little  of  it, 
but  I  am  pleased  to  think  of  the  good  which  will  result." 

Rev.  Wm.  Henry  Foote,  the  able  author  of  the  well-known 
histories  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  writes :  "  May  your 
Society  prosper.  The  good  it  may  accomplish  is  unbounded. 
Often  have  I  stood  in  amazement,  that  nonsense  was  printed 
and  bound  up,  and  on  the  shelves  of  stores  and  libraries, 
while  the  things  that  told  the  origin  of  States  were  left  to  be 
eaten  by  worms,  or  ready  to  be  burned  as  waste  paper.  Call 
long  and  loud  for  old  papers,  and  should  you  get  bushels 
good  for  nothing,  you  may  get  some  of  an  unappreciable 
value;  and  'three  grains  of  wheat  to  a  bushel  of  chaff'  will 
pay  in  such  a  crop.  Your  first  Report  was  read  with  great 
interest.  You  are  doing  a  work  for  your  State  that  nobody 
can  measure  in  its  effects.  It  will  influence  multitudes,  and 
perpetuate  the  memories  of  men  about  whom  enquiries  will 
be  made.     The  '  rude  forefathers '  have  a  precious  memory. 


J5 


REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.         39 

Rev.  Dr.  Francis  L.  Hawks,  the  well  known  historian,  after 
returning  thanks  for  membership,  adds :  "  I  hope  that  ere 
long  I  may  be  able  to  express  my  sense  of  obligation  otherwise 
than  by  mere  words.  Meanwhile  I  would  utter  my  feeble 
voice  of  encouragement,  and  say — go  on ;  you  are  doing 
bravely,  as  I  learn  from  your  first  and  second  Annual  Reports, 
which  have  duly  reached  me ;  and  I  wish  every  State  had  the 
good  sense  and  liberality  which  Wisconsin  has  shown  in 
making  your  Society  an  annual  appropriation." 

The  venerable  historian,  Hon.  James  Savage,  of  Boston, 
remarks  :  "  Most  gladly  do  I  observe  the  spirit  with  which 
your  young  Society  proceeds,  and  I  feel  confident  that  a  com- 
ing generation  will  examine  your  volumes  of  Reports  and 
Collections  even  with  a  higher  gratification  than  has  been  felt 
by  me." 

Prof  Alvah  Bradish,  of  Michigan,  writes :  "  The  energy 
and  enterprise  already  shown  by  the  active  members  of  your 
Society,  are  seen  in  the  results  of  a  twelve  months'  eflbrts  even, 
and  may  be  offered  indeed  as  an  example  to  older  similar 
Societies.  The  Historical  Society  of  Michigan,  established 
at  least  twenty-five  years  ago,  has  no  such  collection  as  you 
can  already  boast  of,  and  is  indeed  in  a  languishing  state. 

"  The  arts  are  intimately  connected  with  history,  and  an 
association  that  proposes  to  preserve  a  record  of  the  past, 
will  at  the  same  time  be  anxious  to  preserve  the  memory  of 
the  good  and  great,  who  have  been  distinguishe^d  in  the  past, 
and  who  constitute  an  important  portion  of  its  history.  I  shall 
take  occasion,  as  early  as  it  may  be  in  my  power,  to  ask  your 
Society  to  accept  something  from  my  pencil." 

The  late  Hon.  John  M.  Niles,  a  few  months  before  his 
death,  wrote :  "  Permit  me  to  add,  that  I  deem  the  institution 
of  an  Historical  Society  in  the  infancy  of  a  State,  as  a  very 
thoughtful  and  wise  measure,  which  if  faithful  to  the  trust 
assumed,  cannot  fail  of  being  productive  of  great  and  lasting 
benefits.     The  authentic  history  of  the  germs  of  a  common- 


50  REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

wealth,  are  often  more  important  than  the  annals  of  any 
subsequent  period.  The  character  of  those  germs  will  mark 
the  characteristics  of  the  State  in  the  maturity  of  its  devel- 
opment. We  have  experienced  the  want  of  such  an  insti- 
tution at  an  early  period  in  this  State,  and  the  Connecticut 
Historical  Society  is  endeavoring  to  supply  the  deficiencies  in 
oUgr  J  local  history  and  biography  arising  from  the  neglect  of 
former  periods.  But  this  can  be  but  imperfectly  accomplish- 
ed. Your  Society,  while  looking  after  the  past,  will  not  forget 
the  present,  as  it  can  hardly  render  a  more  important  service 
than  in  gathering  up  and  preserving,  in  an  accessible  form, 
the  diversified  material  for  contemporaneous  history,  in  a 
State  so  much  in  its  infancy,  and  which  is  experiencing  so 
rapid  a  development." 

The  distinguished  Arctic  explorer.  Dr.  E.  K.  Kane,  1167 
marks :  "  Your  own  reputation  is  well  known  to  me,  and  is 
the  best  guarantee  of  the  practical  value  of  your  Institution ; 
ajid,  ,1  need  hardly  say,  that  I  will  give  my  cordial  co-opera- 
^(JlitffWith  the  objects  of  a  Society  so  deeply  in  accordance 
with  my  own,  and  indeed  all  American  sympathies." 

Dr.  J.  J.  Hayes,  of  Philadelphia,  who  accompanied  Kane's 
Arctic  Expedition,  writes :  "  Although  among  the  youngest  of 
*  her  sister  Societies,  the  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin  holds 
a  place  second  in  importance  to  none  other  in  our  wide- 
spread country.  In  the  centre  of  the  Great  West,  with  all  the 
Tigor  and  life  that  characterize  its  growing  prosperity,  it  is 
marking  out  for  itself  an  original  course,  and  opening  new 
channels  for  the  accumulation  of  historical  records — thereby 
pouring  into  the  lap  of  the  future  historian,  a  vast  collection 
of  material  that  would  soon  otherwise  have  been  lost,  and 
supplying  a  want  that  has  hitherto  always  been  felt  in  the 
annals  of  new  States." 

"  I  shall  be  happy  to  contribute  a  picture  to  your  collection, 
and  regret  that  my  time  at  present  is  so  occupied  with  the 
completion  of  several  paintings  long  delayed,  that  I  shall  not 


REPORT  OP  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEK.  31 

The  eminent  artist,  W.  D.  Washington,  writes  :  "  I  am 
deeply  sensible  of  the  honor  conferred  upon  me  by  the  Soci- 
ety, and  accept  with  great  pleasure  the  proof  of  their  consid- 
eration. The  noblest  aim  of  art,  as  you  justly  observe,  is  the 
illustration  and  perpetuation  of  great  events  in  history,  and 
every  true-hearted  American  artist  must  take  a  lively  interest 
in  an  institution  calculated  to  foster  a  spirit  of  enlightened 
^research  into  times  so  much  richer  in  pictorial  material  than 
the  present  The  early  history  of  your  own  State  is  replete 
with  interest  and  incident,  and  must  afford  a  noble  field  for 
the  operations  of  your  Society. 

be  able  to  execute  it  at  once  ;  but  my  first  leisure  time  shall 
be  devoted  to  it.  It  will  always  afford  me  the  greatest  pleas- 
ure in  any  other  way  in  my  power  to  advance  the  interests  of 
the  Society." 

Mrs.  Louisa  C.  Tuthill,  the  authoress,  in  tendering  a  sejt 
of  her  literary  works,  adds  :  "  The  amazing  healthful  growth 
of  your  noble  State,  very  naturally  excites  enthusiastic  ambi^ 
tion  in  her  citizens,  and  an  earnest  desire  to  perpetuate  early 
traditions,  and  to  rescue  from  obliyion  valuable  materials  for 
her  future  history.  In  this  laudable  endeavor,  may  your  State 
Historical  Society  be  eminently  successful." 

Hon.  Bennet  Woodcroft,  of  London,  writes  :  "  You  do 
well  not  to  trust  alone  to  tradition,  but  to  collect  and  preserve 
the  fast  perishing  records  of  your  infant  communities, encour^ 
aged  by  the  belief  that  these  wjll  one  day  form  the  most 
grateful  and  pleasing,  if  not  a  brilliant  page,  in  the  history  of 
your  great  Republic." 

Hon.  Peter  S.  Palmer,  author  of  the  History  of  Lake 
Champlain,  writes ;  "  Too  much  importance  cannot  be  at- 
tached to  the  formation  and  success  of  Historical  Societies, 
both  State  and  County.  This  is  peculiarly  the  case  in  regard 
to  the  Great  West.  The  accounts  of  your  rapid  growth  in 
population,  commerce  and  agriculture  will  hereafter  appear  to 
the  historian  as  the  creations  of  the  poet,  unless  substa^jU^t^ 


32         REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

by  statistics  and  details  preserved  and  handed  down  as  proofs 
of  these  almost  miraculous  truths.  A  century  hence,  your 
decendants  will  honor  the  forethought  of  those  who  now,  in 
the  early  years  of  a  vigorous  State,  have  preserved  the  evidences 
of  its  rapid  growth,  and  the  accounts  of  its  daily  progress.  It 
will  be  from  among  these  minutiae  of  small  events,  that  the 
historian  will  seek  the  great  truths  of  history." 

Hon.  John  S.  Preston,  of  South  Carolina,  writes :  "  It* 
sounds  strangely  to  one  living  upon  the  Atlantic,  in  one  of 
the  "  Did  Thirteen,"  to  hear  of  Historical  Societies  where 
history  has  but  begun  within  the  third  of  a  century,  by  lakes 
until  now  almost  undistinguished,  save  by  the  plash  of  their 
own  waters,  or  the  whoop  of  the  Savage.  On  this  the  sun 
went  down  yesterday  ;  to-day  it  rises  on  liberty,  civilization, 
and  Christianity.  I  trust  your  State  may  go  on  with  the  giant 
strides  she  has  commenced.  You  are  almost  encircled  by 
great  seas.  The  like  locality  made  Italy  what  it  once  Avas. 
Why  not  the  Peninsula  of  the  Lakes  be  the  rival  of  Italy,  in 
the  coming  history  of  the  world  ?" 

In  a  recent  able  article  in  the  National  Intelligencer,  on 
the  growth  of  Public  Libraries  in  our  country,  the  following 
occurs :  "  It  is  pleasing  to  know,  that  amid  the  lethargy  of 
our  public  institutions  and  State  governments,  private  enter- 
prise is  doing  so  much  for  for  the  future  history  of  our  nation. 
Some  of  our  State  Historical  Societies  deserve  much  praise  ; 
but  it  will  hardly  be  credited,  that  the  Historical  Society  of 
Wisconsin,  so  young  a  sister  in  our  Confederation,  has  expen- 
ded more  money  for  books  the  past  year  than  any  other 
Society  of  the  same  character  in  the  United  States." 

Rev.  William  Barry,  Recording  Secretary  and  Librarian 
of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  writes : 

"  I  have  the  pleasure  of  acknowledging,  by  order  of  this 
Society,  the  donation  from  your  Association,  of  the  two  in- 
teresting and  valuable  Reports  of  its  Transactions,  received 
by  the  hands  of  the  Hon.  W.  B.  Ogden,  of  this  city,     Tkis 


REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.         33 

first  act  of  friendly  courtesy  from  an  Institution  wHicft  liks 
already  gained  an  honorable  distinction  by  the  vigor  and  suc- 
cess with  which  its  operations  have  been  conducted,  and  the 
beneficent  example  it  has  presented  to  the  new  States  of  the 
North  West,  is  sensibly  felt  by  the  members  of  this  Society, 
and  will,  it  is  hoped,  be  introductary  to  a  durable  interchange 
of  friendly  service  between  the  two  Institutions. 

"  Brief  as  is  the  history  of  this  region,  many  valuable  ma- 
terials which  would  illustrate  the  character,  acts  and  fortunes 
of  the  Pioneers  in  its  civilization,  are  undoubtedly  already 
lost ;  and  yet  others,  such  as  the  personal  memoranda,  and 
individual  collections  of  early  settlers,  are  liable  to  be  dispersed 
or  utterly  destroyed.     Much  also  of  the  documentary  history 
of  the  primary  European  settlements  in  the  North  West,  is 
thought  yet  to  exist  in  obscurity,  as  yet  unpublished  to  the 
world,  which  the  laborious  researches  of  our  Historical  ■  S^Oci- 
eties  in  the  West  will  hdve  a  peculiar  influence  in  recovering 
and  preserving.     Even  the  modern  history  of  the  North  West 
from  the  date  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  requires  for  its 
complete  illustration  the  possession  of  do'cumefits  not  easily 
procured,  and  in  securing  which  our  Western  Associations 
may  render  mutually  substantial  service.     The  historians  of 
our  country  have  as  yet  given  to  the  world  but  an  epitome  of 
the  history  of  Western  discovery,  exploration  and  Seittlement, 
while  the  far  more  valuable  and  interesting  service  of  illus- 
ti-ating  it  with  all  the  completeness  of  detail,  is  yet  reserved  to 
the  local  institutions  of  this  region. 

"  This  Society  will  be  happy  to  emulate  and  second  the%- 
lightened  and  patriotic  sentiments  of  the  Wisconsin  Society, 
and  will  take  pleasure  in  the  reciprocation  of  those  friendly 
courtesies  which  are  prompted  by  a  community  of  interests 
and  aims." 

Rev,  Reuben  Smith,  of  Beaver  Dam,  Wis.,  says :  "  I  feel 
deeply  interested  for  the  prosperity  of  our  association,  and 
tl|.ink  few  of  the  kind  have  Providentially  a  more  command- 
5m 


34         REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

ing  position.  I  shall  follow  the  proceedings  of  the  Society 
with  interest,  and  hope  to  receive  its  publications.  If  at  any 
time  I  can  add  to  its  archaeological  or  historical  gleanings,  I 
shall  do  so.  History  you  will  secure,  of  course — for  Antiqui- 
ties, we  are  sitting  in  the  midst  of  monuments  that  are  dumb. 
But  let  us  watch,  they  may  hereafter  speak." 

Cyrus  Woodman,  Esq.,  of  Mineral  Point,  Wis.,  one  of  the 
earliest  friends  and  most  constant  contributors  of  the  Society, 
writes :  "  The  labors  of  the  Society  arie  well  appreciated  by  the 

rintelligent  men  of  the  State,  whose  vision  extends  beyond  the 
present  generation." 

The  venerable  Rembrandt  Peale,  the  last  surviving  artist 
who  painted  a  portrait  from  life  of  the  great  Washington, 

ji,  which  he  executed  in  1794,  writes:  "I  am  indeed  astonished 
to  perceive,  in  the  enterprising  settlements  of  our  Far  West, 
such  vigorous  demonstrations  of  intellectual  power,  which 
have  had  a  slower  growth  in  our  more  favored  locations  in 
the  East, — verifying  the  prophetic  judgment,  made  in  the 

^time  of  Franklin,  that  Art  and  Science  were  leaving  the  seats 
of  their  early  establishment,  and  traveling  Westward.  I  need 
not  add  my  sincere  wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  your  Institu- 
tion, and  my  thanks  for  your  individual  politeness." 

Encouraged  by  these  highly  flattering  assurances,  as  well 
as  by  its  own  steady  and  almost  unexampled  success,  the 
State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin  has  abundant  cause 

^,for  congratulation,  and  powerful  incentives  to  re-double  its 
efforts  in  the  interesting  field  of  Western  historical  research 
and  collection. 

WILLIAM  R.  SMITH,  HIRAM  C.  BULL, 

L.  J.  FARWELL,  F.  G.  TIBBITS, 

LYMAN  C.  DRAPER,  B.  F.  HOPKINS, 

J,  P.  ATWOOD.  E.  A.  CALKINS, 

JOHN  ^.  HUNT.  DAVID  ATWOOD, 

O.  M.  CONOVER,  H.  K.  LAWRENCE, 

DANIEL  S.  DURRIE,  JULIUS  T.  CLARK, 

D,  J.  POWERS.  WM.  B.  JARVIS, 

SIMEON  MILLS.  EDWARD  ILSLEY, 

s.  H.  carph:nter,  Andrew  proudfit, 

HORACE  RUBLEE,  EZRA  S,  CARR, 

Exectitive  Committee, 


Madison,  Jan.  6,  1857. 


APPENDIX. 


I 


APPENDIX  No.  1. 


TREASURER'S  REPORT. 

The  Treasurer  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin^ 
respectfully  submits  the  following  statement  of  receipts  into 
the  Treasury,  and  disbursements  therefrom,  during  the  year 
ending  January  6th,  1857  :  . 

Receipts, 

Jan'y.  2, 1856,    Balance  in  treasury,  as  per  last  report $92  30 

Peb'y  14, 1856,    Annual  appropriation  from  the  State 500  00 

Feb'y  14, 1856,  From  Secretary,  Hon.  Philo  White,  life  membership  20  00 

Peb'y  14, 1856,                               dues  from  active  members. 10  00 

Peb'y  14,  1856,  donation  from  Hon.  M.  M,  Davis,..  1  00 

April    3, 1856,                                dues  from  active  members 6  00 

April  23,  1856,  Additional  annual  appropriation    from  the    State 

Treasury — in  part 250  00 

May    15,1856,                               balance 250  00 

June     7,1856,    From  Secretary,  dues  from  active  members 5  00 

Octo'r23,1856,                                         do                do 100 

Jan'y    6,1857,                                       do               do            11  00 

Jan'y    6,  1857,  Hon.  J.  P,  At^vood,  life  membership  20  00 

Jan'y    6, 1857,  F.  G.  Tibbits,  life  membership  ...  20  00 

Jan'y    6,1857,                               W.  B.  Jarvis,  life  membership 20  00 

Total $1,206  30 


Disbursements. 

Feb'y    8, 1856,    To  trustees  of  Baptist  Church  for  room  rent 60  00 

Feb'y    8,1856,    For  Hall  and  McKinney's  "American  Indians."...  60  00 

Feb'y    8,  1856,     To  O.  Steele,  for  portrait  of  Clinton 16  00 

Feb'y    8,1856,          Daniel  Gorum,  for  vrood 9  00 

Feb'y    8,  1856,          Am.  Express  Co.,  freight 75 

Feb'y    8,  1856,          L.  C.  Draper,  postage,  stationery,  <fec 5  96 

Feb'y    8,  1856,          D.  S.  Durrie,  for  books 2180 

Carried  forward  $173  51 


38 


TREASUKER'S  REPORT. 


Disburstments — continued. 


Brought  forward  $173  51 

Feb'y    8,  1856,    For  American  Publisher's  Circular 2  00 

FeVy    8,1856,    To  J.  Penington  <fe  Son,  for  books 29  00 

Feb'y    8,  1856,          S.  H.  Carpenter,  for  printing 13  00 

Feb'y    8,  1856,          Atwood  <&  Rublee,  for  printing 15  00 

Maich  4,  1856,          0.  B.  Norton,  for  books 208  62 

March  4,  1 856,          Weed  <fe  Ebeihard,  for  binding,  (fee 26  00 

March  4,  1856,          J.  B.  Duclus,  for  shelving,  <fec 10  50 

March  4, 1856,          L.  C.  Draper,  gas  light,  postage,  <fec 8  71 

March  4,  1856,          Holton's  Express,  freight 125 

March  4,  1856,          American  Express  Co ,  freight 75 

April    1,1856,          C.  B.  Norton,  for  books 65  25 

April    1,1856,          L.  C.  Draper,  postage,  <fec 7  29 

May    12,1856,          C.  B.  Norton,  for  books 219  8T 

May    12,1856,                   do             do          54  03 

May    12,1856,          L.  0.  Draper,  sundries .' 9  03 

May    12, 1856,          American  Express  Co.,  freight 7  50 

May    12,1856,                   do                   do                .3  00 

May    12,1856,                   do                   do                2  00 

June     5,  1856,          L .  C.  Draper,  sundry  items --•-* 7  47 

June     5,  1856,          M.  &  M .  R.  R.  Co.,  freight 1^0.1 26  70 

July      1,1856,          C.  B.  Norton,  for  books 65  85 

July      1,1856,          L.  C.  Draper,  postage  and  papers 4  50 

July      1,  1856,          American  Express  Co.,  freight 180 

Sep't    %  1856,  E.  T.  Sprague,  copying  BzTinson's  Nan-ative  of 

Burnett 17  70 

Sep't    2, 1856,  Dr.  A-  Schue,  copying  Judge  Lock-wood's  Nar- 
rative   15  00 

Octob'r  7,  1856,          L.  C.  Draper,  sundry  items 8  64 

Octob'r7,  1856,          C.  B.  Norton,  for  books 50  00 

Octob'r  7,  1856,          S.  V.  Shipra an,  insurance 2150 

Octob'r  7,  1856,          American  Express  Co.,  freight 6  25 

Octob'r  7,  1856,          M.  <fe  M.  R.  R.  Co.,  freight. 40 

Jan'y    6,  1857,          D.  S,  Durrie,  freight  on  books 18  00 

Jan'y    6,1857,          American  Express  Co.,  freight 5  50 

Jan'y    6,1857,          M.  <fe  M.  R.  R.  Co.,  freight 3  19 

Jan'y    6,  1857,          L.  C.  Draper,  wood,  freight,  shelving 18  90 

Jan'y    6, 1857,          S.  G.  Benedict,  for  hand-press 9  00 

Total  disbursements $1,136  71 

Balance  in  Treasury 69  59 

$1,206  30 


Vouchers  for  the  foregoing  disbursements  are  herewith  presented. 

O.  M,  OONOVER,  Treamrer. 

Audited  and  found  correct,  Januaiy  6,  1857. 

JOHN  W.  HUNT,         > 

JULIUS  T.  CLARK,      }  Ayditing  Oonrmiitee. 

LYMAN  C.  DRAPER,  S 


DONORS  TO  THE  LIBRARY. 


H 


APPENDIX  No.  2 


DONORS  TO  THE  LIBEARY,  1856. 


Vols. 


MAINE. 

Maine  Historical  Society. 


NEW   HAMPSHIRE. 


B.  G.  WiUey 


MASSA0HU8ETT8. 

Massachusetts  Historical  S  oci  ety  1 

Hon.  Francis  De  VVitt,  Sec.  Com.  2 

Hon.  Wm.  B.  Towne 9 

Wm.  S.  Farmer 6 

Rer.  S.  K.  Lothrop 1 

H.  S.  Chase.... 1 


20 


RHODE   ISLAND. 

Hon.  J .  R.  Barllett,  Sec.  of  State  1 

CONNECTICUT. 

Connecticut  Historical  Society.     1 
Prof.  Wra.  S.  Porter 1 

—  2 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Pennsylvania  Historical  Society     1 
Henry  Carey  Baird 18 

—  19 

NEW    YORK. 

Regents  of  the  University 3 

Benson  J.  Lossing 4 

J.  H.  Colton 3 

Charles  Sciibner 3 

E.  A.  cfe  G.  L.  Duyckinck 2 

Edward  Walker 2 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  F.  Ellet 

Henry  I.  Drowne 

Gen  J.  Watts  De  Peyster 

Hon.  Peter  S,  Palmer 

Maj.  C.  P.  Turner 

Charles  B,  Norton 

W.  L.  G.  Smith 

-24 


Yolfl. 

VIRGINIA. 

Virginia  Historical  Society, . . ,     1 
Rev.  Wm.  Henry  Foote 1 

WISCONSIN. 

From  the  State 11 

Hon.  James  T.  Lewis 16 

Thomas  S.  Townsend 11 

Hon.  Henry  Dodge 10 

Hon.  Charles  Durk  ee 10 

E.W.  Skinner 7 

V.  Naprstek 7 

Hon.  C,  C.  Washburn 6 

Daniel  H.  Richards 4 

Daniel  S.  Durrie 4 

D.  R.  Coit 4      ■ 

Mrs.  Louisa  Rockwood 4 

Dr.  Alex.  Schue 3 

Lyman  C.  Draper 3 

Rev.  Reuben  Smith 2 

Rev.  James  Cooper 2 

C.T.  Flowers 2 

Archibald  Wilson 2 

Hon.  Daniel  Wells,  Jr 2 

Hon,  L.  J.  Farwell 2 

Hon.  A.  W.  Randall 2 

John  W.  Ford,  Sat  Clark,  Hon. 
C,  Billinghurst,  Rev,  Z.  M. 
Humphrey,  Rev.  W.  A.  Niles, 
Geo.  O.  Tiffany,  Rev.  A. 
Bronson,  Hon.  Levi  Alden,  J. 
T.  Clark,  Hon.  D.  Worthing- 
ton.  Weed  &  Eberhard,  Rev. 
H.  F.  Bond,  Wm.  B.  Draper, 
Cyrus  Woodman,  L.  H,  Whit- 
tlesey, Rock  County  Agricul- 
tural Society,  S.  D.  <fe  S.  H. 
Carpenter,  Mrs  Susan  B.  Brit- 
ton,  Hon.  J.  F.  Potter,  Geo. 
H.  Rountree,  Horace  Rublee, 
and  T,  S,   Eldredge,   1  vol. 

each 22 

—136 


40 


DONORS  TO  THE  LIBRARY. 


MICHIGAN.  Vols. 

Hon.  Lewis  Cass 1 

ILLINOIS. 

Bequest  of  late  Dr.  Stephen  W. 

Williams. 66 

Mrs.  John  H.  Kinzie 1 

Andrew  J.  Brown ] 

—  68 

DISTRICT   OF   COLUMBIA. 

Smithsonian  Institution 1 

State  Depart.  Hon.  W.  L.Marcy,  66 
Hon.  G.  W.  Manypenny.  Com. 

Indian  Affairs 2 

Prof.  A,  D.  Bache,  Coast  Sur- 
vey Bureau I 

Gen,  Tho's.  Lawson,  Surg.  Gen.     1 

G.  W.  Riggs,  Jr 2 

Henry  Beard 1 

—  74 


NEW   JERSEY.  Vols. 

Mrs.  Lousa  C.  Tuthill 4 

MARYLAND. 

James  McSherry 

KENTUCKY. 

Thomas  H.  Clay 1 

OHIO. 

Ohio  Philosophical  and  Histori- 
cal Society 3 

Hon.  George  E.  Pugh 1 

G.  W.  Derby  <fe  Co 1 

Thomas  H.  Genin 1 

By  purchase 611 

By  exchange 32 

Total  additions 1005 


RECAPITULATION. 

• 

»o 

"l 

CI 

00 

323 

642 

338 

216 

169 

70 

90 

46 

36 

to 

00 

F-i 

611 

136 

24 

74 

20 

68 

19 

4 

6 

32 

..... 

1 

..... 

2 
2 
1 

•  «  »  a  . 

1 

1 

1005 

Total, 
Jan.  1/57. 

Purchased 

934 

Wisconsin .........                     .. ............ 

778 

New  York....  ^..i4^> 

District  of  Columbia 

362 
290 

Massachusetts 

189 

Illinois ^ 

138 

Pennsylvania _ 

109 

New  Jersey 

50 

Ohio 

42 

Exchanges. 

32 

Indiana 

29 

25 

17 

16 

14 

13 

12 

10 

10 

10 

7 

5 

4 

4 

2 

2 

3 

1 

1 

1 

1 

29 

Connecticut .,. 

27 

Rhode  Island L^^>i 

Soiith  Carolina. 

18 
16 

Great  Britain 

14 

Maine „ 

14 

Maryland 

14 

Virginia ..-._ 

'    12 

New  Hampshire 

11 

Iowa 

10 

Missouri 

7 

Louisiana 

5 

Vermont 

4 

Delaware .. 

4 

Michigan 

3 

Kentucky 

3 

Mississippi 

3 

North  Carolina 

1 

Tennessee 

1 

Nebraska 

1 

Denmark.... . 

1 

dei- 

2117 

3122 

DONATIOJfS  FOR  LITERARY  EXCHANGES.  4X 


APPENDIX  No.  3. 


DONATIONS  FOR  LITERARY  EXCHANGES. 

Books.  Vok, 

Wisconsin  Laws,  Journals,  Reports,  <fec. — mostly  bound,  from  the  State..  2035 

Doc.  Hist  of  Wisconsin,  in  2  vols.,  from  the  State 660 

1st  and  2d  Reports  of  Wis.  Hist.  Society,  from  the  State 160 

2d  Report  of  Wis.  Hist.  Society,  in  German,  from  the  State „.. . 80 

Transactions  Wis.  Agricultural  Society,  from  the  Society. . .^^ .-.^.*k.  1'-. .  62 

Seymour's  Madison  Directory,  from  W.  N".  Seymour 60 

Transactions  Rock  County  Agricultural  Society,  from  the  Society , ...  24 

Milwaukee  Directory,  1856-7,  from  I.  A.  Lapham k-  49 

Hunt's  Wisconsin  Gazetteer,  for  life  membership 20 

'^''^   3150 
Pamphlets  and  Documents,  Copies. 

Wis.  Geological  Reports,  and  other  State  documents,  from  the  State 3000 

Madison,  the  Capitol  of  Wisconsin,  &c.,  from  city  ol  Madison 500 

Milwaukee,  its  commerce,  <fec.,  from  Board  of  Trade 300 

Watertown,  its  history,  business,  tfec,  from  city  of  Watertown.. 125 

Prairie  du  Chien,  description,  &c.,  from  J.  J,  Chase 75 

La  Crosse,  its  history  and  prospects,  from  Rev.  S.  Carr «*.#*-  25 

Pierce  County,  Review  of,  from  Young  &  Gibbs J^'.;.  50 

Fond  du  Lac  County,  its  History,  from  Martin  Mitchell 24 

Winnebago  County  History,  from  J.  H.  Osborn 12 

Racine,  sketch  of,  from  Witbeck  <fe  Rowley .^ 10 

Wisconsin  Annual  Register,  1856,  from  King  <fe  Watson j.  it 24 

Lake  S uperior  R.  R.  Survey,  from  R.  R.  Co.. 100 

Mayberry's  Trial  and  Execution,' from  E.   G.  Sackett -j,..,_.p» 100 

do         do                  do          from  Jos.  Baker JL-*^*.--..-  12 

If  OS.  of  liTorth  Western  Journal,  from  Prof.  O.  M.  Conover 69 

Repoiis  and  Addresses  of  Wis.  University,  from  University ,.  100 

Milwaukee  University,  and  Mil.  Female  College,  from  I.  A.  Lapham .,, -  27 

Wis  Teacher's  Association,  from  D.  Y.  Kilgore . . ^ . >. ...  ..*...* . .  ^ * k.  26 

Racine  College  Catalogues,  fiom  Prest.  Park ., 20 

La  Crosse  Railroad  Reports,  from  Hon.  B.  Kilbourn wj.  15 

Reports  of  Madison  Board  of  Education,  from  the  Boai'd '.—  25 

City  Charter  of  Madison,  from  City  Council 25 

Reports  of  Wis.  Ecclesiastical  bodies 36 

4,700 
Maps.  ^ 

Maps  of  Wis,  the  Four  Lake  Country,  and  Madison,  from  Hon.  L.  J, 

Farwell ...,...,.., -..^,. 1000 

Maps  of  Milwaukee,  from  L  A.  Lapham :i'.'.'.-..^.  .'ll'^l.-l'..      50 

1050 

Making  a  total  of  of  3150  volumes  received  from  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  insti- 
tutions, societies  and  individuals,  with  4700  pamphlets  and  documents,  and 
1050  maps  It  should  be  added,  that  these  collections  for  exchanges  have  been 
three  years  in  accumulating. 

6m 


42         DONORS  OF  PAMPHLETS,  DOCUMENTS  AND  MAPS. 


APPENDIX  No.  4. 


«Hi. 


Donors  of  pamphlets,  documents,  and  maps. 

Bequest  of  late  Dr.  S .  W.  AVilliams,  pamplets 22 

yjora  Rev.  0.  D.  Bradlee                        do , .  „. . , ,, j^ 22 

J,         Heniy  I.  Drowne .1..  ..1.  '. ...  22 

I         Hon.  Wra.  B.  Towne 19 

V  Napistek 14 

C.  B.  Norton. 13 

Purchased 13 

Rev.  W.  A.  Niles.. 16 

Hon.  Charles  Diirkee 8 

0'         Lyraan  C,  Draper I'l^vJ 8 

*  Atwood  <fe  Riiblee 7 

^^         Dr.  C.  M.   Weatherill.   6 

American  Peace  Society 6 

Regents  of  N.  Y.  University 5 

Hon.  0.  C.  Washburn 5 

Col.  Z.  P.  Burdick ^, 3 

Rev.  Z.  M,  Humphrey.:..  lUv^.-.ilL^^. i>l:^^ 3 

Hon.  C.  Billinghurst 3 

Pennsylvania  Historical  Society 3 

Essex  Institute 3 

t'         Rev.  E.  M.  Stone 2 

<>•        J.  S.Loring 2 

*  Joel  Munsell... 2 

D.  S.  Durrie....'Vo..,..,V.*l 2 

J.L.  Sibley 2 

H.   Wheatland 2 

American  Philosophical  Society 2 

Hon.  Geo,  E.  Pugh - ,.: 2 

D.  Y.Kilgore.. 2 

John  R.   Thompson 2 

Societies  and  individuals,  one  each 85 

300 

Maps. — From  J.  H.  Osborn,  6  large  sectional  maps  of  Winnebago  county ; 
Maj.  W.  H.  Emory,  2  maps  of  U.  S,  and  Mexican  Boundary ;  Hon.  L.  J.  Far- 
vrell,  Harrison's  large  Mounted  Map  of  Madison  ;  Hon.  J.  Hathaway,  Map  of 
Wisconsin,  1835 ;  D.  Holt,  Map  of  Madison,  1836  ;  D.  S.  Durrie,  Map  of  Madi- 
8on,  1855  ;  I.  A.  Lapham,  large  Map  of  Milwaukee  ;  Hon.  H.  Dodge,  Map  of  Cen- 
tral America. 


P  ERIODICALS  RECEIVED  AND  PRESERVED.  43 


APPENDIX  No.  5. 


PERIODICALS  RECEIVED  AND  PRESERVED. 

Qitarterly, 

N.  E.  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register Boston. 

Monthlies. 

Historical  Magazine Boston.  * 

New  Church  Herald Philadelphia. 

Mining  Magazine -.i'iVb-. WewYork. 

Masonic  Review ^ .j ..-. ...  Cincinnatti, 

Chicago  Magazine - Chicago. 

Chicago  Record Chicago. 

Wisconsin  Farmer Madison.  t 

Wisconsin  Educational  Journal Racine. 

College  Monthly. Beloit. 

Carroll  College  Student - Waukesha. 

Christian  Repository,  from  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Peck...-.-,... ....  Louisrille,  Ky. 

Student's  Miscellany,  preserved  by  the  Secretary..-.-.  ..'I...  Madison 

African  Repository,  preserved  by  the  Secretary Washington. 


Semi-Monthly. 

Raia  Avis Portage  City, 

Dailies. 

Sentinel Milwaukee. 

Wisconsin Milwaukee. 

News Milwaukee. 

Evening  Gazette ...' Janesville, 

Daily  Journal Racine. 

Argus  <fe  Democrat Madison. 

State  Journal Madison. 

Wisconsin  Patriot Madison. 

Daily  London  Times — gift  of  Cyrus  Woodman,  Esq. 

Weeklies. 

Tribune  and  Telegraph Kenosha. 

Kenosha  Times  Kenosha. 

Weekly  Journal Racine. 

Journal Beloit. 

Democratic  Standard , Janesville. 


•7 


44  PERIODICALS  RECEIVED  AND  PRESERVED. 

Weeklies — continued. 

Repxiblican Waukesha. 

Democrat Waukesha. 

Sheygoygan  Journal Sheboygan, 

Evergreen  City  Times Sheboygan- 

Nieuwsbode Sheboygan. 

Tribune Manitowoc. 

Herald ^ Manitowoc. 

Union Fond  du  Lac. 

Commonwealth Fond  du  Lac. 

Home Ripon. 

Courier Oshkosh. 

Conservator ..,,  Neenah. 

Crescent Appleton. 

Weyauwegian Weyauwegia, 

Times New  London. 

Advocate. Green  Bay, 

Argus Horicon. 

Dodge  County  Citizen Beaver  Dam. 

Central  Wisconsin Wausau. 

Journal Wautoma. 

Mauston  Star Mauston, 

Wisconsin   Mirror Kilbourn  City. 

Badger  State Portage, 

Portage  City  Record Portage. 

Republican  Journal Columbus. 

Democrat Watertown. 

Tribune '. Mineral  Point. 

Richland  County  Observer Richland. 

La  Fayette  County  Herald Shullsburg. 

Monroe  Sentinel Monroe. 

Independent  American Platteville. 

Courier Prairie  du  Chien. 

Leader Prairie  du  Chien. 

Independent  Republican La  Crosse. 

National  Democrat La  Crosse. 

Times Viroqua. 

Transcript , Prescott. 

Weekly  Argus  &  Democrat Madison. 

Weekly  State  Journal — Madison. 

Weekly  Wisconsin  Patriot Madison. 

Mineral  Point  Democrat,  file  preserved  at  the  office. 
Stevens'  Point  Pinery      do        do        do  do 

Staats  Zeitung.  do        do        do         do 

Western  Fireside,  file  preserved  by  the  Secretary. 

Democratic   Press Chicago. 

Christian   Times Chicago. 

Commonwealth Frankfort,  Ky. 

Athens  Post., Athens,  Tenn. 

Publishers'  Circular New  York. 

Lake  Superior  Miner Ontonagon,  Mich. 

Boston  Saturday  Gazette,  from  Rev.  C.  D.  Bradlee. 

Total. — 1  quarterly,  13  monthlies,  1  semi-monthly,  9  dailies,  and  63  week- 
lies ;  making  80  publications  altogether,  of  which  63  are  published  in  Wisconsin. 


REPORT  ON  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY.  45 


APPENDIX    No.    6. 


REPORT  ON  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY. 

The  Committee  on  the  Picture  Gallery  would  submit  the 
following  Report  : 

During  the  year  past,  there  have  been  added  to  the  Galler^^ 
twelve  portraits  of  the  early  pioneers  of  the  State,  and  two 
historical  landscapes.  The  following,  painted  by  Samuel  M. 
Brookes  and  Thomas  H.  Stevenson,  the  artists  whose  efforts 
in  behalf  of  our  Society,  and  whose  liberality  as  well  as  emi- 
nent success  in  their  profession,  have  placed  the  Society 
under  lasting  obligations  to  them  :  Hon.  John  P.  Arndt,  Gen. 
Chas.  Bracken,  Gen.  John  H;  Rountree,  Hon.  Levi  Ster- 
ling, Hon.  M.  M.  CoTHREN,  Hon.  M.  C.  Darling,  E.  D. 
Clinton,  J.  H.  Lockwood,  and  Daniel  Bread^  Chief  of 
the  Wisconsin  Oneidas.  These  portraits  are  an  invaluable 
addition  to  the  Collections  of  our  Society ;  and  when  the  mists 
of  years  shall  have  thrown  a  halo  of  glory  over  the  early  set- 
tlement of  our  State,  the  actors  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  the 
heroic  participants  in  the  decisive  field  of  the  Pecatonica,  the 
Wisconsin  Heights,  and  the  Bad  Ax,  will  be  our  heroes,  and 
their  portraits,  which  now  hang  so  peacefully  beside  the  , 
Indian  Chief  they  so  gallantly  fought  and  conquered,  will  be 
one  of  the  chief  attractions  of  our  Society ;  and  if  the  Histori- 
cal Society  had  done  nothing  beside,  it  would  have  nobly 
done  a  good  work  in  obtaining  reliable  portraits  of  that  gal- 
lant band  who  laid  the  foundations  of  our  growing  State,  and 
rescued  from  oblivion  mementoes  of  the  persons  of  those  so 
soon  to  pass  off*  the  stage  of  action. 


46  REPORT  ON  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY. 

Besides  the  portraits  above  named,  we  have  one  of  the  late 
Hon.  Ben  C.  Eastman,  one  of  the  Hon.  Edward  Pier,  an 
early  settler  of  Fond  du  Lac  county,  and  one  of  the  Hon.  A.  A. 
TowNSEND,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  south-western  Wiscon- 
sin, and  two  pictures  of  the  Black  Hawk  battle-grounds. 

The  battle-field  of  Wisconsin  Heights,  near  *Sauk,  is  a 
splendid  landscape  view,  by  the  aid  of  which  the  relative 
positions  of  the  opposing  forces  can  easily  be  understood. 
The  battle-field  of  the  Bad  Ax  presents  a  fine  view  of  the 
Mississippi  river,  with  its  wide  margin  of  bottom  lands,  in 
which  the  Indians  were  concealed.  Both  these  were  painted 
by  Brookes  and  Stevenson,  from  drawings  made  from  nature. 
One  was  purchased  by  the  Society,  and  the  other  was  a  gift 
from  Hon.  H.  C.  Bull,  whose  munificence  has  enabled  the 
Society  to  add  much  to  its  efficiency.  The  same  artists  are 
to  sketch  and  paint  the  Pecatonica  battle-field  the  present 
season. 

Looking  back,  at  this  distance  of  time,  upon  those  early 
scenes  and  border  wars,  they  may  seem  trivial;  but  when  we 
consider  Wisconsin  as  it  was  then,  almost  entirely  unsettled, 
with  roving  bands  of  Indians,  the  terror  of  the  few  whites,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  settlement  of  the  country  depended  upon 
the  battle-fields  of  the  Black  Hawk  war;  and  instead  of  being 
uninteresting  spots,  they  are  the  birth-place  of  our  State. 

The  Society  have  endeavored  to  perfect  the  plan  alluded  to 
in  our  last  Report,  and  hope  at  no  distant  day  to  have  the  por- 
traits of  all  our  prominent  public  men.  Several  of  our  well- 
known  pioneers  have  promised  portraits,  and  when  all  these 
promises  are  fulfilled,  our  Picture  Gallery  will  exceed  in  in- 
terest any  collection  of  Paintings  in  the  West  Thinking 
that  short  sketches  of  those  whose  portraits  have,  during  the 
past  year,  been  added  to  our  collection,  and  now  adorn  our 
"walls,  and  also  of  the  artists  who  painted  them,  would  not 
prove  uninteresting,  we  subjoin  as  many  as  we  have  been 
able  to  obtain, — in  the  preparation  of  which,  the  Committee 


REPORT  ON  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY.  47 

acknowledge  their  indebtedness  to  the  Secretary,  Mr.  Draper: 
I.  Hon.  John  P.  Arndt,  is  a  native  of  Easton,  Northampton 
County,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  was  born,  of  Germ  an  parents, 
in  Nov.,  1780.  Of  his  early  life  we  have  no  knowledge  ;  nor 
is  that  material,  as  he  has  spent  the  most  eventful  part  of  his 
days  in  Wisconsin.  Coming  to  Green  Bay  nearly  thirty- 
three  years  ago,  with  his  worthy  companion,  they  still  live,  at 
a  green  old  age,  in  comfort  and  contentment.  Besides  serving 
£is  County  Judge,  Mr.  Arndt  served  in  the  Territorial  Council 
of  1836,  ^37  and  '38.  For  the  following  racy  sketch,  we  are 
indebted  to  the  Green  Bay  Advocate  of  last  year: 

"  Judge  Arndt,  who  can  fairly  claim  to  be  one  of  the  ^oldest 
inhabitants,'  hands  us  memoranda  from  which  we  gather  the 
following  interesting  items  of  his  personal  history,  and  that  of 
Green  Bay.  The  Judge  came  to  Green  Bay  in  the  fall  in 
1824  and  has  resided  here  ever  since — for  more  than  thirty 
years  in  the  same  house ;  and  it  was  an  old  house  when 
he  first  took  possession  of  it  Those  who  have  *  been  there 
and  staid  all  night,'  do  say  that  it  is  a  w^.ry  comfortable  house 
yet  It  was  the  first  licensed  tavern,  and  he  the  first  licensed 
landlord  in  the  Territory,  to  wit — in  1825.  There  are  those 
of  his  early  guests  living — '  here  and  there  a  traveler' — who 
can  bear  witness  that  there  aren't  many  better  landlords  or 
taverns  within  its  limits  even  at  this  day. 

"  In  June,  1825,  the  Judge  obtained  the  first  license  to  main- 
->tain  a  ferry  across  Fox  River ;  his  right  to  do  so  was  some- 
times disputed  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  by  the  troops 
occupying  Fort  Howard.  In  one  instance  the  Judge  and  his 
ferry-man  were  taken  prisoners,  and  escorted  to  the  Fort,  to 
report  to  the  commanding  officer  of  the  day.  He  was  told 
that  they  had  jurisdiction  over  Fox  River  within  certain  lira- 
its,  and  that  no  one  would  be  permitted  to  cross  without  leave 
from  the  commanding  officer.  The  Judge  thought  best  to  try 
that  on — so  he  made  complaint  against  three  of  the  officers 
to  the  Grand  Jury,  and  had  them  indicted  for  false  imprison- 


48  REPORT  ON  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY. 

ment.     One  of  them  was  fined  ^50  and  costs,  and  Fox  River 
declared  navigable  for  ferry  boats. 

"  It  was  about  this  time  that  the  officer  commanding  at  Fort 
Howard,  pubhshed  an  order  that  all  boats  passing  the  Fort, 
up  or  down,  should  put  in  and  report  their  business  and  des- 
tination. Arndt  concluded  on  one  occasion  that,  sink  or 
swim,  he  would  not  obey  the  order.  Forthwith  a  sanguinary 
six-pounder  was  planted  upon  the  bank,  and  the  boat  com- 
manded to  stop,  or  they  would  send  it  to  '  Davy  Jones' 
Locker.'  Now  the  Judge  is  not  a  profane  man,  and  never 
was.  But  he  had  a  Child  about,  called  Ebenezer,  who  had 
•very  vigorous  lungs,  and  an  extraordinary  command  of  lan- 
guage. So  Ebenezer  responded  to  the  hail,  and  mildly  inti- 
mated that  they  might  '  shoot  and  be  d — .'  They  didnH 
shoot.  By  the  by — a  rumor  got  abroad  last  year  that  this 
^^me  Child  was  dead — died,  it  was  said,' of  cholera,  in  St. 
Louis — and  we  had  the  misfortune  to  copy  the  report  in  the 
Advocate.  Finding  soon  after  that  the  report  was  premature, 
and  that  the  young  man  was  not  dead  at  all,  we  sent  him  a 
copy  of  the  notice,  with  a  private  apology  for  its  publication. 
His  reply  was  curt  and  characteristic.  He  '  received  the 
notice,'  he  said,  and  '  accepted  the  apology.  He  did  not  care 
anything  about  it,  for  he  knew  it  was  all  a  d —  lie  the  mo- 
ment he  saw  it.' 

Hiii^iin  1825,  Judge  Arndt  built  (with  his   own  hands,)  the 

first  Durham  boat  that  ever  swam  in  Fox  river ;  with  it  heavily 

laden,  he  ascended  Fox  river  to  the  Wisconsin  Portage,  con- 

atraiyito  the  prediction  and  admonishments  of  all  the  boat-men 

and  bateau-men  of  the  country. 

"  In  1827,  Judge  Arndt  built  the  first  saw  mill  (on  Indi- 
an land,  with  consent  of  the  War  Department.)     The  same 
year  he  made  the  first  brick,  and  built  the  first  decked  scow  in 
^^what  is  now  Wisconsin. 

?«    "  In  1829,  Judge  Arndt  built  a  steamboat  to  run  on  Fdx 
River.     But  having  nearly  burst  his  boiler  in  the  buildings- 


RfiPORT  ON  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY.  49 

the  boat  never  run  by  steam — but  took  .to  the  water  some 
years  after,  and  is  running  yet. 

"In  June,  1834,  Judge  Arndt  shipped  the  first  cargo  of 
kimber  that  ever  went  from  Green  Bay  to  Chicago.  It  was 
shipped  on  Devil  River,  at  the  mouth  of  Hell  Creek.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  it  was  seasoned  lumber. 

"  In  1836,  Judge  Arndt  built  the  first  vessel  in  the  State, 
*  the  schooner  Wisconsin,^  140  , tons  burthen.  She  ought  to 
be  embaln.ed  as  the  ship  of  State." 

II.  Gen.  Charles  Bracken  was  born  in  Pittsburgh,  Penn^ 
April  6th,  1797.     He  was  early  bred  to  mercantile  pursuits, 
but  confinement  in  a  store  not  agreeing  with  his  health,  he 
at  an  early  day  became  a  surveyor  of  public  lands,  and  fol- 
lowed that  pursuit  until  1828,  when  he  came  to  the  Lead 
Mines  of  Wisconsin.     During  his  residence  in  Wisconsin,  he 
has  been  principally  engaged  in  mining  and  smelting  lead 
and  copper  ores.     He  proved  himself  useful,  brave  and  active, 
during  the  Black  Hawk  War  of  1832,  acting  as  an  aid  to 
Gen.  Dodge,  and  adjutant  of  Dodge's  regiment     In  the  me- 
morable battle  of  Peckatonica,  he  acted  a  conspicuous  part; 
and  in  the  battle  of  Wisconsin  Heights,  he  was  the  only  offi- 
cer of  Dodge's  command  who  was  mounted.     He  also  took 
part  in  the  closing  conflict  at  the  Bad  Ax.     He  has  served 
as  Representative  of  Iowa  County  in  three  sessions  of  the 
Territorial  Legislature,  in  1839-40;  and  has  attained  to  the 
rank  of  general  in  the  militia.     His  contributions  towards  the 
History  of  Wisconsin,  both  in  Gen.  Smith's  work,  and  in  the 
2d  vol.  of  the  Historical  Society's  Collections,  are  creditable 
and  valuable.     Gen.  Bracken  has  long  filled  a  conspicuous 
place  among  his  fellow  citizens  of  Western  Wisconsin;  and 
his  portrait  in  the  Society's  Gallery,  a  most  capital  one,  will 
convey  to  future  generations  an  exact  idea  of  the  nonchalance 
of  the  man,  and  of  his  characteristic  old  white  coat 

III.  Gen.  John  Hawkins  Rountree  was  born  near  the  Mam- 
moth Cave,  Warren  County,  Kentucky,  March  24th,  1805. 

7m 


^  REPORT  ON  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY. 


/ 


At  the  age  of  twenty-two,  hearing  of  the  newly  discovered 
Lead  Mines,  he  came  to  Wisconsin,  and  arrived  on  the  27th 
of  May,  1827 ;  and  ever  since  he  has  been  actively  engaged 
in  mining,  mercantile  pursuits  and  public  employments.  He 
shared  in  the  troubles  and  dangers  of  the  brief  Winnebago 
out-break  in  1827,  and  served  as  a  captain  during  the  Black 
Hawk  War  of  1832.  From  1838  to  1846,  he  served  ten  ses- 
sions in  the  Legislative  Council ;  he  was  a  member  of  the 
second  Constitutional  Convention,  and  served  two  years  in 
the  State  Senate,  in  1850-51.  He  has  besides  served  as 
County  Judge  of  Grant  County,  and  filled  successively  the 
military  posts  of  captain,  major  and  general,  in  the  volunteers 
and  militia.  Gen.  Rountree  possesses  a  large,  commanding 
form,  robust  and  active ;  and  may  he  long  live  to  add  to  his 
itWe  ffid  li^efulness.  His  ^ortjfait  in  the  Picture  Galfelj^, 
gives  us  a  correct  and  life-like  view  of  the  man,  who  for 
honesty,  worth   and   patriotism,   has   no   superior   in   Wis- 


consm. 

^' IV:  Hon.  Levi  SterMH 'tcysbo^hln  Woodford  County, 
Kentucky,  January  2d,  1804.  He  came  to  Galena  in  March, 
ii3i28,  and  in  May  following  located  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Mineral  Point.  He  was,  in  1830,  appointed  deputy  clerk  'of 
ffie  U.  S.  District  Court,  and  Cotinty  Cotiirt  'of  lowU' County ; 
and  during  the  Indian  war  of  1832,  served  as  a  lieutenant  in 
Capt  Francis  Gehon's  company,  under  Col.  Dodge.  In 
1833,  he  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Porter,  of  Michigan  Terri- 
tpry,  Sheriff  of  Iowa  county,  and  kt  the  same'tltn6  dti^charg- 
ed  the  duties  of  Marshal  of  the  U.  S.  District  Court  for  the 
counties  of  Crawford  and  Iowa  —  a  district  of  country  then 
embracing  the  whole  of  the  present  limits  of  Wisconsin,  ex- 
cepting  the  old  county  of  Brown.  In  1834,  he  enumerated 
the  inhabitants  of  his  district,  which  then  contained  3,443-^ 
Crawford  county  having  810,  and  Iowa  2,633;  while  Brown 
cbritained  1,957,  making  but  5,400  white  inhabitants  ih'  that 
part  of  Michigan  Territory  now  comprising  Wisconsin. 


REPORT  ON  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY.  51 

In  1836,  Mr.  Sterling  resigned  the  sheriffalty,  and  was 
the  same  year  elected  Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the  Legislative 
Council  of  Michigan  Territory,  which  met  at  Green  Bay  in 
January ;  and  when,  the  same  year,  Wisconsin  Territory  was 
organized,  he  was  appointed  auctioneer  of  Iowa  county.  He 
was  elected  transcribing  clerk  of  the  Wisconsin  Territorial 
Legislature,  at  the  session  held  at  Burlington  in  June,  1838; 
and  was,  the  same  year,  appointed  one  of  the  commissioners 
to  re-locate  the  half-breed  Indian  lands,  reserved  by  the 
Winnebagoes  under  the  treaty  of  1829.  He  was,  also  in 
1838,  chosen  a  member  of  the  Legislative  Council  from  the 
county  of  Iowa,  for  the  term  of  four  years.  He  took  his  seat 
at  the  first  session  held  in  Madison,  in  November  of  that 
year ;  he  served  in  the  Council  five  sessions,  including  two 
extra  sessions,  and  resigned  in  1841.  He  was  in  that  year 
appointed  by  the  President,  Receiver  of  Public  Moneys  of  the 
Mineral  Point  Land  District 

He  was  elected  Sheriff  of  Iowa  county  in  1846,  and  re-elect- 
ed to  the  same  office  in  1848;  in  1850-'51,  he  served  a  term 
in  the  State  Senate ;  in  1851  he  was  appointed  a  deputy  sur- 
veyor of  U.  S.  lands,  by  the  Surveyor- General  of  Iowa  and 
Wisconsin ;  and  in  1852  he  was  again  chosen  for  a  term  of 
two  years  in  the  State  Senate.  He  was  again  elected  Sheriff 
of  Iowa  county  in  1854;  and  he  has  this  year  (1857,)  been 
appointed  by  Gov.  Bashford,  a  commissioner,  in  conjunction 
with  Ex- Gov.  L.  J.  Farwell  and  Hon.  John  P.  McGregok, 
for  the  location  and  erection  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Hospital 
for  the  Insane.  This  long  list  of  public  services  attest  the 
worth  and  popularity  of  the  man,  whose  ambition,  with  his 
natural  modesty,  probity  and  industry,  seems  to  have  been 
directed  to  serving  faithfully  those  who  confided  important 
trusts  to  him ;  and  to  have  done  this  for  so  long  a  series  of 
years,  is  in  itself  high  praise,  and  must  carry  with  it  ample 
satisfaction. 


52  TvEPORT  ON  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY. 

V.  Hon.  Montgomery  Morrison  Cothren,  of  Scotch  des- 
cent, son  of  Nathaniel  Cothren,  of  Falmouth,  Mass.,  and 
Clarissa  Weed,  was  born  at  Jerusalem,  Yates  county,  N.  Y., 
Sept.  18th,  1819.  His  father  removed,  in  1830,  to  Lockport, 
N.  Y.,  where  he  resided  two  years,  and  then  migrated  to  De- 
troit ;  and  after  remaining  there  a  couple  of  years,  he  removed 
to  Kalamazoo.  Young  Cothren  studied  law  from  1836  to 
1843,  when  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar;  and  in  the  latter 
year  he  commenced  practice  at  New  Diggings,  in  then  Iowa, 
now  La  Fayette  county.  In  1846,  he  removed  to  Mineral 
Point,  and  was  the  same  year  elected  Clerk  of  the  Board  of 
Commissioners  of  Iowa  county.  He  soon  acquired  a  promi- 
nent position,  and  in  1847and  '48  he  represented  Iowa  county 
in  the  Legislative  Assembly,  and  was  an  influential  member  of 
the  Judiciary  Committee,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  pro- 
ceedings preliminary  to  the  calling  of  a  State  Convention  for 
the  formation  of  a  State  Constitution. 

After  the  organization  of  the  State,  he  served  a  term  of  two 
sessions  in  the  Senate,  in  1849-'50,  and  held  the  important 
post  of  Chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee.  In  1852,  he 
was  chosen  one  of  the  Presidential  Electors  of  the  State,  and 
was,  at  the  same  time,  elected  Judge  of  the  Fifth  Judicial  Cir- 
cuit, for  a  term  of  six  years,  and  is  still  serving  on  the  bench. 
While  absent  from  the  State,  he  was  nominated,  in  March, 
1857,  for  Chief  Justice  of  Wisconsin,  but  was  unsuccessful  in 
the  canvass.  Judge  Cothren  married  Esther  Maria,  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  Schuyler  Pulford,  in  1848,  and  resides  at  Mineral 
Point. 

VI.  Hon.  Mason  C.  Darling  was  born  in  Amherst,  Hamp- 
shire county,  Mass.,  May  18th,  1801,  and  resided  in  that  re- 
■gion  for  thirty- six  years.  At  the  age  of  thirteen,  he  was  left 
an  orphan,  as  poor  as  poverty  could  make  him.  He  had  no 
means  but  his  hands  and  a  resolute  heart,  of  obtaining  an 
education,  or  of  establishing  himself  in  the  world.    But  he 


REPORT  ON  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY.  53 

Struggled  with  poverty  hopefully,  secured  an  education,  after- 
wards taught  school,  earned  money,  and  studied  medicine — 
would  have  run  in  debt,  if  he  had  had  the  credit — and  at 
length  graduated  at  the  Berkshire  Medical  Institution,  in 
1824.  He  was  then,  for  about  twelve  years,  engaged  in  the 
medical  profession  in  the  town  of  Granville,  in  Hampden 
county.  Here  he  secured  a  fair  country  practice,  and  twice 
represented  the  town  in  the  Massachusetts  Legislature. 

During  the  year  1836,  he  became  one  of  the  original  pro- 
prietors of  the  celebrated  water-power  and  town  site  of  She- 
boygan Falls,  in  this  State.  There  he  removed  in  the  spring 
of  1837,  and  superintended  the  completion  of  the  grist,  saw, 
and  shingle  mills,  and  the  first  framed  dwelling  in  that  now 
flourishing  town,  and  was  engaged  in  the  lumbering  business 
there  during  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

In  the  month  of  April,  1838,  he  removed  to  Fond  du  Lac, 
and  himself  and  family  made  one  of  the  three  which  com- 
prised the  then  entire  population  of  Fond  du  Lac  county.  He 
erected  the  first  framed  dwelling  in  Fond  du  Lac,  and  laid 
out  all  that  part  of  it  now  known  as  Darling's  Additions,  and 
which  still  embrace  the  most  populous  and  principal  business 
portion  of  the  city.  He  successively  held  several  of  the  prin- 
cipal offices  of  the  county,  and  was  the  first  President  of  the 
village  corporation,  and  first  Mayor  of  the  city.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  from  1839  to  the  close 
of  the  Territorial  Government  in  1848;  and  was  Speaker  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  in  1846,  and  President  of  the 
Council  in  1847 — the  Documentary  History,  and  Wisconsin 
Almanac,  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  Upon  the  organ- 
ization of  the  State  Government,  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  two 
Representatives  to  Congress  to  which  Wisconsin  was  then 
entitled.  It  may  be  added  here,  that  Dr.  Darling  was  one  of 
the  eight  persons  composing  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  Im- 
provement Company,  who  received  the  grant  of  that  work  and 
land  from  the  State,  and  was  elected  the  first  President  of  the 


54  REPORT  OW  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY. 

Company;  and  he  is  now  one  of  the  stockholders  and  di- 
rectors of  the  Chicago,  St  Paul,  and  Fond  du  Lac  Railroad 
Company. 

Few  of  our  Wisconsin  pioneers  have  had  their  energies 
directed  to  better  aims  and  nobler  purposes  than  Dr.  Darling, 
and  few  deserve  a  richer  reward.  He  has  made  himself 
active  in  opening  roads  and  thorough-fares,  establishing  mail 
and  stage  routes,  aiding  and  encouraging  churches  and  schools, 
and  otherwise  building  up  and  developing  the  settlement, 
growth,  and  prosperity  of  his  favorite  and  beautiful  city,  and 
indeed  the  whole  region  of  North-Eastern  Wisconsin.  Such 
-services  and  such  efforts  demand,  as  they  will  receive,  the 
"appreciative  gratitude  of  his  enlightened  fellow  citizens. 

VII.  Edmund  D.  Clinton,  whose  father,  Henry  Clinton,  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  was  a  second  cousin  of  DeWitt  Clin- 
^TON,  was  born  in  Addison  county,  Vermont,  April  the  I9th, 
1^04.  Having  married  Miss  Amanda  Conkey  in  1827,  at 
Canton,  St  Lawrence  county,  N.  Y.,  he  first  settled  in  Peru, 
Clinton  county,  but  removed  to  Canton  in  1830 ;  thence  in 
^1833  to  Portage  county,  Ohio,  and  finally,  in  1836,  to  Mil- 
waukee. There  he  resided  a  year,  when  he  removed  to 
Prairieville,  now  Waukesha,  where  he  lived  nineteen  years, 
when,  in  December,  1856,  he  removed  to  the  new  village  of 
Brodhead,  in  Green  county,  Wis. 

At  the  general  sale  of  public  lands  in  Wisconsin  in  1839, 
Mr.  Clinton  was  associated  with  Peter  Cushman,  as  a  com- 
mittee to  settle  and  arrange  squatters'  claims  with  the  Gov- 
ernment He  was  the  first  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  village  of  Waukesha,  and  served  for  several 
years  as  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  besides  holding  minor  offices 
in  the  militia,  and  serving  as  a  trustee  in  literary  institutions. 

For  the  first  nine  years  after  his  marriage,  he  confined  him- 
self exclusively  to  his  trade  of  blacksmith,  but  subsequently, 
up  to  1850,  connected  with  it  plow-making  and  farming.  In 
1850,  he  was  temporarily  employed  by  the  Milwaukee  and 


REPORT  ON"  THE  PICTURE  GA.LLERT.  ^g 

Mississippi  Railroad  Company,  in  procuring  the  right  of 
way,  and  canvassing  for  the  taking  of  stock  in  that  road.  Such 
was  his  success,  that  he  was  induced  to  continue,  and  has 
proved  of  vast  Jjenefit  to  that  very  important  pubUc  improve^ 
ment  He  was  a  director  in  that  company  at  its  organization; 
and,  except  for  a  brief  period  in  which  he  was  employed 
by  the  La  Crosse  R,  R.;  Company,  he  has  devoted  the  past 
six  years  exclusively  to  the  business  and  interests  of  the 
Milwaukee  and  Mississippi  Company.  As  sanguine  as  he 
has  always  been  of  the  advantages  of  the  road  to  the  country 
and  to  individuals,  the  actual  results  have  more  than  vindi- 
Kjfited  his  predictions. 

Mr.  Clinton  was  at  one  time  a  director  and  general  agept  in 
the  La  Crosse  Company,  and  a  director  in  the  Fox  River  Valley 
Koad ;  and  is  now  a  director  and  general  agent  of  the  Mil- 
r^jvaukee  and  Mississippi,  the  La  Crosse  and  Prairie  du  Chien, 
jSirXi4  jthe  McGregor^^.., Peters  and  Wisconsin  River  Rjailroa^ 
Companies.  He  has  not  only  proved  himself  a  worthy  pio- 
jieer,  but  a  public  benefactor. 

VHL  Hon.  James  H.  Lockwood,  was  born  in  Peru,  Clinton 
county,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  7th,  1793,  and  was  raised  at  farming  until 
past  the  age  of  sixteen  years.  He  then  enjoyed  some  educa,- 
tional  advantages,  and  studied  law  awhile.  During  the  latter 
part  of  the  war  of  18 12-' 15,  he  engaged  as  sutler's  clerk  i^ 
the  army  on  the  Niagara  frontier.  After  the  war,  he  passed 
up  the  Lakes  to  Mackinaw,  where  he  arrived  in  the  summer 
pf  1815,  where  he  taught  school  a  part  of  the  time.  The 
next  year,  he  visited  Green  Bay  with  the  first  American  troops 
that  went  there  to  establish  a  garrison,  and  engaged  in  the 
Indian  trade.  In  September,  1816,  he  arrived  at  Prairie  du 
Chien ;  but  still  trading  with  the  Sioux  Indians,  he  did  not 
.tf^ke  up  his  permanent  residence  there  until  the  fall  of  1819. 

Upon  the  organization  of  Crawford  county,  he  was  tendered 

the  appointment  of  Probate  Judge,  but  declined,  accepting 

jihat  of  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.     He  subsequently  renewed  the 


56  REPORT  ON  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY. 

Study  of  law,  and  in  1824  was  appointed  Post  Master  at 
Prairie  du  Chien ;  in  1826,  erected  the  first  framed  house  in 
the  place  ;  in  1827,  took  an  active  part  during  the  Winnebago 
out-break ;  in  1830,  was  appointed  an  Associate  Judge  of 
Crawford  county,  and  in  1836,  was  a  member  of  the  Terri- 
torial Legislature.  His  reminiscences  of  the  early  men  and 
events  of  Wisconsin  as  narrated  by  himself  in  the  2d  vol  of 
our  Collections,  are  full  of  interest  and  historical  value. 
Judge  LocKwooD  still  resides  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  is  the 
oldest  Anglo-American  settler  in  Wisconsin. 

IX.  Of  the  details  of  Daniel  Bread's  history,  we  are  igno- 
rant He  was  born  at  Oneida  Castle,  at  the  ancient  seat  of 
the  Oneidas,  March  27th,  1800,  and  is  now,  consequently,  in 
his  56th  year.  He  first  visited  Wisconsin  in  1827,  and  re^ 
moved  to  the  Oneida  settlement,' near  Green  Bay,  the  follow- 
ing year.  He  has  long  been  Head  Chief  of  the  Wisconsin 
Oneidas.  He  seems  to  have  been  ever  watchful  of  the  inter- 
ests of  his  people ;  an^d' t*hus  we  find  him  accompanying 
Eleazer  Williams  to  Washington  iri'  18M-'31,  to  oppose 
itiie  Stambaugh  Treaty,  which  was  unjust  and  oppressive  to 
^the  New  York  Indians;  and  though  they  did  not  abcomplish 
all  their  wishes,  they  nevertheless  succeeded  in  maintaining 
many  of  their  rights.  He  has  also  since  four  times  visited 
'Washington  on  the  business  of  his  people. 

It  will  be  remembered,  that  the  most  of  the  Oneidas,  du- 
rin^  the  Revolutibnary  War,  took  part  with' the  Americans. 
They  feel  that  they  have  a  right  to  bear  in  remembrance  our 
nation's  natal  day.  "Our  neighbors,  the  Oneida  Indians," 
observes  the  Green  Bay  Advocate,  "  have  an  old,  time-honor- 
ed usage  of  celebrating  our  national  holiday  every  year,  by  a 
sort  of  Festival,  in  which  they  are  joined,  not  only  as  specta- 
tors but  participants,  by  their  pale-faced  brethren.  The  cus- 
tom is  an  excellent  one,  as  it  tends  to  promote  union  and 
harmony  between  the  two  races,  a  resmt  which  cannot  be  too 
highly  appreciated  by  either  party.     Visitors  are  hospitably 


REPORT  ON  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY.  57 

entertained,  and  invited  to  partake  of  viands  cooked  in  the 
most  tempting  style ;  the  audience  are  then  usually  addressed 
by  the  chief,  through  an  interpreter,  and  a  reply  made  by  any 
person  present ;  the  day  then  closes  with  athletic  games  by 
the  Indians." 

"  Upon  the  invitation  of  the  chief,  Daniel  Bread,  many  of 
the  citizens  of  Green  Bay  and  the  surrounding  country,  re- 
paired to  the  Oneida  ^'ettlement,  some  eight  or  nine  miles 
above  Green  Bay,  to  share  in  the  festivities  of  the  4th  of 
July,  18  57.  "About  noon,"  says  the  Green  Bay  Advocate^ 
**  the  visitors  began  to  arrive  at  the  house  of  the  chief,  Daniel 
Bread,  and  ere  long  quite  a  large  concourse  of  ^pale-faces' 
were  welcomed  by  the  '  sons  of  the  forest,'  of  whom  nearly 
ifhe't^hole  Oneida  nation  were  present.:  The  company,  both 
Indians  and  visitors,  gathered  about  the  house  in  the  shade, 
and  listened  to  a  very  able  address  delivered  by  Mr.  Bread, 
through  an  interpreter.  His  subject  was  one  which  could  not 
fail  to  interest  all  who  were  present :  He  gave  a  brief  but  com- 
prehensive review  of  the  history  of  our  nation,  froiii  the 
landing  of  the  Pilgrims  down  to  the  present  date;  spoke  6f 
the  Oneida  nation  as  having  been,  from  the  beginning,  friendly 
to  the  whites;  awarded  a  high  compliment  to  the  lamented 
Hon.  Silas  Wright,  of  New  York,  for  his  services  in  helping 
them  to  secure  their  present  location ;  also  of  their  Father 
(President)  Andrew  Jackson,  and  his  successors,  who  -have 
'pledged  to^  them  the  protection  of  their  right  to  this  reserve; 
congratulated  the  State  on  its.  railroads  and  other  internal 
improvements;  and  concluded  by  giving  a  certain  class  of  the 
citizens  of  our  city  a  rather  sharp,  but  nevertheless  a  justly 
merited  rebuke,  which  we  hope  they  will  pay  some  heed  to 
in  future. 

"Dr.  Blodgett  responded  to  a  call   by  the  company,  and 

briefly  and  appropriately  answered  Mr.  Bread, — his  remarks 

being  interpreted  into  the  Indian  tongue.     Then  followed  a 

httle  exercise  of  the  '  light  fantastic  toe,'  a  sumptuous  din- 

8m 


5«  REPORT  ON-  THE  PICTTTRE  GALELRY. 

lier,  when  the  white  guests  adjourned  to  their  carriages.  The 
visit  was  a  very  pleasant  one.  The  farms  of  the  Indians 
looked  well,  in  fact  the  whites  might  perhaps  be  able  to  work 
some  of  their  farms  to  better  advantage,  by  taking  a  few  les- 
sons of  their  dark-browed  neighbors." 

This  sketch,  meagre  as  it  is,  gives  us  a  favorable  impression 
of  the  Oneida  Chief.  His  portrait,  in  the  Picture  Gallery, 
tends  to  strengthen  this  impression,  as  it  conveys  to  us  the 
appearance  of  a  thoughtful,  worthy,  benevolent  man,  in  the 
costume  of  the  whites — one  apparently  well  calculated  to  be 
the  Father  of  his  people. 

X.  Hon.  Ben  C.  Eastman  was  born  in  Maine,  October  24th, 
lt812.     He   commenced  the  study  of  the  law  with  Judge 
Emmons,  of  Hallo  well,  and  subsequently  completed  his  studies 
in  New  York  city.     He  emigrated  to  Wisconsin  in  1840,  locat- 
ing temporarily  at  Green  Bay,  and  afterwards  permanently  9<t 
jPlatteville,  in  Grant  county.     He  soon  attained  considerable 
eminence  in  his  profession,  and  was  prompt,  honorable,  and 
exact  as  a  business  man.     At  the  session  of  the  Legislative 
^^^  'Council  which  met  in  Dec.  1843,  and  extended  into  January, 
y1844,  Mr.  Eastman  was  chosen  its  Secretary ;  and  he  and 
fluoHN  Catlin  were  appointed  at  that  session  of  the  Legislature, 
^  Commissioners  to  superintend  the  publication  of  the  reports 
iof  the  cases  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Territory,  together 
)with  the  laws  of  the  session.     At  the  successive  meetings  of 
the  Territorial  Council,  in  Jan.  1845,  and  Jan.  1846,  he  was 
otre-chosen  their  Secretary  ;  but  about  the  middle  of  the  latter 
^session  he  resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  Gen.  Wm.  R.  Smiuh. 
^(He  also  served  awhile  as  District  Attorney  of  Grant  county. 
In  1850,  he  was  elected  to  represent  the  second  Congressional 
District  m  Congress,  and  was  re-elected  in  1852,  and  served 
four  years  in  that  body,  with  credit  and  usefulness.     He  de- 
clined a  re-nomination  in  1854. 

"Although  not  politically  ambitious,"  remarks  the  Platte*- 
villa  JiTnerican^  "few  men  in  the  State  could  have  sought  po- 


REPORT  ON"  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY.  ^% 

litical  preferment  with  brighter  prospects  of  success.  For 
some  years  Mr.  Eastman  had  abandoned,  for  the  most  part, 
the  practice  of  the  law,  and  having  acquired  a  handsome 
competency,  it  was  his  intention  to  have  settled  himself  on  a 
farm  he  had  purchased  near  Platteville,  and  spend  the  re- 
ftnainder  of  his  life  in  that  quiet  and  seclusion  irom  the  jost- 
ling of  the  world,  for  which  he  often  expressed  a  desire. 
During  his  painful  sickness  of  more  than  three  months,  Mr. 
Eastman  was  visited  by  four  of  his  brothers,  who  are  resi- 
dents of  this  State,  two  of  whom,  physicians,  were  ih 
constant  attendance,  and  called  to  their  assistance  the  best 
medical  aid  in  the  country,  but  from  the  day  of  his  attack,  his 
^sease  went  slowly  but  surely  on  to  its  fatal  termination.'^ 

His  death  occurred  on  the  morning  of  the  2d  of  Feb.  1866, 
in  the  forty- fourth  year  of  his  age.     Throughout  the  State, 
^his  death  was  deeply  lamented.    His  remains  were  interred  ki 
the  cemetery  at  Madison.     He  left  a  widow,  Mrs.  GHARX^tp#£ 
^Sewall  Eastman,  but  no  children.     Mr.  Eastman  was  a 
man  of  much  ability,  and  his  tall,  manly  form  and  gentle- 
manly urbanity,  will  not  soon  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
'^rsonally  knew  him. 

XI.  Hon.  Edward  Pier  was  born  in  Vermont,  March  31st, 
^1807,  and  came  to  Wisconsin,  landing  at  Green  Bay,  Sept 
21st,  1834.     On  the  17th  of  February,  1836,  Mr.  Pier,  with 
'^is  brother,  Colwert  Pier,  residing  at  Green  Bay,  visited 
T'ond  du  Lac  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  a  location  for  a  res- 
idence.    There  was  then  no  house  or  white  inhabitant  in 
Ihe  county,  and  they  slept  on  the  bank  of  the  river  near 
ivhere  the  city  now  stands.     On  the  6th  of  June  following, 
Colwert  Pier  removed  his  family  there,  and  became  the  first 
tesidents  of  the  place.     "  Edward  Pier,  and  his  father,  Cal- 
viN  Pier,"  says  Martin  Mitchel,  in  his  pamphlet  History  of 
^^Tond  du  Lac  county,  /'  arrived  on  a  visit  to  Colwert  Pier, 
^^n  a  dark,  rainy  night,  June  21st,  swam  the  creek,  and  sue- 
-eeeded  in  finding  the  house  which  gave  them  shelter  with 


60  REPORT  ON  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY. 

CoLWERT  the  remainder  of  the  night  In  December  following, 
Edward  Pier  again  left  Green  Bay  to  visit  his  brother;  there 
was  no  road,  he  succeeded  in  getting  near  to  the  head  of  the 
Lake  upon  the  ice,  when  his  horse  broke  through ;  it  was 
very  cold,  horse  and  rider  both  wet,  the  horse  soon  perished, 
but  Mr.  Pier  was  so  fortunate  as  to  reach  his  brother's  with 

.only  his  hands  frozen.  He  accomplished  his  business,  and 
returned  to  Green  Bay,  made  arrangements,  and  on  the  11th 
of  March,  1837,  arrived  at  Fond  du  Lac  with  his  wife  and 
two  children,  the  youngest  only  four  weeks  old."  Such  was 
the  commencement  of  the  settlement  of  Fond  du  Lac  city 
and  county.  In  all  the  primitive  trials  and  hardships  inci- 
deat.  to  the  settlement  of  a  new  country,  Mr.  Pier  bore  his 
full  share.  When  the  county  was  organized,  he  was,  in 
1839,  chosen  one  of  the  first  board  of  county  commissioners, 
and  has  several  times  served  as  chairman  of  the  board  of 
supervisors  of  his  town.  In  November  1855,  he  was  elected 
from  Fond  du  Lac  county  to  the  State  Senate,  and  has  just 
served  out  his  term  of  two  years.     He  proved  himself  a  dis- 

,  Greet,  vigilant  and  useful  legislator. 

XII.  Hon.  Absalom  A.  Townsend,  third  son  of  Samuel  and 

^  Sarah  Townsend,  was  born  in  Sussex  county,  New  Jersey, 
Dec.  7th,  1810;  and  when  he  was  two  years  old,  his  father 
moved  to  Steuben  county,  N.  Y.,  where  he  resided  till  1826. 
His  father,  now  a  widower,  having  purchased  some  military 
land  in  Western  Illinois,  started  on  the  15th  of  Oct,  1826, 
with  his  eldest  son,  and  Absalom,  and  arrived  at  Peoria,  on 
the  Illinois  river,  on  the  1st  of  January  following.  On  the 
ISth  of  May,  1827,  they  arrived  in  the  Lead  Mines,  in  the 
vicinity  ol  Gratiot's  Grove,  and  engaged  in  the  business  of 
mining.  But  they  were  soon  interrupted  by  the  Winnebago 
disturbances  in  July,  when  the  people  organized  into  compa- 
nies, and  erected  forts.  The  elder  brother  volunteered  in 
Wm.  S.  Hamilton's  company,  while  Absalom  A.  Townsend 
and  his  father  forted  at  Gratiot's  Grove.     Capt  Hamilton's 


REPORT  ON  THE  PICTTJRE  GA.LLERY.  61 

company  marched  with  other  troops  to  the  Wisconsin  Port- 
age, where  a  treaty  was  held,  when  the  Winnebagoes  ceded 
to  the  General  Government  a  portion  of  the  southern  part  of 
Wisconsin. 

Mr.  A.  A.  TowNSEND,  after  the  Indian  troubles  were  over, 
resumed  the  business  of  mining.  He  served  during  the  whole 
of  the  Black  Hawk  War  as  a  volunteer,  under  Col.  Dodge, 
and  participated  in  the  battle  of  the  Bad  Ax,  August  2nd,'' 
1832.  In  1836  he  married,  and  settled  on  a  farm  near  Shulls- 
burg,  \,'here  he  now  resides.  He  has  long  been  a  miner  and 
farmer,  on  a  very  large  scale.  When  the  fame  of  the  gold 
discoveries  in  California  spread  over  the  country,  Mr.  Towns- 
end  resolved  to  try  his  hand  in  that  region.  For  this  pur- 
pose, he  fitted  out  a  train  of  twelve  wagons,  drawn  by  oxen, 
with  a  company  of  men,  in  the  spring  of  1849,  and  taking 
the  land  route,  started  on  the  16th  of  April,  and  arrived  in 
California  on  the  9th  of  September  following,  all  well  He 
returned  to  Wisconsin  the  next  spring,  and  fitted  out  a  com4 
pany  of  thirty-two  men,  well  supplied  with  horses  and  mules, 
started  on  the  land  route  on  the  23d  of  May,  and  reached 
California  on  the  8th  of  the  ensuing  September.  While  in 
that  country,  he  pursued  the  business  of  mining  and  stock 
keeping.     He  returned  in  the  spring  of  1851. 

Mr.  TowNSEND  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  all  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  the  prosperity  and  welfare  of  Wisconsin,  in 
war  and  in  peace.  He  has  held  various  public  offices  in  his 
town  and  county. "  He  acted  as  one  of  the  arbitrators  in  set-' 
tling  the  claims  of  the  miners,  preparatory  to  the  sale  of  the 
Wisconsin  mineral  lands  by  the  General  Government  In 
1842,  he  was  commissioned  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  by  Gov. 
Doty;  and  in  1855  he  represented  his  district  in  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  State.  A  man  of  such  energy  of  character,  with 
the  opportunities  he  has  enjoyed,  could  not  well  fail  of  suc- 
cess ;  he  is  reputed  one  of  the  wealthiest  men  of  Western 
Wisconsin.-  i;^-' 7,  -  a  c  i»v^/.  *  5 


62  REPORT  ON"  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY. 

Having  thus  severally  given  sketches  of  the  persons  whose 
portraits  have  been  added  to  the  Picture  Gallery  during  the 
past  year,  we  must  close  this  Report  with  an  appropriate  re- 
ference to  the  artists  who  have  executed  the  pictures. 

It  will  he  seen  that  Samuel  M.  Brookes  and  Thomas  H. 
Stevenson,  of  Milwaukee,  have  painted  the  most  of  them — 
nine  of  the  twelve  portraits,  and  the  two  historic  landscapes. 
We  last  year  sketched  Mr.  Brookes'  career  as  an  artist.  His 
great  forte  is  in  securing  a  faithful  expression,  while  Mr.  Ste- 
venson excels  in  sketching  landscapes  and  finishing  up  pic- 
tures. We  regret  that  we  do  not  possess  the  necessary  data 
for  a  proper  notice  of  Mr.  Stevenson,  which  we  hope  to  give 
another  year. 

Of  F.  B.  Carpenter,  who  painted  the  excellent  portrait  of 
the  late  Hon.  Ben  C.  Eastman,  we  present  the  following 
sketch :  He  was  born  in  Homer,  Courtland  county,  N.  Y., 
August  6th,  1830.  His  father  was  a  farmer;  and  he  was  first 
incited  to  draw  by  a  rude  sketch  upon  the  inner  door  of  the 
district  school  house  where  he  attended,  which  had  been 
made  by  an  older  boy  of  the  name  of  Otis,  who  spent  a  year 
or  two  in  the  neighborhood,  and  attended  the  same  school. 
This  gentleman  is  now  surgeon  of  the  California  Steamship 
Company's  steamer  "Illinois.'^  Young  Carpenter's  father 
violently  opposed  the  tendency  of  his  son's  taste  to  art,  which 
became  a  strong  passion  with  him.  His  first  portrait  was 
painted  unknown  to  his  father,  with  white  lead,  common 
lamp-black,  and  a  piece  of  Venetian  red  which  he  found,  and 
which,  having  become  hardened  by  age,  was  the  exact  con- 
sistency of  brick  dust.  He  was  then  only  thirteen  years  of 
age. 

So  rapid  was  his  progress,  that  his  father's  prejudices  were 
in  a  manner  overcome,  and  he  was  at  length  permitted  to 
spend  a  short  time  with  Mr.  Thayer,  an  artist  of  Syracuse. 
He  remained  with  him  about  five  months,  and  is  much  in- 
debted, for  his  after  succees,  to  Mr.  Thayer's  excellent  system 


REPORT  ON"  THE  PICTURE  GALLERY.  ^3 

of  discipline  *  in  drawing.  He  now  opened  a  studio  in  his 
native  town,  and  commenced  painting  professionally,  before 
he  was  yet  sixteen.  He  naturally  enough  had  but  little  busi- 
ness for  some  time,  but  succeeded  in  "  making  his  bread  and 
butter.^'  In  1848,  he  sent  one  of  his  pictures  to  the  American 
Art  Union,  which  was  submitted,  with  four  hundred  others, 
to  the  committee  one  evening.  There  were  only  twelve 
selected,  and  young  Carpenter's  was  so  fortunate  as  to  be 
one  of  the  number.  With  this  recognition  of  merit  abroad,  • 
his  fortunes  rose  at  home,  and  he  did  not  lack  for  business 
for  two  or  three  years,  though  at  small  prices. 

In  1851,  he  made  a  bold  push,  and  opened  a  studio  in  New 
York,  with  scarcely  an  acquaintance  in  the  city.  For  the 
first  nine  or  ten  months,  he  had  but  one  or  two  orders.  About 
this  time  a  proposition  was  made  him  by  a  friend  to  paint  a 
full  length  of  David  Leavitt,  Esq.,  a  well  known  gentleman 
6f  the  city,  at  that  time  President  of  the  American  Exchange 
Bank.  This  was  a  much  larger  canvas  than  he  had  ever  be- 
fore attempted,  but  nothing  daunted,  he  undertook  the  task;; 
and  it  was  pronounced  very  successful.  It  was  exhibited  in 
the  Academy  of  Design,  and  at  once  brought  the  artist  into 
notice.  The  year  following,  he  was  commissioned  to  paint  a 
full  length  of  President  Fiillmore,  which  gave  satisfaction  to 
all  concerned,  and  drew  from  that  distinguished  statesman  a 
very  complimentary  letter.  A  copy  df  this  portrait  was 
dtdered  by  the  corporation  for  the  Governor's  Room,  in  the 
City  Hall. 

*'  Upon  the  election  of  Gen,  Pierce  to  the  Presidency,  Mr. 
Carpenter  was  commissioned  to  paint  him,  which  he  and 
his  friends  pronounced  the  best  of  the  numerous  portraits  of 
him.  He  has  since  painted  from  life  portraits  of  many  celeb- 
rities, among  them  Ex-President  Tyler,  Gov.  Marcy,  Gen* 
Cass,  Wm.  H.  Seward,  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Gen.  Houston, 
Caleb  Cu^hino,  dnd  Col.  Frestont — all  regarded  as  worthy 
of  the  men^  and  highly  creditable  to  the  artist 


64  REPORT  ON  THE  PIOTURE  GALLERY, 

It  was  while  painting  several  of  these,  in  Washington,  thaX 
he  became  acquainted  with  Hon.  Ben  C.  Eastman,  whose 
features  he  had  the  mournful  pleasure  of  transferring  to  can- 
vas, after  his  decease,  from  a  daguerreotype^  for  Mrs.  East- 
man, as  a  present  to  our  Society.  It  will  thus  be  seen,  that 
Mr.  Carpenter  is  yet  a  very  young  man  to  have  achieved  so 
high  a  position  as  an  artist  With  his  ardent  love  for  his 
profession,  and  his  earnest  application,  a  bright  career  is  be- 
fore him. 

The  portrait  of  Hon.  A.  A.  Townsend,  was  painted  by 
Abram  R.  Stanley,  of  ShuUsburg.  Mr.  Stanley's  parents 
migrated  from  New  Hampshire  in  18 10,  to  Salisbury,  Herkimer 
county,  N.  Y.,  where  they  still  reside,  and  where  their  son,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  1816.  He  was  educated 
at  Fairfield;  and,  m  l£30,  commenced  painting  under  the 
instruction  of  an  Italian  artist,  and  practised  two  ^^-ears.  He 
then  followed  the  business  for  ten  years,  painting  a  great 
number  of  portraits.  In  1824,  he  laid  aside  portrait  painting, 
and  engaged  in  other  pursuits,  and  did  not  resume  it  till  Mn 
Townsend  sat  to  him  for  his  portrait  for  our  Society.  Mr 
Stanley  held  the  responsible  office  of  Post  Master  at  Shulls- 
burg  for  a  long  period. 

The  portrait  of  Mr.  Townsend  is  very  generally  regarded 
by  his  friends  and  acquaintances  as*  a  very  correct  represen- 
tation of  the  man.  The  only  fault  that  will  be  found  is,  its 
high  coloring  ;  but  this  is  true  to  nature — the  only  safe  guide 
for  an  artist  to  follow.  It  should  be  remembered,  that  Mr. 
Townsend  is  one  of  the  pioneers,  and  has  spent  most  of  his 
life  in  the  open  air,  naturally  retaining  all  the  florid  marks  of 
an  iron  constitution.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Society  may 
yet  be  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  other  specimens  of  Mr.  Stan- 
ley's skill  as  an  artist 

Mr.  E.  H.  Andrews,  quite  a  youth,  painted  the  portrait  of 
Hon.  Edward  Pier.  Of  young  Andrews'  history,  we  have 
no  knowledge.      Whether  this  is  a  fair  specimen   of  the 


REPORT  0»r  THE  PICTURE  QALLERT.  $5 

artist's  skill,  we  have  no  means  of  knowing ;  but  truth  extorts 
the  confession,  that  it  does  not  do  justice  to  the  worthy  Fond 
du  Lac  Senator. 

With  these  remarks,  and  these  pen  sketches,  we  close  our 
|M:esent  Report  on  the  Picture  Gallery.  Let  us  fondly  hope, 
that  another  year  will  exhibit  a  marked  and  gratifying  in- 
crease ;  and  to  this  end,  we  earnestly  entreat  those  old  pioneers 
and  early  public  men  who  have  been  requested  to  furnish 
their  portraits,  not  unneccessarily  to  delay  the  performance  of 
tfiis  duty — for  delays  are  dangerous. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

S.  H.  CARPENTER, 
Chairman, 


irm 


^; 


f.c^ 


66  EULOGIES  ON  PROF.  JAMES  G.  PERCIVAL. 


APPENDIX  Ko.  7. 


EULOGIES  -ON  PROF.  JAMES  G.  PERCIVAL. 

In  Executive  Committee,  May  6th,  1856,  Hon.  D.  J.  Po\\- 
ERs  presiding,  E.  A.  Calkins,  Esq.,  rose  and  said: 

Mr.  President: — I  have  been  requested  to  announce  in 
such  terms  as  I  may  deem  appropriate,  the  painful  inteUigence 
of  the  death  of  James  Gates  Percival — a  name  which  should 
he  preserved  in  the  memorials  of  this  Society,  and  an  event 
to  which  is  due  the  most  solemn  forms  of  private  and  public 
grief.  In  his  mature  age,  in  the  ripeness  of  his  fame,  with 
his  honors  thick  upon  him,  a  noble  man — one  of  an  imperial 
race,  has  gone  to  his  long  home,  and  his  last  account  Terms 
more  eloquent  than  I  can  command,  should  celebrate  the 
sad  departure  which  no  returning  follows,  of  one  so  gifted 
and  so  good  as  he.  No  common  words  or  stinted  measures 
of  sorrow  should  mark  the  dissolution  of  that  gentle  soul 
from  the  form  it  animated. 

Dr.  Percival  died  last  Thursday,  May  2d,  at  2  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  He  was  born  in  Kensington,  Conn.,  Sep.  15th, 
1795.  He  was  the  second  of  three  sons — his  father  was  Dr. 
James  Percival,  a  physician  of  the  place.*     He  entered  Yale 

^^M^^^—^    I  IIMM    ■—-■■■■.  II  ■■  .—    ■■—■         ■  ■■!  -— I..  ..—  ■—■  I  .  ■■■■— —  — I..I      ■       ,       ,  ,  -■—■--..        ,  _      I      .  _.    ._  I  i.i.—^—^^^M^ 

*  In  co-iveraations  with  Dr.  Percival,  I  learned  that  his  family  were  related 
to  the  reiiowiifd  English  Statesman,  Spkncee  Percival  ;  and  that  the  Ameri- 
can branch  first  settled  in  Marblehead,  Mass.  Dr,  Percival  told  me,  that  on 
•ne  occaai  n  vvhen  he  was  traveling  in  Western  New  York,  he  stopped  at  a 
country  iiii.,  and  without  knowing  the  name  of  the  landlord,  instantly  recog- 
nized in  hi-  features  a  Percival,  and  upon  inquiring  found  that  he  was  a  descend- 
ant from  the  Marblehead  family  of  that  name.  L.  0.  D. 


EULOGIES  ON  PROF.  JAMES  G.  PERCIVAL.  *§7 

College  at  the  age  of  16,  and  at  20  stood  at  the  head  of  his 
class.  In  1820,  his  first  volume  of  poetry  was  published.  In 
the  same  year  he  was  admitted  to  the  practice  of  medicine, 
and  removed  to  Charleston,  S.  C,  for  the  pursuit  of  his  pro- 
fession. He  there  commenced  the  publication  of  a  periodical 
to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Clio,  but  it  never  reached  the 
third  number. 

In  1824,  he  was  appointed  assistant  surgeon  in  the  army, 
and  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  West  Point — a  place  which  he 
resigned  after  a  few  months,  solely  because  his  excessive  tim- 
idity rendered  the  discharge  of  his  duties  exceedingly  painful. 
In  the  same  year  he  published  a  collection  of  his  poems, 
which  was  afterwards  re-printed  in  London.  For  a  few  fol- 
lowing years  he  was  engaged  in  assisting  Noah  Webster  in 
the  compilation  of  his  great  Dictionary.  He  then  translated 
^from  the  French, Malte  Brun's  Geography.  He  traveled  abroad, 
^  throughout  the  South  of  Europe,  and  under  the  inspiration  of 
its  sunny  skies  and  summer  glories,  produced  some  of  the 
most  delightful  forms  of  verse.  In  1835  he  was  appointed  to 
make  a  geological  survey  of  Connecticut,  which  occupied  him 
till  1842,  when  his  report  was  published.* 

From  this  time  he  lived  in  the  closest  retirement  and  pri- 
vacy, and  sank,  we  are  led  to  think,  in  profound  poverty,  till 
1853,  when  his  high  scientific  acquirements  were  remember- 
ed, and  he  was  employed  by  the  American  Mining  Company 
to  visit  and  explore  their  lead  mines  in  the  western  part  of 
*"  this  State.  Gov.  Barstow  learning  that  he  was  residing  in 
the  State,  tendered  him  the  appointment  of  State  Geologist  of 
Wisconsin,  with  a  salary  of  ^2,500  a  year,  which  he  accepted, 
and  to  the  duties  of  which  he  devoted  unwearied  industry, 


*Dr.  Percival  remarked  lo  me  in  conversation,  that  his  love  for  peology 
commenced  as  early  as  1815,  and  that  it  never  abated.  After  his  geological 
BuiTey  of  Connecticut,  he  made  surveys  of  mines  or  countries  in  some  of  the 
British  Provinces ;  and  was  employed  oy  an  Eastern  Company  to  make  a  min- 
eral examination  in  South  Western  Missouri,  and  went  upon  the  Ozark  Moun- 
tains, but  the  journey  was  fruitless.  L.  C.  D. 


es  EULOGIES  Oir  PROF.  JAMES  G.  PERCIVAL. 

and  all  the  vigor  of  his  matured  powers  till  the  last  winter, 
when  he  was  taken  ill,  while  writing  his  Second  Annual  Re- 
port. From  that  bed  of  sickness  he  never  rose.  Had  he 
Rved  until  next  September,  his  age  would  have  been  sixty-one 
years. 

Dr.  Percival  was  one  of  the  most  singular  of  men.  His 
learning  was  vast — even  enormous.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  accomplished  Linguists  of  the  age,  and  wrote  excellent 
poetry  in  Danish,  German  and  Italian.  He  was  a  skillful  and 
learned  Botanist.  As  a  practical  Geologist,  his  reports  rank 
him  with  Hitchcock  and  Comstock,  and  he  was  a  learned 
and  able  Physician.  He  was  a  pioneer  in  American  Letters 
and  Study.  Many  of  his  best  poems  were  given  to  the  world 
when  all  its  corners  echoed  with  the  fame  of  Byron,  Moorb, 
Wordsworth  and  Scott.  Amid  the  trumpet  tones  of  their 
sounding  verse,  his  pure  melodies  stole  into  life,  and  found 
their  way  to  a  nation's  heart,  and  a  nation's  love.  Without 
a  genius  so  great,  or  so  profound  as  theirs,  he  has  yet  mar- 
.  lied  to  immortal  verse,  sweet  thoughts  and  noble  emotions  — 
patriotism,  beauty,  truth,  affection.  He  was  not  deeply  im- 
aginative—  perhaps  can  hardly  rank  with  Bryant  and 
Longfellow,  nor  can  it  be  said  that  he  combined  a  rich  phi- 
losophy and  accomplished  art  with  lofty  and  erratic  genius, 
as  did  PoE.  His  poems  are  chiefly  devoted  to  the  outward 
and  apparent  beauties  of  Nature  —  the  grove,  the  sky,  the 
stream,  to  gushes  of  patriotic  and  stirring  sentiment;  the 
eagle  in  his  flight,  our  country's  emblem ;  the  sacred  graves 
of  our  fathers  and  sages,  the  New  England  that  gave  him 
birth,  and  that  he  loved  so  well. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  when  we  consider  the  vastness  of 
his  learning,  acquired  by  so  much  toil  and  weariness — and 
singularly  as  was  blended  the  comparatively  vulgar  devotion 
of  the  student  with  the  rare  and  fiery  particles  of  his  poet's 
mind — he  was  the  very  child  of  passion  and  of  song.  The 
disappointment  of  early  love  left  a  perpetual  shadow  on  kis 


EULOOIES  ON  PROF.  JAMES  G.  PERCIVAL.  66 

life.  Then  Nature  became  his  Mistress ;  she  had  for  him 
endless  charms  and  ravishments.  To  him,  the  earth  wa« 
veiled  and  mantled  in  beauty,  and,  to  use  his  own  fine  figure, 
"  the  walls  that  close  the  universe  with  crystal  in,"  were  elo- 
quent with  echoes  of  music  and  voices  proclaiming  beauties 
and  powers — 

"Unfading  beauties  and  unjielding  powers." 

The  over-bending  sky,  the  green-vested  earth,  the  tempest- 
swinging  wood,  the  singing  of  birds,  the  sweetness  of  flowers, 
the  parting  day  and  returning  dawn,  were  to  him  a  passion 
and  an  appetite.     He  loved  them  with  a  poet's  love. 

With  man  he  mingled  but  little.  His  timidity  was  so  ex- 
treme as  to  embarrass  his  private  intercourse  with  his  most 
intimate  friends.  Into  the  great  world  of  pleasure  and  busi- 
ness he  never  entered.  For  ten  years  he  lived  in  the  strictest 
seclusion;  his  most  intimate  friends  could  scarcely  obtain 
access  to  him ;  he  refused  all  social  intercourse,  and  was  pro- 
nounced insane.  It  was  not  until  driven  by  absolute  want 
that  he  emerged  from  his  retreat,  and  assumed  the  employ- 
ment that  brought  him  to  the  West.  Here  he  entered  upon 
his  duties,  but  his  distaste  for  society  abided  with  him.  He 
prosecuted  his  researches  alone  with  Nature,  its  eternal  forms 
and  profound  mysteries.  He  explored  them  with  the  eye  of 
Poetry  and  of  Science.  The  one  invested  them  with  beauty, 
the  other  with  utility,  and  in  his  results  the  loveliness  and 
use  of  the  world  walked  hand  in  hand.  The  flower  on  which 
the  dew-drop  shone,  had  for  him  more  than  poetical  delight 
The  rock  which  concealed  sumless  treasuries,  had  for  him 
more  than  scientific  interest.  The  petals  of  the  blossom  were 
to  him  a  curious  laboratory,  where  sunlight  and  shower, 
warmth  and  winds,  hidden  causes  and  skyey  influences, 
where  a  beautiful  and  wondrous  chemistry  were  out-vieing 
the  dreams  of  the  alchymist,  and  transmuting  to  color,  and 
perfume,  and  sweetness,  the  common  earth  from  which  it  grew. 
The   thunder  smitten   boulder   carried   his  mind  backward 


70  EULOGIES  ON"  PROF.  JAMES  G.  PERCIVAL. 

through  unregistered  centuries,  to  when  its  now  impenetrable 
mass  was  yielding  clay,  through  which  insects  and  tiny 
monsters  roamed  at  will,  and  left  their  forms  in  enduring 
petrifaction  for  the  study  of  mankind,  after  a  millenium  of 
ages  had  passed  away,  after  the  deluge  had  transported  it  to 
a  distant  land,  and  successive  races  of  men  had  become  ex- 
tinct around  it.  In  him,  the  poet  and  naturaUst  were  so 
curiously  blended,  that  the  lines  of  both  were  interwoven 
through  all  his  large  and  polished  mind. 

Woman,  however  lovely  and  worthy,  as  such,  was  never 
the  object  of  his  passion  or  song.  But  he  nurtured  in  his 
lonely  heart  a  dear  and  sweet  ideal,  unlike  any  woman  that 
ever  lived,  but  combining  the  virtues  of  all  women  that  ever 
lived,  and  his  creative  fancy  invested  it  with  a  thousand  other 
graces  and  beauties — with  odor  from  spring,  with  color  from 
flowers,  or  the  glowing  dawn,  with  the  warmth  of  summer, 
and  with  the  light  and  life  of  a  poet's  dream.  Soft  traces  of 
that  angelic  ideal  float  along  his  sweetest  lines,  and  left  a 
radiance  and  softness  in  his  sunken  eye.  None  but  a  poet 
can  know  the  anguish  that  tortures  a  poet's  heart.  None  but 
a  poet  can  know  the  beauties  and  delights  that  intermit  his 
torture — the  extremes  of  his  grief  and  gladness — the  glim- 
mer or  the  gloom  in  which  his  spirit  reposes.  His  is  the 
vision,  the  joy  and  the  sorrow  with  which  no  stranger  inter- 
meddleth. 

The  most  of  us  that  knew  Dr.  Percival^  did  not  know  him 
till  he  came  to  the  West.  He  was  then  far  past  his  prime. 
He  walked  with  his  head  bent,  his  eye  cast  downward,  and 
with  slow  and  uncertain  step.  Those  of  our  citizens  who  often 
saw  him,  will  not  soon  forget  his  aspect  of  poverty,  almost 
of  squalor — his  tattered  grey  coat,  his  patched  pants^the  re- 
pairs, the  work  of  his  own  hands — and  his  weather-beaten 
glazed  cap,  with  ear-pieces  of  sheepskin,  "  the  woolly  side  in," 
The  frontier  inhabitants  of  the  State  knew  him  familiarly  as 
«  Old  Stone-breaker." 


EULOGIES  ON"  PROF.  JAMES  G.  PERCIVAL. 


71 


In  his  long  winter  walks  about  our  streets,  he  presented  the 
counterpart,  not  often  seen,  of  Scott's  lines : 

''  The  way  was  long,  the  wind  was  cold, 
The  minstrel  was  infirm  and  old, 
His  withered  cheek  and  tresses  gray 
Seemed  to  have  known  a  better  day." 

In  form  he  was  below  the  medium  size,  his  face  was  pale, 
his  brow  bore  th^  marks  of  suffering  and  of  thought  He 
became  tenderly  attached,  and  inspired  a  respectful  affection, 
in  return.  But  no  attentions  or  kindness  could  destroy  the 
barriers  of  his  tim^d  reserve,  or  open  the  painful  hesitation  o^ 
his  thoughts  to  speech. 

In  the  pursuit  of  his  public  duties,  however,  his  ardor  was 
great.  He  devoted  to  them  unwearied  industry  and  zeal.  He 
formed  here  a  circle  of  admiring  friends,  with  some  of  whom 
he  became  as  intimate  as  his  retiring  nature  would  permit 
Some  of  them  were  permitted,  by  circumstances,  to  attend  him 
in  his  last  hours,  and  smooth  his  downward  path-way  to  the 
tomb.  And  no  office  could  have  been  filled  with  a  profounder 
or  more  melancholy  pleasure  to ,  those  who  knew  and  loved 
him,  than  to  have  lent  consolation  to  his  shattered  heart  and 
fading  mind,  as  they  lay  under  the  shadow  of  approaching 
doom  —  to  have  rendered  lighter  the  burden  that  sat  with 
heavy  and  dreary  oppression  upon  his  broken  spirit,  and  to 
have  softened  and  sweetened  the  languor  of  the  bed  of 
death — 

•'  Explore  the  thought,  explain  the  asking  eye. 
And  keep  awhile  one  poet  from  the  sky." 

His  death  will  be  deeply  lamented.  If  not  foremost,  he  was 
among  a  class  of  men  who  have  given  to  the  Literature  and 
Science  of  America,  a  character  that  long  since  took  the 
sting  from  the  impudent  sneer  of  Sidney  Smith,  "  w;ho  reads 
^n  American  book  ?"  It  is  also  a  loss  to  our  State,  which 
was  receiving  vast  benefit  from  his  researches  into  an  impor- 
tant source  of  its  wealth,  and  a  material  element  of  its  pros- 
perity.    To  us  is  left  the  congratulation,  that  the  sum  set  apart 


72  EULOGIES  OK  PROF.  JAMES  G.  PERCIVAL. 

by  our  State  for  the  encouragement  of  Science,  was  so  wor- 
thily bestowed,  and  that  it  furnished  to  one  of  the  finest 
scholars  of  the  age,  the  comforts  of  his  last  years,  and  the 
means  of  livelihood  when  they  were  needed  most 

Around  the  tombs  of  such  as  he,  it  is  no  weakness  to 
mourn.  Nor  do  we  mourn  alona  Wherever  Science  has  a 
devotee,  or  learning  is  reverenced,  the  death  of  Percival  will 
be  felt  as  a  personal  calamity.  And  a  grander  chorus  of  sor- 
row than  ours  will  ascend.  Grander  forms  will  bow  in  grie^ 
and  swell  the  profound  lament.  For  we  are  not  untruly 
told  to 

"  Call  it  not  vain  ;  they  do  not  err 

Who  say,  that  when  the  poet  dia^ 
Mute  nature  mourns  her  worshipper, 

And  celebrates  his  obsequies ; 
Who  say  tall  cliff  and  cavern  lone. 
For  the  departed  bard  make  moan ; 
That  mountains  weep  in  crystal  rill ; 
That  flowers  in  tears  of  balm  distil ; 
Through  his  loved  groves  that  breezes  agk. 
And  oaks,  in  deeper  gi'oans,  reply  ; 
And  rivere  teach  their  rushing  wave. 
To  murmur  dirges  round  his  grave." 

Mr.  President,  I  move  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to 
report  resolutions  expressive  of  our  sentiments  upon  thi« 
melancholy  occasion. 

The  Chair  appointed  Messrs.  Calkins,  Rublee,  and  Conovbr 
such  committee. 

The  committee,  after  a  brief  absence,  through  their  chab- 
man,  reported  the  following  resolutions : 

Rewhcd,  That  we  sincerely  lament  the  death  of  Prof.  Jamks  G.  Percfvai,,  is 
•which  our  State  has  lost  a  useful  public  officer,  our  Society  an  honored  mom- 
ber,  and  Science  one  of  its  most  devoted  followers, 

Reaohed,  That  to  the  people  of  the  State,  to  his  many  friends,  and  to  all  that 
are  bert^avfd  by  tlie  sad  event,  we  tender  our  cordial  symj^athy. 

Resolved,  That  the  Corresponding  Secretary  of  ihe  Society  be  requested  tt 
fMTward  a  copy  of  tljcse  procc  edings  to  the  frieude  ot  the  lamented  decea»e«l 

Mr.  H.  C.  Bull  moved  to  adopt  the  resolutions. 


EULOGIES  ON  PROP.  JAMES  G.  PERCIVAI*.  73 

Pending  the  motion,  Mr.  Horace  Rublee  addressed  the 
Society  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen: — Before  the  question  is 
put,  I  wish  to  add  my  mite  to  the  eloquent  tribute  already  paid 
to  the  eminent  man  and  honored  member  of  this  association 
whose  loss  we  deplore.  He  was  a  man  whose  like  is  not  often 
found;  largely  gifted  by  nature,  he  added  to  those  gifts  wid©^ 
and  varied  attainments  in  Literature  and  Science,  wearing  at 
once  the  double  wreath,  pf  Poesy  and  of  her  sterner  sister, 
and  his  name  and  fame  are  not  confined  to  one  quarter  of  the 
globe  alone,  or  to  the  country  that  gave  him  birth.  To  most 
of  the  younger  men  of  this  generation,  at  all  acquainted  with 
the  Literature  of  their  country — to  many  of  those  here  preseht 
— the  name  of  James  Gates  Percival  has  been  familiar  from 
earliest  childhood  Those,  here,  who  were  born  among  the' 
rocks  and  hills  of  New  England,  may  remember  how  the 
latent  sentiment  of  patriotism,  of  pride  in  their  native  lartA,  was 
aroused  in  their  boyish  bosoms,  and  kindled  into  a  living  pow- 
er— how  those  bleak  rocks  and  barren  hills  grew  transfigured 
in  the  light  of  ^ glorious  memories,  and  hallowed  associations 
from  the  lieroic  past — as  they  read  his  noble  lines,  fervid  with 
patriotism  and  instinct,  with  the  inspiration  of  Freedom: 

"  Hail  to  the  land  on  which  we  tread 

Our  fondest  boaai ! 
The  sepulchre  of  miglity  dead, 
The  truest  hearts  that  ever  bled, 
Who  sleep  on  glory's  brightest  bod, 

A  fearless  host ! 
^o  slave  breathes  here  ;  our  unchained  feet 
Are  Ireer  than  the  waves  that  beat 

Our  coast. 

^  There  is  no  other  l"nd  like  thee 

No  dtarer  shore ; 
Thou  art  the  shelter  of  the  free. 
The  home,  Uie  port  of  Liberty  ; 
Thou  hast  b(>en  iand  shalt  ever  bo 

Till  time  is  o'er. 
When  I  fi»rg«-t  to  tliink  upon 
M.y  laivd  may  motliei'  cui«e  the  son 

She  bore." 

10m 


74  EULOGIES  ON  PROF,  JAMES  G.  PERCIVAL. 

The  death  of  such  a  man,  whose  living  thoughts  have  been 
thus  subtly  interwoven  into  the  minds  of  a  generation,  silent- 
ly developing  sentiments  and  moulding  affections— appealing 
only  to  the  purer  and  nobler  instincts  of  oiir  nature,  and 
wielding  an  influence  in  this  manner,  more  deep  and  lasting 
perhaps  than  we  may  dream  of — may  well  give  rise  to  pro- 
fojiind  emotions,  and  solemn  and  earnest  thoughts.  It  is  fitting 
for  us,  as  an  association,  proud  to  reclcon  among  its  members 
one  so  eminent  in  letters,  and  of  a  mental  culture  so  rich  and 
varied,  to  render  to  his  memory,  on  this  sad  occasion,  all  prop- 
er testimonials  of  respect.  I  would  that  I  were  better  quali- 
fij^d^for  such  an  argument,  and  that  it  were  m  my  power  to 
pay  him  the  meed  of  a  worthier  and  more  melodious  tear, 

Wei  are  proud  to  remember  the  interest  he  felt  in  this  Society ; 
•'^■i^ ■ '  ■  •  'i I  1.1.'.  . j  \f  /  >, 

that,  when  among  us,  tl^is  room  was  one  of  his  favorite 
haunts ;  one  of  the  few  places  that  he  visited ;  where,  more 
than  any  where  else,  he  laid  aside  that  icy  mantle  of  reserve 
in  which  he  wrapped  himself  up  when  compelled  to  mingle 
with  the  world :  and  that  here,  with  the  ojie ,  or  two  persons 
with  whom  he  became  intimate,  that  frosty-seemmg  nature 
sometimes  warmed  into  geniality,  and  unfolded  its  riches,  its 
manifold  treasures  of  thought  and  converse,  and  the  graces 
of  social  feeling. 

The  outward  life  of  such  men,  that  of  which  the  mere  bi- 
ographer can  gather  up  the  details,  seldom  furnishes  material 
for  a  lenarthy  or  stirrina;  narrative.  The , outlines  and  land- 
marks  of  his  life,  what  he  wrought  at  and  what  he  accom- 
plished, are  already  familiar  to  you.  He  was  approximating 
to  old  age,  being  nearly  sixty-one  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
and  had,  therefore,  passed  the  active  period  of  existence.  His 
career,  then,  may  be  regarded  as  complete  —  he  had  prob- 
ably accomplished  what,  with  his  powers,  and  with  the  ob- 
stacles that  accident  and  the  inherent  weaknesses  of  character 
that  are,  in  a  greater  or  less  measure,  the  common  lot  of  man, 
he  could  have  accomplished,  and  the  remembrance  of  this 


EULOGIES  ON  PROF.  JAMES  G.  PERCITAL.  %S^ 

should  temper  our  regret,  should  render  it  less  poignant  than 
if  he  had  been  cut  down  ere  the  meridian  of  life,  or  when  hq, 
had  just  attained  to  the  full  development  of  his  powers. 

Though  profoundly  versed  in  the  Natural  Sciences  —  a^ 
skillful  Geologist  and  a  fine  Botanist — and  with  few  if  any 
superiors  as  a  Linguist  upon  the  Continent,  he  will  be  re- 
membered chiefly  as  a  Poet.  He  appeared  before  the  public 
i^  th|s  capacity  almost  simultaneously  with  Bryant^  Dana, 
Halleck,  Drake  and  other  cherished  names.  As  a  poet,  it 
not  in  the  first,  he  stands  at  the  head  of  the  secondary  rank 
of  American  bards.  His  youth  gave  promise  of  more  thaa 
he,  has  performed.  For  many  years  pi:ior  to  his  death^  his 
H^gse,  was  silent ;  and  during  the  long  and  intimate  compan-| 
ionship,  that  in  the  latter  portion  of  his  life  he  held  with  that 
Nature  which  he  has  proclaimed  to  be  "full  of  poetry"  —  s(^^ 
replete,  that  the  very  air  is  "living  with  its  spirit,"  and  the 
wafers  "  dance  to  the  music  of  its  melodies,  and  sparkjL^,  in  it^^ 
brightness" — whatever  teeming  fancies  may  have  flitted^ 
through  his  brain,  whatever  sweet  bursts  of  song  may  have^ 
b^en  wakened  there  by  the  presence  of  its  ^eauty^  and  gr^nd^-^ 
^^r — to  which  no  man  was  more  alive  than  he  —  t^jjeyj  aref 
unwritten,  and  are  lost  to  earth  forever.  The  universality  of^ 
his  mental  tastes,  the  unquenchable  thirst  for  knowledge  that 
l^d.him  into  such  widely  separated  fields,  constantly  diverted 
his  attention  from  the  muse.  There  was  yet  anothej  g,njd  a 
sadder  cause.  "  Chill  penury  repressed  his  noble  rage."  He 
had  known  afiiicting  poverty.  So,  at  least,  I  have  heard. 
With  his  shrinking  and  morbid  sensitiveness,  he  was  utterly 
unntted  to  push  his  fortunes  in  the  press  of* busy  life,  upon 
those  arenas  where  men  meet  and  jostle  for  precedence.  He 
had  not  the  faculty  of  "  getting  on  in  the  world,"  and  he  at- 
tributed what  was  the  defect  of  his  too  finely  strung  and 
nervously  sensitive  nature,  to  a  lack  of  confidence,  on  the 
part  of  the  world,  in  his  capacity  to  do  anything  but  write 
irerses.     Those  who  have  been  on  terms  of  intimacy  with 


76  EULOGIES  ON  PROF.  JAMES  G.  PERCIVAL. 

him  have  told  me,  that  he  regretted  ever  having  published  hit 
poetry.*  He  thought  that  men  distrusted  his  scientific  knowl- 
edge because  he  was  a  versifier.  He  said  tl^at  they  would 
say :  "  His  opinion  of  this  or  that,  is  of  no  account ;  he  cannot 
do  this;  he's  nothing  hut  a  poet  f^  and  thus  his  fancy  ac- 
counted for  those  difficulties  in  life  which  were  really  the  re- 
sult of  his  timidity  and  senisitiveness.  Had  circumstances 
permitted,  and  had  he  devoted  himself  to  poetry,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  but  that  he  would  have  ranked  among  the  first  of 
American  poets.  He  wrote  with  great  facility.  His  verse  is 
melodious,  easy  and  flowing;  sparkling  with  bright  and  hap-^ 
py  imagery ;  and  marked  with  an  individuality  which  stamps 
it  as  genuine,  and  not  the  mere  acquire*)  trick  of  a  "rhyming 
parasite,"  whose  inspirations  have  been  drawn  from  "  Dam* 
Memory  and  her  syren  aaiighters." 

His  faults  as  a  poet,  were  the  results  of  his  theory.  He  did 
not  revise  with  sufficient  care  what  he  had  written.  He 
trusted  too  much  to  the  first  spontaneous  promptings  of  his 
genius,  and  the  unpruned  luxuriance  of  a  teeming  fancy. 
His  verse  has  been  objected  to  by  critics  as  too  much  encum- 
bered with  imagery.  Another  defect  was  a  seeming  lack  of 
discrimination,  in  regard  to  details,  which  caused  him  some- 
tiih'es  to  give  almost  equal  prominence  to  what  was  snbordi- 
hate  arid  comparatively  non-esseritial,' with  what  was  para- 
mount and  central  in  importance.  This  latter  trait  I  think 
will  be  found  in  his  geological  writings  also,  and  so  over- 


*  He  was  even  averse  \o  lalkinj^^  about  it,  and  when  introiiuced  by  others  ia 
conversation,  he  wouM  g'jMM'ailj  qtiickly  turn  Ui^  !;ubject.  f  liavo  knowit  him 
to  Rjx'ak  by  the  hour,  aluio-t  uninterrnptedly,  upon  Kcunitific  fiubjects,  and  es- 
pec.jally  gt't)loify,  liifi  favoritt!  scjeiice.  J  never  ki  cw  him,  during  tljo  many, 
many  hours  he  -ipent  with  ra-^  \\\  njy  study,  lo make  but  a  single  tjiatifyin!?  al- 
luftion  lo  liis  own  po<'try.  He  said  that  while  makift|  his  fje.dogical  explora- 
tion of  the  Lead  Kegion  of  Wt^st'^rn  Wisconsin,  he  chtnced  to  setk  a  nitclit'a 
enleitainment  at  an  humble  dwelling  in  the  country  ;  and  wheti  he  told  his 
natn",  a  little  child  wished  to  know  if  he  wa«  the  man  who  wroie  poetry? 
Satisfied  on  thi->  point,  the  little  one  xtond  uo  pr-mdlv,  and  repeated  ot>e  of  the 
little  jjoems  of  PienoiVAL'a  production,  wh'ch  he  had  L  a  n«;d  tor  school  declam- 
ation. Mr.  Peroival.  in  relating  the  incident  to  me,  said  that  it  both  gratified 
and  affected  him — the  more  so,  that  it  should  have  happexied,  where  he  could 
liltle  have  expected  it,  iu  the  far-off  regions  of  the  Wesi,  L.  0.  D, 


EITLOGIE8  ON  PROF.  JAMES  G,  PERCIVAL.  f»j 

taxes  the  attention  as  to  render  it  difficult  to  master  them,  and 
arrive  at  those  generalizations  of  science,  which  are  alone  of 
interest  to  most  readers. 

In  person,  Percival  was  somewhat  below  the  medium 
height,  and  rather  slight  and  frail.  His  countenance  was  in- 
dicative of  his  extreme  sensitiveness  and  timidity ;  pale  and 
almost  bloodless  ;  the  eye  blue,  with  an  iris  unusually  large, 
and  when  kindled  with  animation,  worthy  of  a  poetj  the 
nose  rather  prominent,  slightly  Roman  in  outline,  and  finely 
chiseled ;  while  the  forehead,  high,  broad  and  swelling  out 
l^randly  at  the  temples,  marked  him  as  of  the  nobility  of  the 
intellect  You  might  be  reminded,  by  his  appearance,  of 
Wordsworth's  lines : 

"  But  who  is  he  with  raodest  looks 

And  clad  in  homely  russet-brown  ? 
He  murmuia  near  the  running  brooks  "• 

A  music  sweeter  than  their  own. 
He  is  retired  as  noon-tide  dew. 

Or  fountain  in  a  noon-day  grove ; 
And  you  must  love  liira,  ere  to  you  ' 

Be  will  seem  worthy  of  your  love. 
The  outward  shows  of  sky  and  earth. 

Of  hill  and  valley,  he  has  viewed  ; 
And  impulses  of  deeper  birth 

Have  come  to  him  in  solitude. 
In  common  things  that  round  us  lie 

Some  random  truths  he  can  impart. 
The  harvest  of  a  quiet  eye, 

That  broods  and  sleeps  on  his  own  heart."  ,  .„, 

In  his  dress  he  was  eccentric.  Those  who  but  casually 
met  him,  might  have  mistaken  him  for  some  old  farmer  in 
low  circumstances,  and  correspondingly  clad.  His  usual  suit 
was  of"  hard  times,"  and  often  the  worse  for  wear;  his  head 
surmounted  by  an  old  glazed  linen  cap,  with  the  glazing 
nearly  all  worn  off  in  the  course  of  the  long  service  it  had 
«een.  He  seemed  to  withdraw  himself  as  much  as  possible 
from  all  intercourse  with  his  fellow  men,  and  to  surrender 
himself  wholly  to  intellectual  pursuits.  During  the  winter 
that  he  spent  in  our  city,  he  scarcely  formed  an  acquaintance, 


T^3  EULOGIES  ON  PROF.  JAMES  G.  PERCIVAL, 

aiidn^ar&ly  one  in  fifty  of  our  citizens  knew  him  by  sight. 
His   house   in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  where   he   spent   most 
of  his  Hfe,  has   but   one   entrance,   and  that  in   the  rear ; 
•dnd  he  Hved  among  its  people  but  not  of  them,  almost  as 
s^cliided '  and   cut  off  from  human  fellowship,  as  a  herthit 
in  the  solitude  of  a  desert.     He  was  hardly  known  in  Ms 
whole  life  to  speak  to  a  woman.     He  shunned  society  as 
'most  mfen  would  the  pestilence.     An  account  of  his  first  aM 
^lSsit'"appearan(!fe'at  a  social  gathering,  was  related  by  a  corre's- 
^^ondent  of  the  Knickerbocker  magazine  some  years  ago.     A 
lady,  with  whom  he  had  become  acquainted,  in  giving  her  in- 
"struction  in  French  or  Latin,  persuaded  him  to  attend  a  party 
on  the  occasion  of  her  birth-day.     He  got  as  far  as  the  en- 
trance hall,  gazed  wildly  around  him  for  a  moment  upo,n  the 
gay  assemblage,  his  large  blue  eyes  dilating  like  a  frightened 
fawn's,  and  turned  and  fled  out  of  the  house.     He  had  none 
of  the  maddened  play  of  pulse,  and  the  frenzy  of  passion  that 
have  driven  astray  and  into  ruin  so  many  men  of  imaginative 
tendencies,  but  represented  the  other  extreme.     Every  thing 
about  him  was  pure  and  platonic.     If  he  indited  a  bacchanal 
song,  it  related  to  a  wine  more  idealized  than  Keats'  "  beaker 
full  of  the  warm  South  " — to  the  wine  of  a  vintage  whose 
purple  clusters  had  ripened  upon  the  sunny  hill-sides  of  the 
imagination.     As  he  advanced  in  years,  he  seemed  to  grow 
more  and  more  a  mere  embodiment  of  intellect,   and   his 
Y^^ Platonic  Drinking  Song"  breathes  the  aspiration  of  his  later 
Jt'iife: 


!  ; 


"  Fill  liigh  the  bowl  of  life  with  thought, 

From  that  unfathomable  well. 
Which  sages  long  and  long  have  sought 

To  sound,  but  none  its  depths  can  tell — 
Fill  high,  from  that  dai-k  stainless  wave 

Which  mounts  and  flows  forever  on. 
And  rising  proudly  o'er  the  grave, 

There  ^nJ«  its  noblest  course  begun. 
O  I  fill  the  bowl  of  life  with  thought. 

And  I  will  drink  the  bumper  up. 
And  find,  whatever  my  wish  had  goughl, 

In  that  the  purest,  sweetest  cup." 


EULOGIES  OJSr  PROF.  JAMES  G.  PERCIVAL.  7^ 

It  may  be,  after  all,  that  this  man,  outwardly  so  cold  and 
passionless,  had  had  his  life  blighted  and  darkened  at  the 
outset  by  some  sorrow — some  crushed  affection — which,  jar- 
ring rudely  upon  his  too  finely  strung  nature,  left  it  maimed 
and  saddened  ever  after.  There  have  been  such  intimations ; 
and  the  lines  just  referred  to,  seem  to  hint  of  a  life  whose  cur- 
rent had  not  flowed  uninterrupted  by  some  disappointment 
that  had  turned  it  violently  from  its  native  direction — turned 
it,  perhaps,  from  the  sun-lit  domain  of  the  affections,  and  the 
charities  of  domestic  life,  into  the  colder,  sterner  region  of 
purely  intellectual  pursuits,  and  the  companionship  of  books, 
— yet  it  flowed  on,  solitary,  and  somewhat  sadly,  it  may  be, 
but  serenely  and  uncomplainingly,  until  swallowed  up  in  the 
gulf  of  death.  Let' us  trust  that  the  spirit  which  animated 
this  busy  brain,  now  quiet  forevermore,  ivMch  had  toiled  so 
assiduously  through  long  and  lonely  years  of  laborious  study, 
heaping  up  the  lore  of  the  past,  garnering  up  all  the  treasures 
of  Science  and  Literature,  attaining  almost '  encyclopedian 
knowledge,  now  realizes  its  aspiratioii,  and  "  rising  proudly 
o'er  the  grave,"  finds,  in  the  gladder  life  that  lies  beyond,  its 
«  noblest  course  begun."  7"  -11.^.^.. 

The  resolutions  were  then  unanimously  adopted,  and  the 
Society  adjourned  one  week. 


^  THK  LATE  WILLIAM  A.  WHTTB. 


Trr 


APPENDIX    TSe*  8. 


THE  LATE  WILLIAM  A,  WHITE. 

We  are  no  longer  prevented  by  any  feeling  of  delicacy 
from  expressing  our  sentiments  concerning  this  citizen, 
•ver  whom  a  cloud  of  mystery  has  hung  for  seven  long 
months.  Those  who  knew  him  best,  have  most  deeply 
felt  his  absence,  and  although  the  circumstances  under 
which  he  died  are  very,  very  painful,  and  we  recall  with 
shudder  the  last  moments  or  rather  hours  of  his  life,  his 
friends  who  have  been  haunted  with  a  variety  of  conjec- 
tures, will  now  find  painful  satisfaction  in  the  solution 
of  the  mystery,  so  far  as,  i^  is  a  solution,  while  those  who 
are  perhaps  too  much  disp'^sed  to  judge  others  by  themselves 
and  have,  therefore,  settled  down  upon  opinions  derogatory  to 
the  character  of  Mr.  White,  will  learn  a  wholesome  lesson^ 
in  the  discovery,  that  there  has  been  a  man  more  ready  to  in- 
jure himself  than  others. 

Mr.  White  was  38  years  of  age.  Of  his  early  history,  the 
writer  has  little  knowledge.  His  boyhood  was  spent  in  Wa- 
tertown,  Mass.,  and  he  was  blessed  with  all  the  favorable 
influences  of  a  New  England  village,  which  did  not  fail  to 
leave  their  impression  upon  him.  His  sense  of  religious  ob- 
ligation early  burned  to  manifest  itself  in  the  substantial  form 
of  Humanity,  and  soon  after  he  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1838,  he  became  earnestly  engaged  in  the  great 
reforms  ot  the  day;  and  always  generous  almost  to  a  fault, 
he  thus  devoted,  not  only  his  time  and  strength,  but  also  a 


SKETCHES  OF  WILLIAM  A.  WHITE.  81 

goodly  portion  of  his  large  inheritance,  to  the  causes  of  Temp- 
erance and  Anti-Slavery.  He  was  either  editor  or  frequent 
contributor  of  reform  journals  in  Boston,  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  frequently  spoke  at  anti-slavery  and  temperance 
meetings  in  that  city,  and  throughout  the  country,  and  fear- 
lessly exposed  himself  to  danger  where  he  felt  that  any  good 
might  be  accomplished.  He  was  in  advance  of  his  age.  He 
was  pioneer  in  a  cause,  which  though  then  despised,  is  now 
very  generally  espoused.  As  another  says  of  him :  "  He 
studied  law,  but  practised  the  gospel."  If  in  common  with 
men  who  engage  in  good  works,  and  in  accordance  with  the 
universal  imperfections  of  human  character,  he  loved  the 
notoriety  which  he  thus  gained,  who  is  therefore  to  take  from 
him  the  credit  of  heartiness  ?  Indeed,  it  is  not  to  be  ques- 
tioned, that  he  would  have  found  other  means  of  giving  him- 
self prominence,  if  his  sympathy  for  suffering  fellow-beings 
had  not  been  quick,  and  his  moral  sense  been  strong.  With 
all  the  property  he  inherited,  he  must  have  seen  before  him  a 
career  of  affluence  as  a  man  of  wealth,  but  his  ambition  was' 
of  a  nobler  grade.  He  was  impatient  with  conservatives,  and 
despised  those  whose  God  was  the  dollar.  He  moved  to  the 
West  with  high  purposes,  locating  in  Madison  somewhat 
over  three  years  ago.  Our  citizens  will  long  remember  him 
as  a  disinterested  and  public-spirited  man — one  who,  though 
glad  to  be  widely  known  as  engaged  in  good  works,  never 
sought  popularity,  and  never  would  stoop  to  pandering  or 
sycophancy  to  obtain  the  honors  of  office. 

He  was  far  above  the  common  level  of  the  community  — 
above  it  in  moral  purpose  and  power,  as  well  as  in  intelli- 
gence  and  independence. 

W.  A.  White  was  one  of  such  men  as  this  western  coun^ 
try  needs,  but  whose  worth  pannot  be  appreciated,  because  it 
cannot  be  reckoned  by  dollars  and  cents.  If  he  lacked  any- 
thing good,  it  was  nothing  so  much  as  worldly  wisdom ;  and 
judging  by  results,  as  the  world  is  too  apt  to  judge,  he 
llm 


82  THE  LITE  WILL  AM  A.  WHITK 

was  not  always  cautions  in  business;  it  is  also  to  be  remem- 
bered, that  his  whole  soul  was  not  bent  upon  accumulating 
wealth,  that  he  thoroughly  despised  that  shrewdness  which  is 
only  another  name  for  meanness  and  trickery.  Those  who 
knew  him  best,  knew  that  he  had  rather  die  than  be  guilty  of 
a  dishonorable  act.  Of  his  last  hours  we  know  but  littlet 
We  will  not  judge  him  upon  our  conjectures;  of  the  wondert 
of  this  physical  frame  we  are  too  ignorant.  The  over-straiued 
cord  must  eventually  snap. 

"Strange  iLat  a  hai-p  <»f  thousand  Btrings 
Should  keep  ill  tunc  so  long." 

We  trustingly  leave  him  to  the  mercy  of  his  God. 

Five  years  ago  Mr.  White  was  described  in  Crayon 
Sketches  by  Geo.  W.  Bungay.     The  following  are  extracts: 

"  The  senior  editor  of  the  New  Etiglander,  (W.  A.  White) 
is  a  fluent  and  forcible  speaker.  He  speaks  better  than  he 
writes.  He  is  an  enthusiast  in  reform,  and  manifests  little 
patience  with  wooden-head  conservatives,  who  will  not  corai- 
prehend  what  they  cannot  count  with  their  fingers,  nor 
measure  anything  that  is  longer  than  a  yard-stick.  With 
such  men  and  with  the  oppressors  of  our  race,  whether  they 
use  rum  or  the  raw-hide,  liquor  or  the  lash,  the  cat  or  the 
can,  he  has  no  fellowship.  When  he  writes  about  them,  his 
pen  foams  at  the  nib.  When  he  speaks  about  them,  his 
speeches  remind  us  of  some  rivers  that  are  sweet  in  their 
source,  but  bitter  at  the  mouth. 

"Although  connected,  like  Wendell  Phillips  and  Edmund 
QmNCY,  with  some  of  the  first  families  in  New  England,  he 
cheerfully  and  modestly  identifies  himself  with  the  progress 
parties,  whom  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  of  this  genera- 
tion do  not  delight  to  honor.  Doubtless  he  is  fond  of  fame^ 
but  he  will  not  sacrifice  his  sentiments  to  obtain  it;  like 
Cato,  he  would  rather  have  posterity  inquire  why  no  statues 
were  erected  to  him,  than  why  they  were."  —  Rev.  H,  F. 
Bond,  in  Madison  Journal^  May  C,  1857. 


THE  LA.TB  WILLIA.M  A,  WHITE,  83 

The  late  Wm.  A.  White. — The  remains  of  Wm.  A,  White, 
which  were  lately  discovered  at  Milwaukee,  were  brought  to 
this  city  yesterday,  and  taken  to  Watertown,  where  they  were 
deposited  in  the  burial  place  of  his  family. 

Mr.  White  was  born  at  Watertown,  Sept  2, 1818,  and  was 
the  only  son  of  Abijah  White,  a  wealthy  citizen  of  that  place, 
who  died  in  1845,  and  whose  children,  besides  his  son,  were 
six  daughters,  one  of  whom,  now  deceased,  was  the  wife  of 
Professor  James  Russell  Lowell,  of  Cambridge.  The  rest  of 
the  daughters  are  still  living.  One  of  them  is  married  to  Col. 
Richardson,  Mayor  of  Worcester,  and  another  to  Charles 
W.  Elliott,  author  of  the  recently  published  History  of  New 
England. 

Mr.  White  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1833.  Among 
his  classmates  were  William  A spinwall,  Wendell  T.  Davis, 
Chas.  Devens,  Rufus  Ellis,  Wm.  W.  Story,  Nathan  Hale, 
Jr.,  and  Prof.'s  Eustis  and  LowelI,,  of  Harvard  University. 
Upon  leaving  College  he  entered  the  Law  School,  and  after- 
wards studied  in  the  office  of  B.  R.  Curtis,  now  one  of  the 
Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  He  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  but  practised  law  for  only  a  brief  period, 
as  h6  soon,  with  characteristic  ardor  and  energy,  threw  him- 
self into  the  Anti-Slavery  and  Temperance  movements,  in 
behalf  of  which  he  was  conspicuous  as  a  zealous  and  effect- 
ual speaker  and  writer. 

In  1843  he  made  an  anti-slavery  lecturing  tour  to  the  West, 
m  company  with  Geo.  Bradburn  and  Frederi  k  Douglass, 
and  while  in  Indiana  and  Illinois,  was  repeatedly  assailed  by 
mobs,  and  exposed  to  great  personal  danger.  On  one  occasion 
he  was  severely  injured  in  the  head  by  stones  and  brick-bats. 
After  his  return,  he  became  editor  and  publisher  of  the  Excel- 
sior, the  New  Eng/ander,  and  the  H^ashingtonian,,  temperance 
journals,  which  he  conducted  with  vigor  and  ability,  and  kept 
in  existence  at  the  expense  of  his  own  piivate  fortune,     la 


S4  SKETCHES  OF  WILLIAM  A.  WHITE. 

1854,  he  removed  to  the  West,  and  settled  in  Madison,  Wis- 
consin, where  he  soon  became  distinguished  as  an  able  and 
public-spirited  citizen.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  we  believe, 
he  was  Chairman  of  the  Republican  State  Committee.  In  1855 
he  married  a  daughter  of  Justin  Butterfield,  of  Chicago. 
He  had  been  previously  married  in  1846  to  Miss  Harriet 
Sturgis,  of  Roxbury,  who  died  in  1850,  leaving  two  children. 
In  October,  1856,  Mr.  White  went  from  Madison  to  Milwau- 
kee, to  attend  the  State  Agricultural  Fair.  On  the  ninth  of  Octo- 
ber he  went  to  Chicago  to  see  his  wife,  who  was  there  on  a 
visit  to  her  mother.  He  returned  to  Milwaukee  early  on  the 
morning  of  the  tenth,  took  breakfast  at  his  hotel,  and  walked 
out  immediately  afterwards.  He  was  quite  unwell  at  the 
time,  and  while  at  Chicago  had  complained  of  severe  head- 
ache and  nausea.  He  was  met  in  the  street  by  an  acquaint- 
ance at  a  short  distance  from  the  hotel,  and  was  not  again 
seen  alive.  It  appears  that  he  continued  his  walk  outside  the 
city  along  the  Lake  shore  for  about  two  miles,  until  he  reached 
a  solitary  bluff,  over-looking  the  water.  Here  he  probably 
was  seized  with  a  fit  or  disease  of  the  heart,  to  which  he  was 
subject,  and  died  while  seated  on  the  edge  of  the  bluff  look- 
ing down  upon  the  Lake.  The  body  was  found  abou^  a 
fortnight  ago,  by  a  boy,  near  the  foot  of  the  bluff,  to  which  it 
had  been  brought  by  the  fall  of  a  portion  of  the  bank. 

There  was  nothing  whatever  in  Mr.  White's  circumstances 
or  character  that  rendered  it  probable  that  he  had  committed 
suicide.  Notwithstanding  the  reports  to  the  contrary  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  it  has  been  ascertained  by  his  administra- 
tors that  his  pecuniary  affairs  were  in  a  good  condition.  His 
own  property,  inherited  from  his  father,  would  have  paid  his 
debts  twice  bVer.  His  wife  possessed,  in  her  own  right,  a 
very  large  property — an  ample  fortune,  in  fact.  He  was  sin- 
gularly happy  in  his  domestic  relations,  and  was  devotedly 
attached  to  his  young  children,  for  whose  sake,  in  fact,  he  had 


SKETCHES  OF  WILLIAM  A.  WHITE.  85 

been  led  to  settle  in  the  West.  It  is  not  to  be  presumed,  with- 
out evidence,  that  he  would,  without  cause,  voluntarily  de- 
sert them  by  taking  his  own  life. 

Mr.  White  possessed  fine  natural  abilities.  He  was  a 
fluent  and  impressive  speaker,  and  wrote  with  ease  and  pun- 
gency. He  had  a  keen  wit  and  a  strong  sense  of  humor,  which 
frequently  did  him  good  service  in  the  hot  debates  in  which 
he  was  engaged  as  an  anti-slavery  and  temperance  orator.  In 
character  he  was  in  the  highest  degree  frank,  manly,  generous 
and  upright.  He  was  incapable  of  a  mean  or  selfish  act,  and 
his  first  and  only  rule  of  action  was  to  do  what  was  right, 
without  regard  as  to  whether  it  was  expedient  When  satis- 
fied that  he  was  on  the  right  track,  he  went  ahead  with  a 
constitutional  courage  that  amounted  to  absolute  fearlessness. 
As  an  eminently  brave,  sincere,  and  honest  man,  who  earnest- 
ly sought  to  do  his  duty,  and  to  benefit  his  fellow  men,  at  the 
cost  of  much  personal  sacrifice  to  himself,  he  will  long  be 
remembered  with  affection  and  respect  by  an  unusually  ex- 
tensive circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances. — Boston  Travel- 
ler, May,  \S51. 


EARLY  JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 


JTo  apology  is  needed,  we  trust,  for  giving  place  in  this  work  to  the  follow- 
ing papers  upon  the  Eaily  Jesuit  Missionaries  in  the  North- West  The  Lec- 
ture of  Judge  Law,  the  critique  upon  it  bj  John  Q.  Shba.  and  the  closing 
paper  upon  both,  appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  Catholic  Telegraph,  published 
ttt  Cincinnati,  earlj  in  1855,  and  deserve  a  better  fate  than  but  too  generalljr 
attends  newspaper  publications.  Wisconsin  was  the  scene  of  many  of  the 
early  labors  of  Marqubttb,  Alloubz,  Dablon  and  their  heroic  and  adventurous 
eompeers ;  and,  with  pious  care,  should  we  preserve  every  scrap  relating  to 
their  early  perils,  sacrifices  and  discoveries.  We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Shka  for 
this  series  of  papers. 

Tbe  CalhoHc  Telegraph,  of  Feb.  10th,  1855,  introduced  Judge  Law's  Lectuni 
to  its  readere  by  the  following  editorial  notice  : 

•*  Judge  Law  has  kindly  consented  to  the  publication  of  his  address  before 
fbe  Catholic  Institute  of  this  city  on  the  31  st  January.  It  was  well  received 
hy  the  audience  aiid  the  press,  and  will  well  repay  perusal.  Such  documents 
'iorm  part  of  the  national  history,  and  should  be  caret  ully  preserved  for  future 
Tieference.  The  Democratic  Review  contained  a  portion  of  this  address,  written 
Jor  il  by  Judge  Law  a  few  years  ago,  and  the  subject  of  it  was  als«i  well  treated 
hj  the  lamented  Perkins,  in,  we  believe,  the  North  American  Review,  and  abw 
by  Bishop  Brutr  himself  in  the  columns  of  this  paper.  But  the  Lecture  showti 
|]aat  new  facts  and  views  were  still  in  reserve,  «hich  are  here  presented  in  aii 
agreeable  and  instructive  fonn.  In  the  name  of  the  luetitute,  and  otir.own,  w» 
tender  o«r  beet  thanks  to  the  author."  L.  0.  D. 


til 


;7» 

■m 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 


A  Lecture  delivered  before  the  Young  Men's  Catholic  Litera- 
ry Institute,  Cincinnati,  on  Wednesday  evening,  January 
3\st,  1855. 

BY  THE  HON.  JUDGE  LAW. 

The  record  of  the  eiforts  made  by  the  first  CathoUc  mis- 
sionaries on  this  Continent  to  substitute  the  mild  and  civiliz- 
ing influence  of  Christianity,  for  the  barbarous  superstitions 
and  demoniac  worship  of  the  savages  who  inhabited  it — ^to 
flash  the  torch-Hght  of  truth  on  eyes  so  long  accustomed  to 
the  twilight  of  error — to  draw  down,  as  it  were,  the  lightning 
of  Heaven  to  illuminate  the  darkness  of  Hell — to  any  one 
but  a  trained  soldier  of  the  Cross,  might,  under  all  the  circum- 
stances that  surrounded  so  dangerous  an  enterprise,  seem  a  spe- 
cies of  religious  fanaticism  and  folly,  unaccountable  for  upon 
any  system  of  human  reasoning.  But  the  venerable  fathers 
who  undertook  this  great  and  pious  work,  looked  to  no  human 
praise  for  their  reward — to  no  human  sympathy  for  their  toil 
or  their  suffering.  The  pioneers  in  this  great  and  benevolent 
enterprise,  like  the  first  discoverer  of  fire,  although  morally 
certain  of  bringing  wrath  on  their  own  heads,  and  of  being 
condemned  to  have  their  vitals  gnawed  by  the  flame  of  the 
funeral  pyre  that  surrounded  them  in  the  solitude  of  the  des- 
ert, with  no  eye  to  pity,  ho  arm  to  save,  and  supported  alone 
by  that  enthusiasm,  courage,  self-devotion,  and  patience  un- 
der their  sufferings,  which  so  eminently  characterized  theise 
12m 


53  JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IM  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

good  and  holy  men.  Death  for  them  had  no  sting,  the  grave 
no  victory.  Kissing  the  symbol  of  their  faith, — that  ,sign 
■which  they  well  know  must  sooner  or  later  conquer  even  the 
Red  Man  of  the  forest, — they  literally  gave  their  "dust  to 
dust,  and  ashes  to  ashes ;"  put  off  mortality  to  put  on  immor- 
tality ;  and  with  the  "  Te  Deum  laudamus'^  issuing  from  their 
parched  lips,  they  laid  down  their  lives  in  the  wilderness, — 
their  requiem  the  crackling  of  the  fagots,  their  funeral  anthemt 
the  war-whoop  of  the  Indian. 

It  is  now  nearly  twenty  years  since  my  attention  was 
called  to  the  "  labor  of  love  "  of  these  great  and  good  men — 
to  their  lives,  their  sufferings,  and  their  deaths  on  this  Conti- 
nent— by  one  of  the  very  best,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most 
learned,  of  the  Catholic  prelates  of  this  country, — a  man  who, 
while  he  lived,  was  possessed  of  every  virtue  that  adorns  the 
man,  and  who  now,  when  dead,  with  cherubim  and  seraphim 
worships  before  the  throne  of  that  Being  whose  footsteps  on 
.  earth  he  so  closely  walked  in,  whose  whole  counsels  he  kept, 
whose  commands  he  obeyed,  and  whose  whole  life  (as  all 
who  knew  him,  will  bear  me  testimony,)  was  on  earth  nearer 
to  that  of  a  "just  man  mafle  perfect"  than  any  other  mail 
that  I  have  ever  seen,  let  his  religious  creed  be  what  it  may; 
and  no  man  whom  I  have  ever  known — no  man  of  whom  I 
have  ever  read — has  exhibited,  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles, 
a  more  striking  evidence,  in  his  whole  life  and  conversation, 
of  Christian  faith,  of  Christian  hope,  and  Christian  charity, 
than  Simon  Gabriel  Brute,  Bishop  of  Vincennes. 

For  many  of  the  facts  which  are  new  in  the  address  I  am 
about  to  deliver  this  evening,  I  am  indebted  to  the  antiquarian 
zeal  and  research  of  that  great  and  good  man.  His  manu- 
script notes  connected  with  the  early  Jesuit  missions  in  the 
Korth-West,  I  have  in  his  own  hand  writing,  and  from  them 
have  collated  many  of  the  incidents  which  form  the  thread  of 
my  discourse.  Had  he  have  lived,  it  was  our  intention  to 
have  made  them  more  full,  and  to  have  published  them  in  a 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST.  91 

volume;  his  death  prevented  us  from  carrying  out  that  in- 
tention. 

The  late  publication  of  a  work  in  New  York,  entitled  the 
"History  of  the  Catholic  Missions  among  the  Indian  Tribes 
of  the  United  States,"  printed  by  Dunigan  &  Brother,  may 
ha^^^e  accomplished  the  object  intended.  I  have  not  seen  the 
work,  and  cannot  therefore  say  how  far  this  portion  of  West- 
ern Colonial  History  has  filled  the  pages  wanting. 

The  history  of  the  Catholic  Church  fVest,  is  rich  in  histori- 
cal recollections  and  incidents  connected  with  the  first  settle- 
ment of  that  great  empire,  extending  from  the  Hudson  to  the 
Columbia — from  the  AUeghanies  to  the  Rocky  Mountain* 
May  it  not  also  be,  that  in  the  same  extensive  region  the  hopes 
of  that  Church  are  sanguine  as  to  the  future?  Whatever 
may  be  the  fmition  of  them,  I  trust,  even  in  these  times,  as 
an  American,  claiming  my  descent  from  the  pilgrim  fathers 
of  New  England — as  a  Protestant,  brought  up  by  the  very 
Gamaliels  of  that  creed,  I  may  be  pardoned  in  saying,  thatia 
the  full  realization  of  those  hopes  I  apprehend  no  danger  to 
American  government,  Averican  institutions,  and  least  of 
all,  to  American  republicanism. 

There  is  no  one  subject  which  presents  to  the  mind  of  the 
antiquarian  and  the  scholar  a  finer  field  for  investigation,  than 
the  early  settlement  of  that  region  once  known  as  the  North- 
western Territory — comprehending  within  its  limits  an  em- 
pire, embracing  the  five  great  States  of  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Michigan,  Ohio,  and  Wisconsin.  When  a  portion  of  this 
Territory  was  first  discovered,  is  unknown.  The  Jesuit  Fa- 
ther, no  doubt,  was  the  first  white  man  who  "  paddled  his 
light  canoe  "  over  those  inland  seas,  extending  from  the  St 
Lawrence  to  the  further  limits  of  Lake  Superior;  and  long 
before  civilization  or  empire  had  extended  their  star  westward, 
he  had  unfurled  the  banner  of  the  cross  on  the  shores  of  Lakes 
Huron,  Michigan,  and  Superior;  and  the  missions  of  St 
Francis  Xavier,  at  Green  Bay,  of  St  Ignace,  at  Mackinaw,  of 


'  92  JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

St.  Mary,  at  the  Straits,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  show  conckisively  with  what  zeal  and  ardor  these 
■  heralds  of  the  cross  pushed  their  "  tabernacles  in  the  wilder- 
ness," and  made  known  to  these  wandering  Arabs  of  the 
prairies,  the  symbols  of  the  Christian's  faith,  and  the  mysteries 
of  their  holy  religion.     But  it  was  not  simply  as  stationed 
preachers,  that  these  good  and  great  men  attempted  the  con- 
version of  the  innumerable  multitude  who  then  swarmed  the 
shores  of  the  Lakes,  and  spread  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Ohio 
-• — from 'the  Miami  to  the  Father  of  Waters.     They  followed 
'^he  Indian  to  his  hunting-ground,  threaded  forests,  swam  riv- 
ers, bivouacked  with  their  troupe  in  the  immense  natural 
>^eadows  which  abound  in  that  region,  endured  hunger,  thirst, 
cold,   sufiering,  disease,  death.      The   supposed   conversion 
of  a  single  Indian  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  faith,  the 
^l^aptism  of  a  single  infant,  seems  to  have  been  to  them  an 
'^ample  reward  for  all  their  labor,  for  all  their  toil,  and  for  all 
their  suffering.     From  the  slight  memorials  which  have  come 
'^down  to  us,  of  the  labors  of  love  of  these  venerable,  intellect- 
ual, and  devoted  sons  of  the  Church,  it  is  evident  no  sacrifice 
was  too  great,  no  suffering  too  severe,  no  enterprise  too  hazard- 
ous, no  toil  unendurable,  which  led  to  the  accomplishment  of 
'•the  great  object  upon  the  success  of  which  they  had  periled 
their  all  in  this  life,  and  sought  that  crown  of  glory  in  the 
'tlext,  which  they  felt  sanguine  would  be  the  reward  of  their 
apostolic  labors  here.     "  I  have  been  most  amply  rewarded 
for  all  my  trials  and  suffering,"  says  one  of  the  lowly  followers 
of  Jesus,  after  having,  for  six  days,  lived  on  "  tripe  de  roche  " 
^'^nd  a  part  of  an  Indian  moccasin,  given  him  by  a  squaw,  "  I 
have  this  day  rescued  from  the  burning  an  infant  who  died 
from  hunger,  its  mother's  resources,  in  the  general  famine, 
having  failed  her;  I  administered  to  the  dying  infant  the 
sacred  rites  of  baptism ;  and  thank  God,  it  is  now  safe  from 
that  dreadful  destiny  which  befalls  those  who  die  without  the 
pale  of  our  most  holy  Church."     With  us,  in  the  latter  days. 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST.  93  ^ 

diifering,  as  many  do,  in  religious  opinion  from  this  schoo.  of. 
ecclesiastics,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  do  them  justice. 

As  a  whole,  their  history  has  been  little  studied  and  less 
understood.  They  have  neither  had  their  Livy  nor  their 
PoLTBius  ;  and  if  the  history  of  these  men,  of  their  exer- 
tions, of  their  influence,  of  their  actions,  for  good  or  evil,  ever 
is  to  be  written  with  candor,  it  must  be  loritten  in  this  coun- 
try— the  scene  of  many  of  their  labors,  and  we  might  well 
add,  of  their  sufferings  and  their  death.  No  subject  would 
form  a  more  imposing  theme  for  the  historian  ;  none  demands 
higher  qualifications,  more  laborious  research,  and  above  all, , 
the  most  dignified  superiority  to  all  the  prepossessions  of  age, 
of  country,  and  of  creed.  The  individual  who  has  closely 
examined  the  colonial  history  of  the  North-Western  Territo- 
ry cannot  but  be  struck  with  the  truth  of  the  remark,  that 
"  neither  commercial  enterprise  nor  royal  ambition  carried  th^e,; 
power  of  France  into  the  heart  of  our  Continent ;  the  motive 
was  religion.'^  The  same  religious  feeling  which  prompted 
our  pilgrim  fathers  to  plant  the  banner  of  the  cross  on  the 
sterile  rocks  of  Plymouth,  carried  it  to  the  borders  of  the 
Mississippi ;  and  while  the  influence  of  Calvin  is  lelt  in  the 
worship  and  schools  of  New  England,  the  no  less  powerfu 
impulses  of  Loyola,  and  his  followers  have  left  their  marks 
upon  the  whole  Algonquin  race,  who  dwelt  on  the  borders  qf 
the  Illinois  and  the  Wabash.  The  morning  matin  and  the 
evening  vespers  were  heard  amidst  the  war-whoop  of  the  In- 
dian, and  the  symbol  of  the  Christian's  faith,  to  this  day 
hangs  in  bold  relief  above  the  girdle  which  suspends  his 
tomahawk.  The  history  of  the  Jesuits'  labors  is  connected 
with  every  tribe  from  the  waters  of  the  Lac  Tracy  to  where 
La  Belle  Riviere  flows  into  the  Michasippa — ''  not  a  cape  W£^? 
turned,  nor  a  river  entered,  but  a  Jesuit  led  the  way.''  From 
the  period  when  Charles  Raymbault  and  Isaac  Jogues  ac- 
cepted the  invitation  of  the  Chippewas  to  visit  their  tribe  at 
the  Sault  St  Marie  in  1641,  down  to  the  middle  of  the  eigh- 


94  JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

teenth  century,  there  was  a  succession  of  missions,  not  only 
along  the  borders  of  the  Lakes,  but  at  St.  Joseph,  now  Vin- 
cennes,  on  the  Wabash,  among  the  Mascoutins,  the  Potta- 
wottamies,  the  Miamis ;  at  Peoria,  among  the  Illinois;  at 
Cahokia,  among  the  Tamarois  or  Cahokias;  at  Kaskaskia, 
and  along  the  shores  of  the  Mississippi ;  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Wisconsin  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio ;  down  the  whole 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Arkansas  and  the  Natchez. 
Wherever  the  Fleur  de  Lys  was  hoisted,  and  the  power  of 
the  "  Grand  Monarque"  made  known  to  the  Aborigines  of 
the  West,  the  humble  but  no  less  powerful  influence  of  that 
Sign  by  which  the  Jesuits  conquered  the  stubborn  hearts  and 
pagan  superstitions  of  these  powerful  nations  was  displayed  ; 
and  the  "  Manitou  "  of  the  Christian  was  acknowledged  and 
worshipped  as  the  only  true  God.  The  influence  of  their  ex- 
ertions is  felt  even  in  the  nineteenth  century,  among  the  rem- 
nants of  those  tribes  which  once  lorded  it  over  this  "  Western 
Barbary  ;"  and  it  was  no  idle  boast  of  Le  Jeune  when  he 
said,  "  The  Mohawk  and  the  feebler  Algonquin  shall  make 
their  home  together;  the  wolf  shall  lie  down  with  the  lamb, 
and  a  little  child  shall  lead  them."  Their  bows  have  indeed 
been  broken,  and  their  tomahawks  turned  into  plough-shares  ; 
but  whether  their  condition  has  been  bettered  by  the  progress 
of  civilization,  is  a  problem  yet  to  be  solved. 

There  were  three  routes  taken  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  on 
their  pilgrimage  to  the  tribes  bordering  the  Mississippi — all 
three  passing  out  of  Lake  Michigan.  The  first  up  the  St 
Joseph's  and  thence  into  the  Wabash  ;  the  second  up  the  Chi- 
cago river,  thence  by  a  portage  across  into  the  Kankiki,  (called 
on  the  old  maps  Teakiki,)  and  thence  into  the  Illinois  ;  the 
third  route,  taken  by  Marquette  and  Joliet,  ascending  the 
Fox,  and  descending  the  Wisconsin  to  the  Mississippi. 
That  one  or  more  of  these  routes  had  been  traversed  by 
the  Jesuit  Fathers  years  before  Marquette  and  Joliet 
launched  their  frail  bdik,  in  1C73,  on  the  waieis  of  the  Miss- 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  MT  THE  NORTH- WEST.  |>S^ 

issippi,  is  susceptible  of  proof;  and  that  the  Mississippi  had 
be€n  known,  and  the  tribes  inhabiting  it  visited,  and  the 
missions  established,  before  Marquette  even  coasted  its  bor- 
ders, is  now  well  understood.     As  early  as  the  year  1652, 
twenty  years  before  Marquette  and  Joliet  started  on  their 
voyage  of  discovery  to  the  "great  river  Mechasippi,"  Father 
Jean  Dequerre,  Jesuit,  went  from  the  mission  on  the  Supe- 
rior to  the  Illinois,  and  established  a  flourishing  mission, 
probably  the  mission  of  "  St  Louis,"   where  Peoria  is  now 
situated.     He  visited  various  Indian  nations  on  the  borders 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  was  slain  in  the  midst  of  his  apostol- 
ic labors,  in  1661. 

In  1657,  Father  Jean  Charles  Drocoux,  Jesuit,  went  to 
Illinois,  and  returned  to  Quebec  the  same  year. 

In  1670,  Father  Hugues  Pinet,  Jesuit,  went  to  the  Illinois 
and  established  a  mission  among  the  Tan)arois,  or  Cahokias, 
at  or  near  the  present  site  of  the  village  of  Cahokia,  on  the 
borders  of  the  Mississippi.  He  remained  there  until  the  year 
1685,  and  was  at  that  mission  when  Marquette  and  Joliet 
went  down  the  Mississippi.  In  the  same  year  M.  Bergier, 
priest  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec,  succeeded  him  in  the  mis- 
sion to  the  Tamarois  or  Cahokias  ;  and  Father  Pinet  returned 
to  the  mission  of  St  Louis,  (Peoria,)  where  he  remained  un- 
til he  died,  the  15th  of  July,  1704,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine. 

In    1663,  Father  Claude  Jean  Allouez  was  appointed 

Vicar-General  of  the  North  and  West,   including    Illinois, 

He  preached  to  the  Pottawottamies  and  Miamis  about  Greea 

Bay;  in  1665  he  returned  to  Quebec,  and  went  to  the  Illinois 

in  16(i8,  and  visited  the  missions  on  the  Mississip()i. 

In  167t),  "M.  Augustine  Meulan  de  Circe,"  priest  of  the 
Seminary  of  Quebec,  went  to  Illinois.  He  left  the  mission 
there  in  1675,  returned  to  France,  was  sent  missionary  to 
Siam,  made  Bishop  in*1708,  nominated  Vicar-Apostolical  of 
China,  and  in  1713  was  in  Japan.  Thus  it  will  he  seen,  that 
(or  tw€7it7/ years,  to  wit,  from  1653  to  1673,  anterior  to  the 


96  JESUIT  MISSIOI^ARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

discovery  of  Marquette  and  Joliet,  there  was  a  succession 
of  missions  in  the  lUinois,  and  one  of  them,  that  of  Cahokia, 
estabUshed  on  the  very  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  There  are 
no,  other  memorials  of  these  missions  now  extant,  as  known 
to  us,  except  those  preserved  in  the  Seminary  of  Quebec ; 
from  a  copy  of  which  the  above  notices  are  taken.  The  only 
object  is  to  show,  that  for  years  before  Marquette  and  Joli- 
et visited  the  country,  the  Mississippi  had  been  discovered, 
and  missions  actually  established  on  its  borders.  That  these 
good  Fathers  made  notes  of  their  travels,  and  rendered  an 
account  of  the  various  Indian  tribes  which  they  visited  along 
the  "  Father  of  Waters,"  to  their  Superior,  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  What  have  become  of  these  memorials  of  early 
western  adventure  and  discovery  noAv,  it  is  impossible  to  say. 
That  they  would  throw  much  light  on  the  early  history  of 
the  West,  there  can  be  no  doubt 

It  will  be  remembered  by  all  who  have  taken  any  interest 
in  the  settlement  oi '^  la  Nouvelle  France^^  that  in  the  year 
16)88,  the  government  of  Canada,  civil  and  military,  was  con- 
fided by  Louis  XIII  to  one  hundred  associates,  at  the  head 
of  whom  was  the  celebrated  Cardinal  Richelieu.  Hostilities 
commenced  the  same  year  between  England  and  France,  and 
the  first  vessels  sent  out  by  the  Company  of  New  France  were 
captured  by  the  English.  M.  de  Champlain  commanded  at 
Quebec.  The  inhabitants,  reduced  to  seven  ounces  of  bread 
per  diem,  and  the  garrison  with  but  five  hundred  pounds  of 
powder  in  the  magazine,  were  summoned  to  a  surrender. 
Champlain,  although  at  the  greatest  extremity,  refused  to  do  so. 

To  add  to  the  misfortunes  of  the  colony,  the  French 
squadron,  under  command  of  M.  de  Roquemont,  one  of  the 
associates,  and  bringing  relief  to  the  colony,  was  captured  by 
the  English  in  the  St  Lawrence.  The  savage  allies  of  the 
French,  since  the  approach  of  the  English,  became  alienated ; 
and  all  the  firmness  of  Champlain  could  not  arrest  the  dis- 
orders daily  accruing  in  this  new  settlement     The  necessary 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  m  THE  IS'ORTH-WEST.  97 

consequence  was  the  surrender  of  the  garrison,  with  the  hon- 
ors of  war,  to  the  EngUsh.  The  French  were  permitted  to 
retire  without  molestation ;  but  the  greater  part  of  the  inhab- 
itants chose  to  remain  in  the  province.  The  capture  of 
Quebec  is  attributed  by  Charlevoix  to  the  perfidy  of  some 
^^  French  Calvlnists/'  among  whom  the  most  conspicuous 
was  Jacques  Michel  ;  and  who,  according  to  Charlevoix, 
was  acting  on  board  the  English  squadron  in  the  capacity  of 
vice-admira).  Whether  this  was  so  or  not,  it  is  now  too  late 
to  determine.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  Canada,  in  the  year  1632, 
was  again  ceded  to  the  French  crown  by  the  treaty  of  St. 
Germain.  In  1633  the  Company  of  New  France  was  restored 
to  all  its  rights ;  and  M.  de  Champlain,  being  appointed  Gov- 
ernor-General of  Canada,  sailed  from  France  with  a  squadron 
to  take,  possession  of  it,  carrying  with  him  the  Jesuit  Fathers 
Brebeuf  and  Evremond  Masse.  Precise  orders  were  given 
by  Louis  XIII,  that; no  Protestant  should, settle  in  Canada, 
and  no  other  religioU  than  the  Catholic  should  be  tolerated. 
Among  the  great  number  of  Indian  tribes  which  were  found 
in  the  country,  and  which  opened  to  the  missionaries  a  vast 
field  for  the  exercise  of  their  functions,  none  seemed  to  claim 
their  attention  more  than  the  Hurons.  Champlain  had  for  a 
long  time  formed  the  design  of  making  an  establishment  in 
their  country.  Inhabiting  the  immense  region  between  the 
Lakes  Ontario,  Erie  and  Huron,  mostly  along  the  northern 
and  eastern  borders  of  the  two  last,  a  nation  numerous, 
amounting  to  40,000  or  50,000  souls,  when  first  known  to  the 
French,  whose  true  name  was  "Yendats,"  but  to  whom  the 
French  had  given  the  name  of  "Hurons/'  from  the  French 
word  hure,  owing  to  the  peculiar  manner  in  which  they  wore 
their  hair.  "  Quelles  Hures  /"  said  the  French,  when  they 
first  saw  them;  hence  the  word  "Hurons.''*  The  object  of 
CHAMPtAiN  was  to  make  this  country  the  centre  of  mission- 
n '■ • : : 

*  Charlevoix,  I,  184. 

13m 


98  JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

ary  labors  of  the  Jesuits,  from  whence,  as  a  starting-point, 
they  might  spread  the  CathoUc  religion  among  the  vast  tribes 
supposed  to  inhabit  the  country  South  and  West.  The  Fa- 
thers Brebeuf  and  Daniel  were  the  first  missionaries.  In 
1634,  after  great  delay,  owing  to  the  unwillingness  of  the 
Hurons  to  take  them,  they  departed  from  Quebec,  and  with 
great  difficulty  and  danger  arrived  at  their  mission  and  built 
a  small  chapel,  which  they  dedicated  to  "  St.  Joseph."  The 
fruit  of  their  labors  was  small.  Some  five  or  six  adults  were 
baptized;  but  they  consoled  themselves  with  the  fact  "of 
having  assured  the  eternal  safety  of  a  great  number  of  infants, 
who  expired  immediately  after  having  received  the  rites  of 
baptism."  The  Indians  listened  to  the  relations  of  these  good 
Fathers  relative  to  the  mysteries  of  their  most  holy  religion, 
but  it  must  be  acknowledged  the  results  were  but  indifferent ; 
and  even  when  they  exhibited  the  marks  of  entire  conviction, 
"  it  was  evident  they  had  not  paid  the  least  attention  to  what 
was  said,  nor  comprehended  it  if  they  had." 

"  I  saw  you  had  no  person  to  keep  you  company,"  said  one 
of  the  Huron  chiefs  to  the  missionary,  whom,  from  the  atten- 
tion, modesty,  and  reverence  manifested,  the  good  father  hoped 
to  convert, — "  I  saw  you  had  no  person  to  keep  you  company 
and  pray  with  you.  I  had  compassion  on  your  solitude,  I 
therefore  remained  with  you.  As  others  now  wish  to  render 
you  the  same  service,  I  will  retire." 

Even  some  who  went  so  far  as  to  demand  and  receive 
baptism,  and  performed,  for  some  time,  all  the  outward  duties 
of  a  convert,  acknowledged  they  had  done  it  with  a  view  of 
pleasing  the  "  Robe  Noire,"  who  had  persuaded  them  to 
change  their  religion. 

,  "  You  preach  well,"  said  a  Huron  chief  to  Father  Brebetjp, 
"  and  there  is  nothing  in  all  you  teach  us  but  what  is  proba- 
bly true  enough,  and  will  answer  for  those  beyond  the  sea, 
from  whence  you  came ;  but  do  you  not  see  we  inhabit  a 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST.  99 

world  entirely  different  from  yours,  and  should  have  another 
heaven,  and  by  consequence  another  way  to  get  there  ?" 

Such  were  the  unsophisticated  notions  of  these  sons  of  the 
forest. 

"  These  savages,"  says  one  of  these  reverend  fathers,  "  have 
proposed  for  our  consideration  all  the  objections  to  our  faith 
ever  made  by  the  wisest  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  to  the 
earliest  Apostles." 

This  was  the  first  mission  established  west  of  Lake  Erie ; 
yet  before  the  end  of  the  year  1636,  there  were  counted  six 
Jesuit  missionaries  in  the  different  Huron  villages,  besides 
many  Frenchmen  who  had  followed  them.  In  the  year  1642^* 
the  Jesuits  established  their  mission  at  Sault  St.  Marie.  A 
deputation  of  the  tribe  dwelling  there  came  to  St  Joseph,  and 
Fathers  Isaac  Jogues  and  Charles  Raymbault  were  sent 
with  the  deputation  to  the  Sault.  They  were  soon,  however, 
recalled.  This  is  the  same  Father  Jogues  who,  on  his  re-- 
turn  from  the  Huron  mission  to  Quebec,  was  taken  prisoner 
by  the  Iroquois,  suffered  the  greatest  indignities,  was  mutilated 
in  his  hands,  scourged  in  three  villages,  and  finally  redeemed 
by  a  Dutch  officer  from  Fort  Orange,  now  Albany.  He  returned 
to  France,  and  demanded  from  the  Pope  the  liberty  of  cele- 
brating Mass  with  his  mutilated  hands.  Consent  was  given 
in  these  remarkable  words:  ^' Indignum  esset  Christi  marty^* 
rem,  Christi  non  bibere  sanguintmP  He  returned  from 
France  to  Canada,  established  a  mission  among  the  Iroquois, 
and  was  slain  by  them  in  1646. 

The  fate  of  the  Hurons  was  truly  pitiable.  Of  their  vari-^ 
ous  villages,  those  which  were  not  destroyed  by  pestilence  and 
famine,  were  attacked  by  their  old  enemies,  the  Iroquois ;  and 
as  no  quarter  was  given  by  these  modern  Goths,  they  were 
butchered  en  masse.  Weak,  powerless,  overcome,  the  very 
name  of  an  Iroquois  alarmed  them.  Two  whole  villages 
voluntarily  surrendered  themselves,  and  were  adopted  into  the 
Six  Nations,  others  fled  to  the  tribes  South  and  West,  others 


100  JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN"  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

joined  the  English,  and  some  established  themselves  in  what 
is  now  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  Not  only  the  country  of 
the  Hurons,  but  the  whole  borders  of  the  Ottawas,  were  aban- 
doned; and  three  hundred  Hurons,  accompanied  by  their 
missionary,  Father  Ragueneau,  were,  in  1650,  led  back  by 
him  from  the  mission  of  St.  Joseph  to  the  very  walls  of  Que- 
bec, where,  under  the  guns  of  the  fort,  and  the  protection  of 
their  "  great  father  Ononthio,"  they  were  induced  to  believe 
they  could  find  safety:  from  the  exterminating  enemies  of  their 
tribe  and  kindred,  the  fierce  and  bloody  Iroquois.  The  entire 
destruction  in  1655,  by  the  Iroquois,  of  the  "  Nation  du  Chat, 
ou  Heries,"  who  inhabited  the  southern  borders  of  Lake 
Erie,  and.^wh9se;y€^;y  existence  as  a  nation  is  known  at  the 
the  present  day  only  by  the  name  given, by  them  to  the  lake 
(Erie)  on  which  they  dwelt,  is  a  sad  memorial  of  what  would 
have  been  the  fate .  of  the  Huron,  had  he  not  deserted  his 
hunting  ground^  andrithe  graves  of  his  ancestors,  and  sought 
protection  from  his  more  warlike  neighbors.  But  even  there 
he  was  not  safe.  Many  a  Huron  scalp  has  been  carried  £is  a 
trophy  to  his;  tribe  by  the  fearless  Onondaga,  who  has  sought 
l^j^-jy^ictim  under  ftfee  bastions  of  Fort  Levi  on  the  plains  of 
«  Sylleri." 

In  the  years  1687-9,  Father  Maret  and  another  Jesuit 
es,tablished,aAmissipu  among  the  Sioux,  In  1663,  the  Mar- 
qjjjifis  DB  Tr Ao«'/Lietiten'ant-G'eneraI  iii  the  French  armies,  was 
named  Viceroy  pf  "laNouvelle  France,"  Mi  be  Courcellbs, 
Governor,  and  the  celebrated  Talon,  Intendant.  Affairs  then 
presented ;  a  new  aspie^t.  .  The  "  regiment  de  Carignan,"  (in 
\Vihixih  Fb^N'Q©i&  iM-OBii^^f  Vincennes,  the  founder  of  Vincen- 
ries,,on  the  Wabash,  was  an  officer,)  arrived  in  the  colony  in 
1665,  accompanied  by;  M,  de  Tracy.  An  expedition  was 
undertaken  ;f?@ainst  the  Iroquois,  many  of  their  settlements 
destroyedjsualdrthis  formidable  enemy  of  New  France  humili- 
ated. It  was  ;a  primary  object  with  the  Viceroy  to  endeavor, 
if  possi  h^dupQ'the  Red  Menito  adopt  the  language,  hab- 


JESUIT  MISSIOI^" ARIES  IN  THE  NORTH- WEST.  loi 

its,  and  manners  of  their  conquerors ;  but  this,  like  every 
other  experiment  of  the  same  kind, -for  upwards  of  a  century, 
entirely  failed.  In  1667,  M.  de  Tracy  returned  to  Francd^ 
M.  de  Talon  was  left  as  his  successor.  In  the  mean  tim^ 
new  missions  were  established  in  the  West.  The  Ottawas, 
who  had  their  villages  on  the  east  side  of  the  straits  connect- 
ing Lakes  Erie  and  St.  Clair,  in  the  Bay  of  Sagamon,  and  the^ 
western  end  of  Lake  Huron,  sent  a  deputation  to  Quebec  ^ 
and  the  Father  Claude  Allouez,^  dt^  their  solicitaticwi,  waS" 
sent  as  a  missionary  to  their  tribe.  The  sufferings  elidurecl 
in  the  same  mission,  but  a  few  years  before,  hf  the  Fathers' 
Garreau  and  Mesnard,  did  not  deter  this  holy  man  from  th^ 
performance  of  what  he  conceived  bis  duf^y'td'  his  God  arid 
his  fellow  men.  He  arrived  at  the  Sault  the  first  of  Septem- 
ber, 1668,  but  he  did  not  stop  there.  Hb  employed  the  whole 
month  of  September  in  coasting  the  southern  portion  of  Lake'' 
Superior,  T^here  he  met  many  Christians  baptized  by  Father 
Mesnard.  "I  had  the  pleasure,"  says  this  venerable  man^ 
"  of  assuring,  by  baptism,  the  eternal  salvation  of  many  a  dy--* 
ing  infant."  His  success  with  the  adults  seems  to  liave  been 
less.  At  Chagouamigon,  or  St.  Michael,  on  the  south-We^tertf 
side  of  Lake  Superior,  there  were  gathered  eight  hundred? 
warriors  of  different  nations;- a^ "chapel  was  built 5  among 
them  were  several  trib^^  Hv-ho  understood  the  Algonquin  laiW 
gUiage.  So  fine  an  oSBa^loiiTor  exercising'  liis  zeal  could'  ittSi 
be  overlooked.  "  I  spoke  in  the  Algonquin  language,"  says 
he, "  for  a  long  time,  on  the  subject  of  the  Christian  religion^ 
in  an  earnest  and  powerful  manner,  but  in  language  suited  tb* 
the  capacity  of  my  audieiice.  '  t  wa^  grektly  applauded,  biit 
this  Was  the  only  fruit  of  my  labors."  Among  the  number 
assembled,  were  three  hundred  Pottawottamies,  two  hundred' 
Sauks,  eighty  Illinoians. 

'* 'In  the  year  1668,  peace  having  been  established  between 
the  French  and  the  Six  Nations,  many  discoveries  were  made, 
and  many  new  missions  established.     In  this  year  Fathcrl 


log  JESUIT  MISS lOlS" ARIES  IN  THE  ^ORTH-WEST. 

Dablon  and  Marquette  went  to  the  mission  of  Sault  St. 
Marie.  In  the  same  year,  Father  Nicholas,  who  was  on  the 
mission  with  Allouez,  conducted  a  deputation  of  "  Nez 
Perces,"  an  Algonquin  tribe,  to  Quebec,  and  Father  Allouez 
went  to  the  mission  at  Green  Bay.  Sault  St.  Marie  was  made 
the  centre  of  their  missionary  labors  among  the  Algonquin 
tribes.  In  the  year  1671,  Nicholas  Perrot  was  sent  by  M. 
Courcelles  (Intendant  in  the  province,  in  the  absence  of  M. 
Talon,  who  had  gone  to  France  on  a  special  mission,)  to  the 
Algonquin  tribes,  to  induce  them  to  send  deputies  to  the 
Sault  St.  Marie,  for  the  purpose  of  entering  into  an  alliance 
with  the  French  visiting  the  tribes  north,  with  whom  the 
French  had  commerce ;  he  left  the  straits  and  went  to  visit 
the  Miamis,  at  Chicago.  "  Tetenchoua  ^'  was  the  head  chief 
of  the  nation,  and  could  bring  into  the  field  four  or  five  thou- 
sand combatants.  He  himself  seems  to  have  preserved  the 
dignity  and  state  of  royalty,  as  he  never,  according  to  Perrot, 
moved  "  without  a  guard  of  forty  warriors,  who  kept  watch 
day  and  night  about  his  cabin.^'  His  reception  was  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  dignity  of  the  chief,  and  the  rank  of  the 
ambassador.  Perrot  remained  among  the  Miamis  some 
days.  The  chief  would  have  accompanied  him,  but  was, 
owing  to  his  age,  dissuaded  from  doing  so  by  his  subjects. 
He  gave  full  power,  however,  to  the  deputation  of  Pottawot- 
tamies,  who  accompanied  Perrot,  to  act  for  him  at  the  con- 
ference at  the  Sault.  Perrot  was  unable  to  visit  the  Mas- 
coutins  or  the  Kickapoos,  but  returned  to  the  Straits.  The 
conference  took  place  in  the  month  of  May,  1671.  Father 
Allouez  made  them  a  speech ;  deputies  were  in  attendance 
from  all  the  tribes  north  as  far  as  Hudson's  Bay.  The  depu- 
ties acknowledged  subjection  to  the  French  monarch,  aad 
declared  they  would  have  no  king  but  the  "  Grand  Ononthio 
of  the  French."  Two  cedar  posts  were  placed  in  the  ground, 
and  to  these  were  attached  the  cross  and  the  arms  of  France ; 
and  the  envoy,  M.  de  St.  Lusson,  declared,  through  Father 


JESUIT  MISSIOJi'ARIES  IN"  THE  XORTH-WEST.  103 

Allouez  as  his  interpreter,  that  he  took  possession  of  the 
whole  country  in  the  name  of  the  French  monarch,  and 
placed  all  the  inhabitants  under  his  protection.  The  whole 
ceremony  finished  with  a  "  Te  Deum,"  and  a  discharge  of 
fire-arms. 

In  1671,  Louis  de  Baude,  Comte  de  Frontenac,  became 
the  successor  of  M.  de  Courcelles  in  the  government  of 
New  France.     In  the  short  space  of  time  that  the  talented 
and  enterprising  de  Talon  was  employed  as  Intendant  in 
New  France,  he  established  the  authority  of  his  master  in  the 
extreme  North,  and  far  in  the  West  he  had  already  under- 
taken new  discoveries.     Not  only  by  the  report  of  the  tribes 
who  dwell  along  the  further  end  of  Lake  Superior,  but  of 
those  who  occupied  the  country  in  the  southern  bend  of  , 
Lake  Michigan,  as  well  as  from  the  relation  of  the  Jesuit^ 
Fathers,  it  was  known  that  to  the  west  of  "Nouvelle  France" 
there  was  a  great  river,  supposed  to  run  south,  and  most, 
probably  emptying  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  if  it  ran  that, 
course,  or  that  of  California,  if  it  ran  west     This  river  was 
called  "  Mechasippi"  by  some,  by  others  "  Micisippi."     The 
spirited  and  enterprising  Talon  was  unwilling  to  leave  the. 
province  until  he  had  made  some  arrangement  for  its  explor- 
ation.    He  charged  the  Father  Marquette  with  the  expedi- 
tion, and  gave  him  for  his  companion  the  Sieur  Joliet,  a 
citizen  of  Quebec,  a  man  active  and  enterprising,  and  fully 
capable  of  sustaining  the  fatigues  of  such  an  enterprise.     No 
individual  could  have  been  better  fitted  for  such  an  under- 
taking than  the  Father  Marquette.     In  1663  he  was  estab- 
lished at  the  mission  of  St  Joseph,  on  the  river  which  bears 
that  name,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  present  State  of  In- 
diana, and  labored  among  the  Pottawottamies  located  there. 
In  1668  we  have  seen  he  was  engaged  with  Father  Dablon 
at  Sault  St  Marie,  to  which  place  he  accompanied  Father 
Dablon,  with  the  Ottawas,     He  had  traversed  the  great  lakes, 
had  intercourse  with  the  various  tribes  who  inhabited  there, 


104  JESUIT  MISSIONAPJES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST, 

spoke  several  o(  the  Algonquin  languages,  and  no  doubt  had 
heard  not  only  from  the  Pottawottamies,  but  from  the  Sacs, 
the  Sioux,  and  more  particularly  from  the  Ilhnois,  who  attend- 
ed the  conference  at  "  Chagouamigon,*'^!  of  the  exis^tence  of  the 
river  and  its  general  course,  of  the  tribes  who  dwelt  on  its 
borders,  and  all  the  particulars  necessary  to  be  known  to  one 
who  contemplated,  as  he  says  he  did,  "  its  discovery."  The 
difficulties  of  communication  between  these 'remote  plaints — 
Quebec  and  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi — ^had  probably  pre- 
vented any  communication  between  the  missionaries  who  had 
preceded  him  and  their  Superior,  at  the  time  Marquette  em- 
fearked  on  his  voyage;  though  it  is  to  be- presumed  tlmt 
Marquette  was  not  ignorant  as  Me' as  167 3y  when  'he  left 
Green  Bay,  that  missions  had  been  already  established  in  the 
Illinois  some  years  before;  and  the  eclat  attending  the  dis- 
covery might  have  induced  him  to  withhold  all  the  source^ 
df '  Kftformation,  which  as  a  discoverer  alone,  and  not  as  a 
TYiissionary ,  might  have  been  in  his  possession. 
'<  I  feel  no  disposition  to  detract  at  all  from  Father  Mar- 
quette any  portion  of  the  merit  which  propei?Iy  belongs  to 
him.  It  is  certain  that  to  his  journal  we  owe  our  first  knowl- 
edge of  the  "Father  of  Waters."  With  Joliet  as  his  com- 
panion, he  entered  the  "  Mechasippi,"  in  his  bark  canoe,  on 
the  17th  of  June,  1673;  having  ascended  the  Fox- fi"om>Green 
Bay,  and  crossing  the  Portage,  descended  the  Ouis'eonsin  until 
its  confluence  with  the  Mississippi.  Leaving  their  frail  bark  to 
the  guidance  of  the  swift  current  of  the  river,  they  descended 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois.  .-Three  leagiies  below,  the  junc- 
tion bf  the  Missouri  (called  by  Mar qutte  "Pekitanoui'-)* 
with  the  Mississippi,  they  found  three  villages  of  the  Illinois. 
They  remained  here  some  days,  and  again  embarking,  de- 


'*  On  page  38th  of  Shea's  Discovery  of  the  Missigsipin  Yalley,  is  the  follow*' 
ing  note  on  this  word  :  "  The  name  here  given  by  Marquette,  Pekitanoui,  that 
is,  Mnddy  Water,  prevailed  till  Marest's  time,  (1712.)  A -branch' of  Roclc 
river  is  still  called  Pekatonica.  The  R&collect^  called  the  Missouri,  the  river  of 
theOzages."  '         -^^  L.  C.  D. 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST.  iq$ 

scended  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  the  Arkansas.  The  prior- 
visions  and  munitions  beginning  to  fail  them,  and  beUeving 
it  imprudent  to  advance  further  into  a  country  whose  inhab- 
itants were  unknown,  and  feehng  perfectly  satisfied  from  the 
course  of  the  river  that  it  discharged  itself  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  not  into  the  Gulf  of  California,  they  retraced 
their  steps  to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  ascended  that  river  t J 
the  Portage,  and  thence  into  Lake  Michigan.  Majiquette 
remained  at  the  mission  of  the  Miamis,  at  Chicago,  and  al- 
ternately attended  this  and  the  mission  of  the  Pottawottamies^ 
on  the  St  Joseph.  Joliet  returned  to  Quebec  to  render  an 
account  of  their  voyage  to  Talon,  but  found  he  had  returned 
to  France.  Father  Marquette  remained  at  the  mission  for 
two  years  after  his  voyage,  of  which  he  gave  a  relation,  pub- 
lished in  1687,  under  the  modest  title  of  '^ Decouverte  de 
quelques  pays  et  Nation  de  PJimerique  SeptentrionaleJ'^ 

When  on  his  voyage  from  Chicago  to  the  Isle  of  Macki^ 
naw  he  entered,  the  18th  day  of  May,  1675,  the  mouth  of  a 
small  river  on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  knowfi 
on  the  old  maps  as  "Riviere  du  P.  Marquette,'^*  erected  his 
altar  for  the  purpose  of  saying  mass  at  some  little  distance 
from  the  companions  of  his  voyage,  having  first  requested 
the  two  men  who  were  his 'voyageurs  to  leave  him  alone  foT 
the  space  of  half  an  hour.  This  time  having  expired,  his 
companions  went  in  search  of  him,  and  were  astonished  to 
find  him  dead.  The  soul  of  this  good  and  great  man  had 
taken  its  flight  to  another  and  better  world;  and  in  accord- 
ance with  a  presentiment  no  doubt  entertained  by  him,  as  he 
remarked  to  his  companions  when  landing,  "Here  will  be  the 
end  of  my  voyage."  As  it  was  too  far  to  Mackina  to  remove 
his  body  there,  it  was  buried  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  which, 


*  According  to  the  map  of  Charlevoix,  accompanying  his  "  Histoire  de  la 
NoiTvelle  France,"  1744,  the  location  of  the  "Riviere  du  P.Maequettk"  is 
placed  further  north  than  it  is  on  the  recent  maps  of  Michigan  ;  and  it  is  the 
third  river  south  of"  Bay  du  Travers,"  known  on  the  modern  maps  as  "  Riviere 
au  Betsies."  J.  L. 

14m 


106  JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

according  to  Charlevoix,  who  visited  it  in  1721,  had,  since 
the  burial  of  Marquette,  "  receded  little  by  little  from  the 
grave,  as  if  respecting  the  burial-place."  The  following  year, 
one  of  the  two  voyageurs  who  had  accompanied  him,  and 
assisted  in  performing  the  last  duties  to  this  enterprising  and 
devoted  son  of  the  Church,  returned  to  the  place  where  he 
had  been  interred,  and  carried  his  remains  to  Mackina.  The 
Indians,  after  his  death,  gave  to  the  stream  on  which  he  was 
buried  the  name  of  "  Riviere  de  la  Robe  Noire  ;'^  the  French, 
that  of  "  P.  Marquette  ;"  and  these  voyageurs  of  the  inland 
sea  of  Michigan,  for  years,  did  not  fail  to  invoke  the  spirit  of 
the  sainted  man,  as  their  frail  barks  braved  the  tempest  of  the 
lake,  on  their  annual  voyages  to  Mackina ;  and  the  Algon- 
quin, as  he  coasted  its  borders  or  hunted  along  its  banks,  cast 
his  votive  offering  on  the  resting-place  of  one  whose  amenity 
of  manners,  goodness  of  heart  and  kindness  of  feeling,  had 
endeared  him  to  every  tribe  from  the  mouth  of  the  Huron  to 
Sault  St.  Marie — from  Chicago  to  Michilimackina.  Yet  at 
this  time  not  a  cross  marks  the  place  of  his  death,  not  a  stone 
shows  that  of  his  grave ;  and  the  traveler,  as  he  is  carried  by 
the  genius  of  Fulton,  with  all  the  appliances  of  comfort  and 
luxury,  through  the  waters  of  Michigan,  may  inquire  in  vain 
where  he  died  or  where  he  was  buried. 

In  the  prairies  to  the  west  of  the  southern  part  of  Lake 
Michigan,  between  the  country  occupied  by  the  Foxes  and 
the  Illinois  river,  dwelt  a  tribe  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  of  whom,  so  far  as  we  know,  not  a  vestige 
now  remains.  They  were  known  on  the  old  maps  as  the 
"  Mascoutins,  or  Nation  de  Feu."  Charlevoix  states  that 
the  true  name  was  "  Mascoutenec,"  signifying  an  "  open 
country."  The  Pottawottamies  pronouncing  it  "  Mascouten," 
from  them  the  French  had  taken  the  name ;  and  as  the  word 
in  the  Pottawatomie  language,  or  a  word  similar  to  it,  was 
translated  "  fire,"  the  name  of  "  Nation  de  Feu  "  was  given 
to  them.     The  Kickapoos  were  their  neighbors,  and  in  inter- 


t   !- 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IK"  THE  NORTH-WEST.  107 

est  were  united  with  the  Mascouteils.  Whether  this  last  tribe 
were  amalgamated  with  the  first,  and  lost  their  original  name, 
it  is  impossible  to  say.  They  were  visited  by  the  Jesuit  mis-  ' 
sionaries ;  and  Fathers  Allouez  and  Dablon,  in  1674,  met 
the  chief  of  the  Miamis,  "  Tetenchoua/'  with  three  thousand 
braves,  at  their  village.  The  fear  of  the  Sioux  and  the  Iro- 
quois, had  united  those  two  tribes  against  their  common  ene- 
my. The  relation  attributed  to  Tonti,  however,  mentions 
"  Mansolia,"  a  secret  emissary  of  the  Iroquois  of  the  neigh- 
boring nation  of  "  Mascoutens,^'  as  having  made  his  appear- 
ance in  1678  in  the  Illinois  ;  but  we  conceive  very  little  credit 
is  to  be  attached  to  the  work  itself;  as  Tonti,  who  was  lieu- 
tenant of  La  Salle,  and  accompanied  him  to  the  Illinois, 
where  he  was  left  in  charge,  in  the  absence  of  La  Salle, 
denies  the  authorship.  Be  this  as  it  may,  we  have  no  knowl- 
edge of  the  existence  of  such  a  nation,  except  the  relations  of 
the  Jesuit  Fathers,  and  the  name  given  to  them  on  the  early 
maps,  though  they  appear  to  have  been  a  very  numerous  tribe^ 
It  is  possible  they  may  have  been  entirely  destroyed,  like  the 
"  Heries,"  by  the  Iroquois,  who  waged  a  war  of  extermina- 
tion against  them,  as  well  as  their  neighbors,  the  Miamis,  the 
Kickapoos,  the  Sioux,  and  the  Illinois.  We  shall  not  follow 
La  Salle  in  his  discoveries,  nor  Hennepin,  nor  Tonti's 
account  of  them.  The  last  is  now  known  to  be  fabulous, 
and  the  first  was  written  by  the  author  with  great  prejudice 
existing  towards  La  Salle.  Hennepin  was  the  subject  of 
the  King  of  Spain;  and  his  "amor  patriae"  was  by  no  means 
agreeable  to  the  courtly,  polishe  1,  and  French  La  Salle.  The 
French  were  at  war  with  the  Spaniards,  and  one  of  the  ves- 
sels of  his  squadron  had  been  captured  at  St  Domingo  by  two 
Spanish  pirogues.  This  circumstance  by  no  means  helped  to 
conciliate  these  subjects  of  two  rival  nations ;  and  it  is  evi- 
dent from  reading  "  Le  voyage  en  un  pays,  plus  grand  qtie 
V Europe,  entre  la  mer  glaciale  et  le  Nouveau  Mexique^^  that 
the  prejudices  of  Father    Hennepin  even  the  unfortunate 


IQQ        jjiismT  iijssiOjS'AniEs  m  the  if orth-y/est. 

and  untimely  death  of  the*  Sieiir  La  Salle  had  not  mitigated. 
His  works,  therefore,  must  be  taken  with  some  grains  of  al- 
l0\Kfince;  though,  in^the  main,  furnishing  some  important 
particulars  in.  reference  to, the  early  discoveries  in  the  North- 
West,  He  accompanied  La  Salle-  on:  his  expedition  to  the 
IlUnois,  and  gives  a  veiy  lively  but  very  romantic  picture  of 
this  "laa^iiVielpaya^^  In  ithe.  midst  of  much  chaff,  there  are 
some  grains  of  wheat  to  be  gathered  in  the  works  of  the  rev- 
erend father ;  and  after  nearly  two  centuries,  we  must  be 
thankful  even  ifor  the  fe^v  details  which,  in  the  "Relations," 
the  wo!rksj<i)i!/MARQUETTE,  Alloue?j.Henkepin,  ToNoxr/LKHoN'^ 
TAN,  and  Charlevoix,  have  come  down  to  us.  Th^t  in  the 
archives  of  the  French  Government,  in  those  of  the  Superi- 
or of  the  Jesuits,  in  the  records  in  Quebec,  much  interesting 
ma,tternaight<he  found  .connected  with  this  subject,  is  beyond> 
a  doubt.  The  historian  of -the  North-West  will  have  a  task 
in  col lectijig  the  materials ;  the  collating  of  them  when  gath- 
ered^ would  be  a  work  of  but  little  labor.  Two  centuries  have 
elapsed  si]&:oe  ttbe  Jesuit  Eathers  laixnchod  itheir  bark  canoes 
on  the  waters  of  the  Illinois.  Where  now  are  the  rude  tem- 
ples which  these  pious  men  dedicated  in  the  wilderness  to  the 
the  service  of  the  ever-living  God  ?  Where  the  fathers  .them- 
selves. ?  WheBCf  the  memorials  of  their  worship?*  Where 
their  neophytes  ?  Where  the  Red  Men  of  the  forest  who 
lingered  around  the  symbols  of  the  Christian's  faith,  and 
to  i  — _____     __        -.  _  . _ — 

^^^^^-TJje.  i^ewspapei/s  ptate,  that  in  digging  a  cellar  fpr  a  house  Jat;ely,  ^%  Mvg<^^ 
BaV^  where  the  first'  Catholic  Church  was  erected  hy;  the  Jesuits,  a  silver  plate — 
evdoe'ntjy  a  part  of  tlie  coramunioii  service-^was  found,  with  an.  inscription  iri 

French,  dated  1681.  ,^       .(/;.,,,.      ,   ^^^^■ 

"  it  shoiild  he  added  Tiore,  that  the  preceding  note  by  Judge  IJAw,  is  probably 
i|p^/iiterally  correct.  The  location  of  the  mission,  St.  Fransois  Xavier,  was 
not  at  Green  Bay,  but  five  miles  above,  on  Fox  river,  at  the  Rapide  des  P  eres, 
irfvsftbe  thriving  village  of  Depete.  In  Shea's  Hutory  of  the  Catholic  3fl,ssions, 
on  page  372,  is  the  follovrin^  note,  on  authority  of  McCabe,  who  collected 
ibaterials  for  a  Gazetteer  of 'Wisc6nsin,  of  "vfhich  before  his  death,  he  only  pub- 
lisb^dva  few  newspaper  sketches  :  "In  digging  the  foundation  of  a  house  on 
the  site  of  this  church,  a  few  years  since,  a  s{)lendid  silver  osiensorium  was 
Afif/^d,  with  this  inscription  :  '  t  Cc  Solid  a  ete  donne  par  M.  J^icolas  Peerot  a 
la  mission  de  St.  Feaxcois  Xavier,  en  la,  Baye  d^s  Puants.  t  1686.'  "' 
yi>JtX;i>*.i>ix:i:  -.,/.■  L.  C.  D. 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST.  109 

bending  before  the  "  sign  ^'  by  which  they  were  spiritually 
conquered,  worshiped  the  "  Manitou  *'  of  the  stranger,  and 
yielded  obedience  to  the  heralds  of  the  cross  ?  Echo  answers 
— Where  ?  The  monuments  of  their  piety  are  broken  down. 
Each  succeeding  winter's  gale — each  summer's  sun,  for  a 
century  and  a  half,  has  but  made  thejlr,  destruction  more  cer- 
tain. So  that  now  "even  the  places  \Vhich  once  knew  them, 
know  them  no  more  for  ever."  The  hiss  of  the  snake  may 
now  be  heard,  where  once  ascended  the  "  T^  Dewn  Lauda- 
'inusP  The  harsh  cry  of  the  raven,  and  the  melancholy  whoop 
of  the  owl,  answer  now,  where  once  responded  the  aborigines 
of  the  forest  to  the  morning  matin  and  evening  vesper.  But 
the  untutored,  yet  faithful  worshipper  is  gone.  The  grass  of 
the  prairie,  long  and  coarse,  waves,  py^r  the  graves  of  the  cu- 
rate and  his  flock.  And  where  onfce  ascended  the  notes  of 
praise  and  thanksgiving,  the  thistle  rears  its  tall  head  in  tri- 
umph ;  the  nettle,  and  the  fox-glove,  and  the  deadly  night- 
shade thrive  undisturbed ;  or  perhaps  the  sturdy  settler,  as 
"  he  drives  his  team  a-field ,"  runs  his  furrows  over  the  bones 
of  the  accomplished,  learned,  enterprising,  and  zealous  Jesuit 
Fathers,  who,  nearly  two  centuries  since,  left  the  cloisters  of 
Paris,  OT  the  Setniiiary  of  Qiieb^C',  to'caift^  tiie  bannef  "^df  the 
cross  to  the  tribes  who  dwelt  on  the  Father  of  Waters. 

Fallen  obelisks,  broken  head-stones,  and  mossy  tombs,  no- 
where mark  the  resting-places  of  these  great  and  good  men — 
the  pioneers  of  civilisation  and  Christianity  in  the  .W^^teifh 
wilds.  And  as  the  antiquarian  searches  for  some  slight  me- 
morial of  these  holy  men — of  the  places  which  they  once 
inhabited,  on  the  borders  of  the  Lake,  the  shores  of  the  Illi- 
"nbls  or  the  Mississippi-^flie  moaerri  "  pre-eniptioher'^  looks 
,}«^ith  jealousy  at  the  stranger,  and  imagines  that  the  corners 
of  sections,  quarter-sections,  and  forty-acre  tracts,  excite  his 
turiosityj  6r  awaken  the  avarice  of  the  speculating  land-hunt- 
er,-7-a  melancholy  but  certain  lesson  relative* to  these  changes 
which  are  constantly  going  on  with  empires  as  with  men. 


110  JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IK  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

Time,  in  its  resistless  course,  as  it  sweeps  on  to  eternity,  whis- 
pers of  the  one  as  well  as  the  other, "  They  who  sleep  here  are 
soon  forgotten.^' 

O  tliat  the  many  nistling  leaves 

Which  round  our  homes  the  summer  weaves — 

O  tliat  the  streams,  in  'w^hose  elad  voice 

Oiir  own  familiar  paths  rejoice, — 

Might  whisper  through  the  starry  sky. 

To  tell  where  those  blest  slumberers  lie  ! 


Y'. 


jf: 


)V"ould  not  our  inmost  hearts  be  still'd, 
With  knowledge  of  tlieir  presence  filled  ; 
And  by  its  breathings  taught  to  prize 
The  meekness  of  self-sacrifice  ? 
But  the  old  woods  and  sounding  waves 
Are  silent  of  those  hidden  graves. 

Yet  what  if  no  light  footsteps  there 
In  pilgrim  love  and  awe  repair — 
So  let  it  he  !    Like  him  whose  clay. 
Deep  buried  by  his  Maker,  lay. 
They  sleep  in  secret ;  but  their  sod. 
Unknown  to  man,  is  marked  of  God, 


N"oTE. — It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  know  the  successors  of  Father  Mar- 
quette in  the  Illinois  mission,  down  to  the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  their  fate.  It  is  a  melancholy  tale  of  suffering  and  death ;  and  an 
evidence  of  the  warmth,  zeal,  and  piety  of  these  faithful  followers  of  the  cross — 
a  zeal  and  piety  which  might  put  to  shame  many  of  their  Protestant  successors. 

Father  Gabriel  de  tA  RibourDe,  Jesuit,  went  missionaiy  to  the  Illinois  in 
1678,    Was  slain  at  his  mission  in  1680. 

Father  Maxime  Le  Clerc  went  to  the  Illinois  in  1678.  Was  killed  by  the 
Indians  in  1687. 

Father  Zenobe  Membre,  RecoUet,  went  to  the  Illinois  in  1678  ;  and  returned 
in  1680,  employed  in  visiting  the  tribes  on  the  Mississippi. 

Father  Louis  Hennepin  went  to  the  Illinois  in  1678,  with  La  Salle  ;  occu- 
pied in  making  discoveries  on  the  Mississippi ;  returned  in  1680, 

M,  Jean  Bergier,  mentioned  as  the  successor  of  Father  Pinet,  Priest  of  the 
Seminary  of  Quebec,  went  to  the  Illinois  in  1686  ;  was  at  the  "  Tamarois  or 
Cahokia  mission ;"  died  there  in  1699 ;  was  buried  by  Father  Marest,  who 
was  in  the  mission  to  the  Kaskaskias. 

M.  Philip  Beucher,  Priest  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec,  was  sent  to  the  "  Ta- 
marois or  Cahokia  mission,"  to  assist  M.  Bergier;  remained  with  him  until 
1696,  when  he  went  to  visit  the  Arkansas  and  other  Indian  tribes  on  the  lower 
Missiswippi ;  returned,  and  died  at  Peoria  in  1719. 


'     JESUIT  MISSION" ARIES  IN"  THE  KORTH- WEST.  m 

In  1692,  Father  Louis  Hyacinth  Simon  went  aa  missionary  to  "  St.  Louis," 
Peoria;  went  from  there  in  1694,  to  visit  the  different  establishments  and  posts 
on  the  Mississippi ;  returned  to  Quebec  in  1699. 

Father  Flouentin  Flavre,  Jesuit  Priest,  went  to  the  Illinois  in  1694;  estab- 
lashed  a  mission  on  the  Mississippi ;  descended  that  stream  in  1708  to  Natchez  ; 
returned  to  Illinois  in  1709  ;  remained  there  until  his  death  in  1713. 

Father  Julien  Benettau,  Jesuit  Priest,  went  to  tlie  Illinois  in  1696  ;  labored 
at  the  mission  of  "  St,  Louis  "  with  great  success ;  died  there  in  1709. 

M.  Francois  Joliet  de  Montigney,  Priest,  in  1696  was  sent  to  Louisiana  in 
the  character  of  Vicar- General,  by  the  Bishop  of  Quebec.  He  visited  the  mis- 
sions in  Illinois,  "St.  Louis,"  the  "  Tamarois  or  Cahokias,"  while  M.  BEsaiBR 
was  there  ;  traversed  the  whole  coiintry,  and  returned  to  Quebec  in  1718. 

M.  Michael  Antoine  Gamelin,  Priest  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec,  accompa- 
nied him.     They  descended  the  Mississippi,  and  went  as  far  as  Mobile. 

Father  Gabeiel  Marest,  Jesuit,  went  to  the  Illinois  in  1699  ;  fixed  his  resi- 
dence at  Kaskaskia ;  died  there  in  1727. 

Father  Antoine  Darion,  Priest,  went  in  1700  on  a  mission  to  tlie  "  Tunicas*" 
a  tribe  living  on  the  Mississippi,  and  adjoining  the  Natchez.  He  went  frorai 
Quebec.  J.  L. 

Additional  Note. — This  list  of  Illinois  Missionaries  is  very  imperfect,  ac- 
cording to  the  table  given  in  the  Appendix  to  Shea's  History  of  the  Catholic 
Mimoju.  L.  C.  D*^  1. 


[From  the  Catholic  Telegraph,  March  lOth,  1855.] 

"JUSTICE  TO  MARQUETTE." 


*;; 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Catholic  Telegraph  : 

As  one  who  has  written  somewhat  on  the  early  CathoHc 
Missions,  I  venture  to  come  forward  as  the  defender  of  the 
fair  fame  of  Marquette,  and  to  assert  his  claim  as  the  first 
great  explorer  of  the  Mississippi,  and  to  a  certain  extent  as  its 
discoverer. 

Judge  Law,  in  his  recent  lecture,  published  in  your  col- 
umns, says :  "  It  is  to  be  presumed,  that  Marquette  was  not 
ignorant,  as  late  as  1673,  when  he  left  Green  Bay,  that  mis- 
sions had  been  already  established  in  the  Illinois  some  years 
before ;  and  the  eclat  attending  the  discovery  might  have  in- 
duced him  to  withhold  all  the  sources  of  information  which 


Xis  JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

as  a  discoverer  alone,  and  not  as  a  missionary,  might  have 
been  in  his  possession." 

This  is  a  heavy  charge  brought  against  a  missionary  re- 
vered in  life  and  after  death  by  his  cotemporaries — styled 
even  in  the  account  of  his  burial  at  Mackinaw,  "  the  Angel  of 
the  Ottawa  missions." 

.  tfudge  Law  by  his  lectures  years  ago  will  be  ever  esteemed 
by  Catholics  as  one  of  the  first  to  draw  attention  to  the  early 
missionaries  of  the  West,  and  we  have  no  desire  to  detract 
from  his  merit.  In  ascribing  to  Marquette  concealment  of 
the  ix\\\^  j^n^  ps'urping  another's  glory,  he  was  misled  by  ^ 
statement  now  current  for  some  years,  and  has  even  been  in- 
corporated by  Bishop  Spaulding  in  his  life  of  the  sainted 
F£aget.     We  quote  the  lecture  again,  for  it  embodies  the 

i,:0'!'!     M  ■  .  ■  .         -'l  w   ,'1 

whole  statement:  "As  early  as  the  year  1653,  twenty  years 
before  Marquette  and  Joliet  started  on  their  voyage  of  dis- 
covery to  the  '  great  river  Mechasippi,'  Father  John  Dequerre, 
Jesuit,  went  from  the  mission  on  the  Superior  to  the  Illinois, 
and  established  a  flourishing  mission,  probably  the  mission 
of  *St.  Louis,'  where  Peoria  is  now  situated.  He  visited  va- 
rious Indian  nations  on  the  borders  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
Avas  slain  in  the, midst  of  his  Apostolical  labors,  in  1661. 

"In  1657,  Father  John  Charles  Drocoux,  Jesuit,  went  to 
Illinois,  and  returned  to  Quebec  in  the  same  year. 

••In  1670^  Father  Hugues  Pinet,  Jesuit,  went  to  the  Illi- 
iiois,  aa^,|.:e^t^ibii^^ed  .^  ^ijiission  among  the  Tamarois  or 
CahokiaSj^at  (^r-iaBa^  the  present  site  of  the  village  of  Cahokia, 
on  the  borders  of  the  Mississippi.  He  remained  there  until 
1686,  and  was  at  that  mission  when  Marquette  and  Jolibu 
w.ent.d|o\yii^,the  Mississippi.  In  the  same  year,  M.  Bergier, 
priest  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec,  succeeded  him  in  the  mis- 
sion of  the  Tamarois  or  Cahokias." 

Now,  it  may  be  asked,  on  what  authority  do  all  these  as- 
sertions restj  ? ,  The  statement  was  first  published  by  theKgv. 
Mr.  Saulnier,  Chancellor  of  the;  Diocese  of  St.  Louis,  and  in 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH- WEST.  ng 

a  controversy  with  him,  I  asked  from  what  he  derived  his 
data,  and  he  professed  to  derive  them  from  the  archives  of 
the  See  of  Quebec.  This  led  me  to  the  source,  which  is  a 
manuscript  work  in  two  volumes,  quarto,  entitled,  '^  Jlbiege 
ehronologiqu^^  et  historique  de  tous  les  pretres,  tant  seculiers- 
que  reguliers,  qui  out  desservi  le  Canade  et  ensuite  ce  Diocese^ 
depeus  sa  decouverte  jusqu  a  nos  jours,  ou  de  1611  a  1828, 
parte  Rev.  M.  Fr.  X.  Noiseux,  Pretre,  Grand  Vicaire  du 
Diocese  de  Quebec.^'  The  author  lived  within  our  own  time, 
and  was  a  compiler.  He  nowhere  gives  his  sources,  and  is,; 
of  course,  no  original  authority.  Mr.  Saulnier  remarked, 
that  Mr.  Noiseux  might  be  very  good  authority  in  spite  of 
Mr.  Shea.  I  shall  now,  therefore,  give  some  extracts  to  show 
his  general  repute  at  the  present  day. 

Father  Felix  Martin,  S.  J.,  President  of  St.  Mary's  Col- 
lege, Montreal,  who  has  for  thirteen  years  been  engaged  in 
the  study  of  the  Canadian  missions  of  his  Society,  and  has 
edited  an  edition  of  Bressani's  Relation  of  1653,  and  pub- 
lished a  work  on  the  Jesuit  Relations,  says :  "  Errors  of  every 
kind,  contradictions,  false  dates,  distorted  facts,  are  found  on 
every  page,  and  have  already  given  rise  to  the  propagation  of 
more  than  one  historical  error,  unhesitatingly  adopted  on  the 
authority  of  a  respectable  name."  Relations  des  Jesuites, 
Montreal,  1850. 

The  Hon.  Jacques  Viger,  after  consulting  most  of  the 
parish  registers  in  Canada,  the  Jesuit  Relations,  the  remain-" 
ing  Jesuit  archives,  and  especially  the  Superior's  Journal, 
found  in  a  list  derived  from  Mr.  Noiseux's  work,  and  pub- 
hshed  in  1834,  that  in  eight  hundred  names  which  he  was 
able  to  trace,  there  were  seven  hundred  and  fifty- four  errors, 
and  he  is  now  preparing  a  list  based  on  original  documents. 

The  Abbe  Faillon,  of  St  Sulpice,  is,  in  spite  of  the  sneer 

oi  Brownson's  Review  in  1S53,  one  who  has  done  more  than 

any  man  living  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  general  history  of 

the  Canadian  Church.     He  has  published  already  the  lives  of 

15m 


114  JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 


V-     f 


Mr.  Olier,  founder  of  the  St.  Sulpice  and  of  Montreal;  of 
]^tARGAii|:T  BouRGEOYs,  foundress  of  the  Congregation  Sisters 
at  Montreal;  of  Madame  Youville,  foundress  of  the  Grey 
Sisters  there,  and  of  Mile.  Mauce,  foundress  of  the  Hotel 
Dieu  in  the  same  city,  forming  in  all  seven  volumes,  octavo, 
a  lal^or  most  creditable  to  the  solitude  of  Isry. 

Let  us  hear  his  opinion  of  Mr.  Noiseux  : 

"  Mr.  Noiseux,  whose  incorrectness  and  boldness  are  well 
known,  imagined  that  the  mission  of  the  Mountain  of  Mont- 
real was  established  before  1676.  This  writer,  persuaded 
doubtless  that  the  sources  of  the  history  of  the  Canadian 
Church  were  dried  up,  thought  that,  in  default  of  documents, 
he  nvght  give  way  to  a  kind  of  inspiration  to  create  them.  At 
least,  we  cannot  otherwise  explain  the  confidence  with  which 
he  accumulates  so  many  erroneous  accounts."  Vie  de  Mar- 
guerite Bourgeoys^  i.  275. 

Such  is  the  general  character  of  Mr.  Noiseux  ;  and  to  the 
above  we  might  add  the  remarks  of  the  Abbe  Firland,  who 
in  his  "  Notes  ^tzr  le  Registre  de  Quebec,^^  and  in  his  ^^  Review 
o/  Brasseurs    Canada,^'    shows  the    great    inaccuracy    of 

Noiseux. 

To  come  now  to  the  three  Jesuits,  affirmed  to  have  been,i|:j^ 
Illinois,  Dequerre,  Drocoux,  and  Pinet. 

'  For  the  history  of  the  old  Jesuit  mission  in  Canada,  we 
have  tAVO  articles  in  the  ^^  Mercaire  Fran^ais^^  then  the  cele- 
brated Relations,  published  annually  by  the  Superior  of  the 
Jesuits  in  Canada,  from  1632  to  1672,  when  the  publication; 
was  discontinued.     Rare  as  these  volumes  axe,  I  have  exam- 
ined almost  all.     Besides  these,  I  have  had  in  mv  hands  the 
manuscript  Relations  of  1672-3,  1673-9,  and  the  Relation  of^ 
Marquette's  voyage,  Illinois  mission,  and  death;  and  of^ 
Allouez's  Illinois  mission,  all  drawn  up  for  publication  by 
Father  Dablon,  and  also  the  private  Journal  or  Diary  of  sev- 
eral of  the  Superiors  of  the  mission,  with  other  manuscripts^, 
of  the  old  Jesuit  missions. 


JESUIT  MISSIOJ^ARIES  IX  THE  NORTH-WEST.  115 

Now,  in  all  the  period  embraced  by  the  published  and  un- 
published Relations,  there  is  not  a  solitary  syllable  as  to  De- 
QUERRE,  Drocoux,  or  PiNET.  Altliougli  the  arrivals  of  nearly 
every  Jesuit  is  mentioned  in  the  Journal  and  relations,  their 
names  do  not  occur  at  the  year  assigned  by  Noiseux,  or  at 
any  other.  They  are  not  mentioned  as  being  on  a  single  mis- 
sion; and  these  authentic  documents  positively  contradict 
Noiseux. 

Take  as  an  instance  the  article  on  Drocoux.  According  to 
Noiseux,  this  missionary  arrived  in  1641,  with  Father  Claud^ 
Dablon,  and  was  stationed  at  Three  Rivers  from  1642  to  1645, 
conducted  the  Indian  mission  at  the  Mountain  of  Montreal' 
from  1645  to  1650;  goes  to  Lake  Superior  in  1650;  returns 
to  Lake  Michigan  in  1653;  reaches  the  Illinois  in  1654,  and 
labors  there  till  1657;  and  finally  died  at  the  house  of  his 
Order  in  Montreal,  in  1663. 

Now  Dablon  did  not  arrive  in  1641,  but  in  1655,  as  the 
Journal,  Relations,  and  Chaum6^ot's  Auto-biography  show.' 
No  Jesuit  of  the  name  of  Drocoux  is  mentioned  in  the  Rela- 
tion 1640,  1641,  or  '41-2. 

Mr.  Viger  has  examined  the  Register  of  Three  Rivers  for' 

1642-5,  which  still  exists,  and  was ' for  k  considerable  time  in 

the  possession  of  Mr.  Noiseux,  when  Cure  of  that  place ;  but 

no  such  name  as  Drocoux  appears.  ^  '* 

Faillon,  Viger,  and  Martin  all  treat  the  Jesuit  mission  at 

\ 

the  Mountain  as  a  fiction.  The  little  quarto  Register  of  Mont- 
real, on  which  Mr.  Viger  has  based  a  most  valuable  work, 
shows  that  no  such  mission  existed,  as  the  Indian  baptisms 
are  entered  with  the  French.  Se^  Faillon^ s  Life  of  Sister 
Bourgeoys,  i.  p.  277. 

No  missionary  whatever  went  up  to  the  West  in  1650,  not 
even  to  the  Huron  country;  and  it  is  enough,  to  read  the 
Relation  of  1649-50,  or  of  1656-51,  or  the  Relation  Alregie 
of  Bressani,  published  at  Montreal  in  1852,  to'see  that  it  was 


116  JESUIT  MISSIO:?^ ARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

Utterly  impossible.  So  far  from  undertaking  any  mission,  the 
Jesuits,  after  losing  Jogues,  Daniel,  Brebeuf,  Lalemant, 
Garnievand,  Chabanel,  and  seeing  the  Hurons'  villages  de- 
stroyed, fell  back  to  Quebec,  and  many  of  the  Fathers  returned 
to  Europe.     * 

In  1653,  when  Noiseux  makes  Drocoux  come  back  to  Lake 
Michigan,  the  Superior  of  all  the  missions,  in  the  Relation  of 
the  year,  tells  us  how  the  first  attempt  to  establish  a  mission 
on  Lake  Superior  was  defeated  by  the  death  of  Garreau, 
killed  just  above  Montreal  by  the  Iroquois. 

The  ensuing  relations  are  equally  silent  as  to  an  Illinois 
mission  ;  they  speak  of  projects  of  an  Ottawa  mission  ;  and  at 
last,  in  1660,  tell  us  how  Menard  was  sent,  and  how  he  per- 
ished in  the  woods. 

As  to  Drocoux's  dying  at  the  house  of  his  Order  at  Mont- 
real, May  23, 1663,  it  suffices  to  say,  that  the  Jesuits  had  then 
no  house  in  Montreal,  that  no  Jesuit  died  in  Montreal  in  that 
year,  and  that  the  parish  register  has  no  entry  of  the  kind  on 
the  day. 

So  much  for  Drocoux;  and  without  a  similar  research  we 
can  as  summarily  dispose  of  Dequerre. 

Is  it  then  sufficient  ground  to  accuse  Marquette  of  usurp- 
ing another's  glory,  that  an  erroneous  writer,  a  century  and  a 
half  after  his  death,  gives  the  name  of  a  Jesuit  as  an  Illinois 
missionary  before  him,  when  Charlevoix,  who  compiled  his 
Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle  France  from  the  Relations,  asserts  the 
priority  of  Marquette's  discovery,  when  Marest,  the  Illinois 
missionary,  writing  from  Illinois,  makes  Marquette  the 
founder  of  the  Illinois  mission,  and  mentions  the  death  of 
Pinet  as  that  of  a  fellow  laborer  with  himself? 

It  has  been  the  fate  of  Marquette  to  be  robbed  of  a  glory 
he  never  sought.  Few  can  read  with  dry  eyes  the  account  of 
his  death  by  Dablon,  which  I  published  in  my  Discovery  and 
Exploration  of  the  Mississippi,  (Redfield,  1852.)  Marquette 


JESUIT  MISSIOJS'ARIES  IIS^  THE  KORTH-WEST.  117 

had  lived  only  to  give  the  name  of  Immaculate  Conception 
to  the  great  river  of  the  West,  to  give  it  also  to  the  Illinois 
mission,  which  he  founded  at  the  original  Kaskaskia.*  He 
cared  more  for  extending  the  devotion  to  the  Immaculate 
Conception  and  the  glory  of  Mary,  than  his  own  fame ;  he 
sent  his  journal  to  his  Superior  at  Quebec,  and  died  soon  after, 
without  finishing  the  letter  in  which  he  announces  that  it 
had  gone.  Joliet's  journal  was  lost  in  the  Sault  St.  Louis, 
near  Montreal,  and  Marquette's,  sent  to  Paris  by  the  Gover- 
nor of  Canada,  lay  unnoticed  till  Thevenot  found  and  pub- 
Ushed  it.  There  was  no  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Jesuits  as 
a  body,  or  of  Marquette,  to  publish.  I  was  the  first,  in  1853, 
to  whom  the  Society  ever  gave  it  to  publish. 

The  Recollect,  Le  Clercq,  in  his  Establissement  de  la  Foi, 
(Paris,  1691,)  calls  Marquette's  journal  a  fiction,  and 
ascribes  all  the  glory  of  the  discovery  to  his  hero.  La  Salle. 
Hennepin,  a  companion  of  La  Salle's,  in  a  later  work,  calls 
both  fictions,  and  claims  it  for  himself;  and  at  last  Mr.  Noi- 
sEux,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  creates  a  Father  Dequerre 
and  a  Father  Drocoux,  to  whom  he  gives  the  glory. 

In  the  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi,  I  offered  a  reward  for 
any  document  of  the  seventeenth  century  showing  the  exist- 
ence of  either  Dequerre  or  Drocoux,  and  I  now  offer  ^100 

for  any  such  document. 

JOHN  G.  SHEA. 


*  Gen.  Smith,  in  his  JETis^or^  of  Wiscondn,  correctly  remarks,  that  "there 
has  been  an  apparent  confusion  of  accounts  as  giv^en  of  Kaskaskia  :  It  is  evi- 
dent that  the  Kaskaskia  visited  and  written  of  bj  Marquette  and  Allouez, 
and  dedicated  by  the  former  to  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Holy  Virgin, 
is  not  the  Kaskaskia  of  Southern  Illinois,  founded  by  Gravier,  and  dedicated 
in  the  same  manner."  The  original  Kaskaskia  was  on  the  Illinois  river,  pretty- 
well  np.  Father  Allouez,  continues  Gen  Smith,  "  fixes  the  latitude  of  the  lo- 
cation at  40°  42'  and  this  is  in  correspondence  with  its  designation  on  the  Illi- 
nois river,  on  the  autograph  map  of  Marquette,  first  published  by  Mr.  Shea  in 
18.'S2.  Thift  would  bring  it  near  Rock  Fort,  making  allowance  for  the  old  lati- 
tude. The  Kask  askia,  of  which  later  writers  speak,  is  the  Kaskaskia  of  our  own 
day,  and  is  situate  in  latitude  38  °."  L.  C  D. 


118  JESUIT  MISSIOJ?"ARIES  IK  THE  X0RTH-WE8T. 

[From  the  Catholic  Telegraph,  April  28tli,  1855.] 

JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  OF  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

Our  readers  are  aware  that  an  interesting  Lecture  on  the 
subject  at  the  head  of  this  article,  was  dehvered  on  the  3 1st 
January,  1855,  before  the  "Young  Men's  Catholic  Literary- 
Institute,"  Cincinnati,  by  the  Hon.  Judge  John  Law,  of 
Evansville,  Indiana.  The  Lecture  was  published  in  the 
Catholic  Telegraph  of  the  10th  of  JPqbruary  following.  And 
on  .the  1 0th  of  March,  a  commmunication  re(!eived  from  J. 
G.  Shea,  Esq.,  author  of  the  "  Discovery  and  Exploration  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley, ^^  and  of  the  '^  Catholic  Missions 
among  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United  States,^\  appeared  in 
the  columns  of  the  same  paper,  vindicating  the  "fair  fame" 
of,  by  the  way,  not  the  Jesuit,  but  the  Franciscan,  Recollect, 
Monk,  Marquette,  against  an  injustice,  if  at  all,  uncon- 
sciously done  him  by  Judge  Law,  on  the  faith  of  what  appear- 
ed to  him  to  be  authentic  history,  and  admitted  as  such  by  more 
than  one  illustrious  name,  and  asserting  for  Marquette  his 
claim  "as  the  first  great  explorer  of  the  Mississippi,  and  to  a 
certain  extent  its  discoverer."  In  order  to  succeed,  in  ,J^ 
defence  of  Marquette,  it  became  necessary  for  Mr.  Shea  to 
demonstrate  that  the  documents,  purporting  to  have  been  ta- 
ken from  the  archives  of  the  Archbishop  of  Quebec,  and 
which  have  misled  the  "  Chancellor  of  St.  Louis,"  the  Right 
Rev.  Dr.  Brute,  Dr.  Sbalding  in  his  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget, 
and  Judge  Law,  were  unreliable.  This,  truth  constrains  us 
to  say,  he  has  accomplished ;  nor  do  we  see  how  it  be  possi- 
ble'that  any  hitherto  undiscovered  records  of  the  early  mis- 
sionaries could  induce  us  to  distrust  the  soundness  of  Mr. 
Shea's  criticism,  or  cease  to  rely  on  the  accuracy  of  his  state* 
ments. 

Nevertheless,  we  must  candidly  avow  how  much  we  were 
distressed  at  the  charges  necessarily  alleged  by  Mr.  Shea,  in 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  HORTH-WEST.  149 

defence  of  his  position,  against  the  Very  Rev.  Mr.  Noiseux  ; 
and  we  therefore  determined  not  to  let  the  matter  rest  until  it 
was  cleared  up  to  our  entire  satisfaction,  and  that  of  all  wh« 
had  become  interested  in  the  subject 

The  letter  of  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Baillargeon,  D.  D.,  Co- 
adjutor Archbishop  of  Quebec,  to  the  Archbishop  of  Cincin- 
nati, calls  for  our  most  grateful  acknowledgements  to  that 
distinguished  Prelate,  for  it  is,  what  we  anticipated,  a  com- 
plete vindication  of  the  worthy,  deceased.  Vicar  General  from 
the  only  imputation  that  could  rest  on  hi^  name — and  nothing 
could  be  more  honorable  to  Judge  Law  than  his  reverence  for 
the  memory  of  such  a  man  as  Bishop  Brute,  his  vindication 
of  our  early  missionaries,  and  his  zeal  for  the  ascertainment 
of  the  truth,  as  seen  also  in  his  letters  to  our  Archbishop. 

To  make  the  entire  controversy,  if  so  it  may  be  called, 
more  intelligible,  and  to  guard  against  one  inaccuracy,  we 
shall  only  say :  1st,  that  the  Ohio  was  often  called  the  Wabash, 
in  the  olden  time,  and  that  they  were,  therefore,  correct,  wno 
7(riieaning  the  Ohio,)  said  the  Wabash  fell  into  the  Mississippi; 
2d,  that  the  Mississippi  had  been  explored  for  one  thousand- 
miles  in  the  sixteenth  century,  by  the  Spaniards;  3d,  that 
lif  A.RQUETTE  was  the  companion  of  the  Sieur  Joliet,  not  the 
Sieur  Joliet  the  companion  of  Marquette,  in  the  expedition 
sent  by  the  Governor  and  Intendant,  Frontenac  and  Talon^ 
to  explore  the  Mississippi ;  4th,  that  nothing  was  easier  than  to 
fdll  into  mistakes  in  attempting  to  decipher  manuscripts  writ- 
ten on  greasy  paper,  with  ink  made  of  gunpowder,  with  no 
table  but  the  rough  ground,  and  by  hands  cruelly  mutilated, 
as  those  of  several  of  the  missionaries  were  known  to  have 
been  by  the  Indians ;  and  5th,  that  the  translator  of  Bress- 
any  has  had  to  correct  more  than  one  inaccuracy  in  the  dates 
given  by  that  heroic  missionary,  as  Monette  has  had  to  do 
with  some  assigned  by  Martin  in  his  History  of  Louisiana, 
and  even  by  Charlevoix  in  his  History  of  Canada. 


120  JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

EvANSviLLE,  Ind.,  March  22,  1855. 

Most  Rev.  Dear  Sir  : — A  copy  of  the  Catholic  Telegraph, 
of  the  date  of  the  10th  inst.,  has  been  forwarded  me  from 
Cincinnati,  containing  a  long  communication  from  Mr.  Shea, 
and  headed  "Justice  to  Marquette/'  and  containing  a  re- 
view of  my  address,  dehvered  before  the  "  CathoUc  Associa- 
tion" of  your  city,  in  January  last  Now,  I  have  no  wish 
whatever,  to  get  into  a  newspaper  discussion  with  Mr.  Shea, 
or  any  other  person  on  the  subject  of  any  injustice  done  to 
Marquette.  Nor  do  I  intend  to.  I  have  too  high  a  regard 
for  the  memory  of  that  great  and  good  man,  Marquette,  to 
be  wilHng,  even  unwittingly,  to  do  him  injustice.  I  accord 
to  him  fully  the  merits  of  the  first  discoverer  of  the  Missis- 
sippi ;  and  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  to  his  explora- 
tion, we  owe  the  first  knowledge  of  the  •"  Father  of  Waters  ;" 
but  from  all  I  have  read,  and  seen,  or  heard,  I  am  yet  uncon- 
vinced that  years  before  Marquette  ascended  the  Fox,  and 
descended  the  Wisconsin  to  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi, 
the  Jesuit  Fathers,  starting  from  Chicago,  had  not  established 
their  missions  on  the  Mississippi,  at  Cahokia,  and  Kaskaskia, 
as  well  as  at  Peoria,  on  the  Illinois — true,  they  had  not  de- 
scended the  Mississippi,  but  overland  through  the  present 
State  of  Illinois — they  had  reached  and  established  their  mis- 
sions on  the  Mississippi,  before  Marquette  descended  that 
stream.  And  I  do  no  injustice  to  Marquette  by  saying, 
what  I  believe,  and  what  "  a  far  greater "  man  than  I  am, 
was  fully  convinced  of,  (Bishop  Brute,)  that  the  missions  at 
Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia  were  well-known  to  exist  by  Father 
Marquette,  previous  to  his  leaving  Lake  Michigan,  on  his 
voyage  of  discovery.  In  saying  this,  I  "  ascribe"  to  Mar- 
quette "  no  concealment  of  the  truth,"  or  charge  him  with 
"  usurping  another's  glory ;"  for,  no  doubt,  the  Rev.  Fathers, 
who  were  located  at  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia,  were  as  ignorant 
of  the  sources  and  debouchment  of  the  river  they  lived  on — 


.^ 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST.  121 


99 


or  whether  it  "  emptied  into  the  Gulf  of  CaUfornia  or  Mexico 
— as  Marquette  himself  was.  Nor  is  this  at  all  astonishing, 
when  we  know  that  the  Jesuit  missionaries  on  the  Wabash 
believed,  and  so  marked  it  on  their  maps — two  of  which  I 
have  seen — that  the  Wabash  emptied  into  the  Mississippi, 
and  not  the  Ohio,  of  which  last  stream  they  were  entirely 
ignoiant,  as  late  as  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
The  notes  of  the  dates  and  names  of  the  missionaries  who 
had  preceded  Marquette  in  the  Western  missions,  were  giv- 
en to  me  by  Bishop  Brute  ;  and  I  learnt  from  him,  were 
forwarded  by  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  from  the  archives  of 
that  See — that  he  believed  they  were  correct  and  authentic. 
/  know,  and  as  you  know — Bishop  Brute  never  stated  an 
historical  fact  without  the  fullest  proof  of  its  legitimacy.  I 
have  thus  given  my  authority  for  the  statement,  and,  if  erro- 
neous, other  and  greater  antiquarians  and  scholars  than  my- 
self and  Mr.  Shea,  have  been  led  into  the  same  mistake;  but 
none  of  us,  I  venture  to  say,  in  making  these  had  the  slight- 
est idea  that  we  were  detracting  one  tittle  from  the  well-known 
and  universally  admitted  credit  given  to  Pere  Marquette,  as 
the  discoverer,  the  geographical  discoverer,  of  the  Mississippi. 
I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  an  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Shea; 
nor  have  I  read  his  "  History  of  the  Catholic  Missions  among 
the  Indian  Tribes^^  or  his  "  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the 
Mississippi,^^  though  I  should  be  glad  to  do  so.  They  are 
not  to  be  procured  here.  With  such  a  veteran,  in  such  a  field, 
it  would  be  the  extreme  of  hardihood  and  chivalry  to  break 
a  lance,  considering  that  I  am  but  a  mere  volunteer  and  raw 
recruit ;  but  you  may  assure  him  of  one  fact — that  in  any 
statement  of  mine,  made  in  the  late  address,  or  elsewhere,  I 
have  not  had  the  slightest  intention  of  doing  injustice  "to 
any  of  that  noble  band  of  martyrs  who  gave  up  their  lives  in 
the  wilderness  "  for  the  propagation  of  the  true  faith — much 
Jess  to  the  "noblest  Roman ^'  of  them  all — P.  Marquette. 
Your  friend  and  obedient  servant.  JOHN  LAW. 
16m 


122  JESUIT  MISSIOIJfARlES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

Most  Rev.  Dear  Sir — Yours  of  the  date  of  the  26th,  was 
duly  received — and  I  am  glad  you  are  about  to  settle  the 
^^  questio  vexata  "  by  a  direct  appeal  to  the  fountain  head.  1 
presume  Monseigneur,  the  Archbishop  of  Quebec,  can,'from 
the  archives  of  his  Diocese,  throw  some  light  on  it.  There 
are  certainly  strong  reasons  for  believing  that  Noiseux  "Pre- 
<tre  et  Grand  Vicaire  du  Diocese  de  Quebec,^^  (as  you  say,) 
"would  not  fabricate  history,  assign  dates,  and  insert  the 
names  of  missionaries,  to  fill  up  gaps,  and  give  a  coloring  of 
truth  to  mis-statements."  He  must  have  got  his  names  and 
dates  from  some  authentic  source,  and  most  probably  from 
the  archives  of  the  Diocese  of  Quebec,  the  same  source  from 
which  our  venerable  friend,  the  late  Bishop  Brute,  obtained 
the  same  names  and  dates.  In  relation  to  the  truth,  or  false- 
hood, of  these  statements  I  have  no  defence  to  make.  I  but 
merely  reported,  what  others  presumed  to  know,  the  facts, 
had  already  averred  to  be  true,  and  which,  without  intending 
to  do  the  slightest  injustice  to  Pere  Marquette,  as  a  discov- 
erer, I  still  believe  to  be  true.  It  abates  not  a  tithe  from  the 
well  earned  fame  of  Father  Marquette,  that  Jesuit  missions 
had  been  established  at  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia  anterior  to 
his  exploration  of  the  "Father  of  Waters."  He,  and  he 
alone,  was  the  first  geographical  discoverer  of  that  stream,  the 
first  white  man,  that  navigated  its  waters ;  and  until  I  am 
further  informed,  convinced  of  our  errors,  I  feel  disposed  to 
say  to  Mr.  Shea,  as  Mr.  Saulnier  remarked  to  him,  "  Mr. 
Noiseux  may  be  very  good  authority  in  spite  of  Mr.  Shea." 
I  shall  therefore  await  patiently  the  denouement  of  the  in- 
vestigations at  Quebec,  and  trust  you  will  be  kind  enough  to 
furnish  me  the  result. 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  LAW. 

EvANsviLLE,  March  30th,  1855. 

Most  Rev.  Archbishop  Purcell,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  m  THE  NORTH  WEST.  ig^ 

Most  Rev.  Dear  Sir: — The  name  of  the  venerable  M. 
^NoisEux  has  always  been  highly  respected  in  the  Diocese  of 
Quebec,  although  the  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  manuscript 
work  he  has  left,  and  which  contains  numerous  inaccuracies 
gtfid  errors.  The.c^yerend  gentleman  was  in  the  habit  of 
consecrating  his  leisure  hours  to  the  collection  of  historical 
documents  from  which  he  made  extracts.  But  he  wanted 
critical  acumen,  and  he  was  not  sufficiently  versed  in  deci- 
,phering  the  writing  of  the  ancient  missionaries,  which  fre- 
quently illegible  to  the  uninitiated.  Hence,  many  and  egre- 
gious errors  and  contradictions  are  to  be  found  in  his  '^  Liste 
Chronologique^^  etc. 

So  conscious  of  these  defects  in  his  work  was  M.  Noiseux, 
that  during  his  life  he  never  would  consent  to  communicate 
it  but  to  two  or  three  intimate  friends  in  the  clergy.  At  his 
death,  he  left  it  in  the  hands  of  the  late  Archbishop  Signat^ 
,iifi^  the  strictest  injunctions  of  never  allowing  a  copy  of  it  to 
be  made,  at  least  till  it  had  been  carefully  corrected,  By  some 
means,  however,  a  couple  of  copies  found  their  way  out  of 
the  archives,  and  one  has  even  gone  as  far  as  St.  Louis,  if  I 
am  well  informed.  Its  character  being  there  unknown  has 
caused  several  historical  heresies  amongst  those  who  give  it 
an  authority  it  was  far  from  possessing  in  the  estimation  of 
the  compiler  himself. 

Drocoux  is  not  to  be  found ;  the  Relations  and  the  Journal 
des  Jesuites,  which  contain  the  names  of  the  missionaries 
arriving  at  Quebec,  do  not  mention  this  name,  neither  is  it  to 
be  found  in  the  register  of  N.  D.  de  Quebec,  begun  in  1621^ 
nor  of  Three  Rivers,  commenced  in  1634.  I  rather  suspect 
the  name  of  Allouez  may,  by  a  bad  reader,  have  been  trans- 
lated as  Drocoux.  Father  Allouez,  who  had  been  at  Three 
Rivers,  was  one  of  the  first  missionaries  who  penetrated  into 
the  far  West.  As  for  the  name  of  Deguerrb,  or  Dequerre,  it 
is  most  probably  made  to  represent  the  tiame  of  Father  De- 


124  JESUIT  MISSIONARIES  IN  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

QUEN.     The  river  Mississippi  had  not  been  seen  by  thos^ 
Fathers. 

Documents  preserved  at  Quebec  show  that,  in  1673,  Louis 
JoLLiET,  born  at  Quebec  of  French  parents,  was  commissioned 
by  M.  DE  Frontenac  to  discover  the  great  river,  some  afl9.u-  v 
ents  of  which  had  been  visited  by  missionaries  and  traders. 
JoLLiET  chose  for  his  companion  Father  Marquette,  whose 
name  was  thus  connected  with  the  discovery  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. 

The  best  authorities  we  have  for  the  earlier  portion  of  the 
history  of  Canada,  are,  besides  Champlain,  Ducreux,  the  Re- 
lations des  Jesuites,  Journal  des  Jesuites,  and  the  valuable 
letters  of  La  Mere  de  V Incarnation.  I  am  happy  to  be  able 
to  inform  your  Grace,  that  the  Provincial  Legislature  has  de- 
termined to  have  a  part  of  these  interesting  works  reprinted. 

I  am  really  sorry,  my  dear  Lord,  not  to  have  it  in  my  power 
to  give  a  more  favorable  opinion  of  M.  Noiseux's  work ;  how- 
ever, his  character  should  not  suffer,  because,  in  opposition  to 
his  better  judgment  and  to  his  wishes,  this  work  has  been 
thrust  before  the  public.         *         * 

Your  Grace's  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

t  C.  F.  EVEQUE  De  TLOA. 


s 


«IAiJU£ji^  tU 


A'Ai  ^•■': ; 


THE  INDIAN  TRIBES  OF  WISCONSIN. 


BY  JOHN  GILMARY  SHEA,  OP  NEW  YORK. 


All  that  relates  to  the  Indian  tribes  of  Wisconsin,  their  an- 
tiquities, their  ethnology,  their  history,  is  deeply  interesting,  -^ 
from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  area  of  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Algic  and  Dakota  tribes.  Here  clans  of  both  these  wide- 
spread families,  met  and  mingled  at  a  very  early  period  ;  here 
they  first  met  in  battle,  and  mutually  checked  each  other^s 
advance.  The  Algonquin  race  covered  all  the  territory  now 
embraced  in  Canada,  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia,  as 
well  as  the  Eastern,  Middle  and  Western  States  of  our  own 
Confederacy,  encircling  the  tribes  of  the  Huron-Iroquois, 
who  lay  in  the  line  from  Lake  Huron  to  Albermarle  Sound. 
Every  tribe  in  this  vast  limit,  spoke  dialects  either  of  the 
Algonquin  or  of  the  Huron. 

The  French,  on  the  settlement  of  Canada,  turned  their 
attention  to  the  Indian  tribes,  and  discovered  the  fact  of  the 
existence  of  these  two  great  families  ;  their  missionaries  and 
traders  soon  learned  enough  of  these  two,  to  pass  from  tribe 
to  tribe,  or  acquire  from  one,  accounts,  more  or  less  accurate, 
of  the  nations  whose  distance  prevented  a  personal  visit. 

In  five  years  after  the  founding  of  Quebec,  the  French 
gazed  upon  the  waters  of  Lake  Huron  ;  and,  as  early  as  1618, 
Champlain  and  Sagard  were  able  to  record  the  fact,  that  on 
the  shores  of  a  Lake  connecting  with  Lake  Huron,  lay  a 
people  from  the  distant  sea-coast,  the  representatives  of  a  third 
great  family  of  tribes,  distinct  from  the  Huron  and  Algonquin. 
Thus  early  was  this  great  ethnological  point  established  by 


126  THE  INDIAN  TRIBES  OF  WISCONSIN. 

the  French.  Nor  was  this  knowledge  vague.  By  1639,  the 
Hames  and  locaUties,  as  well  as  the  race  and  language,  of  the 
Wisconsin  tribes,  were  known  by  actual  observation,  and  the 
succeeding  century  but  developed  this  knowledge,  and  gave 
the  annals  of  the  State,  for  in  no  part  did  the  tribes  undergo 
less  alteration  or  loss. 

In  the  present  paper,  it  is  not  proposed  to  give  a  history  of 
^e  Wisconsin  tribes  and  of  their  relations  to  the  whites,  but 
simply  to  give  the  origin,  names  and  early  history  of  each 
tribe  as  emigrating  to  or  from  the  territory,  so  far  as  we  can 
trace  it  from  authentic  tradition,  or  from  the  French  state- 
ments, from  the  visit  of  Nicolet  to  Green  Bay,  in  1639,  to  the 
conquest  of  Canada  by  the  English. 

List  of  tribes  mentioned  as  at  any  time  residing  in  Wis- 
consin: 

1.  Ainoves,  14.  Menomonees, 

2.  Atchatchakangouen,  15.  Miamis,  '^ 

3.  Foxes,  16.  Mikissioua, 

4.  Hurons,  17.  Nantoue, 

5.  Illinois,  18.  Noquets, 

6.  Keinouches,  19.  Oharaouatenon. 

7.  Kickapoos,  20.  Ottawa  Sinagos. 
ir  >  I  8.'^Kiskakons,                         ^  21.  Ottawas, 

9.  Kitchigamick,  22.  Ouagoussak, 

10.  Makoua,  23.  Oneidas, 

:     11.  Makoueoue,  24.  Pottawotomies. 

12.  Mascoutens,  25.  Sacs, 

13.'iMarameg,  26.  Winnebagoes. 

Ainoves. — This  tribe  is  mentioned  by  the  Recollet  Father 
Membre,  as  lying  on  the  western  side  of  Lake  Dauphin 
(Michigan),  haying  two  villages.*  It  is  not  improbable  that 
this  is  a  misprint  for  AioSais,  the  oM  French  spelling  to  ex- 
press the  sound  Iowa.     Membre  wrote  from  report,  and  might 

*  Le  Cleecq,  Btablisiement  de  la  Foij  ii ;  Shea's  Discovery  and Mcploiation  of 
th€  Musmippi,  p.  150. 


THE,JiNrBIAN  TRIBES  OF  WlSCOJ^^Sm.  127 

thus  err  in  locating  the  tribe.     The  lowas  are  called  by  the 
Dacotahs  Pa-u-tet,  or  Duatynones,  and  a  tribe  of  the  name 
appears  on  Marquette's   map.     Their  first  abode  was  at  tho^; 
junction  of  Rock  river  and  the  Mississippi. 

Atchatchakangouex,  (pronounced  At-sha-sha-kan-gwen.) 
This  tribe  is  mentioned  in  the  manuscript  Relation  for  167 2m\ 
73,  p.  72,  which  has  not  yet  been  printed,  where  the  name  is 
once  written  Atihatehakangouen,  but  effaced.     They  are  repst 
resented  as  being  then  near  the  Mascoutens.     No  allusion  to 
the  tribe  appears  elsewhere,  and  we  cannot  speak  positively ^ 
as  to  them. 

Foxes. — They  call  themselves  Musquakies  (from  moskwah, 
red,  and  aki,  land,)     The  neighboring  Algonquin  tribes  called ; 
them  Outagamis,  or  Foxes,  which  the  French  translated  Le^'^ 
Renards.    This  powerful  and  restless  tribe  play  a  conspicuous 
part  in  history,  being  the  only  Algonquin  tribe  on  whom  the  > 
French  ever  made  war.     In   the   Relation  of  1666-7,  their  i 
force  was  estimated  at  1000;  but  the  Relation  of  1669-70/1 
from  actual  obser\-ation,  puts  them  down  at  400  warriors.    In 
1712,  the  Foxes  under  Pemoussa,  with  the  Maskoutens  and 
Kickapoos,  attacked  Detroit,  but  were  defeated  by  Du  Buis-/ 
SON,  who  called  to  his   aid  the  Pottawottamies  and  other*- 
friendly  tribes.     In  1714,  a  French  expedition  under  De  Lou-.; 
viGNY,  invaded  the  Fox  territory,  but  without  producing  any 
result.     Their  subsequent  history  is  well  known.     A  mission 
was  established  among  them  by  the  Jesuit  Father  Aljlouez  ;' 
but  of  all  the  tribes  they  seemed  most  averse  to  the  gospel,   fji 
HuRONs. — They  call  themselves  Wendats  or   Wyandots;; 
but  were  styled  Hurons  by  the  French.     Their  original  resi- 1 
dence  was  near  Georgian  Bay,  and  their  exact  territory  is  laidl 
do\i':n  on  the  map  in  the  Historia  Canadensis  of  Ducreux,} 
which  Father  Martin  has  reproduced  in  his  French  edition 
of  Bressani,  (Montreal,  1853).     They  were  entirely  over- 
thrown by  the  Iroquois  in  1649  and  1650,  and  abandoned 
their  country,  their  allies,  the  Tionontaties  or  Petiins,  {ie.  To-,i 


128  'i'HE  INDIAIS^  TEIBES  OF  WISCONSIN. 

bacco  Indians,)  joining  in  their  flight.  After  a  short  stay  on 
Charity  Island,  a  part  descended  to  Quebec,  and  there  formed 
a  village,  which  still  subsists;  another  part,  with  the  surviv- 
ing Tionontaties  fled  to  Wisconsin,  and  struck  south-east  to 
the  Mississippi,  where  they  were  met  by  the  Sioux,  and  driv- 
en back.  They  were  found,  in  1659-60,  by  some  French 
traders,  six  days'  journey  south-west  of  Lake  Superior.  Af- 
ter this,  they  came  back  to  the  Noquet  Islands  at  the  mouth  of 
Green  Bay,  where  they  were,  about  1660,  when  Father 
Menard  set  out  to  visit  them.  Soon  after  they  removed  in  a 
body  to  La  Pointe,  where  the  Jesuits  had  established  a  mis- 
sion. Here  they  remained  till  a  war  with  the  Sioiix,  in  1670, 
forced  them  once  more  to  emigrate,  and  they  passed  to  Mich- 
ilimackinac  with  Father  Marquette.  Their  next  removal 
was  to  Detroit,  from  which  they  passed  to  Sandusky,  and  be- 
came known  to  the  English  Colonists  as  the  Denondadies^ 
(Tionontaties).  They  were  removed  to  the  West,  early  in  the 
present  century.  The  period  of  their  wandering  in  Wiscon- 
sin was  probably  from  about  1652  to  1670.  They  were  all 
Christians  at  the  time  of  their  arrival  there,  having  been  con- 
verted in  their  own  country  by  the  zealous  missionaries, 
Brebeuf,  Daniel,  Jogues  and  others,  many  of  whom  perished 
amid  their  labors;  but  their  wandering  life,  and  intercourse 
with  Pagan  tribes,  tended  to  revive  superstition  among  them. 
Illinois — Called  Eriniouai*  in  the  Jesuit  Relation,  1639— 
40;  Liniwek,  in  that  of  1655-56  ;  AbimiSek,  Rel.  1659-60  ; 
Ilimouek,  (Rel.  1666-67);  Ihnois  and  Ilinoues,  (Rel.  1669- 
70);  Ilinois  by  Allouez  and  Marquette.  They  originally 
lay  beyond  the  Mississippi,  covering,  also,  Wisconsin  and  Il- 
linois with  their  bands  and  temporary  villages.  They  com- 
prised a  number  of  tribes,  viz. :  The  Peorias,  Moingwenas, 
Kaskaskias,  Cahokias,  and  Tamaroas ;  and  subsequently  in- 
corporated the   Metchigameas,   a   tribe   of   different   origin, 

*  (Hs  was  pronounced  like  our  loay,  so  that  owai,  ois,  wek,  ouek,  were  alnoost 
identical  in  pronunciation.  J.  G.  S. 


THE  Il^^DIAN"  TRIBES  OF  WISCON'Sm.  129 

whom  Marquette  found  on  the  Mississippi.  The  IlUnois 
were  first  visited  by  Father  Marquette  on  the  western  bank 
of  the  Mississippi  and  in  IlUnois ;  and  he  subsequently 
founded  a  mission  among  them.  Previous  to  this,  bands  of 
them  were  temporarily  at  La  Pointe,  and  in  the  Fox  and 
Mascoutin  towns.  After  La  Salle's  establishment  in  Illi- 
nois, they  seem  to  have  centered  permanently  in  the  limits  of 
the  State  that  now  preserves  their  name. 

Keinouches,  evidently  an  Algonquin  tribe,  are  mentioned 
by  Father  Marquette  in  Rel.  1669-70,  p.  40,  as  forming 
part  ftf  his  mission  at  Chegoimegon.  Their  name  I  have  not 
met  elsewhere. 

KiCKAPoos, — (written  also,  Kikabou,  Kikapou,  Quicapou). 
This  tribe,  which  still  survives,  and  has  been  so  long  promi- 
nent in  the  wars  and  negotiations  of  the  North-West,  is 
scarcely  mentioned  in  the  earlier  French  accounts.  In  the 
Relation  de  la  Nouvelle  France,  for  1639-40,  is  the  first  list 
of  Western  tribes,  made  up  from  the  statements  of  Nicolet, 
an  early  voyageur,  and  in  that  of  1641-42,  an  account  of 
Wisconsin  and  Upper  Michigan,  given  by  Father  Isaac  Jogues 
and  Charles  Raymbaut,  who  had  just  visited  Saut  St  Ma- 
ry's, but  in  neither  does  the  name  Kikapoo  appear.  Menard, 
who  next  explored  that  section,  and  perished  in  the  wilder- 
ness on  his  way  from  Lake  Superior  to  Green  Bay,  makes  no 
mention  of  them  in  his  letters,  nor  does  Father  Allouez  al- 
lude to  them*  before  the  Relation  for  1669-70,  when,  in  his 
narrative  of  his  visit  to  Green  Bay,  he  mentions  them  as 
lying  on  the  Wisconsin  river,  four  leagues  from  the  town  of 
the  Maskoutench.  They  formed  a  village  with  the  Kitchi- 
gamich,  and  both  spoke  the  Maskoutench  latiguage.  About 
the  same  time  Perrot,  in  his  manuscript,  entitled  Moeurs 
Coutumes  et  Religion  des  Sauuages  dans  V^^merique  Sep- 
tentrionale,  mentions  them  with  the  Foxes  and  Maskoutens, 

—  ■      ■  --.,--■■  —  ^  .■■... ■ — -. 

*  See  Relation  1666-67. 

17m 


130  THE  INDIAN  TRIBES  OF  WISCONSIN. 

as  absent  from  the  council  of  tribes  held  at  Saut  St.  Mary's, 
on  the  5th  of  May,  1669.  In  the  unpublished  Relation  for 
1672-73,  it  is  stated  that  the  Kikabous  were  at  the  Maskou- 
tench  town,  in  the  proportion  of  30  Kikabou  families  to  50 
Maskoutench.  Marquette,  in  his  Journal,  and  the  unpub- 
lished Relations  from  1673  to  167 9,  mention  them  as  in  this 
locality,  always  near  or  united  to  the  Mascoutins.  The, 
Recollect  missionaries  who  attended  La  Salle,  next  give  their 
accounts.  Hennepin,  in  his  Relation  de  la  Lousiane,  and 
Membre,  in  his  Journal  published  by  Le  Clercq,  in  his 
Etablissement  de  la  Foi,  also  mention  them  as  ne^ar  the 
Mascoutins,  and  one  of  their  number,  the  aged  Father  Ga- 
briel DE  LA  RiBouRDE,  was  actually  cut  off  by  a  prowling 
band  of  Kickapous,  while  all  accounts  attest  the  hostility  of 
the  Mascoutins  to  La  Salle. 

At  a  later  period,  De  la  Potherie,  in  his  Histoire  de 
VJlmerique  Septentrioiiale,  vol.  ii,  p.  48,  alludes  to  them  as 
Allouez  had  done  in  connection  with  the  Miamis  and 
Maskoutench.  Charlevoix,  in  his  Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle 
France,  vol.  v,  277,  (which  is,  in  fact,  his  Journal,)  speaks  of 
the  Kicapous  and  Mascoutins  as  lying  together,  between  the 
Fox  and  Illinois  rivers,  and  mentions  them  as  being  reduced 
in  number,  (tres  peu  nomhreuses). 

As  we  have  elsewhere  stated,  the  name  Mascoutin  soon 
after  disappeared,  while  that  of  Kickapoo  maintains  its 
prominence ;  and  we  find  them  arrayed  with  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes,  in  every  war  against  the  whites,  whether  French, 
English  or  American.  This  leaves  little  room  to  doubt  the 
probability  pf  a  supposition,  first  advanced,  we  believe,  by 
Mr.  Schoolcraft,  that  the  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins  were 
bands  of  one  tribe,  known  first  to  the  French  by  the  latter 
name,  but  subsequently  to  the  English  and  to  us  by  that  of 
Kickapoos,  under  which  alone  they  figure  in  our  annals. 

KisKAKONs — First  mentioned  in  the  Relation  of  1666-67, 
by  the  name  of  Kiskakoumac;  in  1669-70,  Kiskakonk,  sub- 


THE  II!^DIAN  TRIBES  OF  WISCONSIN.  l^l 

sequently  Kiskakons.  They  are  sometimes  called  Queues- 
coupees,  and  even  Culs-coupes.  They  are  almost  invariably 
mentioned  in  connection  with  the  Ottawas  and  Outaoua-Sina- 
gos.  Their  stay  at  Chegoimegon  was  not  of  long  duration. 
They  fled  from  Manitouline,  to  escape  the  Iroquois,  about 
1653,  bu^  were  compelled  by  the  Sioux  to  leave  Wisconsin 
about  1667.  The  Ottawas  in  Michigan,  now  represent  them. 
Were  not  the  existence  of  the  Kiskakons,  as  a  tribe,  demon- 
strated, we  might  suspect  Kiskakons,  a  misprint  for  Kicka- 
pous,  and  Queues-coupees  for  Quicapous.* 

KiTCHiGAMicK,  or  Kctchigamius,  are  mentioned  in  Relation 
of  1669-70,  as  lying  four  leagues  from  the  Mascoutins,  and 
speaking  the  same  language,  and  by  Marquette  in  that  year, 
as  lying  S.  S.  W.  of  Chegoimegon.  In  the  manuscript  Rela- 
tion of  1672-73,  they  are  mentioned  as  west  of  the  Foxes. 

Makoua  are  mentioned  in  the  manuscript  Relation  of  1673 
-73,  p.  72,  as  a  tribe  near  the  Foxes. 

Makoueoue  are  mentioned  in  the  Relation  of  1672-73,  as  a 
tribe  near  the  Foxes ;  but  may  be  the  same  as  the  Mantoue- 
ouec  of  the  map  attached  to  the  Relation  of  1670-71,  or  the 
Nantoue  mentioned  in  the  body  of  that  Relation,  as]  being 
near  4he  Foxes.  The  Mantoue  are  mentioned  as  early  as 
1639,  (Rel.  1639-40,)  as  a  tribe  near  Lake  Superior;  and  as 
this  information  evidently  came  from  the  explorer  Nicolet 
they  were  probably  then  a  powerful  tribe. 

Marameg  are  mentioned  in  the  Relation  of  1672-73,  as  be- 
ing near  the  Mascoutins.  » 

Mascoutins. — Machkouteng,  (Rel.  1669-70);  Machkoutens, 
(Rel.  1670-71.);  Maskoutens  ;  Mascoutins,  (Charlevoix)  were 
called  by  the  Hurons  Assistagueronons,  and  Assistae'ctaronons, 
which  means  the  Fire-Nation,  (Sagard,  Champlain.)  The 
etymology  of  Mashkoutenec  is  disputed.  Allouez  and  Mar- 
quette translate  it  as  the  Hurons  did,  Fire-Nation ;  deriving 

I— ■■-         l.,«  I  .■■       ■  i_  _.l,,—    .■■l.l_l  .,■.  .11,,,,  ■M_,.  ■ ■...■I.^l  ■!.  ,  .1,  l»l|  — ■  » 

*  Eeference  is  also  made  to  the  Kiskakons  in  Mr.  Shea's  Exploration  and 
Ditcovery  of  the  Missiseippi  Valley,  p.  1,  61.  L.  0,  D* 


132  THE  INDIAN  TRIBES  OF  WISCONSIN. 

it  from  Skoote,  or  Ashkoote,  with  the  article  il/'  and  the  ter- 
mination enk.  Dablon,  Charlevoix,  and  Schoolcraft,  with 
other  recent  writers,  treat  this  as  a  mistake,  and  derive  it  from 
Muskortenec,  a  prairie,  (O'Callaghan,  in  N.  Y.  Colonial  Doc- 
uments, X.) 

The  tradition  of  the  Chippeways,  as  recorded  by  School- 
craft, is,  that  in  early  times  the  Mushkodains  were  the 
original  people  at  and  around  Mackinac.  (History,  &c.,  of 
the  Indian  Tribes,  i.  307).  The  earliest  French  accounts, 
represent  this  Fire-Nation  as  the  dominant  tribe,  waging  war 
on  the  AndatahOuats  or  Ottawas,  who  dwelt  in  Manitouline, 
and  who  in  this  war  were  aided  by  the  tribes  of  the  Huron- 
Iroquois  stock — known  as  the  Attiwandaronk  or  Neuters. 
(Champlain,  Sagard,  Bressani,  and  Brebeuf  in  Rel.  1640- 
41,  p.  48). 

Their  position,  at  the  period  of  the  French  settlement  of 
Canada,  cannot  be  precisely  stated.  Champlain,  in  his  map 
of  1632,  which  Sanson  follows  in  1657,  seems  to  place  Green 
Bay  above  Lake  Superior,  and  omitting  Lake  Michigan, 
places  the  Assistagueronons  south  of  Lake  Huron.  Sagard, 
however,  in  his  History,  (p.  201),  puts  them  beyond  the  Win- 
nebagoes,  whose  position  was  undoubtedly  on  Green  Bay; 
and  this  is  the  position  in  which  they  were  found  forty  years 
afterward,*  For  the  Jesuits,  on  visiting  Wisconsin,  found 
them  on  Wolf  river,  a  stream  emptying  into  Lake  Winneba- 
go. Marquette  makes  their  town  nine  miles  from  the 
Wisconsin,  at  the  Portage.  {Discovery  of  the  Mississippi, 
15).  Hennepin,  some  years  after,  places  them  also  near  Fox 
river,  (ii,,142),  and  Membre,  in  stating  that  they  dwelt  near 
the  Melleoki  or  Milwaukee  river,  was  evidently  in  error. 

The  Kickapoos  were  found  occupying  the  same  town,  and 
Charlevoix  well  observes :  "  The  Kickapoos  are  neighbors 
of  the  Mascoutens,  and  it  seems  that  these  two  tribes  have 

*  Du  Cekux'b  m^,  dated  1660,  omits  them,  but  places  a  P.  Assistoim  in 
Midugan,  J.  G.  S. 


THE  INDIAN  TRIBES  OF  WISCONSIN.  133 


always  been  united  in  interest"  (Charlevoix,  Histoire  de, 
la  Nouvelle  France,  ii,  252.)  ""  ' 

Towards  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  they  se^m 
to  have  moved  eastward.  In  1712,  a  party  settled  on  the 
Ohio  and  Wabash,  [Lettres  Edifiantes,  xi.) ;  another  band 
Hear  St  Joseph's  river,  were  attacked  by  the  Ottawas  under 
Saguima,  and  150  men  and  women  cut  to  pieces,  A  third 
band,  with  the  Foxes  and  Kickapoos,  were  beleaguering  the 
French  post,  Detroit 

Six  years  later,  1718,  a  document  puts  the  Kickapoos  and 
Mascoutins  on  Rock  river,  near  Chicago,  the  two  tribes  not 
having  over  200,  (N.  Y.  Colonial  Documents,  ix,  889).  In 
1736  they  were  said  to  number  60  on  Fox  River ;  though  in 
1764,  Bouquet  put  down  the  Maskoutens  on  Lake  Michigan, 
at  500,  (Doct  Hist  i) ;  but  a  list,  in  1763,  mentions  them  on 
the  Wabash.  See  the  History,  &c.,  by  Schoolcraft,  iv,  244; 
Jefferson's  Notes,  173,  N.  Y.  Colonial  Documents,  vii,  582 
— X,  780  ;  Western  Annals,  205  ;  Dillon's  Indiana,  144). 

The  part  in  Wisconsin  are  mentioned  by  Imlat,  correct  or 
not,  in  his  travels  in  1792,  and  the  part  on  the  Wabash,  still 
later.  These  last  were  then,  as  in  Marquette's  time,  in  the 
same  village  as  Kickapoos  and  Miamis.* 

Gallatin  thought  that  they  never  were  a  distinct  tribe,  but 
they  are  clearly  traced ;  and  seem  to  have  left  Wisconsin  al- 
most entirely,  about  1720,  as  Bouquet  and  Imlay  are  not  sup- 
ported in  their  statements.  Their  totems  are  said  to  be  the 
Wolf  and  Stag.  The  Foxes  now  call  themselves  Musquakies, 
which  is  interpreted,  red  land ;  may  this  not  be  M'ashkoote- 
aki,  Fireland  ? — in  other  words,  do  not  the  Foxes  comprise 
the  remnant,  and  bear  the  name,  of  the  Mascoutins  ?  The 
Kickapoos  certainly  comprise  a  second  branch.! 


*  In  1763,  the  village  contained  180  Kickapoos,  100  Piankeshaws,  200  Weas, 
and  only  90  Maskoutins.  J*  G.  S. 

t  See  note,  p.  13,  I>iscov€ry  of  the  Mississippi,  for  a  further  notice  of  the 
Mascoutins.  !<•  C.  D. 


134*  THE  INDIAN  TRIBES  OF  WISCONSIN. 

Menomonees. —  Oumalouminek,  (Rel.  1669-70);  Marou- 
mine,  (Rel.  1639-40) ;  Malhominies. 

The  name  is  the  Algonquin  term  for  the  grain  Zizania 
Aquatica — in  English,  Wild  Rice.  The  French  called  both 
the  grain  and  tribe  Fol  Avoine — Wild  Oats. 

Their  language  is  a  very  corrupt  form  of  the  Algonquin. 
According  to  Schoolcraft,  (History,  &c.,  i.  304),  they  were 
long  at  war  with  the  Chippeways ;  but  from  the  time  of 
French  accounts,  they  were  almost  uniformly  peaceful  In 
1718,  they  numbered  only  from  80  to  100  men — N.  Y.  Colo- 
nial Documents,  ix.  889. 

MiAMiEs. — Oumiamiwek,  (Marquette)  ;  Oumamis,  (La 
HoNTAN,  and  Rel.  1669-70).  They  comprised,  according  to 
De  la  Potherie,  ii,  245, -the  following  tribes — Ouiatenons  or 
Weas,  Pepikokias,  Pouankikias  or  Piankeshaws,  Mangake- 
kias,  Kilataks  and  Tchiduakouongues.  Charlevoix  says, 
(vi.  143),  that  they  came  from  the  Pacific ;  and  in  an- 
other place,  (v.  277),  that  they  were  originally  near  Chicago, 
where  indeed  Perrot  found  their  king  Tetinchoua,  in  1671, 
(manuscript  memoir).  The  Jesuits  found  some  tribes  living 
with  the  Mascoutins  on  Fox  River,  in  1669.  Apart  seems  to 
have  lain  at  the  south  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  in  La  Salle's 
time,  1680,  were  on  the  St  Joseph's  river.  By  1721,  they 
seem  to  have  removed  entirely  from  Wisconsin,  dwelling  on 
St,  Joseph's  river,  the  Maumee  and  Wabash^ — (Charlevoix 
V.  277).  They  were  known  to  the  English  colonists  as  the 
Twightwees.  Little  Turtle's  account  (Bancroft,  iii)  is 
at  variance  with  the  French  historians. 

MiKissiouA — Are  mentioned  in  the  manuscript  Relation^ 
1672-73,  as  a  tribe  near  the  Foxes. 

Nantoue — Are  mentioned  in  the  Relaton  of  1670-71,  as  a 
tribe  near  the  Foxes.     See  Makoueoue. 

NoQUETs. — According  to  Nicolet,  (Rel.  1639-40),  the  No- 
quets  were,  at  the  time  of  his  visit,  in  1639,  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Superior.     The  map  in  Ducreux's  History  of  Canada, 


THE  INDIAN"  TRIBES  OF  WISCONSIN/  I35 

(Greuxius  Historia  Canadensis^  which  is  dated  1660,  places 
them,  under  the  Latin  name  of  Noukeeu,  in  the  upper  pe- 
ninsula of  Michigan.  They  subsequently  came  down  into 
Wisconsin,  but  continued  to  hunt  in  Michigan,  (Relation, 
1669-60,  ch.  X.)  A  bay,  and  islands,  at  the  mouttfof  Green 
Bay,  bear  their  name,  and  show  the  place  of  their  residence. 
(Charlevoix,  v.  277 ;  N.  Y.  Colonial  Documents,  ix  182.) 
They  are  represented  as  being  at  all  times  closely  united  to 
the  Outchiboues  or  Ojibways,  and  apparently  became  event- 
ually confounded  with  them. 

OtiaraSatenon,  are  mentioned  in  the  Relation  of  1676-77, 
p.  38,  as  a  tribe  on  Green  Bay ;  but  in  the  manuscript  Rela- 
tion of  1673-79,  they  are  called  08iata8atenon.  The  name  is 
sufficiently  near  Siatenon  to  induce  the  supposition  that  it 
was  a  band  of  Miamis  of  the  Wea  clan.  The  prefix  O  is 
given  or  omitted  by  French  writers,  at  random ;  and  the  resi- 
due, 8iat(a8a)tenon,  approaches  Ouaouiatenonoukak,  (Rel. 
1672-73,)  Wawiaghtenon  and  Wiatenon. 

Ottawas. — They  were  early  known  to  the  French  by  the 
name  of  Andatahouats,  and  by  the  nickname  Cheveux  releves. 
They  dwelt  on  the  Manitouline  islands;  and  visiting  the 
Huron  country,  were  evangelized  by  the  missionaries  there. 
There  is  no  trace  in  the  early  French  writers  of  any  opinion 
then  entertained,  that  they  had  ever  been  in  the  valley  of  the 
Ottawa  river.  After  the  fall  of  the  Hurons,  when  trade  was 
re-opened  with  the  West,  all  tribes  there  were  called  Ottawas, 
and  the  river,  as  leading  to  the  Ottawa  country,  got  the  name. 
The  tribe  properly  called  Ottawas,  together  with  the  Outaoua- 
Sinagos  and  Kiskakons,  were  at  Chegoimegon,  with  the  Hu- 
rons, and  removed  with  them  to  Mackinaw,  near  which  they 
have  remained.  Their  present  location  is  at  Grand  and  Little 
Traverse  Bay. 

OuTAouA-SiNAGos, — Outaoua  Sinagouc,  (Rel.  1666-67,) 
Sinagoux,  Cynagos,  were  with  the  Kiskakons  and  Ottawas  at 
Chegoimegon,  and  seem  to  have  been  branches  of  one  tribe,  as 


136 


THE  INDIAN  TRIBES  OF  WISCONSIN. 


they  are  never  mentioned  apart,     (Rel.  1666-67,  p.  80.)     See 
Ottawas. 

OuAGoussAC  are  mentioned  in  the  manuscript  Relation  of 
1672-73,  as  a  tribe  near  the  Foxes.  It  may  be,  however,  a 
form  of  Ousaki,  with  a  prefix. 

Oneidas. — This  tribe  has  emigrated  to  Wisconsin  in  the 
present  century.     As  coming  from  the  East,  they  are  called 
by  the  Algic  tribes  Mnakis,\hQ  name  applied  to  the  most-, 
eastern  of  their  own  clans. 

PoTTAwoTTAMiEs. — This  tribe,  whosc  traditious,  as  first  re- 
corded by  Father  De  Smet,*  gave  Longfellow  the  matter  of 
his  Hiawatha,  are  mentioned  in  French  writers  from  1639, 
by  their  present  name,  Poutouatamis,  or  Pouteouatamis, — 
sometimes  called,  for  brevity  sake,  Poux.  This  contraction 
led  La  Hontan,  or  his  wretched  editor,  to  confound  thein 
with  the  Puants,  or  the  Winnebagos.  In  1641,  they  were  at 
Sault  St  Mary's  fleeing  before  the  face  of  the  Sioux.  (N.  Y. 
Colonial  Documents,  ix.  153,  161,  887.) 

In  1668,  they  were  all  on  the  Pottawottami  islands,  in 
Green  Bay,  (Charlevoix,  i,  172;  N.  Y.  Colonial  Documents* 
ix,  161.)  In  1721,  a  part  were  there ;  and  there  were  two  other 
bands,  one  on  the  St  Joseph's  river,  the  other  near  Detroit 
Those  on  the  St  Joseph's,  remained  till  1830.  p 

Sacs. — Ousakis,  Sakys,  Sacs.  Their  original  country,  ac- 
cording to  the  Jesuit  Relations,  1676-77,  p.  49,  and  1673-79, 
was  apparently  the  district  in  the  east,  between  Lake  Huron 
and, Lake  Erie.  O'Callaghan  (N.  Y.  Colonial  Documents, 
ix,  pp.  161,  293,  378,)  places  them  on  the  other  side  of  De- 
troit river,  and  explains  Saginaw  to  mean  Sac  country.  La 
HoNTAN,  no  very  good  authority  indeed,  also  gives  Michigan. 
The  Sacs  were  always  closely  united  with  the  Foxes,  and 
had  probably  a  common  origin,  as  they  have  a  common  his- 
tory.    Schoolcraft  represents  the  Foxes  as  originally  from 


*  Oregon  Missions,  p.  343. 


THE  INDIAN  TRIBES  OF  WISCONSIN.  I37 

Toronto,  but  I  find  nothing  in  early  French  writers  to  sup- 
port the  assertion.  The  Sacs  certainly  were  never  much  to 
the  eastward  of  Lake  St  Clair. 

WiNNEBAGOEs. — Ouiuibegouc ;  Ouinipegouec,  (Rel.  1659 
-60;)  Ouenibegoutz,  (Rel.  1669-70.)  They  are  a  Dakota 
tribe,  and  this  name  is  that  given  by  the  Algonquins,  and 
means  "  Fetid."  The  French  translated  it  by  the  word  "  Pu- 
ants/'  giving  it  as  a  name  to  the  tribe  and  to  Green  Bay, 
(Sagard.)  The  early  missionaries,  (Rel.  1639-40,  ReL  1647^48, 
p.  64;  Rel.  1653-54,  p.  43  ;  Rel.  1655-56,  Rel.  1659-60  ;  B^es- 
sANi  p.  64,  and  Marquette,)  all  state  that  they  were  so  called  * 
by  the  Algonquins  as  coming  from  the  Ocean  or  Salt-water, 
which  the  Indians  style  "  Fetid  water.''  Nicolet  called  them 
more  properly  "  Gens  de  mer,"  and  "  Gens  des  Eaux  de  mer.^'* 

The  Hurons  called  the  tribe  Aweatsiwaenr-rhonons,  (Rel. 
1636);  and  the  Sioux,  Otonkah  (Schoolcraft)  ;  but  they  call 
themselves  Otchagras,  (Charlevoix),  Hochungara  or  Ochun- 
garand — that  is,  the  Trout  nation,  (Schoolcraft,  iii.  277; 
iv.  227) ;  or  Horoji,  (Fish-eaters). 

The  Algonquin  tradition  makes  them,  as  we  have  seen, 
emigrants  from  the  Pacific  shore,  and  their  approach  to  the 
Lakes  seems  to  have  been  resolutely  opposed,  especially  by 
the  Illinois,  the  dominant  Algonquin  Confederacy  in  the  West. 
According  to  Father  Clafde  Allouez,  (Rel.  1669-70),  the  war 
lasted  till  about  1639,  or  thereabouts,  when  the  Winnebagoes 
were  all  killed  or  taken,  except  one  man,  who  though  badly 
wounded,  escaped.  Charlevoix,  (v.  431),  says,  that  they 
were  driven  from  the  shores  of  Green  Bay  to  Fox  river,  and 
a  party  of  600  setting  out  on  the  lake  to  attack  the  Illinois, 
perished  in  a  storm.  The  victors  took  compassion, according 
to  the  account  of  Allouez,  and  creating  the  survivor  chief  of 
the  nation,  gave  up  to  him  all  the  captive  Winnebagoes.  If 
this  strange  event  took  place  at  all,  we  must  ascribe  it  to  an 

*  Lake  St.  Clair  is  on  some  old  maps,  called  Lactui  Aquarum  Marinaram, 
,  ai|)parently  confounding  it  with  Green  B&j.  J.  G.  SI. 

18m 


1^8  THE  INDIAN  TRIBES  OP  WISCONSIN. 

earlier  date  than  1639,  for  Nicolet  visited  the  Winnebagoes 
in  that  year,  and  found  them  prosperous,  and  we  can  hardly 
suppose  a  tribe  almost  annihilated,  and  then  restored  to  its 
former  numbers- in  30  years. 

They  were  the  original  occupants  of  Wisconsin,  and  were 
often  troublesome  and  hostile.  They  were  allies  of  Pontiac 
in  1763,  were  defeated  by  Wayne  in  1794,  adhered  to  Eng- 
land in  1812.  (O'Callagan,  Colonial  Documents  iii,  283). 
In  1710,  they  numbered  80  to  100  men ;  and  in  1848,  they 

numbered  2531  souls.* 

I       ■  .  ft...      ,.<■-.      . 

*  For  additional  notices  of  the  Winnebagoes,  see  Shea's  Discovery  of  the 
Missmippi,  p.  xxi,  and  note  10,  11.  L.  0.  D. 


rr'^, 


y 

i 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 


The  following  documents  were  obtained  from  the  French  archives,  by  Hon. 
Lewis  Cass,  when  minister  to  that  country.  They  were  loaned  to  Col.  Whit- 
tlesey, for  his  perusal  and  translation,  and  he  has  kindly  translated  them,  in 
part,  for  our  Society.  The  first  number  of  the  series  has  been  furnished  in  man- 
uscript, the  second  to  the  fifth  inclusive,  originally  appeared  in  the  Green  Bay 
Advocate,  in  the  Spring  of  1855,  the  sixth  in  the  Ontonagon  JU^ner,  and  the  oth- 
ers in  the  Detroit  Advertiser,  in  Dec.  1856,  and  Jan,  1857.  The  second  paper 
of  the  series  appeai'ed  in  the  first  volume  of  our  Society's  Collections ;  but  since 
obtaining  the  others  of  the  series,  it  is  thought  best  to  republish  it  in  its  proper 
connection.  ,  L,  C.  D. 


%:ll 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 

TRANSLATED    BY    COL.    CHARLES    WHITTLESEr. 


No.  1. 


Mstract  of  the  Life  and   Customs   of  the   Savages   of 

Canada — 1723. 

•  (Authors  name  not  given.) 

When  a  woman  is  about  to  be  delivered,  she  retires  into 
the  woods,  makes  a  bark  lodge,  and  a  new  fire  to  warm  her- 
self; she  delivers  herself  without  assistance  or  cries  of  pain. 
Immediately  she  goes  to  wash  the  infant  in  a  stream,  howev- 
er cold  it  may  be,  unless  it  be  actual  winter ;  after  which  she 
continues  her  ordinary  labors.     If  she  is  traveling,  she  em- 
barks at  once  in  her  canoe.     For  thirty  days  she  keeps  a  sep- 
arate fire,  if  the  child  is  a  male  ;  and  for  forty  days,  if  it  is  a 
girl    During  this  time,  she  eats  alone  of  victuals  that  are 
brought  to  her — no  man  eats  with  her  during  this  time,  or 
goes  to  her  fire ;  saying  if  they  should  do  so,  they  would 
have  a  flux.    They  cannot  imagine  why  the  French  do  not 
observe  the  same  customs.    They  do  not  see  their  women 
when  they  are  sick,  neither  do  they  live  with  them  when  they 
are  pregnant,  which  is  the  reason  they  give  for  having  many 
wives.     They  have  a  superstition  requiring  women  to  have 
a  separate  fire  during  their  monthly  turns,  which  no  one  ap- 
proaches.   Their  girls  are  free  to  follow  their  inclinations 
towards  young  men,  without  losing  their  reputation,  or  im- 
pairing their  chance  of  marriage.    But,  if  a  woman's  husband 


142  THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 

discovers  or  knows  of  an  adulterous  act  on  the  part  of  his 
wife,  he  cuts  off  her  hair  and  the  end  of  her  nose — a  terrible 
punishment  among  them.  He  also  puts  her  away,  and  she 
keeps  the  children. 

They  make  love  at  night  in  their  lodges,  without  light,  car- 
rying merely  a  match-light  to  recognize  each  other.    When 
the  young  woman  extinguishes  this,  the  suitor  can  sleep  with 
her. 

The  women  and  girls  occupy  themselves  in  summer,  in 
raising  Indian  corn,  which  they  cultivate  very  well.  They 
make  also  aragans  [possibly  wigwams — not  legible,]  mats  of 
reeds,  and  work  with  the  quills  of  the  porcupine.  In  winter 
they  go  through  the  forest,  and  bring  in  the  game  killed  by 
the  hunters,  (who  fetch  only  the  tongue) ;  they  skin  the  ani- 
mals, dress  the  skins,  cut  and  bring  wood  for  the  fire,  cook, 
and  in  general  do  all  that  is  done.  Some  of  them  make  and 
mend  moccasins ;  and  when  the  men  return  from  the  hunt, 
dry  them  at  the  fire. 

The  men  do  nothing  but  hunt  and  make  canoes;  the 
women  being,  in  short,  the  slaves  of  the  men,  waiting  upon 
them  and  doing  all  the  work.  When  upon  a  journey,  as 
soon  as  they  arrive  at  their  journey's  end,  the  men  commence 
smoking,  until  the  women  have  raised  the  lodge,  and  made  a 
fire.  A  slave  does  the  same  servile  work  when  they  have 
one,  as  the  women  do  when  they  have  none. 

At  a  marriage,  they  give  a  feast,  where  the  principal  chiefs 

and  relatives  attend  to  witness  the  nuptials.     They  have  a 

stake  or  post  set  up,  which  the  singers  and  others  strike  with 

a  war-club,  speaking  of  their  wars  with  other  nations,  and 

the  number  they  have  killed. 

Those  who  have  not  been  to  war,  relate  how  they  have 
killed  moose,  elks,  &c.  They  go  through  the  same  ceremony 
when  they  chant  the  war  song  or  chief  calumet,  then  dispose 
of  their  eatables  and  retire. 

Married  people  remain  apart  frequently  a  long  time,  either 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  I43 

because  the  girl  is  too  young,  or  the  husband  has  not  paid  for 
her.  A  mother  sells  her  daughter,  for  which  cause  they  pre- 
fer to  bear  girls  rather  than  boys.  The  husband  can  say  to 
his  wife,  "  You  are  mine ;  I  paid  your  mother  for  you."  The 
mother-in-law  is  mistress  of  his  game,  until  he  has  paid  her 
for  his  wife.  At  the  festival,  he  makes  presents  to  his  bride, 
which  are  recognized  afterwards  en  donnant  le  printemps 
letir  chasse. 

They  have  no  religion.  They  recognize,  however,  a  supe- 
rior being,  who  knows  all  things  and  governs  all  the  world. 
He  is  called  the  Good  and  the  Great  Spirit.  There  is  also  a 
wicked  God,  whom  they  call  a  Bad  Spirit  They  sacrifice  to 
the  Good  Spirit  to  obtain  his  favor,  and  to  the  bad  one  in  or- 
der to  turn  away  his  evil  designs  from  their  heads,  such  as 
sickness.  They  regard  bears,  beavers,  and  wolves,  as  anima- 
ted with  rational  souls.  When  they  kill  a  wolf,  they  in- 
voke the  Great  Spirit,  and  sacrifice  to  him.  They  offer  to 
the  Spirit  of  bears  all  the  bones  of  the  head,  attaching  them 
to  a  stake,  after  having  eaten  the  flesh.  This,  they  say,  is 
done  to  please  the  God  of  the  bears,  without  which  they 
could  not  kill  him.  Beavers  they  believe  to  have  reason  like 
men,  and  regard  it  as  a  great  misfortune  that  the  Great  Spirit 
did  not  give  them  the  power  of  speech. 

In  their  sacrifices,  they  fasten  a  dog,  which  they  kill  ex- 
pressly for  the  occasion,  to  a  large  post,  or  if  it  is  at  night,  to  a 
wild  beast.  They  also  fasten  to  it,  skins  of  moose  and  elk, 
and  also  blankets,  "  sarrietieres,"  and  other  things  that  are 
made  by  women.  They  hold  nothing  too  dear  when  they  are 
about  to  sacrifice,  although  it  is  a  gift  that  cannot  be  touched 
afterwards,  being  to  them  a  total  loss.  Their  sacrifices  sire 
made  for  all  manner  of  causes, — in  war,  for  success  against 
their  enemies;  to  avert  sickness;  for  a  prosperous  voyage; 
and  for  good  luck  in  killing  wild  beasts. 

They  have  jugglers,  who  go  into  furious  trances  in  order 
to  obtain  news,  if  they  are  uneasy  about  a  party  of  warriors 


144  THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 

or  voyageurs ;  also  to  satisfy  themselves  if  their  friends  will 
escape  sickness.  In  this  state  of  fury,  after  having  obtained 
the  information  they  seek,  they  smoke  and  sing  to  the  Great 
Spirit,  who  descends  into  their  tabernacle  and  communicates 
with  them.  Sometimes  they  speak  the  truth,  which  adds 
greatly  to  their  reputation.  More  often  they  are  deceived  ;^ 
but  in  this  case  the  people  say  it  is  the  fault  of  the  medicine 
man,  who  did  not  pray  well  to  the  Spirit,  or  that  he  is  a  young 
man  who  lacks  experience,  as  the  Spirit  cannot  lie. 

They  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  which  takes  a 
new  body  in  the  next  world,  in  which  they  go  to  the  hunt  in 
a  very  fine  country,  where  they  live  luxuriantly.     Some  one 
pronounces  a  harangue  over  the  body  after  death.     Their 
souls,  they  believe,  go  in  a  canoe,  and  if  the  time  is  felici- 
tously  chosen,  they  pass  over  the  great  seas,  over  which  the 
man  of  death  crosses,  and  arrives  happily  at  the  abode  of  the 
dead,  where  nothing  will  be  wanting.     If  the  tree  rises  and 
sinks  to  the  bottom  as  they  pass,  or  the  canoe  touches,  an  old 
woman  will  be  awakened,  who  seizes  the  dead  body  and  eats 
it ;  in  which  case  the  soul  cannot  return  to  it,  but  remains 
dead  forever.     In  this  season,  they  recommend  to  the  de- 
ceased great  vigilance  in  guiding  his  canoe,  so  as  to  pass 
when   the  tree  sinks.     When   a  chief  dies,  his  entrails  are 
taken  out,  laid  upon  a  "  bucher,"  and  being  burnt,  the  ashes 
are  interred.     Another  chief  opens  the  body  and  prepares  the 
"bucher,"  who  is  entitled  for  this  to  despoil  the  dead.     It  is 
a  point  of  honor  to  ask  permission  of  the  body  before  open- 
ing it.     After  this,  he  fires  the  pile,  and  while  it  is  burning^ 
they  speak  and  gesticulate  to  each  other.     Such  as  are  not 
burned,  are  buried  with  their  war  club,  bows,  arrows,  blank- 
ets, a  paddle,  "  une  mikeuene,"  and  some  eatables.     At  the 
bottom  of  the  grave,  they   make  a  bed  of  spruce  branches, 
placing  over  the  body  bark  and  branches  of  the  same  tree,  to 
prevent  the  earth  from  coming  to  it ;  women  and  children  are 
buried  in  like  manner.     In  general,  the  dead  are  exposed  an 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  14^ 

entire  day,  daubed  with  vermillion  and  otherwise  ornament- 
ed, the  gun,  bow,  and  arrows  at  their  side;  or  if  a  woman, 
her  clothes,  sack,  and  such  articles  as  they  rtiake  or  possess. 
During  this  exposure,  those  who  desire  to  do  it,  bring  presents 
to  the  dead,  such  as  they  think  acceptable,  and  lay  them  near 
the  body ;  the  relatives  eventually  do  the  same  to  those  who 
give  them.  It  gives  them  great  pleasure  to  have  presents 
made  to  their  dead.  A  woman  is  interred  in  full  dress,  and 
in  the  grave  with  her  is  a  kettle,  her  sack,  a  paddle,  and  some 
provisions,  to  make  the  voyage  to  the  land  of  the  dead.  Men 
are  buried  by  men,  and  women  by  women.  A  father  mourns 
the  loss  of  a  son  more  than  of  a  wife.  A  principal  part  of 
mourning  consists  in  not  smoothing  or  greasing  his  hair;  he 
blackens  his  face,  until  one  of  his  relatives,  at  the  end  of  two 
or  three  months,  combs  and  arranges  his  hair,  and  puts  grease 
upon  it ;  as  he  completes  his  mourning  for  a  wife  or  son,  a 
present  is  made  to  the  one  who  thus  removes  his  grief.  When, 
the  women  return  to  their  village,  they  go  the  same  day  to 
weep  at  the  graves  of  their  relatives,  calling  them  by  name, 
and  sending  forth  the  most  dolorous  cries.  The  men  never 
weep ;  they  only  sing  songs  in  a  lugubrious  tone. 

Near  Mackinaw  there  is  a  rock,  which, from  a  distance,  has 
the  outline  of  a  sitting  labbit,  by  them  called  "  Michapaux," 

V  which  they  affirm  to  have  been  a  Great  Spirit  or  Manitou  that 
once  presided  over  their  ancestors,  not  allowing  them  to  want 
for  anything.     Then  they  succeeded  in  every  undertaking. 

\i  But  by  some  misfortune,  the  Spirit  has  withdrawn  into  Mich- 
apaux.     When  they  pass  there,  they  always  leave  soiiiething 

J.  to  render  him  more  favorable. 

They  perform  a  thousand  tricks  of  magic,  pretending  th^y 

,,  can  bring  back  dead  animals  to  life,  cause  an  otter  to  run  across 

[<,  the  lodge,  or  a  bear  to  walk  in  there.     They  do  this  by  means 
of  young  girls,  and  noises  that  are  apparently  under  ground- 
With  an  arrow,  they  pretend  to  stab  the  naked  body  of  a  man- 
To  show  the    blood  flowing,  they  lay  upon  the  supposed 
19m 


^f4e  THE  CASS  MANUSCBIPTS. 

wound,  very  adroitly,  the  juice  of  a  red  root.  The  arrow  has 
i^  stem  so  made,  that  when  it  strikes  the  body,  instead  of 
entering  it,  it  shdes  Within  itself.  The  pretended  wound  is 
rubbed  with  a  salve  composed  of  roots,  and  by  this  means, 
the  injured  man  is  cured  upon  the  spot  This  is  done  to 
'^tove  th'e' virtue  of  their  medicines.  They  cure  gun-shot 
wbtinid's  in  the  same  way,  before  the  AV'hole  tribe.  But,  in 
truth,  the  ball  is  made  of  earth,  rubbed  over  with  lead,  which 
they  break  in  pieces  in  the  barrel  of  the  pi^ce  as  it  is  driven 
down. 

/.  When  MygoWWt,  they  cf^ffi^ifi^'thWWi^'tr'6^  if  they 
become  weaty  of  the  expedition  by  the  A\^ay,  or  fail,  they  kill 
the  first  object  they  Ineet,  even  a  woman,  and  return  as 
though  marvellous  things  had  been  done.  If  they  Eii"e  defeated, 
or  do  not  me^t  thi^' ieheliiy,''tHey' bbt^r '  tteir  villfeig^^ ^t'  tlight 
On  the  contrary,  if  they  succeed,  they  come  in  broad  day, 
with  exclamations  of  joy,  showing  how  hialiy  of 'the  foe  are 
siaihV  Ji.'  Intake  firmly  fixed  iri  the  gfound  is  left  on  the  spot 
where  they  feught,  showing  By  proper'  si^nis  to  all  nations, 
who  know  the  symbbl  of  their  chief,  when '  the  blow  was 
struck,  the  nuniber  killed  and  made  prisoners,  and  the  day  of 
departure  fro rn 'the  battle-ground.  Thtey  know  by  certam 
leaves,  or  by  piece's  of  bal^k,  ^Iso  'by'  k  Itlhd  of  wood  which 
is  left  as  they  pass  along  rivers  ot  on  a*tr'ail,how  many  passed 
that  way,  arid  where  they  were  going. 
■  '^Yo'ung  then  go'  t6  V^r  'Whenever '  they  choose,  without  or- 

*^&ers,  or  c(in^i^eMi'6it  a^  H6' results.  Tt-'is  eYibugh  that  they 
have  the  inclination,  and  they  cannot  be  prevented  except  by 
presents,  such  as  arrows,  hatchets,  blankets  and  ammunition, 
things  which  are  procured  by  their  tfado  in  skins.  As  to 
btiier  g&'d's/  ttiyy '  have  'hohe','  di^d'  'do'  ^^r jr  mil  without  them. 
When  they  travel,  all  their  property  is  easily  stowed  away 
in  a  small  canoe. 

In  war,  the  chiefs  alie  listened  to  and  obeyed  ;   they  give 
orders'  ahfl  •  no  diie  disputes'  them.     But  in  the  village,  they 


i 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  I47 

are  regarded  as  quite  different  persons  ;  they  are  not  so  much 
chiefs  as  liberals.  At  home,  popularity  is  the  source  of  pow- 
er ;  valqr  is  very  much  esteemed ;  but  without  liberality  a  chi^f 
cannot  have  a  considerable  party.  They  receive  their  friends 
and  strangers  with  great  hospitality ;  cause  them  to  eat  the 
best  they  have ;  but  they  are  very  cruel  towards  their  slaves, 
and  recently  captured  prisoners.  They  break  their  bones  with 
heavy  blows,  cut  their  flesh  and  their  private  parts  with  flint, 
pull  out  their  finger  nails,  tear  their  ears,  smoke  their  fingers 
in  a  pipe,  and  burn  them  with  red  hot  irons.  To  others  they 
give  their  lives,  and  even  adopt  them  into  their  families  as  re- 
latives. 

There  is  no  police  or  justice  among  them.     Murder  is  com- 

n)pn.     The  punishment  of  murder  is  left  with  the  relations 

■''11  ■  ^  . 

of  the  dead,  who,  at  their  own  convenience,  revenue  them- 
selves  by  another  murder.  As  they  think  only  of  revenge, 
they  kill  the  chief,  the  father  or  mother,  when  they  are  offend- 
ed, as  soon  as  the  person  himself.  They  take  great  care  of 
old  men  and  orphans^  who  are  not  allowed  to  want  anything. 
Parents  refuse  nothing  to  their  children.  They  consult  them 
about  voyages ;  if  the  children  do  not  wish  to  go,  they  remain, 

.,  and  in  all  their  purchases  something  is  bought  to  please. 
Of  all  people  they  know,  the  French  are  most  feared  and 

[.  loved  ;  they  are  willing  their  daughters  should  bear  them  chil- 
dren^ because  they  become  great  men  and  women,  and  are 
beneficent.  All  sorts  of  wild  meat  is  eaten,  either  roasted  or 
l^roiled.  They  are  fond  of  fish,  and  have  them  in  abund- 
ance, both  boiled  and  roasted.  The  forests  have  moose,  sl;ags, 
elks,  rein-deer,  red  deer,  bears,  wolves,  foxes,  tigers,  wild 
cats,  martens,  otter,  wolverines,  ("  carcagou  '^,)  "  pecans," 
skunk  and  porcupines.  In  their  rivers  are  white  fish,  the 
best  of  all,  sturgeon  trout,  weighing  50  pounds,  and  the  best 
fish  after  the  white  fish,  muscalonge,  ("  moskinonge,'') 
"poison  dore,''  carp,  mullet,  perch,  "hochigans,"  salmon, 
et  anguillier. 


Wi  THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 

No.  2. 

Memoir  concerning  the  peace  made  by  Monsieur  De  Lignery 
with  the  Chiefs  of  the  Foxes  (Renards),  Sauks  (Sakis), 
and  Wi7inebagoes  (Puans  a  la  Baie),  June  7,  1726. 

To  make  the  peace  which  has  been  effected  by  M.  De 
LiGNERY  with  the  Foxes  of  the  Bay,  and  the  Pnants  (Win- 
v/  nebagoes),  of  the  7th  of  June  last,  certain  and  stable,  it  is 
thought  proper  to  grant  to  Ouchata,  the  principal  chief  of  the 
Foxes,  his  particular  request  to  have  a  French  officer  in  the 
country,  which  will,  he  says,  aid  him  in  restraining  his  young 
men  from  bad  thoughts  and  actions. 

We  think,  moreover,  that  it  will  be  necessary  that  the  com- 
mandant at  La  Pointe,  Chegiomegon  (Lake  Superior),  should 
for  his  part  labor  to  withdraw  the  Sioux  from  an  alliance 
with  the  Foxes,  to  detach  them  by  presents,  and  allow  them 
to  hope  for  a  missionary  and  other  Frenchmen  as  they  have 
desired. 

The  same  thing  should  be  written  to  the  officer  command- 
ing at  the  post  of  Detroit,  and  at  the  river  St.  Josephs,  in  or- 
der that  the  nations  adjacent  to  those  parts,  may  be  detached 
from  the  Foxes,  and  that  those  officers,  in  case  of  war,  have 
a  care  that  the  way  shall  be  stopped,  and  the  Foxes  prevented 
from  seeking  an  asylum  with  the  Iroquois,  or  in  any  other 
nations,  where  they  may  secrete  themselves. 

Monsieur  De  Siette,  who  now  commands  in  the  Illinois 
country  in  place  of  M.  De  Boisbriante,  has  written  to  M. 
De  Lignery,  that  the  Foxes  are  afraid  of  treachery,  and  that 
the  surest  mode  of  securing  our  object,  is  to  destroy  and  ex- 
terminate them.  That  he  has  made  the  same  proposition  to 
the  Council  General  of  New  Orleans,  and  has  given  to  the 
gentleman,  who  are  Directors  of  the  Company  of  the  Indies, 
^  the  same  opinion. 

We  agree  that  this  would  be  the  best  expedient,  but  must 
maintain  that  nothing  can  be  more  dangerous  or  more  preju- 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  14P 

dicial  to  both  colonies  than  such  an  enterprise,  in  case  it 
should  fail.  It  would  be  necessary  to  effect  a  surprise,  and  to 
keep  them  shut  up  in  a  fort,  as  in  the  last  war ;  for  if  the 
Foxes  escape  to  the  Sioux,  or  to  the  Agouais,  [lowas  ?]  they 
would  return  to  destroy  us  in  all  the  Upper  Country,  and  the 
French  of  both  colonies  would  be  unable  to  pass  from  post 
to  post,  except  at  the  risk  of  robbery  and  murder.  If,  how- 
ever, after  our  efforts  to  cause  the  peace  to  be  durable  and 
real,  the  Foxes  fail  again  in  their  promises,  and  take  up  the 
hatchet  anew,  it  will  be  necessary  to  reduce  them  by  armed 
forces  of  both  colonies  acting  in  concert.  ^ 

In  the  meantime,  it  is  proper  that  M.  De  Siette  should 
cause  to  be  restored  to  the  Foxes  by  the  Illinois,  the  prisoners 
that  they  may  have  with  them,  as  M.  De  Lignery  has  made 
the  Foxes  promise  to  send  to  the  Illinois  their  prisoners ;  and 
that  you  do  not  follow  the  example  of  other  Commandants 
before  you,  who  have  thought  to  intimidate  the  Foxes,  and 
cause  them  to  lay  down  their  arms  by  burning  Fox  prisoners 
that  fell  into  their  hands,  which  has  only  served  to  irritate 
that  people,  and  aroused  the  strongest  hatred  against  us. 

If,  with  these  arrangements  on  the  part  of  the  Illinois,  the 
Foxes  can  be  persuaded  to  remain  in  peace  from  this  time  a 
year,  we  shall  be  able  to  have  an  interview  with  M.  De 
Siette,  at  "  Chicago,"  or  at  the  Rock  (on  the  Illinois),  from 
whence  to  make  an  appointment  for  the  chiefs  of  the  Illinois  j 
liation  and  of  the  Bay,  (Green  Bay,)  where  they  can  agree  i 
upon  the  numbers  of  French  and  of  Indians,  on  the  part  of' 
the  Illinois  and  on  the  part  of  Canada,  who  shall  meet  at  a  \ 
fort  to  be  built  at  an  agreed  place  designed  for  the  meeting.*^  i 

After  this,  the  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Foxes  and  their 
allies,  can  be  renewed,  and  the  following  summer  we  can 
cause  OucHATA,  and  the  war-chiefs  of  the  Foxes,  with  a 
train  of  their  allies,  the  Puants,  Sauks,  Kickapoos,  Maskou- 
tens  and  Sioux,  to  descend  the  lake  to  Montreal,  where  we 
can  enquire  of  them  their  disposition  and  intentions,  and 
also  learn  the  desires  of  the  King  from  France. 


I5d  THE  CASS  MANUSDJIIPTS. 

^  it  would  be  apropos  that  Ouchata  should  publicly  demand 
a  chief  from  the  French  in  presence  of  his  chiefs,  and  of 
those  ^f  the  Sauteurs  (Chippeways),  Pottawottamies,  Outa- 
was  (Ottaways),  and  other  nations,  whom  it  may  also  be 
proper  to  bring  down,  and  a  chief  or  t\v6  on  th'^  part  of  the 
Illinois,  to  be  witnesses  of  the  matters  concluded  with  the 
Foxes.  There  will  be  no  difficulty  in  granting  them  a  French 
officer,  although  it  may  not  coincide  with  the  wishes  of  the 
Commandant  of  the  Bay,  who  will  doubtless  be  opposed  to 
this  establishment,  oiily  on  accoiint;  of  private  interests,  which 
ought  always  to  yield  to  the  good  of  the  service  of  the  King 
and  the  Colonies.* 


No.  3. 


^  Council  held  at  Green  Bay,  ("  La  Bale  des  Puants  '^)  hy 

^filonsieur  De  Lignery,  with  the  Sauks,  Puants,  and  Foxes, 

in   presence   of   Monsieur    D'Amariton    and    Monsieur 

.Cligancourt,  and  of  the  Reverend  Father  Chardatt,  June 

7,  1726. 

.::  I  speak  to  you,  my  children,  Sauks,  Puants,  and  Foxes, 
this  day  on  the  part  of  our  Father  Onontiq,  (the  King  of 
France,)  and  this  is  what  he  has  directed  me  to  say  to  you,  in 
a  letter  which  he  wrote  me  last  autumn.  "  I  direct  you  to 
go  next  spring  to  the  Bay,  and  labor  continually  to  'put,  an 
end  to  the  unjust  war  which  these  nations  are  waging  against 
the  Illinois."  The  Grand  Ononthio  has  given  orders  that  he 
lavishes  it  should  absolutely  terminate,  and  that  all  his  chil- 
dren should  live  in  peace. 

That  those  who  refuse  to  obey  his  orders,  he  shall  hereafter 

*  Col.  Whittlesey  thinks  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  by  whom  this  memoir 
"was  penned,  or  to  whom  it  was  directed.  He  suggests  that  a  pari  of  it  has  the 
air  of  a  circular  addressed  to  the  Commandants  on  Lake  Michigan,  and  on  the 
Illinois,  hy  the  head  of  Indian  Affairs  ;  but  mast  of  its  sentiments,  and  many 
of  the  phrases,  agree  with  a  letter  of  June  19th,  1726,  by  M,  Dk  LiQNEar,  from 
Green  Bay,  to  M.  De  Siettb,  among  the  Illinois.  L.  0.  D. 


THE  PASS  ]VI4NUSCRIPTS.r  151. 

jegard  in  no  other  light  than  rebellious  children,  and  he 
wishes  them  to  be  deprived  of  all  assistance,  and  even  of  all 
presents.  ;,..  ^.,   ,.,..,  ^,.n,:u,  vi/^ 

I  do  not  believe,  my  children,  that  there  are  any  here  who 
may  not  be  of  the  sam^e  sentiments ;  if  it  is  not  so,  it  must  be 
that  you  have  lost  your  senses,  and  rush  to  your  own.  ruin. 
In  short,  it  is  the  Kirig  who  speaks,  and.  J^e  is  not  in  the  habit 
of  speaking  more  than  once  to  cause  himself  to  be  obeyedL, 
Reflect  seriously  upon  this,  my  children.  He  is  the  best  of 
all  parents,  since  he  extends  his  hand  once  morp.to  receive, 
those  who  are  ungrateful,  wishing  tQ  fo^fget  tf^e  past    v  ^  ^ 

But  he  wishes  his  children  to  be  obedient.    Is  it  not  right? 
He  has  no  other  object  in  view  but  to  xjs^use  them  ^tp.jliv^jr 
peaceably,  to  watch  over  their  preservation,  and  to  spare  the 
blood  of  his  children,  wrhioh  is  tO;him  ^  dear  as  his  own. 

I  require  of  you,  my  children,  a  positive  answer,  which 
shall  come  from  the  heart  and  not  from  the  mouth  only,  most 
solemnly  assuring  you  that  I  conceal  nothing  from  you.  It 
is  your  good  that  I  seek,  and  this  you^  wilj.  ,l^fip>v  by  the  re- 
sults. Speak  to  me  in  sincerity,  and  I  promise  to  carry  your 
reply  to  our  Father,  and  to  speak  to  him  in  you,r,f^vor. 

You  ought  not  to  doubt,  after  what  I  did  for  you  two  years, 
since,  that  I  am  thus  inclined. 

What  I  do  this  day,  being  sick  as  I  am,  should  convince 
you  that  I  shall  always  be  in  your  interests  so  long  as  you  do 
the  will  of  your  Father  Ononthio,  which  I  invite  you  strongly 
to  do.  This  is  what  I  have  to  say  to  you  at:  this;  time.  .  Ret 
fleet  upon  it  seriously.  It  is  of  the  highest  conisequence  to 
you.  Give  me  your  reply;  but  remember  that  I  expect  it  to 
be  full  of  sinceritv.* 


"  *  LiGXERY  was  the  Commandant  at  Mackinac.    The  object  and  formal  tone  oJf 
the  reply  of  the  nations  slxows  cleaiij  that  there  was  no  sincerity  in  their  state- 
ments, but  only  fear.     It  will  accordingly  appear  by  sub.sequent  paper.<3,  that 
mxirdera  went  on  during  tlie  year  1726  as  usual,  between  the  Foxes  and  the» 
Chippeways  on  the  North,  and  between  th^m  and  the  Illinois  on  the  South. 

0.  W 


15i'  THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 

Reply  of  the  Foxes. 

My  Father,  regard  me  as  a  person  to  be  pitied.  I  am  not 
ignorant  of  the  steps  Monsieur  De  Lignery  has  this  day 
taken.  This  is  what  is  good,  my  Father,  M.  D'Amariton, 
M.  De  Clagincourt,  and  the  Reverend  Father  whom  Mon- 
sieur De  Lignery  this  day  associates  with  himself,  to  have 
paty  on  us,  our  women  and  our  children. 
•'Behold,  my  Father,  what  is  good.  Although  you  have 
come  at  a  time  when  a  party  of  our  young  men  are  gone  to 
war,  this  will  not  prevent  me  from  giving  them  your  words 
when  we  shall  be  together,  nor  from  causing  them  from  see- 
ing things  as  you  do. 

Behold  what  is  good.  When  I  learned  that  Monsieur  De 
SouRiGNY*  was  gone  to  France,  and  that  he  came  to  announce 
to  us  on  the  part  of  the  King  a  general  peace ;  but,  although 
the  Master  of  Life  may  have  disposed  it  thus,  here  is  M.  De 
Lignery,  who  comes  to  supply  his  place. 

Since  the  Grand  Ononthio,  the  King,  extends  his  hand  to 
us,  to  signify  this  day  that  he  wishes  truly  to  pity  us,  our 
children,  and  our  women,  thus,  my  Father,  I  give  you  to-day 
my  word ;  although  our  young  men  are  at  war,  I  expect  to 
gain  them  over. 

Reply  of  the  Sauks. 

Behold  what  is  good,  my  Father.  Behold  what  is  good. 
We  understand  that  you  have  pity  on  us,  on  our  wives,  and 
on  our  children.  My  Father,  we  are  of  no  consequence ;  we 
are  old  men;  we  are  always  ready  to  listen  to  your  words. 
My  Father,  although  we  may  be  worthy  of  pity,  during  your 
absence,  you  will  have  reason  to  [two  words  unintelligible]  if 
there  escapes  a  young  man  of  all  the  company  of  which  we 
are,  because  we  have  given  their  word — yes,  yes,  my  Father. 

*  Probably  a  mis-transcription  or  mis-print  for  De  LouviGifT,  who  com- 
manded the  French  expedition  against  the  Poxes  in  1714.  L.  C.  D. 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  .  153 

isten  to  you  to-day,  and  wish  you  to  believe  that  it  is  not 
without  difficulty  we  have  gained  over  our  young  men.  I 
respond  as  well  for  them  as  for  ourselves. 

Reply  of  the  Winnebagoes. 

My  Father,  I  know  this  day  that  although  we  are  few,  you 
have  pity  on  us.  We  old  men  do  not  agree  with  our  young 
men,  for  if  they  sustained  us,  they  would  never  do  any  of 
these  bad  things.  Although  we  are  a  small  nation,  and  our 
great  Father,  the  King,  does  not  know  us,  I  perceive  to-day 
his  goodness,  and  that  he  pities  us  by  his  extending  his  hand 
to  us.  The  Foxes  are  numerous,  my  Father,  It  is  they  who 
invite  our  young  men  to  do  as  they  do,  for  the  fear  they  have 
of  them. 

I  have  always  done  the  will  of  my  Father,  and  the 
Sauteurs  (Chippeways)  have  always  deceived  and  betrayed 
us.  However,  although  our  young  people,  in  revenge,  may 
have  captured  some  of  them,  I  have  always  sent  them  back. 
Wherefore,  then,  should  I  speak  differently  from  the  others, 
my  Father  ?  I  give  you  my  word  for  myself  and  my  young 
people. 

Letter  written  by  M.  De  LiGNERY,y>'owi  the  Bay  des  PuantSy 
to  Monsieur  De  Siette,  Commanding  am^ong  the  Illinois, 
June  19,  1726. 

I  had  the  honor  to  write  you  by  way  of  St.  Joseph's  River 
before  my  departure  for  the  Bay  about  a  month  since,  where- 
in I  indicated  the  orders  I  had  received  from  the  General,  to 
labor  to  bring  about  a  peace  between  the  Foxes  and  the  other 
nations  of  the  Bay  and  the  Illinois.  I  have  done  this  con- 
formably to  the  letter  from  Court  which  he  sent  me. 

I  assembled  the  nations  on  theBaie  des  Puants,  in  presence 
of  Monsieur  D'Amariton,  De  Clagincourt,  and  the  Rev. 
Father  Chardau,  where  I  told  them  on  the  part  of  Ononthio, 
20m 


154  .  THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 

that  they  must  lay  down  the  war  club  they  had  raised  against 
the  Illinois,  &c.,  &c. 

[Here  is  but  a  repetition  of  the  speech  above  given,  and 
the  replies  of  the  tribes. — Tr.] 

Such,  Monsieur  De  Siette,  are  the  terms  in  which  they  re- 
plied. They  have  still,  (since  spring,)  three  or  four  war  parties 
upon  the  Illinois,  to  whom  thigy  were  to  speak  against  continu- 
ing the  war.  But  the  chiefs  of  the  nations  are  well  disposed, 
and  well  perceive,  as  they  said,  with*  tears,  that  there  is  no 
hope  except  ^n  obedience.  They  demanded  of  me  at  what- 
time  they  should  have  the  reply  of  the  Gr^nd  On6nthtd.  I 
told  them  it  would  be  in  a  year. 

In  the  meantime,  we  are  laboring  to  detach  the  Sioux,  by^ 
way  of  La  Pointe,  from  their  alliance,  by  causing  the  Com- 
mandant there  to  rhake  them  presents.  We  Endeavor  also  to 
stop  their  passage  to  the  Iroquois,  either  by  way  of  the  river 
St  Josephs  or  Detroit,  should  they  wish  to  go  thither — those* 
Indians  having  offered  them  ^n  asylum. 
'  These  are  the  views  I  have  had  in  speaking  to  them  of 
J6ace,  to  accomplish  our  purpose  more  certainly  in  case  they 
break  their  promises. 

You  indicate  in  your  letter  that  you  have  orders  from  the 
Directors  of  the  Company  (Co.  of  the  Indies)  to* write  to  all 
the  commandants  of  Canadian  posts,  to  ascertain  the  means 
at  their  control,  in  case  the  peace  with  the  Foxes  and  other 
nations  of  the  Bay  should  fail,  and  as  no  person  is  willing  to 
take  the  first  step  foir  fear  of  treachery,  the  dii'ly  means  left  is 
to  destroy.  Such  is  the  opinion  you  have  given  in -writing  to 
the  Superior  Council  at  New  Orleans,  and  you  have  advised 
tfe^  Directors  of  the  same  thing. 

I  agree.  Monsieur,  with  ybu,  that  this  would  be  the  best 
expedient,  but  I  state  in  writing  that  nothing  could  be  more 
hurtful  to  the  colonies  than  this  enterprise.  If  we  do  not 
succeed  in  surprising  them,  nothing  can  be  expected,  but  they 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS,  t$$ 

"will  [influence  the]  Sioux  or  [a  word  not  readable],  and  will 
array  all  the  Upper  nations'  against  us. 

The  French  of  either  colony  cannotpass  fbohl  post*to  post 
btit  at  the  risk  of  robbery  and  murder,  and  thus  they  will  ac- 
quire all  they  want. 

However,  if  they  fail  to  keep  their  word,  it  will  certainly 
be  necessary  to  take  the  severest  coi^rse,  and  reduce  them  by 
force  of  arms. 

Conjointly  with  the  nations  of  the  two  colonies,  they  are 
now  well  convinced  that  nothing  will  fail  of  what  Ouchita 
aM  the  othet  chiefs  have  spoken  to  their*  youhgmdriVwh^" 
they  said,  "We  still  hold  the  French  by  the  hand,  btit  if  they 
escape  us  we  are  ruined."  '^ 

It  is  well  to  take  measures  on  this  side,  of  whichi'T  am 
about  to  inform  the  General.  On  your  part,  Monsieur,  if  your 
people  have  made  any  prisoners,  send  them  back  to  the 
Foxes,  as  I  have  told  the  latter  to  do  with  theirs,  if  their 
young  men  bring  any  in  from  youi  country. 
'  If  all  goes  well  here  for  a  year,  I  think  it  wiMfoe  necessary 
to  have  an  interview  at  ''  Ckikagau/'  or  at  the^  Rock^  with. 
you  and  your  Illinois,  and  the  nations  of  the  Bay.  We  will 
indicate  to  them  the  time  of  the  meeting,  where  it  will  prob- 
ably be  necessary  to  make  a  fort,  and  to  fix  the  number  of  the 
French  and  of  the  Indians  who  are  to  be  at  the  spot.  These 
are  my  thoughts.  Do  me  the  honor  to  give  me  yours.  If  my 
health  will  allow,  I  shall  go  there  with  pleasure,  and  if  it  shall 
thus  happen,  it  will  give  me  great  joy  to  see  you. 

I  hope.  Monsieur,  that  being  well  informed  of  affairs,  you 
will  guard  the  prisoners,  which  is  what  Monsieur  De  Visseri 
did  not  do,  (and  which  is  practiced  among  us,)  having  direc- 
ted me  that  inasmuch  as  he  was  authorized  to  entrap  them, 
he  would  burn  them.  This  they  testified  to  me  two  years 
ago,  and  also  their  feelings  of  resentment  Also  that  a  chief 
had  given  some  of  them  to  the  French,  who  had  burnt  them 


156  THE  CASS  MANUSCEIPTS. 

upon  the  spot.     This  proceeding  has  completely  aggravated, 
them,  and  made  them  anxious  to  kill. 

I  am  persuaded,  Monsieur,  that  you  will  not  do  this,  but 
will  keep  the  prisoners,  which  will  be  the  means  of  securing 
this  peace,  which  the  Court  desires  and  orders  us  to  estab- 
lish. 


No.  4. 


Exiratsfrom  a  '^Letter  of  Monsieur  De  Longueil,  at  Que- 
bee,  July  25,  1726,  to  the  Minister  "  of  the  Home  Govern- 
mentfor  the  Colonies. 

"  Since  this  time  I  have  received  your  two  letters,  dated 
Morly,  January  1st,  of  the  present  year.  By  the  first,  you 
inform  Monsieur  Begon  and  myself  of  the  receipt  of  the 
packages  we  sent  you  in  the  care  of  M.  De  La  Gauchetiere, 
and  you  have  the  goodness  to  inform  us  at  the  same  time  of 
the  orders  for  munitions  and  goods  that  M.  Begon  required 
with  the  funds  for  this  year,  and  the  replacement  of  those 
lost  in  the  ship  Chomeau, 

In  the  second,  you  do  me  the  honor  to  state,  that  the  King, 
having  given  orders  to  M.  the  Marquis  De  Vaudreuil  to  re- 
lieve the  Sieur  Amontan,  (or  Amoriton — not  legible,)  from 
the  post  at  Green  Bay,  and  that  the  despatches  having  been 
lost  by  the  wreck  of  the  Chomeau,  this  order  was  not  execu- 
ted. 

"  But  as  it  is  advantageous  to  the  termination  of  the  war 
between  the  Foxes  and  the  Illinois,  that  the  Commandant  at 
the  Bay  should  labor  to  advance  this  object,  the  intention  of 
his  Majesty  is  that  I  send  the  Sieur  De  La  Noire  to  relieve 
the  Sieur  Amoriton,  or  in  case  the  Sieur  De  La  Noire  is 
unable  to  make  the  voyage,  then  the  Sieur  La  Perriere 
BoucHETTE.     I  immediately  communicated  your  letter  to  the 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  157 

Sieur  Dx  La  Noire,  and  although '  I  might  have  sent  the 
Sieiir  DuPLEssiz  Tobert,  a  Lieutenant  of  the  troops  of  this 
garrison,  whom  the  Marquis  De  Vaudreuil,  before  his  death, 
had  named  to  depart  for  the  Bay,  and  reheve  the  Sieur 
Amoriton,  I  informed  the  Sieur  De  La  Noire  to  make  pre- 
parations to  ascend  the  Lakes. 

"  He  repUed  that  he  was  ready  to  do  so,  but  at  the  same 
time  represented  that  it  was  now  the  end  of  June,  and  the 
season  too  far  advanced  to  hope  to  find  the  savages  at  the 
Bay  where  the  Sieur  De  Lignery  was.  That  the  latter  had 
still  much  time  to  labor  towards  effecting  the  peace  under  the 
orders  he  had  received  the  autumn  previous  from  M.  De  Vau- 
dreuil.  To  make  peace  between  the  Foxes  and  the  Illinois, 
nothing  could  be  done  without  meeting  the  Indians — and 
those  assembled  by  M.  De  Lignery  had  already  dispersed  to 
their  homes. 

"  He  replied  that  he  would  go  up  in  the  coming  spring ; 
which  reasons  determined  me  to  consent  that  the  M.  De  La 
Noire  might  remain.  Besides,  the  Sieur  Amoriton  being 
relieved  agreeably  to  the  intentions  of  his  Majesty,  and  the 
Sieur  De  Lignery  being  at  the  Bay,  to  advance  the  peace,  I 
have  thought  you  would  not  disapprove  my  having  suspend- 
ed the  execution  of  what  you  have  done  me  the  honor  to 
direct  on  this  subject,  until  a  new  order,  when  the  Monsieur 
De  Beauharnois  shall  have  arrived,  and  it  will  then  be  for 
them  to  decide  thereupon,  in  anticipation  of  your  orders. 

"  I  am  just  informed  by  letters  from  M.  De  Lignery, 
brought  by  the  interpreter  he  took  with  him  to  the  Bay,  that 
he  assembled  the  chiefs  of  the  Sauks,  Puants  and  Foxes,  on 
the  7th  of  June  last,  and  told  them,  from  the  King,  that  they 
must  not  raise  the  war  clubs  against  the  Illinois,  or  they  would 
have  reason  to  repent  it  He  added  that  he  was  satisfied 
with  the  answer  of  the  chiefs,  whom  he  was  well  persuaded 
had  spoken  sincerely,  and  that  he  had  reason  to  hope  that 
the  peace  would  be  stable  and  solid.    I  have  the  honor  to 


158  THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 

send  you  a  copy  of  M.  De  Lignery's  speech  to  the  chiefs, 
with  the  reply  they  made,  by  which  you  will  perceive  that 
affairs  at  the  Bay  are  in  a  situation  which  promise  tranquili- 
"ty.  We  have  reason  to  hope,  from  the  wisdom  and  intelli- 
gence of  the  Sieur  Duplessiz  Tobert,  that  he  will  complete 
the  work  M.  De  Lignery  has  began. 

"  I  annex  to  the  letter  of  M.  De  Lignery,  one  which  he 
wrote  to  M.  De  Siette,  commanding  with  the  Illinois. 

j"  In  the  beginning  of  th^s  month,  I  received  a  letter  from 
Sieur  De  Linclot,  commanding  at  La  Pointe,  wherein  he 
gives  me  advice  from  the  Sauteurs  (Chippevvays)  who  are 
come  down  expressly  on  account  of  arrangements  he  has 
pa9,d,^,  to  establish  peace  between  the  Sioux  and  fhe  Saut^eurs  . 
j[^e  has  .caused  tf^e  Sioux  prisoners  to  be,  ;^eturned,  which  has 
put  them  on  good  terms  with  the  Chippeways,  and  the  Sioux 
have  asked  for  a  missionary.     He  has  sent  two  Frenchman 

^.^{/^,J[  directed  the  Sieur  De  LiNci.o'i;,,^9,,cause  the  Sioux  to 
hope  that  he  would  send  French  traders  an^  goods  among 
them  if  they  remained  at  peace,  and  were  always  attentive  to 
the  wishes  of  their  father.    ,      ,  .,,  .         .    , 

"In  regayd  t9  the  missionary  they  ask  for,  therq  is  i^q  diifi- 
,,fiulty  in  sending  them  one,  provided  this  will,  be  the  means 
<?f  promoting  a  separation  of  them  from  the  interests  of  the 
Foxes.     Sieur  De  Linclot  has  informed  ifn^e,  at  the  same 
time,  of  an  s^^air  that  has  occurred  between^  the  Chippeways 
and  the  Foxes. 
tf5ffr"  It  is  the  principal  subject  of  his  letter,  and  of  the  voyage 
^;,yhich  the  Chippeway  chiefs  gladly  made  here,  to  give  me  an 
y^iccount  of  the  affair  themselves,  and  to  consult  pie  as  to  what 
fv^iould  be  done. 

"  They  were  struck  by  the  Foxes  on  the  20th  of  June  last, 
and  one  man  and  one  woman  killed,  with  five  wounded.  The 
Chippeways  being  put  on  the  defense,  have  killed  one  Fox, 
and  have  wounded  three.     But  they  do  not  appear  content, 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  159 

and  would  have  got  up  a  party  against  the  Foxes  had  he  not 
prevented  it  by  presents,  and  the  hopes  held  out  that  the 
Foxes  would  lay  down  the  war  club,  adding  to  this  that  we 
were  laboring  at  the  Bay  for  a  general  peace. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  send  a  copy  of  the  speech  I  made  as 
a  response  to  this." 


No. 


a* 


Letttr  of  the  Marquis  De  Beauharnois,  dated  at  Quebec, 

Oct.  1st,  1726. 

*  MoNSEiGNEUR : — I  think  you  have  already  learned  with 
great  satisfaction,  by  Monsieur  Longueil,  of  the  peace  effected 
-'■tvith  the  Foxfes.     It  gives  me  infinite  pleasure,  Monseigneur, 
to  confirm  the  news. 

Upon  the  account  which  Monsieur  De  Lignery  has  ren- 
dered of  his  doings  in  the  month  of  June  last,  during  his  jour- 
ney to  the  Bay,  I  have  endeavored  to  take  all  proper  meas- 
ures to  affirm  the  peace,  in  order  to  avoid  a  war  in  which, 
however  successful  it  miarht  be  in  the  end,^ could  not  fail  to? 
cost- both  Colonies  very  much. 

M.  De  Longueil,  whom  I  had  requested  to  come  with  Mon- 
sieur De  Lignery,  that  they  might  examine  together  what  was 
most  proper  to  be  done,  considered  that  it  would  be  better  to 
determiile  the  war  of  the  Foxes  with  thfe  Illinois  by  alliances 
with  other  nations  5  and  such  was  the  opinion  of  M.  De  Lig- 
nery, and  my  own. 

We  did  not  abandon  for  this  purpose  the  intention  we  had 
of  detaching  the  Sioux  from  the  interests  of  the  Foxes,  and  I  j 
have  taken,  together  with  M.  Dupuy,  the  necessary  measures 
to  send  a  missionary  to  the  Sioux.  CJL-i 

Monsieur  Db  Tjignehy  has  advised  me,  that  since  the  word 
given  him  by  the  Chiefs  of  the  Foxes  and  the  Sauks  of  the 
Bay,  not  to  make  war  any  more  on  the  Illinois,  two  parties  of 


160  'IHE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 

young  men  of  the  Foxes  have  gone  to  avenge  themselves  for 
the  death  of  one  of  their  relations ;  that  the  greater  part  of 
both  parties,  composed  of  ten  (10)  men,  have  been  entirely 
defeated ;  that  four  (4)  of  them  have  been  killed  on  the  spot, 
four  (4)  wounded,  which  the  Illinois  have  taken,  and  the  two 
who  have  escaped  are  wounded.  If  the  Illinois  are  careful, 
this  aifair  will  have  no  further  bad  results.  They  have  but 
to  send  the  prisoners  they  have  taken  to  the  Fox  villages  with 
presents  to  cover  their  dead,  according  to  usage,  by  which 
means  they  will  disarm  the  Foxes,  and  will  prevent  them 
from  forming  new  parties.  M.  De  Lignery  has  thus  written 
to  M.  De  Siette. 

»'    I  have  the  honor  to  send  you  a  memoire  upon  the  means 
^at  appeared  to  me  the  most  proper  to  establish  peace,  and 
accompanying  it  is  a  copy  of  the  letter  of  M.  De  Lignery  to 
M.  De  Siette,  commandant  among  the  Illinois. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect. 

Your  most  humble  and  obedient  servant, 

BEAUHARNOIS. 


.fl 


Memoire  of  the  French  King  to  Monsieurs  Beauharnois  and 
DupuY,  on  the  war  with  the  Fox  nation. — *^pril  29,  1727. 

"  His  Majesty  has  seen,  by  the  letter  of  the  Sieur  De  Lon- 

i^ciuEiL  of  the  26th  of  July,  1726,  and  by  that  of  the  Sieurs 

,  Beaucharnois  and  Dupuy  have  noted,  and  by  one  which  they 

wrote  October  1st  of  the  same  year,  all  the  arrangements 

which  Sieur  De  Lignery,  the  commandant  at  Mackinaw,  had 

naade  to  bring  about  the  peace  of  the  Foxes  and  their  allies, 

T  with  the  Illinois. 

"  The  same  is  embraced  in  the  Memoire  sent  by  the  Sieur 

De  Beauharnois  to  ascertain  if  this  peace  had  been  approved 

by  his  Majesty.     His  Majesty  is  pleased  to  find  near  the  con- 

jiClusion  of  the  treaty  he  may  have  sent  a  missionary  and  an 

'  oiRcer  among  the  Foxes,  as  they  have  desired. 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  lUl 

"  His  Majesty  recommends  that  you  use  every  endeavor to» 
close  this  affair. 

"  As  it  regards  the  proposition  which  the  Sieur  De  Siettk, 
who  commands  among  the  Illinois,  for  the  Company  of  the 
Indies,  has  made,  of  entirely  destroying  the  Foxes, this  wot^d 
be  a  bad  expedient.     For  there  is  the  uncertainty  of  success^  > 
and  the  consequences  of  a  failure  might  be  frightful,  besides, 
the  enterprise  will  cause  a  heavy  expenditure  which  might  be 
better  applied.    Thus  the  Sieur  De  Beauharnois  will  continue 
to  pursue  every  mode  of  accommodating  this  business,  aad. 
if  after  that,  they  fail  to  keep  their  promises,  we  can  think: 
what  means  it  will  be  proper  to  make  use  of,  to  reduce  thesn 
by  force.     But  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  determine  this  till. 
all  other  means  have  failed." 

Notes  on  the  above  by  the  French  Transcriber  at  Parisi, 

In  the  duplicate  of  a  reply  to  the  above  despatch,  this  war 
is  not  spoken  of,  but  in  a  private  letter  of  the  25th  of  Septeni- 
ber,  1727,  it  is  stated,  that  they  (the  Government  at  Quebec,) 
had,  in  the  official  answer,  represented  that  the  English  were 
jealous  of  the  trade  which  the  French  had  with  the  Indian 
nations  of  the  Upper  Country,  and  practiced  all  methods  ti> 
•  withdraw  that  commerce,  and  to  cause  the  Indians  to  suspect 
the  French,  and  that  they  have  gained  a  great  number  of  the 
savages  by  presents  of  value  which  they  send  them  continual— W 
ly.  They  represent  that  the  English  had  privately  sent  beJts  • 
to  all  the  tribes  among  whom  the  French  have  posts  or  estab- 
lishments, to  persuade  the  Indians  to  rid  themselves  of  thea*^ 
and  to  extinguish  the  garrisons,  and  that  the  Foxes,  who  had 
received  these  belts,  had  said  they  would  not  suffer  the  Freiidb 
to  remain  in  their  country. 

That  they  had  also  represented  that  this  information  deter- 
mined them  to  make  a  serious  war  on  the  Foxes,  and  prevent 
their  bad  designs.     The  Sieur  De  Beauharnois  would,  theare- 
fore,  in  the  spring,  (of  1728),  take  proper  measures  for  the  ex€?- 
21m 


162  THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS, 

cution  of  this  project,  of  which  he  had  already  made  arrange- 
ments to  give  an  account.     But  he  had  thought  it  necessary 
to  demand  funds  to  meet  the  expense  of  this  war,  which 
with  the  closest  economy,  would  exceed  60,000  livres,  and  that' 
it  would  be  necessary  to  have  advances. 

They  hoped  that  the  full  amount  would  be  realized  by  the 
supplemental  funds,  without  taking  anything  from  the  ordi- 
nary expenditures.  The  new  undertaking  of  the  English, 
and  the  threats  of  Indians  who  wish  to  throw  off  the  yoke, 
have  reduced  the  Colony  to  an  extremity  that  justifies  the 
necessity  of  war  with  the  Foxes.  It  is  important  to  strike  a 
sndden  blow  which  shall  overthrow  the  forts  of  the  savages, 
and  the  projects  of  our  enemies. 

Memoranda  from  a  private  letter  of  M.  De   Beauharnois, 

September  25,  1727 — stating 

That  M.  DupUY  and  himself  had  given  the  reasons  which 
liad  forced  them  to  the  necessity  of  making  war  on  the  Foxes, 
and  he  thought  it  a  duty  also  to  state  what  he  had  written  on 
this  subject  to  M.  De  Siette,  commanding  with  the  Illinois. 
He  sends,  also,  a  copy  of  a  letter  he  had  written,  and  of  a 
memoire  which  he  prepared  at  Montreal,  where  he  assembled 
the  officers  to  deliberate  on  this  matter.  He  has  sent  a  circu- 
lar letter  to  all  the  commandants  of  Forts  in  the  Upper  Coun- 
try, to  advise  them  of  the  resolution  that  had  been  taken,  and 
to  cause  them  to  make  all  the  necessary  preparations  for  the 
expedition. 

In  the  coming  spring,  he  will  take  the  best  measures  in  his 
power  to  ensure  success. 

Monsieur  De  Cavaignac,  by  a  letter  of  September  19th, 
states  that  he  has  not  accepted  the  furlough  granted  to  him, 
as  M.  De  Beauharnois  had  informed  him  of  a  resolution  ,to 
make  war  on  the  Foxes  in  the  spring.  This  interfered  with 
all  commerce  in  the  Upper  Country,  and  affected  injuriously 
all  the  nations,  including  the  French. 


^ 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  163 

Monsieur  Beauharnois,  m  a  letter  to  M.  De  Siette,  Com- 
.     mandant  among  the  Illinois,  August  20,  1727,  informs 
him  (De  Siette) 

That,  not  being  able  any  longer  to  rely  upon  the  words  of 
the  Foxes,  given  to  M.  De  Lignery,  promising  to  remain  at 
peace ;  and  as,  especially  since  the  death  of  their  chiefs,  war 
parties  are  daily  being  formed,  he  has  determined  to  make 
war  upon  them  the  coming  year.  This  information  is  given 
in  order  that  he  may  make  preparations  and  give  assistance 
by  disposing  the  Illinois  and  the  French  of  the  Mississippi  to 
join  the  Canadians.  That  it  is  of  the  highest  consequence 
the  Foxes  should  not  be  informed  of  this  design,  and  for  that 
purpose,  to  cause  the  report  to  be  circulated  for  his  people  to 
repair  to  the  Bay,  about  the  end  of  July,  where  the  party 
from  Canada  will  be,  and  that  you  take  provisions  for  the 
expedition. 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  the  people  in  Louisiana 
will  come  to  this  war  with  more  ardor  than  the  Canadians,  as 
they  are  much  more  exposed  to  the  incursions  of  the  Foxes, 
who  alarm  and  even  kill  them  continually.  He  expects  to  be 
informed  of  the  measures  that  will  be  taken,  and  directs  M. 
De  Siette  to  give  information  to  the  Commandants  of  Forts 
within  the  government  of  Canada  above. 

Abstract  of  M.  De  Beauharnois'  Memoire  relating  to  this 

war,  prepared  at  Montreal 

The  order  for  the  expedition  to  Choueguen  having  been 
revoked,  and  being  determined  to  confine  himself  to  this 
which  has  been  ordered,  and  to  oppose  as  much  as  possible 
to  their  designs  by  closing  the  road  to  the  Iroquois,  M.  De 
Beauharnois  explains  no  farther  the  news  received  from 
above.  This  had  reference  to  the  belts  sent  by  the  English 
to  the  different  nations,  for  the  destruction  of  the  French,  and 
also  to  the  different  war  parties  of  the  Foxes  against  the  Illi- 


jg4  THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 

nois,  in  which  there  have  been  many  French  killed.     His  in- 
tention was  to  make  it  a  brilliant  aflfair,  to  hold  all  nations  in 
respect,  and  to  bring  against  the  Foxes  this  year  the  French 
,'    and  the  domiciled  Indians  who  had  been  directed  for  the  ex- 
'    pedition  to  Choueguen.     It  being  necessary  to  keep  this  a 
secret,  he  has  only  told  the  Indians  and  the  [not  legible— 
perhaps  Canadians]  that  he  counted  upon  them  for  this  year, 
and  pretended  that  the  season  was  too  far  advanced  for  the 
expedition  to  Choueguen. 

The  project  of  a  war  has  been  approved  by  M.  De  Longueil 
and  the  other  officers  assembled,  so  much  more  readily,  as  it 
appeared  by  the  letter  from  Court  of  the  preceding  year,  that 
they  had  nothing  so  much  at  heart  as  the  destruction  of  the 
savages  whom  the  presents  and  good  treatment  of  the  French 
had  not  been  sufficient  to  keep  at  peace.    -rJ^  -.- 

They  were  not  ignorant  of  the  intelligence  which  the  Foxes 
have  had  with  the  Iroquois,  in  order  to  secure  a  retreat  through 
that  country,  in  case  they  should  be  obliged  to  abandon  their 
^villages.    They  already  had  an  assurance  of  a  passage  into  the 
country  of  the  Sioux  of  the  Prairies,  their  aUies,  in  such  a  man- 
^      ner  that  if  they  had  known  of  our  design  of  making  war,  it 
would  have  been  easy  to  have  withdrawn  in  that  direction  be- 
fore we  could  block  up  the  way,  and  attack  them  in  their  townsi 

Note.— The  above  extracts  are  made  by  the  transcriber  at  Paris,  with  the 
documents  before  him,  and  not  here.    What  place  is  meant  by  Choueguen,  I 
cannot  say.    This  finishes  that  portion  of  the  manuscripts  procured  by  Gen 
Cass,  that  relate  particularly  to  the  Sauks  and  Foxes.     In  them  there  are  ex- 
pressions  which  I  am  not  sure  I  have  read  correctly,  owing  to  the  rapid  andj 
flourishing  style  of  the  copyist,  and  others,  where  the  meaning  is  ambiguous  tol 
me.    1  have  made  the  translation  more  literal  than  elegant,  the  whole  object 
being  to  secure  reliable  facts  for  history.    The  other  papers  relate  to  the  North- 
Western  Indians  in  general,  and  to  the  Post  at  Detroit.  C.  W. 

:Eagle  River,  Lake  Superior,  December  20,  1855. 

Additional  Note.— Choueguen  was  the  name  by  which  the  French  called 
Oswego  river,  and  the  English  settlement  made  at  its  mouth,  on  the  Southern 
shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  in  December,  1724.  A  stone  house,  with  loop-holes, 
was  erected  there  in  1727,  designed  as  a  garrison  for  an  officer  and  twenty  men 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  ^g^ 

but  during  the  erection  of  tlie  building,  a  detachment  of,  a  Captain,  two  Lieu- 
tenants, and  sixty  soldiers  Tvas  sent  to  protect  the  building  from  any  disturb- 
ance that  the  French  or  Indians  might  offer  to  it.  There  were  also  about  two 
hundred  English  traders  there,  all  armed  as  militia,  and  ready  to  join  in  the 
defence.  On  the  1st  of  August,  1727,  Maj.  Begox  appeared  there,  and  demand- 
ed the  evacuation  of  the  place,  in  behalf  of  the  Government  of  Canada,  as  it  was 
chai'ged  to  be  an  infraction  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht.  Gov.  Burnet,  of  New 
York,  declined  evacuating  the  Choueguen  or  Qswego  settlerdent  and  fort,  until 
he  could  hear  from  his  King,  justifying  the  settlement  on  the  ground  that  the 
English  had  a  perfect  right  to  trade  with  their  own  Indians,  and  this  fort  was 
bu^lt  with  their  consent.;  besides,  the  French  had  just  been  erecting  a  fort  at 
Niagara,  which,  according  to  their  own  interpretation,  was  an  infraction  of  the 
ti-eaty  of  Utrecht.  By  intimidation,  the  French  threatened  to  send  a  force  of 
400  French  and  800  Indians  to  attack  the  place ;  but,  as  we  see  from  M.  Beau- 
HARxois'  Menioire,  the  order  for  the  expedition  was  revoked,  and  nothing  fur- 
ther was  done.  But  in  August,  1756,  Gen.  MontcaLm,  with  nearly  3000  French 
and  Indians,  invested  the  fort,  and  after  four  days  investiture,  obtained  its 
surrender,  and  desti-oyed  the  fortress.  See  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.  Y,,  vol.  i,  p.  441— 
506.  L.  CD. 


No.  6. 


Eagle  River,  December  23d,  1855. 
Editors  Ontonagon  Miner  : — Among  some  valuable  French  manuscripts, 
brought  fi'om  Paris  by  Gen.  Cass,  and  loaned  me  by  him,  I  find  one  that  relates 
more  particularly  to  this  region.  It  is  without  date,  but  refers  to  a  council 
about  to  be  held  at  Green  Bay,  which  I  presume  is  the  one  of  1726,  of  which, 
in  other  papers,  a  full  account  is  given.  Monsieur  De  Linclot  was  Command- 
ant at  La  Pointe  at  this  time,  from  which  I  conclude  that  this  document  was 
written  in  the  winter  or  spring  of  1726,  at  Quebec.  Not  having  any  historical 
works  to  refer  to,  tliis  surmise  may  not  be  correct  within  five  or  six  months* 
Mons.  De  Longueil  had  charge  of  the  Department  of  Indian  Affairs.      C,  W. 

<^oj)y  of  the  Reply  of  Monsieur  De  Longueil  to  the  News 
brought  by  Cabina,  Chief  of  the  Sauteiirs.  (Froblable 
date,  spring  of  17 26 J  (The  Chippeways  were  called 
Sauteurs  by  the  French). 

"  I  am  rejoiced,  my  children  of  the  Sauteurs,  at  the  peace 
which  Monsieur  De  Linclot  has  procured  for  you  with  the 
Sioux,  your  neighbors,  and  also  on  account  of  the  prisoners 
you  have  restored.     I  desire  him  in  the  letter  which  I  now 


I 


166  THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 

give  you,  my  son  Cabina,  for  him,  that  he  maintain  this  peace 
and  support  the  happy  re-union  which  now  appears  to  exisj 
between  the  Sioux  and  you.  I  hope  he  will  succeed  in  it,  if 
you  are  attentive  to  his  words,  and  if  you  follow  the  lights 
which  he  will  show  you. 

"  My  heart  is  sad  on  account  of  the  blows  which  the  Foxes 
of  Green  Bay  have  given  you,  of  which  you  have  just  spok- 
en, and  of  which  the  Commandant  has  written  in  his  letter. 
It  appears  to  me  that  Heaven  has  revenged  you  for  your 
losses,  since  it  has  given  you  the  flesh  of  a  young  Fox  to  eat 
You  have  done  well  to  listen  to  the  words  of  your  Command- 
ant to  keep  quiet,  and  respect  the  words  of  your  father. 

"  It  would  not  have  been  good  to  embroil  the  whole  land 
in  order  to  revenge  a  blow  struck  by  people  without  sense  or 

reason,  who  have  no  authority  in  their  own  villages. 

« 

"  I  invite  you  by  this  tobacco,  my  children,  to  remain  in 
tranquility  in  your  lodges,  awaiting  the  news  of  what  shall 
be  decided  in  the  council  at  the  Bay,  (Green  Bay,)  by  the 
Commandant  of  Mackinaw. 

"  There  is  coming  from  France  a  new  father,  who  will  not  fail 
to  inform  you  as  soon  as  he  shall  be  able  to  take  meassures  ahd 
stop  the  bad  affair  which  the  Foxes  wish  to  cause  in  future. 

"And  to  convince  you,  my  children,  of  the  interest  I  take 
in  your  loss,  here  are  two  (2)  blankets,  two  shirts  and  two 
pairs  of  leggings,  to  cover  the  bodies  of  those  of  your  chil- 
dren who  have  been  killed,  and  to  stop  the  blood  which  has 
been  spilled  upon  your  mats.  I  add  to  this,  four  (4)  shirts 
to  staunch  the  wounds  of  those  who  have  been  hurt  in  this 
miserable  affray,  with  a  package  of  tobacco  to  comfort  the 
minds  of  your  young  men,  and  also  to  cause  them  to  think 
hereafter  of  good  things,  and  wholly  to  forget  bad  ones. 

"  This  is  what  I  exhort  you  all,  my  children,  while  waiting 
for  news  from  your  new  father,  and  also  to  be  always  atten- 
tive to  the  words  of  the  French  Commandant,  who  now 
smokes  his  pipe  in  security  among  ypu.'^ 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  167 


No.  7. 


Memoire  of  the  King  to  the  Sieurs  Vaudreuil  and  Begon, 
Governor- General  and  Intendant  of  New  France,  June  \% 
1722. 

"  His  Majesty  has  caused  an  account  to  be  rendered  of  all 
the  pretensions  of  the  Sieur  De  La  Mothe  Cadillac,  relating 
to  Detroit,  and  they  have  been  regulated  by  a  decree  of  the 
19th  of  the  last  month,  of  which  the  Sieurs  Vaudreuil  and 
Begon  will  find  herewith  the  disposition. 

"  They  will  see  that  His  Majesty  ordered  that  the  Sieur 
La  Mothe  Cadillac  should  enjoy  all  the  rights  which  hav« 
been  established  upon  the  lands  by  him  conceded  at  Detroit? 
with  the  exception  of  ten  (lO)  livres,  which  has  been  fixed 
upon  the  said  concessions  for  the  privilege  of  trade.  The 
intention  is,  that  the  trafiic  belongs  to  the  Commandant  of  the 
Post,  and  that  in  return  he  should  be  charged  with  all  the 
expense  of  said  Post,  both  in  relation  to  the  officers  and  sol- 
diers who  shall  be  in  garrison  there.  To  them  there  will  only 
be  paid  by  His  Majesty,  their  equipments  and  [not  legible, 
apparently  la  solde — pay]  at  Montreal,  and  the  clothing  of 
said  soldiers,  delivered  at  the  magazines  of  said  city. 

"  That  he  may  be  charged  with  presents  which  it  may  be 
necessary  to  make  to  the  Indians  without  His  Majesty  being 
obliged  to  connect  himself  with  the  account  in  any  manner 
whatever.  >^f^ 

"His  Majesty  includes  in  the  expenses  of  officers  and 
soldiers  to  be  charged  the  Commandant,  that  of  the  Almoner, 
the  Surgeon  and  the  medicines  necessary  to  the  sick ;  also, 
the  transportation  of  provisions  and  clothing  for  officers  and 
men,  and  in  the  presents  for  Indians,  a  missionary,  black- 
smith, and  armorer,  who  can  also  repair  the  arms  of  the 
troops.  In  short,  His  Majesty  does  not  wish  that  this  Post 
should  be  any  expense  to  him. 

"  The  Commandant  will  enjoy  the  privilege  of  trade  no  long- 
er than  he  shall  command  the  Post,  and  he  shall  not  claim  any 


tes 


THE  CASS  kAN-USCRIPTS. 


4i3tte  to  the  land  of  said  Post     He  will  not  grant  any  conces- 
sions of  lands. 

""  It  is  for  the  Governor-General  and  the  Intendant  of  Can" 
mda  to  grant  them  in  the  name  of  His  Majesty;  but  His 
Majesty  does  not  intend  that  by  means  of  these  concessions 
<fee  inhabitants  shall  be  permitted  to  trade  beyond  such  things 
aLS  their  lands  produce.  The  concessions  will  not  exceed  four 
(4)  arpens  in  front,  by  forty  (40)  in  depth,  and  will  be  granted 
an  regular  order  as  to  time. 

***If  the  Commandant  wishes  to  erect  a  habitation,  he  Avill 
''l>e  Tequired  to  take  a  concession  from  the  Governor-General 
atnd  the  Intendant,  the  same  as  other  inhabitants. 

^  He  will  be  subject,  under  said  concession,  to  the  same 
4^hditions,  not  being  able  to  claim,  by  reason  thereof,  any  right 
to  trade  after  he  shall  cease  to  be  the  Commandant  of  the  Post. 
ft  iias  appeared  right  to  His  Majesty  that  there  may  be  al- 
;lowed  to  those* who  shall  command  the  Post,  a  piece  of 
.^ound  to  cultivate  vegetables,  and  for  stables.  His  Majesty 
wishes  that  the  Sieurs  De  Vaudreuil  and  Begon  publish  an 
ordinance  by  which  they  shall  designate  for  this  purpose, 
lyfierein  shall  be  stated  that  the  Commandant  shall  enjoy  both, 
without  acquiring  any  title  to  the  property.  Such  ordinance 
ffaey  will  forward,  that  it  may  be  confirmed  by  His  Majesty. 

LOUIS. 

Examined  and  approved,  Philip  of  Orleans. 

WT'agmtnt  from  the  commencement  of  a  paper ,  being  a  Re- 
^tnonstrance  (without  date)  to  M.  De  Vaudreuil,  hy  M, 
;     De  La  Cadillac. 

■*^  Monsieur — Having  been  in  the  possession  of  Detroit  since 
-#«  26th  of  October,  1705,  (this  is  blindly  written,  and  may 
J^nead^also  1701  or  4,*)  I  desire  you  to  explain  to  me  the  inten- 
tions of  His  Majesty  concerning  the  letter  you  did  me  the 
-fcouor  to  write  the  13th  of  September  last. 

*  It  was  1701  Detroit  was  founded — see  Bancroft  iii,  194  ;  Laxman,  40,  41. 

L.  C.  D. 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS,  I69 

Ko.  8. 

Petition  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Detroit  to  the  Intendant  of 
New  France.      October  21,  1726. 

"  To  Monsieur,  the  Intendant  of  All  New  France  : 

•'■  The  inhabitants  and  traders  of  the  post  of  Detroit  hum*T 
bly  supphcate  Monsieur  the  Hberty  they  dare  to  take  of  rep- 
resenting to  you,  with  all  possible  submission,  that  they  find 
themselves  excluded  from  the  little  ordinary  trade  with  the 
Indians  they  had  heretofore  been  allowed,  and  for  which  they 
had  paid  for  the  privilege  by  an  exclusive  right  granted  by 
Monsieur  De  Tonty  to  Monsieurs  La  Marque,  Chiery,  No- 
lan and  Gatineau,  all  these  associated  together  to  enjoy 
traffic  with  the  Indians. 

"What  causes  us  a  great  wrong  is,  that  we  are  deprived  of 
the  douceurs  and  articles  we  were  in  the  habit  of  receiving 
from  the  savages  for  the  subsistance  of  our  families,  for  which 
most  of  us  are  charged  very  heavily ;  we  are  besides  very  far 
from  the  Lower  Colony  and  other  places  from  whence  we 
can  draw  our  necessaries.  Not  finding  ourselves  any  longer 
in  a  situation  to  collect  or  to  lay  up  grain  and  other  necessa- 
ries of  life,  by  the  failure  of  all  that  which  may  supply  them, 
and  which  they  are  unable  to  procure. 

*'  Not  while  they  have  the  privilege  of  going  to  Montreal 
for  necessaries  and  other  things  for  their  families,  they  do  not 
<;hoose  to  take  them  of  those  who  have  the  exclusive  trade, 
for  they  cannot  do  it  without  the  risk  of  coming  to  extreme 
poverty,  and  their  families  by  the  [a  phrase  not  clear,  but  ren- 
dered] extreme  dearness  and  high  price  put  upon  goods  when 
they  arrive.  This  takes  away  from  your  supplicating  inhab- 
itants and  traders  their  ability  to  support  the  small  tra^c  in 
which  they  have  scarcely  been  able  to  subsist,  and  thus  noth- 
ing escapes  from  the  Company's  hands. 

"  It  is  true,  however,  that  on  the  arrival  of  their  eanoe  loads 

of  merchandize,  they  engaged   Monsieur   Belestre,  com- 
22m 


170  •  THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 

manding  the  post,  in  the  absence  of  M.  De  Tonty,  to  assem- 
ble the  suppHcants  at  the  house  of  the  Reverend  Father 
Bona  VENTURA,  the  missionary  of  the  post,  and  offered  them 
such  goods  as  they  had  need  of  at  a  price  they  said  the  most 
reasonable  they  could  afford. 

"  This  was  done  to  prevent  our  complaints,  the  Sieur  Gat- 
iNEAu,  who  was  about  to  go  down  to  Montreal,  foreseeing 
that  we  should  make  complaint.  But  it  was  no  longer  in 
season  for  the  supplicants  to  accept  them,  inasmuch  as  the 
greater  part  of  the  traffic  with  the  savages  was  finished,  there 
being  only  three  days  left. 

"Wherefore  the  supplicants  refused  to  receive  the  goods, 
which  would  only  have  been  a  charge  to  them. 

"  Seeing  then  no  means  of  relief,  in  the  hope  they  may  ob- 
tain of  you.  Monsieur,  the  favor  of  enjoying  their  ancient 
privilege,  which  will  be  much  more  agreeable  than  to  hold 
them  of  these  gentlemen,  the  savages  themselves  are  very 
much  dissatisfied  with  so  restricted  a  trade.  Heretofore  they 
were  accommodated  with  it  in  twenty  or  thirty  places,  but 
now  there  are  only  two  that  can  accommodate  them  with 
what  they  want. 

"  There  being  none  of  your  petitioners  who  are  now  able  to 
furnish  them  with  powder  in  return  for  beaver,  it  has  given 
them  the  boldness  to  say  they  will  remove  their  fires,  and  so 
kindle  them  elsewhere,  where  they  will  be  treated  with  more 
freedom  and  kindness. 

"  Your  supplicants  would  simply  remark,  that  they  hope 
you  will  have  the  goodness  to  spare  the  Indians  this  provis- 
ion— is  this  considered  Monsieur,  may  it  please  you  to  grant 
the  supplicants  such  favors  as  you  shall  judge  proper,  under 
the  present  expose,  which  they  take  the  liberty  to  make,  touch- 
ing their  little  trade. 

"  Without  this,  it  will  be  impossible  for  them  to  live  with 
their  families  in  a  place  wher.e  they  cannot  expect  assistance 
from  any  other  quarter. 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  171 

"  They  will  abide,  Monsieur,  by  all  you  shall  be  pleased  to 
decide  and  to  order.  This  is  what  we  expect  from  yoii-^ 
great  equity,  high  clemency,  and  good  justice. 

(Signed^ 

CHESNY,  PICARD, 

LEIS^RI  CAMPAU,  ROUBIDOU, 

DE  MARSAC,  OLIVIER  LA  DEVOUTE, 

JEAN  BINEAU,  DE  GAUDEFROY, 

PIERRE  REAUME,  And  others  who  make  their  marts. " 

What  the  effect  of  this  dolorous  appeal  was  upon  the  In- 
tendant,  does  not  appear.  The  reply  of  Gatineau,  and  also  of 
M.  De  Tonty,  defending  themselves  before  his  honor  in  per- 
son, aTe  among  the  papers,  and  will  be  given. 


No.   9. 


Reply  of  Gatineau  to  the  Petition  of  the  Inhabitants  of 
Detroit  to  the  Intendant  of  New  France,  dated  Octobei" 
21,1726. 

Louis  Gatineau,  for  himself  and  in  the  name  of  Francois 
La  Marque,  Chiery,  Nolan  and  Joseph  Gouin,  associated  in 
the  trade  and  commerce  of  Detroit,  and  the  request  of  the 
inhabitants  of  said  post,  of  the  21st  of  October  last,  made  be- 
fore the  Intendant. 

The  respondents  have  been  confirmed  by  Monsieur  De 
ToNTY  in  the  exclusive  trade  of  said  post,  to  be  enjoyed  in 
the  same  manner  as  M.  De  Tonty  himself  might  do.  M.  De 
Tonty  has,  by  concession  of  the  King,  the  exclusive  privilege 
of  trade  of  said  post,  in  consideration  of  the  expense  which 
he  is  obliged  to  meet  for  the  support  of  the  Fort,  a  missiona- 
ry, a  surgeon,  for  presents  to  the  Indians,  and  the  transporta- 
tion of  provisions  and  clothing  for  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison. 

In  consequence  of  this  privilege,  the  inhabitants  of  Detroit 
have  no  right  to  deal  with  the  savages,  at  least  without  the 
permission  of  M.  De  Tonty — they  cannot  bring  to  the  post 


172 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 


anything  but  provisions  and  merchandize,  such  as  they  use, 
and  no  goods  for  trade  without  such  permission.  M.  De  Tonty 
has  sold  many  permissions  to  said  inhabitants  for  deaUng  with 
the  Indians,  but  not  being  paid  by  the  inhabitants,  and  per- 
ceiving that  the  post  was  ruined  by  their  not  furnishing  a 
supply,  he  concluded  to  confirm  his  right  in  Monsieurs  Gat- 
iNEAu  and  GouiN.  This  association,  which  was  made  for 
three  years,  having  been  broken  up  before  its  expiration  by 
private  difficulties  between  them  and  M.  De  Tonty,  having 
no  relation  to  said  inhabitants,  Monsieur  De  Tonty  assigned 
his  privilege  to  Sieurs  De  La  Marque,  Chiery  and  Nolan,  with 
whom  Sieurs  Gatineau  and  Gouin  are  associated,  in  order, 
by  the  help  of  the  partnership,  to  settle  the  business  of  the 
first  Company,  and  to  collect  their  debts — many  of  which  re- 
main unpaid. 

The  complaints  of  the  inhabitants  are  reduced  to  these — 
tiiey  find  themselves  excluded  from  ordinary  trade  with  the 
Indians  heretofore  granted:  that  this  exclusion  deprives  them 
of  many  ameliorations  they  were  accustomed  to  draw  from 
the  savages,  whereon  to  subsist  the  faniilies  which  anost  of 
them  have — that,  besides  they  are  very  far  from  the  Lower 
Colony,  and  from  places  where  they  can  procure  necessaries, 
and  that  they  are  wanting  in  all  that  contributes  to  the  neces- 
saries of  life — that  they  cannot  themselves  go  to  Montreal, 
and  cannot  procure  them  of  those  who  have  the  exclusive 
trade,  because  the  latter  fix  such  exorbitant  and  ruinous  prices 
upon  the  merchandize  of  which  they  have  need. 
'  Then  upon  the  arrival  of  three  (3)  canoe  loads  from  Mont- 
real, offered  at  the  most  reasonable  price,  that  it  was  done 
merely  to  prevent  their  complaints.  That  even  this  offer  was 
not  made  them  till  there  was  no  longer  any  time  to  accept  it, 
because  the  Indian  trade  was  nearly  over,  and  finally  that  the 
Indians  themselves  are  dissatisfied  with  this  exclusion,  being 
forced  to  take  goods  at  two  (2)  places  only,  when  heretofore 
they  had  a  choice  among  20  or  30  establishments. 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  173 

To  do  away  with  these  complaints,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
assume  that  neither  Monsieur  De  Tonty,  or  any  of  those 
who  held  rights  under  him,  have  hindered  the  inhabitants  of 
Detroit  from  going  to  Montreal,  to  seek  provisions,  utensils, 
goods,  or  any  articles  for  their  own  use ;  neither  have  we 
brought  such  goods  for  them. 

What  really  hinders  them  is,  they  are  not  in  a  condition  to 
do  it,  being  unable  to  get  credit  at  Montreal,  on  account  of 
debts  which  they  do  not  pay.  The  privilege  of  M.  De  Tonty 
is  restricted  to  goods  for  traffic. 

They  are  to  bring  whatever  is  necessary  for  private  use,  but 
if  they  do  not,  and  are  obliged  to  purchase  of  respondents,  it  is 
not  just  that  they  should  claim  them  at  Montreal  prices,  since 
it  costs  us  heavy  sums  to  transport  goods  to  Detroit,  and  it  is 
natural  to  have  a  profit  above  the  price,  on  account  of  risk. 

We  have  never  hindered  the  inhabitants  in  their  dealings 
with  savages,  in  such  articles  as  they  raise  from  the  soil,  and 
this  is  the  only  trade  that  should  be  allowed  them.  They  are 
thus  obliged  to  cultivate  their  lands,  and  sustain  the  establish- 
ment of  the  post.  It  is  only  to  their  idleness  they  can  impute 
the  want  of  grain  and  provisions.  Their  lands  are  well  situ- 
ated,  and  produce  abundantly,  not  only  what  is  necessary  to 
life,  but  wherewith  to  deal  with  the  savages. 

If  they  did  not  neglect  cultivation,  we  can  safely  assert, 

that  if  M.  De  Tonty  had  not  the  exclusive  privilege  of  trade, 

it  would  be  necessary  to  prohibit  it  to  the  inhabitants,  be- 

^cause,  having  the  resource  of  traffic,  they  would  abandon  the 

cultivation  of  the  soil.     There  is  no  other  proof  necessary  of 

the  excessive  scarcity  of  grain  than  this :  wheat  is  sold  at  20 

to  25  "livres"  the  "minot,"  in  place  of  10  to  12  livres;  In- 

viian  corn  15  to  18  livres;  tobacco  40  to  50  sous  the  pound; 

eggs  20  to  25  sous  the  dozen ;  onions  5  livres  per  hundred ;  a 

cow  100  livres,  and  a  calf  30. 

rr 
If  the  inhabitants  were  inclined  to  cultivate  their  lands, 

would  they  not  be  in  a  condition  to  give  provisions  to  the 


174  THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 

voyageurs  and  Indians  at  a  more  reasonable  rate,  and  also  of 
enriching  themselves  ?  Instead  of  this,  if  they  have  the  trade 
they  ask  for,  they  will  continue  to  neglect  the  soil.  We  shall 
thus  he  compelled  to  abandon  the  post,  and  they  also  will  be 
obliged  to  leave  it,  for  want  of  provisions.  Besides,  they  are 
not  in  a  condition  to  do  the  trade  they  desire,  since  they  owe 
more  at  Montreal  than  they  can  pay,  and  consequently  can 
have  no  more  credit  there.  They  would  be  obliged  to  pur- 
chase of  voyageurs,  from  whom  they  could  obtain  goods  only 
at  ruinous  prices,  should  their  demands  be  granted.  It  is 
merely  a  supposition  on  the  part  of  the  inhabitants,  that  the 
price  of  respondent's  goods  is  excessive.  Sieur  Gatineait  is 
ready  to  testify,  by  the  statement  of  a  trader,  named  Perthiek, 
of  Detroit,  that  he  has  bought  powder  of  us  at  40  sous  the 
pound,  when  it  was  sold  at  Montreal  at  30  ;  molletor  at  1 10 
sous  the  yard;  knives  of  the  trade,  at  four  (4)  livres  10  sous 
the  dozen,  and  thus  of  other  merchandize  delivered  300 
leagues  trom  Montreal,  encountering  the  risks  of  the  voyage. 

The  Sieur  GATiNEAu,in  the  presence  of  Monsieur  Belestre, 
at  the  meeting  of  the  inhabitants,  and  of  Father  Bonaven- 
TURA,  did  nothing  but  report  the  previous  offer  of  necessary 
goods,  which  was  not  done  to  prevent  complaints.  He  made 
the  same  offer  on  his  arrival  at  Detroit,  and  they  had  time  to 
accept  them.  The  statement  signed  by  Perthier,  taken  two 
months  before  said  meeting,  is  a  proof  that  he  had  given  said 
Perthier  goods  at  the  same  price  he  would  have  given  them 
to  all  others.  The  dissatisfaction  of  the  Indians  is  also  an  al- 
legation without  foundation,  because  the  inhabitants  cannot 
purchase  goods  of  traffic  except  of  voyageurs,*and  they  cannot 
deal  with  the  savages  at  prices  below  what  voyageurs  them- 
selves do.  Thus  the  Indians  will  always  find  it  more  to  their 
advantage  to  buy  of  first  hands.  Even  when  it  shall  be  true 
that  the  savages  actually  complain,  we  might  then  conclude 
^  that  the  inhabitants  suggested  the  discourse  to  the  Indians, 

Si 

who  did  nothing  but  report  it  against  their  own  interests. 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  175 

The  inhabitants  cannot  object  to  the  strong  reasoning  we 
give  you. 

Monseigneur  to  explain  to  you  why :  if  they  were  left  with 
the  trade,  they  could  not  sustain  it.  It  is  not  possible  that 
people  who  should  be  occupied  most  of  the  year  in  tillage 
could  go  to  Montreal  and  purchase  goods.  To  do  this  they 
must  abandon  their  lands  for  trade,  and  then  it  would  be  ne- 
cessary to  abandon  the  post,  and  also  the  trade  and  lands  for 
want  of  sustenance.  To  keep  goods  for  traffic,  it  is  necessary 
also  to  have  provisions  for  subsistence  of  Indians  who  come 
to  trade  while  they  remain,  as  well  as  for  the  French.  The 
corn  which  the  Indians  cultivate  is  not  sufficient  for  their  own 
nourishment,  consequently  there  is  an  absolute  necessity  for 
cultivation,  and  for  this  purpose,  and  to  compel  the  inhabi- 
tants, it  is  equally  necessary  to  prohibit  them  from  all  other 
trade. 

For  these  reasons,  Monseigneur,  may  it  please  you,  without 
regard  to  the  request  of  the  inhabitants  of  Detroit,  to  ordain 
that  the  respondents,  successors  to  the  rights  of  M.  De  Tonty, 
may  be  maintained  in  their  exclusive  privileges.  That  the  in- 
habitants be  permitted  to  trade  in  provisions  which  they  raise 
only,  and  to  go  to  Montreal  for  their  utensils,  provisions  and 
goods  necessary  for  private  use,  being  prohibited  from  pur- 
chasing for  traffic. 


No.  lO. 


Remonstrance  of  Sieur  De  Tonty  to  Monsieur  Dupuy,  In 
tendant  of  Justice,  Police  and  Finance  in  Ml  New  France, 
against  the  petition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Detroit  and 
others,  (Gens  sans  aveu,)  hearing  date  October  21,  1726. 

The  Sieur.  De  Tonty  very  humbly  exhibits  to  you.  Mon- 
sieur, how  the  citizens  domiciled  at  Detroit,  and  other  people 
without  residence,  and  who  are  not  in  the  trade,  complain 


176  THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS. 

malapropos  that  they  are  deprived  of  their  business.  By  the 
agreement  which  was  made  with  the  Sieur  De  La  Marque, 
for  the  prosecution  of  the  commerce  of  said  post,  although  in 
consequence  of  the  memoire  of  the  King  to  Messrs.  the  Mar- 
quis De  Vaudreuil  and  Begon,  it  is  the  intention  of  his 
'Majesty  that  all  trade  belongs  to  the  Commandantj  he  being 
charged  with  the  expense,  declaring  that  the  King  does  not 
wish  to  be  at  any  cost  for  this  post,  not  that  the  inhabitants, 
by  reason  of  concessions,  should  enjoy  the  right  to  trade,  ex- 
cept in  articles,  the  product  of  their  lands,  which  may  be 
easily  verified,  Monsieur,  by  the  King's  memoire,  although,  I 
say  by  this  memoire,  the  exclusive  trade  is  granted  to  the 
Commandant,  this  remonstrant  has  thought  it  prudent  to  in- 
clude in  the  list  of  traffic  allowed  to  the  inhabitants,  that  of 
their  own  necessaries. 

For  that  purpose  they  were  assembled  at  Father  Bona- 
ventura's,  the  missionary,  and  Sieur  Linclot,  the  officer  of 
tlie  garrison,  when,  after  having  read  the  memoire  of  the 
King,  we  said  to  them  that  although  it  granted  to  the  remon- 
'  strant  the  exclusive  trade,  he  was  willing  to  give  them  relief 
and  to  allow  them  the  means  of  support  at  the  Post  by  ad- 
mitting them  all  to  its  trade,  granting  permission  to  purchase 
presents  for  trade  with  the  savages,  and  to  those  who  were 
not  able  to  go  to  Montreal,  a  canoe  for  a  party  of  five  or  six 
to  seek  there  necessaries  for  their  families. 

How,  Monsieur,  can  the  inhabitants  complain,  since  I  grant- 
ed them  the  same  liberty  they  had  before  of  trade  with  the  In- 
dians ? 

The  remonstrant  will  always  be  ready  to  give  permits  to 
inhabitants  of  the  place  who  shall  demand  them,  unless  the 
Sieur  La  Marque  shall  object  to  it,  (a  dubious  phrase  omitted 
here,)  or  he  will  furnish  them  on  the  spot  the  goods  they  have 
need  of,  both  for  necessaries  and  traffic,  at  ten  (lO)  per  cent. 
for  the  expense  of  transportation. 

Th'ese  people  have  undertaken  to  surprise  your  equity  in 


r     ■  ' '  f  i '  '  i 


r 


THE  CASS  MANUSCRIPTS.  I77 

representing  that  Sieur  Gatineau  and  his  associates,  had  en- 
gaged the  Sieur  Belestre,  commanding  in  the  absence  of 
Sieur  De  Tonty,  to  assemble  them  at  Father  Bonaventura's 
to  offer  merchandize  at  a  reasonable  price,  only  to  form  a  pre- 
text and  prevent  them  from  reporting  to  you  their  complaints, 
which  is  entirely  destitute  of  truth. 

It  is  true,  that  on  account  of  some  altercations  between  the 
inhabitants  and  Sieur  Gatineau  and  his  partner,  about  the 
trade,  Father  Bonaventura  and  the  Sieur  De  Belestre  en- 
gaged them  to  assemble  at  the  Presbytery,  to  confer  with 
Sieur  Gatineaf  and  his  associates  about  the  price  of  goods ; 
but  without  taking  any  other  part  there,  as  is  shown  by  the 
certificate  of  Father  Bonaventura  and  Sieur  Belestre,  when 
they  aver  that  this  proposition  was  made  to  them  out  of  sea- 
son, it  being  then  three  days  since  goods  had  been  given  to 
the  Indians ;  they  might  have  taken  them  in  the  summer  as 
Perthier,  an  inhabitant  of  the  place,  has  said.  In  regard  tOr 
the  other  reasons  offered  by  the  inhabitants,  they  are  so  absurd 
that  the  Sieur  De  Tonty  has  not  deigned  to  reply — it  being) 
for  the  service  of  the  King  and  his  interests  to  maintain  the> 
savages  there,  and  to  support  the  Post  and  the  advantages  of 
commerce.  It  is  sufficient,  Monsieur,  to  assure  you  that  it 
only  belongs  to  them  to  do  this  conjointly  with  him  through'- 
the  licenses  that  he  has  given,  provided  they  are  in  a  condi- 
tion to  do  so.  But  what  is  strange.  Monsieur,  of  all  those 
who  have  signed  this  demand,  there  are  only  the  names  of 
Marsac  and  Philip  who  were  fixed  residents  of  the  place  iw 
the  time  of  Monsieur  La  Motte  Cadillac.  A  part  of  the 
others  have  only  resided  there  since  the  time  of  M.  De  Tonty's* 
command,  and  the  remainder  are  mere  volunteers.  This 
should  convince  you,  Monsieur,  that  the  request  is  captious, 
and  made  by  turbulent  people,  to  which  the  remonstrant  hopes 
you  will  riot  have  any  regard,  because  of  the  justice  he  has^ 
done  the  said  people  notwithstanding  their  bad  conduct 

De  tonty.    i 

23m 


ANCIENT  MOUNDS  OR  TUMULI 

IlSr  CRAWFORD  COUNTY. 


rj 


Read  before  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Society,  at  its        p; 
Annual  Meeting,  January,  IS 50.  ,f 

BY    ALFRED    BRUNSON,    OF    PRAIRIE    DU  CHIEN. 

On  the  questions  of  the  origin  and  design  of  these  monii^; 
ments  of  antiquity,  I  have  but  little  at  present  to  say.  Orit 
these  questions  much  has  been  said  and  written,  but  from  it 
all  the  world  has  become  but  little  the  wiser  or  better.  Their 
existence,  together  with  the  evidence  we  have  of  design,  taste, 
or  ambition  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  some  noted  event 
or  honored  individual,  give  ample  evidence  of  intelligence,. 
far  in  advance  of  the  Aborigines  found  here  by  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race,  who  at  present  occupy  the  country. 

The  trees  frequently  found  growing  upon,  them  of  four  hun^j 
dred  years  of  growth,  declare  their  antiquity ;  and  the  recent' 
discoveries  in  the  copper  region  of  Lake  Superior,  of  mines 
over  which  trees  of  the  same  age  are  growing,  makes  it  prob- 
able that  the  same  race  who  wrought  those  mines,  also  built 
these  mounds. 

Who  these  ancient  people  were,  whence  they  came,  and 
what  became  of  them,  have  been  questions  of  deep  and  abid- 
ing interest  for  the  last  fifty  years,  or  since  the  whites  have 
been  settling  the  great  Valley  in  which  their  Avorks  abound ; 
and  various  methods  have  been  resorted  to,  to  divine  some 
plausible  answer  to  each  question,  but  all  to  no  purpose.    In- 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  CEAWFORD  COUNTY.  I79 

deed,  he  who  can  answer  one,  can  answer  the  others.  But 
nothing  has,  as  yet,  come  to  Hght,  satisfactory  to  the  pubUc 
mind,  on  this  engrossing  subject. 

The  book  of  Mormon,  which  has  caused  two  civil  wars,. . 
cost  many  Uves,  and  is  now  founding  a  new  State,  if  not  a 
new  Empire,  among  the  mountains  of  CaUfornia,  is  the  first,* 
the  last,  and  the  only  book  ever  published,  purporting  to  be  a 
history  of  the  people  who  inhabited  this  country  at  the  time 
when  the  tumuli  and  fortifications  were  erected.*  But  as  no 
one,  except  the  followers  of  the  prophet,  give  any  credence 
whatever  to  the  story,  the  world  is  not  a  whit  the  wiser  for 
the  information  it  contains ;  and  we  remain  in  the  dark,  and 
probably  shall  till  the  end  of  time,  as  to  who  were  the  people 
who  did  this  work,  where  they  came  from,  what  became  of 
them,  or  what  was  their  design  in  erecting  these  mounds. 

The  fact  that  human  bones  have  been  found  in  some  of 
them  is  no  evidence  that  they  were  erected  as  tombs  for  the 
honored  dead;  because  the  Aborigines  found  here  by  the 
whites,  have  long  been  in  the  habit  of  burying  their  dead  in 
them ;  and  as  many  of  these  tumuli  have  been  opened  with- 
out finding  either  bones  or  anything  else  in  them  but  soil,  the 
presumption  is  very  strong,  that  the  bones  sometimes  found  in 
them  are  from  the  interments  of  the  Indians  who  more  recent^*/ 
ly  occupied  the  country. 

For  aught  that  I  know,  or  any  one  else  ,knows,  they  may 
have  been  built  for  tombs  ;  but  I  say  the  finding  of  bones  in 
them  at  this  time  is  no  evidence  of  such  a  design ;  and  one 
very  strong,  and  to  me  unanswerable  argument  in  favor  of 
the  correctness  of  this  position,  is,  what  must  be  known  by 


*  The  late  Prof.  C.  S.  Rafinesque  wrote  the  Ancient  Annals  of  Kentneki/f 
prefixed  to  Marshall's  History  of  Kentucky,  published  in  1824.  These  Ancient 
Annals  profess  to  trace  the  Aboriginal  History  of  Kentucky,  from  the  creation, 
through  six  periods,  down  to  a  comparatively  modern  date,  giving  quite  minute 
details  of  Noah  and  Peleg's  floods,  and  of  many  conquests  and  re-conquests  of 
the  country  by  the  opposing  Indian  tribes.  It  is  a  grotesque  production,  and 
deserves  to  be  ranked,  in  point  of  historical  authority,  with  the  veritable  Book 
of  Mormon.  L.  CD. 


•\ 


180  ANTIQUITIES  OF  CRAWFOKD  COUNTY. 

every  one,  that  human  bones  could  not  have  continued  in 
them  undecayed  for  the  space  of  four  hundred  years,  the  ac- 
knowledged age  of  these  tumuli.  In  some  instances,  and  in 
positions,  or  under  circumstances  peculiarly  calculated  to  pre- 
serve them,  as  by  embalming,  or  being  in  dry  nitrous  caves, 
bones  have  been  preserved  for  a  longer  period ;  but  no  case 
can  be  found  on  record  where  such  preservation  has  been  had 
with  bones  exposed  to  the  dampness  of  the  soil,  or  mixed 
with  the  earth,  as  those  found  in  these  tumuli  are.  vv 

*>In  some  few  instances  slabs  of  stone  were  placed  around 
the  bones ;  but  the  rude  masonry  found  in  such  cases  would 
be  no  protection  from  dampness,  while  surrounded  with  a 
damp  soil ;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  this  rude  masonry 
corresponds  much  better  with  the  rude  state  of  the  modern 
Aborigines,  than  with  the  more  improved  state  of  the  builders 
of  these  ancient  mounds. 

And  if  we  suppose,  (which  is  very  probable,)  that  the  same 
race  which  built  the  ancient  works  at  Aztalan,  also  erected 
these  mounds,  we  must  suppose  that  their  masonry  would 
have  been  greatly  in  advance  of  anything  yet  discovered  of 
the  kind  ;  and  further,  the  decay  of  the  work  at  Aztalan  shows 
conclusively  that  their  antiquity  is  such  that  human  bones 
would  have  long  since  mouldered  back  to  their  mother  dust: 
for,  if  burnt  bricks  have  so  decayed  as  to  render  them  scarcely 
distinguishable  frojn  the  earth  with  which  they  are  intermix- 
ed, most  certainly  bones  would  have  long  since  entirely  dis- 
appeared;  and  this  fact,  together  with  the  known  fact,  that  the 
recent  Indian  inhabitants  of  the  country  were  in  the  habit  of 
interring  their  dead  in  these  mounds,  and  in  the  mode  and 
manner  in  which  bones  have  been  found,  shows  conclusively 
to  my  mind,  that  the  bones  thus  discovered  are  of  more  recent 
burial,  than  that  of  the  builders  of  these  tumuli. 

And,  further,  and  in  confirmation  of  this  conclusion,  the 
fact  that  metallic  substances  have  been  found  in  these  tumuli, 
which  could  not  have  been  known  to  the  natives  previous  to 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY,  181 

the  discovery  of  the  country  by  the  whites,  shows  that  the 
skeletons  found  with  such  substances  must  have  been  interred 
since  the  whites  came  to  the  country,  which  does  not  agree 
well  with  the  antiquity  of  trees  four  hundred  years  old,  so  fre- 
quently found  on  these  mounds. 

The  mounds  found  in  the  county  of  Crawford,  are  of  various 
forms  and  sizes.  On  Prairie  du  Chien,  one  of  the  largest  and 
highest  of  these  tumuli,  having  a  base  of  some  two  hundred 
feet  and  about  twenty  feet  high,  of  a  circular  form,  was  lev- 
eled for  the  present  site  of  Fort  Crawford.  Another,  of  about 
the  same  dimensions  and  form,  stood  within  the  old  or  first 
Fort  built  at  this  place  by  the  Americans,  on  which  now 
stands  the  splendid  mansion  of  H.  L.  Dousman,  Esq.  A  cel- 
lar, well,  and  ice-house  vault,  were  dug  in  this  last,  and  a 
well  dug  where  the  first  stood,  but  in  neither  were  any  evi- 
dences found  of  the  design  of  their  erection ;  nothing  was 
found  but  bones,  rifles,  &c.,  of  recent  interment. 

The  circular  form  is  the  most  common  for  these  tumuli, 
but  many  are  of  different  forms.  Some  are  from  one  to  two 
hundred  yards  long,  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  wide,  and  from 
two  to  three  feet  high.  These  frequently  have  an  open  space 
through  them,  as  if  intended  for  a  gate,  and  they  would  have 
the  appearance  of  breast  works,  if  they  had  angles,  or  a  rear 
protection,  as  of  a  fort. 

Others,  and  especially  on  the  dividing  ridge  between  the 
Mississippi  and  Wisconsin  rivers,  in  towns  8  and  9  North,  of 
range  5  West,  are  in  the  form  of  birds  with  their  wings  and 
tails  spread,  and  of  deer,  rabbits  and  other  animals,  and  one 
which  I  have  seen  resembles  an  elephant.  The  birds  lie 
spread  out  on  the  ground,  while  the  other  animals  lie  on  their 
.sides,  with  limbs  stretched,  as  if  on  the  jump.  In  this  region, 
also,  some  few  mounds  resemble  a  man  lying  on  his  face. 
\These  mounds  are  from  three  to  four  feet  high,  at  the  highest 
points,  tapering  off  to  the^  extremities,  corresponding  with 
what  they  were  intended  to  represent. 


•  83  ANTIQUITIES  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY. 

On  the  margins  of  these  two  rivers,  on  the  beach  lands  and 
the  highest  peaks  of  the  bluffs,  these  tumuU  are  very  numer- 
ous  and  can  often  be  seen  from  the  boats  passmg  on  the 
river     Indeed  there  is  no  point  yet  discovered,  of  any  great 
extent,  in  the  county,  which  is  not  honored,  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  with  these  marks  of  ancient  settlement,  corres- 
ponding  with  the  descriptions  above  given,  and  varymg  in 
form  and  size;  some  being  not  over  ten  feet  on  the  base  and 
two  feet  high,  circular  in  form,  while  others,  as  above  stated, 
have  a  base  of  two  hundred  feet,  and  twenty  feet  elevation, 
and  others  are  in  forms  of  animals  which  generally  are  one 
hundred  feet  long.     And  it  is  believed  that  at  least  one  thou- 
sand of  them  can  be  found  in  the  county,  which  is,  however, 
gepgraphicallv  large.-    But  in  no  case  that  has  come  to  my 
knowledge,  in  thirteen  years  residence,  have  bones,  or  other 
matter  than  earth,  been  found  in  them,  except  with  evidence 
of  recent  Indian  interment 

One  rather  singular  circumstance  is  observable  in  the  con- 
struction of  some  of  the  mounds  on  Prairie  du  Chien,  and 
especially  those  near  the  fine  dwelling  of  B.  W.  Brisbois,  Esq. 
They  stand  on  the  margin  of  the  Mississippi,  on  the  extreme 
west  of  the  Prairie,  and  about  one  and  a  half  miles  from  the 
Bluffs.     The  soil  on  the  prairie  is  river  sand  intermixed  withj 
vegetable  mould.     But  these  tumuli  are  of  a  different  soil,  a 
loam   the  like  of  which  has  not  yet  been  discovered  within 
several  miles  of  its  present  location;  so  that,  to  appearance, 
the  earth  of  which  these  mounds  are  composed  must  have 
been  brought  from  a  considerable  distance. 

It  is  also  a  singular  feature  of  all  the  mounds  and  fortifica- 
tions  I  have  examined  in  the  West— and  they  are  quite  nu 
merous— that  there  is  no  appearance  that  the  earth,  of  whicl 
they  are  composed,  was  dug  up  from  the  side  of  them,  or  even 
near  by  them.  The  surface  of  the  surrounding  soil  generaUy 
comes  up  to  the  base  of  the  mound  on  a  smooth  level.  In 
some  instances  the  mound  stands  on  a  natural  elevation,  show- 


'i 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY.  ^183 

ing  that  the  entire  mass  of  which  it  is  composed  was  carried 
from  below,  up  to  the  place  of  deposit.  «i  ^^^^^ 

One  such  mound,  which  stands  in  a  group  of  them  on  the 
south-west  angle  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  has  a  base  of  some 
fifty  feet,  and  is  about  ten  feet  high ;  but  being  on  a  natural 
elevation,  it  has  the  appearance,  a  short  distance  from  it,  of 
being  twenty  feet  high ;  yet  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  earth 
of  which  this  mound  is  composed,  though  of  the  common 
soil  of  the  prairie,  was  taken  from  the  neighborhood  of  its 
present  location.  From  the  top  of  this  mound  can  be  seen  to 
advantage  the  extensive  low  bottom  lands  and  lakes  which  lie 
between  the  Wisconsin  and  Mississippi  rivers,  and  were  it 
not  for  the  timber  on  the  margin  of  the  two  rivers,  their  flow- 
ing currents  could  also  be  seen  for  some  distance.  This  cir- 
cumstance induces  the  belief  that  it  was  built  for  a  kind  of 
watch-tower  or  looking-out  place,  to  watch  the  approach  of 
enemies. 

But  the  hand  of  civilization,  the  plough,  the  hoe,  and  the 
spade,  are  fast  demolishing  these  monuments  of  antiquity^ 
When  they  fall  within  an  enclosure,  and  the  plough  breaks 
the  sod,  the  action  of  the  water  in  time  of  rain,  and  of  the 
wind  in  time  of  drought,  together  with  continued  cultivation, 
contribute  to  level  them  rapidly  Avith  the  surrounding  earth ; 
and  but  a  few  years  will  elapse  before  they  will  be  lost  in  the 
oblivion  of  their  builders,  and  will  be  forgotten,  except  as 
their  memory  will  be  preserved  by  the  hand  of  intelligence  oh. 
the  page  of  the  historian. 

In  reflecting  upon  the  destiny  of  this  people — a  people  once 
so  numerous  and  intelligent  as  those  must  have  been,  who 
laid  up,  with  skill  and  care,  these  evidences  of  their  existence, 
taste  and  mental  improvement, — we  can  hardly  avoid  feelings 
of  melancholy.  It  amounts  to  annihilation,  so  far  as  this 
world  is  concerned.  We  have  no  trace  as  to  who  they  were, 
where  from,  or  where  they  are  gone ;  we  only  know  that  they 
lived,  and  are  dead. 


184  ANTIQUITIES  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY. 

5.^,  If  they  reflected  as  we  do  on  the  future,  and  contemplated 
that  in  a  few  centuries  nothing  but  these  mounds  would  be 
jeft  of  their  whole  race,  that  not  a  man,  not  a  name,  not  a 
song,  nor  even  a  tradition  qf  them  would  be  Mt  on  earth,  their 
feelings  must  have  been  gloomy  in  the  extreme.  The  idea  of 
annihilation  is  said  to  be  even  more  painful  than  thoughts  of 
a,  miserable  existence. 

iioBut  we  turn  from  such  melancholy  reflections  with  hopes 
blooming  with  immortality.  The  mental  and  moral  culture 
which  we  enjoy,  with  the  blessings  of  the  pen  and  the  press, 
inspire  in  us  the  pleasing  reflection,  that  though  our  individ- 
ual names  may  not  be  noted  centuries  to  come,  yet  our  race 
will  be  known  on  the  page  of  history,  and  our  institutions  and 
the  monuments  we  leave  behind  of  our  intelligence  and  wis- 
dom, which  we  trust  will  continue  to  improve  our  race  as 
ithey  descend  the  stream  of  time,  will  bless  the  world,  and 
we  shall  not  have  lived  in  vain.  One  object,  and  the  great 
object,  of  this  Association,  is  to  preserve  from  oblivion 
those  scraps  of  history  which  are  fast  passing  into  forgetful- 
niess,  and  by  embodying  them  into  a  history,  transmit  to 
posterity  not  only  our  name,  as  a  people,  but  also  such 
facts,  snatched  from  the  destructive  hand  of  time,  as  will  cast 
.some  light,  the  best  we  have,  on  the  past  history  of  the  State ; 
and  though  we  have  not  omniscience  and  cannot  solve  the 
historic  problems  of  the  past  to  our  entire  satisfaction,  yet  we 
can  do  much  for  the  information  of  ourselves  and  of  our 
fellow-men,  and  thus  discharge  a  debt  we  owe  to  others  fox 
the  benefits  w«  have  derived  from  histories  of  other  countries 
and  other  times. 

^9x1j 


AN'nQUITIES  OF  WISCONSIN. 


In  giving  the  following  res^ume  of  Mr.  I,  A.  Lapham's  able  -work  on  the  An- 
tiquities of  Wisconsin,  we  would  urgently  call  upon  our  antiquarian  friends 
throughout  the  State,  to  aid  in  carrying  out  the  SuiTey  which  he  has  so  well  com- 
menced. Very  numerous  localities  were  necessarily  left  unvisited  by  him,  and 
many  others,  doubtless,  have  since  been  discovered  in  the  newly  settled  regions. 
We  want  to  learn  all  that  can  be  learned  of  oiu*  curious  and  mysterious  eailh- 
•works.  In  the  language  of  Rev,  Reubek  Smith,  of  Beaver  Dam,  Wis.,  "  We 
are  sitting  in  the  midst  of  monuments  that  are  dumb ;  let  us  watch,  they  may 
Ikereafter  speak."  With  this  hope,  we  ask  for  drawings  and  descriptive  narra- 
tives, and  plead  earnestly  that  those  interesting  antiquities  may  everywhere  be 
preserved  from  the  Vandal  hand  of  destruction.  L.  0.  D. 


24m 


't  ifbtijTr 


frr- 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  WISCONSIN. 

BY  REV.  WM.  BARRY,  OP  CHICAGO. 

Few  subjects  have  a  stronger  claim  upon  the  people  of  the 
West,  than  the  Aboriginal  remains  scattered  over  the  land. 
They  constitute  the  only  mementos  and  annals  transmitted  to 
us  from  the  ancient  races  that  once  inhabited  its  broad  prai- 
ries, and  dwelt  on  the  rising  shores  of  its  beautiful  lakes  and 
rivers.  '^^^ 

To  the  liberality  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  we  are  in- 
debted for  a  late  publication  on  the  Antiquities  of  Wisconsin, 
a  work  of  merit,  and  prepared  with  much  research  and  care, 
by  I.  A.  Lapham,  Esq.,  of  Milwaukee.  Its  typography  is  beau- 
tiful, while  its  numeroHis  illustrations  are  executed  in  the  best 
style  of  art.  We  have  thought  it  might  interest  many  readers 
to  have  a  brief  glance  at  its  contents.  '•< 

«?7  The  antiquities  described  in  the  above  publication  are 
chiefly  earth- works,  with  occasional  excavations,  varying  in 
figure,  size,  and  elevation.  These  are  found  in  numerous 
localities,  near  the  borders  of  the  lakes,  or  on  the  margin  of 
water-courses  all  over  the  State.  It  is  curious  to  notice,  that  ^ 
they  are  chiefly  found  at  points  already  selected  as  the  most 
favorable  sites  for  modern  settlements,  showing  that  the  in-) 
stincts  of  both  civilized  and  uncivilized  are  alike  attracted  t( 
those  localities  which  combine  at  once  the  beautiful  and  th( 
useful. 

In  proceeding  North,  on  Lake  Michigan,  the  first  point  no- 
ticeable for  its  remains,  is  a  few  miles  South  of  the  Wisconsin 


188  ANTIQUITIES  OF  WISCONSIN. 

line,  in  Illinois,  where  are  found  some  nine  conical  or  round 

mounds,  from  three  to  five  feet  in  height,  and  about  thirty  feet 

in  diameter.     These  are  disposed  in  a  serpentine  row  along 

the  crest  of  a  ridge  of  sand,  and  were  undoubtedly  burial 

places  of  the  dead. 

At  Kenosha  were  found  indications  of  a  manufactory  of 

arrow-heads  and  other  articles  of  flint,  for  which  abundant 

material  was  furnished  by  the  boulders  and  pebbles  along  the 

lake  beach  and  shore. 

^j.n.  .^Tr  .-mn^  Y^/ 
At  Racme  there  are  a  number  of  very  interesting  remains, 

chiefly  on  the  high  ground  near  Root  river,  from  one  to  two 

miles   from  the  lake.     Here   are  numerous   circular  burial 

mounds,  though  of  small  size  and  elevation,  embraced  in  one 

circular  enclosure,  with  several  tapering  ridges.    The  mounds 

are  without  systematic  arrangement,  from  five  to  fifty  feet  in 

diameter,  and  from  one  to  seven  feet  in  height     Dr.  Hoy,  of 

Racine,  opened  one,  in  which  were  found  the  skeletons  of 

seven  persons,  in  a  sitting  posture,  facing  the  East,  but  unac- 

.^ompanied  with  ornaments.     In  another  he  discovered  two 

.Tf^ses  of  pottery,  one  made  of  cream-colored  clay  and  white 

sand,  like  pale  brick,  of  the  capacity  of  five  quarts ;  the  other, 

which  was  of  a  red  brick  color,  was  smaller.    Both  are  thought 

j  to  resemble  those  in  culinary  use  among  the  Burmese.     The 

\  great  antiquity  of  these  remains  is  made  clear  by  the  gigantic 

■  size  of  the  trees  now  standing  upon  them, — one  with  three 
hundred  rings,  showing,  as  Dr.  Hot  estimates,  an  antiquity  of 
a  thousand  years.     But  the  most  numerous  group  of  these 

jjaaounds  lies  about  a  mile  west  of  Racine,  and  a  part  of  them 
has  been  embraced  in  the  modern  cemetery  of  that  beautiful 
city. 

0)  The  numerous  earth-works  about  Milwaukee,  attest  at 
once  fthe  attractiveness  of  that  favorite  locality  to  the  Aborigi- 
nal inhabitants.  They  extend  from  Kinnickinnic  Creek,  near 
the  "Indian  fields,"  where  they  are  most  abundant,  to  a  point 
six  miles  above  the  city.     They  occupy  the  high  grounds 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  WISCONSIKT.  189 

contiguous  to  the  lake  and  streams,  but  not  the  immediate 
shore,  and  a  considerable  number  are  appropriately  enclosed 
in  the  " Forest  Home"  cemetery  of  Milwaukee.  Many  of  the 
mounds  in  this  region  are  of  large  extent ;  chiefly  from  one 
hundred  to  four  hundred  feet  in  diameter,  and  are  laid  out  in 
fanciful  forms,  resembling  the  figures  of  the  turtles,  lizards, 
birds,  the  otter  and  buffalo ;  not  a  few  have  the  form  of  a 
war-club.  In  some  instances  one  mound  is  elevated  so  as  tO; 
overlook  or  command  many  others,  which  has  led  to  the  con- 
jecture of  its  being  either  on  observatory,  or  more  probably, 
an  altar  mound  for  sacrificial  or  religious  rites. 

At  Sheboygan  and  Manitowoc,  similar  antiquities  are 
found,  though  to  a  smaller  extent.  Many  bear  resemblance 
to  simple  breast- works  for  defence,  being  about  four  feet  in 
height,  and  twelve  feet  broad  at  the  base. 

On  leaving  the  lake  shore,  fine  remains  are  to  be  found  on 
the  borders  of  the  interior  waters  of  Wisconsin.     On  the  Fox 
or  Pishtaka  river,  are  several  interesting  localities — one  a  little ; 
north  of  west  from  Chicago,  where  were  counted,  on  the  brow 
of  a  hill,  twenty-seven  mounds  from  one  to  four  and  a  halt^ 
feet  in  height,  and  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  feet  long.     The 
principal  points  of  interest  'on  the  Pishtaka  are  at  or  near 
Waukesha,  where  have  been  disinterred  many  pipes  andi 
specimens  of  pottery,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  village 
of  Pewaukee,  where  is  a  remarkable  collection  of  lizard  and; 
turtle  mounds — one  having  a  length  of  four  hundred  and 
fifty  feet '  {j  pb  Jf^>v/ j^n  ......,v.i 

The  basin  of  Rock  river  with  i(s  tributaries,  is,  perhaps,^ 
exceeded  by  no  part  of  the  North- West  in  the  interesting = 
character  of  these  Aboriginal  remains.    Without  particulariz- 
ing those  found  a  few  miles  above  Fulton,  where  the  river 
expands  into  a  beautiful  lake,  abounding  in  fish,  a  natural 
attraction  to  the  Red  Man,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  notice 
more  at  length,  the  very  remarkable  remains  found  at  what  ! 
has  been  termed  the  "  ancient  city  of  Aztalan.^*     This  locali-  ' 


190  ANTIQUITIES  OF  WISCON-SIN. 

ty  has  attracted  much  notice  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  the 
West,  and  exaggerated  accounts  have  gone  forth,  of  its  brick 
walls  and  buttresses — its  stone  arches,  &c.,  in  all  of  which 
there  is  hardly  a  shadow  of  truth.  These  remains  were  first 
discovered  in  1836,  and  hastily  surveyed  by  N.  F.  Hyer,. 
Esq.,  the  year  following. 

On  the  West  branch  of  Rock  river  may  be  seen  a  ridge  of 
earth  (not  of  brick)  extending  around  three  sides  of  an  irreg- 
ular parallelogram — the  river  forming  the  fourth  side.  Its 
length,  at  the  north  end,  is  631  feet;  on  the  west  side,  1,419 
feet,  and  700  feet  on  the  south  side,  making  an  aggregate 
length  of  2,750  feet,  and  inclosing  an  area  of  seventeen  and 
two-thirds  acres.  The  ridge  is  about  22  feet  in  width,  and 
from  1  to  5  feet  high,  the  corners  not  rectangular,  and  thei 
embankment  not  straight  The  so-called  "buttresses"  are 
simple  enlargements,  about  40  feet  in  diameter,  at  intervals, 
varying  from  61  to  95  feet,  giving  the  appearance  of  so  many 
mounds,  with  a  connecting  ridge.  Irregular  masses  of  red 
clay  in  the  embankment,  in  some  instances  partially  baked  by 
burning  grass  or  straw,  have  led  to  the  popular  belief  of  the 
employment  of  brick  in  its  construction. 

At  the  south-west  corner,  of  thie  interior,  is  found  a  square 
truncated  mound,  having  a  level  area  on  the  top  53  feet  wide 
on  its  west  side,  and  seen  from  high  ground  near,  has  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  pyramid  "  rising  by  successive  steps,  like  the ; 
gigantic  structures  of  Mexico."  This  is  t  supposed  to  have 
been  the  most  sacred  spot,  as  well  as  the  highest.  The  exte- 
rior wall  curves  around  this  pyramid,  and  is  also  protected  by 
two  parallel  walls  outside  the  principal  embankment  A 
similar  pyramidal  elevation  is  found  at  the  north-west  corner, 
while  various  low  and  smaller  ridges  are  to  be  seen  within 
the  enclosure,  with  connecting  rings  or  circles,  supposed  to  be 
the  remains  of  mud  houses. 

That  the  structure  above  described  was  intended  for  sepul- 
chral or  other  religious  uses,  rather  than  for  military  defence, 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  WISCONSIN.  191 

is  made  probable  by  the  disinterment  of  half-burned  human 
remains  from  one  of  the  buttresses,  together  with  fragments 
of  pottery  and  charcoal  It  is  confirmed  by  the  material  fact/^ 
that  the  whole  structure  is  commanded,  in  a  military  point  of 
view,  by  a  parallel  ridge,  extending  along  the  west  side,  with- 
in arrow-shot  distance.  d 

The  strong  resemblance  this  structure  bears  to  the  temple 
mounds  of  Ohio  and  the  States  south,  places  it  in  the  same 
family  with  that  class,  which  finds  its  highest  type  in  the  fin- 
ished monuments  of  Mexican  art.  Hence  the  name  given  to 
this  locality  of  Aztalan — a  derivative  from  the  Aztecs  ot 
Mexico,  among  whom  existed  the  tradition  of  a  migration 
from  the  North.  The  dissimilarity  of  these  remains  to  the 
animal  shaped  mounds  commonly  found  in  the  West,  is  wor- 
thy of  notice,  and  it  may  have  been,  as  Mr.  Lapham  supposes, 
a  sort  of  Mecca,  the  periodical  resort  of  the  race  that  con- 
structed it.  It  is  sad  to  say,  however,  that  this  highly  inter- 
esting work  of  antiquity,  like  many  others,  is  suffering  injury 
at  the  hands  of  civilized  man,  who  is  furrowing  it  for  grain^'- 
or  digging  for  its  hidden  treasures.  Cannot  this  work  of  the 
destroyer  be  stayed,  and  these  precious  monuments  of  a  race 
that  no  longer  lives  to  tell  its  story,  be  preserved }  'h 

Besides  the  antiquities  of  Aztalan,  there  are  yet  others  in 
the  valley  of  Rock  river,  beyond  Ixonia,  at  Wolf  Point, 
(memorable  as  the  point  where  Black  Hawk  made  his  stand 
in  1832 ;)  at  Hartford,  where  has  been  found  a  bird-shaped 
stone,  much  revered  by  the  Winnebago  Indians,  and  five 
miles  farther,  a  ridge  one  thousand  feet  in  length.  But  the 
most  extensive  and  varied  group  is  at  Horicon,  numbering 
about  two  hundred  common  mounds,  among  which  are  mod- 
ern graves  of  the  Potawottamies ;  sixteen  of  the  mounds  are 
of  a  cruci-form  shape. 

It  would  require  more  space  than  propriety  allows,  to  give 
in  detail  the  various  works  of  antiquity  on  the  Neenah  or  Fox 
river  of  Green  Bay — on  a  branch  of  Grand  river,  where  are 


102  ANTIQUITIES  OF  WISCONSIN. 

some  one  hundred  mounds,  one  called,  from  its  figure,  "the 
man,'^  though  with  some  inequality  in  the  length  of  its  mem- 
bers— on  the  basin  of  the  fine  River  Wisconsin,  where,  at  the 
"Dells  of  the  Wisconsin,"  is  an  enclosure  with  an  area  of 
45,000  square  feet,  large  enough  to  hold  2000  persons,  fortified- 
by  double  walls  which  may  have  been  protected  by  palisades^  i 
and,  at  Iron  Creek,  is  still  another  fort  surrounded  by  a  fosse 
or  ditch  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram,  and  symmetrical  in  it»- 
figure.     We  might  pass  on  to  notice  the  curiosities  of  the' 
Lake  Vieux  Desert,  with  its  beautiful  island  so  favorable  for 
cultivation  and  defence  to  the  primitive  race,  and  showing  aB(^ 
interesting  elliptical  embankment  in  its  centre;  and  the  ydt^ 
more  attractive  remains  in  the  region  of  Lake  Superior,  where 
have  been  found  mounds  in  the  forms  of  mathematical  fig-' 
ures,  one  a  regular  pyramid,  like  that  within  the  walls  of 

Should  the  r€f^a^der  desn*e' a  more  detailed  account  of  these 
reliques  of  American  antiquity,  and  others  we  have  not  par-^* 
ticularly  referred  to  at  Madison  and  elsewhere,  he  will  find*' 
them  in  Mr.  Lapham's  valuable  memorials,  from  which  we 
have  freely  drawn.     It  is  gratifying  that  public  attention  is' 
directed  to  these  remains,  which  deserve  a  thorough  examin^' 
ation  from  men  of  science.     It  is  clear  that  but  little  is  yet 
known  of  them.     Farther  and  more  careful  examination  may*" 
throw  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  race  who  have  left  them  to 
us,  of  whom  we  now  know  little  more  than  what  a  glimpse 
at  these  remarkable  earth  mounds  reveals — a  few  bones,  A'^ 
few  bits  of  pottery,  pipes  wrought  sometimes  in  artistic  forms, 
a  few  rude  implements — this  is  all.     A  single  example  of  hi»^' 
eroglyphic  characters  is  given  us  at  Gale's  Bluff,  near  La 
Crosse,  on  the  Mississippi,  forbidding  the  hope  of  learning  ♦ 
much  save  by  inference  and  comparison.     Yet  much  is  pos^^ 
sible  to  scientific  research,  as  is  witnessed  in  the  long  ob- 
scured monuments  of  Egypt  and  Babylon. 

Mr.  Lapham  supposes,  that  the  race  who  left  the  greater 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  WISCONSIN.  I93 

part  of  these  monuments,  were  the  progenitors  of  the  existing 
Indian  tribes,  and  that  this  is  rendered  probable  by  the  re- 
semblance of  the  pots  and  vases  in  figure,  &c.,  to  those  now- 
found  in  old  Indian  villages,  and  to  those  still  made  by  the  wo- 
men of  the  Mandan  and  other  tribes.  He  also  supposes  there 
was  a  gradual  transition  in  the  form  of  the  mounds.  They 
are  found  in  all  figures,  from  the  full  circle,  through  the  oval 
and  elongated  mounds,  to  the  oblong  and  long  ridges.  He 
considers  the  oldest  to  embrace  those  formed  in  the  figures  of 
animals,  and  the  great  works  at  Aztalan ;  that  the  next  in  the 
order  of  time  were  conical  mounds  erected  for  sepulchral 
uses — these  coming  down  to  a  recent  period.  Indications  of 
garden  beds  have  been  found  in  connection  with  some  of  the 
mounds,  which  are  planted  in  geometrical  figures  or  in  right 
lines.  These  he  places  later.  The  most  recent  are  those 
bearing  marks  of  plantations  by  modern  Indians,  with  no 
observance  of  regularity  or  order.  This  theory  supposes  a 
singular  and  sad  degeneracy  in  the  latter  race  of  the  Red 
Men.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  animal-shaped  mounds 
are  chiefly  confined  to  the  territory  embraced  in  the  State  of 
Wisconsin.     A  few  have  been  referred  to  as  in  Ohio. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  the  public  care  should  be 
bestowed  on  the  preservation  of  the  few  monuments  left  us 
as  the  sole  legacy  from  the  ancient  occupants  of  the  West. 
Such  there  are  in  our  own  State — a  few  mementos — all  we 
have  or  can  have  of  their  history.  It  is  unfortunate  for  Illi- 
nois, that,  among  the  institutions  of  that  State,  she  cannot  yet ' 
number  a  Historical  Society,  to  garner  up,  and  elucidate  the 
materials  of  her  history.  Wisconsin  has  set  us  an  honorable 
example  of  enlightened  and  patriotic  interest  in  this  depart- 
ment of  Science,  well  worthy  of  our  imitation.* 

*  A  few^  public  spirited  men  of  Chicago  have,  since  this  paper  was  written, 
formed  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  and  have  already  made  a  noble  com- 
mencement ;  and  the  Historical  Society  at  Alton  has  been  resuscitated  under 
favorable  auspices.  These  evidences  of  increased  attention  to  Western  history, 
with  the  renewed  efforts  in  the  same  direction  in  Michigan,  Iowa  and  Tennes- 
see, are  very  gratifying,  and  give  promise  of  fruitful  results.  L.  0.  D. 

35m 


»i^ 


.  il<*>Ai' 


■A9 

AUGUSTIN  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 


Inteoductoky  jN'ote. — At  the  instance  of  the  Historical  Society,  I  made  a 
visit  to  the  yenerable  Capt.  Augustin  Grignox,  at  his  residence  at  the  Butte 
des  Morts,  on  Fox  river,  and  spent  a  couple  of  weeks  vrith  hira,  from  May  26tli 
to  June  8th,  1857,  in  obtaining  the  following  narrative.  It  is  here  presented 
just  as  I  noted  it  down  from  his  lips  at  the  time,  all  simple  and  unadorned — ^, 
characteristic  of  the  aged  chronicler,  whose  narrative  it  is  of  a  life  time's  recol- 
lections. It  is  true,  that  while  the  facts  and  statements  are  essentially  his,  the 
language,  order  and  arrangement  are  mine,  as  are  sometimes  the  inferences  and 
deductions,  but  in  all  cases  with  his  approval  and  adoption. 

Mr.  Grignon,  though  now  seventy-seven  years  old,  is  robust  and  healthy ; 
the  hardy  life  he  has  led  as  a  trader  in  the  wilderness,  with  the  simplicity  of 
his  habits,  seems  to  have  toughened  his  constitution,  so  that  old  age  does  not 
appear  irksome  to  him.  He  is  cheerful,  pleasant  and  communicative,  intelligent 
and  well  read.  I  was  pleased  to  observe,  that  he  was  familiar  with  that  rare 
and  sterling  old  work,  Charlevoix's  Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle  France,  published 
in  three  quarto  volumes,  in  1744.  He  spends  his  time  mostly  between  fishing, 
smoking,  and  reading  the  papers,  of  which  one  is  Le  Courier  des  Stats-  Uhis. 

I  have  taken  great  pains  to  elicit  from  Mr.  Grignox  a  narrative,  as  replete  as 
possible,  of  the  men,  events,  habits,  and  life  of  the  olden  time.  I  felt  that 
another  such  opportunity  of  securing  a  full  account  of  the  early  settlement  and 
early  men  of  Eastern  Wisconsin,  would  never  again  occur ;  a  native  of  the 
countiy,  and  an  intelligent  descendant,  as  he  is,  of  the  Sieur  Charles  Ds 
Langlade,  emphatically  the  Father  of  Wisconsin,  and  personally  acquainted 
with  him,  as  well  also  as  with  Glode,  T^mah  and  other  noted  Menomonee 
chiefs ;  and  with  Reaume,  Porlier,  Lawe  and  their  fellow  pioneers,  a  partici- 
pant in  the  war  of  1812,  and  in"the  Black  Hawk  war ;  with  a  retentive  memory, 
in  no  wise  disposed  to  exaggerate,  filled  with  a  just  and  discriminating  knowl- 
edge of  the  men  and  events  of  Wisconsin  for  the  past  seventy-two  years,  and 
by  tradition  for  the  forty  years  preceding — such  a  living  chronicle  we  may 
never  expect  to  see  again  in  Wisconsin.  Very  much  of  this  information  he 
alone  possessed — the  last  of  the  grand -children  of  Charles  De  Langlade  ;  and 


196  aillGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

his  narrative  is  all  the  more  precious,  as  it  covers  a  period  when  there  were  no 
uewBpapers  ia  "Wisconsin,  as  there  now  are,  to  chronicle  the  occurrences  of  each 
passing  day,  no  diaries  kept,  and  but  two  or  three  casual  travelers  who  have 
left  us  any  memorials  of  their  observations,  and  those  exceedingly  meagre.  I 
may  over-estimate  the  historic  value  of  Mr.  Grigxon's  narrative,  but  I  think 
Hot ;  if  this  generation  cannot  appreciate  it,  those  who  come  after  us  will  do  so. 
I  cannot  but  think,  that  the  time  will  come,  when  some  gifted  son  or  daughter 
of  Wisconsin  will  weave  the  interesting  story  of  the  Sieur  Charles  De  Lak- 
ftLADE  into  an  historic  romance  or  epic  poem,  that  will  impart  an  enduring 
charm  to  the  wild  nomadic  times  of  an  hundred  years  ago  on  the  far- distant 
shores  of  the  beautiful  la  Baye  des  Puants. 

Capt.  Qeignon,  now  somewhat  bent  with  the  weight  of  almost  four  score 
years,  must  in  his  prime  have  been  nearly  six  feet  in  height,  with  a  manly,  well- 
proportioned  form,  an  expressive,  benignant,  hazel  eye,  a  full  and  pre-possessing 
countenance.  When  about  twenty-five,  he  married  Miss  Nat^cy  McCeea, 
daughter  of  a  trader  of  the  name  of  MoCrea,  and  of  a  Menomonee  woman,  one 
of  la  noblesse — a  near  relative  of  the  Old  Kiwg,  Tomah,  I-om-e-tah  and  Osh- 
KOSH.  Six  children  were  the  fruit  of  this  marriage,  three  of  whom  survive. 
Mrs,  Grignon  died  at  the  Butte  des  Morts,  October  24th,  1842,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-three  years. 

To  Mr,  Grigxox's  son-in-law.  Lours  B.  Porlier,  a  son  of  the  late  Judge 
.PoRLiER,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  country,  I  desire  to  express  my  grateful 
acknowledgments  for  his  generous  and  constant  assistance  in  the  procurement 
of  this  narrative,  and  whose  intimate  knowledge  of  the  Menomonees  enabled 
him  to  render  both  Mr.  Grigxox  and  myself  very  essential  aid.         L.  C.  D. 


<'4 


SEVENTY-TWO    YEARS' 

RECOLLECTIONS  OF  WISCONSIN. 

BY  AUGUSTIN    GRIGNON,  OF  BUTTE  DES  M0RT3,  WINNBBAGO  COUNTT. 

The  Sieur  Augustin  De  Langlade  and  his  son  Charles, 
may  be  regarded  as  the  founders  of  the  first  permanent  settle- 
ment in  Wisconsin.  Augustin  De  Langlade  was  a  native  of 
France,  where  he  was  born  about  1695.  His  family  were  of 
the  nobility,  and  had  their  castle,  and  it  is  believed  that  Au- 
gustin served  awhile,  in  early  life,  in  the  French  marine.  He 
had  several  relatives  in  Canada,  among  them  a  cousin  named 
Celleberre,  a  colonel  in  the  French  service ;  and  these  prob- 
ably had  some  influence  in  turning  his  attention  to  America. 
'  New  France,  as  all  Canada  and  the  immense  North-West  were 
then  called,  was  the  great  field  of  enterprise  for  the  young 
men  of  France,  and  especially  for  the  younger  nobility  whose 
inheritance  was  limited,  and  whose  desire  for  fame  or  wealth 
prompted  them  to  seek  their  fortunes  in  the  New  World.  De 
Langlade  must  have  been  quite  a  young  man  when  he  ar- 
rived in  Canada,  and  soon  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade;  his 
first  known  locality  was  among  the  Ottawas,  near  Mackinaw, 
as  early  as  about  1720.  It  is  very  likely  that  he  accompanied 
De  Lignery^s  expedition  against  the  Foxes  up  Fox  river,  in 
172S,  as  the  expedition  passed  by  Mackinaw,  and  a  body  of 
Ottawas  joined  the  French,  and  De  Langlade  had  then  been 
several  years  located  as  a  trader  among  them. 

While  at  Mackinaw,  he  was,  so  far  as  I  know,  only  engaged 
as  a  trader,  and  had  probably  the  entire  control  of  the  trade 


198  GRIGN'ON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

at  that  point,  as  it  was  customaiy  to  obtain  a  license  from  the 
French  government  of  Canada  for  that  purpose.  At  Macki- 
naw, he  married  the  sister  of  the  head  Ottawa  Chief,  King 
Nis-so-wA-QUET,  or,  as  the  French  called  him,  La  Fourche,  or 
The  Fork;  and  this  connection  must  have  largely  added  to 
his  influence  among  that  nation.  Their  eldest  child  was  a 
daughter,  named  Agate,  who  was  born  about  1722,  and  mar- 
ried for  her  first  husband  a  Mr.  Souligny",  who  is  represented 
as  a  man  of  severity  and  cruelty,  which  he  had  probably 
learned  while  an  officer  in  the  French  service ;  and  he  dying, 
she  married  Amable  Roy,  and  lived  to  a  great  age,  and  died 
at  Green  Bay,  having  never  had  any  children.  Their  second 
child,  Charles  De  Langlade,  was  born  at  the  Ottawa  village 
at  or  near  Mackinaw,  in  1724.  There  were  two  younger  sons, 
whose  names  are  not  recollected,  and  a  daughter,  who  mar- 
ried a  Mr.  De  Verville,  and  had  one  son,  Gautier  De  Ver- 
viLLE.  Charles  received  such  an  education  as  the  mission- 
aries near  Mackinaw  could  impart  When  he  was  ten  years 
of  age,  the  Ottawas  were  engaged  in  a  war  against  some 
gdlied  tribe  of  the  English,  who  aided  to  interrupt  the  French 
communication  with  Louisiana,  and  whose  main  village  was 
under  the  rule  of  a  squaw  chief.  This  village  was  located 
on  a  prairie,  protected  by  such  defences  as  Indians  were  able 
to  make ;  and  twice  had  the  Ottawas  attacked  the  place,  and 
twice  been  discomfitted.  When  urged  by  the  French  Com- 
mandant, probably  at  Mackinaw,  to  make  a  third  attempt 
upon  the  enemy's  stronghold,  they  declined ;  but  at  length 
King  Nis-so-wA-QUET  and  his  brothers,  prompted  by  some 
superstitious  dream,  whim,  or  prestige,  said  they  would  again 
make  the  trial,  provided,  they  could  be  accompanied  by  their 
young  nephew,  Charles  De  Langlade,  and  would  go  on  no 
other  condition.  The  Commandant  went  to  the  Sieur  Augus- 
TiN  De  Langlade,  and  made  known  the  requirement  of  the 
chiefs ;  and,  surprised  at  the  request  for  such  a  mere  lad  to 
accompany  them,  and  thinking  perhaps  it  was  a  plan  which 


GRIGXON'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  I99 

the  youth  had  formed,  and  had  desired  his  uncles  to  put  into 
effect,  M.  De  Langlade  went  to  his  son  and  asked  him  con- 
cerning the  matter,  when  Charles  frankly  assured  his  father 
that  it  was  no  plan  or  wish  of  his.  "  Well,"  said  the  father, 
*^  you  must  go  with  your  uncles ;  but  never  let  me  hear  of 
your  showing  any  marks  of  cowardice."  Reaching  the  place, 
young  Charles  and  some  other  lads,  also  taken  along,  were 
placed  in  the  rear,  in  full  view,  but  out  of  danger  of  the  attack, 
which  was  soon  made ;  and,  after  a  severe  assault,  the  place 
was  taken.  Viewing  the  conflict,  Charles  used  to  relate  to 
me,  in  his  old  age,  that  it  then  seemed  like  a  ball-play  to  him. 
Ever  after,  when  the  Ottawas  went  on  war  expeditions,  they 
were  invariably  accompanied  by  young  Charles  De  Lan- 
glade.-^ 

At  an  early  age,  Charles  De  Langlade  had  a  son,  by 
an  Ottawa  woman  at  Mackinaw,  whom  he  named  after  him- 
self, and  who,  at  a  proper  age,  was  sent  to  Canada  and  edu- 
cated, and  returning,  joined  his  Indian  kindred  at  Mackinaw, 
and  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  He  was  in  the  British  Indian 
service  at  the  capture  of  Mackinaw,  in  1812,  and  acted  as  in- 
terpreter for  the  Ottawas.  Late  in  life  he  married  an  Ottawa 
woman,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons  and  two  daughters ;  one 
of  the  sons,  Louis  Langlade,  was  living  eight  years  since, 
then  a  lieutenant  in  the  British  service,  and  stationed  at  To- 
ronto, unmarried ;  of  the  daughters,  one  was  married  to  one 
Abram  La  Brun,  and  when  last  heard  from,  was  residing  at 
the  Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains ;  the  other  was  living  last 
year,  at  Mackinaw,  with  her  husband,  Francis  Luzienias. 

About  1745,  the  Sieur  Augustin  De  Langlade  and  his 
son  Charles,  left  Mackinaw,  and  migrated  to  Green  Bay, 
where  they  became  the  principal  proprietors  of  the  soil. 
They  settled  on  the  east  side  of  Fox  river  near  its  mouth, 
somewhat  above  and  opposite  the  old  French  post,  and  about 

■—     — '  ill.  -i.i.       .  .       ■  ■  ■   ■  ■■    ■  _    -  -        ■-_...       -_.  -  -.-..-__■■, 

*  Col.  De  Peystee,  in  his  Miscellanies,  mentions  Nis-so-wa-quet  in  such  a 
■way  as  to  show  that  he  was  liring  as  late  as  17T9.  L.  C.  D."^ 


200  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

where  Judge  Arndt  now  resides,  at  the  upper  end  of  Green 
Bay.  I  do  not  remember  whether  my  grandfather,  Charles 
Db  Langlade,  made  any  mention  to  me  as  to  whether  the 
old  French  fort  was  garrisoned  when  he  and  his  father  came 
there,  but  presume  it  was ;  nor  do  I  remember  any  particular 
reasons  that  induced  their  settlement  at  the  Bay.  It  was 
probably  made  in  consequence  of  the  Sieur  Augustin  De 
Langlade  either  accompanying  De  Lignery's  expedition 
against  the  Foxes  in  1728,  or  hearing  the  officers,  soldiers  and 
Ottawas  who  served  under  De  Lignery,  on  their  return, 
speak  highly  of  the  country,  or  from  being  invited  to  locate 
and  trade  there  by  the  surrounding  Indians,  who  may  have 
traded  with  him  at  Mackinaw.  And  it  is  quite  likely,  that 
my  grandfather,  who  seems  from  early  life  to  have  been 
engaged  by  the  Government  in  the  Indian  Department,  was 
directed  to  locate  west  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  better  to  attend 
to  the  interests  of  the  Indians  in  that  quarter,  and  also  to 
have  command  of  the  militia,  when  the  settlement  should  be 
made. 

As  the  date  of  the  first  permanent  settlement  made  in  Wis- 
consin may  be  regarded  as  important  by  the  present  and  fu- 
ture generations,  I  will  state  the  circumstances  upon  which  I 
found  my  belief  that  the  De  Langlades  commenced  their  set- 
tlement at  the  period  indicated.  My  grandfather  told  me  he 
was  in  the  battle  with  the  Sauks  (for  the  Sauks  and  Foxes 
were  allies,)  at  Green  Bay,  which  occurred  in  or  shortly  be- 
fore 1746,  as  stated  by  Hon.  Morgan  L.  Martin  in  his  His- 
torical Address,*  at  which  time  my  grandfather  was  twenty- 
two  years  of  age;  and  I  know  also,  that  previous  to  his 
leaving  Mackinaw,  his  son  Charles,  by  an  Ottawa  woman, 
was  born — which  I  presume  was  when  my  grandfather  was 
about  twenty  years  old,  and  hence  about  1744.  This  would 
give, the  date  of  the  settlement  of  the  Langlades  at  Green 

*  The  defeat  and  expulsion  of  the  Sauks  and  Foxes  occurred,  it  is  said  by 
the  French  traders,  in  1746. — Martin's  Address,  pp.  14,  15,  16.  L.  0,  D. 


GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  201 

Bay,  somewhere  between  1744  and  1746 ;  and  as  the  engage- 
ment with  the  Sauks  may  not  have  occurred  quite  so  late  as 
1746,  the  year  in  which  the  Sauks  and  their  aUies,  the  Foxes, 
were  finally  driven  from  the  Fox  River  Valley,  I  have  con^ 
eluded  the  settlement  was  made,  as  already  stated,  about 
1745. 

With  the  De  Langlades,  probably,  came  but  a  few  settlers, 
beyond  their  own  family.     M.  Souligny,  the  son-in-law  of 
Sieur  De  Langlade,  with  his  wife ;  and  either  then  or  soon 
after  they  were  joined  by  Mons.  Carron,  who  had  been  many 
years  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade,  and  had  fully  twenty  years 
before  been  among  the  Menomonees,  and  he  continued  to  re- 
side at  the  Bay  the  remainder  of  his  days.     If  others  then 
came,  their  names  are  not  now  known ;  so  probably  not  more 
than  eight  persons  formed  the  little  colony  who  commenced 
the  permanent  settlement  of  Wisconsin.     That  their  recep- 
tion  by  the  Indians   inhabiting    Green  Bay   was  pleasant, 
was  distinctly  told  me  by   my  grandfather;   but  the  band 
of  Te-pak-e-ne-nee,  or    The  Night-Man,  living  about  two 
miles  up  Menon^onee  river,  at  their  village  of  Min-ne-kau- 
nee,   or   Pleasant  Town,  where   Marinette  or   Menomonee 
City  is  now  located,  used  to  come  down,  and  make  their 
threats  that  they  would   take  by  force  Indian  goods  from 
AuGusTiN  De  Langlade's  store,  or  the  Government  stores  in 
charge  of  Charles  De  Langlade,  calculating  to  intimidate, 
in  order  to  get  credit  for  goods,  or  have  some  given  to  them ; 
but  Charles  De  Langlade  would  pleasantly  say  to  them, 
"Well,  my  friends,  if  you  have  come  here  to  fight,  we  can 
cross  to  the  prairie  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and  have  a 
little  fun."     But  they  knew  too  well  his  reputation  as  a  sol- 
dier even  from  his  boyhood,  and  declined  his  invitation,  and  he 
had  no  more  difficulty  with  them.     But  some  time  afterwards, 
Te-pak-e-ne-nee  got  into  a  quarrel  with  a  tracer  named  S;^. 
Germain,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Menomonee  river,  and  fatally 
stabbed  him.     While  yet  a  youth,  I  remember  seeing  Te-pak- 
26m 


^0"^  GRIGN'ON'S  RECOLLECnONS. 

E-NE-NEE,  then  an  old  man.  He  went  with  his  people  to  the 
Upper  Mississippi  on  a  hunt,  and  there  fell  very  sick,  and 
a  Chippewa  medicine-man,  after  his  incantations,  said  he 
would  get  well,  but  that  he  had  killed  a  man,  and  would  die 
in  the  same  way.  Not  long  after  his  return,  Te-pak-e-ne-nee 
got  into  a  fight  with  another  Indian  at  Red  river  of  Green 
Bay,  and  worsted  him,  when  the  latter,  piqued  at  his  discom- 
fiture, took  his  gun  and  shot  old  Te-pak-e-ne-nee  dead. 

Sometime  about  this  period,  a  blacksmith  of  the  name  of 
L'AMMioT  came  from  France,  and  located  himself  at  Green 
Bay,  and  worked  at  his  trade.  An  Indian,  named  Ish-qua- 
KE-TA,  left  an  axe  with  him  to  be  repaired.  At  length  the 
Indian  came  for  his  axe,  and  threw  down  a  skin  as  the  price 
for  the  work,  and  took  his  property ;  when  Lammiot,  whose 
memory  was  very  poor  and  treacherous,  replied  that  it  was 
not  his  axe — that  he  had  none,  and  bid  him  be  off.  High 
words  followed,  and  Lammiot  seized  the  Indian  by  the  neck 
with  his  hot  tongs,  both  burning  and  choking  him,  when 
IsH-QUA-KE-TA  struck  Lammiot  a  heavy  blow  over  the  head 
with  the  axe,  and  knocked  him  down  senseless.  The  Indian 
hastened  to  Charles  De  Langlade,  and  frankly  said,  "  I  have 
killed  the  blacksmith."  "  What  did  you  do  that  for  ?"  "Why/' 
said  the  Indian,  "  look  here — see  how  he  choked  and  burnt 
me  ;  I  had  to  do  it  in  self  defence."  De  Langlade  went  and 
found  Lammiot,  carried  him  to  his  bed,  and  employed  an 
Indian  doctress  to  take  care  of  him.  When  nearly  recovered, 
an  elder  brother  of  Te-pak-e-ne-nee  called,  and  asked  to  see 
the  blacksmith,  as  he  wanted  to  see  how  he  was  getting  along. 
Upon  entering  the  room,  and  walking  up  to  the  bed,  he  stab- 
bed him  with  a  knife,  and  killed  him  instantly.  When  asked 
by  the  attendant  squaw  why  he  killed  Lammiot,  he  said  he 
pitied  the  blacksmith,  and  wished  to  put  an  end  to  his  suffer- 
ings. The  murderer  fled  to  some  distant  region,  and  remained 
till  the  excitement  against  him  had  cooled  down,  when  he 
returned,  and  thus  escaped  a  merited  punishment.     But  he 


GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  203 

was  not  long  after  killed  by  an  Indian  in  a  drunken  brawl, 
while  his  murderer  was  at  the  same  time  fatally  stabbed  by 
another. 

Of  the  legend  of  the  Red  Banks,  narrated  in  the  2d  vol.  of 
the  Society's  Collections,  as  related  by  0-kee-wah,  I  may  add, 
that  I  have  known  0-kee-wah  from  my  childhood,  when  heir 
mother  used  to  winter  in  the  Green  Bay  settlement.  0-kee- 
wah  was  frequently  at  my  father's  house,  and  I  am  confident 
that  instead  of  being  over  one  hundred  years  of  age,  she  is 
only  about  six  years  my  senior — or,  in  other  words,  is  now 
about  eighty-three  years  old.  I  have  always  regarded  her  as 
a  good  woman,  and  very  industrious ;  but  have  my  doubts 
about  the  correctness  of  her  narrative.  In  the  first  place, 
O-KEE-wAH  is  no  Menomonee,  as  she  represents  herself  to 
be,  for  nationality  is  reckoned  on  the  mother's  side.  Her 
mother,  Non-non-ga-nah,  was  early  captured  by  the  Otta- 
was  from  the  Pawnees  or  Osages,  or  some  other  Western 
tribe,  and  a  year  or  two  after  being  brought  to  Green  Bay  had 
0-KEE-WAH,  some  said  by  Charles  De  Langlade,  and  she 
subsequently  had  four  husbands,  all  Ottawas  except  the  last, 
who  was  a  Menomonee,  and  had  children  by  them  all ;  and 
0-KEE-wAH  herself  has  had  three  husbands,  the  two  former 
were  Chippewas,  and  the  latter  a  Menomonee — so  in  no  lit- 
eral sense  can  she  claim  to  have  received  such  a  tradition 
from  her  Menomonee  grandfather.  Besides,  the  narrative 
itself  is  evidently  given  in  an  exaggerated  style — too  many 
canoes,  and  the  blood  ankle  deep  in  the  ditches,  would  remind 
one  of  Waterloo  or  some  other  sanguinary  battle  on  a  large 
scale.  Yet,  after  all,  0-kee-wah  may  have  heard  such  a  tra- 
dition from  the  father  of  one  of  her  mother's  husbands,  or 
the  grandfather  of  one  of  her  own,  of  whom  she  was  perhaps 
in  the  habit  of  speaking  as  her  grandfather. 

I  remember,  very  many  years  ago,  having  an  aged  Ottawa 
relate  to  me,  as  a  tradition  he  had  heard  in  his  younger  days, 
from  aged  people  of  his  tribe,  that  the  Ottawas  used  to  make 


204  GRIGNONS  RECOLLECTIOIS'S. 

war  upon  the  Winnebagoes,  who  had  their  village  on  the 
elevated  ground,  spoken  of  in  0-kee-wah's  narrative  as  the 
Red  Banks,  but  which  has  been  always  known  by  the  French 
as  Le  Cap  des  Puants;  that  while  an  Ottawa  war  party  was 
on  the  way  there,  their  leader  became  impressed,  from  some 
wrangling  between  two  of  his  young  warriors  respecting  some 
fish  they  had  caught,  with  a  presentiment  that  some  misfortune 
would  befall  them.  But  they  went  on  in  their  canoe,  and  dis- 
embarked at  a  place  called  the  Maniste  liver,  and  pursuing 
their  route  by  land,  they  were  discovered  by  the  Winnebagoes, 
who  went  forth  stealthily  and  way-laid  them,  and  quickly  de- 
feated the  whole,  making  the  leader  of  tl>e  Ottawas  their  pris- 
oner, whom  they  took  to  their  village  and  tortured  to  death. 

As  the  details  of  the  war  which  eventuated  in  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Sauks  and  Foxes  from  the  Fox  River  Valley  in 
1746,  are  of  much  interest,  I  shall  give  them  as  fully  as  I  have 
learned  them  from  the  lips  of  my  grandfather,  Charles  De 
.Langlade,  who  took  an  active  part  in  some  of  the  occur- 
rences narrated,  and  from  other  ancient  settlers  and  Indians. 
1  The  Outagamies  or  Foxes  were  at  this  time  located  at  the 
Little  Butte  des  Morts,  on  the  western  bank  of  Fox  river, 
tand  some  thirty-seven  miles  above  Green  Bay.  Here  they 
made  it  a  point,  whenever  a  trader's  boat  approached,  to  place 
a  torch  upon  the  bank,  as  a  signal  for  the  traders  to  come 
ashore,  and  pay  the  customary  tribute  which  they  exacted 
|rom  all.  To  refuse  this  tribute,  was  sure  to  incur  the  dis- 
pleasure of  the  Foxes,  and  robbery  would  be  the  mildest 
punishment  inflicted.  This  haughty,  imperious  conduct  of 
the  Foxes,  was  a  source  of  no  little  annoyance  to  the  traders, 
who  made  their  complaints  to  the  Commandants  of  the 
?;Western  posts,  and  in  due  time  these  grievances  reached 
the  ears  of  the  Governor  of  Canada. 

Captain  De  Velie  was  at  this  time  Commandant  of  the 
small  garrison  at  Green  Bay.  He  was  relieved  by  the  arrival 
of  a  new  officer  whose  name  I  have  forgotten,  and  the  new 


GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  205 

Commandant  brought  with  him  demands  for  the  Sauks  of  the 
village  opposite  the  fort,  who  had  hitherto  demeaned  them- 
selves well,  to  deliver  up  the  few  Foxes  living  among  them,  in 
consequence  of  intermarriages  or  otherwise.  All  were  readily- 
given  up,  except  a  Fox  boy,  who  had  been  adopted  by  a  Sauk 
woman.  De  Velie  and  his  successor  were  dining  together, 
and  becoming  somewhat  influenced  by  wine,  some  sharp 
words  passed  between  them  relative  to  the  tardiness  of  the 
Sauks  in  surrendering  the  Fox  boy ;  when  De  Velie  arose, 
and  taking  his  gun  and  a  negro  servant,  crossed  the  river  to 
the  Sauk  village,  which  was  surrounded  with  palisades  or 
pickets.  He  found  the  Sauks  in  council,  and  was  met  by  the 
Sauk  chief,  of  whom  he  demanded  the  immediate  surrender 
of  the  remaining  Indian.  The  chief  said  he  and  his  princi- 
pal men  had  just  been  in  council  about  the  matter,  and  though 
the  adopted  mother  of  the  youth  was  loth  to  part  with  him, 
yet  they  hoped  to  prevail  upon  her  peaceably  to  do  so.  The 
chief  proceeded  to  visit  the  old  woman,  who  still  remained 
obstinate,  and  De  Velie  renewing  his  demands  and  im- 
mediate compliance,  again  would  the  chief  renew  his  efforts ; 
and  thus  three  times  did  he  go  to  the  sturdy  old  woman,  and 
endeavor  to  prevail  upon  her  to  give  up  the  boy,  and  return- 
ing each  time  without  success,  but  assuring  De  Velie  that  if 
he  would  be  a  little  patient,  he  was  certain  the  old  squaw 
would  yet  comply  wi4;h  his  demands,  as  she  seemed  to  be  re- 
lenting. But  in  his  warm  blood,  the  Frenchman  was  in  no 
mood  to  exercise  patience,  when  he  at  length  drew  up  his 
gun  and  shot  the  chief  dead.  Some  of  the  young  Sauks  were 
for  taking  instant  revenge,  but  the  older  and  wiser  men  pre- 
sent begged  them  to  be  cool,  and  refrain  from  inflicting  injury 
on  their  French  Father,  as  they  had  provoked  him  to  commit 
the  act.  By  this  time  De  Velie,  whose  anger  was  yet  unap- 
peased,  had  got  his  gun  re-loaded  by  his  servant,  and  wan- 
tonly  shot  down  another  chief,  and  then  a  third  one ;  when  a 
young  Sauk,  only  twelve  years  of  age,  named  Ma-kau-ta- 


206  GRIGNON'S  KECOLLECTIOlfS. 

PE-NA-sE,  or  The  Black  Bird,  shot  the  enraged  Frenchman 
dead. 

The  garrison  was  too  weak  to  attempt  the  chastisement  of 
the  Sauks,  but  upon  the  arrival  of  a  reinforcement,  joined  by 
the  French  settlers,  Charles  De  Langlade  among  them,  the 
Sauks  were  attacked  at  their  village,  when  a  severe  battle  oc- 
curred, in  which  several  were  killed  on  both  sides,  and  the 
Sauks  finally  driven  away.  In  this  Sauk  battle,  two  of  my 
father's  uncles  were  among  the  slain  on  the  part  of  the 
French.  The  Sauks  now  retired  to  the  Wisconsin  river  and 
located  themselves  at  Sauk  Prairie,  where  they  still  resided, 
and  had  a  fine  village,  with  comfortable  houses,  and  appa- 
rently doing  something  in  mining  lead,  when  Carver  visited 
the  country  in  1766,  but  which  appeared  to  have  been  several 
years  deserted  when  I  first  saw  the  place,  in  1795,  as  there 
were  then  only  a  few  remains  of  fire-places  and  posts  to  be 
seen.  The  brave  young  Sauk,  Black  Bird,  became  a  distin- 
guished chieif  among  his  people,  and  Mr.  Laurent  Fily,  an 
old  trader,  told  me  many  years  since,  that  he  knew  Black 
Bird  well  at  the  Sauk  village  at  the  mouth  of  Rock  river,  and 
that  he  lived  to  a  good  old  age — and  Fily  added,  that  he 
was  the  same  person  who  in  his  youth  had  so  fearlessly  shot 
De  Velie. 

Capt.  MoRAND,  a  native  of  France,  and  a  prominent  trader 
among  the  Sauks,  and  the  Indians  on  the  Mississippi,  had  a 
place  of  deposit  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  I  think  on  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  river,  and  about  eight  or  nine  miles  be- 
low the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  called  Fort  Morand.  He 
had  another  depot,  nine  miles  west  of  Mackinaw,  also  known 
as  Fort  Morand.  The  repeated  exactions  of  the  Foxes  in  the 
shape  of  tribute,  while  prosecuting  his  trade  between  Mackinaw 
and  the  Mississippi,  through  Green  Bay  and  Fox  river,  so 
vexed  Morand,  that  he  resolved  on  driving  them  from  their 
position ;  and  raising  a  small  volunteer  force  at  Mackinaw, 
increased  doubtless  at  Green  Bay,  and  by  the  friendly  Indi- 


GRIGJSTON'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  207 

ans,  and  though  I  have  heard  my  grandfather  repeatedly 
speak  of  this  expedition  both  with  others  in  whose  day  it 
had  occurred,  and  to  his  family,  yet  I  cannot  positively  say 
that  he  accompanied  Morand — but  judging  from  his  milita- 
ry character,  the  numerous  services  of  the  kind  in  which  he 
participated,  and  his  familiarity  with  the  details  of  this  war, 
I  doubt  not  he  was  of  the  party,  and  served  in  all  of  Morand's 
expeditions.  ^ 

Morand's  force  was  deemed  sufficient,  and  his  fleet  of  ca- 
noes started  from  Green  Bay  up  the  river — each  canoe  having 
a  full  complement  of  men,  well  armed,  and  an  oil-cloth  coVt^ 
ering  large  enough  to  envelope  the  whole  canoe,  as  was  used 
by  the  traders  to  shield  their  goods  from  the  effects  of  the 
weather.  Near  the  Grand  Chute,  some  three  miles  below  the 
Little  Butte  de  Morts,  and  not  yet  within  view  of  the  latter, 
MoRAND  divided  his  party,  one  part  dis-embarking,  and  going 
by  land  to  surround  the  village,  and  attack  the  place  when 
Morand  and  his  water  division  should  open  their  fire  in 
front.  The  soldiers  in  the  canoes,  with  their  guns  all  ready 
for  use,  were  concealed  by  the  oil-cloth  coverings,  and  only 
two  men  were  in  view  to  row  each  canoe,  thus  presenting  the 
appearance  of  a  trader's  fleet. 

In  due  time  the  Foxes  discovered  their  approach,  and 
placed  out  their  torch,  and  squatted  themselves  thickly  along 
the  bank  as  usual,  and  patiently  awaited  the  landing  of  the 
canoes,  and  the  customary  tribute  offering.  When  sufficiently 
near  to  be  effective,  the  oil-cloth  coverings  were  suddenly 
thrown  off,  and  a  deadly  volley  from  a  swivel-gun,  loaded 
with  grape  and  canister  shot,  and  the  musketry  of  the  sol- 
diers, scattered  death  and  dismay  among  the  unsuspecting 
Foxes ;  and  this  severe  fire  was  almost  instantly  seconded  by 
the  land  party  in  the  rear,  and  quickly  repeated  by  both  di^ 
visions,  so  that  a  large  number  of  the  devoted  Foxes  were 
slain,  and  the  survivors  escaped  by  rapid  flight  up  the  river. 
As  there  is  a  mound  here,  some  six  or  eight  rods  in  diameter, 


208  GRIGNON'S    RECOLLECTIONS. 

and  perhaps  some  fifteen  feet  high,  this  may  be  the  burial- 
place  of  the  Foxes  slain  in  the  battle,  though  I  never  heard 
any  thing  stated  to  that  effect. 

The  Foxes  next  took  post  about  three  miles  above  the  Great 
Butte  des  Morts,  on  the  southern  or  opposite  bank  of  the 
river,  on  a  high  sandy  point  of  land,  with  a  marsh  on  its 
eastern  border.  Here  Morand  the  same  season  followed  them, 
but  of  course  could  not  have  resorted  to  his  old  ruse,  and 
must  have  approached  the  town  in  the  night  or  just  before 
day-break;  at  all  events,  according  to  the  general  statement 
given  me  by  my  grandfather  and  aged  Indians,  another  severe 
battle  ensued,  and  many  Foxes  were  killed,  though  not  so 
many  as  at  the  Little  Butte  des  Morts,  and  again  they  were 
forced  to  fly.  The  Indians  always  spoke  of  this  place  as  the 
locality  where  Morand's  second  battle  with  the  Foxes  took 
place;  and  is  the  spot  where  Robert  Grignon  has  for  the 
past  ten  or  twelve  years  resided.  My  half  brother,  Perrish 
Grignon,  informed  me,  that  he  had  seen  many  years  ago,  in 
a  crevice  or  cavity  on  the  rocky  shore  of  Lake  Winnebago, 
some  six  or  eight  miles  south  of  Oshkosh,  near  the  old  Indian 
village  of  Black  Wolf,  a  large  number  of  skulls  and  other 
human  remains ;  and  I  have  thought,  that  perhaps  when  the 
Foxes  fled  from  the  Little  Butte  des  Morts,  they  may  have 
passed  around  the  head  of  Lake  Winnebago  ;  and  thinking 
themselves  safe  from  pursuit,  tarried  at  this  point,  and  gave 
attention  to  their  wounded,  and  that  the  remains  of  those  who 
died"  were  placed  in  this  cavity.  I  know  of  no  other  expla- 
nation for  these  human  remains. 

The  surviving  Foxes  located  themselves  on  the  northern 
bank  of  the  Wisconsin,  twenty-one  miles  above  its  mouth, 
and  some  little  distance  below  the  creek  next  below  the 
mouth  of  Kickapoo  river;"  when  I  first  passed  there,  in  1795, 
I  saw  some  crude  remains  of  this  village.  As  soon  as  the 
enterprising  Morand  heard  of  the  new  locality  of  his  deter- 
mined enemies,  who  still  seemed  bent  on  obstructing  his  great 


'^f*  ort 

GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  209 

trading  thorough-fare,  he  conchided  it  would  be  unsafe  for  hina 
to  suffer  them  to  remain  there,  and  consequently  lost  no  time, 
even  though  winter  had  commenced,  to  collect  his  tried  and 
trusty  band  of  French  and  Indians,  and  make  a  distant  win- 
ter expedition  against  the  Foxes.  Perhaps  he  thought,  as  he 
had  once  defeated  them  by  stratagem,  and  then  by  the  usual 
mode  of  Indian  warfare,  that  it  would  now  be  policy  to  push 
his  fortunes  by  a  winter  campaign,  and  fall  upon  his  inveter- 
ate foes,  and  strike  a  fatal  blow,  when  they  would  least  expect 
it.  Capt.  MoRAND  pursued  on  foot  with  his  troops  up  Fox 
River  and  down  the  Wisconsin,  taking  with  them  snow  shoes 
to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  season,  and  pursue  their  tedious 
march  over  the  snow  for  a  distance  of  fully  two  hundred 
miles.  The  Foxes  were  taken  completely  by  surprise,  for 
Morand's  men  found  them  engaged  in  the  amusement  of 
jeu  de  paille,  01  game  of  straw;  and  surrounding  the  place, 
and  falling  suddenly  upon  them,  killed  some,  and  captured, 
the  others.  So  well  planned  was  Morand's  attack,  and  so? 
complete  was  the  surprise,  that  not  one  of  the.  Foxes  escaped. 
Only  twenty  Fox  warriors  were  taken,  with  a  large  number 
of  women  and  children. 

It  must  have  been  on  the  return  of  this  winter  expedition 
of  Capt.  Morand's,  that  the  following  incident  occurred,  as 
related  by  Capt.  Carver,  on  the  authority  of  an  Indian :  "  On . 
the  return  of  the  French,"  says  Carver,  "  to  Green  Bay,  one 
of  the  Indian  chiefs  in  alliance  with  them,  who  had  a  con- 
siderable band  of  the  prisoners  under  his  care,  stopped  to 
drink  at  a  brook;  in  the  meantime  his  companions  went  on^ 
which  being  observed  by  one  of  the  women  whom  they  had 
made  captive,  she  suddenly  seized  him  with  both  her  hands, 
while  he  stooped  to  drink,  by  an  exquisitely  susceptible  part, 
and  held  him  fast  till  he  expired  on  the  spot.  As  the  chief, 
from  the  extreme  torture  he  suifered,  was  unable  to  call  out^ 
to  his  friends,  or  give  any  alarm,  they  passed  on-,  without 
knowing  what  had  happened ;  and  the  woman,  having  cut 

27m 


210  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIOJS-S. 

the  bands  of  those  of  her  fellow-prisoners  who  were  in  the 
rear,  with  them  made  her  escape.  This  heroine  was  ever 
after  treated  by  her  nation  as  their  deliverer,  and  made  a 
chieftess  in  her  own  right,  with  liberty  to  entail  the  same 
honor  on  her  descendants — an  unusual  distinction,  and  per- 
mitted only  on  extraordinary  occasions." 

I  had  been  told  that  Capt.  Morand,  having  fully  conquered 
the  Foxes,  and  having  the  last  remnant  of  them  in  his  power, 
concluded  to  give  them  their  freedom,  but  probably  required 
them  to  retire  over  the  Mississippi ;  and  that  he  liberated  them 
at  their  town  where  he  took  tliem.  But  from  the  anecdote  pre-, 
served  by  Capt.  Carver,  and  several  particulars  mentioned  by 
him  of  Morand's  expedition,  so  well  corresponding  with  the 
traditionary  account  I  have  derived  from  my  grandfather  and 
others,  I  must  conclude  that  only  a  part — probably  the  larger 
part — of  the  prisoners  were  liberated  at  the  place  where  they 
were  captured ;  while  some  friendly  chief  may  have  claimed  a 
few  to  carry  back,  of  whom  to  make  slaves.  And  it  may  further 
be  added,  that  as  it  was  now  in  winter,  and  Morand  very  likely 
but  illy  provided  with  supplies,  it  would  not  probably  have 
been  practicable  to  have  conveyed  all  the  prisoners  so  long  a 
distance  to  Green  Bay.  And  in  concluding  my  reminiscences 
of  this  war  with  the  Foxes,  I  must  say,  that  this  tribe  appears 
to  me  to  have  shown  more  warlike  spirit  and  love  of  martial 
glory  than  any  other  of  the  Wisconsin  tribes ;  they  would, 
when  necessitated  to  do  so,  make  peace  one  day,  and  unhesi- 
tatingly break  it  the  next.* 

Of  Captain  Morand,  I  know  nothing  further.  The  trader 
of  that  name  among  the  Wisconsin  Indians,  mentioned  in 
Gorrell's  Journal,  of  1763,  in  the  First  Vol.  of  the  Historical 
Society's  Collections,  and  who  was  then  living,  and  at  the 

*  One  of  our  ablest  historians  thus  speaks  of  this  tribe  :  *'  The  Ottagamies  or 
F«xes— a  nation  passionate  and  untamable,  springing  up  into  new  life  from 
every  defeat,  and,  though  reduced  in  the  number  of  their  warriors,  yet  present 
every  where  by  theii*  ferocious  entei'prise  and  saFage  daring," — Bancroft,  iii,  ■ 
224.  L.  0,  D. 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  211 

head  of  an  extensive  company  of  traders,  was  doubtless  the 
same  person  \xfho,  as  a  trader,  had  been  so  severely  taxed  in . 
the  way  of  tribute  by  the  Foxes,  and  whom  he  had  so  com- 
pletely humbled 'and  driven  from  the  country.  Now  that  the 
field  was  clear,  and  he  had  established  a  high  reputation 
among  the  savages  for  great  bravery  and  enterprise,  how  nat- 
ural that  he  should  vigorously  prosecute  his  plans  of  com- 
merce, as  we  see  he  was  doing  in  1763,  seventeen  years  after 
the  final  expulsion  of  the  Sauks  and  Foxes  from  Wisconsin. 
My  old  friend,  Mr.  Fily,  many  years  ago  told  me  that  he  had 
become  acquainted  with  the  wife  of  the  celebrated  chief 
Ke-o-kuk  and  her  mother,  and  that  the  latter  was  the  daughter, 
by  a  Sauk  mother,  of  the  same  Capt.  Morand  who  had  led 
the  early  expeditions  against  the  Foxes.  But  within  the  next 
twenty  years  after  1763,  he  must  have  paid  the  debt  of  nature, 
or  retired  from  the  Indian  trade,  or  I  should  have  seen  or 
known  something  more  of  him. 

Capt.  Morand's  severe  chastisement  of  the  Foxes,  had  the 
efiect  to  keep  the  Wisconsin  tribes  on  friendly  terms  with  the 
whites  for  many  years.  Meanwhile  the  little  settlement  at 
Green  Bay  apjiears  to  have  increased  very  slowly,  and  the 
little  garrison  to  have  been  withdrawn  at  some  period  after 
the  termination  of  the  Sauk  and  Fox  war,  and  prior  to  the 
commencement  of  the  old  French  and  Indian  war  of  1754. 
AuGusTiN  De  Langlade  continued  in  the  Indian  trade,  arid ' 
Charles  De  Langlade  as  Indian  agent,  and  no  event  of  im- 
portance occurred  to  them,  or  their  little  settlement,  at  this 
period. 

We  do  not  discover  that  the  progress  or  result  of  that  long 
contest,  known  as  the  French  and  Indian  war,  had  any  spe- 
cial influence  for  weal  or  wo  upon  the  Green  Bay  settlement, 
as  it  was  too  remote  to  feel  any  sensible  effects  from  the  oper- 
ations of  the  combatants.  But  it  opened  a  new  field  for  the 
enterprising  spirit  of  Charles  De  Langlade.  At  the  break- 
ing out  of  this  war,  he  was  but  thirty  years  of  age,  in  the 


212  GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS. 

prime  of  life,  and  full  of  vigor  and  activity.  He  had  been 
raised  on  the  extreme  frontiers,  and  though  half  Indian,  yet 
his  educational  advantages  had  been  fair ;  and  he  had  been 
for  many  years  employed  by  the  Government  in  the  Indian 
Department.  Thus  he  combined  the  skill  and  strategy  of  the 
borderer  and  Indian,  and  had  had  much  experience  in  Indian 
warfare  from  the  tender  age  of  ten,  when  he  accompanied  his 
uncle.  King  Nis-so-wa-quet,  on  a  war  expedition ;  though 
unfortunately  the  details  are  lost  in  the  long  lapse  of  years, 
and  their  general  character  only,  as  both  numerous  and  full 
of  intrepidity,  are  left  indelibly  impressed  upon  my  memory*} 
I  know  that  while  yet  a  mere  youth,  and  not  very  far  from 
the  time  when  he  first  went  upon  the  war-path  under  Nis-so- 
wA-QUET,  his  father  purchased  for  him  a  commission  in  the 
French  marine,  and  though  he  retained  this  commission 
many  years,  I  have  no  evidence  or  tradition  that  he  was  ever 
actually  engaged  in  the  naval  service.  ..  u:i/i 

Such  was  the  high  standing  and  reputation  of  the  Sieur 
Charles  De  Langlade,  his  long  experience  in  border  service, 
his  personal  relationship  to  the  powerful  Ottawas,  his  thorough 
knowledge  of  their  language  and  that  of  the  q^^er  neighbor-:  > 
ing  tribes,  and  his  great  influence  over  them,  that  he  was  at 
once  pointed  out  to  Va^udreuil,  the  Governor- General  of  Newi) 
France  and  Louisiana,  as  admirably  fitted  to  head  the  parti- » 
sm forces  of  border  French  and  Indians  of  the  North-West, 
in,J;he  terrible  conflict  about  to  commence.  j 

The  first  service  I  remember  of  my  grandfather's  in  thisn 
war,  was  to  raise  the  tribes  of  the  North- West,  I  think  thsa 
Ottawas,,  Chippewas,  Menomonees,  Winnebagoes,  Pottawpt- 
tamies,  Hurons  or  Wyandotts,  and  perhaps  others,  and  repair,j 
w^th  their,  chiefs,  to  Fort  du  Quesne,  for  its  defence  against^, 
the  English,  and  also  to  carry  the  war  against  the  frontier- 
settlements  and  forts  of  the  British  Colonies.  This  was  in 
175^.^,^jWhat  particular  chiefs  were  along,  I  do  not  remember^ 
hearing  my  grandfather  state^  but  I  doubt  not  that  La  Fourchta 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  213 

or  Nis-so-wA-QUET  and  Pontiac  were  of  the  number ;  nor  do  I 
know  how  large  a  band  my  grandfather  led  from  the  North- 
West ;  but  I  remember  his  saying,  that  when  they  assembled 
at  Fort  Du  Quesne,  the  total  number  of  French  and  their 
Indian  allies  amounted  to  not  far  from  fifteen  hundred ;  and 
my  strong  impression  is,  that  nearly  all  the  Indian  force  was 
composed  of  the  bands  led  forth  by  my  grandfather,  the  Sieur 
Charles  De  Langlade.  Among  his  party,  who  served  under 
him  on  this  and  most  of  his  subsequent  campaigns  during 
the  war,  were  his  brother-in-law  Souligny,  his  brave  nephew 
Gautier  De  Verville,  Pierre  Caree,  La  Choisie,  La  For- 
tune, Amable  De  Gere,  Philip  De  Rocheblave,  Louis  Ham- 
line,  and  Machar.  The  latter  was  my  father's  uncle,  and 
the  grandfather  of  the  present  Mrs.  Rosalie  Dousman,  of 
Lake  Shawanaw. 

Upon  their  arrival  at  Fort  Du  Quesne,  spies  were  sent  out 

« 

to  discover  the  enemy's  approach,  and  they  soon  returned, 
reporting  that  Braddock's  army  was  within  a  half  a  day's 
march  of  the  Monongahela,  cutting  a  road  as  they  advanced. 
It  was  determined  that  M.  Beaujeu,  with  what  French  could 
be  spared,  and  the  Indian  force  under  De  Langlade,  should 
g©  out  and  meet  the  enemy  at  the  Monongahela,  and  attack 
them  while  crossing  that  stream.  The  English  got  to  the 
south  bank  of  the  Monongahela  about  noon,  halted  and  pre- 
pared for  dinner ;  while  the  French  and  Indians  were  secreted 
on  the  other  shore.  De  Langlade  went  to  Beaujeu  and  told 
him  no  time  should  be  lost,  but  that  the  attack  should  be  at 
once  commenced.  Beaujeu  made  no  reply.  De  Langlade 
then  called  the  chiefs  together,  and  desired  them  to  go  to  Beau- 
jeu, and^demand  orders  to  commence  the  battle.  No  reply 
was  made  to  this  demand.  Then  De  Langlade  went  himself, 
and  urged  the  necessity  of  at  once  attacking  the  English,  say- 
ing to  Beaujeu,  that  if  he  did  not  intend  to  fight  at  all,  then 
it  was  well  to  act  as  he  did,  but  if  fighting  was  to  be  done, 
then  was  the  time  to  do  it,  while  the  English  were  eating. 


214  ,  GRIGNON'S   EECOLLECTIOD^S. 

their  arms  laid  aside,  or  while  attempting  to  cross  the  river  ^ 
that  no  other  so  good  an  opportunity  could  occur,  and  that 
the  English  were  too  powerful  to  be  met  in  open  battle. 
Beaujeu  was  evidently  disheartened,  seeing  the  strength  of 
tjie  English,  and  seemed  in  great  doubt  what  to  do,  but  at 
length  gave  orders  to  commence  the  attack.  The  action  was 
at  once,  commenced,  and  the  English  officers,  who  had  their 
little  towels  pinned  over  their  breasts,  seized  their  arms  and 
took  part  in  the  conflict;  and  a  good  many  of  them  were 
killed  with  these  napkins  still  pinned  on  their  coats — showing 
how  suddenly  they  rushed  into  the  battle.  The  English 
occupying  the  lowest  ground,  almost  invariably  over-shot  the 
French,  and  their  cannon  balls  would  strike  the  trees  half 
way  up,  among  the  branches.  In  the  battle,  Beauj}<u  was 
killed,  but  the  French  and  Indian  loss  was  very  small ;  and 
the  most  who  were  killed  and  injured,  were  not  hit  by  the 
liullets  of  the  enemy,  but  by  the  falling  limbs  cut  from  the 
trees  by  the  over-shooting  of  the  English  cannon. 

The  English  being  defeated,  and  driven  back  with  heavy 
loss,  the  first  thing  to  claim  De  Langlade's  attention  was,  to 
cause  the' immense  stores  and  supplies  which  the  English 
had  abandoned,  to  be  searched,  and  all  the  liquors  poured 
upon  the  ground,  lest  the  Indians  should  indulge  so  freely  in 
potations  as  to  render  them  dangerous  to  the  French  and  to 
each  other.  While  the  Indians  looked  with  sorrow  upon  this 
apparent  waste  of  what,  in  their  estimation,  is  generally  re- 
garded as  the  greatest  of  worldly  comforts,  they  did  not  ven-i 
ture  to  interfere  with  any  directions  of  their  venerated  leader. 
They  found  enough  of  excitement,  however,  at  the  time,  in 
searching  and  stripping  Ihe  bodies  of  the  slain.  Most  of  the 
British  officers  were  superbly  clothed,  this  being  their  first 
campaign  since  their  arrival  from  Great  Britain,  and  their 
clothing  and  equipage  were  objects  of  interest  and  value  to 
the  Indians.  Nor  were  the  Indians  alone  engaged  in  secur- 
ing the  plunder,  for  the  French,  or  many  of  them,  were  also 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  215 

eagerly  employed  in  this  manner.  La  Choisie,  a  young  man 
of  De  Langladh:'^  party,  of  much  enterprise  and  promise, 
discovered  the  body  of  an  English  officer,  richly  dressed,  and 
Philip  Dw  Rocheblavf,  almost  at  the  same  moment,  claimed 
to  have  discovered  it,  but  La  Choisie  managed  first  to  get 
hold  of  the  well-filled  purse.  Rocheblave  stoutly  contended 
for  a  part  of  the  prize,  and  they  parted  in  no  friendly  .way. 
The  next  morning  La  Choisie  was  found  assassinated,  and 
his  purse  of  gold  missing ;  and  while  there  was  no  evidence 
of  De  Rocheblave's  guilt,  he  was  strongly  suspected  of  the 
crime.  I  know  nothing  further  of  Philip  De  Rocheblave, 
but  personally  knew  two  of  his  nephews,  Pihrre  and  Noel 
De  RocHEBLAVifi,  both  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade,  and  Pierre 
became  first  a  clerk  and  then  a  member  of  the  N.  W.  Fur 
Company. 

After  Braddook's  repulse,  I  do  not  know  whether  my  grand- 
father returned  home,  or  remained  at  Fort  du  Quesne  to 
engage  in  the  partisan  service.  We  find  Dum^s,  the  Com- 
mandant of  Du  Quesne,  giving  him  orders,  on  the  9th  August, 
1756,  to  go  with  a  party  of  French  and  Indians  and  make  a 
strike  at  Fort  Cumberland,  and  make  discoveries  whether  the 
English  were  making  any  movements  in  the  direction  of  the 
Ohio ;  to  guard  strictfy  against  being  surprised  or  ambuscaded; 
and  if  th-e  Indians  should  take  any  prisoners,  to  use  his  best 
efforts  to  prevent  their  torturing  them."  , 

Of  Db  LANGLADh.^s  partisan  services,  while  at  Fort  du 
Quesne,  I  can  only  mention  one  incident  which  he  narrated  to 
me.  The  Commandant  gave  him  orders  to  take  a  party  of 
French  and  Indians,  and  go  to  a  certain  part  of  the  frontiers,  and 
endeavor  to  capture  a  prisoner,  from  whom  to  gain  information. 
Reaching  a  frontier  fort,  which  must  have  been  in  Pennsylva- 
nia, Maryland,  or  Virginia,  he  managed  to  seize  a  sentinel  in 
the  night:  and  from  him  learned  that  an  officer  or  paymaster 

*  See  Dumas'  mstnictions,  in  Hcin.  M.  L.  Maetin's  Address,  in  1850,  before 
the  State  Historical  Society  of  WIscousId,  p.  3a, 


216  GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS. 


ic  r 


was  expected  to  arrive  at  that  fort  at  a  certain  time  with  a 
large  supply  of  money  for  public  purposes.  So  De  Langlade 
took  a  proper  number  with  him,  and  among  them  a  French 
officer  who  had  a  little  dog  along,  and  they  ambuscaded  the 
road  upon  which  the  expected  prize  was  to  pass.  It  was  good 
sleighing  in  the  winter.  At  length  the  small  English  foot 
guard  preceding  the  sleigh  passed  the  ambuscade,  and  soon 
the  sleigh  passed  by  De  Langlade  who  rushed  out  in  the 
rear  of  the  sleigh,  when  the  French  officer  was  to  head  the 
team,  but  his  dog  gave  the  alarm  a  little  too  soon,  when  the 
English  officer  suspecting  some  trap  set  for  him,  instantly 
turned  his  horses  about  and  commenced  retracing  his  trail, 
when  De  Langlade  dashed  behind,  seized  hold  of  the  back 
part  of  the  sleigh ;  but  the  officer  within,  used  his  whip  freely 
upon  his  horses,  and  at  the  same  time  drew  his  pistol,  when 
De  Langlade  snatched  it  before  he  could  use  it,  and  then  the 
Englishman  used  his  whip  so  nimbly  and  alternately  upon 
his  horses  and  upon  De  Langlade,  that  the  latter  finally  gave 
up  any  further  attempt,  and  thus  lost  the  much  coveted  prize. 
The  pistol  was  his  only  trophy.  To  the  premature  barking  of 
the  little  dog,  he  attributed  the  miscarriage  of  his  scheme ; 
and  he  used  to  repeat,  with  great  pleasantry,  the  incident  of 
his  whipping  and  the  exciting  race.  *  The  English  foot-guard 
were  captured.  My  grandfather,  after  the  war,  frequently  met 
this  English  officer  in  Canada,  and  they  would  rehearse  the 
exploit  with  much  good  feeling. 

•  * 

The  year  1757,  M.  De  Langlade  was  employed  in  Canada, 
and  served  under  Montcalm  in  the  capture  of  Fort  William 
*Henry   at  the  head  of  Lake  George.     At  the  close  of  the 
campaign,  he  received  the  following  order  : 

"  PIERRE  RIGAUD  DE  VAUDREUIL,    Oovernor  and  Lieutenant- General 
for  the  King  of  all  the  Country  of  New  France  and  Louisiana  : — 

"We  order  the  Sieur  Langlade,  Ensign  of  the  Troops,  detached  from  the 
Marine,  to  start  from  this  citj  immediately  for  the  post  of  Michillimackinac, 
there  to  serve  in  the  capacity  of  second  in  command  under  the  orders  of  M.  De 
Bbaujeu,  Commandant  at  that  post. 

"  Done  at  Montreal,  Sept.  8th,  1757.  VAUDREUIL." 


GRIGNON-'S   REC0LLECTI0:N^S.  217 

De  Langlade,  the  following  year,  again  wended  his  way 
to  Canada,  at  the  head  of  his  French  and  Indian  force,  and 
shared  the  dangers  and  services  of  that  hard  campaign.  He 
was  among  the  troops  stationed  in  Fort  Ticonderoga — located 
on  a  hill,  from  the  top  of  which  down  its  sides  they  felled  the 
trees,  with  the  tops  downwards,  with  the  ends  of  the  limbs 
sharpened  so  as  to  obstruct  the  approach  of  an  enemy.  When 
the  British  under  Gen.  Abercrombie  came,  and  undertook  to 
drive  the  French,  they  failed  after  much  very  severe  fighting. 
He  took  part  also  in  saving  Crown  Point  from  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  English.  There  is  reason  to  believe,  from  what 
my  grandfather  told  me,  that  after  the  hard  service  of  beating 
back  the  English  at  Ticonderoga,  he  repaired  with  his  trusty 
band  to  Fort  du  Quesne,  which  was  then  threatened  by  the 
enemy.  If  there,  he  must  have  had  a  hand  in  defeating  Col. 
Grant  ;  and  he  spoke  of  the  French  being  too  weak  to  with- 
stand the  well-appointed  troops  coming  against  them,  and 
therefore  set  fire  to  the  fort,  and  retired  in  canoes  and  bat- 
teaux,  down  the  Ohio — my  grandfather  probably  returning 
home,  as  it  was  then  late*  in  the  autumn.* 

I  have  no  distinct  recollection  about  my  grandfather  being 
at  Fort  Niagara  in  1759,  but  presume  he  was,  as  he  served  on 
every  campaign ;  ajid  f  dare  say  he  took  part  with  his  French 
and  Indian  force  in  the  fighting  that  transpired  a  little  dis^ 
tance  above  the  fort ;  and  when  there  was  no  longer  a  prospect 
of  usefulness,  retired  with  his  Indians  from  the  fated  place. 

I  know  full  well  that  he  participated  in  the  great  battle  be- 
fore Quebec,  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  when  his  great  com- 
mander,  Montcalm,  was  killed.  I  have  heard  him  speak  of 
the  battle,  as  well  as  Amable  De  Gere  and  some  aged  Meno- 
monees  who  served  under  him  there — among  them  Glode, 
son  of  old  Carron,  0-sau-wish-ke-no,  or  The  Yellow  Bird, 


*  De  Peystee,  in  his  Miscellanies,  "who  personally  knew  De  Lax  glade,  con- 
Teys  the  idea  that  he  marched  with  his  Indians,  "  to  save  Crown  Point,  and 
Port  du  Qnesne."  L.  C.  D. 

28m 


%'X8  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

KA.-CHA-KA.-WA-SHK-KA,  OT  The  Notch-Muker ;  the  old  Chief, 
'Carron,  Xvks  also  there^  but  I  never  saw  him^  as  he  died  be- 
fore  my  recdllection. 

De  Gkrk  used  to  say,  that  he  never  saw  so  perfectly  cool 
and  fearless  a  man  on  the  field  of  battle  as  my  grandfather  5 
and  that  either  here,  at  the  Monongahela,  or  at  Ticonderoga, 
1  have  forgotten  which,  he  saw  my  grandfather,  when  his  gun 
TDarrel  had  got  so  hot,  from  repeated  and  rapid  discharges,  that 
he  took  occasion  to  stop  a  little  while  that  it  might  cool,  when 
he  would  draw  his  pipe  from  his  pouch,  cut  his  tobacco,  fill 
his  pipe,  take  a  piece  of  punk- wood,  and  strike  fire  with  his 
steel  and  flint,  and  light  and  smoke  his  pipe,  and  all  with  as 
much  sang  froid  as  at  his  own  fireside ;  and  having  cooled 
his  gun  and  refreshed  himself,  would  resume  his  place,  and 
play  well  his  part  in  the  battle.  He  mourned  the  loss  of  his 
tiro  brothers,  who  fell  in  this  desperate  conflict.  The  engage- 
ment over,  and  the  surviving  French  commander  resolving  to 
surrender  Quebec,  De  Langlade  was  among  the  number  who 
thought  there  was  yet  no  real  necessity  for  siich  a  measure, 
and  believing  it  was  effected  through  bribery,  retired  from 
the  place  with  his  chosen  followers  in  disgust. 

During  this  year,  1759,  and  probably  in  the  autumn,  my 
grandfather  De  Langlade  was  united  i\i  marriage  to  Miss 
Charlotte  Bourassa,  a  daughter  of  Laurent  Botjrassa,  a 
prominent  merchant  of  Montreal.  He  had  probably  become 
acquainted  with  this  lad^r  either  on  some  visits  to  Montreal, 
to  purchase  goods  for  the  Indian  Department,  or  when  sta- 
tioned there  while  in  the  service.  He  took  her  immediately 
to  his  home  at  Green  Ba3r.  She  knew  nothing  of  border  life, 
and  had'^a  mortal  fear  of  the  Indians.  On  one  occasion,  some 
mischief-maker  circulated  a  report  that  the  Indians  were 
coming  there  with  evil  designs,  when  she  ran  to  the  next 
house  and  told  the  alarming  news,  and  then  hid  herself  under 
"a'board-pile,  where  she  was  found,  not  by  the  Indians,  for 
none  came,  but  by  her  friends,  snugly  stowed  away,  almost 


GRIGNON'S  RECOLLEOTIOJSrs.  219 

half  demented  with  fear.  At  another  time,  seeing  a  number 
of  Menomonee  Indians  come  into  the  store  and  house,  which 
were  adjoining,  and  had  a  connecting  door,  my  grandmother 
fled  to  her  room,  and  fastened  the  door ;  but  her  curiosity 
prompted  her  to  open  the  door  ajar,  and  peep  out,  when  she 
discovered  all  the  Indians  seated  around  the  Toom,  except 
®ne,  Pack-kau-sha,  who,  having  no  seat,  was  'standing  up 
near  her  door.  She  at  once  concluded  he  was  watching  his 
chance  to  destroy  her,  and  in  her  frenzy,  without  knowing 
what  she  was  doing,  snatched  a  dull  round-bladed  case-knife, 
dashed  open  the  door,  and  seized  the  Indian  by  the  collar, 
and  making  an  effort  to  stab  him,  exclaimed,  "  Pack-katj-sha^ 
you  rogue,  you  are  a  dead  man  V^  Th%  Indians  at  once  dis- 
ooTered  that  she  was  greatly  excited  with  fear,  an4  all  united 
im  hearty  laughter  and  strong  assurances  of  friendship.  Her 
good  husband  would  quietly  say,  "  What  are  you  doing,  my 
wife.^  Go  back  to  your  room,  and  don't  disturb  us  here.'' 
When  she  would  see  a  canoe  of  Indians  coming,  she  would 
open  the  door,  and  exclaim  in  the  most  forlorn  manner— 
"They  are  coming!  they  are  coming!  Now  we  shall  be 
massacred!"  It  was  some  time  before  she  gqt  the  better  of 
her  foolish  whims  and  fears  abaut  the  Indians. 

Early  the  next  year,  1760,  Charles  De  Langlade  again 
repaired  to  Canada,  and  found  a  commission  of  Lieutenant 
awaiting  him,  from  the  King  of  France,  dated  the  1st  of  Feb^ 
ruary  of  that  year,  which  evinced  in  a  high  degree  the  confix 
dence  of  his  King  and  Government  But  while  he  served 
during,  tlie  war  under  commissions  of  Ensign  and  Lieutenant, 
he  appears  to  have  held  commands  quite  equal  to  that  of 
Captain.  This  year's  service  must  have  been  very  severe  and 
trying,  demanding  unusual  care  and  anxiety  to  oppose  a 
much  superior  force.  When  all  hope  of  much  longer  being 
able  to  maintain  possession  of  Canada  had  ceased.  Gov.  Vau- 
DREuiL  gave  specific  directions  to  Charles  De  Langlade,  at 
Montreal,  on  the  3rd  of  September,  1760,  to  take  charge  of 


220  GRIGI^'ON'S  RECOLLECTIOIs'S. 

and  conduct  the  troops  under  his  command  to  Mackinaw, 
and  the  Indians  to  their  villages,  and  to  see  that  the  latter 
should  not  plunder  nor  insult  the  voyageurs  they  might  meet 
by  the  way ;  and  that  if  the  fortune  of  war  should  place  the 
Colony  in  possession  of  the  British,  that  peace  might  soon  be 
hoped  to  follow ;  and  also  directing  him  to  take  charge  of  two 
companies  of  English  deserters,  and  send  them  forward  to 
Louisiana — where,  we  may  infer,  they  would  be  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  English,  into  whose  hands  all  New  France  would 
^oon  fall. 

,  Six  days  after  the  date  of  these  instructions,  Vaudreuil  sent 
a  despatch  to  Charles  De  Langlade,  notifying  him,  that  in 
consequence  of  the  great  diminution  of  his  troops,  and  the 
exhaustion  of  his  means  and  resources,  he  had  been  com- 
pelled to  surrender  all  Canada  to  the  British,  under  Gen.  Am- 
herst ;  that  Gen.  Amherst  came  in  view  of  that  city  on  the  6th, 
three  days  after  he,  De  Langlade,  had  taken  his  departure; 
that  the  conditions  of  the  capitulation  are  advantageous  to  the 
colony,  and  particularly  to  the  inhabitants  of  Michillimakinac, 
who  have  liberty  to  enjoy  their  religion,  remain  in  possession  of 
their  real  and  personal  property,  and  their  peltries,  and  to  en- 
joy the  privileges  of  trade  the  same  as  the  proper  subjects  of 
Great  Britain ;  that  the  same  conditions  are  granted  to  the 
military,  who  may  designate  some  one  in  their  absence  to  act 
for  them  in  their  behalf,  and  both  the  military  and  citizens  in 
general  may  sell  to  the  English  or  French  their  property,  or 
send  it  abroad  to  France  or  elsewhere,  if  they  see  proper  to  do 
so ;  they  may  keep  their  negro  and  Pawnee  slaves,  but  must 
surrender  all  those  taken  from  the  English ;  that  the  English 
General  has  declared,  that  the  Canadians  becoming  subject  to 
His  Britannic  Majesty,  shall  not  be  denied  the  privileges  of  the 
Coutume  de  Paris,  the  old  French  code  long  in  force ;  the 
troops  are  not  to  serve  during  the  present  war,  and  are  to  give 
up  their  arms  before  returning  to  France ;  that  you  will  assem- 
ble all  the  officers  and  soldiers  at  your  post,  and  make  them 


GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  221 

lay  down  their  arms,  and  will  accompany  them  to  such  sea- 
port as  may  be  most  convenient  for  their  departure  for  France ; 
that  the  citizens  and  inhabitants  of  Michillimakinac  will  con- 
sequently be  under  the  command  of  the  officer  whom  Gen. 
Amherst  may  order  to  that  post ;  that  you  will  send  a  copy 
of  my  letter  to  St.  Joseph,  and  to  the  posts  of  that  region, 
presuming  that  there  may  be  some  soldiers  there,  that  they 
and  the  inhabitants  may  conform  to  it ;  and  I  hope  to  have 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  in  France  with  all  your  friends.* 

Thus  ended  the  long  contest  between  France  and  Great 
Britain  for  American  dominion  and  supremacy.    None  could 
have  felt  more  keenly  the  downfall  of  France,  and  the  trans- 
fer of  the  government  of  New  France  to  the  British,  than  did 
Charles  De  Langlade.    Raised  on  the  frontiers,  and  having 
spent  his  life  in  the  wilderness,  he  was  fond  of  the  unrestrained 
freedom  he  enjoyed  in  common  with  his  border  country- 
men, and  he  and  they  probably  dreaded  more  a  change  of 
laws  and  custoB»«  than  of  rulers ;  but  in  this,  their  fears  were  • 
groundless,  for  their  conquerors  proved  quite  as  lenient  and 
''  paternal  in  their  government  as  had  the  French  before  them. « 
At  this  day,  we  can  scarcely  realize  the  hardships  attendant 
on,  such  a  partisan  service  as  that  in  which  De  Langlade  * 
was  engaged,  with  such  long  and  constant  marches  of  thou- ' 
sands  of  miles  through  a  wilderness  country,  relying  mainly  > 
upon  wild  game  for  a  sustenance.     I  remember  he  told  me, 
that  on  one  occasion,  when  he  and  his  party  were  nearly 
starved,  they  discovered  some  live  rattle-snakes,  and  by  means  ' 
of  forked  sticks  placed  on  their  necks,  severed  their  heads 
from  their  bodies,  dressed  the  meat,  and  made  a  most  savory  ■ 
meal. 

I  think  I  may  in  truth  say,  that  in  all  this  protracted  war—  ^ 

a  war  emphatically  of  herculean  efforts  on  both  sides,  for  the  1 

.-, , . ••' 

*  Copies  of  these  instructions,  in  French,  may  be  seen  in  the  appendix  fo  * 

Maeti:n  's  Mistorical  Address.    These  translations  are  full,  and  carefully  made. , ; 

»^i  m  i\  •;^'''  L.C.D.-     ' 


^^  GRIGNGX'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

prize  at  stake  was  immense, — no  ofFicer  in  the  French  service 
could  have  traveled  so  many  miles,  suffered  so  many  privaa 
tions  and  hardships,  or  taken  part  in  so  many  services  and 
conflicts,  as  my  grandfather,  the  Sieur  Charles  De  Langlade. 
Had  the  French  been  successful,  his  name  and  fame  would 
doubtless  have  been  better  known  to  history ;  but  the  depart- 
ure of  the  French  leaders,  immediately  after  the  war,  to  their 
native  land,  and  the  natural  dishke  of  the  discomfitted  party 
to  publish  accounts  of  their  deeds  and  services,  however  mer- 
itorious, together  with  the  far-off  and  secluded  region  where 
De  Langlade  resided,  and  the  change  of  Government  in  his 
country,  must  all  have  contributed  to  the  silence  of  historj?" 
in  failing  to  proclaim  his  distinguished  merits  and  services. 
I  cannot  but  believe,  that  Vaudseuil,  Montcalm,  Dumas, 
De  Beaujeu*  and  other  French  leaders,  made  full  reports  of 
my  grandfather's  arduous  and  persistent  services  to  the  King 
and  Government,  for  the  King  must  have  been  made  fully 
aware  of  his  services,  or  he  would  not  have  ^^t  him  a  com- 
mission;  and  this  prompts  mo  to  express  the  hope,  that  th*?^' 
Legislature  of  Wisconsin,  as  other  States  have  wisely  done, 
will,  at  an  early  day,  authorize  the  procurement  from  the  ar- 
chives of  both  France  and  Great  Britain,  a  faithful  transcript 
of  all  documents,  not  only  relating  to  my  grandfather,  but  W 
the  early  expeditions  of  De  Louvigny,  De  Lignery,  and  M6^ 
RAND,  and  all  that  is  preserved  of  the  French  and  English 
regime  in  Wisconsin.  They  should  be  procured,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  volumes  of  the  Historical  Society's  Collections. 
I  do  not  remember  to  have  heard  any  thing  of  the  Green 
Bay  land  grant  of  an  extensive  territory,  with  the  exclusive 
right  of  the  Indian  trade,  made  by  Gov.  Vaudreuil,  in  October^ 
1759,  to  Rigaud  Vaudreuil  and  wife,  and  confirmed  by  the 
French  King,  in  January,  1760,  at  a  critical  period,  just  before 
the  subjugation  of  Canada  by  the  British,  and  which  was  in 
1766,  transferred  to  William  Grant.  If  any  knowledge  ol 
it  came  to  the  ears  of  the  settlers  here  at  that  period,  it  must 


GRXGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS.. 

have  made  them  not  a  little  uneasy,  and  its  early  rejection , 
had  so  quieted  the  matter,  that  nothing  was  said  of  it  in  my 
early  day.* 

When  Mackinaw  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  British, 
Capt.  Georgtc  Ethhrington,  its  Commandant,  sent  word  to 
the  principal  French  settlers  of  the  neighboring  settlements 
dependent  upon  that  post,  to  report  themselves  in  person  at 
Mackinaw,  probably  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
British  Government,  and  advise  with  reference  to  the  proper 
persons  in  their  respective  settlements  to  fill  the  local  offices 
under  the' new  order  of  things.  This  was  all  very  proper,  and*^ 
was  not  only  designed  to  make  the  British  Commandant  bet- 
ter acquainted  with  the  condition  of  things,  within  the  sphere 
of  his  cornmand,  but  was  most  likely  designed  to  give  him 
an  opportunity  of  assuring  the  French  people  of  the  solicitude 
of  the  British  Government  to  consult  their  wants  and  feelings, 
and  promote  their  interests  and  prosperity.  This  was  both 
wise  and  politic  on  the  part  of  the  British  authorities,  and 
had  a  happy  effect  in  winning  the  affection  and  confidence  of 
their  new  subjects.  Among  those  who  repaired  to  Mackinaw, 
in  obedience  to  this  invitation,  were  the  Sieur  Afgustin  and 
tke  Sieur  Ch'-Ales  De  Laxglade.  They  took  their  families 
with  them,  and  probably  took  that  occasion  to  convey  to 
Mackinaw,  to  exchange  for  goods  for  the  Indian  trade,  what- 
ever furs  and  peltries  they  had  gathered  in  barter,  for  they 
had  several  Indian  servants  with  them,  probably  as  boatmen^ 
and  voyageurs.  The  visit  to  Capt.  Etherington  was  pleasant, 
and  it  may  be  safely  presumed  that  the  British  captain  took 
special  pains  to  ingratiate  himself  into  the  good  graces  of  so 
prominent  men  among  both  the  French  and  Indians  as  the 
De  L  an  glades  ;  and  either  at  this  time,  or  not  very  long  after, 
Charles  De  Langlade  was^  re-appointed  to  superintend  the 
Indians  of  the  Green  Bay  Department,  and  re-instated  in  his 


See  Smith's  Hut.  of  Wisconsin,  i.  128,  350. 


(^  GRIGNON'S    RECOLLECTION'S. 

I 

command  of  the  militia.  The  following  permission  to  return 
and  reside  at  Green  Bay,  is  among  the  very  few  papers  of  my 
grandfather  now  preserved  : 

'  "  MicHiLLTMAKiNAC,  April  13,  1763. 

"  I  have  this  date  given  permission  to  Messrs.  Langlade,  father  and  son,  to 
live  at  the  Post  of  La  Baye,  and  do  hereby  order  that  no  person  may  interrupt 
them  in  their  voyage  thither  with  their  wives,  children,  servants  and  baggage. 

GEO.  ETHERIW^GTON,  Commandants 

We  soon  find  Charles  De  Langlade  back  at  Mackinaw,  I 
suppose  to  purchase  goods  for  his  father,  or  for  the  Indian 
Department,  and  perhaps  had  to  wait  there  awhile  for  the  ar- 
rival of  such  goods  from  Montreal.  A  part  of  the  Ottawas 
and  Chippewas  had  espoused  the  cause  of  Pontiac,  and 
formed  the  design  of  surprising  the  garrison,  while  the  others 
were  opposed  to  this  new  attempt  to  embroil  the  Indian  tribes^ 
in  difficulties  with  the  English.  De  Langlade  learned  the 
condition  of  things  from  hi^  Indian  friends  who  were  not  a 
party  to  the  scheme,  and  went  to  Capt.  Etherington  and  told 
him  of  the  designs  against  the  fort.  Etherington  would 
then  summon  before  him  Match-i-ku-is,*  and  other  leading 
Ottawa  chiefs  implicated  in  the  plot,  when  they  would  stoutly 
deny  it;  thereupon  Etherington  would  dismis^,t)oth  the  In- 
dians and  his  suspicions.  Again  and  again  would  De 
Langlade  warn  him,  and  with  the  same  result.  Finally  he 
went  once  more,  and  repeated'  his  firm  convictions  of  the 
threatened  misfortunes ;  when  Etherington  replied,  "  Mr. 
De  Langlade,  I  am  weary  of  hearing  the  stories  you  so  of- 
ten bring  me ;  they  are  the  foolish  twaddle  of  old  women, 
and  unworthy  of  belief;  the  Indians  have  nothing  against 
the  English,  and  cherish  no  evil  designs ;  I  hope,  therefore, 
that  you  will  not  trouble  me  with  any  more  such  stuff.'' 


*  Col.  De  Petster,  who  commanded  at  Mackinaw  at  the  period  of  1774  to 
1779,  and  knew  Match-i-ku-is  well,  speaks  in  his  Miscellanies  of  "  bold  Matoh- 
i-KU-is — the  same  who  surprised  Mackinaw  in  1763,"  who,  "  under  pretence  of 
playing,  kicked  the  ball  over  the  fort  picquets,  rushed  in  with  his  Iband,  with 
arms  concealed,  and  accomplished  his  purpose,"  L.  CD. 


GRIGNON'S    RECOLLECTIOjyS.  205 

^  Capt  Etherington,"  said  De  Langlade,  "  I  will  not  trouble 
you  with  any  more  of  these  old  women's  stories,  as  you  call 
them,  but  I  beg  you  will  remember  my  faithful  warnings/' 
Etherington  was  obstinate — the  ball-play  was  had  on  the 
Queen's  birth-day — he  was  a  spectator — the  ball  was  every 
now  and  then  purposely  knocked  over  the  picketing  into  the 
fort,  and  thrown  back  to  them  by  the  garrison,  when  at 
length  Etherington  ordered  the  gate  to  be  opened  so  the  In- 
dians could  get  it  themselves.  The  next  time  they  knocked 
the  ball  into  the  fort,  they  all  rushed  in,  and  commenced  the 
massacre.  It  was  quick  work,  and  soon  over ;  and  though 
M.  De  Langlade  was  there,  he  had  no  time  nor  opportunity 
to  be  of  any  service. 

Capt.  Etherington  and  Lieut.  Leslie,  who  were  among  the 
survivors,  and  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians,  came  near 
being  burned  at  the  stake;  the  wood  was  all  ready,  and  the 
prisoners  pinioned,  and  the  torch  would  soon  have  been  ap- 
plied, when  M.  De  Langlade  arrived  with  a  party  of  friendly 
Indians,  and  he  at  once  stepped  up  to  the  prisoners  and  cut  the 
cords  from  their  arms,  and  thenj  in  a  firm,  determined  man- 
ner, told  the  hostile  Indians,  "  If  you  are  not  pleased  with 
what  I  have  done,  I  am  ready  to  meet  you ;"  but  none  came 
forward ;  they  saw  too  plainly  that  he  and  his  friends  were 
well  prepared  to  fight,  and  they  knew  that  Charles  De  Lan- 
glade was  a  stranger  to  fear.  Now  that  he  had  saved  Ether- 
ington and  Leslie  from  the  stake,  he  turned  to  the  former 
and  said,  "  Now,  Capt  Etherington,  if  you  had  listened  to 
the  old  women's  stories,  of  which  I  timely  warned  you,  you 
would  not  now  be  in  your  present  humiliating  situation,  with 
your  men  nearly  all  slain."  The  surviving  officers  and  sol- 
diers were  sent,  under  an  escort  of  friendly  Indians,  to 
Montreal. 

PoNTiAc's  plan  of  surprising  all  the  British  posts  in  the 
West,  included  Green  Bay ;  and  the  capturing  of  this  fort  was 
confided  to  the  mixed  band  at  Milwaukee,  composed  mostly 
29m 


226  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

of  Pottawottamies  and  Ottawas,  with  some  Chippewas  and 
Menomonees.  The  Menomonee  nation  were  friendly  to  the 
English,  and  their  head  chief  at  this  time  was  Cha-kau-cho- 
KA-MA,  or  7^ he  Old  King^^  and  his  speaker  was  th«  half-breed, 
Carron,  son  of  the  early  French  trader  who  joined  the  Lan- 
GLADEs  soon  after  their  first  settlement  at  Green  Bay.  It  ap- 
pears by  GorrelFs  Journal,  that  Carron  at  this  time  was  much 
thought  of  by  both  the  French  and  English.  His  oldest  son 
Glodb,  when  a  mere  youth,  had  shared  in  the  battle  of  Que- 
bec, under  the  banner  of  Charles  De  Langlade.  Carron 
had  married  a  sister  of  Wau-pe-se-pin,  or  The  Wild  Potatoe, 
a  prominent  Menomonee,  who  visiting  Milwaukee,  was  invei- 
gled into  taking  part  with'  them  in  the  Pontiac  scheme,  and 
was  persuaded  to  bear  a  red  wampum  belt  to  his  nation,  in- 
viting them  to  assist  in  taking  the  fort  At  my  father,  Pierre 
Grignon's,  then  residing  at  Green  Bay,  Wau-pe-se-pin  was 
met  by  Old  Carron,  who,  addressing  him,  said:  "\  know  the 
object  of  your  visit,  and  the  purport  of  Pontiac's  message ;  I 
want  no  such  message  as  that,  as  I  mean  to  do  no  wrong  to 
my  British  friends.  Is  it  possible  that  you,  too,  are  leagued  with 
the  Milwaukee  band?  Go  back,  then,  to  your  home  among 
them,  and  let  me  see  your  face  no  more  !"  Failing  to  influ- 
ence his  brother-in-law  Carron,  Wau-pe-se-pin  gave  up  his 
mis^sion  as  hopeless,  and  retired  to  his  cabin,  instead  of  re- 
tracing :his  steps  to  Milwaukee.  While  Carron  and  his 
faithful  Menomonees  were  on  the  alert,  strictly  watching  lest 
the  Milwaukee  band  might  attempt  some  mischief,  which, 
however,  they  did  not  dare  attempt,  at  length  Lieut.  Gorrell, 
the  Commandant  of  the  fort,  receiving  instructions  to  abandon 
the  post,  left  Green  Bay,  guarded  to  Mackinaw  by  Carron 


*  Cha-kac-cho-ka-ma  sickened  and  died,  while  temporarily  at  Prairie  da 
Chien  with  B«>me  of  his  family,  about  lb2l  ;  he  was  then  nearly  blind,  and  I 
think  he  was  at  least  one  hundred  years  old.  He  was  a  man  tif  good  sense,  but 
no  public  speaker,  and  was  highly  esteemed  by  his  nation.  His  certificate  a?) 
Grand  Chief  t«f  the  Miinomonees,  given  him  by  Gt»7.  Haldimand,  of  Canada, 
August  n,  1778,  which  has  been  preserved  by  his  family,  is  now  in  the  Cabi- 
net of  the  Historical  Society.     Oshkoss  and  Young  Max  are  his  grandsons. 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  227 

and  a  party  of  Menomonees ;  and  for  his  faithful  adherence 
to  the  English,  and  rejection  of  the  counsels  of  Pontiac, 
Cakron  was  subsequently  presented  with  a  large  silver  medal 
by  the  British  authorities,  with  a  certificate  of  his  chieftain- 
ship and  good  services.  The  tradition  mentioned  by  Judge 
LocKwooD,  in  the  2nd  volume  of  the  Society's  Collections, 
relative  to  the  abandonment  of  Green  Bay,  is  without  found- 
ation. ToMAH,  the  son  of  Old  Carron,  instead  of  then  being 
at  the  head  of  the  Menomonees,  was  a  mere  child  ;  and  noth- 
ing transpired,  as  the  tradition  represents,  that  could  be  con- 
strued into  the  Menomonees  disarming,  or  attempting  to  dis- 
arm, any  part  of  Gorrell's  party.  It  may  here  be  stated, 
that  no  more  British  troops  were  sent  to  garrison  Green  Bay. 
Pontiac,  who  was  the  prime-mover  of  these  troubles  at 
Mackinaw,  Green  Bay  and  elsewhere,  was  always  represented 
to  me  as  a  chief  of  the  Hurons,  not  of  the  Ottawas,  and  my 
grandfather,  who  knew  him  personally,  spoke  of  him  as  an 
Indian  of  great  intelligence  and  shrewdness;  but  I  remember 
nothing  further  of  his  history,  character  or  family.  Of  Old 
Carron's  services,  I  know  nothing  further  with  any  certainty, 
though  I  think  he  must  have  served  during  nearly  all  the  old 
French  and  Indian  wars  under  my  grandfather,  as  he  was  in- 
variably spoken  of  as  being  always  ready.  He  died  at  the 
old  Menomonee  village,  a  short  distance  above  Fort  Howard, 
calkd  the  Old  King's  Village,  about  the  year  1780,  about 
sixty  years  of  age.  By  his  wiie,  he  had  seven  children,  Glode, 
ToMAH,  She-qua-ne-ne,  I-om-e-tah,  and  three  daughters; 
I-OM-E-TAH,  a  chief,  born  about  1772,  and  his  younger  sister, 
are  yet  living  at  Lake  Shawanaw.  Old  Carron  iiad  two 
children  each  by  two  other  women — one  of  them  a  Sauk 
woman,  with  whom  he  became  acquainted  while  on  a  war 
expedition  against  the  Osages  or  Pawnees.  He  was  regarded  as 
the  handsomest  man  among  the  Menomonees;  I  remember 
seeing  his  aged  widow  at  the  Bay  when  I  was  twelve  or  fif- 
teen years  of  age.     Of  Wau-pe-sk-pin,  or  The  Wild  Potatoe^ 


328  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

who  endeavored  to  embroil  the  Menomonees  in  Pontiac^s  war, 
I  can  say  I  knew  him  well ;  he  was  no  chief,  and  there  was 
nothing  in  his  career  worthy  of  special  note.  He  died  at  the 
Big  Kau-kau-lin,  about  1805. 

After  the  Pontiac  war,  Augustin  De  Langlade  for  several 
years  continued  in  the  Indian  trade  at  Green  Bay.  My 
mother,  who  was  born  in  1763,  related  to  me,  that  when  she 
"was  about  seven  years  of  age,  she  was  once  in  the  store,  when 
an  Indian  came  in,  and  expressed  a  desire  to  purchase  a  small 
Indian  axe,  when  her  grandfather,  Augustin  De  Langlade, 
handed  out  one  from  under  the  counter;  when  the  Indian  in- 
quired if  he  had  any  more  ?  M.  De  Langlade  bent  down  to  get 
some  others,  and  as  he  arose,  the  Indian,  in  mere  sport,  made 
u  motion  as  if  to  strike  the  old  gentleman  on  the  head  with 
:the  first  axe  handed  out,  when  my  mother  exclaimed,  "  Grand- 
^^a,  he  is  going  to  cut  your  neck ! "  He  arose  quickly,  and, 
With  one  of  the  small  axes,  knocked  the  Indian  over.  Picking 
himself  up,  the  Indian  apologized  to  M.  De  Langlade,  that 
he  only  intended  it  for  a  joke.  He  was  told  in  reply,  that 
»nch  things  were  too  serious  for  rude  sport,  and  there  the 
matter  ended.  This  is  the  latest  occurrence  of  which  I  have 
any  knowledge,  concerning  the  Sieur  Augustin  De  Langlade, 
and  hence  infer  that  he  died  not  very  long  after — say  about 
1771,  at  the  age  of  about  seventy-five  years,  and  his  remains 
were  interred  at  the  old  cemetery  at  Green  Bay.  He  has  been 
represented  to  me  as  a  very  good  man,  quiet  in  his  de  meanor, 
but  quick  to  resent  an  injury.  I  have  no  personal  knowledge 
of  the  Ottawa  wife  of  Augustin  De  Langlade,  and  suppose 
after  his  death  she  may  have  returned  to  her  Indian  friends 
near  Mackinaw;  but  on  the  14th  September,  17S2,  Lieut  Gov. 
Sinclair, of  Mackinaw, gives  "  Madame  Langlade  permission 
to  go  to  Green  Bay,  and  enter  into  possession  of  her  houses, 
gardens,  farms  and  property,  and  to  take  a  hired  man  with 
her."  *      I  presume  she  did  not  long  survive  the  date  of  this 

*  MAaxiir's  Historical  Addreu. 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  ,  229 

permission,  as  I  was  then  over  two  years  of  age,  and  have  no 
recollection  of  ever  having  seen  her.  But  for  this  written  per- 
mission of  Gov.  Sinclair's,  I  should  have  thought  that  my 
great  grandmother  had  died  before  her  husband,  as  I  never 
remember  to  have  heard  my  mother  speak  of  her. 

Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  Charles 
De  Langlade,  who  was  then  fifty-two  years  old,  was  per- 
suaded  by  Capt.  De  Peyster,  commanding  at  Mackinaw,  to 
take  an  active  part  in  the  war  should  his  services  be  needed ; 
and  this,  as  De  Peyster  remarks  in  his  Miscellanies,  was 
equivalent  to  "  securing  all  the  Western  Indians  in  our  inter- 
est." He  was  soon  required  to  raise  an  Indian  force,  and  re- 
pair to  Canada  for  its  defence,  and  with  a  large  body  of 
Sioux,  Sauks,  Foxes,  Menomonees,  Winhebagoes,  Pottawot- 
tamies,  Ottawas  and  Chippewas,  he  marched  for  MontreaL 
Upon  their  arrival  there,  a  grand  council  was  held,  a  large  ox 
was  roasted  whole,  and  served  up  to  the  Indians  at  a  war- 
feast;  and  when  La  Rock,  the  Sioux  interpreter,  failed  to  per- 
form his  duty,  De  Langlade  supplied  his  place  by  having  the 
Sioux  render  their  speeches  into  the  Chippewa  tongue,  which 
was  pretty  generally  known  among  the  Indians  in  the  North- 
West,  when  he  could  render  it  from  the  Chippewa  into 
French.  While  in  Canada  on  this  service,  I  remember  he 
served  under  Gen.  Campbell,  but  forget  his  particular  servi- 
ces rendered.  My  recollection  is,  that  as  occasion  required, 
he  went  to  Canada  with  his  Indian  force  several  times  during 
the  war,  but  I  can  give  no  particulars.  I  presume  he  was 
there  at  the  time  Gov.  Haldimand  gave  Cha-kau-cha-ka-ma^ 
or  The  Old  King,  the  great  medal  and  certificate,  the  latter  of 
which,  dated  Aug.  17th,  1778,  has  been  deposited  in  the 
Cabinet  of  the  Historical  Society. 

After  Col.  George  Rogers  Clarke  had  conquered  the  Illi- 
nois country,  the  British  Lieut  Gov.  Hamilton,  of  Detroit, 
planned   an  expedition,  in   the  winter  of  1778-79,  against 
Clarke  5  but,  though  so  far  successful  as  to  re-possess  Vin- 


230  .  GRIGNON'3  RECOLLECTIONS. 

cennes,  Hamilton  and  his  forces  were  suddenly  attacked  in 
turn  by  the  gallant  Claekt-,  and  made  prisoners  of  war.  It 
had  been  Hamilton's  plan,  as  the  summer  of  1779  should 
roll  round,  to  re-conquer  the  rest  of  the  Illinois  country ;  but 
his  hopes  were  suddenly  blasted  by  the  daring  and  gallantry 
of  his  wily  antagonist.  Without,  however,  knowing  anything 
of  Hamilton's  misfortune,  Capt.  Db  PftzsTER  called  a  grand 
council  of  the  North -Western  tribes  to  assemble  at  I'Arbre 
Croche,  near  Mackinaw,  early  in  the  summer,  for  the  purpose 
of  embodying  an  Indian  force  to  make  a  diversion  towards 
Fort  Chartres,  in  favor  of  Gov.  Hamilton.* 
.  Pierre  Carke  had  been  sent  to  Milwaukee  fto  invite  the 
Indians  there  to  attend  the  grand  council;  and  failing  of 
success,  Gautier  De  Verville,  De  Langlade's  nephew, 
who  had  served  with  him  during  the  old  French  war,  and 
thus  Jar  in  the  Revolutionary  contest,  and  was  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  th'e  Indians,  next  went;  but  he  returned, 
reporting  that  he  had  met  with  no  better  success — that 
the  Indians  hadi  laughed  at  him.f  Now  De  Langlade 
went,  determined  to  induce  them  to  attend  the  council,  and 
take  up  the  hatchet  on  the  side  of  the  British.  He  talked 
with  them  awhile  without  any  apparent  favorable  results, 
when  he  concluded  to  resort  to  his  knowledge  of  Indian 
habits  and  customs.  He  built  a  lodge  in  the  midst  of  the 
village,  with  a  door  at  each  end ;  had  several  dogs  killed,  and 
iiad  the  dog-feast  prepared ;  then  placed  the  raw  heart  of  a  dog 
on  a  stick  at  each  door.  Then  the  Indians  partook  of  the  feast, 
.when  De  Langlade,  singing  the  war  song,  and  marching 
around  within  the  lodge,  as  he  passed  one  door  he  bent 
down  and  took  a  bite  of  the  raw  heart,  and  repeated  the 
same  ceremony  as  he  passed  the  other — an  appeal  to  Indian 


t    *  These  raovements  of  Clabk  and  Hamilton   are  stated  on  authority  of 
.JDlarke's  MS.  Papers,  and  De  Peystee's  Miscellanies.  L.  0.  D. 

t  No  wonder  Col,  De  Pkyster  denominated  them  "  those,  nmegates  of  Mil- 
waukee— a  horrid  set  of  refractory  Indians."  L.  0,  D. 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  231 

bravery,  that  if  they  possessed  brave  hearts  themselves,  they 
would  follow  his  example,  and  accompany  him  to  war.  They 
could  not  resist  this  ancient  and  superstitious  custom ;  and 
so  one  after  another  joined  in  the  war  song  and  tasted  the 
dogs'  hearts,  till  all  had  become  the  followers  of  De  Lan-^ 
GLADE,  and  he  led  them  forth  to  the  grand  council  at  PArbre 
Croche.  After  the  grand  council  was  held,  and  brave  speeches 
made,  the  Indian  force,  under  De  Langlade  and  D.^:  Ver- 
till:  ,  embaiked  upon  Lake  Michigan ;  and  upon  arriving  at 
St.  Joseph's,  they  learned  of  Hamilton's  surrender,  and  re- 
turned much  dissatisfied.* 

My  grandfather,  De  Langlade,  remained  in  service  in  the 
Indian  Department  till  the  end  of  the  war;  and  he  and  his 
faithful  companion  and  nephew,  Gautier  De  Verville,  both 
serving  as  captains.  As  there  were  no  expeditions  by  the 
Americans  against  the  North- West,  there  was  no  active  ser4 
vice  for  them  to  perform.  T 

I  will  mention  what  little  I  know  of  an  event  at  this  period, 
but  in  which,  however,  my  grandfather  had  no  part     Jean 
Marie  Ducharme,  a  trader  from  Montreal,  had  wended  his- 
way  up  the  Missouri  river  with  goods,  and  carried  on  a 
profitable   trade  with   the   Indians,  but  without   license  or 
permission  of  the  Spanish  authorities  at  Pancore  or  St.  Louis; 
and  the  consequences  was,  that  as  he  descended  the  Missouri 
with  his  boat  of  furs  and  peltries,  a  band  of  Spaniards  inter- 
cepted him  ;  the  most  of  his  party,  when  they  saw  the  Span-'' 
iards  approaching,  fled  and  left  him,  when  he  had  only  a 
young  man  whom  he  had  raised,  and  a  Pawnee  Indian,  re- 
maining with  him,  who  fired  upon  their  assailants.    They  were 
too  weak,  however,  to  make  any  successful  resistance,  and  fi- 
nally fled,  and  though  the  Spaniards  endeavored  to  take  Du- 
charme, he  eluded  them  and  escaped.     His  goods  were  seized 

and  confiscated,  to  the  value  of  four  or  five  thousand  dollars. 

. ij 

*  The  result  of  this  expedition  is  giyen  on  the  authority  of  Col.  De  Petstbb's 
MiseeUanies.  L.  O.  D, 


232  GRIGNON'S  REOOLLECTIONS. 

Making  his  way  back  to  Mackinaw,  with  no  very  amiable 
feelings  towards  the  Spaniards  at  Pancore,  he  soon  managed 
to  get  up  quite  a  large  expedition,  in  the  spring  of  1780,  for 
their  chastisement  It  appears  to  have  been  almost  entirely, 
if  not  exclusively,  a  volunteer  affair,  yet  my  recollection  is 
that  my  grandfather  told  me,  that  Lieut.  Gov.  Sinclair,  of 
Mackinaw,  gave  it  his  countenance  and  encouragement  The 
numbers  engaged  I  do  not  remember,  but  it  was  pretty  large, 
and  they  were  mostly  Indians.  The  bold  Ottawa  chief  Match- 
i-Ku-is  had  the  chief  command  of  the  Indians,  and  was  hon- 
ored with  the  title  of  General.  They  came  by  the  way  of 
Gi^een  Bay,  where  they  were  joined  by  Po-e-go-na,  or  The. 
Feather- Shedder,  Mu-wa-sha,  or  The  Little  Wolf^  Le  Baron, 
and  other  noted  Menomonee  warriors,  and  some  Winnebagoea 
From  Green  Bay,  they  took  the  usual  route  up  Fox  river  to 
the  Wisconsin  Portage,  and  thence  down  the  Wisconsin  and 
Mississippi.  The  expedition,  however,  accomplished  but 
little ;  they  killed  a  few  innocent  people  around  Pancore  or 
St  Louis,  and  were  foiled  in  their  chief  design,  and  returned 
dissatisfied.  About  the  year  1788, 1  saw  General  Match-i- 
KU-is  at  Green  Bay,  who  seemed  to  appreciate  the  importance 
of  his  title,  for  he  wore  a  bright  red  British  dress  coat,  with 
epaulettes,  and  cut  quite  a  figure.  He  was  then  getting  old, 
and  was  a  tall,  large-sized  Indian.  Young  as  I  was,  he 
attracted  my  attention,  and  my  grandfather  told  me  about 
him  and  his  Pancore  expedition,  otherwise  I  should  not  prob- 
ably have  known  anything  of  it  My  grandfather  had  a  dis- 
like towards  General  Match-i-ku-is,  and  remarked  that  he 
was  unreliable  and  treacherous,  brave  and  sanguinary,  and 
probably  had  more  special  reference  to  his  treacherous  con- 
duct at  the  surprise  of  Mackinaw  in  1763.  I  may  add,  that 
I  am  quite  confident  that  my  grandfather  did  not  accompany 
the  Pancore  expedition,  nor  do  I  think  any  whites  at  Green 
Bay  joined  it 

I  do  not  know  much  of  Jean  Marie  Ducharme — W^^ 


GKIGNON'S   RJiCOLLECTIONS,  233 

having  seen  him;  but  he  was  many  years  engaged  in  the 
Indian  trade,  and  finally  retired  to  Lachine,  near  Montreal, 
his  native  region,  where  he  had  a  fine  property,  and  died 
there  about  1800  to  1S05.  He  had  three  sons  in  this  country, 
Joseph,  Dominick,  and  Paul — the  former  of  whom,  I  remem- 
ber, went  to  Lachine  to  settle  his  father's  estate ;  and  Paul 
DucHARME  yet  survives,  at  about  eighty  years  of  age.  I  have 
heard  that,  about  1782,  Jean  Marie  Ducharme  once  left 
Mackinaw  on  a  trading  expedition,  without  obtaining  the 
necessary  written  license  or  permission  from  Lieut.  Gov.  Sin- 
clair, who,  on  his  return,  required  him,  for  his  disobedience, 
to  provide  fifteen  hundred  bundles  of  wild  hay,  weighing 
some  fifteen  pounds  to  the  bundle,  for  the  King's  public  sup- 
plies, and  paid  the  penalty.  Afcout  the  same  time,  one  St, 
Paul  De  La  Croix,  a  trader,  also  departed  on  a  trading  voy- 
age without  permission,  and,  like  Ducharme,  was  directed  to 
pay  the  same  penalty,  for  disobedience  of  a  well-known  order. 
But  ])e  La  Croix,  who  was  rather  a  hard  case  to  manage, 
said  that  the  King  lived  over  the  ocean,  and  he  didn't  believe 
he  needed  any  hay ;  if  he  thought  he  really  stood  in  need  of 
any,  he  would  procure  some  for  him ;  but  as  it  was,  he 
shouldn't  get  any.  Sinclair  could  not,  or  did  not,  enforce 
the  fine.  I  can  only  further  say  of  Jean  Marie  Ducharme, 
that  he  had  a  brother  Dominick  Ducharme,  and  a  cousin 
Laurent  Ducharme,  the  latter  of  whom  was  at  Mackinav?" 
when  surprised  in  1763,  and  both  were  many  years  engaged 
in  the  Indian  trade  in  the  North- West.* 


*  Of  DuGHARME  and  his  expedition,  by  a  visit  to  the  venerable  Paul  Db- 
CHARME,  of  Green  Bay,  we  are  enabled  to  add  the  following  interesting  particu- 
lars. Mr.  Ducharme  stated  that  he  himself  was  a  native  of  Lachine,  Canada,, 
and  has  attained  the  age  of  about  eighty-seven  years;  that  he  came  to  Green 
Bay  when  he  was  twenty-four  years  of  age,  as  a  clerk  for  his  brother,  Domi- 
nick Ducharme,  an  Indian  trader,  and  has  ever  since,  for  a  period  of  about 
sixty-three  years,  remained  in  the  country.  That  his  father,  Jean  Marie 
Ducharme,  was  residing  at  Lachine  when  the  Americans  invaded  Canada  in 
1775-'76,  and  they  endeavored  to  perBuade  him  to  take  pai't  with  thera  in  the 
contest  then  waging  against  the  mother  country,  but  he  deemed  it  best  to 
maintain  neutrality  ;  that  the  Americans,  while  in  Canada,  were  scantily  sup- 
plied with  provisions,  but  would  never  plunder,  not  even  chickens ;  that  they 

30m 


234  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

In  or  about  1783,  Lieut  Gov.  Sinclair  gave  to  my  grand- 
father a  grant  to  all  his  lands  at  Green  Bay,  including  his 
improvements  and  such  prairies  as  he  may  have  used  for 
meadow,  and  wood  lands  used  for  wood,  or  sugar-making; 
this  document  I  confided  to  Col  Isaac  Lee,  the  U.  S.  Commis- 
sioner, in  1820,  to  examine  into  the  land  titles  at  Green  Bay 
and  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  he  took  it  to  Detroit  with  him,  and 
dying  soon  after,  I  never  was  able  to  reclaim  it. 

After  the  Revolutionary  war,  my  grandfather,  De  Lan- 
glade, remained  in  his  Indian  agency  at  Green  Bay,  having 
the  general  superintendence  of  the  Indians  in  this  quarter, 
and  also  continued  in  command  of  the  militia.  It  was  an 
ancient  custom  among  the  Canadians,  on  the  1st  of  May  in 
each  year,  to  have  a  holiday^  raise  a  flag-pole,  and  salute  it 
with  voUies  of  discharges,  well  blackening  it  over,  and  all 
these  demonstrations  were  designed  as  complimentary  to  their 
militia  Commandant;  and  thus  was  Charles  De  Langlade 
most  affectionately  reverenced  and  honored  by  the  simple-f 
hearted  people  of  the  settlement. 

Mr.  De. Langlade,  b)?-  his  marriage  with  Miss  Bourassa>- 


would,  in  a  respectful  manner,  beg  for  sour  milk  ;  and  that  bis  fatber  admired 
tbem,  and  was  detwtnined  not  to  take  up  atras  against  so  brave  and  suffering  a 
people,  but  was  at  length  ftirced  to  do  so,  and  aideii  to  expel  tbem  from  Canada. 
Be  had  been  imprisoned  a  jear  by  ihe  Briiish  authorities  for  having  furuifshed' 
the  Americans  food  and  Kupplies.  and  he  never  atrer  liked  the  English,  } 

He  had  long  bet-n  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade  in  the  North-West.  conveying 
his  goods  from  l^achine  and  Montreal,  and  making  Mackinaw  his  chief  tiading 
post.  In  1778  or  1779,  he  had  ventured  high  up  the  Missouri  river  with  his 
trading  boats,  and  the  Spaniards  getting  jealous  of  his  trade,  took  his  goods, 
and  if  they  did  not  capture  him,  as  it  seems  they  did  not,  he  must  have  gone 
to  St.  Lotiis  to  obtain  indemnification.  He  was  there  thrown  into  pris  -n,  and 
kept  in  confinement  a  year.  He  had  been  so  successful  in  his  Indian  trade  up 
the  Missouri,  that  the  Spanish  traders  united  in  making  representations  against 
him,  as  not  only  interfering  with  their  trade,  but  as  getting  too  much  influence 
over  the  Indians,  for  a  foreigner.  He  was  in  danger  of  being  executed,  but  at 
length  proved  that  he  had,  in  more  than  one  insiance,  at  a  heavy  ransom,  re- 
deemed Spanish  captives  from  the  Indians,  and  saved  their  lives  ;  ^lierupon  he 
wa"?  liberated.  Indignant  at  the  loss  of  his  property  and  his  lo?ig  imprisoi-ment, 
he  led  an  expedition  against  St.  Louis,  to  chastise  the  Spaniards  and  make  re|«n- 
sals,  but  his  son  could  not  recall  the  detads  He  often  heard  his  father  speak 
of  Match-i-ku-is  as  a  brave  chief;  he  must  have  lived  and  died  in  ihe  Macki- 
naw region. 

Jkan  Marie  Duchaeme  died  at  his  residence  at  Lachine,  about  the  year  1803. 
He  was  then  nearly  blind,  his  head  all  white,  but  he  walked  erect,  and  was 
perhaps  nearly  eighty  years  of  age.  L.  C,  D. 


GRIGNO^S   ilEOOLLECTiONS.  235 

had  two  children,  Lallottjb,  born  in  1760  or  1761,  who  was 
married  to  one  Barcellou,  but  died  the  next  year  childless; 
2Uid  my  mother  Domitelle,  born  in  1763,  who  was  united 
in  marriage  to  my  father,  Pierre  Grignon,  Sr,,  in  1776,  when 
siie  was  thirteen  years  of  age.  My  grandfather  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days  at  Green  Bay,  occasionally  making  a 
journey  to  Mackinaw  or  Toronto  on  public  or  private  busi- 
ness, for  he  continued  to  attend  to  his  Indian  agency,  and  the 
command  of  the  mihtia,  as  long  as  he  lived.  He  had  a  farm 
which  was  managed  by  my  father,  Pierre  Grigkon,  Sr.,  and 
received  an  annuity  of  eight  hundred  dollars  while  he  hved, 
as  half' pay,  from  the  British  Government,  for  his  services 
during  the  American  Revolution,  and  he  also  received  for 
those  services  a  grant  of  3,000  aoa-es  of  land  on  the  La  Trenche 
river  in  Canada.  He  now  felt  the  weight  of  years,  and  in 
January,  1800,  after  an  illness  of  two  weeks,  he  died,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-five  years,  and  his  remains  were  buried  beside 
those  of  his  father  in  the  cemetery  at  Green  Bay. 

Thus  passed  away  the  Sieur  Charles  DuLx^nglade,  whose 
long  life  was  one  of  varied  excitement,  replete  with  martial 
deeds,  and  scenes  of  deepest  interest  in  the  forest  and  among 
the  savages.  He  had,  as  he  often  stated,  been  in  ninety-nine 
battles,  skirmishes,  and  bordeu  forays,  and  used  to  express  a 
desire  in  his  old  age  that  he  could  share  in  another,  so  as  to 
make  the  number  one  hundred.  He  was  mild  and  patient, 
but  could  never  brook  an  insult;  friendly  and  benevolent  in 
his  feelings,  and  was  devotedly  loved  by  all  classes  of  his  ac- 
quaintances. He  wasjvery  industrious,  and  always  employed 
in  some  useful  occupation,  often  chopping  his  own  wood,  and 
hewing  timber  for  houses.  His  integrity  was  proverbial; 
once,  under  the  old  French  regime,  he  made  out  his  account 
of  goods  purchased  for  the  Indians  in  his  department,  when 
the  French  Commissary  returned  it  to  him,  and  suggested  that 
he  make  it  over  again ;  he  did  ^o,  when  it  was  again  handed 


236  GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS. 

to  him  with  the  saii*e  request,  and  thus  repeated  four  times, 
and  each  time,  though  he  made  a  new  transcript,  it  was  pre- 
cisely the  same.  At  length  the  Commissary  intimated  to  him, 
that  he  had  returned  it  to  him,  as  he  saw  it  was  very  moder- 
ate in  size,  and  the  King  of  France  could  very  well  pay  it  if 
it  were  four  or  five  times  as  large.  He  simply  replied,  that 
that  was  all  just,  and  he  could  claim  nothing  more.  He  never 
used  his  position  or  opportunities  to  plunder  the  public,  and 
died  as  he  had  lived,  an  honest  man.  The  name  given  him 
by  the  Indians,  is  expressive  of  their  idea  of  the  leading  trait 
of  his  character — A-ke-wau-ge-ke-tau-so,  ox  He-who-is-Jierce- 
for-t he-land,  that  is,  a  military  Conqueror.  Like  his  father 
before  him,  he  was  un  hon  Catholique. 

He  was  of  medium  height,  about  five  feet  nine  inches, 
a  square  built  man,  rather  heavy,  but  never  corpulent  His 
head  was  bald,  and  in  his  old  age  the  hair  on  the  sides  of  his 
head  had  a  silvery  whiteness ;  his  eyes  were  large  and  deep 
black,  with  very  heavy  eye-brows  grown  together.  His  face 
was  round  and  full,  and  he  presented  altogether  a  fine  ap- 
pearance. When  dressed,  as  I  have  often  seen  him,  in  his 
British  scarlet  uniform,  his  military  chapeau,  his  sword  and 
red  morocco  belt,  he  exhibited  as  fine,  a  martial  appearance 
as  any  officer  I  ever  beheld.  The  silver  buckle  of  his  sword- 
belt,  which  he  used  in  all  his  military  services  in  two  wars,  I 
take  pleasure  in  presenting  to  the  State  Historical  Society  for 
its  Cabinet,  and  hope  it  may  be  long  preserved  as  a  personal 
memorial  of  the  early  founder  and  father  of  Wisconsin. 
^  My  grandmother,  the  widow  of  Charles  De  Langlade, 
was  a  woman  rather  tall  and  portly  in  her  old  age,  with  a 
mild,  brown  eye.  She  was  regarded  as  quite  handsome  in  her 
day.  After  her  husband's  death,  she  made  her  home  with 
her  daughter,  and  died  at  Green  Bay  in  1818,  at  about  the 
age  of  seventy-five  years. 

It  is  creditable  to  the  intelligence  and  cultivation  of  the  De 


GRIGNON^S  RECOLLECTIONS.  237 

Langlades  and  other  early  settlers  at  Green  Bay,  that  a  dis* 
tinguished  French  nobleman,  upon  visiting  the  country 
many  years  ago,  should  express  his  surprise,  at  hearing 
from  the  natives  of  the  country,  the  French  language  spoken 
with  the  same  purity  and  elegance,  to  which  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  hear  it  in  Paris. 

I  will  now  make  some  mention  of  such  of  my  grandfather's 
old  companions  in  arms,  as  were  known  to  me.  "I  have  al- 
ready said  that  Gautier  De  Verville  was  his  nephew,  a  na- 
tive of  Mackinaw.  I  can  state  no  specific  services  of  his  be- 
yond what  I  have  given  in  connection  with  my  grandfather's; 
but  I  know  that  he  was  my  grandfather's  constant  companion 
in  all,  or  nearly  all,  his  services  during  the  old  Fa-ench  and 
Revolutionary  wars,  and  had  a  captain's  commission  during 
the  latter  service.  He  was  a  tall,  spare  man,  rather  full  face, 
brown  eye,  not  handsome,  but  yet  pleasant  in  all  his  inter- 
course. After  the  war,  he  continued  to  make  Mackinaw  his 
his  home,  had  a  farm,  and  sometimes  acted  as  Indian  inter- 
preter for  the  British  Government.  He  married  a  Miss  Che- 
vALLiER,  of  Mackinaw,  a  tall  and  handsome  woman ;  they  had 
two  daughters,  the  eldest  of  whom  became  the  wife  of  Capt 
Henry  Monroe  Fisher,  a  reputed  nephew  of  President  Mon- 
roe, who  came  to  the  North- West  as  a  clerk  for  an  English 
trader  named  Todd,  with  whom  he  remained  three  years, 
and  then  located  himself  as  a  trader  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 
where  he  resided  when  I  first  visited  that  place  in  1 795/  That 
year  Michael  Brisbois  married  the  youngest  daughter  of 
Gautier  De  Verville,  and  the  next  year,  Capt  Fisher  went 
to  Mackinaw  and  married  the  eldest  Gautier  De  Vervillb 
and  his  wife  went  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  about  1798,  to  live 
with  Michael  Brisbois  ;  and  De  Verville  died  there  about 
1803,  at  about  the  age  of  sixty-five ;  his  widow  survived  him 
several  years.  Both  Fisher  and  Brisbois  were  prominent  and 
useful  men  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  have  left  worthy  descend* 
ants,  so  that  the  descendants  of  Sieur  Augustin  De  Lan- 


238  GRIGNON'S    RECOLLECTIONS. 

GLADE,  through  De  Vervill^%  arf!  among  the  most  respectable 
in  the  country/^ 

Amablb  Dp/GFRt^^j  who  was  commonly  called  La  Rose,  a 
native  of  Montreal,  early  wended  his  way  to  Mackinaw,  and 
took  part,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  old  French  and  Indian  war. 
He  )vas  a  part  of  the  time  employed  in  the  Indian  trade  lor 
himself,  and  apart  for  others.  He  made  Green  Bay  his  home 
for  several  years,  when  not  iu  the  Indian  country,  and*finally 
left  for  his  native  region,  about  1790,  and  never  returned  to 
the  West.  He  was  then  getting  quite  old,  was  unmarried, 
and  was  well  regarded  by  my  grandfather  and  all  who  knew 

him.  i 

Another  of  the  brave  and  hardy  band  who  served  under 
my  grandfather,  was  Pikrre  Car«k,  a  native  of  Canada.    Like 


*  Gen.  Hercdlks  L.  Dousmax,  of.  Prairie  du  Chien,  whase  lady,  first  the  wife 
of  the  late  Joseph  Bolette,  is  a  dar.ghter  of  Capt.  Fisher,  has  furnished  the 
following  note,  embracing-  all  he  can  ascertain  of  Capt,  Fisher's  career : 

"  So  far  as  I  can  find  out,  his  parerits  were  ^Scotch,  or  of  Scotch  descent;  and 
he  waR  born  near  Lake  Champlain,  tiol  far  from  the  line  separating  the  State  of 
Hew  York  from  Lower  Canada,  ov  '  i  Kast;  that  he  came  from  Canada  bj 

way  of  Mackinaw  and  fJrecn  Ba\  .  .  .<  vr;icre  abotit  1790.  He  carried  on  a 
very  extensive  trade  with,  thfjifid ia^s lip,  the  Prairie  du  Chien  region, 
and  furnished  out-fits  to  otb.er  tfadi'ifj,  <ome  of  whom  traded  above,  and  others 
•below  that  place.  The  Sauks,  Foxc;^.  Hioox,  Winnebagoes  and  Menomonees 
then  resorted  there  in  great  nv.r;  berg  for  the  purpose  ol  procuring  supplies  of 
clothing,  amtmition,  <tc.  He  con^tirjut*^  in  trade  at  Prairie  du  Cliirn  until  1815, 
when  he  left,  iu  company  with  bis  son,  aud  a  son  of  the  late  Michael  Brisbgib, 
to  join  the  Hudson  Bay  Cnnipaiy,  aRtr'a<i'er  on  the. Red  river  of  the  North, and 
continued  in  the  service  of  that  Companv  until  1824.  When  I  first  taw  him,  in 
1»26,  he  had  just  returned  from  Lac  Traverse,  the  head  water  ol  the  Minnesota 
riTer,  where  he  had  passed  two  yeaas  jn  the  employ  of  the  American  Fur  Com- 
pany. He  then  gave  unmistakaMe  evidences  of  a  man  of  extraordinary  activi- 
ty and  vigor  for  his  age.  Ho  died  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  in  1827.  He  was  a  tall, 
well-built,  atldetic  man,  and  capable  of  enduring  hardships  and  fatigue,  and  of 
course  well  calculated  for  a  frontier  life  of  those  times.  He  was  easily  excited, 
smd  possessed  indomitable  courage  -audi  perstjverance.  The  only  public  office 
ihskt  1  can  learn  tliat  he  ever  held,  was  that  of  Justice  of  the  Ptace,  at  Prairie 
du  Chien,  before  the  last  war  with  Oreat  Britain  :  his  commission  being  from 
the  Governor  of  Illinois  Territory,  as  this  part  of  the  country  was  then  attached 
to,  or  forroed  part  of  that  Territory." 

It  may  be  added  here,  that  in  Capt,  Z.  M.  Pike's  visit  to  Prairie  du  Chien, 
in  September,  lf'05,  he  speaks  of  Captain  and  Judge  Fisher — "the  Captain  of 
Militia  and  Justice  of  the  Peac«.'.'  As  Illinois  Territory  was  not  organized  till 
1809  Capt.  Fisher  must  ha\e  received  his  commissions  from  Gov,  Harrison,  of 
Indiana  Territtiry,  which  was  organized  in  1800,  or  from  Maj.  Amos  STonuARD, 
tlie  Firpt  Civil  Commandant  ot  Upper  Louisiana,  siiice  Missijuri,  when  that 
country  passed  into  possession  of  the  Americans,  in  ls04. 

BcKides  MiB.  Gen,  DouaMAiT,  auother  daughter  of  Capt.  Fisher,  is  Mrs.  Hbnrt 
8.  Baird,  of  Green  Bay.  L.  0.  D. 


QRIGNON'S   RECOLLEOTIOl^rS.  *  239 

De  Gkre,  he  was  sometimes  a  clerk  for  other  traders,  and 
sometimes  trading  for  himself.  During  the  war  of  1S12-'15, 
he  acted  as  interpreter  for  the  British  Col.  Robkrt  Dickson. 
In  the  fall  of  1812,  CoL  Dickson  started  from  Mackinaw  with 
government  goods  for  the  Indians  around  Prairie  du  Chien, 
taking  with  him  Caree  as  interpreter ;  but  winter  overtaking 
them  at  Winnebago  Lake,  they  became  frozen  in,  and  spent 
the  winter  on  Garlic  Island,  between  the  present  Oshkosh  and 
Neenah ;  in  the  spring  they  continued  on  to  Prairie  du  Chien, 
distributed  the  goods,  and  started  on  their  return  journey.  At 
the  mouth  of  the  Maniste  river,*  a  stream  emptying  into  Lake 
Michigan,  above  Green  Bay,  they  encamped,  and  the  next 
morning  finding  themselves  wind-bound,  Caree  took  his  gun 
and  went  out  a  hunting,  and  unfortunately  got  bewildered 
and  lost.  Col.  Dickson  staid  two  days  endeavoring  to  :ffnd 
him,  but  without  success,  when  he  continued  on  to  Mackinaw. 
Caree  soon  lost  his  flint  from  his  gun-lock,  and  though  he  had 
ammunition,  his  gun  was  useless  to  him.  As  it  was  in  May 
or  early  June,  there  were  no  wild  fruits,  and  he  ate  roots  and 
almost  anything  he  could  find.  One  day  a  hawk  flying  over 
him  with  a  partridge  in  its  claws,  spying  Caree,  dropped  its 
game,  probably  from  sudden  fear,  which  the  half-starved  man 
devoured  raw.  He  at  length  reached  the  Lake  shore,  and 
there  found  a  half  decayed  fish,  and  poor  as  it  was,  he  made 
a  meal  out  of  it,  and  kept  on  ufi  the  Lake,  and  finally  reached 
human  habitations,  at  Point  St.  Aeneas,  six  miles  'from  Mack- 
inaw, just  fifty  days  after  he  got  lost  He  was  so  emaciated 
that  he  was  scarcely  recognized  by  those  who  knew  him  well 
He  had  well  nigh  lost  his  senses,  and  had  to  be  nursed  some 
time  before  his  recovery,  when  he  was  sent  to  his  friends  in 
Canada.  Two  years  afterwards  he  was  heard  from,  when  he 
was  still  with  his  relatives,  and  well.  He  had  no  family. 
Louis  Hamline,  a  native  of  Canada,  and  also  one  of  Dk 

*  This  is  Mr.  Griqmom's  pronunciation  ;  its  orthogtaphj,  on  the  old  maps,  is 
JUonistigue.  L.  0.  D. 


340  '  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

Langlade's  old  soldiers,  lived  at  Mackinaw,  where  he  had  a 
family.  He  was  once  setting  trout-lines  under  the  ice  on  the 
border  of  Lake  INIichigan,  when  a  heavy  wind  blew  a  large 
lfe)dy  of  ice,  where  he  was,  quite  a  distance  into  the  Lake,  upon 
which  he  remained  nine  days,  without  food,  when  the  wind 
veered  about  and  drove  the  ice  on  shore  again.  He  must 
have  died  at  Mackinaw  many  years  ago. 

'  La  Fortune  was  another  of  my  grandfather's  war  follow- 
ers, a  hardy  Canadian ;  he  had  an  Ottawa  wife,  and  lived  with 
the  Indians  near  Mackinaw,  among  whom  he  was  noted  as  a 
great  huntej:. 

Machar,  another  of  the  party,  was  an  uncle  to  my  father, 
and  was  the  grandfather  of  Mrs.  John  Dousman,  of  Lake 
Shawanaw.  He  was  a  native  of  Canada,  a  man  of  great  fear- 
lessness, and  was  long  a  trader  in  the  North- West.  Once 
when  he  had  his  trading  post  at  the  Falls  of  the  Chippewa 
river,  with  three  men  with  him  in  his  employ,  he  persuaded 
a  band  of  Chippewas,  encamped  some  distance  above  him, 
and  a  party  of  Sioux  below,  to  meet  at  his  post  and  make  a 
treaty  of  peace  and  friendship,  for  they  had  been  implacable 
foes  from  time  immemorial.  They  accepted  the  invitation, 
met,  and  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace,  with  many  a  pledge  of 
friendship.  The  Chippewas  first  took  their  departure,  when 
the  treacherous  Sioux  managed  to  get  around  and  then  ahead 
of  them,  and  killed  one  of  their  number.  The  Chippewas 
then  returned  to  Machar's  trading  post,  and  lingered  around 
there  till  they  had  exhausted  their  own  supplies,  and  nearly 
all  the  provisions  of  the  traders.  They  then  applied  to  Ma- 
char for  further  aid,  when  he  gave  them  ammunifion,  and 
bid  them  go  the  next  morning  to  hunt  for  deer,  and  not  fail 
to  bring  him  all  the  deer  they  should  kill.  The  next  night 
they  brought  in  thirty  deer.  Machae  then  supplied  them 
.  with  powder,  lead,  and  other  necessary  articles,  and  bid  them 
return  home  and  go  to  hunting,  to  pay  their  credits  and  sup- 
port their  families.     They  obeyed  his  directions.     And  this 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  ,24t' 

is  only  one  instance  of  his  influence  with  the  Indians ;  hi» 
firmness  and  fearlessness  always  made  him  respected  amofi^ 
them.    Machar  had  three  children,  two  sons  and  a  daughterj 
he  went  to  Detroit  in  his  old  age,  to  live  with  one  of  his  sooa^ . 
ani^  died  there,  more  than  iifty  years  ago. 

The  Green  Bay  settlement,  from  its  inception  in  1745  l»^ 
1785,  a  period  of  forty  years,  had  made  but  little  progresa. 
At  my  earliest  recollection,  say  1785,  there  were  but  sev«» 
families,  who  with  their  engages  and  others  did  not  exceed 
flfty-six  souls ;  and  I  feel  quite  certain,  that  at  no  anterioir 
date,  did  the  actual  residents  amount  to  more.  It  may  bc; 
interesting  to  preserve  the  names  of  the  early  settlers,  witlr 
the  number  of  their  families,  and  so  I  will  give  themr 
Charles  De  Langlade,  wife,  two  Pawnee  servants,  ai^ 
three  engages ;  Pierre  Grignon,  Sr.,  wife,  six  children,  twm 
Pawnee  servants,  and  twelve  engages;  Lagral  and  wile; 
Baptist  Brunet,  wife,  three  children,  and  one  engage;  Ama- 
BLE  Roy,  wife,  two  Pawnee  servants,  one  engage,  and  Bai*- 
TisT  La  Duke,  an  old  trader,  living  with  them ;  Joseph  Roir^ 
wife,  five  children,  and  one  engage ;  a  young  man  name^ 
Marchand,  the  agent  of  a  Mackinaw  trading  company,  hax- 
ing  a  store  of  Indian  goods  at  the  Bay,  with  four  engage» — 
making  fifty-six  the  total  population.  Of  those  families^ 
Brunet,  Lagral  and  Joseph  Roy,  resided  on  the  west  side 
of  the  river,  and  De  Langlade,  Grignon,  Am  able  Rot  aisdl 
Marchand,  on  the  east.  As  Mr.  Grignon  and  Marchah^ 
kept  the  only  trading  stores,  we  see  the  business  was  trans- 
acted  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  At  this  time  there  werst 
no  settlers  at  Depere,  nor  indeed  anywhere  on  Fox  river^ 
except  those  here  mentioned  at  the  Bay.  y 

The  first  settler  who  arrived  after  my  recollection,  was 
Jacques  Porlibr,  from  Montreal,  in  1791.  It  was  not  Ittt 
the  next  year,  1792,  that  Charlks  Rkaumw  arrived,  and  tooic; 
up  his  residence  at  the  Bay.  About  this  period  others  begsM» 
to  anive,  almost  invariably  from  Canada — among  them,  Joj 
31m 


242  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

L AWE,  in  the  summer  of  1797;  so  that  prior  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war  of  1812,  the  following  persons,  heads 
of  families,  had  arrived  and  settled,  mostly  at  the  Bay,  and 
from  the  Bay  up  as  far  as  Depere:  M.  Duchano,  Louis 
Gravel,  Bartinme  Chevalier,  Pierre  Chalifoux,  Pierre 
HouLRiCH,  Jacob  Franks,  Yout  Brisque,  Jacques  and  Nich- 
olas ViEAu,  Baptist  Cardronne,  John  Dousman,  Pierre 
Carbonneau,  John  Vann,  Joseph  Houll,  John  Jacobs,  Alex- 
ander Garrib.py,  Louis  Bauprez,  Joseph  Ducharme,  John 
Baptist  LANGERiN.who  married  my  mother,  Prisqub  Hyotte, 
Amable  Norman,  John  Baptist  Lavigne,  Augustin  Bonne- 
TERRE,  Joseph  Boucher,  Antoine  Le  Boeup,  Augustin  Thi- 
beau,  Alexander  Dumond,  George  Fortikr,  Basil  La  Rock, 
DoMiNiCK  Brunet,  and  Joseph  Jourdin,  the  father-in-law  of 
Ezekiel  Williams:  and  the  following  natives  of  Green  Bay 
had  become  heads  of  families  prior  to  1812,  viz:  Perrish 
Brunet,  my  half-brother  Perrish  Grignon,  and  my  brothers 
Pierre,  Charles,  Louis  and  Baptist  Geignon,  and  myself, 
and  probably  a  few  others.  I  have  no  definite  idea  of  the 
total  population  at  this  period,  but  should  think  it  was  not 
less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty. 

Of  some  of  the  early  settlers  at  Green  Bay,  I  must  make  a 
more  particular  mention.  My  father  Pierre  Grignon,  Sr., 
was  born  in  Montreal,  and  early  engaged  as  a  voyageur  with 
traders  in  the  Lake  Superior  country,  and  having  saved  his 
wages,  he  after  awhile  engaged  as  a  trader  on  his  own  account, 
and  located  at  Green  Bay  prior  to  1763.  He  had  served  on 
some  expeditions,  probably  during  the  old  French  war,  but  I 
.n  remember  no  particulars.  By  his  first  wife,  a  Menomonee 
woman,  he  had  three  children,  one  of  them  died  young  from 
an  injury  by  a  fall,  another  died  while  at  school  at  Montreal, 
and  the  other,  Perrish,  grew  up,  and  raised  a  family.  By 
his  marriage  with  my  mother,  he  raised  nine  children,*  and 

*  The  following  are  the  dates  of  the  births  of  the  children  of  Pieerk  Geig- 
KOir,  Sr.,  by  his   marriage  with  Domitellb  De  Langlade  :   Piebee  Antoine, 


f 


.  GRXGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS,  243 

died  in  November,  1795,  just  before  the  birth  of  his  young- 
est, at  about  the  age  of  fifty-five  or  sixty  years.  He  was  a 
spare  man,  six  feet  in  height,  of  light  complexion ;  a  man  of 
bravery,  and  full  of  animation,  but  by  no  means  quarrelsome. 
He  was  highly  esteemed,  and  was  regarded  as  strictly  upright 
in  all  his  dealings.  He  was  particularly  hospitable,  and  no 
year  passed  but  he  entertained  many  of  the  traders  going  to, 
or  returning  from,  their  winter  trading  posts. . 

Baptist  Brunet,  from  Quebec,  must  have  come  to  Green 
Bay  about  1775,  and  at  first,  for  a  year,  engaged  in  my  fath- 
er's employ;  the  next  year  married  a  natural  daughter  of 
Gautier  Ds  Verville  by  a  Pawnee  servant  woman  of  Chas. 
De  Langlade.  He  was  only  a  farmer,  but  a  very  good  one, 
and  died  at  Green  Bay  about  1815. 

Amable  and'JosEPH  Ror,  brothers,  and  natives  of  Montreal, 
found  their  way  to  Green  Bay  not  very  long  after  the  old 
French  war.  Amable  Roy  married  Agate,  the  daughter  of 
the  Sieur  Augustin  De  Langlade,  and  the  widow  of  M. 
SouLiGNY ;  previous  to  which,  he  had  done  something  in  the 
Indian  trade,  and  after  his  marriage,  turned  his  attention  to 
farming.  He  had  no  children ;  his  wife  died  about  1801, 
willing  him  all  her  property,  and  he  died  about  a  year  after- 
wards, and  gave  his  property  to  young  Louis  Grignon,  who 
had  lived  with  him  from  childhood.  Joseph  Roy  had  been 
employed  as  an  engage,  and  married  a  Menomonee  woman, 
and  raised  two  sons  and  four  daughters,  and  survived  some 
years  after  the  war  of  18 12-' 15,  and  his  very  aged  widow  was 
still  living  but  a  very  few  years  since.  Of  Lagral,  I  need 
only  remark,  that  he  came  from  Canada  with  his  wife,  and 
settled  at  the  Bay  about  1785,  or  a  very  little  before,  for  I  re- 
member their  coming,  and  remained  only  about  four  years, 
when  they  sold  their  place  to  my  father,  and  left  the  country. 

born  October  21, 1777 ;  Charles,  June  14th,  1779  ;  Auqustix,  June  27tb,  1780 ; 
Louis,  21st  Sept.  1783  ;  Baptist,  23d  July,  1785  ;  Domitellk,  2l8t  March,  1787; 
Maroukeite,  23cl  March.  1789  ;  Hypoutk,  14ih  Sept,  1790 ;  and  Amable,  in 
December,  1795.  L.  0.  D. 


244  GRIGNON'S  REC0LLECTI0N3. 

'James  Porlire,  who  came  to  Green  Bay,  as  already  stated, 
in  1791,*  proved  the  most  useful  man  to  the  settlement  of  all 
the  French  Canadian  emigrants  who  settled  there  during  my 
day.  He  was  born  at  Montreal  in  1765,  and  received  a  good 
education  at  a  seminary  in  that  city,  with  a  view  of  the 
priesthood  5  but  changing  his  mind,  he  engaged  in  his  father's 
employ,  who  carried  on  a  large  business.  In  1791,  he  received 
from  Gov.  Alured  Clark  a  commission  of  Captain-Lieuten- 
ant of  the  militia  of  Montreal,  and  the  same  year  left  to  seek 
his  fortune  in  the  West,  coming  directly  to  Green  Bay.  He 
engaged  at  first  as  a  clerk  for  my  father,  and  thus  remained 
employed  for  two  years ;  the  first  winter  remaining  in  the 
store  at  Green  Bay,  and  the  next  he  spent  at  Mr.  Grignoh's 
trading  post  on  the  St  Croix  He  then  engaged  in  the  Indian 
' '  tode  for  himself,  and  spent  his  winters  in  the  Indian  country 
for  many  years,  on  the  Sauk  river  on  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
Buffalo  river.  Pine  river,  and  several  points  on  the  Mississippi 
and  Wisconsin,  and  continued  more  or  less  in  the  trade  as 
'  lokig  ias  "he  lived.^  - 

It  was  while  on  the  St  Croix,  in  1793,  that  he  married 

Miss  Makgukrite  Gkipsie,  whose  father  was  a  Frenchman, 

the  first  clerk  Pieere  Grignon,  Sr.,  had  at  Green  Bay,  where 

■'hie' married  a' Menomonee  woman,  and  afterwards  left  the 

country,  abandoning  his  wife  and  child     Mr.  Porlise  found 

'Miss  GRiEsm  and  her  mother  with  a  band  of  the  Menomo- 

^  nees  spending  the  hunting  season  on  the  St  Croix 

In  January,  1815,  Mr.  Porlier  was  commissioned  by  Gov. 

^'  Oeorge  Prevost,  of  Canada,  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  Gap- 

^' tain  of  the  militia  of  Green  Bay,  under  the  British  Govern- 

'^ment,  which  commission  was  certified  by  Lieut  CoL  McDon- 

ALLjCdmmandant at  Mackinaw;  and  it  would  appear  from  a 

/        J-Hl         I  ,  1 ■ : _ ■ 

♦  In  the  Detroit  Gazette,  of  January  IBth.  1822,  it  is  stated  that  Mr.  Poblibe 
"has  resided  within  the  Territory  [of  Michigan]  since  1787;"  if  so,  he  must 
have  stopped  awhile  at  Detroit  or  Mackinaw,  then  returned  to  Montreal,  re- 
ceived his  eoramission  of  Oaptairt-Lieutenant,  and  shortly  after  settled  at  Green 
cP^y-  .^,  L.  CD. 


GRIGi^rON'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  245 

memoraudum  among  Mr.  Porlier's  papers,  that  he  had  been 
commissioned  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  by  the  British  in  1812; 
but  I  have  no  recollection  of  his  having  acted  under  these 
commissions.*  When  Brown  county  was  organized,  under 
the  American  Government,  Mr.  Porlier  was  first  appointed 
an  Ensign  of  miUtia  by  Gov.  Cass  in  1819,  and  three  years 
afterwards  a  Lieutenant  In  September,  1 820,  he  was  commis- 
sioned by  Gov.  Cass,  Chief  Justice  of  Brown  county,  as  thoj^ 
successor  of  Matthew  Irwin,  and  by  re-appointments  contin- 
ued to  serve  as  Chief  Justice  till  the  organization  of  Wiscon- 
sin Territory,  in  1836.  In  1820,  he  was  also  commissionedc 
a  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  County  Commissioner ;  and  ir^ 
1822,  Judge  of  Probate.  He  was  almost  constantly  en- 
gaged in  public  service  between  1820  and  ISSft,  af^d  ypt 
found  time  to  do  something  at  his  old  business  as  a  trader.. 
A  few  years  before  his  death,  the  right  half  of  his  body  be- 
came partly  paralyzed,  and  he  died  after  two  or  three  days' 
illness,  at  Green  Bay,  July  12th,  1839,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
four  years. 

Judge  Porlier  was  about  five  feet,  ten  inches  in  height,  of 
medium  size,  of  light  complexion,  a  little  bald,  very  mild, 
and  invariably  pleasant  to  all.  The  public  positions  he  filled^j 
so  long  and  so  well,  are  the  best  evidences  of  the  esteem  for 
his  character,  and  the  confidence  reposed  in  him.  Such  was 
his  solicitude  to  fit  himself  for  his  judicial  position,  that  he 
patiently  translated  from  the  English,  and  left  in  manuscript, 
the  Revised  Laws  of  Michigan  Territory,  in  the  French  lan- 
guage. His  widow  survived  him  about  five  years ;  they  had 
several  children,  three  of  whom  are  still  living. 

Charles  Reaume  was,  I  dare  say,  as  my  old  departed  friend 
Solomon  Juneau  has.  stated,  a  native  of  La  Prairie,  nearly 


^v  These  commissions  granted  by  the  British  Gov'rs  Clark  and  Peevost,  and 
subsequent  ones  from  the  American  authorities,  together  with  several  hundred 
old  letters,  early  account  books,  and  other  papera  of  Judge  Porliee,  have  beea^ 
kindly  presented  to  the  Society  by  his  son,  Louis  B.  Porlier,  Esq,,  of  the^, 
JButt«  des  Morts.  L.  C.  D. 


246^  GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.'^ 

opposite  to  Montreal.  His  family  was  very  respectable,  and 
he  enjoyed  good  educational  advantages.  He  appears  early 
to  have  left  Montreal,  and  went  to  Detroit,  where  he  had  rel- 
atives, among  them  a  nephew  named  Alexa^kdek  Rkaume,  a 
trader,  but  if  I  ever  knew  the  particulars  of  his  career  there,  I 
have  forgotten.*  He  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade,  and,  like 
most  traders,  roamed  the  forests  of  the  North-West,  between 
the  great  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi,  and,  I  think,  spent  several 
years  in  this  way,  and  made  several  journeys  to  Mackinaw, 
and  at  last  one  to  Montreal,  where  he  became  united  in  mar- 
riage to  a  Miss  Sanguenette,  daughter  of  a  prominent  mer- 
chant of  that  city,  and  a  lady  of  great  worth.  He  now  man- 
aged to  commence  business  in  Montreal,  I  think  merchandiz- 
irig,  and  mostly  on  credit,  and  by  bad  management,  soon 
failed ;  and,  naturally  proud  and  haughty,  he  did  not  care  to 
remain  there,  and  thus  left  Montreal,  abandoning  his  wife, — 
they  having  no  children, — and  again  turned  his  face  west- 
ward. He  came  directly  to  Green  Bay,  as  I  have  always 
understood;  this  was  in  1792,  and  he  accompanied  Mr.  Poe- 
LiER  in  the  fall  of  that  year,  and  spent  the  winter  with  him 
oil  the  St.  Croix  river.  Returning  to  the  Bay  the  next  spring, 
he  went  to  Mackinaw,  and  managed  to  obtain  on  credit  about 
six  or  seven  hundred  dollars  worth  of  goods  for  the  Indian 
trade,  and  brought  them  to  the  Bay,  where,  erecting  a  trader's 
cabin,  of  logs,  covered  with  slabs,  chinked  and  daubed,  he 
opened  his  small  store,  and  commenced  operations.  In  due 
time  he  sold  out,  ate  up,  and  squandered  his  little  stock,  prob- 
ably as  he  had  done  at  Montreal ;  and  having  no  returns  to 
make  to  the  Mackinaw  merchants,  he  was  unable  to  obtain  a 
new  supply,  and  this  ended  his  attempts  at  merchandizing. 


*  It  was  mentioned  in  the  preceding  volumes  of  the  Society's  Collections, 
that  he  sei-ved  during  the  Revolutionary  war  as  a  Captain  in  the  British  Indian 
Department,  and  was  among  the  prisoners  taken  by  the  gallant  Col.  Geoegb 
RoGEKS  Clark  at  the  capture  of  Vincennes,  in  February,  1779,  and  taking  the 
oath  of  neutrality,  was  permitted  to  return  to  Detroit.  The  MS.  Papers  of 
Gen.  Claek,  in  my  possession,  show  this  fact  L.  0.  D. 


tv 


GRIGI^ON'S  RECOLLECTION'S.  247 

He  was  a  singular  man — vain,  pompous,  and  fond  of 
show ;  and  his  sense  of  honor  and  justice  was  not  very  high. 
He  led  a  jolly,  easy  life,  always  getting  his  share  of  good 
things  whenever  within  his  reach,  and  never  seemed  to  have 
a  care  or  thought  for  the  morrow.  I  think  the  published  an- 
ecdotes related  of  him  are  correct,  and  truly  represent  the 
character  of  the  man. 

When  on  the  St.  Croix  with  Mr.  Porlier,  he  was  trading 
in  a  small  way  for  his  own  benefit.  One  day  he  invited  Mr. 
Porlier,  Laurent  Fily,  and  two  or  three  others  wintering 
there,  to  dine  with  him.  His  guests  appeared  at  the  proper 
time,  and  Reaume  had  prepared  some  dried  venison,  pounded 
finely,  and  cooked  in  maple  sugar  and  bears'  oil,  making 
really  a  very  fine  dish.  A  half-breed,  Amable  Chevaliek, 
happened  to  make  his  appearance,  and  observed  to  Reaume, 
that  he  had  not  plates  enough  on  the  table,  as  there  was  none 
for  him.  "Yes,  there  are  enough,"  said  Rbaumb  gruffly 
when  the  Indian  snatched  from  Reaume's  head  his  red  cap, 
and  spreading  it  upon  the  table,  took  both  his  hands  and 
scooped  from  the  dish  of  cooked  venison,  called  by  the  Indi- 
ans, -pe-we-ta-gah,  or  prepared  in  oil,  as  much  as  he  could, 
and  dashed  it  into  the  cap.  This  was  all  the  work  of  a  mo- 
ment, when  Reaums  followed  suit,  by  seizing  a  handful  of 
the  meat,  and  throwing  it  in  the  Indian's  face.  Quite  an  ex- 
citing scene  now  ensued  in  the  way  of  a  personal  rencontre, 
which  the  guests  terminated  by  separating  the  angry  combat- 
ants. Not  to  be  foiled  in  this  way,  when  the  Indian  was 
sent  off,  a  ad  things  re-adjusted,  Reaume  and  his  friends  par- 
took of  the  feast,  such  as  it  was,  with  doubtless  a  regale  of 
the  ;  trader's  wine-keg,  which  each  trader  was  sure  to  take 
with  him  for  his  winter's  supply. 

On  this  same  trading  voyage,  Reaume  had  with  him  his, 
cousin,  Noel  Reaume — a  crack-brained  fellow,  who  once  re- 
fused to  work  a  year  as  a  voyageur  for  seven  hundred  francs, 
but  would  do  so  for  a  hundred  dollars,  and  though  this  was 


^^^U  ORIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

coJisiderably  less,  he  never  could  be  made  to  comprehend  it 
if  aving  occasion  to  use  their  canoe  in  the  winter,  this  Noel 
SLeaums  cleared  out  the  snow,  and  brought  a  shovel  full  of  live 
c©als  to  place  in  the  bottom  of  the  frail  bark  craft,  when  his 
cousin  Cit  AEL-Es  asked  him  what  he  was  going  to  do  ?  "  Why/' 
said  the  other,  "  these  coals  are  to  keep  my  feet  warm ;  do  yon 
think  I  am  going  to  freeze  my  feet  to  make  you  laugh?" 

Reaumb  would  often  say,  that  the  next  spring  his  wife  was 
-coming  frbm  Montreal  to  join  him  at  Green  Bay,  and  he  had 
said  the  same  thing  so  repeatedly,  year  after  year,  that  even 
the  Indians  made  sport  of  him  about  it.  One  day  meeting 
~mnf  old  Menomonee  named  Wat-tau-sk-mo-sa,  or  One-that' 
is-bdmmg,  Rsaume  asked  him  when  he  was  going  to  get 
married,  remarking  to  him  that  he  was  getting  old.  "  0,"  said 
the  Indian,  "you  have  been  telling  us  that  Mrs.  Reaume  is 
coming  out  this  spring,  and  I  am  waiting  for  her  arrival,  in- 
tending to  marry  her.''  This  little  sally  very  much  stirred  up. 
Seaume's  anger,  when  he  sent  back  a  volley  of  sacres,  very 
much  to  the  Indian's  amusement. 

A  Mr.  Rondel,  of  the  Illinois  country,  who  knew  Reaume 
cither  in  Canada  or  at  Detroit,  recommended  him  to  Gx)V. 
Habrison,  of  the  Indiana  Territory,  as  a  suitable  person  for 
a  Justice  of  the  Peace  at  the  Green  Bay  settlement,  when  a 
commission  was  filled  up  and  sent  to  him  four  or  five  years 
before  the  commencement  of  the  war  of  1812.  This  was  the 
lirst  officer  of  the  kind  at  Green  Bay;  and  marriages  were  pre- 
"sriously  entered  into  by  contract  and  witnesses,  disputes  were 
settled  by  arbitration,  and  criminals  were  sent  to  Canada  for 
tri^l.  I  am  not  certain,  but  presume  Reaume  kept  something 
of  a  docket,  and  probably  some  record  of  such  marriages  as 
fee  solemnized,  for  some  still  adhered  to  the  ancient  custom^ 
mad  dispensed  with  Reaume's  services;  but  I  have  no  recol- 
lection of  his  having  a  single  law  book  or  statute  of  any  kind. 
His  were  equity  decisions,  but  his  ideas  of  equity  were  often 
^^ciy  queer  and  singular.     I  never  understood  that  he  had  any 


QRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  249 <• 

commission  from  the  British  authorities,  nor  do  I  think  his 
commission  from  Gov.  Harrison  was  ever  renewed,  but  he 
continued  to  act  under  its  authority  until  the  organization  of  u 
Brown  county,  by  Gov.  Cass,  in   1818, — a  period  of  about  (^ 
eleven  years. 

The  late  John  Dousman  related  to  me  a  case  tried  before^o 
Reaume,  of  which  he  was  personally  cognizant.      Joseph 
HouLL  was  the  complainant,  and  his  claim,  which  wajs  a  justn 
one,  was  for  labor  rendered  the  defendant.     It  was  a  plain 
case,  and  Reaume  decided  in  favor  of  Houll,  and  dismissed'^ 
the  parties.     Dousman  having  heard  so  much  about  Reaumb^s''^ 
singular  decisions,  concluded  he  would  test  the  good  Justice ; 
and  observed,  with  assumed  sincerity,  "  Mr.  Reaume,  now  that 
you  have  decided  the  case,  I  must  say,  I  am  very  much  sur- 
prised at  your  decision — you  ought,  in  justice,  to  have  decided 
in  favor  of  the  defendant."     "Ah,"  replied  Reaume,  "you 
did  not  understand  me  aright;"  and  then  stepping  to  the  door, 
he  called  Houll  back,  and  asked  him  how  he  understood  the 
decision  ?     Houll,  of  course,  said  that  he  understood  that  he 
had  won,    "Yes,"  said  Rsaume,  "you  have  won  to  pay  the 4 
costs!''     This  is  only  one  instance  in  many  of  a  similar 
character,  showing  a  very  facile  conscience,  and  a  mind  easily^ ' 
changed  by  caprice  or  interest. 

After  Reaume  disposed  of  his  little  stock  of  goods,  he  se- 
cured him  a  farm  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  about  four 
miles  above  Green  Bay.  Probably  from  the  savings  of  his 
store,  he  obtained  some  cattle  and  horses,  and  soon  had  a 
very  fine  farmj  with  a  comfortable  house,  and  many  com- 
forts around  him.  He  had  a  dog  named  Rahasto,  whom 
he  had  trained  to  go  and  drive  away  the  thieving  black-birds 
wlienever  they  would  appear  in  his  fields.  Not  very  long 
after  CoL  John  Bowyee  came  to  Green  Bay  in  1815,  as  1 
American  Indian  Agent,  he  purchased  Reaume's  farm  at  less 
than  half  its  value,  when  the  latter  made  his  home  with 
Judge  Lavte  about  a  year.  He  then  obtained  a  claim  for 
32m 


250  GRIGJyTON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

some  land  at  the  Little  Kau-kau-lin,  ten  miles  above  Green 
Bay,  on  which  he  erected  a  comfortable  house,  and  moved 
there,  but  he  kept  no  liquor  or  other  articles  to  sell  to  the  In- 
dians, as  I  was  there  frequently,  and  should  have  known  it  if 
it  had  been  so.  There  he  sickened  and  died,  in  the  spring 
of  1822,  somewhere,  I  should  think,  from  sixty-five  to  seventy 
years  of  age.  Judge  Reaume  was  rather  tall,  and  quite  port- 
ly, with  a  dark  eye,  with  a  very  animated,  changeable  coun- 
tenance. Like  the  Indians,  his  loves  and  hates  were  strong, 
particularly  the  hates.  He  was  probably  never  known  to  re- 
fuse a  friendly  drain  of  wine,  or  of  stronger  liquors ;  and  he 
was,  in  trilth,  very  kind,  and  very  hospitable.  With  all  his 
eccentricities,  he  was  warmly  beloved  by  all  who  knew  him. 
John  Lawe,  another  early  settler,  was  a  native  of  York, 
England.  His  father  was  a  captain  in  the  English  army,  and 
his  mother  an  English  Jewess,  a  sister  of  Jacob  Fkanks,  who 
had  come  to  the  Bay  as  early  as  1795,  as  a  clerk  in  the  tra- 
ding establishment  of  Ogilvir,  Gillaspie  &  Co.,  of  Mackinaw, 
who  had  a  store  at  Green  Bay.  John  Lawe  was  educated  at 
Quebec,  and  Joseph  Rolette,  so  well  known  as  a  trader,  and 
early  settler  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  was  one  of  his  school-mates. 
When  his  uncle,  Mr.  Fkanks,  had  been  about  three  years 
with  Ogilvie,  Gillaspie  &  Co.,  he  ceased  serving  as  clerk, 
and  went  to  Canada  and  obtained  a  stock  of  goods.  He  re- 
turned to  the  Bay  and  opened  a  store,  bringing  his  nephew, 
John  Lawe,  with  him,  then  a  young  man  of  sixteen  years. 
This  was  in  the  summer  of  1797.  Lawe  engaged  in  his  un- 
cle's employ,  and  the  following  winter  was  sent  with  a  sup- 
ply of  Indian  goods,  accompanied  by  Louis  Baupkez,  to 
Fond  du  Lac  river,  which  was  then  known  among  the  French 
and  traders  by  that  name;  and  took  possession  of  the  old 
trading  post,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  above  the  mouth  of  that 
stream,  on  its  eastern  bank.  This  had  been  a  winter  trading 
post  for  many  years ;  Laurent  Ducharme,  who  one  year 
caught  a  large  number  of  ducks  there,  by  means  of  a  net,  which 


GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  251 

•  r 

he  salted  and  preserved  for  winter's  use,  was  ab<:^ut  the  earliest 
trader  at  that  point ;  then  one  Ace,  a  Spaniard,  and  subse- 
quently one  Chavodriel,  and  still  later  Michael  Brisbois, 
and  I  wintered  there  two  winters.  The  Indians  whose  trade 
was  here  sought,  were  the  Winnebagoes,  who  had  a  village 
where  Taycheedah  now  is,  three  miles  east  of  Fond  du  Lac 
City,  and  had  other  villages  along  Rock  river.  Mr.  Lawe  after-  . 
wards  spent  several  winters  at  different  points,  among  the  In- 
dian hunting  bands,  between  Green  Bay  and  the  Mississippi, 
and  up  to  the  time  when  his  uncle  left  the  country,  and  went 
back  to  Canada,  which  was  about  the  commencement  of  the 
war  of  1812,  leaving  Mr.  Lawe  as  his  successor  as  a  mer- 
chant and  trader,  and  he  continued  more  or  less  in  the  Indian 
trade  as  long  as  he  lived. 

During  the  war,  Mr.  Lawe  was  a  Lieutenant  in  the  Indian 
Department,  under  the  British,  and  the  only  active  service  I ) 
remember  of  his,  was  his  going,  under  Col.  Robert  Dickson, 
near  the  close  of  the  war,  to  Mackinaw,  my  brother  Louis 
Grignon  being  also  along,  and  taking  part  in  the  repulse  of 
the  American  Col.  Holme  s,  at  Mackinaw.  Some  time  after 
the  organization  of  Brown  county,  he  was  commissioned  an 
Associate  Judge  of  the  county.  His  death  occurred  at  Green 
Bay,  February  11th,  1846,  in  his  sixty-sixth  year.  When 
twenty  years  of  age,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Therese  Ran- 
kin, whose  father  was  an  Englishman,  and  her  mother  of  the 
Chippewa  band,  who  wintered  on  the  Pishtego  river,  and 
were  frequently  at  Green  Bay.  Several  children  were  the 
fruit  of  this  marriage.  Judge  Lawe  was  a  man  of  ordinary 
height,  but  became  Very  portly ;  he  was  possessed  of  great  en- 
terprise, and  was  shrewd  and  successful  in  his  business  oper- 
ations. 

I  will  now  notice  some  matters  connected  with  the  Green 
Bay  settlement.  We  have  seen  how  slow  was  the  progress  of 
the  settlement,  from  its  origin  to  the  war  of  1812.  Carver, 
who  visited  the  settlement  in  September,  1766,  states  that 


252  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

there  was  then  no  garrison  there,  nor  had  the  fort  been  kept 
in  repair  since  its  abandonment  by  Lieut.  Gorrell,  three 
years  previously;  that  a  few  families  lived  in  the  fort;  and 
opposite  to  it,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  there  were  a 
few  French  settlers,  who  cultivated  the  land,  and  appeared  to 
live  comfortably.  Carver  was  plainly  a  man  of  observation. 
and  foresight,  for  he  remarks :  "  To  what  power  or  authority 
this  new  world  will  become  dependent,  after  it  has  risen  from, 
its  present  uncultivated  state,  time  alone  can  discover.  But 
as  the  seat  of  empire,  from  time  immemorial,  has  been  grad- 
ually progressive  toward  the  West,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that, 
at  some  future  period,  mighty  kingdoms  will  emerge  from 
these  wildernesses,  and  stately  palaces  and  solemn  temples^ 
with  gilded  spires  reaching  the  skies,  supplant  the  Indian 
huts,  whose  only  decorations  are  the  barbarous  trophies  of 
their  vanquished  enemies.''  What  was  almost  prophecy  to 
Carver,  fourteen  years  before  my  birth,  I  have  lived  to  see 
literally  fulfilled. 

At  my  earliest  recollection,  say  about  1785,  or  a  little  before, 
we  still  find  the  settlement  small,  containing  only  seven  fam- 
ilies, and  fifty-six  souls ;  with  two  trading  establishments,  my 
father's,  and  Marchat^d's  as  the  agent  of  a  Mackinaw  house. 
Reaumu,  as  we  have  seen,  had  a  small  store,  which  had  only 
a  short-lived  existence.  The  Mackinaw  establishment,  after 
three  years'  operations,  was  at  length  purchased  out,  about 
178S,  by  my  father;  and  about  1794,  the  trading  house  of 
OcuLviB,  GiLLAspiB  &  Co.,  was  established,  which  three  years 
after  gave  place  to  Jacob  Franks',  of  which,  after  a  career  of 
many  years,  John  Lawe  became  the  proprietor.  After  my 
father's  death,  in  1795,  my  mother  continued  the  store  a  couple 
of  years,  when  my  brother  Pierre  and  myself  took  it  in 
charge,  and  continued  the  business  some  twenty-eight  years, 
and  until  my  brother's  death.  These  were  all  the  stores  at 
Green  Bay  prior  to  the  war  of  1812. 

I  can  say  but  little  of  the  early  mechanics  of  Green  Bay. 


GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 


253 


*  My  father  always  kept  a  blacksmith  employed  making  traps, 
and  doing  other  smith  work ;  and  he  also  kept  a  tailor  at 

•'work.     Jacob  Fkanks  established  a  smith-shop,  and  employed 

iione  Gallarno  a  couple  of  years  to  manage  it,  when  Gallar- 
NO  went  to  Prairie  du  Chien;  and  then,  about  1798,  Joseph 
JouBDiN  arrived  from  Canada,  and  carried  on  the  blacksmith- 

nng  business  for  Franks,  for  some  time,  and  then  for  himself. 
JouEDiN  married  a  daughter  of  Michael  Gravi^l,  whose  wife 
was  a  daughter  of  a  Menomonee  chief;  and  the  celebrated 
EzEKiEL  Williams  married  a  daughter  of  Jourdin.  Mr. 
JouRDiN  is  still  living  in  the  country.  I  remember  an  Eng- 
-olishman  came  to  the  Bay  in  my  father's  time,  who  was  a 
hatter;  and  winter  setting  in,  he  remained  till  the  next  spring, 
working  for  my  father,  and  then  pursued  his  journey  to  St 
Louis.  There  were  no  established  carpenters  and  joiners, 
and  masons,  until  the  advent  of  the  Americans  in  1816,  ex- 
cept AuGusTiN  Thibeau,  a  carpenter  and  joiner,  who  came 
from  Quebec  about  1800,  and  engaged  for  some  time  in  the 
employ  of  Mr.  Franks.  When  my  father  erected  a  new 
house,  about  1790,  he  had  to  send  to  Montreal  for  a  carpenter 
and  mason ;"  his  house  was  a  hewed  log  building,  and  at  that 
time  was  regarded  as  altogether  the  best  at  Green  Bay. 

Prior  to  the  arrival  of  the  Americans,  in  1816,  there  was  no 
physician  at  Green  Bay,  the  nearest  was  Dr.  Mitchell,  at 
Mackinaw,  who  was  too  far  distant  ever  to  have  been  sent 
for.  We  had  no  early  schools — none  till  after  the  coming  of 
the  American  troops.  The  year  Mr.  Poblieb  lived  in  my 
father's  family,  he  gave  some  instructions  to  myself,  brothers 
and  sisters;  but  in  those  early  times,  all  who  were  favored 
with  an  education,  were  sent  either  to  Mackinaw  or  Canada 
to  obtain  it 
I  The  earliest  mill  erected  in  the  country,  was  by  Jacob 
Franks,  about  the  year  1809.     He  first  built  a  saw-mill,  and 

N-then  a  grist-mill;  they  were  located  on  Devil  river,  two  or 
three  miles  east  of  Depere,  and  were  erected  for  Mr.  Frajjks 


254 


GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 


.''by  an  American  named  Bradlky;  the  grist-mill  had  one  run 
of  stone,  and, was  very  serviceable  for  many  years.  Previous 
to  this,  grinding  was  done  by  hand-mills,  with  a  double  crank, 
for  two  persons  to  turn,  and  which  held  about  half  a  bushel. 
Not  long  before  Franks  built  his  mill,  my  brother,  Pikrre 
Grignon,  jr.,  erected  a  horse-mill,  of  about  four  horse  power, 
by  which  about  fifteen  bushels  of  grain  could  be  ground  a  day, 

-but  it  was  a  slow  and  tedious  process,  and  was  abandoned  after 

about  a  year  as  being  too  expensive  to  keep  in  operation.    This 

proving  a  failure,  my  brother,  not  very  long  after  Franks  had 

.^erected  his  mill,  built  a  small  mill  near  the  Adams  street  bridge, 

a  in  Green  Bay,  with  a  run  of  stones,  only  three  feet  in  diame- 
ter, which  were  made  at  the  Bay;  but  his  reliance  for  water 
was  the  little  stream  upon  which  it  was  erected,  and  which 

r   proved  insufficient  for  any  practical  purpose.*     Very  little 

^«  grinding  was  done  by  it,  when  it  was  abandoned  as  useless. 
In  1813,  my  brother,  who  was  determined  on  having  a  grist- 
mill, obtained  a  pair  of  good  stones  from  Mackinaw,  and 
erected  both  a  grist  and  saw-mill  on  Reaume's  creek,  on  the 

Wwest  side  of  the  Fox  river,  about  four  miles  above  Green 

iW^ay;*  in  the  spring  and  fall,  and  in  a  wet  time,  it  would  do  a 
good  business  while  water  was  plenty.  After  the  Americans 
took  possession  of  Green  Bay,  in  1816,  having  use  for  a  large 

' '  quantity  of  lumber  for  buildings  in  the  garrison,  and  other 
fort  purposes,  the  Government  caused  a  saw-mill  to  be  built 
on  the  river  at  the  Little  Kau-kau-lin ;  and  I  remember  that 
while  Capt  Curtis  was  there  superintending  its  erection,  he 
made  his  home  with  Judge  Reaume.  Soon  after,  I  erected  a 
grist-mill  at  the  Grand  Kau-kau-lin.  I  may  remark,  that  at 
my  earliest  recollection  a  sufficiency  of  wheat  was  raised  at 
Green  Bay  for  the  purposes  of  bread-making. 

Horses,  cattle,  hogs,  and  fowls  were  plenty  as  far  back  as  I 

*  By  some  mistake,  Hon.  M.  L.  Martin,  in  his  Historical  Address,  represents 
this  mill  as  having  been  erected  by  ray  father,  prior  to  17b0,  instead  of  by 
PiKRRS  Grignon,  Jr.,  at  a  period  thirty  years  later. 


GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  255 

can  remember;  and  they  must  have  been  common  in  the 
settlement  for  many  years  before  my  day.  The  earUest  horses 
were  brought  from  Detroit,  of  the  small,  hardy,  Canadian 
i>.breed.  There  were  no  sheep  till  shortly  after  my  father  erect- 
ed his  new  house,  about  1790,  when  he  purchased  seven  head, 
at  Mackinaw,  and  brought  them  home  in  a  barge ;  and  by 
carefully  watching  them,  but  few  were  lost  by  wolves,  and 
they  soon  increased  till  they  became  numerous.  v/jt  x 

The  early  commerce  of  the  country  deserves  a  passing  ho- 
-r  tice.     The  chief  articles  of  export  were,  of  course,  furs  and 
peltries,  which  served  as  the  chief  medium  of  exchange  for 
the  goods  brought  into  the  country.     There  was  some  con- 
siderable quantity  of  deer's  tallow,  saved  by  the  Indians  and 
sold  to  the  traders,  taken  to   Mackinaw,  and  some  maple 
o  sugar;  I  remember  that  one  year,  about  1806,  between  Mr. 
i,;  Feanks  and  myself,  we  sent  to  Mackinaw  one  hundred  and 
twenty  kegs  of  deer's  tallow,  weighing  about  10,000  pounds, 
-i  But  as  there  was  much  sugar  manufactured  around  Macki- 
tc,  naw,*  not  much  was  sent  there  to  market ;  the  Indians  made 
J-  large  quantities  as  far  back  as  I  can  remember.    To  the  traders 
^i^  passing  into  the  Indian  country,  cattle  for  beef  were  sold, 
sugar  and  tallow,  potatoes  and  other  vegetables.     But  the 
a    Green  Bay  settlement  furnished  no  surplus  of  flour  or  corn, 
_i   though  the  Indians  had  corn  to  barter  with  the  traders.     At 
my  earliest  recollection  there  were  white  potatoes  raised  at 
the  Bay  in  large  quantities,  and  the  fields  and  gardens  fur- 
nished peas,  beans,  pumpkins,  melons,  cucumbers,  beets,  car- 
0,  rots,  turnips,  ruta  bagas,  oniops  and  lettuce  in  abundance. 
£)   There  was  no  buckwheat  produced  till  quite  recently.     Of 
fruit  trees,  I  well  remember,  in  my  earliest  boyhood,  that 
Madame  Amable  Roy  had  the  only  apple  tree  in  the  settle- 


»: 


*  From  twenty- five  to  thirty  years  ago,  when  I  resided  at  Lockpoi-t,  in 

Western  New  York,  I  well  remember,  that  large  quantities  of  stirred  maple 

sugar  were  brought  into  the  country,  made  by  the  Indians  in  the  Mackinaw 

region,  and  put  up  in  small  bark  boxes,  containing  from  one  to  seveial  pounds 

each.  L.  0.  D. 


256  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

ment,  then  a  large  bearing  tree,  a  foot  in  diameter,  and  cur- 
rants were  then  plenty ;  and  these  were  the  only  cultivated 
fruits  till  after  the  arrival  of  the  Americans,  in  1816,  when  a 
man  brought  from  the  Detroit  region  a  lot  of  apple  trees,  and 
since  then  cherries  and  plums  have  been  introduced. 

During  the  constant  wars  of  the  Indians,  several  of  the 
Wisconsin  tribes  were  in  the  habit  of  making  captives  of  the 
Pawnees,  Osages,  Missouries,  and  even  of  the  distant  Man- 
dans,  and  these  were  consigned  to  servitude.  I  know  that 
the  Ottawas  and  Sauks  made  such  captives ;  but  am  not  cer- 

"tain  about  the  Menomonees,  Chippewas,  Pottawottamies, 
mFoxcs  and  Winnebagoes.  The  Menomonees,  with  a  few  in- 
dividual exceptions,  did  not  engage  in  these  distant  forays. 
The  Menomonees,  and  probably  other  tribes,  had  Pawnee 
slaves,  which  they  obtained  by  purchase  of  the  Ottawas, 
Sauks  and  others  who  captured  them ;  but  I  never  knew  the 
Menomonees  to  have  any  by  capture,  and  but  a  few  by  pur- 
chase. For  convenience  sake,  I  suppose,  they  are  all  denom- 
inated Pawnees,  when  some  of  them  were  certainly  of  other 
Missouri  tribes,  as  I  have  already  mentioned,  for  I  have 
known   three   Osages,  two   Missouries,   and    one   Mandan, 

t-  among  these  Indian  slaves.  Of  the  fourteen  whom  I  have 
personally  known,  six  were  males  and  eight  females,  and  the 
most  of  them  were  captured  while  young.  I  have  no  recol- 
lection as  to  the  pecuniary  value  of  these  slaves  or  servants, 
but  I  have  known  two  females  sold,  at  different  times,  each 
lor  one  hundred  dollars. 

^'  ♦i'The  two  Indian  slayes  of  my  grandfather,  were  given  to 

^^  him  by  the  Ottawas,  and  both  were  Osages ;  they  made  good 
servants,  were  happy  and  contented.     A  portion  of  these 

-  servants  were  after  a  while  given  their  freedom,  either  for 
their  good  conduct  or  some  other  cause ;  and  it  does  seem  to 
me  as  if  there  was  some  requirement  or  obligation  on  the 
part  of  the  white  owners  to  liberate  them  after  a  specified  pe- 
riod of  servitude.     One  of  those  of  my  grandfather,  died 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  257 

while  living  with  him ;  and  the  other,  Antoine,  must  have 
remained  as  his  servant  not  less  than  ten  years,  when  he  gave 
him  his  freedom,  and  then  employed  him  as  an  engage^ 
Antoine  subsequently  hired  himself  successively  to  several 
different  persons,  and  finally  got  back  among  the  Osages, 
when  he  was  recognized  by  his  mother,  from  whom  he  was 
taken  when  a  mere  child  ;  his  brother  was  a  chief  among  the 
Osages,  and  he  was  soon  raised  to  the  chieftainship. 

One  of  my  father's  Indian  servants  was  named  Jocko  ;  he 

was  a  great  thief,  and  in  every  sense  a  bad  youth.     He  drank 

hard  whenever  he  could  get  liquor,  and  when  my  father  gave 

him  his  freedom,  lie  remained  a  long  time  at  Green  Bay,  and 

finally  went  off  to  the  Mississippi  country.     His  mother  was 

owned  by  Kat-te^sh,  a  half-sister  of  the  Menomonee  chief, 

ToMAH ;  but  was  so  great  a  thief,  and  otherwise  objectionable 

and  troublesome,  that  she  was  sent  back  to  the  Sauks  fro^l 

whom  she  was  |)'urchased.     My  father's  other  servant,  Collol 

was  a  very  clever  fellow,  and  proved  himself  quite  useful; 

when  freed  at  the  same  time  with  Jocko,  he  went  off  among 

the  Chippewas,  by  some  one  of  whom  he  was  killed  in  a  fit 

of  jealously.     One  of  Amable  Roy's  servants,  after  gaining 

his  freedom,  was  tilled  at  the  Wisconsin  Portage  in  a  drunky 

en  brawl  by  a  Menomonee  Indian.     The  only  others  of  the 

Pawnee  slaves  in  the  Green  Bay  settlement,  for  there  were, 

within  my  knowledge,  but  seven  in  all,  were  two  females, 

both  of  whom  after  a  few  years  were  given  their  freedom ; 

one  remained,  and  lived  to  a  good,  old  age,  and  died  at  the 

Bay ;  the  other  was  married  to  a  Frenchman  named  Paptist 

Cardornne,  and  remained  in  the  settlement  as  long  as  they 

lived.      There  were  several  Pawnee  slaves  owned  by  the 

whites  at  Mackinaw,  some  of  whom  were  repeatedly  sold.     I 

remember  of  a  Frenchman  there  of  the  name  of  Augustin 

BoNNETEREE  purchasiug  a  Pawnee  woman,  and  marrying 

her ;  they  removed  to  the  Bay,  and  raised  a  large  family  of 

girls,  some  of  whom  are  still  living. 

33m 


258  GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS. 

When  these  Pawnee  slaves  had  Indian  masters,  they  were 
generally  treated  with  great  severity.  Once  the  Sauks  had  a 
Pawnee  female,  and  treated  her  so  like  a  dog,  that  a  Mr. 
Geory,  a  trader,  purchased  her  from  feelings  of  humanity.  A 
female  slave  owned  by  a  Menomonee  woman,  while  sick,  was 
directed  by  her  unfeeling  mistress  to  take  off  her  over-dress, 
and  she  then  deliberately  stabbed  and  killed  her;  and  this 
without  a  cause  or  provocation,  and  not  in  the  least  attributa- 
ble to  liquor.  It  should  also  be  mentioned,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  Mas-caw,  a  Pawnee  among  the  Menomonees,  was  not 
treated  or  regarded  as  a  slave,  and  married  a  chief's  daughter, 
and  lived  with  them  till  his  death,  and  has  now  a  gray-headed 
son  living  at  Lake  Shawanaw. 

It  has  already  been  related,  that  Capt.  J)e  Velie,  who  was 
early  killed  by  the  Sauks  at  Green  Bay,  had  a  negro  servant, 
who  I  presume  was  a  slave.  I  know  of  but  one  other  African 
slave  at  Green  Bay,  and  he  was  a  mere  lad,  not  over  half  a 
dozen  years  of  age,  when  purchased  by  Baptist  Brunet  of 
one  Masshasho,  a  St.  Louis  Indian  trader,  giving  one  hund- 
red dollars  for  him.  The  boy  was  probably  at  times  very 
provoking,  but  Mr.  Brunet  was  inexcusably  severe  in  pun- 
ishing him ;  he  had  a  staple  overhead  in  his  house,  to  which 
he  would  tie  the  lad's  hands,  and  then'  whip  him  without 
mercy.  Thus  things  went  on  for  about  eight  years,  till  about 
1807,  when  Mr.  Campbell,  who  had  been  a  trader  among  the 
Sioux,  was  appointed  the  first  American  Indian  Agent  at 
Prairie  du  Chien,  and  who  in  some  way  heard  of  Brunet's 
undue  cruelty,  came  and  took  the  negro  away,  and  what  was 
further  done  with  him  I  do  not  know.*     About  a  year  after, 

*  Hon.  M.  L.  Martin,  in  his  Historical  Address,  while  admitting  the  species 
of  Panis,  or  Pawnee  slavery,  adds,  "  it  is  believed  that  our  soil  was  never  pol- 
luted by  the  foot  of  an  African  slave,"  We  could  devoutly  wish  that  this  were 
literally  true,  but  fear,  from  Mr,  Grignon's  statements,  that  it  is  not.  In  Gov. 
VaxjdreuiL's  instructions  to  Charles  De  Langlade,  Sept.  9,  1760,  upon  the 
surrender  of  Canada  and  its  dependencies  to  the  British,  he  states  that,  by  the 
articles  of  capitulation,  the  people  of  the  North -Western  settlements  "  may 
keep  their  negro  and  Pawnee  slaves,"  except  such  slaves  as  they  may  have 
captured  from  the  British, — implying,  we  should  think,  that  they  had  some 
negro  slaves.  L,  0.  D. 


J.I  y 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTION'S.  259 

Campbell  got  into  some  difficulty  with  one  Crawford,  at 
Mackinaw,  which  eventuated  in  a  duel,  near  that  place,  in 
which  Campbell  fell.* 

It  has  been  stated,  that  from  the  death  of  Father  Allouez, 
at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  until  1820,  the  small 
colony  was  without  a  visit  from  any  of  the  French  mission- 
aries. I  think  this  is  not  strictly  correct,  and  will  adduce  a 
little  narrative  in  illustration.  In  my  boyhood  days,  there  was 
an  aged  Chippewa  woman,  named  0-cha-own,  residing  at 
the  Little  Kau-kau-lin,  where  she  had  a  wigwam  and  a  gar- 
den-patch. She  was  tall,  and  sinewy,  and  quite  masculine  in 
her  appearance.  Her  husband  had  died  early,  and  she  had  no 
children ;  she  lived  all  alone,  save  having  half  a  dozen  dogs  of 
one  kind,  each  of  which  she  had  taught  to  eat  his  food  only 
in  his  own  particular  dish.  She  was  a  great  huntress,  and 
spent  each  winter  with  her  dogs  in  the  woods  the  same  as 
any  Indian  hunter,  and  was  quite  as  successful  in  killing 
bear,  raccoon  and  other  game.  Beside  a  gun,  which  I  pre- 
sume she  used,  she  had  a  lance,  with  which,  with  the  aid  of 
her  dogs,  she  would  fearlessly  attack  bears,  and  make  them 
her  victims.  She  would  have  made  a  fit  companion  for  Nim- 
ROD  of  old.  She  was,  withal,  a  great  miser ;  for  she  would 
sell  her  furs  and  skins,  and  invest  the  proceeds  in  clothing 
and  other  articles,  which  she  would  never  wear  or  use ;  if 
there  had  been  a  gold  and  silver  currency  in  the  back  woods 
in  those  days,  which  there  was  not,  she  doubtless  would  have 
hoarded  her  wealth  in  the  precious  metals,  instead  of  goods 
and  fine  clothing.  She  usually  wore,  in  cold  weather,  an  old 
coat,  which  she  had  used  so  long,  almost  from  time  imme-^ 
morial,  that  it  had  been  patched  and  re-patched  all  over  with 
bits  of  cloth  of  every  hue  and  quality  till  it  was  fully  two 
inches  in  thickness.     She  wore  an  old  chapeau  on  her  head, 

*  In  the  2nd  VoL  of  Collections  of  this  Society,  some  mention  is  made  of 
Campbell.  Pike,  in  his  Travels,  does  not  mention  Campbell  when  he  first 
visited  Prairie  du  Chien,  in  September,  1805  ;  but  speaks  of  him  on  his  return 
down  the  IJpper  Mississippi,  in  April,  1806,  as  a  prominent  citizen  and  a  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace,  .  L.  C.  D. 


260  GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS. 

which  wiell  corresponded  with  her  unequalled  coat;  and  in 
her  chapeau,  a  plume — not  indicative  of  the  warrior,  and  the 
pomp  and  circumstance  of  war,  but  it  was  a  simple  talisman 
in  which  she  trusted  for  success  in  the  chase. 
fff'In  her  latter  years,  when  getting  quite  old,  she  used  to  pitch 
her  wigwam  frequently  near  my  father's ;  and  I  remember 
that  my  father  once,  out  of  mischief,  cut  off  the  old  woman's 
plume  from  her  chapeau.  She  got  very  vexed,  and  reproached 
him  for  so  sacrilegious  an  act;  said  he  must  be  a  fool,  as  he 
did  not  seem  to  know  for  what  purpose  she  wore  it.  The 
plume,  of  course,  which  was  so  superstitiously  regarded,  soon 
re-occupied  its  place  of  honor.  At  another  time,  one  of  her 
dogs  happened  to  kill  one  of  Madame  Amable  Roy's  hens, 
when  O-CHA-oWit^*  as  she  caught  the  culprit  and  tied  him 
tip,  thus  addressed  him,  with  as  much  earnestness  and  sin- 
'cferity  as  though  he  understood  every  word :  "  You  are  a  fool 
^ylou  have  killed  a  hen — this  is  not  the  way  I  taught  you  to 
behave ;  didn't  I  always  tell  you  never  to  do  any  mischief? 
Now  since  you  have  been  guilty  of  committing  murder,  you 
^ust  die,  and  follow  the  one  you  have  slain."  So  suiting  the 
a'ctfori%  the  word,  she  knocked  the  dog  on  the  head  with  an 
axe  and  killed  him,  and  wrapping  his  body  in  cloths,  dug  a 
grave  and  buried  him. 

*     Old  0-cHA-owN,  about  1790,  when  seventy-five  or  eighty 
'years  of  age,  died  in  her  wigWam,  near  Joseph  Roy's,  on  the 
west  side  of  the  river,  at  Green  Bay,  and  her  clothing' and 
other  property  which  she  hoarded  up,  were  distributed  among 
the  poor  Indian  families  of  the  neighborhood.     But  the  fact 
I  design  to  bring  forward  by  the  introduction  of  this  narrative 
is,  that  my  grandfather,  Charles  De  Langlade,  when  told 
Hhat  0-CHA-owN  was  very  low,  and  near  her  end,  made  her  a 
<Visit,  and  as  the  Catholic  laity,  when  necessity  seems  to  de- 
mand it,  perform  the  rite  of  baptism  to  the  dying,  asked  her 
if  she  had  ever  been  baptised?     "Oh,"  she  promptly  replied, 
"  the  Fathers  long  ago  baptised  me  at  Depere."     So  from  this 


GRIGN'ON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  261 

fact,  and  the  age  of  0-cha-own,  it  would  seem  to  me,  that 
there  must  have  been  missionaries  at  Depere  as  late  as  1710 
to  1720 ;  though  it  is  barely  possible,  that  she  may  have  been 
ninety  or  one  one  hundred  years  of  age,  and  have  been  bap- 
tised by  Father  Allouez  or  Father  Enjalran.* 

I  am  very  confident  there  could  have  been  no  missionaries  i 
at  Green  Bay  from  its  settlement,  in  1745,  until  Father  Ga- 
briel Richard,  of  Detroit,  visited  the  Bay  in  1820 — Father  - 
Richard  was  afterwards  the  delegate  of  Michigan  Territory  in 
Congress.     About  1784  or  '85,  my  father  was  at  Mackinaw, 
and  as  Father  Payet  had  just  arrived  there,  he  concluded  it 
was  a  good  time  to  have  his  children  baptised ;  so  he  sent  a 
messenger,  and  my  mother  and  her  children  were  conveyed  i 
in  a  bark  canoe  to  Mackinaw,  then  called  two  hundred  and  i 
forty  miles  from  Green  Bay,  and  when  the  wind  and  weather  ■ 
were  favorable,  the  voyage  could  be  made  in  five  or  six  days. 
There  we  were  baptised  by  Father  Payet  ;  I  have  a  perfect  ; 
remembrance  of  the  trip.      The  garrison  at  Mackinaw  was 
then  commanded  by  an  officer  named  Robinson,  or  some  such 
name. 

The  traders  and  settlers,  as  a-  general  thing,  lived  on  very 
friendly  terms  with  the  natives.     No  doubt  these  amicable 
relations  were  much  promoted  by  the  intermarriages  of  the 
early  French  and  Indians.     But  it  is  natural,  that  among  a 
half-civilized  people,  there  should  be  some  exceptions.     I  willj 
give  some  few  instances  in  which  lives  were  sacrificed.     A 
French  trader  named  Pennesha  Gegare — the  same  spoken  of  j 
as  Pennensha  in  Gorrell's  Journal  of  1763,  accompanied 


*  When  Charlevoix  visited  Green  Bay,  in  1721,  Father  Peter  Chardon  — 
mentioned  in  the  Oass  Manuscripts,  in  this  volume,  as  Father  Chardau — "  lodged  ^ 
pretty  near  the  Commandant "  of  the  Fort,  and  had  been  devoting  his  labors 
more  especially  to  the  Sauks.  We  find,  by  the  Cass  Manuscripts,  Father 
Chardon  still  at  Green  Bay  in  1726  ;  and  his  field  of  labor  formed  a  part  of  the 
Ottawa  mission.  The  Fox  war  of  1728,  greatly  embarrassed  the  operations  of 
the  missionaries  ;  "  from  that  time,  indeed,"  says  Shea,  '•  the  Ottawa  mission  is 
almost  unknown  till  the  days  of  the  last  Jesuit  missionaries  of  the  West."  See^ 
Charlevoix,  Shea's  Hist,  of  the  Catholic  Missions,  and  the  Cass  Manuscripts.      .. 

L.  C.  D.      * 


2g2  GRIGI^ON'S   RECOLLECTIONS. 

by  Baptist  La  Duke,  had  located  their  trading  house  near 
the  Lower  Rapids  of  Chippewa  river.  This  was  at  some  pe- 
riod previous  to  1784;"  They  had  just  finished  their  houses 
when  Pennksha  said  he  would  go  out  hunting,  and  obtain  a 
supply  of  meat.  La  Duke  opposed  his  going;  said  he  had 
had,  the  previous  night,  a  dream  ominous  of  evil ;  but  Pen- 
neshI  scouted  the  idea,  and  started — La  Dukf,  the  while, 
warning  him  that  he  would  come  back  a  great  deal  quicker 
than  he  went  away.  So  confident  was  La  Duke  of  Indian 
troubles,  that  he  with  the  engage  went  to  work,  brought  their 
canoe' 'I'll to  the  house,  and  filled  it  with  water;  then  after 
making  some  port-holes  in  the  chinkings  between  the  logs  of 
the  house,  opened  a  box  of  guns,  and  loaded  them  all,  and 
had  them  placed  in  convenient  readiness  for  use.  It  was  not 
long  before  they  saw  Pennesha  coming  over  the  prairie  at  the 
top  of  his  speed.  He  had  discovered  a  larare  party  of  Chip- 
pewas,  and  to  hasten  back  and  outstrip  them,  had  thrown  ^ 
every  thing  away  that  would  retard  his  flight,  even  to  his 
breech-clout. 

Arriving,  nearly  out  of  breath,  at  the  trading  house.  Pen- 
NESHA  exclaimed, "  We  are  all  dead,"  and  then  reported  about 
the  large  Indian  party.  "Not  quite  all  dead  yet,'^  said  La 
DtrKF,  "but  we  should  have  been  in  a  fair  way  for  it,  if  I  had 
done  as  you  did ;  but  see  here — we  are  prepared  for  them ; 
let  them  come."  Pennesha  now  loaded  his  own  gun  with  a 
ball,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  La  Duke  to  load,  as  he  had 
done,  with  buck-shot.  The  Indians  soon  surrounded  the 
cabin,  and  fired  upon  the  house,  when  Pennesha  fired, 
and  broke  the  jaw  of  an  Indian,  while  La  Duke's  single  fire 
of  buck-sbot  kjL^led  t^A.of  the  assailants.  The  surviving  In- 
diatis,  finding  they  had  approached  too  near,  now  retired  to  a 
safer  distance^  and  kept  up  the  attack,  but  the  traders  were 
busy  in  discharging  their  musketry,  and  killed  some  others  of 
the  Chippewas ;  when  the  latter,  thinking  the  whites  must  be 
numerous,  retreated  and  disappeared.     La  Duke  took  an  early 


GRIGN-OJS^'S   KECOLLECTIONS.  263 

occasion  to  impress  upon  Pennesha  the  superior  success  of 
his  first  fire  of  buck-shot  over  Pennesha's  single  bullet.  The 
scalps  of  the  two  Indians  killed  near  the  house  were  now  ob- 
tained 5  and  thinking  it  dangerous  to  remain  where  they  were, 
after  what  had  happened,  packed  up  their  goods  as  quickly 
as  possible,  and  hastened  to  the  Sioux,  and  made  the  two 
Chippewa  scalps  serve  as  a  recommendation  to  the  favor  and 
good  graces  of  the  Sioux,  as  the  two  tribes  had  carried  on  an 
interminable  war  between  them.  The  traders  were  very- 
kindly  received  by  the  Sioux,  who  complimented  them  with 
presents,  and  patronized  them  liberally. 

It  was  not  long  before  Pennesha  had  some  difficulty  w:ith 
a  Sioux,  killed  him,  took  his  scalp  and  fled  to  the  Chippewas 
with  his  trophy,  which  he  made  use  of  in  securing  the  friend-^ 
ship,  favor  and  patronage  of  his  new  friends.  But  this  sort 
of  conduct  was  not  always  to  prove  successful,  for  by  some 
turn  of  fortune,  Pennesha  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Sioux, 
who  at  once  prepared  to  burn  him.  Pennesha  saw  plainly 
there  was  no  hope  for  him,  except  in  his  wits;  so  he  asked 
one  favor  of  the  Sioux-^to  let  him  have  the  distance  of  an 
arrow  shot  the  start  of  them,  and  then  all  their  young  men, 
mounted  on  their  fleetest  horses,  might  pursue  him,  and  shoot 
at  and  torture  him  to  death  with  their  arrows.  This  was  in 
itself  fair,  besides  it  would  give  them  additional  sport ;  and 
they  readily  acceded  to  it.  But  they  reckoned  without  their 
host,  for  Pennesha,  Who  prided  himself  on  his  fleetness  of 
foot,  quickly  out-stripped  them,  and  escaped.  He  now  left  the 
country  west  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  went  to  the  Mackinaw 
region,  where  it  is  believed  he  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  La 
Duke  came  to  Green  Bay,  and  was  living  at  my  earliest  re- 
membrance in  the  family  of  Amable  Roy,  and  died  at  the 
Bay  about  1790,  quite  advanced  in  years. 

About  1788,  one  Ace,  called  by  the  Indians  VEspaniard, 
indicative  of  his  nationality,  was  trading  at  the  old  trading- 
house,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  up  Fond  du  Lac  river,  at  the 


264 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS 


head  of  Lake  Winnebago.  Several  Winnebagoes,  belonging 
to  the  White  Dog's  band,  residing  on  Rock  river,  and  re-r? 
garded  as  the  outlaws  of  the  nation,  came  to  Ace's  trading 
establishment.  One  of  the  Indians  approached,  and  told 
Ace's  engage,  that  there  were  some  ducks  a  little  distance  off, 
and  suggested  that  he  should  go  and  shoot  them ;  and  he 
went,  and  while  on  the  look-out  for  game,  was  shot  down  by 
one  of  the  concealed  party.  An  Indian  now  ran  to  Mr.  Ace 
and  told  him  his  man  was  killed,  when  he  went  out  to  see, 
and  was  himself  shot  down  by  Pakan,  who  seemed  to  be  the 
leader  of  the  Indians.  Mrs.  Ace,  with  the  help  of  a  gun, 
kept  the  enemy  at  bay,  and  preserved  herself  and  children, 
until  some  friendly  chiefs  of  the  neighboring  village,  located 
where  Taycheedah  now  is,  came  to  her  relief,  and  drove  oiF 
Pakan  and  party.  I  am  not  aware  of  the  motive  that  prompted 
this  treacherous  double  murder,  but  suppose  it  was  revenge, 
or  a  desire  to  obtain  Ace's  goods ;  if  the  latter,  the  Indians 
were  foiled  in  their  purpose.  Mrs.  Ace,  with  her  family  and 
goods,  were  brought  to  Green  Bay  by  the  friendly  Winneba- 
goes, and  thence  went  to  Mackinaw. 

I  saw  Pakan  in  1801,  at  Fond  du  Lac,  where  I  was  spendrj; 
ing  the  winter  as  a  trader;  he  was  a  small,  homely  man,  with 
one  defective  eye,  and  quite  old.  A  year  or  two  afterwards, 
a  son  of  Pakan's  got  into  a  quarrel  with  his  brother-in-law, 
a  young  chief  who  had  married  his  sister,  which  resulted  in 
the  latter's  having  his  nose  bitten  oi£  To  revenge  himself 
for  such  an  irreparable  injury,  he  killed  his  father-in-law,  old 
Pakan.  I  never  heard  of  any  other  Indian  of  this  name, 
and  as  his  band  was  notorious  for  their  quarrelsome  propen- 
sities, I  dare  say  he  was  the  Pakan  who  early  annoyed  the 
American  settlements  in  Illinois. 

About  the  time  that  Ace  was  killed,  a  little  before  or  a  little 
after,  one  Chavodreuil,  a  Canadian  trader,  with  one  or  two 
engages,  selected  the  old  trading  post  on  Fond  du  Lac  river 
for  his  winter's  quarters.      He  engaged  a  Menomonee,  called 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  26S 

the  Thunder,  to  be  his  hunter,  and  furnish  a  constant  supply 
of  meat     Thunder  had  his  wife  with  him,  and  made  his 
wigwam  not  very  far  from  the  trading-house ;  and  becoming, 
jealous  of  Chavodrueil,  shot  and  killed  him.     I  do  not  re- 
member any  further  particulars  of  this  occurrence. 

Two  negro  traders  from  Mackinaw,  about  the  year  1791  or 
'92,  established  a  trading-house  at  the  mouth  of  the  Meno- 
monee  river,  where  Marinette  now  is,  Te-pak-e-ne-nee's  old 
village,  where  St.  Germain  was  many  years  previously  killed. 
Here  the  negroes,  by  some  sleight-of-hand  performances,  im-i 
pressed  the  Indians  with  the  belief  that  they  were  medicine- 
men, and  held  communications  with  the  spirit  world.  Some 
of  the  Indian  children  dying  at  this  time,  the  Indians  charged 
the  cause  upon  the  negro  necromancers ;  and  one  Menomo- 
nee  and  several  Chippewas  attacked  the  negroes  in  their 
house,  killed  one,  and  shot  the  other  as  he  was  endeavoring 
to  escape  from  the  window.  Three  of  the  murderers  were 
sent  to  Mackinaw,  and  thence  to  Montreal,  and  kept  in  con- 
finement three  years,  and  then  returned  to  their  people. 

I  never  understood  that  the  Folles  Avoines  or  Menomonees 
came  from  the  Niagara  Falls  region,  as  did  the  Foxes  and, 
I  presume,  the  Sauks  also,  as  they  seem  long  to  have  been;, 
intimately  associated  together,  possessing  an  affinity  of, 
language.  The  earliest  locality  of  the  Menomonees,  at  the 
first  visits  of  the  whites,  was  at  Bay  de  Noque  and  Menomo- 
nee  river ;  and  those  at  Bay  de  Noque  were  called  by  the 
early  French,  Des  Noques  or  Des  Noquia.  It  has  already 
been  elsewhere  stated,  that  the  Menomonees  were  less  warlike 
tkan  the  Sauks  and  Foxes ;  they,  at  least,  did  not  %et  em- 
broiled in  wars  with  other  Indian  nations  as  much  as  the 
other  tribes.  I  have,  however,  previously  mentioned,  that 
Old  Carron,  or  Vieux  Carron,  as  the  French  called  him, 
once  took  the  war-path  against  the  Pawnees  or  Osages,  but 
became  smitten  by  some  fair  Sauk  woman  by  the  way,  which,} 
circumstance  probably  diverted  him  from  his  warlike  pur-g 

34m 


2GQ  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

pose.  I  remember  hearing  some  of  the  aged  Menomonees 
speak  of  having  gone  on  expeditions  against  the  Pawnees  and 
Osages,  but  I  know  of  no  particulars ;  and  from  the  fact  that 
the  Menomonees  had  no  Pawnee  slaves,  within  my  remem- 
brance, but  a  few  purchased  ones,  I  conclude  they  could  not 
have  carried  on  any  lengthy  or  persistent  warfare  against  the 
western  tribes.  We  have  seen  the  readiness  of  the  Menomo- 
nees to  join  the  standard  of  Charles  De  Langlade  in  the  old 
French  and  Indian  war,  and  the  services  of  Old  Carron  and 
his  son  Glode  and  others,  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham  and 
elsewhere.  My  grandfather  remarked,  that  he  regarded  the 
Menomonees  as  the  most  peaceful,  brave,,  and  faithful  of  all 
the  tribes  who  ever  served  under  him.  This  was  a  high 
compliment,  but  in  my  opinion  richly  merited.  They  have 
ever  proved,  as  a  nation,  friendly  to  the  whites ;  and  in  tVie 
general  Indian  plot  of  Pontiac,  in  1763,  the  Menomonees 
alone  kept  aloof,  and  rendered  signal  services  to  Lieut.  Gor- 
rell  and  party  at  Green  Bay. 

I  have  already  said  of  Old  Carron  what  I  know  of  hini. 
After  his  death,  about  1780,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest 
son,  Glode — a  French  name,  but  without  signification,  and 
which  the  Indians  pronounced  Con-note.  Besides  being  in 
the  great  battle  at  Quebec,  when  Wolfe  and  Montoalm  fell, 
and  which  in  effect  decided  the  fate  of  Canada,  I  have  no 
doubt  he  was  much  in  service  during  that  war  under  my 
grandfather.  De  Peyster,  the  British  Commandant  at  Mack- 
inaw until  1779,  speaks  of  Glode  in  such  a  way  as  to  convey 
the  idea,  that  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  war  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution.  About  the  fall  of  1803,  Glode  went  on  a 
winter's  hunt,  taking  his  two  wives  and  five  or  six  children 
with  hiili,  and  somewhere  on  or  near  the  Menomonee  river  of 
Chippewa,  the  chief  and  all  his  family,  save  two  children  by 
another  marriage,  sickened  and  died  during  the  ensuing  win- 
ter. Glode  was  then  not  very  far  from  sixty-four  years  of 
age.     He  was  a  tall  and  well-proportioned  man,  of  great  per- 


GRIG]S'ON"'S  RECOLLECTION'S.  267 

sonal  prowess ;  sometimes  at  a  ball-play,  when  two  or  three 
would  pitch  on  to  him  to  keep  him  back,  he  would  dash 
ahead,  not  seeming  in  the  least  to  mind  them.  As  the  orator 
of  his  nation,  he  was  a  fine  speaker,  and  his  speeches  were 
sensible  and  to  the  purpose.  He  was  a  very  successful  hunter 
and  trapper, — accomplishments  quite  as  popular  with  the  In- 
dians, as  to  be  able  to  speak  well  on  public  occasions.  The 
present  chief,  Carron,  now  fifty-seven  years  of  age,  is  the 
only  surviving  son  of  Glode. 

ToMAH  was  several  years^younger  than  his  brother  Glode. 
He  was  born  at  the  Old  King's  village,  opposite  to  Green  Bay, 
on  the  west  bank  of  Fox  river,  about  the  year  1752.  I  know 
of  no  early  military  exploits  of  his,  and  as  a  hunter  he  was 
fully  the  equal  of  Glode,  and  that  is  high  praise.  I  spent  the 
winter  of  17 95-' 9 6  on  Black  river,  in  company  with  Jacques 
PoRLiER,  and  traded  there  with  the  Menomonees,  who  were 
there  making  their  winter's  hunt.  Glode  and  Tomah  were 
both  there,  and  I  remember  they  got  into  a  contention  as  to 
which  of  them  was  the  best  hunter,  Tomah  claiming  to  excel 
his  brother  in  deer  hunting.  They  agreed  to  go  out  the  next 
day  and  put  their  skill  to  the  test ;  they  started  by  day-light, 
and  returned  in  the  evening,  Tomah  having  ten  deer's  tongues, 
and  Glode  nine.  Tomah  admitted  that  Glode  was  a  better 
bear-hunter  than  himself,  but  contended  that  he  could  kill 
the  most  deer,  and  that  they  were  equally  good  in  trapping 
beaver. 

Tomah  was  in  early  life  regarded  as  a  chief,  and  from  my 
earliest  recollection,  he  seemed  to  be  as  much  respected,  and 
as  influential,  as  Glode,  though  the  latter  as  his  father's  suc- 
cessor as  chief  speaker  or  orator  of  the  nation,  really  held 
the  highest  rank;  and  upon  Glode's  death,  in  1804,  he  be- 
came practically  the  head  of  the  Menomonees,  though  Cha- 
kau-cho-ka-ma,  or  The  Old  King ^vjd.'^  nominally  the. head 
chief,  and  out-lived  Tomah.  Neither  Tomah  nor  any  part  of  the 
Menomonees  took  any  part  in  the  Indian  campaigns  against 


268  GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIOI^S. 

Hakmak,  St.  Clair  and  Wayne.  In  1810,  messengers  arrived 
among  the  Menomonees  with  war-belts  from  Tecumseh  and 
the  Pkophet,  inviting  them  to  join  {heir  Indian  Confederacy 
against  the  Americans.  I  was  then  at  Mackinaw  on  business, 
but  well  remember  hearing  of  it,  and  am  confident  neither-: 
Tecumseh  nor  the  Pbophet  ever  came  in  person ;  but  I  doubt 
not  that  a  council  was  called,  that  the  Shawanoe  emissary 
made  his  harangue,  and  that  Tomah  made  the  reply,  as 
mentioned  by  Mr.  Biddle,  in  the  1st  Vol.  of  the  Society's 
Collections.  But  though  Tomah'/  judgment  may  have  been 
fo^i  peace,  yet  he  and  his  people  actively  joined  the  British  in 
the  war  that  ensued. 

A  part  of  Tecumseh's  plan  was  to  make  proselytes  to  the 
Prophet's  new  religion,  and  one  thing  that  was  strongly  im- 
pressed upon  the  Indians  was,  that  they  should  furnish  no  meat 
to  the  whites ;  but  if  they  should,  to  be  certain  that  the  meat 
was  separated  from  the  bones,  and  the  bones  unbroken  to  be 
buried  at  the  roots  of  some  tree ;  and  that  the  Indians  should 
not  break  any  bones  of  the  deer  they  should  kill  for  their 
own  use,  and  to  bury  them  as  already  indicated.  Quite  a 
number  of  the  Menomonees  embraced  the  new  faith,  and 
were  careful  not  to  let  the  whites  have  meat,  except  it  was 
boned;  and  the  Winnebagoes  pretty  generally  obeyed  the 
Prophet's  injunctions,  and  refused  to  furnish  the  whites  any 
meat.  Louis  Bauprez  wintered  on  the  Lemonweir,  trading 
with  the  Winnebagoes,  in  the  winter  of  1810-11,  and  nearly 
starved,  as  the  Indians  refused  to  furnish  him  any  meat,  and 
he  had  some  of  the  time  to  cook  and  eat  hides.  I  spent  that 
winter  on  Pine  river,  and  had  much  trouble  to  get  meat  of  the 
Menomonees  and  Winnebagoes,  and  by  refusing  to  sell  them 
ammunition  until  they  should  supply  me  with  meat,  finally 
constrained  them  to  compliance. 

Early  in  1812,  Qpl.  Robert  Dickson  arrived  at  Green  Bay 
with  a  party  of  about  one  hundred  Sioux,  and  were  joined 
by  Tomah,  and  probably  a  hundred  of  his  Menomonees — I 


GRIGN'ON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  269 

think  OsHKOSH  was  along,  very  young,  and  under  the  care  of 
ToMAH ;  SouLiGNY,  I-OM-E-TAH,  the  Grizzly  Bear,  and  others. 
A  still  larger  body  of  the  Winnebagoes  also  joined  Dickson 
at  the  Bay,  under  the  Teal,  One-Eyep  De  Kau-ry,  and 
other  chiefs.  The^^whole  body  moved  forward  to  Macki- 
naw, and  all  took  part  in  the  capture  of  the  fort  from  the 
Americans,  in  July,  1812,  though  without  any  fighting.  The 
Sioux  and  Winnebagoes  first  returned,  and  Tomah  and  his 
Menomonees  in  the  autumn.  I  do  not  remember  of  any 
whites  going  with  Dicicson  from  Green  Bay,  though  a  very 
few  may  have  gone.  In  the  massacre  at  Chicago,  in  1812, 
the  Menomonees  were  not  a  party ;  the  Pottawottamies  were 
the  principals  in  that  affaii^. 

f^   Early  in  the  spring  of  18 1 3,  the  Menomonee  chief  Souligny 
started  at  the  head  of  a  band  of  perhaps  fifty  warriors,  and 
with  him  was  Op  Jo-ltft^H-sftAH,  or  The  White  Elk,  a  chief  Wf 
considerable  distinction ;  they  reached  the  theatre  of  war  in 
season  to  join  Tecumsek  in  the  hard  fighting  at  Fort  Meigs, 
in  May.     Tomah  started  later,  with  a  party  of  warriors,  and 
accompanied  Col.  Dickson  ;  Tomah's  party  may  have  num- 
bered fifty,  and  among  them  were  the  chiefs  Grizzly  Bear, 
I-oM-E-TAH,  and  OsHKOsH.     When  they  reached  Fort  Meigs, 
there  was  little  to  do,  and  after  some  slight  skirmishing,  Dick- 
son, ToivTAH^nd  their -followers  retired  to  Detroit.     Fully  one 
half  of  the  Menomonees' thence  returned  home,  but  Tomah 
and  all  the  chiefs  just  named  remained,  and  went  under 
Troctor  and  Dickson  to   Sandusky,  and  attacked  the  fort 
which  was  so  gallantly  defended  by  Maj.  George  Ceoghan. 
The  Indians  did  not  suffer  much  loss  in  this  attack.     A  large 
band  of  the  Winnebagoes   were  engaged  in  this  campaign 
under  their  chiefs  Old  De  Kau-ry,  Car-rt-mau-nee,  Win- 
No-sHEEK,  Pe-sheu,  or  The  Wild  Cat,  Sau-sa-^au-nee,  Black 
Wolf,  S^ar-cel,  or  The   Teal,  and  Ne-o-kau-tah,  or  Four 
Legs  ;  Michael  Brisbois  was  their  interpreter,  while  Aeneas 
La  Rose  and  Perrish  Grignon  acted  in  the  same  capacity 


270  GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS. 

for  the  Menomonees,  and  Ravel  for  the  Sioux.  There  was  a 
large  party  of  the  Sioux,  under  their  chiefs  Wau-ba-shaw, 
Red  Wing,  Little  Crow,  Red  Hawk,  and  "The  Sixth." 
There  were  none  of  the  Green  Bay  mihtia  engaged  in  this 
campaign.  All  the  Menomonees,  except  the  Yellow  Cloud, 
with  a  small  band  of  eight  or  ten  of  his  own  relatives,  re- 
turned home,  and  took  no  part  in  Proctor's  defeat  at  the 
^Thames. 

The  only  active  service  of  Tomah,  in  IS  14,  was  to  accom^ 
pany  Col.  Dickson,  with  about  eighty  of  his  Menomonees,  ta 
Mackinaw.  There  were  but  a  few  of  the  whites  of  Green 
Bay  along — Jacques  Porlier,  Lieut.  John  Lawe,  Louis  Grig- 
NON,  Louis  Bauprez,  Stanislaus  Chappue,  and  nearly  all  the 
Green  Bay  traders,  perhaps  some  ten  or  a  dozen  in  all.  With 
Tomah's  party  were  the  chiefs  Souligny,  Grizzly  Bear, 
0-sHAw-wAH-NEM,  or  The  Yellow  Dog,  L'Espagnol,  Wee- 
KAH,  Pe-wau-te-not,  and  Oshkosh.  The  Menomonees  took 
jan  efficient  part  in  the  battle  at  Mackinaw,  in  which  the  Ameri- 
can commander,  Maj.  Holmes,  was  killed.  Maj.  Holmes  was 
shot  by  L'Espagnol  and  Yellow  Dog  simultaneously,  and 
each  claimed  the  honor  of  his  fall.  The  Menomonees  lost 
Wee-kah,  a  chief  high  in  their  esteem,  who  was  killed  near 
the  same  spot  where  Maj.  Holmes  fell.  ^ 

While  Dickson,  Tomah  and  their  forces  were  at  Mackinaw 
ready  to  repel  any  attack,  an  expedition  was  planned  to  go 
against  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  recover  that  post  from  the 
Americans.  The  command  of  this  expedition  was  confided  to 
Lieut.  Col.  Wm.  McKay.  He  had  been  originally  a  trader,  and 
subsequently  became  a  member  of  the  North-West  Fur  Com- 
pany. The  first  time  he  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade  was 
about  the  year  1793,  under  Dominick  Ducharme,  at  the  mouthy 
of  the  Menomonee  river,  where  the  two  negro  traders  had 

previously  been  killed.     McKay  was  in  danger  of  losing  his 

* 

life  in  consequence  of  the  imprisonment  of  the  murderers  of 
the  negroes,  and  left  there,  and  went  to  Green  Bay  and  staid 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS,  271 

with  my  father  till  spring.  He  then  returned  to  Mackinaw, 
and  subsequently  traded  several  years  on  the  Upper  Missis- 
sippi, and  then  became  a  member  of  the  North- West  Com- 
pany. He  was  a  man  of  intelligence,  activity  and  enterprise, 
and  well  fitted  to  command  the  contemplated  expedition 
against  Prairie  du  Chien. 

Joseph  Rolette*  and  Thomas  Anderson,  both  traders, 
raised  each  a  company  of  militia,  at  Mackinaw,  and  among 
their  engages  ;  Duncan  Graham,  also  a  trader,  was  the  lieuten- 
ant of  Anderson's  company.  These  two  companies  numbered 
each  about  fifty  men.  A  small  party  of  regulars,  of  about 
eighteen  men,  under  Captain  Pohlman,  was  placed  under 
McKay's  command.  A  brass  six-pounder  was  taken  from 
Mackinaw.  Dickson  detached  a  part  of  his  Indian  force,  to 
aid  McKay,  consisting  of  three  bands  of  Sioux,  numbering 
about  two  hundred  warriors,  under  their  chiefs  Wau-ba- 
shaw,  or  The  Leaf,  Red  Wing,  Little  Crow,  "  The  Sixth," 
and  others;  and  about  one  hundred  Winnebagoes,  under 
their  chiefs  Pe-sheu,  or  The  Wild  Cat,  Sar-cel,  or  The  Teal, 
Car-ry-mau-nee,  Win-no-sheek,  Sar-ro-ohau,  Sau-sa-mau- 
NEE,  Ne-o-kau-tah,  or  Four  Legs,  and  Black  Wolf  ;  about 
a  dozen  of  the  Winnebago  party  were  really  Foxes  serving 
with  and  under  them. 

Col.  McKay  came  with  his  force  in  boats  to  Green  Bay, 
where  he  tarried  awhile  to  increase  his  numbers,  'and  make 
all  necessary  preparations.  A  company  of  the  Green  Bay 
militia,  of  about  thirty  persons,  and  many  of  them  old  men 
unfit  for  service,  was  raised;  of  which  Pierre  Grignon  was 
the  captain,  and  Peter  Powell  and  myself  the  lieutenants. 
At  the  Bay,  James  J.  Porlier,  a  youth  of  some  eighteen  years, 
and  son  of  Jacques  Porlier,  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant 


*RoLETTE  had  been  active  in  commanding  the  Canadians  at  the  capture  of 
Mackinaw  from  the  Americans,  in  1812,    See  Smith's  Hist,  of  Wis.  i,  411. 

L.  0.  D. 


272  GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS. 

in  the  regulars,  and  joined  Pohlman's  company.*  Here  about 
seventy-five  Menomonees,  under  Ma-cha-nah,  or  The  Hairy 
Hand,  I-om-e-tah,  Kish-kon-nau-kau-hom,  or  The  Cutting- 
Off,  and  Tomah's  son  Mau-kau-tau-pee,  and  a  party  of  about 
twenty-five  Chippewas,  mixed  with  the  Menomonees,  joined 
the  expedition.  Our  entire  force  now  consisted  of  four  hun- 
dred Indians,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  whites — such  was 
the  understanding  at  the  time ;  if  the  newspapers  of  that  day 
represented  it  much  larger,  it  was  for  effect  on  the  part  of  the 
British,  to  impress  the  Americans  with  an  idea  of  their  great 
strength  in  the  North-West ;  and  on  the  part  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, in  palliation  of  their  loss  of  Prairie  du  Chien. 

At  length  t^ie  expedition  moved  forward  up  Fox  river,  the 
whites  in  six  iDoats  or  b^'rges,  and  tRe  Indians  in  canoes,  and 
carrying  their  craft  over  the  Portage,  they  descended  the  Wis- 
consin. Reaching  the  old,  deserted  Fox  Village,  on  the 
\ViH6fldfi^  tw-enty-otid  miles  from  Prairie  du  Chien,  the  force 
Stepped,  wMe'  MrcHXEL'BRisBb^  myself,  a"  Sioiix  anS  a 
Winnebago  Indian  were  despatched  to  Prairie  du  Chien  in 
the  night  to  obtain  a  citizen,  and  bring  him  to  Col.  McKay, 
from  whom  to  obtain  ititelligenc^.''^- ^Descending  the  river  to 
where  the  Ferry  has  since  been  located,  some  five  or  six  miles 
from  Prairie  du  Chien,  we  went  thence  across  by  land,  and 
reached  the  place  without  difficulty.  We  saw  the  sentinel  on 
duty  at  the  fort.  We  went  to  Antoine  Brisbois,  the  uncle  of 
Michael  Brisbois,  of  our  party,  who  lived  three  miles  above 
the  town,  and  took  him  to  where  we  left  our  canoe  at  the 
Ferry  place,  then  called  Petit  Gris.  There  we  awaited  the 
arrival  of  Col.  McKay  and  his  force,  and  they  made  their 
appearance  the  next  morning,  when  the  sun  was  about  ah 


*  This  was  the  only  military  service  of  J.  J.  Porlier,  who  remained  with  his 
company  all  winter ;  and  the  next  year,  when  peace  was  proclaimed,  Caotain 
PoHLMAN  evacuated  Fort  McKay,  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  returned  wita  his 
company  to  Mackinaw.  Porlier  then  left  the  service,  engaged  in  trade  at  Green 
Bay,  raised  a  family,  and  died  at  Grand  Kau-kau-lin  in  1838.  L.  0,  D. 


QRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  37^ 

hour  high.  Antoine  Brisbois  reported  the  American  strength 
in  the  garrison  at  sixty.  We  then  continued  down  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  and  thence  up  almost  to  Prairie  d« 
Chien  through  a  channel  or  bayou  between  a  continuous 
number  of  islands,  and  the  Mississippi.  We  reached  the 
town  about  ten  o'clock,  unperceived. 

As  this  was  Sunday,  and  a  very  pleasant  day,  the  officers 
of  the  garrison  were  getting  ready  to  take  a  pleasure  ride  into 
the  country,  and  had  McKay  been  an  hour  or  two  later,  the 
garrison  would  have  been  caught  without  an  officer.*  Nich- 
olas BoiLviN  had  directed  a  man,  named  Sandy,  to  go  aul 
and  drive  up  his  cattle,  as  he  wished  to  kill  a  heifer  that  day, 
and  have  some  fresh  meat.  Sandy  went  out,  and  soon  dis- 
covered the  British  approaching,  and  knew  from  the  red  coats 
worn  by  the  regulars  and  Capts.  Rolette  and  Anderson,  for 
none  of  the  rest  had  any,  and  the  dozen  British  flags  displayed 
by  the  Indians,  that  it  was  a  British  force.  Sandy  returned 
coolly  to  BoiLviN,  and  said  there  were  "  lots  of  red  cattle  '*  at 
such  a  place,  and  invited  him  to  go  with  him  and  see.  Bon^ 
TIM  went,  and  scarcely  crediting  his  own  eyes,  asked  earnestly, 
"What  is  that?"  "Why,  it  is  the  British,"  replied  Sandt; 
when  BoiLviN,  who  was  the  American  Indian  Agent  at  Prai- 
tie  du  Chien,t  now  hastened  to  his  house,  and  conveyed  his 
■r 

*  The  yenerable  Joseph  Ceelib,  of  Portage,  was  then  an  inhabitant  of  Prairie 
du  Chien,  and  though  his  memory  was  frail,  he  yet,  in  conversation  with  me, 
ftilly  corroborated  Mr.  Grigkon  in  this  pai"t  of  his  narrative ;  stating,  without 
knowing  that  Mr.  Grignon  had  done  the  same,  that  the  English  made  their 
appearance  on  Sunday,  and  that  he,  Crelie,  had  loaned  his  horse  and  wagon 
to  one  of  the  officers,  who  were  generally  preparing  to  go  a  riding  into  the 
country ;  and  that  if  C^ol.  McKay  had  been  an  hour  later,  there  would  not  have 
been  an  American  officer  in  the  garrison.  Upon  the  alarm  being  given,  Creus, 
with  many  others,  fled  to  the  fort,  and  he  shared  in  the  defence  until  the  sur- 
render. It  may  further  be  added,  that  the  newspapers  of  that  day  state,  that 
Col.  McKay  made  his  appearance  at  Prairie  du  Chien  on  the  17tli  of  July,  1814 
— and  the  17th  of  July  in  that  year  occurred  on  Sunday.  L.  0.  D, 

t  Boilvin's  father,  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  resided  at  Quebec,  and 
was  there  very  kind  and  humane  to  a  wounded  American  surgeon  who  had  been 
taken  prisoner;  and  when  exchanged,  the  elder  Boilvin  gave  him  money  to  con  rey 
him  home.  After  the  war,  Nicholas  Boilvin  came  west  as  an  Indian  trader, 
and  did  not  succeed;  and  fortunately  meeting  the  old  smgton,  at  St  Louis, 
whom  his  father  had  befriended,  the  surgeon  succeeded  in  getting  Boiltik 
appointed  Indian  Agent. 

35m 


2^74  GRIGNO^^'S  RiECOLLEeTIOlirs. 


M 


i,f9.mily  and  valuables  to  th^  giin-boat  foiv safety.     All  the  citi- 
zens now  left  their  houses  and  fled  from  the  impending-  dan- 
ger, some  to  the  fort,  but.  mostly  to,  the  country. 
jxf^^pon  arriving  at;^ the  t^.wn,  making  a  very  formidable  dis- 
play for  that  ii^uiet  j)lace^  RdLETTE  and  Anderson;  with  their 
companies,  the  Sioux  and  Wimiebago  Indians,  were  directed 
.ta  t^ke  po^t  above  the ,  forty  while  Col.  'McKay  himself/  with 
t^e  Gireen  Bay  company,  the  regulars,  the  Menomoaees  and 
<C)l^ippewas,  encompassed  it'belowVV'A  flfag  was  spnfc  in, 'borne 
.  biy  "Capt/;  Thomas  Anderson, . demanding  the  surrender  of  liie 
garrison,  with  which  demand  Lieut.-  PERKLNiS,  theX3ommand- 
,^iat, of  tho  post,  promptly  declined  to-  comply. ;  The  -six-pound- 
M^Mnxder  the  managementTQf  the  regulars^  •was^  ? no WJ.'brott)ght 
,^0:,bear  on  the  gun-i>oat  of  tbe<  Alnericjaps^  .the  first ^hot,'how- 
■,#Viert,  fired  by  the  six^pounder^iwasia^  blankrcharge,  intended 
^T^aiSQrtjpf  (War^flouris>hN<3r^braiv^ad0^v  sBvit;  our  men  di(J'?ttot 
Ij^^e  a  tveiy- Hear  position^. ; -. :I  should*^ say  they  *were -half  w  ftwle 
from.the  gun-boat^/if  not  more^=  and; hence, the  firing  upori'the 
..boat  byithe^  cannon, .a/nd .  the  ;fiAg?  by  vthei^ns  or  cannon 
J6r<[?ja^  tha  tboat,  w^asi  generally* :ineiloctuak'i.?Wh8nj  tte- firing 
fir§t^€onmiiE?need«on;  the  gun-h6at,i  pap.'^GRi&S^iar,  witht^af  pSrt 
4i  Jiis ^company  and .  several  Menomonees^^some  thirfey  or^fotty 
jfi^ltogethery  were  directed  to  cross  th-e^piver  in4wo  b0«Uis,and  take 
apposition  on  land  so  as  to  annoy,  and  aid  to  drive  off,  the  gun- 
'MatJ  the  position^of  \^hich"iv*askt^fitst  iie^f  t^^^^^^ 
Stream,  but<  when 'fired-  upon^  had  *  moved   oVer^nearep  4he 
:^yiestern  shore,     tlluripg,  the  .d,ay,  (tne  ..gun-:boat«  was... at  least 
_M^e  pt'Wip^  strucjk^^^by.  .the  J)^)ls^  pjf^tKe;  si?:^]^qun^er,  and 
catised  a  bad  lfeaka^6L  \<^hich.  wli^tf  the  '^li'^a'g  "'abdift'^  Mlf 
an  hour  high,  induced  i-ts  Commander  to  move  down  stream. 
Seeing  this  movement,.the  Americans  in  the  fort. called  out  to 
them  not  to  go  off ;  but  this  being  unheeded,  they  fired  their 
jpannon  at  tn6^ boat-  to  stop  »iit «  ^Meanwhile-  Captv  'GwaNON 
aijid  his  party,  over  the  river*  haS'  been  annoying  the  boat.   As 

*  The  newspapers  of  that  day,  aud  McAfee's  History  ' of  itic   War  in' the 


I 


■■:>::: i . .  ^  ^Ht^  ■ 

GRIGIs'ON'S   RECOLLECTIOJS'S.  275 

it,  as  we  after,^vai;d  Ji^f^p^d  .^|:^at  i^  l.ea^.9^  j^cj  Jbadflj':,  thayhe 
Ai^ri^jic^us  y.^d  to  s,^Qp  a|  tlje  mp^tith^of.  tlfe  Wj§p^gnsJLij-and 

„Qf,  which  inflicted,  a  .flesh  wquqd  in  ,the  thigji.  otQjae.p.C  the 

.^  Wji^le  ,^fhis  5g^5^st.  ^^Fa^^.yr^^ssijig.  ,^fto  fe;.«??P:^?^ 
|^(5^jj^;^.^paTtjr,,o|^bite^  pd  Inijians^ou,^!^ ide?,^f  tj^^  foxt, 
kej^t.up  gjj,  irregijla^ 4f i^g  of^  small  ariijs^  ^W^^j^  ^^??^  %^^ 
gr^^.4is^^^9efi:Q,9;  Uie/oj^^^Fa^  ,b^?;i]il^s^§ ;  pd  th^s  i( j;Jti^>r^4id 

jLt}engj^  tQ.\yards  ^poipi,  .ppl.  J^cK^ir  ordered  Jii^^en^^^p^- 

%/P5b'JKJ?6\)^a^/^  sufii^ipnqy  pf  hqus^s^  tQ  ^higj,4jitiei|>,^{^pi 
th^  g^i^^.jcvr-4hej,arri^pi;i^  .  ^jTon^.-tly^  ^q,w  g^^ifipp,  tfia^i-ng 

wa^;SOi^OThat  yicre^^^  ^d  ^^R.P^^BP^g^^-^^WfFS-W^ 
.^PEiisoj^r^wi^th  thgj  Si^^ux  ai^  Winne^^^^oe^^.pn  ^^  uggpr 

small  arms.     In  the JprJ,,.w,efj^,fbu^,^|:p^  cg-^^npij^^ggigq 

W^^npyq-Xapt.  Rq^^tt^^ ^ould  see  th^,^aslj,,af  t}ie  ,can;^pp, 
h^^  would  gly^^Jhe  TatKer  un-ri|.ilitary,^prd|||  of  "Z?oi^2Z^^ 

TFes^ern  Country,  unite  in  stating,  that  this  party  had  taken  position  on  an 
iilahd'  opposite  -'to  Pi^itie  du '(5Kien,  JcoV^ted  with'  timbdr,  whaohe  served Ito 
screen  them  from  the  shots  of  the  gun-boat.    This  appears  quite  probable. 

~~  " —  ^^^^--^ L.  o:rr 

'*^'  Pi^babiy ftiere  W^ tiot  mtifeh  ariita'ahitfdri  'in  't^i^^fbrt,  knd' th^f*  HKr^shed  to 
W.  Japaritig'  of  it.'  ifor;  dbsei-  -  ac^!an/  ff -It"  shoilld  cirate'  fo '  \Bat/'  for  it-  Ka^  bec^n 
sliitfed;  th^  th^ *¥iitf-  Bbat  idoiitaWed  the  'inagkzlrie  bf  p6 wti^r,  "ahd'  that  •  Md  ^de- 
parted. ■  ^'  ■■  '"-'  '■  '-"  '  •-'■■'  '  ■■■'  ^  '"  '  ■-■•  -  '■-  '  •   ^  ">^  f  >'^:  ^  '-iL.  C.  D;' 


276  GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS. 

men! — DownP'  A  couple  of  Winnebagoes  discovering  that 
there  were  some  hams  in  a  house,  which  had  been  deserted, 
and  to  which  they  could  not  gain  an  entrance,  mounted  upon 
the  roof,  intending  to  tear  off  some  shingles,  when  they  were 
espied  from  the  fort,  and  each  wounded  in  the  thigh,  when 
they  quickly  retreated  from  their  exposed  situation. 

The  second  day  the  men  and  Indians  amused  themselves 
with  some  long  shooting,  but  Col.  McKay  and  his  officers 
spent  the  day  in  counselling  as  to  the  best  course  of  procedure. 
It  was  pretty  much  resolved  to  make  an  assault,  and  towards 
evening  assembled  the  leading  Indian  chiefs,  and  laid  the  plan 
of  an  assault  before  them,  when  the  Winnebago  chief  Sar-oel, 
or  The  Teal,  remarked,  that  he  and  his  people  remembered 
too  well  taking  part  with  the  Shawanoes  in  assaulting  an 
American  fort,  and  were  beaten  back  with  terrible  slaughter — 
probably  alluding  to  the  attack  on  Fort  Recovery,*  in  Wayne's 
Indian  war  in  1793,  and  they  would  not  like  to  resort  to  so 
hazardous  an  experiment ;  but  proposed  a  better  and  safer 
way — to  spring  a  mine  from  the  river  bank,  and  blow  up  the 
garrison.  Col.  McKay  did  not  waste  words  unnecessarily,  but 
simply  replied  "  Go  at  it"  Teal  and  his  Winnebagoes  spent 
a  part  of  the  evening  digging,  but  found  their  progress  in  un- 
dermining was  slow,  and  after  penetrating  a  dozen  or  fif- 
teen ieet,  they  gave  it  up  as  a  bad  job.  As  the  fort  was 
several  hundred  feet  from  the  river  bank,  it  would  have  been 
an  interminable  operation  for  the  Indians  to  have  attempted 
to  prosecute  their  scheme  to  completion. 

Nothing  of  moment  occurred  the  third  day — as  usual  some 
little  firing  was  done.  Col.  McKay  sent  into  the  country 
about  three  miles  for  a  load  of  straw,  which  was  made 
up  into  small  bundles  to  have  in  readiness  to  place  in  the 
darkness  of  night,  with  kegs  of  powder,  near  the  fort,  and  fire 

*  Pk-shku,  or  The  Wild  Cat,  and  Sar-oel,  once  got  into  a  wrangle  in  which 
their  bravery  was  called  in  question,  when  Pe-sheu  put  on  a  clincher  by  saying  to 
Sar-cel,  "  Lon't  you  remember  the  time  we  aided  the  Shawanoes  in  attacking 
the  fort,  that  you  ran  oflf  so  fast  that  yon  lost  your  breech-clout  ?" 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  277 

a  train  of  straw  leading  to  the  powder,  and  thus  make  a 
breach  in  the  enclosure.  But  this  was  only  designed  as  a 
dernier  resort.  During  this  day,  or  the  preceding  one,  a  Fox 
Indian  received  a  spent  ball  which  lodged  between  his  scalp 
and  skull ;  it  was  cut  out,  and  the  wound  was  so  slight  as 
to  prove  no  obstacle  to  his  sharing  in  the  further  events  of  the 
siege. 

The  fourth  day  Col.  McKay  resolved  to  accomplish  some- 
thing more  decisive.  About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon^ 
with  his  troops  properly  stationed,  and  cannon  balls  heated  red 
hot  in  a  black-smith's  forge,  I  was  sent  to  go  around  and  spe- 
cially direct  the  interpreters  to  order  the  Indians  not  to  fire  on 
the  fort  till  the  cannon  should  commence  playing  the  hot  shot, 
and  the  fort  should  be  set  on  fire;  then  to  use  their  muskets 
as  briskly  as  possibla  Scarcely  had  these  directions  been 
given,  when  the  Americans,  probably  seeing  from  indications 
that  a  severe  assault  of  some  kind  was  about  to  be  made, 
raised  the  white  flag.  Two  officers  now  came  out  and  met 
Col.  McKay — strict  orders  having  been  given  to  the  Indians 
not  to  fire  on  these  Americans,  on  the  pain  of  being  themselves 
fired  on  by  the  British  troops.  The  result  was,  a  surrender 
was  agreed  on ;  Col.  McKay  should  have  possession  of  the 
fort  and  public  stores,  and  the  Americans  be  permitted  to  re- 
tire unmolested  in  boats  down  the  river.  By  this  time  it  was 
too  late  to  go  through  with  a  formal  surrender,  which  was 
postponed  till  the  next  morning. 

A  little  before  the  appointed  time  to  give  up  their  arms, 
one  of  the  Winnebagoes  seeing  a  soldier  in  the  fort,  made 
a  motion  to  him  to  shake  hands ;  the  soldier  reached  his 
hand  through  a  port-hole,  when  the  Winnebago  seized  it, 
and  cut  oflf  one  his  fingers,  and  ran  ofi"  with  his  singular 
trophy.  As  Lieut  Perkins  and  his  men  marched  out  from 
the  fort  to  lay  down  their  arms,  a  Sioux  warrior  attempted  to 
strike  one  of  the  soldiers,  when  a  chief,  a  son-in-law  of 
Wau-ba-shaw,  knocked  down   his  treacherous   countryman 


2Y8  GRIGIfON'S  RECOLLECTION'S. 

with  his  war-club.     Col.  McKay  had  given  such  strict  orders 
to  th'^' ^'Indians  against  massacring  orindl"6Sting '  the  Arheri- 


hatf"th6^-lea^r"a^i)eaian%  6¥  'tfeac'flerf  ^l'  thW'pV  of 'tile 

'-Wrieiiffie'  !A.merican'  flag  '■w-a^''feauled  d6wn,'''CoI.  McKat 
was  the  first  to  observe  the  singular  fact,  that  though  it  was 
coflf|iietely  Vi33Ietf  else^li&W'witli  oa^^  t'he  representation  of 
thi^'^iiifeWcart'eagle  was 'untouched.''' 'The  India!ns  during  fhe 
whole  ixiui  iiapii:a:d:-*rM^d  tfia%  ^hits  lit' W  flag,  and  iiadf 

siiBe6mAmm6  (^6^;mm  let  rnhk^^^M^iliy  ad^n 

flagiStktf  ^^as  v^dMd  K^i?m'cfekt6^^ii)f  ffi^^fert^'    ; "    ' ; ;  ■ 

^MV^^il  ^iyi  elapsed  before  arrangerrienis  were  completed' 
b/^^ictf^C^Md^^pri^^herg^'aoM  the'te\^lf!  Whbn'ttie^ 
toBft^fte^i'Sepk^irtureJ  tfiiey  wiete'^esfcbrfed*  by  Michael  ' Srisbois/ 
wiffi'^  SUik'ble'giiSrd,'  t)ut  f'Ao  ri(Ji;''know  ^ow  large  k  guard^' 
as^t^li^H'  pry^idtiyiy  left"  r?inli^rsto(Jd  Cofi'Mc^AY  gave^the' 
AdffiliBaus^eit  arffi^  gts^my^aJfed'^^n  Ifir  m^f  bht'^' 

^S§i  PoKLMiik,  with' liis^ regulars* 'remained  iri  cdmniahd, 
wiih  t!ife'*iwo"Mkckinaw  companies  'under  Capf.  Andeeson 
and  Keul'^WiT^feW^GKiskM^^Vho"  Ws^noV  promoted  lo 'tbe 
capmindy  of  lirs  cdmpany,  as  Capt.  Rolette  had  been  sent 
witft'  desp^itche§'%' Mackinaw  immediately  after  tlie'surferiden* 
McKay  had  much  difficulty  iii  managing  his  Sioux  arid 
Wlt(ri6t)£C^i'  allies,' partibulk%  tlie  'M\-^f.    lAt  tfie „" Srst ^ irivest- 
meffi^fef  th'e  place,  wWen  these  Iri'Sians  were  placed  with'  the' 
MRckihaiif  iniliti^  aboVe  the  fort,  th^ynad,  in  the  most  want- 
off  mkiifler,  iWi '  ^didwn  a  '  num1)er  of  hdrses  and '  cattle  Be-  ' 
lorJ^M^'td  tlie  citizens," much  to'the'regret  arid  vexation  of  the"'^ 
British  commander  V  arili  after  tfie  surrender,  the  WirihebagoeV 
swarmed  around  among  the  settlers,  to  openly  plunder  them 
of  Vny"  thing' '^they  might*  desire;  'and' McKay  was  under  the_ 


3 


I 'I. 


GRIQirONiS^  HECOLLECfTIONS.^  279  V 

n  ecessity? » t>f  threatening  to  turn  his  troops  against  them, vif  * 
they  did. not  instantly  desist,  and  go  off  home*  ■  The  Indians 
once  d^ff,.  Col*  McKay,  the  Green  Bay  troops, Menoraonees  and'  ^ 
Chippewas  took  their  depfartura  Vu 

,Capt.  Rolette  at  length  Mth  his  boat  hove  in  sight  of - 
Mackinaw.  I^arge  numbers  thronged  th^  shore,  anxiously 
waiting  to  learn  the  tidings- from  Prairie  du  Chien.  Capti-- 
RoLEfTTE,'  what  is  the  news  ?  .  ^' A  ;great  Ibattle-^— at  sanguinAl?y? 
contest,^*'  responded  Rolette,  with  an  air  of  great  solemnity 
and;  importance.  How  many  were  killed  ?  Noneh  How 
maiiy  wounded  ?  tNottehyi^Wh^t  a  bloody  contest  r*'  vocif^  - 
erously^ fehouted  the  crowd, as  they  escorted  the  herofrom  thfe'- 
boat  to  the  garrison,  itiw '■:[-:  / 

C4J)t  PoHLMAN  continued  in  command  at  Prairie  du  C^ien 
till  after  the  peace j  which  ensued  the-  following  year,  when  th# 
fort  J^as  eywiuated.     I  may  liiejition  one^incident  of  the  win^  i » 
ter  after  my   departure*     A  couple  of  -  iFren-chtoen,  iiamied'- 
DujBOis  and  Ghatjpanie,  the<  former  a  half-brteed  Sioux,  and  i' 
br(^ther- in-law  of  Capt.  Rolette,  were  sent  to  a  Sioux  camp- 
to  ablain  some  vfenisoli  for  RofLETT».ii  While  at  the  camp,  fetvv 
Sioux  Indian  demanded  first  a  gitn,  and  then  some  ammuniti^jfiy  i  > 
which ^being  refused,  he  concluded:  to  aocompany  them  cwi 
their  return  to.  Capt  R^jlette,  saying  that  Rolette  would  let 
him  haye  wiiat  h^  wanted.     While  the  two  men  were  asleep  <* 
before  their  camp-fii:e  in^the  night,vthe  Sioux,  who  lay^  on  thQ*,H«; 
opposite  side  of  the  fire,  got  up,  took  the  only  gun,  and  shot  *» 
them  both  at  the  same  discharge  killing  Ghaupanje  on  ith^*^ 
spot,  and  mortally  wounding  the  ^ther.     The  Indian  now  raii'ij 
off,and  Dubois,' though  distant  a  day'^  jotirney,  reached  Praid^s'^ 
du  Ohienyand  died  shortly  after.    The  SioUx  chief  of  that  band'^' 
was  taken  and  detained,  till  the  murderer  was  brought  in,wh«'fi 
was  tried  .and.  shot.     He  was  a  bad:  Indian,  and  was  Aiucfc' • 
feared  by  his  own  people. 

Of  Col.  McKay,  I  can  only  state,'  iij  addition,  that  after  the 
waf'^^  retired'  to'  Montreal,  'where  he  iQpg  siace  ended  .his  ' 


280  GRIGNON'S   KECOLLEGTIONS. 

days.  He  was  a  fine  looking,  tall,  well  proportioned  man, 
but  was  regarded  as  strict,  and  sometimes  severe  over  those 
in  his  employ  in  the  Indian  trade.  I  knew  Col.  Robert 
Dickson  from  his  first  coming  from  England,  as  I  think,  and 
engaging  in  the  Indian  trade.  He  commenced  his  career  as 
a  trader  about  the  year  1790,  and  traded  principally  with  the 
Sioux,  and  continued  till  the  war;  after  the  war  he  did  not 
renew  the  business.  He  was  very  humane  to  American  pris- 
oners during  the  war,  rescuing  many  from  the  Indians  ;  and, 
in  after  years,  he  several  times  received  letters  from  such,  en- 
closing presents  of  money,  as  tokens  of  their  gratitude.  He 
was  a  large  man,  of  full  face,  tall  and  commanding.  He  had 
a  Sioux  wife  and  four  children. 

I  can  throw  no  light  upon  the  pretended  ".exploits  "  of  We- 
CHA-NE-QUA-HA,  Called  by  the  whites  The  Rubber,  in  behalf  of 
the  people  of  Green  Bay  durina  the  war  of  18 12-' 15.*  The 
people  of  the  Green  Bay  settlement  were  never  in  the  least 
danger,  and  the  Rubber  could  never  have  rendered  them  any 
special  service  to  merit  such  a  reputation.  I  believe  he  was 
with  his  people  at  Mackinaw  in  1812,  at  Fort  Meigs  and  San- 
dusky in  1813,  and  again  at  Mackinaw  in  1814;  but  never 
heard  of  any  remarkable  exploit,  in  war  or  peace,  in  which 
he  was  engaged.  He  was  chief  of  a  small  band,  and  brother 
of  the  Yellow  Dog,  and  cousin  of  L'Espagnol,  who  distin- 
guished themselves  in  the  repulse  of  Maj.  Holmes  at  Macki- 
naw. His  greatest  exploits  were  brawls  and  fisticufis,  into 
which  his  great  enemy,  whiskey,  would  frequently  embroil 
him,  and  out  of  which  he  was  sure  to  come  second  best.  I 
should,  however,  remark,  that  in  some  way  unknown  to  me, 
but  I  think  through  the  friendship  of  John  Dousman,  the 
Rubber  became  possessed  of  an  American  medal,  which  just 
before  the  commencement  of  the  last  war,  he  exchanged  with 

*  In  Morsb's  Indian  Report,  p.  44,  and  Appendix,  p.  58,  it  is  stated,  that 
The  Rubber,  duriug  the  last  war,  led  an  American,  Trnoselife  was  in  danger, 
from  Green  Bay  to  Mackinaw.  L.  C.  D. 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIONS.  281 

Col.  Dickson  for  a  British  medal ;  which,  upon  the  arrival  of 
Col.  John  Bowyer,  the  first  American  Indian  Agent  at  Green 
Bay,  he  found  it  convenient  to  re-exchange  for  an  American 
one. 

In  the  summer  of  1816,1  went  to  Mackinaw  with  two 
boats,  and  the  furs  and  peltries  of  my  winter's  trade ;  and  at 
the  same  time  Stanislaus  Chappue  conducted  a  boat  there 
belonging  to  John  Lawe.  Arrangements  were  making  to  con- 
vey a  body  of  American  troops  to  Green  Bay  to  establish  a 
garrison  there.  Maj.  Charles  Gratiot  came  to  me,  and 
asked  if  I  could  not  come  up  with  theni  as  pilot  ?  I  said  I 
could  not,  as  I  had  come  to  Mackinaw  with  two  boats,  design- 
ing to  take  back  a  supply  of  goods  for  the  trade  of  the  ensu- 
ing winter.  Maj.  Gratiot  said  he  thought  it  could  he 
arranged  satisfactorily,  and  then  went  to  Col.  Miller,  who 
commanded  the  detachment  destined  for  the  Bay ;  it  was  ar- 
ranged to  put  the  goods  on  board  the  schooners,  of  which 
there  were  three,  getting  in  readiness  to  convey  the  troops,  and 
tow  the  boats  back.  To  this  arrangement,  I  readily  consent- 
ed. I  was  pilot  on  the  Washington ;  Chappue  and  John  B. 
Labord  were  the  pilots  of  the  other  schooners,  one  of  which 
was  the  Mmk — the  name  of  the  other  I  have  forgotten. 
Nothing  material  happened,  except  that  the  Washington  had 
to  wait  four  days  in  Washington  Harbor,  near  the  mouth  of 
Green  Bay,  waiting  for  the  others  which  had  missed  their 
route.  We  at  length  reached  the  Green  Bay  settlement,  a 
little  after  mid-day,  about  the  16  th  of  July,  to  the  great  won- 
der and  surprise  of  the  people.  These  were  the  first  vessels 
at  Green  Bay.  The  troops  pitched  their  tents  near  where  the 
fort  was  subsequently  erected ;  and  it  was  about  two  months 
before  they  got  houses  and  barracks  ready  for  occupation, 
having  had  to  get  out  timber,  and  saw  out  lumber  with  the 
whip-saw. 

Col.  Miller,  the  very  day  of  his  arrival,  accompanied  by 
Col.  Chambers,  Maj.  Gratiot,  Capt  Ben.  O'Fallon  and  other 
36m 


28j2^  grj[^^Pn:s  regollegtioij^,:. 

o^cers^  yjsited  T,omah  ,  at,  Ms  -.  yijlage,  les^  than  half  a  .jnile 
digt^ijj.  )  9.9VvM^^^?^.^,4ske(i  t];i^  ponsent  of  tb^  rM^nomoji,ees; 
foj^  i^he  ^3ction  of  a  rfprt.  ,  ^  T^^ 

"  My  Brother !  How  can  we  oppose  your  locating  •^. 
coyinciUf^re  among  us  ?  You  are  top  strong  for  us.  Evenjf 
w^  \y;ajnte(i..3^  .  oppos^.  you,  we^.  h^ye  sQareely  got  powder 
anj|,^hoktj^jtp  malc^,  th^  a^ttemp^^ ,  Qno  f;^ypr  ay^  ask  is,  that  out. 
Fr^ri>c\h  hyp thers. shall  not  be  .disturbed  oi^  in  any  way  molest- 
ed.  j,,yp]Lf  ,c£^n  chppse  apy  place, you  please  for  your  fprt,  ami- 
w§,^haU,not.^bi€^r    v.-a.^l-o     ^j.^a>.-J     j..:        v>^..      :.im«;Sf 

iG9jj.JMiLL^R  thaifikedj  him  and  his  peopk  fof  their  friendly 
consent  tQ  fl3<is>,  request,  and  added  that  he,  had  some  spiare 
proyi^ipns,  and  supposed  a  lijtle  pork  and  flour/^ould  not  hurt 
higi,  as  iJt^ey  seenigdto  be  scarce  artj^^iesj  wkh  the  -Indians, 
ai^,i^Yii^M.J^i^:^^  call  oil  him  and  g^t  a  supply*  >f^  Some  of* 
th.a  .Ij:idians  pi;^mpted  TpaiAH^  to  ask  their  new  father  for  a  > 
lit\]^  Ifrotk  al^o*  o,Tamah  expa^e^ssed  his  .thanks  for  Col,  Mitt- 
LEj^J^^ki^^^pi%rs,.|iwd:,^dde4  tliat.l^e  and  hi,^  pepple  JWQuld  fee.L 
ve^ry, ,  ,gja4  ^o  l;i9(Ve,  if ,  possible,  a  little  ^roth  ;)tgv  u^^  ^ ^itji  th^ : 
pofk  and  fl^ur,    ./^ol  Miller  said,  tl^at  although  it  was  con-, 
tra^  ^o  orde^^  h^j;^0til4;ta4ie  it  upon  hirnself  to  give  them  ^£1 . 
littl^;TTTewiipug|i.|br  a  d^x^xn.  apiece,  ai^d^ hoped  thj^yv would  b^, 
m^kc^erat^aia. i^^  U!?e.  ^.ohsifv         uti^^i. 

vThe  people  of .  Green  Bay  were  generally  well  pleased  with, 
thej^dve^t.of  the,  Americans.,    A  home. market. \\^as  fMfiishedj 
foi;^tb(§i^rf^urplus^.p^ovisioj:)s,  jand  s^n§w  imj^etj^  y^as  ^iven,  tQ  ^ 
the,  settlement.     Vessels  now  began  to  arrive  with  supplies  for 
thp (garrison,  and  we  ]3egan  to  experience  the  benefits  and  con- 
ve|}ienGe  9f  Lake  ^  commerce  and  navigation.     The;  soldiers  ? 
w^ej , J]LO we^vpr,  oft^t^ri^s  great  pests,  an d  aiin^y ed  •  the* » ixk-. 
habitai;its  by  their  constant  thefts  and  robberies.     The  Comi- 
mandaii|3  too,  were  som^etimes  arbitrary  and  exacting.     YAt{i 
the  settlement  slowly  prospered;  in  1813,  I  settled  p^ ,  the, 
Gr^at  ,j^iEuij-kau;r}ijn,  a|id .^ the  settlers,  ionjtl^e  soutlirea^ti  eide^of 
th^. /river  had,  ,e:^ten4ed  }\p  to  JDeperp,-  i  TThe  sprin,g  succeeds 


GRIGNON'S   RECOLLECTIOlfS.  283 

ing  the  arrival  of  the  troops,  the  Bay  Settlement  was  com- 
menced  eight  miles  below  Green  Bay. 

\i  was  in  the  sumnier  of  18 lY,  the  next  year  after  me  afri- 
val  of  the  Aniericans,  that  Tomah  died  at  Mackinaw,  at  the~ 
age  of  about  sixty-five  years.     I  fully  agree  with  Mr.  Middle, 
that  it  was  iii' 1817*  that  He  died.     iTe  was  about  six  feeV  in 
heightj  spare,  with  a  dark-colored  eye,  and  handsome  features," 
arid  very  prepossessing;  he  was,  in  triitn,  the  finest  looking 
chief  I  have  ever  knowri  of  me  Mehornohees  or  any  other 
tribe. '  'His  speeches  we're'  not  lengthy,"but  pointed  and  ex-' 
pressive.     He  was  firm,  prudent,  peaceable  arid  conciliatory.' 
H^' was  sincerely  Deloved  alike  by  whites  and  Indians.*  '  To- 
mah hai'S  three  wiviesi 'by' the' first  oi  whom  he  "had  three" 
children ;  then  separating  from  ner,  ne  married  two  sisters 
arid  lited  witn  botti'at  the  same  time  as  long  as  tliey  lived, 
byone  of  whom  he  had  four  children,  and  hone  by  tlie  btnef. 

'bill-lived  ooth  of  these  wives."  T  wo  son's  by  his  first  wife 
became  chiefs,  Mau-kau-tau-pee  and:  Josette  Carron,  and 
Glode  of  nis  second  family.'  Mau-kau-'tau-'pee,  who  served 
on 

aftef, 
wh( 

pulDlicaifairs,  dieif  about  i'8 48.  '  Two  grandsons'  of  Tomah;^ 
solis  of  J  osette  Carron,  are  now  prominent  chiefs,  Show-ne- 
ON,  or  The  Silver,  now  thirty  years  of  age,  and  K'e-she-nah,'"' 

about  twenty-seven.* 

oixmuzii):    (iv  \'jo.>'.>ij^-..D.:iv  .-til     ,.99p.':..u-:j/U^    :.  j  .  :■    i.rj  • 

^'^^pt;*^.^.  Pi^Kk'.  in  his  expeditioh  into'ihe  Indi^n'cotintl-jf,  met  tWa&^o^" 
TH0?fA8,;  t^e  Fq^e  cA.Toine  chief,  as  he  calls  hiipo^.  fa  the  spring  erf  18Q6|!^t)pve< 
Clear  tVater  river,  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  wjbere  Tomah  anda  large  band  of 
Menomonees.were  engaged  in  their  winter  hunt,     ^*  He  tol4  me,"  says  Pikh?- 
**that  near  the  conclusion  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  his  nation  began  to  look 
upoil' hirti  as  a  wdi+ibr,  that  theyr^dfeived'a  paMfe  fro'i^'Michilira^ckihac,  oii' 
which"  !ns^#asdesp^tclned  Vith  fbrty  ^arrioi's  ;  that;  on'  his  iiri'ivali'he  Vab  re-'^ 
qu^ftt^d  1x>  lead  theto  againigt  th*"  Ameiricanfef. '  Td  Which  hfe"  i^Med,  *  We  Wr¥ 
coii^dered  Jyfeti  tod  the'  Arafericiatigiis  oh^  -pebpTe:  ',  Y'6ii,^t<i't\bW'a:t'iM  ,*hdW^;: 
are'Ve  t6'd«cide "who' h^>9  justice/ oil  theii'  side  ?    B^kdes,'^ou  whifds' i)e6ple  ar^^" 
lik^  th^  'lc*av€&  bii'  the  -tr^B  for  inhriib^i:  'Shbu^d'l'  iii^cfi'trith^my  'fdrif'^ 
warri!M<*M'ttt^  ^he  *ft€M'*iif  ^  Mttlfe;  th^i^with  theSir  <^hi^;  ^duld^^be  unii6-' '" 
ticed'  iii=  the-miiltitudfe''"  'kViti^  ivbuld  W  '&vrBjl6vrM'  tfp'^as^  iU'  %g^MlerS'* 
em?!)bfe6to  -th^i^ttial^^iiiTrfM^  >hich ' 'Sischai^e  tbfeWs^l^es  '  into' it.  -  M,[¥' 

.,,',..  '  ."-.'■■:■))  tut  »  o.-fli  f.  !:L  Ci 


284  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

I-oM-E-TAH,  the  only  surviving  brother  of  Tom  ah,  was  born 
about  1772,  and  is  now  consequently  about  eighty-five  years 
of  age.  That  he  was  upon  the  war-path  during  the  war  of 
18 12-' 15,  has  already  been  shown.  He  has  been  a  very  good 
hunter  in  his  day.  Of  three  children,  but  one  survives.  He 
is  among  a  very  few  Menomonees  who  contract  debts,  and 
pay  them  as  they  promise.  He  is  the  oldest  chief  of  his  na- 
tion, being  now  about  eighty-five ;  his  hunting  days  are  past, 
his  sight  is  growing  dim,  and  his  manly  form  and  benignant 
countenance  we  shall  soon  see  no  more. 

Kaush-kau-no-naive,  or  The  Grizzly  Bear,  long  exerted 
much  influence  among  the  Menomonees.  His  father  was 
called  by  the  name  of  Grizzly  Bear,  and  though  not  really 
a  chief,  was  yet  regarded  as  such.  His  son,  Kaush-kau-no- 
wAivE,  served  under  the  immediate  directions  of  Tomah  dur- 
ing the  war  of  18 12-' 15;  and  after  Tomah's  death,  he  and 
JosETTE  Carron  wcrc  chosen  the  orators  of  the  nation.  He 
served  with  the  Menomonees,  under  Col.  Stambaugh,  against 
the  Sauks  and  Foxes  in  1832,  and  died  about  two  years  after, 
at  the  age  of  about  fifty-two  years.  He  left  several  children 
his  son  Wau-pa-men,  or  The  Corn,  succeeded  him ;  and  he 
dying  several  years  since,  his  brother  Ok-ke-ne-bo-wat,  or 
The  Standing  Land,  now  thirty-nine  years  of  age,  became 
his  successor. 

SouLiGNY,  now  seventy-two  years  of  age,  is  the  head  war 
chief  of  the  Menomonees.  His  grandmother  was  the  reputed 
daughter  of  Souligny,  the  son-in-law  of  the  Sieur  Augustin 
De  Langlade,  and  hence  the  name  of  this  chief     His  ser- 


will  return  to  my  nation,  where  mj  countrymen  may  be  of  service  against 
our  red  enemies,  and  their  actions  renowned  in  the  dance  of  our  nation.'  " 
Again  Capt.  Pike  observes,  "  This  Thomas  is  a  fine  fellow,  of  a  very  masculine 
figure,  noble  and  animated  delivery,  and  appears  to  be  very  much  attached  to 
the  Americans."  "  This  chief  is  an  extraordinary  hunter  ;  to  instance  his 
power,  he  killed  forty  elk  and  a  bear  in  one  day,  chasing  the  former  from  dawn 
to  eve."  Capt,  Pike  also  testifies  to  Tomah's  great  politeness  and  hospitality, 
and  contrasts  that  of  other  chiefs  as  being  "  very  different  from  the  polite  ro- 
eeption  given  us  by  Thomas."  These  notices  of  Tomah  are  highly  creditable 
to  nis  fame  and  character.  L.  0.  D, 


GRIQNON'8   RECOLLECTIOIfS.  285 

vices  during  the  last  war  have  been  mentioned,  and  he  served 
on  Stambaugh's  expedition.  Among  his  nation  he  ranks 
high.  He  is  a  stout,  good-looking  man,  and  has  lost  one  of 
his  eyes. 

OsH-KosH,  and  his  brother  Osh-ka-he-nah-niew,  or  The 
Young  Man,  are  grandsons  of  Cha-kau-cho-ka-ma,  or  The 
Old  King,  so  long  the  grand  chief  of  the  nation,  and  whose 
place  OsH-KosH,  by  inheritance,  has  possessed  since  1827.  As 
we  have  seen,  Osh-kosh  was  upon  the  war-path  in  1812-14, 
under  the  special  superintendence  of  Tomah,  and  under  Stam- 
BATTGH  in  1832.  The  word  Osh-kosh  signifies  brave,  and  such 
this  chief  has  always  proved  himself.  He  is  now  sixty-two 
years  of  age,  while  his  brother.  The  Young  Man,  whose  name 
begins  to  be  a  misnomer,  is  now  fifty-one.  Osh-kosh  is  only 
of  medium  size,  possessing  much  good  sense  and  ability,  but 
is  a  great  slave  to  strong  drink,  and  two  of  his  three  sons  sur- 
pass their  father  in  this  beastly  vice. 

I  can  say  but  little  of  the  Winnebagoes,  with  whom  I  have 
been  less  intimate  than  with  the  Menomonees.  I  have  spent 
several  winters  trading  among  them,  and  while  I  knew  many 
o{  their  chiefs  and  leading  men,  I  cannot  enter  into  the  details 
of  their  respective  careers.  The  Winnebagoes  call  themselves 
^e  WaU'Chon-gra,*  the  meaning  of  which  I  do  not  know ; 


*  Gallatik,  in  his  Synopsis  oftho  Indian  Tribes,  states  that  the  French  called 
the  Winnebagoes  Otchagras,  but  call  themselves  Hochungohrah,  or  the  "  Trout " 
nation.  In  SchgoLobaft's  Hist,  of  the  Indian  Tribes,  iii,  277,  iv,  227,  thej  are 
spoken  of  as  calling  themselves  the  Hochungara,  and  O-chun-ga-raw  ;  and  the 
game  -work  adds,  on  good  authority,  that  their  earliest  historical  ti'adition  relates 
to  their  once  living  at  the  Red  Banks  of  Green  Bay,  and  that  they  once  built  a 
fort ;  "  an  event  -vrhich  appears  to  have  made  a  general  impression  on  the  tribe ;" 
and  that  it  is  eight  or  nine  generations  since  they  lived  at  the  Red  Banks. 

"  The  Otchagras,"  says  Chaklevoix  in  his  Hiaiorical  Journal,  in  1721,  "  who 
are  commonly  called  the  Pvuns,  dwelt  formerly  on  the  borders  of  the  Bay,  in 
a  very  delightful  situation.  They  were  attacked  here  by  the  Illinois,  who 
killed  a  great  number  of  them  ;  the  remainder  took  refuge  in  the  river  of  the 
Outagamis  which  runs  into  the  bottom  of  the  Bay.  They  seated  themselves 
on  the  borders  of  a  kind  of  Lake  [Winnebago  Lake]  ;  and  I  judge  it  was 
there,  that  living  on  fish  which  they  got  in  the  Lake  in  great  plenty,  they  gave 
them  the  name  of  Puans,  because  all  along  the  shore  where  their  cabin's  were 
built,  one  saw  nothing  but  stinking  fish,  which  infected  the  air.  It  appears  at 
Itost,  that  this  is  the  origin  of  the  name  which  the  other  savages  had  given 
them  before  us,  and  which  has  communicated  itself  to  the  Bay,  liar  from  which 


286  GKIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIOJS-S. 

^vr^B  i  1^  •  :..'i .  .o£. •;:.,;. '75'.: .  ./joo  <  ■//.{.    'c^;'  '  ini    £v:  •  c::i'- ::  >  B'xr 
and  their  name  of  Winnebasoes  seems  to  have  been  sriven 

jheia  by  the  Menomonees— -^m-we-»a-^6>,  or  Filthy,  expres- 
sive of  their  filthy  habits,  and  which  characteristic  ^  led  the 
early  French  to  denominate  them  les  Puants.  or  The  Stink- 

af^di'j'.     The  Winnebagoes  haye  called  the  French,  ever  since 

^r    t  .,.A>>A>:.-.^.'i -■J.J''..-.': 'J      .      (;:-j a L :>..•£ tv     ST-  . -.r.h^-     v-^wo') 

J^ey  came  to  the  country,  Mau-quq-pin-e-no^,  or  Good  Spirits, 
as  if, they  regarded  the  French  as  a  hia^her  order  of.  beinsrs 
tjiaa  themselves. 

'  When  I  spent  my  fij*gt  winter  at  Wisconsin  Portaare,  in 
.1801-2,  the  De  K4.U-RYS  were  among  thcpmost  influential  of 
tlie  W:^nnebagoes.  ,tChou-ga-rah,  orTOe  Z^^^        the^^o.n  gf  .a 

.chief  of  Jbe  n?f ion,,Tyas  then  the  head  .phief.  He  w*?  at  (hjs 
.time  ,an.  old  man,  and  died  at  the  Portage  about  18.03.  apd,W 
his,i;equest^W^^  placed  in  a. sitting  postuf^  in^  CQpi«K9aad  the 
coffin  placed  on  the  surfa^cp  of  t^^^grojiad,.^it^9.^^mj^Upg^M^ 
.  ,pj:|cted.pY^i;it^.apd|jtva|^p4^rrQ^^^  if^^f^  .  ^e  was 

^l^cpeec^d  by ' J^^  ildesl^^n,  Kcw^p-^ 
.ff^j^H.jb^  Ka^-r^y  who  liYe.d  |(3,  .a  ^re^ajtaie.*,^^^^^^^  ^^^M?^^ 

^u-.GjAH.  JPe.Kau-RjY^  Q:f  The^,E(^i^^n:^^l^\.i\-,^^s^^gii^^^K  gE 
Jj^A.u-RYy  usually  called  Rascal  De  Kau-ry,  who^did  every 
ihing.  liei  could  tg  render  .himself  mean  and  hateful,  and  was 
Vet » dd^ifiite^'Of  '^owagef '<iie?%^me  «0f  'fere^^Kinger'fbwathepJl 
iiavei  forgotte^i*  v'  T;hafeev<rf;>^th«  \siste!rsvimarTriediiIndi^ 
li^Ms,.fi)n^uOf  Jtheift  ^nqi^rri^.g  wsf.:^ ::traa^r  ^^^^r^ie^JPtE  Revup^^, 
im^mmmrU^^^  theJ'dthfe'r'i  tr^db^'namM 


6  V   X13.  xAj. 

WreWSe'b^Qeii 't!ie^  alM^  l[iM'Mich"tiferii¥%rVfeco/ivM  ■  Six'-hiindfTd 
^'tMii*' besf'tnen  VeVe  eraWkM  tb  .^8'iii  feeaM  Bf*.M'eriettiy.;  btiras  tfeey 


0?^'/:      1:!*'  .-'.iTitV.';     'irtij  1  ft:  / 'jrii'.'.v    air.  i     0;  '  )      i^c.  -i  >  'm      .       .  . 

arifiTl^s,  **  gr3.p4.Ql4:  ^hie^i"  ?  wbps©^  -IiwJw%>  na.B3^jTif^MSo]^.^pHip-K:A-KA,  died 

on  the  Wisconsin  river,  April  20th,  1836,  in  his  ninetieth  year.  L.  0.  D. 


JteAN  Lecuter.  TheM  was  another  Di:  Kau-rt  fafoily,  cou'Sihs 
of  those 'joist;  named;  oiie  of  whom  was  One-Eyed  De  KAtr-%t, 
and  another  was  Watt-konDIb  "KAtr-Rf^^^thelif' eider  brbthfer, 
MAti*-wjifi-R:fci&A&,'  killed  his  own  father  in  a  delink  en  bMil, 
and  eiVer  after  the  Indians  Were  afraid  of  ahd  'de^ifeed  him, 
saying  th^at'heWa^  possessed'  xDf'a  bad  spirit-^-"  Who,""i^aid 
they^  ^^W^uMnb'tfear  ^cha  ftian?  He  is  Tike -a^  d^d^-;  h^  hlis 
killed 'his^own^thfer;'^  '  •  -  .  -  -  ^^'-  -  -^. 
'  CAR-RY'-atAlj'-ifEEj'the  chief  who  ^dfved  in  tM  last  war,  ■\^)'as 
a  son  6f  -a^chief  of  the  sanS^  'fianle,  who  was  a'*veiy  Woftfty 
man.  The  ycmnger  OAR-Ri-ivrA'it-kEE  Wfe  also  a  chief  of  gofod 
chstract^y^  'and  Wiigfdtted,  with  hls^pfeopl6,  'be^yorid  the  Missis- 
sippi. Wri^i-N(i-sHEER;  the  elder,  w^s  a  good  cbi^f.^  'Ke^'once 
tofd  me'  that •  he  tiev^i^-got  angry  btit  oA'  a  sihgle  6ecasi6^ ; 
that  he  and  his  people  had  gone  to  Prairie  du  Chieii',l#!f^ri 
his  Indiaiis  ifidilig4n^  too  frfeely  in^li(|ft6r;he  l^ft^tfieAWtheir 
oVgies.^-'  At5'?ength'a  me'sseng^  cam#-s^hd  t(^ld'*^im  iha^  liis 
brother  had.-bete  Mfled' by^  ori^^T  the  -rndiafi^V  a^^KTst,^e 
said^  he^agr^not  ang^y,'  bul  coolly  Mded^  k^istoV^^iit  it  liMfer 
his^  bianketVA^d'MpJaired'tb  th^'^fladfe.  Tf^  wi^'sfe6#iif=  His 
bmther's  corpse*;' 'When  hB 'ascertained  thfe' hirirderfe'f,'  h^'^d 
Mm  placed'  -bfesid'e'^his'  victim,  and  though  soniie'  effBi-t^  were 
made  by ^life  dofomfed  rhaftM«Jffi§iid^'to^t^de6rh'^hirfcf'thfei5^- 
Imiinarf  ■lightfed-  pip^  ^va^'  rejeoteti^  t)f  Wii'fi'i^b-sH^irii^/^hb'se 
anger  was  fast  rising,  and  he  pulled  out  the  pi^VaM  ^fiot 
thd  culprit  d^ead:-  ^Silt^h 'was  Indian  justld'e! *^ Y^T 'Wii«'-No- 
sHE^jfe  was^  gti^atly  belo\^ed •  by  his^  people',  aftd^t^Vferefrifeeid  By 
Ms  ^hildrai^r-M>ri€  of  rwhdmy  •  the-"y6if nger" Wiljf-^G-'siiEEi^j'^the 
present  head^dlief  of  the  Willnebagoes,  was]  in 'his  ybunger 
days,  a -very  worthy  maoi-^— of  latfe  years,  I  haV^'kno\^ii''btit 
little  of  hixmrrrn     ^    '  mimGOiiC  r:  •     n*iKr:/i"  n     U 

>rPEiSHE^,or  T^feJ^f/^'Ca^,' lived  at  Pesheu  vll'lag^,  on  Oat- 
Mc- Island^  in '  lyakie  Winnebago.  Somfif  o>f  his  •  war  services 
h4ve  been  mentioned.  His  hasty  temper  oft^h'^ot^  him  into 
difficulties? j  he  Was  found  dead,  in»'a^'sittihg  posture^'tiie^er  a 


2SS  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIOJ^S. 

tree,  at  what  is  now  Oshkosh,  not  very  long  after  the  Black 
Hawk  war.  Sar-cel,  or  The  Teal,  resided  at  the  Winnebago 
village  at  Green  Lake,  in  Marquette  county ;  in  his  younger 
days  his  reputation  was  not  good,  but  he  afterwards  became 
a  very  good  Indian.  I  have  already  adverted  to  his  war  ser- 
vices. I  think  he  died  at  Green  Lake,  before  the  emigration 
of  his  people  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Another  active  chief 
•  was  Sau-sa-mau-nee,  and  his  elder  brother  Ne-o-kau-tah,  or 
The  Four  Legs,  who  lived  at  Four  Legs'  village,  on  Doty's 
Island,  at  the  mouth  of  Winnebago  Lake ;  both  served  under 
the  British  in  the  war  of  1812-'15.  Four  Legs  was  a  very 
worthy  Indian,  but  Sau-sa-matj-nee  was  less  respected ;  when 
in  liquor,  he  was  troublesome  and  given  to  pilfering.  They 
both  died  before  the  migration  of  their  people  over  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

Black  Wolf,  another  chief,  had  a  village  on  the  western 
bank  of  Lake  Winnebago,  a  few  miles  above  Oshkosh.  He 
too  died  before  the  removal  of  the  Winnebagoes  from  the 
State.  Sar-ro-chau,  one  of  the  best  of  Indians,  had  a 
village  which  bore  his  name,  where  Taycheedah  now  is ;  I 
remember  he  served  on  Col.  McKay's  expedition  to  Prairie 
du  Chien,  and  died  not  long  after  the  war ;  after  his  death, 
his  village  was  called  by  the  name  of  his  son,  whose  Indian 
appellation  I  have  forgotten,  but  its  English  signification  was 
The  Smoker. 

Laurent  Barth,  a  trader  from  Mackinaw,  wintered  on  the 
St  Croix  river,  at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same  neighbor- 
hood, with  Jacques  Porlier  and  Charles  Reaume,  in  1792- 
93.  On  the  return  of  the  traders  in  the  spring  of  1793, 
Barth  stopped  at  the  Portage,  having  his  family  with  him. 
He  purchased  from  the  Winnebagoes  the  privilege  of  trans- 
porting goods  over  the  Portage.  This  was  the  commence- 
ment of  the  settlement  at  that  point  The  elder  De  Kau-rt 
soon  after  arrived  there  with  a  few  of  his  people  from  Lake 
Puckawa,  and  commenced  the   Indian   settlement   on  the 


GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIOifS.  289 

Wisconsin,  about  two  miles  above  the  Portage  -,  others  came 
down  from  Lake  Puckawa,  and  the  village  increased  in  size 
and  importance.  When  Barth  first  located,  he  built  a  house 
at  the  Portage,  but  finding  the  water  overflowed  the  locality, 
he  removed  the  next  year  to  the  high  ground  half  a  mile 
above.  The  next  settler  was  Jean  Lecuyer,  a,  brother-in- 
law  of  the  chief  De  Kau-ry,  who  went  there  in  1798,  and 
who  also  obtained  permission  to  transport  goods  over  the 
Portage.  The  goods  were  hauled  over  in  carts.  Barth  had 
only  a  single  horse  cart ;  but  when  Lecuyer  came,  he  had 
several  teams  and  carts,  and  had  a  heavy  wagon,  with  a  long 
reach,  constructed  by  a  wagon- maker  he  had  brought  there, 
so  as  to  transport  barges  from  river  to  river.  About  1803,  Mr. 
Campbell,  who  was  afterwards  the  first  American  Indian  Agent 
at  Prairie  du  Chien,  purchased  Earth's  right  of  transportation. 
Campbell,  soon  after  he  purchased  Bartq's  right,  sold  out 
his  fixtures  to  Lecuyer,  who  supposed  Campbell  was  thereby 
relinquishing  all  further  intentions  of  the  business ;  but 
Campbell  placed  his  son,  John  Campbell,  and  afterwards 
his  son  Duncan  Campbell,  at  the  east  end  of  the  Portage, 
and  had  several  teams  to  convey  goods,  and  a  large  wagon  to 
transport  barges.  After  he  sold  out  his  transportation  right, 
Barth  removed  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  where  he  died  before  the 
war  of  1812.  After  Campbell's  death  in  a  duel,  as  already 
related,  about  1808,  his  business  was  closed  up ;  and  about 
two  years  afterwards,  Lecuyer  sickened  and  died,  leaving 
several  children.  After  Lecuyer's  death,  his  widow  em- 
ployed Laurent  Fily  to  continue  the  business  in  her  behalf, 
and  he  continued  till  about  the  commencement  of  the  war, 
when  Francis  Roy,  a  son  of  Joseph  Roy  of  Green  Bay,  married 
Therese,  daughter  of  Mrs.  Lecuyer,  and  took  charge  of  the 
business,  and  continued  in  it  many  years.  Mr.  Roy  is  still  liv- 
ing, I  believe,  at  Green  Lake.  Awhile  after  the  war,  Joseph 
Rolette  commenced  the  transportation  business  at  the  Port- 
age, employing  Pierre  Poquette  to  manage  the  business  for 
37m 


290  QRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

him.  Baeth  kept  no  goods  for  sale  to  the  Indians,  after  he  sold 
the  balance  of  his  stock  brought  from  the  St  Croix.  Lecuy- 
ER  always  kept  a  large  assortment  of  goods,  and  his  widow 
also  kept  some,  as  did  Roy,  but  in  a  much  smaller  way. 
John  Campbell  had  goods  one  year.  Several  traders  at  dif- 
ferent times,  after  Earth's  settlement,  wintered  there,  and 
traded  with  the  Winnebagoes ;  I  spent  two  winters^there,  the 
first  in  lS01-'2,  and  the  other  the  winter  succeeding; 
Jacques  Porliee  early  spent  two  or  three  winters  there ;  and 
Laurent  Fily,  who  was  first  a  clerk  for  Lecuyee,  was  lo- 
cated there  several  years  as  a  trader ;  Mr.  Fily,  a  native  of 
Mackinaw,  whose  mother  was  a  sister  of  the  early  French 
trader  De  Kau-ry,  died  at  Grand  Kau-kau-lin,  in  the  autumn 
of  1846,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  years,  active  and  erect  to 
the  last.  Such  was  the  early  growth  and  progress  of  Portage ; 
since  the  location  of  the  fort  there,  in  1828,  its  history  is  bet- 
ter known. 

i  i  E  must  state  what  I  know  of  Milwaukee.  I  was  once  told  by 
an  old  Indian,  that  its  name  was  derived  from  a  valuable 
aromatic  root  used  by  the  natives  for  medical  purposes.  The 
name  of  this  root  was  man-wau  ;  and  Yvqucq  Man-a-wau-kee, 
or  the  land  or  place  of  the  man-wau.  The  Indians  repre- 
sented that  it  grew  no  where  else,  to  their  knowledge ;  and  it 
was  regarded  as  very  valuable  among  them,  and  the  Chip- 
pewas  on  Lake  Superior  would  give  a  beaver  skin  for  a 
piece  as  large  as  a  man's  finger.  It  was  not  used  as  a  medi- 
cine, but  was,  for  its  fine  aroma,  put  into  almost  all  their 
medicines  taken  internally.  I  have  also  understood,  though 
without  placing  so  much  confidence  in  it  as  in  the  other  de- 
finition, that  Milwaukee  meant  simply  good  land. 

The  earliest  chief  I  personally  knew  who  lived  there  waa 
a  Menomonee  named  0-nau-ge-sa,  who  had  married  a  Pot- 
tawottamie  woman  living  there,  took  up  his  residence  at 
Milwaukee,  and  became  the  head  chief  of  the  village.  He 
-was  a  brother  of  Mrs,  Joseph  Roy,  of  Green  Bay,  and  would 


QEIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  291 

often  pay  her  visits.  I  remember  seeing  him  there  when  I 
was  not  more  than  four  or  five  years  of  age,  say  in  1784  or 
'85.  I  do  not  know  how  long  he  had  been  a  chief.  UnUke 
the  most  of  his  Milwaukee  band,  he  was  a  kind  and  worthy 
Indian,  and  died  there  a  year  or  two  before  the  removal  of 
his  band  to  the  West. 

It  has  been  already  intimated,  that  the  Milwaukee  band 
were  regarded  as  a  bad  set  of  Indians,  and  difficult  to  manage. 
Yet  traders  ventured  there.  The  first  I  know  anything  of  w£is 
Alexander  Laframboise,  from  Mackinaw;  he  was  located  at 
Milwaukee  with  a  trading  establishment  at  my  earliest  recol- 
lection— say  1785.  At  first  he  went  there  himself,  and  after 
a  while  he  returned  to  Mackinaw,  and  sent  a  brother  to  man- 
age the  business  for  him,  who  remained  there  several  years, 
and  raised  a  family.  By  mismanagement  of  this  brother, 
Alexander  Laframboise  failed,  and  his  trading  post  was 
closed,  I  should  think  about  the  year  1800,  or  not  very  long 
thereafter.  About  this  time  another  trader,  whose  name  I 
have  forgotten,  established  a  trading  post  there,  and  employed 
as  clerk  Stanislaus  Chappue,  who  had  previously  been  clerk 
for  Laframboise,  and  who,  many  years  later,  was  one  of  Col, 
Miller's  pilots  from  Mackinaw  to  Green  Bay.  About  this 
time,  John  B.  Beaubien  also  established  a  trading  post  at 
Milwaukee.  ,, 

While  Chappue  was  clerking  for  the  successor  of  Lafram- 
boise, Wau-  she-own,  a  bad  Indian  and  noted  horse-thief,  came 
to  the  store,  and  demanded  some  liquor  as  a  gift  An  em- 
ployee in  the  store  advised  Chappue  to  let  him  have  it,  or  his 
life  would  be  the  forfeit.  But  Chappue,  who  was  a  large, 
stout,  fearless  man,  peremptorily  refused,  and  said  if  Wau- 
sHE-owN  made  much  more  trouble,  he  would  go  out  and  whip 
him.  The  Indian  had  been  accustomed  to  bullying  traders, 
and  so  commenced  operations  to  break  into  the  store,  when 
Chappue  issued  forth,  and  gave  him  so  severe  a  drubbing 
that  he  had  to  be  carried  home  on  a  blanket.     After  he  recov- 


292  ■  GRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTION'S. 

ered,  he  was  ever  after  a  devoted  friend  of  Chappue.  Chap- 
ptje'  died  about  three  years  since,  on  the  Menomonee  river  a 
few  miles  above  Marinette,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farming 
and  trading. 

About  1804  or  '5,  Laurent  Fily  was  sent  with  a  supply  of 
goods,  by  Jacob  Franks,  of  Green  Bay,  to  carry  on  a  summer 
trade  at  Milwaukee,  buying  deer  skins  in  the  red.  With 
Mash-e-took  and  other  troublesome  Indians,  he  came  near 
getting  into  difficulty,  but  was  befriended  and  protected  by 
Match-e-se-be,  or  Bad  River,  a  brother  of  the  chief  0-nau- 
GE-sA.  The  trading-house  for  which  Chappue  was  employed 
either  failed,  or  abandoned  Milwaukee,  somewhere  about  1805; 
but  previous  to  this,  Jacques  Vieau,  of  Green  Bay,  com- 
menced trading  there,  and  continued  it  regularly  every  winter, 
except  that  of  1811-'12,  till  1818,  when  his  son-in-law,  Sol- 
omon Juneau,  went  there,  first  as  his  clerk,  and  then  on  his  own 
account.  After  the  war,  James  Kinzie  was  sent  there  with  a 
stock  of  goods  by  the  American  Fur  Company,  but  I  do  not 
know  how  long  he  staid  there  ;  and  my  brother,  Hypolite 
Geignon,  wintered  there  as  a  trader  about  the  time  Mr.  Juneau 
went  there. 

Chicago  means  the  place  of  the  f:kunk.  I  understood  these 
animals  were  very  plenty  there.  At  a  very  early  period,  there 
was  a  negro  lived  there  named  Baptist  Point  De  Saible;  my 
brother,  Perrish  Grignon,  visited  Chicago  about  1794,  and 
told  me  that  Point  Dk  Saible  was  a  large  man ;  that  he  had 
a  commission  for  some  office,  but  for  what  particular  object, 
or  from  what  Government,  I  can  not  now  recollect;  he  was  a 
trader,  pretty  wealthy,  and  drank  freely.  I  know  not  what 
became  of  him.* 

La  Pointe,  on  Lake  Superior,  was  early  visited  by  a  Mr. 

-      ■-  -  ■  I  ,  111  II 

f*  Col.  De  Peyster,  in  his  M'mcell aides,  makes  raeniion  of  "  RAPirsT  Point  De 
Saible—  a  handsome  negro,  well  educated,  and  settled  at  Eschecairou,  but  much 
in  the  Prencli  interest."  This  refeicnce  ot Col.  Dk  Peyster  was  made  July 
4th,  1771) ;  and  he  also,  in  the  same  address,  alludes  to  '•  Etschikagou,  a  river  and 
fort  at  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan,"  L,  0.  D. 


QRIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  293 

Caddott,  a  trader,  I  think  before  my  day,  who  there  founded 
a  settlement,  I  saw  his  son,  Michael  Caddott,  who  was 
several  years  my  senior,  and  he  had  a  brother  Baptist  older 
than  himself.     They  had  both  been  educated  at  Montreal.     . 

Of  the  antiquities  of  Wisconsin,  I  can  say  but  little.  Hoiv 
M.  L.  Martin,  in  his  Historical  Address,  speaks  of  "  Fort 
Gonville,'.  located  on  the  northern  shore  of  Lac  de  Boeuf,  or 
Buffalo  Lake,  in  Marquette  county,  represented  as  having 
been  a  Spanish  fort.  My  father,  Pierre  Grignon,  Am  able 
Roy,  and  others  who  knew  him,  told  me  abDut  Gomville, 
originally  from  Montreal,  who  took  up  his  abode  among  the 
Indians,  and  adopted  their  habits ;  and  among  other  things,  ^ 
assumed  to  be  a  great  medicine  man;  and  once  when  in  a 
lodge  playing  his  assumed  character  as  a  grand  medicine, 
Amable  Roy,  his  cousin,  was  so  vexed  at  his  folly,  that,  ^i^e 
kicked  him  out  of  the  lodge.  Gonvi^ub  had  his  cabin  on 
Lac  de  Boeuf,  and  the  traders  in  derision  used  to  point  to  it, 
as  fthey  passed,  as  Gonville's  Fort,  or  Fort  Gonville.  This  I 
fully  believe  to  be  its  origin.  Respecting  the  mounds  and 
mound  builders ;  and  what  is  apparently  anciently  ploughed 
land  at  the  Red  Banks  near  Green  Bay,  on  the  east  side  of 
Lake  Winnebago,  near  the  Great  Butte  des  Morts,  I  have  no 
traditions  from  the  Indians  or  others.  I  never  heard  of  any 
battle  being  fought  at  the  Great  Butte  des  Morts  ;  and  the 
little  hillocks  or  graves  there,  are,  so  far  as  I  know,  but  ordi* 
nary  burial  places — there  is  no  large  mound,  as  many  seem  to 
suppose.  I  have  already  mentioned,  that  Capt.  Morand,  about 
the  year  1746,  signally  defeated  the  Sauks  and  Foxes  on  the 
opposite  or  southern  side  of  the  river. 

I  will  close  my  reminiscences  of  olden  times  by  giving  an 
account  of  Col.  Samuel  C.  Stambaugh's  expedition  against 
the  Sauks  and  Foxes.  Col.  Stambaugh  had  previously  been 
the  Menomonee  Indian  Agent,  but  had  been  superseded  by 
Col.  Boyd,  who  had  been  directed  to  raise  a  party  of  the  Me- 
nomonees  to  serve  against  the  hostile  Indians.     Col.  Boy» 


294  ORIGNON'S  RECOLLECTIONS. 

gave  the  command  of  the  expedition  to  Col.  Stambaugh.  The 
Menomonees  rendezvoused  at  Green  Bay  early  in  July,  1832. 
There  were  over  three  hundred,  all  Indians  except  the  officers, 
about  nine  in  number.  Osh-kosh,  Souligny,  I-om-e-tah, 
Grizzly  Bear,  Old  Po-e-go-nah,  Wau-nau-ko,  Pe-watj-te- 
NOT,  OsH-KA-HE-NAH-NiEw,  or  The  Youug  Man ;  L  a  Mott,  C ae- 
RON,  and  indeed  all  the  principal  men  of  the  Menomonees, 
were  of  the  party.  Alexander  Irwiit  was  commissary  and 
quarter-master.  The  Indians  were  arranged  into  two  compa- 
nies ;  I  commanded  one,  having  my  son  Charles  A.  Grignon, 
and  my  nephew  Robert  Geignon,  for  lieutenants ;  George 
Johnston,  of  Green  Bay,  was  chosen  to  the  command  of 
the  other  company,  with  William  Powell  and  James 
Boyd,  a  son  of  Col.  Boyd,  for  lieutenants.  George  Griqnon 
served  as  a  volunteer.  With  a  few  pack-horses,  and  each  man 
a  supply  of  provisions,  we  started  from  the  Bay,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Great  Butte  des  Morts,  and  there  crossed  over 
to  the  present  place  of  Robert  Grignon.  Went  to  Portage, 
and  the  next  day  renewed  our  march,  and  the  first  night 
camped  on  Sugar  Creek,  some  half  a  dozen  miles  short  of  the 
Blue  Mounds,  and  the  second  night  at  Fort  Dodge,  then  to 
English  Prairie,  thence  with  one  other  camping  we  reached 
Prairie  du  Chien ;  before  reaching  which,  Grizzly  Bear,  his 
son,  and  two  or  three  others,  descending  the  Wisconsin  in  a 
canoe,  discovered  a  Sauk  girl  on  an  island  alone.  T^lie 
Grizzly  Bear's  son  went  and  took  her,  and  found  her  half 
starved.  She  was  about  ten  years  old,  and  on  the  return  of 
the  party.  Col.  Stambaugh  took  her  to  Green  Bay,  and  placed 
her  in  the  Indian  Mission  School ;  and  the  next  year  when 
Black  Hawk  reached  Green  Bay  on  his  way  home,  he  took 
her  with  him. 

From  Col.  Wm.  S.  Hamilton  we  learned,  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 
that  a  trail  of  Sauks  had  been  discovered  down  the  river.  Fully 
one  half  of  our  party,  with  Geo.  Gkignon  and  Wm.  Powell, 
remained  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  while  Oshkosh,  I-om-e-tah, 


GRIGN-QK'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  095 

SouLiGNY,  Cabron,  Pe-wau-te-not,  with  their  warriors,  pro- 
ceeded by  land,  accompanied  by  Col.  Hamilton.  We  stopped 
at  Brunet^s  Ferry,  on  the  Wisconsin,  and  started  early  the 
next  morning,  and  about  noon  struck  the  Sauk  trail,  and  pur- 
sued it  till  the  sun  was  about  an  hour  and  a  half  high,  when 
we  discovered  the  smoke  of  the  Indians  encamped  in  a  low 
spot  beside  a  small  stream  in  the  prairie.  There  were  only 
two  men,  and  a  youth  about  twelve  years  old,  three  or  four 
women,  and  as  many  more  children.  We  at  once  surrounded 
them,  and  rushed  upon  them,  with  orders  to  take  them  pri- 
soners ;  but  the  Menomonees  were  fierce  for  a  fight,  and  killed 
the  two  men,  and  took  the  others  prisoners.  They  fired  a 
volley  at  the  two  Sauks,  and  when  they  fell,  they  were  riddled 
with  bullets  by  those  coming  up,  who  wished  to  share  in  the 
honor  of  having  participated  in  the  fight  In  the  melee,  one 
of  the  children  was  wounded,  and  died  the  next  day.  Lieut 
Robert  Grignon  was  badly  wounded  in  the  side  with  a  buck- 
shot, and  coursing  around  the  back,  lodged.  He  thought  he 
was  shot  by  the  Indian  lad,  but  I  think  it  was  quite  as  likely 
to  have  been  by  some  of  our  own  party,  firing,  as  they  were, 
in  every  direction.  This  little  afiair  occurred  not  far  back 
from  the  Mississippi,  and  some  ten  or  fifteen  miles  north  of 
Cassville ;  Col.  Hamilton  participated  in  it 

We  camped  on  the  battle  ground  that  night,  and  next  day 
went  to  Cassville,  carrying  Robert  Grignon  on  a  litter ;  and 
thence  to  Prairie  du  Chien  he  was  conveyed  in  a  canoe,  while 
we  returned  by  land.  We  delivered  the  prisoners  at  Prairie 
du  Chien ;  we  had  to  leave  Robert  Grignon  there,  the  shot 
could  not  be  extracted,  and  was  not  able  to  return  till  in  the 
autumn.  We  commenced  our  return  home  in  three  days,  and 
nothing  happened  on  our  march  worthy  of  particular  notice. 
All  our  surviving  party  have  received  bounty  land  warrants, 
which  the  Menomonees  have  generally  sold;  and  Robert 
Grignon,  in  consequence  of  his  wound,  receives  a  pension. 


ruf? 


iii^.'  ■■' 


tn 


h,,-l 


Tar. 


:«i>i^ 


U 


JUDGE  WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES. 


The  following  reminiscences  originally  appeared  in  the  Detroit  papers,  at  in- 
tervals, during  the  past  five  or  six  years,  mostly  over  the  signature  of  "Ham- 
TEAMOK,"  and  well  deserve  a  more  permanent  record.  It  will  be  seen,  that 
many  of  them  relate  to  incidents  connected  with  the  war  of  1812-15,  in  the 
North-West ;  and  as  all  portions  of  the  North- West  participated  in,  more  or 
less,  and  felt  the  effects  of,  that  war,  so  all  parts  are  interested  in  its  history. 
Much  also  relates  to  Indian  anecdote  and  character,  and  no  particular  region 
can  claim  to  be  the  special  custodian  of  that  interesting  portion  of  our  national 
history.  Wisconsin  is  as  much  interested  in  its  preservation  as  Michigan  ;  nor 
should  they  be  separated  in  the  pious  work  of  gathering  and  preserving  these 
fragmentary  notices,  since  both  were  united,  from  1818  to  1835,  a  period  of 
seventeen  years,  in  forming  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  and  should  feel  an  equal 
interest  in  these  commendable  efforts. 

Judge  WiTHEKKLL,  the  author  of  the  series,  hns  resided  at  Detroit  from  his 
childhood,  and  has  enjoyed  rare  advantages  for  the  collection,  fi'ora  eye-wit- 
nesses, of  the  facts  and  narratives  he  has  here  recorded.  They  cannot  fail  to 
prove  a  valuable  source  of  reference  to  all  writers  upon  the  history  of  the  North- 
West.  L.  0.  D.  . 


38in 


10  »•{' 


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00?: 


REMINISCENCES  OF  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

BY  HON.  B.  F.  H.  WITHERELL,  OF  DETROIT. 


No.  1. 


Capt,  John  Grant — Wayne — Tecumseh. 

I  called,  awhile  since,  on  my  old  friend,  Capt.  John  Grant, 
of  Grosse  Pointe.  Age  sits  lightly  on  the  venerable,  old  man. 
The  Captain  is  a  sort  of  Melchisideck,  on  the  Pointe.  He 
knows  no  beginning  of  his  days — no  father,  mother,  kith  or 
kin ;  even  his  true  name  is  to  him  unknown,  though  he  has 
some  fifteen  or  twenty  children  to  hand  the  name  of  Grant 
along  down  the  ever  rolling  streaa^,of  time.  The  first  dis- 
tinct recollection  that  he  has  of  his  childhood,'  is  that  he  was 
a  captive  boy,  about  three  years  old,  among  a  wandering  band 
of  Chippewa  warriors.  Whence  he  came,  his  name  or 
lineage,  he  never  knew.  It  was  rumored,  in  after  years,  that 
he  was  captured  somewhere  on  the  borders  of  Kentucky, — 
"the  dark  and  bloody  ground," — some  seventy  years  since. 
He  well  remembers  the  dress  he  wore,  when  he  found  him- 
self playing  with  the  papooses  of  the  captors.  It  was  a  cal- 
ico morning  gown,  gaily  ornamented  with  ruffles.  He  says, 
"though  I  remember  nothing  of  my  home,  my  parents,  or 
family,  yet,  when  I  think  of  mother^  it  seems  as  though  a 
shadow  passed  before  my  eyes." 

From  the  form  of  the  furrowed  and  time-worn  features  of 
the  old  veteran,  he  must  have  been  a  beautiful,  blue-eyed 
boy ;  and  it  was,  in  some  measure,  owing  to  his  personal 


300  WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES. 

beauty^  sprightliness,  and  forlorn  condition  among  the  chil- 
dren of  the  wilderness,  that  he  owed  his  redemption  from 
captivity. 

The  Indians  had  brought  him  to  Wa-wa-o-te-nong,  (De- 
troit,) and  while  roaming  about  the  streets,  the  little  captive 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  lady  of  the  late  Commodore 
Grant.  Commodore  Grant  commanded  the  British  Gov- 
ernment vessels  on  the  lakes ;  and  before  the  surrender  of  the 
country  to  the  United  States  in  1796,  under  Jay's  treaty,  he 
owned  and  resided  on  the  farm  where  George  Moran,  Esq., 
now  lives,  at  Grosse  Pointe ;  and  I  think  continued  to  reside 
there  until  his  death,  in  about  the  year  1815.  He  was  a  kind 
■hearted  old  sailor,  and  his  wife  was  one  of  the  excellent  of  the 
earth.  As  they  were  riding  out  one  day,  she  discovered  the 
little  blue-eyed  prisoner  among  the  savages,  and  his  condition 
aroused  all  the  sympathies  of  a  mother's  heart.  She  pointed 
him  out  to  her  husband,  and  asked  him  to  buy  the  boy.  The 
old  tar  was  ever  ready  when  a  good  deed  was  to  be  done, 
and,  dismounting  from  his  carriage,  he  went  among  the  Indi- 
ans, and  finding  the  owner,  he  gave  him  a  hundred  dollars 
for  the  little  Che-mo-ka-mun,*  and  carried  him  home,  gave 
him  the  name  of  John  Grant — though  he  had  a  son  of  the 
same  name,  at  the  time. 

The  little  captive  was  a  great  favorite  of  the  Commodore, 
who  raised  him  to  manhood ;  and  he  well  repaid  the  kind- 
ness shown  him,  by  his  unremitting  care  and  attention  to  the 
interest  of  his  benefactor. 

Capt  Grant,  as  he  grew  up  to  manhood,  understood  that 
he  was  a  native  of  the  United  States,  and  never,  for  a  mo- 
ment, wavered  in  his  allegiance,  though  as  the  adopted  son  of 
a  British  officer,  it  might  have  been  supposed  that  he  would 
have  acted  differently. 

He  says  that  at  the  time  General  Wayne  fought  and  beat 
■  '  *— . - 

ijfcf 'Indian  name  for  white  people,  L.  C.  D. 


WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES.  301 

the  combined  Indian  tribes  on  the  Maumee,  in  1794,  he  hap- 
pened to  be  on  a  visit  to  the  Commodore,  who  was  then  lying 
at  anchor  in  the  Maumee  bay.  Having  obtained  permission 
to  visit  the  old  fort,  built,  and  then  occupied,  by  British  troops, 
(it  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  below  the  rapids,)  he 
went  up  to  it,  and  was  there  when  the  battle  was  fought  Crawl- 
ing up  among  the  artillery  on  the  ramparts,  and  the  barrels  of 
sand  placed  there,  to  be  rolled  down  upon  the  columns  of 
"Mad  Anthony,"  (for  they  expected  an  assault,)  he  saw  Gen. 
Wayne  and  his  staff  ride  up,  and  take  a  view  of  the  works. 

His  Majesty's  officers  said  he  was  "  a  d d  impudent  fellow." 

They  had  heard  of  him  before  at  Stony  Point 

When  the  savages  were  roused  from  their  ambush,  by  the 
resistless  charge  of  the  sub-legions,  and  the  storm  of  fire, 
which  burst  upon  them  in  front  and  on  their  right  flank,  they 
broke  and  fled  to  the  gate  of  the  fort,  expecting  admittance 
and  protection,  as  they  had  been  promised.  Capt  Grant 
states  that  a  council  of  officers  was  hastily  called  at  the  gate, 
(which  he  approached,  but  was  ordered  ofl".)  The  council 
decided  not  to  admit  them,  for  if  they  should,  the  Yankees 
would  soon  be  storming  over  their  batteries  after  them.  D^ 
nied  admittance,  the  savages  started  ofl"  upon  the  run  for  their 
forest  homes,  and  scarcely  stopped  until  they,  reached  them. 
The  late  Mr.  Griff*ard,  of  the  Grand  Marais,  who  was  in 
the  battle,  used  to  give  a  ludicrous  description  of  the  fight 
He  said  the  Bostonian*  cavalry  came  down  upon  them  with 
their  sabres  flashing  like  lightning,  and  on  horses  whose  feet 
were  as  big  as  soup  plates. 

Captain  Grant  was  well  acquainted  with  Proctor,  the  Pro- 
phet, TecumseiIj  Marpot,  Walk-in-the- Water,  Macoonce, 
and  all  the  other  chiefs  of  note.  He  states  that  he  once  saw 
Proctor  and  Tecumseh  at  the  head  of  the  troops,  dressed  in 


*  As  the  Hflvolutlonary  war  was  commenced  in  the  rej^^ion  of  Boston,  the 
Indians  became  accustomed  to  e^eak  ot  the  Americans  as  the  Bostoni,  or  Bos- 
toniauB.  L.  C.  D. 


302  WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES. 

the  splendid  uniform  of  their  rank,  (Brigadier  General,)  scarlet 
coats,  cocked  hats,  and  plumes,  &c.,  but  the  great  Shawnee 
chief,  who  had  been  persuaded  to  don  the  uniform  for  once, 
would  not  exactly  ^'•go  the  whole  figure,'^  but  wore  a  blv^ 
bi^eech-cloth,  red  leggins^  and  buck-skin  moccasins ;  yet  he 
strode  on,  in  conscious  pride  and  dignity,  the  equal  of  his 
compeer.  Peoctor  was  suspended  from  command,  after  the 
battle  of  the  Thames,  for  cowardice.  Tecumseh  died  on  the 
field,  battle-axe  in  hand.  I  am  told  by  Judge  Moran,  who 
frequently  saw  him,  that  he  was  a  very  proud'  man,  but  that 
his  pride  did  not  show  itself  in  elegance  of  dress.  His  usual 
costume  was  a  simple  buck-skin  shirt,  fringed  with  buck-skin 
at  the  seams  and  on  the  shoulders,  with  buck-skin  leggins,  orna- 
mented at  the  sides  with  fringe,  and  with  buck-skin  moccasins. 
He  wore  a  red  and  blue  handkerchief  tied  around  his  head 
in  the  neat  and  peculiar  manner  of  the  Hurons  or  Wyan- 
dotts.  The  Pottawottamies  usually  went  bare  headed;  all 
the  hair,  except  the  scalp  lock,  was  neatly  shaved  off,  and  the 
skin  was  painted  red  and  black, 

"Passing  away,  passing  away,"  is  written  on  all  lerrestial. 
things,  and  the  nations  of  Red  Men,  who,  within  my  .own  re- 
membrance, inhabited  our  beautiful  Peninsula,  like  foot-prints 
on  the  sands  of  time,  have  passed  away  forever. 

Ill    ?4\'U  *  i 


No.  2. 

Capture  of  Detroit. 

During  the  bombardment  of  Detroit,  previous  to  its  surren- 
der, in  the  last  war,  many  incidents  worthy  qfi  note  occurred. 
At  its  commencement,  the  citizens,  being  unaccustomed  to  the 
roar  of  artillery,  the  rattling  of  shot  against  the  sides  and  upon 
the  roofs  of  the  houses,  and  the  bursting  of  shells,  kept  .a 
vigilant  eye  upon  ihe  movements  of  the  enemy.  -When  they 
saw  the  flash  or  smoke  of  a  cannoh  or  mortar,  on  the  other 


WITHERELL'S  REMINISOEJfCES.  303 

side,  ihey  dodged  behind  some  building  or  place  of  shelter. 
After  a  little  while,  they  became  more  used  to  it,  and  paid 
less  attention  to  the  messages  sent  by  the  enemy  through  the 
air.  The  late  Judge  Woodwaed,  one  of  the  Judges  of  th© 
Supreme  Court  of  the  Territory,  at  that  time  kept  bachelor's 
hall,  in  a  stone  building  on  the  north  side  of  Jefferson  Avenue, 
the  principal  street  of  the  town,  nmning  parallel  with  the 
river,  and  situated  near  the  arsenal.  Between  this  house  and 
the  river  there  was  a  large  brick  store-house,  belonging  to  the 
United  States,  and  near  it  one  of  our  batteries  was  built; 
Many  of  the  shots  aimed  at  the  battery  struck  the  store-house. 
A  shot  passed  over  the  stope-house  and  perforated  the  stone 
building  in  which  the  Judge  had  his  quarters.  He  had  just 
arisen  from  his  bed  and  stood  beside  it.  The  shot  came 
through  into  his  room  and  struck  the  pillow  and  bed,  and 
drove  them  into  the  fire-place,  and  the  spent  ball  rolled  out 

upon  the  floor. '^    '  ^   '  ^     '^  '  '    •    '    '  ;'    '"^ 

'On  the  evening  of  the  15th  of  August,  1812,  a  large  shell 
was  thrown  from  a  mortar  opposite  where  Woodward  Avenue 
now  is.  As  it  came  careering  along,  in  its  circling  path 
through  the  air,  it  was  watched  with  an  anxious  eye  by  those 
who  saw  it,  as  a  messenger  of  death,  perhaps,  to  some  fellow 
mortal  unconscious  of  his  approaching  fate.  The  fuse  was 
burning  brightly  as  swiftly  it  sped  on  its  errand  of  destruc- 
tion. It  passed  over  Jefferson  Avenue,  and  fell  upon  the  roof 
of  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  Augustus  Langdon,  which  stood  on 
what  is  now  called  the  southerly  corner  of  Woodward  Avenue 
and  Congress  street.  Passing  through  the  upper  rooms  of  the 
house,  it  fell  upon  a  table  around  which  the  family  were 
seated,  and  then  descended  through  the  floor  to  the  cellar, — 
the  fuse  burnt  down  nearly  to  the  powder.  The  family  fled 
with  expedition  to  thej  street,  which  they  had  just  reached 
when  the  shell  exploded — tearing  up  the  floors,  and  carrying 
away  a  portion  of  the  roof 

None  of  the  citizens  of  the  town  were  killed  during  the 


304  WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES. 

attack,  though  many  of  the  dwelUngs  were  marked  by  the 
shot  and  shells  of  the  enemy. 

The  fort  occupied  the  high  grounds  near  the  residence  of 
the  late  Judge  McDonell.  A  shot  passed  over  the  front 
wall,  and  penetrated  the  barracks,  which  were  on  the  north 
side,  killing  three  officers  who  happened  to  be  standing  in 
the  range  of  its  course.  Another  shot  struck  the  top  of  the 
feont  parapet,  and^passing  through  it,  struck  a  soldier  on  the 
breast,  killing  him  instantly,  without  breaking  the  skin  where 
it  hit  him.* 

One  of  the  French  citizens,  who  lived  in  a  small  house 
near  the  river,  while  the  shots  and  shells  were  flying  over 
him,  stood  unconcerned  in  his  door-way  smoking  his  pipe. 
Presently  a  shell  whizzed  past  him,  taking  with  it  the  pipe 
from  his  mouth.  He  was  unharmed,  but  was  so  indignant 
^tthj©  unceremonious  treatment,  and  the  loss  of  his  pipe,  that 
he  seized  his  musket,  and  rushing  to  the  river,  waded  out  as 
far  as  he  could,  and  fired  at  the  battery  of  the  enemy  until 
his  ammunition  was  exhausted. 


v; 

No.  3.  . 

or-. 

CoL  McKee — ^'  Give  (he  Devil  his  Due,'' 

K'After  the  American  Army  had  been  disgracefully  surren- 
dered to  the  enemy  at  this  place  on  the  16th  of  August,  1812, 
numerous  hordes  of  Indians  poured  down  upon  the  frontier 
from  the  North-West,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Northern  Illinois,  and 
Indiana,  and  nearly  all  Michigan  was  then  one  wide  wilder- 
ness, peopled  only  with  savages — they  scented  blood,  and  Uke 
vultures,  and  wolves,  came  down  for  their  prey. 

'^^  The  late  Major  De  Quindre  was  at  the  time  a  merchant  in 

■ijuiv — - — 

*  Judge  WiTHKRELL.  froTn  probably  some  eubs'^qnent  and  more  reliable  in- 
foroaiatiou,  adds,  iii  pencil  maik,  witli  reference  to  this  incident — "  not  tiue," 

L.  0.  D. 


WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENES.  305 

Ikhis  city ;  a  garrison  of  British  troops,  aided  by  thoqj^^nds  of 
savages,  held  the  country  in  subjection.  ^^1^ 

The  Indians  grew  uneasy  and  restless,  for  want  of  scalps 
and  plunder;  a  couple  of  them  went  one  day  to  De  Quindse's 
store ;  one  of  them  took  up  a  roll  of  cloth  and  started  for  the 
door;  the  Major  called  to  him  to  stop, saying  he  had  not  paid 
for  it;  the  Indian  moved  on — the  Major  bounded  over  the  coun- 
ter— ^jerked  the  cloth,  and  pitched  both  the  Indians  into  the 
street;  thoy  instantly  raised  the  war-whoop, and  the  Major  spe- 
ing  that "  the  Devil  was  to  pay,"  locked  the  door  and  went  into^ 
the  chamber,  leaped  through  a  window — ran  up  to  the  Fort, 
and  asked  the  British  commanding  officer  to  protect  him  and 
his  goods;  the  reply  was,  that  he  had  too  few  troops,  and  the^^ 
were  too  many  Indians,  and  that  he  could  do  nothing. 

In  the  meantime  a  thousand  savages  answered  the  war- 
whoop,  and  rushed  from  all  parts  of  the  city  to  the  scene  of 
trouble,  and  with  their  war-clubs  and  tomahawks,  instantly 
demolished  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  store,  hoping  to 
find  Dk  Quindre  there. 

The  Major,  however,  finding  no  protection  at  the  Fort,  sent 
Col.  McKiiE,  at  that  time  the  British  Indian  Agent,  and  who 
possessed  unbounded  influence  over  them;  his  quarters  were 
then  in  Gen.  Hull's  former  residence,  (now  the  Biddle  House.) 
The  Colonel  hurried  to  the  store,  found  large  masses  of  sava- 
ges there,  highly  excited,  threatening  to  lay  the  town  iniashesj^ 
and  to  massacre  the  inhabitants.  The  Colonel,  a  tall,  straight^ 
athletic,  fine  looking  fellow,  with  a  voice  like  thunder,  called 
out  in  the  Indian  language,  "who  are  the  cowards  here?  I 
want  to  see  them  all,  let  the  cowards  stand  on  that  side,  and:  \ 

the  braves  on  this" — his  powerful  voice  was  electric, — the.  » 

tempest  of  savage  passion  instantly  sunk  to  a  low  murmur, 
and  the  whole  mass  moved  together  to  the  side  of  the  braves. 

The  Colonel  then  with  his  stentorian  voice  cried  out,  "  Let 
every  brave  man  follow  me,"  and  then  led  off  to  the  common, 
(where  the  National  Hotel  now  stands,)  there  he  harangued 
39m 


30« 


WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES. 


them,  and  privately  sent  a  message  to  Judge  McDonnell  and 
Robert  Smart,  for  a  barrel  of  whiskey — it  was  sent,  and  soon 
despatched ;  he  sent  for  another,  it  shared  the  same  fate ;  a 
third  was  sent  for,  and  soon  followed  its  predecessors,  by  which 
time  the  fiery  warriors^  who  had  becomejsomewhat  mellow  and 
under  the  Colonel's  direction,  were  restrained  from  further 
violence,  although  low  mutterings  might  be  heard  of  "fire,'* 
"blood,"  "scalp,"  and  " plunder." 

Gol.  McKee  sent  two  of  the  sober  wdLYiioTs  to  the  dwellings 
of  each  of  the  citizens,  whom  the  savages  had  most  threat- 
ened ;  they  wrapt  themselves  up  in  their  blankets,  and  lay  all 
night  on  the  front  door  steps,  as  a  guard  to  protect  the  inmates 
from  any  sudden  out-break  of  savage  fury. 

The  energetic  conduct  of  Col.  McKee  on  that  critical  occa- 
sion, undoubtedly  saved  the  city  from  the  torch  of  the  savages, 
and  its  people  from  indiscriminate  slaughter. 


No.  4, 

<  Incidents  of  the  War — 1813. 

'^"^Immediately  after  the  defeat  of  General  Winchester  oh 
the  Raisin,  which  occurred  on  the  22d  of  January,  A.  D., 
1813,  all  the  prisoners  that  were  able  to  travel,  were  taken  to 
Maiden;  the  badly  wounded  were  indiscriminately  murdered 
by  the  tomahawk,  rifle,  and  fire.  Our  fellow-citizen,  Oliver 
Bhllair,  Esq.,  at  that  time  a  boy,  resided  with  his  parents  at 
Maiden.  He  states  that,  when  the  prisoners,  some  three  or 
four  hundred  in  number,  arrived  at  Maiden,  they  were  pic- 
tures of  misery.  A  long,  cold  march  from  the  States  in  mid- 
winter, camping  out  in  the  deep  snow,  the  hard-fought  battle 
and  subsequent  robbery  of  their  effects,  left  them  perfectly- 
destitute  of  any  comforts.  Many  of  the  prisoners  were  also 
slightly  wounded;  the  blood,  dust,  and  smoke  of  battle  were 
yet  upon  thetn.    At  Maiden,  they  were  driven  into  an  opea 


WITHERELL'S    REMINISCENCES.  307 


',./l^     fw^rvt. 


-I.v 


■wood-yard,  and,  without  tents  or  covering  of  any  kind,  thinly 
clad,  they  endured  the  bitter  cold  of  a  long  January  night ; 
but  they  were  soldiers  of  the  republic,  and  suffered  without 
murmuring  at  their  hard  lot.  They  were  surrounded  by  a 
strong  chain  of  sentinels,  to  prevent  their  escape,  and  to  keep 
the  savages  off,  who  pressed  hard  to  enter  the  enclosure.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  village,  at  night,  in  large  numbers,  sympa- 
thizingly  crowded  around,  and  thus  favored  the  escape  of  a  few 
of  the  prisoners.  One  of  them,  who  was  slightly  wounded, 
passed  out  unseen  by  the  sentinels,  and,  mingling  among  the 
mass  of  the  people,  walked  quietly  off  to  the  out-skirts  of  the  vil- 
lage, and,  entering  the  house  of  old  Mr.  Bellair,  half  dead,  as 
it  were,  with  excessive  cold,  fatigue  and  hunger,  he  frankly  told 
him  his  situation.  Bellair  said  to  him,  that  it  was  danger- 
ous  for  him  to  stay  there  16ng,  but  he  would  do  the  best  he 
could  for  him.  He  took  him  to  a  private  room,  warmed  and 
fed  him,  and,  after  being  secreted  till  somewhat  recruited,  Mr. 
Bellair  told  him  in  what  direction  to  go,  that  he  must  avoid 
the  highway,  and  keep  on  till  he  came  to  a  house  described 
to  him.  The  soldier  found  it,  and  in  it  one  of  nature's  nobles, 
a  friend  of  humanity,  who  cheerfully  and  kindly  provided  for 
all  his  wants ;  aud  the  soldier,  throwing  aside  his  military 
garb,  engaged  as  a  laborer,  and  worked  for  several  weeks,  and 
then  boldly  and  unconcernedly  returned  to  Maiden,  hired  a 
canoe  to  cross  the  river,  and  finally  rejoined  his  friends  in  the 

The  people  of  Maiden  were  generally  kind  to  prisoners.  It 
is  not  in  the  nature  of  a  Frenchman  to  be  otherwise  than 
kind  to  the  suffering. 

Mr.  Bellair  tells  me,  that,  at  the  time  these  prisoners  were 
brought  into  Maiden,  the  village  presented  a  horrid  spectacle. 
The  Indians  had  cut  off  the  heads  of  those  who  had  fallen 
in  the  battle  and  massacre,  to  the  number  of  a  hundred  or 
more,  brought  them  to  Maiden,  and  stuck  them  up  in  rows 
on  the  top  of  a  high,  sharp-pointed  picket  fence ;  and  there 


308  WITHERELL'S   REMmiSCENCES. 

they  stood,  their  matted  locks  deeply  stained  with  their  own 
gore — their  eyes  wide  open,  staring  out  upon  the  multitude, 
exhibiting  all  variety  of  feature;  some  with  a  pleasant  smile; 
others,  who  had  probably  lingered  long  in  mortal  agony,  had 
a  scowl  of  defiance,  despair  or  revenge;  and  others  wore  the 
appearance  of  deep  distress  and  sorrow, — they  may  have  died 
thinking  of  their  far-off  wives  and  children,  and  friends,  and 
pleasant  homes  which  they  should  visit  no  more;  the  winter's 
frost  had  fixed  their  features  as  they  died,  and  they  changed 
not. 

The  savages  had  congregated  in  large  numbers,  and  had 
brought  back  with  them  from  the  bloody  banks  of  the  Raisin? 
and  other  parts  of  our  frontiers,  immense  numbers  of  sealps, 
strung  iipon  poles,  among  which  might  be  seen  the  soft,  silky 
locks  of  vouna:  children,  the  ringlets  and  tresses'  of  fair  maid- 
ens,  the  burnished  locks  of  middle  life,  and  the  silver  grey  of 
age.  The  scalps  were  hung  some  twenty  together  on  a  pole,; 
each  was  extended  by  a  small  hoop  around  the  edge,  and 
they  were  all  painted  red  on  the  flesh  side,  and  were  carried 
about  the  town  to  the  music  of  the  war-hoop  and  the  scalp- 

y      '  -fnrrrrtrf^n  hrfnf-r*^  r 

That  the  British  Government  and  its  officers  did  not  attempt 
to  restrain  the  savages,  is  well  known ;  on  the  contrary,  they 
were  instigated  to  the  commission  of  these  barbarous  deeds. 
Among  the  papers  of  Gen.  Proctor,  captured  at  the  battle  of 
the  Thames,  was  found  a  letter  from  Gen.  Brock  to  Proctor, 
apparently  in  answer  to  one  asking  whethei*  he  should  restrain 
the  ferocity  of  the  savages.  The  reply  Avas:  "  The  Indians 
are  necessary  to  his  Majesty's  service,  and  must  be  iiidulged.^^ 

If  the  gallant  Brock  would  tolerate  the  atrocious  conduct 
of  his  savage  idlies,  what  could  be  expected  from  others  ? 


WITHERELL'S   REMINISCENCES.  .  309 

'  No.  5.  iJ 

Incidents  of  the  Battle  of  the  Thames — JVho  kilted  Tecumseh  ? 

Gen.  Cass,  during  a  discussion  in  the  United  States 
Senate,  on  the  Indian  appropriation  bill,  in  advocating  the 
payment  of  a  certain  amount  of  money  due  the  Shawnees,  a 
tribe  with  which  he  had  had  much  official  intercourse,  and  of 
which  the  celebrated  warrior,  Tecumseh,  was  the  chief,  took 
occasion  to  "vindicate  the  truth  of  history,"  as  follows: 

There  are  two  historical  points  which  have  been  much  de- 
bated, about  which  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words ;  both  are  con- 
nected with  Col.  Johnson  and  these  Shawnees.  The  question 
has  been  often  mooted  as  to  who  was  the  author  of  the  move- 
ment by  which  the  mounted  regiment  conimenced  the  attack 
"upion  the  British  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames. 

Probably  I  know  as  much  upon  that  subject  as  any  other 
man  now  living,  and  the  facts  are  these:  Gen.  Harrison  had 
prescribed  the  order  of  battle,  and  promulgated  it  in  the  usual 
manner ;  that  order  directed  that  the  army  should  move,  in-  ^ 
fantry  in  front,  wifh  a  portion  of  the  force  placed  at  right 
angles  to  the  main  body,  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  turning 
the  flank.  The  cavalry  were  to  remain  in  the  rear,  to  follow 
tip  all  the  movements  of  the  infantry.  They  were  posted 
with  the  Thames  on  one  flank  and  an  almost  impassable  - 
marsh  on  the  other.  Just  as  the  arrangement  was  completed, 
and  the  British  forces  were  almost  in  sight,  I  was  sitting  on 
my  horse,  when  General  Harrison  rode  up,  and  said  to  me, 
**I  have  a  great  mind  to  change  my  order  of  battle.  I  feel 
very  strongly  inclined  to  let  Colonel  Johnson's  regiment  at- 
tack the  British  line  first."  I  replied,  "you  have  undoubtedly 
considered  the  difficulty  attending  the  charge ;  the  mounted 
men  are  brave,  but  undisciplined,  and  their  horses  unused  to 
service,  if  defeated,  they  may  be  upon  our  line,  and  do  us 
irreparable  injury."  His  answer  was,  "Col.  Johnson  says  he 
can  break  the  British  line,  and  I  will  let  him  try."     Well,  the 


3J0  WITHERELL'S  KEMINISCENCES. 

movement  was  made  and  was  successful ;  and  never,  from 
that  day  to  this,  have  I  had  any  doubt  that  Col.  Johnson  pro- 
posed the  movement  to  Gen.  Harrison. 

Mr.  BuTLPR. — Did  Col.  Johnson's  regiment  charge  the  ene- 
my with  swords  or  rifles? 

Mr.  Cass. — The  men  were  all  on  horseback,  armed  with 
rifles;  few  of  them  had  swords;  they  rode  down  the  British 
forces;  broke  their  lines  almost  without  impediment,  I  saw 
the  whole  operation  myself,  being  there  rather  as  a  spectator, 
for  I  was  not  in  command.  I  talked  about  it  afterwards  with 
some  of  the  British  captured  ofiicers,  and  having  expressed 
my  surprise  at  the  little  opposition  the  movement  met  with, 
asked  why  they  allowed  their  lines  to  be  broken,  and  their 
men  rode  down?  They  replied  that  "their  men  had  become 
alarmed",  for  they  had  heard  our  bugles  in  the  swamp  on  the 
left,"  where  they  supposed  that  we  had  a  heavy  force  of  reg- 
ular cavalry.  The  bugles,  Mr.  President,  were  some  old  tin 
horns,  and  we  had  no  force  there  at  all.  , 

I  had  some  conversation  on  the  subject,  the  other  day,  at 
Lexington,  with  a  very  intelligent  gentleman — Capt  John- 
son— a  younger  brother  of  Col.  Johnson,  who  was  there,  and 
we  compared  notes,  and  agreed  in  our  recollections. 

Now,  as  to  the  other  historic  but  disputed  point :  Who 
killed  Tecumseh  ?  [Laughter.]  I  will  tell  you  what  I  know. 
Tecumseh  fell  in  the  battle,  as  we  are  all  aware ;  but  in  the 
following  year  the  Prophet,  Tectjmseh's  brother,  and  his  son, 
young  Tecumseh,  a  very  inteUigent  young  man,  often  came 
to  see  me,  and  we  had  several  conversations  respecting  the 
series  of  events  in  which  his  Yather  was  engaged.  The  young 
man  was  near  his  father's  side  in  the  battle,  but  his  uncle,  the 
Pbophet,  was  in  the  Creek  country.  The  young  man  de- 
scribed the  battle  very  graphically — the  persons,  the  parties 
present,  and  the  incidents,  without  hesitation  from  the  begin- 
ning to  the  end,  and  I  have  no  more  doubt  from  his  narration 
than  I  have  that  I  am  here,  that  Col.  Johnson  was  the  person 


WITHERELL'S   REMINISCENCES^ 


311 


who  killed  his  father.  There  were  three  of  the  Johnson's  in 
the  battle,  and  they  were  as  brave  men  as  ever  followed  the 
standard  of  their  country  to  war. 

Gen.  Cass  continued  his  remarks,  and  referred  to  many  in- 
cidents  to  show  the  services  rendered  the  United  States,  during 
the  war,  by  the  Shawnees.  Gen.  Haekison  and  himself,  in 
1814,  at  the  direction  of  the  President,  held  an  interview  with 
a  large  number  of  them  at  Greenville,  Ohio,  when  they  agreed 
to  join  our  standard,  and  subsequently  did  render  to  us  effi- 
cient service.  A  party  of  them  accompanied  Gen.  Cass  to 
the  North- West  frontier,  where  he  had  an  engagement  with 
hostile  Indians,  who  were  urged  on  by  the  British,  within  Xyi^ 
miles  of  Detroit ;  and  in  this  connection.  Gen.  Cass  referred 
to  the  fact  that  a  white  man,  named  Parks,  was  sitting  in  the 
gallery  of  the  Senate,  whom  he  had  known  since  1SJL4,  and 
who,  when  a  boy,  was  taken  prisoner  and  brought  up  amon^ 
the  Wyandots  and  Shawnees.  Paeks,  at  the  time  of  the  en? 
gagement,  although  but  a  boy,  and  Black- Hoop,  the  principal 
chief  of  the  tribe,  whose  son  was  also  in  the  gallery,  with  a 
party  of  their  people  came  to  the  rescue,  and  saved  Gen.  Cass 
and  his  men  perhaps  from  destruction.  There  being  another 
Shawnee  in  the  gallery.  Gen.  Cass  added: —  ,.^ 

,  *'  He  is  the  son  of  a  true  and  brave  chief  called  Captain 
Tommy,  a  son  of  an  Indian  aid-de-camp  to  Gen.  HARRisoif, 
who  was  with  him  during  his  operations  in  the  North- West, 
and  possessed,  as  well  as  merited,  our  confidence ;.  and,  for 
many  years,  while  they  occupied  that  country,  I  had  relations, 
political  and  personal,  with  the  Shawnees,  which  left  a  deep 
impression  upon  my  mind ;  and  whenever  they  are  in  any 
difficulty,  I  will  remember  them  and  their  bravery  and  fidelity, 
and  endeavor  to  be  useful  to  them." 


jfl        .  WITHERELL'S   REMINISOENOES. 

a  ^  V 

9,  No.   6. 

Death  of  Tecumseh. 

T  ^e  subjoined  letter  and  accompanying  affidavit  have  been  handed  to  tis  by 
the  distinguished  citizen  to  whora  the  letter  in  addressed,  and  inasmuch  as  they 
thi'ow  some  light  upon  an  interesting  point  of  American  history,  we  deem  them 
worth  giving  to  the  public.  If  there  has  hitherto  exist*  d  any  serious  doubts 
as  to  *'  who  killed  Tecumseh,"  surely  sufficient  evidence  is  presented  to  remove 
them, 

-■'■In  this  connexion,  we  are  happy  to  learn,  that  Gen.  Witherell  is  casually 
engaged  in  collecting  interesting  and  prominent  incidents  in  the  history  of  this 
section  of  the  country.  The  task  could  not  have  fallen  into  better  hands,  as, 
besides  his  high  intelligence,  he  has  been  a  resident  of  the  country  since  his 
childhood. — Detroit  Free  Pres&. 

Detroit,  Sept.  28,  1853. 

(teW  Cass — Dear  Sir — I  read  with  interest  your  remarks 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  last  winter,  relative  to  the 
death  of  Tecumseh,  in  which  you  expressed  the  opinion  that 
he  fell  by  the  hand  of  Col.  Johnson. 

''  Honorably  and  actively  engaged,  as  you  were,  in  all  the  stir- 
ring events  of  the  war  of  1812,  on  this  frontier,  your  opinion, 
made  up  from  circumstances  at  the  time,  and  being  yourself 
on  the  field  of  battle,  is  entitled  to  great  weight 

The  affidavit  of  Capt.  Jamks  Kniggs,  with  whom,  as  with 
nearly  all  our  old  citizens,  I  believe,  you  are  acquainted,  will, 
1  think,  set  the  question  at  rest. 

*  Being  at  the  river  Raisin  a  few  days  since,  I  called  on  Capt 
Kn'aggs,  who  was  a  brave  and  intrepid  soldier,  in  the  Ranger 
service. 

He  stated  to  me  all  the  circumstances  of  the  battle  on  the 
.  Thames,  so  far  as  they  came  within  his  knowledge,  and  at 
'my  request,  he  made  an  affidavit,  (a  copy  of  which  I  here- 
with send  you,)  narrating  so  much  of  the  action  as  is  con- 
nected with  the  death  of  the  great  chief. 

Col.  Johnson  stated  at  the  time,  and  afterwards  often  re-it- 
erated it,  that  he  killed  an  Indian  with  his  pistol,  who  was 
advancing  upon  him  at  the  time  his  horse  fell  under  him. 


WITHERELL'S   REMINISCEN'CES.  .         sfj 

The  testimony  of  Capt.  Knaggs  shows  conclusively,  that  it 
could  have  been  no  other  than  TECUMSEff. 

Col.  Johnson,  when  last  here,  saw  and  recognized  Capt. 
Knaggs  and  Mr.  Labadie  as  the  men  who  bore  him  from  the 
field  in  his  blanket. 

"The  transaction  is  of  some  little  importance  in  history,  as 
the  ball  that  bore  with  it  the  fate  of  the  great  warrior,  dissolved 
at  once  the  last  great  Indian  Confederacy,  and  gave  peace  to 
our  frontier. 

I  am,  respectfully,  yours,  &c., 

B.  F.  H.  WITHERELL. 


State  of  Michigan,  ) 
County  of  Monroe,    J 

James  Knaggs  deposeth  and  saith,  as  follows : 

~^I  was  attached  to  a  company  of  mounted  men  called  Ran- 
gers, at  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  in  Upper  Canada,  in  the 
year  1813.  During  the  battle,  we  charged  into  the  swamp, 
where  several  of  our  horses  mired  down,  and  an  order  was 
given  to  retire  to  the  hard  ground  in  our  rear,  which  we  did. 
The  Indians  in  front,  believing  that  we  were  retreating,  im- 
mediately advanced  upon  us,  with  Tecumseh  at  their  head. 
I  distinctly  heard  his  voice,  with  which  I  was  perfectly 
familiar.  He  yelled  like  a  tiger,  and  urged  on  his  braves  to 
the  attack.  We  were  then  but  a  few  yards  apart.  We 
halted  on  the  hard  ground,  and  continued  our  fire.  After  a 
few  minutes  of  very  severe  firing,  I  discovered  Col.  Johnson 
lying  near,  on  the  ground,  with  one  leg  confined  by  the  body 
of  his  white  mare,  which  had  been  killed,  and  had  fallen 
upon  him.  My  friend  Medard  Labadie  was  with  me.  We 
went  up  to  the  Colonel,  with  whom  we  were  previously 
acquainted,  and  found  him  badly  wounded,  lying  on  his 
side,  with  one  of  his  pistols  lying  in  his  hand.  I  saw 
Tecumseh  at  the  same  time,  lying  on  his  face,  dead,  and 
40m 


514  ^WITHERELL'S   REMINISCENCES, 

about  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  from  the  Colonel.  He  was 
stretched  at  full  length,  and  was  shot  though  the  body,  I 
think  near  the  heart.  The  ball  went  out  through  his  back. 
He  held  his  tomahawk  in  his  right  hand,  (it  had  a  brass  pipe 
on  the  head  of  it ;)  his  arm  was  extended  as  if  striking,  and 
the  edge  of  the  tomahawk  was  stuck  in  the  ground.  Tecum- 
SEH.was  dressed  in  red  speckled  leggings,  and  a  fringed 
hunting  shirt  ;*  he  lay  stretched  directly  towards  Col.  John?: 
SON.  When  we  went  up  to  the  Colonel,  we  offered  to  help 
him.  He  replied  with  great  animation,  "  Knaggs,  let  me  lay 
here,  and  push  on  and  take  Proctor."  However,  we  liber- 
ated him  from  his  dead  horse,  took  his  blanket  from  his 
saddle,  placed  him  in  it,  and  bore  him  off  the  field.  I 
had  known  Tecumseh  from  my  boyhood;  we  were  boys 
together.  There  was  no  other  Indian  killed  immediately 
around  where  Col.  Johnson  or  Tecumseh  lay,  though  there 
were  many  near  the  creek,  a  few  rods  back  of  where  Tecum- 
seh fell. 

I  had  no  doubt  then,  and  have  none  now,  that  Tecumseh 
fell  by  the  hand  of  Col.  Johnson. 

JAMES  KNAGGS. 

Sworn  to,  before  me,  this  22d  day  of  September,  1853. 
B.  F.  H.  Wither  ELL,  Notary/  Pub  lie , 


NoTB. — Col.  JoHxsoN  was  invariably  modest  about  claiming  the  honor  of 
having  slain  Tecumseh,  When  I  paid  him  a  visit,  at  his  residence  at  the  Great 
Crossings,  in  Kentucky,  in  1844,  while  collecting  facts  and  materials  illustrative 
of  the  career  of  Clakk,  Booxe,  Ken  ton  and  other  Western  pioneers,  he  exhib- 
ited to  me  the  horse- pistols  he  used  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  and  modestly 
remarked,  "that  with  them  he  shot  the  chief  who  had  confronted  and  wounded 
him  in  the  engagement." 

Alluding  to  Capt,  Kxaggs'  statement,  the  Louisville  Journal  remarked  :  "  A. 
new  witness  has  appeared  in  the  newspapers  testifying  to  facts  which  tend  i» 
show  that  Col.  R.  M.  Johnsox  killed  Teoumseh.     The  Colonel  was  certainly 

*  It  is  stated  in  Lanman's  Hist,  of  Michigan,  that  "during  the  whole  wa? 
Tecumseh's  dress  was  a  deer-skin  coat  and  Jeggins,  and  in  that  dress  he  waa 
found  when  killed  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames."  L.  0.  D. 


WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES.  315 

Ijrave  enough  to  meet  and  kill  a  dozen  Indians,  and  if  he  didn't  kill  Teodmseh^ 
Jhe  no  doubt  would  have  done  it,  if  he  had  had  a  chance.  He  himself  was  often 
interrogated  upon  the  subject,  and  his  replj  upon  at  least  one  occasion  was 
capital :  *  They  say  I  killed  him  ;  how  could  I  tell  ?  I  was  in  too  much  of  a 
burry,  when  he  was  advancing  upon  me,  to  ask  him  his  name,  or  inquire  afji«r 
ihe  health  of  his  family.  I  fired  as  quick  as  convenient,  and  he  fell.  If  it  had 
l)een  Tjsoumsbd  or  the  Prophet,  it  would  have  been  all  the  same.' "    L.  C.  D. 


No.  7. 

Tecumseh.  ** 

I  saw  in  your  paper,  a  few  days  since,  a  communication 
relative  to  the  death  of  this  celebrated  chief.  Capt.  Knaggs, 
who  is  spoken  of  in  that  communication,  is  a  highly  respect- 
able  citizen  of  Monroe,  and  was  one  of  the  most  active  and 
useful  partisans  in  service  during  the  war  of  1812.  Almost 
innumerable  and  miraculous  were  his  "  hairbreadth  'scapes '' 
from  the  savages. 

He  related  to  me,  when  I  last  saw  him,  several  anecdotes 
of  Tecumseh,  which  illustrate  his  character.  Amongst  others^ 
he  states  that  while  the  enemy  was  in  full  possession  of  the 
country,  Tecumseh,  with  a  large  band  of  his  warriors,  visited 
the  Raisin.  The  inhabitants  along  that  river  had  been  stripped 
of  nearly  every  means  of  subsistence.  Old  Mr.  Rivard,  who 
was  lame,  and  unable  by  his  labor  to  procure  a  living  for 
himself  and  family,  had  contrived  to  keep  out  of  the  sight  of 
the  wandering  bands  of  savages,  a  pair  of  oxen,  with  which 
his  son  was  able  to  procure  a  scanty  support  for  the  family. 
It  so  happened  that,  while  at  labor  with  the  oxen,  Tecumseh, 
who  had  come  over  from  Maiden,  met  him  in  Ihe  road,  and 
walking  up  to  him,  said,  "  My  friend,  I  must  have  those  oxen. 
My  young  men  are  very  hungry ;  they  have  nothing  to  eat 
We  must  have  the  oxen."  ,, 

Young  Rivard  remonstrated.  He  told  the  chief  that,  if  he 
took  the  oxen,  his  father  would  starve  to  death. 


316 


WITHERELL'S   REMmiSCENOES. 


"Well,"  said  Tecumseh,  "we  are  the  conquerors,  and  every 
thing  we  want  is  ours.  I  must  have  the  oxen ;  my  people 
must  not  starve ;  hut  I  will  not  be  so  mean  as  to  rob  you  of 
them.  I  will  pay  you  one  hundred  dollars  for  them,  and 
that  is  far  more  than  they  are  worth;  but  we  must  have 
them." 

Tecumseh  got  a  white  man  to  write  an  order  on  the  British 
Indian  Agent,  Col.  Elltot,  who  was  on  the  river  some  dis- 
tance below,  for  the  money.  The  oxen  were  killed,  Jarge 
fires  built,  and  the  forest  warriors  were  soon  feasting  on  their 
flesh.  Young  Rivard  took  the  order  to  Col.  Elliot,  who 
promptly  refused  to  pay  it,  saying,  "  We  are  entitled  to  our 
support  from  the  country  we  have  conquered.  I  will  not  pay 
it.  The  young  man,  with  a  sorrowful  heart,  returned  with 
the  answer  to  Tecumseh;  who  said, "  He  won't  pay  it,  will 
he  ?  Stay  all  night,  and  to-morrow  we  will  go  and  see."  On 
the  next  morning,  he  took  young  Rivard,  and  went  down  to 
see  the  Colonel.  On  meeting  him,  he  said, "  Do  you  refuse  to 
;^ay'  for  the  oxen  I  bought  ?"  "  Yes,"  said  the  Colonel,  and 
he  reiterated  the  reason  for  refusal.  "  I  bought  them,"  said 
the  chief,  "  for  my  young  men  were  very  hungry.  I  promised 
to  pay  for  them,  and  they  shall  be  paid  for.  I  have  always 
heard  that  whit6  nations  went  to  war' wit'fi  ^ffcA  oMer,  and 
not  with  peaceful  individuals ;  that  they  did  not  rob  and 
plunder  poor  people,  /will  not."  "Well,"  said  the  Colonel, 
"I  will  not  pay  for  them."  "Fow  can  do  as  you  plezise,"  said 
the  chief;  "but  before  Tecumseh  and  his  warriors  came  to 
fight  the  battles  of  the  great  King,  they  had  enough  to  eat,  for 
which  they  had  only  to  thank  the  Master  of  Life  and  their 
good  rifles.  Their  hunting  grounds  supplied  them  with  food 
enough  ;'  to  tliem  th6y  can  return."  This  threat  produced  a 
sudden  change  in  the  Colonel's  mind.  The  defection  of  the 
great  chief,  he  well  knew,  would  immediately  withdraw  all 
the  nations  of  the  Red  Men  from  the  British  service ;  and 
without  them,  they  were  nearly  powerless   on  the  frontier. 


WITHERELL'S   REMINISCENCES.  3 17 

"  Well,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  if  I  must  pay,  I  will."  "  Give  me 
hard  money,"  said  Tecdmskh,  "  not  rag  money,"  (army  bills.) 
The  Colonel  then  counted  out  a  hundred  dollars,  in  coin,  and 
gave  them  to  him.  The  chief  handed  the  money  to  young 
RivARD,  and  then  said  to  the  Colonel,  "Give  me  one  dollar 
more.",  If  was  given;  and  handing  that  also  to  Riv^rd,  he 
said, "  Take  that ;  it  will  pay  for  the  time  you  have  lost  ii^ 
getting  your  money."  I 

How  many  white  warrior^  have  such  notions  of  justice  ? 

At  the  time  Col.  Dudley  approached  Fort  Meigs,  to  reUeyp 
it  from  siege,  he  attacked  the  besiegers,  routed  them,  and  en- 
tered their  camp.  His  troops  behaved  with  the  most  dauntr 
less  bravery,  and  swept  all  before  them;  but  ihe  moment  the 
victory  was  complete,  militia-like,  they  broke  their  ranks,  and 
wandered  abput  to  gaze  at  what  they  had  never  seen  before, 
an  enemy's  camp  and  a  battle- field.  The  British  and  Indian 
force  rallied  and  returned,  and  finding  our  soldiers  scattered, 
easily  routed  them,  with  great  slaughter.  After  resistance 
ceased,  the  savages  began  killing  the  prisoners,  Col.  McKep, 
who  fought  with  the  Indians,  "roared  like  a  bull,"  (as  an  eye 
witness  expressed  it,)  ordering  them  to  desist;  but  they  heedqd 
him  not.  ThCCMSEii  rushed  among  them,  and  ordered  them 
to  stop  the  massacre;  but  they  had  lost  many  men,  and  were 
furious,  and  went  on  hewing  down  all  they  met  TECuMSfiH 
was  deeply  incensed  at  the  merciless  and  useless  waste  of  lifej 
and  the  dishonor  of  killing  prisoners;  and  dashing  among 
his  own  warriors,.he  drove  his  tomahawk  to  the  handle  into 
the  scull  of  one  of  them,  who  fell  dead  at  his  feet ;  and,  with 
a  fierce  yell,  he  declared  he  would  serve  them  all  in  the  sam^ 
way,  unless  they  obeyed  his  orders.  This  appeal  was  effectual^ 
no  more  prisoners  were  killed.*  ^ 

*  The  Biitif.})  hipforian.  James,  i'ti  liis  MilHary  Occvrrcnces,  gtates  Dial  "the 
fair<d  Jiidian  \<ajiior,  Tjci  wskh.  buii«d  his  tonuiha'wk  in  the  h«ad  <ii'a  (liip- 
p<wa  thiif,  \» 111. Ill  he  fimi  d  a<ti\e]y  e»  gaged  in  n  asf-airing;  some  ol  Ci'l.  I'id- 
LKy's  nitn."  At\  fye- witness,  in  Drakes  7 ecvmick.  gi\t»  a  thiillin^  arcount 
of  Iho  affair  alludtd  to,  though  dots  uot  speak  of  his  actually  having  killtd  a 


S18  WITHERELL'S   REMIN'ISCEN'CES. 

®  Before  the  commencement  of  the  war,  when  his  hunting 
parties  approached  the  white  settlements,  horses  and  cattle 
were  occasionally  stolen ;  but  notice  to  the  chief,  failed  not  to 
produce  instant  redress. 

The  character  of  Tecctmseh  was  that  of  a  gallant  and  in- 
trepid warrior,  an  honest  and  an  honorable  man  ;  and  his 
memory  is  respected  by  all  our  old  citizens  who  personally 
knew  him. 

Capt  Knaggs  pointed  out  to  me  the  cellars  of  the  buildings 
in  which  our  wounded  soldiers,  who  were  made  prisoners  at 
the  battle  on  the  Raisin,  were  burned.  They  are  within  a 
few  yards  of  the  brick  house  on  the  left,  as  you  approach  the 
north  bank  of  the  river  Raisin  from  Detroit  One  of  them 
yet  remains  uncovered. 

Mr.  Campatj,  who,  at  the  time  of  the  battle,  lived,  and  yet 
lives,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  burned  buildings, 
vividly  describes  the  scene — the  shrieks  of  agony,  and  the 
howls  of  despair,  that  went  up  to  heaven,  as  the  fierce  flames 
rapidly  enveloped  the  burning  buildings.  Though  covered 
with  wounds,  many  of  the  prisoners  were  able  to  crawl  to  the 

doors  to  avoid  the  raging  fire ;  but  the  bullet  and  the  battle- 

f^ 

chief:  "They  (Ihe  American  troops)  were  huddled  together  in  an  old  British 
garrison,  -wilh  the  Indians  around  them,  selecting  such  as  their  f;incy  dictated^ 
to  glut  their  savage  thirst  for  murder.  And  although  they  had  surrendered 
themselves  prisoners  of  war,  yet  in  violation  of  the  customs  of  war,  the  inhuman 
Proctor  did  not  yield  ihem  the  least  protection,  nor  attempt  to  screen  them 
from  the  tomahawk  of  the  Indians.  Whilst  this  bloodthirsty  carnage  was 
raging,  a  thundering  voice  was  heard  in  the  rear,  in  the  Indian  tongue,  when 
turning  round,  he  saw  Tecumseh,  coming  with  all  the  rapidity  his  h(nse  could 
carry  him,  until  he  drew  near  to  where  two  Indians  had  an  American,  and 
"weie  in  the  act  of  killing  him.  He  sprang  from  liis  horse,  caught  one  by  the 
throat  and  the  other  by  the  brea««t,  and  threw  them  to  the  ground  ;  drawing 
his  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife,  he  ran  in  between  the  Americans  and  In- 
dians, brandishing  thetn  wilh  the  fury  of  a  madman,  and  daring  any  one  of  the 
hundreds  that  surrounded  him,  to  attera|)t  to  murder  another  American.  They 
all  appeared  confounded,  and  immediately  desisted.  His  niirtd  appeared  rent 
"with  jia^sion,  and  he  exclainjed,  almost  with  tenia  in  his  eyes,  '  Oh  !  what  will 
become  of  my  Indians?'  Ho  then  demanded,  in  an  aiithoiiiative  tone,  where 
pBocToa  was;  but  casting  hit  eye  upon  him,  at  a  small  distance,  sternly  en- 
quired why  he  had  not  put  a  stoji  to  the  inhuman  mas-ace?  'Sir,'  ii>aid  Paoo- 
loR,  'your  Indians  cannot  be  commanded.'  *  Begoun  |'  retorted  'rKCUMSBH^ 
wilh  ihe  greatest  diisdaiu,  'you  are  uufit  to  comuiaiid ;  go  and  put  on  petti- 
coals!'"  L.C.D, 


WITHERELL'S    REMINISCENCES.  3I9 

axe  met  them  there,  and  at  once  ended  their  miseries.  The 
Toices  of  all  were  soon  stilled  in  death ;  and  there  their  bones 
long  lay,  bleaching  in  the  sun  and  storm.  The  savages  for- 
bade the  inhabitants  to  bury  them,  under  pain  of  death. 
''-  A  soldier,  made  prisoner  at  the  battle,  was  taken  to  Mr. 
Campau's  house  by  the  Indians.  Some  apples  were  handed 
to  them.  The  prisoner  happened  to  receive  his  first  This 
was  a  mortal  affront ;  and  the  poor  fellow  was  instantly  seized, 
dragged  to  the  door,  and  cut  down  on  the  steps. 

Another  soldier  had  hid  in  a  hay-stack.  He  was  discov- 
ered by  an  Indian  boy,  who  informed  the  Indians  while  at 
Campau's  house.  With  a  fierce  whoop,  they  started  for  him. 
Campaxj  called  out,  "  Chief,  give  me  your  word  to  save  that 
man."  "  I  give  it,"  said  the  chief;  and  this  saved  the  poor 
fellow  from  certain  death. 

'It  were  endless  to  relate  all  the  tales  of  blood  that  were 
witnessed  on  this  frontier.  The  lives  of  the  French  inhabit- 
ants, in  consideration  of  former  kindnesses  to  the  Indians, 
were  generally  spared,  and  they  exerted  themselves  to  the 
utmost  in  behalf  of  the  suffering  captives,  and  saved  many, 
very  many,  from  untimely  graves. 

Forty  years  have  passed  away,  and  the  Regent,  with  all  his 
Ministers,  who  employed  the  savages,  and  stimulated  them  to 
such  atrocious  deeds,  together  with  most  of  the  more  imme- 
diate actors  in  the  scenes,  have  passed  to  the  great  tribunal,  to 
meet  their  countless  victims  there,  where  the  crimes  of  the 
one,  and  the  sufferings  of  the  other,  have  been  registered  for 
the  final  reckoning. 


Ko.  8. 

Incidents — 1807-1 814. 

In  1807,  the  little  town  of  Detroit  was  just  rising  from  its 
ashes.  The  Indians  of  the  surrounding  wilderness  were,  even 
then,  seriously  threatening  the  settlements.    At  that  time,  there 


320 


WITHERELL'S   REMINISCENCES. 


was  but  a  small  regular  force  in  garrison,  at  the  Old  Fort; 
and,  for  the  purpose  of  aifording  additional  protection,  a  body 
of  volunteers  were  called  out  and  placed  under  the  immedi- 
ate command  of  Major  John  Whipple.  The  main  guard  was 
posted  at  the  Indian  council  house,  where  the  new  Firemen's 
Hall  now  stands,  and  a  block-house  was  erected  in  Jefferson 
Avenue^  on  the  Brush  farm.  The  town  was  surrounded  by 
a  row  of  strong  pickets,  fourteen  feet  high,  with  loop-holes  to 
•  fire  through.  The  line  of  pickets  commenced  at  the  river, 
on  the  Hue  of  the  Brush  farm,  and  followed  that  line  to  about 
Congress  street,  and  thence  westerly  along  or  near  Michigan 
Avenue,  back  of  the  Old,  Fort,  to  the  east  line  of  the  Cass 
ikrm,  and  followed  that  line  to  the  river.  On  Jefferson  Ave- 
nue, at  the  Cass  line,  and  on  Atwater  street,  on  the  Brusli 
farm,  massive  gates  were  placed,  which  daily,  at  rise  and,s^^ 
of  sun,  grated  on  thei^  ponderous  hinges.  Sentinels  wjere 
placed  at  them,  and  along  the  line  of  pickets.  It  was  rather 
.an  exciting  time,but  many  ludicrous  scenes  occurred.  Among 
'others,  on  a  dark,  rainy  night,  a  sentinel  fired  at  an  imaginary 
Indian,  the  drums  beat  to  amis,  the  trpops  turned  out,  and  a 
inilitia  colonel,  (he  was  not  a  native  of  Michigan,)  who  lived 
at  a  distance  from  the  quarters  of  the  troops,  hearing  the 
alarm,  seized  his  port-manteau  in  one  hand,  and  the  muzzle 
of  a  musket  with  the  other,  and  ran  at  full  speed  to  the  guard 
house,  dragging  the  butt  of  his  gun  in  the  mud.  He  kept  on 
his  headlong  way  until,  encountering  a  small  shade  tree,  it 
bent  away  before  him,  and  he  slid  up  to  the  limbs,  but  the 
recoil  of  the  sapling  left  the  gallant  warrior  flat  on  his  back 
in  the  mud.  The  pickets  remained  around  the  town  when 
the  war  of  1812  began. 

In  1814,  Gen.  Cass,  the^n  a  general  oflicer  in  the  army,  was 
in  command  on  this  frontier,  with  a  body  of  troops  to  protect 
the  country.  Our  army  on  the  Niagara  frontier  was  hard 
pressed,  and  the  General,  unsolicited,  sent  to  Gen.  Brown  all 
his  force;  only  a  dozen  or  so  of  invalids,  unfit  for  service,  re- 


WITHERELL'S   REMINISCENCES.  33 j 

mained.  Gen.  Cass  had  become  acquainted  with  our  people, 
well  knew  their  courage  and  patriotism,  and  determined,  with 
them  alone,  to  defend  the  country ;  and  they  did  not  disap- 
point his  expectations. 

Mr.  McMillan, — whose  widow  and  children,  after  th« 
lapse  of  forty  years,  are  yet  with  us, — had  joined  Capt.  An- 
drew Westbrook's  company  of  Rangers.  Capt.  Westbrook 
was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  had  been  taken,  in  his 
childhood,  by  his  father  to  Nova  Scotia.  He  afterwards  found 
his  way  to  Delaware,  on  the  Thames,  in  Upper  Canada,  Avhere 
he  was  living  when 'the  war  of  1812  broke  out.  He  was  too 
much  of  a  Yankee  to  be  quiet,  and  they  drove  him  oiF.  He 
came  to  Michigan,  raised  a  company  of  Rangers,  and  proved 
an  exceedingly  active  partisan  soldier,  and  seriously  annoyed 
the  enemy.  He  made  frequent  incursions  into  the  Province, 
as  far  up  as  Delaware.  He  was  at  the  time  a  man  of  con- 
siderable wealth,  had  a  fine,  large  house,  distillery,  &c.,  at 
Delaware.  On  his  first  visit  with  his  Ranger^,  he  called  them 
around  him  at  his  own  place,  and,  swinging  a  fire  brand 
around  his  head,  he  said,  "Boys,  you  have  just  fifteen  min- 
utes to  plunder  my  premises;  after  that  I  give  them  to  the 
flames;"  and  true  to  his  word,  he  applied  the  brand  and  burnt 
up  the  whole  concern. 

Capt.  Westbrook  afterwards  settled  on  the  beautiful  banks 
of  the  river  St  Clair,  where  we  have  often  experienced  the 
generous  hospitality  of  "Baronial  Hall;"  we  usually  called 
him  Baron  Steuben. 

McMillan  belonged  to  this  corps.  He  was  a  gallant  sol- 
dier,  and  did  good  service  to  his  country.  On  the  15th  of 
September,  1814,  the  morning  after  his  return  from  an  expe- 
dition to  the  Rondo,  in  Upper  Canada,  he,  with  his  young  son, 
Archibald,  then  eleven  years  of  age,  went  out  upon  the  cona- 
mon  to  find  his  cow.  What  follows,  I  have  from  an  eye-wit- 
ness, Mr.  William  McVey,  of  the  Rouge.  He  says,  "David 
and  William  Bubbank  and  myself  were  sitting  down  at  the 
41m 


322  WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES. 

Deer  Park,  on  the  Macomb  (now  Cass)  farm,  near  where  La 
Fayette  street  crosses  it,  watching  our  cows.  McMillan  and 
Archy  passed  us.  We  spoke  to  them  about  some  apples  they 
were  eating.  They  passed  on  towards  some  cows  that  were 
feeding  near  the  bushes,  (the  bushes  then  came  down  to  near 
where  the  Capitol  stands).  We  kept  our  eyes  on  them,  think- 
ing danger  might  be  near.  When  they  approached  within 
gun  shot  of  the  bushes,  we  saw  three  or  four  guns  fired,  and 
McMillan  fall  The  Indians  instantly  dashed  upon  him, 
and  took  off  his  scalp.  Aechy,  on  seeing  that  his  father  was  , 
killed,  turned  and  ran  towards  us  with  all  the  speed  that  his 
little  legs  could  supply.  A  savage  on  horseback  pursued  him. 
As  he  rode  up,  and  stooped  to  seize  him,  the  brave  little  fellow, 
nothing  daunted,  turned  and  struck  the  horse  on  the  nose 
with  a  rod  which  he  happened  to  have  in  his  hand.  The 
M^rse  turned  off  at  the  blow,  and  Archy  put  forth  his  best 
speed  again.  Again  the  Indian  came  on,  but  a  second  blow 
made  the  horse  sheer  off  again ;  and  this  was  repeated  several 
times,  until,  fearful  of  losing  his  prize,  the  savage  sprang  from 
his  horse,  seized  the  boy,  and  dragged  him  off  to  the  woods, 
and  thence  he  was  taken  to  Saginaw." 

About  the  same  time,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Murphy,  who 
lived  with  the  late  Abraham  Cook,  went  with  a  horse  and 
cart  into  a  field,  on  Judge  Moran's  farm,  (just  back  of  where 
the  Judge  now  lives).  He  was  shot,  scalped,  and  his  bowels 
cut  open,  and  left  exposed  in  the  field,  and  the  horse  was 
taken  off 

The  Indians  were  constantly  beleaguering  the  to wn,  sallying 
out  occasionally,  and  driving  off  and  killing  all  the  cattle,  &c., 
that  approached  the  bushes.  Determined  to  put  a  stop  to  this,  , 
Gen.  Cass  called  upon  the  young  men  to  arm  and  follow  him. 
They  were  ready  at  first  blast  of  the  bugle,  mounted  on 
ponies,  such  as  could  be  had,  (for  there  were  but  few  left,) 
and  armed  with  all  varieties  of  weapons, — rifles,  shot-guns, 
war-clubs  and  tomahawks,  swords  and  spears,  and  whatever 


WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES.  333 

Other  instruments  of  death  could  be  had, — they  mustered  for 
this  fight.  As  the  woods  and  under-brush  were  very  dense, 
they  expected  to  have  a  hand-to-hand  fight,  and  prepared  for 
it  The  company  consisted  of  Gen.  Cass,  Judge  Moran, 
Judge  CoNANT,  Capt.  Francis  Cicott,  J  as.  Cicott,  Edward 
CicoTT,  George  Cicott,  Col.  H.  I.  Hunt,  Gen.  Larned,  Wm, 
Meldrum,  John  Meldrum,  James  Meldrum,  James  Riley, 
Peter  Riley,  John  Riley,  Lambert  Beaubien,  John  B.  Beaf- 
BiEN,  Joseph  Andre,  DiT  Clark,  Louis  Moran,  Louis  Dequin- 
BRE,  Lambert  La  Foy,  Joseph  Riopell,  Joseph  Visgar,  Jack 
Smith,  Ben  Lucas,  and  John  Ruland.  I  knew  nearly  every 
one  of  them  personally,  and  a  better  lot  of  fellows,  for  the 
business  they  were  on,  could  not  well  be  got  together.  They 
were  then  young,  and  full  of  spirit. 

After  assembling,  they  rode  up  along  the  border  of  the 
river,  to  the  Witherell  farm,  and  rode  through  the  lane  to  the 
woods.  They  soon  came  upon  an  Indian  camp ;  the  Indians 
had  fled,  leaving  their  meat  roasting  on  sticks  by  the  fire. 
Here  they  found  Archy  McMillan's  hat,  and  were  in  hopes 
of  finding  him.  The  Rileys  discovered  the  tracks  of  the 
enemy,  and  a  hot  pursuit  commenced.  They  were  overtaken 
on  the  back  part  of  the  Cass  farm,  and  a  hot  fire  was  instantly 
opened,  and  kept  up  until  the  word  was  passed  to  charge; 
and  on  the  whole  body  went,  pell-mell.  It  was  hot  work  for 
the  Indians,  and^  after  a  while  they  fled.  Peter  Riley,  who 
was  in  advance  when  the  firing  commenced,  suddenly  reined 
up  his  horse  across  the  trail,  sprang  off",  and  firing  over  the 
horse's  back,  brought  a  warrior  to  the  ground,  and  in  a  twink- 
ling, took  off  his  scalp,  and  bore  it  away  on  a  pole,  in  triumph. 
How  many  Indians  were  killed  is  unknown.  A  squaw  came 
in  with  a  white  flag  a  few  days  afterwards,  and  reported  that 
several  of  their  people  had  been  killed.  Their  Chief,  Kish- 
KAw-KPJE,  was  carried  off"  in  a  blanket,  but  whether  scared  or 
wounded,  was  not  ascertained.  Ben  Lucas  had  a  personal 
encounter  with  an  Indian,  by  the  side  of  Gen.  Cass. 


324  WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES. 

After  the  fight,  the  company  came  out  upon  the  common, 
except  two,  who  were  missing.  They  were  the  late  William 
Meldrum  and  Major  Louis  Moran,  (now  of  Grand  Rapids). 
Much  anxiety  was  felt  on  their  account.  It  was  feared  they 
had  been  killed.  However,  after  a  long  while,  the  brave  fel- 
lows appeared.  They  had  been  in  hot  pursuit  of  the  enemy, 
and  brought  back  a  scalp,  as  they  said,  in  token  of  victory. 

Daring  the  whole  affair.  Gen.  Cass  rode  at  the  head  of  his 
men,  and  when  advised  by  Major  Whipple  to  fall  back  to  the 
centre,  as  should  he  be  killed,  it  might  create  confusion,  he 
replied,  "  0,  Major,  I  am  pretty  well  off  here,  let  us  push  on," 
and  he  kept  his  post 

The  venerable  Judge  Conant,  who,  as  I  have  before  men- 
tioned, was  among  the.. volunteers,  and  to  whom  then,  as  now, 
a  squirrel's  eye  at  forty  yards  was  a  sufficient  target,  states 
that  Gen.  Cass,  and  every  other  man  of  the  company,  behaved 
with  perfect  coolness  through  the  whole  affair.  They  were 
nearly  all  accustomed  to  the  woods,  (and  the  enemy  knew  it,) 
or  they  might  have  been  cut  off,  to  a  man. 

After  coming  out  of  the  woods,  the  company  formed  on 
the  common,  and  marched  to  the  river  Rouge,  drove  a  band 
of  savages  out  of  the  settlement,  and  in  the  evening. returned, 
having  performed  a  good  day's  work, — one  that  gave  quiet  to 
the  settlement  until  the  end  of  the  war. 

Before  the  return  of  the  company  to  the  town,  it  had  been 
rumored  that  the  whole  party  had  been  killed.  On  (heir  way 
up  from  Springwells,  the  young  men  raised  a  tremendous 
war-whoop.  This  confirmed  the  rumor,  and  numbers  of 
women  and  children  rushed  to  the  river,  and  in  boats,  peri- 
aguas  and  canoes,  put  off  to  Canada  for  safety. 

I  have  mentioned  the  three  Rileys — James,  Peter  and 
John  ;  they  were  half  breeds.  The  latter  is  yet  living  on  the 
St  Clair.  They  were  educated  men.  When  with  white  peo- 
ple, they  were  gentlemanly,  high-toned,  honorable  fellows ; 
when  with-  the  Indians  in  the  forest,  they  could  be  perfect 


WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES.  325 

Indians,  in  dress,  language,  hunting,  trapping,  and  mode  of 
living.  They  were  the  sons  of  the  late  Judge  Riley,  of 
Schenectady,  who  was  formerly  in  the  Indian  trade  at  Sagi- 
naw. The  three  were  thorough-going  Americans,  in  every 
thought  and  feeling;  and  were  thought  by  the  British,  after 
they  had  possession  of  the  Territory,  too  dangerous  persens. 
They  sent  an  officer  and  a  few  soldiers  to  St.  Clair,  seized 
James  and  sent  him  to  Halifax,  where  he  was  kept  till  the 
peace.*  He  was  afterward  blown  up  and  killed  by  a  keg  of 
gunpowder,  at  Grand  Rapids.  Peter  remained  about  Detroit 
He,  (as  well  as  his  brothers,)  was  a  great  favorite  with  the 
Indians,  and  used  occasionally,  when  a  little  corned,  to  annoy 
the  British  authorities,  by  putting  on  the  uniform  of  an  Ameri- 
can officer,  and  with  twenty  or  thirty  Chippewa  warriors  at 
his  heels,  parade  up  and  down  Jefferson  Avenue,  and  every 
now  and  then  giving  the  war-whoop. 

The  warriors  were,  of  course,  in  the  British  service,  but 
Riley  was  their  favorite,  and  of  their  own  blood,  and  they 
would  not  have  suifered  him  to  be  injured  without  a  fight; 
they  were  proud  of  his  courage,  and  his  frolics  amused  them, 
so  Peter  remained  unmolested. 

Some  months  after  McMillan  was  killed,  and  his  son  car- 
ried off,  Capt.  Knaggs  seized  three  Indians,  the  relatives  of 
those  who  hM  made  the  boy  a  prisoner,  and  they  were  placed 
under  guard,  and  John  Riley  was  sent  to  Saginaw  to  propose 
an  exchange.  The  terms  were  agreed  to,  and  on  the  12th  of 
January  following  his  capture,  Archy  was  brought  in,  and 
delivered,  as  one  from  the  dead,  to  his  excellent  mother. 

There  were  many  sufferings  endured,  and  dangers  encoun- 
tered, in  those  days,  which  no  mortal  tongue  will  ever  utter, 
and  no  pen  record. 

*  He  must  have  returned  before  peace  was  made,  else  how  could  he  have 
been  of  Gen  Cass'  party,  as  just  related  ?  L,  C.  D. 


326  WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES. 

•  No.  9| 

Ji  Reminiscence, 

In  1813-^14,  after  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  and  the  ap- 
jpointment  of  Gen.  Cass  to  the  Government  of  the  Territory, 
the  hostile  Indians  were  every  where  conamitting  depredations 
on  the  inhabitants.  The  lives  of  the  Way-we-te-go-che  (the 
French  people,)  were  generally  spared,  because  during  peace, 
they  had  been  universally  kind  to  them ;  had  relieved  their 
distresses,  fed  them  when  hungry,  clothed  them  when  naked, 
and  sheltered  them  by  their  firesides,  from  the  winter's  storm ; 
these  things  were  remembered ;  but  though  they  spared  their 
lives,  stern  necessity  compelled  them,  as  they  said,  to  take  all 
their  means  of  living.  All  their  cattle  were  killed,  and  their 
horses  taken  away,  the  fences  around  their  land  used  for  fire- 
wood, the  fruit  from  their  orchards  carried  oft',  and,  in 
fact,  they  were  left  totally  destitute.  Knowing  their  readi- 
ness to  take  up  arms  for  their  country,  and  the  patriotic  spirit 
that  animated  them,  the  Government,  at  the  instance  of  Gen. 
Cass,  supplied  them,  from  the  public  stores,  with  the  neces- 
saries of  life,  until  they  could  raise  something  from  the  earth 
to  subsist  on.  This  was  a  slow  process,  for  a  people  without 
cattle,  without  teams,  without  fences.  But  they  murmured 
not ;  they  looked  upon  it  as  the  fate  of  war,  and  cheerfully 
submitted  to  it. 

As  to  the  Yankee  portion  of  our  population,  it  was  compar- 
atively small,  and  with  the  Indians  it  stood  on  a  different 
footing.  Jill  these  were  either  put  to  death,  when  in  their 
power,  without  mercy,  or  were  carried  into  captivity.  Mr. 
McMillan,  a  respectable  citizen,  whose  widow  and  children 
are  yet  amon'g  us,  was  cruelly  shot  down  and  scalped  on  the 
common,  while  after  his  cow,  and  one  of  his  children  taken 
prisoner  and  carried  to  Saginaw.  On  the  same  day,  a  chief 
and  his  two  sons  seeing  old  Mr.  Lewis  Moran  and  his  son 
getting  rails  near  the  border  of  the  wood,  approached  with 


WITHEEELL'S  REMINISCENCES.  327 

Stealthy  tread,  and  when  near  enough,  drew  up  their  rifles, 
and  took  deliberate  aim.  There  was  but  a  hair's  breadth  be- 
tween the  MoRANs  and  death.  At  this  critical  moment,  the 
ol(}  gentleman  turned  the  side  of  his  face  to  the  Indians ;  the 
old  chief  knew  him  at  once,  by  his  crooked  nose,  to  be  his 
former  friend.  He  whistled,  the  rifles  dropt,  and  the  Indians 
went  ofL  After  the  peace,  they  told  "  Uncle  Lewis"  that  his 
hose  had  saved  his  life. 

The  forest  near,  and  in  sight  of  the  city,  was  filled  with 
these  marauding  bands,  and  they  were  daily  seen  from  the 
city,  killing  cattle,  and  driving  off"  horses,  &c.  Col.  Croghan 
built  a  little  Fort,  which  is  yet  standing,  I  think,  on  Judge 
Sibley's  land,  near  the  Pontiac  road,  to  keep  the  Indians  from 
the  common,  and  then  fired  into  it  from  Fort  Shelby,  to  see 
if  he  could  drive  the  Indians  out,  if  they  should  take  it 
There  was 'too  small  a  garrison  of  soldiers  at  Fort  Shelby  to 
risk  it,  or  any  part  of  it,  in  an  Indian  fight 

Gov.  Cass  called  upon  the  citizens  to  come  and  follow  him. 
Detroit  was  then  a  small  town,  and  had  but  few  inhabitants, 
but  they  were  of  the  right  sort.  They  gathered  together  at 
the  summons  of  the  General,  armed  in  all  manner  of  ways 
— muskets,  fowling  pieces,  rifles,  sabres,  tomahawks,  &c.; 
but  still  armed,  and  willing  to  use  their  arms  with  Gen.  Cass 
at  their  head,  for  he  was  always  there.  They  went  up  the 
the  river  about  a  mile,  and  there  took  to  the  woods,  intend- 
ing to  gain  the  rear  of  the  Indian  force ;  but  their  scouts  were 
on  the  alert,  and  when  the  citize^ijs  reached  the  Indian  camp, 
they  had  just  quitted  it  A  fire  was  opened,  however,  upon 
them ;  one  Indian  only  was  known  to  be  killed ;  how  many 
others  were  killed  or  wounded  was  never  known.  The  Indians 
effected  a  retreat,  followed  by  the  party  for  some  distance — 
the  dense  forest  and  thick  underbrush,  however,  prevented  a 
rapid  pursuit  on  horseback.  .^ 

After  the  return  of  the  party,  they  were  informed  that  In- 
oians  were  hanging  on  the  borders  of  the  settlement  below, 


32S      ■  WITHERELL'S   REMINISCEJfCES. 

near  the  river  Rouge.  Gen.  Cass,  with  his  party,  proceeded 
to  that  part  of  the  country,  and  the  Indians  fled.  He  after- 
wards, with  the  citizens,  marched  towards  the  settlements  on. 
the  CUnton  river,  which  were  menaced  by  the  enemy,  and 
the  savages  again  retired,  and  fled  to  Saginaw.  His  constant, 
unremitting  vigilance,  and  energetic  conduct,  saved  our  people 
from  many  of  the  horrors  of  war,  and  he  was  well  sustained 
by  our  habit ans.  They  were  brave  and  fearless  to  a  fault ; 
the  Indian  yell,  and  the  war-whoop  had  no  terrors  for  them 
when  they  heard  it  in  battle ;  they  invariably  returned  it, 
rushed  upon,  the  enemy,  as  they  did  at  Maguaga,  under  the 
gallant  Dr  Quindrf.  They  had  great  confidence  in  Gen.  Oass, 
and  willingly  followed  him  into  any  danger. 

Horses  were  very  scarce,  and  it  was  with  some  difficulty 
that  enough  were  obtained  for  the  expedition.  ,  Gen.  Cass  had 
several,  and  his  were  readily  and  willingly  furnished ;  one 
magnificent  horse  of  his,  rode  by  one  of  the  bravest  fellows 
in  all  the  West,  (the  late  William  Meldrum,)  was  accident- 
ally killed  during  the  expedition. 


:n^.  lo. 

^ -'  NE-GWA-aoN,  the  Little  Wing. 

Among  the  sachems,  chiefs,  head-men  and  warriors  of  the 
tribes  now  assembled  in  council  in  this  city,  is  Ke-way-o- 
suNG,  the  son  of  the  famous  old  Chippewa  chief,  Ne-gwa-gon, 
the  friend  of  our  people,  whose  memory  is  held  in  high  es- 
teem, not  only  by  the  Red  Men,  but  by  all  of  our  people  who 
knew  him.  He  has  long  since  passed  away  to  the  happy 
hunting  grounds  of  his  fathers. 

During  the  last  war  with  Engfahd,  many  of  the  Red  Men. 
on  this  frontier,  offered  their  services  to  the  United  States,  but, 
from  a  mistaken  policy  the  Government  declined  the  offer. 
The  restless  young  braves  could  not  be  kept  quiet,  and  joined 


WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES.  329 

the  enemy.  Ne-gwa-gon,  then  a  man  of  middle  age,  re- 
mained a  steadfast  friend,  and,  as  far  as  permitted,  took  up  the 
tomahawk  for  the  Che-mo-ke-mun.  One  of  his  sons  fell  fight- 
ing our  battles  at  Maguaga,  and  the  great  chief  adopted  the  late 
Austin  E.  Wing,  Esq.,  as  his  son,  in  the  place  of  the  deceased. 

When  the  enemy  had  taken  possession  of  the  country,  Ne- 
GWA-GON,  with  his  family  and  band,  retired  to  his  hunting 
ground  on  the  main  land  near  Mackinac.  He  planted  his 
small  American  flag  in  his  camp  in  the  woods,  and  lived  by 
the  chase.  The  British  commanding  officer  at  Mackinac  sent 
an  officer  and  fifteen  men  to  take  away  the  flag.  The  officer, 
with  his  party,  found  the  chief  alone ;  his  band  were  hunting. 
"  I  have  come,"  said  the  officer,  "  to  take  away  that  flag ;  it  is 
the  flag  of  the  Che-mo-ke-mun,  and  must  not  fly  here.  The 
Saginash*  alone  now  own  the  country." 

Ne-gwa-gon  was  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  humanity; 
he  was  over  six  feet  in  height,  straight  as  the  oaks  of  his  own 
forest,  with  powerful  muscular  developments,  and  with  a 
manly  countenance  and  bearing.  He  was  a  man  of  strong 
intellect,  and  possessed  the  resolution  and  courage  of  a  lion. 
The  old  chief's  dark  eyes  flashed  at  the  demand  for  his  flag; 
he  rose  to  his  feet,  strode  forward  to  his  flag,  lowered  it,  and 
winding  it  around  his  left  arm,  drew  his  tomahawk  from  his 
belt,  and  turning  to  the  officer,  he  sternly  said :  "  Saginash, 
Ne-gwa-gon  is  the  friend  of  the  Che-mo-ke-mun;  he  has  but 
one  flag  and  one  heart.  If  you  take  one,  you  shall  take  the 
other."  Then,  giving  a  tremendous  war-whoop,  (the  signal 
for  his  braves  to  assemble,)  he  looked  sternly  and  silently  at 
the  officer,  who  began  to  think  that  "  discretion  was  the  better 
part  of  valor,"  and  hastily  retired  to  his  boat,  and  returned  to 
Mackinac.  The  gallant  old  chief  re-hoisted  his  flag,  and 
kept  it  flying  till  the  end  of  the  war. 


*  Saginash  is  a  very  common  Indian  designation  for  white  people,  but  here 
is  evidently  designed  to  refer  more  especially  to  the  English,  and  Che-mo-ke- 
mun  to  the  Americans.  L.  0.  D. 

42m  » 


330  WITHERELL'S   REMINISCENCES. 

After  the  peace,  he  annually,  with  his  family,  visited  this 
city,  with  two  large  and  beautiful  bark  canoes,  the  stars  and 
stripes  flying  at  the  stern  of  each.  Gen.  Cass  never  failed  to 
reward  his  integrity  with  abundant  supplies,  and  among  other 
'things,  with  two  new  flags,  which  floated  in  triumph  over  his 
wigwam  in  the  wilderness,  till  the  spirit  of  the  old  warrior 
departed  to  join  the  countless  myriads  of  his  race  beyond  the 
great  western  rivers. 


IWo.  11. 

The  Old  Town  of  Detroit. 

On  the  11th  day  of  June,  1805,  the  sun  rose  in  cloudless 
splendor,  over  the  little  town  of  Detroit  A  few  miiiutes  kfter 
a  poor  washer- woman  kindled  a  fire  in  a  back  yard,  to  begin 
her  daily  toil,  a  spark  set  fire  to  some  hay.  At  noon  of  the 
same  day,  but  one  solitary  dwelling  remained,  to  mark  the 
site  of  the  town.  All  the  others  were  in  ashes,  and  the 
whole  population,  men,  women  and  children — the  aged  and 
;young,  the  sick,  the  halt,  and  the  blind,  were  driven  into  the 
streets,  houseless  and  homeless.  All  the  boats,  pirogues  and 
skiffs  lying  along  the  beach,  (as  it  then  was,)  were  loaded  with 
goods,  and  pushed  off  into  the  stream ;  but  burning  shingles, 
driven  by  the  wind,  followed  and  destroyed  them  even  there. 
The  town  being  built  of  dry  pine,  and  very  compact,  the 
streets  but  about  twenty  feet  wide,  (the  width  of  a  side-walk 
on  Jefferson  Avenue,)  the  progress  of  the  fire  was  extremely 
rapid,  and  the  heat  tremendous.  The  whole  population,  like 
Bedouins  of  the  desert,  pitched  their  tents,  by  the  cooling 
embers  of  their  late  happy  dwellings.  Fortunately,  Provi- 
dence permitted  the  calamity  to  fall  on  them  in  summer.  The 
Lea-]ight  hearts  of  the  French  habitans  rose  above  the 
pressure  of  misfortune,  and  to  work  they  went,  to  repair 
damages.     No  grumbling  at  Providence.     Their  religion  told 


WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES.  331 

them  that  repining  was  useless.  So  they  worked,  and  fid- 
dled, and  danced,  and  sung,  and  soon  a  new  town  began  to 
appear,  in  its  present  extended  form ;  and  with  the  regret  of 
the  moment,  passed  away  all  sorrow  for  the  losses  endured. 


No.  12. 

ndn  Indian  Duel, 

Long  ere  the  ceaseless,  ever-rolling  tide  of  the  pale-faced 
Che-mo-ke-mun  had  swept  away  from  their  homes  and  their 
hunting  grounds,  the  war-like  tribe  of  the  Miamis,  while 
their  numerous  camp-fires  illumined  the  hills  and  valleys  of 
the  West,  when  the  braves  of  their  tribe  passed  to  battle  along 
the  war-path,  Min-ge-ne-ke-aw,  or  The  Big  Man,  one  of  the 
gallant  chiefs  of  the  nation,  felt  his  ire  excited  at  the  rep- 
utation which  a  member  of  his  tribe,  a  half-breed,  called 
Fkancois  Godfroy,  had  obtained  for  courage  and  personal 
strength. 

MiN-GKrNE-KE-Aw  claimed  to  be  the  bravest,  as  well  as  the 
strongest,  man  of  his  people,  and  would  endure  no  rival.  He 
chafed  like  the  wild  boar,  when  he  heard  the  braves  and  red 
beauties  extol  the  manly  bearing  of  his  competitor ;  and  he 
resolved  to  test  the  courage  and  physical  power  of  Fbank,  in 
single  combat.  He  gave  no  challenge  to  mortal  strife,  with 
"your  humble  servant"  at  the  bottom,  but  meeting  Frank 
one  day,  he  accosted  him  with  "  Are  you  a  brave  man  ? " 
*^Yes,"  was  the  reply.  "Then  meet  me  here  to-morrow 
morning,  at  sunrise,  with  your  scalping-knife  in  your  right 
hand ;  we  will  join  our  left  hands,  and  he  who  kills  the  other 
is  the  best  and  the  bravest  warrior  of  the  Miamis." 

Frank,  though  a  man  of  dauntless  courage  and  herculean 
strength,  saw  no  good  reason  to  test  either  in  that  way,  but 
nothing  but  blood  would  satisfy  the  chief,  and  Frank  replied 
"Pll  meet  you." 


332  WITHERELL'S   REMINISCENCES. 

At  the  appointed  hour,  the  great  chief  strode  along  to  the 
battle  ground.  He  rehed  not  only  on  his  personal  strength, 
but  also  on  his  great  dexterity  in  the  use  of  the  scalping- 
knife,  which  he  had  tried  on  the  pale  faces  at  Harmar's  and 
St.  Clair's  defeats,  and  all  along  our  frontier.  His  dark  eye 
flashed,  as,  with  the  deep  growl  of  a  tiger,  he  advanced  to 
anticipated  victory.  He  brandished  his  knife,  and  called  on 
his  antagonist  to  sing  the  death  song,  ere  his  spirit  was  dis- 
missed, by  the  great  chief,  to  the  distant  hunting  grounds  of 
the  dead  warriors  of  their  race,  who  had  fallen  in  battle,  and 
gone  to  the  Far  West,  beyond  the  great  rivers. 

Frank  saw  that  there  was  no  avoi4ing  the  deadly  strife. 
,To  refuse,  was  to  be  branded  as  a  coward  and  a  squaw.  The 
only  alternative  was  victory  or  sudden  death ;  so  he  flour- 
ished his  keen  blade,  gave  a  shrill  whoop  of  defiance,  and 
advanced.  They  joined  their  left  hands,  and  there  they 
stood,  face  to  face,  and,  like  Fitz  James  and  Rodbric  Dhu  of 
old, 

"  Each  looked  to  sun,  and  sky,  and  plain. 
As  what  they  ne'er  might  see  again." 

They  mustered  all  their  strength  for  the  deadly  thrust,  raised 
their  keen  knives  aloft,  but  ere  they  fell,  Frank,  the  grip  of 
whose  hand  was  like  an  iron  vice,  wrung  the  left  hand  of 
MiN-GE-NE-KE-Aw  witli  sucli  trcmcndous  force  as  nearly 
crushed  the  bones  together.  The  chief,  with  a  yell  of  an- 
guish, dropped  his  knife,  and  cried  out, "  You  are  a  braver 
and  a  stronger  warrior  than  I  am ;  let  us  shake  hands,  and  be 
friends  forever." 


No.   13. 

KisH-KAw-Ko  and  Big  Beaver. 

Among  the  unpleasant  incidents  of  early  days  of  our  city, 
were  the  numerous  brawls  and  quarrels  of  the  Indians. 
Murders,  not  alone  of  whites,  but  of  their  own  people,  were 


.-  I 


WITHERELL'S   REMINISCElfCES.  333 


frequently  committed  by  the  Indians.  Being  almost  at  all 
times  drunk,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  they  so  easily 
and  so  often  imbrued  their  hands  in  human  blood.  In  the 
winter  of  1826,  in  the  afternoon  of  a  day  in  January,  a  Chip- 
pewa was  found  in  the  street  in  Detroit,  nearly  dead  from  a 
cut  in  his  head  from  a  tomahawk.  Kish-ka.w-ko,  a  notorious 
war  chief,  dreaded  for  his  many  and  atrocious  murders,  was 
suspected  of  the  crime.  He  was  sought  after,  and  found  with 
his  son.  Big  Beaver;  the  latter  had  his  father^s  tomahawk, 
which  was  stained  with  blood.  When  he  was  arrested,  he 
said  the  blood  was  from  some  meat  he  had  been  cutting.  Both 
of  them  went  quietly  to  prison,  on  being  told  it  was  Gov. 
Cass'  wish  they  should  go  there.  The  Coroner's  Jury  found 
a  verdict  against  Big  Beaver,  as  the  principal  in  the  murder, 
and  KisH-KAw-Ko  as  accessory.  The  Indians  remained  in 
jail  until  May,  when  Kish-kaw-ko  was  found  one  morning 
dead  in  his  cell.  A  jury  of  inquest  returned  a  verdict  of  nat- 
ural death,  but  from  circumstances  afterwards  ascertained,  it 
was  rendered  probable  that  he  poisoned  himself.  The  night 
before,  one  of  his  wives  brought  him  a  small  cup,  and  went 
away.  Soon  after,  a  number  of  Indians  called  to  see  him, 
and  held  a  long  conference ;  and  when  they  went  away,  he 
took  leave  of  them  with  great  solemnity  and  affection.  After 
they  left,  Kish-kaw-ko  asked  the  jailer  to  give  him  liquor,  a 
request  which  he  never  before  made.  At  an  eaTly  hour  the 
next  morning,  the  people  who  visited  him  the  previous  even- 
ing, came  and  asked  to  see  him. 

When  they  found  him  dead,  they  appeared  delighted,  and 
as  if  gratified  to  find  their  expectations  realized.  All  but  a 
few  of  his  band  started  immediately  for  Saginaw.  Those 
who  remained,  performed  the  funeral  ceremonies.  He  was 
buried  by  moonlight,  on  a  farm  near  the  city. 

He  was  one  of  the  most  ferocious  and  savage  chiefs  of 
modern  times.  His  influence  with  the  people  was  great, 
although  he  was  unpopular.    He  was  tall  and  athletic,  and 


3Q4  WITHERELL'S   ItEMIJSriSCENCES. 

of  great  decision  of  character.  He  was  attended  by  a  large 
retinue  when  he  visited  Detroit, — was  peculiar  for  carrying 
his  war-axe  upon  the  left  arm,  tightly  grasped  with  his  right 
hand,  as  if  in  expectation  of  striking.  His  despotism  may  be 
learned  from  the  following  occurrence  at  Saginaw :  One  of 
his  band  killed  another.  The  friends  of  the  victim  were 
clamorous  for  revenge.  The  murderer's  friends  were  desirous 
of,  .saving  him  from  their  vengeance,  and  negotiated  for  his 
life.  The  conditions  were  agreed  upon,  and  the  property  of- 
fered in  fulfillment  of  the  bargain  was  about  to  be  delivered, 
when  KisH-KAw-Ko  stepped  up,  and  struck  the  murdereridead 
with  his  tomahawk.  When  asked  why  he  interrupted  their 
proceedings,  and  interfered  with  their  lawful  agreements,  he 
merely  replied,  "  The  law  is  altered." 

Big  Beaver,  like  his  father,  was  a  powerful  and  muscular 
savage;  and  one  day  when  the  jailor's  son  went  to  see  him 
in  his  cell,  just  as  he  opened  the  door.  Big  Beaver  seized 
him,  thrust  him  inside,  locked  the  door,  and  escaped  to  the 
woods.  He  was  never  re-taken,  but  was,  not  long  after, 
drowned  in  Saginaw  Bay. 


No.  14« 


An  Indian  Trial  in  1823 — Capital  Conviction  of  Indians 

in  1828. 

In  looking  over  some  old  letters,  I  observe  one  from  Gover- 
nor (then  Judge)  Doty,  of  Wisconsin,  an  extract  from  which 
I  send  you.  "  The  lapse  of  many  years"  makes  many  mat- 
ters interesting,  which,  at  the  time,  were  little  thought  of.  The 
race  of  the  Red  Men,  to  which  the  letter  relates,  is  rapidly 
passing  away, 

"With  their  old  forests,  wide  and  deep, 
And  we  have  built  our  homes  upon  fields 
Where  their  generations  sleep. 


WITHERELL'S   REMINISCENCES.  335 

The  letter  bears  date — 

"Mackinac,  August  6,  1823. 

«  SiK : — At  this '  term  of  the  court,  there  have  been  several 
trials  and  much  more  business  than  could  have  been  expected. 
An  Indian  was  indicted  for  the  murder  of  another  Indian ;  he 
was  tried  and  acquitted.  On  the  trial,  a  question  arose  as  to 
the  admissibility  of  evidence.  When  the  act  was  committed, 
there  were  three  or  four  Indians  only  present,  and  not  a  single 
white  person.  I  was  at  a  loss,  on  the  rules  laid  down,  whether 
these  Indians  could  be  admitted  as  witnesses;  from  the  situ- 
ation of  the  country,  you  will  at  once  see  that  it  is  a  question 
of  considerable  importance.  One  of  the  witnesses  (a  woman) 
stated  that  she  believed  there  was  a  Great  Spirit — that  there 
were  places  appointed  for  those  who  conducted  well,  and  for 
those  who  conducted  badly: — that  the  eye  of  the  Great  Spirit 
was  continually  upon  her,  and  that,  if  slie  told  a  lie  about 
the  murder,  before  the  court,  she  would,  after  death,  be  sent 
to  the  had  place,  and  there  punished  for  it.  Under  a  solemn 
injunction  to  tell  the  truth,  I  permitted  her  to  make  her  state- 
ment to  the  jury„  at  the  same  time  instructing  them  to  place 
such  dependence  only  on  it  as  it  might  seem  to  merit  All  of 
the  others  would  not  say  whether  they  believed  in  anything. 
They  appeared  to  be  very  stupid.  One  of  them  said  he  was 
a  pretty  old  man,  and  if  any  of  his  friends  who  had  died  had 
come  to  life  again,  he  rather  thought  he  should  have  seen 
them,  but  he  never  heard  anything  about  them  after  they  were 
once  dead  and  buried.     These  witnesses  were  all  rejected." 

Several  years  after,  (in  1828,)  they  appear  to  have  been 
troubled  in  Wisconsin  to  get  a  sheriff  to  hang  an  Indian,  after 
he  had  been  regularly  convicted  of  murder,  as  will  appear  by 
the  following  copy  of  a  letter  to  Gen.  Cass,  then  at  Washing- 
ton, from. the  Hon.  James  Witherell,  then  acting  Governor 

of  Michigan: 

"  Detkoit,  Nov.  4th,  1828. 

"Dear  Sir; — Some  time  after  you  left  here,  I  received,  by 

the  hand  of  Major  Rowland,  the  record  of  conviction  and 


336  WITHERELL'S  REMINISCENCES. 

sentence  of  two  Winnebago  Indians,  tried  for  muraer  oefore 
Judge  Doty,  in  the  county  of  Crawford.  By  the  sentence, 
their  execution  was  fixed  for  the  26th  of  December.  In  a 
note  of  the  Judge,  accompanying  the  testimony,  he  states  that 
the  sheriff  of  the  county,  whose  duty  it  was  to  execute  the 
sentence,  is  not  quaUfied  according  to  law,  not  having  given 
bond,  and  from  what  he  could  learn,  could  not  be  qualified 
in  time  to  perform  the  duty.  The  distance  from  this  place, 
and  lateness  of  the  season,  rendered  it  doubtful  whether  the 
removal  of  the  sheriff  and  the  appointment  of  another  would 
obviate  the  difficulty,  as  he  also  might  neglect  or  refuse  to 
qualify.  All  the  circumstances  considered,  I  judged  it  most 
prudent  to  refer  the  whole  subject  to  the  President,  and,  in 
order  that  full  time  might  be  given  for  consideration,  as  well 
for  remedying  the  defect  in  .  the  affair  of  the  sheriff,  I  have 
forwarded  to  Judge  Doty,  by  the  first  (and  perhaps  the  last) 
opportunity  this  fall,  to  be  by  him  communicated  to  the 
sheriff,  a  respite  from  the  sentence  till  the  last  Friday  of  June 
next  Although  the  course  I  have  pursued  did  not  make  it 
necessary  for  me  to  express  any  opinion  on  the  facts  and  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case,  it  was  nevertheless  necessary  to  take 
such  steps  as  might  ultimately  prevent  the  failure  of  publio^, 
justice,  through  the  fault  or  fears  of  a  ministerial  officer.  The 
President,  no  doubt,  will  consult  you  on  this  subject. 

"  Very  respectfully,  yours, 

,  J.  WITHERELL.^- 

jThe  President,  I  believe,  pardoned  the  Indians.*  I  have  no 
recollection  of  one  Indian  being  hung  for  killing  another  In- 
dian. It  was  generally  understood,  in  early  times,  that  they 
might  settle  these  matters  in  their  own  way.  ^  w 


*  Gen.  Smith,  in  his  Hid.  of  Wucondn,  gives  the  names  of  tliese  two  In- 
dians as  Chick- HONG- SIC,  or  The  Little  Boeuff,  and  Wi-na-ga,  or  The  Sun  ;  and 
stales  that  the  President's  pardon  bore  date  Nov.  3,  1828.  Judge  Lockwood,  in 
his  Narrative,  speaks  of  these  two  Indians,  one  as  Wah-nah-peck-ah,  and  the 
other  as  a  young  Indian  whose  name  he  had  forgotten.  Probably  Wah  nah- 
PKOK-AH  also  bore  one  of  lihe  names  mentioned  by  Gen.  Smith.  L.  C.  D. 


WITHERELL'S   REMINISCENCES.  337  ' 

No.    15r 

\ 
Indian  Names. 

In  the  published  Collections  of  the  Wisconsin  Historical 
Society,  the  Indian  names  for  several  of  the  towns,  rivers,  &c., 
in  that  State  are  given,  and  the  question  is  asked,  what  is  the 
English  meaning  for  the  words  ?  I  send  you  a  few,  with  a 
translation  as  given  me  by  Louis  M.  Moean,  one  of  the  in- 
terpreters of  the  Chippewas  : 

Mil-wau-kee — pronounced  by  the  Indians  Me-ne-aw-kee : 
a  rich  or  beautiful  land. 

She-boy-gan:  a  hollow  bone. 

Wau-ke-sha — pronounced  by  the  Chippewas  Waw-goosh-c^ 
sha :  the  little  fox. 

Pee-wau-kee — pronounced,  and  should  be  spelled,  Pee-wau- 
naw-kee :  the  flinty  place. 

Wau-pe-te-see-pe — the  Indian  word  is  Wee-be-te-see-pee : 
Tooth  River. 

Osh-kosh:  a  hoof.*  ,  45*        *  - 

Manitou- wauk :  the  home  or  place  of  the  spirits.,     t  . 

.There  are  many  parts  of  long  Indian  names  which  are  al- 
most inaudible  when  spoken  by  an  Indian,  and  yet  they  are 
necessary  to  make  any  sense  of  the  word.  WhitiO  men  gen- 
erally, in  writing  such  names,  leave  a  part  out,  and  the  con- 
sequence is,  that  interpreters  can  make  nothing  of  them.      ,  . 

'  "", ' "~      n     ~~~r~~~  ■:•■ .       ~       ^    ^^~" I \ 

*  We  believe  the  invariable  defiriition  of  the  word  Osh-iosh  among  the  Me-  ■' 
MQmpnees,  iJ3 — brave.  ,>^^  L.  C.  D. 

1)0/;  \fM^i99.\i-9x\f  aHt  5»fv{nv/oJ  aaOillsbiiw  &d^  "^  r-iffrrr  00<u*  • 

loi'i  '^  Yhn^>)        10  J     ..iiiuij  Kjuij  iuiiju 

yd  v^ 


A  Om 


,.'JJ6 


THE  ClilPPEWiS  of  LAKte  StlPERIOH. 


BY  EICHAKD  E.  MORSE,  M.  D.,  OP  DETROIT. 


No.  1. 

Pai/ment   of  the    Chippewas — La'l^omie — CAz^  Na-naw- 
ONG-GA-BE,  The  Beautifying  Bird. 

It  may  be  remembered  that  the  payment  to.  .the  Chippewa 
Indians  at  La  Pointe,  in  August  and  September,  1855,  was 
necessarily  deferred  during  weeks,  waiting  for  the  remote 
bands  to  come  in. 

The  department  had  sent  express  and  tiiriely  orders  to  per- 
sons at  La  Pointe,  to  have  the  Indians  gathered,  and  to  be  in 
waiting  for  the  Commissioner  or  Agent,  with  goods  and 
money  for  the  payment,  as  per  treaty,  when  we  arrived.  The 
persons  failed  to  carry  out  the  orders. 

The  officers  of  the  commission,  and  persons  connected 
with  the  payment,  must  remain  from  the  time  we  arrived, 
(llth  August,)  until  messengers  could  ^e  despatched  for  the 
bands  at  a  distance.  To  Grand  Portage,  North  Shore,  and 
over  200  miles  in  the  wilderness  towards  the  Mississippi  and 
other  directions.  Consequently  the  Indians  from  the  interior 
were  weeks  arriving.  The  interval  of  time  being  occupied  by 
the  Agency  in  taking  the  census  of — and  in  putting  up  pack- 
ages of  goods  for,  and  distributing  to,  the  Indians,  as  they  ar- 
rived, and  in  holding  councils  with  the  chiefs  in  relation  to 
affairs  of  unsettled  business,  directing  in  regard  to  the  payment 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  GF  LAKE  SUPERIOR.  339 

of  their  debts  as  per  appropriation  from  Government  of  ^90,000 
for  tiiat  purpose.  Many  sittings  and  councils  were  held,  and 
speeches  made  between  those  of  the  commission  and  the 
chiefs.     A  long  time,  it  seemed,  had  transpired. 

The  bands  from  the  vicinity  of  Lac  Court  Orielle  were  yet 
to  come.  Finally  news  of  the  arrival  of  some  200  of  these 
Indians  upon  the  shore  of  the  Bay,  about  12  miles  from  La 
Pointe,  had  the  evening  before  reached  the  Commissioner, 
who  promptly  employed  three  or  four  little  sail  boats,  the  only 
craft  at  hand,  to  bring  the  Indians  over. 

It  was  at  a  council  on  the  green  during  the  forenoon,  the 
chief,  Waw-be-sha-she,  was  speaking,  though  his  remarks 
were  not  very  important  nor  pertinent  to  any  matter  before  the 
council,  and  besides  were  somewhat  prosy,  and  becoming  te- 
dious, when  an  Indian,  who  was  not  a  chief,  interrupted  him 
in  a  declamatory  manner,  creating  a  little  merriment — said  he, 
"  Why  are  you  taking  up  the  time  of  our  Great  Father  (Com- 
missioner Manypenny)  in  talking  nonsense,  which  does  no 
good  to  any  one  ?  You  know  our  brothers  are  at  the  Bay,  wait- 
ing to  come  over." 

The  chief  retorted  with  spirit — "  Are  you  a  fool  ?  you  talk 
like  a  child.  Do  you  think  our  Great  Father  is  going  to  take 
a  canoe  and  paddle  it  over  the  Bay  to  bring  the  Indians  ?" 
A  general  and  hearty  laugh  among  the  Indians. 

The  day  was  bright  and  warm.  It  was  nearly  noon-  that 
the  three  or  four  little  sail  boats  which  had  been  despatched 
to  fetch  these  forest  children  across  the  Bay  to  La  Pointe 
hove  in  sight,  and  nearing  the  shore,  laden  almost  to  the 
water's  edge  with  men,  women  and  children.  There  was  a 
general  gathering  on  shore  to  see  them  as  they  came  in. 

A  scene  of  the  like  poverty  and  abject  wretchedness,  we 
hope  we  may  never  witness  again.  Some  of  these  poor  crea- 
tures, especially  the  children,  were  literally  naked. 

They  had  but  shreds  for  blankets.  Birch  bark  baskets,  and 
dishes  the  same,  were  their  chief  wares — rude  and  untanned 


V 


340  THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 

deer  and  other  skins,  their  principal  wardrobe  and  baggage. 
Clothing,  they  could  not  be  said  to  have  had.  Some  of  the  men 
had  what  were  once  shirts — some  had  not — some,  parts  of 
leggings — others  none.  Most  of  the  women  had  on  them 
some  kind  of  a  miserable  excuse  for  a  garment 

The  children  nearly,  some  quite  naked,  were,  as  if  to  hide^^^ 
them  from  sight,  mostly  inside  of  a  circle  made  of  their  effects, 
and  what  was  a  sad  apology  for  baggage. 

Several  of  these  poor  wretches  were  so  feeble  from  hunger 
and  sickness,  that  they  needed  supporting.  A  number  were 
lame,  others  partially  blind.  All  had,  for  some  time,  been  on 
scanty  rations  of  nought  but  wild  rice,  as  they  could  neither 
fish  nor  hunt  while  hurrying  with  their  sick  and  children, 
and  fearing  their  enemies  in  ambush — to  meet  their  "  Great 
Father."  Commissioner  Manypenny,  Gen.  H.  L.  Stevens, 
and  many  others  who  were  present,  can  bear  testimony  to 
these  truths. 

Of  these  interior  bands,  NA^NiW-oNG-GA-BE  was  the  head. 
They  were  from  within  30  to  60  miles  of  the  Mississippi ;  on 
the  opposite  side  of  which  is  the  country  of  their  old  and 
implacable  enemies,  the  Sioux.  Between  these  tribes,  deadly 
feuds  and  exterminating  wars  have  existed  for  more  mdii  a 
century,  defying  all  efforts  from  their  white  neighbors,  and 
the  means  which  have  been  employed  by  the  U.  S.  Government,  * 
to  arrest  them.  Hence  these  people  have  good  reason  to  be 
iri  continual  fear,  and  on  constant  watch  for  their  lives. 

The  warriors  of  these  bands,  it  was  conceded^  excelled 
those  of  any  and  all  others  at  La  Pointe,  in  their  noble  fea- 
tures and  fine,  erect  statures.  Nor  were  they  inferior  in  their 
sprightliness  of  mind;  their  head  chief  was  the  smartest, 
orator  on  the  gi-ound.  Not  'Ibng  after  they  arrived,  the  Com- 
missioner sent  a  request  for  these  bands  to  meet  him  at  the 
council-ground,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  rations.  In  two 
or  three  hours  we  saw  some  80  to  100  stately  warriors,  Na- 
naw-ong-gi-bb;  at  their  head,  marching  in  more  regular  order 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR.  341 

than  those  bands  less  accustomed  to  the  warpath,  to  meet  the 
Commissioner.  These  Indians  came  late  last  year  also,  and 
the  goods  mainly  having  been  distributed,  they  received  but 
very  little. 

The  head  chief,  Na-naw-ong-ga-be,  we  should  say,  had 
seen  about  fifty-five  winters.  He  is  rather  less  than  the  me- 
dium height  and  size,  an  intelligent  face  and  mild  expression, 
a  very  keen  eye,  and  when  animated  in  speaking,  a  sort  of 
fiery  look  or  twinkle.  Like  most  of  the  warriors,  his  face  is 
highly  colored  with  vermillion.  At  the  head  of  his  warriors 
and  in  council,  he  wears  an  elaborate  turban  of  turkey  feath- 
ers over  his  head  and  shoulders — giving  him  a  fuller  appear- 
ance in  person  than  he  really  has,  an  unique  look  even  for  an 
Indian. 

It  was  not  long  after  this  chief  arrived,  before  he  became 
the  favorite  orator  and  chief  We  saw  and  noticed  much  of 
him  and  his  people.  We  believe  they  have  innate  impulses 
as  exalted  as  in  human  bosom  ever  dwelt.  We  saw  tears  of 
sympathy  over  the  scene  of  misery  before  us,  when  these 
people  landed  at  La  Pointe.  On  the  ground,  the  day  they 
arrived,  by  the  side  of  Na-naw-ong-ga-be,  stood  Aw-ke- 
wAiN-zB,  his  principal,  a  tall  and  majestic  chief,  and  a  full 
head  and  neck  above  the  red  warriors  seated  around  on  the 
grass.  The  Commissioner  addressed  them,  John  Johnson,  of 
the  Soo,  a  half  Chippewa,  and  a  man  of  intelligence  and 
character,  interpreting.  ^^ 

The  Commissioner  having  said  that  he  was  very  glad  to 
see  him  and  his  people,  though  they  had  come  late ;  that  he 
felt  pained  to  see  them  in  such  a  sorrowful  condition,  looking 
so  poverty  stricken,  &c. 

Na-naw-ong-ga-be,  in  a  manner  dignified  and  earnest, 
readily  replied :  "  My  father,  we  are  very  happy  to  see  you 
also.  We  have  reasons  for  not  coming  immediately  after  we 
heard  your  voice  echoing  through  the  wilderness.  We  were 
all  roused  by  the  sound  of  your  voice.     It  created  glad  feel- 


342  THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 

ings  and  rejoicings  among  all  my  people.     I  lost  no  time  to 
wive  orders  to  all  my  young  men  to  collect  before  me.     I  then 
informed  them  that  your  words  had  reached  me,  desiring  us 
to  come  immediately  to  you.     I  took  the  second  thought,  and 
concluded  it  would  not  be  proper  to  advise  my  young  men  to 
"leave  immediately,  while  we  were  all  busily  engaged  in  col- 
'  Meeting  wild  rice,  to  provide  for  my  people  against  hunger  and 
^'Yamine.     After  making  all  haste  to  do  this,,  and  provide  for 
'"^'our  sick  old  women  and  children,  with  four  of  my  best  war- 
''^^riors  to  defend  them  from  my  troublesome  and  dangerous 
neighbors,  the  Sioux,  I  and  my  people  with  me,  hastened 
upon  the  path- way  to  the  shores  of  the  Chippewa  Lake  (Su- 
perior).    I  have  obeyed  your  call — I  am  now  before  you. 

"  You  say,  my  father,  you  are  sorry  to  see  us  in  our  state  of 
poverty.  *  *  No  wonder,  my  father,  you  see  us  in  pov- 
erty and  showing  so  much  of  our  nakedness.  Five  long 
winters  have  passed  since  I  have  received  as  much  as  a 
blanket  for  one  of  my  children. 

•^My  father,  what  has  become  of  your  promise?     You 

probably  have  sent  what  you  promised  to  us,  but  where  it 

\  has  gone,  is  more  than  I  am  able  to  say.    Perhaps  it  has  sunk 

in  the  deep  waters  of  the  lake,  or  it  may  have  evaporated  in 

the  heavens,  like  the  rising  of  the  mist — or  perhaps  it  has 

'  'Wown  over  our  heads,  and  gone  towards  the  setting  sun. 

Last  year  I  visited  our  father  (Indian  Agent  Gilbert)  who 

came  here,  and  gave  goods  to  a  portion  of  his  red  children — 

but  I  could  not  get  here  in  time — I  got  nothing.     I  turned 

round  to  some  of  our  traders,  no  doubt  who  are  now  standing 

among  us  here,  and  asked  them  for  some  clothing  to  take  to 

my  poor  children,  but  they  refused  me.     Therefore  I  had  to 

retrace  my  foot-steps  over  a  long  road,  with  empty  hands,  to 

my  home  in  the  woods — just  as  I  had  come. 

^'''  -"  In  your  words  to  me,  you  ask  me  not  to  use  the  fire-water; 

^'Snd  after  my  traders  refusing  me,  as  I  said  before,  I  do  not 

'^%tend  to  accept  their  ^re-water  in  case  they  offer  it  to  me. 


V 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR.  ^^3 

nil  *il  returned  to  my  home.  ^'J'' endured  the  severity  of  the 
long,  cold  winter  with  what  nature  had  provided  for  me — re- 
lieved only  by  the  skins  I  had  taken  from  the  beasts  of  the 
forest.  I  had  to  sit  nearer  to  my  little  fire  for  want  of  what 
I  did  not  get  of  my  father,  and  could  not  get  of  my  traders ;  I 
requested  my  father  tjie  next  year  to  bring  me  what  I  needed 
very  much.  I  am  not  like  your  red  child  that  lives  on  the 
borders  of  the  Chippewa  Lake — he  desired  you  to  bring  him 
the  irons  to  spear  the  fish,  and  small  twine  he  uses  in  drop- 
ping his  hook  into  the  water.  I  told  you,  my  father,  I  live 
principally  in  traveling  through  my  home  in  the  forest,  by 
carrying  the  iron  on  my  shoulder, — that  whenever  I  aim  at 
the  wild  animal,  he  falls  before  me.  I  have  come  with  my 
young  men,  and  we  have  brought  most  of  our  families  on  the 
strength  of  your  promise  last  year,  that  you  would  give  us 
good  portions  for  our  wants  this  year.  And  like  all  your 
children,  my  father,  after  a  hard  day's  labor,  or  walk,  I  am 

o'hungry — my  people  need  something  to  give  them  strength  and 
comfort  It  is  so  long  since  a  gun  was  given  us — we  have  only 
a  few  stubs,  bound  together  by  leather  strings,  with  which  to 
kill  our  game,  and  to  defend  ourselves  against  pur  enemies. 

"My  father,  look  around  you  upon  the  faces  of  my  poor 
people ;  sickness  and  hunger,  whiskey  and  war  are  killing  us 
fast  We  are  dying  and  fading  away ;  we  drop  to  the  ground 
like  the  trees  before  the  axe  of  the  white  man ;  we  are  weak— - 
you .  are  strong.  We  are  but  foolish  Indians — you  have 
knowledge  and  wisdom  in  your  head ;  we  want  your  help  and 
protection.  We  have  no  homes — no  cattle — no  lands,  and 
we  will  not  long  need  them.  A  few  short  winters,  my  people 
will  be  no  moreiii- (The  winds  shall  soon  moan  around  the 
last  lodge  of  your  red  children.  I  grieve;  but  cannot  turn 
our  fate  away.  The  sun — the  moon — the  rivers — the  forest, 
'w^  love  so  well,  we  must  leave.  We  shall  soon  sleep  in  the 
ground — ^we  will  not  awake  again.  I  have  no  more  to  say  to 
you,  my  father."  ♦ 


344  THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 

The  Commissioner  evinced  sympathy  for  his  red  chiidrea 
on  several  occasions,  upon  hearing  earnest  appeals  addressed 
to  him  by  their  chiefs. 

Note. — We  append  the  following  appreciatiye  remarks  from  the  Lake  Supe- 
rior Miner,  of  October,  1855,  which  close  with  a  reference  to  Na-naw-ong-qa- 
BE,  or  as  the  3Iincr  has  it,  IsTa-gox-a-bi  :  "  It  is  supposed  bj  m^ny,  that  the 
language  of  the  Indians  is  barren  of  the  poetical  expressions,  common  in  the 
French  and  English.  But  what  can  be  more  beautiful  than  the  following, 
which  the  writer  has  heard  uttered  by  chiefs  of  the  Chippewas  in  council  At 
a  treaty  made  on  the  Mississippi,  last  year,  the  chief,  Wide-Mouth,  made  the 
following  remarks,  in  answer  to  the  refusal  of  the  Government's  Agent  to  accept 
•a  proposition  of  the  chiefs,  to  sell  their  land  at  a  price  double  that  offered 
them  by  the  Agent.  Wide-Mouth  said  to  the  Agent  :  *  My  father,  I  live  away 
north,  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Mississippi  ;  my  children  (band)  are  poor  and 
'^  destitute,  and  as  it  were,  almost  naked,  while  you,  my  father,  are  rich  and  well 
clothed.  When  I  left  my  home  to  come  to  this  treaty  to  sell  my  lands — for  we 
know  that  we  must  sell  for  what  we  can  get — the  whites  must  have  them — my 
braves,  young  men,  women  and  children,  held  a  council  and  begged  of  me  to  do 
the  best  I  could  in  selling  their  homes ;  and  now,  my  father,  I  beg  of  you  to  accept 
of  the  proposition  i  have  made  you,  and  to-morrow  I  will  start  for  home;  and 
then  you  count  the  days  which  you  know  it  will  take  me  to  reach  there,  and  on 
the  day  of  my  arrival,  look  north,  and  as  you  see  the  northern  light  streaming  up 
in  the  sky,  imagine  to  yourself  tliat  it  is  the  congratulation  of  joy  of  my  childi-en 
ascending  to  God,  that  you  have  accepted  of  the  proposition  I  have  offered  you.' 
At  the  payment  made  at  La  Pointe  this  fall,  the  chief  Na-gon-a-bi,  made  the  fol- 
lowing remark,  in  answer  to  the  question  asked  him  by  the  Agent,  if  he  under- 
stood the  articles  of  the  treaty  which  he  had  signed  at  La  Pointe  last  year.  He 
said  :  *  My  father,  I  was  here  last  year,  when  the  treaty  was  made,  and  I  swal- 
lowed the  words  of  the  treaty  down  ray  thtoat,  and  they  have  not  yet  had  time 
"to  blister  on  my  breast,'"  ■ '■'^  f^'  "  L.  0,  D! 

t>V£/^       '  


,4  No.   2. 

^  mum 

Indian  Chiefs  Bla.ckbird  and  Na-gon-u^.        t^m 

jixj  We  regret  that  other  engagements,  during  the  payment  at 
Xia  Pointe,  in  August  and  September,  1855,  prevented  us  from 
taking  notes  of  the  many  speeches  and  anecdotes,  from  the 
chiefs  and  Indians,  at  council  and  elsewhere.     Much  might 

'-'have  been  gathered  interesting  to  the  reader.  We  have  borne, 
however^  in  mind  several  incidents  of  a  few  of  the  chiefs. 


THE  OHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR.  345 

Chief  Blackbird,  or  Se-ge-nae,  head  of  the  band  upon  the 
Bad  River  Reservation,  was  a  conspicuous  orator;  he  spoke 
oftener,  and  occupied  more  time,  probably,  than  any  two 
other  chiefs.  He  was  'delegated  to  speak  the  sentiments  of  a 
good  number  of  bands,  and  other  chiefs ;  he  contended  long 
and  earnestly  to  have  the  5^ 90,000,  provided  by  the  treaty  for 
the  payment  of  the  debts  of  the  Chippewas,  paid  directly  into 
the  hands  of  the  chiefs,  to  be  by  them  disbursed ;  in  which 
case,  it  was  rationally  concluded  by  the  traders  or  creditors, 
that  the  chances  of  getting  their  pay  would  be  few,  and  far 
removed. 

At  the  close  of  one  of  his  speeches — other  chiefs  had 
spoken  on  the  question — the  Commissioner  requested  a  vote 
among  the  chiefs,  expressive  of  their  wish,  as  to  whether  the 
money  should  be  placed  in  their  hands,  or  remain  in  the  Gov- 
ernment officer's  hands,  until  these  debts  should  be  investi- 
gated, and  the  payment  directed  by  those  officers. 

Of  the  number  of  chiefs  present,  one  or  two  hundred,  we 
should  say  at  least  three-fourths  arose  to  side  with  Blackbird. 
This  chief  was  suitably  named ;  he  was  very  dark,  ugly,  with 
frowning  features,  arch  and  cunning  expression.  He  is  about 
the  middling  size  and  height,  wore  blue  cloth  pants,  and 
frock  coat,  and  a  slouch  wool  hat.  These  had  been  received 
from  the  Agent.  He  bears  the  reputation,  quite  uniformly 
conceded  to  him  by  his  acquaintances,  of  skillful  rascality. 

Chief  Na-gon-ub,  or  The  Foremost  Sitter,  was  a  general 
favorite,  at  the  payment,  with  i\\Q  red  and  white  folks ;  he, 
made  issue  with  Blackbird,  and  the  chiefs  who  acted  in  con- 
cert with  him,  in  the  disposition  of  the  j^ 90,000. 

He  spoke  in  a  spirited  juanner.  He  advocated  the  propri- 
ety, quite  wisely  to  our  mind,  of  leaving  the  money  in  the 
hands  of  the  Agent,  until  he  should  investigate  the  claims 
against  the  Chippewas,  learn  to  whom  they  were  justly  in- 
debted, and  disburse  the  amounts  accordingly.  Not  over  one- 
fourth  of  the  chiefs  sided  with  Na-gon-ub  ;  though,  very  judi- 

44m 


346  THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 

ciously,  the  Commissioner  and  Agent  inclined  to  his  side,  as 
also  did  the  creditors  most  interested  in  the  disposition  of  the 
^" funds.  He  was  the  rival  of  Blackbird  as  an  orator,  for  in- 
fluence in  council,  etc.  He  was  a  powerful  and  effective 
speaker ;  his  words  bore  upon  his  audience. 

He  aspired  more  than  any  other  chief  at  La  Poihte  to  be- 
come civilized,  and  to  be  like  the  white  men  in  manners  and 
dress ;  although  he  inclined  to  show  off  the  dandy,  he  wore 
no  ear  jewels,  and  remarked,  when  a  trader  offered  to  sell  him 
silver  ear-drops,  with  which  nearly  every  Indian  and  squaw 
loaded  their  ears,  that  he  had  *'  been  too  long,  too  much  In- 
dian, he  was  going  to  be  more  white  man." 

Na-gon-ub  is  head  chief  of  the  Fond  du  Lac  bands ;  about 
the  age  of  forty,  short  and  close  built,  inclines  to  ape  the 
dandy  in  dress,  is  very  polite,  neat  and  tidy  in  his  attire.  At 
first,  he  appeared  in  his  native  blanket,  leggings,  &c.  He  soon 
drew  from  the  Agent  a  suit  of  rich  blue  broadcloth,  fine  vest, 
and  neat  blue  cap, — his  tiny  feet  in  elegant  finely-wrought 
moccasins.  Mr.  L.,  husband  of  Grace  G.,  Avith  whom  he  was 
a  special  favorite,  presented  him  with  a  pair  of  white  kid 
gloves,  which  graced  his  hands  on  all  occasions.  Some  two 
or  three  years  since,  he  visited  Washington,  a  delegate  from 
his  tribe.  Upon  this  journey,  some  one  presented  him  with 
a  pair  of  large  and  gaudy  epaulettes,  said  to  be  worth  sixty 
dollars.  These  adorned  his  shoulders  daily;  his  hair  was 
cut  shorter  than  their  custom.  He  quite  inclined  to  be  with, 
and  to  mingle  in  the  society  of,  the  ofiicers,  and  of  white  men. 
These  relied  on  him  more,  perhaps,  than  any  other  chief,  foi 
assistance  among  the  Chippewas.  He  is  very  intelligent,  for 
a  man  of  the  woods.  None  surpassed  him  as  an  impressive 
orator;  his  language  is  rapid  and  vehement — his  gestures 
quick  and  flashy ;  his  whole  action  and  look,  when  excited  in 
speech,  so  wild  that  they  similate  the  maniac.  His  audience 
were  usually  well  impressed  with  his  words ;  he  frequently 
•indulged  in  irony;  he  occasionally  responded,  when  Black- 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LMM'feWMt'&R.  '^47 

BIRD  would  advance  sentiiYients' distasteful  to  him,  iVto  com- 
mon phrase,  "Fe^,  MrP'  This  he  spoke  in  English,  always 
in  a  sarcastic  way,  and  to  the  amusement  of  the  white  people. 
The  Chippewas,  especially  Ihe  chiefs,  are  Mormons  in 
marriage.  Na-gon-^jb  had  four  wivef^^'  %ut  embracing  the 
Catholic  faith,  he  consented  to  the  order  of  the  priest,  who  mar- 
ried him  to  one — his  favorite  wife — and  divorced  him  from 
the  other  three.  H^  had  a  beautiful  little  girl  of  four,  and  a 
boy  of  &ix  years.         '  '  ^  '   ' 

At  the  close  of  one  of  the  councils,  several  important  ques- 
tions were  under  consideration.  The  Commissioner  desired 
the  chiefs  to  "think  hard  upon  them  till  nextday^s  council," 
when  Na-gon-ub  hinted,  quite  significantly,  thWt  if  they  had 
)^*^tin  ox,  to  make  them  a  general  feast,  (with  which  they  had 
been  wont  to  be  indulged,)  they  might  think  stronger. 

The  CommisiSioner  replied  that  '^he  could  always  think 
^'^' better,  his  head  i^learer,  when  his  stomach  was  lightly  served." 
►'^The  chief,  in  his  reply,  turned  a  good  laugh  upon  the  Com- 
missioner, by  saying^* the  good  Father  was  altogether  mis- 
taken, if  he  imagined  that  Ae^dfe^rifed^^a'%hdl6''axjQfr  his  own 
dinner." 

The  chief,  like  all  his  race,  had  no  disindination  to  the  gam- 

'^^ng  table.     We  have  seen  hirri,  with  ten  or  twelve  others — red, 

"half-breed,  and  white, — in  their  lodges,  around  tables^-games, 

)rag  and  poker — stakes  on  the  table,  ranging  from  ^^10  to  ^40 

)r  ^50.     These  games  had  been  learned  them  by  white  indi- 

iduals.     It  has  been  long  observed,  and  often  remarked,  that 

le  Red  Men  are  much  more  prone  t(y  practice  the  viCies  than 

jmbrace  the  virtues  of  white  men. 

We  were  present  at  the  office  (La  Pointe)  when  Mr.  Smith, 

Secretary  to  the  Agency,  requested  the  chief  to  join  him  in 

le  "total  abstinence  pledge"  fdt  dlfe'  ^^eat    KA-GON-tjB  an- 

iwered,  "Since  it  is  i your  wish,  I  will  do  soy  when  Mr. 

Smith  wrote  the  pledge,  ahd  signed  it; 'ktid  the  chief 's  mark 

was  witnessed  by*  some  half  dozen  stil^kcribers  as  such.     Mr. 


^g  THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 

Smith,  being  a  "  tee-totaller,"  had  no  sacrifice  to  make.— 
Whether  the  chief  will  hold  out  faithful,  remains  to  be  seen. 
We  do  not  deem  nor  design  any  disparagement  to  the  Hon. 
Thos.  Corwin,  of  Ohio,  to  state,  that  we  heard  several  persons, 
from  Ohio  and  elsewhere,  at  the  payment,  who  were  acquainted 

.i,with  that  distinguished  statesman,  remark  the  very  striking 
similarity  in  the  general  contour  of  head,  and  expression  of 

r,.  features,  of  the  chief  of  whom  we  write,  to  those  of  Mr.  Cor- 
WIN.  We  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  the  latter  in  1852,  at 
Washington,  and  must  yield  concurrence  in  the  opinion  of 

resemblance,  aiixin  '  '^''-^^ 

«      Our  subject  i«  truly  a  "good  shepherd,"  a  man  of  humane 
fj'^feelings.,   ^V^p,  on  several  occasions,  saw  him  visit  and  ad- 
b^minister  itojtitieiieipk  .ground  him,  and  with  his  own  hands 
dispense  food  and  other  comforts  to  the  needy.  ..He  is  un- 
i^questionably  a  man  of  a  high  order  of  talent,  and  of  spark- 
♦t  ling  native  genius.     Had  he  received  the  sculpturing  hand  of 
..education,  of  association  in  other  spheres,  he  might  have 
.e  stood  in  the  highest  niche  of  ipiy ic  fame, , ,  ^r  , 
„      Although  the   Indian  character  is  largely  stoical,  a  little 
thing  may  excite  them  intensely.     The   Chippewas,  during 
the  past  few  year^,, have  suffered  extensively,  and  many  of 
^t)  them  died,  with  the.small  pox.     Chief  O-sho-ga  died  of  this 
'   disease  in  1854.     The  Agent  caused  a  suitable  tomb-stone  to 
Oibe  erected  at  his  grave,  in  La  Pointe.      He  was  a  young  chief, 
of  rare  promise  and  merit^,hi^  ^R  ^ftpd  high  in  the  affec- 
tions of  his  people. 
J.      One  morning,  while  clothing  and  goods  were  being  distrib- 
uted to  the  crowd,  the  alarm  suddenly  spread,  that  there  was 
a  case  of  small  pox  in  the  place.     Na-gon-ub,  with  others, 
i^  excited,  were  in  haste  to  find  the  Agent,  who  sent  a  physician 
.  to  see  the  p^atient,  a  half-breed  oi  about  eighteen  years,  at  a 
^^house  not  far  off.     Na-gon-ub  accompanied  the  Doctor  to  the 
jl'j^ouse.    After  a  ^ort  absence,  |t^  Doctor  reported  the  case  to 
be  one  of  "  aggravated  itch:'     Death  did  -not  ensue. 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  OP  LAKE  SUPERIORri*  349 

Thirty  and  odd  years  ago,  Gen.  TUkss/ when  coasting  upon  ' 
Lake  Superior,  was  attracted  by  the  sprightliness  of  the  em-  -- 
bryo  chief,  then  a  mere  lad.     The  General  gave  him  a  medal, 
and  a  written  token  of  his  appreciation  of  his  precocity.     It 
was  said  the  General  christened  the  boy,  or  gave  him  his  "^ 
cognomen  as  chief.  -^ 

A  young  lady — Miss  C,  of  Coldwater — who  was  staying  at 
La  Pointe  with  friends,  during  the  payment,  quite  attracted 
hi^  notice  and  favor.  He  honored  her  with  a'  fancy  name,  as 
is  the  custom  of  his  tribe.  It  was  his  pleasure  that  she  beia 
^  christened  Wa-ba-t^ung,  or  The  Morning  Star,  As  a  matter  ^ 
of  course,  the  young  lady  courteously  accepted  the  honor, 
and  consented  to  bear  the  name.  ^  '^  ^^'  "^'t  jiiodfi  iii,Q*i^^    ,jcinj 

This  chief  was  an  especial  favorite  with'  the  ladies,' arid-d' 
was  exceedingly  polite  to  them.     To  see  him,  with  cap  in 
hand,  pass  along  a  circle  of  a  dozen  or  more  white  ladies, 
bowing  and  shaking  hands  with  remarkable  ease  and  grace, 
one  almost  forgets  that  he  is  an  unlettered  savage,  born  in  a 
^wigwam^^ — borne  over  many  a  Weary  trail,  a  sleeping  in-^^^ 
fantjUpon  the  back  of  a  squaw,— xmitxxxQ^  among  the  wildest 
Indians  in  the  unbroken  forest-^tfee '  sun;  "^m'ooti,  and  "starsjO 
monitors  of  his  philosophy.' NA-i&oN-UB  seems  to  aspire  above 
the  wretched  and  groveling  condition  of  hisrac^."  He  evinced^? 
high  ambiti6n  16  improv^e;' he  appeared  to  be  actuated  iby>3 
generous  arid  noble  irri'pulses  ;  he  is  full  of  the  fire  of  etficifl 
quence  ;  he  is  a  heau  ideal  of  an  Indian  Chief.        bflfi  ieoD  to 
AvAc\^  ^«  9xlJ  baifioibrfi  )'•-•»  noiaaaiqxo  njs  ^aie^nBiJg 

"    •ii'HiioiiiJ.iiiiiiio-      ■  '^i  on  mi»v9  MrawoR  buob  «iToj 

JVo.    3*  \  -_, 

I)  ^u  N 

The  "  Frincess'' — AH-sHAPrWAY-GEB-sHE-€^pnCiuA-rr  7%e 

iinf^^'"  ^'^^     iffanging  Cloud,u\^fi<i9A't'^'^or-^iii^tB9lq, 
The  Chippewa  Princess  was  very  conspicuous  at  the  pay-' ' 
ment     She  attracted  much  notice ;'  her  history  and'  character 
were  subjects  of  general  observation  and  comment,  after  the 


350  THiE  GHIPPEWAS  OB]  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 

bands,  to  which  she  was  attached,  arrived  at  La  Pointe,  more 
so  than  any  other;  female  who  attetnded  the  payment. 

.Sjfct^  ^as  a  f;)ii\r3.1rpjis -waprioji, ,of  t|-)i^d.courag^:;apcl  valor; 
the  only  female  who » was  allowed  to  iparticipate  in  the  dan- 
cing circles,  war  ceremonies,  or  to  march  in  rank  and  file,  to 
wear  the  plumes  of  the  braves.  Her  feats  of  fame  were  not 
long^iW/Jbieing  known  after  she  arrived;  most  persons  felt 
curiaus  to  look -npon  the  renowned  youthful  maiden. 

She  is  the  daughter'  of  Chief  Na-naw-ong-ga-bk,  whose 
speech,  with  comm^ents  upon  himself  and  bands,  we  have  al- 
ready giv«a  Of  him,  .who  is  the  gifted  orator,  the  able  chief- 
tain, this  maiden  is  the  boast  of  her  father,  the  pride  of  her 
tribe.  She  is  about  the  usual  height  of  females,  slim  and  spare- 
built,  between  eighteen  and  twenty  years  of  age.  These  peo- 
ple ^do  not  keep  records,  nor  dates  of  th^j.^  marriages,  nor  of 
the  birth  of  their  children. 

This  female  is  unmarried.  No  warrior  nor  brave  need  pre- 
sume to  win  her  heart  or  to  gain  her  hand  in  marriage,  who 
cannot  prove  credentials  $o  superior  courage  and  deeds  of 
daring  upon  the  war-path,  as  well  as  endurance  in  the  chase. 
On  foot  she  was  conceded  the  fleetest  of  her  race.  It  was 
said  that  she  offered  her  life  in  servitude  to  any  man,  who, 
givingher  one  Eo4,the  start,  could  catch  her  in  the  race.  Her 
complexion  is  rather  dark,  prominent  nose,  inclining  to  the 
Roman  order,  eyes  rather  large  and  very  black,  hair  the  color 
of  coal  and  glossy^  a  countenance  upon  which  smiles  seemed 
strangers,  an  expression  that  indicated  the  ne  plus  ultra  of 
craft  and  cunning,  a  face  from  which,  sure  enough,  a  porten- 
tous cloud  seemed  ever  to  be  hanging — ominous  of  her  name. 
We  doubt  not,  that  to  plunge  the  dagger  into  the  heart  of 
an  execrable  Sioux,  would  be  nit^re  grateful  to  her  wish,  more 
pleasing  to  her  heart,  than  tlieHiste  of  precious  manna  to  her 
tongue. 

^Twas  on  a  beautiful  sunny ■  Sabbath,  in  the  month  of  Sep- 
tember, that  noise  and  revelryj  muisic;  (the  gods  of  harmonious 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR.  251 

sounds,  pardon  us,)  but  motion,  action,  called  dancing,  of  the 
wild  woods  style,  which  it  surely  was,  the  war-whoop,  the 
drum,  the  Avhole  retinue  of  instruments  from  which  Indian 
sounds  are  manufactured,  were  noticed,  at  first  about  the  out- 
skirt  lodges.  These  noises  accompanied  by  their  voices,  not 
to  say  keeping  time  and  tune,  seemed  to  much  elate  these 
Indian  actors,  many  of  whom  appeared  even  enraptured  by 
the  music !  Ole  Bull  or  Jenny  Lind  could  not  have  inspired 
a  tithe  of  the  rapture  to  their  ears  which  their  own  uncouth 
and  discordant  notes  gave. 

Upon  this  day  of  worship  and  of  rest,  the  better  portion  of 
the  good  people  tarrying  at  La  Pointe,  including  the  Commis- 
sioner and  Agent,  had  assembled  at  their  places  of  public  wor- 
ship.    It  was  from  10  to  1 1  o'clock,  A.  M.,  that  we,  with  many 
others,  had  gathered  around  to  witness  the  grand  though  rustic 
pageant,  to  look  upon  the  comico-tragic  scene,  called   The 
Beggar's  Dance,  instituted  for  the  benefit  of  widows  and  or- 
phans of  the  poorer  bands.     When  we  arrived  at  the  theatre 
of  noise  and  motion,  the  most  ludicrous  spectacle  was  before 
us.   At  least  one  hundred  warriors  dressed  in  the  most  eccen- 
tric and  fantastic  style  that  the  imagination  can  conceive,  that  , 
ribbons,   feathers,   every  color  of  paint,   bare  legs  painted, ,4. 
painted  faces,  war  weapons,  &:c.,  could  possibly  give  to  human  ^ 
beings,  were  the  active  participators.      These  were  in  one 
grand  circle,  dancing  to  thumping  sounds  and  guttural  songs,^j 
in  a  way  which  the  Chippewas  only  know, how  to  dance  and  r 

sing.  ,,n;, 

Inside  the  circle  were  the  musicians  and  persons  of  distinc- 
tion, not  least  of  whom  was  our  heroine,  who  sat  upon  a 
blanket  spread  upon  the  ground.  She  was  plainly,  though 
richly  dressed  in  blue  broad-cloth  shawl  and  leggings.  She 
wore  the  short  skirt,  a  la  Bloomer,  and  be  it  known  that  theb 
females  of  all  Indians  we  have  seen,  invariably  wear  the 
Bloomer  skirt  and  pants.  Their  good  sense,  in  this  particular, 
at  least,  cannot,  we  think,  be  too  highly  commended.    Two^; 


352 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 


plumes,  warrior  feathers,  were  in  her  hair ;  these  bore  devices, 
stripes  of  various  colored  ribbon  pasted  on,  as  all  the  braves 
have,  to  indicate  the  number  of  the  enemy  killed,  and  of 
scalps  taken  by  the  wearer.  Her  countenance  betokened  self- 
possession,  and  as  she  sat  her  fingers  played  furtively  with 
the  haft  of  a  good  sized  knife. 

The  coterie  leaving  a  large  kettle  hanging  upon  the  cross- 
sticks  over  a  fire,  in  which  to  cook  a  fat  dog  for  a  feast  at  the 
close  of  the  ceremony,  soon  set  off,  in  single  file  procession,  to  ^ 
visit  the  camp  of  the  respective  chiefs,  who  remained  at  their 
lodges  to  receive  these  guests.  In  the  march,  our  heroine  was 
the  third,  two  leading  braves  were  before  her.  No  timid  air^"^ 
and  bearing  were  apparent  upon  the  person  of  this  wild- wood 
nymph;  her  step  was  proud  and  majestic,  as  that  of  a  Forest 
Queen  should  be. 

The  party  visited  the  various  chiefs,  each  of  whom,  or  his'^J 
proxy,  appeared  and  gave  a  harangue,  the  tenor  of  which, 
we  learned,  was  to  minister  to  their  war  spirit,  to  herald  the 
glory  of  the  tribe,  and  to  exhort  the  practice  of  charity  and 
good  will  to  their  poor.      At  the  close  of  each  speech,  some  ^^ 
donation  to  the  beggar's  fund,  blankets,  provisions,  &c.,  was 
made  from  the  lodge  of  each  visited  chief.     Some  of  the  latter 
danced  and  sung  around  the  ring,  brandishing  the  war-club^^ 
in  the  air  and  over  his  head.     Chief  "Loojs's  Foot,"  whose'^ 
lodge  was  near  the  Indian  Agent's  residence,  (the  latter  chief  > 
is  the  brother  of  Mrs.  Judge  Ashman  at  the  Soo,)  made  a 
lengthy  talk,  and  gave  freely. 

Conspicuous  in  the  crowd,  upon  the  back  of  a  stately  squaw, 
and  suspended  by  a  strap  around  her  head,  was  a  good  sized, 
and  fat — dead  dog,  just  killed,  and  destined  for  a  feast  at  the 
close.  The  precise  manner  of  cooking  this  (to  them)  rare  and 
delicious  dish,  we  did  not  learn.  '^ 

An  evening's  interview,  through  an  interpreter,  with  the 
chief/  father  of  the  Princess,  disclosed  that  a  small  party  of 
SioTix*,  at  a  time  not  fat  back,  stole  near  unto  the  lodge  of  the 


THE  OHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 


353 


«hief,  who  was  lying  upon  his  back  inside,  and  fired  a  rifle 
at  him ;  the  ball  just  grazed  the  nose  near  the  eyes,  the  scar 
remaining  to  be  seen — when  the  girl  seizing  the  loaded  rifle 
of  her  father,  and  with  a  few  young  braves  near  by,  pursued, 
the  enemy;  two  were  killed,  the  heroine  shot  one, and  bore 
his  scalp  back  to  the  lodge  of  Na-naw-ong-ga-be,  her  father. 

At  this  interview,  we  learned  of  a  custopi  among  the  Chip- 
pewas,  savoring  of  superstition,  and  which  they  say  has  ever 
been  observed  in  their  tribe.  All  the  youths  of  either  sex, 
before  they  can  be  considered  men  and  women,  are  required 
to  undergo  a  season  of  rigid  fasting.  If  any  fail  to  endure 
for  four  days  without  food  or  drink,  they  cannot  be  respected 
in  the  tribe,  but  if  they  can  continue  thus  to  fast  through  ten 
days  it  is  sufllicient,  and  all  in  any  case  required.  They 
have  then  perfected  their  high  position  in  life. 

This  Princess  fasted  ten  days  without  a  particle  of  food  or 
drink ;  on  the  tenth  day,  feeble  and  nervous  from  fasting,  she 
had  a  remarkable  vision  which  she  revealed  to  her  friends. 
She  dreamed  that  at  a  time  not  far  distant,  she  accompanied 
a  war  party  to  the  Sioux  country,  and  that  the  party  would 
kill  one  of  the  enemy,  and  would  bring  home  his  scalp.  The 
war  party,  as  she  had  dreamed,  was  duly  organized  for  the 
start. 

Against  the  strongest  remonstrance  of  her  mother,  father, 
and  other  friends,  who  protested  against  it,  the  young  girl  in- 
sisted upon  going  with  the  party;  her  highest  ambition,  her 
whole  destiny,  her  life  seemed  to  be  at  stake,  to  go  and  verify 
the  prophecy  of  her  dream.  She  did  go  with  the  war  party. 
They  were  absent  about  ten  or  twelve  days,  they  had  crossed 
the  Mississippi,  and  been  into  the  Sioux  territory.  There  had 
been  no  blood  of  an  enemy  to 'allay  their  thirst  or  to  palliate 
their  vengeance.  They  had  taken  no  scalp  to  herald  their 
triumphant  return  to  their  home*  J^h^.p^rty  reached  the  great 
river  homeward,  were  recrossing,  when  lpJ,]Lhey  spied  a  i^in- 
gle  Sioux,  in  his  bark  canoe  near  by,  whom  they,  sjiot,  and 
45m 


354 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 


hastened  exultingly  to  bear  his  scalp  to  their  friends  at  the 
lodges  from  which  they  started.  Thus  was  the  prophecy  of 
the  prophetess  reahzed  to  the  letter,  and  herself,  in  the  esteem 
of  all  the  neighboring  bands,  elevated  to  the  highest  honor  in 
all  their  ceremonies.  They  even  hold  her  in  superstitious  rev- 
erence. She  alone,  of  the  females,  is  permitted  in  all  festiv- 
ities, to  associate,  mingle  and  to  counsel  with  the  bravest  of 
the  braves  of  her  tribe. 

We  inscribe,  not  altogether  inappropriately,  we  trust,  to  this 
Forest  Maid,  the  following  borrowed  lines  : 

"  The  fawn  that  trips  the  forest  glade 

Is  not  more  light  nor  fair  than  she, 
The  young,  the  bright-eyed  Indian  maid, 

"Who  lights  the  "vvigwam  of  Kendee. 

jN"ot  fairer  does  the  violet  bloom 

l^ot  comelier  does  the  grape-vine  curl, 
Than  far  amid  the  forest  gloom 
''  Wanders  the  dark -eyed  Indian  girl. 

She  lights  the  wigwam  of  her  sire. 

And  bravest  warriors  humbly  woo, 
That  she  may  cheer  their  council  fire. 

And  light  their  gloomy  wigwam  too. 

And  happiest  he  of  all  his  tribe. 

And  bravest  of  the  braves  must  be. 
Whose  heart  has  proved  the  strongest  bribe. 

And  robbed  the  wigwam  of  Kendee." 


l«Jo.  4. 


Chief  Atte-Konse — Little  Careiboo,  or  Reindeer — Other 

Chiefs. 

Atte-Konse  may  appropriately  be  styled  the  Roman  of  the 
Chippewas.  With  his  nation,  as  well  with  the  white  people, 
he  sustains  a  reputation  for  good  character,  wisdom,  integrity 
and  inflexible  firmuess,  of  which  any  civilized  white  man 
might  justly  feel  proud.     He  is  ruling  chief  of  the .  Grand 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOK.  355 

Portage,  and  all  the  north  shore  (of  Lake  Superior  in  Min- 
nesota Territory)  bands. 

His  costume  was  always  plain,  though  elegant  quite  uni- 
formly, each  day  in  his  native  dress ;  his  size  and  height  are 
full,  rather  more,  his  features  quite  regular  and  prominent. 
Perhaps  no  one  at  the  payment,  red  or  white  man,  surpassed  \ 
Atte-Konse  in  genuine  dignity  of  mein  and  manner.  He 
gave  his  age  as  sixty-six,  though  appearing  much  younger. 
He  made  several  speeches  during  the  payment;  we  were 
present  only,  a  part  of  the  time  during  two  of  them — we 
heard  his  remarks  well  commended.  His  cool  manner — 
sensible  words,  and  self-possession  in  council,  were  subjects  of 
general  remark.  ., 

There  is  no  more  profound  adviser  among  all  thechiefs  in 
the  Chippewa  nation,  than  he  who  is  the  subject  of  this  notice. 
He  was  the  last  to  yield  title  to  their  lands,  purchased  by  our 
Government  Among  the  chiefs  and  Indians  assembled  at  the 
treaty,  Atte-Konse  long  stood,  solitary  and  alone^  pitting 
himself,  nobly,  against  the  Government  orators,  and  insisting 
that  the  proffers  of  annuities,  &c.,  were  inadequate,  and  not 
suflScient  for  the  cession  or  sale  of  the  lands  of  the  Chippe- 
was — though  finally  a  compromise  was  effected,  the  Govern- 
ment yielding  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  chief. 

We  heard  him  say,  (through  an  interpreter,)  "  that  he  did 
not,  and  never  had  drank,  ardent  spirits ;  that  he  was  a  votary 
to  Christianity ;  that  he  was  happy  in  his  belief,  and  gloried  in 
his  religious  faith,  (Catholic) ;  that  it  was  the  idol  wish  of  his 
heart  never  to  depart  from  the  Christian's  true  faith." 

He  was  reputed  a  highly  worthy  Indian,  and  a  very  exem- 
plary chief,  not  exhibiting  the  fiery  eloquence  of  Na-gon-ub, 
nor  the  lofty  oratory  of  Na-naw-ong-ga-be,  though  more 
statesman-like,  his  words,  perhaps,  more  weighty,  and  the 
effect  more  lasting.' 

He  is  the  Washington  of  the  tribe.  It  is  written  that  at  a 
time  when  the  darkest  clouds  hovered  over  our  revolutionary 


356  THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR, 

horizon,  threatening  every  disaster,  and  quailing  the  stoutest 
hearts,  defection,  mutiny,  and  insubordination  in  the  army, 
encompassed  with  a  powerful  and  relentless  foe,  crippled  and 
embarrassed  for  want  of  men  and  money,  means  to' recruit, 
feed  and  clothe  the  army,  which  the  feeble  Government  of  the 
Revolution  were  unable  adequately  to  furnish,  the  army  in  a 
condition  so  deplorable  that  the  soldiers  were  without  shoes, 
and  we  are  well  assured  that,  at  Valley  Forge,  the  snows 
were  crimsoned  with  blood  from  their  bare- foot  marches  over 
the  frozen  grounds.  At  this  dark  period  of  the  Revolution, 
proffers  of  peace,  proposing  certain  concessions  were  offered 
through  Congress  to  the  colonies,  Washington's  views  being 
requested,  he  modestly  answered :  "  It  appears  to  me,  that  we 
ought  to  yield  to  nothing  less  than  our  unrestricted  indepen- 
dence," affording  an  instance  without  parallel,  of  self-reliance, 
sagacity  and  patriotic  firmness. 

The  chief  of  whom  we  write,  left,  as  it  were,  alone  of  his 
tribe — Indians  and  chiefs,  comprehending  no  more  rights  nor 
wants,  saw  nothing  to  inspire  them  to  further  effort  Like  a 
guiding  star  he  lighted  the  way,  and  remained  firm  and  im- 
movable as  the  enduring  granite  of  his  native  shore,  unyield- 
ing of  what  he  deemed  the  just  rights  of  his  race. 

We  must  admire  this  nobleman  of  Nature — his  majestic 
person — the  unblemished  page  which  we  gained  of  his  his- 
tory. We  learned  a  number  of  little  incidents  of  his  exercise 
of  authority  over  those  of  his  tribe,  who  at  times  erred  and 
went  astray ;  we  would  sooner  rest  in  the  enjoyment  of  his 
peace,  and  covet  his  content  on  earth — his  good  hope  in  a 
bright  immortality  hereafter,  than  that  of  very  many  persons 
of  fairer  skins,  who  read  gilt-covered  bibles,  and  worship 
within  gaily  festooned  walls. 

That  Atte-Konse  may  long  live  to  co-operate  in  many 
good  efforts  for  the  melioration  of  his  benighted  race,  is  the 
earnest  prayer  of  the  author  of  these  lines. 

Chief  Ne-Gick,  or  The  Otter,  made  several  speeches  dur- 


THE  CHIPPEWA8  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR.  ^.^57 

ing  the  council.  We  do  not  recollect  what  part  he  was 
from.  His  skin  was  light  for  an  Indian,  though  his  heart 
was  dark;  we  only  well  remember  of  him,  that  he  was  con- 
sidered a  great  rascal.  His  face  had  a  forbidding  expression. 
He  wore  a  comical  cap  made  of  skunk  skin  and  taiL  He 
was  detected  in  reporting  names  of  Indians  from  his  band 
who  were  dead,  and  drew  from  the  Agent  goods  and  effects 
which  he  pretended  to  take  to  those  persons  who  were  de- 
ceased, which  pay  he  appropriated  to  his  own  use,  or  sold. 
He  was  dealt  with  in  some  way  by  the  Agent,  though  in 
what  way,  did  not  come  to  our  knowledge. 

Chief  Me-ge-zeb,  or  The  Eagle,  was  an  old,  stocky  built, 
Jilack  chief.  He  had  one  eye  blind  with  a  cataract ;  the  end 
of  his  nose  was  minus  from  casualty  or  disease ;  his  hair 
very  grey  and  cut  short ;  went  most  of  the  time  bare  headed. 
He  was  not  much  of  a  speaker ;  not  very  ugly  looking  with 
all  his  defects,  but  was  not  well  spoken  of  by  his  neighbors. 
His  band  was  from  some  remote  part,  wandering  about 

In  council  he  complained  of  Com'r  Manypenny,  that  his 
band  were  unprovided  for,  and  without  any  right  of  location 
upon  any  of  the  reservations.  He  asked  for  some  place  to  be 
provided  for  himself  and  band.  The  Commissioner  directed 
him  to  come  to  his  office  after  council ;  what  was  done  we 
did  not  learn. 

Chief  Shingoop,  from  about  the  head  of  Lake  Superior, 
was  a  small  man,  large  Roman  nose,  small  eyes,  peculiar 
physiognomy,  dressed  in  style  of  the  whites ;  was  not  much 
of  an  orator,  but  reputed  a  man  of  ability  and  a  chief  of 
character. 


:no.  5. 

Speech  of  Ja-ba-ge-Zhick,  Hole-in-the-Sky,  or  Noah. 

Very  many  interesting  incidents  occurred  during  our  stay, 
between  six  and  seven  weeks,  at  La  Pointe.     Some  of  these 


353  THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 

were  grave  and  sorrowful,  others  light  and  laughable,  though 
all  were  quite  novel  to  hundreds  of  strangers  in  attendance. 

Whiskey,  and  what  it  has  done  in  the  past,  and  during  the 
payment,  and  the  prospect  of  its  future  doings  with  the  Chip- 
pewas,  would  fill  a  long  chapter.     Very  few  among  these 
people,  chiefs  or  subjects,  who  can  resist  the  luring  tempter. 
It  would  seem  that,  more  than  any  other  people  on  the  earth, 
the  American  India,ns,  those  of  our  North-West  especially, 
were  born  with  a  proneness  to  the  love  of  intoxicating  bever- 
ages.    Gen.  Cass's  knowledge  of,  and  acquaintance  with,  the 
various  Indian  tribes  of  the  West,  extends,  doubtless,  through 
'^  longer  vista  in  the  past  than  any  other  man  ndw  living.   We 
^  heard  the  General  remark,  on  Lake  Superior,  in  August  last, 
i"that  in  all  his  intercourse  with  the  tribes,  he  had,  thcmgh 
.'rarely  enough,  met  with  Indians  who  declined  to  drink  whis- 
f key  -j"  though  he  at  the  same  time  remarked,  that  "  he  had 
yet  to  find  the  first  one  who  would  not  readily,  gladly  and 
freely  indulge  in   the  use  of  tobacco.^'     Experience  at  La 
'fiPointe  abundantly  attests  the  truth  of  the  remark,  the  thou- 
•  sands  of  pipes,  of  varied  kind  and  size^ — pipes  of  clay,  pewter, 
wood,  iron — pipes  in  hatchet-heads,  attached  to  canes,  long 
land  short  ones,  elegantly  embellished  with  feathers,  embroid- 
ery and  Indian  art,  indicate  that  the  manufacture  of  clouds 
of  tobacco  smoke  remains  the  chief  labor  and  the  favorite 
t'Yocation  of  the  Chippewa  Indian.     The  most  scientific  puffer 
loi  a  principe  would,  in  the  amount  of  labor  done  and  smoke 
ifeent  forth,  be  thrown  far  into  the  shade  by  the  Chippewa  and 

Hhe  long  pipe.      ^n'r'I.^r    "■  U    Utrr^-i    trrf 

These  Indians'  appetites  for  alcoholic  drinks  appear  uncon- 
trollable. Their  women  have  not  the  least  disrelish,  even  the 
children  have  no  aversion  to  the  taste  of  the  fell  destroyer. 
The  most  deplofable  drunkenness,  alarmiwg  riotousness,  wild 
revehy,  and  general  carousing,  were  kept  up  during  one  whole 
night  among  the  Indian  lodges,  for  miles  in  extent,  occasioned 
by  incarnate  devils,  in  hnman  guise,  vending  whiskey  among 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR.  359 

the  Indians.  One  good  drink  having  gone  down  the  Indian's 
neck,  the  Vandal  vender  made  very  easy  conquests  of  blank- 
ets, shirts,  and  other  effects.  Many  lodges  were  found  plun- 
dered, and  literally  stripped,  the  next  morning.  We  penned  a 
full  report  of  these  doings,  and  of  a  large  meeting,  organized 
by  citizens  and  strangers,  to  form  an  efficient  police  to  sustain 
the  Agent  and  the  law,  also  sketches  of  speeches  at  the  meet- 
ing, of  the  two  or  three  days'  destruction  of  barrels  of  whis- 
key, brandy,  etc.,  and  of  thousands  of  bottles  of  liquor  which 
were  found.  Oar  report  of  the  whole  subject,  speeches  and 
resolutions  at  the  meeting,  the  support  uf  cer^i^in  chiefs,  etc., 
was  lost  from  the  mail  between  La  Pointe  and  Detroit,  and 
therefore  failed  of  publication. 

The  Legislature  o.f  Wisconsin  enacted  a  statute  expressly 
for  the  county  of  La  Pointe,  being  in  that  State,  where  much 
the  larger  body  of  the  Chippewas  reside.  The  law  is  very 
rigid  against  the  vender  of  whiskey  to  the  Indians,  and  con- 
fers more  than  ordinary  power  upon  .the  Agent  and  the  au- 
thorities in  suppressing  the  heinous  crime  of  selling  whiskey 
to  the  Indians.  .  ^^4 

Assembled  upon  the  council-ground  were  some  two  thou- 
sand Chippewas,  men,  women,  and  children,  to  ^.ttend  the 
morning's  council.  The  Commissioner,  Agent,  and  suite  were 
seated  in  their  places.  It  was  about  the  10th  of  September 
a  soft  pure  air,  cloudless  sky,  and  a  sun  as  genial  as  ever 
warmed  the  wild  domain  upon  Lake  Superior,  invited  hun- 
dreds of  the  guests  tarrying  at  La  Pointe,  ladies  and  gentle- 
men, outside  to  enjoy  the  delightful  day,  as  well  as  the  enter- 
tainment of  the  council — these  were  in  chairs,  on  benches, 
and  seated  around  the  stand  of  the  Commission. 

The  council-ground  is  upon  a  fine  plaza,  adjoining  the 
ware-house  of  the  old  Fur  Company,  and  laid  out  by  them. 
At  the  time  we  were  there,  the  ware-house  was  used  as  a  de- 
pository for  Chippewa  goods. 

Matters  of  unsettled  business,  our  Government  with  the 


jYo  ™^  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 

Cbippewas,  action  upon  traders'  claims,  &c.,  were  taken  under 
consideration ;  speeches  from  several  chife'fs  had  been  heard, 
inquiries  into  the  conduct  of  certain  chiefs,  the  deahngs  of 
some  of  the  traders  was  being  scrutinized, — had  they  dealt 
fairly  with  the  bands,  rendered  their  goods  as  per  account  ? 
fiad  they  sold  whiskey  to  the  Indians  ?     Recrimination  was 
being  indulged,  chief  against  trader,  chief  against  chief;  free- 
dom of  speech  extended  to  subject  as  well  as  to  the  heads  of 
l3ands. 
*'3^a-ba-ge-Zhick,  whose  speech  is  here  appended,  is  not  a 
^chief,  he  is  only  a  young  man  of  the  tribe ;  his  age  is  near 
thirty  years„quite  dark  complexion ;  he  dresses  in  American 
style,  common  height  and  size,  attended  for  a  time  the  IndiaE 
school,  reads  and  writes  the  Indian  language  well,  speaks  a 
little  imperfect  English,  has  a  shrill  and  rather  feminine  voice, 
hair  shorter  than  the  wild  Indian  style,  wears  it  brushed  back, 
giving  him  somewhat  of  a  clerical  air.     He  is  ah  earnest  and 
fluent  speaker  in  Indian.     He  resides  at  the  Bad  River  Mis- 
sion, twelve  or  fifteen  miles  from  La  Pointe,  and  is  attached 
to  the  bands  of  that  Reservation.     He  professes  the  Christian 
religion, (Methodist,)  and  strictly  adheres  to  his  faith;  he  is 
still  and  quiet  in  his  manner,  of  much  natural  diffidence,  and 
evinces  comniendable  efforts  for  enlightenment. 

We  heard  him  express  anxiety  to  rise  above  the  condition 
to  which  he  was  born,  to  improve  in  morals  and  education, 
and  he  sincerely  hoped  that  some  day  he  might  be  instru- 
mental in  elevating  his  poor  fellow  Indian  above  his  present 
degraded  situation. 

Under  the  rule  of  freedom  to  the  subject  as  well  as  the  chief, 
to  speak  their  views,  he  presented  himself  before  the  Commis- 
sioner ;  we  gathered  notes  of  his  remarks.  Paul  H.  Beaflieu, 
of  St  Paul,  a  half-breed,  and  a  young  man  of  fair  English 
education,  of  rare  gift  of  native  talent,  speaking  with  equal 
facility  the  English  and  the  Indian,  interpreted  the  speech  by 
sentences.     Ja-ba-ge-Zhick,  or  The  Hole-in-the-Sky,  said  : 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR.  361 

My  Father — I  stand  here  before  you  for  the  purpose  of 
protecting  the  rig^its  of  our  young  men,  women  and  children. 
If  I  censure  our  chiefs,  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  waking  them 
up.  Here,  they  are  all  before  you ;  behold  them  now  in  your 
presence.  Our  suffering  is  always  brought  about  by  the  folly 
of  our  chiefs.  While  they  are  negotiating,  they  are  always 
influenced  by  other  parties,  and  not  by  the  Indians.  They 
never  consult  the  young  men,  although  they  are  the  owners 
of  the  soil,  the  same  as  the  chiefs.  The  hard  feeling  existing 
between  the  young  men  and  the  chiefs,  is  brought  about  by 
the  chiefs  never  advising  with  the  young  men  in  regard  to 
their  actions.  rt  ^  h 

The  young  men,  women  and  children,  are  here ;  (pointing 
to  them)  look  at  their  poor  and  destitute  appearance,  (much 
sensation  among  the  Indians  and  white  people.  The  group 
were  made  up  of  a  dozen  or  more  of  very  old  and  decrepid 
women,  several  of  most  forlorn  appearance  in  regard  to  age, 
infirmity  and  poverty — a  large  number  of  children,  making  a 
most  wretched  exhibition,  as  most  of  them  were  either  naked 
or  in  rags,  and  a  good  number  of  young  men). 

My  Father — I  came  hear  to  plead  in  behalf  of  our  people. 
The  chiefs  do  not  think  of  us  when  they  make  bargains ; 
they  look  to  their  own  interests,  but  their  people  must  take 
care  of  themselves  as  best  they  can.  (Commotion  among  the 
chiefs.)  Is  it  possible  we  should  see  ourselves  starve  on  ac- 
count of  our  chiefs,  and  not  open  our  mouths  to  speak  ? 

I  am  glad  you  have  seen  us,  and  have  seen  the  folly  of  our 
chiefs ;  it  may  give  you  a  general  idea  of  their  transactions. 
By  the  papers  you  have  made  out  for  the  chiefs  to  sign,  you 
can  judge  of  their  ability  to  do  business  for  us.  We  had  but 
one  man  among  us,  capable  of  doing  business  for  the  Chip- 
pewa nation ;  that  man  was  0-sho-ga,  now  dead,  and  our 
nation  now  mourns.  (0-sho-ga  was  a  young  chief  of  great 
merit  and  much  promise;  he  died  of  small-pox,  February, 
1854).  Since  his  death,  we  have  lost  all  our  faith  in  the  bal- 
46m 


362  THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 

ance  of  our  chiefs.  For  these  reasons,  we  ask  and  demand, 
for  the  good  of  our  people,  that  any  moneys  belonging  to  us, 
be  paid  to  each  of  our  people,  and  not  put  into  the  hands  of 

'bur  chiefs. 

Instead  of  looking  to  the  young  men  to  advise,  they  will 
fly  to  the  traders,  and,  of  course,  that  does  not  benefit  the 
young  men,  women  and  children  at  all.  The  chiefs  and 
traders,  by  this  course,  are  profited,  but  not  our  people. 
And,  when  the  traders  knew  their  last  chance  of  getting 
their  pay  was  by  our  chiefs  selling  our  lands,  then,  of  course, 

*1hey  exerted  themselves  with  all  their  might,  to  deceive  the 
Chippewa  Indians,  and  therefore,  the  traders,  as  it  were,  took 
a  handful  of  dust  that  was  left,  and  kept  it  to  themselves. 
This  is  the  way  they  do  in  trying  to  snatch  the  money  that 
was  due  to  the  Chippewas,   and  leave  nothing   for   them. 

iThe  traders  have  shut- up  our  chiefs  m  the  darkness  of  the 
night,  filled  them  with  strong  drink,  and  had  papers  ready 

i^ade  which  they  got  the  chiefs  to  sign,  disposing  of  the 
i^90,000,  provided  in  the  treaty  to  pay  the  Indians'  debts^— as 
suited  the  pleasure  and  profit  of  these  same  traders.  ''^ 

^i«iThe  distant  traders  thus  combine,  and  desire  to  get  their 

:  bags  filled  with  dollars,  though  many  honest  traders  get  no- 
thing. (Addressing  the  half-breeds).  You  half-breeds,  if  you 
'Hlive  any  wise  plans  in  your  heads  tJiat  your  chiefs  ought  to 
know,  why  not  make  them  known  to  them  before  it  is  too 
late,  that  you  may  have  no  occasion  to  find  fault  with  them 
for  not  acting  wisely  ?     And  if  you  pity  ybur  chiefs,  you  will 

•  advise  them  what  to  do.     Chiefs  !  I  wish  that  you  would  ab- 

i.fior  and  turn  your  eyes  away  from  such  kind  of  paper  when 
it  is  presented  to  you,  as  you  turn  from  the  Avord  of  God  Avhen 

-it  is 'brought  before  you,  to  listen  to  it,  and  to  get  knowledge 
and  wisdom.  But  when  there  is  a  piece  of  paper,  something 
written  on  it,  then  you  are  very  eager  to  sign  your  names  to 
it,  not  knowing  what  you  are  about. 

You  Indian  traders,  who  are  among  and .  around  us,  how 

If!L»l 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR.  363     "^* 

could  it  be  possible  for  you  to  think  that  you  are  not  to  be 
paid  by  those  who  had  taken  credi^  from  you  ?  But  you  are 
so  afraid  not  to  have  anything,  you  went  to  work  upon  our 
chiefs,  advising  them  to  put  their  names  to  a  paper,  so  as  to 
secure  your  debts,  by  using  fire-water,  and  by  doing  so,  you 
kindled  a  fire  all  over  our  country. 

You  want  to  be  like  the  other  kind  of  hen,  (Shanghai,)  that 
are  taller,  among  the  little  hens.  By  feeding  them  a  handful 
of  corn,  the  kind  that  are  tall  come  running  to  catch  up  all 
the  corn,  and  these  other  common  hens  go  ofi"  hungry — and 
this  is  the  way  you  wish  to  do,  and  to  be  like  these  high  hens. 

My  Father,  (Commissioner  Manypenny,)  you  have  come 
among  us  to  see  our  condition — to  look  after  our  wants.  Let 
the  Great  Spirit  open  your  eyes  to  see  straight,  and  give  truth 
in  your  ears.  It  is  not  safe  to  put  this  patent  for  our  lands 
into  the  hands  of  our  chiefs,  because  they  are  easily  deceived 
and  led  astray.  I  do  actually  believe  they  would  squander  it 
away  or  drink  it  up ;  therefore  I  earnestly  entreat  you  to  have 
the  patent  put  into  the  hands  of  our  people,  the  young  men 
to  whom  it  belongs ;  by  so  doing  our  women  and  children 
may  have  lasting  homes. 

If  the  Chippewa  young  man  can  be  made  any  thing  more 
than  a  poor  Indian,  he  wants  the  chance.  We  can  go  and 
clear  our  fields  and  plant  our  gardens,  and,  if  we  could,  build 
•our  school-house  and^  church.  We  can't  tell  what  day  our 
chiefs  may  combine  to  sell  our  reserved  lands  to  Government, 
and  drive  us  from  our  homes,  and  to  leave  the  graves  of  our 
fathers  and  friends.  Our  chiefs  can  now  sell  our  homes,  and 
the  Government  may  push  us  a  long  way  into  the  frozen  wil- 
derness, or  to  seek  new  homes  upon  the  islands  in  the  Lake. 
If  our  chiefs  rule  on  in  the  same  way,  our  people  will  soon 
go  oflf  like  mist  before  the  summer's  sun. 

My  Father — Our  young  men  have  not  courage  to  rise  and 
to  civilize,  while  our  chiefs  hold  the  lands  and  destinies  of 
our  people. 


^364  ""^HE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 

9(  After  shaking  hands  with  the  Commissioner,  the  speaker 
retired.  , 

The  recent  completion  of  the  Soo  ship  canal,  opens  a  fair 
and  fruitful  field,  readily  reached  by  the  christian  and  philan- 

lihropist;  duty  for  the  one,  to  obey  his  mission  for  the  other. 
Thousands  are  yearly  lavished  upon  the  remote  missions, 
to  illumine  the  heart  of  the  Birman  heathen  many  thousand 
miles  off;  but  on  our  own  immediate  border,  within  the  con- 
fines of  civilization,  grovelling  in  mental  darkness,  degenera- 

1  ting  physically,  decaying  in  national  existence,  endeared  to  us 
by  many  reminiscences  of  their  history,  as  well  as  by  their 
mysterious  origin,  noble  in  native  character,  and  commanding 
our  keenest  sympathies  for  their  wretchedness  and  their  sor- 
rows, are  a  people  now  famishing  for  want  of  food,  even  per- 
ishing for  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life;  a  people  unlettered, 
untaught,  and  needing  the  solacing  heart  of  the  christian,  and 
the  soothing  hand  of  the  philanthropist,  to  heal  their  woes. 

;v  Sister  of  charity,  brother  of  prayer,  will  you  not  go  to  the 
desolate  wilds  of  the  Chippewas,  and  make  hearts  of  sorrow 
sing  with  gladness  ?  You  may  visit  them  in  the  coming  sul- 
try summer ;  you  may  learn  if  their  chief  crime  is  not,  that 
they  were  born  poor  miserable  Indians. 

bi  A  bounteous  Providence  hath  smiled  upon  this  happy  land 

^of  ours,  filling  our  garner-houses  with  plenty,  and  to  spare. 

;jWithin  the  boundaries  of  our  own  J^Iichigan — and  also  in 
Wisconsin  as  well — in  the  retreats  of  our  northern  wilder- 
ness, are  men,  women  and  children  this  day  suffering  for  want 
of  food  to  eat ;  no  kind  voice  admonishes  them  to  beat  the 
hatchet  and  war  weapon  into  pruning  hooks,  and  to  learn  war 
no  more.  May  there  not  yet  be  kind  efforts,  willing  hearts, 
and  able  hands  extended,  to  elevate  in  the  scale  of  humanity, 
to  rescue  from  total  extinction,  this  feeble  remnant  of  a  noble, 

i)though  fading  race?  Verily  they  are  as  the  leaves  of  autumn 
trampled  upon  by  powerful  riders. 

We  have  an  authentic  account,  that  the  Bois  Fort  bands, 


THE  OHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 


36^ 


(north  shore,)  and  one  or  two  hundred  miles  interior,  last  win- 
ter were  driven  to  the  extremity,  to  prevent  starvation,  o£ 
slaughtering  and  eating  their  own  children.  Hon.  G.  D.  Will- 
iams, whom  we  know  well,  whose  veracity  is  unquestioned, 
at  the  Grand  Portage  payment  saw  one  woman  who  had 
given,  or  from  whom  had  been  taken  two,  and  another  three 
children,  for  that  purpose. 

We  fervently  hope  that  duty,  inclination,  and  conscience^ 
like  a  faithful  monitor,  may  prompt  the  philanthropic  to  ear-' 
nest  eifort,  to  have  lessened  the  pressing  wants  of  the  Chip- 
pewa of  Lake  Superior,  ere  the  pinching  blast  of  another 
freezing  winter  shall  overtake  him. 

The  "Divine  Shepherd''— 

"  Shall  he  to  men  benighted,  the  lamp  of  life  deny  f 

He  is  the  accredited  pioneer  in  missionary  effort  He  walks 
apart  from  the  selfish  and  sensual  world.  May  He  not  infuse 
life-giving  balm  into  the  heart  of  the  enthralled  Chippewa? 

Who  may  emulate  the  thirty  years  life  and  love  for  the 
Chippewa  heathen,  as  exhibited  by  the  sainted  Bishop  Bab- 
range,  of  St.  Ste.  Marie  ?  An  Austrian  of  noble  birth  and 
princely  estate,  alienates  himself  from  home  and  country—^ 
his  labors  and  his  fortune  are  diffused. 

May  not  the  good  christian  lend  effort  to  light  the  gospel 
lamp  for  these  estranged  people,  to  bear  them  through  a  dim 
and  dubious  vista  to  the  immortal  rest  in  the  "  Spirit  Land. 


S9 


No.  6. 

Obituary  of  Ke-che-waisii-ke,  or  The  Buffalo  Chief,  who 
departed  this  life  for  the '^  Spirit- Land  ^'  on  Friday^  t ha 
1th  Sept.,  1855,  after  one  week*s  eoriftnement  to  his  lodge, 
aged  about  100  years,  ^ 

He  was  the  head,  and  the  most  able  and  distinguished,  chief 
of  the  Chippewa  Indians — noted  and  known  for  his  rare  in- 


366  THE  OHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 

tegrity,  wisdom  in  council,  his  power  as  an  orator,  and  for  his 
magnanimity  as  a  warrior. 

That  voice — so  often  sounded  from  the  forum — so  potent 
at  the  treaty  of  '42,  (our  Government  with  the  Chippewa 
bands,)  is  silent  forever. 

His  remains  were  borne,  on  the  9th  of  September,  from  his 
house  at  Middle  Fort,  one  mile  below,  with  military  honors. 
Two  flags,  stars  and  stripes,  were  supported  at  the  head  of  a 
large  company  of  half-breeds,  bearing  rifles,  and  firing  volleys 
at  intervals.  A  large  concourse  of  Indians  following  in  the 
procession.  Services  at  the  Catholic  church,  near  this  place — 
La  Pointe. 

The  old  chief  had  for  months  been  afflicted  with  pulmo- 
nary disease,  which  became  aggravated  by  the  cares  and  ex- 
titement  consequent  upon  this  obca^ion.  He  was  properly 
qared  for  during  his  illness,  and  frequently  visited  by  the 
Commissio.ner,  Agent  and  others. 

Q,  Several  sections  of  land  were  allotted  to  Buffalo,  and  his 
band  by  the  treaty.  His  improvements  are  in  sight  on  the 
main  land  opposite  us.  Two  or  three  days  before  he  died,  he 
made  his  will  in  the  presence  of  Com'r  Manypenny  and 
others.  A  short  time  before' his  death,  he  presented  the  Com- 
missioner his  pipe  and  tobacco  , pouch,  desiring  him  to  take 
them  with  him  to  Washington,  saying,  "I  have  smoked  my 
last  pipe,  and  have  no  more  use  for  them.''  The  Commis- 
sioner took  them,  and  told  the  dying  chief  his  wish  should 
be  gratified. 

During  the  life  of  the  great  chief,  if  importuned  in  regard 
to  his  religious  belief  and  duty,  he  has  been  known  frequently 
to  say,  "  he  would  be  baptized  when  he  died."  Truly  was  his 
saying  T^erified.  Two  days  before  his  death,  he  received  the 
baptismal  rite  in  the  Catholic  faith.  Three  days  after  baptism, 
funeral  dirges  for  Ke-che-waish-ke  were  sung  at  the  Cathedral 
of  La  Pointe,  and  within  the  cemetery  of  that  church  repose  the 
earthly  remains  of  the  most  illustrious  chief  of  the  Chippewas. 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPEEIOK.  367 

No  tongue  like  the  Buffalo's  could  control  and  direct 
the  different  bands.  At  a  war  council  of  the  bands,  during 
the  treaty  of  '42,  many  warriors  and  braves  related  their  ex- 
ploits, their  deeds  in  war,  and  the  number  of  scalps  each  had 
taken  from  the  enemy.  Lastly  the  stalwart  Buffalo  chief 
arose,  and  said  that  unlike  his  red  brothers  who  had  spoken, 
he  never  took  a  soalp  in  his  life,  though  he  had  taken  prison- 
ers, whom  he  fed  and  well  treated — advised  them  no  more  to 
come  to  the  lands  of  the  Chippewas — and  ''set,  his  captives 
freeP 

In  1S49,  a  Sioux  was  taken  prisoner  by  a  war  party  of 
Chippewas,  and  the  influence  of  Buffalo  saved  the  life  of 
the  Sioux.  The  chief  kept  the  prisoner  unharmed  from  the 
Chippewas  for  several  months,  when  he  sent  a  deputation  a£ 
his  young  men  to  deliver  him  to  his  home,  near  St  Pauly 
across  the  Mississippi.  The  reader  may  judge  of  the  heart- 
lessness  and  perfidy  of  the  savage  Sioux,  when  he  learns  that 
they  repaid  the  magnanimous  chief  by  orgariizing  a  party  to 
intercept,  kill  and  scalp  the  young  men  he  sent  to  restore  the 
captive  Sioux  to  his  home.  The  party  were  restrained  from 
their  kell-inspired  designs  only  by  the  earnest  efforts  of  the 
whites  at  or  near  St. 'Paul.  Any  one  would  recognize  in  thef 
person  of  the  Buffalo  chief,  a  man  of  superiority.  .About 
the  middle  height,  a  face  remarkably  grave  and  dignified,  in- 
dicating great  thoughtfulness ;  neat  in  his  native  attire ;  shortj 
neck,  very  large  head,  and  the  most  capacious  chest  of  any; 
human  subject  we  ever  saw.  He  was  aa  hereditary  chief,  not 
prone  to  war,  but  rather  inclining  to  peace.  Buffalo  was 
born  on  this  (Madeline,  one  of  the  Apostles)  isle.  The  father 
of  Buffalo,  "  Ou-daig-weos,"  or  The  Raven^s  Meat,  was 
also  born  on  this  island,  early  in  the  seventeenth  centiuy.  He 
was  a  conspicuous  warrior.  His  father  was  originally  from 
Canada.  These  facts  we  learn  firom  B.  Armstrong,  a  native 
of  Alabama,  who  was  fifteen  years  in  the  country,  a  gentle- 
man of  intelligence,  and  who  married  a  niece  of  Buffalo. 


3(58  THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR, 

We  learn  that  when  our  subject  was  about  ten  years  old, 
he,  with  his  family,  made  a  migratory  excursion  to  the  lower 
lake.  They  remained  about  two  years  near  the  site  where 
the  city  of  Buffalo  now  is,  though  his  nom  de  plume  is  in  no 
way  connected  with  that  city.  Returning,  they  remained 
several  years  at  Mackinaw,  and  finally  returned  to  his  native 
island.  His  family  are  numerous,  mostly  dressing  after  the 
fashion  of  the  whites,  and  far  advanced  in  civilization.  His 
widow  is  his  fifth  wife. 

As  an  incident  illustrating  the  ignorance  of  the  Indians  at 
this  era,  we  relate  an  occurrence  at  the  grave  of  the  subject 
of  this  notice.  An  Indian  was  heard  to  remark — ^''Our  Great 
Father  has  killed  our  great  chief,  by  telling  him,  after  cheat- 
ing him,  that  he  ought  to  be  as  rich  as  a  prince.  Our  great 
chief  could  not  bear  such  blame,  and  died  of  grief."  That 
Indian  was  in  error,  as  Buffalo  and  his  band  were  indulged, 
and  liberally  provided  for  in  the  treaty ;  nor  did  the  Great 
Father  censure  him  as  severely  as  the  Indian  imagined. 

We  learn  that  upon  the  "advent  of  the  Planet ^^  here,  (the 
steamer'iS  first  trip,)  the  chief  visited  her  cabin,  and  attracted 
the  notice  and  favor  of  the  passengers ;  and  that  worthy  fel- 
low-citizen, Judge  WiLKiNs,  addressed  him — Mrs.  A ,  a 

lady  of  refinement  and  education,  and  of  Chippewa  descent, 
acting  as  interpreter.  The  Judge  complimented  the  chief 
upon  his  fame  and  good  name  as  a  chief,  and  said  that  he 
had  often  heard  of  him.  He  felt  an  interest  in,  and  a  lively 
sympathy  for,  his  people.  He  hoped  they  might  embrace  the 
spirit  of  progress  of  the  age,  and  grow  in  civilization,  and 
become  a  prosperous  and  happy  people, — stating  that  it  would 
give  him  pleasure  to  one  day  visit  the  chief  at  his  lodge, — con- 
gratulating him  upon  the  loveliness  of  his  country,  the  ample 
annuities  from  Government  for  the  comfort  of  his  people,  &c. 
The  Judge,  we  trust,  may  enjoy  a  re-union  of  spirit  with  our 
subject  at  his  Celestial  Lodge  in  the  "  Spirit  Land." 

After  the  Judge  had  spoken,  the  chief  intimated  that  he 


THE  CHIPPEWAS  OF  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 


369' 


desired  to  eat  and  smoke  before  he  replied.  After  a  little, 
he  briefly  replied  to  the  Judge, — that  he  was  well  pleased 
with  his  words,  and  thanked  him  for  what  he  had  said ;  that 
the  visit  of  the  new  steamer  was  like  unto  the  birth  of  a 
child — it  gave  great  joy  to  the  family ;  that  he  was  pleased 
to  look  upon  such  a  beautiful  child,  and  that  he  liked  the  faces 
of  the  child's  family, — intimated  that  it  was  usual  to  christen 
children,  &c.  He  said  that  he  had  seen  many  winters — that 
as  the  leaves  of  the  trees  fall  from  the  blighting  frost,  so 
should  he  soon  fall  under  the  weight  of  time.  It  would  give 
him  joy  to  see  the  Judge  at  his  lodge,  should  he  ever  come. 
'The  chief,  more  thoughtful  than  some  more  favored  than  he, 
asked  if  his  smoking  would  be  offensive  to  the  ladies.  Their 
consent  being  given,  he  smoked  in  the  cabin,  the  ladies, 
meanwhile,  with  ribbons,  etc.,  gave  a  fancy  trimming  to  the 
chiefs  hat,  when  it  was  passed  round  for  contributions,  and 
seven  dollars  collected,  the  chief  returning  thanks,  "Me 
groetch,  me  groetch,"  for  the  gift,  saying  it  was  the  largest 
gratuity  he  had  ever  received.  Jt  nf 


o>     / 


47m 


.  11  rj^ 


*5C; 


EARLY    HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA.* 

BY    HON.    M.    FRANK. 

The  history  of  the  western  country  during  the  memorable 
.period  of  ISf^e,  also  a  few  years  immediately  preceding  that 
time,  is  proverbial  for  adventures  and  enterprises,  many  of 
.them  partaking  of  extravagance  and  wild  speculation.  The 
Oxeat  West,  its  boundless  natural  resources,  and  its  many 
advantages  for  the  speedy  acquirement  of  wealth,  at  that 
period,  more  than  ever  before,  became  a  subject  of  absorbing 
attention,  throughout  the  Middle  and  Eastern  States. 

In  the  month  of  December,  in  the  year  1834,  a  gentleman 
in  the  town  of  Hannibal,  Oswego  county,  N.  Y.,  invited  a 
number  of  guests  to  an  entertainment  at  his  residence.  At 
the  supper-table,  the  West,  its  beautiful  prairies,  productive 
soil  and  bright  skies,  became  the  engrossing  theme  of  con- 
versation. The  enthusiasm  of  the  party  rapidly  increased,  as 
each  of  the  leading  spirits  present  rehearsed  the  glowing  de- 
scriptions of  travelers,  who  had  explored  the  country  west  of 
the  Great  Lakes.  During  the  evening,  the  party  mutually  re- 
solved upon  a  plan,  to  organize  an  association  to  settle  a  col- 
ony in  the  West,  in  which  those  becoming  members  should 
be  aids  to  each  other,  and  mutually  share  profits  and  losses 
in  the  enterprise.  To  strengthen  the  undertaking,  and  carry 
the  purposes  of  the  originators  into  effectual  operation,  it  was 

*  I  have  avoided,  in  this  history  of  Kenofha,  repeating  incidents  and  facts 
given  in  Rev.  J.  Lot  brop's  paper,  published  in  the  2d  Vol.  of  the  Society's 
Collections,  except  such  as  are  abgoluteJy  necessai-y  to  preserve  a  chain  of 
events.  M.  F. 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA.  37I 

determined  to  call  a  general  meeting,  with  the  view  of  sub- 
mitting the  proposed  plan  of  organization,  and  inviting  the 
co-operation  of  all  who  desired  to  embark  in  the  enterprise. 
A  public  meeting  was  accordingly  held,  at  which  a  Constitu- 
tion, prepared  by  the  Rev.  Jason  Lothrop,  was  presented  and 
discussed.  The  meeting  was  largely  attended,  and  the  object 
under  consideration  met  with  more  general  favor  than  was 
anticipated.  At  a  subsequent  meeting,  held  on  the  20th  of 
February,  1835,  an  organization  was  finally  perfected,  under 
the  name  of  the  '' Western  Emigration  Company P  Rev. 
Peter  Woodin,  a  respectable  Baptist  clergyman  of  the  town 
of  Hannibal,  was  elected  President  of  the  Company,  and  John 
BuLLEN,  jr.,  of  the  same  town,  Secretary. 

By  the  Constitution  of  the  Company,  it  was  contemplated 
to  raise  a  cash  capital  of  i^8,000,  by  subscriptions  of  stock  in 
shares  of  ^^10  each ;  the  funds  so  raised,  to  be  invested  in  real 
estate  suitable  for  a  town  site,  and  the  share-holders  to  be 
entitled  to  the  proceeds  arising  from  the  rise  of  the  property. 
About  four  hundred  shares  were  subscribed  and  paid  for. 
The  stock  of  the  Company  promised  to  be  lucrative,  and 
many  persons  of  small  means,  who  desired  to  find  a  new 
home  in  the  West,  became  share-holders.  Old  men  and 
young  men,  and  even  unmarried  females,  who  were  employed 
as  house  servants,  in  some  instances  appropriated  from  their 
earnings  sufficient  to  purchase  a  share,  in  the  hope  of  realiz- 
ing large  profits. 

Among  the  most  active  individuals  in  the  interests  of  the 
Company,  in  its  early  formation,  may  be  mentioned  John 
BuLLEN,  jr.,  Charles  W.  Turner,  Waters  Towslee,  James 
Scott,  Dr.  B.  B.  Cary,  Jason  Lothrop,  Hudson  Bacon, 
Peter  Woodin,  Alfred  Foster,  Orlando  Foster,  William 
BuLLEN,  George  Bennett,  and  Sidney  Roberts.  In  the 
spring  of  1835,  the  Company  appointed  a  committee  to  explore 
the  distant  and  then  comparatively  but  little  known  regions 
of  the  West ;  the  exploring  committee  were  Waters  Tows- 


372  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA. 

LEE,  of  Hannibal,  Sidney  Roberts,  of  Cazenovia,  Charles 
W.  Turner,  of  Sterling.  The  explorers  left  Hannibal  on  the 
19th  of  March,  1835 ;  the  day  of  departure  was  one  of  con-'j 
siderable  interest;  the  leave-taking  was  such  as  is  usually 
witnessed  between  parents  and  children,  husbands  and  wives^ 
when  a  long  and  perilous  journey  is  about  to  be  undertaken. 
The  instructions  to  the  committee  of  exploration  were  explicit, 
and  reduced  to  writing.  The  explorers  were  required  to  ex- 
amine the  country  along  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Michigan, 
with  the  view  of  finding  an  eligible  situation  for  a  commerr) 
cial  town,  with  lands  in  its  vicinity  adapted  to  agricultural 
pursuits.  Milwaukee  was  fixed  upon  as  the  first  point  of  the 
committee's  destination, — that  being  the  only  place  then  defi- 
nitely known,  between  Chicago  and  Green  Bay,  as  settled 
by  white  inhabitants.  From  Milwaukee,  they  were  directed 
to  explore,  either  north  or  south,  along  the  shore,  as  they 
might  judge  best.  The  committee  took  ^2,800  of  Company 
money  with  them,  with  which  to  make  investments,  and 
were  allowed  one  dollar  a  day,  while  on  actual  duty,  and 
traveling  expenses. 

V  On  leaving  Hannibal,  the  committee  took  the  route  by  way 
of  Lake  Eri^  to  Detroit,  and  from  thence  across  the  country 
to  Chicago.  At  Chicago  they  ascertained  that  there  was  no 
road  to  Milwaukee ;  the  journey  to  that  place  being,  at  that 
period,  usually  ^performed  by  following  Indian  trails,  some- 
times on  foot  and  sometimes  on  horseback,  and  occasionally 
by  water,  on  a  small  schooner.  The  explorers  set  outon.their 
journey  by  land,  following  mostly  along  the  beach  of  the 
Lake ;  after  having  accomplished  a  part  of  the  distance  in 
this  way,  they  descried  a  small  sail  craft  coasting  along  the 
shore  towards  the  north ;  they  embarked  on  this,  and  made 
a  successful  voyage  to  Milwaukee.  At  Milwaukee  they  found 
a  small  collection  of  buildings,  mostly  x)£  a  temporary  charac- 
ter, and  a  mixed  population  of  whites  and  Indians.  Nature, 
however,  had  marked  the  location  as  one  of  great  prospective 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA.  »373 

importance,  and  town  lotswere  already  run  up  to  compara- 
tively high  prices.  Tlie  committee  soon  ascertained  that  the 
object  of  their  mission  could  not  be  obtained  at  Milwaukee; 
the  means  within  their  control  were  too  limited  to  make  a 
purchase  of  real  estate  sufficient  for  a  colony. 

While  at  Milwaukee  the  committee  learned  that  there  were 
several  points  on  the  Lake  shore,  towards  Chicago,  capable  of 
being  rendered  of  commercial  importance,  which  were  yet 
unoccupied  by  claimants ;  they  accordingly  proceeded  south, 
carefully  exploring  such  points,  as  seemed  to  afford  any  nat- 
ural advantages  for  the  construction  of  a  harbor.  The  first 
locality  which  claimed  their  favorable  notice,  was  at  the  mouth 
of  Root  river,  afterwards  called  Racine ;  but  here  the  lands, 
bordering  on  the  river,  had  already  been  claimed  by  Capt.  Gil- 
beet  Knapp,  Mr.  Barker,  Mr.  Hubbard  and  others.  These 
gentlemen  had  already  made  preliminary  arrangements  for 
laying  out  a  town,  but  wore  disposed  to  sell  out  their  claims. 
The  committee  finally  entered  into  an  agreement  with  Capt 
Knapp,  by  which  they  were  to  pay  ^2,700  for  the  claim  to  the 
lands  on  which  the  principal  part  of  the  city  of  Racine  now 
stands.  A  misunderstanding,  however,  occurred  before  the 
bargain  was  legally  consummated ;  much  unpleasant  feeling 
too,  was  subsequently  manifested  between  the  parties  to  the 
contract ;  difficulties  also  arose  between  the  individual  mem- 
bers of  the  committee,  which  were  afterwards  a  source  of 
much  embarrassment  to  the  Company's  operations.  A  tender- 
ing of  the  money  to  Capt.  Knapp  for  the  Root  river  claim, 
\^as  put  into  the  hands  of  Judge  P.  D.  Hugenin,  who,  after 
holding  it  for  some  time,  and  seeing  no  prospect  of  its  being 
accepted,  deposited  it  in  a  bank  at  Chicago.  The  committee 
•being  unable  to  perfect  the  agreement  with  Capt  Knapp,  two 
of  their  number  (Towslee  and  Roberts)  returned  home  to 
consult  with  the  Company  as  to  further  proceedings,  while 
..Turner  remained  at  Racine,  to  look  after  the  unsettled  pur- 
chase.   The  Company  called  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders  at 


^*74  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA. 

Hannibal,  to  hear  the  report  of  tlje*  exploring  committee,  and 
to  determine  upon  future  action.  Dissatisfaction,  real  or  pre- 
tended, led  the  meeting  to  resolve  upon  the  removal  of  the 
exploring  committee,  and  the  appointment  of  John  BaLLEN, 
jr.,  sole  agent  of  the  Company.  An  attempt  was  subsequently 
made  to  hold  Capt.  Knapp  to  his  agreement  to  sell  to  the 
'Company,  but  this  having  failed,  all  idea  of  a  location  at  Root 
river,  (Racine,)  was  of  course  abandoned. 

After  the  failure  to  effect  a  purchase  for  the  Company  at 
Racine,  an  examination  of  the  country  farther  south,  was 
tmade  under  the  direction  of  Bullen.  On  the  6th  of  June, 
1835,  the  exploring  party  came  to  Pike  creek.*  Although 
this  locality  had  been  partially  noticed  before,  by  some  of  the 
party  in  the  employ  of  the  Company,  yet  its  advantages,  espe- 
cially for  the  construction  of  a  harbor,  had  been  almost  en- 
tirely overlooked.  It  was  now  a  season  of  the  year  when 
Nature  puts  on  her  loveliest  attire ;  the  wild  flowers  appeared 
every  where  in  profusion,  and  filled  the  air  with  delightful 

* 

fragrance.  The  Island  lying  between  the  two  branches  of  Pike 
creek,  (since  called  Washington  Island,)  was  clothed  in  rich- 
est verdure  and  seemed  to  invite  the  traveler  to  its  shady  re- 

ipose.  Pike  creek,  which  at  this  period  spread  out  to  the 
width  of  a  large  river,  with  a  channel  of  sufficient  depth  to 
float  a  ship,  at  c^ce  suggested  the  idea  of  a  commodious  har- 
bor for  the  prospective  commerce  of  Lake  Michigan.  In  short, 
every  thing  at  this  point  seemed  favorable  for  the  location  of 
a  town,  and  it  was  resolved  to  lay  claim  without  delay  to  the 
lands.     Accordingly  claims  were  made  for  the  Company  by 

;f  John  Bullen,  Hudson  Bacon,  and  J.  G.  Wilson,  all  on  the 


*  Pike  creek,  (now  city  of  Kenosha),  was  the  name  by  which  the  locality 
was  known  to  Indian  traders  and  early  adventurers  west  of  Lake  Michigan.  It 
was  afterwards  called  Pike,  taking  its  nanoe  from  the  first  Post  Office  established 

.  in  the  year  1»36.  In  1837,  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  th^  place  was  called 
to  fix  upon  a  new  name,  at  which  time  it  was  voted  to  call  the  place  Southport, 
"because  of  its  being  the  most  southerly  port  in  Wisconsin  on  Lake  Michigan. 

_^  In  1850,  the  place  was  chartered  as  a  city,  and  named  Kenosha.  M.  F. 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA.  375 

north  side  of  Pike  creek.     The  land  on  the  south  side  of  the 
creek  was  subsequently  claimed  by  David  Ceossit.  . , 

Pike  River, 

Before  proceeding  further  with  the  history  of  the  Emigra- 
tion Company,  and  its  movements  at  Pike  creek,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  a  proper  understanding  of  succeeding  events,  to  give 
a  brief  history  of  the  settlement  at  Pike  river.  The  village  of 
Pike  River  has  long  ceased  to  exist;  every  vestige  of  the 
place  has  disappeared,  and  nothing  remains  to  mark  the  spot 
where  this  boastful  little  town  once  stood.  But  it  must  not 
be  forgotten,  that  there  was  once  a  town  one  mile  north  of 
the  present  harbor  of  Kenosha,  and  which,  during  a  period 
of  three  or  four  years,  was  a  formidable  and  troublesome  rival 
of  Southport  Pike  River  once  had  dwellings,  stores,  me- 
chanic shops,  warehouses,  &c.  Among  the  buildings  in  the 
place,  was  one  erected  by  Wm.  N.  Seymoub,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  in  length ;  this  building  was  taken  down  in  the 
year  1842,  and  removed  to  Southport,  where  its  materials 
were  used  in  the  construction  of  several  dwellings.  Most  of 
the  other  buildings  at  Pike  River  were,  during  the  same  and 
the  following  year,  taken  apart  and  moved,  or  were  moved 
standing,  to  Southport. 

The  town  of  Pike  River  had  its  origin  in  consequence  of  a 
difficulty  among  the  members  of  the  Western  Emigration 
Company.  Charles  W.  Turner,  who  was  one  of  the  ex- 
ploring committee  originally  selected  by  the  Company,  and 
who  was  superceded  by  the  appointment  of  Bullen,  became 
dissatisfied  with  the  turn  of  affairs,  and  resolved  to  have  no 
further  connection  with  the  Company.  He  concluded  to 
(inake  an  exploring  tour  on  his  own  account,  and  hencefor- 
ward to  look  after  his  personal  interests.  Accordingly  he 
crossed  over  the  country  westward  from  Milwaukee,  to  Rock 
river;  he  followed  down  that  stream  to  Dixon's  Ferry,  now 
village  of  Dixon.     During  his  journey  thus  far,  he  met  with 


3Y6  EARLY  HlSTiORt'dlF  KENOSHA, 

only  a  few  white  persons,  until  his  arrival  at  Dixon.  From 
Dixon,  he  crossed  over  the  country  eastward  to  Chicago. 
Having  made  no  discoveries,  on  his  route,  to  suit  his  purpose, 
he  concluded  once  more  to  explore  the  western  shore  of  Lake 
Michigan.  On  his  way  northward,  along  the  shore  of  the 
Lake,  and  while  attempting  to  cross  Pike  river,  at  its  mouth, 
on  the  bar,  his  horse  mired  in  the  quicksand,  by  which  acci- 
dent he  was  thrown  into  the  water.  After  considerable  strug- 
gle of  horse  and  rider,  in  the  miry  pool,  both  fortunately  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  on  to  the  dry  land.  Turner  had  intended 
to  reach  Racine  that  day,  but  as  it  was  now  nearly  sunset, 
and  as  he  was  dripping  wet,  he  determined  to  camp  dow» 
for  the  night.  Having  turned  out  his  horse  to  feed  on  the 
wild  luxuriant  grass,  he  kindled  his  fire,  prepared  his  evening 
.  meal,  and  made  his  bivouac  under  the  bright  canopy  of  stars. 
This  was  ori  the  9th  of  June,  1835. 

On  the  following  morning,  Turner  discovering  an  Indian 
canoe  lying  near  the  shore,  the  idea  at  once  occurred  to  him 
to  explore  the  river  upward,  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  its 
liiagnitude.  '  Seated  in  the  canoe,  by  the  aid  of  a  pole,  he 
sounded  the  depth  of  the  water  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile  up  the 
stream.  The  shores  were  bold,  and  upon  a  casual  survey  of 
the  land  adjoining,  he  found  it  apparently  well  adapted  for  a 
town  site.  His  mind  was  now  fully  made  up,  that  he  had 
discovered  an  admirable  location  for  a  commercial  city.  He 
proceeded  to  Racine,  and  having  procured  an  axe,  and  a  few 
other  implements,  returned  the  next  day  to  Pike  river,  and 
marked  off  his  claim.  In  a  few  days,  he  had  succeeded  in 
erecting  upon  it  a  small  log  house,  which  he  covered  with 
bark.  Having  arranged  things  to  establish  his  claim,  which 
he  deemed  essential  in  compliance  with  claim  laws,  it  became 
necessary  for  him  to  return  to  Oswego  county,  N.  Y.,  to  settle 
some  affairs  before  laying  off  his  proposed  town  into  lots.  As 
it  was  a  requisite  of  claim  law,  that  some  person  should  keep 
possession  during  his  absence,  he  arranged  with  Dr.  Bush- 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KEN"OSHA.  377 

BiELL  B.  Gary,  of  Racine,  to  stay  in  his  cabin  until  his  return. 
Turner  was  unexpectedly  detained  in  the  State  of  New  York 
until  the  following  spring,  and  upon  his  return  was  greatly 
astonished  to  find  his  agent,  Dr.  Gary,  had  been  forcibly 
ejected  from  his  cabin;  besides,  Pike  river  had  no  longer  the 
appearance  of  a  wild,  unbroken  wilderness.  The  place  du- 
ring his  absence  had  been  surveyed  out  into  streets  and  lots, 
and  quite  a  number  of  persons  were  on  the  ground,  who  re- 
fused to  recognize  him  as  the  rightful  claimant ;  moreover,  he 
was  plainly  told  that  his  presence  was  undesirable,  and  that 
if  he  persisted  in  remaining  at  Pike  river,  unpleasant  conse- 
quences might  ensue. 

The  cause  of  this  revolution  in  the  affairs  of  Turner,  was 
simply  this :  The  agents  of  the  Emigration  Gompany,  had, 
during  his  absence,  examined  the  locality  he  had  chosen,  and 
were  strongly  impressed  with  the  importance  of  its  situation ; 
they  accordingly,  without  delay,  proceeded  to  take  possession 
of  it,  alleging  in  justification  of  the  act,  that  Turner  had  no 
right  to  disconnect  himself  from  the  Gompany  at  the  time  he 
did ;  that  he  was  lawfully  a  part  of  the  Gompany  at  the  time 
he  made  his  claim  at  Pike  river,  and  therefore  the  claim 
made  by  him  must  of  right  belong  to  the  Gompany.  Tur- 
ner perceiving  that  it  would  be  of  no  avail  for  him,  to  con- 
tend, single-handed,  for  the  recovery  of  his  claim,  against  such 
a  strong  array  of  force,  proceeded  to  Milwaukee  to  procure 
aid.  At  this  period,  Wisconsin  formed  a  part  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Michigan,  and  a  sheriff  had  been  appointed  by  the 
authority  of  Michigan,  residing  in  Milwaukee.  By  the  ad- 
vice of  friends.  Turner  procured  a  sort  of  writ  of  ejectment, 
by  virtue  of  which  the  occupants  at  Pike  river  would  be 
ousted  at  once.  This  document  was  put  into  the  hands  of 
the  sheriff,  who,  having  provided  himself  with  a  suitable 
number  of  attendants  to  enforce  his  authority,  set  out  for 
Pike  river.  On  his  arrival,  he  found  the  cabin  of  Turner 
strongly  fortified,  and  garrisoned  by  a  half-dozen  or  more  of 
48m 


378 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA. 


men ;  the  sheriff  demanded  them  to  surrender  their  fortress  ; 
the  besieged  replied  by  uttering  terrible  threats  of  violence 
upon  the  first  man  who  should  presume  to  enter  the  enclos- 
ure. Whereupon  the  sheriff  made  a  speech,  in  which  he 
strove  to  impress  the  resistants,  with  the  important  legal  pre- 
rogative of  his  office,  and  the  fearful  consequences  of  diso- 
beying one  so  high  in  authority  as  himself.  This  had  the 
effect  to  cool  very  considerably  the  courage  of  the  men  in  the 
cabin.  After  a  long  parley,  it  was  finally  stipulated,  that  the 
possession  should  be  given  up  to  Turner  for  the  time  being, 
and  that  the  parties  should  abide  the  decision  of  a  properly 
constituted  claim  tribunal.  This  being  arranged,  the  men  in 
the  cabin  capitulated,  marched  out,  and  Turner  entered  in, 
and  found  himself  once  more  fully  installed  in  his  little 
castle.  The  matter  of  dispute  between  the  parties  was  finally 
adjudicated,  when  it  was  determined  that  Turner  was  the 
lawful  claimant.  Turner  subsequently  purchased  the  prop- 
erty at  the  Government  land  sale,  in  May,  1839,  and  contin- 
ued to  hold  and  reside  on  the  premises  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1851. 

Pike  Creek  Resumed. 

As  has  already  been  stated,  the  Western  Emigration  Com- 
pany fixed  upon  its  location  at  Pike  creek,  (Kenosha,)  in 
June,  1835.  As  soon  as  the  news  reached  Oswego  county, 
of  the  selection  of  this  place,  immediate  preparations  began 
to  be  made  by  stock-holders,  to  emigrate  to  the  newly  chosen 
home.  About  fifteen  families,  mostly  from  the  town  of  Han- 
nibal, came  on  during  the  summer  and  fall  of  1835.  A  part 
of  these,  however,  were  not  members  of  the  Emigration 
Ck)mpany,  and  on  their  arrival  made  claims  on  lands  in  the 
vicinity  of  Pike  creek,  for  the  purpose  of  pursuing  the  busi- 
ness of  farming.  Eight  families,  members  of  the  Company, 
settled  at  Pike  Creek,  viz :  David  Doolittle,  Waters  Tows- 
lee,   I.   G.  Wilson,  Hudson  Bacon,  David   Crossit,  Amos 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KEl^OSHA.  379 

Grattan,  Samuel  Resique  and  Michael  Van  De  Bogart. 
These,  with  the  members  of  their  house-holds,  thirty-two 
persons  in  all,  comprised  the  population  of  Pike  Creek  during 
the  first  winter  of  its  settlement.  Their  habitations  were 
rude  shanties  built  of  logs,  and  covered  with  bark.  N.  R. 
Allen  and  John  Bullen  erected  a  frame  building  in  the  fall 
of  1835,  being  the  first  frame  building  erected  in  the  place ; 
this  building,  however,  was  not  completed  until  the  following 
year;  it  was  located  on  the  Lake  shore,  near  the  present 
4  south  pier  of  the  harbor. 

The  early  inhabitants  of  Pike  Creek,  were  not  indifferent 
to  religious  and  educational  privileges.  Through  the  eflforts 
of  Rev.  Jason  Lothrop,  a  school  was  established  in  December, 
1835,  and  maintained  through  the  winter.  A  number  of 
families  residing  on  the  prairies  in  the  vicinity,  availed  them- 
selves of  this  opportunity  to  send  their  children  to  school 
About  this  time  also  meetings  for  religious  worship  began  to 
be  held  occasionally ;  Rev.  Abner  Barlow  preached  the  first 
sermon,  in  the  house  of  Waters  Towslee,  near  the  place 
now  known  as  Beard's  brick-kiln.  The  inhabitants  at  this 
period  also  organized  a  Temperance  Society,  and  nearly  the 
entire  adult  population  of  the  place,  and  the  surrounding 
country,  became  members  of  it. 

The  residents  at  Pike  Creek  were  not,  however,  permitted 
to  enjoy  quiet  in  their  wilderness  home ;  scarcely  were  the 
first  settlers  comfortably  lodged  in  their  cabins,  before  they 
were  annoyed  by  intruders  upon  their  rights.  The  country, 
at  that  period,  was  traversed,  in  almost  every  direction,  by  ad- 
venturers and  speculators,  some  seeking  homes  for  their  fam- 
ilies, others  intent  only  on  money  making.  Only  a  few  of 
the  many  exciting  incidents  of  those  times,  can  now  be  related. 
The  controversy  known  as  the  '^Resique  war^^  which  began 
in  August,  1835,  and  ended  in  the  summer  of  1836,  was  a 
source  of  much  disturbance.  The  origin  of  the  Resique  war 
was  as  follows : 


3gQ  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA. 

In  the  month  of  July,  1835,  two  adventurers,'  Samuel  Re- 
siQUE  and  John  Noble,  left  Chicago  on  an  expedition  to  make 
claims  in  advantageous  locations,  with  the  view  of  selling 
them  on  speculation.     They  followed  the  Lake  shore  north 
from  Chicago,  until  they  unexpectedly  came  upon  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Emigration  Company,  at  Pike  Creek.     The  usual 
marks,  such  as  furrows  made  through  the  woods  and  open- 
ings by  a  plough,  indicated  that  the  lands  in  the  vicinity  of 
Pike  Creek  were  already  claimed.     The  prospect  for  making 
any  speculation  here,  at  first  appeared  rather  dubious;  still, 
the  place  had  many  natural  attractions,  and  they  lingered 
around  a  couple  of  days,  to  enjoy  the  quiet  scenery.     Wash- 
ington Island  was  then  in  its  primitive  glory;  the  groves  of 
young  oak  upon  it  had  never  yet  been  disturbed  by  the  wood- 
man's axe.     Attracted  by  its  inviting  beauty,  they  passed 
over  to  spend  an  hour  in  this  primeval  forest.     Resique  and 
Noble  were  experienced  squatters;  their  -quick  perceptions 
soon  discovered,  that  if  the  Island,  had  a  reputed  claimant,  he 
was  not  in  fact  a  legal  one,  according  to  the  squatter  code ; 
several  importaijt  particulars  had  evidently  not  been  com- 
plied with.     There  was  no  shanty  on  the  land,  and  no  resi- 
dent squatter  on  the  Island.     Resique  and  Noble  at  once 
came  to  the  conclusion  to  lay  claim  to  the  entire  Island,  and 
for  this  purpose,  immediately  proceeded,  by  the  help  of  a 
hatchet,  to  erect  an  encampment,  and  otherwise  make  a  proper 
claim  demonstration.     Having   completed  their    cabin,  Re- 
sique returned  to  Chicago,  to  procure  a  supply  of  provisions 
-and  other  necessaries,  while  Noble  remained  to  keep  posses- 
sion of  the  Island.     As  soon  as  it  was  ascertained  by  the  Pike 
iCreek  squatters,  that  the  two  strangers  seriously  intended  to 
take  possession  of  the  Island,  Noble  was  ordered  to  leave  the 
premises  without  delay ;  this  he  resolutely  refused  to  do.     It 
was  next  proposed  to  eject  him  forcibly;  but  the  more  dis- 
creet rejected  this  proposition,  as  not  being  compatible  with 
squatter  law.     It  was  finally  concluded  to  proceed  against 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA.  381> 

Noble  by  a  sort  of  technical  movement.  Accordingly,  on  the, 
morning  of  the  25th  of  July,  six  men,  armed  with  axes,  were 
seen  crossing  over  in  a  boat  towards  the  Island.  Noble  saw 
this  formidable  force  advance,  and  was  overwhelmed  in  con- 
jecture as  to  its  probable  intent.  Upon  landing  on  the  Island, 
instead  of  oifering  him  any  molestation,  the  mpi\  immediately 
began  cutting  down  trees  and  brush,  and  commenced  build- 
ing a  fence ;  they  continued  their  labors,  until  they  had  en- 
tirely enclosed  one  acre,  or  more,  leaving  Noble  and  his 
domicil  in  the  centre  thereof  Noble  served  his  courage, 
and  maintained  his  position.  In  a  few  days,  Resique  re- 
turned from  Chicago,  with  some  laboring  men,  and  a  good 
supply  of  provisions.  The  fence  aforesaid,  which  at  first 
looked  so  formidable,  soon  began  to  disappear  v.t^y.  pieces 
meal — particularly  in  the  night  time,  until  it  was  altogether 
missing. 

Resique  and  Noble  kept  possession  of  the  Island,  with  only 
occasional  skirmishing,  unUljthe  summer  of  1836,  when  the 
contest  was  renewed,  with  manifestations  of  hostility,  which, 
for  a  time,  threatened  the  most  serious  consequences.  Judge 
William  Bullen  attempted  to  take  possession  of  that  portion 
of  the  Island  lying  within  the  limits  of  the  N.  E.  quarter  of 
section  31,  by  virtue  of  a  claim  originally  made  by  an  agent 
of  the  Western  Emigration  Company.  Resique  marshaled  a 
force  to  maintain  his  position ;  for  several  days  armed  men 
were  employed,  and  the  most  warlike  demonstrations  were 
exhibited  on  both  sides.  The  dispute  between  the  hostile 
parties  was  finally  compromised,  by  allowing  Judge  Bullen 
to  come  into  peaceable  possession  of  a  part  of  the  Island. 

It  is  proper  to  remark,  that  during  somp  two  or  three  years 
after  the  first  locations  were  made  at  Pike  Creek,  Washington 
Island,  which  covers  an  area  of  some  thirty  acres,  was  re- 
garded the  most  valuable  portion  of  the  projected  town  site. 
It  was  believed' it  was  destined  to  become  the  chief  commer- 
cial point  of  business,  and  that  every  foot  of  its  surface  would 


352  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  K'EN'OSHA. 

eventually  be?  as  precious  as  gold.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Garrett, 
a  wealthy  capitalist  of  Chicago,  in  the  fall  of  1835,  offered 
^7,500  for  a  good  claim  to  the  Island.  Other  capitalists  and 
speculators  made  liberal  oifers  for  portions  of  this  now  almost 
deserted  spot  Next  to  the  Island,  that  portion  of  the  town 
lying  north  of  the  creek,  was  held  to  be  the  most  valuable. 
For  several  years,  the  lands  on  the  south  side  of  the  creek, 
now  comprising  the  first  ward  of  the  city  of  Kenosha,  were 
not  esteemed  very  desirable. 

r  The  difficulty  known  by  the  early  settlers  as  the  ^^Wood- 
bridge  quarreip  was  also  a  source  of  many  unpleasant  dis- 
turbances in  the  fall  of  1835.  The  progress  of  this  dispute, 
and  the  many  exciting  incidents  attending  it,  would  require 
too  much  space  to  be  here  narrated.  This  quarrel  originated 
in  a  claim  made  by  Woodbridge,  which  lapped  over  on  the 
claims  of  the  Emigration  Company.  It  must  not  be  inferred, 
that  because  many  disputes  and  collisions  occurred  in  these 
early  times,  that  the  settlers  at  Pike  Creek  and  vicinity,  were 
disposed  to  be  contentious  and  quarrelsome.  There  were  no 
legally  constituted  courts;  the  only  tribunals  for  the  adjustment 
of  difficulties,  were  the  Claim  Unions  formed  by  the  settlers ; 
and  these  even,  were  not  fully  organized  in  this  section  of  the 
country  until  the  year  1836.  Besides,  the  public  lands  were 
yet  unsurveyed,  consequently  there  were  no  legally  defined 
boundary  lines — hence  it  can  be  perceived,  that  clashing  in- 
terests would  naturally  occur.  A  circumstance  which  took 
place  in  the  early  settlement  of  Pike  Creek,  will  illustrate  the 
ingenuity  and  strategy,  which  were  sometimes  resorted  to  by 
rival  claimants,  to  over- reach  each  other  : 

An  early  settler  held  a  claim  on  a  piece  of  land,  now  in- 
cluded within  the  limits  of  the  third  ward  of  Kenosha.  One 
morning  this  claimant,  while  passing  over  his  claim,  near  the 
present  residence  of  Judge  Samoel  Hale,  was  overwhelmed 
with  astonishment  to  find  a  piece  of  his  land  enclosed  with 
a  fence,  and  within  the  enclosure  the  ground  cultivated,  and 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA.  383 

corn  growing  upon  it   The  matter  was  inexplicable ;  the  pos- 
sible loss  of  his  claim  made  him  feel  extremely  uncomfort- 
able.    His  supposed  possession  by  virtue  of  claim  law,  had, 
to  all  human  appearances,  passed  into  the  hands  of  some 
more  successful  squatter.     The  unhappy  man  immediately 
notified  the  Committee  of  Arbitration  of  the  state  of  the  case, 
and  solicited  their  attention  forthwith  to  this  strange  affair. 
The  Arbitrators  came,  and  sure  enough,  there  was  the  fence, 
the  cultivated  ground,  and  the  young  corn  some  four  inches 
in  height,   apparently   thriving  luxuriantly.     The  claimant 
made  his  statement,  alleging  that  he  had,  within  the   past 
week,  walked  over  this  very  piebe  of  ground,  and  saw  no 
fence  or  signs  of  improvement.    The  Arbitrators  were  greatly 
perplexed,  and  sat  down  on  a  log  to  deliberate.   The  case  was 
discussed  for  some  time,  but  no  satisfactory  conclusion  being 
arrived  at,  the  conversation  relapsed  into  silence — each  seemed 
involved  in  his  own  contemplations  as  to  the  instability  of 
human  affairs,  especially  in  the  matter  of  claim  titles.     At 
length  one  of  the  Arbitrators  sprang  suddenly  upon  his  feet, 
apparently  having  seized  hold  of  a  new  idea ;  he  proceeded 
to  take  down  a  portion  of  the  fence  so  as  to  remove  the  bottom 
rail ;  this  being  done,  he  burst  forth  into  an  exultant  laugh— 
the  revealment  of  the  mystery  now  flashed  across  the  minds 
of  all  present.     The  grass,  which  had  been  pressed  down  by 
the  bottom  rail,  was  still  fresh  and  green,  demonstrating  that 
the  fence  had  not  been  built  more  than  twenty-four  hours, 
and  disclosing  furthermore,  the  probability  that  the  corn  had, 
within  the  like  period,  been  transplanted  to  its  present  loca- 
tion.    It  was  subsequently  ascertained  that  the  com   was 
brought  from  a  field  on  the  neighboring  prairie,  and  carefully 
planted  here.     This  ingenious  contrivance  to  jump  the  claim 
of  a  Pike  Creek  squatter,  was  unanimously  declared  by  the 
^^Arbitrators  to  be  a  piece  of  outlawry,  and  the  complainant 
was  adjudged  to  be  rightful  possessor  of  the  ground.     The 
claimant,  who  had  been  greatly  alarmed,  since  his  discovery 


3g4  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA, 

of  the  mysterious  corn  field,  now  breathed  freer — went  home 
to  his  cabin  in  a  happy  mood  to  greet  his  wife  with  the  news 
of  his  triumph. 

Ahhough  the  settlement  at  Pike  Creek,  during  the  fall  of 

■^835,  was  quite  small,  there  was  considerable  business  stir  in 
the  place.  Among  the  public  wants,  was  a  tavern  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  strangers.     Travelers  frequently  stopped  at 

,this  point,  and  found  indifferent  quarters.     Judge  Peter  D. 

pHugunin  visited  the  settlement  in  July,  1835;  he  was  di- 
rected to  the  house  of  John  Bullen,  as  affording  the  best  ac- 

jeommodation  of   any  in  the  place.     Bullen  resided  in  a 

/small  log  building,  with  a  bark  covered  roof,  on  the  north 
side  of  the  creek.  It  so  happened,  that  a  family  of  emigrants 
stopped  at  the  same  time  with  the  Judge,  to  obtain  a  night's 
lodging.    The  sleeping  arrangements  were  as  follows — the 

iJudge  and  the  children  were  closely  stowed  in  the  cabin  on 
one  side,  and  the  women  on  the  other  side ;  the  remainder  of 
the  company  slept  outside  on  the  ground.     The  Judge's  ex- 

^periences  in  western  travel  were  next  day  (July  4th)  at  Ra- 

icine;  here  he  learned  that  an  Independence  dinner  was  to 

I  be  eaten  at  one  of  the  principal  places  of  entertainment  in 
the  place^^i,;  Jhe  Judge  liked  the  idea  of  a  patriotic  dinner  in 
a  new  country ;  so  at  the  appointed  time,  he  went  to  the  din- 

'4ng  place,  and  sat  down  with  six  other  patriotic  citizens. 

), Three  savory  dishes  graced  the  hoard — pork,  rice,  molasses. 

^^'iP-^iitiese  were  added  bread,  and  the  usual  condiments  of 

,  pepper  and  salt. 

To  meet  the  wants  of  the  settlement  at  Pike  Creek,  Sam- 

.>UEL  Resique,  in  August,  1835,  opened  a  tavern  in  a  small  log 

^house  on  the  Island.  Resique's  tavern,  though  kept  in  an 
insignificant  looking  building,  soon  became  very  popular. 
But  few  men  knew  better  how  to  cater  to  the  appetites  of 

rtheir  guests  than  Resique  ;  his  table  was  provisioned  with 
the  best  wild  game  the  surrounding  country  could  furnish ; 
and  the  economy  with  ^^hich  he  was  accustomed  to  stow 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA.  3S5- 

away  his  numerous  guests  on  a  given  area  in  his  Httle  garret, 
was  truly  astonishing.  Resique's  success  was  so  unexpect- 
edly great  in  the  line  of  tavern-keeping,  that  he  concluded  to 
enlarge  business;  accordingly,  in  the  following  month,  he 
opened  a  store  in  an  adjoining  cabin,  under  the  firm  of 
"  Resique  &  Noble." 

During  the  season  of  1835,  there  were  a  few  trips  made  by 
steamboats  between  Detroit  and  Chicago ;  no  steamers,  how- 
ever, that  year,  stopped  at  Pike  Creek;  three  sail  vessels 
anchored  off  the  place  during  the  season,  and  sent  boats 
ashore.  In  the  season  of  1836,  the  steamer  '^ Detroit  ^^  came 
to  anchor  half  a  mile  from  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  and  landed 
passengers  and  freight ;  a  number  of  sail  vessels  stopped  dur- 
ing that  year.  In  the  following  season,  1837,  the  town  had  ^ 
become  more  generally  known  abroad,  and  the  number  of 
arrivals  of  steamboats  and  vessels  was  largely  increased.* 

The  method  of  landing  passengers  and  freight  from  steam- 
boats and  vessels,  was  such  as  is  generally  practiced  on  lake 
or  sea  coasts,  where  no  harbor  or  wharf  facilities  exist.  A 
"  lighter,"  capable  of  carrying  several  tons  weight,  was  built 
in  the  spring  of  1836,  and  kept  on  the  beach  of  the  Lake  j 
whenever  a  steamer  or  sail  vessel  anchored  off  shore,  for  the 
purpose  of  landing  passengers  or  freight,  whether  in  the  day 
time  or  night  time,  the  lighter  was  launched  from  the  beach 
and  manned.  The  lighter  being  heavy,  it  required  a  large 
portion  of  the  able-bodied  men  of  the  town  to  handle  it. 
Among  the  most  active  on  such  occasions,  to  man  the  lighter, 
was  Judge  Hale.  Many  of  the  citizens  of  Kenosha  have 
still  vivid  recollections  of  hearing  his  stentorian  voice,  at  mid- 
night hours,  calling  for  men  to  launch  the  lighter ;  when  his 
voice  did  not  suffice  to  awaken  the  sleepers,  a  heavy  kick 


*  From  a  commercial  record  kept  by  A.  D,  !N'orthway,  it  appears,  in  the 
season  of  1837,  the  numher  of  arriTals  ■vras,  61  steamboats,  80  schooners,  and  2 
brigs;  in  1838,  72  steamboats,  and  88  schooners;  in  1839,  102  steamboats,  47 
schooners,  3  brigs,  and  1  ship,  M.  F. 

49m 


...1 


386  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA. 

against  the  door  never  failed  to  bring  them  to  a  sense  of 
wakefulness. 

For  the  convenience  of  navigators  on  Lake  Michigan,  it 
was  found  necessary  to  have  some  beacon,  answering  for  a 
light-house,  at  Pike  Creek.  To  supply  this  want,  a  large  oak 
tree,  on  the  bank  of  the  Lake,  some  twelve  rods  south  of  the 
present  harbor,  was  cut  down  so  as  to  leave  the  stump  ten 
feet  high.  On  the  top  of  this  stump  was  put  a  layer  of  stones, 
and  on  this  foundation  a  fire  of  wood  was  kindled  every  eve- 
ning at  sundown,  during  the  season  of  navigation.  Several 
citizens  of  the  place  volunteered  to  perform  the  duty  of  light- 
house keeper,  alternately,  one  week  each;  among  the  most 
active  of  these  was  Geo.  Kimball,  Esq.  This  contrivance 
for  a  beacon  light  served  until  the  year  1840,  when  an  im- 
proved light-house  was  built,  by  subscription,  costing  ^60, 
which  sum  was  chiefly  raised  through  the  exertions  of  J.  M. 
Stryker.  It  consisted  of  four  posts,  twenty-four  feet  high,  ; 
on  the  top  of  which  was  placed  a  sash  lantern,  three  feet 
square.  Some  two  years  after  this,  the  Government  light-  ; 
house  was  built,  which  relieved  the  people  from  further 
trouble  and  expense  of  this  sort. 

The  want  of  proper  rules  and  regulations  for  the  adjust- 
ment of  difficulties,  especially  those  arising  from  land  claims, 
was  much  felt  by  the  early  settlers.    Accordingly,  in  February, 
1836,  a  meeting  was  held,  and  a  code  adopted,  for  mutualiuu 
protection,  called  the  "  Claimants'    Union.'''     Soon  after,  a      s 
convention  was  held  at  Racine,  at  which  a  more  extensive     ,. 
combination  was  organized,  entitled  the  ^^  Milwaukee   Un- 
ion,"'^ 

The  survey  of  the  public  lands  in  this  part  of  the  country, 
was  completed  about  the  first  of  February,  1836.     In  May      • 
following,  Thomas  Mark,  under  the  direction  of  the  Western 


*  For  the  Constitution  by  which  this  Claim  Union  was  governed,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  Rev.  J.  Lotheop's  "Early  History  of  Kenosha  County,"  in  the 
Second  Volume  of  the  State  Historical  Society's  Collections.  M.  F. 


I 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA.  357, 

Emigration  Company,  surveyed  the  village  of  Pike  Creek, 
into  lots,  blocks  and  streets.  On  the  plat  of  this  survey,  a 
liberal  number  of  localities  were  designated  for  public  build- 
ings, squares  and  market  places.  A  new  survey  of  the  vil- 
lage was  made  in  1839,  directly  after  the  lands  were  sold  by 
the  U.  S.  Government  This  last  survey  was  under  different 
auspices,  and  a  less  liberal  policy  prevailed  in  the  width  of 
streets,  and  appropriation  of  grounds  for  public  uses.  The 
survey  last  mentioned,  is  the  now  legally  recorded  one,  gov- 
erning the  boundaries  of  lots  at  the  present  time. 

The  Western  Emigration  Company,  the  history  of  which 
has  been  in  part  detailed,  was  dissolved  in  December,  1836 ; 
it  proved  a  losing  operation  to  most  of  the  stock-holders. 
The  finality  of  this  Company,  will  be  found  in  Rev.  J. 
LoTHROp's  History  of  Kenosha  County.  During  the  year 
1836,  eight  additional  families  settled  within  the  limits  of  the 
village.  The  place,  it  will  be  recollected,  was  known  by  the 
name  of  Pike  Creek,  or  Pike,  until  1837 ;  after  that  period,  < 
Southport,  until  1850;  since  which  last  mentioned  time, 
Kenosha.  The  following  statistics,  taken  from  M.  Frank's 
"Sketch  of  the  Early  History  of  Southport,'^  published  in 
1844,  gives  the  progress  of  the  village  from  its  first  settlement: 
to  1840  : 

Year  1835,  number  of  families  8,  Inhabitants .i|;j .  -i  4 32 

1836,  do  16,  do        .........................     84 

1837,  do  26,  do        Jil.i..:.!,.':l..:V.Z ../.  144 

1838,  do  33,  do 186 

1839,  do  43,  do 246 

1840,  do  56,         do 337 


it 

tc 
tf 
u 

K 


Early  Efforts  to  Build  a  Harbor. 

The  construction  of  a  harbor  was,  from  the  first  settlement 
of  the  town,  always  looked  upon  as  a  work  of  necessity,  and 
of  certain  and  near  accomplishment  So  early  as  the  year 
1836,  the  settlers  were  unwilling  to  admit,  that  more  than 
three  years  would  elapse,  before  this  important  improvement 


388  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA. 

would  be  made.  In  the  year  1837,  the  first  vigorous  eftbrt 
was  made  by  the  inhabitants  to  procure  an  appropriation  from 
Congress ;  Hon.  Charles  Durkee  was  deputed  by  the  citi- 
zens to  proceed  to  Washington,  for  the  purpose  of  interesting 
members  of  Congress  on  this  subject.  Mr.  Dukkee  succeeded 
in  procuring  a  special  pre-emption  bill  to  be  passed  through 
the  Senate.  This  bill  granted  the  right  to  make  a  pre-emption 
to  about  a  section  of  land,  within  the  present  corporate  limits 
of  the  city  of  Kenosha;  each  settler  being  allowed  to  pre-empt 
two  village  lots.  These  lots  were,  by  the  provisions  of  the 
bill,  to  be  appraised  and  sold,  for  a  sum  not  less  than  the  ap- 
praisal ;  the  proceeds  to  be  applied  to  the  building  of  a  harbor. 
When  the  news  of  the  passage  of  this  bill  by  the  Senate 
came,  intense  excitement  pervaded  the  whole  population ;  it 
was  regarded  as  settling  the  question  beyond  contingency,  of 
the  early  completion  of  the  harbor.  The  bill  required  that 
each  claimant,  in  order  to  make  a  valid  pre-emption,  should 
have  his  lots  enclosed  with  a  fence,  within  twenty  days  after 
the  passage  of  the  law.  This  made  it  a  very  busy  time  for  a 
few  days ;  the  work  of  fencing  lots  progressed  night  and  day ; 
every  where  people  were  seen  running  with  rails,  stakes,  or 
whatever  material  could  be  found,  wherewith  to  make  an  en- 
closure. Some  valuable  lots,  on  the  north  side  of  the  creek, 
had  for  some  time  been  in  dispute,  as  to  title  under  the  claim 
law.  One  morning  the  people  were  greatly  surprised  to  find 
these  lots  all  completely  enclosed — the  work  having  been 
done  the  preceding  night  While  the  business  of  fencing  lots 
was  earnestly  progressing,  news  came  from  Washington  of 
the  defeat  of  the  bill  in  the  House  of  Representatives ;  there- 
upon fencing  operations  suddenly  stopped;  the  people  sat 
down  to  rest,  and  to  calculate  their  gains  and  losses. 

The  first  preliminary  survey  to  a  harbor,  was  made  by 
Capt  Allen,  of  the  United  States  Topographical  Engineers, 
in  the  summer  of  1837,  at  the  expense  of  the  citizens  of  the 
town.     Capt.  Allen  estimated  the  cost  of  building  a  harbor 


J 


oJ 


EAELY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA.  389 

,  •  at  ^87,000.  In  the  year  1839,  Capt.  Cram,  of  the  U.  S.  T.  E., 
J  under  the  direction  of  the  War  Department,  made  a  harbor 
survey  at  Southport,  also  at  Pike  River  and  Racine.  The  Re- 
port of  the  surveys  and  estimates  of  Capt.  Cram,  was  officially 
• ,  published  in  January,  1840.  On  the  publication  of  this  Re- 
port, great  indignation  was  felt  by  the  citizens  of  Southport; 
as  it  estimated  the  construction  of  a  harbor  at  the  south 
mouth  of  Pike  Creek  (Southport)  at  nearly  ^200,000,  and 
at  Pike  River  about  the  same  amount:  while  at  Racine, 
the  cost  of  building  a  harbor  was  estimated  at  less  than 
^50,000.  Capt.  Cram  was,  at  this  time,  said  to  be  a  real  estate 
owner  at  Racine,  and  was  charged  with  a  deliberate  intent  of 
prejudicing  the  Department  at  Washington  unfavorably  to  a 
harbor  appropriation  at  Southport. 

A  public  meeting  was  held  by  the  people  of  Southport,  on 
the  10th  of  February,  1840,  to  devise  means  for  counteracting 
the  influence  of  Capt.  Cram's  Report     Hitherto  much  jeal- 

^,^  ousy  had  existed  between  the  property  holders  of  Southport 

.  and  Pike  River,  and  but  little  friendly  intercourse  existed  be- 

tween  these  two  places ;  but  the  Pike  River  people  looked 

upon  the  Report  of  Capt.  Cram  as  particularly  intended  to 

^^^ -disparage  their  harbor  location, — hence,   on   this  occasion, 

,     they,  for  the  first  time,  joined  with  the  people  of  Southport,  to 
make  common  cause  against  a  Government  official,  who,  it  • 
was  believed,  had  conspired  against  the  interests  of  both  Pike 

^^  Jliver  and  Southport  The  meeting  was  organized  early  in 
the  morning,  at  Seymour's  tavern,  continued  its  deliberations 
through  the  day,  and  did  not  finally  close  its  labors  until  late 
in  the  evening.  The  result  of  the  meeting  was  the  passage 
of  resolutions,  strongly  condemning  Capt  Cram,  and  express-  . 
ing  a  determination  to  represent  the  unfairness  and  mischiev- 
ous intent  of  his  Report  to  the  War  Department,  and  demand 
his  removal  from  office.  A  committee  was  also  appointed  to 
proceed  to  Milwaukee,  to  obtain  the  co-operation  of  the  citi- 
zens of  that  place  in  l^he  effort  to  remove  Capt  Cram  ;  it  be- 


o "^  390  '^""''EAELY  HISTORY  OF  KEN'OSHA. 

ing  understood  that  the  Milwaukeeans  were  on  no  friendly 
terms  with  the  Captain.     These  resolutions,  which  breathed 
much  spirit  and  determination,  finally  ended,  as  such  matters 
often  do — in  smoke. 
-      In  March,  1840,  the  mechanics  of  Southport  held  several 

<>?'  Spirited  meetings,  and  entered  into  an  organization  to  build  a 
harbor  by  subscriptions,  to  be  paid  in  installments  of  work 
and  money.     The  enterprise  was  zealously  discussed  for  sev- 

<.     eral  weeks,  but  the  pecuniary  ability  of  the  mechanics  for  an 

ff-^  Undertaking  of  such  magnitude  was  found  to  be  quite  unsuf- 
ficient,  and  the  project  was  abandoned. 

The  inhabitants  of  Southport  did  not  fail  to  petition  Con- 
gress every  year  for  an  appropriation  to  build  a  harbor,  besides 
employing  other  means  to  bring  the  attention  of  Congress  to 
this  subject  In  January,  1842,  Gen.  D.  Hugunin  was  de- 
puted to  proceed  to  Washington ;  his  acquaintance  with  some 
of  the  members  of  the  Cabinet,  it  was  believed,  would  gain 

'     for  him  a  favorable  hearing.     Other  individuals,  in  after  years,. 

-fe  were  despatched  to  Washington  on  the  same  mission.  The 
people,  however,  were  doomed  to  disappointment  from  year 
to  year;  Congress  seemed  deaf  to  their  reasonable  demand,. 

, '  and  very  many  of  the  settlers,  who  had  relied  on  the  building 
of  a  harbor  as  a  means  of  giving  permanent  value  to  real 

U   estate,  became  discouraged.     Finally,  on  the  25th  of  June,. 

^'  1844,  intelligence  came  that  an  appropriation  bill  had  passed,, 
granting  ^12,500  for  the  construction  of  a  harbor.  This  news^ 
was  received  with  demonstrations  of  joy ;  a  public  dinner 

9  was  gotten  up,  speeches  made,  toasts  drank,  accompanied  with 
e  music  and  the  firing  of  guns.  Real  estate,  which  had  for 
-  some  time  been  depressed,  suddenly  went  up;  many  new 
-"^  ^buildings  were  immediately  commenced,  and  the  business  ac- 
tivities of  the  town  were  greatly  revived. 

The  good  news  of  a  harbor  appropriation  had  its  invig- 
orating effect  only  a  few  weeks,  when  a  new  turn  was  given 
to  affairs.     It  was  ascertained  that  Col.  Abert,  of  Washing- 


.,    v^^^^.y  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA.      m   -foduSiiSftl 

ton,  who  was  designated  by  the  War  Department  to 'locate 
the  harbor,  and  direct  the  expenditure  of  the  appropriation, 
regarded  the  terms  of  the  act  of  Congress  such,  as  to  make  it 
rf^'  discretionary  with  him  to  locate  the  harbor  at  the  South  miouth 
of  Pike  Creek  (Southport),  or  at  Pike  River,  one  mile  North ; 
moreover,  it  was  affirmed  that  Col.  Abert  had  been  heard  to 
express  the  determination  to  make  the  location  at  Pike  River. 
This  new  aspect  of  the  case,  very  naturally  created  a  great 
panic ;  the  work  on  every  new  building,  with  only  one  excep- 
tion, (store  of  J.  H.  Nichols,  corner  of  Main  and  Park  streets,) 
was  discontinued.  Many  improvements  which  had  been 
commenced,  were  relinquished;  real  estate  suddenly  fell; 
many  were  anxious  to  sell  out,  but  there  were  no  buyers.  The 
destiny  of  the  town  now  seemed  suspended  on  the  decision 
of  Col.  Abert.  On  the  26th  of  August,  Col.  Abert  arrived, 
and  fixed  his  quarters  at  Boardman's  tavern,  corner  of  Mar- 
ket and  Exchange  streets.  It  was  understood  his  decision  in 
the  matter  would  be  given  without  delay  ;  this  was  a  day  of 
intense  anxiety  to  every  lot  holder.  Soon  after  the  arrival  of 
Col.  Abert,  he  was  waited  upon  by  the  Hon.  C.  Durkee  and 
two  other  gentlemen ;  when  Mr.  Durkee  presented  him  with 
a  paper  which  he  desired  him  to  read.*  Col.  Abert  took  the 
paper  and  looked  it  over,  seemingly  with  much  attention.  In 
the  liiean  time,  the  party  waiting  upon  the  Colonel,  watched 
his  countenance  with  anxious  interest ;  a  decision  was  pend- 
ing which  would  settle  the  question,  whether  Southport  was 
to  be,  or  not  to  be.  At  length  Col.  Abert  said,  "  Mr.  Durkee, 
do  you  know  the  statements  contained  in  this  paper  to  be  cor- 
rect?^' Mr.  Durkee  replied  in  the  affirmative.  "Then," 
said  Col.  Abert,  "  there  is  no  alternative,  the  location  for  the 


•..-.!!., 


The  paper  given  to  Col.  Abert,  called  his  attention  to  facts,  which  very  na- 
turally might  have  escaped  his  attention.  People  abroad,  often  labored  under 
a  misapprehension  as  to  the  destinction  between  Pike  River  and  Pike  Creek. 
There  was  a  phrase  put  into  the  act,  especially  designed  to  apply  the  appro- 
priation to  the  South  mouth  of  Pike  Creek,  but  which  jivonld  not  be  likely  to 
De  so  construed  by  any  one  not  personally  acquainted  with  the  localities  of  the 
two  places.  ,  M.  F. 


ot 


g92  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA. 

harbor  must  be  fixed  at  the  South  mouth  of  Pike  Creek." 

The  news  of  Col.  Abert's  decision  spread  rapidly  through 

'     the  town,  and  was  received  with  expressions  of  delight.     The 

1-    next  day  the  sound  of  the  saw  and  the  hammer  again  began 
si  a  .  . 

to  be  heard,  and  every  depar.^i;n;ent  of  J;>usiness  ^proceeded  with 

more  than  usual  energy.  ''      ''-   '     '^ 

:    In  March,  1845,  another  appropriation,  of  ^15,000,  was 

obtained  from  Congress.     Since  that  period,  the  work  on  the 

»-  harbor  has   been   prosecuted,  ^lore  or  less  every  year,  by 

money  borrowed  on  the  credit  of  the  corporation,  and  by  tax 

levied  on  the  real  estate  of  the  town. 

'•  Newspapers. 

.,.    The  establishment  of  a  newspaper  began  to  be  agitated  in 

the  summer  of  1839 ;   in  the  following  winter,  there  was 

,   much  excitement  on  the  subject,  arising  from  the  rival  feeling 

between  the  people  of  the  north  side  of  the  creek,  and  those 

.  on  the  south  side.     The  south  side  claimed  the  location  of 
m  ' 

the  press  on  the  ground  of  having  the  greatest  population. 

.     The  north  side  claimed  it,  because  it  had  more  wealth  and 

^    business  influence  to  sustain  a  press.      In  January,  1840, 

Judge  BuLLEN  proposed  to  guarrantee  to  Hon.  C.  C.  Sholes, 

five  hundred  subscribers,  and  a  sufficient  support,  provided 

.  he  would  establish  a  paper  on  the  north  side.     This  raised  a 

J.    storm ;  the  south  side  people  called  a  meeting,  and  resolved 

not  to  patronize  the  proposed  paper.     In  the  meantime,  the 

interests  of  the  south  side  continued  to  strengthen,  and  in 

June,  1840,  the  '' Southpori  Telegraph,''  edited  by  C.  La- 

^THAM  Sholes,  and  M.  Frank,  was  established.     This  paper 

..  ;has  ever  since  that  time,  continued  its  regular  weekly  issues, 

.and  is  now,  with  perhaps  one  exception,  the  oldest  newspaper 

in  the  State.     The  north  side  did  not,  however,  abandon  the 

,^  idea  of  a  newspaper,  and  in  September,  1841,  a  paper  called 

the  "  Southport  American^'  was  established  on  that  side  of 

the  creek,  edited  by  N.  P.  Dowst.     It  continued  to  be  pub- 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KE^-OSHA.  393 

lished  on  that  side,  until  the  mercantile  and  other  business 
was  mostly  transferred  to  the  south  side,  when  the  paper  was 
also  removed  to  the  south  side.  ^T 


QI]J 


Visit  of  Gen.  Dodge.,  r 


eV 


Although  the  town  continued  to  increase  steadily  in  popu- 
^o  lation  after  its  first  settlement,  yet  during  the  first  five  or  six 
^o  years,  it  received  but  few  accessions  of  men  of  wealth ;  the 
..y^  people  were  mostly  possessed  of  only  moderate  means.     As 
an  illustration  of  its  resources  for  fashionable  display,  up  to 
Ijq.  1841,  the  occasion  of  Gen.  Dodge  visiting  the  place,  may  be 
(5  J  mentioned.     It  was  announced  that  he  would  visit  South  port 
YfjOn  the  12th  of  July;  the  fame  of  the  General  was  widely 
[     known  throughout  the  West  as  a  frontier  warrior  of  many 
years  service,  and  especially  as  the  hero  of  the  "  Sauk  War/' 
Pji^or  "  Sauk  Fuss,"  as  the  waggish  ones  were  wont  to  call  it. 
,(j]AlI  the  available  vehicles  and   horses   in  the   place,  were 
brought  into  requisition  on  this  occasion,  to  enable  the  people 
..n  to  go  out  to  meet  him.     This  equipage  consisted  of  three 
lumber  wagons,  one  open  carriage  on  wooden  springs,  besides 
five  indifierent  horses  for  single  riders.     As  the  General  was 
to  come  from  Racine,  and  the  road  being  unfit  for  carriages, 
the  Racine  people  procured  a  lighter  boat,  in  which  the  Gen- 
eral and  a  few  citizens  of  that  place,  were  towed  by  two 
horses  along  the  beach  of  the  Lake.     The  Southport  proces- 
sion, with  the  wagons  and  horses  before  mentioned,  proceeded 
to  the  north  end  of  Washington  Island,  and  awaited  the  ar- 
rival of  the  famed  warrior.  As  soon  as  the  boat  hove  in  sight 
in  which  were  the  General  and  his  companions,  a  speckled 
bandana  handkerchief  was  raised  on  a  stick  by  one  of  the 
Southport  party — this  Wias  the  signal  of  patriotic  welcome, 
and  was  followed  by  three  hearty  cheers.     The  General  was 
assisted  into  Deacon  Whitney's  wooden  spring  carriage  before 
mentioned,  which  was  considered  the  best  vehicle  in  the 
neighborhood ;  and  the  procession  took  up  its  line  of  march, 
50m 


394  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  KENOSHA. 

making  a  long  circuit  through  the  brush,  over  the  surveyed 

part  of  the  village ;  not  so  much  for  the  purpose  of  showing 

the  General  improvements  already  made  in  the  town,  but  to 

impress  him,  and  the  Racine  visitors,  of  the  magnitude  of 

what  was  to  be.   The  procession  at  length  reached  Whitney's 

Temperance   House,   a  respectable  building   constructed  of 

hewn  logs,  situate  on  Main  street     Here  quite  a  crowd  of 

people  had  collected  from  the  adjoining  country — many  hav- 

ot  ing  come  a  distance  of  twenty  miles  to  see  the  great  Indian 

t>(f  flogger.    At  this  point,  the  General  was  formally  introduced 

to  the  people,  when  he  made  a  short  speech,  which  is  said  to 

Y^^have  been  the  first  set  speech  the  General  ever  made  to  any 

^/liftssemblage  of  people,  except  to  his  soldiery  on  the  tented 

^",1  field. 

J I  i^^-;The  history  of  Kenosha,  subsequent  to  the  early  events 
here  chronicled — its  advancement  in  population,  wealth,  pub- 
lic improvement  and  educational  enterprise,  are  too  well 
known,  and  of  too  modern  a  date,  to  make  so  soon  an  appro- 
priate chapter  for  the  State  Historical  Society's  publication. 


SOME   ACCOUNT 

OF  THE 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHAV^^"^^ 


Q         BY    WALLACE    MYGATT. 

In  treating  of  the  first  settlement  of  a  place  that  has  after- 
wards grown  to  be  one  of  some  importance,  many  little  inci- 
dents acquire  interest,  if  not  significance,  from  their  connec- 
tion  with  the  incipient  period  of  the  existence  of  that  place. 

Upon  the  same  principle,  we  sometimes  listen  with  interest 
to  an  account  of  the  youthful  performances  of  a  man  of  prom- 
inence, not  that  these  performances  are  anywise  r^i^arkable, 
except  as  being  connected  with  one  whose  after  life  has  given 
interest  to  all  such  particulars.  iic-f^trr,,  Ytrnrr 

So,  also,  where  two  armies  have  engaged  in  hostilities,  in- 
cidents  and  facts,  that  would  not  under  ordinary  circumstan- 
ces demand  a  moment's  consideration,  become  of  sufficient 
importance  to  be  adverted  to  with  manifest  interest  in  connec- 
tion with  the  main  event.  ,  ,,  ,     . 

So,  indeed,  do  all  human  events  that  are  attended  with  any 
considerable  results,  interest  our  minds  in  looking  after  the 
minor,  as  well  as  the  more  marked,  particulars.    >  , 

Assuming  that  Kenosha  has  obtained  sufficient  present  and 
prospective  importance  to  give  interest  to  some  of  the  minor 
details  of  her  infancy,  it  may  not  be  considered  inappropriate 
^o  speak  of  some  incidents  in  the  early  history  of  the  place, 
which,  under  other  circumstances,  might  be  thought  too  trivial 
to  call  for  even  a  passing  notice. 


-.  I  "■>  ^ 


396  FIRST  SETTLEMEIS^T  OF  KEN'OSHA. 

John  Bullen,  Esq.,  as  the  representative  of  a  number  of 
individuals  of  Oswego  county,  N.  Y.,  who  desired  to  emigrate 
to  the  West,  arrived  at  Kenosha,  on  Sunday,  the  14th  day  of 
June,  1835.  With  Mr.  Bullen  came  also  Messrs.  Edwin  C. 
Hart,  William  Bullen,  and  C.  W.  Turner  ;  and  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  Messrs.  Hudson  Bacon,  Gardner  Wilson,  and 
Cephas  Weed,  part  of  whom  were  associated  with  Mr.  Bul- 
len in  looking  up  a  location,  and  a  part,  perhaps,  of  the 
number  taking  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  look  up  a  new 
home  for  themselves  on  their  own  individual  account  These 
were  the  first  white  men  who  were  known  to  have  visited  the 
place.  Mr.  Bullen,  and  his  associates,  soon  determined  to 
make  Kenosha  the  point  of  location.  They  had  with  them, 
however,  rio  tools  with  which  to,  construct  even  a  temporary 
shelter,  aii(i,  consequently,  they  encamped  for  several  days  on 
"the  north  side  of  the  harbor,  and  in  what  is  now  the  second 
''^ward'  of  the  city.  They  were  also  destitute  of  cooking  imple- 
iriefits,  and  Mr.  Bacon,  who  did  the  duties  of  steward  on  that 
"^occasion,  dug  a  trench  with  his  knife  in  the  body  of  a  fallen 
^'^  tree,  into  which  he  placed  the  meat  and  other  articles  of  food 
^^^ks  they  were  taken  out  of  the  fire,  and  from  that  trench  the 

party  severally  helped  themselves  to  food.  '    „ 

"''    -At  this  time  there  were  three  or  foiir  Indian  villages  within 

a  range  of  three  miles  of  the  place,  but  the  principal  one  of 

^^^^rhich  was  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  Pike  creek,  opposite 

the  present  Lake  Shore  Railroad  bridge.     This  village  was 

mainly  built  on  the  creek  bottom,  and  extended  for  some  dis- 

X*'fance  on  that  stream.     The  land  now  embraced  in  fractional 

'•   block  sixty-nine,  was  the  focus  and  centre  of  this  Indian 

Metropolis,     There  were  also  upon  the  Island,  fourteen  or 

'fifteen  graves  of  Indians,  on  two  of  which  the  Indians  had 

erected  poles,  that  were  painted,  and  from  the  top  of  one  of 

these  poles  was  still  to  be  seen  a  white  flag,  the  ample  folds 

of  which  were  waved  by  the  breeze.     In  close  proximity  to 

to  these  graves,  were  the  bodies  of  two  Indians  that  were  set 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA.  397 

in  the  ground,  in  a  standing  or  upright  posture,  and  all  of  ,q 
their  bodies  above  their  waists,  protruded  above  the  surface 
of  the  ground.  The  progress  of  decay  had  already  deprived 
one  of  the  bodies  of  its  head.  In  the  same  vicinity  also,  it 
was  found  that  the  Indians  had  split  open  a  part  of  a  body 
of  a  tree  of  suitable  length,  dug  out  the  inside  of  the  same,  -i 
and  placed  in  it  the  remains  of  an  Indian,  and  then  withed 
the  parts  carefully  together,  and  elevated  the  whole,  into  the 
top  of  a  tree,  hoping  thereby,  no  doubt,  to  shorten  the  journey 
of  their  brother  to  the  "  better  world." 

There  are  circumstances  which  would  seem  to  warrant  the 
conclusion,  that  Kenosha  was  at  one  time  the  resort  of  one  or 
more  tribes  of  Indians,  for  the  purpose  of  manufacturing 
arrow  heads.     Block  number  eighty,  and  its  vicinity,  in  the 
second  ward,  appears  to  have  been  the  place  selected  for  this .  ,     , 
Indian  Jlrmory,  for  upon  these  grounds  large  deposits  of  , 
finished  and  unfinished  arrow  heads,  have  been  found.     Ex- 
cavations had  been  made  in  the  ground,  which,  after  being   '  , 
filled  with  these  implements^ of  warfare  and  the  chase,  were 
covered  first  with  bark,  and  then  with  the  original  sward,  or     , 
by  rolling  on  to  them  large  boulders.     As  many  as  six  quarts 
of  arrow  heads  have  been  taken  out  of  one  of  these  places  of 
.deposit.     In  the  same  vicinity,  Messrs.  Hannahs  brothers,  in 
[making  some  excavations  in  the  engine  room  of  their  flour-       . 
ing  mill,  found  a  stone  battle-axe,  which,  by  the  politeness  of 
[Mr.  William  H.  Hannahs,  I  am  permitted  to  forward  to  the 
JState  Historical  Society,  as  a  present  from  him.     The  mate-       ^ 
rials,  however,  oi  which  the  arrow  heads  and  other  imple- 

lents  were  made,  must  have  been  mainly  brought  over  from 
the  Island,  as,  at  no  other  place  could  the  proper  stone  be 
found,  in  the  same  abundance,  or  indeed,  of  the  same  quality. 

The  first  double  teams  that  came  to  Kenosha,  arrived  on, 
Sunday,  June  2 1st,  1835.     There  were  two  wagons,  to  one  of 
which  was  attached  a  span  of  horses,  and  to  the  other  three 
yoke  of  oxen.    With  those  teams  came  Mrs.  Gardner  Wil- 


hniq 

1  < » 
I 


398 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA. 


SON,  Jonathan  Pierce,  Orkin  Jerome  and  Nelson  Gatlipf. 
On  the  day  after  the  arrival  of  these  teams,  the  party  com- 
menced the  erection  of  a  building  where  Main  and  Union 
streets  now  intersect  each  other,  in  the  second  ward.  This 
was  the  first  building  put  up  in  Kenosha,^  but  the  building 
more  nearly  resenibled  an  Indian  wigwam  than  a  habitation 
for  civilized  men.  The  main  sides  were  laid  up  with  what 
might  be  naore  properly  called  poles  than  logs,  and  the  roof 
was  covered  with  bark.  The  floor  was  also  composed  of  the 
sam6  mafefial  as  the  roof. 

Mrs.  Wilson,  who  was  the  first  white  woman  who 
lived  at  Kenosha,  used  one  of  the  wagons  for  her  sleeping 
apartment,  for  the  first  two  weeks  after  her  arrival,  and 
cooked  for  the  party  in  the  open  air.  The  table  was  made  of 
split  logs,  and  the  cooking  and  other  furniture  was  all  nearly 
'  of  the  same  primitive  character  as  the  table. 

For  the  purpose  of  marking  the  bounds  of  the  Company's 
claim,"' on  the  north,  it  Vas  thought  best  to  make  something 
that  would  have  tlie  appearance  of  an  enclosure,  and  accord- 
ingly an  enclosure  was  comrnenced  on  the  25th,  and  com- 
pleted on  the  28th  day  of  June.  The  enclosure  commenced 
about  three-fourtlis  oif  a  mile  west  of  the  Lake,  on  Pike  creek, 
and  terminated  on  the  Lake  at  Pike  river,  making  a  distance 
altogether  of  something  over  a  mile.  It  was  constructed  by 
falling  trees  oii  the  line  of  the  prop ose(^  route,  wherever  traes^ 
couldiDefbuncl  standing  in  the  proper  position,  and  by  draw- 
ing and  carrying  on  the  bodies  of  fallen  trees  and  brush. 
The  time  from  the. 28th  of  June  to  the  4th  of  July,  was  occu. 
pied  in  marking  and  defining,  in  one  way  and  another,  the 
outlines  of  claims  on  the  south  side  of  the  harbor,  and  per- 
haps  also  on  the  west. 

The  harbor  at  Kenosha,  as  is  known  to  all  who  have  visit- 
ed the  place,  lies  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  having  two  out- 
lets  into  the  Lake,  one  distant  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
from  the  other.     The  harbor  also  receives  a  small  tributary, 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA.  399 

from  the  north-west,  called  Pikt  creek.  The  estuary  which 
forms  the  principal  harbor,  surrounds  a  piece  of  land,  on  all 
sides  except  on  the  east,  and  on  the  east  the  land  borders  on 
the  Lake,  thus  forming  an  Island.  This  Island  had  not 
escaped  the  attention  of  the  Company,  in  establishing  the 
limits  of  their  claims. 

On  Monday,  the  6th  day  of  July,  Mr.  Bullen  commenced 
the  erection  of  a  log  house,  on  the  Lake  shore,  about  fifty  rods 
north  of  the  northern  outlet  of  the  harbor.  In  1836,  this 
building,  with  a  small  piece  of  land  adjoining,  passed  into  the 
hands  of  James  R.  Beard,  who  then  commenced  manufac- 
turing brick.  The  log  house,  after  being  occupied  for  a  period 
of  about  twelve  years,  was  supplanted  by  one  of  greater  dur- 
ability and  pretension. 

On  the  7th  day  of  July,  Mr.  Samuel  Resique  arrived  at 
Kenosha,  and  to  use  a  squatter  phrase,  jumped  the  Island. 
Mr.  RpsiQUE  brought  with  him  a  number  of  brothers  by  the 
name  of  Woodbridge,  and  others,  and  he  accordingly  had 
quite  a  formidable  force  to  sustain  him  in  holding  possession. 
This  circumstance  occasioned  the  first  dispute  about  the  right 
of  property  that  had  occurred  at  this  place.  But  the  dispute, 
which  at  one  time  threatened  to  cause  soiiie  disturbance,  was 
finally  amicably  settled,  and  Mr.  Resique  retained  a  portion  of 
the  Island,  either  by  purchase  or  by  some  other  compromise. 
After  camping  on  the  Island  for  about  two  weeks,  Mr.  Resique 
commenced  the  erection  of  a  log  house,  and  shortly  after  com- 
pleting it,  opened  it  as  a  tavern.  Although  the  accommoda- 
tions that  a  public  house  is  supposed  to  hold  forth,  were  hot  in 
much  requisition  at  that  early  day,  yet  the  ^' Resique  House^^ 
became,  after  a  time,  quite  noted  as  a  public  inn. 

About  the  time  that  Mr.  Resique  jumped  the  Island,  Mr. 
Gardner  Wilson  commenced  the  erection  of  a  log  house  on 
the  Lake  shore,  opposite  the  north  end  of  the  Island.  This  was 
the  third  building  put  up.  This  building  was  occupied  for 
several  years  by  Mr.  Wilson,  when  he  moved  back  East 


t 


~n      ' 


}ti 

II 

m 
T 


■ft 


il8 


400 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA. 


The  last  vestige  of  the  Wilson  house,  and  also  of  the 
"  Resique  House^^  have  long  since  disappeared.  Not  a  stone, 
a  piece  of  wood,  or  an  indentation  of  the  soil,  marks  the 
former  foundations  of  these  buildings,  once  so  famous  in  the 
history  of  the  place. 

Mr.  BuLLEN,  on  behalf  of  the  Company  which  he  repre- 
sented, commenced  putting  up  a  log  house  on  the  south  side 
of  the  harbor,  about  the  middle  of  July.  This  was  the  first 
building  put  up  on  that  side  of  the  harbor,  and  it  stood  on 
what  is  laid  down  in  the  city  map,  at  the  present  time,  as  lot 
one,  block  four,  in  the  first  ward.  The  building  was  put  up  , ; 
for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  claim.  A  day  or  two  after  this 
building  was  commenced,  Mr.  Timothy  Woodbridge  com- 
menced putting  up  a  small  log  shanty,  a  few  rods  south,  and 
on  what  is  now  called  block  five,  for  the  purpose  of  jumping 
the  claim.  He  finished  his  building,  but  abandoned  any  pre- 
tension to  the  claim. 

In  the  latter  part  of  July,  Mr.  Bacon  put  up  a  log  house 
near  his  present  residence,  on  block  eighty,  in  the  second 
ward;  and  on  the  29th  of  July,  Mr.  Jonathan  Pierce  com-      ^ 
menced  hewing  the  timber  for  the  first  frame  building;  but  .  . 
after  the  frame  had  been  completed,  owing  to  some  apprehen-   -jftt 
sions  that  a  claim  the  Company  had  made  about  one  mile 
north  west,  would  be  jumped,  the  timbers  were  transferred  to     ,  ^ 
that  claim  and  put  up. 

,  The  place  was  destined,  however,  not  to  be  long  without  a 
frame  building,  and  accordingly  another  frame  was  com- 
menced in  the  first  part  of  August,  which  was  put  up  on  the 
Lake  shore,  on  the  south  side  of  the  harbor.  This  building 
stood  on  what  is  now  called  lot  four,  block  four,  in  the  first 
ward.  It  was  built  for  Mr.  John  Bullen,  and  was  used  by 
him  for  a  store,  and  was  the  first  establishment  of  the  kind  in 
the  place. 

The  first  cargo  of  any  kind  that  was  ever  landed  at  Keno- 
sha, arrived  on  the  10th  day  of  July,  1835.     It  consisted  of 


.  PIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENO^Ei;^,  ,491 

50,000  feet  of  lumber.  The  lumber  had  been  bought  at  She- 
boygan, for  Mr.  BuLLEN,  at  a  cost  of  ^20  per  M.  It  was 
thrown  into  the  Lake,  and  floated  ashore  in  rafts.  The  next 
arrival  by  Lake  at  Kenosha  was  a  part  of  a  cargo  of  merchan- 
dize, also  for  Mr.  Bullen.  These  goods  were  shipped  by  way  of 
Oswego  and  the  Lakes,  and  arrived  at  Kenosha  in  August  of 
that  year.  The  arrival  of  this  stock  of  goods  dates  the  open- 
ing of  the  first  mercantile  establishment  in  Kenosha. 

Up  to  the  middle  of  August,  no  religious  meetings  had 
been  held  at  Kenosha ;  but  about  that  time  Mr.  Jonathan 
Pierce,  and  Mr.  Austin  Kellogg,  both  strangers  to  each 
other,  happening  to  meet  on  the  Island,  agreed,  in  the  course 
of  five  minutes  conversation,  to  call  a  religious  meeting  for 
the  Sabbath  next  ensuing,  and  which j, meeting  was  accord- 
ingly held  in  the  log  building,  on  the  Lake  shore,  qn  the  south 
side  of  the  harbor,  that  was  first  put  on  that  side.  There 
were  present  at  that  meeting  twenty-eight  persons,  of  whom 
twenty  one  spoke  at  more  or  less  length.  During  most  of  the 
year  1836,  the  religious  meetings  were  all  held  at  the  house 
of  William  Bullen,  on  the  Island.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
season  of  1837,  a  block  building  was  put  up  on  South  Main 
street,  and  near  the  present  market  square,  for  a  school  house 
and  a  place  of  worship,  free  to  all  denominations;  and  in  1839, 
a  frame  building,  of  considerable  size,  was  erected  in  the 
second  ward  for  an  academy,  and  a  plape  of  worship,  also 
free  to  all  denominations.  During  these  years  no  regular  cler- 
gymen were  employed,  but  services  were  performed  by  itiner- 
ant and  missionary  preachers,  and  when  no  clergymen  were 
present,  prominent  members  of  the  church  read  sermons  from 
a  printed  volume.  R.  H.  Deming  and  Rev.  Abner  Barlow,, 
also  preached  at  Kenosha  frequently. 

In  1840,  the  Methodist  Society  built  the  first  church  edifice 

that  was  erected  at  Kenosha.     This  building  originally  stood 

in  the  centre  of  Main  street,  at  that  point  where  it  intersects 

with  Kenosha  street,  and  fronted  north.   In  1855  this  church 

51m 


402 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA. 


was  moved  south  of  this  original  site,  about  twenty  rods,  and 
fronts  on  the  park. 

On  the  4th  of  February,  1840,  a  Bible  Society  was  first 
organized  at  Kenosha. 

In  1843,  the  Congregational  Society  built  a  respectable 
sized  church  on  lot  four,  block  eighty-four,  in  the  second 
ward,  which  ten  years  after  they  moved  into  the  first  ward,  and 
located  on  lot  four,  block  thirty-four.  Lot  four,  block  eighty- 
four,  however,  seemed  destined  to  be  the  foundation  of  a 
church,  and  accordingly,  we  now  find  a  neat  but  unpretend- 
ing German  Protestant  church  occupying  the  ground  left  va- 
cant by  the  removal  of  the  Congregational  edifice.  The  Bap- 
tist Society  also  erected  a  handsome  church  in  the  same  year 
that  the  Congregational  church  was  built.  A  few  years  later, 
the  Episcojial  Society  also  erected  a  small  but  neat  church,  in 
the  first  ward.  In  1845,  the  Irish  Catholics  built  a  brick 
church,  of  good  size  and  proportions,  in  the  third  ward. 

In  1848,  a  new  religious  denomination  was  inaugurated  at 
Kenosha,  by  Messrs.  C.  L.  Sholes,  H.  C.  Train,  Sheldon 
Fish,  and  others.  It  was  called  the  "  Excelsior  Church,"  and 
it  was  claimed  to  be  founded  upon  purely  democratic  princi- 
ples. Whatever  a  man's  religious  opinions  were,  it  was  no 
bar  to  his  admission  into  this  church.  Indeed,  it  invited  to- 
gether the  most  discordant  elements ;  and  each  one  regularly 
attending,  had  the  right  to  advocate  with  perfect  freedom, 
whatever  doctrine  he  may  have  chanced  to  hold.  All  classes, 
the  high  and  the  low,  the  believer  and  the  unbeliever,  here  met 
a^on  6he  corrimbn  platform.  Such  discordant  materials  could 
not  long  mingle  in  harmony  together,  and  this  church,  after 
two  years  duration,  added  another  proof  to  the  many  that 
had  gone  before  it,  that  "a  house  divided  against  itself  cannot 
stand." 

It  may  be  proper  to  add,  that  the  Rev.  William  Alanson, 
Episcopal,  resigned  his  charge  of  the  "Mission  at  Southport 
and  parts  adjacent,"  on  the  27th  of  March,  1843. 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA.  405 

In  the  first  part  of  September,  1835,  three  northern  tribes 
of  Indians,  on  their  way  home  from  a  payment  at  Chicago, 
encountered  a  north-east  storm  when  opposite  Kenosha,  and 
were  driven  by  stress  of  weather  to  make  the  land,  and  dis- 
continue their  progress.  They  effected  their  landing  on  the 
Island.  The  Lake  shore  side  of  the  Island  presented  a  lively 
and  animated  scene.  Between  four  and  five  hundred  Indi- 
ans were  landing  simultaneously,  and  drawing  their  bark 
canoes  upon  the  beach.  The  canoes  were  strewn  upon  the 
beach  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  Island.  After  the 
Indians  had  drawn  out  and  secured  their  boats,  they  spread 
themselves  over  the  Island.  Among  them  were  to  be  seen  all 
ages  and  conditions.  The  old  Indian  upon  whose  brow  was 
to  be  seen  "  wrinkled  care'' — the  aged  and  motherly  squaw — 
the  middle  aged,  and  the  young  and  athletic  Indian  lads,  and 
the  Indian  maidens,  dressed  in  their  holiday  garments ;  and 
there  was  also  not  wanting  a  liberal  supply  of  young  "  Native 
Americans."  All  the  usual  paraphernalia  of  Indian  gov- 
ernment, chiefs,  prophets,  and  medicine  men,  were  also  pres- 
ent, with  their  respective  tribes. 

Seeing  no  evidence  of  hostility  on  the  part  of  the  Indians, 
the  few  settlers  then  at  Kenosha,  lay  down  the  first  night 
after  the  arrival  of  the  Indians,  to  quiet  slumber  and  repose ; 
•l?,ut  soon  after  mi«inight,  they  were  awakened  by  a  terrible 
howling  and  hooting  among  the  Indians,  and  they  went  di- 
rectly over  to  the  Island,  to  ascertain  the  ocpasion  of  such  a 
j, sudden  tumult     They  soon  learned  from  the  Indians,  that 
l,9iie  of  their  number  had  died,  and  that  the  noise  was  made 
^^for  the  purpose  of  keeping  any  Evil  Spirit  from  entering  into, 
,,Qr  |n  anywise  interfering^ with  the  f^ody  of  the  deceased.  ^, 

These  tribes  of  Indians  remained  on  the  Island  for  a  peri- 
od of  three  weeks,  before  the  weather  became  sufiiciently 
settled  to  embark  their  canoes  on  the  Lake.  The  hunters  of 
each  tribe,  were  out  every  day,  killihg  and  bringing  m  game, 
and  the  Indian  women  went  frequently  to  dig  a  root  of  which 


*|^4  FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA. 

they/ made  a  soup.  These  roots,  or  Indian  potatoes,  as  they 
might  be  called,  they  dug  at  the  edge  of  a  ratine,  in  the 
second  ward,  near  the  old  tavern,  called  the  '^  Adam  Schend 
place,  ^  which  is  a  little  west  and  north  of  the  present  free 
school-  house. 

;  li  required  no  ^mall  amount  of  food  to  supply  such  a  body 
©I  tnSians,  and  the'  hunters  soon  thinned  out  the  game  to 
such  an  extent,  that  sufficient  could  not  be  obtained  to  supply 
the  tribes,  and  the  Indians  began  to  suffer  from  want.     While 

Or  ■  \ 

,game  was  plenty,  the  Indians  had  shown  no  disposition  to 
mterfere  with  the  property  of  the  settlers;  but  it  is  said  th^t 
"hunger  knows  no  law,''  and  the  Indians  at  last  appear 

Tiave  been  driven  by  necessity  to  the  same  general  conclusion. 

,  Mr.  Bacon,  previous  to  this  time,  had  built  a  log  house, 
about  ten  rods  south-east  from  the  first  building  put  up  at 
feenosha,  and  had  received  his  family  and  got  into  it,  but  had 
left  in  the  original  building,  one  full  barrel  of  flour,  and  an- 
Other  barrel  about  half  filled  with  the  same  material.  The 
tnaiaris,'  now  suffering  the  extremes  of  hunger,  detailed  a 
detachment  of  their  warriors,  and  sent  them  across  to  the  last 

*  named  building  to  obtain  food,  by  stealth  or  violence.  The 
ietachijaent,  of  eight  or  ten,  formed  in  front  of  the  door  of  the 

'  Building,  arid  stood  erect,  with  their  arms  folded  across  their 
breasts,  with  their  guns  in  their  hands,  while  one  of  their 
number  went  into  the  building,  and  took  the  partly  filled  bar- 
rel of  doiir^oniiis  back,  and  walked  off.  Mr.  Bacon  observ- 
ing'all  these  movenienis/ pursued  the  Indians,  and  recovered 
his  flour ;  not,  however,  without  overcoming  a  dogged  and 

*  almost  determined  resolution  on  the  part  of  the  Indian  not  to 
give  it  up.  During  all  this  time,  the  armed  Indians  in  front 
of  the  door  of  the  building,  stood  like  lifeless,  motionless 
Statues. 

The  settlers,  moved  by  sympathy  for  the  straitened  circum- 
stances of  the  Indians,  drove  an  ox,  on  the  following  day, 
over  to  the  Island,  which  they  slaughtered  and  divided  in 


B  i 


FIRST  SETTXiEMENT  OF  IIE^S-QSHA.  405 

small  pieces  among  them.  The  Indians,  in  many  cases, 
threw  down  pieces  of  money  as  they  received  pieces  of  meat, 
although  not  called  upon  to  do  so.  They  greedily  devoured 
all  parts  of  the  ox,  not  excepting  the  hide. 

Mr.  Jason  Lothbop,  who  wh\le  living  East,  had  beea 
many  years  a  Baptist  minister,  and  afterward  a  school  teacher, 
was  next  found,  in  September,  1835,  in  the  "Far  West,"  en- 
gaged in  keeping  boarding-house  at  Kenosha.  He  was  a  man 
of  considerable  talent,  and  of  some  eccentricity  of  character. 
Having  no  part  of  his  family  with  him,  he  had  necessarily  to 
perform  all  the  duties  which  pertain  to  such  an  establishment, 
such  as  cooking,  washing,  and  general  housewifery,  and  also 
the  accustomed  duties  of  "  host."  Notwithstanding,  the  Elder 
was  a  man  of  fine  education,  and  of  more  than  average  natu- 
^jEil  abilities,  and  had  been  accustomed  at  one  time  of  his  life 
Sp  elegance  of  living,  and  for  these  reasons,  not  familiar  with 
|iuch  avocations ;  yet  he  performed  all  the  diversified  offices 
which  his  new  occupation  demanded,  with  aptness  in  one 
department,  and  with  good  address  in  another. 

After^the  organization  of  a  Baptist  church  at  Kenosha,  Elder 
jLoTSROP  was  employed  for  several  years  as  its  minister,  but 
.disagreeing  with  his  congregation  upon  some  cardinal  points 
.of  doctrine,  he  became  disengaged  from  the  church,  and  after- 
wards withdrew  himself  almost  wholly  from  society. 
^^  .  In  this  month,  also,  (Sept.  1835,)  the  first  wedding  took 
rplace.  The  bridegroom  was 'Mr.  Nelson  Lay,  and  the  bride 
Miss  Marietta,  daughter  of^  Waters  Towslee.  Mr.  Bul- 
Ufffifff  who  then  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace,  under 
jappointment  of  the  Governor  of  Michigan,  performed  the 
^  marriage  ceremonies. 

^^  On  the  10th  day  of  May,  1836,  the  schooner  P^an  Buren, 
^Ijelonging  to  Mr.  Bullen,  arrived  at  Kenosha  with  a  cargo  of 
provisions  and  seed.  This  was  the  first  cargo  of  provisions 
that  had  been  received  at  Kenosha.  During  the  winter  of 
1835-'6,  provisions  had  been  brought  on  pack  horses  from 


^Qg  FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA. 

Chicago,  to  some  extent,  for  the  supply  of  the  settlement,  afiff 
the  arrival  of  a  cargo  superceded  the  further  necessity  of  such 
a  tedious  and  expensive  method  of  obtaining  supplies. 

The. anniversary  of  our  Independence  was  first  celebrated 
at  Kenosha  on  the  4th  of  July,  1836.  The  performance  look 
place  on  the  Island,  and  as  this  was  the  first  time  on  which 
that  day  ha^  .been  observed  in  this  then  new  place,  all  ages 
and  sexes  turned  out  to  do  honor  to  the  occasion.  One  team, 
of  twenty  yoke  of  oxen,  carrying  various  flags  and  devices, 
came  in  from  an  adjoining  town.  Elder  Lothrop  was  the 
brator  of  the  day,  and  delivered  an  appropriate  address.  Mr. 
ToBEY,  who  then  kept  the  "  Besiqite  jl^ouse/'  served  the  pro- 
per refreshments. 

Hiram  Towslee,  son  of  Waters  Towslee,  was  drowned 
in  the  harbor  in  this  month,  (July,  1836.)  This  is  noted  froin 
its  being  the  first  death  that  took  place  at  Kenosba.  During 
the  summer  of  1835,  Miss  Mary  Ayer,  daughter  of  Elbridge 
G.  Ayer,  was  born  at  Kenosha.  This  is  also  noted  from  the 
fact,  that  she  was  the  first  white  child  born  in  the  place. 

Mr.  George  Kimball,  "born  in'  6h4  of  the  Eastein  States, 
emigrating  to  Canada,  where  he  advocated  liberal  political 
sentiments  too  freely  to  suit  the  Government,  and  for  that 
reason  was  in  efiect  banished  from  the  Provinces,  arrived  iit 
Kenosha  in  the  sunimer  of  1836,  and  purchased  eiglity  acres 
of  land  of  the  Emigration  Company,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
harbor.  Whatever  differences  of  opinion  might  have  obtained 
at  the  time,  it  is  now  manifest  that  Mr.  Kimball  evinced  libet- 
ality  and  good  foresight  in  the  disposal  of  his  lands.  He  hsiii 
a  certain  sturdiness  and  independence  of  character,  which 
rendered  him  unpopular  with  some,  and  for  that  reason  he 
was  once  defeated  when  candidate  for  President  of  the  cor- 
poration, and  also  again  when  a  candidate  for  Mayor  of  tlie 
city.  Mr.  Kimball  had  no  disguises  to  cover  up  his  views, 
or  compromises  of  them  to  make,  whether  in  or  out  of  the 
political  field. 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENQSJ^^  407 

Hon.  Charles  Durkee,  now  U.  S.  Senator,  also  arrived  at 
Kenosha  in  the  summer  of  1836,  and  bought  lands  next 
south  and  adjoining  to  the  lands  of  Mr.  Kimball.  Mr.  Dur- 
KEE  evinced  great  liberality  in  the  disposal  of  his  lands,  and 
was  also  for  many  years  prominent  in  every  useful  enterprise. 
He  has  left  the  evidence  of  his  industry  in  every  part  of  the 
place,  having  built  more  buildings  than  any  other  individual 
in  Kenosha.  He  went  from  Kenosha  a  member  of  the  first 
Territorial  Legislature  that  convened  in  Wisconsin.  Ke- 
nosha county  was  not  then  organized,  but  formed  a  part  of  the 
county  of  Milwaukee. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1837,  the  steamboat  Detroit  was 
wrecked  at  Kenosha.    She  had  on  her  upper  deck  a  protu- 
berance called  a  ladies  cabin,  which  was  about  twelve  by  six- 
teen feet  in  size.     This  ladies  cabin  was  bought  by  William 
Seymour,  and  placed  on  lot  one,  block  fourteen,  on  the  har- 
bor.    It  was  first  occupied  by  a  colored  man  by  the  name  of 
Joseph  Hobbs,  who  divided  it  into  two  apartments,  the  front 
of  which  he  used  as  a  barber's  shop,  and  the  back  apartment 
for  telling  fortunes.     In  the  double  capacity  of  barber  and 
fortune-teller,  he  managed  to  make  a  living  from  the  necessi- 
ties of  one  class,  and  from  the  credulity  of  another.     Soon 
after,  however,  the  ladies  cabin  was  opened  as  a  medical  office 
and  botanical  drug  store,  by  an  ignorant  pretender,  who  called 
himself  Dr.  McGonegal.     The  Doctor  could  be  heard  after 
midnight,  pounding  up  roots,  and  days  he  drove  up  and 
down  the  streets  and  highways,  a  small  lean  horse,  hitched  to 
a  heavy,  one-horse,  lumber  wagon,  in  the  hind  end  of  which 
he  usually  had  several  bundles  of  roots,  so  arranged  as  to  be 
in  sight  of  those  he  might  pass.     In  the  course  of  two  years, 
however,  the  place  became  too  much  "  settled  up  '^  to  suit  the 
Doctor.     Other  physicians,  whose  theories  and  practice  he 
looked  upon  with  disgust,  had  come  in,  and  Daniel  McGon- 
egal, M.  D.,  left  Kenosha,  with  a  full  determination,  if  there 
was  such  a  place  as  the  "  Far  West,''  he  would  find  it 


408 


TIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA. 


In  the  winter  of  1838,  the  entire  business  establishments  of 
the  place,  (with  the  exception  of  a  block  tavern,  on  Maiji 
street,  kept  by  Dea.  H.  Whitney,)  were  situated  on  Lake  and 
Pearl  streets.  There  were  four  mercantile  establishments,  to 
wit:  Hale  &  Bullen,  Francis  Quarles,  R.  H.  Deming,  and 
William  Bullen  &  Co.,  all  situated  on  Lake  street,  north  of 
Pearl.  The  post  office  was  kept  in  the  store  of  William 
Bullen  &  Co.  On  Pearl  street  was  located  the  Kenosha  Ce- 
pee  Housed  kept  by  J.  H.  Boardman,  a  blacksmith  shop  by 
David  Crossit,  a  tailor  shop  by  Philander  Dodge,  a  boot 
shop  by  Nathan  Dye,  and  R.  B.  Winsor  had  a  shop  in  which 
he  manufactured  harness,  or  window  sash,  and  doors,  in  suck 
proportions  as  the  wants  of  his  customers  demanded.  Mr.  Dye, 
who  made  it  a  rule  to  make  no  pretensions  that  were  not 
substantially  warranted  by  facts,  not  to  mislead  the  public  as  to 
the  article  they  would  obtain  at  his  shop,  put  no  other  letters 
on  his  sign  board  except  those  composing  the  two  words, 
^^  Coarse  Boots."  But  the  business  of  boot  making  was  but  little 
in  unison  with  Mr.  Dr.  Dye's  taste  or  inclination.  Singing,  and 
teaching  others  to  sing,  were  his  peculiar  delight.  It  mattered 
not  how  pressing  the  work  in  his  shop  might  be,  he  would 
gather  into  it  all  the  little  children  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
practice  them  in  his  favorite  pursuit. 

Hon.  Samuel  Hale,  since  widely  known  as  an  enterpris- 
ing and  successful  business  man,  and  also  in  political  life  as 
a  member  of  the  Legislature,  then  held  the  office  of  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  under  appointment  of  the  Governor  of  the  Ter- 
ritory. 

The  population  of  Kenosha  at  that  time  was  two  hundred. 

In  the  spring  of  183S,  a  bill  was  introduced  in  Congress  to 
grant  a  special  pre-emption  to  the  lands  embraced  within  the 
corporate  limits  of  Kenosha.     The  main  features  of  the  bill 


*  We  learn  elsewhere  in  this  paper,  that  Kenosha  was  the  Indian  name  for 
Pike,  and  ce-pee,  or  ge-pee,  is  the  common  Aboriginal  designation  for  creek  or 
river— hence,  in  plain  English,  the  Pihe  Greek  House.  L.  Q.  D. 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA.  409 

were,  that  no  one  individual  could  enter  more  than  ten  acres 
— ^the  price  of  the  land  was  fixed  at  ^100  an  acre,  the  money 
to  be  used  in  improving  the  harbor.  It  was  supposed  that 
any  one  who  had  ten  acres  enclosed  at  the  time  of  the  final 
passage  of  the  act,  would  obtain  a  pre-emption.  This  cir- 
cumstance led  to  more  or  less  alarm  among  the  owners  of 
real  estate,  lest  they  might,  by  some  fraud,  lose  a  portion  of 
their  lands ;  and  the  uneasiness  felt  was  not  a  little  increased 
by  reports,  that  obtained  currency,  that  parties  outside  the 
limits  were  preparing  materials  for  making  enclosures.  Ow- 
ing to  these  circumstances,  a  public  meeting  was  called,  and 
after  proper  deliberation,  it  was  agreed  that  all  parties  should 
turn  out  and  split  rails,  and  make  a  general  enclosure ;  con- 
sequently all  the  available  inhabitants  of  the  place  were  en- 
gaged for  the  next  several  days  in  splitting  rails  in  all  parts  of 
the  corporation ;  but  the  bill  being  defeated  in  Congress,  the 
enclosure  was  not  made. 

The  4th  of  July,  1838,  was  celebrated  at  the  Kenosha  Ce- 
pee  House.  oi 

In  1839,  the  principal  mercantile  establishments,  before 
mentioned,  were  transferred  from  the  south  to  the  north  side 
of  the  harbor.  The  post  office  was  also  removed  from  the 
former  to  the  latter  locality,  and  the  Wisconsin  House,  also 
on  the  north  side,  was  opened  as  a  tavern,  and  was  also  the 
"  stage  house."  The  object  was  to  transfer  the  business  of 
the  place  from  the  south  to  the  north  side,  which  was  meas- 
urably accomplished  for  a  time.  But  some  differences  arising 
among  the  business  men  on  the  north  side  about  the  location 
of  a  bridge,  and  other  causes,  the  business  receded  again  in 
1841-'42  to  the  south  side,  and  settled  on  Main  street.  The 
post  office  was  removed  from  the  north  to  the  south  side,  on 
the  12th  of  April,  1841. 

In  1839,  Messrs.  Devine,Lovell,  and  French,  were  practic- 
ing attornies  at  Kenosha.   In  this  year  also  Mr.  Isaac  George, 
fanailiarly  known  as  "  Bishop  George,"  arrived  at  Kenosha, 
52m 


410  FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA, 

and  opened  a  gun-smith  shop  on  the  present  site  of  the  Durkee 
House.  Mr.  George  was  an  original  and  eccentric  character. 
His  Wie  was  so  near  an  equal  mixture  of  seriousness  and  jest, 
that  one  could  hardly  tell  which  dominated  over  the  other. 
He  could  preside  over  a  public  meeting  one  moment  with  dig- 
nity and  gravity,  and  at  the  next  sing  comic  songs  to  the  boys 
gathered  about  the  door  of  his  shop,  acting  out  the  "  spirit  of 
the  song,"  with  more  than  common  appropriateness. 

Mr.  George  soon  found  that  the  business  of  gun-smithing, 
in  a  place  containing  only  a  few  hundred  inhabitants,  would 
not  bring  to  him  sufficient  means  to  answer  the  demands  of 
a  "  growing  family/'  and  consequently  he  added  the  business 
of  lock-smith  to  his  employment  He  also  occupied  himself  a 
part  of  the  time  in  repairing  traps  for  the  musk-rat  hunters, 
and  in  mending  broken  and  fractured  umbrellas.  All  these 
several  occupations  proving  insufficient  to  answer  Mr.  George's 
desires,  he  next  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine,  adopt- 
ing mainly  the  hydropathic  system,  and  after  a  time  he  added 
to  his  already  multiplied  employments  the  business  of  den- 
tistry. 

The  "  Bishop,"  as  he  was  called,  was  a  strong  advocate  of 
temperance,  a  man  of  good  habits  and  generous  impulses. 
He  insisted  that  he  was  born  in  the  steerage,  and  conse- 
quently whenever  he  wrote  letters  to  his  friends,  or  communr 
ications  to  the  public  journals,  he  always  dated  them  "  from 
the  steerage," 

The  first  surgical  case  the  Bishop  was  called  to,  was  a  man 
iUniversally  known  by  the  name  of  Scip,  but  whose  real  name 
was  Geo.  Rodgers  Barlow.  Probably  not  five  individuals  in 
Kenosha  at  the  present  writing  know,  or  ever  did  know,  what 
Scip's  real  name  was.  Scip  had  been  employed  in  some  ca- 
pacity about  the  shingling  of  Mr.  Cahoon's  ware-house.  The 
side  of  the  roof  on  which  he  was  at  work  was  next  to  the  Lake, 
where  it  was  three  stories  to  the  ground.  Scip  had  lain  down 
on  the  roof  to  rest  himself,  and  as  he  had  a  great  natural  pro~ 


FIRST  SETTLEMM^'OIP  KENOSHA".  4II 

petisity  for  sTe'6|^ihg;  'he  soon  fell  asleep  and  slid  off  from  the; 
roof.     He  waked  up  to  find  himself  on  the  ground,  with  two- 
broken  ankles.     Scip  was  carried  to  his  lodging  place,  and 
immediately  sent  for  Mr.  Gteorge.     He  had  never  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  doctors,  and  had  little  idea  about *any  dis- 
tinctions between  surgical,  and  other  practice,  in  medicine — » 
When  he  came  to  see  what  the  treatment  was,  Scip  could  not 
understEind  how  cold  water  was  going  to  mend  broken  ankles; 
but  he  had  a  great  liking  for  the  Bish6p,  Ethd  also  a  good 
opinion  of  his  ability  to  do  things  generally,  so  he  submitted 
with  quietness  and  resignation.    After  a  time  Scip  found  if 
1S!6  feould  not  walk,  he  could  shuffle  around  on  his  feet,  and 
that  his  ankles  answered  him  the  fi^bessary  purposes  of  loco- 
motion. 

Scip  was  next  employed  as  a  night  watchman  on  the  pier, 
ijb  i'eport  the  arrival  of  steamboats  and  vessels,  and  here 
agkin  his  unfortunate  propensity  for  sleeping  well-nigh  cost 
him  his  life ;  for  one  night  he  seated  himself  on  the  pier,  with 
his  feet  dangling  over  the  water,  where  he  soon  got  to  sleep, 
aind  fell  into  the  Lake. 

Scip  had  been  so  often  soused  in  water,  in  the  treatment  of 
his  ankles,  that  he  had  lost  more  than  half  his  natural  fear  of 
that  element,  but  after  all  he  made  up  his  mind  that  what 
Ivbuld,  ii  used  in  small  quantities,  cure  even  broken  ankks, 
might  deprive  him  of  life,  if  too  profusely  supplied,  or  fur- 
nished in  immoderate  quantities ;  consequently  he  seized  hold 
%f  one  of  the  piles  that  formed  the  pier,  and  after  calling 
sometime  for  help,  at  last  attracted  the  attention  of  several 
persons,  who  rescued  him  from  his  perilous  situation. 

Soon  after  this  event,  Scip  formed  the  acquaintance  of  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Brown,  who  had  recently  come  to  Ke- 
nosha from  Kinderhook,  N.  Y.  Their  acquaintance  resulted 
in  intimacy,  and  their  intimacy  ripened  into  friendship.  Each 
one  had  experienced  great  troubles  and  misfortunes,  and  this 
circumstance   cemented   their   friendship  more   strongly  to- 


4J2  FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA. 

gether.  BRowi^f's  wife  had  committed  some  unpardonable  ii^- 
discretion,  and  for  that  reason  he  had  left  home  with  the 
hope  of  hiding  his  disgrace  in  the  society  of  strangers,  and  of 
allaying  the  feverish  excitement  of  his  mind,  by  new  scenes 
and  ne\t^  associations.  Scip,  who  had  a  natural  indifference 
to  women,  could  not  understand  how  the  liaisQns  of  a  woman 
could  so  seriously  affect  his  friend's  mind.  He  had  a  great 
respect  for  Brown's  word,  and  he  was  willing  to  take  it  for 
granted  that  it  was  so. 
'  h..  The  two  friends  boarded  together,  at  a  small,  n^ean-looking 
house,  situated  at  the  corner  of  Lake  and  Pearl  streets,  callesd 
the  ^^Astor  iTbw^e,'',,,. (Whether  the  house  was  so  named  for 
the  purpose  of  heightening  effect,  by  showing  striking  con- 
trasts, or  for  the  less  amiable  purpose  of  derision  of  its  great 
name-sake  in  New  York,  I  am  not  able  to  say.  However 
that  might  have  been,  Scip  liked  Brown,  and  Brown  liked 
Scip,  and  the  two  were  almost  inseparable  companions.  They 
g,at  together  at  the  table  and  in  ,^he  bar-room,  and  .they  both 
occupied  one  bed  in  the  chamber.  But  this  iutimacy,  which 
had  been  so  long  and  so  agreeably  entertained,  was  destined 
to  come  to  a  sudden  conclusion;  so  sudden,  indeed,  as  to 
preclude  the  possibility  of  evqn  a  friendly  recognition  at  part- 
ing. One  stormy  night,  the  Jistor  Hoitse  was  struck  with 
lightning ;  the  fluid  passed  down  the  chimney,  and  over  Scip, 
who  was  nearest  to  it,  an4» struck  Brown,  killing  him  in- 

^fv  In  the  morning,  Scip  stood, Jong,  looking  at  his  friend,  now 
cold  and  motionless  in  death.  .His  wife's  frailties,  which  had 
often  occasioned  paroxysms  of  insanity — which  had  haunted 
^is  day  dreams,  and  disturbed  the  quiet  of  his. slumber,  could 
n9jw  trouble  him  no  more.  If  he  had  known  how  to  express 
himself,  Scip  might  have  said — 

"  After  life's  fitful  fever  's  o'er,  he  sleeps  well." 

»'*  Scip,  who  always  left  all  places  of  danger  immediately  after 
the  danger  had  passed,  took  his  departure  from  the  Astor 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KEN^OSHA.  His 

House  on'  the  morning  after  the  loss  of  his  friend,  and  his 
own  narrow  escape  from  death.  His  mind,  which  had  before 
been  impaired  by  his  misfortunes,  now  that  he  saw  death 
grappUng  after  him  at  every  corner,  became  more  than  ever 
demented. 

Mr.  C.  L.  Sholes  arrived  at  Kenosha  in  the  spring  6i^\§40, 
and  issued  the  first  number  of  his  paper,  the  Southport  Tele- 
graph, on  the  16th  of  June  following.  This  was  the  first 
paper  published  in  the  place.  Soon  after  commencing  the 
publication,  Mr.  Sholes  assobiated  M.  Frank,  Esq.,  Avith  him 
in  the  editorial  department.  They  were  both  men  of  high 
tone  of  moral  character,  good  education  and  abilities,  and  the 
Telegraph  toon  occupied  a  respectable  position  among  the 
We'stern  papers.  The  popilTation  of  the  place  at  that  titfte 
^as  337.  The  4th  of  July  of  this  year  was  celebrated  at  the 
Wisconsin  House.  M.  Frank  was  the  orator  of  the  da^^  A 
large  circular  "  bough  house "  was  erected,  just  east  of  the 
building,  under  which  thimble  was  set,  and  wherein  the 
proceedings  took  place. 

Up  to  and  including  most  of  1840,  there  had  been  no  regu- 
lar grain  buyers  at  Kenosha,  and  it  was  seen  that  the  season 
of  1840  would  produce  considerable  surplus  grain;  and  con- 
sequently the  Temperance  Societies,  both  at  Kenosha  and  in 
the  adjoining  towns,  apprehending  that  the  surplus  grain 
would  be  manufactured  into   whiskey,  passed  strong  reso- 

'liitiotis  against  distilling,  and  the  conversion  of  grain  into 
liquor.  The  general  meeting  of  the  Temperance  Society, 
which  convened  at  Kenosha  on  the  18th  of  August,  1840, 
in  their  report,  say:    "The  increase  of  products,  without  a 

'^hiarkef,  will  afford  strong  temptations  to  convert  it  into  liquid 
poisons.'' 

Some  grain,  however,  was  bought  for  an  Eastern  market, 
by  merchants  and  dealers,  during  the  fall  of  1840;  and  the 

"^l^bhooner  Major  Oliver  left  Kenosha  on  the  15th  ef  Sppt«»mber 

^^jf  that  year,  with  a  cargo  of  800  bushels  of  wheat. 


j^Y4  FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA. 

In  January  following,  Mr.  Whiting  issued  the  following 
notice : 

"The  subscriber  will  be  on  band  to  receive  good  merchantable  wheat,  at 
^Jhirkee's  Ware-house,  at  Southport,  on  the  24th, 

Jan.  18,  1841.  "W.  L.  Whiting." 

"Durkee's  Ware-house''  was  the  upper  story  of  Jared 
Lake's  stor^.^.  j^itu^jted  on  the  cornier  of  Main  stre.et  and  Mar- 

iJcet  Square,  and  was  capable  of  holding  about  1500  bushels 
of  grain. 

It  may  be  proper  here  to  remark,  that  Kenosha  was  first 

Jtnown  as  Pike  River,  aftd  afterwards,  until  it  was  incprpo- 

t^rated  as  a  city,  in  1850,  it  was  called  Southport;  but  for  the 
sake  of  avoiding  confusion^  I  have  in  this  account,  spoken  of 
the  place  under  its  present  name  of  Kenosha.  A  portion  of 
the  inhabitants  desired  at  all  times  tQ  call  the  place  after  the 
Indian  name  of  the  stream  which  h^re  empties  into  the  Lake ; 
and  we  accordingly  find  the  principal  public  house  kept  in 
Kenosha,  as  early  as  1838,  called  the  ^^ Kenosha  Ce-pee  House.^^ 
Kenosha,  at  that  time,  was  almost  as  variously  spelt  as  there 
were  difierent  writers;  by  some  it  was  spelt  Kenosia,  by 
others  Kenozia,  and  by  others  again  Kenozha.  Some  spelt 
ithe  word  as  it  is  now  spelt,  Kenosha,  which  manifestly  gives 
the  Indian  pronunpia,tion  ^ost  nearly.  It  may  also  be  well 
to  add,  that  Kenosha,  in  the  Indian,  signifies  Pike,  and  Ce-pee, 
creek. 

I  make  this  explanation  for  the  purpose  of  stating,  that 
what  is  now  called  Kenosha,  was  incorporated  into  a  village 

AUnder  th^,  name  and  title  of  Southport,  in  February,  1841 ; 
and  officers  were  first  elected  under  a  village  charter  on  the 
5th  day  of  April  next  ensuing.  The  village  was  divided  into 
two  wards,  the  north  and  the  south.     The  north  ward  em- 

,  j])raced  all  lands  within  the  corporate  limits  on  the  north  side 
of  the  harbor;  and  the  south  ward,  in  like  manner,  all  on  the 
south  side  of  the  harbor.  No  ordinance  could  be  passed  under 
this  charter  by  a  majority  vote ;  but  five  of  the  six  Trustees  musi 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA.  415 

give  their  assent  to  a  measure  before  it  could  become  a  law. 
Thus,  at  the  end  of  every  ordinance,  it  would  read,  "  Passed 
by  the  vote  of  five  Trustees."  But  the  greatest  peculiarity  of 
this  charter  was,  that  it  constituted  the  Trustees  of  each  ward 
a  corporate  body  of  itself,  for  the  transaction  of  the  business 
of  the  corporation.  The  Trustees  of  the  two  wards,  with  their 
President  and  Clerk,  met  regularly  for  the  transaction  of  bus- 
iness, and  the  Trustees  of  the  north  ward  held  stated  meet- 
ings by  ordinance,  on  the  first  Monday  of  every  month. 
They  had  also  a  Clerk,  and  in  no  way  differed  from  the  gen- 
eral corporation,  except  in  not  having  a  regular  President  or 
Moderator.  They  also  passed  ordinances  which  appear  to 
have  been  of  much  the  same  general  nature  as  those  passed 
in  joint  meetings  of  the  two  wards.  The  same  organization, 
?  and  the  same  separate  proceedings  also  took  place  in  the 
south  ward ;  consequently  we  find  three  legislative  bodies  in 
successful  operation,  at  one  time,  in  doing  the  political  busi- 
ness of  the  place. 

Some  difierences  having  arisen  as  to  the  powers  and  du- 
ties of  these  several  corporate  bodies,  the  north  ward  enacted 
fines  and  penalties  for  the  violation  of  any  of  their  ordinances. 

The  first  number  of  the  Southport  ATnerican  was  issued 
on  the  23d  of  September,  of  this  year,  (1841.)  Its  editors 
were  Messrs.  N.  P.  Dowst  and  Wallace  Mygatt.  The 
American  was  Whig  in  politics ;  and  the  Telegraph,  which 
had  hitherto  been  conducted  as  a  neutral  paper,  soon  took 
the  opposite  ground. 

In  1840,  Mr.  B.  P.  Cahoon  commenced  the  construction  of 
an  outside  pier,  which  was  finished  in  1842,  and  made  avail- 
able for  receiving  and  shipping  freight  The  first  boat  landed 
at  the  outside  pier  on  the  20th  of  April,  1842.  Previous  to 
that  time  all  goods  and  passengers  that  landed  from  vessels  on 
the  Lakes,  at  the  port  of  Kenosha,  had  to  be  transferred  from 
those  vessels  to  the  shore  by  means  of  a  scow  that  was  kept 
for  that  purpose.     This  scow  was  generally  owned  by  an  as- 


416 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA. 


sociation  of  individuals,  and  charged  certain  rates  for  the 
service.  .  The  scow,  when  not  in  use,  was  drawn  up  onto  the 
beach  beyond  the  action  of  the  waves,  and  when  wanted 
was  again  launched  into  the  water.  As  the  scow  was  a 
heavy,  unwieldy  aifair,  it  required,  especially  in  the  earliest 
period  of  its  use,  all  the  available  force  of  the  place,  to  get  it 

-  off  from  the  beach,  and  fairly  afloat,  and  afterwards  to  drag 
it  back  to  its  former  position  ;  consequently,  whenever  a  boat 
came  to  anchor,  and  by  the  proper  signal  notification  was  giv- 
en that  the  intervention  of  the  scow  was  required,  in  the  dis- 
charge of  some  part  of  a  cargo,  or  for  landing  passengers, 
general  notice  was  given,  and  all  parties,  leaving  their  several 
employments,  ran  to  the  beach  to  aid  in  the  launch.     The 

,  merchant  left  his  goods,  the  blacksmith  his  hammer,  the 
tailor  his  board,  and  the  boot  maker  his  partly  waxed  thread, 

'  to  render  the  necessary  assistance.  The  pier  superceded  the 
scow,  and  the  latter,  like  other  human  affairs,  fell  first  to  neg- 
lect, and  finally  to  decay. 

It  may  be  proper  to  remark,  that  the  outside  pier  built  at 

>  Kenosha  by  Mr.  Cahoon,  was  the  first  pier  of  the  kind  built 
on  the  Lakes,  and  the  project  was  considered  eminently  chi- 

l  -Hierical  by  most  people,  both  here  and  in  other  places.  The 
papers  generally,  on  the  Lake,  ridiculed  it  in  the  most  ex- 
travagant manner.  The  captain  of  the  steamboat  Wisco7isi7i, 
falling  in  with  these  general  conclusions,  on  his  way  to  Chi- 

■'  cago,  gathered  some  of  the  business  men  from  the  ports 
north,  to  witness  the  crash,  came  along  side  of  the  pier,  and 
after  making  fast  his  best  lines,  started  the  boat.  The  engines 
of  the  Wisconsin  caused  no  perceptible  motion  to  the  pier, 

'■■  and  the  captain  of  the  Wisconsin  had  the  satisfaction  or  dis- 
satisfaction, whichever  it  might  have  been,  to  see  his  lines 
parted,  and  the  obstinate  pier  still  "  holding  its  own.'^ 

The  population  of  Kenosha  in  June,  1842,  was  eight  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five;  but  from  1842,  Kenosha  made  rapid 
advances  in  her  business  and  population.     Between  Novem- 


FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA.  ^17 

ber,  1842,  and  November,  1843,  one  hundred  and  sixty-five 
buildings  wei^e  erected  in  the  place  j  .and  by  November  18th, 
1843,  the  population  had  increase,^,|p^l82|Q.  J^^hje  increase^ 
business  of  the  place,  can  also  be  estimated,  from  the  fact 
that  71,500  bushels  of  wheat  were  shipped  from  the  port  of 
Kenosha  in  the  fall  of  1843. 

Previous  to  1843,  it  was  suppQS|E|^,.tl}^t  lead  and  copper 
would  be  the  principal  articles  of  exportation  from  Kenosha. 
Where  the  copper  was  to  come  from,  is  more  than  at  present 
^appears;*  but  the  books  of  def^jgrs^sj^o^w  some  sliipments  of 
iee^d  during  the  years  1841  and^'^^jj^^  Li-}8'|^^  (fj,^^  Putchik- 
soN  &  Co.,  gave  notice  of  their  readiness  to  "  make  liberal  ad- 
vances on  lead  and  copper  destined  for  an  eastern  market" 

The  winter  of  1844,  appears  to  have  been,  prolific  in  Ke- 
nosha, in  the  formation  of  new  political,  social  and  other  or- 
.ganizations.  The  "  Wisconsin  Fhalanxl^  a  Fourier  associa- 
ation,  was  organized  at  Kenosha  during  the  winter  of  1844, 
j^iiderthe  guardianship  of.,Mef5srs.,^A?iREN  CiiAs^^glid  Les- 
TEx  Rounds  ;  the  Irish  repeal  party  held  meetings  at  least  as 
often  as  once  a  week;  and  on  the  13th  of  February  of  thar 
winter,  the  Liberty  party  held  at  Kenosha  the  first  con- 
■j^ention  of  th^it  party  that  was  convened  in  Wisconsin. 

In  the  spring  of  1844,  Kenosha  obtained  the  first  appropri- 
ation from  Government  for  its  harbor.  In  this  spring  also,  a 
new  outside  pier  and  ware-house  went  into  successful  opera- 
tion, under  the  management  qf  Mef^^rs.  Lake,  Fisk  and  Lat. 
Puring  this  spring,  also,  Mr.  Simeon  King  opened  the  first 
book-store  at  Kenosha. 

From  1848  to  1850,  Kenosha  realized  some  serious  reverses. 
TJhe  merchants  of  the  place  ha^,_.aj^opted  or  yielded  to  the 
credit  system  in  disposing  of  their  goods,  more  generally  than 


*  Perhaps  the  copper  was  expected  from  Mineral  Point,  where,  previous  to 
this  date.  Gen.  Charles  Bracken  and  others  had  formed  a  company  for  copper 
mining  ;  and  there  had  been  prior  to  1839,  upwards  of  a  million  and  a  half 
pounds  of  copper  raised  from  these  mines.  L-  G.  D. 

53m 


4JS  FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA. 

the  merchants  of  other  places,  and  the  failure  of  two  crops  of 
wheat,  in  succession,  rendered  those  to  whom  credits  had 
been  given,  unable  to  meet  their  engagements,  and  a  general 
'crash  among  merchants  was  the  necessary  result  Time, 
however,  wrought  changes,  and  Kenosha  soon  again  resumed 
her  accustomed  business  and  prosperity. 

In  1850,  Kenosha  county  was  first  organized  as  a  separate 
county,  and  Kenosha  itself  was  organized  as  a  city.  At  the 
first  election  under  the  city  charter,  Hon.  M.  Frank  was  cho- 
sen Mayor,  and  after  the  occupation  of  the  office  for  one  term 
by  D.  C.  Gaskill,  Esq.,  Hon,  C.  C.  Sholes  was  twice  elected, 
to  the  same  offica  It  is  no  more  than  a  just  tribute  to  these 
men  to  say,  that  for  integrity  and  other  qualifications,  the3^ 
Were  well  fitted  as  the  executive  officers  of  a  young  and  grow- 
ing city. 

J  should  fail  to  do  justice  to  the  place,  if  I  should  neglect  to 
iemark,  that  Kenosha  has  been  fortunate  in  having  an  influ- 
ejntial  class  who  take  a  deep  interest  in  schools.  It  was  not, 
however,  until  between  1846  and  1848  that  her  free  school 
buildings  were  put  up,  and  her  plans  for  free  schools  wei*e 
perfected. 

In  1839,  the  first  regular  Academy  was  opened,  under  the 
'  charge  of  M.  P.  Kinney,  an  accomplished  scholar  and  gentle- 
man. The  Academy  was  next  kept,  with  the  exception  of 
some  intervals,  by  L.  P.  Harvey,  until  some  time  in  the  year 
"1844.  A  separate  school  was  kept  by  the  Rev.  William 
Alanson,  in  1842,  in  the  Episcopal  church  rooms.  This  was 
termed  in  the  bills  a  "  high  select  school."  '  ^ 

After  the  completion  of  the  first  two  free  school  buildings, 

Mr.  J.  G.  McMynn  was  employed,  first  in  the  second,  and 

afterwards  in  the  first  ward  school;  and  under  his  charge 

and  that  of  Mr.  Coe,  the  schools  at  Kenosha  soon  took  rank 

'  aanong  the  first  in  the  State. 

While  such  men  as  Hon.  M.  Frank,  Hon.  R.  H.  Deming, 
Hon.  C.  Durkee,  Hon.  C.  C.  Sholes,  and  Jon  B.  Jilson  exist, 


'FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA,        '  O419 

a  f 

learning  will  never  languish  for  want  of  a  patrpn,  or  the  cause 
of  education  perish  for  want  of  a  friend  '^  j^K^mof 

No  question  can  be  presented  to  the  public  of  Kenosha,  that 
will  elicit  such  general  interest  as  the  subject  of  schools. 
Whenever  anything  transpires,  calculated  either  to  raise  or 
depress  their  usefulness,  it  causes  a  more  general  sensation 
among  the  inhabitants,  than  any  other  question  that  is  pre- 
sented for  the  public  consideration. 

It  only  remains  for  me  to  speak  of  a  few  of  the  earliest  set- 
tlers of  Kenosha,  whose  names  have  been  introduced  in  the 
foregoing  account  of  the  place.  At  the  present  writing,  (March, 
1857,)  Mr.  Jonathan  Pierce  still  lives,  in  Kenosha.  Indus- 
try and  frugality  have  placed  him  in  comfortable  circum- 
stances, and  temperate  habits  of  life  have  given  him  a  happy 
old  age.  Hon.  William  Bullen  died  many  years  ago,  gev- 
erally  respected.  He  was  a  prominent  business  man,  and  as 
a  politician,  was  known  as  an  able  member  of  the  Legislature 
of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin.  Hudson  Bacon  lost  his  health 
from  the  exposures  incident  to  the  first  settlement,  which  has 
impaired,  in  some  measure,  his  usefulness  and  activity.  He 
has  erected  a  comfortable  dwelling  upon  the  site,  or  very 
nearly  upon  the  site,  of  his  original  log  house,  where  he  now 
resides.  Samuel  Resique  died,  in  San  Francisco,  California, 
in  1855.  C.  W.  Turner  settled  about  one  mile  north  of  Ke- 
nosha, where  he  died  in  1851. 

John  Bullen,  Esq.,  who  might  be  termed  the  founder  of 
the  place,  was  well  fitted  for  a  pioneer  enterprise.  Besides 
considerable  physical  powers,  he  possesses  commanding  abil- 
ities and  great  energy  of  character — all  of  them  qualificatiocr 
that  are  no  where  more  essential  than  in  founding  a  new  col- 
ony, or  home  in  a  new  country.  Since  1839,  Mr.  Bullen 
has  been  engaged  largely  in  real  estate  and  mercantile  opera- 
tions, until  within  the  last  four  or  five  years.  He  still  resides 
mainly  at  Kenosha,  though  temporarily  and  occasionally  at 
Lyons,  Walworth  county,  Wisconsin. 


430  fJI^T  SETTLEMENT  OF  KENOSHA. 

,,.  It  may  not  be  considered  inappropriate  to  remark,  that  the 
Company  who  organized  East  for  the  settlement  of  Kenosha, 
passed  resolutions  of  the  strongest  and  most  complimentary 
character,  of  the  management  of  their  affairs,  at  the  time  Mr. 
BuLLEN  closed  his  business  connection  with-tjiem. 


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EARLY  HISTORY  OF  GREEN  COUNTY. 

BY  J.  W.  STEWART. 

In  compliaiKje  with  the  wishes  of  the  State  Histor- 
ical Society,  J  have  endeavored  to  felte^t  some  of  the  incb 
dents  connected  with  the  early  history  and  settlement  of 
Green  county.  In  doing  so,  I  have  had  to  rely  entirely  oti 
information  obtained  from  a  few  of  the  earliest  settlers. 

The  region  of  cb^ntry  embracing  the  county  of  Gre^tf,"^ 
it  is  now  bounded,  was  not  peopled  by  white  men,  and  no 
tradition  relating  to  it  has  come  to  my  knowledge,  prior  to  the 
year  1827.  At  that  time  we  were  attached  to,  or  rather 
fdrmed  a  ^gck  of,  th6  county  of  Crawford,  in  the  Territory  of 
Michigan ;  the  county  seat  being  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  The 
first  white  settlement  in  our  limits,  was  at  Sugar  River  Dig- 
gings, near  the  present  village  of  Exeter.  Two  men  by  the 
liame  of  BoNisA  and  McNutt,  erected  sh'dnties  for  the  pur- 
jjose  of  trading  with  the  Indians,  at  or  about  the  place  * 
%here  William  Davies'  furnace  was  afterwards  erected — the 
same  furnace  which  was  afterwards  held  and  used  by  Kemp 
&  Collins,  about  one  mile  S.  W.^of  Exeter.  This  was  in 
'l^i28.  Soon  after,  during  the  same  year,  J.  R  Blackmor«, 
William  Wallace,  and  William  Davies,  came  to  Sugar 
River  Diggings,  and  commenced  operations  in  mining  for 
lead  ore.  ^^ 

The  Indians  had  been  engaged  for  many  years,  judging 
fiforn  the  heaps  of  dirt,  overgrown  with  grass,  weeds  and 
brush,  in  raising  this  valuable  mineral;  stnd  their  discoveries 


422  BARLY  HISTORY  OF  GREE^  COUNTY. 

led  the  whites  to  that  particular  locality,  where  the  first  set- 
tlement in  the  county  commenced.  The  persons  above  named, 
together  with  a  Frenchman  by  the  name  of  Van  Sickle,  who 
acted  as  interpreter  for  the  traders,  Boner  and  McNutt,  and 
two  men  who  settled  further  south,  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  by 

the  name  of Skinner  aad Neal,  formed  the  entire 

population  of  the  county  in  the  fall  of  1828.  We  would  at 
once  think,  that  with  that  little  population  of  white  men,  sur- 
rounded by  the  savages,  and  separated  by  several  miles  from 
other  white  settlements,  peace  and  order  would  be  in  the 
ascendency.  All  provisions  that  were  obtained,  were  pur- 
chased at  great  cost  and  trouble,  at  Galena.  All  shared  and 
felt  as  one  family.  And  the  malicious  hand  of  homicide,  we 
would  suppose,  would  never  be  raised  to  reduce  that  little 
number.  But  unhappily,  the  same  cause  which  produces  so 
many  cases  now,  operated  then  to  accomplish  the  same  result 
Boner  and  McNutt,  were  both  in  the  habit  of  partaking  too 
freely  of  spirituous  liquors,  which  they  kept  to  sell  to  the  In- 
dians. One  night,  during  the  month  of  August,  in  1828, 
whilst  no  one  was  about  their  premises  except  the  two  part- 
ners, and  Van  Sickle,  their  interpreter,  one  of  them-— 
McNutt — without  having  had  any  previous  quarrel,  dispute, 
or  provocation  known  to  any  one,  under  the  effects  of  intoxi- 
cation, came  into  the  house  with  a  common  axe  in  his  hand, 
and  deliberately  killed  Boner,  and  cut  him  into  pieces,  in  the 
presence  of  Van  Sickle.  The  latter,  without  interference, 
fled  to  Blue  Mounds,  on  foot,  and  gave  information.  As  Vaht 
Sickle  left  the  cabin,  in  his  flight,  McNutt,  the  murderer, 
laid  hold  of  his  rifle  and  shot  after  him,  the  ball  striking  the 
door  cheek.  A  few  minutes  after  Van  Sickle's  arrival  at 
Blue  Mounds,  McNutt  arrived  there  on  horseback,  and  sur- 
rendered himself  to  the  officers,  who  took  him  to  Prairie  du 
Chien,  Mr.  Blackmore,  who  is  my  informant,  was  away 
from  home  the  day  of  the  murder,  but  was  there  next  day, 
and  assisted  in  burying  Boner,  who  occupied  the  first  grave 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  GREEN  COUNTY,  433 


A 


•T 


of  a  white  man  within  the  limits  of  the  county.  After 
eighteen  months  confinement  in  jail  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 
McNuTT  was  acquitted. 

About  the  same  time,  and  indeed  some  say  the  year  before, 

1827,  Mr.  John  Skinnee  and Neal  came  to  Skinner's 

Creek,  about  five  miles  N.  W.  of  Monroe,  and  commenced 
mining,  and  erected  a  log  smelting  furnace,  the  first  one  in  the 
county.  These  men,  together  with  those  referred  to  at  Sugar 
River  Diggings,  constituted  the  entire  white  population  of  the 
county  for  two  or  three  years,  and  until  the  agricultural  set- 
tlement was  commenced,  by  Andrew  Clarno  and  others,  ia 
the  south  part  of  the  county. 

In  1829,  William  Davies  built  a  furnace  near  the  old  trad- 
ing house  of  Boner  &  McNutt,  and  the  remains  of  this  fur- 
nace, which  are  but  a  heap  of  ashes  and  cinders,  overgrown 
with  grass,  in  an  open  uncultivated  prairie,  form  the  only 
monument  to  mark  the  place  of  the  tragedy  we  have  narrated. 
The  only  Indian  settlement  in  this  county,  at  that  time,  was 
located  near  the  present  village  of  Dayton.  There  the  Indians 
raised  corn,  and  had  an  extensive  encampment  in  the  sum- 
mer season.  ,..,  , 

In  1830,  Andrew  Clarno  made  a  settlement  on  the  old 
faurm  where  his  widow  now  resides,  and  which  was  the  first 
agricultural  improvement  in  the  county.  His  name  is  per- 
petuated in  the  name  of  the  town  where  he  settled,  and  ift. 
which  he  continued  to  reside,  till  his  death,  which  occurred 
some  four  or  five  years  since.  He  was  a  man  of  a  warm  and 
generous  heart,  in  whose  company  the  writer  has  spent  many 
pleasant  hours,  listening  to  his  rude  history  of  the  times  of 
the  Black  Hawk  war.  This  war  broke  out  in  1832,  at  which 
time  Joseph  Payne,  whose  name  is  familiar  to  all  in  this  vi- 
cinity, had  just  erected  and  moved  into  a  cabin,  together  with 
William  Wallace,  in  the  same  neighborhood  with  Mr. 
Clarno,  and  at  the  first  out-break  of  hostilities,  on  the  fifth 
of  May,  they  fled  from  their  cabins  with  their  families,  and 


^1^  EARlY  HISTORY  OF  GREEN  COUNTY, 

the  same  day  their  deserted  houses  were  fired  by  the  Indian! 
These  fugitive^  camped  the  first  night  on  the  ground  whferb 
Monroe  now  stands.  Here  they  spent  a  restless  night,  occa- 
sionally hearing  the  savage  whoop  of  the  blood  thirsty  In- 
dians, but  were  lucky  enough  to  get  off  undiscovered,  with  a 
quick  and  light  tread,  in  the  morning,  in  the  direction  of 
Hamilton's  settlement,  where  they  staid  next  night,  and 
thence  to  Fort  Gratiot,  where  they  remained  till  the  close  of 
the  war. 

About  the  year  1834,  several  new  settlers  came  into  our 
cSn:fiftes-  arid  among  them  LEoWARfe  Ross,  late  of  Exeter, 
and  Hiram  Rust,  of  Monroe ;  also,  John  W.  DENisrisTON  and 
Abner  Van  Sant,  who  located  about  three  miles  south-west 
of  Monroe.  These  last  named  gentlemen  erected  the  first 
flouring-mill  in  the  limits  of  this  county.  Buririg  the  year 
1835,  the  lands  of  this  county  first  came  into  market,  and  the 
settlers  were  enabled  to  procure  undisputed  titles  to  their 
farms.  The  privations  and  hardships  of  the  first  settlers  can 
only  be  understood  and  appreciated,  from  the  lips  of  those 
who  preceded  us.  Provisions  bore  an  almost  incredible  price, 
and  could  not  be  obtained  nearer  than  Galena,  some  fifty  to 
seventy-five  miles  distant.  HavLj 

-  ]ft  trie  first  m^  of  the  Wisconsin  Ter^itbrial  Legi'S^affif*? 
^i  Belmont,  on  the  9th  of  Dec.  1836,  the  county  of  Greleii, 
detached  from  the  county  of  Iowa,  was  established.  The 
county  of  Iowa,  ot  which  we  then  formed  a  part,  was  repre- 
i^nted  in  the  Territorial  Legislature  in  part  by  Wm.  Boyles^ 
of  Monroe ;  and  to  him,  as  the  representative  of  the  region 
of  the  newly  proposed  county,  was  left  the  selection  of  the 
name  to  be  given  it-,  and  he  selected  the  name  of  Green — 
indicative  of  the  bright  color  of  the  vegetation  of  this  region. 
Another  riieinber  of  that  Legislature,  with  whom  I  conversed' 
some  years  since,  suggested  to  our  member  that  Greene  wonld 
be  a  more  appropriate  or  more  honorable  name,  in  memory 
and  honoi'  of  the  distinguished  Gen.  G'Rifii^NE,  of  the  r^volu- 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  GREEN  COUirrt.  435 

tionary  ^^^ar;  but  the  present  name  was  prfeFerred'  by  M^: 
BoYiiEs^and,  through  courtesy,  the  nam-e  remained  as  desirM' 
by  our  immediate  repr^^^'ntativ^:  '^^^^  h'^^'    '    '  ^  tai£*i>ioa  '**^o 

The  act  of  the  Legislature,  cr^^iing'  tfee  county  '6f  CffedHf 
was  passed,  as  already  stated,  at  the  first  session  of  the  Ter- 
ritorial Legislature;  and  at  the  next  session,  held  at  Burling- 
tOM,  in  what  ha^^^mfe'e  become  I6\^',  ah'tict  was  passed,  Jail- 
uary  15th,  1838,  fully  organizing  the  county  of  Green  for 
judicial  purposes,  and  declaring  the  new  county  indebted  to 
the  mother  county  of  Iowa  for  a  proportion  of  the  old  county 
indi^btedness.    N6t withstanding  the  solemnity  and  force  of 
legislative  la.w,  the  people  of  Green,  although  often  sued  in 
the  courts  of  the  State,  have  refused,  (whether  justly  or  not,  I 
•villi  ndt  here  digress  to  say,)  to  pay  the  whole,  or  any  part,  of 
said  indebtedness.     And' ' this  war  #ith  old  Ibwa,  is  the  OHiy 
Wa;T  in  which  we  have  participated.    Our  miniature  Wars,  as 
exhibited  in  personal  broils,  have  been  numerous,  but  such  as 
are  common  to  all  civilized  countries.  ^^I 

The  first  court  of  record  ever  held  in  Green  county,  was 
the  United  States  District  Court,  Chief  Justice  Charles  Dunn 
presiding,  in  April,  1838.  The  first  Clerk  was  the  late  Georgb 
McFadden,  of  Dane  county,  who  was  shortly  after  succeeded 
by  M.  Bainbridge,  Esq.  After  the  first  term,  the  United  States 
courts  were,  for  many  years,  presided  over  by  Hon.  David 
Irvin. 

Although  our  growth,  at  the  earliest  stages  of  our  existence 
as  an  independent  county,  was  not  so  rapid  as  some  others  in 
the  State,  and  consequently  our  influence  not  so  extensively 
felt  in  the  Territorial  and  State  Governments ;  yet  no  county 
in  Wisconsin  has  been,  or  is  now,  settled  by  a  more  indus- 
trious, enterprising  and  thrifty  population.  The  principal 
business  of  nearly  her  entire  population  has  been,  from  the 
first,  that  of  agriculture;  and  the  consequence  is,  that  her 
wealth  is  generously  divided  among  all  her  citizens.  Nearly 
the  entire  population  have  the  means  and  the  will  to  support 
54m 


426  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  GREEN  COUNTY. 

themselves.  Pauperism  and  crime,  the  sure  concomitants  o£ 
large  commercial  communities,  have  made  no  inroads  within 
our  borders ;  and  taking  into  consideration  the  richness  of  our» 
soil,  the  abundance  of  our  timber,  and  the  great  number  of  our 
water-courses,  we  can  certainly  expect  to  rank  as  one  of  the 
best  counties  in  our  flourishing  State.  The  county  is  about 
twenty-four  miles  square,  having  an  area  of  576  square  miles ; 
traversed  through  its  centre  by  the  Milwaukee  and  Mississippi . 
Railroad,  from  east  to  west,  passing  through  Monroe,  the 
county  seat  The  south  and  west  parts  of  the  county  are 
nearly  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  timber.  Walnut,  aish, 
oak,  sugar  tree,  and  linn  exist  in  great  abundance,  affording 
great  facilities  for  building,  and  the  manufacture  of  all  kinds 
of  wooden  wares.  The  population  of  Monroe,  the  principal 
town,  is  about  two  thousand,  while  that  of  the  county,  by  the 
census  of  1855,  was  14,727,  which  has  since  largely  increased. 
Decatur,  Brodhead,  Albany  and  Dayton  are  flourishing  vil- 
lages. 

8J8W 

be'  /f 

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,rf. 

10; 


Skh 


\  SKETCH  OF  WHITEWATER, 

'  WALWORTH  OOUNTT. 


i.  BY  J.  A.  LEONARD,  M.  D. 

Though  the  business  facilities  of  this  village,  and  its  situ- 
ation as  a  market  town,  are  highly  appreciated  by  its  inhab- 
itants, but  few  of  them  seem  to  reaUze  the  fact,  that  its  location 
is  of  great  natural  beauty ;  so  much^o,  that  were  a  view  of  it, 
from  one  of  the  surrounding  high  points,  transferrep,  with  its 
living  tints,  to  a  gilt  framed  picture,  and  hung  against  the 
parlor  wall  in  its  native  home,  it  might  be  admired  as  a  fine 
view  of  some  distant  place,  well  worth  journeying  to  for  the 
sight 

"  You  have  a  beautiful  town,'^  is  a  remark  frequently  made 
by  strangers,  and  the  truth  of  it  cannot  be  doubted.  White- 
water is  built  within  an  amphitheatre,  sloping  gently  from 
east  and  west,  towards  the  creek  running  through  it  from 
north  to  south,  and  surrounded  by  timbered  ridges,  and  pic- 
turesque blufis,  on  every  side  but  the  west,  and  there  chang- 
ing to  a  rolling  prairie,  alternated  with  patches  of  burr  oaks. 
A  fine  panoramic  view  of  the  whole  surrounding  neighbor- 
hood, may  be  obtained  by  going  only  a  few  rods  farther  north, 
upon  the  ridge  on  which  the  Cemetery  is  situated.  From 
there,  looking  northward,  the  irregular  surface  may  be  seen 
stretching  on  to  where  the  Bark  woods  mingle  with  the  dis- 
tance, the  bare  timbered  maples,  ashes,  and  elms,  blending 


^28  SKETCH  OF  WHITEWATER. 

into  a  broad  and  indistinct  gray  stripe  lying  along  the  sky, 
like  a  deep  plain  border  to  its  wide  blue  surface.    To  the  east, 
there  is  a  beautiful  level  plain,  dotted  over  with  oak  groves, 
many  of  them  clustering  around  farm  houses,  and  beyond 
them  the  Whitewater  Bluffs,  their  sun-lighted  crests  reach- 
ing up  from  bases  glittering  with  snow,  in  very  fair  imita- 
tion of  a  range  of  mountains,  and  growing  still  bolder  in 
appearance   as   they   curve  around  the   southern   boundary 
of  the   scene,  and   overlook   the  Whitewater,*  as  its   level 
ice-covered  surface  winds  northward,  between  ridges  cov- 
ered over  with  farms,  till  it  reaches  the  village,  and  passes 
through  on  its  way  to  the  Bark  river.      To  the  westward, 
th^'  Whitet^at6^^  p'rkiri^'  rolls  off  tcfwai^a  the  farthe*  e^d  of 
the  world,  covered  over  with  comfortable  farm  houses  alid 
bELniis,  interspersed  with  clumps  of  oaks.     In  the  center  of 
this  variety  of  attractioas  lies  Whitewater,  a  place  of  abbut 
160b  inhabitafti!s;4ts  Wide  §ti-eet^^i'adiating  in  eVei^'difec- 
tion  from  the  creek,  and  in  the  center  of  the  town,  filled  With 
teams  and  people,  and  adorned  with  many  fine  yellow  brick 
bldcks,  and  the  surrounding  streets  built  up  with  neat  brick 
and  frame  residences,  well  protected  by  shade  trees,  and  its 
wliole  appearance  presenting  an  aspect  of  comfort  that  cannot 
be  excelled,  lanauo  n  lo  At  mi  oiii  Jbii  ij<i 

w  Whitewater  is  not  one  of  those  preco6rottS' western  toVWff, 
that  aris^  Already  ihborpofet^d,  aniid  original  wildness ;  but 
is  rather  an  ancient  and  plodding  place,  rejuvenated  and 
carrying  on  the  functions  of  its  formerly  lethargic  life  very 
much  as  a  skeleton  resurrectionized  into  humanity  by  a 
stroke  of  hglilthihg.'    The  grist-mill,  which  is  the  senior  in- 

^<  -■''■■  ■  I  ■--    ■         — -  -  -  .        .  ,         .  ,  - 

*  The  derivation  of  the  name  of  this  fine  stream  is  well  worth  preserving. 
Ex-Gov.  Doty  gives  "Waubish  Nepaywau"  as  the  Menomonee  name,  signifying 
TTie  White  Water;  while  the  lamented  JJon,  Solomon  Juneau  stated,  "The 
river  Whitewater  is  called  by  the  united  ti-ibes  of  Chippewa,  Ottawa,  arid  Pot- 
tawottanoies,  Wau-he-gan-nau-po-cat,  meaning  rili^,  whitish  loater,  caused  by 
-rnlte,  soft  clay,  in  some  parts  of  it."  L.  C.  D. 


SKETCH  OF  WHITEWATER. 


439 


stitution  of  the  town,  was  built  in  the  spring  of  1839,  by 
Dr.  Tripp;e,  and  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  the  White- 

^jjS^at^X,  Hotel. was  erected,  by  D.  J.  Powers, — -though  then  but 
a  small  building — and  a  store  was  establishQ4i  by  B.  F.  Bos- 

'j(WOBTH.     In  the  fall  of  1840,  a  store  wa-s  built  by  Philan- 

^|:r  Peck,  and  another  by  T.  K.  Le  Barron,     In  1842,  what 

^,is  now  the  body  of  the  Exchange  Hotel  was  put  up.  In 
1843,  Messrs.  S.  C.  Hall  and  H.  C.  Leffingwell  opened  a 

j/^tore,  under  the  firm  of  Hall,  Leffingwell  &  Co.  These 
gentlemen  were  the  first  comers  of  those  now  doing  busi- 

^!^?is,}iere,,?i,^di>^re  well  known  to  the  citizens  of  Whitewater. 

j^fiiiJE^ALL  is  at  present  one  of  the  mqft;j?xtensi;<f^  ,perchants 

rM  the  place. 

From  this  time  the  village  grew  slowly  into  the  propor- 

itions  pf  .A,  town.  Thq?e  was  then  no  market  west  of  Mil- 
waukee, and  a  village  could  depend  for  its  growtl^ipnly  upon 
the  tardy  filling  up  of  the  surrounding  country,  the  patron- 
age of  teamsters  carrying  produce  to,  and  freight  from,  Mil- 

^jfjaukee,  ^^d.,fl^e  .emigration  passing  through  to  that  great 

;^jindefined  region,  the  .^yest  Tlipse  were  the, ,  palmy  days  of 
Milwaukee,  when  she  gave  prices  to  Wisconsin,  as  Rome 
once  dictated  laws  to  Europe.  In  those  hard  old  times, 
many  a  farn^ier  spent  a  week  in  carrying  his  wheat  to,  and 
returning  from,  ^' the  town,"  and  returned  with  p,erhaps  five 
dollars,  as  the  proceeds  of  his  hard  labor,  in  driving  through 
mud  hub  deep,  with  about  thirty  bushels  of  wheat;  and 
often,  wi^Jh, the, W^tjBOSt  economy,  seUing  -wheat  was  a  losing 
business  for  the  grower.  A  bushel  of  wheat  was  then 
current  among  farmers  as  half  a  dollar,  while  in  trade  for 
goods  at  the  store,  it  was  frequently  sold  for  a  quarter  of  a 
dollar. 

In  ^he  fg^lls  of  1849,  '50  and  '51,  the  wheat,  which  was 
the  chief  marketable  crop,  was  almost  entirely  destroyed 
throughout  the  State,  by  rust    Universal  depression  of  busi- 


430  SKETCH  OF  WHITEWATER. 

ness  prevailed,  and  Whitewater  sustained  its  share  of  the 
prevalent  misfortune.  Of  course,  such  circumstances  as 
these  constituted  hard  times;  and  as  the  farmers  suffered, 
the  village  failed  to  prosper,  though  through  the  liberal 
policy  of  Dr.  Trippe,  who  owned  the  principal  portion  of 
•  the'  town  site,  and  did  much  during  his  life  to  increase  the 
size  of  the  place,  it  had  attained  800  inhabitants  by  the 
year  1852. 

But  the  completion  of  the  Milwaukee  and  Mississippi 
Railroad  to  this  point,  in  September,  1852,  made  a  perfect  re- 
volution, in  not  only  the  village,  but  the  surrounding  country 
also ;  nor  did  this  change  cease  when  the  road  was  built  be- 
yond us,  but  from  the  time  when  the  Depot  was  located,  down 
to  this  day,  our  town  has  grown  steadily  and  rapidly  in  num- 
bers and  wealth.  The  whistle  of  the  first  locomotive  that 
entered  the  place,  awoke  a  spirit  of  energy  which  has  per- 
vaded its  business  ever  since,  and  has  increased  its  popula- 
tion in  three  years  from  800  to  160Q. 

Having  thus  given  an  outline  of  the  past  history  of  White- 
water, we  will  endeavor  to  describe  its  present  condition.     It 

is  a  village  of  1600  inhabitants,  and  is  said  by  travelers  to  be 

1.-. ,..»  ,. .,, 
as  handsome  as  any  of  the  size  in  the  State;  situated  about 

fifty  miles  west  of  Milwaukee,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  beau- 
tiful farming  country,  consisting  of  burr  oak  openings  and 
prairie,  selling  at  an  average  of  ^20  per  acre. 

In  giving  an  account  of  the  business  of  the  place,  we  will 
commence  at  the  Depot — it  being  the  business  center.  The 
Depot  is  the  largest  and  most  commodious  on  the  line  of  the 
road,  and  that  a  large  quantity  of  produce  is  shipped  from 
there,  is  well  shown  by  the  following  statistics,  which  we 
have  copied,  with  the  kind  assistance  of  Messrs.  D.  W.  Rich- 
'  ARDsoN  and  H.  M.  Congar,  from  the  books  of  the  Company, 
that  were  very  obligingly  placed  at  our  service,  for  the  pur- 
pose, by  Mr.  E.  Baeber,  the  Freight  Agent 


SKETCH  OF  WHITBWATER.  4^1 

Articles  shipped  from  Whitewater  Station,  from  January 
1st,  1854,  to  January  1st,  1855 : 


iUltii 


^ 


I^AME  OF  AkTIOLSS. 


K-fJjIi 


-iaa 


JQJ 


Bush. 


■^.' 


Lbs. 


-^' 


No». 


Wheat. 
Barley. 
Oats  .. 

Com .. 


322,226 

55,257 

48,700 

12,823 

6,427 


'•\i,r.nt^* 


Pork,  (in  the  hog) , w,u^-v. ........ 

!^!rodiice,  (including  potatoes,  beans,  onions, 

beef,  eggs,  tallow,  «c. )....,.,. 

Qrass  Seed...., ,. j,, 

wool  '^"^   '•'•-*    •'  •  -i     V'i 

Hops. 


!f^'.: 


..iVit.*\;ivi' 


#•>»   «>»r   v'< 


Tobacco 

^ags  of  Flour... 
Barrels  of  Flour, 
ijmpty  Barrels . . 
Barrels  of  Pork  . 
^Barrels  of  High  Wines  and  Whiskey. 

Hides  and  Pelts 

Head  of  Live  Stock. 

Kegs  of  Butter 

K^s  of  Beer 

\1 


J 


614,258 

425,964 

94,732 

47,098 

21,116 

3,640 


'T.' 


>«).•« 


1- 


TV 


>:^r.r^ 


^Tfif^''' 


• '  o  ■  • 


:"t 


9,694 
8,561 
5,187 
2,731 
2351 
1,013 
936 

m 

32 


-»*^ 


■fd 


To  show  how  the  business  of  this  station  compares  with 
'  that  done  at  other  points  on  the  road,  we  will  not  resort  to 
bragging,  which  is  anything  else  than  a  satisfactory  mode  of 
proving  a  point,  but  will  give,  side  by  side,  some  items  from 
the  above  table,  with  items  of  the  same  character  from  the 
table,  showing  the  entire  amount  shipped  from  the  fourteen 
stations  on  the  road,  during  the  same  period,  by  which  their 
.,  proportion  to  the  total  business  may  readily  be  seen : 


Artiolbs. 


Busk  Wheat 

Bush.  Barley 

Bbls.  Flour -. 

Lbs.  Pork  .l'.....^^>.;:iiiO  J. 
Lbs.  Wool 


Total  Am't 
Shipped. 


1,184,662 

155,280 

55,492 

5,062,510 
148,417 


■'f\'-\  I 


From  White- 
water. 


'  i    U  i 


322,226 

55,257 

8,551 

614,258 
47,098 


r^ 


1-3 
1-3 
1-7 
1-8 


m 


SKETqH.9F  WHITEWATER. 


After  giving  these  substantial  figures,  it  is  almost  unneces- 
sary to  state,  that  Whitewater  is  the  marJcet  for  the  produce 
of  a  fertile  area  of  country  extending  about  thirty  miles 
around ;  and  the  high  prices  paid  by  our  grain  buyers,  have 
brought  loads  of  grain  here  from  McHenry  county,  IlL — fifty 
miles  distant ;  grain  is  frequently  brought  from  two-thirds  of 
the  distance  between,  here  and  Madison ;  and  the  bulk  of  that 
raised  oh  Rock  prame^-the  rich  prairie  lying  this  side  of 
Janesville — comes,  here.  Among  the  towns  that  obtain  their 
freight  from  this  Depot,  are  Hebron  and  Jeflferson  on*  the 
north,  Deerfield,  Milford,  Aztalan  and  Lake  Mills  on  the 
north-west,  Canibridge.  a?id  Fort  Atkinson  on  the  west,  and 
Johnstown  on  the  south. 

I  Surrounding  the  Depot,  there  are  seven  ware-houses  for 
file -Storage  of  gfain,  which  contain  now  from  150  to  200  car 
fcads  awaiting  shipment'  upon  the  opening  of  navigation. 
Of  these  ware-houses.  Marsh  &  Co.'s  is  52  by  80  feet,  two 
glories,  with  posts  31  feet  high;  S.  C.  Hall  &  Co.'s  is  40  ^ 
60  feet,  and  two  stories  high ;  Cheney  &  Williams'  is  28  by 
50  feet,  and  two  stories  high.  -    r      t 

Opposite  the  Depot  is  J.  ^C.  Williams  ^  Co.'^  Pottery, 

^which,  though  it  has  been  in  operation  only  about  a  year, 
nin^  five  turning  wheels  and  one  moulding  wheel,  gives  em- 
ployment  to  seventeen  hands,  uses  four  teams  in  selling  ware 
through  the  country,  and  burns  and  sells  about  sixty  kilns,  or 
j^l2,000  worth,  of  crockery  in  a  year.  In  another  part  of  the 
town  is  W.  Colo's  Pottery,  where  six  wheels  are  run,  twenty- 
five  hands  and  three  teams  are  employed,  and  a  business  of 
^10,000  per  year  is  done* 
^  Messrs.  S.  C.  Hall  &  Co.  use  a  two  story  brick  building, 

_32,by  70  feet,  exclusively  as  a  packing  house,  where,  during 

jt^e|  la^t  year,  they  put  up'2,250  barrels  of  pork,  and  560  pack 

Sffees  of  lard. 

8-'  Messrs.  Winchester  &  DeWolf's  Found] y  is  well  kROwn 
ihroughout  t]ie   State  j  ,at  this  establishment  twenty-three 


SKETCH  OF  WHITEWATER.  433 

r 
■        <    ;  i 

hands  are  employed,  *  and  ^000  ploughs  are  manufactured 
per  year,  besides  a  great  number  of  castings;  they  keep 
teams  constantly  busy  sending  off  ploughs.  ,^, . 

W.  BiRGis'  grist-mill  equals  any  in  the  State  in^tjlji|^;perfec-    ^^, 
tion  of*  its  machinery,  employs  three  run  of  stone,  and  four  ,  -^ 
hands,  and  turns  out  over  8,000  barrels  of  flour  in  the  course  | 
of  a  year.     The  grist-mill  owne^,  by  A^.  &  P.  Miixs,  has  iwQ^iffft 
run  of  stone,  and  does  a  very  good  business,  but,  we  cannot  ,  q^ 
state  the  amount     The  Trippe  saw-mill  cuts  up  about  300,- 
000  feet  of  lumber  per  year.     R.  Gould's  tannery  is  a  place 
where  hides  are  made  fit  to  cover  other  hides,  by  a  new  prp-^,^,. 
cess,  in  about  one-third  of  the  time  required  for  ordinary  tan-  - 
ning,  at  the  rate  of  1200  hides  a  year. 

Brick-yards  are  owned  by  Geo.  Dann  and  A.  Kendall, 
each  employing  six  hands,  and  making  about  600,000  brick 
per  year.   The  brick  made  at  tl^ese  yards,  and  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  many  of  our  stores  and .  residences,  are  *of  a      ^^ 
beautiful  straw  color,  being  the  same  as  the  much-admired      *> 
Milwaukee  brick^ ,  there  are  200,000  shipped  from  here,  by, 
railroad  in  a  year,  and  it  is  impossible  to  supply  the  demand      -i 
for  thenx.     This  is  also  the  case  with  lumber,  for  the  large      [j 
lumber-yard   of   H.  C.  Bull   &  Co.  does  not  contain  the  * // 
amount  of  building  material  that  is  constantly. galled  for.    At- 
Geo.  Dann's  cooper-shop,  six  hands  are  employed,  and  about 
six  thousand  barrels  manufactured  per  year.     We  have  three 
wagon-shops,   employing    altogether    twenty   hands;   J.   L. 
Pratt^s,  which  is  the  largest,  having  thirteen.     There  are 
four  black-smith  shops,  in  which  nine  persons  are  employed; 
and  two  tin-shops,  in  each  of  which  there  are  two  hands ; 
there  are  four  shoe-making  establishments,  employing  twelve 
persons ;  two  harness  manufactories,  in  each  of  which  there 
are  six  hands ;  and  three  tailoring  shops,  having  in  all  eleven 
workmen,  in  addition  to  two  sewing  machines.     Of  hotels 
we  have  four ;  and  of  stores,  the  following :  Eleven  dry  goods 
and  grocery  stores,  two  selling  groceries  exclusively;   two 
55m 


434  SKETCH  OF  WHITEWATER. 

hard- ware  stores,  two  clothing  stores,  two  jewelry  stores,  two 
drug  stores,  and  one  book-store.  There  are  two  meat-markets 
in  the  place. 

Beside  these,  there  is  a  large  brewery,  also  a  distillery,  both 
of  them  within  a  mile  of  the  village,  and  doing  a  large  busi- 
ness. 

Following  the  fashion  of  this  wicked  world,  we  turn,  after 
finishing  up  the  temporalities  of  our  village,  to  its  sanctities, 
to  state,  that  we  have  five  large  and  comfortable  churches,  be- 
longing severally  to  the  Catholic,  Congregational,  Episcopa- 
lian, Methodist,  and  Baptist  denominations ;  we  have  also  in 

course  of  erection,  a  commodious  brick  school-house. 

i '  ^  f  J 
Not  being;  a  prophet,  we  cannot  say  what  Whitewater  will  ^ 

be  in  the  future,  but  common  sense  alone  would  teach,  that 

with  its  constantly  increasing  business,  with  the  facilities  of 

the  railroad  now  built,  and  those  of  the  Wisconsin  Central 

road,  which  will  be  completed  to  this  point  in  about  a  year, 

making  this  the  place  where  the  two  roads  cross,  giving  us       . 

the  advantage  of  the  Chicago  market,  and  placing  us  on  the 

main  thorough-fare  between  that  great  city  and  the  rich  pine- 

ries  in' Northern  Wisconsin — with  all  these  advantages,  and 

the  business  energy  that  has  given  it  its  present  standing, 

Whitewater  must  go  ahead ! 


'.nin 


Whitewater,  March,  1855. 
1  yofff?  h 


a 


;^]JliJe 


W 


f . 


> 

'i 
•iww 


ID 


THE  "  UPPER  WISCONSIN  "  COUNTRY. 

BY  GEN.  A.  G.  ELLIS,  OF  STEVENs'  POINT. 

■  The  "  Upper  Wisconsin,"  is  a  term  usually  applied  to  the 
country  bordering  this  stream  from  Point  Bas,  upwards  to  its 
source,  at  Lac  Vieux  Desert ;  a  distance  north  and  south  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.     But  our  descriptions  will,  for 

> 

the  most  part,  refer  to  the  lower  portion  of  this  area,  lying  in 
Marathon,  Portage  and  Wood  counties — the  very  centre  of 
the  State. 

It  is  remarkable  what  a  tendency  is  often  manifest,  to  in- 
vest new  and  unexplored  regions— terra  incognita — with,  ,aU 
the  habiliments  and  character  of  the  terrible ;  such  regions 
are  too  generally  set  down  as  impenetrable  swamps,  tenanted 
only  with  wild  animals,  and  unfitted  for  man's  abode.  It  is 
within  the  recollection .  of  the  writer,  that  ne  arly  the  whole 
State  of  Michigan,  was  reported  by  an  officer  of  the  War  De- 
partment, as  one  unbroken  lagoon ;  soon  after  which,  an  im- 
mense map  made  its  appearance,  laying  down  nearly  the 
whole  central  area  of  that  beautiful  State  as  a  swamp.  The 
progress  of  settlement  dissipated  these  ideal  marshes,  and  re- 
deemed the  State.  The  same  unfounded  notions  nave  pre- 
vailed, to  a  considerable  extent,  with  regard  to  large  portions 
of  Wisconsin,  including  this  same  country,  of  which  we  now 
propose  to  write. 

In  1847,  Mr.  Owen,  the  geologist,  characterized  it  as  a  des- 
ert of  sands,  unapproachable  by  the  agriculturist;  and  but 
a  few  months  ago,  a  respectable  gentleman  in  one  of  the 


r 
nl 

ho 


436  UPPER  WISCONSIN"  COUNTRY. 

southern  counties,  in  an  elaborate  article  to  the  Wisconsin 
Farmer,  gravely  asserted  that  Northern  and  Central  Wiscon- 
sin was  an  alternation  of  sand-ridges  and  marshes.  In  fact, 
the  idea  is  too  prevalent  to-day,  that  at  least  the  unexplored 
portions  of  Wisconsin,  embracing  the  northern  portions  of 
Oconto,  Marathon,  Chippewa,  La  Pointe  and  Douglas 
counties,  are  swampy,  sandy,  sterile  regions,  worthless  and 
uninhabitable ! — 'Whereas,  the  truth  is»beginning  to  come  out, 
that  they  are  quite  the  reverse  of  all  this,  and  likely  to  prove 
the  best  agricultural  districts  in  the  State. 

In  the  year  1852,  it  was  proposed  to  apply  to  Congress  for 
the  establishment  of 'y,"^ Land  Office  at  Stevens'  Point;  the 
idea  \vas  fegarded  as  Utopian— supposed  that  not  lands 
enough  would  be  sold  to  pay  current  expenses  of  the  office.  ' 
It  has  now  been  open  nearly  four  years ;  the  result  is,  that 
almost  one-half  of  the  district  is  sold-— the  title  passed  from 
the  United  States' to  victual  settlers,  and  the  remaihmg  lands 
in  the  northern  and  western  portions,  are  being  sought  and 
bought  up  with  unparalleled  avidity.  Such  are  some  of  the 
consequences  of  actual  exploration,  in  opposition  to  imagin- 
ation,'d^tbuchifig  tie  w' coiiriM^^^  This  part  of  Wisconsin 
originally  constituted  a  part  of  Brown  county.  Portage 
county  was  set  off  from  Brown  county  by  act  of  the  Territo- 
rial LegislattWe,^^  is A^' embracing  all  the  country  north  of 
the  Fox  and  Wis6(5nSln  riVWs— -^Xceptmg  part  of  Brown 
county  north  of  Fox  river,  and  Crawford  county  above  the'  ^ 
Wisconsin,  bordering  on  the  Mississippi.  Columbia  county 
was  sei  off  firbtii  Portagd  in  the  year  1846 ;  Marathon  county 
in  tiffi  ^ear  1850,  and  Wb&tf'ih  the  year  1856,  leaving  the^''^ 
present  area  of  Portage  within  the  constitutional  limit         "'**^  ' 


,ui9e' 


The  first  aggression  upon  the  "  Upper  Wisconsin "  as  In- 


*  Portage  county  was  set  off  from  Bro"wn  county,  December  7th,  1836,  when 
it  embraced  aboui  t^ie  present  limits  of  Columbia  county  ;  and  in  Mai-ch,  1841, 
the  territory  forming  the  present  counties  of  Adams,  Juneau,  Portage  and 
Marathon,  was  anneied  to  Portage  county,  and  in  January,  1844,  the  present 
^unty  of  Portage  was  fully  organized.  L.  0.  D. 


ran  VJ    anr<T«3T7 

UPPER  WISCONSIN  COUNTRY.  437 

dian  Territory,  was  by  the  search  for  pine  timber,  occasioned 
by  the  settlement  of  Northern  Illinois  and  Southern  Wiscon- 
sin, when  the  price  of  pine  boards  went  up  to  ^60@^70  per 
'^ousand  feet 

The  pine  regions  of  the  State  lie  mostly  North  of  the  East 
and  West  line,  which  marks  Town  20  North,  of  the  surveys, 

**"'  abounding  more  or  less  in  three-fourths  of  this  area ;  though 

"there- are  considerable  districts  of  beautiful  prairie  and  open- 
ihgis  extending  above  this  line;  some  of  them  between  the 

-^   Wolf  and  Wisconsin  rivers  as  high  as  Town  25;  and  be- 
tween the  Chippewa  and  St  Croix  rivers,  as  high  as  Towns  35 

^"^and  36  North. 

'  The  pine  isgeiierany  near' tKe  banks  of  tfie  s&eam  (the 
Wisconsin)  and  its  tributaries,  gradually  diminishing  at  a 

^  ''distance  from  them,  and  giving  place  to  the  several  varieties 

^'  of  hard  timber—sugar  tree,  oak,  bass,  birch  and  hemlock — 
'with  a  few  scattering,  but  majestic  pines.  About  one-twen- 
tieth  of  the  grounds  may  be  set  down  as  pine  lands. 

The  first  attempt  at  lumbering,  by  a  saw-mill,  that  we  hear 

*  of  in  Wisconsin,  beyond  the  Green  Bay  settlement,  was  made 
by  Col.  John  Shaw,  now  of  Marquette  county,  who  built  a 

lis  ,  .    .^ 

mill  on  Black  river,  in  1819;  and  the  second  attempt  was 
^^  made  by  a' man  named  Perkins,  from  Kentucky,  on  a  branch 
of  the  Chippewa  river,  in  the  year  1822.     He  built  a  mill  on 
tne  Menomonee  branch ;  but  just  before  commencing  to  saw, 
it  was  swept  away  by  a  sudden  freshet     The  Indians  threat- 
^'ening  to  disturb  him,  the  enterprise  was  abandoned ;_  to  be 
renewed  with  better  success,  on  the  same  site,  in  tne  year 
'•"1830,  by  Joseph  Rolette  and  James  H.  Lockwood,  of  Prairie 
^  ■  du  Chien.     Pine  timber  was  made  into  boards  with  whip- 
saws,  in  1826,  by  the  U.  S.  soldiery,  at  the  building  of  Fort 
Winnebago,  from  timber  cut  on  a  small  island  about  10  miles 
above  the  Wisconsin  Portage.     Daniel  Whitney,  of  Green 
Bay,  obtained  a  permit  from  the  War  Department,  to  erect  a 
saw-mill  and  cut  timber,  on  the  Wisconsin,  (it  then  being  In- 


438 


UPPER  WISCONSIN  COUNTRY. 


dian  territory)  in  the  year  1831,  and  built  the  first  mill  at 
Whitney's  Rapids,  below  Point  Bas,  in  1831-'32. 

Messrs.  Grignon  &  Merrill  obtained  a  similar  permit,  and 
built  a  mill  at  Grignon's  Rapids,  in  1836.  These  two  estab- 
lishments were  the  pioneers  of  the  lumbering  business  on 

jr. 

the  Wisconsin  river. 
^_^  ]tn  1336,  at  a  treaty  held  with  the  Menomonee  Indians,  at 
tJe^ar  Point,  on  the  Fox  river,  by  Hon.  Henry  Dodge,  as  Gov- 
,  ernor  of  Wisconsin,  the  Indian  title  was  extinguished  to  a 
strip  of  land  on  the  Upper  Wisconsin,  six  miles  wide,  from 
Point  Bas  forty  miles  up  the  stream.     This  was  done  spe- 
cially to  open  the  country  to  the  lumbermen.      The  high 
price  and  great  demand  for  the  article,  quickened  the  business  j 
the  river  was  explored  from  Point  Bas  to  Big  Bull  Falls  that 
year,  and  the  occupation  and  claiming  of  the  most  eligible 
sites,  quickly  followed.     Messrs.  Bloomer  &  Strong,  and  also 
Geo.  Cline,  occupied  the  Grand  Rapids.     A.  Brawley,  com- 
menced at  Mill  Creek ;  also  Perry  &  Veeder  on  the  same 
stream.      Conant  &  Campbell  occupied  Conant's   Rapids, 
r  Harper  &  McGreer,  at  McGreer's  Rapids,  on  the  Plover. 
These  persons  commenced,  at  the  several  points  named,  in  the 
year  1837.     In  1839,  John  L.  Moore  began   at  Little  Bull 
FallS;  and  Geo.  Stevens  at.  Big  Bull  Falls.     Thus  was  this 
ivhole  region  in  the  possession  of  the  makers  and  venders  of 
pine  boards  and  shingles,  before  the  year  1840.     In  1839,  the 
Cedar  Point  cession,  three  miles  in  width  on  this  river,  was 
,  ordered  to  be  surveyed  by  the  Surveyor  General  at  Dubuque; 
J.  Hathaway,  of  Milwaukee,  being  appointed  to  the  task, 
j^. The  whole  tract  was  offered  at  public  sale,  at  Mineral  Point, 
in  1840.     lu  1841,  '42,  '43,  '44  and  '45,  mills  went  up  with 
j^  great, rapidity;  villages  and  towns  sprang  up,  so  that  in  1847, 
^   when  Mr.  Owen's  party  passed  down  this  river  from  Lac 
^    Vieux  Desert,  the  population  of  Wausau  was  estimated  at 
^    350  souls,  and  that  of  the  Upper  Wisconsin,  at  several  thou- 
.i^j^sand.     The  "Wisconsin  Pineries"  became  known  through- 


ly 

-V, 


UPPER  WISCONSm  COUIS-TRY.  439 

f        *  I     r        I 

out  the  whole  North- West ;  the  lumber  from  them  furnishing 
materials  for  improving  and  rendering  habitable  the  immense 
prairie  worlds  of  Illinois,  Iowa  and  Missouri. 

There  are  some  peculiarities  in  the  mode  of  lumbering  on 
this  river,  especially  in  regard  to  the  measurement  of  the 
boards,  and  in  getting  the  product  to  market.  As  a  general 
thing,  logs  are  cut  in  the  forest  to  three  lengths,  12  feet,  14 
feet,  and  16  feet  in  length.  All  common  boards  are  sawed  IJ 
inch  in  thickness,  thinner  stuff  than  this  (except  siding)  be- 
ing held  at  a  reduced  price  in  the  markets  below.  Measure- 
ments are  by  line,  and  no  stuff  is  marked  at  the  mills. 

The  Wisconsin,  above  Point  Bas,  is  a  succession  of  rapids 
and  eddies ;  most  of  the  former  surge  over  rocky  bot;j;oms, 
with  a  wild  current  often  to  twenty  miles  an  hour,  the  chan- 
nel broken  and  divided,  offering  almost  insurmountable  ob- 
stacles to  anything  like  navigation;  yet  over  all  these  the 
lumber  has  to  pass.  The  piloting  of  rafts  over  these  inter- 
minable falls,  from  Jenny  Bull  to  and  below  the  Dells,  re- 
■"  quires  great  skill,  practice,  courage,  and  extreme  peril  and 
hard  labor.  This  branch  of  the  business  has  produced  a  class 
of  nien,  known  as  Pilots,  who  have  become  masters  both  of 
the  rapids  and  the  capitalists  in  the  lumber  trade ;  as  nothing 
can  be  done  without  them,  at  least  in  getting  the  product  to 
market  after  it  is  cut  out  at  the  mills.  When  engaging  by  the 
day,  they  make  their  own  terms,  at  from  five  to  fifteen  dollars. 
Those  of  the  better  character,  with  a  little  means  ahead,  are 
accustomed  to  job  the  business,  entering  into  contract  with 
the  producer  to  take  the  boards  in  pile  at  the  mills,  and  fur- 
nishing all  necessary  men  and  outlays  at  their  vown  cost  and 
charges,  to  deliver  the  lumber  at  Dubuque  or  St.  Louis,  at  a 
stipulated  price  per  thousand  feet.  Partaking  somewhat  of 
the  wild,  rigorous  character  of  the  river  and  its  whirlpools, 
they  are  nevertheless,  for  the  most  part,  men  of  generous  im- 
pulses, energetic,  honest  and  trustworthy, — being  frequently 
entrusted,  not  only  with  the  custody  of  a  year's  earnings  of  a 


#1 


^CtTr, 


44Q  UPPER  WISCONSIN  COUNTRY. 

PP.- 

large  establishment,  in  its  transit  to  market,  but  with  the  sale 
'^'  of  the  rafts,  the  disbursement  of  large  amounts  of  the  proceeds 
to  hands,  and  the  rendition  of  final  accounts  to  the  owners. 
The  cost  of  running  out  lumber  from  the  mills  to  the  lower 
market,  varies,  according  to  the  season  and  distance,  at  from 
five  to  eight  dollars  per  thousand  feet,  not  including  wastage 
^*^^by  breaking  on  the  rapids,  which  may  be  estimated  at 
one-twentieth  of  the  whole.  At  a  good  stage  of  water,  the 
run  may  be  made  from  Wausau  to  St.  Louis  in  twenty-four 
dayi'"  The  great  difficulty  is  in' getting 'out  of  me  Wisconsin 
into  the  Mississippi,  and  it  is  but  seldom  that  this  can  be  done 
with  a  fleet  at  one  rise  of  the  river, — so  that  it  frequently  re- 
quires several  weeks  to  make  the  trip ;  this  greatly  increases 

^     the  cost,  and  is  a  direct  abatement  of  the  profits  of  the  busi- 
er ■         '    -  '■>"  to  f:  ''f  ' 

""  ness. 

"^'^  Immense  amounts  of  money  have  been  spent,  from  time  to 
time,  in  putting  in  various  improvements  on  these  rapids, 
mostly  in  what  are  called  slides;  they  are  wooden  sluice- 
ways, over  dams  and  falls,  built  of  heavy  timbers,  secured  by 

^^'  immense  cribs  filled  with  stones;  they  are  laid  from  the  top 
to  the  bottom  of  the  dam  or  fall,  at  angles  of  fifteen  to  thirty 
degrees,  over  w'hich  the  rafts  are  directed,  with  the  speed  of 

^  'an  arrow,  frequently  to  the  hazard  of  the  lives  of  the  raftsmen 

and  the  destruction  of  the  rafts.     The  keeping  up  of  these 

improvements  is  a  matter  of  great  expense,  as  they  are  of  short 

duration,  owing  to  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  currents.     The 

\  rafts,  in  passing  over,  constantly  cut  them  away  in  detail ; 

but  the  principal  cause  of  their  destruction,  is  from  the  run- 

ning  ice  in  the  spring,  on  the  breaking  up  of  the  river.  Some 

'\  of  the  most  expensive  and  best  constructed  of  these  slides,  are 

sometimes  almost  entirely  destroyed  in  a  single  day,  by  the 

running  ice  of  the  spring  flood.     Expensive  booms,  dams, 

and  even  mills,  are  frequently  swept  ofi*  in  the  same  way,  to 

/say  nothing  of  the  peril  and  loss  of  whatever  rafts  or  cribs  of 

^   lumber  may  have  been  left  in  the  stream  over  the  wiuter. 


iJJi  ■•< 


YaP?i?#^  '^^.ISCONSIN  COUNTRY.  S#1441 

The  limits  prescribed  for  this  paper  will  permit  us  to 
give  but  a  brief  description  of  the  mode  of  constructing  and 
running  of  the  rafts.     The  lumber  is  generally  rated  in  pieces 
of  about  3,500  ieet,  called  "  cribs,"  five  or  six  of  which  consti- 
tute a  "rapid-piece;"  the  cribs  are  either  16  by  12  feet,  or  16 
feet  square,  and  generally  consist  of  from  twelve  to  twenty 
tiers  of  inch  boards,  exclusive  of  what  are  called  the  "  grub 
plank ;"  these  are  two  inches  in  thickness,  and  placed  at  the 
bottom.     The  ciips  are  bound  together  by  means  of  "grubs," 
a  kin(J  ofi  pin,,  two  inches  in  thickness,  four  feet  in  length, 
made  from  saplings  of  oak,  iron- wood,  or  maple,  dug  out  by 
the  roots,  a  part  of  the  root  being  left  on,  to  form  the  head  or 
lower  end  pf  the  grub.     The  raftsman,  in  forming  a  crib, 
selects  three  grub  planks ;  these  he  arranges  about  five  feet 
apart,  parallel  to  each  other,  up  and  down  the  stream;  each 
has  three  two- inch  auger  holes  bored  in  it — one  near  each 
-..end,  and  one  in  the  middle—7and  a  grub  inserted  in  each; 
three  inch  boards,  bored  in  like  manner,  are  then  laid  cross- 
wise of  the  grub  plank,  the  grubs  inserted,  which  form  the 
^  ,  ^bottom  or  foundation  of  the  crib ;  he  then  fills  up  the  spaces 
between  with  inch  boards^  and  crossing  the  next  tier,  (contin- 
ues the  operation  till  he  has  as  many  courses  as  he  judges 
safe,  not  to  make  his  raft  run  too  deep.    Next  he  puts  on  two 
binding  planks,  bored  to  receive  the  grubs,  parallel  with  the 
grub  plank,  and  then  applying  a  couple  of  links  of  a  chain, 
called  a  "^witch,"  by  means  of  a  lever,  draws  up  the  grub, 
r   pressing  down  the  binding   plank,  and  wedging  the  grub, 
^  inakes  all  fast     His  crib  is  now  complete ;  about  six  of  these 
,^    are  brought  together  endwise,  and  fastened  by  means  of  two 
more  planks,  coupling  one  crib  to  another,  constituting  a 
.     "  rapid-piece."     A  solid  piece  of  square  timber,  called  a  "  head 
g^jjblock,"  5  by  7  inches,  is  laid  across  each  end,  and  pinned.   On 
each  of  these  jip. hung  the  "oar,"  consisting  of  a  pole  36  feet 
in  length,  with  a  twelve  feet,  Ij  inch  plank,  in  the  outer  end 
:.  for  a  blade,  the  oar  neatly  balanced  across  the  head-block; 
56m 


^,    442  UPPER  WISCONSIN  COUNTRY. 

(     next,  and  last  of  all,  are  put  on  what  are  called  the  "spring 
!  1  poles,"  being  a  couple  of  pieces  of  hemlock  poles,  some  20 
feet  in  length,  and  6  or  8  inches  thick — the  forward  end  in- 
-     serted  under  the  outward  corner  of  the  head-block,  brought 
back  over  a  bit  of  wood  for  a  fulcrum,  is  pressed  down  with 
-■■    the  force  of  three  or  four  men,  thus  turning  up  the  forward 
V     end  of  the  rapid  piece,  and  fastened  down  to  one  of  the  grubs. 
Thiis  is  a  necessary  precaution,  to  keep  the  rapid-piece  from 
*     catching  on  the  rocks  at  the  bottom,  when  it  dives  in  the 
eddy  as  it  leaves  the  slides,  which  it  is  sure  to^dd^'  frequently 
submerging  the  rafts  and  men  to  the  depth  of  several  feet.  In 
10  these  cases,  a  line  (cable)  is  stretched  from  end  to  end  of  the 
jdi  jpiece,  to  enable  the  men  to  save  themselves  by  laying  hold  of 
Jaelifcf viThis  rapid-piecie  is  now  ready  for  its  loh^  descent  of  the 
do  currents,  over  the  slides,  falls,  dams,  and  rapids,  and  out  to 
<     the  Mississippi.     From  two  to  eight  men  are  necessary  to 
manage  a  rapid  piece,  according  to  the  difficulties  and  dan- 
gers of  the  various  rapids.     Twenty  of  these  '  rapid-pieces, 
more  or  less,  constitute  a  "  fleet,"  managed  by  one  pilot  and 
his  gang  of  hands.     On  approaching  a  rapid,  slide,  or  fall,  th6 
-nj  whole  fleet  is  tied  up  in  the  eddy  abdve,  and  then  two,  four, 
aac'br  eight  hands,  as  maybe  necessary,  get  bWfe'  a  s  single  piece, 
o'';,  and  run  it  to  the  eddy  below,  where  they  tie  it  up,  and  return 
to  the  head  of  the  rapid  for  another  piece ;  and  so  on  till  the 
-    whole 'fleet  is  over.     This  footing 'it  "up  over  the  falls,  after  a 
piece'is  riiri  down,Wc^ll6d  by  the  men  "gigging  back;"  it  is 
^« '  generally  done  at  a  quick  pace,  and  the  distance  traveled, 
from  sun  to  sun,  by  a  gang  in  running  a  rapid  and  "  gigging 
ov'bafek/'  is  often  fifty,  sixty  or  seventy  miles  a  day,  and  forms 
a  j)t6t:ty  ^6tere  ititi*odu6tion  of  the  green-horns  into  the  mys- 
teries of  going  down  on  a  raft   These  eddies,  or  resting-places 
in  smooth  water,  are  indispensable  grounds;  and  such  has 
***  become  the  volume  of  business  on  this  river,  that  the  eddy- 
room  is  becoming  insufficient  for  it  in  the  more  busy  seasons 
of  running  out;    Twenty  fleets,  at  the  same  time,  may  often 


^  y  <  UPPER  WISOONSIN  COUNTRY.  ^^  443 

be  seen  at  the  same  eddy.  During  these  seasons,  the  hardy 
river-man  Uves  on  his  raft,  cooking  on  shore  at  night,  and 
sleeping  in  his  single  blanket,  on  the  ground,  or  on  the  raft. 
After  getting  below  Grand  Rapids,  two  rapid-pieces  are  gen- 
erally coupled  side  by  side,  making  a  "  Wisconse  raft^'  With 
these  they  run  the  Dells ;  below  the  Dells,  several  rafts  are 
joined,  but  the  whole  fleet  is  not  united  until  reaching  the 
Mississippi,  after  which,  cook-houses  and  slight  cabins  are 
erected,  and  the  hands  are^  able  to  get  regular  rest  and  refresh- 

,    ment  for  the  balance  of  the  trip.     During  the  whole  way,  the 

I  rafts  are  driven  entirely  by  the  currents,  the  only  labor  re- 
quired being  to  guide  and  keep  them  in  the  channels,  from 
running  into  sloughs  behind  islands,  and  on  to  sand-bars  ;  all 

J    these,  by  the  by,  requiring  the  utmost  vigilance,  knowledge 

^^oi  the  river,  and  skill  of  the  pilot;  for  if  the  channel  be 
missed,  a  wrong  one  taken,  and  the  fleet  run  into  a  slough,  it 
is  little  better  than  lost,  as  the  expense  of  breaking  up,  haul- 
ing out,  moving  across  islands  to  the  channel,  and  re-con- 

.    structing  the  raft,  would,  in  all  probability,  be  more  than  the 
'  lumber  would  be  worth.     It  is  difficult  to  back  out,  or  run  the 

^^  raft  up  stream,  to  get  out  of  such  a  dilemma. 

^ Let  us  now  take  a  glance  at  the  extent  of  the  lumber  busi- 

\  *  ness.  At  the  present  day,  this  branch  of  industry  occupies 
the  whole  length  of  the  Upper  Wisconsin,  from  Point  Bas  to 
Eagle  river,  with  most  of  its  numerous  tributaries,  including 
Yellow  river  and  the  "  Little  Pinery."  In  all  its  ramifications, 
not  less  than  2,500  men  are  employed  throughout  the  year, 
and  a  capital  of  between  five  and  six  millions  is  involved. 
But  an  approximate  result  can  be  obtained  as  to  the  annual 
product  As  near  as  we  can  ascertain,  there  are  some  twelve 
steam,  and  about  forty  water  mills,  running  an  aggregate  of 
170  saws,  exclusive  of  edging,  picket,  and  lath  saws.  An 
experienced  lumberman  tells  us,  that  each  saw  will  average 
seven  hundred  thousand  feet  per  annum, — equal  to  one  hun- 
dred and  nineteen  millions.     It  is  valued  at  the  mills  at  ^12 


gi   444  "UPPER  WISOGNSm  COUNTRY. 

V^per  thousand, — ^1,428,000.  To  this  must  be  added  about 
^75,000  more,  for  the  annual  product  of  shingles,  lath  and 
pickets,  making  a  total  of  ^1,503,000,  as  the  annual  product 
of  this  business,  here  in  the  pineries.*  When  marketed,  on 
...the  Mississippi  below,  the  value  will  be  increased  to  ^2,505,- 
9tfjOO(X^>'  These  figures  look,  large,  but  A^^  ^e  confident  they  are 
'  not  larger  than  the  actual  footings  will  prove.  Prices  in  the 
©iiinarket  have  fluctuated  very  much  during  the  progress  of  the 
-ii?business ;  beginning  at  ^50  to  ^^60  in  1830,  they  declined  to 
■J5l0  to  ^12  in-1849-'50;  but  have  steadily  ad\ranced  since 
-'»'ithat  date,  to  the  present  rates,  (average  of  ^20  or  more)  with 
i?Tia  prospect  of  a  further  and  steady  advance  for  the  future. 
.  i.  ;  Jt  is  frequently  observed,  that  the  timber  wiirsoon  be  ex- 
a^ftiausted.  That  it  must  finally  fail,  is  of  course  certain ;  but 
oi-fthat  period  is  so  remote  as  to  have  no  practical  bearing  on 
U  the  investment  of  capital  for  present  operations.  Probably 
-if not  a  fiftieth  part  of  the  pine  is  ye^  worked  out;  the  logging, 
"  as  a  general  thing,  having  been  extended  but  a  short  distance 
■Hifirom  the  principal  streams,  and  even  there,  only  the  most 
r  choice  timber  having  been  removed. 

A  great  misapprehension  has  prevailed  abroad,  not  only  in 

^  *  These  estimates  by  Gen.  Ellis  are  more  tlian  borne  out  by  the  report  on 
■^■^the  lumbering  business  of  the  Upper  Wisconsin,  submitted  to  the  Wisconsin 

^>l  Senate,  January  29th,  1857,  by  Hon.  John  T.  Kingston,  who  has  been  for  many 
years  engaged  in  lumbering  on  that  river.     Mr.  Kingston  gave  the  following 

^I(  {Statistics  concerning  the  lumbering  business  on  the  Wisconsin  river  and  its  trib- 
utaries, north  of  the  DeUs  ; 

Wo.  of  saw-mills  now  in  operation  above  said  point — counting  gangs  as 

one  miU  only..4wi.i44.4> 107 

Estimated  avet^g^'df^fdtnber  manufactured  per  annum,  per  mill. .      1,000,000  ft. 
l^jTotal  amount  manufactured  per  annum 107,000,000  " 


Estimated  amount  of  shingles  and  lath,  per  annum 100,000,000 

id  ' 


•^  'Estimated  amount  of  square  timber  and  logs  floated  down  said 

river,  in  the  raft 10,000,000  « 

Total  value  of  lumber  at  the  Dells,  at  $15  per  thousand  feet $1,605,000  00 

Value  of  shingles  and  lath  at  the  Dells,  at  $2  per  thousand 200,000  00 

9§Value  of  limber  and  saw  logs,  at  $10 • 100,000  00 


-IIJ 


Total  annual  value .... .  $1,905,000  00 


L.  C.  D. 


0 


regard  to  the  extent  of  this  pursuit,  but  more  especially  as  to 
the  character  pf  th&  meu  jqngagedii^  iUi^v,!I!Jiejlumbernien  on 
the  Upper  Wisconsin,  are  not  only  men  of  means  to  prosecute    f,j 
the  business  with  eminent  success,  but  they  have  the  further 
qualifications  of  intelligence,  energy  and  perseverance,  so  in- 
dispensable ii^  .any  pursuit,  in  a  degree  equal  to  that  possessed 
by  men  engaged  in  any  of  th^  vast  pursuits  of  the  country 
or  age  in  which  they  live.     The  proof  is  in  the  reduction  by 
them,  in  a  few  short  years,  of  those  wild  wastes  into  a  land   ,v» 
of  productive  industry,  equalled  by  no  other  in  the  State— niij/i 
scarcely  in  the  West.     The  character  of  the  Wisconsin  lum-  ;io 
bermen  for  honesty,  intelligence  and  astuteness  in,  business,    sa 
will  not  sufi'er  in  comparison  with  that  of  any  other  class,  at  vsv» 
home  or  abroad.  ift 

We  have  thus  given  an  imperfect  and  hasty  view  of  the  a/) 
lumbering  business  on  this  river ;  although  large,  and  hith- 
erto that  -vvhich  has  le^.tp  the  settlement  of  the  country,  iAjjoa 
must  not  be  supposed  that  it  has  exclusive  possession,  or  is^, 9  [il 
in  future,  at  least,  to  be  the  only  pursuit  here,  %/igriculture — 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  has  already  began  to. engage  the  H 
attention  .of  many.  , 

It  is  within  the  recollection,  doubtless,  of  many  of  our^islB 
readers,  that  the  region  about  Galena  and  Dubuque,,  were  for    H 
many  years  pending  the  early  operations  of  mining,  entirely 
neglected^  fpr  purposes  of  agriculture.     The  lands  were  not    ., 
considered  :^t  fprs;^ch  purposes.     As  soon  as  the  inhabitantiS  f^rit 
found  tim«  to  prove  them,  they  were  ascertained  to  be  ex- 
ceedingly rich  and  productive.     The  case  is  quite  similar  in 
the  Upper  Wisconi^in  country.    Our  lands,  which  were  atba^ 
first  regjarded  barrens,  are  found  .to  ibe  excellent,  and  farming,-^  nri 
as  a  legitimate  business,  is  now  booming  an  institution  olewt 
the  country. 

The  Indium  titj^  to  the  "Indian  Lands,"  was  extinguished    ^fr 
in  184S)  this  opened  the  whole  Upper  Wisconsin  country  to 
the  settler.    In  1852,  the  lands  were  brought  into  market,  at 


o 


44g  -     :■  UPPER  WISCON'SIN-  COUNTRY. 

the  land  offices  at  Menasha  and  Mineral  Point.     The  Ste- 
vens' Point  land  office  was  ojifened  in  1853.     The  district  em- 
braces a  strip  of  land  thirty  miles  in  width  on  either  side  of 
the  Wisconsin,  from  the  Dells  to  its  source — about  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  miles  long.     In  proof  of  our  position,  that 
we  have  a  good  farming  country,  we  have  only  to  give  the 
amount  of  sales  in  this  land  district ;  the  aggregate^from  July 
5th,  1853,  to  March  31st,  1857,  is  one  million  four  hundred 
and  thirty-Jive  thousand  Jive  hundred  and  sixty  acres.     At 
Mineral  Point  and  Menasha,  previous  to  the  opening  of  this 
office,  the  sales  were  probably  about  three  hundred  thousand, 
as  within  the  bounds  of  this  district — say  one  million  six 
and  thirty  thousand  acres  in  all.     Not  one-twentieth  part  of 
this  was  purchased  for  lumbering  purposes,  but  for  agricul- 
ture, and  that  alone.     Some  two-thirds  of  it  is  occupied  by ' 
settlers,  who  are  now  opening  farms.     The  whole  of  Adams 
county,  the  north-west  part  of  Marquette  county  in  this  dis- 
trict, west  part  of  Waushara  county,  also  in  this  district,  to- 
gether with  the  southern  and  eastern  parts  of  Portage  and 
Wood  counties,  are  completely  settled  up ;  the  lands  being 
openings  and  prairie,  proving  first  rate — equal  to  any  in  the 
State.     To  the  west  and  north-west  of  Plover  and  Grand 
Rapids,  and  north  of  Stevens  Point,  the  lands  are  covered  with^'""*'^ 
timber,  and  more  or  less  mixed  with  the  evergreen.     A  short 
distance  from  the  streams,  however,  almost  invariably  is  found 
the  hard  timbered  lands,  which  on  proof  are  ascertained  to  be 
heavier  and  stronger  than  those  either  in  the  openings  or 
along  the  streams ;  and  for  the  last  year  have  been  sought 
and  bought  with  great  eagerness,  for  the  purposes  of  settle- 
ment and  farming.    Nearly  all  of  towns  twenty,  twenty-one,    ^ 
twenty-two,   twenty-three,  'f^enty-four  and  twenty-five,  of  ^ 
ranges  two,  three,  four,  five,  six,  seven  and  eight,  are  taken 
up.    A  colony  of  Germans  from  Pittsburgh,  after  eareful  ex- 
amination, have  taken  up  for  purposes  of  immediate  occu- 
pancy, some  twenty-seven  thousand  acres  of  the  most  choice 


iii 


m 


1 


UPPER  WISCONSm  COUNTRY.   '^^  447      ^ 

lands  in  towns  twenty-eight  and  twenty-nine,  in  ranges  four  ^ 
and  five,  on  Rib  river,  about  fifteen  miles  west  of  Wausau,  ""^^ 
and  as  many  north-west  of  Mosinee  —  Little  Bull  Falls. 
Lands  in  large  tracts  of  equally  desirable  quality,  lie  on  the 
east  sid^  of  the  Wisconsin,  up  the  Plover,  on  the  Eau  Plaine, 
Eau  Claire,  Pine  and  Prairie  rivers,  which  have  not  been  so 
much  broached  as  yet.  I 

A  glance  at  the  map  will  show,  that  on  each  side  of  the  I 
Wisconsin,  at  some  twenty  miles  distance  from  it,  arethe^ffi 
heads  of  the  streams;  those  on,  the  east,  that  rise  in  ranges  0 
10  and  11,  and  fall  into  the  Wolf  River  eastwardly,  and  into  't 
the  Wisconsin  westwardly ;  and  on  the  west,  those  that  rise  I 
in  ranges  I,  2  and  3,  and  fall  into  the.  Black  River  on  theqMi 
west.  Yellow  River  on  the  south,  and  the  Wisconsin  on  the^ool 
east.  These  are  never  failing,  clear  spring  brooks,  and  water 
every  quarter  section  of  the  most  choice  hard-timbered  lands. 

The  whole  of  this  Upper  Wisconsin  country  is  without  any- >f^"<5 
considerable  portion  of  broken  or  mountainous  lands,  being  cj 
nearly  a  plane,  just  enough  inclined  to  the  southward  to  draw  ^^^ 
off  the  waters  of  the  streams  in  a  quick  current  As  before  1 
observed,  after  leaving  the  Wisconsin,  the  banks  of  which  ?lio3 
are  a  sandy,  light  soil,  heavier  lands,  of  gravel  and  loam,  ar^'  ** 
found.  Hence  the  selections  for  farming  purposes,  are  mostly  %^ 
made  near  the  sources  of  the  streams,  as  above  described;         '^^ 

In  further  proof  of  the  fine  soil  of  this  Upper  Country,  we  -^ 
give  here  a  communication  from  a  highly  intelligent  gentle-  ^-S 
man  of  Wausau,  descriptive  of  Marathon  county:  it^O 

"  Marathon  County  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  State  S^ 
line;  east  by  Oconto;  south  by  Portage ;  and  west  by  Clark^Hijft 
Chippewa  and  La  Pointe.  It  was  organized  February  9th,  -fl^ 
1850.  The  county  seat  is  at  Wausau;  area  6048  square*' 
miles.  Its  surface  is  gently  undulating — sufficient  to  carry  off  ^ 
the  water,  leaving  no  swamps  but  what  are  susceptible  of  the  *sft 
highest  state  of  cultivation ;  and  no  inclinations  so  abrupt 


448 


UPPER  WISCON'SIN  COUNTRY. 


ifrff 


whose  surface  may  not  be  turned  with  the  farmer's  plow  and 
traversed  with  his  cart. 

"The  Wisconsin  River,  one  of  the  noblest  of  nature's 
streams,  rises  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county,  receiving 
its  waters  from  a  multitude  of  silvery  lakes,  and  meanders  in 
nearly  a  south  course,  through  the  center  of  the  county,  into 
Portage,  and  empties  its  waters  into  the  Mississippi,  near' 
Prairie  du  Chien.  Its  principal  tributaries  in  the  county,  com- 
ing in  on  the  east,  are  Prairie,  Pine,  Trapp  and  Eau  Claire ; 
on  the  westj  Big  Eau  Plaine  and  Rib.  These  are  large  enough 
to  float  lumber  and  logs,  and  mills  aire  Tdcated  on  each,  except 
Prairie.  Besides  these,  there  are  other  tributaries  of  equal 
importance  further  north,  one  the  Eagle  River,  on  which  is 
found  the  best  pine  in  the  State»'^^o"'  "'^^^ 

"  Along  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  rivers,  the'  tlftiber  is 
various.  There  is  found  pine,  hemlock,  sugar-maple,  spruce^  '''^ 
oak,  elm,  birch,  &c.,  embracing  almost  every  variety  that 
grows  in  the  Western  country.  Either  way  from  the  rivers^ 
the  hemlock  generally  disapp^aifs;' and  in  many  instances  the  ' 
pine  also,  and  a  beautiful  growth  of  hard  wood  covers  the 
soil,  such  as  sugar-maple,  butternut,  walnut,  oak,  elm,  &c. 

"  The  soil  throughout  the  county  is  of  the  finest  quality  for 
agricultural  purposes.    Within  tw'b'  y^^ts,^"^itention  has  beeh'^"^' 
turned  to  this  branch  of  business,  and  the  yield  and  quality 
have  exceeded  the  expectations  of  the  farmer.    In  towns  28, 
29  and '30,  ranges  5,  6  and  7,  the  land  is  mostly  entered  "tiy'^ 
Germans,  who  are  doing  a;  good  biisine^^  by  way  of  farihirig."  ' 
Openings  are  being  made  throughout  the  county,  and  some 
farms  with  a  hundred  acres  of  improvements  have  sprung 
into  existencetfdi^'^      ..  *^  "^^ 

"The  Lumbering  business  f^^'catried  on  quite  extensively.'^''^ ^ '^ 
Within  the  county  is  annually  manufactured  about  62,000,000 
feet;  of  which  Wausau  turns  out  about  20,000,000;  Rib  River, 
5,000,000;  above  Wausau,  10,000,000;  EaU  Claire,  1 5,000,000 ; 


UPPER  WISCONSIN  COUNTRY.  449 

Mosinee  (Little  Bull),  6,000,000  ;  Eau  Plaine,  3,000,000 ;  and 
Warren's  Mill,  3,000,000. 

"  The  county  at  the  present  time  is  divided  into  three  towns; 
Wausau,  Mosinee  and  Eau  Claire.  The  village  of  Wausau 
is  the  county  seat  It  has  a  beautiful  location  on  the  Wiscon- 
sin river,  and  now  contains  between  700  and  800  inhabitants. 
It  is  fast  building  up,  and  unlike  many  western  villages, 
the  buildings  are  all  good  and  substantial.  As  above  stated, 
at  this  plaee  is  manufactured  about  twenty  million  feet  of 
lumber:  of  this  amount  the  mills  of  W.  D.  McIndoe  "cut 
about  one  half.  In  addition  to  that,  he  has  now  ready  a  mill 
for  manufacturing  siding,  shingles,  pickets,  lath,  &c.  Proba- 
bly the  best  and  safest  water  power  in  the  State,  is  found  at 
Wausau.  The  whole  river  may  be  used,  and  still  be  per- 
fectly safe  from  high  water. 

^*  At  Little  Bull  Falls  is  a  newly  laid  out  village,  and 
some  fine  buildings  are  now  being  built.  This  is  the  terminus 
of  steamboat  navigation  from  Stevens'  Point.  The  Company 
have  a  boat  building,  to  run  above  the  Falls  to  Wausau,  in 
connexion  with  the  one  from  Stevens'  Point,  which  will  be  put 
on  the  river  in  the  spring.  A  road  from  Wausau  to  Portage 
county  line,  will  be  completed  about  the  first  of  July  next, 
which  will  equal  any  of  the  best  Mcadamized  roads  in  the 
State. 

"  In  the  county  is  considerable  Government  land  yet  to  be 
had  at  seventy-five  cents  per  acre,  and  one  dollar  and  twenty- 
five  per  acre ;  though  the  entries  for  the  past  eight  months 
have  been  extensive,  and  nearly  all  by  actual  settlers,  and  for 
farming  purposes. 

"A  peculiar  characteristic  of  the  county  is  its  general 
healthful ness.  The  water  is  pure  and  soft,  the  atmosphere 
clear,  and  the  climate  salubrious.  No  sudden  changes  from 
heat  to  cold,  nor  vice  versa.  Winter  weather  is  steady  ;  spring 
comes  and  takes  complete  possession,  and  winter  yields  with- 
out a  struggle.  No  county  holds  out  greater  inducements  to 
57m 


450 


UPPER  WISCOI^SIN  COUNTRY. 


actual  settlers  than  this,  and  none  have  greater  prospects  of 
becoming  a  great  agricultural  county  than  Marathon." 

Some  of  the  most  enterpising  men  in  the  State,  located 
early  near  Big  Bull  Falls,  who  by  their  energy  and  capital, 
gave  an  impetus  to  business  there,  and  tended  to  develop  the 
resources  of  the  country,  even  sooner  than  was  done  farther 
down.  Some  of  the  heaviest  lumbering  establishments  are 
in  that  region,  and  good  farms  were  opened  above  Wausau 
many  years  since.  These  improvements  have  tended  to  draw 
attention  that  way,  and  at  this  time  the  neighborhood  of 
Wausau  is  known  as  an  important  locale  in  Central  Wiscon- 
sin, standing  by  itself,  and  having  important  commercial 
facilities  and  improvement  policies  of  its  own.  As  a  business 
centre  of  a  vast  interior  country  of  the  State,  it  has  projected 
thoroughfares,  railroads,  &c.,  of  its  own,  forming  no  depend- 
encies on  the  lower  part  of  this  river.  Within  a  few  months, 
a  most  important  scheme  of  the  latter  kind  has  been  pro- 
jected— a  railroad  from  Lake  Michigan  at  Sheboygan,  via 
Appleton  and  New  London,  direct  to  Wausau,  and  thence 
north-westerly  to  an  intersection  of  the  Milwaukee  and  Hor- 
icon  railroad,  to- Superior  City.  Here  also,  it  is  supposed  ^ 
will  be  an  intersection  of  the  railroad  from  Stevens'  Point  to 
Ontonagon. 

As  the  country  settles,  the  vast  territory  of  Marathon  must 
be  divided  up  into  other  counties ;  probably  eight  or  ten  in 
number,  with  a  population,  in  a  few  years  equal,  or  greater 
^than  that  of  as  many  npw  in^  jany  part  of  the  State. 

Portage  County,  by  a  late  act  of  the  Legislature,  setting 
';pfF  Wood  County,  on  the  south-west,  is  reduced  to  the  con- 
stitutional  limit,  containing  now  twenty-two  townships.  It 
IS  thirty  miles  in  length,  north  and  south,  and  ,so^e  twenty 
broad,  east  and  west.  The  southern  and  eastern '  portions 
are  mostly  openings,  and  well  settled;  the  northern  and 
north-western  portions  are ,  mostly  timbered,,  containing 
considerable  quantities  of  choice  Government"  faiids  still  in 


ill 


UPPER  WISCONSIN  COUNTI^Y.  45J 

market ;  in  all  the  counties  oh  the  Wisconsin,  and  near  the 
river,  there  are  good  lands  at  the  graduation  price  of  seventyr 
Jive  cents  per  acre,  yet  remaining  unsold. 

There  is  scarcely  a  foot  of  waste  land  in  Portage  county-^ 
the  few  marshes  or  swamps  in  it,  are  all  susceptible  of  drain- 
age,  whereby  they  may  be  made  the  best  of  plow-lands. 
Plover  is  the  county  seat ;  but  Stevens'  Point  is  the  most  pop- 
ulous village.  This  county  is  the  most  central  of  the  State  ; 
and  in  position,  soil,  climate,  and  commercial  advantages, 
holds  the  first  rank  on  the  Upper  Wisconsin. 

To  Wood  County  the  same  general  remarks  are  applicable, 
with  the  addition  that  its  north-western  portion  lies  on  the 
head  waters  of  several  streams — as  Mill  creek.  Yellow  river, 
and  Black  river,  all  of  which  rise  from  the  most  beautiful 
spring  brooks,  and  water  several  townships  of  the  most 
charming  hard-timbered  lands  in  all  this  region.  They  are 
rapidly  being  settled  up  with  bona  fide  farmers.  Grand  Ra- 
pids is  the  county  seat;  and  with  its  transcendent  water 
power,  and  pushing  population,  is  fast  becoming  a  stirring, 
prosperous  town. 

It  seems  hardly  necessary  to  speak  of  the  health  of  this 
part  of  the  State;  that  fact  having  passed  into  a  proverb. 
But  some  observations  will  be  required  on  temperature  and 
our  winters.  We  shall  not  deny  that  we  have  a  cold  country, 
nor  attempt  to  compare  it  with  Southern  Illinois  or  Missouri; 
yet  as  a  general  proposition,  we  are  prepared  to  maintain  that 
our  climate,  even  in  the  depth  of  winter,  is  as  agreeable  in 
most  respects,  as  that  of  the  southern  countries  named.  Our 
winters  are  fully  inaugurated  about  the  10th  to  the  15th  of 
November,  and  with  slight  interludes,  continue  from  the  10th 
to  20th  of  March.  During  these  sixteen  weeks,  the  ground 
is  generally  covered  with  snow;  wiih  good  sleighing,  and 
steady  cold  weather;  all  of  which  are  fbiiiid  much  more  con- 
ducive to  health,  pleasure,  business  and  ihe  success  of  agri- 
cultural pursuits,  than  the  alternate  thaws  and  freezes^  mud 


452  UPPER  WISCONSIN"  COUNTRY. 

and  snow,  rains  and  sleets,  which  prevail  one  and  two  hun- 
dred miles  further  south.  Our  autumns  are  bland,  beautiful 
and  mild,  through  nearly  all  of  October.  Spring  generally 
breaks  upon  us  at  once — the  transit  from  winter  to  summer 
being  short.  The  consequence  is,  that  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
whether  wild  or  under  the  hand  of  the  cultivator,  changes  the 
face  of  nature  from  the  dearth  of  winter  to  the  luxuriant 
growth  of  spring,  much  quicker  than  in  more  temperate  lati- 
tudes. Most  of  the  fruits,  and  all  the  grains  of  the  Northern 
and  Middle  States,  thrive  well  here.  A  fair  specimen  of 
dent  corn  was  raised  in  this  village  last  year. 

Our  two  last  winters  have  been  unusually  severe ;  but  not 
more  so  for  the  latitude,  (44  deg.  40  min.  north,)  than  it  has 
throughout  the  Continent  The  Wisconsin  usually  breaks 
up,  so  that  the  rafting  season  begins  in  the  month  of  March: 
and  before  the  river-men  get  below  Pointe  Bas,  the  forests  are 
usually  clothed  with  verdure. 


SKETCH  OF  PRESCOTT,  AND  PIERCE  COUNTY. 

BY  OLIVER  GIBBS,  JR.,  AND  C.  E.  YOUNG,  OP  PRESCOTT. 

Pierce  county  lies  immediately  south  of  the  45th  parallel  of 
north  latitude,  between  the  92d  and  93d  degrees  of  longitude 
west  from  Greenwich,  and  is,  consequently,  west  of  the 
Fourth  Principal  Meridian.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
St  Croix  county,  east  by  Dunn,  south  by  Dunn,  Lake  Pepin 
and  the  Mississippi  river,  and  west  by  the  Mississippi  and 
Lake  St.  Croix.  Its  boundaries  secure  to  it  the  longest  navi- 
gable water  front  of  any  county  of  its  size  in  the  State.  The 
surface  generally  has  a  south-western  slope,  and  is  diversi- 
fied by  rolling  prairies,  bluffs  and  intervales,  with  groves  and 
forests  of  excellent  and  beautiful  timber.  It  is  watered  by 
several  streams  flowing  into  the  St.  Croix,  Chippewa  and 
Mississippi. 

Pierce  county,  though  bounded  by  two  lakes  of  surpassing 
beauty,  (St.  Croix  and  Lake  Pepin,)  has  none  within  its  own 
limits,  or  marks  indicating  their  former  existence.  Its  scenery, 
however,  forms  a  view  of  ever- varying  magnificence  and 
beauty.  The  abrading  forces  which  have  changed  its  orig- 
inal features,  have  scooped  out  broad  valleys,  leaving  as 
boundaries  on  every  side  rounded  and  graceful  mounds,  tow- 
ering above  the  general  surface  from  seventy  to  eighty  feet 
These  mounds  really  occupy  but  a  small  portion  of  the  sur- 
face, although  from  their  number,  a  first  view  would  give  a 
different  impression.  Seen  in  the  summer  months,  their  tops 
covered  with  groves  of  timber,  and  their  sides  with  rank  and 


454  SKETCH  OF  PRESCOTT,  AND  PIERCE  COUNTY. 

matted  vegetation,  bedecked  with  the  bright  hues  of  wild 
flowers,  contrasting  with  the  fresh  and  green  shade  of  the 
surrounding  prairies,  no  objects  in  Nature  afford  more  per- 
fect scenes  of  all  that  is  lovely  and  attractive.  Many  of 
these  mounds  are  worn  into  semi-circular  forms,  with  gentle 
sloping  prairies  in  front,  stretching  down  to  some  rippling 
rivulet,  and  then  rising  with  easy  grade  to  similar  mounds  at 
the  distance  of  a  mile  or  more.  These  places,  numerous  all 
over  the  county — paragons  of  rural  beauty — are  the  favorite 
selections  of  the  pioneer  settlers.  The  log  cabin  is  found  in 
places  which  art  could  scarcely  adorn,  or  cultivation  'add  to 
the  quality  of  the  soil,  sheltered  from  the  wintry  winds,  situ- 
ated upon  the  margin  of  groves,  with  ever-living  water 
gurgling  up  in  freshness  and  purity  near  its  door  silL  '  In 
such  sequestered  spots,  but  just  invaded  forthe  'purpdses  of 
settlement,  the  wildness  of  primitive  life  is  best  seen  in  con- 
trast with  the  coming  change  which  will  speedily  transform 
the  country  into  a  great  garden.  The  cultivated  field,  loaded 
with  the  virgin  crop,  is  but  a  mere  point  in  the  exterided 
landscape.  '--'  '^^'-' 

The  geological  structure  of  the  county  is  worthy  of  special 
notice,  since  the  quality  and  durability  of  the.  soil  of  any 
given  district  are  determined  by  the  composition  of  its  rocks, 
J  and  the  materials  washed  down  from  its  highlands.  A  ver- 
tical section  through  any  of  the  mounds  or  ridges  immedi- 
ately east  of  Prescott,  would  exhibit  the  following  as  the 
descending  order  of  superposition  of  the  stratified  deposits: 

Blue  Fossiliferous  (shell  or  Trenton)  Limestone,  about 30  feet. 

"' Upper  Sandstone," 50    " 

Lower  Magnesian  Limestone  (of  Ow^en) 250    " 

Abrading  forces  have  worn  off  and  carried  tf^y  a'krge 
proportion  of  the  two  first  named  superior  deposits.  They 
are  found  only  as  outliers  in  the  numerous  mounds  or  ridges 
which  ornament  the  county.  But  very  few  hills  of  drift  are 
met  with,  and  if  ever  deposited  in  quantity,  the  material  has 


SKETCH  OF  PRE8C0TT,  AND  PIERCE  COUNTY,  455 

been  subsequently  removed  from  the  surface.  The  soil  of 
jPierce  county  has  been  formed  of  (Jecomposed  rocks  and 
crumbling  ledges,  which,  washed  by  tains,  constantly  add 
their  fertilizing  elements  to  the  lower  levels,  mixing  with  the 
clay  and  fine  sand  there  accumulated,  and  possesses  an  un- 
surpassed strength  and. productiveness. 

As  we  journey  inland,  the  land  rises  moderately  for  twelve 
miles,  until  we  cross  the  Trimbelle  river,  when  the  blue  lime- 
stone is  largely  developed,  and  doubtless  marks  the  limits  of 
an  extensive  and  dense  forest  of  hard  wood  timber,  which 
covers  the  interior  of  the  county,  some  fifteen  miles  through, 
east  and  west,  by  twenty  north  and  south.  Beyond  this  for- 
est, and  some  thirty  miles  east  of  Prescott,  the  sand-stones  re- 
appear, and  still  farther  eastward,  the  primary  rocks  will  be 
^found  in  place. 

It  will  thus  be  seen,  how  extensively  limestones  are  devel- 
throughout  the  county,  and  from  a  gentle  rolling  sur- 


-  face,  how  thoroughly  every  portion  of  it«  soil  is  impregnated 
with  one  of  the  most  essential  elements  to  profitable  agricul- 
ture. In  this  respect,  no  portion  of  the  West  can  claim  a 
superiority. 

Although  the  county  has  no  interior  takes,  it  is  by  no 
means  destitute  of  water  and  lake  scenery.     Lake  Pepin  bor- 

r  ders  it  on  the  south — a  sheet  of  water  celebrated  for  its  beauty. 
Its  shores  are  rock-bound,  often  vertical,  and  rise  to  a  height 
of  from  two  to  four  hundred  feet.  "  Lovers'  Leap  "  is  a  pre- 
cipice of  this  description,  on  the  eastern  side,  and  near  the 
center  of  the  lake,  which  is  thirty  miles  in  length.  The  Mis- 
sissippi river,  with  its  deeply  worn  channel,  winding  its  way 
amidst  numberless  islands,  cannot  be  seen  without  awaken- 
ing an  enthusiasm  in  the  breast  of  the  beholder.  And  Lake 
St.  Croix,  deeply  embosomed  in  hills,  margined  by  sloping 
prairies  and  verdant  groves,  its  bright  waters  flashing  in  the 
sunbeams,  is  an  object  of  ever  varying  interest  and  loveliness. 
This  lake,  also,  is  thirty  miles  in  length. 


456  SKETCH  OF  PRESCOTT,  AND  PIERCE  COUNTY. 

Fish,  in  innumerable  multitudes,  embracing  a  great  variety 
of  species,  swarm  in  the  lakes  and  rivers,  and  are  to  be  had 
"  for  the  taking/^  All  the  interior  streams  abound  in  speckled 
trout.  The  lovers  of  wild  game — of  water,  wood,  or  prairie — 
may  here  gratify  their  taste,  however  nice  or  fastidious. 

Starting  from  Prescott,  eastward,  after  reaching  the  second 
bench,  about  half  a  mile  distant,  we  enter  magnificent  oak 
openings,  which  margin  the  Mississippi  and  Lakes  for  about 
six  miles  in  depth.  The  openings  then  dwindle  away  into  a 
lighter  growth  of  timber,  and  finally  terminate  in  prairie, 
which  continues  for  about  six  miles,  to  the  banks  of  the 
Trimbelle.  From  hence,  for  fifteen  miles  eastward,  the  coun- 
try is  covered  with  a  dense  hard- wooded  forest,  abounding  in 
sugar  maple,  oak,  ash,  walnut,  butternut,  basswood,  elm, 
white  elm,  cotton-wood,  &c.  Passing  this,  we  again  enter  the 
prairie,  which  some  ten  miles  further  eastward,  terminates  in 
light  openings,  and  finally  merges  in  the  pinery  region  of  the 
Chippewa.  The  prairie  country  abounds  in  groves;  and 
timber,  for  all  purposes,  is  plentier  than  in  the  southern  coun- 
ties of  Wisconsin,  or  Iowa  and  Minnesota.  The  whole  sur- 
face of  the  county  is  gently  rolling,  with  no  large  level  prai- 
ries, or  pestilential  marshes.  There  are  no  deep  and  abrupt 
ravines  in  the  interior — no  quagmires — ^but  broad  and  grassy 
"  coolies,"  graceful  swales,  and  a  due  proportion  of  "  hill  and 
dale  and  sunny  slope."  We  have  spoken  of  the  quality  of 
the  soil — a  deep  and  rich  mold,  with  a  subsoil  of  clay,  fine 
sand  and  lime,  in  intimate  mixture, — we  will  now  speak  of 
climate,  &c. 

It  is  a  common,  yet  a  very  absurd  opinion,  that  the  climate 
of  the  North- West  is  much  colder  than  in  the  same  latitude 
in  the  Eastern  States.  The  altitude  of  the  country  generally ,^ 
is  only  about  eight  hundred  feet  above  the  Atlantic — not 
much  higher  than  the  table  lands  of  New  England  and  New 
York.  The  great  lake  of  the  north,  the  largest  in  the  world — 
a  sea  of  fresh  water — tempers  the  northern  blasts,  as  the  At- 


SKETCH  OF  PRESCOTT,  AND  PIERCE  COUNTY.  457 

lantic  does  in  the  Eastern  States.  The  interior  of  Wisconsin 
and  Minnesota  is  a  lacustrine  region,  filled  with  countless 
lakes,  and  threaded  by  great  rivers,  all  of  which  aid  in  pre- 
serving a  uniform  and  even  temperature.  That  there  are  ex- 
tremes of  heat  and  cold  need  scarcely  be  stated — but  that  the 
average  annual  temperature  is  colder  than  in  New  England, 
remains  to  be  proved.  All  the  old  settlers — New  England- 
ers — claim  that  it  is  warmer.  The  fall  season  is  the  most 
agreeable  of  the  year.  Cold  weather  comes  insensibly  on, 
with  a  bright  sky,  and  the  smoky  haze  of  Indian  summer. 
Winter  comes  on  with  snow,  when,  for  some  months,  sleighing 
is  excellent  The  north-west  trade- wind,  having  crossed  the 
Continent,  has  parted  with  its  humidity,  and  is  bracing  and 
agreeable.  Long  winter  winds,  however,  are  uncommon — ^but 
a  dry  atmosphere  is  not  a  cold  one  to  the  human  system. 
The  culminating  point  of  winter,  takes  place  sometime  be- 
tween the  middle  of  January,  and  20th  of  February,  when 
the  weather  becomes  milder,  until  spring  opens. 
'  For  the  following  figures,  we  are  indebted  to  one  of  our 
oldest  settlers,  J.  M.  Bailey,  Esq. 

Earliest  Frosts. 

1849,  October  16th.  1850,  September  29th, 

1851,  "        11th,  1852,        "  29th, 

1853,  September  9th,  1854,  October  13th. 

1855,  September  27th, 

First  arrival  of  Boats  from  Below. 

1850,  April  19th,  1851,  April  3d, 

1852,  "   17th,  1853,   "   9th, 

1854,  "   6th,  1855,   "   18th. 

Jlccount  of  the  Coldest  Days  since  1850. 

1850,  December  29th,  1851,  January  17th, 

1852,  February  2d,  •  1853,  February  8th, 

1854,  January  22d,  1855,        "  25th. 

The  coldest  day  in  six  years,  was  Jan.  22d,  1854 — temper- 
ature, 35  degrees  below  zero.     The  greatest  amount  of  snow 
58m 


458  SKETCH  OF  PRESCOTT,  AND  PIERCE  COUNTY. 

which  fell  in  the  same  time,  was  four  feet  six  inches,  in  the 
winter  of  lS49-'50.  The  greatest  depth  which  fell  at  any 
one  time,  was  twelve  inches,  which  fell  March  23d,  1855. 

Prescott. 

f ,  Until  within  the  past  three  years,  very  little  was  known  of 
that  portion  of  Wisconsin  drained  by  the  St.  Croix  river,  and 
bordering  the  Mississippi  north  of  Lake  Pepin,  except  to  those 
early  pioneers,  a  portion  of  whom  may  be  found  trapping  and 
hunting  over  all  the  inhabitable  parts  of  America.  Were  we 
^ble  to  give  the  earliest  visits  of  these  men  to  our  county,  with 
something  of  their  history,  we  would  gladly  preserve  it  as  the 
commencing  point  of  the  white  man  in  a  section  of  Wisconsin, 
destined  soon  to  stand  in  the  first  rank  of  wealth  and  prosper- 
ity. As  before  stated,  little  was  known  of  the  character  of  the 
country,  except  by  those  sent  by  Government  or  those  belong- 
ing to  the  North-Western  Fur  Company,  which  time  would 
date  back  to  about  1820.  As  is  well  known  to  all  conversant 
with  the  early  history  of  the  difierent  Western  States,  they, 
instead  of  devoting  themselves  to  the  services  of  Govern- 
ment and  their  employers,  made  use  of  the  power  of  office 
and  employment  by  large  companies,  to  monopolize  the 
possession  of  such  points  as  nature  had  determined  as  busi- 
ness emporiums  for  the  country  when  the  same  should  be 
settled.  Such  was  our  early  history.  Six  or  seven  years  of 
that  early  period  were  allowed  to  pass  before  they  commenc- 
ed their  blighting '  work ;  owing,  no  doubt,  to  the  fact,  that 
the  settled  portion  of  the  country  was  so  far  distant  from 
them.  In  1827,  they  made  their  first  pitch  for  a  town 
site  for  the  Upper  Mississippi  country ;  then  there  was  not  a 
farmer  in  that  territory,  now  Minnesota  or  North-Western  Wis- 
consin. A  company  was  organized  at  Fort  Snelling  in  that 
year,  composed  of  the  leading  officers,  such  as  Mr.  Prescott, 
Col.  Plimpton,  Capt  Scott,  Capt  Brady,  Col.  Thompson,  and 
..'Dr. Emerson,  all  of  whom  were  in  Government  employ.  Their 


SKETCH  OF  PRESOOTT,  AND  PIERCE  COUNTY.         (459 

Object  was  to  secure  the  present  site  of  the  village  of  Prescott, 
4he  first  claim  made  north  of  Prairie  du  Ghien.  ■  A  levy  6f 

^2,000  was  made  to  make 'the  nec^sftry  improvements  to 
hold  the  claim,  and  Mr.  P.  Prescott,  from  whom  the  town 
takes  its  name,  was  appointed  to  take  possession  of,  and  hold 

Hhe  property  for  the  Company.     Improvements  were  made  in 

^he  way  of  log  buildings,  and  tw^lv^  hundred  acres  claimed. 

"A  trading  post  was  opened  for  the  sale  of  Indian  goods.  This 
claim  was  protected  until  1841,  when  Congress  passed  an  act 
forbidding  all  such  organizations,  when  Mr.  Prescott  claimed 
160  acres,  the  amount  allowed  by  the  p^Ye^emption  law  of  1841. 

'^n  1837  a  treaty  was  made  with  the  Sioux  or  Dakotas,  for  skll 
their  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi,  which  included  the  tract 
in  question.  This  purchase,  together  with  the  lumbering  inter- 

^^k  of  the  St.  Croix  valley,  drew  pioneers  from  the  States.*^ 
Commercial  points  were  first  sought  as  the  most  desirable  pos- 

•' Sessions,  and  a  number  of  struggles  were  had  with  the  company 
at  Prescott  to  dispossess  them  of  their  claim,  as,  at  this  time,  it 

'%as  hield  by  proxy.  But  power  in  high  places  was  too  strong 
for  the  weak  hand  of  private  enterprise.  Finally,  Mr.  Prescott 
was  compelled  to  reside  upon  his  claim,  still  the  property  of, 
or  so  protected  by,  the  original  company  or  their  assignees. 

^^ki  this  time,  the  Fur  Company  having  become  interested,  no 
person  was  allowed  to  settle  on  the  claim,  for  any  kind  of  busi- 
ness, as  fear  was  entertained  that  each  settler  would  be  a  com- 
'  petitor  for  the  title  of  the  town.    They  succeeded  in  banishing 

^ -all  hope  of  a  settlement  at  Prescott,  until  Government  should 
give  a  title  to  the  land,  which,  it  was  known,  could  not  be  for 
many  years.   At  this  time  very  little  attention  was  paid  to  the 

-^Wuntry  above  the  St  Croix  valley,  as  the  principal  business 

^^*was  lumbering,  and  that  mostly  confined  to  the  St.  Croix. — 
Fort  SneUing  afforded  some  trade  with  the  soldiers,  most  of 
which  had  to  be  stolen.  Around  the  fort  was  a  reserve, 
which  extended  down  the  Mississippi  to  the  present  site  of 

•*'^t  Paul.  ^''-'i-i    -ii-*    "^      .iUJi:; 


460  SKETCH  OF  PKJESCOTT,  AND  PIEROE  COUNTY. 

About  ten  years  after  the  claim  at  Prescott,  and  when  it  was 
fully  settled  that  no  opportunity  would  be  offered  for  several 
years  to  commence  settling  at  Prescott,  a  few  log  cabins  were 
erected  where  stands  the  city  of  St.  Paul,  for  the  purpose  of 
selling  whiskey  to  the  soldiers,  and  whiskey  and  beads  to  the 
Indians.  Continual  efforts  were  made  to  settle  Prescott,  but 
were  a  failure  until  1851,  when  Mr.  Prescott  obtained  a  title 
to  about  two  hundred  acres  from  Government  and  by  pur- 
chase otherwise.  I)i  that  year,  a  few  lots  were  laid  off  for 
the  commencement  of  the  future  village ;  and  the  same  year, 
Dr.  0.  T.  Maxson  came  into  the  place  and  erected  a  store,  the 
ifirst  improvement  of  the  kind  in  the  place.  The  following 
year,  he  succeeded  in  negotiating  a  purchase  of  the  town  site, 
and  in  the  fall  of  1853,  Wm.  J.  Copp,  from  the  State  of  Mis- 
sissippi, came  to  the  place,  and  purchased  one-half  of  the 
town  site,  Copp  and  Maxson  still  holding  the  property.  In 
that  year,  C.  D.  Stevens  &  Co.  erected  a  large  steam  saw-milL 
Two  public  houses  and  four  stores,  two  ware-houses,  me- 
^chanic  shops  and  residences,  comprised  the  improvements  of 
the  season. 

We  will  here  avail  ourselves  of  the  reminiscences  of  our 
worthy  pioneer  friend,  J.  M.  Bailey,  Esq.  : 
n  ^iilujthe  year  1849,1  first  came  into  this  country;  that 
which  now  comprises  the  county  of  Pierce,  was  called  the 
town  of  Elizabeth,  in  the  county  of  St  Croix.  The  winter  of 
,  184  9-' 50,  found  only  eleven  families  in  the  town  of  Eliza- 
f  T^eth,  and  but  three  families  in  what  is  now  the  village  of 
Prescott. 


■:li 


"In  the  month  of  September,  in  the  year  1849,  Mr.  Pres- 
;^^coTT  made  pre-emption  to  the  present  village  plat,  but  in  con- 
sequence of  some  informality,  the  papers  were  returned  from 
Washington.  Then  followed  the  attempt  of  sundry  individ- 
uals to  wrest  the  claim  from  Mr.  Prescott,  but  they  all  failed ; 
]  Mr.  Prescott,  by  another  attempt,  obtained  his  papers  the 
following  winter.     In  the  month  of  November,  1850,  Mr. 


SKETCH  OF  PRESCOTT,  AND  PIERCE  COUNTY.  451 

Prescott  laid  out  a  few  lots.  The  following  winter,  by  an 
act  of  the  Legislature,  the  name  of  the  town  was  changed  to 
Prescott,  to  conform  to  that  of  the  village  plat  if>v 

"In  the  summer  of  1851,  there  were  two  small  houses  built 
in  the  village,  but  none  at  all  in  the  county  back,  and  but  few 
claims  taken.  The  land  was  not  in  market  until  late  in  the 
season.  The  Government  lands  wisre  offered  for  sale  late  in 
August — the  State  lands  on  the  first  of  November,  but  little 
of  either  was  bought  up.  At  the  commencement  of  the  year 
1852,  there  were  but  four  small  wooden  buildings  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Prescott,  and  but  fourteen  in  the  present  county  of 
Pierce,  so,  properly  speaking,  that  year  should  date  the  settle- 
ment of  the  county.  There  was  considerable  building  done 
in  the  town  and  county,  and  a  good  deal  of  th^  lands  were 
Wght  up,  during  the  year  1853/-  "*  "  ■*"'""^*^  "''-'^"^      '  •■'^'' 

"In  the  winter  of  1853,  Pierce  county  was  set  off  from  St 
Croix  county,  and  the  summer  following  increased  three-fold 
the  number  of  buildings,  farms,  and  inhabitants  in  the  county 
and  village,  and  more  land  Was  taken  up  than  had  been  pre- 
viously purchased.  In  the  fall  of  1853,  we  elected  our  first 
county  otiicers ;  and  the  third  Monday  of  the  May  following, 
the  first  circuit  court  was  held  in  the  county.  Judge  Knowlton 
presiding.  There  were  no  cases  tried,  and  the  court  adjourned 
•  with  but  one  sitting.  In  1852,  the  post  office  was  opened, 
and  Dr.  0.  T.  Maxson  appointed  postmaster.  However,  sev- 
eral years  previous,  there  had  been  a  post  office  established 
at  the  mouth  of  Lake  St  Croix,  and  opened  on  this  side  of 
the  Lake,  but  afterwards  moved  to  Point  Douglas." 

During  the  year  1853,  where  the  prairie  and  wood 
lands  had  previously  given  no  evidence  of  the  presence  of 
the  hand  of  cultivation,  the  steady  tread  of  the  emigratit 
land-looker  could  be  observed,  where  previously  the  only 
guide,  any  distance  from  town,  was  the  surveyors'  lines. 
Hard  beaten  roads  were  made  for  many  miles  into  the  coun- 
try.    Entering  lands  and  making  claims  engrossed  the  busi- 


462  SKETCH  OF  PRESCOTT,  AND  PIERCE  COUNTY. 

ness.  of  that  year.     In  the  spring  much  land  was  vacant 
within  two  miles  of  the  steamboat  landing,  but  in  the  fall 
very  few  pieces,  of  Government  land  were  to  be  had  withiii 
eight  miles,  and  on  a  large  portion  of  the  land,  the  settler 
might  be  found  busily  employed  in  turning  up  the  teeming 
soil, or  erecting  the  log-cabin,  while  singing  "With  my  wask- 
bowl  on  my  knee,?,  .or j  ^vJ^jsthng  "  Yankee  Doodle."     The 
cabin  finished,  the "  f^w  acres  broke,  and  the  necessary  ar- 
rangements completed  for  the  reception  of  the  wife  and  little 
ones,  or  the  young  bride,  and  the  pioneer  starts  back  to  hi^ 
New  England  home,  (or  rather  birth-place,  for  it  has  ,}9Sjt.,i|p 
charms  of  home,)  to  bring  on  those  waiting  ones  who  are.  to 
participate  in  the  joyful  life  of  a  home  in  the  prairie  wilds  of 
Pierce  county— their  hearts  as  light  and  buoyant  as  the  eagles^ 
flight     Their  report  was  made  in  almost  every  tpwn  an(J 
hamlet  in  New  England,  the  Middle  and  the  Western  S^tates. 
l:There  were  big  stories  by  creditable  eye-witnesses,  of  the  fifty 
bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre ;  corn  and  pats  in  like  propor- 
tion;: beets  three  feet  long  and  t^n  inches  in  diameter  Jitjujuiij^s 
fifteen  inches  in  diameter;  potatoes,  not  only  surpassing , in 
/g^iield  any  other  part  of  the  United  States,  but  possessing 
qualities  not  previously  found,  making  them  a^  much  prized 
^Jbythei  Yankee  as  they  are  in  the  Emerald  Isl^'j' But,  witjti  all 
cflhis,  the  most  important  part  was  not  told ;  for  ^hile  Illinois, 
-Iowa,  and  many  other  sections  of  the  Western  States,  could 
l)i?aisfe  a  surplus,  climate  was  a  point  on  whigh  no  ppposition 
^*couM  bc;  bioughii  ,tpj  hftar. ,  Th^  £^bseup!e»  ofj  majsh^s^^fy^nse- 
quently  of  that'  poisonous   malaria  which    keeps   up   the 
bWeachiiiig  process  of,;the  inhal^itants  of  Indiana,  and  Illinois; 
ifour  'cou^ry^  atolMng^  audi  the, p'ey^iling  ^wir^d^.^beii^g.  W9^fe,rljy, 
3 /bringing  the  balmyi  jbi^sfefjetgof^i^t  thou^iancj, ,  m^es  j  of  flo^gr- 
YfasKvenea  pi^airie,  giying-  0.  ,^h$er  audnbalp ;  to  the  at^losJ ' 
<muh  as ^make  old  *  limbs;  sprightly,  and  ypung  ones  t:       j— 
these  repoits  tuiaae^  1 1  the  ^ItQiitlQ^  pf - ,  citf ^e]:|s  qf, , Xl^%{>l^^ 
States!,»fmiB,Msaa3€^toi3?e:^i  tPrjthQ  Upp^r,JMi^sijssippi  coup- 


SKETCH  OF  PRESCOTT,  AND  PIERCE  COUNTY.  453 

try,  so  that  the  following  spring  was  a  new  era  for  our  county; 
The  first,  as  also  every  other  steamboat  that  season,  came 
crowded — deck  and  cabin — to  the  utmost  capacity.  Prescott 
at  this  time,  had  three  large  three-story  public  houses,  which 
were  filled  from  first  floor  to  garret,  and  with  these,  but  a 
small  portion  could  be  thus  accommodated.  Citizens  threw 
open  their  doors  to  the  families,  thereby  protecting  them  until 
shelter  could  be  provided.  The  ware-houses  were  converted 
into  sleeping  apartments,  and  the  levee  as  well  as  the  prairie 
back  of  town,  into  a  kitchen ;  thus  were  hundreds  provided 
for  during  the  season.  The  village  of  Prescott  this  year,  took 
its  position  among  the  business  points  of  the  State.  Public 
houses,  ware-houses,  stores,  mechanic  shops  and  dwellings, 
were  seen  springing  up  as  if  touched  by  some  magic  wand 
for  their  existence.  Three  steam  saw-mills  were  commenced, 
one  by  Messrs.  Pewett  &  Loehner,  one  by  D.  W.  Strick- 
land, and  one  by  Copp  &  Maxson,  all  of  which  were  pushed 
forward  to  completion  the  following  year,  and  which  are  now 
furnishing  lumber  to  the  place  and  the  surrounding  country. 
But  the  season  of  1855  presented  quite  a  new  order  of 
business  for  town  and  country.  Previously  a  very  large  ma- 
jority of  the  farmeis  of  the  country,  purchased  all  their  pro- 
visions, and  grain,  either  from  the  old  settlers,  or  merchantis 
in  town.  This  year,  their  farms  were  sufficiently  cultivated 
to  furnish  a  large  surplus ;  daily  the  different  roads  leading  to 
Prescott,  might  be  seen  lined  with  loaded  teams,  conveyitig 
tlie  productions  of  the  land  to  marfet-~W6^'iatt,'bfeihg^''ffile 
principal  shipping  point  on  tile  Missis^ppi,  for  Nortli-West6hi 
Wisconsin.  This  enabled  the  farmers  to  comnicrice'  itnj^rdV^e- 
ments  in  the  wAy  of  farm  building,  as  iilso  additig" to  t!he 
amount  6^  their  (itllittvkt^d^  !^nd^,  whife  'it^  efi^ctMri^'^e 
country,  is  scattered  over  the  whole.  It' 'gave' ''i6  then'fdrltelt- 
town  a  new  impetus— silch  an  one  a^  the  i>  owns  upon 

LakeMichigahre'ceived,  wheri  the  adjacent  cbitfjtty  "began  to 
pour  in  its  surplus  for  market.     Our  merchants  werfe  ^Wabfed 


464  SKETCH  OF  PRESCOTT,  AND  PIERCE  COUNTY. 

to  expand  very  much  in  business,  a  wholesale  trade  brought 
into  demand,  and  our  ware-houses  loaded  with  flour  and  grain, 
most  of  which  are  taken  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  to 
supply  that  vast  territory  recently  opened  for  settlement  While 
many  thousands  of  dollars  have  been  expended  in  the  erec- 
tion of  mills,  business  houses,  shops,  and  dwellings,  it  is 
probable  that  more  than  double  the  amount  would  have  been 
expended,  had  it  been  possible  to  have  obtained  lumber  suffi- 
cient Prescott,  like  all  other  towns  in  the  Upper  Country, 
suffered  from  this  cause  this  year. 

The  village  of  Prescott  is  located  in  the  north-west  corner 
of  the  State,  at  the  junction  of  the  Mississippi  river  and  Lake 
St  Croix.  The  streams  are  about  one  thousand  feet  wide, 
with  an  average  depth  of  15  feet  The  bank  slopes  easily  to  ' 
the  river,  forming  an  excellent  levee,  and  rises  in  a  vertical, 
ledge  generally  along  the  Lake.  The  entire  front  is  nearly  in 
the  form  of  a  crescent  The  lower  part  of  the  village  ascends 
gently  from  the  Lake  and  river  for  a  distance  varying  from 
thirty  to  sixty  rods ;  it  then  rises  about  seventy  feet,  and  there 
spreads  out  into  a  beautiful  prairie,  half  a  mile  in  width. 
This  elevation  is  also  semi- circular.  The  front  is  worn  out 
in  scolloped  shape,  and  upon  the  summit  of  each  "  scollop" 
the  Indians  have  erected  mounds.  From  every  portion  of 
this  prairie,  the  most  charming  views  are  presented — long 
stretches  of  the  Mississippi,  up  and  down  the  river,  dotted 
with  islands,  with  bold,  precipitous  banks,  and  the  green 
prairies  and  rounded  hills  of  Minnesota  stretching  away  far 
in  the  distance.  Lake  St  Croix,  too,  opens  a  long  vista  of 
gorgeous  scenery.  No  description,  however,  would  give  an 
adequate  impression  of  the  beauties  of  the  place.  Nearly  op- 
posite the  center  of  the  water  front,  there  is  a  narrow,  low 
peninsula,  stretching  southward,  between  the  river  and  the 
Lake,  called  Point  Douglas,  and  some  half  a  mile  up  the  river 
there  is  a  small  village  of  the  same  name,  containing  two 
stores,  a  hotel,  and  several  dwellings. 


SKETCH  OF  PRESOOTT,  AND  PIERCE  COUNTY.  455 

Since  the  survey  of  Copp  &  Maxson,  mentioned  in  the 
foregoing  pages,  there  have  been  three  additions  made  to  the 
town ;  one  bordering  on  the  Lake  shore,  and  one  on  the  river, 
by  Messrs.  Hilton  Doe  and  George  Shazer,  the  oldest  resi- 
dent farmers  in  the  vicinity,  and  another  in  the  south-eastern 
part  of  the  town,  by  Alvah  Fowler.  In  these  additions  there 
are  very  desirable  building  sites,  many  of  which  have  been 
sold,  during  the  past  season,  to  persons  designing  to  erect 
dwellings  next  year.  Near  the  Lake,  Mr.  Doe  has  erected  a 
large  and  handsome  dwelling  house,  and  l^id  out  grounds, 
which  he  intends  to  adorn  with  fruit  and  shade  trees,  flowers 
and  shrubbery,  at  an  early  day.  The  town  proprietors  have 
made  very  liberal  provisions  for  sites  for  public  buildings  and 
grounds;  they  are  located  on  the  prairie  near  the  center  of 
the  town.  The  public  square  alone  contains  360  square  rods. 
Mr.  Doe  designs  to  lay  out  another  addition,  in  the  north- 
western part  of  the  town,  and  will  also  reserve  ample  groumd* 
i^  religious  and  educational  purposes.    ,,,,,,  ^d  cmo^mdUi/t, 

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n--   HUDSON,  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARY  REGION. 


•ro 


BY  T.  DWIGHT  HAJLL,  OF  HUDSON.  , 

«  '/b 

t^ 'If  the  reader  will  take  the  pains  to  consult  a  map,  he  will 
observe,  that  between  the  ila'vi^able  waterfe  of  the  Mississippi 
and  those  of  Lake  Superior,  which,  with  their  connections, 
form  the  two  longest  lines  of  inland  navigation  in  the  world — 
there  intervenes  a  tract  of  country,  somewhat  more  than  one 
hundted'mil^^  in- 'length.  At  the  rie^i*est  point  to  the  latter, 
which  can  be  reached  by  steamboats,  such  as  usually  navi- 
gate the  Upper  Mississippi,  stands  the  city  of  Hudson. 
Nothing  can  be  more  obvious  to  oiie  well  acquainted  with 
the  geography  of  our  country,  than  that,  whenever  easy  and 
rapid  means  of  communication  shall  be  opened  between 
those  two  points,  there  must  of  necessity,  grow  up  at  each  of 
them,  a  city  of  great  commercial  importance,  since  the  whole 
trade  between  those  two  great  channels  of  inter-communica-. 
tion,  which  span  a  Continent  and  furnish  a  highway  for  a 
nation  teeming  with  population,  wealth  and  enterprise,  must 
then  inevitably  pass  through,  and  center  at  those  points. 
Were  they,  therefore,  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  morass,  and 
backed  by  a  country  as  waste  and  barren  as  the  great  Sahara, 
yet,  whenever  a  quick  and  easy  transit  could  be  made  be- 
tween them,  we  should  predict  with  equal  certainty,  their 
rapid  growth,  and  speedy  expansion,  to  the  rank  of  commer- 
cial cities.  But  to  Hudson  at  least,  nature  has  been  far  more 
bountiful  of  her  favors. 

Place  your  thumb  in  a  position,  as  it  were,  at  the  mouth  of 
Willow  river,  and  with  the  index  finger,  describe  an  arc,  the 


HUDSOif,  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARY  REGION.  4557 

chord  of  which  shall  be  the  shore  of  Lake  St.  Croix,  and  yon 
have  nearly  the  shape  of  the  level  plat  on  which  the  town  is 
situated ;  and  surely  a  more  convenient  and  beautiful  spot  oa 
which  to  build  a  city,  could  seldom  be  found.  Raised  so  high 
as  to  be  far  above  any  high- water  mark,  yet  so  low  and  so 
gradual  in  its  rise,  as  to  make  the  water  even  at  the  lowest 
stages,  easy  of  access — penetrated  in  its  center  by  a  clear  and 
beautiful  stream,  which  furnishes  abundant  water  power — its 
circumference  composed  of  "bluffs,"  which  seldom  rise  so 
abruptly,  as  not  to  be  capable  of  being  easily  transformed 
into  handsome  and  convenient  situations  for  residences,  and 
being  cut  through  by  numerous  ravines,  which  furnish  excel- 
lent routes  for  thorough-fares  to  and  from  the  surrounding 
country — and  having  spread  out  before  it,  for  a  mile  in  width, 
the  silvery  sheet  of  Lake  St  Croix,  with  its  picturesque  and 
commanding  opposite  shore,  and  on  whose  waters  the  largest 
river-boats  may,  at  all  times,  float — beauty  and  convenience 
seem  blended  together  here,  to  an  extent  which  could  scarcely 
be  equalled. 

This  beautiful  spot,  marked  by  nature  as  the  site  of,  a 
future  city,  early  attracted  the  attention  of  the  pioneers  of  the 
St  Croix  Valley^and  in  the  fall  of  1848,  Ammah.  Andrews, 
Philip  Aldrich,  James  Sanders  and  Joseph  Abear,  laid  out 
a  tract  of  about  thirty  acres,  near  the  mouth  of  Willow  river, 
under  the  name  of  Buena  Vista.  At  that  time,  only  three  or 
four  rude  huts  served  to  distinguish  the  town  site,  from  the 
wild  country,  in  which,  for  miles  around,  thep  was  scarcely 
a  habitation.  rir  pifm»« 

St  Croix  county,  the  county  seat  of  which  was  soon  after 
fixed  at  "  Willow  River,"  then  included  the  greater  portion  of 
North-Western  Wisconsin,  and  all  that  part  of  Minnesota,, 
which  lies  between  the  Mississippi  and  St  Croix  rivers,  St 
Paul  being  then  one  of  the  election  precincts  in  that  county^ 
All  this  territory,  according  to  a  census  taken  by  Dr.  Aldkicjh 
in  1S45,  contained  only  1419  inhabitants.  9omH 


468  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARY  REGION. 

In  1849,  the  land  office  for  the  Chippewa  district,  was  re- 
moved from  St.  Croix  Falls  to  Willow  river,  where  it  has  been 
located  ever  since.  For  several  years,  however,  the  advanta- 
ges of  this  section  of  country,  were  very  little  known  abroad, 
and  consequently  very  few  emigrants  were  attracted  thither, 
hence  the  business  of  the  land  office  was  so  small,  that  an 
entry  was  hardly  made  once  a  month ;  and,  it  is  said,  that  the 
gentlemanly  Register  used  to  get  up  nights,  in  order  to  wait 
on  a  customer  who  came  from  a  distance.  It  was  not  until 
sometime  after  the  admission  of  Wisconsin,  as  a  State,  that 
the  rush  of  emigration  to  the  North- West  commenced,  and 
when  it  did  begin,  Minnesota  became  the  great  point  of  at- 
traction, and  the  claims  of  North- Western  Wisconsin,  were 
little  thought  of  or  regarded,  and  its  settlement  was,  therefore, 
much  less  rapid. 

In  June  1850,  Messrs.  Gibson  and  Henning,  Peter  F. 
BoucHEA,  J.  W.  Stone,  and  J.  Gr.  Crowns,  laid  out  about 
twenty  acres  adjoining  Buena  Vista,  and  called  the  village 
Willow  River,  which  superceded  the  former  name,  and  wsus 
subsequently  changed  to  Hudson. 

At  first,  but  few  emigrants  found  their  way  to  Hudson,  ex- 
cept such  as  by  chance  happened  to  stray  away  from  Minne- 
sota, and  attracted  by  the  beauty  of  its  situation,  and  its  evi^ 
dent  natural  advantages  as  a  center  of  commerce,  determined 
to  locate  there,  and  ab  ide  the  result,  feeling  certain  that  it 
must,  at  some  day,  become  at  least  an  important  town.  As 
no  extensive  speculators  in  real  estate  were  ready  to  expend 
immense  sums  in  advertising  and  puffing  their  town  site,  the 
village  increased  gradually,  as  the  wants  of  the  back  country 
demanded,  steadily  attracting  greater  attention  abroad,  since 
every  man  who  had  actually  seen  it,  was  a  living  advertise- 
ment of  its  natural  beauty  and  advantages, — until  in  June, 
1855,  it  contained,  according  to  an  accurate  census,  a  popu- 
lation of  1011. 

Since  that  time,  Hudson  has  rapidly  increased  in  popula- 


HUDSON,  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARY  REGION.  4^9 

tion  and  wealth,  and  especially  since  the  passage  of  the  Rail- 
road Land  Grant  by  Congress,  its  position  has  become  more 
widely  known,  from  its  connection  with  the  contemplated 
railroads,  and  its  progress  has  been  correspondingly  rapid,  so 
that  on  the  opening  of  navigation  in  1857,  its  population  was 
hardly  less  than  2500.  Additions  to  the  town  plat  have  been 
made  from  time  to  time,  as  the  demand  for  lots  increased, 
until  the  city,  as  now  laid  out,  covers  an  area  of  some  eight 
hundred  acres.  At  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature,  a  char- 
ter was  granted  for  the  city  of  Hudson,  and  the  organization 
under  it  has  been  completed  by  the  election  of  officers,  who 
have  already  entered  upon  their  duties. 

Nearly  opposite  Hudson,  on  the  Minnesota  side  of  the  Lake, 
is  the  village  of  Lakeland,  a  town  newly  laid  out,  and  con- 
taining at  present  a  population  of  about  200.  It  is  admirably 
situated,  on  a  level  plateau,  which  commands  an  extensive 
view  of  the  Lake  and  the  opposite  shore.  Its  location  is  ex- 
ceedingly favorable  for  milling  and  manufacturing  business, 
the  deep  water,  and  the  elevated  and  gradually  sloping  shore, 
making  it  a  very  desirable  place  for  steam  saw-mills.  One 
large  mill  is  already  in  operation,  and  three  others  are  being 
constructed.  Arrangements  are  being  made  to  secure  a  steam 
ferry  between  Hudson  and  Lakeland  during  the  present  sum- 
mer. The  growth  of  the  two  towns  is  destined  ^o  be  identi- 
cal, and  they  may  be  regarded  as  in  fact  one  town. 

Independent  of  the  prospects  which  Hudson  has,  of  be- 
coming the  depot  of  the  immense  amount  of  commerce  which 
must  eventually  spring  up,  between  the  Mississippi  Valley 
and  Lake  Superior,  it  is  also  backed  by  a  region  of  country, 
^necessarily  tributary  to  it,  which,  when  fully  developed,  is  of 
itself  sufficient  to  create  and  maintain  a  large  city.  Of  this 
region,  we  propose  to  give  a  brief  aceount. 

If  we  start  at  the  point  where  the  south  line  of  St.  Croix 
county  strikes  the  Lake,  and  draw  a  line  north-easterly,  to  the 
mouth  of  Hay  river,  thence  north,  up  the  Red  Cedar  river,  to 


470  HUDSON",  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARY  REGION. 

its  head  waters,  thence  south-westerly,  to  the  head  waters  of 
Apple  river,  and  to  the  St.  Croix,  near  the  town  of  Osceola, 
we  shall  circumscribe  a  tract  of  country,  comprising  over 
three  thousand  square  miles,  and  being  nearly  in  the  form  of 
3  portion  of  an  ellipse,  near  one  of  the  foci  of  which  the  city 
of  Hudson  is  situated.  As  the  latter  place  is  the  head  of 
navigation  on  the  "Wisconsin  side,  and  always  accessible 
without  the  slightest  difficulty  by  the  largest  upper  river 
Iboats,  nothing  can  be  plainer  than  that  the  whole  trade  of  this 
extensive  region  must  inevitably  center  there;  and  besides 
this,  a  large  portion  of  that  of  the  regions  further  to  the  north- 
east, and  of  the  country  between  the  Red  Cedar  and  Chippe- 
wa rivers. 

A  very  large  portion  of  this  region  is  yet  unsettled,  and 
there  is  in  it  nearly  1,000,000  acres,  still  remaining  in  the 
hands  of  the  Government,  which  will  be  open  to  private  entry, 
as  soon  as  the  lines  of  the  Land  Grant  railroads  are  perma- 
nently located.  Probably  no  region  in  the  West,  offers  greater 
inducements  to  the  emigrant,  who  is  desirous  of  making  a 
home  for  himself  and  family,  than  can  be  found  here,  wheth- 
er he  may  wish  'to  obtain  land  at  Government  prices,  or  to 

-  purchase  second  hand  land,  more  contigious  to  settlements. 
Taken  as  a  whole,  the  country  is  abundantly  supplied  with 
both  timber  and  water,  though  it  cannot  of  course  be  expected, 
that  each  quarter  section  should  include,  within  its  own  limits, 
"both  these  advantages. 

Two  beautiful  streams,  named  Willow  and  Apple  rivers, 
run  in  a  south-westerly  direction,  and  empty  into  the  St.  Croix, 
the  former  at  Hudson,  and  the  latter  about  twelve  miles  fur- 
ther north.     Hay  river  rises  near  the  head  waters  of  Willow 

^'river,  and  running  in  nearly  the  opposite  direction,  empties 
into  Red  Cedar  river,  at  a  point  forty-five  miles  directly  east 

-"  of  Hudson.  The  Red  Cedar  river  rises  in  the  extreme  north- 
tostern  part  of  Polk  county,  and  runs  nearly  south  to  the 
Chippewa.     The  head  waters  of  the  Kinnickinnic,  Rush  and 


HUDSOJJf,  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARY  REGION.    .  ^^ 

Eau  Galle  rivers,  are  properly  included  in  this  region,  and 
there  are  also  several  smaller  branches  of  the  Red  Cedar  not 
named.  These  streams  all  have  their  source  in  small  lakes 
or  springs,  which  natural  reservoirs  furnish  an  unfailing  sup- 
'ply  of  the  purest  water,  while  the  fall  is  sufficient  to  make  a 
rapid  current,  and  to  furnish  abundant  water  power.  On  the 
head  waters  of  nearly  all  of  them,  are  extensive  forests  of 
pine,  which  are  destined  to  be  a  most  prolific  source  of  wealth, 
for  many  years  to  come. 

o  In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Hudson,  the  land  is  princi- 
pally prairie,  with  occasional  patches  of  timber,  but  at  a  dis- 
tance of  twenty  miles  directly  east,  a  heavy  forest,  chiefly  of 
oak  and  sugar  maple,  extends  to  the  eastward  beyond  the  Red 
Cedar,  while  through  most  of  the  region  north  of  Apple  river, 
there  is  nearly  an  equal  division  of  timber  and  prairie,  so 
that  very  few  prairie  farms  would  have  timber  at  a  greater 
distance  than  three  miles. 

The  surface  of  the  country  is  generally  slightly  rolling,  and 
occasionally  broken  into  what  are  usually  called  "blufis." 
These  mounds,  though  they  really  occupy  but  a  very  small 
portion  of  the  surface,  relieve  the  monotony  of  an  extended 
prairie,  and  their  tops  being  frequently  covered  with  groves, 
t-they  add  greatly  to  the  beauty  of  the  scenery.     Thej^  are  also 
a  perpetual  source  of  fertilization  to  the  lower  lands,  since 
they  are  composed  in  great  part  of  a^  loose  and  porous  lime- 
stone, which  is  constantly  being  worn  away  and  deposited  in 
minute  particles  through  the  valleys  below. 
tr..  The  soil  is  mostly  a  rich  sandy  loam,  which  produces 
abundantly  and  in  great  perfection,  everything  usually  grown 
in  Eastern  and  Middle  States.     As  a  corn  producing  region;  it 
is  not  equal  to  the  best  portions  of  some  of  the  States  further 
south,  but  it  is  far  better  adapted  to  this  crop  than  any  of  the 
.  State  of  New  York,  since  the  largest  varieties  cultivated  in 
Ohio  and  Indiana,  mature  equally  well  here,  and  may  easily 
be  made  to  produce  from  forty  to  sixty  bushels  per  acre.     In 


472  mrftBON,  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARY  REGIOIf. 

the  production  of  wheat,  and  all  kinds  of  root  crops,  it  is  en- 
tirely unsurpassed.  The  average  yield  of  the  former,  is  stated 
by  the  oldest  farmers,  to  be  as  high  as  thirty  bushels  per  acre, 
notwithstanding  all  the  disadvantages  heretofore  attending  the 
cultivation  and  securing  of  crops  in  so  new  a  country.  But* 
all  other  things  being  equal,  this  region  offers  special  induce- 
ments to  farmers,  which  can  hardly  be  found  elsewhere  in 
the  West. 

Its  immediate  vicinity  to  the  immense  pineries  which  cover 
so  large  a  portion  of  North- Western  Wisconsin,  as  well  as  to 
the  untold  wealth  of  the  mineral  region  of  Lake  Superior, 
secures  to  the  farmer  a  home  market  for  everything  he  can 
raise,  at  prices  as  high,  and  often  higher  than  he  can  obtain 
in  the  eastern  cities,  while  an  abundance  of  lumber  of  the 
very  best  quality  can  always  be  had  at  first  cost,  and  the 
Mississippi  river,  together  with  the  lines  of  railroad,  which 
within  two  years  will  be  completed,  both  to  Lake  Superior 
and  Michigan,  will  furnish  a  choice  of  routes  as  inlets  for 
foreign  goods,  or  as  outlets  for  a  surplus  of  any  kind,  which 
may  be  produced. 

We  can,  therefore,  predict  with  perfect  certainty,  that,  com- 
,paratively  speaking,  goods  and  building  materials  here,  will 
always  be  cheap,  while  all  kinds  of  farm  products,  will  be 
dear,  a  state  of  things  exactly  the  opposite  of  what  is  usually 
found  to  be  the  case  in  the  West,  but  which  is  a  great  desid- 
eratum of  the  farmer.     Were  these  facts  fully  understood  and 
appreciated  among  those  now  emigrating  to  the  North-West, 
^as  well  as  the  fact,  that  an  immense  amount  of  the  very  best 
land  is  still  unentered,  and  that  second-hand  land  may  be 
^obtained  here  for  from  five  to  ten  dollars,  which  would,  in  as 
■'favorable  situations  in  Minnesota,  readily  command  from  fif- 
teen to  twenty-five  dollars  per  acre,  there  could  hardly  fail  to  be 
tens  of  thousands  pouring  in,  to  take  possession  of  this  region. 
\ -In  this  connection,  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  state  a  few 
ffects  concerning  the  climate,  since  the  delusion  which  for- 


HUDSON,  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARY  REGION. 


473 


merly  prevailed  at  the  East,  that  this  country  was  altogether 
too  far  north  to  he  valuable,  is  hardly  yet  dissipated.  It  is 
true,  that  the  average  temperature  of  our  winter  months,  is 
considerably  lower  than  that  of  Western  New  York,  but  on 
the  other  hand,  the  average  of  the  three  remaining  seasons  of 
the  year,  is  also  considerably  higher.  According  to  the  mete- 
reological  tables  accompanying  the  census  of  1850,  the  mean 
temperature  of  each  season  was — 


Place. 
t. 

Spring. 

Summer. 

Autumn. 

Winter, 

Rochester.  N.Y  . . 

45.21 

49.16 

> 

67.76 
70.85 

49.21 
50.41 

27.281 

Fort  Snelling,  (near  St.  Paul.) 

15.19 

From  which  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  climate  is  more  favora- 
ble to  the  growth  of  vegetation  at  the  latter  place,  than  at  the 
former. 

But,  though  the  winters  are  colder,  they  are  far  more  agree- 
able than  those  of  the  Eastern  States.  Navigation  generally 
closes  about  the  20th  of  November — snow  usually  falls  soon 
after — and  from  that  time  till  the  middle  of  March  or  first  of 
April,  there  is  seldom  a  single  rainy  day,  and  sometimes  not 
even  a  drop  of  rain  falls.  Snow  seldom  falls  to  the  depth  of 
more  than  one  foot,  so,  that  while  it  creates  no  inconvenience, 
it  makes  the  best  possible  sleighing.  The  last  winter  has 
been  one  of  unprecedented  severity,  throughout  the  North- 
West,  and  snow  has  accumulated  to  the  depth  of  nearly  three 
feet,  but  such  a  case  has  not  before  occurred  within  the  last 
twenty  years.  When  winter  once  closes  in,  there  is  generally 
no  more  thawing  till  spring,  hence,  the  wet,  sloppy  weather 
during  the  fall  and  winter,  which  is  the  great  disadvantage  of 
the  climate  in  many  places,  is  here  almost  wholly  unknown. 
The  winters  are  generally  a  succession  of  clear,  sunny  days, 
there  being  scarcely  a  cloud  to  be  seen,  during  as  much  as 
half  the  time,  while  dryness  and  perfect  purity  of  the  atmos- 
phere, render  the  cold  exhilerating,  instead  of  chilling. 

People  actually  suffer  less  inconvenience  from  the  cold 
60m 


474  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARY  REGION. 

here,  when  the  thermometer  is  thirty  degrees  below  zero,  than 
they  do  in  a  damp,  rainy  cUmate,  when  it  is  thirty  degrees 
above.  As  communication  is  seldom  impeded  by  reason 
of  driving  snow-storms,  and  never  by  oceans  of  mud, 
winter  becomes  emphatically  the  time  for  social  enjoyment, 
and  intellectual  improvement,  and  there  are  few  residents 
who  will  not  speak  of  the  winter  seasons  spent  here,  as  the 
pleasantest  ever  enjoyed. 

The  snow  usually  disappears  about  the  last  of  March,  and 
the  first  boat  has  hardly  ever  been  known  to  arrive  later  than 
the  20th  of  April,  so  that  navigation  is  always  open  for  full 
seven  months  of  the  year.  Occasionally  a  season  occurs,  in 
which  wheat  is  sown  as  early  as  the  20th  of  March.  The 
average  time  of  commencing  to  plow  and  put  in  crops,  is, 
however,  not  earlier  than  about  the  10th  of  April,  and  is 
generally  at  least  two  weeks  ahead  of  New  York  and  New 
^ngland. 

From  that  time  forward,  vegetation  advances  with  a  rapid- 
ity unknown  in  more  southern  climes,  and  it  scarcely  ever 
happens,  that  late  frosts  occur,  sufficient  to  cause  any  damage. 

The  autumn  is  proverbial  for  its  beautiful  weather.  No- 
where are  the  halcyon  days  of 'Indian  summer^  so  prolonged, 
and  so  perfectly  beyond  the  reach  of  cavils  by  the  most  in- 
veterate weather  croaker.  The  farmer  is  not  obliged  to  secure 
his  fall  crops  in  the  intervals  between  storms  of  rain,  snow, 
and  sleet,  but  thirty  or  forty  cloudless  days  in  succession, 
furnish  ample  time  to  secure  everything  in  the  best  possible 
manner,  and  to  make  all  necessary  preparations  for  winter. 

But  beyond  all  the  advantages  of  the  climate  already  enu- 
merated, there  is  yet  another  of  far  greater  practical  import- 
ance, and  one  which  is  thoroughly  appreciated  by  the  present 
residents,  namely :  its  exceeding  healthfulness,  and  its  special 
adaptation  to  a  high  development  of  both  physical  and  men- 
tal energy. 

This  characteristic  of  the  cUmate  must  be  felt,  to  be  fully 


HUDSON,  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARY  REGION.  475 

realized,  but  when  once  experienced,  it  will  hardly  be  relin- 
quished for  any  other.  The  purity  of  the  atmosphere  makes 
it  particularly  adapted  to  all  those  afflicted  with  pulmonary 
complaints,  and  s  uch  a  thing  as  consumption  produced  by 
the  climate,  is  wholly  unknown.  Fever  and  ague,  that  terri- 
ble scourge  of  the  regions  farther  south,  is  speedily  driven 
away  before  the  pure  and  refreshing  breezes  which  come  down 
from  the  north-west,  and  thousands  of  individuals  from  the 
States  below,  have  already  found  here  a  safe  retreat  from  their 
dreaded  enemy,  while  there  has  probably  never  been  a  single 
case  actually  originating  here. 

With  these  brief  statements,  every  word  of  which  is  borne 
out  by  actual  experience,  we  dismiss  the  subject  of  climate, 
merely  stating,  in  addition,  that  those  who  form  their  opinions 
of  it,  simply  from  a  knowledge  of  the  latitude,  are  liable  to 
very  great  mistakes,  since  not  only  is  the  temperature  deter- 
mined by  many  other  causes,  but  even  a  high  average  tem- 
perature, is  no  certain  indication  of  the  agreeableness  of  the 
climate.  Hudson,  for  instance,  is  over  three  hundred  miles 
south  of  London  in  England,  where  the  thermometer  seldom 
or  never  falls  even  below  zero,  while  at  the  former  place,  it 
sometimes  falls  to  thirty-five  degrees  below,  but  the  respective 
advantages  of  climate  at  the  two  points,  can  only  be  deter- 
mined by  an  actual  knowledge  of  them.  i 

Thus  far,  but  a  passing  allusion  has  been  made  to  any  of 
the  advantages  of  Hudson  and  the  surrounding  country,  ex- 
cept such  as  Nature  itself  has  given,  but  its  intimate  connec- 
tion with  some  of  the  most  important  lines  of  internal  im- 
provement on  the  Continent — now  certain  to  be  completed  in 
a  very  short  time — requires  a  more  extended  notice. 

The  pioneers  of  Hudson  early  perceived  the  importance  of 

a  railroad  connection  with  Lake  Superior.     At  first,  the  idea 

jiwas  treated  by  the  Legislature,  as  a  chimerical  one,  but  per- 

bseverance  carried  the  day;  and,  in  1854,  the  St.  Croix  and 

Lake  Superior  Railroad  Company  was  chartered,  for  the  pur- 


47'6  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARY  REGION. 

pose  of  constructing  a  road  from  Hudson,  to  the  city  of  Su- 
perior, and,  by  the  action  of  the  last  Legislature,  this  charter 
was  so  amended,  as  to  permit  the  Company  to  extend  their 
road,  when  required,  to  the  mouth  of  the  St  Croix,  in  order 
to  connect  with  a  contemplated  railroad  from  La  Crosse  and 
Prairie  du  Chien.         ^ 

Most  of  the  residents  of  Hudson,  at  that  time,  were  men  of 
very  limited  means,  but  a  private  subscription  among  them 
furnished  the  amount  necessary  to  make  the  first  surveys,  and 
during  the  years  1854  and  1855,  two  surveys  were  made  over 
the  whole  route.  It  was  a  work  of  unparalleled  hardship,  as 
'  the  greater  portion  of  the  distance  was  an  unknown  wilder- 
ness, the  only  road  through  which  is  an  Indian  trail.  But  the 
indomitable  energy  of  those,  upon  whom  it  devolved,  carried 

•  them  through  successfully.  A  very  favorable  route  was  found 
and  located,  the  length  of  which  was  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  miles,  only  five  miles  greater  than  an  air  line.  By  this 
time,  the  connection  of  these  two  points  by  railroad,  had  be- 
gun to  attract  much  attention  abroad,  and  all  who  had  inves- 
tigated the  subject,  regarded  it  as  an  enterprise  of  national 
importance.  Congress  was,  therefore,  induced  to  include  this 
route  in  the  grant  of  lands  made  to  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  in 
May,  1856,  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  railroads,  and  also  to 
provide,  at  the  same  time,  for  a  branch  to  Bayfield,  some 

,  ninety  miles  east  of  the  head  of  Lake  Superior. 

This  at  once  furnished  ample  means  to  finish  and  equip 
the  road,  without  the  actual  outlay  of  a  single  dollar  by  the 
Company  which  builds  it,  so  that  its  speedy  completion  is  now 

r  placed  beyond  a  doubt,  and  already  much  of  the  work  has 
been  contracted  for,  and  about  ^30,000,  (exclusive  of  a  large 

J  sum  for  surveys  and  incidental  expenses,)  actually  expended 

•  on  the  route,  during  the  past  winter,  in  such  labor  as  could 
profitably  be  done  at  that  season  of  the  year.     The  present 

i  summer  will  probably  see  the  work  carried  on  with  increased 
energy,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  grading  completed. 


HUDSON,  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARY  REGION.  477 

The  Milwaukee  and  La  Crosse  Railroad  Company,  which 
has  obtained  the  entire  control  of  the  land  granted  by  Con- 
gress in  aid  of  the  road  from  Madison  to  the  St.  Croix,  by 
way  of  Portage  City,  have  already  completed  a  survey  over 
the  whole  distance  from  the  latter  point  to  Hudson,  and  the 
report  is  so  exceedingly  favorable,  that  there  is  scarcely  a 
doubt  but  that  the  line  will  be  located  on  that  route. 

Congress  also,  at  its  last  session,  granted  a  large  amount  of 
land  to  Minnesota,  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  a  railroad, 
commencing  at  Stillwater,  and  running,  by  way  of  St  Paul 
and  St  Anthony,  north-westerly  to  the  Missouri  river ;  which 
becomes,  in  fact,  an  extension  of  five  hundred  miles  to  the 
Wisconsin  Land  Grant  Road,  since  such  is  the  nature  of  the 
bluffs  around  Stillwater,  that  any  road  from  thence  to  St  Paul, 
must  necessarily  pass  along  the  Lake  shore  opposite  Hudson, 
where  is  also  to  be  found  by  far  the  most  feasible  point  for 
crossing.  This  road  will,  no  doubt,  be  ultimately  carried 
tlirough  to  Puget's  Sound,  on  the  Pacific,  and  become  the 
great  thorough-fare  of  trade  and  travel  between  Europe  and 
the  rich  and  densely  populated  regions  of  "the  East" — con- 
veying the  commerce  of  Asia  by  our.  y^ry,do9rs.  se,eking  i.t& 
commercial  center  at  New  York.   ' 


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NEW  LONDON,  AND  SUEROUNDING  COUNTRY. 

r  BY  A.  J.  LAWSON,  OF  NEW  LONDON. 


J\'.lXiJL.\JsJ 


■New  London,  in  Waupacca  county,  was  long  the  great 
camping-ground  of  the  Indian  tribes, — a  locaUty  favorable  to 
hunting  and  fishing,  as  well  as  agiiculture,  in  a  very  rude 
wiy.'  AbuMkht  evidence  is' furnished,  by  the  innumerable 
corn-hills  and  mounds  that,  for  many  generations,  this  has 
been  a  planting  ground.  It  was  evidently  occupied  centuries 
ago,  by  a  race  far  more  skillful,  industrious  and  civilized  than 
m^  present  wandering  tribes,  and  furnishes  proof  of  the 
stiperior  fertility  of  the  soil  here  for  the  product  of  grains. 

About  one  thousand  Menomonee  Indians  were  found  here 
when  the  white  settler  caused  the  jealous  eye  of  the  Red  Man 
to  love  his  hunting  grounds  more  than  ever.  The  tribe  was 
once  large  and  powerful,  and  generally  lived  around  the 
Green  Bay  country.  Their  women  occasionally  married 
Winnebagoes,  but  not  often.  As  a  tribe  of  Indians,  they  were 
represented  as  quiet  and  peaceable,  and  were  friendly  to  the 
whites.  The  acting  chief  of  the  nation,  Tomah,  was  highly 
spoken  of  by  the  old  traders,  as  a  good  man.  Small  bands 
of  the  Menomonees  occasionally  pass  through  the  town.  The 
deep  trodden  trails  of  the  Indian  pony,  and  the  marks  of  In- 
dian graves — some  of  the  emblems  remaining — tell  a  story 
too  true,  of  the  injustice  of  the  white  man  towards  a  race  who 
have  been  most  deeply,  most  irretrievably  wronged.  But  the 
destiny  of  the  Indian  is  written.  As  the  white  man  advances, 
they  recede,  though  lords  of  the  soil    What  the  Red  Man 


I 


NEW  LONDON,  AND  SURROUNDING  COUNTRY.    479 

once  thought  to  be  the  utmost  boundary  of  civilization,  is  now 
dotted  with  cities  and  villages,  leaving  no  hope  to  him  but 
that  of  finding  a  peaceful  grave  beneath  the  rolling  billows 
of  the  Pacific.  Here,  their  trails  are  yet  upon  the  soil,  but 
their  wigwams  have  long  since  crumbled  to  earth,  and  their 
canoes  have  disappeared  from  the  placid  waters  of  the  Wolf. 

The  early  settlement  of  Western  towns  is  usually  attended 
with  incidents  of  no  small  interest  Nowhere  in  the  States 
have  there  been  enacted  more  stirring  scenes,  than  in  the  pio- 
neer settlements  of  Wisconsin.  In  every  locality — by  every* 
lake  and  crag,  and  winding  river — there  exists  the  warp  and 
woof  of  events  which,  if  they  were  all  written — the  journey- 
ings  into  the  wilderness — the  hand-to-hand  struggle  with 
hardship  and  want — the  years  of  toil — the  stern  and  lofty  he-^ 
roism,  in  strifes  where  no  world  looks  on  to  applaud — would 
produce  a  history  whose  pages  would  outshine  the  greatest 
work  of  fiction  that  the  imagination  could  possibly  produce. 
tiA^^The  West'^  was  not  once  where  it  now  is.  The  time  wa^ 
no!  long  ago,  when  the  Indian  trail  was  where  the  railway 
now  links  one  city  with  another.  It  is  within  our  memory, 
when  the  Indian  council-fire  was  seen  where  princely 
structures  now  cast  their  shadows.  As  the  past  few  years 
come  back  and  mingle  their  shadowy  forms  with  the  present, 
it  all  seems  like  a  dream.  Even  the  rude  pioneer-cabin  lives 
only  in  memory.  Under  the  mighty  march  of  enterprise^ 
empires  have  been  reared,  and  bloom  upon  the  woodland 
mould.  Hi  ^iiiU  \iio 

Some  four  years  since,  our  enterprising  fellow- townsman, 
Lucius  Taft,  Esq.,  starting  out  to  seek  his  fortune,  having  a 
keen  penetration  and  foresight,  as  had  those  who  followed 
him,  located  here,  having  in  connection  with  Ira  Millerd  & 
Son,  purchased  the  claim  of  the  half-breeds,  Johnson,  who 
made  this  an  Indian  trading  post  Mr.  Ira  Brown,  now  ot 
Northport,  in  the  previous  autumn,  located  on  a  farm  adjolE*- 
ing,  making  a  claim,  now  the  property  of  Ai.rRED  Lyon,  Esq.,  a 


480     ^EW  LONDON,  AND  SURROUNDING  COUNTRY. 

portion  of  which  is  a  pleasant  and  prosperous  portion  of  the 
town.  These  may  be  considered  the  pioneers  of  New  London 
They  had  no  doubt  employed  themselves  mostly  in  seeking 
out  a  locality  which  might  be  favorable  as  a  permanent  set- 
tlement, with  a  prospect  of  advancing  to  something  of  real 
importance.  It  was  evident  to  their  minds,  that  this  points 
with  its  natural  advantages,  at  the  confluence  of  two  impor- 
tant streams,  and  as  the  grand  gateway  of  the  pinery  above, 
must,  at  some  future  day,  become  a  large  town.  The  predic- 
tion which  they  made  at  that  time,  though  then  a  wilderness, 
has  been  more  than  verified.  They  truly  found  the  philoso- 
pher's stone.  And  although,  when  they  resolved  to  here 
pitch  their  tents,  such  a  determination  involved  no  inconsid- 
erable zeal  and  risk,  yet  their  energy  and  perseverance  were 
equal  to  the  attempt,  and  a  good  reward  crowned  their  under- 
taking. 

Perhaps  it  may  not  be  improper  to  here  refer  to  some  of  the 
first  settlers  in  the  vicinity,  as  their  interests  are  woven  with 
that  of  those  who  happened  to  settle  nearer  the  Wol£  Mr. 
RujTNXLL,  a  man  of  intelligence,  wealth  and  moral  worth, 
located  a  farm  near  where  Mr.  Brown  settled,  and  Mr.  Yeo- 
man, at  the  foot  of  Wolf  Peak,  commonly  called  Musquito 
Hill  Mr.  J.  G.  NoRDMAN,  formerly  a  volunteer  in  the  Mexi- 
can War,  settled  on  a  farm  a  few  miles  south.  These,  with 
those  mentioned  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  four  years  ago, 
trere  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  settlers  for  many  miles  around,  to 
our  knowledge.  But,  however,  the  plank-road  grade  was 
finished  through  to  this  point,  and  people  began,  three  years 
ago,  to  come  in  and  look  at  the  place,  and  a  few  located. 
More  would  have  undoubtedly  done  so,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  difficulty  of  procuring  lumber.  What  solemn  spirit 
*doth  inhabit  here,  or  what  sacred  oracle  here  hath  a  home, 
is  full  of  poetic  expression,  understood  only  by  those  men 
who  first  made  the  forest  echo  with  the  implements  of  eivil- 
ization. 


KEW  LONDON.  AND  SURROUNDING  COUNTRY.^         481 

Wisconsin,  at  that  period,  contained  about  three  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants.  Now  it  has  three-quarters  of  a  miUion 
of  souls.  New  London  has  not  been  without  her  increase.^ 
The  first  house  that  was  seen  to  peer  up  in  humble  solitude, 
still  stands  as  a  monument,  and  as  a  faithful  observer  of  the 
march  of  progress.  At  the  end  of  1855,  this  miniature  city 
numbered  about  150  inhabitants.  An  impulse  was  given  ta^ 
affairs,  in  1854,  by  the  erection  of  a  steam  saw-mill  by  Dotx 
and  Smith,  who,  however,  for  a  time,  failed  to  make  it  an- 
swer the  purpose  for  which  it  was  designed,  until  the  experi- 
enced skill  of  Capt.  Coffin  set  it  running;  and  it  has  done 
much  towards  building  the  town  thus  far.  The  neighboring, 
mills  have  done  their  share,  and  they  should  all  look  with  a 
friendly  eye  upon  our  prosperity,  as  securing  their  own. 
From  this  date,  the  attention  of  eastern  men  was  drawn  to 
the  town,  by  its  natural  and  prospective  advantages. 

Haifa  dozen  houses  had  hardly  been  erected  in  the  town, 
when  a  school  was  formed  under  the  direction  of  Miss  Maria 
MiLLERD.  She  commenced  it  in  a  log  house.  Five  scholars 
made  their  appearance  on  the  first  day.  How  pleasant  and 
suggestive  was  the  sight,  to  see  this  young  and  spirited  lady, 
here  in  the  woods,  her  only  visitor  the  Indian,  endeavoring  to 
imbue  the  tender  mind  with  practical  truths !  This  fact  alone 
speaks  well  for  the  place.  It  is  significant.  It  shows  that  the . 
early  settlers  had  not  forgotten  the  parental  impressions  of 
their  childhood — the  old  village  church  spire,  and  the  familiar 
weather-beaten  school-house  which  they  left  behind  them. 
These  emblems  of  peace  were  fondly  cherished. 

It  was  the  steamers  Bads^er  State  and  Barlow,  that  made 

I       ■■■l\       \        <■;-  ^  .■!■■>;, 

the  first  trips  on  the  Wolf  to  this  point,  in  1853.  Their  trips 
were  not  very  regular.  In  the  following  year,  the  Eureka, 
Capt.  Drummond,  commenced  her  regular  trips  to  Oshkosh. 
Little  did  the  Red  Men,  whose  canoes  had  for  so  many  years 
graced  the  placid  waters  of  the  river,  imagine  that  thus  soon 
would  the  shrill  whistle  of  the  steamboat  drive  the  antlered 
61m 


482    ^EW  LONDON,  AND  SURROUNDING  COUNTRY. 

deer  from  their  hunting  grounds.  But  the  early  settlers  hailed 
the  steamer's  coming.  The  mechanic  looked  upon  its  grace- 
ful curve,  as  it  majestically  parted  the  waters  to  which  it  was 
wedded,  as  a  triumph  of  skill,  as  well  as  a  moving  evidence 
of  the  progress  of  civilization ;  and  the  merchant  discovered 
in  it  new  channels  of  trade.     It  was  a  material  advance  in 

r 

Wisconsin's  onward  march.  Peace,  unity,  and  prosperity 
were  in  every  revolution  of  the  paddle-wheel. 

A  post  office  was  established  in  1854,  of  which  William 
McMiLLiN,  Esq.,  was  post  master.  The  mail,  at  that  period, 
could  be  carried  in  a  man's  hat.  It  is  needless  to  say,  that 
the  mail  then  was  an  institution  more  fully  appreciated  than 
in  these  latter  days,  but  perhaps  not  so  much  so  £ls  in  "ye 
olden  time,"  when  Franklin  traveled  with  it,  or  when  the  pio- 
neers of  Wisconsin  were  oftentimes  months  without  intelli- 
gence of  what  was  passing  in  other  parts  of  the  world 

But  the  New  London  of  1857,  is  not  the  New  London  of 
1854.  Now  we  have  a  town  containing  a  dozen  mercantile 
establishments,  three  hotels,  a  printing  office,  churches, 
schools,  professional  men,  mechanics,  and  manufacturers, 
with  two  hundred  buildings,  and  a  population  of  not  less 
than  eight  hundred.  The  citizens  are  mostly  from  New  Eng-^ 
land,  maintaining  their  character  for  thrift,  enterprise  and 
intelligence.  It  is  located  on  a  noble  river,  and  the  pineries 
above  afford  every  facility  for  obtaining  lumber  in  abundance, 
and  at  the  cheapest  rates. 

Northport, 

Northport  is  a  young,  thriving,  and  promising  little  village, 
three  miles  below  New  London  by  land,  and  four  by  steamer^ 
on  Wolf  river.  There  has  been  a  disposition  lately  manifested 
among  its  inhabitants,  to  call  it  "  Boston,"  but  the  name  by 
which  it  is  known  is  unique,  pleasant  and  appropriate,  from 
the  fact,  that  it  is  the  most  northerly  town  below  the  mouth 
of  the  Embarrass,  from  which  it  Ues  nearly  due  wast    A 


NSW  LONDOi;r,  and  surrounding  country.       433 

ware-house  for  some  years  has  stood  there  in  its  loneliness, 
giving  it  a  rather  desolate  appearance,  especially  in  high  water. 
But  it  has  been  convenient  for  the  accommodation  of  immi- 
grants that  have  been  rapidly  filling  up  the  excellent  agricul- 
tural region  and  the  pinery,  lying  north  and  west  of  it.   This 
ware-house  was  built  by  an  Irishman,  Patrick,  and  most  of 
the  settlers  in  the  vicinity  have  been  Irish,  until  within  a  past 
year,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  scattering  settlers  of  New 
England  origin,  among  whom  is  James  A,  Stoddard,  Esq., 
and  others  who  have  held  claims  and  owned  lands  there  for 
some  years,  and  borne  the  hardships  of  a  new  settlement  Mr. 
Patrick  sold  out  about  a  year  and  a  half  ago  to  Mr.  Seldom 
BuRBANK,  who,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Stoddard,  laid  out 
a  village  plat     For  a  year  past  an  excellent  New  England 
immigration  have  settled  there.     It  is  evidently  quite  a  desir- 
able and  feasible  location  for  a  thriving  mechanical  village. 
The  land  rises  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  gradually,  for 
half  a  mile,  embracing  a  large  number  of  mound  springs  of 
excellent  water.  It  is  believed  these  springs  could  be  combined 
and  furnish  water  power  sufficient  to  run  machinery  to  a 
limited  extent,  and  thus  be  rendered  valuable.    These  springs 
furnish  at  any  rate  water  enough  to  supply  the  wants  of  a 
large  town.     Besides  the  springs,  there  are  quarry  stones,  of 
gray  lime,  suitable  for  building  material     A  brick  yard  has 
been  laid  out,  and  brick  made  almost  equal  to  the  far  famed 
Milwaukee  brick.     It  is  said  that  pipe  clay  abounds  in  the 
vicinity.  Pine  and  other  valuable  lumber  are  contiguous.  The 
Stevens'  Point  plank  road  runs  through  the  town.  It  is  becom- 
ing a  point  of  interest     The  prospect  for  increase  of  popula- 
tion is  flattering.   It  only  needs  capital  and  enterprise  to  make 
it  a  point  of  importance.     There  are  now  two  stores,  two 
taverns,  a  ware-house,  and  through  the  generous  encourage- 
ment of  the  owners  of  the  town  plat,  a  steam  saw  mill,  of 
the  first  class,  is  about  to  be  erected  by  Kimball  &  Co.   North- 
port  lies  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  township  of  Mukwa,  and 


484         ^^^  LONDON,  AND  SURROUNDING  COUNTRY. 

is  become  a  fixed  fact  While  it  may  attempt  competition 
with  New  London,  we  trust  it  will  be  friendly,  and  that  the 
©he  will  not  depreciate  and  excite  prejudice  against  the  other, 
but  that  they  will  co-operate  to  their  mutual  advantage. 

There  are  other  towns  below  on  the  river  that  are  flourish- 
ing, which  are  not  necessary  to  allude  to  in  this  paper.  Suffice 
il  to  say,  they  are  monuments  of  peace  and  enterprise,  and  of 
themselves  show  to  the  traveler  and  stranger  as  he  wends  his 
way  up  the  river,  what  stout  hearts  and  ready  hands  can  ac- 
complish, in  the  work  of  planting  peaceful  and  happy  homes, 
liusy  workshops  and  whirling  machinery,  in  the  wilderness 
beneath  the  unpillared  arch  of  heaven. 

Hortonville, 

Is  in  Outagamie  county,  about  six  and  a  half  miles  east  of 
New  London,  on  the  route  of  the  plank-road  projected  be- 
tween Appleton  and  Stevens'  Point.  It  is  a  pleasant  little 
inland  hamlet,  and  is  situated  about  two  miles  from  the  Wolf 

.'».»» J  ^  .. .. 

river,  where  the  Hortonville  creek  enters  it,  and  lies  on  the 
main  route  from  New  London  to  Oshkosh,  Appleton,  Neenah, 
Menasha,  Winneconne  and  Omro.  In  the  winter,  or  lum- 
bering season,  it  is  a  busy  place,  presenting  a  lively  appear- 
ance, from  the  hurrying  to  and  from  the  great  pinery  and 
flie  southern  towns.  Its  location  is  delightful,  lying  on  un- 
dulating hills,  on  both  sides  of  the  Hortonville  creek,  skirted 
with  pine  and  other  valuable  timber.  Its  growth  has  been 
slow,  but  healthful  and  substantial.  It  had  a  foundation 
some  seven  or  eight  years  since,  and  was  located  by  a  Mr. 
HoRTON,  whose  name  it  bears,  as  well  as  the  town,  of  which 
it  is  the  principal  point,  and  which  is  called  Hortonia. 

For  some  years  it  was  isolated  from  other  towns  of  impor- 
tance, arid  was  almost  inaccessible,  except  in  the  winter  sea- 
son. During  the  same  period,  lumber  was  so  low  in  price, 
that  it  was  manufactured  at  but  little  profit.  The  water- 
power  is  excellent,  on  an  average,  for  about  half  the  year. 


NEW  LONDON,  AND  SURROUNDING  COUNTRY.    485 

During  the  dry  seasen  it  fails,  and  machinery  is  mostly  at  a 
stand-still.  Here  is  located  an  excellent  saw-mill,  owned  by 
Messrs.  Briggs  &  Co.  Were  steam-power  attached  to  these 
mills,  they  might  run  at  great  profit  through  the  whole  year, 
and  do  much  toward  building  up  a  town. 

Manufactured  lumber  can  be  run  down  the  creek  to  the 
Wolf,  in  cribs,  at  the  time  of  high  water,  and  transported 
south.  But  the  demand  for  lumber  is  so  great  in  the  village, 
and  the  thriving  country  round  it,  that  there  is  no  occasion 
for  running  it  down  the  river,  for  it  finds  a  home  market.  The 
demand  is  far  greater  than  the  supply. 

The  flour  and  feed  at  the  mill  are  demanded  as  soon  as 
manufactured.  Th«  custom  is  very  extensive,  as  cereal  pro- 
ducts abound. 

There  are  two  stores — another  soon  to  be  opened — and 
two  hotels,  all  doing  a  large  and  thriving  business,  and  a  lath- 
mill  in  connection  with  the  saw-mill.  A  tannery  is  talked  of, 
and  an  ashery  has  long  been  in  successful  operation.  Brick 
of  an  excellent  quality  are  manufactured,  and  also  lime  in 
abundance. 

There  are  some  forty  families  in  the  village  proper,  and 
four  times  as  many  within  a  circumference  of  four  miles.  Of 
the  people  we  may  say,  that  there  is  probably  not  a  better  be- 
haved, a  more  moral,  thriving  and  orderly  people,  to  be  found 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  pinery.  Hortonville  bids  fair  to  be  an 
important  town. 

lolcu 

lola  is  a  wide-awake  and  promising  little  village,  located  in 
the  western  part  of  Waupaca  county,  twenty  miles  west  of 
New  London,  and  eleven  north  of  Waupaca  village.  lola  is 
about  equi-distant  between  this  village  and  Stevens'  Point 
It  is  in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  prairie  and  opening  country, 
possesses  good  water-power,  and  was  settled  about  two  years 
ago  by  New  Englanders,  mostly  from  Maine  and  Vermont 


486    NEW  LONDON,  AND  SURROUNDING  COUNTRY. 

The  prospects  of  lola  are  flattering.  The  Stevens*  Pouit 
State  road  will  pass  through  the  place,  which  will  tend  to 
make  it  an  inland  village  of  growing  importance.  lola  is  in 
an  excellent  wheat-growing  district.  Farmers  emigrating  to 
this  section  of  the  State,  are  invited  to  look  at  the  country 
about  here,  for  it  is  a  well  known  fact,  that  Waupaca  county 
contains  farming  lands  equal  to  any  in  the  State.  There  is 
also  good  water-power  in  the  vicinity,  which  is  capable  of 
being  made  very  valuable,  and  is  awaiting  the  purse  of  the 
capitalist  to  improve  it     lola  is  bound  to  thrive. 

Ogdensburg, 

Is  fifteen  miles  west  of  New  London,  eight  miles  from  Wau- 
paca,  and  seven  miles  west  of  Meiklejohn's,  on  the  south 
branch  of  the  Little  Wolf,  three  years  old,  which  western 
enterprise  is  starting  into  existence  before  thousands  of  our 
good,  dreamy,  busy  city  folks  ever  heard  of  such  a  place.  C. 
S.  Ogden,  from  whom  it  derives  its  name,  has  made  improve- 
ments here,  which  are*  an  honor  to  the  place.  Ogdensburg 
offers  good  inducements  to  farmers,  and  is  bound  to  be  an 
important  town.  It  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  "by  a  rich 
farming  country,  as  an  evidence  of  which,  I  was  presented  by 
Mr.  J.  C.  Williams,  occupying  a  fine  prairie  farm  a  short 
distance  from  the  site  of  the  town,  with  several  ears  of  corn, 
averaging  a  yield  of  over  fifty  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  much 
of  it  standing  in  the  field,  before  harvesting,  twelve  or  fourteen 
feet  high.  The  same  gentleman,  also,  raised  four  hundred 
bushels  of  potatoes  to  the  acre." 

Scandinavia, 

At  the  head  of  White  Lake,  is  six  miles  from  Ogdensburg, 
and  is  in  the  midst  of  an  industrious  and  enterprising  class  of 
Norwegians,  whose  settlement  extends  up  the  valley  to  the 
distance  of  about  twenty  miles.  Excellent  fish  abound  in 
the  Lake,  and  are  easily  taken.  Excellent  mill  sites  may  be 
obtained  here. 


NEW  LONDON,  AND  SURROUNDING  COUNTRY.  437 

Waupaccu 

This  pleasant  and  thriving;  town  has  gained  considerable 
notoriety  from  the  large  number  of  votes  said  to  have  been 
polled  there  on  a  certain  time.  It  is  situated  on  the  Waupaca 
river,  called  in  the  Indian  language  "  JVatibuck  Se-pee/' 
meaning  "  To-morrow  River" — and  Waupaca  is  also  said,  in 
the  native  sense,  to  mean  'Tale  Water,^'  The  village  is  sit- 
jiated  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  and  contains  a  population  of 
1,000  inhabitants,  and  trade  in  every  department  is  brisk. 
The  south  branch  of  the  Waupaca,  a  narrow,  deep  stream, 
the  outlet  of  First  and  Second  Lakes,  lying  just  back  of  the 
town^oi^tling  between  the  hills,  makes  a  junction  about  one 
mile  below  thejx)wn,  furnishing  several  fine  mill  sites,  some 
of  which  are  occupied.  Situated  on  the  Waupaca  and  its 
branches,  there  are  fifteen  good  water-powers  within  one  mile 
of  the  Court  House  Square.  ,.,^^ 

There  are  other  towns  in  this  part  of  the  county,  which  we 
have  not  room  to  notice;  but  we  think,  from  what  has 
already  been  said,  that  the  reader  will  have  some  idea  of  its 
advantages.  An  erroneous  idea  has  heretofore  prevailed,  rel- 
ative to  the  general  character  of  the  soil  of  Waupaca  county, 
for  farming  purposes.  Hundreds  of  farmers  met  with  agree- 
able disappointment  when  they  came,  and  found  the  best 
kind  of  farming  land,  at  prices  within  the  reach  of  all. 
Waupaca  county  has  been,  in  years  past,  unjustly  overlooked, 
but  the  mighty  tide  of  emigration  has  flowed  this  way,  and 
in  an  agricultural  point  of  view,  she  compares  favorably  with 
the  most  productive  sections  of  the  State.  There  is  yet 
plenty  of  desirable  farming  land  in  the  county,  available,  and 
a  general  invitation  is  extended  to  all  who  intend  seeking  a 
new  home  in  a  new  country,  to  come  and  judge  for  them- 
selves. 

Shiocton* 

Shiocton,  or  as  it  has  been  called,  Jordan's  Landing,  is  sit- 
uated on  the  Wolf  river,  some  twelve  miles  north-east  of 


if. 


488  NEW  LONDON-,  AND  SURROUNDIKG  COUNTRY. 

New  London  by  land,  and  twenty-five  by  the  river.     It  is 

eighteen  miles  from  Appleton,  with  a  good  road  except  a  few 
'^iniles  near  Shiocton.  This  part  of  the  road  is  about  to  be 
*'made  good,  and  then  the  village  will  be  united  to  the  rest  of 

mankind.     It  is  five  miles  from  Shiocton  to  Stevensville, 

thirty-one  to  Oshkosh,  twenty- five  to  Shawano,  and  two  and, 
'■'a  half  to  Shioc  Mills.  There  are  some  eight  or  ten  buildings, 
^^ith  ten  families  in  the  village,  and  forty  witliiii  t^o  miles. 
'*A  steam  saw-mill  is  to  be  put  in  operation  this  fall,  when, 
^^Hvith  a  supply  of  building  material,  the  town  will  rapidly  in- 
^'crease.     The  river  banks  are  excellent  on  both   sides,  not 

'subject  to  overflow  in  the  highest  Water,  and  witH'a  laiiding 
^at  any  stage,  for  some  half  mile  on  either  side.    In  low  water, 

steamboats  can  reach  Shiocton  in  four  hours,  from  New  Lon- 
*don.    We  are  encouraged  to  hope,  that  a  steamboat  will  run 

up  to  the  village  soon. 
'  "■  ^In  respect  to  location,  Shiocton  is  unusually  favored     Sm- 

■  rounded  by  an  extensive  body  of  the  very  best  of  farming 
'^land,  and  with  the  pineries  close  at  hand,  and  capital  seeking 

'a  safe  investment  with  a  sure  prospect  of  success,  the  future 

looks  bright  for  this  village. 


■ifi 


,M 


rf 


-I 


f:- 


EESOURCES  OF  NORTH-EASTERN  WISCONSIN. 

BY    B.    B.    QUINER,    OP    WATERTOWN. 


Hfo,  1. 

Now  that  th^NoTth-tea^tefn  Land  Grant  Ms '|]^ysed  into  the 

liahds  of  efficient  men,  who  possess  the  capital  and  energy  to 

•'iprosecute  the  building  of  a  North-Eastern  railroad  to  Lake 

Superior,  it  may  prove  of  value  to  the  people  of  Southern 

^'WiisCdiisin  tc^be  informed  &f  the  geSi'etal  character  of  the  coun- 

*iry  through  which  this  road  must  pass  to  the  great  northern 

lake.     The  people  of  the  Rock  River  Valley  feel  interested  in 

the  matter,  from  this  fact,  that  the  lower  end  of  the  road  tra- 

veri^es  the  length  of  oiir  beautiful  Rock  river  to  the  southern 

'border  of  the  State,  and  a  necessary  consequence  is,  that  all 

information  in  regard  to  the  resources  of  the  country  at  the 

northern  end  of  the  route,  will  be  read  with  avidity. 

Having  recently  tisited  a  pdriion  of  North-Eastern  Wiscon- 
sin, near  the  probable  route  of  this  road,  and  posted  myself 
somewhat  in  regard  to  the  country  on  the  northern  peninsula 
of  Michigan,  through  which  this  road  will  be  continued  to 
take  Superior,  iinder  the  grant  to  the  State  of  Michigan,  for 
the  gratification  of  many  of  my  old  newspaper  readers  and 
Iriends,  I  will  endeavor  to  give  an  outline  of  my  observations 
in  regard  to  the  country  in  that  region  of  Wisconsin  and 
Michigan. 

By  the  terms  of  the  grant  to  Wisconsin,  the  road  built  in 
the  north-eastern  part  of  the  State  will  only  extend  to  the  State 
line;  from  thence  to  Ontonagon  it  will  be  built  by  the  grant 
62m 


..Li, 


490 


yORTH-EASTERlf  WISCONSIN. 


from  Little  Bay  de  Noquet  to  Ontonagon.  The  roads  will 
probably  form  a  line  between  Michigan  and  Wisconsin.  The 
particular  point  is  of  course  unknown,  as  the  company  have 
not  yet  made  a  survey  of  the  country. 

The  recent  bill  passed  at  the  extra  session  of  the  Legislature 
last  autumn,  fixes  the  route  from  Fond  du  Lac  through  Osh- 
kosh,  Neenah,  Menasha,  and  Appleton.  From  the  latter 
place  a  line  will  run  in  a  northerly  direction  to  the  most  eli- 
gible point  on  the  Menomonee  river. 

In  regard  to  the  country  in  a  northerly  direction  from  Ap- 
pleton^  but  little  is  known  beyc^d  the  Oconto  river.  But  few 
men  have  traversed  the  route  to  Lake  Superior ;  and  those  who 
have,  represent  a  large  portion  of  the  country  as  uninviting, 
and  incapable  of  sustaining  a  large  population.  The  fact  is, 
that  the  country  between  the  third  correction  line  and  the 
Brule  river  is  an  unknown  region,  and  actual  si^rvey  only  can 
determine  the  feasibility  of  the  route  for  sustaining  a  railroad 
after  it  is  built. 

Nearly  in  a  north  line  from  Appleton,  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
fourth  correction  line,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Menomonee, 
the  celebrated  iron  ore  beds  of  Marquette  county,  Michigan, 
begin  to  show  themselves,  and  continue  in  different  locations 
for  the  distance  of  fifty  miles  in  a  northerly  directipn,  while 
they  extend  about  the  same  distance  east  and  west  With  a 
railroad  penetrating  this  great  iron  region,  the  vast  mineral  re- 
sources which  now  lie  hidden  and  unimproved,  will  be  capa- 
ble of  a  development  that  will  astonish  the  world. 

These  iron  ores  possess  many  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
ore  beds  in  northern  New  York.  They  are  chiefly  of  the 
magnetic  and  specular  varieties,  and  are  found  in  ridges  of 
nearly  pure  metal.  No  less  than  fourteen  large  beds  of  this 
ore  were  found  by  the  surveyors,  in  running  out  the  township 
lines,  as  well  as  numerous  smaller  ones,  and  the  surveyors 
computed  that  not  more  than  one-seventh  of  them  had  been 
discovered.    In  one  place,  the  ore  forms  a  regular  cliff,  rising 


NORTH-EASTERIs'  WISCONSIN.     ^  49I 

to  the  height  of  113  feet,  and  the  ridge  was  traced  more  than 
a  mile  and  a  half.  I  find  the  details  in  the  Geological  Reports 
of  the  State  of  Michigan,  made  by  the  U.  S.  surveyors.  They 
are  of  great  interest,  as  they  disclose  to  the  world  the  existence 
^of  deposits  of  iron  which  have  no  precedent  elsewhere,  and 
before  which  the  celebrated  Iron  Mountain  of  Missouri  sinks 
into  insignificance.  The  means  of  information  which  I  have 
M  hand,  aflbrd  me  data  for  a  very  lengthy  article  regarding 
jjiron  depost,  which  will  form  the  topic  of  my  next  number. 

How  far  this  iron  region  extends  into  our  State,  is  uncer- 
tain, as  the  district  traversed  by  surveyors  extended  only  to 
the  northern  and  eastern  side  of  the  Menompnee  ,rj,ver.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  similar  ridges  will  be  found,  higher  up,  on  the 
Wisconsin  side  of  the  river.  The  country  in  which  this  iron 
ore  is  found,  is  based  upon  a  slate  formation,  which  crops  out 
in  places,  particularly  in  the  rapids  of  streanis.  Iji  one  pla-ce, 
the  water  falls  more  than  twenty  feet,  over  a  bed  x)f  magnetic 
iron  ore,  and  received  the  name  of  the  "  Iron  Cascade "  on 
,that  account.  This  iron  ore  can  be  smelted  on  the  spot  where 
it  is  found,  as  hard  maple,  beech,  yellow  birch,  and  other 
woods  abound  in  the  immediate  locality,  suitable  for  making 
charcoal  for  smelting  purposes.  The  pr^s  make. the  very  best 
quality  of  bar  iron,  superior  to  the  best  Swede's  iron,  as  has 
been  proved  by  actual  experiment. , 

The  whole  region  of  the  northern  peninsula  of  Michigan, 
between  the  St.  Mary  and  Montreal  rivers,  is  characterized 
by  many  interesting  geological  features.  Within  those  limits 
may  be  found  the  igneous  and  sedenaentary  rocks,  with  their 
different  combinations.  Granite,  sand-stone,  the  different 
varieties  of  slate,  limestone  in  varieties,  including  the  lead- 
bearing  limestone,  and  beautiful  varieties  of  marble,  are  to  be 
found  in  this  region. 

Immediately  adjoining  the  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  and  in 
the  vicinity  of  Ontonagon,  one  of  the  northern  points  of  ter- 
minus for  this  North-Eastern  railroad,  is  found  a  variety  of 


492 


NORTH' EASTERN  WISCONSIN. 


trap  rocks,  in  which  the  celebrated  veins  of  virgin  copper  are 
^ottiid.'    The  range  is  from  two  to  twelve  miles  wide,  and  ex- 
"^ends  from  the  extreme"  pdint  of  Kewaunee  peninsula,  in  a 
*^outh-west  direction,  across  the  Montreal  river — the  boundary 
^line  of  Wisconsin  and  Michigan.     These  copper  mines  are 
^fe^^riehest  in  the  world,  and  will  eventually  afford  a  vast 
briifeinesis-to  our  railroad,  in  the  tif^hsportation  of  supplies,  ore, 
^i&c.     Very  little  is  known,  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State,  in 
regatd  to  the  imrnense  resources  of  Northern  Wisconsin.    Its 
inexhaustibli^  beds  of  iron  ore,  athd  veins  of  copper,  its  mar- 
^lDle, -slate,  ^nd' granite  quarries,  its  boundless  acres  of  pine, 
'Will  one  day  prove  that  there  is  as  much  real  wealth  as  in  the 
southern  and  western  portions^  with  their  fertile  fields  and 
^ll^M'  tmne^.'-  The  prevailing  opinion,  that  this  region  is  eii- 
'tirely  Sterile^  ^iid  unfit  for  farming  purposes,  is  as  great  an  er- 
ror as  I  have  had  occasion  to  know. 

The  country  on  the  north  shore  of  Green  Bay,  is  known 
abroad  aSf  a  great  lumber  region.     The  greater  portion  of  the 
timber  is  pine,  interspersed,  however,  among  it  may  be  found 
Midges  of  hard  maple  and  beech,  and  other  hard  wooda     At 
'^the  mouth  of  the  Menomonee,  Oconto,  Pensaukee  and  Suam- 
4cb  rivers,  Eire '  heavy  lumbering  establishments,  the  products 
of  which  find  a  ready  market  at  the  ports  on  Lake  Michigan. 
A  large  number  of  men  is  employed  in  the  lumbering  busi- 
ness, the  supplies  necessary  for  whose  subsistence  are  brought 
ftom   the  south   end  of  Lake  Michigan.     The   maple  and 
beech  lands  are  of  a  good  soil,  of  a  sandy  loamy  character, 
capable  of  producing  any  kind  of  grain  or  vegetables,  all  of 
which  will  find  a  ready  market  at  the  lumbering  establish- 
ments.    The  North-Eastern  railroad  will  penetrate  into  these 
lumber  regions,  and  will  consequently  open  to  the  interior  of 
the  southern  portion  of  the  State,  a  ready  means  for  trans- 
'  porting  produce  to  the  Lake  Superior  region,  receiving  in  re- 
turn the  iron  and  llimber,  so  necessary  to  the  prosperity  of 
"the  interior  of  Wisconsin  and  Illinois.     I  am  fully  satisfied. 


ITORTH-EASTERN  WISCONSINj^  493 

that  the  day  will  come  when  our  people  will  ^.ckiipwledg^, 
the  North-Eastern  railroad  to  be  fully  as  important  as  th^. 
one  from  Madison  and  Columbus,  via  St  Croix  to  Lake  Su'^^ 
perior.     Its  importance  to  the  people  of  this  valleyr  is  im- 
mense   When  the  day  of  completion  d^ra^s  »ighj  ^^^^  ^^9 
iron,  lumber  and  other  products  of  the  north  find  their  w^y; 
to  this  region,  our  people  will  begin  to  understand  the  fore^-^ 
sight  which  is  possessed  by  those  who  have  been  instru- ; 
mental  in  originating  this  gr?ind  trunk  lir\e,  to  th^.rt9l^^stipai;t. 
of  the  mineral  regions  of  Lake  Superior.     Lnaaybe  able  to 
write,  at  some  future  day,  more  particularly  in  regard  to  the 
agricultural  facilities  of  this  hitherto  unknown  northern  re- 
gion. 

rp 

No.  2. 

In  my  former  article,  I  made  a  general  statement  in  regard 
to  the  copper  and  iron  regions,  which  will  contribute  to  the 
business  of  this  North-Eastern  railroad.  I  wish  to  show, 
the  extent  and  value  of  these  metallic  products  of  Lake 
Superior.  My  information  is  derived  from  the  reports  of- the 
surveyors  of  public  lands,  and  from  individuals  who  have 
traversed  those  sections  of  country,  in  quest  of  pine  lands. 

The  beds  of  iron  ore  have  not  been  discovered  south  of  the 
Menomonee  river,  but  the  similarity  of  geological  structure 
leads  to  the  belief  that  they  will  eventually  be  found  on  the 
Wisconsin  side  of  that  stream.  The  dip  and  course  of  the 
veins  or  beds  in  Michigan  indicate  their  continuance  into. 
Wisconsin.  They  have  been  traced  across  the  Montreal  rivery 
and  extensive  deposits  of  magnetic  and  specular  iron  Ore  were 
discovered  in  the  Penokie  range  of  mountains,  which  skirt  the 
south  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  by  Col  Whittlesey,  who  was 
attached  to  the  Government  survey  under  Dr.  Owen.  The 
country  north  of  the  Oconto  river,  is  an  extensive  pine  region, 
and  has  been  traversed  by  land  hunters  and  trappers,  and  in 
the  winter  the  shanties  of  the  lumbermen  may  be  found  near 


494 


NORTH-EASTERN  WISCONSIN. 


the  logging  streams,  occupied  by  the  hardy  woodsmen,  who 
supply  the  raw  material  for  building  up  our  cities  and  towns. 
The  railroad  reservation  embraces  a  district  forty-eight  miles 
wide,  extending  north  to  the  State  Line,  in  which  the  Com- 
pany is  allowed  to  locate  the  line  of  road.  Near  the  northern 
line  of  this  reserve,  on  the  Michigan  side  of  the  Menomonee 
river,  lies  the  most  southern  of  the  iron  ore  beds,  discovered 
by  John  Jacobs,  Esq.,  of  the  town  of  Marinette,  at  the  mouth 
of  Menomonee  river.  His  position  as  an  Indian  trader  on 
that  stream  for  a  number  of  years,  and  his  frequent  excur- 
sions to  its  head  waters,  have  made  Mr.  Jacobs  well  acquainted 
with  the  country  around  it  He  reported  the  existence  of  this 
bed  of  ore  to  the  Geological  Surveyors,  and  it  was  subse- 
quently visited  by  Col.  Whittlesey.  He  reports  it  as  being 
about  two  miles  from  the  river,  where  sufficient  water  power 
exists  for  smelting  the  ore. 

f  The  ore  is  the  specular  variety,  associated  with  talcose  and 
argillaceous  slates.  It  makes  its  appearance  on  the  north  side 
of  a  lake,  and  can  be  traced  a  mile  and  a  half  in  length,  and 
in  places  is  exposed  one  hundred  feet  in  width.  The  ridge  in 
which  it  is  found  is  about  one  hundred  feet  high,  and  shows 
nothing  but  slaty  ore  for  forty  rods  upon  its  summit  It  bears 
nearly  east  and  west  It  is  a  specular  ore,  of  a  bluish-black 
color,  fine-grained,  and  gives  a  red  streak.  On  the  south  and 
east,  there  is  abundance  of  wood  for  charcoal. 

Four  miles  east  of  this  ore  bed  appear  ledges  of  compact 
marble,  from  ten  to  sixty  feet  in  height,  dipping  N.  E.  by  E. 
Its  prevailing  color  is  a  pale  blue,  like  that  at  Muskos  river, 
beautifully  marked  with  white,  green,  and  red  stripes.  It  can 
be  quarried  in  large  and  solid  blocks,  is  susceptible  of  a  high 
polish,  and  would  afibrd  a  highly  ornamental  material  for 
architectural  purposes.  Near  the  falls  are  beds  of  slate,  which 
can  be  quarried  and  used  for  roofing  purposes. 

Of  all  the  locations  of  iron  ore,  I  must  content  myself 
with  giving  the  characteristics  of  the  most  prominent  only, 


NORTH-EASTERN  WISCONSIN. .  495 

and  assure  the  reader  that  they  all  bear  the  same  general  fea- 
tures, differing  only  in  extent  and  modifications  of  the  spec- 
ular and  magnetic  ores.  These  ores  have  little  or  no  resem- 
blance to  the  brown  hematite  of  the  Iron  Ridge,  in  Dodge 
county.  The  Lake  Superior  ores  are  found  in  a  different  for- 
mation, and  the  product  is  superior  to  that  of  the  Dodge 
county  ores.  They  exist  in  a  rock  form,  requiring  to  be 
quarried,  and  furnishing  the  toughest  bar  iron  in  the  world, 
as  proved  by  experiments  of  the  U.  S.  Government 

My  object,  in  this  article,  is  to  show  the  people  of  this  val- 
ley, the  character  of  the  mineral  wealth  which  is  found  at  the 
northern  end  of  the  North-Eastern  railroad,  access  to  which 
must  prove  of  immense  importance  to  the  prosperity  of  the 

whole  State  of  Wisconsin.     The  extensive  manufacture  of 

* 

bar-iron  and  steel,  within  our  borders,  would  add  a  new  ele- 
ment of  wealth,  and  preserve  many  thousands  of  dollars 
among  us,  which  now  go  to  the  support  of  the  population 
of  other  regions. 

Foster,  in  his  report,  states,  that  he  explored  a  ridge  of  ore 
on  the  Peshakame  river,  and  found  it  composed  of  nearly 
jJure  specular  oxide  of  iron.  It  shoots  up  in  a  perpendicular 
cliff,  one  hundred  and  thirteen  feet  in  height,  so  pure,  that  it 
is  difficult  to  determine  its  mineral  associations.  We  passed 
along  the  base  of  this  cliff  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
seeking  a  gap  through  which  we  might  pass  and  gain  the 
summit  At  length  we  succeeded.  Passing  along  the  brow 
of  the  cliff,  forty  feet,  the  mass  was  comparatively  pure ;  then 
followed  a  conglomerate  of  quartz  and  rounded  grains  of  iron 
disseminated.  This  bed  was  fifteen  feet  in  thickness,  and 
was  succeeded  by  specular  iron,  exposed  in  places  to  the 
width  of  one  hundred  feet,  but  the  soil  and  trees  prevented 
our  determining  its  entire  width.  This  one  cliff  contains  iroB 
sufficient  to  supply  the  world  for  ages,  yet  we  saw  neither 
length  or  width,  but  only  an  outline  of  the  mass. 
Watertown,  December,  1856. 


a 


^g 


WISCONSIN  AND  HER  INTERNAL  NAVIGATION.p 

Among  the  North- Western  States,  now  annually  progress- 
ing with  giant  strides  in  wealth  and  political  power,  Wiscon- 
sin occupies  a  prominent  position.  Her  soil,  climate,  location 
and  natural  advantages,  early  attracted  the  attention  of  emi- 
grants from  this  State,  and  we  suppose  there  is  no  Western 
State  so  largely  peopled  with  settlers  from  New  York.  Thec 
writer  could  number  by  hundreds,  among  the  substantial  and 
tl^iving  farmers  of  that  new  and  rising  State,  men  who  were 
once  small  agriculturists  in  a  single  county  in  the  interior  of 
this  State. 

Perhaps  no  one  of  the  Western  States  more  nearly  resem- 
bles our  own,  in  its  adaptation  to  husbandry  in  moderately 
sized  farms,  and  according  to  oui^  notions  of  tillage,  thaa 
Wisconsin,  and  hence  probably  the  early  partiality  of  our  cit-_ 
izens  for  a  settlement  there.  Other  States  may  offer  stronger 
inducements  for  farming  on  a  magnificent  .^ale,  in  which 
extensive  tracts  can  be  cultivated  by  the  same  proprietor, 
with  the  aid  of  large  capital.  Indeed  experience  will  eventu- 
ally depipftstrate,  that  on  the  extensive  prairie  lands  of  the. 
West,  this  system  of  agriculture  is  the  only  one  which  can 
prove  profitable.  We  will  not  enter  into  the  reasons  for  this, 
in  this  connection,  except  to  hint  that  they  are  found  in  a 
want  of  water,  wood,  and  fencing  material,  which,  to  the 
small  farmer,  costs  top  much  in  proportioja  to  his  productions, 
but  may  be  materially  cheapened  as  an  element  of  the  ex- 
pense of  grain  and  cattle  growing,  where  the  business  is  done 


INTERIM AL  NAVIGATION  OF  WISCONSIN".  '497 

on  a  large  scale.  Wisconsin,  however,  is  inviting  to  the 
agriculturist  of  small  means,  who  nevertheless  wishes  to 
gather  around  him  all  the  advantages,  comforts,  and  conven- 
iences of  a  perfect  farm  and  home.  The  rapid  growth  of  that 
State  is  an  illustration  of  the  almost  fabulous  celerity  with 
which  we  bui:ld  up  new  communities,  and  extend  the  bound- 
aries of  the  empire  in  this  western  world.  Her  population 
has  progressed  as  follows: 

1830, 11,683 

1840, 30,945 

1846, 155,277 

1850, 305,391 

1855, 552,109 

Thus,  in  twenty-five  years,  a  solitary  wilderness  has  been 
converted  into  a  State,  with  a  half  million  of  population,* 
and  rich  in  all  the  elements  of  agriculture,  commerce,  inter- 
nal improvements,  wealth,  cultivation,  and  general  prosperity. 

But  we  do  not  intend,  within  the  limits  of  a  newspa{)er 
article,  to  attempt  a  biography  of  this  blooming  and  growing 
western  sister  of  ours,  but  simply  to  call  attention  to  her  de- 
velopment and  promise.  We  might  appropriately  allude  to 
the  net  work  of  railroads  which  is  being  constructed  over  her 
territory,  opening  it  to  further  settlement,  increasing  the  value 
of  its  productions,  and  establishing  across  it  great  highways 
of  travel  and  commerce,  to  the  vast  region  of  the  Upper  Mis- 
sissippi, and  to  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  country  about  Lake 
Superior.  These  communications  open  up  to  this  vigorous 
State  prospects  in  the  future  of  which  she  may  well  be  proud. 

No  one  can  look  at  a  map  of  the  North- West,  without  be- 
ing impressed  with  the  advantages  which  Wisconsin  pos- 
sesses in  the  way  of  internal  navigation.      In  the  south- 


T 


*  In  1855,  -when  Wisconsin  exhibited  a  population  of  552,000,  seventy-two 
thousand  votes  "were  polled,  in  an  exciting  canvass  for  Governor  and  other  State 
oflficers.  In  November,  1856,  there  were  polled,  in  round  numbers,  for  Presi- 
dent, 120,000  votes, — indicating  a  population  of  at  least  900.000,  if  not  a  mil- 
lion^ ,  The  census  of  1860  will  exhibit  a  population  of  at  least  a  million  and  a 
quajriier  of  people.  L.  0.  D. 

63m 


498  INTERitiTAL  NAVIGATION  OF  WISCONSIN. 

western  part  of  the  State,  the  Wisconsin  river  empties  into 
the  Mississippi,  and  after  ascending  it  one  hundred  and  J&f- 
teen  ipiles,  and  seventy  miles  before  reaching  the  head  of 
navigation,  you  approach  within  two  miles  of  a  remarkable 
bend  in  the  Fox  river,  which  runs  directly  in  the  opposite 
direction,  north-easterly,  and  empties  into  Green  Bay.     This 
njarrow  carrying  place  very  much  resembles  the  one  at  Fort 
Stanwix,  (now  Rome,)   in  this   State,  which  separated  the 
waters  of  the  Mohawk  and  Wood  creek,  and  when  traversed 
by  a  canal,  connected  the  Western  Lakes  with  Tide  Water.    A 
similar  canal  between  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers,  has 
connected  the  Great  Lakes  with  the  Father  of  Waters.     From 
this  isthmus  to  Lake  Winnebago,  one  hundred  and  twelve 
miles,  the  waters  of  the  Fox  river  are  sluggish,  and  easily 
rendered  navigable.    After  this  passage  through  the  Lake  six- 
teen miles,  the  descent  to  Green  Bay  is  one  hundred  and 
seventy  feet  in  thirty-five  miles,  and,  of  course,  locks  are  re- 
quired, furnishing,  in  addition  to  the  navigation,  and  exhaust- 
less  water-power,  which  will  become  more  and  more  valuable 
-'ias  the  State  fills  with  population.     The  whole  distance  from 
^'ihe  Mississippi  to  Green  Bay,  by  this  internal  communica- 
tion, is  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles.     This  line  constitutes 
a  remarkable  channel  of  inland  navigation,  and  when  prop- 
erly  improved,  will  open  a  Very  direct  and  valuable  water 
communication   from   the   Upper   Mississippi   to   the   great 
northern  chain  of  lakes  and  the  St.  Lawrence,  alike  important 
to  the  general  commerce  of  the  country,  and  to  the  prosperity 
of  the  State  through  which  it  passes. 

-■  Congress,  as  early  as  1846,  made  an  extensive  grant  of 
land  to  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  for  the  improvement  of  the 
-««Lbove  line  of  navigation.  That  State,  with  wise  forecast 
-against  the  policy  of  running  in  debt,  has  granted  the  lands 
'^jto  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  Improvement  Company,  and  con- 
•jtracted  with  it  to  make  necessary  improvements  of  the  navi- 
igation  in  question.     In  so  doing,  she  doubtless  conferred  a 


INTERNAL  NAVIGATION  OF  WISCONSIN.  499 

iwagnificent  property  upon  this  Company,  to  be  constantly 
enhanced  in  value,  as  the  work  which  it  undertakes  to  con- 
struct shall  progress ;  but  in  view  of  the  want  of  economy 
and  of  the  financial  disaster  which  is  apt  to  attend  such  en- 
terprises when  conducted  by  the  Government,  we  cannot  say 
she  has  acted  unwisely. 

The  work  of  uniting^  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Lake,  through  this  line,  is  nearly  completed.  The  canal 
between  the  Wisconsin  and  Fox  rivers,  is  constructed.  Boats 
have,  within  a  few  days,  passed  through  the  locks  between 
Lake  Winnebago  and  Green  Bay.     The  Company  has  the, 

-;rfranchise  of  charging  tolls  on  the  property  which  may  pass 
through  this  line,  and  we  perceive  that  the  engineer,  Daniel 
C.  Jennie,  well  known  to  this  State,  estimates  that  these  tolls 
will  pay  a  handsome  revenue  on  the  stock  of  the  Company, 
leaving  its  lands  a  clear  profit.  These  lands  amount  to  400,000 
acres  already  selected,  and  a  claim  of  350,000  more,  which 
depends  upon  the  construction  to  be  given  the  act  of  Con- 
gress granting  the  lands.  Doubtless  the  enterprise  is  one 
which  is  to  afford  a  munificent  reward  to  the  sagacious  gen- 
tlemen who  were  able  to  foresee  its  importance,  and  risk  their 
capital  upon  its  successful  consummation.  We  notice  among 
the  Directors  of  the  Company,  several  gentlemen  of  this 
State,  distinguished  for  their  enterprise.  h 

D  ii«o  lois :  Erastus  Corning,  Alba- 
ny,  President,  Horatio  Seymour,  Utica,  Edwarb  C.  Dela- 
VAN,  Albany,  Otto  Tank,  Morgan  L.  Martin,  T^ice  Presi- 
dent, Edgar  Conklin,  Green  Bay.  Treasurer,  Abraham  B. 
Clark,  New  York.  Secretary,  Albert  G.  Allen,  New  York. 
'^^^idlhany,  N.  Y.,  ^tlas,  April,  1857.  f-oib  srl  j^iswii  9r4j  gai 
,.iJLii  iiiii  Mi  ^jjojaijjjaj  'ci^\.'  oA  ffoiiJv/  dJiw  mifq 

&  »d  oi  girf  buuol  :  ni   ;  flO 

-  m  ^©':  ;jd  b  ..        1/5  ,Y*ilB9t 


THE   LEMONWIER  RIVER. 

BY  D.  MCBRIDE,  of  MAUSTON. 

This  valuable  stream,  which  gives  name  to  the  valley,  de- 
rives its  name  from  an  incident  of  traditionary  history  among 
the  north-western  tribes  of  Indians,  many  years  prior  to  any 
modern  white  settlement  within  the  territory  of  Wisconsin. 

An  Indian  Chief,  who  then  held  unbounded  sway  over  the 
tribes  of  the  West,  from  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan  to 
the  Mississippi,  fearing  the  rapid  encroachments  of  the  white 
men,  then  spreading  over  the  territories  of  Indiana  and  Mich- 
igan, formed  the  plan  of  an  extensive  league  with  the  still  . 
farther  western  tribes  around,  and  west  of  the  Falls  of  St. 

6  Anthony;  and,  for  the  purpose  of  perfecting  it,  dispatched  a 
messenger  with  a  war  belt  of  wampum,  and  a  request  for 
delegations  of  the  Dakotahs  and  Chippewas  to  meet  in  grand 

-council  at  the  big  bend  of  the  Wisconsin — now  Portage 
City.  The  runner,  in  the  course  of  his  journey,  encamped 
on  the  proposed  council  grounds  over  night,  next  morning 

-kirossing  the  river,  following  the  well  known  trail  to  the  West, 
again  encamped  on  the  banks  of  this  beautiful  stream.  Dur- 
ing the  night  he  dreamed  that  he  had  lost  his  belt  of  wam- 
pum with  which  he  was  entrusted,  at  his  last  sleeping  place. 
On  awaking  in  the  morning  he  found  his  dream  to  be  a 
reality,  and  hastened  back  to  recover  the  lost  treasure,  in 
which  he  was  successful.  On  returning  to  the  scene  of  his 
dream  he  again  encamped,  and  before  leaving  on  his  mission, 


THE  LEMONWIER  RIVER.  501 

gave  a  name  to  the  river,  significant  of  the  event — Le-mo- 
wee* — the  river  of  memory. 

It  takes  its  rise  from  extensive  swamps  and  marshes  near 
the  dividing  ridge  in  Monroe  county,  and  has  a  tributary 
called  the  Little  Lemonwier,  which  unites  with  the  main 
branch  eight  miles  north-west  of  this  point.  For  many  miles 
on  the  head  waters  of  the  main  river,  the  land  is  heavily  tim- 
bered with  white  and  Norway  pines,  which  have  afforded  a 
constant  supply,  since  the  earliest  settlement  of  the  valley,  of 
immense  quantities  of  this  valuable  timber,  and  which  will 
no  doubt  continue  during  the  present  generation.  The  river  : 
is  a  very  durable,  permanent  stream,  at  all  times  affording  an 
abundant  supply  of  water  for  the  several  privileges  now 
erected,  or  that  may  yet  be  established.  The  whole  valley  is 
also  abundantly  supplied  with  hard  timber,  white  and  black 
oalc,  for  fencing,  fire- wood,  &c.,  and  no  better  lands  for  stock 
and  grain  farms  can  be  found  in  the.  Great  West,  ranging  at ' 
from  five  to  thirty  dollars  per  acre,v,,ivrj64  v^  tf-iiij6wlfM>0'^''^ 

*  Le-mo-wee  may  be  very  good  Indian,  for  aught  we  know,  and  if  this  tradi- 
tion deserves,  as  it  would  seem,  our  confidence,  we  presume  the  French  phrase. 
La  memoire — memory — is  intended.  On  page  178,  of  the  2d  Vol.  of  the  Society's  , 
Collections,  Judge  Lockwood  gives  the  orthography,  probably  from  the  custom-  ^ 
ary  pronunciation,  Manois  ;  and  in  the  Stambaugh  treaty  with  the  Menomd- 
nees,  of  February,  1&31,  the  same  stream  is  spoken  of  as  the  *•  Monoy  or  Lemon' 
nuierr—^ee  2d  Vol.  Society's  Collections,  p.  435.   >J   tllti'A  ' 

In  turning  to  some  MS.  notes  of  conversations  with  my  venerable  friend. 
Col,  John  Shaw,  of  Marquette  county,  I  find,  he  states  it  as  his  opinion,  that 
the  word  Lemonwier  is  derived  from  the  Indian  word  le-min  wah—tha  jUace 
where  the  deer  run,  in  their  running  or  sexual  season.  t^  i  '     t 

Gen,  W.  R.  Smith,  the  President  of  our  Historical  Society,  reTViatrediri'don-  ' 
versation,  that  lie  had  long  been  curious  and  anxious  to  learu  the  derivation  and 
meaning  of  Lemonwier,  but  had  not  succeeded.     It  is  a  singular,  rather  pretty 
and  euphonious  name  of  a  fine  stream  and  rich  valley  of  our  State,  and  we  hope 
its  origin  and  meaning  may  yet  be  definitely  determined.  L.  C.  D. 


ii-- 


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H"  ,Bidxii,.  ^Mnn  ■  :h^\y] nr W 

?.iUL  erf)  ..  iiii  ^uiviwj^ikj  ^iiini  .J. 


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art! . 

THE  BARABOO  VALLEY,  A  DAIRY  REGION. 

J  The  New  York  Tribune  recently  published  an  article  on 
the  dairy  region  of  the  Union,  of  which  the  following  is  an 
extract : 

The  true  dairy  region  comprises  the  New  England  States, 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  basin  of  the 
Lakes,  which  would  include  in  its  southern  rim  all  that  part 
of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois,  lying  north  of  the  41st  parallel 
of  north  latitude. 

The  Milwaukee  Wisconsin  justly  claims  for  Wisconsin  a 
share  of  the  honor,  and  says  : 

"  If  the  Tribune  desires  to  see  a  hilly  or  even  a  mountain- 
ous country,  we  could  take  our  friend  to  the  regions  of  the 
Baraboo  and  Lemonwier — only  one  hundred  miles  from  Mil- 
waukee, and  by  rail,  too — where  we  can  show  him  the  hills 
of  New  England,  water  as  pure  as  ever  trickled  out  of  the 
rock,  and  lakes  which  would  pass  for  genuine  mountain  tarns 
in  Auld  Scotia.  The  Devil's  Lake,  near  Baraboo,  is  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  and  picturesque  of  imaginable  lakes ;  the 
granite  boulders  and  enormous  precipices  make  one  think  of 
New  England.  It  is  not  the  Baraboo  country  alone  which  is 
a  good  grazing  section.  All  the  fertile  region  surrounding 
Lake  Winnebago,  is  a  superb  grazing  country.  There  James^ 
the  novelist,  has  his  farm.  We  can .  say  the  same  of  Dane, 
Waukesha,  Washington,  Columbia,  Rock,  Brown,  Richland, 
Iowa,  Grant,  Crawford,  and  the  Mississippi  river  counties  to* 
the  farthest  limits  of  Wisconsin." 


THE  BARABOO  VALLEY.  503 

In  truth,  Wisconsin  must,  of  necessity,  be  a  great  State, 
for  it  combines  better  wheat  and  corn  land,  with  every  capa- 
city for  the  best  of  dairying,  than  any  other  Sfate  in  the  Union. 
As  yet  we  have  only  touched  the  south  half  of  the  State.  We 
have  20,000  square  miles  north  of  the  Wisconsin  river,  that 
are  particularly  rich  in  all  those  elements  which  constitute  a 
dairy  State.  Butter  is  already  made  here  as  good  as  the  best 
Orange  county,  and  it  would  be  well  for  our  farmers  to  devote 
the  large  portion  of  their  farms  to  this  great  and  remunerative 
interest — for  corn,  wheat,  barley  and  oats  tumble  down  peri- 
odically in  price,  but  the  insatiable  consuming  maw  of  our 
people  for  butter,  seems  to  exceed  the  utmost  supply,  so  that, 
during  the  past  nineteen  years,  every  agricultural  product  has 
ruinously  varied  in  price,  except  the  product  of  the  dairy. 

We  can  endorse  all  this  and  more.  The  Baraboo  Valley 
claims  to  be  equal  to  any  district  in  the  West  in  adaptation  to 
dairy  purposes.  Leaving  out  of  sight  its  water-power  and  its 
wood,  it  has  resources  as  a  grazing  country  which  cannot  fail 
to  keep  up  its  now  rapidly  extending  reputation. — Baraboo  6. 
Republic.  i  J 


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.fioffiTT 

Qj  tlEUT.   GOV.   CRUZAT»S 

''"'""IfiSSSd^' f O^Tfffji  SAUKS' X?JD  FOXES:*"^"'  "'" 

My  dear  Children  the  Sauks  and  Foxes  ! — I  am  happy 
to  have  seen,  in  my  house,  your  two  principal  chiefs,  Huis- 
coNsiN  and  Mitasse,  and  I  Ustened  to  their  words,  this  beau- 
tiful and  clear  day,  with  much  pleasure.  I  found  my  ears  to 
hear  what  they  said  to  me,  in  the  name  of  all  of  you. 

My  dear  Children  ! — I  beg  you  to  listen  to  my  words,  in 
your  turn.  Open,  then,  to  day,  your  ears!  It  is  the  Master, > 
of  the  World  who  speaks  through  my  mouth.  Look  up  to  the 
sky !  you  shall  see  that  it  is  blue,  and  that  I  am  not  a  liar ;  . 
that  I  have  not  a  sweetened  mouth  to  deceive  you.  I  talk  to 
you  as  a  good  father,  who  loves  his  children,  and  desires  to 
see  them  happy. 

You  know  your  ancient  fathers,  the  French,  with  whom 
you  have  grown  up,  and  come  out  of  the  earth,  have,  in  all 
ages,  loved  the  red  complexion,  and  have  harmed  them  only 

*  Dox  Francisco  Cruzat  was  appointed  Lieutenant  Governor  and  Civil  and 
Militaiy  Commandant  of  Upper  Louisiana  in  1775,  and  was  superceded  in 
1778,  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Don  Fernando  De  Lkyba;  and  after  the  death  of  the 
latter,  in  1780,  Cruzat  was  a  second  time  appointed  Lieut.  Governor  of  Upper 
Louisiana,  and  assumed  the  government  the  following  season,  filling  that  posi- 
tion for  several  years.  This  message  of  Cruzat's  to  the  Sauks  and  Foxes,  in 
1781,  was  never  before  in  print.  The  original  manuscript,  in  French,  with  the 
English  translation,  have  been  kindly  communicated  to  the  Society  by  Miss 
Ursula  M.  Grignon,  of  Green  Bay,  by  whom  the  translation  was  made ;  the 
original  was  preserved  among  the  old  papers  of  her  father,  one  of  the  sons  of 
Pierre  Grignon,  sen'r.  It  will  be  observed  in  Cruzat's  message,  that  one  of 
the  Sauk  and  Fox  chiefs,  who  had  paid  him  a  visit,  was  named  Huisconsin — 
evidently  Ouisconsin  of  French  orthography,  or  Wisconsin  of  the  English. 
This  is  the  only  instance,  we  believe,  of  which  there  is  any  record  that  this 
ztame,  now  the  appellation  of  our  beloved  State,  was  ever  the  cognomen  of  an 
Indian.  L.  C.  D. 


MESSAGE  TO  THE  SAUKS  AND  FOXES.       .   ^        505 

to  punish  the  foolish  who  had  dipped  their  hands  in  the  blood 
of  the  whites.  Recall,  then,  well  in  your  minds,  my  children, 
what  the  two  grand  chiefs,  Messrs.  Montcalm  and  Marin* 
said  before  their  death — to  adhere  to  the  same  tree,  that  they 
had  always  held  to.  Although  that  tree  was  a  little  bent, 
caused  by  a  storm  that  had  passed  through  your  lands,  yet 
you  will  see  it  one  day  erect,  its  branches  rise  and  spread 
above  all  other  trees.  That  period  has  now  come.  The  tree 
I  speak  of,  is  your  ancient  father,  the  French.  You  see,  my 
children,  that  he  is  up,  that  he  does  not  wish  to  see  the  blood 
of  his  children,  the  red  skin,  shed.  He  extends  his  hand  to 
you,  without  fear.  Yes,  my  children,  your  fathers,  the  French 
and  the  Spanish,  have  always  been  but  one ;  as  you  have 
heard  it  [said,  so  you  now  see  it.  Know,  then,  when  you 
shake  hands  with  the  French,  you  shake  also  with  the^Span* 
ish  ;  and  when  you  shake  hands  with  the  Spanish,  yoi|  also 
shake  hands  with  the  French — since  those  two  nations  are 
upon  the  earth  to  protect  you,  and  to  teach  you  the  will  ot 
the  Master  of  life,  i  Yoli  well  know,  my  children,  that  I  have 
recommended  you  to  remain  quiet  upon  your  lands,  to  pro- 
vide for  your  wives  and  children,  and  not  to  take  part  in  the 
war  between  the  whites.  I  repeat  again  to  day  the  same  ad- 
vice, ^remain  quiet.  I  do  not  wish  to  see  your  blood  flow  into 
your  rivers.  But  I  wish  that  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi 
should  remain  clear  and  blue,  and  its  channel  be  without  any 
obstruction.  Then,  my  children,  be  quiet  When  you  hear 
any  thing  evil  said  of  your  brethren  the  French  and  the  Span- 
iards, come  and  tell  me,  as  you  have  promised  me.  You  shall 
have  in  me  a  good  father,  who  will  receive  and  embrace  you, 
so  long  as  you  shall  regain  his  children. 

Your  True  Father,  the  Spaniard,  GRUZAT. 

At  St.  Louis,  of  the  Illinois,  Nov.  20,  1781. 

. -^^ 

*  Doubtless  Capt  Morand,  mentioned  in  Mr.  Grignon's  Recollections  in  this/ 
volume.  L.  0.  D. 

64m 


?/ 


r.r,. 


rhftnr^ 


STATISTICS  OF  WISCONSIN  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES. 


COLLECTED  BY  LYMAN  C.  DRAPER. 


>v.  rr  fi«^ 


0. 


state  Library 

Executive  Libraiy . 
State  Super'tend'ts. 
State  Hist.  Society. 
University  Libraries 
Madison  Fem.  Sem. 
Madison  Institute.. 
State  Ag'l  Society. 

High  School 

Presbyterian  Ch.  L. 
Young  Men's  Ass'n. 

University 

Female  College 

Curious  Soc.  do. 

Public  Schools 

Catholic  Seminary. 
Epis.  Pai'ish  Lib... 
Ger.  <fe  Eng.  Acad.. 
Ger.  &  Fr.  Cir,  Lib. 
Yallop's  Cir.  Lib... 
Eacine  Col.  Libs... 

Public  School 

Library  Association 
St.  Luke's  Par.  Lib. 

High  School 

Odd  Fellows'  Lib.. 
Beloit  College  Libs 
Female  Seminary.. 
Mechanics  Institute 
Lawrence  Un.  Libs. 

Carroll  College 

S'ashotahTh.  Sem.. 
Wayland  Univ'rsity 

Platteville  Acad 

Sinsinawa  Md.  Col. 

Vols. in  Pub.  Schools 

not  included  above 

Add  Sab.  Sch.  Libs. 


s 
o 

•iH 

08 

o 

O 


Madison  . . 
....do.... 
....do.... 
...-do.... 
....do.... 
....do.... 

do 

....do.... 
....do.... 
....do.... 
Milwaukee 
....do.... 
....do.... 
....do.... 
..„.do.... 
...do-... 

do ... . 

....do.... 
....do.... 
-..-do.... 

Racine 

....do-... 

do 

do 

Kenosha  . . 

do 

Beloit 

Janesville . 
...-do.... 
Appleton.. 
Waukesha. 
Nashotah. . 
Beav.  Dam 
Platteville. 
Fair  Plav. 


§ 


1836 

1848 
1848 
1854 
1848 
1856 
1854 
1851 


Total 


1853 
1847 
1856 
1850 
1856 
1851 
1855 
1854 
1851 
1850 
1851 
1852 
1854 
1852 
1856 
1851 
1850 
1848 
1854 
1856 
1851 

1842 
1855 
1846 
1854 


® 

lb 

IS 

o'.S 


7,000 

600 

500 

4.000 

3,000 

1,000 

451 

300 

300 

150 

3,300 

150 

487 

217 

605 

2,500 

250 

480 

4,000 

800 

1,450 

1,300 

1,000 

40 

200 

1.300 

3,190 

150 

50 

4,000 

1,200 

2,500 

200 

800 

3,000 

28,308 
122,500 

201,278 


OQ 


m 
O 

"c-c 


4,250  00 


400 
2,517 
1,300 


00 
21 
00 


300  00 


75 

1,800 


00 
00 


800 
150 


00 
00 


100 

150 

2,100 


00 
00 
00 


120 
1,000 


00 
00 


382  13 


1,000  00 


1,200  00 


o 

0)  a; 

'•1  I— I 
^  O 

P    C 


250 


200 

1000 

335 

"ni 


400 

150 

80 

217 


80 

95 

400 


250 

250 

200 

40 


215 
240 


50 
700 

'260 
100 


LiBEARIAJf  .  ■       ' 


Horace  Rublee. 


. . . .... 1 1 


f 


D.  S.  Durrie. 
Madison  Evans. 
J.  C.  Pickai'd. 
D.  H.  TuUis. 
D.  J.  Powers. 
D.  Y.  Kilgore. 


Wm.  Bilton. 


S.  E.  Huntingt'n 
Mary  J.  Lapham 
Teachers. 
B.  I.  Dorward. 
J.  P.T,  Ingraham 
P.  Engleman. 
H.  W.  Anggr. 
J.  Yallop. 
Roswell  Park. 
J.  G.  McMynn. 
O,  O,  Stearns. 


•«»> 


E.  H.  Rudd. 
J.  Emerson, 


N.  E.  Cobleigh. 
S.  A.  Bean. 
Geo.  G.  Hepburn 
Benj.  Newell. 


J,  L.  Power. 


WliSCONSIN  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES.  507 

We  thus  see  in  our  Wisconsin  public  libraries  over  200,000 
volumes.  It  is  questionable,  if  any  Western  State  can  make 
any  such  exhibit  of  books — the  great  source  of  intelligence, 
knowledge  and  power. 

It  should  be  added,  that  these  statistics,  except  those  of  the 
Madison  Libraries,  and  the  Racine  Public  School,  come  down 
only  to  January  1st,  1857 — the  exceptions  to  September,' 1857. 
None  of  these  libraries,  it  is  believed,  have  published  cata- 
logues, except  those  of  the  Milwaukee  Young  Men's  Associa-  . 
tion,  and  the  State  Library — the  latter  published  in  1852, 
though  a  new  one  is  designed  to  be  prepared  by  the  librarian  ' 
during  the  autumn. 

The  State  Historical  Society  was  really  organized  in  1849, 
and  up  to  its  re-organization  in  1S54,  it  only  collected  fifty  t 
volumes ;  its  real  prosperity  may  be  dated  from  its  re-organi- 
zation. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Sabbath  School  Libraries,  nearly ' 
700  in  number,  and  established  between  1843  and  1857,  ex-  j 
hibit  a  very  large  number  of  volumes,  and  are  admirably^  . 
calculated  to  do  an  unspeakable  amount  of  good.  The  vol-  \ 
umes  are  chiefly  18 mo,  and  average  200  pages  each.  Five  . 
of  the  libraries  number  928  volumes  each,  being  all  the  pub-  c 
lications  of  the  American  Sunday  School  Union.  I 

If  to  these  statistics  were  added  the  private  libraries  of  our 
State,  the  aggregate  would  be  swelled  immensely.  The . 
library  of  Bishop  Henni,  of  Milwaukee,  numbers  between 
six  and  seven  thousand  volumes ;  Lyman  C.  Draper's  Col- 
lection  on  Western  History,  1500  volumes;  Dr.  John  W.  ,; 
Hunt's  Geographical  and  Statistical  Collection,  300 ;  D.  Y. 
Kilgore's  Educational  Collection,  600 ;  and  many  ©ther  pri- 
vate collections,  choice  and  valuable,  might  be  enumerated. 


Ml  i 

'f  ! 
■  hi 


t  r 


'fT-jf 


rT* 


°lf 


nvr  '  jiooj 


CORRECTIONS  AND  ADDITIONS.       loi^^no, 

J'age  30. — The  last  three  lines  on  this  page  have  been  misplaced  in  mating  up 

the  form — they  should  immediately  follo-w  the  first  paragraph  on  the  next  page. 

Page  49. — Gen.  Bbaceen   only  acted  temporarily  as  Adjutant  of  Dodgb's 

battalion.        ^^^  y.^^  ^^  ^  fft,{/r)flt 

Page  53. — Instead  of  Granville,  Hampden  county,  it  should  read  Greenwicn, 
Hampshire  county. 

Page  57. — Judge  Lockwood  died  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  August  24th,  1857,  in 
the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  "  In  1842  or  '43,"  says  the  Prairie  du  Chien  • 
Leader,  "  Mr.  Lookwood  united  with  the  Jipiscopal  Church  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 
of  "which  he  continued  a  member  until  his  death.  Some  years  ago,  he  was 
prostrated  by  a  paralytic  stroke,  from  which  he  never  fully  recovered. — 
Although  debarred  by  the  state  of  his  health,  in  after  life,  fi-om  active  personal 
eflPbrte,  he  nevertheless  took  great  interest  in  everything  connected  with  the 
growth  and  progress  of  our  city,  and  was  fully  alive  to  the  necessity  of  pro- 
moting, in  every  way,  those  measures  most  condusive  to  its  prosperity.  He  was 
taken  ill  suddenly,  and  from  the  first,  but  small  hopes  were  entertained  of  his 
recovery.  He  lingered  for  about  two  weeks,  and,  on  Monday  last,  *  gently 
yielded  up  the  ghost,'  and  *  was  gathered  to  his  fathers ' — passing  from  the 
cares  and  sorrows  of  earth  to  the  awful  realities  of  eteft'nity.  *  *  *  On 
Tuesday,  his  funeral  was  attended  by  a  large  concourse  of  friends.  An  address 
was  delivered  by  Rev.  Alfred  BRUNSoif,  who  has  been  a  resident  of  the  place 
for  nearly  twenty-two  yeare.  He  spoke  of  the  long  friendship  which  had  ex- 
isted between  himself  and  his  departed  brother, — bound  by  the  ties  of  common 
sympathy  and  interest  as  pioneers,  and  more  especially  as  Christians  ;  of  the 
upright  character  of  Mr,  Lookwood  in  all  his  dealings ;  and  |very  feelingly 
alluded  to  the  fact  that  he  was  almost  the  only  surviving  member  of  that  soci- 
ety, formed  of  Anglo-American  citizens,  daring  the  early  years  of  his  residence 
here." 

Page  112,  line  12,  for,  and  has  even,  read,  and  which  has  even. 

Mauce,  read  Mance. 
Isry,  read  Issy, 
Mercaire,  read  Mercure. 
arrivals,  read  arrival. 
Qarnievand,  read  Garxier  and. 
Noukeeu,  read  Noukeeii. 


114, 

t( 

4, 

6, 

25, 

115, 

ti 

3; 

116, 

t( 

3, 

135, 

t( 

2, 

CORREOTIONS  AND  ADDITIONS.  509 

Note  on  page  118.~Mr.  SHKA,in  a  subsequent  letter,  here  omitted,  disclaimed 
any  idea  of  reflecting  on  Mr.  Noiskux,  and  states  that  he  had,  till  after  writing 
the  previous  letter  been  ignorant  of  the  fact,  that  Mr,  Noiseux  had  expressly 
forbidden  any  transcription  of  his  work,  which  he  himself  deemed  inaccurate 
and  unfinished.  Tkis  fact  alone  would  have  been  a  sufficient  answer  to  such 
as  thought  to  make  it  an  authority. 

The  error  on  page  118,  as  to  Marquette,  is  also  corrected  by  Mr.  Shea, 
Marquette  was  not  a  Recollect  Friar,  as  the  Telegraph  alleges,  misled  by  Mo- 
HETTE,  but  a  Jesuit.  See  his  own  words  in  the  Discovery  and  Exploraiion  of 
the  Mississippi,  Ixxi  and  60. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  THE  MARQUETTE— JOLIET  VOYAGE, 

1. — Decouverte  de  quelques  pays  et  nations  de  I'Amerique  Septentrionale. — 
(Marquette's  Narrative)  published  in  Thevenot's  Recueil  de  Voyages, 
Paris,  1681. 

2. — Joliet's  Narrative,  in  the  Appendix  to  the  English  edition  of  Hennepik, 
London,  1698. 

3. — Ontdekking  van  eenige  Landen  en  volkeren,  in't  Noorder-gedeelte  van 
America  door  P.  Marquette  en  Joliet.  Leyden  Vanderaa,  1707,  37  pp., 
map  and  two  folding  plates. 

This  is  a  Dutch  version  of  No.  1,  and  the  first  edition  of  MjIrqubtte  as  a 
separate  work. 

4. — DecouverJe  des  quelques  pays,  &c.    Paris,  1845. 
Rich's  re-print  of  No.  1. 

5. — Recit  des  voyages  et  des  decouvertes  du  P.  Jacques  Marquette  de  la  Com- 
pagnie  de  Jesus  en  I'annee,  1673,  et  aux  suivantes.  "With  map  and  trans- 
lation in  the  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi,  New  York,  1853. 

6, — Recit  des  voyages  et  des  decouvertes  du  P.  Jacques  Marquette  de  la  Com- 
pagnie  de  Jes»s  en  I'annee,  1673,  et  aux  suivantes  :  La  continuation  de  ses 
voyages  par  le  R.  P.  Claude  Allouez  et  le  journal  autographe  du  P,  Mar- 
quette, en  1674  and  1675,  avec  la  cai'te  de  son  voyage  tracee  de  sa  main. 
Imprime  d'apres  le  mannscrit  original  restant  au  College  Ste.  Marie  a  Mon- 
treal,   Albany,  1855. 

Mr.  Lenox's  edition,  privately  printed. 

7. — Jouet's  recently  discovered  map,  as  yet  unpublished, 

J.  G.  S. 


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GENERAL  INDEX. 

^A 

Abear,  Joseph,  pioneer  of  Hudson, : 467 

Abert,  CoL,  and  Kenoslia  harbor, 390-392 

Ace,  a  Spanish  Indian  trader,  killed, 251,  263,  264 

Adams,  Hon.  Charles  F.,  promises  a  donation, 6 

Ah-shah-way-gee  she-go-qua,  the  Chippewa  princess, 349-354 

Ainove  Indians,  of  Wisconsin, ^ ^ 126 

Alanson,  Re?',  William,  earlj  Kenosha  clergyman  and  teacher  , 402,  418 

Alden,  Hon.  Levi,  donor, 8,  39 

Aldrich,  Dr.  Philip,  a  pioneer  of  Hudson, 467 

Allen,  Albert  G.,. Secretary  Fox  R.  J^  Co., 499 

Allen,  Capt.,  surveys  Kenosha  harbor, 388 

Allen,  N,  R.,  a  Kenosha  pioneer ,^,„„^-.. 379 

AUouez,  Father  Claude,  the  missionary, 87-124,  127 

Amariton,  the  Sieur,  commands  at  Green  Bay, ^rfffv* ^^^'  1^3,  156 

American  Antiquarian  Society,  publications, -jj-t '^"^rix'*i  "^ 

endowment, 23,24 

its  edifice, 25 

American  Ethnological  Society,  publications, 7 

American  Geographical  and  Statistical  Society,  publications, 7 

American  Philosophical  Society,  publications, _ 7,  42 

Ancient  newspapers  in  library, 12 

Ancient  manuscripts, " 12 

Ancient  coin  in  cabinet, 13 

Anderson,  Capt.  Thomas,  in  British  service, 271,  273,  274,  275,  278 

Aadrews,  Ammah,  a  pioneer  of  Hudson, - 467 

(vAndrews,  E.  H.,  artist, ^^ ^. ^^^i. .,^ .,4j.>, .,„.,, §4 

j^ntiquities  of  Wisconsin, 178-184,  185-193,  293 

^^rndt,  Hon,  John  P,,  portrait  of, 44,,^,*^.,:,  »,,(.. .»«w!.!..  16,  45 

i;gc  sketch  of, ^^4 ^^  4  ^^v^w.  ^  ^*  Ji.k^  J^i . .  t.  w  4 « »  •  47 

Astor  Libraiy,  endowed, 22,23 


512  GENERAL  INDEX 

At-cha-tcha-kan-gouen  Indians, 126,  127 

Atlases  added  to  the  library, 10,  11 

Atte-Konse,  a  Chippewa  chief, 354-356 

Atwood,  Col,  David,  member  of  Executive  Committee,  1856, 34 

1857, V 

Atvrood,  Hon,  J.  P.,  member  of  Executive  Committee,  1856, 34 

1867, v 

Life  member  of  the  Society, 37 

Atwood  <fe  Rublee,  donors, -. 42 

Autograph   collections, 11,12 

Aw-ke-wain-ze,  a  Chippewa  chief, 341 

Ayer,  Elbridge  G.,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 406 

Ayer,  Mary,  first  child  born  in  Kenosha, 406 


Bache,  Prof,  A.  D..  donor, 40 

Bacon,  Hudson,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 371,  378,  396,  400,  404,  419 

Bacon,  O.  R,  donor, 12 

Bad  Ax,  battle-field,  picture  of, 15,45,  46 

Bailey,  J.  M.,  a  Pierce  county  pioneer, .!'.!' 457,  460 

Bainbridge,  M.,  a  Green  county  pioneer,.... 425 

Baird,  Henry  Carey,  donor, 15,  39 

Baird,  Mrs.  Henry  S  ,  mentioned, 238 

Baker,  Hon.  James  S.,  donor, .' 13 

Baker,  Joseph,  donor, 41 

Ballou,  D.  W.,  jr.,  promises  donation, ^ ---,•- 6 

Bancroft,  Hon.  George,  cited, 134,  210 

Barclay,  James  J.,  promises  donation, 6 

Baraboo  Valley,  a  dairy  region, '. . . .  502,  503 

Barlow,  Eev.  Abner,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 379,  401 

Barlow,  George  Rogers,  or  Scip, 410-413 

Barrange,  Bishop,  the  missionary, 365 

Bartlett,  Hon.  John  R.,  donor, 39 

-  Barth,  Laurent,  pioneer  of  Portage  City, 288,  289 

Barry,  Rev.  William,  commends  the  Society, 32 

-  on  the  Antiquities  of  Wisconsin, 185-193 

Bashford,  Gov.  Coles,  promises  portrait, .^. '.'  i .". 16 

appoints  commissioners  for  Insane  Asylum, 51 

Bates,  J.  R.,  donor, it..'. 12 

Bauprez,  Louis,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, , 242,  250,  268,  270 

Beard,  Henry,  donor, Ji.i^ '  40 

Beard,  James  R.,  a  Kenosha  pioneer,... ^  .■..\;^JJiill"'r5..^-.'i.".'.\'k'i'y.^-i..  399 

Beaubien,  Col.  John  B>  served  under  Gen,  Cass  in  1814 323 

6«  v*'^'  -  -  -  early  trader  at  Milwaukee 291 


^  GENERAL  INDEX.  513 

Beaojeu,  killed  at  Braddock's  defeat 213,  214 

Beaver  Chips,  in  the  Society's  cabinet 13 

Benedict,  Stephen  G.,  metuber  Executive  Committee.  1857 v 

Benettau,  Father,  missionary „ Ill 

Bennett,  George,  member  of  Western  Emigration  Company 371 

Bergier,  Father,  raissionaiy 95,  110 

Bequests  and  Endowments  desired  by  the  Society 22-24 

to  other  Societies 23,  24 

Beucher,  Father,  missionary 110 

Bibliography  of  the  Marquette — Joliet  Voyage 509 

Big  Beaver,  a  Chippewa  chief T 232-234 

Big  Bull  Falls,  first  settled 438 

BigeloAV,  Dr.  A.,  donor  13 

Billinghurst,  Hon.  Charles,  donor 15,  39,  42 

Billings,  Col.  H.  M.,  promises  portrait 17 

Bird,  Hon.  Augustus  A.,  promises  portrait, 17 

Black  Bird,  a  brave  young  Sauk 205,  206 

Black  Bird,  a  Chippewa  chief 345-347 

Black  Hawk,  made  a  stand  at  Wolf  Point,  in  1832 191 

Indians  burn  deserted  houses  in  Green  County 432,  424 

Stambaugh's  expedition 293-297 

relic,  in  the  Society's  cabinet 13 

Black  Hoof,  a  noted  Shawanoe  chief 311 

Blackmore,  J.  R.,  a  Green  county  pioneer 421,  422 

Black  River,  early  trading  post  on... c 267 

Blacksnake,  Gov.,  a  Seneca  chief,  portrait  promised 18 

Black  Wolf,  a  Winnebago  chief. 269,  271,  288 

Bliss,  G.  W.,  promises  donation .-..  9 

Bliss,  H.  G.,  donor 13 

[jBlooraer  &  Strong,  Wisconsin  River  lumbermen 438 

jBoardman,  J.  H ,  a  Kenosha  pioneer 391,  408 

Joilvin,  Nicholas,  a  Prairie  du  Chien  pioneer 273 

.Bond,  Rev.  H,  F.,  donor 39 

fBoner,  a  Green  County  pioneer 421,  422 

Jonneterre,  Augustin,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer 242,  256 

jBoston,  Natural  History  Society,  publications 7 

$ostoni,  an  Indian  name  for  Americans 301 

^Bosworth,  B.  F.,  a  Whitewater  pioneer 429 

Boucher,  Joseph,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer 242 

Bouchia,  Peter  F.,  a  Hudson  Pioneer 467 

Bouquett,  Gen.  Henry,  cited - .  133 

Bowyer,  Col.  John,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer *......  249 

Boyd,  Col,,  Menomoneo  Indian  agent... 293 

Boyd,  James,  Lieutenant  in  Black  Hawk  war >^-.4^w, 

65m 


614 


GENERAL  INDEX, 


Boyles,  Hon.  William,  a  Green  County  pioneer. 421,  425 

Bi-aclien,  Gen.  Chailesi,  donor 19 

copjjer  raining 411 

portrait  of 16,  45 

glietch  of 49,  508 

Braddoclc's  defeat 212-215 

Bradish,  Prof.  Alvah,  promises  picture 18 

commends  the  Societj 29 

Bradlee,  Rev.  0.  D.,  donor 42,  44 

Brawlej,  A.,  Wisconsin  River  lumberman 438 

Bread,  Daniel,  Oneida  Chief,  portrait  of 16,  45 

ekctch  of. 56 

Brebenf,  Father,  misaionaiy 97,  98,  116,  123 

Bree^^ni's  Relation  of  1653  cited 113,  127,  132 

Briggs  &  Go,  mills,  Hortonville 485 

Brigham,  CoL  Ebenezer,  promises  donation 6 

Brigham,  Col.  E,  &  Preecott,  promise  relic  of  King  Philip's  war 14 

Brisboia,  Michael,  a  Prairie  du  Chien  pioneer 237 

an  Indian  trader. 251 

British  interpreter  in  war~1812 2C9.  279 

■''BrisboLB.  Antoine,  captured  in  1814 272,  273 

Brisque,  Yout,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer 242 

British  Record  Publications  promised 6 

Britton,  Mrs.  Susan  B  ,  donor 39 

Brock,  Gen.,  encouraged  Indian  cruelty 308 

Biookes  A  Stevenson,  artists 15,  18,  45,  62 

doi  ors 16 

'  Brown,  Beriah,  a  Vice  President  of  the  Society v 

Brown,  Andrew  J.,  donor 40 

Brown,  killed  at  Kenosha. 411,  413 

Brunson,  Re \r.  Alfred,  donor 8,  12,  13,  15,  39 

promises  portrait 17 

Antiquities  of  Crawford  county,  by 178-184 

funeral  Address  on  Judge  Lockwood 508 

Brnnet,  Baptist,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer 241,  243,  258 

'  Brunet,  Domitiick, do 242 

Brunet,  Perrish do 243 

Br  te.  Bishop,  writer  on  Jesuit  missionaries 87,  90,  118,  119,  12^ 

Buck,  James  S  ,  promises  donation „ G 

Buffalo    hief,  a  Chippewa 365-369 

Bull,  Hon.    liiam  C,  member  of  Executive  Committee,  1856, 34 

1857, V 

donor  of  painting, 15,  46 

Bnllen,  John,  Jr.,  Kcncaha  pioneer,.... 371,  374,  375,  379,  384,  396.  399,  400, 

401,  405,  408,  419,  420 


•  GENEIIA.L  INDEX  515 

Bullen,  Hon.  William,  KenosLa  pioneer, 371,  331.  392;  30G,  408,  419 

Burbaiik,  Seldom,  a  Nojthport  jiioiieer, 483 

Bnrdick,  Col,  Z.  P.,  donor 42 

Bu/te  des  Morts,  Little,  battle  fouglit  there 207,  208 

Butte  de^  Morts,  Great,  no  battle  there, 293 


Cabina,  a  Chippe-vrachief, 165,166 

Gaboon,  B.  P.,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 415,  416 

OalJiitus,  Eliaa  A.,  member  of  Executive  Committee,  1 85G, 34 

1857, V 

Eulogy  on  Perciral, 19,66 

Campbell,  Capt.,  a  Prairie  du  Chien  pioneer, 25S,  259,  289 

Caiboiineau,  Pierre,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 242 

Cardronne,  Baptist, do 242,  257 

Caree,  Pierre,  sketch  of, 2l3,  230,  238,  239 

Carpenter,  S.  H.,  membei"  of  Executive  Committee,  1856, 34 

1857, ;     T 

report  on  Picture  Gallery, 45 

Carpenter,  S.  D.  <b  S.  H.,  donors 8,  39 

Carpenter,  F.  B„  artist,  sketch  of, 62 

Oarr,  Prof  E.  S.,  member  of  Executive  Committee,  1&56 34 

Oarr,  Rev.  Spencer,  donor, 41 

Carron,  early  French  trader, 201,  226 

Cairon,  Old,  a  Menomonee  chief, 217,  218,  226,  227,  265,  266 

tJarron,  Josett€, do 283,  284 

Carron, _ do 291.  295 

Car-ry-raau-nee,  a  Winnebago  chiif, ,, 2(i9,  267 

Carver,  Capt.,  visit  to  Wisconsin, 206,  209,  2l0,  251,  252 

Cary,  Dr.  B.  B.,  early  pioneer, 371,  377 

promises  portrait, 17 

CaBS,  Hon.  Lewis,  donor, 40 

promises  portrait, 16 

reminiscences  of  Thames  baitle, 309-311 

engagement  near  Detroit,.... 311,  320-324,  326-323 

Governor  of  Michigan  Territory, 245,  333,  335 

testimony  to  Indian  love  of  whiskey, 358 

gave  medal  to  young  Na-gon-ub, 349 

Cass  Manuscripts, : 139-177,261 

Call  in,  Hon.  John,  mentioned,... 58 

CliabaneJ,  Father,  missionary, 116 

Chagoiianiigon,  Lake  Superior  mission 101,  104,  148,  154 

C))a-ka-cho-ka-ma,   Menomonee  chief. 226,  2*9,  267 

Ohalifuux,  Pierre,  a  Greea  Bay  pioneer, « 242 


516  GENERAL  INDEX. 

Chambers,  Col.  Talbot,  U.  S.  army, 281 

Ohamplain's  work  cited, 131,  132 

Chappue,  Stanislaus,  Indian  trader, 270,  281,  291,  292  ' 

Chaidon,  Father,  Green  Baj  missionary, 150,  152,  153,  261 

Charlevoix,  Hist.  New  France,  cited,...  97,  105,  106,  108,  119,  130,  132,  134, 

137,  195,  261,  285 

Charter  Oak,  relic  of,  in  cabinet, 13 

Chase,  H,  S„  donor, 39 

Chase,  If,  J.,  donor, 41 

Chase,  Hon,  Warren,  founds  a  Fourier  association, 417 

Chavodreil,  an  Indian  trader, 251,  264,  265 

Che-mo-ka-mun,  Indian  name  for  whites 300,  329 

jlphevalier,  Bartinmie,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer,  ._.. ,.. 242 

^<PJM^ago,  early  Indian  locality, ■.  \ti'J.  jV/i  - .  -"•• 102,  134 

signification, — negro  trader  there,  .>.1\, 292 

.treaty  of  1833,  Indian  title  extinguished, 17 

*v Chicago  Historical  Society, 32,  193 

Chick -hong-sic,  tried  for  murder, 336 

,,ChiJlds,  Col.  Ebenezer,  donor 13 

anecdotes, 43 

■  Child,  Geo.  W.,  promises  donation, '6 

Chippewa  River,  early  trading  post  on, Jl .!.» .' 262 

iChippewas  of  Lake  Superior,  Mesn aid's  visit, 101 

at  war  in  1726, 150,  151,  158,  165 

war  services  in  1755, 212 

1763,  at  Mackinaw, 224,  225 

1775-'81,  served  under  De  Langlade, 229 

incident, 262,  263 

•jOhippewas  of  Lake  Superior,  by  Dr.  Morse, 338-369 

No.  1.  PaymentatLa  Pointe— Na-naw-oug-ga-be,  338,  344 
P  2.  Chiefs  Blackbird  and  Na-goa-ub, 344,  349 

3.  The  Chippewa  Princess, 349-354 

4.  A-tte-Konse  and  other  Chiefe 354-357 

5.  la-ba  ge-zhick — plea  for  the  Chippewas — 

^  their  sufferings, 357-365 

6.  Obituary  of  Buffalo  Chief, .*. 365-369 

Ohoueguen,  or  Oswego, 164,  165 

Circe,  Father  De,  missionary,.. 95 

Claimants'  Union, ->. 386 

Clark,  Julius  T.,  member  of  Executive  Committee,  1856, 34 

1857, V 

audits  Treasurer's  report, 38 

donor, 3" 

Clark,  Darwin,  promises  portrait, ^'^ 


GENERAL  INDEX,  5I7 

Clark,  Satterlee,  donor, , 8,  39 

Clark,  Abram  B.,  Treasurer  Fox  River  ImproTomeiit  Company 499 

Clark,  Gen.  George  Rogers,  conquest  of  Illinois 2!;29-231,  246 

Clay,  Thoinaa  H.,  donor, 40 

Cline,  George,  Wisconsin  River  lumberman, 438 

Clinton,  Edmund  D.,  portrait  of, 16,  45 

sketch  of, 54 

Coast  Survey  Bureau,  publications, 7  ■ 

Coe,  Mr.,  teacher  at  Kenosha 418 

Coffin,  Captain,  of  New  London, 481 

Coin,  ancient,  in  Society's  cabinet, 13 

Coit,  D.  R.,  donor, 39 

Cdlton,  J.  H.,  donor, 10,  39 

Conant's  Rapids  settled 438 

Conant  <fe  Campbell,  lumbermen 438 

Conklin,  Hon.  Edgar,  director  of  Fox  River  Improvement  Company 499 

Connecticut  Historical  Society,  donor 39 

its  efforts 30 

Conover,  Professor  O.  M.,  Treasurer  of  the  Society,  1856, 34 

1857, Y 

Treasurer's  report, 3T 

donor, 41 

Co'ntinental  paper  money  in  cabinet, 13 

Cooper,  Rev.  James,  donor, 39 

Cdpp,  William  J.,  of  Prescott, 460,  463,  465 

Copper  mining, ^.j.i.."4..'>  ,:i -. 417 

Corning,  Hon.  Erastus,  Fox  River  Improvement  Company, 499 

Cothren,  Hon.  M- M.,  portrait  of, - .v- 16,  40 

sketch  of, - 52 

Cover,  J.  C,  promises  donation, 9 

Courcelles,  Intendent  of  New  France, 102,  103 

Coutume  de  Paris,  referred  to 220 

Cram,  Captain,  survey  of  Kenosha  harbor, 389 

Crawford  County,  antiquities  of, 4'..vsi*vs* 178 

Crawford,  Hon.  Samuel,  promises  portrait 17 

Crawford,  Gen.  John,  donor, 12 

Crelie,  Joseph,  served  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  1814, 273 

Croghan,  Col.  George,  at  Detroit, 327 

Crossit,  David,  a  Kenosha  pioneer,. 375,  378,  408 

Crowley,  Jeremiah,  promises  donation, 9 

Crowns,  J.  G.,  a  Hudson  pioneer, i,..i «!-... *.!.-. «-**-, -**---  467 

Cruzat,  Lieut.  Gov.,  message  to  Sauks  and  Foxes 504,  505 

notice  of, 504 

Ooshman,  Peter,  a  Waukesha  pioneer, 54 

Cuatis,  Geo.  W,  P.,  donor, 12 


5^8  GENERAL  INDEX. 


Dablon,  Fatlicr,  missionary, 87-1 16 

Dairy  retfion  of  Wii*coiifiifi, 502,  503 

Daiiiel,  Father,  mL?si(>riaij, 98,  llG,  1*28 

Daiioi),  Fat.lier do HI 

DaVliiig.  Hou.  M.  C,  portrait, 16,  45 

Bkelchof, 52,  503 

Davie g,  William,  a  Green  county  pioneer, : 421,  423 

De;in,  Hon.  N.  W.,  donor, 12 

Da  Boisbriaute,  ctimmandaiit  ia  Illinois, .,i.^ —  . —  148 

DeGere,  Amable,  services, 213,  217,  218,  238 

DeKaury,  Old, .'---  269 

DdKaury,  One-eyed, 2G9,  287 

De  Kauris,  the, 286-269 

De  La  Croix,  a  trader,... 233 

De  Langlade,  Sieur  Augnstin,....  ...vU-.r 197-201,  211,  223,  228 

D*  Langlade,  Sieur  Charles,  birth  and  early  life, 195-199 

iv.  eettles  at  Green  Bay, 199,200 

^  Indian  troubles, 20l,  202 

1746,  serves  in  Fox  war 204-211 

1755,  engages  in  French  war, ,..  211 

«      at  hraddock's  defeat,.. 212-215 

17.56,  partisan  servicee, - 215,216 

1757,  serves  under  Montcalm, 216 

'■'■'^-  "      atMackinaw 216 

"''  1758,  in  Canada  and  at  Dn  Quesnc, 217 

^  1659,  at  Ningara  and  fall  of  Quebec,....  217,  218 

•*      marriage, ,^ 218 

•*  **      anecdotes  of  his  wife, 2l8,  21> 

^  1760,  promoted,— services, 219-221 

close  of  the  war,  result,  hardship?, 221,  222 

—  186 1 -'()3,  re-appointed  Indian  agent,...  223,224 

^'  1763,  at  Mackinaw  when  captured, 224,  225 

1775-'81,  services  in  Revolutionary  war,.  .229-231 

subsequent  services,  and  death, 234,  23S 

descendants, 235 

character, 196,  235-23T 

a  relic  of, 236 

Deiaplaine,  George  P.,  promises  portrait, IT 

De  La  P»)therie'a  History  cited, 130,  134 

Delavan,  Hon.  E.  C,  Fox  River  Improvement  Co., 499 

De  Lignory,  raake.s  peace  with  the  SauKs  and  Foxes 148-163 

Deming,  R.  H.,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 401,  408 

encourages  education, 418 

Denniatoh,  J.  W.,  a  Green  County  pioneer, 424 


GBNEIiA.L  INDEX.  519 

Dq  Peyster,  Ool.  A.  S.,  aarviees.  1779,...-..^.,,^...,...,,..... .  229,  230 

Miscellanies  cited,'..  217/ 2k,  239,  230,  231,  266,,  293; 

Do.Pe;^ter,  Gen.  J.  Watts,  donor, 39 

Dfi  Quindre,  Mhj.,  somces  in  1812 304,  305,  323 

Derby,  G.  H.  <fe  Co.,,  donors.    4Q 

De  Rocheblave,  Philip,        .    v nch  war, 213  215 

De  Rocheblave,  Pierre  and  N'oel,  ._, 215 

Dp  Siette,  co:ndiandant  in   Illinois, 149-163 

De  Smel's  work  cited, 13& 

Detroit  attacked  in  1712. 127 

early  Indian  trade  and  commerce, 167-177 

1805,  barncd, 319,  330 

1807,  incident, 320 

1812,  captured, , 302-304 

18 U,  engagement  war, 311,  320-321,  326-328 

Deti'oit  Gazatte  cited, ^ ,,^ 244 

De  Velie,  Capt ,  death  of, 204-211 

De  Veiville, .  Gaiitier, 19^,  213,  230,  231,  237,  2i3 


Devil's  Lake,  Sauk  County, ^-,««- 502 

.'-'.v.    .'-'.Jlf  ,<^VV- 

Devine,  early  Kenoslia lawyer, .♦a.-,..--^..... 409 

^  --.     ^        XT  •  J     -A  .rtWi  ,|rU.»  ,yA«'ii 

Dewey,  Ex-Gor.  jN.,  promises  portrait, ^.. ,... 16; 

_         .      ,  ....,'..  ....^-^onov     1  VI  '. 

Do  Wilt,  Hon.  Francis,  donor, ,«..  .^.. ....   „......", 39 

Dickson,  Col.  Robert,  1812,  Indian affaii's,.  1  _  ..'^. .."'.I '.,'239,  2C8,  269 

1S13 do .r;....y^...y,....  269 

1814,  at  Mackinaw, J.'/l.'.!  251,  270 

sketchof, 280 

Dillon's  Hist  of  ladiana  cited, 133  , 

Dodge,  Hon.  Henry,  donor, 5,  10,  15,  39,  42 

promises  portrait, 16 

1836,  treaty  at  Cedar  Point, 438 

1841,  visits  Kenosha, .  ...I".^'!.  .,.^'.- 393,  394 

Dodge,  Capt.  George  S.,  donor, 13 

Dodge,  Philander,  a  Kenosha  pioneer,. 408 

Doe,  Hilton,  Pierce  County  pioneer, 4.,.^.... 465 

Doolittle,  David,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 378 

Dorchester  Antiquarian  Society, , 7 

Doty,  Hon.  James  Duane,  Vice  President  of  the  Society, v. 

ti'ial  of  an  Indian  at  Mackinaw, 334,  335 

trial  of  Indians  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 336 

Indian  name  of  Whitewater, 428 

Dotj  (ic  Smith,  mills,  New  London, 481 

Dousman,  Gen.  Hereules  L.,  promises  portrait, ^^..--^.-.  IX^ 

sketch  of  Capt.  Fisher, 238 

Dousman,  John,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 242,219,  280 

Mrs.,  mentioned, .*--  213,240 


520 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Dowst,  N.  P,,  establiehes  a  paper  at  Kenosha, 392,  3i)8,  415 

Drake,  Samuel  G.,  donor, l^ 

Drake's  Tecumseli,  cited, 317,318 

Draper,  William  B ,  donor, 14,  39 

Draper,  Lyman  C,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  H^e  Society,  1856, 34 

1857..........    T 

audits  Treasurer's  Report, 38 

donor, ,..^:".:'.. 3D,  49,  43.  U 

collecting  facts  for  pioneer  biographies, . .  314 

prepares  personal  notices, 47 

writes  Grignon's  Recollections, 195,  196 

Western  Historical  Library, 507 

notes,  historical  and  explanatory,  20,  22,  26,  66,  67,  76, 
87/104,  108,  111,  117,  131,  133,138,  139,  150,152,165, 
179,  185,  193,  195,  196,  199,  2G0,  210,  215,  217,  221, 
224,  226,  230,  231,  233,  234,  238,  239,  243,  244,  245,, 
246,  254,  255,  258,  259,  261,  271,  273,  275,  280,  284, 
285,  286,  292,  297,  300,  301,  304,  314,  315,  317,  318, 
325,  329,  336,  337,  344,  408,  417,  428,  436,  444,  497, 
'  502,  504,  508. 

l]fro"vme,  Henry  I.,  donor, 39,  42 

Drummond,  Capt.,  pioneer  steam  navigator  of  Wolf  river, 481 

Du  Buisson,  at  Detroit,  1712, 127 

Duchano,  M.,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 942 

Ducharme,  Jean  Marie,  noticed, 231-234 

expedition  against  St,  Louis, 231-234 

Ducharme,  Dominick,  an  Indian  trader, 233,  27(V 

Ducharme,  Joseph,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 233,  242 

Ducharme,  Paul, do 233 

Ducharme,  Laurent,  an  Indian  trader, 233,  250 

Ducreux's  History  of  Canada,  cited, 127,  133,  134 

Djudley,  Col,  defeated  at  Fort  Meigs,. 269,  317 

Dudley,  William,  donor,    12 

Dumas,  commandant  at  Du  Quesne, 215 

Dumond,  Alexander,  a  Green  Bay  pio net r, 242 

Dunn,  Hon.  Charles,  early  Chief  Justice, 425 

Du  Quesne,  Fort,  in  French  war, 213-215,  217 

Diirkee,  Hon.  Charles,  donor, 5,  15,  39,  42 

promises  portrait, 17 

a  Kenosha  pioneer, 388,  391,  407,,, 

enconrages  education, 4lS 

D^rrie,  Daniel  iS .,  Librarian  of  the  Society,  1 856, 34 

1857, V 

doror, 10,  13,  39,  42 


GfElfERAL  if Sfix!  5^ 

Dojclkinck,  E.  A.  <fe  G.  L.,  donors, 5,  15,  39 

Dye,  Nathan,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 408 


Early  Jesuit  Missionaries  in  the  North  Wetlt, 87-124 

Eastman,  Hon.  Ben.  C„  portrait  of, 16,  46,  64 

stetch  of 58 

Eastman,  Mrs.  Charlotte  Sewell, 59,  64 

Eastman,  Hon.  H.  Eugene,  donor, 12 

Eldredge,  T.  S.,  donor, 39 

Ellet,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  F., 39 

Elliott,  Col.,  of  British  army 3f6 

Ellis,  Gen.  Albert  G. ,  a  Vice  President  of  the  Society, t 

promises  donation, 9 

photograph  of, 14 

promises  portrait, 17 

on  the  Upper  Wisconsin  Country, 435-452 

Emory,  Major  W.  H.,  donor, 10,  42 

Endowments  and  Bequests  desired  by  the  Society, 22-24 

Enjalran,  Father,  missionary, 261 

Essex  Institute,  donor, 7,  42 

Etherington,  Capt.  George,  at  Mackinaw,  1763, 223-228 


Faillon,  Abbe,  a  Canadian  antiquary, 113-115 

Farmer,  William  S.,  donor, 5,  14,  39 

Farr,  Hon.  A.  W.,  donor, 12 

Farwell,  Hon.  Leonard  J.,  member  of  Executive  Committee,  1856, 34 

do do do 1857, v. 

donor, 10,  11,  39,  41,  42 

promises  portrait, 16 

Commissioner  of  Insane  Asylum, 51 

Fily,  Laurent,  an  Indian  trader, ,  ....  206,  211,  247,  290,  292 

Pinch,  Hon.  Asahel,  jr.,  promises  portrait, 17 

Fire-proof  edilSco  needed  by  the  Society, 24-26 

Firland,  Abbe,  cited, 114 

Fish,  Sheldon,  aids  new  church  effort  at  Kenosha, 402,  41'f 

Fisher,  Capt.  Henry  M.,  a  Prairie  du  Chien  pioneer, 237,  23^ 

Fitch,  Li^ut.  M.  G.,  MS.  papers, 1^ 

relics  of,  in  cabinet, 1^ 

Flayre,  Father,  missionary, Ill 

Flowers,  C,  T.,  membfir  of  Executive  Committee,  1857, v. 

donor, 39 

Fond  du  Lac,  an  early  trading  post, 250,  251,  283,  264 

66m 


522 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Footc,  Rev.  William  Henry,  Iho  historian,  commends  the  Societj,. ....  28^  39 

Ford,  John  W,,  donor, 13,  39 

Port,  Crown  Point,  mentioned, iil7 

Cumberliind,  mentioned, 215 

Detroit,  captured, 302-304 

Du  Qiusnc,  mentioned, 213-215,217 

Gori vilJe,  mentioned, 293 

^^'     Green  Bay,  mentioned, 225-227,  £81,  262 

*^'     McKay,  at  Prairie  da  Chien, 270-280 

^'     Mackii.av^,  cautured, 216,  223-225,  269,  270,  271 

Meigs,  mentioned, 269,  317 

Morand,  mentioned, ..   206 

Niagara,  mentioned, 217 

Prairie  du  Chien,  captured, 270-280 

Quebec,  taken,.. 217,  218 

Sandusky,  defence  of, 269 

Ticonderoga,  defence  of, 117,  218 

^      Williara  Henry,  captured, 216 

Fortier,  George,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, _ 242 

Foster,  Alfred,  membfer  of  Western  Emigration  Company, 371 

Foster,  Orlando, do 371 

Foster,  the  Geologist,  cited, y. 495 

Fowler,  Alvah,  of  Prescott, ^ : 465 

Fowler  &  Horn,  artists,  pnjmise  autographs, 18 

Fox  Indians,  early  notice  of, ^,* 126,  127 

f.  1726,  mentioned --i!,-.» 148-166 

1746.  expulsion  from  Fox  River  Valley, 200,  201,  204-211 

1775-'81,  serve  under  De  Langlade 229 

1761,  Sjaiiish  message  to, 504,  505 

Francis,  John  F.,  artist,  promises  picture, 18 

Frank,  Hon.  Michael,  on  Eaily  History  of  Kenosha, 370-394 

Early  History  of  Southport  cited, 387 

early  newspaper  editor, 392,  413 

1840,  4th  of  July  orator, 415 

1850,  first  Mayor  of  Kenosha, 418 

encourages  education, 418 

Franlcen stein,  Q.  N.  A  John,  promise  pictures, 17,  18 

Franks,  Jacob,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 242,  250,  251,  253,  292 

French,  Mr.,  early  Kenosha  lawyer, , 409 

French  and  Indian  War,  1754-1761, 211-222 

yrontenac,  Intendent  of  New  France, 103,  119,  124 


I 


GEJTERAL  INDEX.  523 


Qallarno,  pioneer  blaclcsmith  of  Green  Bay  , 253 

Gallatin,  Albert,  cited, 133,  285 

Gamelin,  Father,  missionaiy, m 

Garnier,  Father,  missionaiy, 1^6 

Garreau,  Father,  missionary  on  Lake  Superior 101 

Garriepy,  Alexander,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 242 

Gaskell,  D.  C,  mayor  of  Kenosha, 4l8 

Gegare,  Peunesha,  an  Indian  trader, 261-263 

Gthon,  Capt.  Francis,  in  Black  Hawk  war, , 50 

Genin,  Thomas  H.,  donor, 40 

Geoi-ge,  Isaac,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, - 409,  410 

Georgia  Historical  Society,  co-operation  of, 7 

Gibson,  Hon.  W.  J.,  donor, 13 

Gibson  and  Houning,  pioneers  of  Hudson, '. 468 

Glode,  a  Menomonee  chief, 217,  226,  227,  266,  267 

Godfroy,  Francois,  prowess  of, 33 1 ,  332 

GonviUe,  Fort,  origin  of  name, 293 

Gorrell's  Journal,  cited, 210,  226,  227,  261 

Gorura,  Daniel,  donor, ,,  ,.,..*.,,, 13 

Gov.  Blacksnake,  Seneca  chief,  portrait  promised, 18 

Graham,  Capt.  Duncan,  in  British  service, 271,  278 

Grand  Rapids,  first  settled, 438,  451 

Grant,  Commodore,  mentioned, 300 

Giant,  Capt.  John,  sketch  of, 299-301 

Gratiot,  Col.  Charles,  at  Green  Bay  in  1816, 281 

Gratlan.  Amos,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, -.  379 

Gravel,  Louis,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 242 

Gravier,  Father,  missionary, 117 

Gxeen  Bay,  early  mission  near, 91,  95,  101,  104,  108 

1639,  Nicollet's  yisit, 126 

1726,  Araariton  commands  there, 150,  153,  156 

1745-1816,  See  Grignon'a  Recollections. 

1763.  fort  abandoned, 225,  228 

1816,  American  fort  established, ,.^ 281,  282 


■  •*  n.-j 


see  Grignon's  Recollections. 

Green  county,  early  history  of, 421-426 

Gh-ignon,  Pierre,  Sr.,  1763,  a  tiader  at  Green  Bay, 226 

1776,  mai-ries  Domitelle  De  Langlade, ,.  235 

1785,  yet  a  trader, ..,.  241,244,  252 

•  visits  Mackinaw 261 

sketch  of, 242,243 

ohildrcn. 212!,  243 


5;34  GENERAL  INDEX. 

Qrignoa,  Augustin,  seventy-two  years'  Recollections, 195-295 

the  Langlades — settle  at  Green  Bay, 197-199 

Te-pak-e-ne-nee, 201 

Lammiot  killed, 202 

O-kee-wah's  legend, 203 

tradition  of  the  Red  Banks, 203,  204 

expulsion  of  Sauks  a^id  Foxes, 200,  201,  204-211 

French  and  Indian  war, 211-222 

land  grant  at  Green  Bay, 222,  223 

Pontiac  war— Green  Bay  and  Mackinaw, 223-228 

Carron's  family, ^ 227 

Revolutionary  war 229-234 

De  Langlade  and  companions, 234-241 

'  Green  Bay  pioneers, 241-251 

in  1766, ..251,  25»; 

in  1785, 259f* 

early  mechanics 232,  253 

schools — physicians, 2531^ 

early  mills, 253,  254 

wheat,  stock,  Ac 254,  255' 

commerce  and  productions  of  the  country, 255,  256 

Indian  slavery, 256-258 

missionaries — 0-cha-own, 259-261, 

Indian  ma-^sacres, 261-265 

Menomonees,  and  their  chiefs, 265-268 

war  of  I812-'15, 268-280 

advent  of  the  Americans 281,282 

Toraah  and  other  Menomonee  chiefs, 283-285 

^-  '     -  Winnebago  chiefs, 285-290  ' 

Milwaukee,  and  early  traders  there, 290-292 

Chicago— La  Pointe, 292'"' 

Antiquities.. 293 

Stambaugh's  expedition, 293-295 

Grignon,  Periish, : 208,  242,  269,  292 

Grignon,  Pierre.  Jr., 242,  243,  252,  271,  274 

Grignon,  Charles,: 242,  243 

Grignon,  Louis 242,  243,  251,  270 

Grignon,  Baptist,..; 212,  243 

Grignon,  Hy polite 242,  292 

Grignon,  Charles  A,  Lieutenant  in  Black  Hawk  war, 294 

Grignon,  Robert,  Lieutenant  in  Blaek  Hawk  war, 294,  295 

Grignon,  George,  volunteer  in  Black  Hawk  war, 294 

Grignon,  Miss  Ursula  M.,  donor, 504 

I 


GENERAL  INDEX.  $25 

drignou  <fe  Meriill,  eailj  mill  builders, 1 438 

Grizzly  Bear,  a  Menomonee  chief 269,  270,  284,  294 


Hale,  Hon .  Samuel,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 282,  285,  408 

Hall,  S.  C,  a  Whitewater  pioneer, 429 

Hall,  T.  Dwight,  ou  Hudson  and  St.  Croix  county, 466-477 

Hamilton,  Gov.  Henry,  expedition  of, 229-231 

Hamilton,  Col.  Wm.  S.,  in  Black  Hawk  war, , . .  60,  294,  295,  424 

Hamline,  in  French  wai% 213,  239,  240 

Hannalis,  William  H.,  donor, 397 

Harper  &  McGreer,  Wisconsin  River  lumbermen, 438 

Harrison,  Gren.,  at  the  Thames  battle, 309-311 

Hart,  Edwin  C,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 396 

Hart,  William,  artist,  promises  picture, 17 

Harvard  College,  publications  of, ..'7 7 

Harvey,  L.  P.,  early  Kenosha  teachers, 418 

Hathaway,  Hon.  Joshua,  donor, 8,  10,  15,  42 

promises  portrait, 17 

early  suiTeyor, 438 

Hawkes,  Rev.  Dr.  Francis  L.,  commends  the  Society, 29 

Hayes,  Dr.  J,  J.,  the  Arctic  explorer,  commends  the  Society, 30 

Hennepin,  Father, 107,  108,  110,  l^ 

Henni,  Bishop  John  H.,  promises  portrait, ._.   17 

rHenning, ' J.  O.,  pioneer  of  Hudson, ^%^  ,>^..  4p8 

Heeler,  A.,  artist,  donor, 15 

promises  picture  and  photographs, 18 

Hickcox,  late  Gen .  G.  W.,  promised  portrait -  lu? ji..e  wvi 17 

death  of, - .JbiJia  ; 19 

Hill,  Horatio,  promises  donation, 9 

Historical  Societies,  works  in  library, a  jw*.» 6,  7 

Hobbs,  Joseph,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, -s.  *  ^jti'j'M.-j^Uiii^iin,i. . . . .  407 

Hobbins,  Dr.  Joseph,  donor, .*,^i,'- 12 

Holley,  Alanson,  donor, ^itla^m^tmi^j 12 

-Holt,  David,  donor, 10,  42 

Hopkins,  B.  F.,  member  of  Executive  Committee,  1856,  jit^iii  Mitm(4ieu 34 

1857, ...-.  T 

Homer,  Hon.  John  S.,  promises  portrait 16 

Horton,  pioneer  settler  of  HortonviUe, 484 

Hortonville,  Outagamie  county,  noticed, 484,  485 

Houll,  Joseph,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 242,  249 

t'HouMch,  Pierre,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, ijw^yypjr^....  242 

Hoy,  Dr.  R,  P.,  cited, JJi»*i»*niif#— i*-w-«K»i"i^^ 


526 


GENERAL  INDEX 


Hubbard,  a  Racine  pioneer, 37S 

^Hudson  and  St.  Croli  county,  paper  on 466-477 

Huguiiin,  Judge  Peter  D.,  eailj  pioneer, 373,  384 

Hugunin.  Gen.  D,  Kenosha  pioneer, 390 

„Hui8Consin,  a  Sauk  and  Fox  chief, - 504 

Humphrey,  Rev.  Z.  M.,  donor, 39,  43 

.Hunt,  Dr.  John  W.,  Recording  Secretary  of  the  Society,  1856, 34 

1857, ▼ 

donor, - 11,  12 

audits  Treasurer's  Report, 38 

Hurons,  or  Wyandotts,  origin  of  name, -  97,  93 

in  Wisconsin, 126,  127,  128 

in  French  war ^212 

sHutchinson,  C,  I.  &  Co.,  early  Kenosha  merchants, 417 

^Hyer,Hon  George,  promises  donation, 8 

Hyott,  Prikque,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 242 


Hlinois  Historical  Society,  at  Alton, 193 

Hlinoia  Indian  tribe  in  Wisconsin, 126,  128,  151,  159,  IbO,  163 

Ilbley,  Edward,  member  of  Executive  Committee,  1856, Zi 

1857, V 

'■Itnlay's  America,  cited,. 133 

Indian  Bureau,  publications  of 7 

Indian  tribes  of  Wisconsin,  paper  on 125-138 

Indian  customs, 141-147 

of  females, 141 

love  and  courtship, 142 

employments, 142 

marringes, 142 

recount  exploits, 142 

religious  views — sacrifices, 143 

jugglers, 143 

immortality  of  the  soul, 144 

burial — mourning, 144,  145 

superstition* — legerdemain, 145,  146 

■war  parties, 146 

'  hospitality — cruelty  to  prisoners, 147 

punishments, _ 147 

reverance  for  the  aged,... _.  147 

respect  for  the  French, 1.^ 147 

''  garne-fi,h, 147 

Iikdian  w-iii— 1726,  mentioned, 143-164 


GENERAL  INDEX.  537 


Indii 


Taa  ware,  1746,  Sank  acd  Fox  war, 200,  201,  204-211 

1754-'61, 211-222 

1763 223-228 

1775-'81,.'- 2-29-233 

1812-'15, 268-280 

1832,  ..-.. 233-295 

Indian  title  to  South- Eaistern  Wiscoiisin  extinguiKhed, 17 

Indian  natois..... 290,  292,  337,  428 

Internal  Navigation  of  Wisconsin, 490-499- 

Ijitroduciion, _ ....„ iii|  ir 

lola,  Waujiaca  countv,  noticed, 485,  486 

I- om-e-tah,  a  Menomonce  war  ekief,  birth, 227 

18l2,Bemces, 269 

1813,  ..do 269 

1814,.. do 272 

1832,. .do 294 

noticed, 284 

Iowa  Indian  tribe,  in  Wisconsin, :,.*:.,.,..  126,  127 

Hi8t*>rical  and  Geological  Institute,  Burlington, ^ 

State  Historical  Societj,  Iowa  City, 193 

Ir<m  Cascade,  raeniioired, 491 

ore,  in  North- Eastern  Wisconsin, 490,  491,  493-495 

Ridge,  Dotlge  county, 495 

Irwin,  Matlhew,  Chief  Justice  of  Bro-wn  county, 245 

Alexander,  commigFary  and  quarter- master  in  1832, 294 

Hon.  David,  early  Judge  in  Wisconsin, , 425 


Ja-ba-ge-Zhiclf,  a  yonng  Chippevra  orator, , 357-364 

Jackson,  Pjesident,  revered  by  Green  Bay  Oneidas, 57 

Jacobs,  John,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 242 

of  Marinette,  d  iscovem  iron  ore, 494 

James,  British  historian,  cited, 317 

Japanese  curiosities,  in  cabinet, 14 

JarTiB,  William  B.,  member  of  Executive  Cemmittee,  1856, 34 

do do do 1857, v. 

examines  Mr.  White's  remains,.... 20 

Jerome,  Orrin,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, .'.. 398 

Jesuit  missionaries  in  the  North- West, 87-124 

Jilson,  Jon  B,  of  Kenosha,  encourages  education, 418 

Jogues,  Father,  missionary,.. 03,  99,  116,  12^  129 

Johnson,  Col.  R.  M.,  at  the  Thames  battle 319-315 

JoluisoD,  John,  a  Chippewa  interpreter, 341 


528  GRJSTERAL  INDfcX. 

Johnston,  John  R.,  artist,  promises  picture, 17,  18 

Joliet,  Sieur,  earlj  explorer, 94,  96,  104,  105,  112,  117,  119,  124 

bibliography  of  his  voyage, 509 

Jourdin,  Joseph,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 242,  253 

Juneau,  Hon.  Solomon,  early  trader, \ 292 

Indian  name  of  Whitewater, 428 

promised  picture  of  Wau-  me  ge-sa-ko, 17 

deathof, 19,  SO 

Juneau,  Hons.  P.  and  N.  M.,  promise  picture, 17 


Ka-cha-ka-wa-she-ka,  or  the  Notch-Maker, ^fc^-iii 218 

Kane,  Dr.  E.  K  ,  the  Arctic  explorer,  commends  the  Society, 30 

Kaskaskia,  early  mission  station .  locality  of, 117 

Ke-che-waish-ke,  a  Chippewa  chief,. 365-369 

Kellogg,  Austin,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 401 

Keinouche  Indians,  in  Wisconsin, 126,  129 

Kelso,  Dr.  J.  Seaton,  donor, 12 

Kemper,  Bishop,  portrait  promised, 17 

Kenosha,  early  history  of,  by  Hon.  M.  Frank, 370-394 

first  settlement  of,  by  W.  Mygatt, 395-420 

Kilbourn,' Hon.  Byron,  donor, 41 

Kickapoo  Indians,  in  Wisconsin, 106,  107,  127,  129 

Kilgore,  D.  Y.,  donor, 41,  42 

library, 507 

Kimball,  George,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 385,  406 

Kimball  <fe  Co.,  mills,  Northport, 483 

King,  Sii»eon,  early  Kenosha  merchant, 417 

.  King  k  Watson,  donors, 41 

King  Philip's  war,  relic  of,  promised, 14 

Kingston,  Hon.  John  T.,  lumbering  statistics, 444 

Kinney,  M.  P.,  early  Kenosha  teacher, 418 

Kinzie,  James,  early  Milwaukee  trader, 292 

^Kinzie,  Mrs.  John  H.,  donor, 39 

.  Kish-kaw-kee,  wounded, 323 

Kish-kaw-ko,  a  Chippewa  chief, , 332-334 

Kishkakon  Indians,  in  Wisconsin, 126,  130,  149 

Kish-kon-i^u  kau-hom,  a  Menomonee  chief, 272 

Kitchigamick  Indians,  in  Wisconsin, 126,  131 

Knaggs,  Capt,  James,  in  war  of  1812-15, ^        312-318,  325 

Elnapp,  Capt.  Gilbert,  early  Racine  pioneer, . . . r? 373,  374 


r 


GENERAL  INDEX.  539 


La  Choisie,  in  French  war, j. . ,  213,  215  , 

La  Duke,  Baptist,  an  old  trader, 241,  262,  263   ^ 

La  Fortune,  in  French  war, 213,  240 

La  Framboise,  Alexandei",  an  Indian  trader, 291 

Lagral,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 241,  243 

La  Hontan,  the  explorer, 108,  136 

Lake,  Jared,  early  Kenosha  merchant, 414,  417 

Lalemant,  Fathe7',  missionary, 116 

Lamm Jot,  killed  at  Green  Bay, 202 

La  Mott,  a  Menomoriee  chief, 294 

Langerin,  John  B.,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, j...  ,^,,  242 

Lanman's  History  of  Michigan,  cited, 314 

Lapham,  I.  A.,  a  Vice  President  of  the  Society, v. 

donor, 10,41,42 

Antiquities  of  Wisconsin, •. 167,  191,  192 

La  Pointe,  early  settlers, 292 

see  Chagouamigon. 

La  Rock,  the  Sioux  interpreter, 229 

La  Rock,  Basil,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, ^..  242 

La  Rose,  Aeneas,  interpreter  in  war  of  1812, 269 

Larrabee,  Hon.  0.  H.,  promises  donation, 6 

'  promises  portrait, 17 

La  Salle,  the  explorer 107,  117,  130 

Lavigne,  John  B.,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 242 

Law,  Hon.  John,  early  Jesuit  Missionaries, • 87-124 

La  we,  Hon.,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer,  sketch  of, 250,  270     , 

Lawrence,  H,  K,  member  Executive  Committee,  1 856, 34    r 

1857, V  j^ 

Lawson,  Gen,  Thomas,  donor, 40    » 


Lawson,  A.  J,,  Sketch  of  New  London, 478-488 

Lay,  Nelson,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 405,  417 

Le  Baron,  a  Menomonee  warrior, ,    232 

Le  Barron,  T.  K.,  a  Whitewater  pioneer, -:<¥£!••; 429 

Le  Boeuf,  Antoino,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 242 

Le  Clerc,  Father,  missionary, '^^^Juiijpi.  .:^.  'H<>*sH 

Le  Clercq,  the  historian,  cited, 117,  126,  130  M 

Lecuyer,  Jean,  a  Portage  City  pioneer, Jvv-ior. 287,  289 

Lee,  Col.  Isaac,  commissioner  to  investigate  land  titles ..»., 234   f£ 

Leffingwell,  H,  C,  a  Whitewater  pioneer 429    H 

Legend  of  the  Red  Banks,  noticed ..wv-uii.  203    ^ 

Le  Jeune,  Father,  missionary, 94 

Lemonwier  River,  early  trading  post  on, 269    K 

River  and  Valley, 500,  501 

67m 


530  GENERAL  INDEX. 

L«nox,  James,  donor, 5 

*    prints  private  edition  of  Marquette, 50  > 

Leonard,  Dr.  J.  A.,  sketch  of  Wliitewater,  . .  /.V.V. 427-434 

L'Espagnol,  a  Menoraonee, 270 

Lewis,  Hon.  Jaraes  T.,  donor, 15,  39 

heyha,,  Lieut.  Gov.  of  St.  Louis,  noticed, 504 

Libraries  of  Wisconsin,  Statistics  of, 506,  507 

Linclot,  Sieur,  commaBding  at  La  Pointe, 158,  165,  176 

Little  Bull  Palls,  first  settled, .'..',..  438,  447 

Little  Butte  des  Morts,  battle  there, 207,  208 

Little  Crow,  a  Sioux  chief, 270,  271 

Little  Turtle,  the  Miami  chief,  cited, 134 

Lockwood,  Hon.  James  H.,  portrait  of, 16,  45 

eai'ly  mill-builder, 437 

narrative  cited, 336,501 

tradition  of  Tomah  unfounded, 227 

sketch  of— death, 55,  508 

Loon'e  Foot,  a  Chippewa  chief,. 352 

Loring,  James  S.,  donor, ..  ..,^>j;>-^;t^...  42 

Lossing,  Benson  J.,  donor, ..-j^,^-^*.^,,,,.^^.^.^,.  5,  15,  39 

Lothrop,  Rev.  S,  K.,  donor, ,.,,gj^.  ..j.^^^.^4..,j^^^. ..^^^^^^j,....  39 

Lothrop,  Rev.  Jason,  donor, .^, fcr..w,-.,.^,4.,'i,^L  4,;  f 

promises  portrait, 17 

History  of  Kenosha,  cited, 370,371,386 

*  *'  establishes  pioneer  school  at  Kenosha, 379^,  j 


*■  '^  boarding-housekeeper — clergyman, ,.^,4....  405 

^^^"  4thof  July  orator,  1836,....., J.  ^„^^,,.,^^  ,r^. 406 

Lovell,  Hon.  F.  S.,  early  Kenosha  lawyer, 409 

Lumbering  business  in  the  Wisconsin  Pinery, 439-445,  448,  449 

Lnnd  &  Joslyn,  artists,  promise  photographs, -n-.ft*'*" ^^ 

Lyon,  Alfred,  a  New  London  pioneer, .,.>...^* ....  478 


Ma'cha-nah,  aMenomonee  chief, 1.. 272 

Machar,  in  Prench  war, ....^ Sill.'.  213,  240,  241 

Macoonce,  an  Indian  chief, * 301 

Maine  Historical  Society,  publications, 6,  39^ 

provisions  for  an  edifice, 25 


,1 
I 


MaJJtau-ta-pe-na-se,  or  Black  Bird,  J. '. : : 1  ■  ■ 205,  206  '^ 

I 
I 


Makoua Indians,  in  Wisconsin, 126,  131 

Makoueone  Indians,  in  Wisconsin,-.-.-.-.... 126,  131 

Mallo  &  Thayer,  donors,.,  i.  i  iii^  issi  ;.i.. .... ...;.. 8 

Manitowoc,  meaning, , ....  * .-.- ;  i. .  -,;,.-.  nA'^'.w^  .^^i. 837 

_'  .       . .  .yalLeY  fwii* 


GENERAL  INDEX.  53I 

Manypenny,  Hon.  G.  "W.,  donor, *.^',,,,,^,f  .> 5,40 

commissioner  to  the  Chippewas..  339,  340,  357,  363 

Map3  and  Atlases  added  to  the  library, 10,  11   , 

Marameg  Indians,  in  Wisconsin 126,  131 

Marathon  County, "j^^-sr-^-- 435,  452,  447-450 

Marchand,  early  Green  Bay  trader, 241,  252 

Maret,  Father,  missionary, ,.>.*>...  100 

Marest,  Father,  missionary, /t-^»- Ill,  116 

Marpot,  an  Indian  chief, ^ 301 

Marquette,  Father,  missionary  and  explorer, **,■»**. 87-124 

bibliography  of  his  voyage, 509 

Marr,  Thomas,  early  surveyor, 386,  387 

Martin,  Hon  Morgan  L„  a  Vice  President  of  the  Society, v 

Historical  Address  cited,  200, 215, 221, 228, 254, 258, 293 
Vice  President  Fox  River  Improvement  Company,  499 

Martin,  Father  Felix,  a  Canadian  antiquary, 1 13,  115,  127 

Martin's  History  of  Louisiana  referred  to, 119 

Mai'yland  Historical  Society,  publications  of, ;*..,  ._'j; 7 

its  edifice, 25 

Mascoutin  Indians,  in  Wisconsin, 106,  107,  126,  127,  131,  149 

Mackinaw,  early  settlement, 105,  106 

surprised  in  1763, 224,  225 

;  mentioned,   1785, 261 

1812-14,  operations  there, 269-271 

Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  publications  of, ',-jT(-.rr 6,  39 

endowments, -fe^r^ 23 

Masse,  Father,  missionary, n^triA 97 

Match-i-ku-is,  General,  an  Ottawa  chief, 224,  232,  234 

Mau-kau-tau-pee,  a  Menomonee  chief, ,. 272,  283 

Maury,  Lieut.,  wind  and  current  charts, -,^^.,*,^ , ^r^-^^-x^ 7 

Maxson,  Dr.  O.  T.,  a  Prescott  pioneer, 460,  461,  463,  465 

Maxwell,  Col.  James,  promises  portrait, , 17 

McAfee's  History,  cited, -;,,,^,,^,^ 274 

McBride,  D.,  Lemonwier  River  and  Valley,  by, iyjj,,.,,^,,.^,^-..  i;00,  501 

McCabe,  unpublished  Gazetteer,  cited, ^ ^^  -  ?,  ».t«..  -- 108 

McFadden,  George,  a  Green  County  pioneer, ,^ .^,. 425 

McGonegal,  Dr.  Daniel,  early  Kenoeha  physician- , ^^^.^^^^^^^y 407 

McQreer'a  Rapids,  settled, y.^^.^^.,^,,,,, 438 

McGoon,  Capt.  Richard  H,,  promises  portrait, .,^,j,^Y^ 17 

Mclndoe,  Hon  Walter  D.,  mills, ,.^^f(.- 449 

McKay,  Col.  William,  expedition  against  Prairie  du  Chien 270-280 

McKec,  Col,  bravery  and  humanity  of, 304-306,  317 

McMillan,  killed  at  Detroit, ^g^. 321,  326 

McMillen,  William,  a  New  London  pioneer, 482 


532  GENERAL  INDEX. 

McMurtrie,  J,,  artist,  promises  picture, 17 

McMjmn,  J.  G.,  teacher  at  Kenosha 418 

McNutt,  a  Green  County  pioneer, 421-423 

McSheny,  James,  donor, 40 

Meeker,  Hon.  Moses,  promises  portrait, 16 

Me-ge-zee,  or  the  Eagle,  a  Chippewa  chief, 357 

Membre,  Father,  missionary, J .'  110.  126,  130,  132 

Menomonees,  early  mention  of, 126,  134 

17r>5-'61,  in  French  war, 212,  217 

1763,  A-iendly  to  the  English, 226 

1775-'81,  serve  under  De  Langlade, 229 

1780,  on  'Ducharme's  expedition, 232 

1812-15,  on  the  war-path, 268-230 

1832,  eeiTe  against  Sauks  and  Foxes, 293-295  ' 

originally  from  Niagara  Falls  region, 265 

not  warlike — their  chiefe, 265-266 

Old  Carron, 217,  618,  ^26^  227,  265,  266  '• 

^'  Glode, ...217,226,227,266,267 

Tomah, 227,  257,  267-284 

Cha-kau-cho-ka-ma, 226,  229,  267 

I-om-e-tah, ........:'..........  227,  269,  272.  284 

Grizzly  Bear, ......■.....-:!'.'?'.... 269,  270 

Souligny, ...■:.. ..:.jJ^ll\Tkl. .......  269,  270 

Oshkosh, ..:Hi'l.;269,  270,  285 

Josette  Carron, li^jir!.:-:'.^!.  283,  284 

^i  -  Showneon, 283 

«^  Ke-she-nah, 283 

^'  Carron, 294,  295' 

*■■  Mau-kau-tau-pee, 272,283 

Ma-cha-nah, 272 

0-shaw-wah-nem, 270 

L'Espagnol, .-'f. !!.''....  270 

Wee-kah, 270 

Pe-wau-te-not,.. .:.......  270,  294,  295 

Po-e-go-nah....... 232,  294 

Osh-ka-he-naw-niew, 285,  294 

Op-po-  mish-shah, 269 

0-cha-own, .'::':: 259-261 

Kish-kon-nau-kau-hom, 272 

Wau-nau-ko, 294 

Yellow  Cloud, 270 

The  Rubber, 280 

Wau-pa-men, 284 

Ok-ke-ne-bo-way, 284 


GENERAL  INDEX,  533 

Merrill,  Lorenzo,  donor, 12 

Merrill,  earl  j  mill  builder, 438 , 

Mesnard,  Father,  missionary, 101 

Messersmith,  John,  portrait  promised, 17 

death  of, 19 

^Miamis,  at  Chicago, -. .--.V.V./I'^i^^. :' 102 

Miamis,  in  Wisconsin, 126,  134 

Michigan  Historical  Society, ji"!:^.. 193 

Mikissioua  Indians,  in  Wisconsin, 126,  134 

Mill  Creek,  first  settled, .........v.- 438 

•  Miller,  Col.  John,  advent  to  Green  Bay,  1816, 281,  282 

Millerd,  Ira,  a  New  London  pioneer, 479 

Millerd,  Miss  Maria,  firat  teacher  in  New  London, 481 

Mills,  Hon,  Simeon,  member  of  ExecutiTO  Committee,  1856, 34 

1857, T 

Milwaukee,  or  Milleoki,  early  name, 132 

Indians,  designs  against  Green  Bay,  1763, 225,  228 

early  traders  there, ;..^.. .....' 290-292 

Indians,  1779,  join  the  British, 23§ 

meaning  of  name, 290,337 

Milwaukee  Union, 386 

Min-ge-ne-ke-aw,  or  the  Big  Man, 331,  332 

Minnesota  Historical  Society,  publications  of, 6 

erecting  an  edifice,. I'l^'l^itL'fl 25 

Mitasse,  a  Sauk  and  Fox  chief, .?.'.^i?li'i'.il':';-I^2 :.'.. .    ..  .i^'.^...  504 

Mitchel,  Martin,  donor, ^  .iii..;i^..i...... ...d^i-A  j/^'.V^^....  24 

his  History  of  Fond  du  Lac  cited, 59 

Mitchell,  S,  Augustus,  donor, l.^i!'Ji2lt.. ....  10 

Missionaries,  early,  in  the  Noi-th-West, u7.^".^'Jlf .':' 87-124 

Monette,  History  of  Mississippi  Yalley,  referred  to, 119 

Montigney,  Father,  missionary, Ill 

Moore,  George  H.,  promises  donation, € 

Moore,  John  L.,  Wisconsin  River  lumberman, 438 

Morand,  Capt.,  defeats  the  Sauks  and  Foxes, 204-211,  505 

Morand,  Fort,  mentioned, 206 

Morrison,  Col.  James,  promises  portrait, 17 

Morse,  Dr.  Richard  E.,  Chippewas  of  Lake  Superior, 338-369 

Morse's  Indian  Report,  cited, 280 

Mosinee,  or  Little  Bull  Falls, 438,  447,  449 

Munsell,  Joel,  donor, 43 

Muwasha,  a  Menomonee  warrior, 232 

Mygatt,  Wallace,  Fii-st  Settlement  of  Kenosha,  by, 395-420 

early  Kenosha  editor, 415 


^34  GENERAL  INDEX. 


BTa-gon-ub,  a  Chippewa  chief, 345-349,  355 

Na-naw-ong-ga-be,  a  Chippewa  chief, .^ 340-344,  355 

his  Princess  daughte]^,3j,^^^..,^.f^.^^,,. ^.,. „....,,,.  349-354 

ISTantoue  Indians,  in  Wisconsin, .y^yf^^^^^^ 126,  134 

Vaprstek,  v.,  donor, i-  8,  15,  39,  42 

National  Intelligencer,  commends  the  Society, 32 

Navigation,  Internal,  of  "Wisconsin, ......^ajy,^ .,,,.,, ;^^,».,,..  496-499 

.Neagle,  John,  artist,  promises  pictui-e, . .  ^j^o-t«:,v-M  -.«»Mipfeni  •» 1^ 

Ne-gick,  a  Chippewa  chief, .,.......—  ....--. -.^^[^^jjjfijrtdty"  356,  357 

Ne-gwa-gon,  a  Chippewa  chiet  .^454--«,^.«.^rt^^„KK^y^M^«««^.----  328-330 

Ne-o-kau-tah,  or  Four  Legs,.* .....' -.-..^i;...::-.*^fc..269,  271,  288 

New  England  Historic- Genealogical  Society,  publications  of, 7 

,New  Hampshire  Historical  Society,  publications  of, ,..,,, 6 

JSfew  Jersey  Historical  Society,  publications  of, 6 

^„ .  provision  for  an  edifice, 25 

New  London  and  surrounding  country,  ....,.., 478-488 

Newspaper  files  in  the  library, .-**... 7,  8 

New  York  Historical  Society,  publications  of,  o  ,,i^^  -.4m  -  - 7 

endowments,  .....>♦  4*6.. 23 

its  edifice, 25 

New  York  University,  Regents  of,  publications, .  --....-....., 7,  39,  42 

Nicholas,  Father,  missionary,  . .  i;^ .v»j,<, j,ijs«;» ,.., , -.? «V».<Wi  i*i**k(.w'viji.-* 103 

Nicolet,  Father,  missionary, ..>  .>.^*«;w>^i, 126,  129,  134,  137,  138 

, Niles,  Hon.  John  M.,  commends  the  Society, .:^%.]^t(K-,Svs;*-'mfi.M- 29 

.Niles,  Rev.  W.  A.,  donor...................... wi.**fe 8,  39,  42 

Niles'  National  Register,  .  u^A'^y fts.-l-  «•/> i*«*.K(^ ->o  v« 7 

Nis-so-wa-quet,  an  Ottawa  chief, ...... 198,  199,  212 

Noble,  John,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, . . . w *-^-  J 4 ^ >?.  .^.nfi,  380,  381,  385 

Noiseux,  Rev.  M,  Fr.  X,,  his  manuscript  work  unreliable,. 113-124,  508 

, Noquet  Indians,  in  Wisconsin, '^0.^.^^..  126,  134,  265 

2f  ordman,  J.  G.,  a  Waupaca  County  pioneer, 480 

Norman,  Amable,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer>  ...^^^t^wfj^ 242 

North  Eastern  Wisconsin,  resources  ofif^»,.,*^i,y^4.^»,;i;.M!.^:)«fe.-i. 489-495 

ISTorthport,  Waupaca  county,  noticed, ...- 482-484 

-Northway,  A.  D.,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 385 

.  Norton,  Charles  B.,  literary  agent,  . . . 4  .v, ^j^y^ 8 

>,  donor, .^-. 39,42 

<  > 

(Objects  of  collection  desired  by  the  Society, yi 

O'Callaghan,  Dr.  E.  B.,  cited, 132,  136,  138 


GENERiiL  IN'DEX.  535 

^' O-cha-own,  an  Indian  huntress, 259-261 

'O 'Fallon,  Capt.  Ben.,  at  Green  Bay  in  1816, 281 

Ogden,  S.  C,  pioneer  of  Ogdensburg, , 486 

Ogdensburg",  Waupaca  county, 486 

Ohio  Historical  Society,  publications  of, 7,  40 

0-kee- wah's  Legend  of  the  Red  Banks, 203 

O-nau-ge-sa,  a  Milwaukee  chief, 290,  292 

Oneidas,  in  Wisconsin, 126,  133 

Daniel  Bread,  head  chief  of, 56-58 

Op-po-mish-sha,  or  White  Elk, 269 

0-sau-wish-ke-no,  or  Yellow  Bird, 217 

Osborn,  Joseph  H.,  donor, .^ ,   10,.  41,  42 

O-shaw-Tvah-nem,  or  Yellow  Dog, 270 

Osh-ka-he-naw-niew,  or  Young  Man, 285,  294 

Osh-kosh,  head  Menomonee  chief 269,  270,  285,  294,  337 

0-sho-ga,  a  Chippewa  chief,  death  of, 348,  3^1 

Oswego,  mentioned, ,.._...,..  164,  165 

Otiaraoutenon  Indians,  in  Wisconsin, , 126,  135 

Ottawa  Indians,  in  Wisconsin,  early  mention  of, 126.  135,  150,  212 

Legend  of............. 203,  204 

1763,  at  Mackinaw, 224,  225 

1775-81,  serve  under  De  Langlade, 229  1 

1780,  on  Ducharme's  Expedition, ..._,*, ^^  S^2 

Ottawa-Sinagos,  of  Wisconsin, 126,  135 

Oaagoussac  Indians,  in  Wisconsin, 126,  136 

Ouchata,  a  Fox  chief, 148,  149,  150 

Owen,  D.  D.,  the  Geologist,  cited, ,..., 435,  438,  493 

'•  Pakan,  a  Winnebago  chief, ia,JiIi>Yi-jt &M  -J:',  ii  J/if^?.  - .  264 

Park,  President  Roswell,  donor, ^Ji^  i>i«0'4-Ji-i 41 

Parks,  a  prisoner  with  the  Shawanoes,    311 

Parkison,  Col.  Daniel  M.,  promises  porti-ait, 16 

Palmer,  Hon.  Peter  S.,  donor, 39 

commends  the  Society, 31 

Patent  Office  Bureau,  publications  of, .'!<t4^ii'4i>y-* -  ----'  T 

Patrick,  a  pioneer  of  Northport,  Waupaca  county, ur.*'i^'..  483 

Paulding,  Hon,  James  K,  commends  the  Society, 26 

Pay et.  Father,  missionary, i^bj^.^^Uipi^i^ 261 

Peale,  Rembrandt,  commends  the  Society, 34 

^Pecatonica  battle-field,  to  be  painted, 46 

fwrf-  early  Indian  name, 104 

Peck,  Rev.  Dr.  John  M.,  donor, 43 


536 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


c 


Peck,  Rev.  Dr.  John  M.,  Western  Animals,  cited,  ..^^j  ^^^jj^rt-nr*-:r"^TT-  —  133 

Peck,  Philander,  a  Whitewater  pioneer, ^j^.  -  j,^^ 429 

'  Pemoussa,  an  earlj  Fox  chief, 127 

Pennesha,  an  eai'ly  Indian  tiader, 261-263 

Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  publications  of, 7,  39,  42 

heqnest  to, 23 

rooms  of, „..^ 25 

Pension  Bureau,  publications  of, '.  - ^  7 

Percival,  Prof,  James  G.,  death  of, ^..^,,.,^^j,: ^,,,.-1-. 19 

eulogies  on, >.^ 19,  66-79 

Perkins,  late  James  H .,  wrote  upon  the  Jesuit  missionaries, 87 

Annals  of  the  West,  cited, - 133 

Perkins,  Lieut,,  commandant  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 270-279 

Pei'kins,  early  mill -builder  in  Wisconsin, ,,,,^  rr": ^^^ 

Perrot,  Father   missionary, «..w.  102,  108,  134 

-  manuscript  work,  cited, .,,..,..   129,  134 

Perry  A  Veeder,  Wisconsin  River  lumbermen, „.-.>..■.. 438 

Pe-sheu,  or  Wild  Cat,  a  Winnebago  chief, _^.^^". ....  269,  271,  276,  287 

Pe-wau-kee,  meaning  of, 337 

Pe-wau-te-not,  a  Menomonee  chief, __.^ , ,, ..y. ...  270,  294,  295 

Pewett  <fe  Lohner,  mills,  at  Prescott, .■...>- - ^-^ -ir- n-'Tf f -  ^^^ 

Philadelphia  Library  Company,  publications  of,  - . - ^ s» -^--- ''^ 

Phillips,  J.,  artist,  promises  picture, ...^.^.j^..^^. 18 

Phillips,  S.  R.,  donor,... 11 

Picture  Gallery,  noticed, 15-18 

report  on, r-rr-s 45-65 

I  r  '  S'y.f.^,  I.W 

Pier,  Hon.  Edward,  portrait  of, - 16,  46 

*••'  sketchof, ::::....  59 

Pierce,  Jonathan,  a  Kenosha  pioneer 396,  400,  401,  419 

Pierce  county,  sketch  of 453-465 

Pike,  Capt.  Z.  M.,  his  travels  cited, 238,  259,  283,  284 

rPine  river,  early  trading  posts  on 269 

.  Pinney,  S.  TJ„  donor, 12 

;A^o-e-go-nah,  a  Menomonee  warrior,  on  Ducharme's  expedition,  I.  ..^ 232 

f>r  1832,  on  Stambaugh's  expedition,  294 

Pohlman,  C^tain, 271,  272,  278,  279 

-  Point  de  Saible,  Baptist,  of  Chicago, 292 

Pontiac,  mentioned, 138,  213,  224-227 

Poquette,  Pierre,  early  Portage  settler, 289 

;  J*orlier,  Hon.  Jacques,  arrives  at  Green  Bay, 241 

K,  trader, ..L'^iw^.. 288,290 

M'  taught  school,  .^^I'i'.i,  i'.ijfviiV.  - 253 

1814,  served  at  Mackinaw»'ie=i 270 

SI  sketch  of, ....*........  j.-^i"..  244,  245 


GENERAL  INDEX.  537 

j,f  Porlier,  James  J., noticed, ki. ijtawai-ii.-*i.iUi.u"{4 ^«i4.  j(,'i<^ii^ yi'- .  -  -  271,  272 

©({•Porlier,  Louis  B.,  assists  in  Qrignon's  Narrative,. .,:iJi»3qj.ytali^'J0-'-.*;.«^;'-.  196 

donor  of  MSS., -  iWiU  -20'-  L»i. 'I .- i  ^ i<^  ......  245 

Portage  City,  first  settlement, \i£.li  .u-uyilia^ . .  286,  288-290,  437 

li  county,  noticed -- r^ - i  J^-aAvJixs  ^aai-'sJ 435-452 

q;  size  and  chai'acter, ^a  J^aa  jbjoia 436,  450,  451 

gl  Po^rter,  Prof.  W,  S.,  donor, -^iij)Js^i,iv  Jii«i  iu^^ ,. 39 

3   Potter, Hon.  John  F.,  donor, ..'.  ...'/.i'. 39 

;^v  Pottawattamies,  mentioned, .„i-,i  ^u  -w-iw-  106,  126,  136,  150 

Powell,  Peter,  mentioned, , ...I. J --..i.. 271 

I   Powell,  "William,  served  on  Stambaugh's  elpedition, j 294 

Q  r  J*ower8,  Hon.  David  J.,  member  of  Executive  Committee,  1856, 34 

1857, T 

donor, <.«i^..^.i.  ^^iw..w^:.>-     13 

Ij  a  "Whitewater  pioneer,^,. -,^L'U-iJiit^y!i;«uitiiii.  -  429 

-?  Prairie  du  Chien— Capt.  Pike's  visit,  ...,^^*^.u{ti'y.Xr^iJ^.-...:i.  i....  238 

_     f '  trading  post, ... iC>.u JoL  J^ilU- J. ... -i 238 

i^^,  1814,  capture  of, :.... 270-279 

j^Q Prairie  du  Sac,  or  Sauk  Prairie,  noticed, ^.ji. 206 

^  Prescott,  P.,  pioneer  of  Prescott, .j.  ,w<- . .  -  - 458-461 

(>  Prescott,  sketch  of. 458-454 

J.  Preston,  Hon.  "Wm.  C,  commends  the  Society, 27 

-   Preston,  Hon.  John  S., , do 32 

^  Proctor,  Gen. — inhumanity — cowardice, 301,  302,  308,  318 

p  Prophet,  the  Shawanoe,  Tecumseh's  broker, 301,  310 

^  Proudfit,  Andrew,  member  of  Executive  Committee,  1856, 34 

^M  Puants — see  Winnebagoes. 

jj^ugh,  Hon.  Geo.  E.,  donor,...^..;.^......^..,,,,.*;. ^,» 40,  42 

f_f-"  ..ti   .    ;o    4 5'T 

»*'     ■ 

•    _    . 

Qnarles,  Francis,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, ^..^^....  .^-. ..«.-  ^Wft 

•   Quebec,  fall  of,  in  1759, ....::/-. 217,  218 

Quiner,  E.  B.,  donor, *<v.-- 8 

on  Resources  of  North- Eastern  "Wisconsin,..^...,....  489-495 
Quinney,  late  John  W.,  portrait  promised, 17 


Rafinesque's  curious  work  on  Indians,  referred  to, 179 

Ragueneau,  Father,  missionary, 100 

Raisin  river,  defeat  and  massacre  at, -» .  306^308,  318,  319 

Randall,  Hon.  A.  W.,  donor, i.v  j-.lL .- .....  12,  39 

Randall,  Hon.  Henry  S„  donates  autographs, 11,  15 

urges  the  erection  of  a  fire-proof  building, 26 

68m 


.  ^438 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Randall,  Hon.  Heniy  S„  promises  additional  autographs, 26 

Ravel,  a  Sioux  interpreter, 270 

Raymbaut,  Father,  missionary, 93,  99,  129 

Reaume,  Pierre,  at  Detreit  in  1726, 171 

Reaume,  Judge  Charles,  arrives  at  Green  Bay, 241 

sketch  and  anecdotes  of, 245-250 

Reaume,  Noel,  anecdote  of, 247,  248 

^H  I^cord  Publications  of  Great  Britain,  promised, 6 

Recovery,  Fort,  attack  on,  alluded  to, 276 

iiJBed  Banks,  legend  of, 203 

traditionof, 203,204 

i-i^Eed  Hawk,  a  Sioux  chief,  services  of, 270 

Red  Wing, do do 270,  271 

yiRelic  of  King  Philip's  war,  promised, 14 

Revolutionaiy  war  relic, 14 

Reminiscences  of  theNorth- West, .' .:,;'.  297-337 

No.  Ir-r-Capt.  John  Grant — Wayne — Tecumseh, 299 

2— Capture  of  Detroit,.. 302 

3 — Col.  McKee,  humanity  of, 304 

4— Incidents  of  the  war,  1813, .v  i-  •.'; 306 

5— Incidents  of  the  Thames— Who  killed  Tecumseh  ?.  309 

6— Death  of  Tecumseh,..;j:vl'iiJV.ui'-w-V:.^L^'..v: 312 

7 — Anecdotes  of  Tecumseh,  - . ..'.-..........' 315 

8— Incidents  1807, 1814, 319 

9 — A  Reminisceiice, 326 

10— Ne-gwa-gon,  the  Little  Wing, 328 

11— The  old  town  of  Detroit, 330 

12— An  Indian  duel, ..331 

13 — Kishi-kwa-ko  and  Big  Beaver, 332 

14— Indian  trials, 334 

15 — Indian  Names, 337 

Resique,  Samuel,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, ♦^^. ,...  379, 

380,  381,  384,  385,  399,  400,  406,  419 

^  Revolvtionary  war  relic, 14 

I^^ynolds,  Hon.  John,  promises  portrait, 16 

Rhode  Island  Historical  Society,  publi  cations  of, 6 

Ribourde,  Father,  missionaiy, 110,  130 

Rib  river,  settlement  on, 446,  447 

Rice,  wild,  specimen  of,  in  Cabinet, i;.-i*iifc  ji-.  ^j^ 13 

IjRichard,  Father,  missionary, :.- 261 

nEichards,  D.  H., donor, .......;- 7,  39 

•   CHiggs,  G.  W.,  jr.,  donor, 5,  40 

tjRileys,  the,  Peter,  James  and  John, 323-325 

^  Roberts,  Sidney>  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 371-373 


GENERAL  INDEX.  539 

Robinson,  A.  C,  donor, 13 

Rocheblave,  Philip  de, 213,  215 

Rocheblave,  Pierre  and  Noel,  traders, 215 

*^feock  County  Agricultural  Society,  donor, 39,  41 

llockwood,  Mrs.  Louisa,  donor, 8,  11,  15,  39 

Eogan,  Hon.  Patrick,  promises  portrait, 17 

^Rogers,  Chai-les  R.,  donor, 13 

^feolette,  Joseph,  a  Prairie  du  Chien  pioneer, 250 

271,  273,  274,  275,  278,  279,  289,  437 

^JRoss,  Leonard,  a  Green  county  pioneer, 424 

Rothermel,  P.  F.,  promises  picture, 17 

Rounds,  Lester,  establishes  a  Fourier  association, .' 417 

Rountree,  Gen,  John  H.,  portrait, 16,  45 

sketch  of, 49 

Bountree,  George  H.,  donor, 5,  39 

^B(Oy,  Amable,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 241,  243 

^ii&y,  Joseph,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, . :z: .'.1'. 241,  243 

Roy,  Francis,  early  settler  at  Portage, ..'. 289 

Royal  Society  of  Northern  Antiquaries,  publications  of, 7 

Rubber,  The,  a  Menomonee  chief,  exploits  of, ^: 280 

^Rublee,  Horace,  member  of  Executive  Committee,,  1856, 34 

1857 /..... 'T 

donor, 39 

eulogy  on  Percival, . . .' . i.. .'. 19,  73 

^Runnell,  a  Waupaca  county  pioneer, 480 


''\ 


j^acket,  E.  G.,  donor, -xk-  *  -  -  41 

Sagard,  the  historian,  cited, -,»o.MJ«i.**-i.i«*.- 131,  132,  137 

Saginash,  Indian  name  for  the  English,  >Kk»>. k*~ ^J^.^i  329 

Saguima,  an  Ottawa  chief  in  1712, 133 

Sanders,  James,  a  Hudson  pioneer, iw-v.* 467 

Sarcel,  or  the  Teal,  a  Winnebago  chief, 269,  271,  276,  288 

Sar-ro-chau,  a  Winnebago  chief, «*,^.* 271,  288 

<S*uk  Indians,  early  mention  of, 126,  136 

1726,  pacification  of, 148-164 

1746,  expulsion  from  Fox  River  Yalley, 200,  201,  204-211 

1775- '81,  serve  under  De  Langlade, .„^J.^>^^i,l^^.^..  229 

1781,  Spanish  message  to, 504,  505 

48auk  Prairie,  early  locality  of  Sauk  Indians, 206 

€aulnier.  Rev.  Mr.,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis, 112,  113 

Sau-sa-mau-nee,  a  Winnebago  chief, 269,  271,  288 

Sauteurs — see  Chippewas. 


^'540        '  GENERAL  INDEX. 

'  Savage,  Hon.  James,  the  historian,  commends  the  Society, 29 

.Scandinavia,  "Waupaca  countj, 486 

Schoolcraft,  Hon.  Henry  R,,  engraving  of, 15 

commends  the  Society, 27 

cited, 130,  132,  136,  137 

^chue.  Dr.  Alexander,  donor, 5,  15,  39 

.flcip,  or  George  R.  Barlow, 410-413 

.,)Scott,  James,  member  of  "Western  Emigration  Company, 371 

a^cribner,  Charles,  donor, 39 

-Reaver,  Lucas,  promises  donation, 9 

Seymour,  "Wm.  N" .,  of  Madison,  promises  portrait, 17 

donor, _ 41 

g;gey mour,  "William,  of  Kenosha,  a  pioneer, 375,  407 

ntSeymour,  Hon.  Horatio,  director  of  Fox  River  I.  Co., 499 

g^haver,  U.  B.,  donor, -rr-- 8 

g£lhaj?>  Col.  John,  early  mill-builder, ^ 437 

0  on  derivation  of  Lemonwier, ,,.j.^.,^^., 501 

Y&hawanoe  Indians,  mentioned, i. . '. ^;»^  309-31 1 

^v  See  Tecumseh. 

K^haier,  George,  a  Pierce  county  pioneer, ---r^r-. -r- '^^^ 

JShea,  John  Qilmary,  on  the  early  Jesuit  missionaries, Ill,  124 

Af>  on  the  early  Indian  Tribes  of  Wisconsin, 125-138 

g  cited,....  91,  116-118,  121,  126,  131,  132,  133, 138,261 

(-^lieboygan,  meaning  of, , 337 

Sheldon,  Maj.  John  P.,  promises  portrait, , 17 

Shin-goop,  a  Chippewa  chief, 357 

Shin -plasters,  early  "Wisconsin  currency, 13 

'Shiocton,  "Waupaca  county,  noticed, 487,  488 

VShipman,  S.  V.,  member  of  Executive  Committee,  1857, t 

^Sholes,  Hon.  Charles  C,  promises  portrait, 17 

£81  alludedto, 392 

T8^  mayor  of  Kenosha, 418 

^  encourages  education, 418 

ySholes,  Hon.  C.  L.,  establishes  pioneer  paper  at  Kenosha, 392,  413 

h'  inaugurates  a  new  church, 402 

Sibley,  J.  Langdon,  donor, 42 

Simon,  Father,  missionary, Ill 

Sinclair,  Patrick,  Lieut,  Gov.  of  Mackinaw, 228,  229,  232-234 

Sioux  Indians,  mentioned,....  100,  104,  107,  128,  149,  155,  158,  ]59,  164-166 

a  1775-81,  serve  under  De  Langlade, 229 

{'  Pennesha's  exploits, 262,263 

1812-15,  serve  against  Americans, 268-278 

instance  of  intended  treachery,  367 

Skinner,  E.  "W.,  donor, 7,  8,  15,  3^ 


y 


GENERAL  INDEX.  5^1 

Smith ,  Gen.  Wm.  R .,  President  of  the  Society,  1856, 34 

1857, r 

Secretaiy  to  Territorial  Council, 58 

History  of  "Wisconsin,  cited, 117,  223,  271,  336 

on  meaning  of  Lemonwier, 501 

Smith,  Rev.  Reuhen,  commends  the  Society, 33 

donor, 39 

refers  to  Wisconsin  antiquities, 33,  185 

Smith,  W.  L.  G.,  donor, 39 

Smithsonian  Institute,  publications  of, 7,  40 

Souligny,  M.,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 198,  201,  213,  243 

Souligny,  a  Menomonee  chief, 269,  270,  234,  294,  295 

South  Carolina  Historical  Society, 7 

Spalding's  Life  of  Flaget,  referred  to, 112,  118 

Sparks,  Hon.  Jared,  commends  the  Society, 26 

St.  Croix  River,  early  trading  posts  on, 244,  246,  247,  288 

St.  Croix  county,  sketch  of, 466-477 

St.  Louis,  Ducharme's  expedition  against, 231-234 

Stambaugh,  Col.  Samuel  C,  expedition  against  Sauks  and  Foxes, 293-295 

Stanley,  Abram  R.,  artist,  promises  donation, - 18 

sketch  on :lll'f:i!^l-.  64*^ 

State  Department,  Washington,  donor, -•*-,--- -  ^»  ^^ 

State  Historical  Society,  officers  and  committees  for  1857,':?.^! iL'i'^llti'.::?'^^^'^ 

third  Annual  Report, .'J!^.:t^i:^J^i:9... .   1*® 

prosperity  of  the  Society,.. -V::*:'.:::^.-.S:e?|l.:::*'i^^ 

-       increase  of  the  library, .^. h\ ..........  2f'*^^ 

classification  of  library, i;'1^4.;.'.i:'....  3  **=^ 

character  of  books  pm-chased,...  ji^L^riA-^C^^. :'.:';  ^'^^ 

donated  books, .:.iVi. .........'...' 4'^^ 

■works  promised, ..-;  tf'  '' 

^vorks  of  Historical  and  other  Societies, . ..-i .'i .li^^^*^<^ 

bound  newspaper  files, .-.^.iHAiTl^r^^ 

unbound  files  added, ....l^lrl^'tl^fl...  8'^ 

newspapers  and  periodicals  received,^!*!.':.  8,  43,  44 

newspaper  files  promised, 9 

newspapers  and  periodicals  desired, 9 

pamphlet  additions, ..^..n.^-.', .^^... .--  l^jj'f 

maps  and  atlases, .^^.^.^,^^^- . ^j. . ^ . p^. ^ t  -  , .  - .   10^/f 

autographs, 11 

additions  to  the  Cabinet, ^  12-14 

engravings  and  photographs . . ^ ^  ^Trvr|*t*r^¥f^';lrr- "   ^^  r,f 

principal  donors, rr/-ff7  *  -  •  14 

Picture  Gallery, 15-18 

promised  portraits, •.■!*-Yv 16-18 


g42  GENERAL  INDEX. 

State  Historical  Society,  Btatuette,  bust  and  photographs  promised 18 

Vattemare's  Exchange  System, 18 

death  of  Percival,  Messersmith  and  Hickcox, 1^ 

death  of  Solomon  Junea, 19 

"Wm,  A.  White,  death  and  sketches  of, 20,  80 

meetings  of  the  Society — new  members, 21 

Reports  and  Collections,  usefulness, 21,  22 

improved  edition  of  Collections  authorized,  note..  22 

bequests  and  endowments  desired, 22-24 

fire-proof  edifice  needed, .^j^.^,  24-26 

commendations  and  encouragements, 26-34 

sources  of  historical  information, 33,  222 

Treasurer's  Report, 37 

donors  to  the  library, 39 

donations  for  literary  exchanges, 41 

donors  of  pamphlets,  maps,  Ac, ^-,  »,^^,jj,-^;,  42 

list  of  periodicals  received  by  the  Society,.. j^..^i«  43 

Keport  on  Picture  Gallery, -*r«-fc-  f  i^V  n^ ^^ 

eulogies  on  Dr.  Percival, ..^v ..^p.^^^^ .,  66 

Sterling,  Hon.  Levi,  portrait  of,.. 16,  45 

sketch  of, ,.-^*- 50 

Stevens,  George,  Wisconsin  River  lumberman, 438 

Stevens,  C.  D,  <fe  Co.,  mills,  at  Prescott, '. 460 

Stevens,  Gen,  H.  L.,  mentioned, 340^ 

Stevens,  Henry,  of  Vermont,  loss  of  newspaper  files, 26 

Stevens'  Point,  Land  Office  opened, 44& 

Stewart,  J,  W.,  on  Early  History  of  Green  County, 421-426 

Stoddard,  James  A.,  a  Northport  pioneer, 483 

Stone,  Rev,  Edwin  M.,  donor, 42 

Strickland,  D.  W.,  mills,  at  Prescott, r'Jr.rr 463 

Stryker,  J.  M.,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 386 

Surgeon  General's  Bureau,  publications  of, Trr'f-rr "^^ 

Suydam,  J.  V.,  promises  portrait, 17 


Tafb,  Lucius,  a  pioneer  of  New  London 479~ 

Tallmadge,  Hon,  N,  P.,  engraving  of, 14 

^*  promises  portrait, 16 

Talon,  Tntendant  of  New  France, lOa,  101,  103,  119 

Tank,  Otto,  director  of  Fox  River  Improvement  Company, 499 

Taydheedah,  an  Indian  town, 251,  264 

Taylor,  Hon.  Stephen,  promises  portrait, 17 

Teal,  orSarcel,  a  Winnebago  chief, 259,  271,  276,  288 


'A 


GENERAL  INDEX.  543 

Tecumseli's  war- belts,  in  1810, 1 268>'^ 

dress  and  appearance, 301,  302>  ^ 

services  and  death, 309-318'  ' 

Tennessee  Historical  Society,  Nashville, 193 

Te-pak-e-ne-nee,  an  Indian, 201,  202 

Teny,  Hon.  John  B.,  promises  portrait, 17"^ 

The  Sixth,  a  Sioux  chief,... w*-«»,w*.^.  270,  271 

Thibeau,  Atigustin,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 242,  253 

Thompson,  John  R.,  donor, 42     \ 

Tibbits,  F.  Q.,  member  of  Executive  Committee,  1856,.. 34 

1857, T 

life  member  of  the  Society, 37 

Tiffany,  G,  0„  donor, 13,  39 

Tobey,  early  hotel-keeper  at  Kenosha, 406 

Tomah,  a  Menomonee  chief, 227,  257,  267-284,  478 

Tompkins.  W.  C,  donor,  ...' ^-.rv' ^ 

Tonti,  at  Detroit, l...'169-177 

his  Relation  referred  to,... 107,  108 

Topographical  Bureau,  publications  of, 7 

Towne,  Hon.  Wm.  B.,  donor, 15,  39,  42 

Townsend,  Hon.  A.  A.,  portrait  of, 16,  46 

sketch  of, 60 

Townsend,  Thomas  S„  donor, 39 

Towslee,  Waters,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 371,  373,  378,  379,  405,  406 

Tracy,  M.  De,  General  and  Viceroy  of  New  France, 100,  101 

Tradition  of  the  Red  Banks, 203,  204 

Train,  H.  0  „  aids  in  new  church  effort  at  Kenosha, 402 

Treasurer's  Report, 37 

Trippe,  Dr.,  pioneer  of  Whitewater, 429,  430 

Turner,  Charles  W.,  a  Kenosha pioneer,'.l'LVi'.^ 371-378,  396,  419 

Turner,  Maj.  0.  P.,  donor, 39 

Tuthill,  Mrs  Louisa  C,  donor, 40 

commends  the  Society, 31 

Upper  Wisconsin  Country,  sketch  of, .f.*wtffc.*<w<,^  .,i*iJia»  .,,(A...W- . 435-452^  77 

-  'f'W 
Van  De  Bogart,  Michael,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 379^  * 

♦Vanti,  John,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, ,- 242 

Van  Sant,  Abner,  a  Green  county  pioneer, -"...' 424 

Van  Slyck,  L.,  donor 12 

Vattemare,  Mons.  A„  literary  exchange  system, 18 


544  GENERAL  INDEX. 

Veeder,  a  Wiscoiisiu  River  lumberiuan, 438 

Vermont  Historical  Society, 7 

Vermont  State  House  burned — collection  destroyed, 2G 

Vieau,  Jacques,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, 242 

an  Indian  trader  at  Milwaukee, 292 

Vieau,  Nicholas,  a  Green  Bay  pioneer, , .  ^ 242 

Vincennes,  the  founder  of  Vincennes,  Indiana, 100 

Virginia  Historical  Society,  noticed, 7,  23,  39 

/Visger,  Hon.  Jacques,  a  Canadian  antiquary, w*L >'.. .   113.  115 


Wah-nali-peck-ah,  tried  for  murder, 336 

Walker,  Edward,  donor,' .'.'.'.*.*."-'.'. . .' - 39 

Walk-in-the-Water,  an  Indian  chief, 301 

Wallace,  William,  a  Green  county  pioneer, , 421,  423 

Wajc i4  18 12-'15,— 1812,  capture  of  Mackinaw, 269,  271    , ,, 

capture  of  Detroit, ...i' 302,304 

bravery  and  humanity  of  Col.  McKee, 304-306 

;-    Capt,  Westbrook's  forays,  ....  ....... 321     ~ 

massacre  at  Chicago, 269     . 

1813,  River  Raisin  defeat — British  inhumanity,..  206-208, 

,11^?^^' 319     , 

Eort  Meigs — Sandusky, , ■t  -» -  - " - -•  '-"^ - .  269    _rj^ 

Dudley's  defeat,. ...... .*.'..:..., ^....."I.\ 317     . 

incident  of  Tecumseh, ...315-317 

Thames  battle...... .,«„,....  270   ^^ 

incidents — Tecumseh's  death,  309-314     p 

anecdotes  of  Tecumseh, ..,.„., ., ,. .  314-318     ,., 

Tecumseh  and  Proctor... -....^....*  301,  302     .p 

1814,  capture  of  Mackinaw, ' ,......, 270     .„ 

Prairie  du  Chien  expedition, ...*.. -r^  270-280      .■ 

engagement  near  Detroit, 311,320-324,326-328 

The  Rubber's  exploit, 280 

Washburn,  Hon.  C.  C,  donor, 15,  .39,  42 

Washington  autographs, 11,  12 

Washington,  W.  D.,  ai-tist,  promises  picture, 18    ^ 

commends  the  Society, 31 

Waterman,  George  S.,  donor, 12 

Wat-tau-se-mo-sa,  anecdote  of, 248     *, 


Wau-ba-shaw,  a  Sioux  chief, , 270,  271,  277 

r'.VO  ;;--.' j     •{  i'.'-'.     '■■■■ 

Waud,  Robert  Q.,  donor, ,^.^ ,.  13 

Waukesha,  meaning  of, ...-,  337 

Wau-me-ge-sa-ko,  portrait  of,  and  notice, IT 


.i7 


GSITKItAL  iirD:5X 


4^ 


Wftu-naa-ko,  a  Menomonee  ehief, >, ,.-*,». m«*-*»-jl,-** --  294. 

^upaca  coun^,  Bketehes  of; , ....  ,.,^^,,.,^^.,^^^j78-48$, 

tfaupacA  village,  noticed,..: ,.^j^.^^^^.^.  ....  481- 

mu-pfe-se.^in's  atfem^tef  ,tr,aQhery;.::V.^^^  '  ^-^2^ 

mu-pe-W-se-pe,  meaning  oC.,.  .,_^^^^^j^^,  ..:. 331 

IfauB^u,  Marathon  county,  noticed, .'--. 438,  449 

Wau-she-own,  a  Milwaukee  Indian,... 291 

"Vi^aw-fce-sha-slie,  a  Chippewa  chief, 33J 

Wayne,  Gen.  Anthony,  defeats  Indians,. Iir."Il. 94,  138,  300,  301 

ffeatheriir,  Dr.  C.  M.,  donor,7.1I'.V.l'-..lV... -.-.,.,.- ^■ 

Weed,  Cephas,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, » ^^.^.^^. , ,.  39^- 

W  ged  <fe  Eberhard^  donors, . .  1 .......  -  ....  . r  rs-  -i  -  Ay-rr  ??, 

Wee-kah,  a  Menomonee  chief,  killed* -,....-.«. -y....^., 2W, 

'\ft9ife»  Hon.  Daniel,  jr.,  donor, -.„-..,.  — 1^,  3^^, 

*     ""■  ■  promises  portrait, .". ^.,.,^..,,._ 17 

Westbrook,  Capt  Andrew,  eeryices,... ..,...,.. 321 

Western  Emigration  Company,  certificate  of,....  ........  .^-..-^. . ...  14 

noticed,. ...........VJ-.-.. ..--  371,387 

W^tmbre,  Gen.  P.  M.,  prorquses  donation,. ._,^...,..,...,.....^,.w 6 

WheafJauiLD'.  Henry,  donor, - ,,.^...,.,--, .,.. .- 42 

Whpeler,  J.  P.,  donor, .--.......,-.-...-.- 11 

C'^'    .     '    ^  .,.         .  ^.. ,  ...,  ,„,.,l'.i  SHvU-rJ  fiVtT'-a 

Whipple  Major  John,  at  Detroit, ..,_,. --.-..,..-.  320,  324 

i^i-i--  ......    . , ,. , ,_.-..,..  ,<.'sTr  u.t  ai.tvlu'.  OiUi'!,'.! 

Whiskey,  the  bane  of  Indians............. ,^....^. ...... ......  358,  359 

White,  Hon.  Philo,  life  member  6f  the  Society, .,..--,---.^. 37 

^.'        *w   s  ,.   •        ^  ,..  Jo-.  fv^uufuvLTdv- 

Wljiite,  Williani  A.,  death  and  sketches  of,,... ..-.-_.. ..-..^. .  ...,.-.,  20,  80 

Wtlto  !^lt,  a  Menomonee  chief,  ".,1*..  ,««'.. ...,.-....'!,-.- 269 

Whitewater,  sketch  of, -.^.,-- ........... ...rt  ••>--•«••  427-434 

• ,  s-  -    Ji  V  ■•  ■ - -t   ■  ■        '  "^  "*•  '■^'        ■■■'■■^s^  -'t"  ■.v-uitH-a 

Whiting,  W.  L.,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, ....._ -....--....-........  414 

Whitmore,  W .  H.,  promises  donation........  .a... .^.-........ ...p, o 

Wwtney,  DaNiel,  early  mill-builder, -...,, ...^yi-.^. ,-.,-  437,  438 

ftruBv,  D^a.  H,^  a  Kenoslia  pioneer, .^.-,_--^.-.^  3^^^  394,  408 
ton, ,  Cfi,ie,f  Ji^ticel  ficlwara  V".,  promises  portraii^  ....'....,-*. 17 

Whittlesey,  Col.  Ch'ajics,  translates  Cas&manuscriptg,......^.^...*.  139,  141 

^  „ ,    " traces  iron  depositea  in  W .  B,  Wisconain, . .  493,  494 

Whittlesey,  L,  H.,  donor, „.-.  — ,.-....- 5,  39 

Wido  Mouth,  an  Indian  chief,  speech  of, ..l....n-w- •«f--«A 344 

WUd  Rice,  specimen  of,  in  Cabinet ...l.....rn-'fn 1^ 

^(Tj   ,  *^        ,., _.^,,. ,:.,,, ftViitian  :;H.T{Tini 

jKej,  B.  Q.,  donor, - --.— , ,...^--. .. —  39, 

;••'„,.  ,,_ ,mtHiuh  ,>(;»lvVu..-i   ?.    :l.;'^vK^jW 

illiams,  late  Dr.  S.  W.,  bequest  of, ........^... . --  4»  ,15,,  40,  42. 

iljiajxis.  Eleazor,  mentioned,,,.^  ...... i... .....----.---  5B,  94A  4P», 

William?,  J,  0.,  early  settler  of  Wappaca.countir,  ....£.....,...•.«.......,  485 

Wilson,  J.  G.,  a  Kenosha .pionee)*, ««...«....,..-.--«....-  374,^  37p, 

^^  ..-^...,  ...  .,^a;»'''>q^'-.  -'  '■'^^*^"""'  ,«ol!n..Tr.>  J;»(ia;»Tr.iU)U  ,''^-.' 'i'' 

WiLson.  Gardner,  a  Kenosha  pioneer.  ...-,- -w-  -j.-ti— •  ---r  -,  ^jID"'^^^, 

Wn)K)n,  Archibald,  donor, .' .••^...in«...M..».«- ■-.-  39 

69m 


s 


g^g  GENERAL  IKDEX 

Wi-Tia-ga,  ortheSnn,  tried  for  murder, , 336 

Winchester,  Gen.,  defeat  at  the  Raisin, 306-308,  318,  319 

Windross,  William,  donor, 13 

Winnebago  Indians,  early  mention  of, 126,  137,  148,  149,  150,  153,  212 

^SF-   -  early  residence  at  Red  Banks, 203,204 

6^  of  Rock  River,.... 264 

in  var  of  1812-'15, 268-278 

sketch  of, '.'.'.^.,^ 285 

J^^  theirchiefe, ..!!:^"... 286-289 

Win-no-sheek,  a  Winnebago  chief, '. . .  V,  T-  -  ^  -  -  -  ^—  -  269,  271,  287 

Winsor,  R.  B.,  a  Kenosha  pioneer, 4U8 

Winters  in  Wisconsin, ...:.V.....^.,. .;./;,..  451,  456-458,  473,  474 

Wisconsin  Heights  battle-field,  picture  of, 15,  45,  46 

Wisconsin,  early  shin-plasters, 13 

first  Territorial  seal, ..._. 13 

Indian  relics,  .t.mimiV^l" -. 13_ 

\vild  nee, -.,p.-- 13 

'  ''     beaver  chips,..,.  ... — -V.V.. 13^ 

^  Western  Emigration  Company,  certificate, 14 

^  battle-fields,  pictures  of, ..." .'.?^'i .1  il .-7. - -.15,  45,  46 

Indian  tribes  of,..,. .1.^11"^^. 125 

Indian  affairs  in  1726. '.ITl^.... .--- 148-164 

ancient  mounds  of  Crawford  county, ',-^. 178 

antiquities  of, '°^ 

**^/  Grignon's  Recollections, .- 195 

historical  documents  in  French  Archieves, 33,  222 

Indian  title  extinguished,  in  1833,  ",II.l 17 

*  stringent  law  agai  nst  vending  whiskey  to  Indians, 359 

''  Chippewas  of  Lake  Superior,... 338 

Upper  Country, - 435 

80^  >i';  Numbering  business,  ... 439-445,  448,  449 

^  wintere....... ,. 451,456-458,473.474 

"  North  Eastern,  resources  of, 489 

internal  navigation, 496 

Lemon wier  Valley, ... '*S-'r  "*"  * 'V ' " "  ^ 

Baraboo  Valley. .:::.':. i...." 50? 

public  libraries, ..-..'-.! 506 

Witbeck  &  Rowley,  donoi-s,  ...IV.'...... -V- V- - :*-->- 4i 

Witherill,  Hon.  James,  of  Michigan,  ::;.:'.':! 335,  33? 

Witherill,  Hon.  B.  F.  H.,  Reminiscences  of  the  North  West, 297-3» 

Woodbridge,  Timothy  and  brothere,  Kenosha  pioneere, 382,  399,  40O 

Woodcroft,  Hon.  Bennet,  of  London,  commends  the  Society, 31 

Wood  County,  see  Upper  Wisconsin  Country, 435-452 

its  character, 451 


A 


GENERAL  INDEX, 


547 


Woodin,  Rev.  Peter,  of  Wisconsin  Enaigration  Company, 371 

Woodman,  0 J nw,  a  Vice  President  of  the  Society, Y 

donor, 8,  12,  39,  43 

promises  portrait, 17 

Commends  the  Society, ........... .... .. 34 

Worthington,  Hon.  D.,  donor 39 

Wright,  Hon.  Silas,  revered  by  Green  Bay  Oneidas, 57 

Wright.  Mrs.  Hiram  A.,  donor, 8 

Wyaudotts  or  Huron*, 97,  98,  126,  127,  212 


Yellow  Cloud,  a  Menomonee  chief, 270 

Tellovr  Dog,  a  Menoroonee  chi«f, 270 

yeoman,  a  Waupaca  Con uty  pioneer,    - 480 

Yont,  S.  C,  donor, IS 

Young  <fe  Gibb8,  donora, 41 

e&  PreMuttand  Pieree  County 458-465 


..'U) 


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