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WILLIAM (iKDltCI m:i < I

HISTORY

MILWAUKEE

CITY AND COUNTY

EDITED BY

WILLIAM GEORGE BRUCE

VOLUME I

ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO— MILWAUKEE

THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY

1922

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PREFACE

Mon- than forty years have elapsed since the story of the City and County
of Milwaukee was presented in anything like a compact, comprehensive and
accessible form. Since then the newspapers, the local governmental depart-
ments and various agencies have hourly and daily recorded the several activi-
ties of the community. These activities have grown in number, variety and
importance, and have amplified themselves in so many diversified directions
that only an assembling of certain leading farts will afford a true picture of
the whole.

The current records have served their purpose and the needs of their
period. These records, however, soon become obscured in the mass of things,
and the important and more outstanding facts and events become imbedded
in the mesh of routine and in matters of temporary concern only. Thus, the
essential facts and data must periodically be rescued from their submerged
state and brought to the light again, collected and arranged with order and
sequence, and with a due regard for their meaning and import.

And since history is a continuous record of activities, tendencies and move-
ments it demands not only their adequate treatment but successive presenta-
tion as well. The story which has been halted must be resumed and told to its
finish, which means that it must be brought up to the present time, and left to
the future to be resumed and told again.

With this thought in mind the History of Milwaukee, city and county, is
approached, presenting in compact form not only the struggles and trials of
a pioneer day and the story of humble beginnings but emphasizing the crown-
ing achievements of a later period as well. In his treatment of the work as a
whole the editor has aimed to deal more generously with the history of the
past forty years and to reveal with reasonable clearness the forces and in-
fluences that have made for the growth and development of a great urban
center of population. While the early pioneer and settlement period is by no
means minimized it has been sought to accord the fullest measure of attention
to the later period. It will here be recognized that the city secured in this
period that economic, civic and social momentum which has reared it to its
present splendor and importance as an American city.

A Large part of the manuscript was prepared by J. Seymour Currey who
wrote an acceptable history of Chicago several years ago and whose services
as a writer on historic subjects have been recognized. The chapters on the
Industrial Beginning and Achievements, the Commercial Rise and Expansion,
the Milwaukee Harbor, the Auditorium and the Milwaukee Association of
Commerce, Alt-Milwaukee to an American City were written by the editor in

vi IIIstoKY OF MILWAUKEE

the belief thai his immediate identification with these interests and institutions
qualified him to treal them more intimately and adequately. The entire his-
tory, however, has been written under the supervision of the editor who has
spared 00 ei'i'urt in verifying the facts presented.

In the treatment of these several subjects some of which are primary and
basic in the city's growth and development, the authors have aimed to go
beyond the mere recital of facts and events by bringing cause and effeel into
play and in drawing from them permissible and warrantable deductions and
conclusions.

The Editor.

Aii American city! What splendid forces — latent and active — arc implied
in that name! Let us miss no opportunity to bring to our service the best
thought and experience of the world in city planning, city building and city
living. Let us not only proclaim a place among our sister cities of the Great
Republic, but deserve to be arrayed with the most progressive among them.
Only by exemplifying the truest and best in American urban life shall we
render ourselves worthy of being an integral part of the greatest nation on
earth.

WILLIAM GEORGE BRICK.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Preface v

Introduction 17

CHAPTER

I Discovery of the Great West 21

1 1 Ordinance of 1787 37

III Discovery of the Great Lakes 43

IV Hail Carriers and Routes . 53

V Indian Villages '. 61

VI Days of the Fur Trader 67

VII The Lead Mining Industry 77

VIII Solomon Juneau and His Family 83

IX Byron Kilbourn and George H. Walker 99

X Life and Labors of Andrew J. Vieau 107

XI Milwaukee in the Pioneer Period 113

XII The Lady Elgin Disaster 129

XIII The Great Milwaukee Fire 147

X I V Lincoln in Milwaukee 153

X V Immigration and Race Origin 171

XVI Beginnings, Dates, Events 189

XVII The Era of Internal Improvements 207

XVIII Industrial Beginnings and Achievement 219

XIX Commercial Rise and Expansion 257

XX Harbor and Marine Interests 569

XXI The Coming of the Railroads 319

XXII Banking and Finance 339

XXIII Life and Fire Insurance 369

XXIV The Chamber of Commerce 379

XXV Milwaukee Association of Commerce 383

XXVI The Milwaukee Post Office 415

XXVII The Milwaukee Auditorium 421

XXVIII The Municipal Government 435

XXIX Water Works Department 469

XXX The Health Department 477

XXXI City Planning and Zoning 481

XXXII Milwaukee County Government 557

XXXIII Woman's Suffrage in Wisconsin 565

XXXIV Participation in War 571

XXXV Roosevelt's Visit to Milwaukee , 607

XXXVI .Milwaukee Public Schools 629

x CONTENTS

PAGE

XXXVI] Higher Institutions of Learning <H7

XXXVII] The Public Library and Museum 667

XXXIX Milwaukee's Musical History 675

XL The Progress of Art in .Milwaukee 685

XL! Newspapers and Trade Publical inns 707

XLI1 Public and Private < lharities 739

XLII1 The Transition Period 755

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Bruce, William George Frontisjriect

Milwaukee— An Old-Time View 20

M ihvaukee in 1840— Outline Map 24

Milwaukee in 1820 — Bird 's-eye View 36

Form of Proclamation — 1825 44

An Old Marriage License 14

Old Settlers' Club— Presidents 52

Milwaukee in 1853 — Bird's-eye View 60

Milwaukee in 1873 — Bird's-eye View 66

Site of First House— Tablet 80

Solomon Juneau — Portrait 84

Solomon Juneau Monument 88

Solomon Juneau, First Mayor of Milwaukee 92

Solomon Juneau — Original Letter 94

Juneau Trading with Indians — Ba's Relief 94

Byron Kilbourn — Portrait ' 08

Byron Kilbourn Residence 100

Walker, George H— Portrait 104

Chestnut Street in 1860 112

Increase A. Lapham — Quit Claim Deed 124

Sinking of "Lady Elgin" 130

" Augusta" — Schooner 134

Steamer "Lady Elgin" 140

John Wilson, Captain of the "Lady Elgin" 140

Matthew Stein Gun Shop, The 172

Rufus King Residence 1 7(i

Old Cream City Base Ball Club 176

Wisconsin Street in an Earlier Day 180

John Pollworth 's Restaurant ' 180

Milwaukee House 1< S 4

Mrs. Milwaukee H. Smith Hackelberg 190

Charles Milwaukee Sivyer — Tablet 194

Bauer & Steinmeyer's Store - { ^

East Water Street in the Early Forties 208

Wesf Water Street— Looking North 210

Wisconsin Street— About 1867 214

Ludington Block 216

Original Penny Store 216

Skyline of Milwaukee — Looking North 218

First Steam Flour Mill 218

Northeast ( lorner Milwaukee and Wisconsin, 1871 220

Looking North on Main Street. 1870 220

Republican House 224

Old Newhall House 224

Astor Hotel 226

Medford Hotel 230

Wisconsin Street — Looking West 232

xii LIST OF [ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Miller Hotel and Third Streel 236

Menominee Valley — Manufactuiiag ( 'cut it 240

Milwaukee Manufacturers' Some Building 240

The Hotel Wisconsin 244

Toj Theatre and ( Ihinese Restaurant 2 Hi

Easl Water Street, North of Wisconsin Street 258

New Plankinton Hotel and Old Plankinton House 260

Grand Avenue East from Sixth Street 2f>2

The Pfister Hotel 264

View of Milwaukee — Looking West 266

( >hl-Time Schooner Entering Harbor 270

Car Perry "Grand Haven" 270

Steamer "Christopher Columbus" 274

Kinniekinnie Basin 274

Harbor Plans— Outline Sketch 278

A Lake Coal ( larrier 2-2

Me ninee River. Coal Doek Center 282

Jones Island and Kinniekinnie Basin 288

Coal Handling Scenes 294

Menominee River, Coal Shipping ( 'enter 298

Milwaukee River, Grain Elevators 298

Sidewheeler "John A. Dix" 304

Old Goodrich Dock 304

.Milwaukee River and Commercial ('enter 310

Milwaukee River North from Buffalo Street 314

Old Lake Shore Depot 320

First Railway Depot 320

Old Lacrosse Depot and Third Street in 1860 322

Railroad Rate Table 324

Officers and Employes, Milwaukee & St. Paul Ry 326

( Ihicago & Northwestern Station 330

Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Ry. Station 330

Stock Yards at West Milwaukee 334

East Water Street — Looking North from Wisconsin Street 338

First Wisconsin National Bank Building 346

The .Marshall & Ilsley Bank : 350

Second Ward Savings Bank 356

Old insurance Building 370

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Building 374

Northwestern National Fire Insurance Company Building 374

( 'hamber of Commerce and Mitchell Building : '>7>

Merchants' Association — Dinner Program 384

Merchants' Association .Menu Cover Design 386

Merchants' Association — Banquet Menu 386

Milwaukee Athletic Club 390

Grand Avenue, West from Bridge 392

Wells Office Building 396

View of Milwaukee Looking Southwest 398

Majestic Building 402

The Milwaukee Club 404

The Calumet Club W8

The Wisconsin club 408

Milwaukee Yacht Club U0

Old Elks' Club House 410

Post Office Old Building 414

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii

PAGE

Post Office and Wisconsin Street -US

Soldiers' Home Fair Building, 1865 422

Auditorium Building- 424

Auditorium — Interior Main Arena 428

Exposition Building — Old 430

City Hall and Market Square 436

Old Courthouse and County Jail 440

Old-Time Campaign Document 442

City Hall and Bergh Fountain 444

Old City Hall ! . . 448

Fourth of July Announcement 450

Milwaukee Engine Company No. 1 452

Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 456

Expenditure of City Tax Revenues 458

Mass Meeting of Electors 460

Carpenter, Matthew H. — A Sentiment 462

Army Call of 1862 for Volunteers 466

Water Tower and Park 470

McKinley Park — Bathing Beach 470

Columbia Hospital 476

Milwaukee Hospital 476

Washington Park— Moonlight Scene 482

Christian Wahl — Bust 484

Mitchell Park — Sunken Gardens 484

Lake Park, Grand Terrace 486

Entrance to Lake Drive 4!K)

Skyline of Milwaukee from the Bay 490

North Point Light House 490

Grand Avenue Viaduct 492

Prospect Avenue 494

Layton Boulevard — Looking South from National Avenue 494

Juneau Park — Solomon Juneau Monument 4! Mi

Civic Center Group — Clas 500

Arteries — Proposed East and West, in Connection with Auditorium and

City Hall Sites 502

Sketch of Suggested Grouping of Public Buildings 504

City Hall Civic Center— Map 504

Bridge and River Scheme — Clas 506

Lakeshore Drive and Parkway — Clas 508

Civic Center Scheme — Bird's-eye View Milwaukee's Proposed Parkway. . . . 508

Washington Monument 510

Arteries — Proposed East and West, in Connection with Revised Park Board

Site 512

River Improvement Scheme — Clas 514

Von Steuben Monument 518

Plan Proposed by Park Board in 1909 520

Lake Front Study — Clas 522

Bridge and Dock Area — Clas 522

Auditorium Site — Plan for Grouping 524

Dr. E. B. Wolcott Monument 526

City Hall ( 'ivic Center — Bird's-eye View 530

Civic Center Plan 1 .' 532

Civic Center Plan 2 532

Kosciuszko Monument 5:; I

City Hall Site — Proposed Grouping 538

xiv LIST OF [LLUSTKATIONS

PAGl

Auditorium Site — Suggested Grouping 540

Roberl Burns Monument ."ill

Goethe-Schiller Monument, Washington Park 544

Washington Park. Seal Enclosure 546

Liei' Ericson Statue. Juneau Park 546

Washington Park —Winter Scene 550

South SI Li ire Park Bathing Beach 554

Courthouse and St. John 's ( lathedral 556

Soldiers' Monument , .".Til

.Milwaukee Light Guard — Group 576

Milwaukee Light Guard — Card of Thanks 582

National Soldiers' Home 590

Fourteenth Distrid School 630

Twenty-third Distrid School 630

Trinity Hospital 646

Marquette University Administration Building 646

( Joncordia College 650

Milwaukee-Downer College Buildings 650

Milwaukee University School 656

Milwaukee State Normal School 662

Riverside High School, East Side 662

Public Library 668

Old Dam at North Avenue 672

Layton Art Gallery 684

Old Academy of Music 690

Pabst Theatre 696

Davidson Theatre 702

Ivanhoe Commandery Temple 706

Kenwood .Masonic Temple 706

Emergency Hospital 74(1

St. .Mary's Hospital 740

Grand Avenue Methodist Church 742

Grace Lutheran Church 742

The Rescue Mission 744

St. Paul's Church 746

Altenheim (Lutheran Old Polks' Home) 74 s

Trinity Lutheran ( Jhurch 750

The Gesu Church 752

Temple Emanu-El 754

St . Josaphat 's Church 754

Old-Time Milwaukee Garden Saloon 760

Schlitz Park, Now Lapham Park 760

I lenrv Wehr's, a Famous Restaurant 766

Old-Time Whitelish Lav Bay Resort 77-

Old-World •' I'.ierstulie" 77-

Bar at Schlitz Palm Garden 784

Interior of a Famous Palm Garden 784

PART I

EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY

PIONEER AND SETTLEMENT PERIOD

IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

INTRODUCTION

Every community has its story of humble beginning's, of earlier struggles
and trials, and of hard won achievements. Every generation receives its
inspiration and guidance from the preceding generation. Every people
demonstrates its character and worth by the estimate it places upon its pro-
genitors, and the respect and appreciation it manifests for them.

Thus, an eventful past, with its achievements and its lessons, is reduced
to historic record that we may enter into the charm of its romance, profit
by its teachings, and emulate its examples in effort equally worthy and benefi-
cent. Moreover, it enables a grateful progeny to measure human values,
pay tribute to the builders of a former day, and realize as well as recognize
the blessings and benefactions conferred by preceding generations.

The story of an Indian village that grew in less than a century to the pro-
portions of a great American city, that has reared mighty structures dedicated
to the useful arts, to commerce and trade and to the cultural aspirations of
man, is not wholly without interest or charm.

True, it notes no historic battles, no brilliant or decisive strokes in war-
fare, no epoch making turns in the tide of human affairs, no momentous
events in our national history. And yet it tells of a most splendid conflict —
a conflict in which man has grappled with the elements of nature in order
to subject them to uses for which the Creator intended them — a conflict in
which mind has triumphed over matter.

The founders of Milwaukee were men of character, of vision, of action.
The Indian instinctively sought that spot where three rivers converged and
opened into a beautiful inland ocean. But, the white man saw the gifts of
nature, the advantage of location and environment, and proceeded to build
a habitation that should suit his fancy, his needs, his purposes. He applied
his ingenuity, his enterprise, and his industry, and thus performed his part
in the great march of human progress and civilization.

It was the trading instinct that first brought the white man to the haunts
of the Indian. It was, however, the industrial bent rather than the com-
mercial instincts of the former that gave stimulus to subsequent economic-
stability and population growth. The individual mechanic, who, single
handed and alone, fashioned useful things became the founder of monster
industrial enterprises. The individual worker gradually resorted to the group

IS IIISTOKV OF MILWAUKEE

system, then came the era of organization and of quantity production. Thus.
greal manufacturing plants, whose products now go to the four ends of the
world, found their inception witli the simple manic in overalls, who under-
stood the immediate wauls of his fellowman and knew how to supply them.

A glance at the cast and west shore lines of Lake Michigan reveals a
peculiar phenomenon. The easl shore presents a series of small eities and
villages while the shores of Wisconsin maintain a number of large and impor-
tant manufacturing centers. The binterland of the two shore lines has. no
doubt, much to do with the material vitality of these cities but the primary
cause must be sought elsewhere. The population thai sougbl the wesl shore
was in the main industrially inclined. It included a preponderance of skilled
mechanics. There were, of course, those who were trained in commercial and
professional pursuits, but the artisan at all times predominated.

The Yankees who came from New England and the Knickerbockers, as
they were then called, who came from New York state between the thirties
and forties of the last century, were young, strong and hopeful. They sought
business opportunities and concerned themselves with transportation, bank-
ing, insurance and general commercial undertakings.

With the tide of immigration that rolled in between the years of 1840
to 187.") from Germany, Austria, Ireland, Scotland and tin' Scandinavian
countries, came also that industrial impetus which since has so strongly char-
acterized the Wisconsin lake cities and led to Milwaukee's rise as a greal
manufacturing center.

In connection with the foregoing it should be added that the transition,
too, from a community whose racial origin was at one time more largely
foreign than native, passing in an orderly, logical and consistent manner from
a stajre of foreignism to Americanism, constitutes a chapter that deserves
treatment in the lie-lit of present day conceptions and of developments id' a
more recent period.

What is told of the men of Milwaukee in point of industry and perse
verance, is equally true of the women. They braved the privation and hard-
ships of a pioneer day. They bore the burdens of motherhood and shared
with their husbands the sterner realities of life in a new and rough country.
In the subsequent development and maintenance id' educational, charitable
and welfare endeavor they assumed the larger task, and thus made a mag-
nificent contribution to the social and moral progress of their time and their
community.

It is safe to say that adequate recognition has never been accorded to
the part which women here played in tin- earlier foundations of a social order
and in the development of those agencies which gave practical expression to

the higher anil nobler impulses id' man.

Histories are frequently subject to revision not so much as to the bare
facts they chronicle bu1 rather as to the spirit they breathe, the atmosphere
they aim to reflect, ami the impressions thej ultimately convey. Even isolated

facts may obtain their true setting and relative import in the light of later
facts and conditions. ('oiistaut research and the coupling of event with
event lead to the correction of missl atemenl s, the adjustment id' values, and

INTRODUCTION 19

the fixing of conclusions. Again, histories already begun must from time to
time be brought up to date and amplified by subsequent events.

In the light of the marvellous progress made by the city and county
of Milwaukee during the past two decades, and in amplification of the
assembled records of the past, a new history must be deemed timely and
desirable. The more important events of that period, a record of the later
influences and forces that have entered into the growth and development of
a great population center, must be rendered accessible to present and future
generations. The lessons and precepts of that period must not be lost.

The contribution which the people of that political unit with which this
volume deals, have made to the economic and civic life of the nation is well
worthy of a dignified and permanent record. Out of the aggregate of events,
out of its successes and its failures, must spring the history of a nation.

The people of whom this history treats have manifested the same inven-
tive genius, the same enterprise and energy, the same constructive ability and
the same loyalty and patriotism that has characterized the nation as a whole.
They have been so closely interlinked with its material progress as to share
in its adversities as well as in its successes; they have constituted so intimately
a part of its political life as to share fully in its burdens as well as its blessings.
At all times have they responded, willingly, readily and unselfishly, to the
national spirit and impulse as they have complied with the duties of citizen-
ship at home.

It is with this thought in mind, and in this manner of approach, that the
task of writing a new history of Milwaukee city and county, as an integral
part of the Great Republic, is undertaken — a history that shall be concise,
comprehensive and complete in form and presentation, and worthy of the
people whose story it tells.

WILLIAM GEORGE BRUCE.

CHAPTEK I
DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST

In the year 16.34, Jean Nicollet, accompanied by .seven Indian companions,
entered Lake Michigan by way of the Straits of Mackinac, and thus was the
first white man to behold the broad surface of this inland sea. "Along its
northern shores his canoe was paddled by his dusky oarsmen," says H. E.
Legler in his "Leading Events in Wisconsin History." "At the Lay de
Noquet he briefly tarried, and finally came to the Menomonee, where that
river pours its waters into Green Bay."

Later Nicollet ascended the Fox River until he came to the country of the
Mascoutens and at that point he turned south, when within three days' journey
of the portage, into the Wisconsin River, thus missing the route to the Missis-
sippi which -Joliet and Marquette followed in 1673. At length in the course
of his extended .journey he reached the country of the Illinois Indians. After
a sojourn with these tribes he returned to Green Bay, "doubtless along the
western shore of Lake Michigan," says Legler. However, as this is a con-
jecture the statement may not be accepted as fully authentic.

Nicholas Perrot came to visit the Wisconsin Indians in 1665, having been
intrusted by the authorities at Montreal with the task of making peace among
the tribes who were "fierce as wild cats, full of mutual jealousies, without
rulers and without laws." In this mission Perrot succeeded remarkably well.

Voyages of Joliet and Marquette. — The discovery of the Upper Mississippi
River was made on the celebrated voyage of Joliet and Marquette in 1673.
The beginning of the recorded history of the Great West dates from this year
and this voyage, and its importance requires some account of the events which
marked one of the most brilliant and daring enterprises in the annals of west-
ern adventure and exploration.

The Mississippi River had been discovered by a Spaniard, Hernando De
Soto in 1541, at" a point near the present City of Memphis; but this discovery
had been well-nigh forgotten at the period of time here spoken of. That a
great river existed, far to the north of the region where De Soto found and
crossed the Mississippi, was well known to the French from the reports made
to them by the Indians, vague and indefinite though they were; and these
reports excited the imagination and stimulated the ambition of many of the
adventurous spirits of the time.

It does not appear to have been suspected by any of the early French
explorers that the Great River of which the Indians told them, was one and
the same with that discovered by the Spanish explorer, more than a century

22 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE

before. .Manx conjectures were made as to where it reached the sea, on which
point the Imlians could give no reliable information. Some thoughl thai it
emptied into the "Sea of Virginia," others contended thai it flowed into the
Gulf of .Mexico, while Front enae. the governor of New Prance, was convinced
that it discharged its waters into the Vermilion Sea. thai is the Oulf of Cali
furnia: ami that by way of it. a passage mighl lie found to China.

The Great Unknown River.- Reports having reached France, regarding
the "Ureal River of the West," as it was often spoken of, the French minis
ter, Colbert, wrote to Talon, the intendanl at Quebec, in 1672, that efforts
should he made "to reach the sea:" meaning to explore tie- great unknown
river and solve the mystery of its outlet. This was followed by appropriate
instruct ions. Father Dablon, in the "Jesuit Relations." says: "The Counl
Frontenac, our governor, am! Monsieur Talon, then our intendant, recogniz-
ing: the importance of this discovery [to lie made], appointed for
this undertaking Sieur Joliet, whom they considered xcry tit for so greal an
enterprise: and they were well pleased that Father Marquette should lie of
the party."

It must he understood that the government of New France ;it this period
was of a dual character. The French King did not believe it safe to intrusl
the affairs of his American dominions to the hands of a single man. and there-
fore the office of "intendant" was created, the ineumbenl possessing coordi-
nate authority with the governor general. Thus the acts of the intendant
were regarded as of equal authority with those of the governor general, and
as mentioned above through the joint action of these two officials the expedi-
tion was authorized.

Choice of Leader. — The authorities were not mistaken in the choice they
made of Louis Joliet. lie was a young man then twenty-eighl veins old.
possessing all the qualifications that could he desired for such an undertaking;
he had had experience among the Indians, and knew their language; he had
tact, prudence and courage, and. as the event proved, he fulfilled all the
expectations which were entertained of him by his superiors. Father James
Marquette was a Jesuit missionary, thirty-six years old. and. in addition to his

zeal for th inversion of the Indians, he was tilled with a burning desire

to behold the "Great River'' of which he had heard so much, lie was sta-
tioned at this time at St. [gnace, and here Juliet joined him late in the year
ltiT'J, and broughl him the intelligence of his appointment to go with him in

the conduct of tl xpeditiou. "I was all the more delighted at this good

news," writes Marquette in his journal, "since 1 saw that my plans were
about to he accomplished; and since I found myself in the Messed necessity

of exposing my life for the salvation of all these peoples, and especially of
the Illinois, who had very urgently entreated me. when 1 was at the point
of St. Esprit, to carry the word of God to their country." Here at St. [gnace
1 1 1 ' ■ \ passed the winter.

As the spring advanced, they made the necessarj preparations for their

journey, the duration of which they could not foresee. In two hark canoes.

manned by five frenchmen, besides the two intrepid Leaders, the partj em-
barked, "fullv resolved to do and suffer evervthine Eor so glorious an enter

DISCOVERY OP THE GREAT WEST 2:1

prise;" and on the 17th of May, 1673, the voyage began at the mission of
St. Ignaee. Father Marquette writes in his journal: "The joy that we felt
at being selected for this expedition animated our courage, and rendered

the labor of paddling from morning to night agreeable to us. And because
we were going to seek unknown countries, we took every precaution in our
power, so that if our undertaking were hazardous, it should not be foolhardy."
The journal of Father Marquette is the principal source of our information,
and is full of detail and written in a simple style. Joliet also kept a record
and made a map, but, most unfortunately, all his papers were lost by the up-
setting of his canoe in the St. Lawrence, while he was returning to Quebec
the following year to make a report of his discoveries. Thus it happens thai
Marquette's name is more frequently and prominently mentioned in all the
accounts than that of Joliet.

Beginning of the Journey. — The adventm - ous voyagers proceeded along
the .northern shore of Lake Michigan, tin' only portion of the lake which had
at that time been explored, and entered Green Bay. They arrived at the mis-
sion established by Father Allouez two years before, and from here they began
the difficult ascent of the Fox River. On its upper waters they stopped at a
village of the Mascoutins, from whom they procured guides; and by these
friendly savages they were conducted across the portage into the upper waters
of the Wisconsin River, whence the travelers made the r way alone. As the
Indians turned back, they "marvelled at, the courage of seven white men, ven-
turing alone in two canoes on a journey into unknown lands.''

They were now embarked on the Wisconsin River anil soon passed the
utmost limits of Nicollet's voyage on this river made thirty-five years before.
Their route lay to the southwest, and, after a voyage of seven days on this
river, on the 17th day of June, just one month from the day they started from
St. Ignaee, they reached its mouth and steered their canoes forth upon the
broad bosom of the Mississippi, "with a joy that I cannot express." wrote
Marquette.

"Here, then, we are," continues the ivood Father in his journal, "on this
so renowned river." Westward, coming down to the water's edge, were Lofty
wooded hills intersected by deep gorges, fringed with foliage. Eastward were
beautiful prairie lands; while great quantities of game — deer, buffalo and
wild turkey — were seen everywhere. In the river were islands covered with
trees and in the water they saw "monstrous fish," some of which they caught
in their nets. Following the flow of the river, they note the changes in the
scenery, while passing between shores of unsurpassed natural beauty, along
which a chain of flourishing cities was afterwards to be built.

Afloat on the Mississippi. — Steadily they followed die course of the river
towards the south, and on the eighth day they saw, for the first time since
entering the river, tracks of men near the water's edge, and they stopped to
examine them. This point was near the mouth of the Des Moines River, and
thus they were the first white men to place foot on the soil of Iowa. Leaving
their men to guard the canoes the two courageous leaders followed a path
two leagues to the westward, when they came in sight of an Indian village.
As they approached, they gave notice of their arrival by a loud call, upon

OUTLINE MAP OF MILWAUKEE MADE IX L840
See Key mi opposite page

KEY TO .MILWAUKEE MAP OF 1840

A.
B.

D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
K.
L.

X.
0.

The East Side.
Kilbourn Town.

Walker's Point.
Milwaukee River.
Msnomonee River.
Red Bridge,

Menomonee Bridge.

Spring Street Ferry (Grand Avenue i .
Walker's Point Ferry.
Old Harbor Entrance.

Proposed Straight Cut (Xew Harbor En-
trance i .
Lighthouse.
Courthouse.
The Canal.

East Water street.

Swamp — Present City Hall Site.

Market Street.

Division Street (Juneau Avenue i.

Chestnut Street.

Wesl Water Street.

Spring Street (Grand Avenue).

Chicago Road.

Prairieville Road.

I liven Bay Road.

11
12.
13
14
15
16
17
L8
19
20
21
2 2
23.
24,
25
2 il

29
30
32
33

:;r,

Washington House.

Kilbourn Warehouse.

Leland & American House.

Fischer Kroeger's German House.

St. Peter's Chapel (Cathedral).

Fountain House.

Milwaukee House.

Cottage Inn.

Lutlington's Corner.

Wisconsin Street.

Beam & Company Store.

George H. Walker's Home.

Rogers Old Corner.

Market Square.

1 rge Dousman's Warehouse.

Longstreet's Warehouse.
Walker's Warehouse.
Sweet & .Ten is Warehouse.
Barber's Wharf near Ludwig's Garden.
Little German Tavern.
River Street Swamp.
34. Small Islands in the Milwaukee River

Later Removed.
Lake Brewery.
Huron Street.

26 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

which the savages quickly rami' forth from their huts and regarded the stran
gers attentively. Some of their uumber who had evidently visited the mis-
sion stations recognized tham as Frenchmen, and they res] ded to Mar

quette's greeting in a friendly manner and offered (lie "calumet," or pet
pipe, which greatly reassured the visitors. Pour of the elders advanced and
elevated their pipes Inwards the sun as a token of friendship: and. on Mar
quette's inquiring who they were, they replied, "we are Illinois;" at the
same time inviting the strangers to walk to their habitations. An old man
then made them a speech in which he said. "All our people wait for thee, and
thou shalt enter our cabin in peace."

The Illinois Indians lived at this time beyond the Mississippi, whither ti !
had been driven by the fierce Iroquois from their former abode, near I.
Michigan. A few years later most of them returned to the east side and m
their abode along the Illinois River. Indeed. Joliel and Marquette found a
large village of them on the upper waters of tin 1 Illinois, while ascending that
river a few weeks later. It may be remarked here, however, that the Illinois
Indians never fully recovered from the disastrous defeats they suffered from
the Iroquois, and held only a precarious possession of their lands along the
Illinois River after that time: until a century later, the last broken 1 mna il
of them was exterminated at Starved Rock by the Pottawatomies and
Ottawas.

Visit to the Illinois Indians. — While still at the village of these Illinois
Indians, a grand feast was prepared for the travelers, and they remained until
the next day, when they made preparations for their departure.

The chief made them two gifts which were a valuable addition to their
equipment, namely, an Indian lad. the chief's own son, for a slave, and "an
altogether mysterious calumet, upon which tin' Indians place more value
than upon a slave." The possession of this "mysterious calumet." was th •
means of placating several bands of hostile Indians, whom they met later in
their journey. The chief, on learning their intention to proceed down the
river "as far as the sea,*' attempted to dissuade them on account of the
great dangers to which they would expose themselves. "1 replied." says
Marquette, "that I feared not death, and that 1 regarded no happiness as
greater than that of losing my life for the glory of Him, who has made us
all. This is what these poor people cannot understand." These were no idle
words of Marquette's, for before the lapse of two years from that date, he
died of privation and exposure, a martyr to the cause he had s,, much at
heart.

The sequel to the story of the little Indian boy mentioned above was a

sad one. He accompanied the voyagers to tl ml of their journey. In the

following year, when Joliel was on his way to Quebec to make the report
of his discoveries, his canoe was overturned in the rapids of the Si. Lawrence
near Montreal, as previously stated. The resl of tin' narrative is quoted from
Mason's "Chapters from Illinois History." "His box of papers, containing
his map ami report, was lost, and he himself was rescued w'th difficulty. Two
of his companions were drowned; one of these was the slave presented to
him by the greal chief of the Illinois, a little Indian lad ten years of age, whom

DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST 27

he deeply regretted, describing him as of a good disposition, full of spirit,
industrious and obedient, and already beginning to read and write the French
language."

Friendship of Marquette and Joliet. — On the departure of the party, Mar-
quette promised the Indians to return to them the next year and instruct
them. They embarked in the sight of the people, who had followed them
to the landing to the number of some six hundred. The people admired the
canoes and gave them a friendly farewell. We cannot fail to note the har-
mony which existed between the two leaders on this expedition, in such strik-
ing contrast with the bickerings and disagreements observed in the accounts
of other expeditions of a like nature. For there is no severer test of the
friendly relations between officers of an exploring expedition than a long
absence in regions beyond the bounds of civilization. Joliet and Marquette
were friends long before they started together on this journey, and both were
single minded in their purpose to accomplish its objects. No more lovely char-
acter appears in the history of western adventure than that of Marquette,
a man who endeared himself to all with whom he came in contact, and made
himself an example for all time. Joliet, in turn, "was the foremost explorer
of the West," says Mason, "a man whose character and attainments and
public services made him a man of high distinction in his own day."

Continuing their journey the voyagers passed the mouth of the Illinois,
without special notice, but when in the vicinity of the place where the city
of Alton now stands, and while skirting some high rocks, they "saw upon
one of them two painted monsters which at first made them afraid." The
paintings were "as large as a calf," and were so well done that they could
not believe that any savage had done the work. Joutel saw them some eleven
years later, but could not see anything particularly terrifying in them, though
the Indians who were with him were much impressed. St. Cosme passed by
them in 169!), but they were then almost effaced; and when, in 1867, Parkman
visited the Mississippi, he passed the rock on which the paintings appeared,
but the rock had been partly quarried away.

They had scarcely recovered from their fears before they found themselves
in the presence of a new danger, for they heard the noise of what at tirsl they
supposed were rapids ahead of them: and directly they came in sight of the
turbulent waters of the Missouri River, pouring its flood into the Mississippi.
Large trees, branches and even "floating islands" were borne on its surface,
and its "water was very muddy." The name Missouri, which was afterwards
applied to this river, means in the Indian language "muddy water," and the
river is often spoken of to this day as the "Big Muddy." They passed in
safety, however, and continued on their journey in good spirits and with
thankful hearts.

They now began to think that the general course of the river indicated
that it would discharge itself into the Gulf of Mexico, though they were still
hoping to find that it would lead into the South Sea, toward California. As
they passed the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi, the shores changed
their character. They found the banks lined with extensive fields of cane-
brakes: mosquitoes tilled the air. and the excessive heat of the sun obliged

28 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

them to seek protection from its rays by stretching an awning of cloth over
their canoes. While they were thus floating down the current of the river,
they were in communication with Europeans, probably the Spaniards of
some savages appeared on the banks armed with guns, thus indicating that
Florida. The savages at first assumed a threatening attitude, but Marquette
offered his "plumed calumet," so called because of the feathers it was
adorned with, which the Illinois chief had given him, and the strangers were
at once received as friends. These savages told them that they were within
ten days' journey of the sea. and with their hopes thus raised they soon
resumed their course.

Soothing Effect of the Calumet. — They continued down past the monot-
onous banks of this part of the river for some three hundred miles from the
place where they had met the Indians just spoken of, when they weir sud
denly startled by the war-whoops of a numerous band of savages who showed
every sign of hostility. The wonderful calumet was held up by Marquette,
but at first without producing any effect. Missiles were flying, but fortunately
doing no damage, and some of the savages plunged into the river in order to
grasp their canoes; when presently some of the older men, having perceived
the calumet steadily held aloft, called back their young men and made re-
assuring signs and gestures. They found one who could speak a little Illinois:
and, on learning that the Frenchmen were on their way to the sea, the Indians
escorted them some twenty-five miles, until they reached a village called
Akamsea. Here they were well received, but the dwellers there warned them
against proceeding, on account of the warlike tribes below who would bar
their way.

Joliet and Marquette hei-e held a council whether to push on, or remain
content with the discoveries they had already made. They judged that they
were within two or three days' journey from the sea. though we know that
they were still some seven hundred miles distant from if. They decided
however, that beyond a doubt the Mississippi discharged its waters into the
Gulf of Mexico, and not to the East in Virginia, or to the West in California.
They considered that in going on they would expose themselves to the risk
of losing the results of their voyage, and would, without a doubt, fall into
the hands of the Spaniards, who would detain them as captives. The upshot
of their deliberations was the decision that they would begin the return
voyage at once. The exploration of the river from this point to the sea was
not accomplished until nine years later, when that bold explorer. La Salle.
passed entirely down the river to its month; where he set up a column and
buried a plate of lead, bearing the arms of France: took possession of the
country for the French King, and named it Louisiana.

The party were now at the mouth of the Arkansas, having passed more
than one hundred miles below the place where l)e Soto crossed it in the
previous century, had sailed eleven hundred miles in the thirty days since
they had beei the greal river, an average of about thirty seven miles a

day, and had covered nine degrees of latitude. ( in the 17th of duly, they
began their return journey, jusl one month to a day after they had entered
the river, and two months after they had left the mission at St. [gnace.

DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST 29

The voyage up the river in the mid-summer heat was one of great diffi-
culty, but steadily they "won their slow way northward,'" passing the mouth
of the Ohio and that of the Missouri; until at length they reached the
mouth of the Illinois River. Here they left the Mississippi and entered the
Illinois, being greatly charmed "with its placid waters, its shady forests, and
its rich plains, grazed by bison and deer." They passed through the wide
portion of the river, afterwards known as Peoria Lake, and reached its upper
waters, where, on the south bank, rises the remarkable cliff, s'nce called
"Starved Rock." They were thus "the first white men to see the territory
now known as the State of Illinois."

On the opposite bank of the river, where the Town of Utica now stands,
they found a village of Illinois Indians, called Kaskaskia, consisting of sev-
enty-four cabins. It should here be stated that the Indians removed this
village, some seventeen years later, to the south part of the present State of
Illinois, on the Kaskaskia River, where it became noted in the early annals
of the West. The travelers were well received here, and, on their departure,
a chief and a number of young men of the village joined the party for the
purpose of guiding them to the Lake of the Illinois, that is, Lake Michigan.

The course of the river was now almost directly east and west, and the
voyagers could not fail to notice the ranges of bluffs flanking the bottom
lands through which the stream meanders in its flow. This broad channel
once carried a mighty volume of water from Lake Michigan to the Missis-
sippi, at a time when the glaciers were subsiding and the lake level was some
thirty feet higher than in historic times.

The travelers soon arrived at the confluence of the Desplaines and the
Kankakee rivers which here, at a point some forty-five miles from Lake
Michigan, unite to form the Illinois River. Under the guidance of their
Indian friends they chose the route by way of the Desplaines as the shortest
to the lake. On reaching the place where the portage into the waters tribu-
tary to Lake Michigan was to be made, their Indian guides aided them in
carrying their canoes over the "half league" of dry land intervening. As
this portage is much longer than that, it is likely that the "half league"
mentioned by Marquette referred to one stage of the portage, between the
Desplaines and the first of the two shallow lakes which they found there and
on which they, no doubt, floated their canoes several miles on their way to the
waters of the south branch of the Chicago River.

Beaching Lake Michigan. — Here their Indian friends left them while they
made their May down the five miles that yet intervened before they would
reach Lake Michigan. (Troves of trees lined its banks, beyond which a level
plain extended to the margin of the lake. This level plain was the only por-
tion of the "Grand Prairie" of Illinois which anywhere reached the shore
of Lake Michigan, a space limited to some four miles south of the mouth of
the Chicago River. They were not long in coming into view of that splendid
body of water which they were approaching, and must have beheld its vasl
extent with the feelings of that "watcher of the skies" so beautifully written
of by Keats, "when a new planet swims into his ken."

No date is given by Marquette in his journal of the arrival of the party

30 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

a1 this point, luii it was probably early in September of the year 1673 thai
the site of the present City of Chicago was firsl visited by white men. It
is quite possible thai coureuf^ de Inns ("wood-rangers" may have visited
tlic spol while among the Indian tribes, bu1 no record was ever made of such

visits before the time that Joliel and Marquette arrived u] the scene, and

made known the discovery to the world. The mouth of the river is shown

<m all tl arly maps as at a point a quarter of a mile south of the presenl

nutlet, owing to a long sand spit that ran out from the north shore of the
river near its confluence with the lake, which has long since been dredged
away. This was Juliet's first and only view of the Chicago River and its
banks, as he never passed this way again.

The stimulating breath of the lake breezes which met them ;is they issued
forth upon the blue waters of the ""Lake of the Illinois," must have thrilled
the explorers with feelings of joy and triumph, having escaped so many
dangers and won such imperishable renown. Turning the prows of their
canoes northward, they passed the wooded shores still in their pristine love-
liness. The emerald hues of the prairies, whieh they had left behind them.
were now replaced by the mottled foliage of the early autumn, and the waves
breaking on the beach of sand and gravid must have impressed them deeply
as they proceeded on their way. The shores began to rise and form bluffs
as they passed the regularly formed coast on their course.

Throughout their journey the voyagers gaze on scenes familiar now to
millions of people, then unknown to civilized man. They see the gradual
increase in the height of the bluffs, reaching an elevation at the present town
id' Lake Forest of 100 feet or more above the surface of the lake, and the bold
shores of the present site of the City of Milwaukee. No comments arc made
regarding the events of this part of the journey by Marquette in bis journal,
and it most likely was made without special incident. He closes his narra-
tive by saying that "at the end of September, we reached the Bay des Puants
(Green Bay), from which we started at the beginning of June."

The world renowed voyage of Joliet ami Marquette thus ended at the
.Mission of St. Francis Xavier, where the Village of De Pere, Wisconsin, now
stands. The explorers had traveled nearly twenty-five hundred miles in about
one hundred and twenty days, a daily average of nearly twenty-one miles.
had discovered the Mississippi and the Chicago rivers, as well as the site id'
the present City of Chicago: and had brought back their party without any
serious accident or the loss of a single man. Here they remained during the
tall and winter, and in the summer of the following year (1674), Joliel set
out for Quebec to make a report of his discoveries to the governor of Canada.
It was while Hearing .Montreal on this journey that his canoe was upset in the
rapids, his Indians drowned, and all his records and a map that lie had care-
fully prepared were lost. Joliet never returned to the West, lie was rewarded
for his splendid Services with a grant of some islands in the lower St.
Lawrence, including lie- extensive island of Anticosti, and died in l"tM>. As
regards the credit due Joliel for the discovery made, the late Mr. Edward G.
Mason in his valuable work entitled. "Chapters from Illinois History," s-iys:

••Popular error assigned the leadership of the expedition which discovered

DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST :I1

the Upper Mississippi and the lllino s Valley to Marquette, who never held or
claimed it.. Every reliable authority demonstrates the mistake, and yet the
delusion continues. But as Marquette himself says that Joliet was sent to
discover new countries, and he to preach the gospel; as Count Frontenac
reports to the home authorities that Talon selected Joliet to make the dis-
covery; as Father Dablon confirms this statement; and as the Canadian
authorities gave rewards to Joliet alone as the sole discoverer, we may safely
conclude that to him belongs the honor of the achievement. He actually
accomplished that of which Champlain and Nicollet and Radisson were the
heralds, and, historically speaking, was the first to see the wonderful region
of the prairies. At the head of the roll of those indissolubly associated with
the land of the Illinois, who have trod its soil, must forever stand the name of
Louis Joliet."

Marquette Continues Exploration. — Father Marquette was destined never
to return to the French colonial capital. His health had become impaired
on account of the hardships he had suffered during the return journey on the
Mississippi, and he remained nearly a year at the Mission of St. Francis
Xavier in an effort to recover his health and prepare himself for another
journey to the Illinois Country, as he had promised his Indian friends he
would do.

Early in the summer of 1674, that is, about seven or eight months after his
return to Green Bay from the voyage described in the previous pages, Joliet
started on his journey to Quebec to inform the authorities regarding the new
countries he had found. As already related, Joliet met with disaster on this
journey, and had it not been for the journal kept by .Marquette we should
have had no detailed record of the explorations of the previous year, though
Joliet gave some oral accounts afterwards, records of which have only in
recent years come to light. Later in the same year Marquette, having re-
covered from the poor health he had been suffering, received "orders to pro-
ceed to the mission of La Concepcion among the Illinois." On the 25th of
October, 1674, accordingly, he set out with two companions, named Pierre
and Jacques; one of whom had been with him on his former journey of dis-
covery. From this journey Marquette never returned; and indeed it would
seem to have been a most perilous risk for him to have taken considering his
physical condition, having only recently been "cured," as he says, of his
"ailment,"' and starting at a time of year when he would soon be overtaken
by the winter season. But no toils or exposure could deter those devoted
missionaries of the cross from engaging in any undertaking which seemed to
hold out the least prospect of saving souls, as the history of those times
abundantly shows.

Details of the Journey. — The route taken was by way of the difficult
portage at Sturgeon Bay, where now there is a canal, cutting through the
peninsula, and thus saved them a circuit of nearly one hundred and fifty

miles. Accompanying his canoe was a flotilla of nil thers, containing parties

of Pottawatomie and Illinois Indians; and in due time they embarked their
little fleet on the waters of Lake Michigan. They encountered storms and
the navigation proved difficult, but at length the party arrived at the mouth

32 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE

of the Chicago River, which Marquette calls "the river of the Portage,"
early in December. Finding thai the stream was frozen over, they encamped
near by at the entrance of the river and engaged in hunting, finding game
very abundant. While here the two Frenchmen of the party killed "tin
buffalo and four deer." besides wild turkeys and partridges, which, con-
sidering the Ideality as we of this day know it, seems difficult to imagine;
and this passage in the journal composes the lirst sketch on record of the
site of the great city of the West.

Having followed the course of the river some "two leagues up.'" Mar-
quette "resolved to winter there, as it was impossible to go farther." His
ailment had returned and a cabin was built for his use and protection. Tier.'
he remained with his two Frenchmen while his Indian companions returned
to their own people. It must be borne in mind that Marquette's destination
was the village of Illinois Indians on the Illinois River, where he and Jolict
had been entertained the year before; and that the cabin here spoken of was
merely a temporary shelter where he would remain only until spring. But
sometime during the interval of the fifteen months since Marquette had pre
viously passed the portage, two Frenchmen had established themselves, about
"eighteen leagues beyond, in a beautiful hunting country," and these men
in expectation of the holy father's return had prepared a cabin for him.
stocked with provisions. This cabin Marquette was not able to reach, and
the two hunters, hearing of the good Father's illness, came to the portagi
to render such assistance as was in their power. One of these Frenchmen
was called "the Surgeon," perhaps because he possessed some knowledge of
medicine, but his true name is not given. The other was called "La Taupine,"
that is, "the Tawney," whose proper name was Pierre Moreau, a noted
coureur de bois of the time. Indians passing that way also e-ave assistance.
and late in March Marquette found himself with strength recovered and able
to set out on his journey to the Illinois, though not before he was driven out
of his winter cabin by a sudden rise of the river which obliged him to take
refuge near the place now called "Summit."

As in the previous year, Marquette kept a journal which has come down

to us among that valuable series of papers called the "Jesuit Relal -.

This journal is the sheet anchor of all the writers treating of the history of
the two journeys of discovery and exploration which we are here narrating.
Marquette occupied a portion of the time during his stay at the cabin in writ-
ing the memoirs of his voyages. In his journal the good Father breathes
the spirit of self-sacrifice, the concern for the conversion ami spiritual welfare
of the savages; and with it all tie shows a kern curiosity and interest in the
manners and customs, the country and habitations, of the tribes he meets
with.

Winter Quarters of Marquette. — The location of the cabin in which Mar-
quette spent the wilder of lti74-."i was marked with a cross made of mahogany

WOOd, at the base of which in recent years was placed a bronze table! with
an inscription. The site was fixed upon m 1905 by a committee of the Chicago
Historical Society under the guidance of the late .Mr. Ossian Outhrie, an in-
telligent and devoted student of local antiquities, with a view of marking tin'

DISCOVERY OP THE GREAT WEST 33

spot in a suitable manner. An entire day was spent by the party in driving
and walking over many miles of country in order to compare the topography
with the journal of th'e missionary, and a scries of photographs taken. The
investigations resulted in confirming the opinions of Mr. Guthrie, namely, that
Marquette's winter cabin was situated on the north bank of the south branch
of the Chicago River at the point where now it is intersected by Robey Street,
and from which at the present time can be seen, by looking westward, the
entrance to the great Drainage Canal.

There is also a. monument at Summit a few miles distant from the site of
Marquette's winter cabin, marking the spot where Marquette landed after
being flooded out of his winter quarters at Robey Street. This monument
is constructed of boulders taken from the Drainage Canal while in process
of building, and was placed there in 1895 by the Chicago and Alton Railroad
Company. The inscription on the monument reads, "Father Marquette landed
here in 1675."'

Marquette reached the Illinois village which he called Kaskask a in the
journal of his first visit, and which lie refers to as the "mission of La Concep-
cion" in his later journal. This was on the 8th of April, 1675, and on reach-
ing the village "he was received as an angel from heaven." There was always
an atmosphere of peace wherever the good missionary went, and, no matter
how unfavorable the circumstances were, he was the object of solicitude and
kind attentions from his followers. From the time that he crossed the portage
he discontinued his journal, probably owing to his increasing weakness. The
account of the remainder of his journey is written by Father Dablon, his
superior at Quebec. lie summoned the Indians to a grand council and "dis-
played four large pictures of the Virgin, harangued the assembly on the
mysteries of the Faith, and exhorted them to adopt it." His hearers were
much affected and begged him to remain among them and continue his in-
structions.

Last Days of Marquette. — lint Marquette realized that his life was fast
ebbing way, and that it was necessary if possible to reach some of the older
missions where he could either recover his health or hand over his responsi-
bilities to others. Soon after Easter he started on his return, pledging the

Indians on his departure that h ' some other one would return to them and

carry on the mission. He set out with many tokens of regard on the part

of these good ] pie, and as a mark of honor a party of them escorted linn

for more than thirty leagues on his way. and assisted him with his baggage.
Some writers have supposed that he took the route by the Desplaines-Chicago
portage, but it is more probable, according to Mason, that he ascended the
Kankakee, guided by his Indian friends, and reached the Lake of tin' Illinois
by way of the St. Joseph River. His destination was St. lgnace and his
course lay along the eastern shore, which, as yet, was unknown except
through reports from the Indians. Now alone with his two companions, he
pushed forward with rapidly diminishing strength, until, on the 19th day of
May, 1675, the devoted priest felt that his hour had come, and being near a
small river, he asked to be placed ashore. Here a bark shed was Imill by his
companions, and the dying man was placed within its rude walls.

::i HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

"With perfed cheerfulness arid composure," relates Parkman, "he ga^
directions for his burial, asked their forgiveness for the trouble he had caused
them, administered to them the sacrament of penitence, and thanked Ood that
he was permitted to die in the wilderness, a missionary of the Faith and a

member of the Jesuit brotherhood." Soon after I xpired, and was buried

by Ins ( panions at that place, while they made their way to St. [gnace

with their sad tidings. Two years later a party of Ottawa Indians, who were
informed of the death and burial place of Marquette, were passing thai way,
found the grave, opened it, washed and dried the bones, and placed them in
a box of birch bark; and bore them, while chanting funeral songs, i ■ ► St.
[gnace, where they were buried beneath the floor of the chapel of the mission.
A statue now stands in a public place 1 near the water front at the Town of
St. [gnace placed there in recent years.

Thus ends the story of Marquette, who is, one may say. the patron saint
of the people of Illinois and Wisconsin. He participated with Joliel in dis-
covering the Mississippi River and- described its vast expanse of plain and
forest. He came again and spent a winter in a rude cabin on the river bank,
and from here passed on to his chosen field of work where his last missionary
labors were performed. Memorials of him have been placed all over the West,
where lie spent the last two years of his brief but memorable career. The
story has been often told but never loses its interest. "Let it be told in every
western home," writes Pres. E. J. -lames, and "every good cause in this section
will feel tin- beneficent results of its influence," in awakening a pride in our
earliest annals, "and quickening the spirit of service in all our people." A
statue of Marquette, clad in his robes, has been placed by the State of Wis-
consin in Statuary Hall in the Capitol at Washington.

Father Marquette's Successor. — The promise made by Marquette to the
Illinois Indians did not long remain unkept. Father Claude Allouez was sum-
moned by his superior to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Father Mar-
quette, and promptly responded to the call. Allouez, with two companions,
embarked in a canoe at St. Francis Xavier in October, 1676, just two years
after Marquette had set out from the same place: but owing to the ice in
Green Bay they were not able to reach Lake Michigan until the following
February. At length in April, 1677, the party reached "the river that leads
to the Illinois." that is, the Chicago River, where they met eighty Indians
coming towards them. The chief presented a tire brand in one hand and a
feathered calumet in the other, from which Allouez discreetly made choice
of the latter. The chief then invited the little party of whites to his village,

which was soi listance from the mouth of the river, "probably," as Mason

says, "near the portage where Marquette hail passed the winter" two years
previously. Allouez remained at tins village a short time and then passed
on to the Illinois River Mission, which he reached on the 27th of April. After
erecting a cross at the mission he returned to Green Bay, as he had made
the journey, it seems, "only to acquire the necessary information for the
perfect establishment of tin' mission." He came again the next year, but
retired to the Wisconsin Mission in 1679 "upon hearing of the approach of
La Salle, who believed that the .lesuits were unfriendly to him. and that

DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST 35

Allouez in particular had sought to defeat his plans." "The era of the dis-
coverer and missionary was now giving plan- to that of the explorer and
colonist," and the great figure of Robert Cavelier de La Salle appears upon
the scene.

mmm

v 4y^T

CHAPTER II
THE ORDINANCE OP 1787

< (wing to its profound influence on the later history of the State of Wis-
consin and its people some account will here be given of the Ordinan* f

1787 and a brief analysis of its provisions.

The Ordinance of 1787 was passed by the Continental Congress on the
13th of July in the year named in the title of the ordinance, and the Federal
Constitution was adopted by the same body mi the 17th of September of the
same year. Thus the famous ordinance enjoys a priority of date of more than
two months over that of the constitution. The Ordinance of 1787 has been
termed by Senator George F. Hoar "one of the title deeds of American con-
stitutional liberty," and it lias, indeed, all the authority and force of an article
of the constitution itself.

By the Ordinance of 1787 there were to be formed from the Northwest
Territory not less than three nor more than live states. In case there should
be only three states formed the ordinance provided that these states should
have certain boundaries, with this proviso: "It is further understood and
declared that the boundaries of these three states shall be subject so far to
be altered, that if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have
authority to form one or two states in that part of the said territory which
lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or
extreme of Lake Michigan."

Before the formation of states, however, there were territorial divisions.
When the Territory of Illinois came to be formed in 1809, the boundaries were
established on the same lines as those of the present State of Illinois except
that the territory extended northwards to the boundary line between Canada
and the United States. When the Enabling Act (enabling the people of Illi-
nois to form a state constitution) was passed, April 18, ISIS, the northern
boundary of the new State of Illinois was fixed in accordance with the Ord:-
nance of 1787, on the east and west line drawn through the southerly or
extreme bend of Lake Michigan, afterwards ascertained to be forty-one
degrees and thirty-nine minutes of north latitude.

Nathaniel Pope who was the delegate in Congress from the Territory of
Illinois moved an amendment to the bill, which was then under consideration
in the committee of the whole, by striking out that part which defined tli •
northern boundary and inserting "forty-two degrees and thirty minutes north
latitude." The amendment was agreed to ami the bill was passed.

The effect of Pope's Amendment was to include within the limits of the
new state a strip of country sixty-two miles in width, extending from Lake

38 ■ HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

Michigan to the .Mississippi River, containing an area of 8,500 square miles
n!' fertile country, diversified with forests and rivers, within which at the
presenl time are located fourteen counties with many populous and pros
perous cities.

Mr. Pope's Argument. — In presenting the amendmenl to the enabling ad
in L818, Mr. Pope made the following argument: "That the proposed new
state (Illinois), by reason of her geographical position, even more than on
account of the fertility of her soil, was destined to become populous and
influential ; that if her northern boundary was fixed by a line arbitrarily estab-
lished rather than naturally determined, and her commerce was to be con-
fined to that great artery of communication, the Mississippi R'.ver, which
washed her entire western border, and to its chief tributary to the south. I
Ohio River, there was a possibility that her commercial relations with the
South might become so closely connected that in the event of an attempted
dismemberment of the Union, Illinois would east her lot with the southern
states.

"On the other hand," he continued, "to fix the northern boundary of Illi-
nois upon such a parallel of latitude as would give to the state jurisdiction
over thi' southwestern shores of Lake Michigan, would he to unite the in-
cipient commonwealth to the states of Indiana. Ohio, Pennsylvania and New
York in a bond of common interest well nigh indissoluble. By the adoption
of such a line Illinois might become at some future time the keystone to the
perpetuity of the Union. It was foreseen, even at that early time that • Ihicago
would be a lake port of great importance, and that a canal would be con
structed across the state between the lake and the Mississippi; and Mr.
Pope urged that it was the duty of the National Government to give Illinois
an outlet on Lake Michigan, which, with the support of the population back of

tl oast, would be capable of exercising a decisive influence upon her own

affairs, as well as strengthening her position among her sister states."

Effects of Altering the Boundary. -When we reflect that the region affected
by Pope's amendment was at that time an almost unbroken wilderness, that
the advantageous position of Chicago and its contiguous territory was only
a matter of speculation, we must recognize in Pope's action in proposing and
urging the adoption of his amendment the work of a keen and far-sighted
statesman. "No man," says John Moses in his "History of Illinois." "ever
rendered the state a more important service in Congress than did Nathaniel
Pope." That the fixing of the northern boundary of the state where it is
today had momentous consequences can be seen in tile subsequent historj
,d' the state. Had the northern tier of counties included within the sixty-
two mile Strip become attached to Wisconsin, as it inevitably would have
been, the State of Illinois would have lacked, when issues of tremendous
moment were at stake, a vital element in her legislature at the time of the
breaking out id' the Civil war. an element that Wisconsin did not require,
;,s the Union sentiment in that state was at all times verj strong.

Whether or not the splendid support given to the Union cause in the state
of Illinois was of such importance as to justify Pope's declaration, when
arguing for the amendment, that the state mighl become "the keystone to

THE ORDINANCE OF 1787 39

the perpetuity of the Union," may be regarded differently by historians. Hut
the commanding position occupied by Illinois during- the Civil war, with one
of its citizens in the presidential chair and another leading- the armies of the
Union, went far to make good the claim made by Hope in his declaration.
The part taken by Hope in the boundary matter well illustrates whal has been
called "his almost superhuman sagacity."

lion. Clark E. Carr, in an address made in 1911, referred to Pope's dis-
tinguished services in the following eloquent words: "Long- after that greal
statesman had passed away, his arguments were tested, in the midst of car-
nage and death, in the smoke of battle by brave Illinois heroes, some of them
led by his own son, Maj. Gen. John Pope, and proved to be sound."

Analysis and Comments on the Ordinance. — It may be well to recall the
opinions of eminent statesmen regarding the importance of the Ordnance
of 1 7.S7 in the formation of the states under its provisions. A brief summary
of the ordinance may here he inserted: These provisions, it is declared, shall
"forever remain unalterable unless by common consent"; "no person shall
be molested on account of his mode of worsh'p or religious sentiments" ; every
person shall be "entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus and of
trial by jury"; "religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good
government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of educa-
tion shall forever be encouraged"; "the utmost good faith shall always In-
observed towards the Indians": there shall he formed "not less than three
nor more than five states in the said territory"; "there shall he neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory otherwise than in the
punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."

Perhaps to some readers the word "ordinance" as applied to an act of
Congress may not be readily understood. Why was it not called an "act"
for certainly we should so call it if it had passed in a similar manner at the
present day. The term "ordinance" is now Hinted in its use to measures
passed in a city council. There is no legal distinction, however, between an
ordinance and an act or statute. The term has gone out of use as applied
to acts of Congress, though at the time of the old Continental Congress it
was quite usual to so employ it. But after the United States became a
nation, by the rat'fication of the Constitution in 1 7 S , the term act or statute
became the usual one.

Lincoln's View of the Ordinance. In his great Cooper Institute s] h

Mr. Lincoln referred to the Ordinance of 1 7 s 7 . making use of the provisions
therein contained to buttress his arguments against the extension of slavery
into the territories. He showed that federal control as to slavery in federal
territory, as asserted in tin- ordinance, was the deliberate expression of the
highest power then existing in the country; and that after the Constitution
had been ratified, namely, in 1789, an act was passed by the new Congress
"to enforce the Ordinance of 1787, including the prohibition id' slavery in the
Northwestern Territory," and that this act had been signed by George Wash-
ington.

Quoting from Dr. William V. Poole's treatise on the ordinance, summariz-
ing the benefits accruing to posterity, it is said: "The Ordinance, in the

40 BISTORT OP -MILWAUKEE

breadth of its conception, its details, and its results, has been perhaps the
must notable instance of legislation thai was ever enacted by the representa-
tives of the American people. It fixed forever the character of the immigra-
tion, and of the social, political and educational institutions of the people who
were to inhabit this imperial territory — then a wilderness, but DOW covered by
five great states."

Of the ordinance as a whole Daniel Webster said: "We are accustomed
to praise the lawgivers of antiquity — we help to perpetuate the fame of Solon
and Lycurgus; but I doubt whether one single law, ancient or modern, has
produced effects of more distinct, marked and lasting character than the
Ordinance of 1787."

A Famous Boundary Controversy. — When Wisconsin had arrived at the
dignity of territorial existence in ]S'-'S, the southern boundary of the territory
Mas naturally placed at the line of the northern boundary of Illinois as it
was fixed by "Pope's Amendment" when the latter state was admitted to
the Union in 1818; that is, at 42 degrees and 30 minutes north latitude. The
Ordinance of 1787, under the terms of which the states of Ohio, Indiana.
Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin were afterwards formed, prescribed the
northern boundary of the state which became Illinois on an east and west line
drawn through the southern bend of Lake Michigan, that is, sixty-two miles
south of where it was eventually placed. It was claimed by the Wisconsin
statesman of that day that Illinois was not entitled to the strip of land thus
enclosed and added to its area. They contended that this land belonged to
the new territory and that Congress should repeal that part of the act creat-
ing the State of Illinois though it had been a settled transaction for eighteen
years.

It will be remembered that by reason of "Pope's Amendment" the line had
been changed while the enabling act was passing through Congress so that
an area of some eighty-five hundred square miles in the northern part of the
state had been added to Illinois against the plain provisions of tin- Ordinance
of 1787.

This tract of country had been rapidly filled with settlers, great projects
of public improvement were under way, ami it had thus become a very im-
portant addition to the wealth and population of the state. The Wisconsin
people appealed to the language of the Ordinance of 17S7 which seemed to
justify their claim.

The Ordinance of 1787 provided for the erection of three states out of
the northwest territory (which afterwards became Ohio. Indiana and Illi-
nois), and further specified that "if Congress shall hereafter rind it expedient
they shall have authority to form one or two more staler in that part of
said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the
southerly bend of Lake Michigan," and that this provision was to "forever
remain unaltered except by common consent." The Legislature of Wisconsin
Territory sent a somewhat belated memorial to Congress nearly three years
after the organization of the territory, declaring that the determination of
the nothern boundary of Illinois was "directly in collision with and repug-
nant to the compact entered into by the original states with people and states

THE ORDINANCE OF 1787 11

within the Northwest Territory." Finding that Congress gave no heed to
this protest the Legislature passed a resolution that Congress had "vio-
lated the Ordinance of 1787," and that "a large and valuable tract of
country is now held by the State of Illinois contrary to the manifest right
and consent of the people of the territory."

Appeal to the Ordinance of 1787. — Congress, however, still turned a deaf
ear to these proceedings, and in 1840 the people living in the disputed tract
in Illinois were invited by a resolution of the Territorial Legislature of Wis-
consin to hold an election to vote on the question of forming a const. tution
for the proposed new State of Wisconsin, as if the tract were really a part
of Wisconsin Territory. Strange as it may seem, the people of the counties
within the disputed tract complied with the invitation, and delegates were
chosen to a convention to be held at Rockford. This convention formally
declared that Wisconsin was entitled to the disputed tract as it claimed.
Nothing came of this, as it was found that the people of Wisconsin Territory
generally regarded the movement for the formation of a state government
as premature, and no action was taken on their part in the matter until a year
or two later.

So matters stood until 1812, when a new impulse was given to the move-
ment for a state organization in Wisconsin. It was argued that if the strip
of country in Northern Illinois were reckoned as a part of Wisconsin Terri-
tory, as it rightfully should be, there would be a sufficient number of in-
habitants, when added to those of the territory, to warrant a demand to be
admitted as a state to the Union. Orators became belligerent in their claim
for the "ancient limits," which was how they described the disputed land in
Illinois. One member of the Legislature declared that Wisconsin ought to
assume jurisdiction over Northern Illinois, saying: "Let us maintain that
right at all hazards, unite in convention, form a state constitution, extend our
jurisdiction over the disputed tract if desired by the inhabitants there, and
then, with legal right and immutable justice on our side, the moral and
physical force of Illinois, of the whole Union, cannot make us retrace our
steps."

It seemed impossible, however, to arouse any marked interest among the
Wisconsin people themselves on the subject, the interest being almost wholly
confined to the Illinois northern counties and the politicians guiding the
sentiments there. This willingness of the Northern Illinois people to unite
with Wisconsin seems the more singular when it is remembered that already
the Illinois and Michigan Canal, reaching far to the south of Wisconsin's
possible limits, was in course of construction; and that the chief dependence
of these northern counties was on the rapidly growing City of Chicago, whose
future was bound up with the canal's prosperity. The Illinois people, how-
ever, recovered their senses and in later appeals from the Wisconsin leaders
became indifferent, and finally were entirely reconciled to their Illinois
allegiance.

Failure of Congress to Heed Appeals. — The last shot in the controversy
was tired by a committee of the Territorial Legislature which late in 1813
prepared an address to Congress on the boundary question, running in part as

J2 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

follows: "Had we formed a constitution and state government, and ex-
tended our jurisdiction over all the territory appropriated, though it mighl
have involved us in a dbnflict with [llino ! s, qo one could truly say we had
done more than exercise our lawful rights iii a lawful manner." Bu1 Con-
gress made qo response io this warlike appeal, and the subjeel failed to
attract any further attention; no doubl for the reason thai the boundary ih
it stood was an accomplished fact, and any disturbance of the line after a
quarter of a century from the time it was established would result in endless
confusion. Wisconsin was admitted to the Union .May 29, 1848, the presenl
boundary line being accepted withoul further question.

It is an interesting fact in this connection that while the boundary line is
described as at "41' degrees, 30 minutes of north latitude" in all lie acts ami
proceedings connected with the subject, ami boundary posts ami monuments
were placed in supposed accordance with that line, yet it was found in later
years that the old surveys were incorrect, and that there was a variance of
three-fourths of a mile in places from the true parallel. Indeed the line of
monuments is north of the parallel in the western part of the state, and
zigzags to and fro. finally landing some distance south of the parallel at the
eastern end on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Wisconsin was admitted as a state of the Union on May 29, I s Is after
a probation period of twelve years as a territory. It was the fifth state to
be formed out of the Northwest Territory whieh had been organized under
the Ordinance of 1 7S7. We have previously given some account of the
boundary controversy with Illinois while Wisconsin was yet a territory. But
in the generally prosperous conditions prevailing throughout the regions
occupied by Illinois and Wisconsin all the grievances between the two sections
were forgotten, or became the subjeel of humorous references. It is recalled
that Hon. James R. Doolittle of Wisconsin, in a speech at the beginning of
work on the great Chicago Drainage ('anal in 1892, spoke in terms of praise
for the work. The veteran ex-senator said he hoped to see the greal enter
prise completed and a "'waterway established between the lakes and rivers."

He eonti I as follows: "I say it with jusl as much earnestness as if all my

interests were identical with Chicago. I still live in Wisconsin. 1 live in the
state to which Chicago belongs according to the < Irdinance of 17*7. i Laughter

and applause, i I sometimes give ; xcuse to those gentlemen who ask me.

'Why is it you practice law in Chicago, and yet live in Wisconsin?' I tell
them that by the Ordinance of 17*7. Chicago belongs to Wisconsin, and I
have a righl to be there. Bui independent of all that my interests are of a
national characl er. ' '

CHAPTER III
DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT LAKES

A prospect of Lake Michigan from any point along its shores is like thai
of the ocean itself in its seeming boundless expanse. And yet all this vast
flood is destined to pass over the Kails of Niagara in its eventual flow to the
sea. There will be considerable hiss in its volume from evaporation before
reaching the falls, and il will also be somewhat diminished by reason of the
withdrawal of a small fraction of its waters for the use of man ami his works.
The entire volume of the four great lakes above the falls. Lakes Superior,
Michigan, Huron and Erie, must find an outlet into Lake Ontario ami so on
down to the sea through the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers. It can well
be imagined that the Hood pouring over the brink of the cliff at Niagara is
so tremendous that there is not on earth a rival to it in its size ami magnifi-
cence save the great Victoria Falls of the Zambesi River in South Africa.

The Order in Which They Were Discovered. — With a map of the Great
Lakes spread out one sees them clustered in a group like a bunch of tubers
on a stem, each one connected with the other by rivers or straits. Going back
to the time when these large bodies of water were as yet unknown to civilized
men, it is curious to note the course of events through which their existence
ami bounds were made known to map makers and geographers. It would be
natural to suppose while looking at the map that Lake Ontario would have
been the first one of the great lakes to be opened to the knowledge of white
men, always remembering that the French were the leaders in these dis-
coveries. From their settlements on the St. Lawrence the French gradually
pushed westward into the wilderness, but in the early period of their ad-
vances they chose the Ottawa River as the route towards the west and north-
west rather than the St. Lawrence itself. This led them in the direction of
Lake Huron, and thus this lake was the first one of the Great Lakes to be
discovered. Champlain was the man -who, in Kilo, first saw the waters of
Georgian Bay, which opened from the larger body of Lake Huron, and thus
became the pioneer in the discovery of the Great Lakes of the Northwest.
The discovery of Lake Ontario followed soon after, which was also discovered
by ( ihamplain.

Lake Erie Eluded Them.— A few years later, that is in 1634, Nicollet
crossed Lake Huron, and passing the Straits of Mackinac entered the northern
waters of Lake Michigan ami penetrated as far as Green Hay. Here he
entered the mouth of the Fox River and traveled as far as the portage into
the Wisconsin River, but he did not continue to the .Mississippi as he might

jfflrm 0% $t&Klai$aUmu

THERE is a purpose of Marriage between

residing in

of which proclamation is hereby made for the

time.

£s~

" the jCC~^sfc~-^lay of ^W^ _ Tl82«^'
It is hereby certified, That the above-mentioned Parties have
been Three Times Proclaimed in order to Marriage, in the Parish

Church of £*^

no objections have been offered

&f/<.>? t

and that

Sess. Clerk.

-.»»*—; 'Sir et«>-

At {Zu-lt****? — the 2-4 day of lyyu/^C IS2 j'

The above Parties were Married by

C^UCS! Vt^Zo <y*A^ Minister.

COPY OF AN OLD WISCONSIN MARRIAGE LICENSE IN POSSESSION OF THE

SETTLERS CLUB OF MILWAUKEE

DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT LAKES 45

have done if he had held on a few days longer. The discovery of the latter

river was reserved for Joliet and Marquette, who passed over the same route
thirty-nine years later. In 1658 De Groseilles entered Lake Superior through
the St. Mary's River. Thus four of the Great Lakes had become known to
the French, but still Lake Erie eluded their knowledge, and it was not until
1669 that Joliet, passing south on Lake Huron through the St. Clair River.
discovered Lake Erie, the last one of the group to become known.

Thus the five great lakes were discovered in the following order: Huron.
Ontario. .Michigan, Superior and Erie. Between the discovery of Lake Huron
the first, and Lake Erie the last, there was an interval of fifty-four years. It
will be interesting to make a brief survey of what was happening in other
parts of the country during this interval. Champlain had founded Quebec in
1608, that is twelve years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, and in 1609
Hudson sailed up the river now called by his name; and five years later the
first Dutch settlements were made at New Amsterdam, now New York. Settle-
ments had been started on the James River in Virginia, and others were scat-
tered along the Atlantic Coast at Delaware and Maryland.

Iroqucis Blocked Way. — After the discovery of Lake Erie in 1669 it would
seem to have been inevitable that Niagara Falls would almost at once have
been discovered by the French. Cut it must be remembered thai the Iroquois,
those "pests of the wilderness," who held possession of the region about the
Niagara River were hostile to the French and prevented their approach. It
was well known, however, that there was a great cataract somewhere along
the river connecting the two lakes, Ontario and Erie. But during a lull in
the age-long hostility between the [roquois and the French, La Salle organized
his expedition to explore the Mississippi, and laid his route by way of the
Niagara River. A part of his force, starting from Fort Frontenac on Lake
Ontario, went in advance of La Salle himself, and landed at the mouth of
the Niagara River. Father Hennepin was with the advance party, and he
lost no time after landing in making a search for the falls so long known by
report, but as yet never seen by white men.

The Imperial Cataract. — Parkman's account is well worth quoting as to
what happened, which at the same time is a fair specimen of the famous
historian's style. "Hennepin, with several others," he says, "now ascended
the river in a canoe to the foot of the mountain ridge of Lewiston. which,
stretching on the right hand and on the left, forms the acclivity id' a vast
plateau, rent with the mighty chasm, along which, from this point to the
cataract, seven miles above, rush, with the fury of an Alpine torrent, the
gathered waters of four inland oceans. To urge the canoe farther was impos-
sible. He landed, with his companions, on the west bank, near the foot of that
part of the ridge now called Queenstown Heights, climbed I he steep ascent,
and pushed through the wintry forest on a tour of exploration. On his left
sank the cliffs, the furious river raging below; till at length, in primeval
solitudes, unprofaned as yet by the pettiness of man, the imperial cataracl
burst upon his sight."

The date of the discovery was December li, 1678, so that when it is remem-
bered that Joliet and Marquette discovered the Upper Mississippi in June.

46 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

1673, it is seen thai the gn a1 river of the West, as well as the Illinois country
ami the sites of Chicago and Milwaukee, were actually discovered more than
five years before the discovery of Niagara Palls was made. Hennepin, in
his account, described the Falls as 600 feel in height, which, of course. was a
greal exaggeration. It is well known that the falls arc onlj aboul 171 feel
high, hut Hennepin was given to enlarging on his facts. With all his failings,
however, he will go down to posterity as being the discoverer of the most
wonderful natural feature, perhaps, in the world. The Greal hakes together
with their connecting straits and rivers were now completely made known
to the civilized world.

Aspect of Lake Michigan. — As one stands on the shore of Lake Michigan
and gazes on its broad expanse stretching far to the north, east and south.
a noble view is presented. One realizes the great extent over which his eye
wanders by noting the lake craft in the distance, some vessels lying "hull
down" with their white sails only in sight, and some trailing clouds of smoke
along the horizon, indicating passing steamers beyond the limit of vision.
Those in plainer sight seem to stand motionless while in strange contrast the
waves near the shore dash violently on the breakwaters and piers, throwing
up clouds of spray, or break in thunderous surges on the sand and gravel
at one's feet.

Such a view from the bluffs along the north shore forms a grand and
impressive spectacle, and such an outlook is one of the principal attractions
to the dwellers in the beautiful homes that have been built in the neighbor-
hood. When tossed by the wind the ruffled surface of the lake shows many
shades of blue and green according to the light reflected upon it from the
sky; and when light, fleecy clouds are passing over it, casting broad shadows
upon its far-extending surface, the colors arc shown in varied hues ranging
from neutral tints to most beautiful olive greens and violet blues. One of our
local poets happily likened its broad expanse under these conditions to a
"pictured psalm."

"A level plain of a vast extent on land is certainly no mean idea," wrote
Edmund Burke in his celebrated essay on the •"Sublime and Beautiful."
"The prospect of such a plain may be as extensive as a prospect of the ocean;
but can it ever fill the mind with anything so great as the ocean itself?"
This can be well understood by those who have long dwelt on the shores of
Lake Michigan. I bit when

" — storms and tempests wake the sleeping main.

And lightnings flash while winds grow hoarse and loud.

And writhing billows toss their white crests high,"

then, indeed, Lake Michigan's aspeel changes from the beautiful to the sub-
lime. It is then when darkness adds its terrors to the scene that the perils
of the mariner come home to the observer with moving force and quickened
s\ mpathy.

Natural History of Lake Michigan. Lake Superior is the largest bodj of
fresh water in the World, with an approximate area of 31,200 Square miles.

DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT LAKES 47

Next in order of size comes Lake Victoria Nyanza in Africa, with an approxi-
mate area of 22,500 square miles. It is 320 miles long and 85 miles broad at
its widest part.

'"Lake Michigan receives the drainage of only a very narrow bell in north-
eastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, comprised mainly in the drainage
of the Chicago and Calumet rivers," writes Frank Leverett, the eminent
geologist, in his monograph published by the Cnited States Geological Survey.
"It drains about one-half the area of the southern peninsula of Michigan and
adjacent portions of Wisconsin, mainly tributary to Green Bay. South of the
Green Bay drainage system only a narrow belt is tributary to the lake. The
watershed draining to Lake Michigan is estimated to be 45,000 square miles,
and the total area of the basin (including the lake itself) is 68,100 square
miles."

Physical Features of Lake Michigan. — There is no other lake in America,
north or south, which traverses so many degrees of latitude, extending from
45 degrees, 55 minutes on the north, to 41 degrees, 37 minutes on the south.
There are a number of islands in the northern part of the lake: Beaver
Island, comprising an area of about forty square miles, the Fox Islands ami
the Manitous. South of the latter there is a stretch of over two hundred
miles to the southern end of the lake in which there are no islands or even a
sand bar of any description rising above the surface. As the bed of the lake
is composed of clay, sand and gravel throughout this portion of its extent,
there is no danger to navigation from the occurrence of rocks either in its
bed or on its shores, and vessels driven by storms can find good holding
ground for the'r anchors. There are, however, some rather dangerous shoals
and reefs, especially in the vicinity of Racine and South Chicago which are
plainly indicated on the Government "Lake Survey" charts, printed for the
use of navigators.

The elevation of the surface of Lake Michigan above the level of the
sea is 581 feet, and its approximate maximum depth is eight hundred and
seventy feet. Its southwestern shores are bordered with "dunes" of sand
rising in mounds of many graceful shapes. Many of these dunes rise to a
height of 100 feet or more.

Schoolcraft's Observations. — "These dunes are, however, but a hem on the
fertile prairie lands," wrote Schoolcraft, in 1820, "not extending more than
half a mile or more, and thus masking the fertile lands. Water, in the shape
of lagoons, is often accumulated behind these sand-banks, and the force of
the winds is such as to choke and sometimes entirely shut up the mouth of the
rivers. We had found this hem of sand-hills extending around the southern
shore of the lake from the vicinity of Chicago, and soon found that it gave an
appearance of sterility to the country that it by no means merited." On
other portions of the lake the shore consists of a somewhat irregular line of
bluffs, from fifty to seventy-five feet in height, though there are eminences
which attain a much greater altitude, as for instance. "Bald Tom," situated
on the Michigan shore, on a line directly east of Chicago, which is 240 feet
in height.

An English traveler, in the course of a description of the view landward

48 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

from the deck of ;i passing steamer, used the expression, "the monotonous
shores of Lake Michigan," which as they appear from a distance may have
deserved such a mention. 'if by thai it was intended to notice the absence of
hills or mountains in the vicinity of its shores. But Schoolcraft's observations
as above quoted will go far to give a true impression to the beholder.

The whole extent of the shore line of Lake Michigan is 1,320 miles. The
length of the shore line bordering on Wisconsin, from the Illinois state line
on the south to the end of the Door Peninsula on tin- north, is about two
hundred in les. This does not reckon in the coast line of Green Bay.

Tin' fluctuations in the Level of the waters of the Greal Lakes have at-
tracted much attention among scientific observers, to ascertain if possibly
these fluctuations could be identified witli regular tidal movements. As early
as 1670, Father Dablon in the "Jesuit Relations," says, "as to the tides, it
is difficult to lay down any correct rule. At one time we have found the
motion of the waters to be regular, and at others extremely fluctuating. We
have noticed, however, that at full moon and new moon the tides change once
a day for eight or ten days, while during the remainder of the time there is
hardly any change perceptible.

It is worth while remarking in this connection that Schoolcraft, who was
an eminent geolog'si and who visited Green Bay in 1820, did not believe
there were any tides in the lakes. "Governor ('ass caused observations to be
made.*' he says, "which he greatly extended at a subsequent period. These
give no countenance to the theory of regular tides, but denote the changes in
the level of the waters to be eccentrically irregular, and dependent, so far as
observations extend, altogether on the condition of the winds and currents
of the lakes."

Whether or not there is actually a lunar tide in Lake Michigan was made
the subject of an address by Lieut. -Col. James I). Graham, a Government
engineer, before the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
in 1860. Referring to the writings of the early missionaries and explorers,
he said that in the lakes were noted some peculiar fluctuations in the eleva-
tion of the waters of these inland seas. "In the speculations indulged in by
some of these writers." he continued, "a slight lunar tide is sometimes sus-
pected, then again such an influence on the swelling and receding waters is
doubted, and their d'sturbanrc is attributed to the varying courses and forces
of the winds.

Lack of Systematic Observations. — "But we have nowhere seen that any
systematic course of observation was ever instituted and carried on by these
early explorers, or by any of their successors who have mentioned lie subject,
giving the tidal reading's at small enough intervals of time apart, and by long

enough duration to develop the problem of a diurnal lunar tidal wav i thes

lakes. The general idea has undoubtedly been thai no such lunar influence
was here perceptible.

"In April. 1854, I was stationed at Chicago by the orders of the Govern-
ment," continued Colonel Graham in his address, "and charged with the
direction of the harbor improvements on Lake Michigan. In the latter part
of Augusl of that year, 1 caused to be erected at the east or lakeward ex

DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT LAKES 49

tremity of the north harbor pier, a permanent tide-gauge for the purpose of
making daily observations of the relative heights and fluctuations of the
surface of this lake.

"The position thus chosen for the observations projects into the lake,
entirely beyond the mouth of the Chicago River, and altogether out of the
reach of any influence from the river current upon the fluctuations of the
tide-gauge. It was the fluctuations of the lake surface alone that could affect
the readings of the tide-gauge.

"On the first day of September, 1854, a course of observations was com-
menced on this tide-gauge, and continued at least once a day, until the thirty-
first day of December, inclusive, 1858. * * These observations were in-
stituted chiefly for the purpose of ascertaining with accuracy the amount of
the annual and also of the secular variation in the elevation of the lake
surface, with a view to regulating the heights of break-waters and piers to
be erected for the protection of vessels, and for improving the lake harbors."

Results of Tidal Observations.— The result of this series of tidal observa-
tions, continued over a period of four years and four months, is given by
Colonel Graham as follows: "The difference of elevation of the lake surface,
between the periods of lunar low and lunar high water at the mean spring
tides is here shown to be two hundred and fifty-four thousandths (.254) of a
foot; and the time of high water at the full and change of the moon is shown
to be thirty minutes after the time of the moon's meridian transit."

For the benefit of readers who may not be accustomed to terms familiar
enough to residents of tide-water regions, we will here state that "spring
tides" have no relation to the spring season. Spring tides occur twice a
month.

Colonel Graham sought to justify himself in taking so much pains to
ascertain the facts regarding tidal movements in Lake Michigan, by saying:
"Although this knowledge may be of hut small practical advantage to navi-
gators, yet it- may serve as a memorandum of a physical phenomenon whose
existence has generally heretofore been either denied or doubted." He con-
cluded his paper by submitting his observations as a solution of the "problem
in question," and as "proving the existence of a semi-diurnal lunar tidal
wave on Lake Michigan, and consequently on the other great fresh water
lakes of North America," varying from fifteen hundredths of a foot to
twenty-five hundredths of a foot, that is, from one and four-fifths inches to
three inches' rise and fall.

"Col. J. D. Graham's report on the tides of Lake Michigan," says R. A.
Harris in the Coast and Geodetic Report for 1907, "have not been altered by
subsequent observations." Graham's work was discussed by Ferrel in his
book "Tidal Researches": and Harris accords Colonel Graham the honor of
being the discoverer of tides in the lakes.

Prof. Rollin D. Salisbury of the University of Chicago, sums up the matter
in his work, entitled, "Physiography," as follows: "Tides are imperceptible
in small lakes and feeble in large lakes and inclosed seas. In Lake Michigan,
for example, there is a tide of about two inches."

Sudden and Gradual Fluctuations. — Oscillations of the lake level are

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

familiar phenomena to residents on the shores of the lake "Thej - are g
crally attributed by scientific men," wrote Thomas C. ('lark.' in the Atlantic
Monthly for March, I86I5 "to atmospheric disturbances which, by increasing

or diminishing the atmosphere pressure, produce a corres] ling rise or fall

in the water level. These are the sudden and irregular fluctuations. The
gradual fluctuations are probably caused by the variable amounl of 1
which falls in the vast area of country drained by the lakes."

Thus it may be said in general that the levels of lakes with river outlets
of a limited volume change from time to time, according 1" the amount of
precipitation on their surfaces and the contiguous territory. The sources of
supply of such a body of water as Lake Michigan, fur example, are springs
and rivers; and, since they are dependent upon rain and snow, the sources
of the supply of lake water may be said to be atmospheric precipitation.

The fluctuations in the level of Lake Michigan in different seasons is thus
accounted for, though in the case of the frequently observed sudden changes
in lake levels the cause is found in the atmospheric pressure. "A sudden
change in atmospheric pressure on one part of a large lake." says Professor
Salisbury, "causes changes of level everywhere. If the pressure is increased
in one place, the surface of the water there is lowered and the surface else
where correspondingly raised."

Disastrous Fluctuations. — On the 30th of April, 1909, a very remarkable
rise of water of the lake occurred, reaching a heighl of six feet at Evanston.
It rose and retired within the space of a few hours, coming just after a storm
of unusual severity. The accounl of it in the Evanston Index of the next
day says: '"The lake shore presents a highly interesting sight following the
action of the tidal wave which washed clear to the middle of the lake front
park, filling the lagoon with debris andTeaving a big windrow of driftwood
of all sizes and shapes to mark its extreme reach."

The Chicago Tribune of May 1, 1009, states that the storm above referred
to caused the loss of five lives, and of property estimated al sl'.inhi.iiuii
Collapsed and unroofed houses dotted the stretch of prairie land near the
Illinois Central Railroad in the neighborhood of Seventy-fifth Street. "The
storm caused unusual disturbances in Lake Michigan at the Thirty-ninth
Street pumping station; variations in the lake level of between four and five
feet occurred The authorities caused the flow of water into the Sanitary
Canal to be nearly doubled in order to ease the pressure, but despite the
efforts made the Chicago River at times was reversed and ran its old course
into the lake.

In the Coast and Geodetic Survey Report for 1907, it is stated thai "the
most common cause of these periodic movements is the wind blowing over
bodies of water in which they occur. The sudden variations in barometric
pressure maj cause ■seiches' (tidal waves in lakes and other Dearly enclosed

bodies of water."

Gradual Fluctuations of the Lake. — The variations in the water levels of
the lake extending over comparatively lone' periods of tune, for example a

month, a year, or even for a Longer period, have been carefully measured at
stated intervals, for more than fifty years. Results from such measuremei

DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT LAKES 51

disregarding the sudden rises and subsidences of which we have spoken, show
a slow increase or decrease in the general height of the surface, as compared
with the level of the sea, such fluctuations sometimes extending over years
of time.

The mean stage of water on the lake, for the period extending from 1860
to 1907 (inclusive), is given on the chart of Lake Michigan, issued by the
United States Lake Survey, as 581.32 feet above mean tide at New York.
The highest stage of water on record was that of "the high water of 1838,"
when it stood at 584.60 feet above sea level. The lowest stage was that of
December, 1895, during which month the average was 578.98 feet. Thus be-
tween the extremes there was a variation of 5.71 feet.

There had, however, been many noteworthy fluctuations throughout the
period from 1838 down to the end of the century between these extremes, as
will be shown below. For example, in the year 1869 the level declined to
580 feet, followed two years later by a rise to 582.7 feet. Again, there was a
decline in 1873, to 579.9 feet, followed by a rise, in 1876, to 583.5 feet.

In 1880, a low stage was again reached when the level stood at 580.7 feet ;
after which there was a gradual rise to the year 1S86, when the level stood at
583.6 feet. After that there was a gradual descent for ten years, and, in
1896, the level dropped to 579 feet, the lowest on record. The level again
began to rise, so that by the year 1900, the elevation was 580.7 feet above
thi> level of the sea.

Aspect of Milwaukee from the Lake. — In an article printed in Scribner's
Magazine for March, 1892, by Charles C. Rogers of the United States Navy, he
says: "Perhaps the most pleasing prospect of the lake (Lake Michigan) is
Milwaukee, whose cream-colored buildings produce a peculiar and most agree-
able effect. Eight railways center here after traversing a rich and rapidly
improving country, whose grain forms the chief element in the city's pros-
perity. In entrances and clearances, it follows closely upon Chicago, the
number last year (1891) exceeding 20,000; one of the chief contributors to
this record is the line of wooden steamers to Ludington, in the service of the
Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad. Its vessels arc built especially 7 to con-
tend with the lake ice; they run regularly in winter and are never detained
more than a few hours." *

FORMEK PRESIDENTS OF THE old SETTLERS CLUB OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
Wild WERE ALU LIVING AT THE TIME THIS GROUP PICTURE WAS

MADE IN mis

Photo liv Guttenstein

CHAPTER IV
MAIL CARRIERS AND ROUTES

The first mail route that crossed the Alleghany Mountains was established
in 1788, coming west as far as Pittsburgh. Within the next few years routes
were extended to Louisville (1794), to Vincennes (1800) and from Vandalia
to Springfield (1824). As the northern part of Illinois was sparsely settled,
it was not until the early '20s that mail was brought to Chicago by regular
"express"' as the carriers were called. Before that time letters arriving had
come through special conveyance or messenger as opportunity offered, and
when conditions Were favorable.

In 1826 David McKee agreed with the Government to carry dispatches and
letters once a month between Chicago and Fort Wayne. This was mainly
for the convenience of soldiers or agents occupying Fort Dearborn. He took
with him an Indian pony to carry the mail bag and sleeping blankets, driving
his pony ahead of him. For his own food he relied upon the game which he
could kill, and for his pony's eating he cut down an elm or basswood tree
here and there on the path. The route lay from Chicago to Niles, Michigan ;
thence to Elkhart, Indiana; and thence to Fort Wayne. The average tr'p
took fourteen days, it beiug sometimes accomplished in ten days.

Writing of the mail at Chicago in 1825, Mrs. Kinzie says, "The mails
arrived as may be supposed, at very rare intervals. They were brought occa-
sionally from Fort Clark (Peoria), but were more frequently from Fort
Wayne, or across the peninsula of Michigan, which was still a wilderness
peopled with savages. The hardy adventurer who acted as express was, not
unfrequently, obliged to imitate the birds of heaven and 'lodge among the
branches,' in order to insure the safety of himself and his charge." The
carriers often suffered from "snowblind" having to suspend the journey
or hire it done by another while they recovered in some cabin or other stop-
ping place along the route. Although usually provided with parched corn
against the scarcity of game, there were many times when the mail carriers
traveled for days on the verge of starvation ; just as common a hardship
was freezing the feet, in sonic instances the men losing their toes as a result.
One might wonder why horses were not in general use for these long wilder-
ness journeys. The question is answered by point'ng out the difficulty of
progress through forests crossed by few or no paths. In writing of his
western tour, Storrow says, "The thickness of the forest rendered marching
difficult, and almost entirely impeded the horse; but for exertions in assisting
him over crags, and cutting away branches and saplings with our tomahawks,

54 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

we should have been obliged to abandon bim. 'J'lic land was broken with

hillocks and masses of rock."

The eastern mail was- brought to Wisconsin twice a year by a soldier,
whose route was overland from Detroit, around the southern bend of Lake
Michigan and through Chicago. Aboul the year 1825 postoffices were estah

lished in towns west and smith of Chicago, and mail routes put through i

necting these places. Tn this way the older settlements in Illinois were more
closely connected with the northern part of the state. Of the route between

Green Bay and Chicago much is found in historical records, as it was o E

the oldest western routes. In an account of one who lived in Green Hay in
182o. we read, "Once a month a mail arrived, carried on the hack of a man
who had gone to Chicago, where he would find the mail from the Bast, des
tined for this place. lie returned as he had gone, on foot, via Milwaukee.
This day and generation can know little of the excitement that overwhelmed
us when the mail was expected — expectations that were based on the weather.
When the time had come, or was supposed to have come, that the mail carrier
was nearing home, many of the gentlemen would start off in their sleighs t..
meet him."

Alexis Clermont, Pioneer Mail Carrier. — One of the well known carriers
of the early days was Alexis Clermont, who regularly made this journey,
after the Black Hawk war. He has told his own story of it: "1 would start
out from the postoffiee in Shantytown, taking the Indian trail to Manitowoc.
jOuly twice would I see the lake between Green Bay and Milwaukee — at
Sauk River, twenty-five miles north of Milwaukee, and at Two Rivers. From
Milwaukee I went to Skunk Grove, then to Cross Point, where I struck tin-
lake again, and then I would see no more of the lake until I reached Chicago.
In making my trips I was not alone. An Oneida Indian always
accompanied me. The load was limited to sixty pounds and we usually had
that weight. As a rule it took us a full mouth to make the round trip from
Green Bay to Chicago and return. We carried two shot haps tilled with
parched corn; one of them hulled, the other ground. For the greater part
of our diet we relied upon the Indians, or on what wild panic we could kill:
the hags of corn wen- merely to fall back upon, in case tin- Indians had moved
away, as they were apt to do, on hunting and fishing expeditions. At night
we camped out in the woods, wherever darkness overtook up, and slept in tic
blankets which we carried on our hacks. In Chicago we merely stopped over

night, and promptly returned the way we came; unless we were delayed by a
tardy mail from Detroit, which reached Chicago by steamer in summer, and
h\ fool, overland, in winter. * Our pay was usuallj from $60 to $65

for a round trip such as I have described, although in the fall sometimes it
reached .+70."

The receptacle carried by the express was not always the bag that i- re
ferred to so frequently. John II. Fonda, in starting on his trip from Green
Bay to Chicago, was intrusted "with not mail-bag hut a tin cannister or
box of a tlat shape, covered with untamed deer hide, that contained the dis-
patches and letters of the inhabitants."

MAIL CARRIERS AND ROUTKS 55

In the period about 1825 "the United States mails coming from the East
to Chicago and other lake ports were conveyed, during' the season of navi-
gation, by the irregular and lardy conveyances of sail vessels, and the in-
habitants of the country were oftentimes for weeks and months without
intelligence of what was passing in other parts of the world from which they
were completely isolated." The privilege of mail service "was purchased
partly by voluntary contributions of the citizens and an allowance from U. S.
Quartermaster's Department, and the military post fund at Fort Howard.
The Government at Washington found it would not pay to establish a mail
route, or defray the expenses of carrying the mail, and decreed, no doubt
wisely, that no expenditure could lie made by the Post Office Department
for that purpose, exceeding the net proceeds of the mail matter."

The narrative of Alexis Clermont, from which the above account is in
large part derived, is printed in the Wisconsin Historical Collections in Vol.
XV. In that interesting volume, entitled "Historic Green Hay," by Ella Hoes
Neville, Sarah Greene Martin, and Deborah Beaumont Martin, it is related
that one Moses Hardwiek was also employed during tin:' ':!(is as mail carrier
to Milwaukee, where Solomon Juneau was at that time postmaster. The small
newspaper published semi-monthly at Green Bay, in 1834, had this refrain
at the head of its columns:

"Three times a week without any fail.
At four o'clock we look for the mail,
Brought with dispatch on an Indian trail."

Trusty carriers, it is said, "were hard to find, although the pay was ample
according to the scale of wages in those days, $45 to Milwaukee, and from
$60 to $65 to Chicago and return, but communication must have been very
irregular, to judge from letters that passed between Bernard Grignon who
had the contract for transporting the mail, and the Milwaukee postmaster."

"The mail carrier (it was said), was necessarily a man of tough fibre
and strong nerve, for, burdened as he was with his pack, mail pouch, and
loaded musket, he was forced to keep on his feet day and night, wading
through snow so deep at times as to require snow-shoes. When overcome with
sleep he wrapped himself in his blanket and lay down in a snow-bank, taking
such rest as he could with the wolves howling around him."

Unsettled State of the Country. — "The country was in a wild, unsettled
state," continue the authors above quoted from. "Acts of violence were
frequent, although summary punishment was usually inflicted upon the of-
fender. The enlisted soldiers at the fort were often desperate characters,
and officers were in danger of assasination by their own men in revenge for
arbitrary punishment, as well as from the suspicion and enmity of the
Indians. In the summer of 1S21, the post surgeon, William S. Madison, was
shot and instantly killed near the Manitowoc River by a Chippewa Indian
concealed in the brush. The murderer was captured, taken to Detroit, and
tried at the September term of the Supreme Court.

56 HISTORY (IF MILWAUKEE

"His counsel, James D. Doty, denied the jurisdiction of the court, alleging
thai tlic murder was connnitlt'd in a district of country to which the Indian

title bad qo1 I n extinguished, ami therefore the United States could no1

take cognizance of the crime, for the Chippewa ami Winnebago nations, both
being sovereign ami independent, exercised exclusive jurisdiction within their
respective territorial limits. Further, he argued that the American Govern-
ment, by repeated treaties with the Indians, had acknowledged that its
dominion extended no further than as actual owners of the soil by purchase

from the savages; that the Indians must 1 ither citizens of the United

states or foreigners; yet were evidently not considered citizens by our Gov-
ernment, the privileges id' our laws and institutions not being extended to
them, nor had any aet of theirs been construed as treason or rebellion.

"He said they had 1 n regarded by the French, English ami American

governments as allies, and were not a conquered people. Various other argu-
ments were urged by the brilliant young advocate, hut his plea was over-
ruled by the court, and Ketauka was sentenced to be hung at Green Hay.
on December 21, 1821. The sentence was executed at the appointed time and
place."

Moses Hardwick, Noted Mail Carrier. — In one of the chapters of the
Wisconsin Historical Society's collections 'for 1882) there is a sketch of a
mail carrier of the period of 1817, contributed by Morgan L. Martin. This
mail carrier's name was .Moses Hardwick. He was a discharged soldier and
was employed for several years by the quartermaster at the fort in carry-
ing the mail from Detroit by way of Chicago and Milwaukee to Fort Howard
during the season when lake navigation was closed. He made monthly trips
on foot between these points for seven consecutive winters, commencing in
1817.

"It was a service," says the writer, "which few could perform, requir-
ing powers of endurance ami strength, with which men are rarely endowed.
The depth of snow was such as to require the use of snow-shoes, and to give
no opportunity for providing a comfortable camp for the night. The person
engaged in this service was obliged to keep on his feet day and night until

overcome by fatigue and want of sleep, when rest bei ting an absolute

necessity In 1 wrapped himself in his blanket, lay down in a snow bank, ami
took the needed repose, after which he continued the same rout in,' of tramp-
ing and rest until his destination Mas reached. The severity id' the trial of
strength seems almost incredible, for in addition to the mail-ba'g, weighing
usually from fifty to sixty pounds, the carrier had the necessary supply of
provisions to pack on his back.

"There were two or three other men engaged in this arduous service, hut
none it is believed suffered greater hardships than Hardwick: and yet after
many years of this severe and continued labor, exposed to all changes of
weather, he lived to tin* remarkable age of eight-eight year 1 -." Hardwick
was employed to carry the mail on the route between Green Bay and Mil-
waukee when it was established in 1833.

Iii an address before the Old Settlers' Cluh in 1873, Judge Andrew G

MAIL CARRIERS AND ROUTES 57

Miller, who came to Milwaukee in the late thirties, referred to the early mail
carriers and the mail routes. He said that between Milwaukee and Green
Bay the only intermediate stopping places were Port Washing-ton, Sheboy-
gan Falls and Manitowoc; and that "the postman traveled the trail on foot,
delivering the mail at the terminus of his route on the fourth day. Return-
ing from holding court in Green Bay, in October, 1839, a beautiful Indian
summer day, between Sheboygan Falls and Milwaukee, I met the mail car-
rier on foot, who was the only white man I observed mi the trail that day,
but there were numerous Indians enjoying their hunting season."

John H. Fonda. — Having previously referred to John H. Fonda we will
here give some account of this picturesque traveler with a brief description
of his movements through the West. Fonda was a rover who left accounts
of his travels in the form of memoirs winch are printed in the early records
of Wisconsin. He belongs to the "Realm of Vagabondia" who, urged by
his boyish love of roving, joined in about 1819, a party which was going
to Texas, taking their departure from New York State. After following
the occupation of fur trader in that country for about four years which
seemed to be as long as his interests in his surroundings held out, he
traveled in a haphazard fashion toward Saint Louis, sometimes crossing the
plains "on board an old pack mule," at one time stopping for a season in
a mixed settlement of trappers, Mexicans and Indians; moving on again to
Saint Louis in charge of a caravan of wagons and cattle over a barren coun-
try, that even then seemed to him rich in its possibilities. In Texas he had
been a fur trader; in Saint Louis he was a bricklayer; and next, after a few
months in that place, hearing that fortunes were to be made in lead mining
near Prairie du Chien. and that a number of men were starting up the Missis-
sippi, he made himself one of this party. It was sufficient for him that they
were seeking new experiences. On the journey up the river rumors of Indian
disturbances in the mining region came to them, so they branched off at
the Illinois River, went on up the Desplaines, across the old slough into tin.'
Chicago River, and thus Fonda first entered Chicago paddling down toward
Fort Dearborn in a canoe.

Feeble Beginnings of Chicago. — "At this period,'" he relates, "Chicago
was merely an Indian agency; it contained about fourteen houses, and uo1
more than seventy-five or one hundred inhabitants at the most.
The staple business seemed to be carried on by Indians and runaway sol-
diers, who hunted ducks and musk-rats in the marshes. There was a great
deal of low land, mostly destitute of timber. The principal inhabitants were
the agent (Dr. Alexander Wolcotti, a Frenchman by the name of Ouilmette,
and John B. Beaubien. It never occurred to me then that a large city would
be built up there."

From Chicago he started to Green Bay, but at the scanty trading settle-
ment of Milwaukee he stayed two years, perhaps for no reason at all, per-
haps for one having to do with the fact that a few years later he married the
niece of the only merchant in the settlement. In 1827 he roved toward Green

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

Bay. In all his wanderings the scenery on the way afforded him as much
interesl and exeitemenl as actual adventures.

Al Fori Howard, neat Green Hay. hi' was delighted i" see Yankee sol
diers, after eighl years' absence from his eastern home. Colonel McKenney
was in command of the Eort, and visiting him was Oen. Lewis Cass, who was
thereon a commission to hold a treaty with the Local Indians. Ai Oreen Bay,
he was continually hearing rumors increasingly alarming, of Indian disturb
ances,- the first warning notes of the Winnebago war: he "continued," as
he said, "to hang around the fort, leading a sort of free ranger life, some-
times accompanying the officers on their hunting tours, hut refusing all pro-
posals to enlist. "

Soon there came a task that suited his fancy. "It was the winter of '27

that the U. S. Quartermaster, having heard of me through son I' his

men with whom I was a favorite, came to me one clay, and asked mi- if I
thought I could find the way to Chicago. I told him it wasn't long since
I had made the trip up the lake, lie said he wanted to get a person who
was not afraid to carry dispatches to the military post at Fort Dearborn.
I said I had heard that the Indians were still unfriendly, hut 1 was readj
to make the attempt. He directed me to make all the preparations neces
sary, and report myself to his quarters at the earliest moment. 1 now began
to consider the danger to lie provided against, which might he classed under
three heads, viz., cold, Indians, hunger. For the first i1 was only needful to
supply one's person with good hunting shirts, flannel and deer-skin loggins.
extra moccasins, and a Mackinaw blanket; these, with a resolute spirit, were
deemed sufficient protection against the severest weather. And fortunate
was he who possessed these. Hunger, except in case of getting lost, was
easily avoided by laying in a pouch full of parched Indian corn and jerked
venison."

Against danger from Indians, he provided himself with adequate arms,
a rifle, a sheath knife, and two pistols. — took unto himself a comrade lor
sociability's sake and was ready to start on the long journey to Chicago.

Suffice it to say that Fonda with his companion started for Fori Dearborn
(Chicago) on foot in the dead of the winter of lM'T. passed through a coun-
try then little known to the white man, depending upon his compass and
the course of rivers to keep the right direction. <>u the fourteenth day after
leaving Qreen Bay (Fori Howard thej arrived at Juneau's settlement on

the Milwaukee River, and at the end of one month arrived at Fort Dear-
born. Here he delivered his dispatches and in a few days started on the

return journey, arriving at Green Bay, ahoiit the lasl of February. In the

Black Hawk Mar he served in the army and from that time forward lived
at Prairie du Chien for the remainder of his life.

Mail Carriers of the Early Days. It is amusing to regard these two com-
panions together, •Fonda, the valiant, Eree lat tall, powerful. <j 1

natured; and Boiseley beside him in comical contrast, a short, uncouth, hir-
sute woodsman, with long arms, having an endurance and power even greater
than that of his companion. These two lei't Fori Howard on foot, with

MAIL CARRIERS AND ROUTES 59.

letters and dispatches for the Indian agenl at Fort Dearborn. The trip was
made by land, and in a little more than a month then- destination was
reached. This was the second time that Fonda had come to Chicago, and
in 1] is approach as a carrier of dispatches, he felt a certain importance, a
dignity which his former arrival as a casual tourist had lacked. The dis-
patches were delivered to Captain Morgan, whom he found in command
at the fort with a company of volunteers from the Wabash country, who had
come in response to Gurdon S. Hubbard's appeal for aid. The two men then
went out from the fort into the settlement to a house "built," as Fonda says,
"on the half breed system, — partly of logs and partly of boards." At this
house, kept by a Mr. Miller, Fonda and his companion stayed while in the
settlement. Of the place at the time of his second visit he said, "With the
exception, that the fort was strengthened and garrisoned (that is, by the
volunteers mentioned), there was no sign of improvement having gone on
since my former visit."

In another month they were hack at Fort Howard with return dispatches
from Fort Dearborn. Regarding this experience Fonda makes his confes-
sion: "The Quartermaster at Fort Howard expressed himself satisfied with
my performance, and he wanted me to make another trip; but as 1 had seen
the country, which was all I cared for, I did not desire to repeal it. Get-
ting my pay from the Department and a liberal donation from the people,
a portion of which 1 gave to Boiseley, 1 left Uncle Sam's employ and took
up my old profession, as a gentleman of leisure, and continued to practice
as such until the spring came, when with a view to extend the field of my
labors, I made ready to bid goodbye to Green Bay." Urged on by the "joy
of the open road," he started forth with his little goblin of a companion
tow y ards Fort Crawford, near Prairie du Chien, where Col. Zachary Taylor
took command in 1829.

Fonda in the Black Hawk War. — During the Black Hawk war Fonda
served in the army, and for his service he received at the end of the war
a land warrant, whereupon he married and settled down. From that time
he lived at intervals, in Prairie du Chien, taking his family with him as he
moved from place to place. After his last discharge from the army he was
a Justice of the Peace for a number of years. In 1858, Fonda related the
story of his pioneering. lie was then about sixty years old. ami for the
past thirty years a resident of Prairie du Chien, having come there as a
young man when it was the extreme frontier settlement in the Northwest.
He is interesting rather as a personality than in any historical connection
with Milwaukee or Chicago. He was one of the brotherhood of Borrow and
Stevenson, of Josiah Flynt and Richard Hovey. lie felt the glory of the
open air and knew the worth of a wayfaring companion. He loved adven-
ture, was brave in danger, of great physical endurance and did well what-
ever he set himself to do. It is characteristic of him that he fought hard
against the Indians and yet could say, "No person under heaven sympathizes
more sincerely with them than I do."

p ™

«r. o

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CHAPTER V
INDIAN VILLAGES

When Lieutenant James Gorrell of the British army visited the western
posts in October, 1761, in order to take them over from the French (Canada
now having passed into the possession of the English in consequence of the
surrender of Quebec two years before), he found at Green Lay, or La Bay
as the French called it, but one family of Indians in the village at that place,
the other Indians having gone, according to their custom, on their annual
hunt.

The English detachment under Lieutenant Gorrell consisted of twenty
men. The absent hunters were not expected back at the village until the
following spring when it would be in order to hold councils with them and
cultivate their friendship and loyalty. There were six tribes that visited
La Bay where they met with the traders, some of them having two or more
villages within their limits, and each of these subdivisions would expect the
indispensable wampum belts as well as various other presents. In May of
the following year (1762), a1 a council with the chiefs of the Folles Avoines,
the name given by the French to the Menomonees, Lieutenant Gorrell pre-
sented them with belts of wampum and in addition a number of other articles
both useful and ornamental.

While Lieutenant Gorrell was at La Bay holding councils with the re-
turning Indians he was visited by a party of Indians from "Milwacky" mak-
ing complaint of a certain trader among them, but as the trader had come
to them from Mackinac the lieutenant referred the visitors to the officer in
command at that point. In later years when Col. Arent de Peyster was in
command at Mackinac, he delivered a speech to the Indians in which he
spoke of "those 'runegates' of Milwakie, a horrid set of refractory Indians."
In the same speech he alluded to "a sensible old chief at the head of a re-
fractory tribe." probably the Milwaukee band whom he had already called
"runegates," and who no doubt dwelt in a village at this place.

The Menomonee Indians. — The Menomonee Indians were an Algonquian
tribe the members of which, according to Dr. William Jones, claimed to
understand Sauk, Fox and Kiekapoo far more easily than they did Chippewa,
Ottawa or Pottawatomie. "Hence it is possible," writes a contributor to
Hodge's "Handbook of American Indians," "that their linguistic relation was
near the former group of Algonquians. Grignon speaks of the Noquel as
a part of the Menomonee, and states that 'the earliest locality of the Menomo-

(il

(12 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

nee, al the firsl visil of the whites, was a1 Bay de Noque and the Menomonee
River, and those al Bay de Noque were called by the early French Des Noques
or Des Noquia.'

"The Jesuil Relation for Kill includes the Menomonee among the trihes
driven from their country, that is. 'the Lands south of the Michilimackinac, '
which is the locality where Hip Noquet lived when they firsl became known
in the French. It is generally believed that the Noquet, who disappeared
from history at a comparatively early date, were closely related to the Chip-
pewa and were incorporated into their trihes; nevertheless, the name
Menomonee must have been adopted after the latter reached their historic
seat: it is possible they were previously known as Noquet." Charlevoix
says: "I have been assured that they had the same origin and nearly the
same language with the Noquet and the Indians at the Falls."

"The people of this tribe," says the same writer, "were first encountered
by the whites when Nicollet visited them, probably in 1634, at the month of
the .Menomonee River. In KiTl. and henceforward until about 1852, their
home was on or in the vicinity of the Menomonee River, not far from where
they were found by Nicollet, their settlements extending at times to Pox
River. They generally have been at peace with the whites. A succinct
account of them, as well as a full description of their manners, customs, art-,
and beliefs, by Dr. "W. J. Hoffman, appears in the Report of the U. S. Bureau
of Ethnology for 1896. In their treaty with the United States. February 8,
1831. they claimed as their possess ; on the land from the mouth of Green Hay
to the mouth of the Milwaukee River, and on the west side of the bay from
the height of land between it and Lake Superior to the headwaters of the
Menomonee and Fox rivers, which claim was granted. They now reside on
a reservation near the head of the Wolf River. Wisconsin.

Characteristics of the Tribe. — "Major Pike described the men of the tribe
'as straight and well made, about middle size: their complexions generally
fair for savages, their teeth good, their eyes large and rather languishing;
they have a mild but independent expression of countenance that charms
at first sight.' Although comparatively indolent, they are described as gen-
erally honest, theft being less common than among other tribes. Drunken-
ness was their most serious fault, but even this did not prevail to the same
extent as among some other Indians. Their beliefs and rituals are substan-
tially the same as those id' the Chippcwas. They have usually been peaceful
in character, seldom coming in contact with the Sioux, but bitter enemies of
the neighboring Algonquian tribes. They formerly disposed of their dead
by inclosing the bodies in Ion"' pieces of birchbark, or in slats id' wood, and
burying them in shallow "raves. In order to protect the bodies from wild
beasts, three logs were placed over the grave, two directly on the grave, and

the third on these, all being secured by stakes driven oil each side. Tree

burial was -asioiially practiced.

"The Menomonee -as their name indicates- subsisted in pari on wild

rice; in fact it is spoken id' by earlj writers ;is their chief vegetable Eood

Although making such constant use id' it from the earliesl notices we have

INDIAN VILLAGES 63

of them, and aware that it eould be readily grown by sowing in proper
ground, Jenks, who gives a full account of the Menomonee method of gather-
ing, preserving and using the wild rice, states that they absolutely refused
to sow it, evidently owing to their unwillingness to 'wound their common
mother, the earth.' "

There are two rivers in Wisconsin bearing the name of Menominee or
Menomonee, the former being a. comparatively small stream that flows into
the Milwaukee River at Milwaukee, the latter forming part of the boundary
line between Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Indians at Milwaukee. — "The Indians were principally Pottawatomies, "
says A. J. Vieau, in the narrative elsewhere quoted from. "Those who were
at what came afterwards to be called Walker's Point, on the south shore of
Milwaukee River, were considerably intermixed with Sacs and Winnebagoes.
They were lazy fellows as a rule, and preferred to hind and fish all summer
long to cultivating corn. They were noted players of the mocassin game
and la crosse, were heavy gamblers and given to debauchery. In the winter
time these fellows scattered through the woods, divided into small hunting
parties, and often Walker's Point was practically deserted.

"But in the summer there was a large settlement here, the hark wigwams
housing from a thousand to twelve hundred Indians of all ages and condi-
tions. On the old Juneau marsh, where are now Water, Main, Milwaukee,
Jefferson and Jackson streets, Indian ponies would graze in great droves in
the earlier years, it being then, I am told, a quite dry meadow; but as far
back as I can remember it, it was flooded and the home of countless water-
fowl.

"The Spring Street flat, from the river back to the bordering highlands,
the Indians had under • j ■ i te excellent cultivation. On the lime ridge there
was a big Indian settlement. Some of the Indian families there would raise
as much as one hundred and fifty bushels of corn and a considerable store
of potatoes; they were quite industrious and counted as honest, in striking
contrast to what we used to call 'the Walker Point rogues." On the K nm-
kinnick River, there was a small band of one hundred fifty or two hundred
Pottawatomies."

The Menomonee Tribe was peaceful and friendly, and in consideration in
part of benefits received of government, they ceded to the United States the
lands described in the following treaty:

"The Menomonee Tribe of Indians, in consideration of the kindness and
protection of the government of the United States, and for the purpose of
securing to themselves and posterity a comfortable home, ceded and forever
relinquished to the United States all their country on tin- southeast side of
Winnebago Lake, Fox River and Green Bay, described in the following
boundaries: Beginning at the south end of Winnebago Lake and running
in a southeast direction to Milwaukey or Minnawakey River, thence down
said river to its mouth, thence north along the shore of Lake Michigan to
the entrance of Green Bay, thence up and alontr Green Bay, Fox River and
Winnebago Lake to the place of beginning excluding all private land claims.

6-1 BISTORT OP MILWAUKEE

which tlic United States has heretofore confirmed and sanctioned — and also
all the islands in Fox River and Green May arc likewise ceded, the lands
ceded comprising by estimation, two million five hundred thousand acres."

This treats- and a cession from the Pottawatomies and other tribes in-
cluded the lands covered by this city. The month of the Milwaukee River
was the extent of the Menomonee's lands on the south, the lands of the I'ot-
tawatomies, and other tribes extending from that point south and west. The
cession of the friendly Menomonee was made in 1831, the year before the
Black Hawk war. The cession of the Pottawatomies and of the Sacs and
Foxes, which tribes were warlike, was made in 1833, the year after that
war. ,

At Milwaukee, says A. C. Wheeler in his history, the unexplored wilder-
ness of Wisconsin lay all about the early traders. " If the treacherous natives
in a moment of vindictiveness came out of their lurking places and shot down
the trader they had but to fall back into the recesses of their own forests,
and pursuit or punishment was impossible." Still the red man was sus-
ceptible to a certain kind of treatment which the early traders knew how
to employ. He quickly realized that outrages and revengeful cruelty towards
the whites reacted disastrously upon him in many ways for early in their
relations he found that he had become dependent upon the trader for the
supply of his wants, rude as they might be. Thus the wisdom of the chiefs
often put a restraint upon their followers which operated as a protection
to the traders.

The Indians at Mahn-a-wauk-kie, as the Indians called this trading post,
were very difficult to manage. "At one time O-nau-ge-sa, a well known
chief, would seem to wink at the overbearing disposition of certain bullies
of his tribe," says Wheeler, "and the violence must needs be overlooked
by the sufferers from it. Treachery lurked under the guise of friendship.
and the scalping knife was worn nearest the heart. Discretion was the higher
law, and it required all the shrewdness of the white men to preserve their
own standing in the community of traders."

The Whiskey Tribute. — O-nau-ge-sa levied a tax of several gallons of
whiskey a week for himself and his followers, and if the traders refused the
regular supply, or demanded money therefor, it was regarded as a cause for
hostility, upon which "the scalping knife leaped from its lurking place, and
the lords of the forest put on their most fiendish war paint." A copious
supply of lire water pacified them but it usually brought a demand Eor more
and that made demons of them. "When under its influence all the dark vil-
lany of their natures came uppermost, and to refuse to satisfy their drunken
thirst but precipitated violence. Therefore was cunning greatly exercised by
these early traders in order to save their own lives as well as to preserve
their goods and chattels."

These Mahn-a-waukies were incurable thieves besides being confirmed
whiskey sots. "They would at all times." says the historian, "rather steal
than trade, and it is but justice to say that the fear of the white man's guns
alone saved the trailer's stock from rapid depletion without equivalent
returns."

INDIAN VILLAGES 65

The historian invites us to gaze with him on the scene presented in 1818.
"Could the reader have seen Milwaukee then," he says, "he would have
beheld the still expanse of forest and river rendered picturesque by these
savages, mayhap in an encampment, or it may be gathering the wild oats
in their canoes, where now commerce has piled up monuments of brick and
stone, and mechanical industry thunders night and day." He would have
beheld the far-flung lines of breakers on the shore of Lake Michigan, its sur-
face as today stretching away blue in the distance beyond the bounds of
human vision.

2 *

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— s

CHAPTER VI
DAYS OP THE FUR TRADER

Wisconsin, Early Forms of Name. — In the oldest French documents the
name is spelled "Misconsing, " " Ouisconching, " " Ouiskensing, " etc., bnt in
time the name was finally crystallized into " Ouisconsin, " says R. <i. Thwaites
in a footnote on page 233 of his volume in the American Commonwealth
series. "The meaning of the aboriginal word thus variously rendered," con-
tinues Thwaites, "is now unknown. Popular writers declare that it signifies
'gathering of the waters,' or 'meeting of the waters', having reference pos-
sibly to the occasional mingling of the divergent streams over the low-lying
watershed at the Fox-Wisconsin portage; but there is no warrant for this.
In order to preserve the sound in English it became necessary, on the arrival
of the Americans, to modify the French spelling." Thus the official spell-
ing has become "Wisconsin."

Pioneer Traditions. — The rich variety of picturesque names applied at
one time or another to the historic site upon which the City of Milwaukee
now stands is constantly met with in the narratives of the explorers and
missionaries, and in the traditions of the aborigines. One writer says:
"Man-a-waukee (rich and beautiful land)!" said the Indian brave as the
slow current carried his canoe out of the forest twilight. His gutturals
christened a metropolis, and he was its first citizen; for Milwaukee stands
on "the ashes of by-gone wigwams."

"The future heart of the city was a swamp of wild rice which his squaw
beat into the bottom of the canoe as he paddled slowly along. Three rivers
— the Milwaukee, the Menomonee and the Kinnickinnic — brought the beaver,
the nniskrat, the mink and the otter to his traps among the, alders.

"After the first Indian found 'Man-a-waukee' it wasn't many moons he-
fore other Indians followed him to the 'rich and beautiful land.' They came
with the war-paint washed from their faces to set up their tepees when white
winter covered river and lake. Some of the later arrivals, in a different
dialect, named the attractive spot 'Mahn-a-waukec Seepe' — 'gathering place
by the river.' •

"On the open glades in the forest the squaws planted and harvested the
golden corn while the braves stalked wild game in the woods and took fish
and furs from the streams. A warm welcome awaited the pale-face when
he journeyed hither from the land of the sunrise."

"Near Thanksgiving time in 1674, fifty-four years after the Pilgrim

68 IIIstoKY OF MILWAUKEE

Fathers landed on Plymouth Bock," says the writer of the historical Leaf-
lets for the First Wisconsin National Bank, "Father Marquette, the Ji
missionary, saw the beautiful Milwaukee harbor and its sheltering blull's. It
is possible that he stopped here, where many years later a greal university
was named in his honor, lie was on his way, with a party of Indians, from
Green Bay to 'Chicagou.' During the next decade other missionaries fol-
lowed him, and they left record of 'Millioki,' ' Alehvarik. ' and ' Mie-sit-gan. '

"Indian legends tell id' a greal battle on the .Milwaukee between the
Menomonee and the Sioux tribes for the mastery of this rich territory,"
continues the account printed in the bank leaflet already quoted from,
piping of the blue-bird mingled thenceforth with the lapping of the waters
"Hut never after that was the war-whoop heard in 'Man-a-waukee,' and the
where the wild daisies held watch over the braves whose spirits roamed the
'Happy Hunting Grounds.' "

Early Mention of Milwaukee.— Among the early notices of .Milwaukee in
which the name of that city appears in one or another of the various forms
of spelling met with in the records is found a mention by St. Cosme in his
letter to the Bishop of Quebec printed in John G. Shea's "Early Voyages Up
and Down the Mississippi." The letter states that St. Cosme ami his party
set out from Miehilimackinac on September 14. 1698, and reached Melwarik
on the 7th of October, where they remained two days, •partly on account
of the wind and partly to refresh our people a little, as duck and teal shoot-
ing was very plenty on the river."

In Lieutenant James Gorrell's Journal, printed in the Collections of Cm
Wisconsin Historical Society, Volume I, it is stated that he visited Detroit
in 1762, and there met "a party of Indians from Milwaeky," as he writes
the name in his journal. A note by the editor of the reprinted collections,
Mr. Reuben Gold Thwaites, says that at the time it was "quite an Indian
town," and adds that there was "an English trader residing there." In
Hodge's "Handbook of American Indians," other modes of spelling are
given, — Meliwarik and Melwarik (St. Cosme), Mellioki (Shea), and Milwau-
kee (in a Congressional document in 1824).

Origin of Name. — In Schoolcraft's "Mississippi." the author gives the fol-
lowing account id' the origin of the name, Milwaukee, or Milwaukie.

"The name id' Milwaukie exhibits an instance of which there are many
others in which the French have substituted the sound of the letter / in place
of n in Indian words. Mia, in the Algonquin languages signifies .</<»'</. WauMt
is a derivative from mil.-ii, earth or Land, the fertility of the soil along the
banks of that stream being the characteristic trait which is described in the
Indian compound."

In William George Bruce'fi "Century of Progress" it is stated that the
name is id' Pottawatomie origin, first spelled Mil-wah-kie, derived from Man-
na wah kie, meaning "good land." Bu1 Milwaukee cannot compare with
Chicago in tin' variety of its forms of spelling as found in the early records,
giving occasion for l'residenl John Quincy Adams' remark thai "during his
administration no two government officers, writing from Chicago, r\rv spelled
the name the same way;" and Doctor stennett. the historian of the Chicago

DAYS OF THE FUR TRADER 69

& Northwestern railway, gives examples in his book of a score or more of
the uncouth combinations that served to indicate the name of Chicago.

The early fur traders made extensive use of the streams and lakes for
the transportation of their furs to the greal centers of the trade, principally
at Mackinac Island. The accumulations of their winter's trading with the
Indians were made up into bales and transported along the smaller channels
and trails, eventually passing into the great routes as they aeared their
destination, ('amies and barges- in charge of voyageurs, usually Canadian
French, were employed in great numbers. The share of the Indians in this
trade was that of trapper and hunter with whom the traders exchanged
various articles of merchandise for their furs.

Each year the fur traders assembled in great numbers at Mackinac Island
which although only a village of some five hundred permanent inhabitants
was swelled to a transient population of several thousands, — traders, voy-
ageurs and Indians, who remained during the summer, until as fall
approached they gradually left the island and returned to their winter hunt-
ing grounds and trading posts scattered throughout the vast region of the
western country.

Gurdon S. Hubbard. — About the time thai Solomon Juneau was becoming
established at Milwaukee in 1818, Gurdon S. Hubbard, then a young man
under twenty years of age, was in the employ of the American Fur Company
which made its headquarters at Mackinac Island, or Miehilimackinac as the
traders of those days seemed to prefer to call it. During the winter of 1818-19
young Hubbard was learning the details of the fur trade at Mackinac, and
in tlie spring he accompanied Antoine Deschamps on a trip to tin' Illinois
country with a stock of supplies suitable for the trade with the Indians.

In later years Hubbard wrote a book of reminiscences in which is de-
tailed many adventures in the life of the fur traders of those days, a book
which is of great value to the historian in later times. Hubbard made many
trips to and from Mackinac in succeeding years and became well known to
the traders and Indian tribes throughout the country among the latter of
whom he was known by an Indian name which meant "Swift Walker," by
reason of Ins speed when traversing the trails of the region. lie was in-
trusted by the A I'ienn Fur Company with the conduct of many expedi-
tions in later years.

Navigation of Lakes and Rivers. — The boats which in the spring bad
brought the furs to Mackinac and bad deposited them in the warehouses
of the American Fur Company were in due time loaded with merchandise
of every description for the Indian trade, ami dispatched in fleets on their
return journeys in the fall, not to appear again until the following spring
or early summer. These fleers were called "brigades," and one of them
described by Hubbard was in charge of a commander (in this case Antoine
Deschamps i with himself as clerk, and a full complement of voyageurs to
act as paddlers on the twelve boats of the brigade. There were also passen-
gers to be accommodated who found this the speediest method of reaching
various points on the distant frontiers. Tn fact these passengers were con-
sidered a very desirable addition to the expedition as they paid well for

70 IIIstoKY OF MILWAUKEE

their subsistence and transportation. The Pur Company al Maekinac Wore
the necessary expenses of these expeditions and provided ample supplies
besides the merchandise designed for bartering with the Indians.

The boats in use by the i'ur traders were called "batteaux." They very
much resembled the boats used in later days by fishermen on the lake Each
of them was manned by a crew of five men besides a clerk, called "the bour-
geois." "Four of the men rowed while the fifth steered," continues Eub-
bard. "Eaeh boat carried about three terns of merchandise, together with
the clothing of the men and rations of corn and tallow. No shelter was
provided for the voyageurs, and their luggage was Limited to twenty pounds
in weight for each man, carried in a bag provided Eor that purpose. The
commander of the brigade took for his own use the besl boat, and with
him an extra man who acted in the capacity of orderly to the expedition.
The will of the commander was the only law known. The clerks were fur-
nished with salt pork, a bag of flour, tea and coffee, and a tent for shelter,
and messed with the commander." The men hail only such shelter as was
provided by the boat tarpaulins, and no other covering than a single blanket

for each of them. Their rations isisted id' one quart of "lyed corn" and

two ounces of tallow daily, or "its equivalent in whatever sort of food is
to be found in the Indian country."

Characteristics of the Voyageurs. — The voyageurs, or "it-jj^-'v "
were a race of people unlike any other class of men. In Mrs. John 11.
Kinzie's book, entitled "Wau-Bun," she describes them as Eollows: "1.
the poet they seemed born to their vocation. Sturdy, enduring, ingenious,
and light-hearted, they possessed a spirit capable of adapting itself to any
emergency. Xo difficulties baffled, no hardships discouraged them: while
their affectionate nature led them to form attachments of the warmest char-
acter to their 'bourgeois,' or master, as well as to the native inhabitants
among whom their engagements carried them."

An atmosphere of romance surrounded the lives of these children of
the frontier. They are always regarded with the greatesl interesl by his-
torians through the sympathy fell for the hardships they endured and the
example they furnished of light-hearted cheerfulness at all times. Their
simplicity, their readiness to undertake any task of physical endurance.
their inextinguishable sense of fun and hilarity, and their capacity for enjoy-
ment under every vicissitude that fell to their lot. rendered them the mosl
picturesque feature of the life of the early day, especially in the part they
tools in the Ui\- trade which we are here describing.

"One of the peculiarities of the voyagteurs," writes .Mrs. Eanzie in "Wau-
Bun," was "their fancy for transforming the names of their 'bourgeois'
into something funny resembling them in sound." Thus Kinzie, the Chii
trader, would be called by them "quinze nez" (thai is. fifteen noses . and
another of the traders '.Mr. Shaw) was by the voyageurs called "Monsieur
Le Chat" (that is, Mr. Cat . It is related thai "ti quitting the Indian coun-
try Shaw married a Canadian lad\ and I ame the father of several chil-
dren. "Some years after his return to Canada, his old foreman, named

DAYS OF THE FIR TRADER 71

Louis la Liberte, went to Montreal to spend the winter," Mrs. Kinzie relates.
"He had heard of his old 'bourgeois' marriage, and was anxious to see him.
"Mr. Shaw was walking in the Champ de Mars with a couple of officers
when La Liberte espied him. He immediately ran up and seizing him by
both hands accosted him, "Ah! mon cher Monsieur le Chat, comment vous
portez vous?" "Tres bien, Louizon." "Et comment se porte Madame la
Chatte" (How is the mother eat?) "Bien, bien, Louizon; elle est tres
bien." (She is very well.) "Et tons les petits Chatons?" (And all the
kittens?) This was too much for Mr. Shaw. He answered shortly that the
kittens were all quite well, and bidding him call at his house, turned away
with his military friends, leaving poor Louizon much astonished at the ab-
ruptness of his departure.

Practices of the Fur Traders. — It is a generally accepted notion among
white ] pie that the traders took advantage of the ignorance and sim-
plicity of the savages with whom they dealt. On one occasion a lady travel-
ing in a party conducted by Joseph Rolette, a famous fur trader of those
days, remarked, "I would not be engaged in the Indian trade; it seems a
system id' cheating the poor Indians." "Let me tell you, madame," replied
Rolette, "it is not so easy a thing to cheat the Indians as voir imagine; 1

have tried it these twenty years, and have never yet sin eded."

While one of the American Fur Company's boats, on another occasion,
was passing through Lake "Winnebago enroute to Green Lay for supplies,
it came in sight of a party in charge of Rolette himself returning to his
post at Prairie du Chien after an absence of several week's duration. As
Rolette was one of the agents of the American Fur Company the men of
both parties were his employees.

The meeting of the boats in these lonely waters was an occasion of great
excitement among the men and the news from home was eagerly inquired
for by the men of the returning party. The boats were stopped, earnest
greetings exchanged, questions following each other rapidly. Rolette asked
if the new house was finished, whether the chimney smoked, if tin 1 harvest-
ing had been completed, and if the mill was at work. Then he asked about
his favorite horse, about the store, and about other activities of various
descriptions; and having exhausted his stock of inquiries lie shouted the
order to his men to move on.

Then suddenly seeming to remember something he called out, "arretez,
arretez!" (stop, stop!) "comment se portent Madame Rolette et les enfas?"
(How are Mrs. Rolette and the children?) Saving now received satisfac-
tory answers to Ids questions the parties then resumed their melodious boal
songs, bent themselves to their oars, and quickly lost sight of each other.

Of Rolette the editor of the Wisconsin Historical Society collections says:
"In consequence of his early settlement in the country, and from his energy
and enterprise as a trader and a merchant, Rolette well deserves to be kindly
remembered as one of the prominent pioneers of Wisconsin.

Boats of the Fur Traders.-— When Mrs. Elizabeth Therese P.aird was
traveling from Green Pay to Mackinac Tsland in 1S2.~>. she took passage in

72 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

one of a fleet of six boats lailcn with furs belonging t<> the Americai] Pur
Company, m charge of her brother-in-law, Joseph Rolette. Mrs. Baird at
that tunc was a young woman scarcely fifteen years of age. In later years
she contributed a paper to the collections of the Wisconsin State Historical
Society, printed in volume XIV, pages L7-64, drawn from In')- recollections
of the time.

This interesting holy was horn at Prairie du Chien in L810, ami was the
granddaughter of an Ottawa Indian chief, thus having a strain of Indian
blood in her veins. ".Mrs. Baird," says the editor of the historical series
quoted from, "was a woman of charming personality and excellent educa-
tion, proud of her trace of Indian Mood, and had a wide acquaintance with
the principal men of early Wisconsin." In the previous year (1824) she had
been married to Henry S. I laird, a rising young lawyer of Green Bay.

During his life there it was said of him that he had taken long journeys
in the eourse of his law practice by various primitive modes of conveyance
to Mackinac and Detroit by sailing craft, to Prairie du Chien by bark canoes
with Indian voyageurs, and to .Milwaukee on horseback.

Journey from Green Bay to Mackinac- Mis. Baird's descriptions of the
boats in use by the fur traders and other particulars of the journey arc
here given in her own words in the main, though involving some repetition
of portions of the previous narratives in this history. The route taken by
the party was along the eastern shore of Green Pay to its opening into the
northern portion of Lake Michigan, and thence to Mackinac Island. The
account is replete with many lively details of the passage.

"In each of the boats," she says, there were seven men, six to row ami
a steersman, all being Frenchmen. There was in addition in each boat a
clerk of the American fur Company, to act as commander, or bourgeois.
These boats were each thirty feel long, the furnishing of which was com-
plete. The cargo being furs a snug-fitting tarpaulin was fastened down ami
over the sides, to protect the pelts from rain. This cargo was placed in the
center of the boat. A most important feature of the cargo was the mess
basket, one of the great comforts of the trip and a perfect affair of the
kind. It was well filled with everything that could be procure! to satisfy
both hunger and thirst, such as boiled ham. tongue, roast chicken, bread,
butter, hard biscuit, crackers, cheese, tea. coffee, chocolate, pickle, etc., and
an abundance of eggs. Then there were wines and cordials, and in addition
we depended upon securing fresh game and fish on the way. Rolette was
a generous provider, sending to distant markets for all that this part of
the country could not supply.

"'The mess basket on this occasion see 1 to have an extra supply of

eggs. It seemed strange, however, that such faithful workers as the men

were should have been fed so poorly; they had nothing but salt pork, 'lyed
corn' ami biscuit, the general Eood of workmen in the fur trade. Our bo; '

Carried two tents and had a cot bed ami camp stool for my use.

"The party in our boat consisted of Rolette (the head man . John Ivu/ie
'of Chicago), my husband and myself. Starting quite late in the day we

DAYS OF THE FUR TRADER 7:i

were only able to gel as far as Red Banks before it was time to stop and
camp for the night. As I stepped from the boat I saw that my tent was
almost ready for me, so quickly did these men arrange matters for the

encampment.

"Next morning dawned gloriously, and we started off in our boats after
breakfast in fine spirits, cheered and enlivened by the merry songs of the
boatmen who always begin the journey with a song'; always keeping within
easy distance of the shore in ease of a sudden squall or violent wind. The
camping hour was always hailed with delight by the men at the close of a
hard day's work, and it was an agreeable change to the passengers as well.

"As we rowed away from Red Banks on that most beautiful June morn-
ing many were the amusements indulged in by the crews of the boats. This
morning the men began by throwing 'hard tack' at each other, but this did
not last long as the prospect of needing the biscuits later checked their
sport. Shortly after we began to sec eggs flying in the air which continued
with considerable activity until the end of the day's journey. It was re-
newed after the men got ashore amid great hilarity until the ammunition
was nearly exhausted." This stopping place was afterwards called "Egg
Harbor," in honor of the occasion, a name it has ever since borne.

The Shores of Green Bay. — "The names of some of the islands in Green
Bay have been changed since our trip in 1825, and many that in that day
had no names whatever have since been christened. Then we knew by
names only Washington Island, the Beavers, — Big and Little, — Chambers,
Fox, and Pottawatomie, or Rock Island. Never were we obliged to dine or
encamp on the east shore at any spot not attractive. One night we encamped
at a place called Petit Detroit, not far from Death's Door. It is a small
island formed like a half moon, the inner portion being a most beautiful har-
bor beyond which rose rather high bills. The whole island was then a per-
fect garden of wild roses. Never have 1 seen at one time so many flowers
of any kind as I then saw. The charms of the place so attracted us that
we made an early landing. The men had to clear a spot to pitch the tent,
and in finishing their work they very thoughtfully decorated my lent with
roses. ' '

Mrs. Baird, in her account, goes on to describe the practical features of
the long journeys of the fur traders. "This fleet of boats," she says, "was
originally loaded at Prairie dn Chien, ami then unloaded at the portage
between the Wisconsin and Fox rivers, where the men carried firs! the packs
of furs on their backs, then returned I'm' the boats, and reloading them would
run down to the Big Chute, now Appleton. Here the boats again had to he
unloaded and the furs portaged around by the men. The boats, however,
made the journey down the swift water, which was called 'jumping the
rapids.' The unloading was repeated at Grand Kaukauna; but at Rapides
Croche and at Rapides des Peres, now De Pere, the loads Mould hi' carried
through on the boats, all the men walking in the water to guide the boats
with their valuable cargoes. Our boats were loaded for the last time at
Kaukauna, not to be unloaded until they reached Mackinac.

"We now traveled slowly, waiting for a day which would show signs

74 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE

of being fine throughout, thai we might make in safety 'La Grande Traverse'
— to cross the lake 1" the easl or north shore. The crossing started from
Rock Island and we ma'cle a successful crossing. We were six days in mak-
ing- the journey from Green Bay to Mackinac." As they neared their des
tination the fleel stopped at Pointe a la Barbe to give the men an opportunity

to shave for the first time si they Lef1 Green Bay and to array themselves

in fresh garments so that they mighl make a presentable appearance upon
their arrival at the "grand emporium of the West." "Each man Looked
well in his striped cotton - shirt, blue pantaloons, red sash around the waisl
and red handkerchief around his neck. Caps of all surfs they wore but no
hats. They purchased high hats when they reached Mackinac; everybody
then wore the hat since called the 'stove-pipe.'

The Fashion for Tall Hats. — Making a brief digression a1 this point in
our history we may remark that one ran scarcely imagine the rage among
all classes nf men for the tall hats of the period of which we are writing.
As we see by the above allusion to this ungainly feature of men's attire even
the voyageurs did not consider themselves completely equipped in dress
until they had provided themselves with tall hats, a notion which they shared
with men of all classes and degrees everywhere. It is recalled that when the

mounted men of the Kentucky volunteers made their appeara at the battle

of the Thames, in 1813, they wore stove-pipe hats in the charge that resulted
in the death of Tecumseh, and doubtless the ground was strewn with hats of
this description in all stages of battered ruin after the fight.

It has been said that when Sir Thomas Picton led the charge of the British
cavalry at Waterloo he wore a frock coat and a tall hat. not having had time
to put on his military uniform before the action commenced. Tt is recalled
by veterans of the Civil war that General Sheridan habitually wore a hat
with an abbreviated crown of the same description, in battle ami on his cam-
paigns; and after the war he was often seen on the streets of Chicago in
a tall silk hat of the latest fashion.

Conductors on passenger trains in the thirties and forties usually wore
tall hats while on duty: Mississippi River pilots likewise wore high hats as
•well as the ocean pilots of the present day. Even the Indians wore them if
they were able to procure them, though often devoid of other clothing, as

it is mentioned in the recollections of a pioneer printed in the "Pro dings

of the Wisconsin Historical Society for 1916. John Kinzie. the Chicago
pioneer, is shown wearing a high hat in a picture of the fort Dearborn mas-
sacre of 1812, where he was present endeavoring to assuage the fury of the
savages on that terrible occasion. Everyone is familiar with the numerous
portraits of Abraham Lincoln thai are in existence showing the tall hat in
all its glory.

Effects of the Fur Trade on the Indians. The fur trade was at its b.eigb.1
in 1820, ami seriously on the wane by 1835. The fur trade was dependenl for
its successful prosecution on the Indian hunter though his advancemenl
towards civilization was imperilled by this occupation. The most important
step for the improvement of the Indian's condition was in the practice of

DAYS OF THE FUR TRADER 75

agriculture rude as were his methods. It was a distinct reversion in savage
life when they became hunters exclusively.

"The introduction of the fur trade, - ' says Thwaites, "wrought a serious
change in the life and manners of the Indians. They were induced to aban-
don much of their agriculture and most of their village arts. Becoming
hunters, they took a backward step in the long and painful road towards
civilization. Heretofore they needed furs only for raiment, for sleeping-
mats and tepee coverings. Now they found that peltries were eagerly sought
by the white trader, who would exchange for them weapons, cloth, iron
kettles, tools, ornaments, and other marvelous objects of European manu-
facture, generally far better and more efficient than those which they had
been wont to fashion for themselves.

"Thus the Indians soon lost the arts of making clothing out of skins,
kettles from clay, weapons from stone and copper, and heads from clam-
shells. They were not slow to discover that when they hunted their labor
was far more productive than of old. Comparatively slight effort on their
part now enabled them to purchase from the white traders whatever they
desired. Moreover, the latter brought intoxicating liquors, heretofore un-
known to our savages, but for which they soon acquired an inordinate greed,
of which advantage was taken by charging prices therefor that brought
enormous profits to the traders. Aside from this new vice, the general
result was disastrous to the improvident aborigines, for in considerable meas-
ure they ceased to be self-supporting. They soon came to depend on the
fur traders for most of the essentials of life; and so general was the credit
system among them, the summer's supplies being bought on the strength
of the following winter's hunt, that the tribesmen were practically always
heavily in debt to the' traders, which rendered it advisable for them to stand
by their creditors whenever two rival nations were contesting the held. In
the end these conditions materially ass ; sted in the undoing of the Indian."

In the forest traffic of the American Fur Company the variety of goods
was extensive, and the enumeration of a few of the articles may he found
interesting. There were blankets, shawls of brilliant hues, coarse cloths,
cheap jewelry, heads of many colors and sizes, ribbons and garterings, gay
handkerchiefs, sleigh and hawks' hells, jewsharps, mirrors, combs, hatchets,
knives, scissors, kettles, hoes, firearms, gunpowder, tobacco, and the never
failing intoxicant.

These goods were brought to Mackinac from Montreal in canoes, bat-
teaux. and later by sailing vessels; the cargoes were there divided and dis-
tributed to the several larger agencies and posts, whence they ultimately
found their way to the farthest "trading shanties." This was the heyday
of the fur trailing days, hut the trade gradually declined, as American agri-
cultural settlement slowly developed.

The Fur Traders of Revolutionary Times. — The influence of Gen. George
Rogers Clark on the Milwaukee Indians was felt even in those early days
succeeding his conquest of Illinois. Clark did not himself penetrate into
"Wisconsin, but from his headquarters in Kaskaskia there were sent out active
agents by him to gain the neutrality of the tribes, throughout the southern

76 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

Wisconsin region, towards the struggle then in progress between the Ameri-
cans and the British. In this he was successful and be secured a promise of
neutrality from the Saulf, Fox and Winnebago chiefs, and an alliance with
the Americans even was accepted by the Milwaukee Pottawatomies.

The British maintained three sloops on Lake Michigan during tin- war. and
one of them made a reconnoitering voyage around the lake in 1779, "visiting
ami supplying the Indians and traders at the mouths of several rivers on the
cast shore, and at 'Millwakey' on the west," according to a narrative printed
in the collections of the Wisconsin state Historical Society (Volume XI. 203 .
At the last named port the captain found a white trader and a "mixed tribe
of Indians of different nations."

This allusion to the Milwaukee trading post of that early period hint- at
certain complications with the American and Spanish settlers of Cahokia,
Illinois, which would require many pages of narrative to set forth clearly.
The events thus referred to may be found in full detail in the collections of
the Wisconsin State Historical Society, Vol. XVIII, preface (p. XXI i, and on
page 416 of the same volume.

The events thus referred to occurred many years prior to the permanent
occupation of Milwaukee as a fur trading center. But it may be said that
the fur trade of Milwaukee, carried on at that time, as it was. by visiting
traders from Mackinac (then in British possession i was not of sufficient im-
portance to exercise much influence on the later development of that trade,
except as indicating where the site of a great city would eventually be
established.

In his volume entitled. "Leading Events of Wisconsin History," the late
Henry E. Legler wrote as follows: "The influence of the fur trade has been
well described by Frederick .1. Turner as 'closing its mission by becoming the
pathfinder for agricultural and manufacturing civilization.' for where the
posts were located, the leading cities of the state have since been built. 'The
Indian village became the trading post, the trading post became the city. The

trails 1 aim- our early roads. The portages marked out the locations for

canals at Portage City and at Sturgeon Bay; while the Milwaukee and Rock
River portages inspired the project of the canal of that name, which had an
influence on the early occupation of tin 1 state. The trader often put his
trading house at a river rapids, where the Indian had to portage his canoe,
and thus found the location of our water powers.'

"Among the cities that have been built on the sites of the trading sta-
tions and 'jack-knife posts.' as the dependent stations were termed, may be
enumerated. Milwaukee. La Cross.', Green Bay, Prairie du Chien, Manitowoc,
Sheboygan, Eau Claire. Black River Falls, Eudson, Racine, Two Rivers, Kau-
kauna. Peshtigo, Oconto, Fond du Lac. Oshkosh, Chippewa Falls, Kewaunee,
Portage, Trempeleau, .Madison, st. Croix Falls, Shullsburg, Rice Lake, Cass

ville, .Menonionee.

"For many years the fur trade was Wiscons'n's chief source of wealth.
It continued such until the lead mine fever in Southwestern Wisconsin de-
veloped a new channel of industry and started the immigration that brougb.1
thousands of settlers to the territory."

CHAPTER VII
THE LEAD MINING INDUSTRY

Among the earliest exports passing through the porl of Milwaukee was the
movement of lead from the mines in Southwestern Wisconsin across the
territory both in pig metal form and in the form of shot, for both of which
there was a constant demand at home and abroad.

During the period that the lead mining industry flourished in Southwestern
Wisconsin, there were lively times and every sort of business activity. It con-
tinued to flourish until the discovery of gold in California proved a stronger
magnet. . Its decline was hastened by unfriendly tariff legislation, and in
addition, inadequate transportation facilities operated largely to prevent its
continued successful prosecution. "In this age of myriad ribbons of steel
radiating from every commercial center," says Legler in his volume, "Lead-
ing Events of Wisconsin History," "it is hard to appreciate the difficulties
encountered by the pioneers in transporting commodities.

"There were then no railroads in the Northwest, and the great transporta-
tion projects all centered in canals. The lead industry and its transportation
necessities influenced many of the early canal schemes which played a large
pari in the early politics of the territory. The Pox- Wisconsin route, as well
as that of the greater Mississippi River highway, was used for the shipment
of ore to a considerable extent."

Shot Tower on the Wisconsin River. — In the year 1831, Daniel Whitney,
a merchant of Green Hay. built a shot tower at Helena on the Wisconsin River,
which on account of its contiguity to the lead mines insured a reliable supply
of metal for the manufacture of shot. Whitney hail observed that shot
towers were successful commercial ventures in Missouri and a company was
formed under the name of Whitney, Platte & Company to build one. The
tower was two years in course of construction. It was built on the sum.mi1
of a bold escarpment fronting Pike Creek. A contemporary description is
cited by Legler, as follows: "One hundred feet from the base of the rock
there is a ledge or landing place; on this ledge rises the shot lower, of frame
construction, eighty feet to the roof: of course the depth from the top of the
tower to the base of the rock is 180 feet. A well or shaft has been sunk
through the rock, which is of sandstone. 100 feet, and a lateral drift or
entrance ninety feet in length, has been cut from I he bank of the creek to
the perpendicular shaft."

78 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

The daily outpul of the shol tower employing six bands was 5,000 lbs. of

shot, and the i ess of making it is described as follows: "At the edge of

the cliff stood the melting. house with two kettles in which the mineral was

prepared for dropping. A little to the cast of tins were an arch ami a Large
kettle protected by a small roof. Here the lead was tempered by the addi
tion oi' arsenic, and run into 'pigs' I'm- further use; the pigs thus obtained
were used tu give the requisite brittleness to the Lead from which the shut
was made. A small portion would suffice to temper a kettle holding 1,003
pounds of lead. The 'dropping ladle' was perforated with hoi.- of varying
si/e. and when partly full of melted Lead would be tilted gently sidewise, forc-
ing the metal out in drops to form the shot, which falling 1 v feet would
assume a spherical shape and at the same time he cooled.. At the bottom of
the shaft the shot fell into the shot-cistern, tilled with water, which served
to break the fall, and cool the shot."

Shipping Eoutes for Lead and Shot.- The earliest shipments of shot made
at Helena were to Galena and Fori Winnebago, though shipments of lead
had been made to the cast by way of Green Bay in previous years. "The
importance of the early shot trade of Wisconsin in developing lines of com-
munication with the lake, overland across the state, deserves mention here."
says Prof. O. G. Libby in a chapter by him in the "Collections" of the state
historical society, for 1895. "The Helena shot tower passed from the owner-
ship of Daniel Whitney in 1836, and was bought up by certain Buffalo capi-
talists, who held it with hut little interruption till I s IT.

"Now when we remember," continues Professor Libby, "that tin- Missis
sippi markets were monopolized by the shot makers of Missouri, the signifi-
cance of this eh a nue of owners will he at once apparent. ( 'ut off from western
markets by the competition of long-established rivals, the only cuius,, open
was to develop eastern markets, with which the Buffalo capitalists wen
already more or less familiar. As a consequence of this, the shipments
shot between 1841 and 1844 were made to Buffalo and by no other than the
lake route. For at least ten years then, interest and necessity combined t"

turn the shot trade through Milwaukee."

Iii the Milwaukee Sentinel for September 18, 1838, it is stated that "it
was a common thing to see oxen haulm-' wagons laden with lead from Grant
and La Payette counties appear at the wharves after a journey of eight or

ten days." Even two years before this time the Milwaukee Advertiser an-
nounced that, at Racine, "two wagons, containing 4,200 lhs. of Pig Lead,
arrived there last week from the rapids of Rock River."

Increasing Popularity <6f the Lake Route.— Following the example of the
shot tower owners the lead smelters began sending an increasing proportion
of their produd to the lake ports. This movement had begun as early as
1836 and 1838, and in a Madison paper for 1841, cited by Professor Libby,
the following statements appear: "The Lead Trade: We arc pleas..,! to

Observe by notices in the .Milwaukee and Southporl (Kenosha papers that
this trade is beginning to find its way to our lake ports on its way tu eastern
mark-els. The Milwaukee Courier of the Ith inst. says: 'Our citizens mi Satur-
day afternoon were not a little surprised by the appearance on mir streets

THE LEAD MINING INDUSTRY 7.9

of four sucker teams loaded with lead from the furnace of Thomas Parish,
near Muskoday in Grant County. These teams brought over about ten tons
of lead to be shipped to New York.' "

The Madison paper adds to its quotation from the Courier that "the lead
which arrived here on Saturday was shipped on the steamer 'Madison' on
Monday, and will be in New York within twenty days from the time it left
the furnace near the Mississippi River; and the owner will get his returns in
about four weeks from the time the lead was smelted. A gentleman from
Galena recently informed us that he shipped over ninety days since about
fifteen hundred dollars worth of lead to New York by the southern route and
he had not then got his returns from it. Besides getting a better price for
their lead on the lake shore than can be afforded on the Mississippi, our
miners can procure their necessary supplies more cheaply, generally, at the
lake cities than at Galena or other points on the river where they have been
in the habit of trading, and this including the cost of transportation. The
teams of which the Courier speaks returned with salt which was obtained at
Milwaukee for about two dollars and fifty cents per barrel, and can be sold
at the mines at about seven dollars per barrel. - '

Influence of the Lead and Lead Mining Industry. — The history of the lead
mining industry has been very fully investigated by various industrious in-
vestigators whose contributions to this important branch of activity have
been printed at different times in the series of the state historical society
publications. The preparation of these contributions has required much
painstaking research and an adequate presentation of the subject would need
a volume or more to contain the details.

The lead was brought across the country to Lake Michigan in wagons
drawn by oxen, at a cost of $10.00 a ton. The teamsters found it a profitable
business as they got loading both ways, carried their own provisions, and the
prairies afforded all the fodder for their cattle at the nightly camping places
in the open. The teams would return to the mining regions laden with
lumber, shingles, salt and merchandise, which under these circumstances could
be obtained from lake shore ports to better advantage than from any other
quarter.

In 1842, nearly two million pounds of lead and "2,(114 kegs of shot were
shipped from Milwaukee to New York; and in 1843, the shipments from the
same point totaled 2,200,000 lbs. of lead and 250,000 lbs. of shot. The route
from Milwaukee was by way of the Straits'of Mackinac, Lake Huron, and
Lake Erie to Buffalo, where it was transshipped on the Erie Canal to New
York and from there distributed to Boston and other Atlantic cities.

Commenting upon this movement of heavy metals, a Buffalo paper said,
'•Illinois. Iowa and Wisconsin will soon send to this mart an incalculable
amount of lead and copper, in addition to the whole of their surplus agricul-
tural products. We already export lead to England, from whence we have
heretofore imported many millions of pounds. * * Capitalists interested

in the lake and canal trade should not delay in aiding the construction of
a canal or railway from Milwaukee, or some other point on Lake Michigan,
to the Mississippi River."

^•H'

——

J*J 12&Cwi^ i^UiUjufli JUimi2

» ■■■ " ■ ■■ ' — ■

*A*SJ+m m \jA4&

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TABLET ERECTED ON WISCONSIN TRUST COMPANY BUILD

[NG (FORMERLY I' LBST BUILDING), 1 OF

Wist ii\si\ SI REET, N'EAB BRIDG]

THE LEAD MINING INDUSTRY 81

Milwaukee Merchants Alert for Trade. — An advertisement in the Mil-
waukee Courier for April 5, 184:!. announces thai Weeks and Miller of Center
Store, M'lwaukee, offer goods in exchange "for most kinds of country prod-
uce — lead, shot, furs, peltries, etc." A Milwaukee store at Walker's Poinl
advertises that "James Rathbun has just arrived from New York with an
extensive assortment of goods suitable to the wants of the country round
about which he will sell or exchange at the lowest prices for cash, wheat,
shot, copper, lead, flax and timothy seed." A Rochester (New York) paper.
in 1S44. says that "Within the last eighteen months an excellent road has
been opened from Milwaukee to the .Mississippi, passing through the mining
district which will be much used hereafter in sending lead to the East by
way of the lakes. "

.Mail stages followed (dose after the freight routes already in use. It was
announced in the Argus of September 26, 1844. that "we would call the atten-
tion of the traveling public to C. Genung & Co.'s line of mail stages now
running between Madison and Milwaukee, on the old United States road
leading from Madison through Cottage Grove, Lake Mills, Aztalan, Summit
and Prairieville to Milwaukee." In Lapham's ""Wisconsin," referring to the
trade of Mineral Point, he says: "The quantity of lead and copper sent from
here is very considerable; most of it finds its way to Galena, Illinois, whence
it is shipped down the .Mississippi and by way of the ocean to Xew York.
Within the last few years, however, much of i1 is sent by wagons to Lake
Michigan, mostly to Milwaukee, and thence sent direct by way of the lakes
to New York."

A Milwaukee newspaper published the following item in 1847: "The
'Lead schooners' (a variation of the term 'prairie schooners' as used by the
pioneers to denote the great covered wagons carrying the emigrants and
transporting heavy freight i are constantly arriving here from the mineral
region. These singular teams, drawn by six. eight or more yoke of oxen,
excite some curiosity in those who are not used to such sights in the East.
The teamsters and their cattle sleep under the canopj of heaven beside their
camp fires, their meals prepared military fashion, and rising with the early
dawn to continue their journey."

Decline of Lead Production.- -" Next to the wheat and grain products,"
says Miss Phelps in her "Story of Wisconsin." "the minerals of Southwestern
Wisconsin brought wealth. This, the oldest settled region, kept for a long
time a distinct character allied to the south and southwest, its population,
however, remained nearly stationary. The production of lead reached its
highest point in 1844. and thereafter declined. With the decline of mining
the old frontier character of the mining region passed away, the shifting
populace moved off to new centers, notably to California in 1848. About the
middle of the '4()s the lines of transportation shifted. Lead began to be
hauled to the lake board: by 1*47 the bulk of the product crossed the terri-
tory in wagons drawn by six- and eight-yoke ox-teams, and was transshipped
by steamer to the Last .

"With this change in connections the population of the southwestern por

Vol. I— 6

82 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

t ion of Wisconsin began to assimilate to the type of the remainder of the
territory. The lead-mining region, however, has never quite overtaken the
remainder of 1 1 1 <■ stale in enterprise and in the production of wealth."

Planning for Improved Transportation Lines. -By 1847 tl verland lead

trade from the mining regions to Milwaukee was well estahlished. -lust as in
1839 and 1840 the delays and difficulties of the Mississippi mute brought
about the opening of better and shorter, routes to the eastern markets, so now
it began to be keenly felt that improvements must be made in the means of
communication between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. The agri-
cultural interests also began to suffer for want of transportation facilities.
"The capacity of production has satiated and overpowered the capacitj of
consumption," wrote a correspondent to his paper; "we need a reliable,
liberal market for our increasing agricultural products."

But men's thoughts tended towards canal navigation as the most desir-
able method of transporting products of all description. Railroads were
dreamed about and, indeed, occupied the thoughts of multitudes. Canals,
however, had proved successful in several states. Steam navigation on the
large rivers and lakes was already established and steadily increasing. Canals
were enormously popular wherever the country was adapted for their con
struction. The Erie Canal in New York State was opened in 1825, and was
regarded as the mother of canal transportation. As early as 1826 Ohio began
the construction of a canal to join the waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio
River. Indiana launched an extensive system of improvements, and Illinois
began the eonstruct'.on of a canal between Chicago and the Illinois River in
1836. Wisconsin, then a territory, began a preliminary survey for the
Milwaukee and Rock River Canal in 1837 which, however, was destined never
to be completed.

CHAPTER VIII
SOLOMON JUNEAU AND HIS FAMILY

An interesting sketch of Solomon Juneau and his family is found in the
pamphlet issued in June, 1921, under the title of the "Milwaukee Diamond
Jubilee." This sketch is here included in the early history of Milwaukee
as it contains many details not readily accessible from other sources, although
throughout the pages of this volume frequent mention is made of Juneau
in connection with the stirring events of the early day.

More than a century ami, 2,000 miles intervening, two babes were born,
a boy and a girl, who were destined to play important roles in the early his-
tory of the great Northwest. The boy was born of pure Alsatian French
parents, the girl was of French and Indian extraction. The boy was reared
in a home of refinement, the girl grew to womanhood amidst the primitive
surroundings of the frontier. Fate decreed they should meet.

Across the broad expanse of wilderness extending from the St. Lawrence
Valley to the beautiful shores of La Baye Verte (Green Bay), braving the
perils and hardships which lay before him, this young man — in all the strength
and beauty of youth — came to seek his fortune in this land of vast commercial
advantages. It was at the old Indian trading post in historic Green Bay that
he met the noble-hearted child of the forest that fate had decreed should be
his. Joined in the holy bonds of matrimony, they began their journey
through life and together laid the foundation of a city.

At the outbreak of the French Revolution, in 1789, Francois and Therese
La Tulipe left France and sought refuge in Canada, settling in the little ham-
let of L'Asumption, near Montreal. As did many others, who left France
during those troublous times, they changed their name from La Tulipe to that
of Juneau, trying in a way to obliterate all sad memories connected with hav-
ing to leave the land of their birth and of their honored ancestors.

. "The French Revolution was a violent reaction against that absolutism
which had come in time to supplant the old feudal institutions of the country.
It began with an outbreak of insurrectionary movements in July, ITS!), includ-
ing the destruction of the Bastile. On January 21, 1798, King Louis XVI
was beheaded, the Christian religion was deposed, the sacredness of the re-
public and worship of reason established, and a disastrous reign of blood and
terror followed, which was brought to an end in 1704, when Robespierre,
himself, suffered the same fate to which be had condemned countless numbers
of his countrymen."— Library of Universal Knowledge, Vol. NIT, p. 598.

Birth of Juneau. — Solomon Laurent Juneau, the subject of this sketch,
second son of Francois and Therese Juneau, was born at L'Asumption, Can-

SOLOMOK JIXI'.A!'
Milwaukee's first permanent white settler, village president and mayoi
l i am an engraving in possession of the Old Settlers < lull ot Milwaukee

( .unit I

SOLOMON JUNEAU AXD IMS FA.MIL t 85

ada, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, August 9, 1793, where his boy-
hood days were spent. On reaching manhood he became imbued with the
spirit of adventure so common among the young men of the St. Lawrence
Valley in those early days, and during the summer of 1816, a1 the age of
twenty-three years, he left L'Asumption to seek his fortune in the great
Northwest, arriving in Mackinac in September. Shortly after his arrival at
that place, he met Jacque Vieaux, a French trader, who had trading posts at
Mackinac, Green Bay and Milwaukee, and into whose employ he entered at
the Green Ray and Milwaukee posts as a clerk, which position he held until
the year ISIS, after which year he was not connected with Mr. Vieaux in a
business way.

He attended the village school at L'Asumption, later entering a Catholic
colle.se where he completed his education. Tie was well educated in French.
and was in this country but a short time before he mastered the English
language which he spoke fluently, ami was well versed in many Indian dia-
lects, especially the Menomonee tongue.

Solomon Laurent Juneau was a man of rare personality. Of commanding
figure, in height he was six feel four inches, he had brown curly hair, clear
cut features, and large gray eyes. While of a jovial temperament, he never
for a moment lost his natural dignity; of a kind and benevolent nature, he
was the friend and confidant of all. Tin' Indians looked upon him as a father,
and whatever advice their beloved "Solomo" gave them, was accepted and
followed in f\cry detail. His word was sacred, and once given, nothing could
make h m change his promise either in public or in private life.

During the year 1818 the American Fur Company established a trading
post at Milwaukee and Mr. Juneau was their authorized agent up to Hie time
of the removal of the Indians in 1838. lie. however, continued in business
on his own account in Milwaukee until 1852, when he removed with his family
to Theresa. Wisconsin.

As agent of the American Company lie settle, 1 in Milwaukee in 1818, at
which time lie erected the log house, corner of East Water and Wisconsin
streets, which lie occupied as his residence until the year 1835, when he
erected a dwelling house on the southeast corner of Michigan and East Water
streets, where he resided a number of years, later building the commodious
dwelling, corner of Milwaukee and Division (now Juneau Avenue) streets
where he lived until 1852.

During his many trips as an Indian trader between Milwaukee and Green
Bay, he was attracted to a pretty spot on the banks of the Rock River where
during the early '30s he established a trading post, which in later years
became a prosperous village. Mr. Juneau named the post Theresa, in honor
of his mother, whose memory and early teachings he held sacred and were
his guiding spirit in all dealings through life with his fellow men. Mr.
Juneau's mother died February 2, 1815. His father died in 1828.

In September. 1820, .Mr. Juneau married Miss Josette Vieaux, of i liven Bay.
Seventeen children were born to them, three dying in youth. Seven of their
children were born in the old log house. Mr. and Mrs. Juneau resided con-
tinuously in Milwaukee for thirty-two years.

S( ; BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE

White men had visited Milwaukee trading with the Indians prior to
advenl of Solomon Juneau, but their stay was of shorl duration. To Mr.
Juneau must be conceded the honor of being the firsl permanent white settler,
as well as the firsl land owner, he having acquired title to a Large tract of
land. He was known as the most successful of all the Indian traders and
in and around Milwaukee, being closely connected with the commercial life
of that region.

He was closely identified with every step in the progress of Milwaukee.
In 1835, when a postoffice was established, he was appointed postmaster,
which office he held for a period of nine years. In 1837, when Milwaukee was
incorporated as a village, he was elected president. In 1846, when Milwaukee
became a city, he was chosen its first mayor. He encouraged every under-
taking that could benefit the community. He was a member of the State
Historical Society, and was liberal in his contributions to its archives and
picture gallery. Aside from his interests on the east side, he had property
on the west side. He and T.ynm Kilbonrn were warm personal friends and
close business associates in many enterprises. He assisted Mr. Kilbourn in the
platting of the west side. Mr. Kilbourn was an intimate friend of Mr.
Juneau's entire family.

Mr. and Mrs. Juneau were generous in their gifts to the city which they
founded. He built the first courthouse, and with the land upon which it stood.
they presented it to the county, that the people might have a temple of
justice. They gave the land upon which St. Peter's Catholic Church stood
(corner Martin and Jackson streets), and the material for building, that their
family, the incoming white population and the Indians might have a place to
worship; they gave largely to St. John's Cathedral, among which was a strip
of land between the pastor's house and the Cathedral, for which they and
their descendants were forever to have two seats in the church; they gave
the land for the first C4overiiment lighthouse at the bead of Wisconsin Street ;
they gave the land, corner of Milwaukee and Division streets, whereon a
college was erected. All this they gave that their city might lie as other
cities. To those who were too poor to buy, they gave land and in many
instances the material for building, that their poor might have homes.

Generous Hosts. — They were fond of entertaining their friends and pos
sessed the virtues of hospitality and thai warmth of heart which was char-
acteristic of those good old pioneer days. The few remaining old settlers
look back with fond recollection to those ties of friendship and good cheer
which at all times prevailed in and around the •Juneau home.

.Mr. .lean Pierre Busting, Mayville, Wis., once said of Mr. and Mrs. Juneau:
"They united in their personality those qualities of unselfishness, generosity,
Christianity, nobility of purpose and good will toward all mankind, rarely,
if ever, found in any one individual."'

After his removal to Theresa. .Mr. Juneau engaged in many b pur-

suits, among which were a general merchandise store, saw and grisl mill,
and trading with the Indians. He was postmaster of the village. At the time
of his death he was reputed to have left quite a fortune. Aside from his
husiness enterprises, lie hail large real estate holdings. Mr. Juni d to

SOLOMON JUNEAU AND HIS FAMILY S7

see his Indian trading posl at Milwaukee develop into a thriving city, which
from the very first had been his highest ideal.

In the early part of November, 1856, ^Ir. Juneau left Fond du Lac for the
Indian Reservation at Keshena, near Shawano, Wis., to attend the annual
payment of the Indians, lie bad not been well for some time, the death of his
wife had completely crushed his spirit and broken his health. His daughter,
Mrs. Frank Fox, at whose home he had been visiting in Fond du Lac prior to
his departure for the reservation, tried in vain to persuade her father to
abandon the trip, but all effort on her part and that of her husband were of
no avail. Owing to his indisposition and the inclement weather, he was taken
very ill shortly after his arrival at the reservation, and he continued to grow
worse until November 14, when he passed away.

All that medical aid and careful nursing eould do was done for him.
Doctors Hiibschmann and Wiley did not leave his bedside until death came.
To Doctor Hiibschmann he gave his dying messages for his children, and he
proved a faithful messenger. With him at the time of his death were Doctor
Hiibschmann, Indian agent ; Doctor Wiley, Hon. Geo. W. Lane, B. Hunkins,
Edward Outhwaite, Win. Johnson, Wm. Powell, Chas. Corron and others. At
the time of his death Mr. Juneau was sixty-three years, three months and five
days.

When the announcement of his death reached Milwaukee, it was a great
shock to the citizens and in fact to the entire country from Green Bay to
Chicago. The Indians were broken hearted over the loss of their beloved
"Solomo." He was buried on the reservation, the Indians would have it so.
Had not the ''Great Manitou" claimed his spirit. Why then did they not
have the right to claim his body. The spot selected by the Indians was on a
knoll just back of the Council House. But there were others who claimed him
— his grief-stricken children and the citizens of Milwaukee.

The funeral on the reservation was held from the Catholic Church, fol-
lowed by a large concourse of white men and Indians. Four of his pall-
bearers were Indians, one of whom was the famous Chief Oshkosh. During
the services at the grave, the deep and solemn grief of the Indians, both men
and women, over the loss of their "Solomo," was indeed pathetic.

When the news of Mr. Juneau's death reached Theresa, his sons, Nar-
cisse and Paid, and his son-in-law, Frank Fox, left for the reservation to con-
vey the remains to Milwaukee, the trip both ways being made by team.
The Indians accompanied them as far as Shawano, loth to give up all thai
remained of their beloved friend.

On arriving at Milwaukee his remains were taken to the home of his
daughter, Mrs. II. K. White. The funeral was held on November 26, from
St. John's Cathedral, Reverend Riordan officiating. Interment was in the
Catholic Cemetery at the head of Spring Street. This, however, was not the
final resting place of Solomon Juneau and his wife. After a period of sis
teen years their remains were removed to Calvary Cemetery.

The monument erected to the memory of Mr. and Mrs. Solomon Juneau
in Calvary Cemetery bears the inscription: "In memory of Solomon Juneau,
Founder of Milwaukee, Born August 19, 17!):!. at L'Asumption, Canada."

THE SOLOMON JUNE \! VION1 Ml VI
Located at i In* lake front . Juni .1 u Pari

SOLOMON JUNEAU AND HIS FAMILY 89

On the reverse side, "Josette Juneau, Wife of Solomon Juneau, Born at Fort
Howard, 1803." In 1906 members of the Old Settlers' Club of Milwaukee
placed marble markers at the head of the graves of Mr. and Mrs. Juneau.

Mrs. Solomon Juneau. — Josette Vieux was horn at Fort Howard, Brown
County, Wis., April 16, 1803. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacques
Vieux and was the granddaughter of an Indian chief, Ah-ka-ne-po-way. Her
girlhood was spent amidst the primitive surroundings of the frontier. She
was taught to read in French. Reared a Roman Catholic, she began at an
early age to do mission work among the Indians, which work she continued
for many years after her marriage. She was of medium height ; her black
hair and eyes, clear olive complexion, low sweet voice and courteous manner,
gave evidence of her French and Indian origin.

In 1820, at the age of seventeen years. Miss Yieux was married at the old
Mission Church in Green Hay to Solomon Laurent Juneau. Their wedding
journey from Green Bay to Milwaukee was made in a hark canoe, paddled by
Indians. She received from her parents the customary wedding presents of
those pioneer times, consisting of feather beds, pillows, quilts, blankets, etc.
Although young in years at the time of her marriage, she was an adept in
the art of housekeeping.

The country at the time Mr. Juneau brought his" young bride to Milwaukee
was destitute of roads; nothing hut the Indian trail traversed .the wide
expanse of prairie and forest between Milwaukee and Green Bay, and travel
was made on foot or on horseback. There was little to break the monotony
during the firsl few years aside from an occasional vessel bringing goods
and taking away furs, or the Indian traders passing thrbugh that section
from Green Bay to < Ihicago.

Mrs. Juneau exercised great influent ver the Indians and was of much

assistance to her husband in carrying on his business in the fur trade with
the Indians, speaking several Indian dialects. She dressed in Indian costume,
which style of dress she wore for many years. Of a retiring nature, she
mingled little with the incoming white population and rarely spoke English,
French being the language used in the home circle.

Jas. S. Buck, in his "Pioneer History of Milwaukee," pays the following
tribute to Mrs. Juneau: "She was among women what her husband was
among men, one of the noblest works of God. Honest and true, a fitting wife
for the noble-hearted man with whom she lived so long.

"Many of the first settlers were indebted to this braveJiearted woman for
their persona] safety, more than once, in 1836, when the Indians were anxious
to destroy them, which they certainly would have done upon one occasion,
had she not interfered to protect them, upon which occasion she stood guard
over the whites all the night hm,e- during her husband's absence."

Mrs. Juneau possessed many noble traits of character. Aside from her
many duties to her family, she was every ready to minister to the wants of
the sick and the needy. The poor she had always with her. Her home was a
stopping place for ministers of all denominations who passed through the
trading post. She made them all welcome. She mighl lie called the guardian
angel of the unfortunate. Many a p • girl who had started life wrong "a-

90 BISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

taken into her home, given religious instruction, taughl to do housework and
sew, and positions secured for them.

As years passed, and'the tide of immi'jrat ion eontinued to How into the
infant metropolis, the inhabitants numbering thousands, where a few short
years before the country was but a wilderness, .Mrs. Juneau longed for the
quiet of the country, and persuaded her husband to remove to their summer
home at Theresa. There, surrounded by every comforl a Loving and indul-
gent husband could provide, she settled down to enjoy the declining years of
her life.

After removing to Theresa she became ill and gradually failing, Mr. Juneau
took her to Milwaukee to consult their family physician, Dr. E. I>. Wolcott.
It was found her malady was of a more serious nature than was at first sup-
posed. Doctor Wolcott. assisted by Doctor Hewitt and a specialist from Chi-
cago, held a consultation and it was found necessary to perform an opera-
tion, which proved unsuccessful. At the time of her death Mrs. Juneau was
fifty-two years, seven mouths and three days. Thus closed in perfect peace,
a life of love and service to God, November 19, 1855.

The funeral was held from the residence of her daughter, Mrs. II. K.
White. Services were conducted by Reverend Riordan at St. John's Cathedral.
of which church she was a devout member during her residence in Milwaukee.
Burial was in the Catholic Cemetery at the head of Spring Street.

Uriel B. Smith pays the following tribute to Mrs. Juneau: "I was in-
timately acquainted with Airs. Solomon Juneau. My child, Milwaukee Smith,
was born October 10, 1835. She was the first white child born in Milwaukee,
and Mrs. Juneau was present at her birth, and attended upon my wife in
such a kind and motherly manner as to win the love and esteem of my wife
as well as myself.

"Mrs. Juneau was also an attendant and watcher at the death bed of my
wife some two years after, and during the whole period of our acquaintance
we were on the most intimate terms.

"For such services rendered to my wife during her sickness. 1 offered
ample remuneration, which was immediately declined — she saying to me.
'Such services were due all, and that, too, without consideration.' Such inci-
dents cannot he forgotten. 1 trust that Milwaukee today has her equal — I
know it has not her superior."

Martin's Estimate of Solomon Juneau. — In the narrative of Morgan I..
.Martin, printed in the Wisconsin Historical Collections, Volume XI. extended
mention is made of Juneau and others contemporaneous with him. "I firsl
visited Milwaukee in -July, is:;:;.'' he says, "on a tour of exploration. With
me were Daniel Le Roy and P. B. Grignon, and wo were mounted on horses.
As far as Fond du Lac our course lay on the same trail that Judge Doty
and I hail made in 1829. After thai we struck southeast to the shore of
Lake Michigan, following it closely until Milwaukee was reached.

"Jacques Vieau and Sol >n Juneau traded at this point. 1 had known

them and their families since 1827, for their homes Mere really in Green Baj
at which place they obtained all their supplies. Both Vieau, senior, and
Juneau were in Chicago with the greater pari of their families at the time

SOLOMON JUNEAU AND HIS FAMILY 91

of our arrival, but young Jacques Vieau, sou of the elder, officiated under the
parental roof.

"When we set out on our tour, we agreed to eat everything we saw, and
one time we were compelled to thus dispose of a hawk. At Milwaukee there
were no provisions for us, but there were several Indians loafing around
and we engaged one of them to go out and get us some ducks. These Jacques
cooked for us and we ate them cold upon our return trip which was made by
way of the lake shore. On Sheboygan River, four miles above its mouth,
there was an Indian village. We found a net spread near the mouth of the
river, and in it two tine fish which we appropriated without ceremony.

En Route to Green Bay. — "Next morning an Indian. from the village over-
took us and supplied us with dried and smoked whitefish which we found
quite palatable. Manitowoc was out of our line of travel so we did not see
the native village said to be there. We reached Green Bay after a delight-
ful trip, in which the eager search for provisions only served to strengthen
our appetites. Both Solomon Juneau and Jacques Vieau were intelligent and
worthy men, Mr. Juneau having the polished manners and airs of the French
gentleman. In a certain 'History of Milwaukee,' published by the Western
Historical Company, in 1881, Juneau has been described as being on a par
with the Indians, as to intelligence and manners. That they and their fami-
lies were far removed above the savage tribes by which they were surrounded,
is proven by the fact that they were enabled to procure goods and supplies
to a large amount on the usual credit from the American Fur Company.

"Neither of them did at that time regard themselves as permanent settlers
of Milwaukee, but were temporary residents there for the purposes of trade
with the Indians. Their homes were in Green Bay. When I first visited
Milwaukee in the summer of 1833, on the tour of exploration before nar-
rated, they and their families were not there, the premises being in charge
of employees and one of Vieau 's sons. A further evidence that all were mere
sojourners was found in the fact that no land was cleared, fenced, or even
under cultivation, except a small patch of ground used by a brother of
Juneau, in which he cultivated a few vegetables. Subsequent events, how-
ever, proved Solomon Juneau to be the first permanent settler, when the
land he occupied was ceded by the Indians and subjected to sale as Govern-
ment land.

Martin a Frequent Visitor. — "From 1833 forward, I was a frequent and
always welcome visitor to the house of Solomon Juneau. His home was the
'old trading house,' and so far from being the filthy, disgusting home repre-
sented in the 'History of Milwaukee,' was in all respects neat and comfort-
able; for the proverbially neat and tidy French women know how to make
their habitations attractive. In the fall of 1834, the late Governor Doty,
Byron Kilbourn and myself were at Milwaukee and spent a few days, being
entertained at the hospitable old trading house, the only habitation there.
In April previous, on my way home from Detroit, Mr. Juneau's house was my
only stopping place between Chicago and Green Bay; my business relations
with him compelled my sojourn there for several days. At none of my visits
did the partially cured skins or the odors given off by fresh meats and fish

o
-

y 3
< S

< —

— i

< —

W -

SOLOMON JUNEAU AND II IS FAMILY 93

winch had become rank produce an unsavory sine]]. If there were any such
they never invaded the comfortable dwelling in which we were entertained.

but wer mfined to the storehouse, the usual adjunct of all Indian trading

posts.

"As a man, Solomon Juneau needs no encomiums from me. He was
always the same unselfish, confiding, open-hearted, genial, honest and polite
gentleman. Our business relations commenced in October, 1833, and con-
tinued for several years. His first hint of the prospective value of his loca-
tion at Milwaukee came from me, and he was so incredulous that it was some-
times difficult tn prevent his sacrificing his interest to the sharks who soon
gathered about him. Himself the soul of honor, and unaccustomed to the

wiles of speculators, without a friend to caution him he would have 1 n an

easy prey of designing individuals. Green Bay was his home as well as that
of the Vieaus, and it was not until is:;.") or 1836 that Juneau first thought of
permanently residing in Milwaukee, after it came to he seen that the place-
was going to become a village.

Martin and Juneau Original Plat Owners.— "Juneau and 1 were joint
owners of the original plat of .Milwaukee. We never made any written
memorandum of the terms of our partnership, and on account of his residence
on the spot he took the principal management of our joint interest for more
than three years. At the close, accounts were adjusted between us and
property valued at hundreds of thousands divide. I, with as little difficulty as
one would settle a trifiiiie.' store bill.

"It would take a volume to enumerate the many admirable traits of char-
acter which distinguished my friend. Solomon Juneau. The intimate rela-
tions existing between us made me well acquainted with his family, ami
their every day social relations. Mrs. Juneau, instead of the pure French
of her husband, had a slight tincture of Indian blood. Her native tongue
was French, and that language was used in their family intercourse, though
both spoke English. They both probably had also acquired a knowledge of
the languages of several Indian tribes, with whom Mr. Juneau was accus-
tomed to do business; but that they 'dressed and ate like Indans. and in their
domestic conversation spoke in the Indian tongue,' is far from the truth.
Mrs. Juneau was an amiable and excellent woman, and many of the first
settlers around Milwaukee will no doubt bear ample testimony to the deeds
of charity by which she was distinguished."

The Dawn of a Better Day.— " Hut in the year 1818," says the historian,
"the first grey streaks of the coming dawn in Milwaukee were visible. So
faint were they that the wily chief, O-nau-ge-sa, with all his natural watch-
fulness, did not perceive them. They were to gradually brighten into the
rosy tints of civilization, as the night of barbarism sank away in the west."
Up and down the river Solomon Juneau pursues his search for a suitable
place for settlement. Finally he finds "a green spot a1 the fool of a long,
wood-covered hill that rises to the east, and here he builds his own cabin
with the river between him and tin' opposite swamp."

But wandering traders have already appeared and for a brief time have
lent an appearance of activity to the scene. ".Mi-. Hypolite Grignon is alreadj

rT^-

ts^fc^ /L&^t -PWY

^yuV-L^i-iic fi'/fr^ ^jy(/<<(si /z^r^t^ ^uuc-^^^Uc.

~ff ' ^tot-is /My /jz^r ' ys<^^

■ISlSls^'

J t/t-t^tsz^^

COP'S OF A LETTEE WRITTEN BY SOLOMON JUNEAU IN 1838

SOLOMON JUN1 \\ TRADING Willi THE [NDIANS
Bas relief on pedestal <'t Solomon Juneau Monumenl

SOLOMON JUNEAU AND HIS FAMILY 95

here," says the chronicle, ''and James Kinzie (the half -brother of John Kinzie
of Chicago) is expected with a large stock of goods from the American Pur
Company at Mackinac. There are three other white men in the settlement,
and this constitutes the entire white population. Chicago, or 'Eschicagou'
(as Col. Arend De Peyster called it), contains two white inhabitants living
outside of Fort Dearborn. Detroit is composed of French half-breeds, and
lias one brick house which had been built by Governor Hull many years
lief ore. There is one little steamboat on the Upper Lakes called the 'Walk in
the Water,' which makes the round trip from Buffalo to Detroit once in two
weeks, but never ventures into the unknown waters past Mackinac."

About this time Jacques Vieau built a trading post up the Menomonee
two miles where the Green Bay trail crosses that river. "The sand heaps at
the mouth of the Milwaukee River," says historian Wheeler, "with the one or
two bark wigwams and the scarcely better tenements that had been erected
under the supervision of French Wanderers,, offered no attraction to him; and
so we find the first trading post which was destined to be permanently located
away off to the west. Here Vieau, who-coming from Green Lay, a place already
somewhat advanced in civilization and Christianity, had more refined ideas,
perhaps, than his neighbors, built a log house, a magazine and repository
for furs. All three of these structures were standing in 1836."

From the time when Jacques Vieau first settled here up to IMS, there
was very little of historic interest transpired, says Wheeler: "the Indians
flitted about the bluffs, and when a companion died they lighted their funeral
fires on the burial ground at the foot id' Michigan Street, and danced their
wild orgies between the lurid flames and the dark midnight on the lake."

Juneau as a Young Man. — "A few years later than 1818," we read in
Wheeler's "Chronicles," "there might have been seen, leaning against the
door of Jacques Vieau 's log house, a young man attired in a calico hunting
shirt and corduroy pantaloons. His countenance is rather pleasing, not from
any beauty in its outline, but on account of an open, frank expression, which
is at once indicative of a generous nature and a steady will. This is Solomon
Juneau, clerk for Jacques Vieau, his father-indaw. He stands in the doorway
of the cabin, and looks listlessly across the great marsh to the east, and up
to the oak-crowned bluffs beyond; nor does it occur to him that in the short
space of a few years the bayou beneath his eyes will be swarming with
vessels, and that a populous city will be crowning the eminences with wealth
and magnificence.

"Young Juneau does not for a moment allow his youthful enthusiasm to
soar into even improbabilities: not being a visionary young man his fancy
sees no Utopia in the green banks of the Mahn-a-waukie. The outlines of
a few duties to be carefully performed are enough for his contemplation at
present. "

Juneau's Claim as "First Settler." — But lest the foregoing account might
seem inconsistent with the statement frequently made that Juneau was the
first settler and founder of Milwaukee in 1818, it is proper to add some
explanation. In Isabella Fox's biography of Solomon Juneau, published in
11)16, it is stated that "as agent of the American Fur Company he settled

96 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

in Milwaukee in 1818, and continued to live there until 1852." Isabella Pox
was a grand-daughter of Solomon Juneau, and in the biographj mentioned
she says thai "white men had visited Milwaukee, trading with the Indians
prior in the advenl of Solomon Juneau, bu1 their stay was of shorl duration.
To Mr. Juneau musl 1"' conceded the honor of being the firsl permanenl
white settler as well as firsl landowner, he having acquired title to a large
tract nf land."

Jacques Vieau who has been mentioned as having built a trading posl

two miles up the Men onee River, was a resident of Green Bay and his

trading post here was a branch of his Green Bay establishment. Henry B.
Legler, in his bonk. "Leading Events of W sconsin History.'" says of Juneau,
"It was as Vieau 's clerk that he came to Milwaukee in 1818; he was the first
landowner here, for the others exercised 'squatter sovereignty' merely. Th -
Eacl iias probably had some influence in crediting Juneau with having been
.Milwaukee's first permanenl settler."

Many years lain- (in 1887) Andrew Vieau, in an interview with th litor

of the Wisconsin Historical Collections related to him that he was a son of
Jacques Vieau, and thai his father had for many years previous to 1818
••considered Green Bay his home; he had a farm there and I and several
oilier members of the family were horn upon the homestead." As to the form
of the name which is variously spelled. Andrew said: ■■The family name was
originally De Veau; but as that meant calf or veal in French, other children
would annoy my ancestors in their youth by bleating in their pre-, .nee. so
the name was changed to Vieau in self-defense."

In Andrew J. Vieau's narrative printed in the "Collections of the Wisi
sin State Historical Society," Volume XI. it is stated thai Solomon Juneau
was appointed clerk to Jacques Vieau in 1818 at .Mackinaw. "Tim- il was,"
says the son. "that Juneau arrived at the Milwaukee River in August of that
year in my father's company. The next year father withdrew as agenl of
what had by that time become the American Fur Company, and procured the
agency for Juneau, who had in the meantime married my half sister. Josette.
He had a farm there and J ami several other members of the family were
My father had for many years before this considered Green Baj his home.
born upon the homestead on the west bank of the Fox River.

"Green Bay also became Juneau's home and remained such until about
1834 ,,|- 1835, when Milwaukee began to grow and Juneau platted the village
ami settled there permanently. Juneau was one of the lasl to recognize that
Milwaukee was dest i I to hecome a permanent settlement, and had to 1

persuaded by his friends into taking advantage of the laid. Green Bay re
mained as his home and that of my father despite their business interests at
.Milwaukee. From about 1810 forward the family would frequently remain
at tin' Bay during the winters while father was off among the [ndii

Description of Mackinaw Boats. A description is given of the-, boats
by Mrs. Elizabeth Therese Baird in a chapter of renvniscences, printed in the

Wisconsin Historical Society's collection-. Volume XIV. p. 17. Ill 1825

made a journey from Green Baj to Mackinac Island, accompanied by her
husband. Their route lay alone ti astern shore of Green Bay and the

SOLOMON JUNEAU AND HIS FAMILY 97

northern shore of Lake Michigan. They took passage in a Mackinaw boat,
one of a fleet of six which were laden with furs.

"In each of the boats," she writes, "there were seven men, six to row
and one a steersman, all being Frenchmen. There was, in addition, in each
boat a clerk of the American Fur Company to act as commander or bourgeois.
The furnishing of these boats, each thirty feet long, was quite complete. The
cargo being furs a snug-fitting tarpaulin was fastened down and over the
sides to protect the pelts from the rain. The cargo was placed in the center
of the boat. A most important part of the cargo was the mess basket, one
of the great comforts in the past days, well filled with everything to satisfy
both hunger and thirst. Rolette, who was in charge of the fleet, was a gen-
erous provider, sending to St. Louis for all that this part of the world could
not supply.

"It seemed strange that such faithful workers as the men were, should
have been fed so poorly. They had nothing but salt pork, 'lyed' corn, and
bread or biscuit. This was the general food for workmen in the fur trade.*"
The boats are usually unloaded from the time they leave port until they
reach their destination, which in this ease occupied six days. "This fleet of
boats," she continues, "was originally loaded at Prairie du Chien, and then
unloaded at the portage between the AVisconsin and Fox rivers, where the
men carried first the packs of furs on their backs, then returned for the
boats, and after reloading them would run down to the Big Chute, now
Appleton. Here the boats again had to be unloaded and the furs portaged
around by the men.

"The boats made the journey down the swift water which was called
'jumping the rapids.' The unloading was repeated at Grand Kaukauna, but
at the rapids below the loads were carried through, all of the men walking in
the water to guide the boats and their valuable loads. Our boats it will be
seen were loaded for the last time at Kaukauna. not to lie unloaded until they
reached Mackinac."

VA i;m\ Ml BOURN
Founder of Kilboum Town. 1 1 < > w known :is the Wesl Side

CHAPTER IX
BYRON KILBOURN AND GEORGE H. WALKER

Byron Kilbourn. — "Byron Kilbourn came to Milwaukee in 1835, from the
State of Ohio. He was by profession a civil engineer, and as such, held a high
rank in his profession," says James S. Buck in his "Pioneer History of -Mil-
waukee."

"In person he was tall and commanding, sharp features, keen, expressive
eye; looked you square in the face when speaking, and was in every respect
one who would command attention from all with whom he came in contact.

"He was possessed of a will of iron, good judgment, excellent executive
abilities, great brain power, saw far away into the future, and possessed a
magnet ism that would both attract and attach to himself and his plans all
who came under its influence. He was a horn leader.

"He knew the value of money, and how to use it; could tell at a glance
the competency of every man, and the right place for him. He was the
originator of our railroad system, and it was mainly due to his great executive
abilities that they were so soon completed.

"His positive character often made him enemies, but for that lie eared
very little. The more he was opposed the stronger became his will, and tic
result would he the accomplishment of whatever he undertook.

"He took a deep interest in politics ami was a democrat. He was twice
mayor, and to his liberality is the city indebted for the ground upon which
stands the Kilbourn Park Reservoir. Such was Byron Kilbourn. He has left
a record, both in city and state, that shall never die. He died and was buried
at Jacksonville, Florida, December 16, 1870."

Juneau and Kilbcum. — In Wheeler's history it is said that Juneau and
Kilbourn were rivals, hut the two men were friendly to each other and
cooperated in procuring legislation, in 1839, to consolidate the two towns
known at the time as "Juneautown" on the east side and "Kilbourntown"
on the west, in the Town of Milwaukee, with two wards, the East and the

West.

In commenting upon the rivalry which existed between the two towns the
historian remarks: "The Milwaukee River was the dividing line with our
settlers. Not only the nation but states, communities, sects and families, all
have a Mason and Dixon's line." The very harmony of our system, observes
our historian in a curious strain of reasoning, its "discords, antagonisms and
•wars,' afforded a healthy recrimination essential to the stimulation and pros-
perity of the contending opinions." Whether the reader will agree with such

OLD BYRON KILBOURN RESIDENCE

Corner Grand Avenue anil Fourth Street after same had been converted into stores

Originally built in isj.1

BYRON KILBOURN AND GEORGE H. WALKER 101

a view or not the fact remains that whatever virtue there may have been
in that doctrine it was thoroughly tested in the early days of Milwaukee.

In a paper by James Seville, printed by the Old Settlers' Club of Mil-
waukee, in l'J16, it is said that there were but few men of his time "whose
opinions had more influence in the state at large than those of Mr. Kilbourn.
He could do more with the Legislature, governor, etc., than any other man,
and that, too, without any seeming effort on his part. He was a man of large
build, a large head and brain, a skilful engineer, and just such a man as is
required to manage large enterprises; sociable, communicative, benevolent
and always ready to engage in anything to help his adopted city."

Byron Kilbourn was born in Connecticut in 1801, but when a young lad his
parents moved to Ohio. His father was a member of Congress in 1812 and
again in 1814. Having received a good education young Kilbourn, at the age of
twenty-two, entered the service of the state as an engineer for the great
system of internal improvements then being carried on by Ohio. In 1832, he
journeyed to the far-off country beyond the western shores of Lake Michigan.
He landed in Green Bay May 8, 1834, and soon found employment as a sur-
veyor of public lands. In the course of his travels he was attracted by the
advantages offered by the region around the mouth of the Milwaukee River.
Here he found Solomon Juneau who had been settled here many years in the
fur trade with the Indians.

"Juneau was one of Nature's noblemen," says a writer in a history of
Milwaukee published in 1881, "and was the very soul and embodiment of
hospitality and good cheer. Among his pleasantest recollections Mr. Kil-
bourn often adverted to the cheerful fireside scenes in Mr. Juneau's wildwood
home after days of travel, toil and privation."

Here Kilbourn determined to settle and purchased a tract of land on the
west side of the Milwaukee River at the same time that Juneau purchased a
tract on the east side. Both of these tracts were in the same section and
were divided from each other by the river. These two tracts extending along
the river for one mile constituted the nucleus of the present City of Mil-
waukee.

"The east side was platted in the summer of 1835," it is stated in tin-
article on Milwaukee, in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, "and very soon after-
ward the plat of a settlement on the west side was also recorded, Byron
Kilbourn being the chief projector and proprietor of the latter." These two
settlements bore the popular names of Juneautown and Kilbourntown respec-
tively. A third settlement, begun mi the south side by George II. Walker.
and known as "Walker's Point," was subsequently platted. The rivalry
between the east and west sides of the river became intense, the plats were
so surveyed that the streets did not meet at the river, and there were bitter
quarrels over the building of bridges. On one occasion a force of armed men
was assembled on the east side "to defend their rights," and a cannon was
leveled at Mr. Kilbourn 's house on the opposite bank of the river. After some
further complications the "bridge war" was amicably settled, and since that
time bridge building has gone forward in an orderly manner.

"When the public mind began to comprehend the importance of railroad

102 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE

communication with the interior," says a writer in ;i history of Milwaukee,
published in 1881, "Mr. Kilbourn was by common consenl designated as thi
mosl suitable person to lead the firsl enterprise of thai description. Be was
accordingly elected president of the 'Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad
Company.' This company was organized in the early pari of 184!), and Mr.
Kilbourn continued to occupy the position of president of the company until
1852."

In 1846, the City of Milwaukee was chartered, and Mr. Kilbourn was
chosen a member of the first board of aldermen. In the next year Mr. Kil-
bourn was chosen a delegate to the state constitutional convention, and in
that body he drew up and reported the "Declaration of Rights" and some
other important articles. In ISIS, he was (dec-ted mayor of Milwaukee, which
had then become a city of about fifteen thousand inhabitants. Mr. Kilbourn
was again elected mayor in 1854.

•"It has been said that no man in Wisconsin has made so many railroad
speeches," says the writer above quoted, "or lias s,, often presided over
state and district conventions ami other public meetings as Byron Kilbourn.
.Mr. Kilbourn was a zealous Free Mason and left the use oi a beautiful hall
to the lodge and chapter named after him. He was a member of this lodge
and chapter, and also of Wisconsin Commandery, K. T.

"Owing to exposure in early life Mr. Kilbourn was afflicted with rheuma-
tism, and in the fall of 1868 he made a tour of the South for the benefit of his
health, lie spent several months at Hot Springs, Ark., but received no
especial benefit. Finding the climate of the extreme South most agreeable to
his exhausted system he located at Jacksonville, Florida, where on December
Hi. 1870, he died suddenly and painlessly of apoplexy, in the seventieth year
of his age. He passed away full of years, an honor to his familj name, and
a benefactor to his race."

George H. Walker. — In 1834, George II. Walker came to Milwaukee from
Virginia, where he was born October '2-. 1811, and located on the south side
of the river. He was then twenty-three years of age. Mere be erected a log
house, "the first." says J. S. Buck in his "Pioneer History," "ever built by
a while man upon that side of the river." The spot is known to this day in
common parlance as "Walker's Point." He carried on the business of an
Indian trader ami was identified thereafter with the growth of Milwaukee in
many and various ways throughout his life.

In 1S4'_\ he was elected to the territorial legislature and was made speaker
of that body, and two years later was re-elected to the same office. In 1851,
Walker was elected mayor of Milwaukee and again in 1853. He was a demo-
crat m politics but at the breaking out of the civil war he look a decisive
stand in favor of the preservation of the Union.

"The city was largely indebted to him." writes -1. A. Watrous in his

"Memoirs of Milwaukee County," "for the building of the Milwaukee and

Mississippi Railroad. He was at oik' time president of this railroad company,
and lone a member of the hoard of directors. He built the first streel rail-
way ill Milwaukee at a considerable hiss to himself which was the foundation
of the present splendid system. One of the last public acts of his useful life

BYRON KILBOURN AND GEORGE II. WALKER 103

was to aid in securing the Ideation here of the National Soldiers' Home."
He died at his home on Biddle Street, September "in, 1866.

George II. Walker engaged in many building enterprises and promoted
various corporations of a semi-public or public nature. He built a large four-
story brick block bearing his name, which stood on the corner of South
Water and Clinton streets, and was. at one time, the center of the largest
trade upon the South Side. This brick building is undoubtedly the most
substantial brick building ever built in the City of Milwaukee.

In a pamphlet issued by the Milwaukee Times in June, 1921, the leading
events of his life are described. From this pamphlet much information has
been derived for this work, as for example the following paragraph:

"Colonel Walker was a very active, energetic and pushing citizen. He
was a large and portly man, with a genial manner, betokening hearty good
will to all whom he met, with genuine kindliness beaming from every feature
of his face. He had a magnetic presence, ami a most hearty greeting for
all whom he knew. He was selected to rill many offices of responsibility by
his fellow citizens, and among them we find he was made supervisor, twice
elected a member of the Territorial Legislature, in 1 S4l2 and 1844, and on each
occasion was made speaker of the lower house, was appointed register of the
Milwaukee Land office, elected alderman, and twice elected mayor of Mil-
waukee, once in 1851 and subsequently in 1853. At that time the mayors held
office for Imt one year. As register of the Land office one of the strong char-
acteristics of (he man became ('specially prominent, and that was his most
perfect honesty. In this position as register he had abundant opportunity for
making himself very wealthy, hut he would neither permit himself nor any of
his subordinates to take advantage of the knowledge which the office afforded
them to enrich themselves. This characteristic was always a prominent one
throughout his life. His integrity was unquestionable.

"From 1835 to 1849 he was continually pestered by men who tried to
'jump Iks claim' to his quarter section, and who insisted that the pre-emption
laws of that day did not permit the location of a 'float' claim upon so valu-
able a piece of land."

Colonel Walker's Picturesque Heme. — Tin- writer of the pamphlet re
ferred to describes the location of Colonel Walker's home with some interest-
ing details. He says that it was located upon a high hill fronting upon Han-
over Street in the center of the double block lying between South Pierce
and Virginia streets. The house was built in the style of an old Virginia
mansion, with broad doors and windows, spacious rooms with a wide hall
running through from front to rear, into which might he driven a horse
hauling logs for the fire places.

The house had a beautiful outlook over the city and a complete view of
Milwaukee Bay clotted over with the white-winged messengers of commerce
Hanover Street in front of tin' residence had been graded down some twenty-
five or thirty feet leaving a steep bank in which many deep cavities had
been left. These cavities formed convenient uesting places for hundreds upon
hundreds of swallows in which to brood and mir their young. The whole
front and perpendicular face id' this block- id' land was a curiosity to passersby

GEORGE II. WAl.KKl;
Founder of Walker's Point, now known as the South Side

BYRON KILBOURN AND GEORGE H. WALKER 105

upon the street below, and they often stopped to view the myriads of birds
flitting in and out from these holes in the clay bank, busy with their domestic-
duties. In consequence of this deep cut of the street in front of his resi-
dence. Colonel Walker's only means of access to his home was by way of
Greenbush Street, upon the west front of this tract of land. As the colonel
was a very ponderous man, it was difficult for him to do much walking, and
at a regular hour each morning he could be seen getting into his buggy,
which he filled to its full capacity, to drive down to his place of business,
returning with the same regularity at noon and in the evening. His horse and
buggy and his corpulent figure and benignant face were known all over Mil-
waukee, and nothing seemed to please him more than to be greeted with the
familiar appellation of "George," omitting all titles whatsoever.

Pioneer Railroad Construction. — It was through the active and persistent
work of Colonel Walker and other prominent citizens that the City of Mil-
waukee was at this time induced to loan its credit to the first railway enter-
prise by issuing its bonds to the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad Company
for the sum of $234,000, and it further aided this enterprise, which was then
urgently in need of funds, by subscribing in cash for $16,000 worth of the
railroad company's stock.

In addition to his many other enterprises for the development of the city,
Colonel Walker undertook the construction of a street railway, which was
opened to the public in May, I860. It began at the foot of East Water Street,
north to Wisconsin Street, east on Wisconsin to Jefferson, on Jefferson to
Biddle, on Biddle to Van Buren, north on Van Buren to Juneau Avenue, thence
up Prospect Avenue to Albion. The cars ran on a single track with turn-
outs at intervals. The cars were entered by a single step and door at the
rear and drawn by mules. The fare-box was at the front of the car where
passengers deposited their fares. This was the beginning of the present
splendid system of street railways in Milwaukee.

Activities in the Civil War. — At the breaking out of the Civil war no man
living north of Mason and Dixon's line could have been more ardent in his
loyalty and more active in his efforts for the preservation of the Union than
Col. George H. Walker. Though a Virginian by birth and a democrat in his
political allegiance he joined the party of the Union and aided in the most
conspicuous manner in its efforts to suppress the rebellion. He made it his
daily and nightly occupation to attend meetings in every part of the city and
lent his voice and great influence toward arousing his fellow citizens to the
necessity of prompt action for the preservation of the Union.

He was seen at these meetings with Hon. Matt. Carpenter, Judges Mc-
Arthur and Hubbell, engaged in awakening the loyalty of the people. Being
a corpulent and heavy man as heretofore noted, he would often find difficulty
is ascending the steps of the platforms used for the speakers, and it was
necessary for his friends at such times to assist him in the operation. But
ready hands pulled and pushed him up amid the cheers and laughter of his
audiences. He worked most faithfully and loyally until there was no longer
necessity for such patriotic labors.

106 HISTORY OF .MILWAUKEE

And al the conclusion of the war, be was among the Eoremosl in securing
from the Government the location and purchase of grounds near this city
for the establishment of £ comfortable and adequate Soldiers' and Sailors'
Eome, for the wounded, maimed and worn-out veterans who had helped pre-
serve our common country. He was appointed one of the Board of Soldiers'
Home Commissioners by the secretary of war, and beld this office at the time
of his death. It is said that his trip to Washington, D. ( '.. on behalf of the
Soldiers' Home caused bis death, as he never recovered from a cold contract
at that time.

(_'ol. George II. Walker died September 20, l<S(i6, at the early age of fifty-
four years and eleven months, after an active life spent in hardships, trials
and labors in behalf of his fellow men, mourned by a loving wife and by
every one who knew him. Truly may it be said of him as was said by the
poet Homer, "He was a friend to man and lived in a house beside the road."

A. C. Wheeler's "Chronicles of Milwaukee." — Concerning this excellent
history it may be remarked that a vein of humor pervades its pages through-
out. Writing of the difficulties he encountered in gathering the facts about
early history the author, in his introduction, says: "So bitterly opposed were
some even to open their mouths that the author was at first fain to believe
that the early hisory of .Milwaukee had formerly been the witness of a mon-
strous iniquity in which all the first inhabitants were implicated."

The reluctance hinted at above gradually disappeared anil the author
acknowledges the assistance of many of the "Id settlers in the preparation
of ids history, which was published in 1861. "To such men as Colonel Walker.
Byron Kilbourn, Elisha Starr. II. Kirke While. Jonathan E. Arnold. Joshua
Hathaway, William Brown ami a host of others, the author is indebted for
all that is of any material value in these pages."

CHAPTER X
LIFE AND LABORS OP ANDREW J. VIEAU

After stating that he was born in Green I'.ay in 1818, Andrew J. Vieau, in
iiis narrative, says that he went to the French school kept by John 1!. Jacobs
in 1826 or 1827. Mr. Jacobs abandoned the school a year or two after and
J. B. Dupre became his successor. After some time with Dupre young Viean
received instruction at home from his father's old clerk, Petteel. "Father
Fauvel was also my teacher for a time. Rev. R. F. Cadle, the Episcopalian
missionary, came in 1830. He was a very fine gentleman, and 1 went to his
excellent mission school in company with my brothers, Nicholas and Peter."
It is thus seen that the elder Vieau hail an exalted idea of the value of
education for the younger generation.

"There I remained until 1833, when I went to clerk for R. & A. J. Irwin
at their general store and post office in Shanty Town. Robert Irwin was the
postmaster and I served as his deputy. This was during the Black Hawk
war, ami 1 well remember the soldiers coming down the Fox River with Black
Hawk in 1833 on his tour to the Fast. The Irwins failed in 18:14. and I went
to -Milwaukee to clerk for my brother-in-law, Solomon Juneau, who was agent
for the American Fur Company." It is stated in the narrative that Juneau
was doing a fine business in those days. ''I think," says the narrator, "that
the company allowed him one-half the profits as a commission."

Young Vieau remained in the employ of Juneau seven months and then
went to Chicago to clerk for Medore Beauhien a merchant there. "I suc-
ceeded in this new position." he continues, "to a Mr. Saxton, who had gone
to Racine to do business there. There were several clerks in Beaubien's store
and I was at the head of them. I stayed in Chicago until September, 1836,"
when the payments to the Indians were made in that year. In the course of
the narrative young Vieau enters upon a brief description of what he saw in
Chicago which we will quote in this place.

"Chicago was very small then," he says. "The principal store was kepi

by Oliver Newberry and George W. Dole, on South Water Street. ner of

Dearborn. Beaubien's stor icupied the opposite corner. Mai. John Greene

was commandant at Fort Dearborn, with perhaps one company of soldiers.
J. B. Beaubien, father of my employer, lived in the old American Fur Com
pany's post, south of Fort Dearborn on the lake shore. There were, perhaps,
from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty buildings in Chi
cago, shops and all, at the time of which I speak. They were mostly un-

107

108 BISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

painted and there was certainly no promise of the place ever amounting to
anything. On the streets mud was knee deep, and wagons had often to be
lifted mit of the mire with handspikes. I am sure thai nearly every inhabitant
of the place would have smiled incredulously if any one had prophesied thai
here was to be the great eity of the west."

Milwaukee in 1836. — In December, 1836, Andrew J. Vieau 'whose narra-
tive lias been so freely drawn upon) returned from Chicago to Juneau's post
in Milwaukee and served him for a time as his bookkeeper. Soon after he
bought out the Juneau establishment, "lock, stock and barrel," and con-
tinued the business on the west side of the river, a half block north of Spring
Street. There had been a big rush to Milwaukee while he was in Chicago,
and it continued unabated during that fall. In the following February he
was married at Green Bay to Pebeeea R. Lawe. "Our bridal trip." he says.
"was made across the country to Milwaukee on what was called a 'French
train." The sleigh was a deep box, (i feet lone' by :!•"> inches broad, which
slipped easily on the surface of the snow, when drawn by two horses hitched
tandem. There were, of course, no wagon roads in those days, but there
were two regularly traveled trails to Milwaukee.

"The one we took led first on a short cut southeast from Green Bay to
Manitowoc. At Manitowoc rapids, 2C> miles from the lake shore, the path
turned almost due south, striking' the mouth of the Sheboygan River. Thence
we would proceed south along the lake shore, sometimes on the beach and
aga'n on the high land, for fifteen or sixteen miles; thence west southwest to
Saukville; thence directly southeast to Milwaukee. This path between Green
Bay and Milwaukee was originally an Indian trail, and very crooked; but
the whites would straighten it by cutting across lots each winter with their
jumpers, wearing bare streaks through the thin covering, to be followed in
the summer by foot and horseback travel along the shortened path.

"The other trail was by way of Fond du Lac, taking advantage of the
military road along the east shore of Lake Winnebago; thence south-south-
west to Watertown; thence east to "Waukesha, and coming into Milwaukee on
the Kilbourn Road. The time occupied in traveling from Green Bay to Mil-
waukee was four days, either by foot or by 'French train.' the distance being
estimated at 12.") miles."

Having returned to Milwaukee from his wedding trip in the picturesque
manner described, Vieau soon afterward sold out his establishment to Solomon
Juneau, his brother-in-law, not being satisfied to lead the humdrum life of
an Indian trader, these two men buying and selling out to each other on fre-
quent occasions.

In the fall of 1837, he removed to Port Washington with a small stock
of goods and was appointed postmaster at that place. "A little settlement
had been established here," he relates, "by Wooster Harrison and other
.Michigan City speculators, but the place had been starved out and practically
abandoned." It is interesting to note in this connection that Abraham Lin-
coln about Ibis time contemplated making Port Washington his home, having
traveled all the way from his place of residence at Xew Salem. Illinois, to
make the necessary arrangements. An article in the Wisconsin Magazine of

LIFE AND LABORS OF ANDREW J. YIEAU 109

History for September, 1920, describes this episode in the life of the great
Emancipator, and mentions the man whom he met on that journey.

Abraham Lincoln in Quest of a New Home. — In a history of Port Wash-
ington it is stated that the first dwelling house built in the village was erected
by "Gen." Harrison, as Wooster Harrison, above mentioned, was familiarly
termed by the old settlers. This first dwelling house was erected in 1835.
"It is still standing," so a writer states in the history mentioned which was
published in 1881. "It is a little story-and-a-half frame building with gable
ends, the sills resting on the ground. A partition divides the first floor into
two apartments, and also the upper or half story. It was at this house that
the first votes of the town were polled.

"This old and time-worn structure has become one of the sacred relics of
the past, commanding a prominent place in the history of the town of Port
Washington, not only on account of the relation it bears to the first white
settler of the village, but because it once served as a shelter to one of Amer-
ica's greatest statesmen. It may be of interest to mention the fact that the
great and martyred President, Abraham Lincoln, during his days of 'rough-
ing it,' once walked from Milwaukee to Sheboygan, and stopped a night or two
in this old house."

Lincoln's Purpose in making the Visit. — Professor Julius E. Olson of the
University of Wisconsin contributed the article printed in the Wisconsin
Magazine of History referred to -above, and in the article he elucidates some
particulars of this historic visit, which does not appear to be mentioned either
in Nicolay and Hay's or Miss Ida Tarbell's works. Mr. Lincoln "s purpose in
making the journey was to find a location where he might establish himself
in the practice of the law, as he was just then completing his preparation for
that profession. Professor Olson says that in an interview furnished by
Harry W. Bolens to the Milwaukee Daily News, sometime during the Lincoln
centennial year (1909), Mr. Bolens. who had formerly been mayor of Port
Washington, stated that the Lincoln visit was made at some period between
1835 and 1840, the exact year not being known. Mr. Lincoln was returning
from Sheboygan having concluded after his visit to that place that "it had
no future before it."

Mr. Lincoln remained at Port Washington two days during which time
he arranged with General Harrison for the rent of quarters for his law office.
This was in the fall of the year (probably 1835), and the arrangement w;is
that Mr. Lincoln should return in the spring and take possession of his quar-
ters. "In the spring, however, the floods put a quietus on all travel, the Wes1
was fairly afloat in the freshet, and the heavy rain storms kept up until Late
in the summer. Under these conditions Mr. Lincoln decided to locate else-
where and later sent his regrets to General Harrison." From this it would
appear that Lincoln's presence in Milwaukee in 1835 (at least about that
time), while going to Sheboygan and Por1 Washington, considerably ante-
dates the visit he made in 1859 to Milwaukee when he addressed the Wiscon-
sin State Agricultural Society giving his views on agriculture; though in
Conard's excellent work it is stated thai this latter visit was his "only visit."

What had induced Mr. Lincoln to direct his attention to the lake shore

Ill) HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

region uorth of Milwaukee and to look here for a location for his new home?
Professor Olson answers the question. Mr. Lincoln had seen considerable of
Southern Wisconsin during his brief service in the Black Hawk war and knew
the country had many attractions. In fact the Black Hawk war was Wiscon-
sin's introduction to the American people, jusl as ii proved i<> be the start
in emigration from the eastern states to Illinois. "There was an immediate
and rapid increase of immigration, not only in the mining region, bu1 in vari
mis parts of what is now Wisconsin, more especially in thai portion bordering
mi Lake Michigan," using the quotation from the history of Washington and
Ozaukee counties found in Professor Olson's article "Lincoln knew of this
strong trend of immigration," adds Professor Olson. "Then he may have
wanicd in see Lake Michigan, particularly as the eastern part of the state
was the most accessible."

Lincoln in Milwaukee. — Lincoln visited Milwaukee, October 1. 1859, and
made an address at the State Fair being held there at the time. He attended
the performance of a so-called "strong man" which greatly interested him.
The performer went through the \isual antics, — tossing iron balls and letti
them roll down his arms, lifting heavy weights, etc. Apparently Lincoln had
never seen such a combination of strength and agility before, and every now
and then gave vent to the ejaculation, "l!y George! By George!' After
making his speech Governor Iloyt introduced him to the athlete; and as Lin-
coln stood looking down at him from his great height, evidently pondering
that one so small could be so strong, he suddenly gave utterance to one of
his quaint speeches. "Why." he said. "I could lick salt off the top of your
hat!"

Lincoln was called on by many of his admirers during his visit to .Mil-
waukee. He stopped at the Newhall House and in the evening he delivered
a campaign speech, standing on a table while doing so. Tin' presidential cam
paign of 1860 occurred a year later than the period of his visit above spoken
of. All of Lincoln's speeches at that period were discussions of the issues
raised during the debates of the previous year between himself and Senator
Douglas. These debates had attracted nation-wide interest, and the able
ami original treatment of these subjects at the hands of Mr. Lincoln were
i Ii nil it less responsible for the immense popularity he had achieved when the
nominating convention met in Chicago in May, 1860.

Vieau Leaves Port Washington. — "In the spring of 1839," continues the
narrative of A. .1. Vieau, which is written remarkably in the vein of Sinbad,
the Sailor's, narratives, "I (dosed up my post, bought a lot of sugar from
the Indian^, loaded a boat with the sugar and furs that I had collected and
went up to Milwaukee, where I disposed of my venture, having had an e\
cellcnt winter's trade. 1 had started in with only seven hundred dollars'

worth of ■- Is. While at Porl Washington I would take in loads of turkey s,

venison, and other game by ox teams to Milwaukee, in which enterprise 1 was
particularly successful. "When I left Milwaukee for tin- Port, my frame
house in the former place was rented from me by Governor Harrison Luding
toil, then a young man newlj married. With the results of my venture I now
built two new houses and had iej enough h-ft in the fall of Is:'.' 1 to go into

LIFE AND LABORS OF ANDREW J. YIEAU 111

business with Solomon Juneau who had traded but little since I originally
bought him out. In the spring of 1840, we dissolved partnership and divided
our stock. That summer I bought and handled lumber from Two Rivers
and other points, and dealt as well in dry goods, groceries and Indian sup-
plies. This store was on the west side of East Water Street, between Huron
and Michigan streets.

"I thus continued in trade in Milwaukee and made money, until the fall
of 1843, when I went to Two Rivers, then called Twin Rivers, and took pos-
session of John Lawe's old sawmill there. The place was then a small fish-
ing village of some eight or ten houses, with perhaps twenty-five inhabitants.
A part of the time I ran the sawmill myself, but leased it for the most part,
at first to Bascom and Ward; then to Daniel Smith of Manitowoc; in 1845, to
II. II. Smith of Milwaukee, who finally bought the plant about 1846. I also
did some trading with the Indians while at Two Rivers."

Editor's Note. — It is not generally known to the people of Milwaukee that the small park
bounded by National Avenue, South Pierce, Hanover and Greenbush streets was named Yieau
Park at the public opening of the same in memory of Jacques Yieau, father of Andrew
J. Vieau, and father-in-law of Solomon Juneau.

—
K
r-
f.

CHAPTER XI
MILWAUKEE IN THE PIONEER PERIOD

The first permanent settlement of Milwaukee was made by Jacques Vieau
who came in 1795. Vieau was an Indian trader and was quite successful,
though he lost his property in 1832. He was well known for his integrity.
Solomon Juneau bought Vieau 's trading post in 1819, at which time "he was
already married to Vieau 's daughter, Josette, so that his relations with Vieau
were necessarily close," says Edwin 8. Mack in a sketch entitled, "The Found-
ing of Milwaukee,'* printed in the Proceedings of the Wisconsin State His-
torical Society for 1906.

Vieau, however, soon resumed trading, becoming the agent of Michael
Dousman of Chicago. His son, Andrew J. Vieau, is quoted at length in the
Wisconsin Historical Society's Collections for 1888. He says that his father
was "the first man to engage in the Indian trade on the ground now occupied
by the City of Milwaukee." The editor in a note qualities this statement
(which also applies to the statement contained in the first sentence of the
previous paragraph) by saying that "there were, off and on, several traders
at the mouth of the Milwaukee River previous to the arrival of Jacques Vieau,
chief among them, Alexander La Framboise, v ho commenced his trade in
1785."

Continuing his narrative Andrew says: "The family name was originally
De Veau, but as that meant veal or calf in the French, the language we were
familiar with in childhood, other children would annoy my ancestors in their
youth by bleating in their presence; so the name was changed to Vieau in
self-defense." Other particulars about his father are given. He was a full-
blooded Frenchman but he married Angeline, daughter of Joseph Le Roy, a
trader at Green Bay in 178(3, and she was of Indian blood, so his children
partook of that strain. His father's family were quite numerous, the children,
in order of their birth, were as follows: Madeleine, Josette, Paul, Jacques,
Louis, Joseph, Amable, Charles, Andrew (the narrator), Nicholas, Peter, and
Mary, — "a round dozen in all," as he says.

Andrew's narrative is continued as follows: "My father (Jacques) first
went to Mackinaw from Montreal as a voyageur for the Northwest Fur
Company, in 1793, when he was forty-two years of age. His first trip in
that capacity was to La Pointe in Lake Superior. In 1794, he returned to
La Pointe, but this time as a clerk for the company. In 1795, he was appointed
one of the company's agents being sent out with a supply of goods to explore
and establish posts on the west shore of Lake Michigan. The goods were con-

113

114 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

Mined in a large Mackinaw boat, beavily loaded and manned by twelve men.
He with Ills family, consisting then of mother, Madeleine, Paul and Jacques,
followed in a Large bark canoe, in which was stored also the camping equipage.

My father's clerk mi That trip was .Mike le Petteel."

Establishing a Site for a Trading Post.— The expedition started from

Mackinaw in July, and the first important camping pla was where Kewaunee

is now situated. Here he established a "jack-knife" posl to open the trade.
and left a man in charge of it. "My father's expedition," continues Andrew,
'•arrived at Milwaukee on either the 18th or 20th of Augusl (1795). He me1
at the month of the river a large number of Pottawatomies, but mingling
freely with them were Sacs and Foxes, and a few Winnebagoes who had mar-
ried into the other three tribes. The Indians told my father that he was the
first white man whom they had seen there, and he was warmly welcomed. He
had a good stock of -nods, and French traders Mere always particularly well
received at the outposts of civilization in those days. He erected two log
buildings, one for a dwelling and the other for a warehouse, a mile and a
half up the Menomonee River, on the south side at the foot of the lime ridge.
I was in Milwaukee during the Civil war period (nearly seventy years after
the arrival of my father), and the places where the store and dweUing had
stood were plainly visible from the remains of banks of earth which had sur-
rounded them."

The editor of this narrative remarks in a note, as follows: "It will be
noticed that nowhere does the narrator mention Jean Baptiste Mirandeau,
who is reported in all existing histories of Milwaukee to have been in Jacques
Vieau's company. In answer to later questions relative to his recoUections
of Mirandeau. I have letters from A. J. Vieau. dated October _7 and 'J!». 1887,
in which he says in substance: 'I never heard my father say that Jean I!.
Mirandeau went to Milwaukee in his company. 1 never heard him say what
time Mirandeau arrived there. 1 am of the opinion that Mirandeau came after
my father, but not long after, lie was never in any sort of partnership with
my father. 1 have heard my father and mother and older brothers all say
that Mirandeau carried on blaeksmithing and did father's work whenever
engaged to do it, like any other mechanic' lie was. from my father's account
of him, a very good man but had one bad fault— he drank whisky, and that
was the cause of his death.

•'.Mirandeau married a Pottawatomie squaw with whom he lived t ; ll his
death in the sprine; of 1819. After Ins death she and her children went to
live anion- the Pottawatomies again, except Victoria, who was raised by the
Kinzies in Chicago, and in 1822 she married a Canadian named Joseph Por-
thier. .Mrs. Porthier is still living (1887 in the town of Lake near Mil
waukee. I think nearly all Mirandeau's sons and daughters married Indians.
Louis was alive fifteen years ago near Grand Rapids, Wisconsin. Several of
the others went with the Pottawatomies to Kansas in 1837.

"Mirandeau was buried on the slope of the hill on what is now the north-
easl corner of Main and Michigan streets. When in 1837 or 1838, Michigan
Street was being graded Solomon Juneau told the workmen to take care ot
Mirandeau's bones, their resting place being marked by a wo,, den cross, i

MILWAUKEE IX THE PIONEER PERIOD 115

was standing near the grave with others when the blacksmith's skull came
tumbling down the hank. The greater part of the hair was still attached to
the skull, and some one remarked that the reason for this was that Mirandeau
had drunk so much poor whisky that he hail become sort of pickled. I do
not know how much truth there was in the remark. The rest of the bones
came down almost immediately after, and all the remains were picked up by
Juneau's orders, put in a box and placed in the regular cemetery."

Life Routine of a Fur Trader. — "My father remained at his post during
the winter of 1795-17 n G, and indeed, every winter thereafter for two or three
years. Each spring, after packing up the winter's peltries and buying all the
maple sugar obtainable from the Indians, father would start out with his
family and goods on his return to Mackinaw, after leaving a clerk in charge
of the post, to superintend the planting of potatoes and corn and the purchase
of what were called "summer furs." These were the 'red skin' or summer
skin of the deer: this was the only summer fur that was good for anything,
for all other animals shed their hair during that season.

"Upon his return down the lake father would stop at his various 'jack-
knife posts' and collect their furs and maple sugar, and often relieve the men
stationed there by substituting others for them. This trip to Mackinaw would,
with fair weather, take about a month. He would set out on his return in
August, distributing goods to the lake shore posts, and stay at Milwaukee
until May again. Thus he did not abandon any of his posts; he was not doing
a roving business, but was in possession of the establishments the entire time."

It is stated in the further course of A. J. Vieau's narrative that his father
while still in charge of the lake shore posts was ordered by the Fur Company
to the Fox-Wisconsin portage in 1797 or 1798, and thither he went with h'.s
family, remaining there in the company's behalf for two or three seasons.
Then he returned to Milwaukee anil resumed his former mode of life there,
going either to Mackinaw or Green Pay, each spring, with 'long-shore goods
and returning in the fall.

"After disposing of his interests to Juneau in 1819," continues the narra-
tive of A. J. Vieau, "my father was equipped by Michael Dousman of Chicago,
and for several years traded at his old post on the Menomonee River near
the bluff. He was an active man, very prompt and precise in his business deal-
ings and sociable in his manner, so that he commanded much influence with
the Pottawatomies. In the winter of 1832-33 the small-pox scourge ran
through the Indian population of the state. Father and bis crew were busy
throughout the winter in burying the natives who died off like sheep.

* * In this work and in assisting the poor wretches who survived, my
father lost much time and money, while of course none of the Indians who
lived over were capable of paying their debts to the trailers. This winter
ruined my father almost completely, and in 1836, aged seventy-four years,
he removed to his homestead in Green Bay where his father-in-law, Joseph
Le Roy, still lived."

Cabins of the Pioneers. — Living conditions in the thirties while terri-
torial government prevailed (1836 to 1848) were bard but wholesome. In
the Wisconsin Magazine of History, for December, 1919, Miss Louise Phelps

116 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

Kellogg describes some of the features of life among the settlers. "As a rale

eaeli family was a unit largely self-sufficing," she writes. "When necessity
arose for combined labor, .it was accomplished by voluntary services called
'bees,' which were made the occasion of social recreation. The must impor-
tant 'bee' was that for cabin-making. The logs were cut and trimmed before
hand, and people came for miles around to take part in the 'raising. 1 The
proper space having been marked off, the logs were quickly rolled and laid
in plaee, notched at the ends to hold firm. The roof was made of bark or
'shakes,' the floor of puncheons — logs split in two with rounded side down.
The interstices between the logs were chinked in with clay or mud and
usually whitewashed both inside and out. Sometimes the entire cabin was
made without the use of nails. A blanket was used for a door until a board
one could be made. Windows were covered with shutters, but few had in
them any glass.

"The most important part of the structure was the chimney, which some
times occupied all one side of the cabin. This was commonly built of small
stones and (day, although sticks occasionally took the place of stones, lid"
this capacious fireplace great logs were hauled, somet'mes by the help of a
horse, to keep the family warm in the severe Wisconsin winters. Almosl
all the immigrants from the older states brought with them furniture, cook-
ing utensils, linen for tables and beds, and some store of quilts and clothing
Additional furniture was quickly provided by the handy skill of the men
and boys. Bedsteads were improvised with one side fastened between the
logs, ticks were filled with straw or hay and most housewives brought with
them a cherished feather bed. The •truck patch' quickly furnished vege
tables, while the woods and streams abounded with fish and game. Deer
were easily obtained, and plenty of smaller animals and game birds were
within reach of a gun.*'

This attractive picture of living conditions among tin' pioneers is made
more interesting by other matter-of-fact details. "Tools and implements
were precious," continues Miss Kellogg in her account. "Except the axe
and hammer, tools were freely borrowed and lent, agricultural implements
were almost common property. One grindstone usually served a considerable
community." The neighbors assisted one another not only at house raising
but at plowing and harvesting, clearing land and grubbing stumps, fencing
and planting. "Sickness, death, anil marriage were community affairs;
everyone lent a helping hand, and any skill or ability he possessed was at
the service of his neighbors."

A Pioneer Journey from New York State. — The incidents of a journey
undertaken by one of the emigrating families from the eastern portion of
New York Stale about the year 1820, form a picture of pioneer conditions
such as was commonly experienced among the arrivals in the New Wesl of
that period. The following account, substantially quoted below, was written
by one id' the daughters of the family as she recalled the scenes of her girl-
hood days. In an address prepared in late)- years and read before a small
company of fr'ends, she said: "I will ask yon to take with me the journey
■which seemed like a weary march from one world to another.

MILWAUKEE IN THE PIONEER PERIOD 117

"No railroads had then been planned, and as a great internal improve-
ment the Erie Canal was being constructed. My father and second brother
had preceded us and my mother and eldest brother had charge of the cara-
van, the mental picture of which may increase your appreciation of the rail-
way and palace ear of the later days. We may see several wagons waiting
loaded with household necessities (all else had been sold at auction), with
only room for personal belongings and places for the accommodation of the
members of our large family.

Breaking- the Old Home Ties.— "When all was ready a tearful company
assembled at the parting, and the caravan moved on toward 'the West' not
knowing whither it was going beyond that indefinite destination. At Utica
we exchanged our teams for canal travel as far as Rochester, then wagons
aga'n to Buffalo, where we arrived just in time for the steamer waiting with
tires burning at the wharf. We were to sail on the 'Superior,' the second
steamboat put afloat on Lake Erie. Only time remained to get a hasty din-
ner which I decided to forego,

"I had asked about the boat and it had been pointed out to me, so being
somewhat enterprising, I set out on my own account to make sure of my
passage and got safely aboard without question. So when the family were
ready to take ship one silly lamb was missing. In great consternation the
missing one was sought for everywhere. The moments were growing pre-
cious. If they should miss the steamer it might be two weeks before an-
other trip Mould be made.

"At the last moment my mother remembered my question as to the
whereabouts of the steamer, and with a faint hope of finding the lost one
they all came dashing down to the wharf, the horses being urged to the top
of their speed in dread of beinjj' left, when, behold, the lost child stood wait-
ing for them, well satisfied with her performance and quite innocent of any
intention to give the anxiety and trouble she had caused.

The Voyage on Lake Erie. — "Very soon we were steaming out into the
open sea which practically was just as boundless as the broader Atlantic,
for when you are out of sight of land, what matter whether the distance
be one hundred or one thousand miles. And as for sea-sickness the inland sea
is worse for the waves arc shorter and the motion more upsetting. Well, as
retribution for the trouble I had caused my friends, or as a precaution lest 1
climb over the guards to have a visit with the fishes, I was taken very ill
and continued so during the four or five days between Buffalo and Detroit.
The voyage, I think, was stormy but I only know that it seemed interminable
and that I was very, very sick. I did not recover quickly and was still poorly
when we embarked again on a small boat which plied between Detroit and
Monroe, the place to which we were going."

A few words as to the status of both Michigan and Wisconsin at this
period may be appropriate in this place. At the period referred to in the
pioneer's narrative Lewis Cass was the governor of Michigan Territory which
included the present State of Wisconsin, the capital being at Detroit. This
area had previously formed a part of the old Northwest Territory under the
Ordinance of 1787, but in the organization of Indiana Territory in 1800 it was

118 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

included in its boundaries. In 1809, it became a pari of Illinois Territory
after its formation. When Illinois vvas admitted to the Union, in 1818, it
became a pari of Michigan Territory, and did not have a separate and dis-
tind existence until 1836, when it was organized under a territorial form of
governmenl and took the name of Wisconsin, although Governor Doty en-
deavored long and hard to secure the adoption of the name of "Wiskonsan"
in which, fortunately, he did not succeed.

Territorial Days (1836-1848). "Previous to 1836," says II. E. Legler in
his volume, "Leading Events in Wisconsin History." "Wisconsin had been
a neglected section, successively, of the territories of the Northwest, Indiana.
Illinois and Michigan. As early as Isiid. Judge -lames Duane Doty, who rep-
resented the judicial authority of Michigan Territory in the region west of the
lake, had begun an agitation to secure separate territorial governmenl for
Wisconsin. He represented that the seal oi governmenl Detroii .

being 600 miles distant, totally inaccessible during the winter season and
nearly so by land at all periods of the year, the people regarded it as little
more than the capital of a foreign government; that their votes for repre-
sentatives could not lie forwarded in time to he counted; that this being the
home of some of the most numerous and warlike nations of Indians within
the United States, the people ought to have better facilities for protection,"
ete.

While Judge Doty was partial to the ungainly orthography of the name
of "Wiskonsan." he also proposed as an alternative choice the name "Chip-
pewau." Other names proposed during the long period of agitation were,
"Huron" and "Superior," hut the euphonious rendering of the French
"Ouisconsin" finally prevailed in the present form. Into the territorial lump
was included a large section of what is now Iowa. .Minnesota and a part
of Dakota. "Until given separate territorial rights," says heeler. "Wiscon-
sin was an orphan in the neglectful charge, first of the Northwest Territory,
then of the territories of Indiana. Illinois and Michigan."

Albert Fowler, Early Settler. -The firsl countj clerk of Milwaukee County
was Albert Fowler, a sketch of whom is given in .1. S. Buck's "Pioneer His
tory of Milwaukee." lie was also the first justice of the peace in the county.
lie was thirty-one years of age when he came to Milwaukee an. I soon after
his arrival he entered the employ of Solomon Juneau as a clerk. "He was

the first white man of Anglo-Saxon hi 1 to settle in Milwaukee," says

Watrous, and he held many town and county offices during his residence here.
In 1853 he removed to Etockford, Illinois, where he was three times elected
to the mayoralty of that city. He died there at the age of eightj oni

.Mr. Fowler's narrative of his coming 1" Milwaukee in the fall of 1833
is full of interest and presents a lively picture of pioneer conditions. "Having
acquired a few hundred dollars." he relates, "by speculating in corner lots
ami trading with the Indians at Chicago, during the summer and autumn of
1833, I left during the early pait of November of that year, in company \
K. .1. Furrier. Andrew .1. Lansing and Quartus <i. Carley for Milwaukee. Tii
journey passed without further incident than the difficulty experienced in
getting through a country with a team, where neither roads nor bridges

MILWAUKEE IX THE PIOXEER PERIOD 119

existed; until the evening of the 12th of November, 1833, when we were en-
eamped on the banks of Root River, and on which oeeasion the great meteoric
display occurred that so alarmed the Indians and which has become a matter

of historical remark to this day.

"We pursued our journey the day following, I being compelled to swim
Root River no less than three times in getting over our baggage and team
although the weather was so cold as to freeze our water-soaked clothing. At
Skunk Grove we found Col. George H. Walker who had a small store of
Indian goods and was trading there. We reached Milwaukee on the 18th of
November, 1833. After our arrival in Milwaukee, my three companions and
myself took possession of an old log cabin where we lived during the winter
of 1833-4, doing our own cooking and amusing ourselves as best we could,
there being no other white man in the place during the winter except Solo-
mon Juneau."

Fowler made a trip to Chicago a few weeks after his arrival in Milwaukee
which was the occasion of considerable hardship and suffering. "In the early
part of the month of January. 1834," he says, "Mrs. Juneau was taken ex-
ceedingly ill, and there being neither medicines nor physicians nearer than
Chicago, I was started off by Juneau on an Indian pony, clad in Indian
mocassins and leggins and a spare blanket, for medical aid. The journey in
mid-winter, through eighty-five or ninety miles of wilderness, was one of
great hardships, and one' I should never desire to undertake again. The
Indians predicted I would perish, but thanks to a vigorous constitution and
a physique already inured to frontier life, I succeeded in reaching Chicago,
pbtaining the desired aid, and was rewarded with the double satisfaction of
having assisted in relieving a most kind and noble hearted woman, besides
the gift of a new su'.t of clothes from .Mr. Juneau."

"In the spring of 1834, my companions went up the river to the school
section and made a claim, upon which they afterwards built a mill, and 1
went into Mr. Juneau's employ, kept his books and accompanied him in his
trading expeditions among the Indians. I soon learned to speak the Potta-
watomie and Menomonee languages with considerable fluency, dressed in
Indian fashion, and was known among them as 'Red Cap,' a name given me
because 1 wore a red cap when I first came among them. I remained in Mr.
Juneau's employ until 1836. After he was appointed postmaster I assisted
him in the post office, and prepared the first quarterly report ever made out
at that office."

Modes of Travel. — There were several different modes of travel employed
by the immigrants of the '30s and '40s. J. S. Puck mentions in his book
two men, Palser and Holmes, who came from Michigan City in an open boal
drawn by a horse following the beach tiie whole distance. Enoch Chase came
in 1835, traveling in a wagon from Chicago in company with James Plinl
and Gordon Morton. The first day they traveled as far as Gross Point,
twelve miles from the starting point, and the next day they covered the dis-
tance to Sunderland's, back of the present City of W'aukegan.

"We intended to stay at Louis Vieau's trading house at Skunk Grove
(in Racine County) the third night, but found the house filled with drunken

120 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

linliaiis. and concluded to push on, reaching Root River which we crossed on
a pole bridge before dark. * * The following day we reached Walker's

Point in Milwaukee about noon."

Edward D. Holton's Reminiscences. — In his address before the .Milwaukee
< 'handier of < lommerce in 1858, Edward U. Holtmi gave a rapid and interesting
review of his arrival in .Milwaukee in 1838, and of his subsequent experiences
as a citizen. Portions of his address are given below:

"When a boy of fifteen or sixteen years of age I read the history of the
Valley of the Mississippi by the Rev. Timothy Flint, an itinerant missionary
of the Presbyterian Church. Never will the impressions of his graphic and
delightful descriptions of our own portion of the great valley pass from my

mind. I longed to depart from my New England mountain home and I ome

a citizen of that fair land. Following the open door of opportunity I made my
way first to Wisconsin in the fall of 1838. I spent one day in Milwaukee.
A period of high water was then prevailing on the lake and much of the
lower part of the settlement was submerged — no sidewalks, no streets; specu-
lation had raged here through the years 1836 and 1837, and everything was
now prostrated. Surely a more desolate, down-at-the-heel, slip-shod looking
place scarcely could be found than was Milwaukee in October, 1838. It
population was from twelve to fifteen hundred.

"I turned away from the town then with the feeling that if it was a fair
sample of tin' glorious and beautiful West. I had seen enough, lint my journey
took me into the interior of the state, through all the southern part of our
own ami the northern and central parts of Illinois. At this time the popula-
tion was very sparse. As an illustration, 1 passed a night and a day at the
cabin of a gentleman who was almost the sole occupant of the beautiful little
prairie known as Prairie du Lac which later became the site of the Village of
Milton, in Rock County, and the populous region round about. The owner
and occupant of that cabin is now a member of this board and is present
upon this floor. I allude to N. G. Storrs.

"At what is now the site of Janesville, I tarried a number of days. There
were there then three log houses and one log blacksmith shop. John P.
Dickson, just elected a member of the Legislature from the City of Janes-
ville. entertained travelers in his more than usually ample log house. Old
Squire Janes, a frontiersman from whom the town took its name, was residing
there. At that time there were no bridges and but \\'\v roads in the whole
country. But the weather was delightful, and who that saw Southern Wis-
consin and Northern Illinois in that early day. when the annual tires swept
prairie and opening, and made them (dean and smooth as a house floor, will
ever forget their beauty, or the facility with which the traveler passed through
the country even without roads and bridges? Most fully now did my own
observat'ons confirm the description given by Mr. Flint, of the beauty and
natural wealth of the country !

"It was not difficult for the commonesl observer to arrive at a conclusion,
after an observation of the surrounding country, that important towns must
arisu upon the west shore of Fake Michigan, and hence it was that my own

MILWAUKEE IN THE PIONEER PERIOD 121

mind turned again toward Milwaukee as one of those natural commercial
I mints to which this delightful interior country must become tributary.

Takes Up His Abode in Milwaukee.— •' On the 12th day of November, 1840,
I took up my abode iii .Milwaukee, with the profession of merchant. I first
opened my goods in one corner of a warehouse known as Hollister Ware-
house, just below Walker's Point bridge, but soon after removed to another
location on the corner of Wisconsin and East Water streets." Mr. Holton
then recalled some of the early business men of the period. There was
Maurice Pixley, a brother of John Pixley, who did business on the west side
of East Water Street; Ludington & Company, composed of Lewis Ludington,
Harrison Ludington and Harvey Birchard; Gary & Taylor, clothing; Higby &
Wardner, general merchandise; Cady & Parwell, iron and tin; J. & L. Ward.
This firm did a large business and was •"the first to induce the transportation
of lead across the country by wagons drawn by oxen from the lead mines."
This business was continued to a greater or less extent for two or three
years.

Among the other places of business mentioned by Mr. Holton in his
address were the shop of Robert Davis, Tailor; the shoe shop of Richard Ilad-
ley; and the store of George Bowman. These were all above Michigan Street.
and on the west side of East Water Street. Below Michigan Street and above
Huron, was the store of William Brown & Company, one of the first firms
which did business in Milwaukee. Next to them was the store of L. Rock-
well & Company; next, that of Goo. F. Austin, and of Cowles & Company.
George Dousman was the leading forwarder of that day; and Holton 's store
was the only one on the east side of the street. Below Michigan, and above
Huron, was the residence of Mr. Juneau, and the Cottage Inn. The hotels
and taverns were made up as follows: The Milwaukee House, kept by Graves
& Myers, on the corner of Wisconsin and Main streets; the Cottage Inn, kept
by Mr. Vail; and the Fountain House kept by X. P. Hawks. The Cottage Inn
was consumed in the great fire of 1845.

•"And now I am amazed," cont'nued Mr. Holton in his address, •'when I
visit either the northern or southern ends of our city and witness the extent
of business done. Now, hundreds of people come to the city daily to do busi-
ness, and in coming from the north, market their productions ami make their
purchases, and do not get east of the river, or south of Tamarack Street. The
same is approximately true when an equal number approach the city from
the south and do not get north of the Milwaukee and Menomonee rivers; so
numerous and extensive are the mercantile and manufacturing establishments
in those quarters of the town, where, at the time to which our observation
goes back, not one of them existed."

Professional Men and Others. — Following the mention of the business men
Mr. Holton gives the names of professional men and others belonging to that
period. Among the members of the legal fraternity there were J. II. Tweedy;
Upham & Walworth; Wells, Crocker & F neh ; Graham & Blossom; Charles
J. Lynde; J. E. Arnold; and Francis Randall. The physicians of that day
were Drs. E. P.. Woleott, Proudfit, Ilewett. Bartlett and Castleman. Members
of the clerical profession were Rev. Lemuel Bull, rector of St. Paul's Church;

122 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE

Rev. Stephen Peet, minister in charge of the Presbyterian Church; Rev. Mr.
Bowles, of the Methodisl Episcopal Church; and Rev. Father Morrissey of the

< 'at Inilic- ( Ihurch.

Others mentioned by the speaker were Cyrus Hawley, clerk of the court;
Rufus Parks, receiver; Colonel Morton, register; Daniel Wells, deputy sheriff;
Clark Shepardson, blacksmith; Ambrose Ely, shoemaker; C. I>. Davis, livery
keeper; .lames Murray, painter; Elisha Starr and Geo. Tiffany, stage men;
Matthew Stein, gunsmith; Doney & Mosely, founders; I. A. Lapham and
Joshua Hathaway, land agents; 1'.. II. Edgerton and Garretl \*liet. surveyors;
Harrison Reed, publisher of the Sentinel; Daniel II. Richards, publisher of
the Advertiser; Alexander Mitchell, banker; and Messrs. Kilbourn, Juneau,
G. II. Walker. I.. W. Weeks. James II. Rogers, Mayor Prentiss, ami E. Cramer.
proprietors, land dealers and money lenders. These were the names of the
leading men of that day and their occupations.

Beginnings of the Grain Business. — Mr. E. D. Holton, in his address before
the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce in 1858, gave some interesting infom
tion about the grain business in its early days. "I")) to 1841, no grain had
gone iint of Wisconsin," he said. "I think 1 am correcl in stating that I
purchased during the winter of ls-h> and 1841 the firsl cargo of grain thai
was sent from the then territory. The amount was small: I advertised to
pay cash for it. and gathered about four thousand bushels which wenl to
Canada in the spring of 1*41. From this time on more or less grain came to
town, and I suppose I am correct still in saying that the firm of Holton iV
Goodall, up to ]N44. purchased more wheal than all others put together. But
still the amount was trifling, not exceeding in tl ntire year, nor even reach-
ing, as much as now arrives in a single day in the season of marketing this
commodity.

As the grain hnsiness increased there were warehouses hnilt fur handling
this important staple. In 1848, the first building to use a steam engine for

the elevation of grain was completed by Alanson Sweet. From thai tun i

building operations were frequent in adding t<> the facilities I'm- storage.
"It took three days in 1*41." says Holton, "to ship the 4,000 bushels of wheal
I spoke of, as the first shipment made from Wisconsin. Now, I suppose, if
need be, more than as many hundred thousands of bushels could he shipped
in t he same time. "

Piers Along the Lake Shore. — The first pier was hnilt at the font of Huron
Street in the year 1842, by Horatio Stevens, of New 5Tork. He added to this
a second in the next year, and .Mi'. Higby hnilt a third iii 1845. These piers
were near together. In 1845, Doctor Weeks hnilt the smith pier. For several
years these piers did nearly the entire business both for imports and exports,
until their construction," says Bolton, "vessels and steamers anchored
and in the absence of a harbor they answered the purpose admirably. "For,
in the hay. and received ami discharged their cargoes at infinite cosl and
trouble upon a small steamhoat. or sc,,\\s." The opening of the new harbor
was begun ami partly broughl into use in L844. From L840 until the new
liarlmr came into use the little steamer. "C. < '. Trowbridge" performed the
hnsiness of running up and down the river, taking freight and passeng ts,

MILWAUKEE IN THE PIONEER PERIOD 123

to and from the steamers and vessels in the bay. This little steamer drew
about two feet of water and was able to get over the bar at the mouth of the
river.

Increase A. Lapham. — The records of early Milwaukee as well as those of
the state are filled with allusions and frequent mentions of this distinguished
man. Increase A. Lapham came to Milwaukee in July, 1836. He was then
a young man of twenty-five having emigrated to this state at the invitation of
Byron Kilbourn, and at once became a conspicuous figure among the early
settlers and later among the scientific men of the state, as his tastes were
chiefly in the direction of scientific investigations. He studied and made
known through various publications the physical features, topography, geol-
ogy, natural history, meteorology ami antiquities of the state.

The animal-shaped mounds of Wisconsin early attracted his attention of
which he made an extended survey, and an account of which was published
by the Smithsonian Institution in 1855. He also examined and described
several masses of meteoric iron found near Milwaukee on which he found
peculiar marks afterwards known as "Laphamite markings." Mr. Lapham 's
education consisted only of that obtained in the common schools, supplemented
by his own studious efforts. In I860, he received from Amherst College the
degree of "LL. D."

In the biographical sketch printed in Conard's "Milwaukee," it is stated
tiiat Doctor Lapham made numerous observations on the rise and fall of water
in Lake Michigan by which the highest and lowest and the mean or average
stage was determined. These observations were used by the engineers of
Milwaukee and Chicago in establishing their systems of sewerage and water
supply. "In 1849, he made a series of very careful observations by which
he discovered in the lake a slight lunar tide like that of th •can. This im-
portant fact was announced in the papers at the time, and the observations
were communicated to the Smithsonian Institution. Many years later Lieut. -
Col. James I). Graham of Chicago made a like discovery at that city, the tide
there being much larger than at Milwaukee." More extended remarks are
made on the subject of lake tides in another portion of this work contained
in tiie chapter on the Natural History of Lake Michigan.

At the unveiling of the Lapham Memorial in Lapham Park, Milwaukee,
on June 18, 1915 (the centennial anniversary, it may be noted, of the battle
of Waterloo), Mr. William Ward Wight made an address which contains
many interesting facts concerning the subject of this chapter.

Increase Allen Lapham was horn at Palmyra, New York, .March 7, 1811.
His father, Seneca Lapham, was a contractor on the Erie ('anal, and in 1824
the family lived at Lockport, N. Y., where stupendous and intricate engineer-
ing was employed in the const met ion of the canal locks at that place. He
acquired experience and knowledge in surveying while at work with his
father, and was afterwards employed in similar work in Ohio and Ken-
tucky. On his arrival in Milwaukee he engaged in a variety of occupations
and soon gained recognition for his scientific accomplishments both al home
and in more distant centers of learning.

"Mr. Lapham was intensely interested in the education of youth, and his

KJOW ALL MEX, That

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is ncrcby acknowledged, do£d "hereby bargain, sell, convey, and forever Q, U I T CLf A I M, to the said pari 4f oj the
second party jwj heirs and assigns forever, \hc following real estate, viz: ^t!^/^' vl^t^-v-v^/L

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Together with all the privileges and appirrtenances to the same belonging: TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the same to the
said partis of the second part, Av-? heirs and assigyis forever: Hereby covenanting that the title so conveyed is elecx,
free, afnd unincumbered by any act of the grantor herein.

In witness whereof the said part if of the frst part has hereunto set *ti~? luimd and scat , flu*

£fa^/€Z£^Z£- day of ^tf&-/j fc^S^-r- •" ">* y<"v eighteen hundred and UsmtifA ■rj7fci*^ .

In the presence of J *

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fLtt&t*.

COPY OF A (HIT CLAIM DEED ISSUED BY LNCKEASE A. LAPHAM IN L843

MILWAUKEE IN THE PIONEER PERIOD 125

name appears at the head of those citizens who, on March 1, 1851, became
incorporated by legislative act as the Normal Institute and the High School
of Milwaukee. This institution became later the Milwaukee Female College,
and still later the Milwaukee Downer College. Of this girls' school he became
president in 1851, and so continued until he declined further election in 1863.
He was a trustee from 1851 until his death, twenty-four years. In the welfare
of the young women gathered in that college he was deeply interested, tem-
pering and holding in check the extreme views of the early patron of the
school, Miss Catherine Beecher, yet advocating the advanced and symmetrical
development of the feminine mind. His bonks, his collections, the wealth of
his varied learning were always at the service of teachers and pupils."

"How gladly would I," continued Mr. Wight in his address, "his remote
successor at the head of the trustees of Milwaukee Downer College, exhibit
to President Lapham the present institution in the Eighteenth Ward the seeds
of which his labors planted and his industry watered!"

In a bibliography of Wisconsin authors published in 1873, Doctor Lap-
ham's name appears as the author of a long list of works in the form of
contributions to periodicals or in separate volumes and pamphlets, on his
chosen subjects. Of these the list mentions some fifty titles. In a list of
eminent meteorologists by Prof. Henry J. Cox, of the United States Weather
Bureau, and Dr. J. Paul Goode of the University of Chicago, published by
the Geographic Society of Chicago in 1906, Doctor Lapham is named by these
authors as "the man who took a prominent part in influencing Congress to
establish the Weather Service, then known as the Signal Service, in this
country." He helped to organize the new service and for a time in 1870
hi' served as forecaster in charge of the Storm Warning service. In 187.'! he
was appointed state geologist of Wisconsin.

Doctor Lapham was married October 24, 1838, to Ann M. Alcott of
Rochester, N. Y. Mrs. Lapham died in Milwaukee February 25, 1863. In
the address of Mr. William Ward Wight at the unveiling of the Lapham
Memorial in Lapham Park, Milwaukee, June 18, 1915, he adds this tribute to
tlie memory of Mrs. Lapham: "She was a worthy helpmeet for her husband;
his papers received her criticism, all his labors her encouragement, all his scien-
tific tasks her assistance, all his varied successes her applause."

In the publication of the "State Historical Society" (Volume VII, 472).
Dr. Lyman C. Draper writes of the death of Doctor Lapham, as follows:
"Wisconsin's great naturalist, Increase A. Lapham, LL.D., died of heart dis-
ease while alone in a boat on Lake Oconomowoc, September 14, 1875, in the
sixty-fifth year of his age. Coming to Wisconsin in 1836, he, probably more
than any other person, drew attention by his writings to the advantages
for settlement and enterprise which the territory, afterwards the state, of
Wisconsin, presented to eastern emigrants; and as a scientist his nam,' had
become familiar to the savants of both hemispheres. For twenty-two years lie
served as president or vice president of the Wisconsin State Historical So-
ciety. The services and memory of such a man deserve fitting memorial
recognition by the society."

li'ii HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

Rapid Growth of City.- I. A. Lapham, writing of the growth of the city
in bis history of Wisconsin, in the early times, --ays:

"No town or city has grown up with anything like the rapidity of Mil
waukee. Within ten years from the time when the first family arrived here,
with a view to permanent residence, we see a city with a population of at
leasl ten thousand.

"The City of Rochester, in Western New York, lias often been referred
to as having increased more rapidly in wealth and population than any other
in the world — and perhaps she has Keen entitled to that distinction. Mr.
O'Reilley, who lias written a very valuable hook, entitled, 'Sketches of
Rochester and Western New York.' asks exultingly, 'Where, in what place,
through all the broad and fertile West, can there be shown any town which
has surpassed Rochester in the permanent increase of population, business and
wealth?' We may answer the question by making a little comparison.

"Rochester was laid out in 1812, and in 1816, or in four years, the popu-
lation was 331. In 1820, or eight years, the population was 1,500.

"Milwaukee was laid out in ls:!,">, and in is:',!), or in four years, the popula-
tion was 1,500 — or as much increase in four years as Rochester had in eight.
B\it in 1843, or in eight years, the population of Milwaukee was over m\
thousand, or an increase of four times as much as Rochester during a similar
period.

The "Father of the Typewriter." — An important page in the history of
inventions which have had their birthplace in .Milwaukee should he assigned
to the inventor of the typewriter, and the beginnings of his useful invention.
Christopher Latham Sholes was horn in Columbia County. Pennsylvania,
February 14. 1819. At an early aye he entered a newspaper office to learn
the printing business, and at the age of eighteen he joined a brother in the
same business at Green Bay, Wisconsin. A year later, when only nineteen
he compiled the house journal of the Territorial Legislature and attended to
its printing.

At twenty years of age young Sholes took charge of the Wis, sin "In-
quirer" at .Madison, and later he edited the Southport (Kenosha "Tele-
graph." In 1844 he became tin 1 postmaster, receiving his appointment from
President Polk. "Later." says the biographical sketch of ( '. L. Sholes in the
"National Cyclopaedia of American Biography," "during his residence at

.Milwaukee he was postmaster, and filled with credit the positions of COmmis
sinner of public works, and collector of customs. He was for a long tint''
editor of the 'Sentinel,' and the 'Xews' which at a later date was absorbed
into I he 'Sentinel. '

While discharging the duties of collector of customs at Milwaukee in

1866, sholes became interested in making a consecutive numbering machine
especially \'^v use on hank notes and on the pages of blank hooks. Hi-
attention being directed to an account of a machine devised by John Pratt,

an A ri, 'an inventor, published in an English journal, for writing by me-
chanical means, lie at once saw the possibilities of "a revolution in the
handling of a pen," and "from that moment he devoted his whole time and

MILWAUKEE IN THE PIONEER PERIOD 127

thought to the idea which has given to the world the typewriter." This won-
derful creation is the result of his creative genius.

"In 1SU7, the first crude instrument was made. James Densmore became
interested, and, in 1S7>>, the invention was so far perfected as to warrant
the production of machines on an enlarged scale. The Remington factory
at Ilion, X. Y., was selected, and the manufacture begun. For a long time
the financial returns were small, and Mr. Sholes, who was to receive a royalty
on each machine, disposed of his right for a comparatively small sum. Later
he invented several improvements, which with an excess of conscience char-
acteristic of the man he gave to the persons in control of the manufacture.
In the last years of his life, although confined to his lied, lie invented two new
machines for typewriting- which were more satisfactory to him than any of
his previous inventions. This last work of the weary hours in the chamber
of sickness was consigned to tin 1 care of his executors."

Mr. Sholes' Folitical Activities. — "In addition to his inventive powers,"
continues the sketch, "Mr. Sholes did much as an editor and a politician.
He witnessed the evolution of the State of Wisconsin from its wild begin-
nings, and contributed no small share to shape the laws that were necessary
to set the new state government in successful motion. Although at all times
interested in general politics, he was never a strictly party man. He was
raised a democrat, but in 1848 joined the free-soil movement. He served in
the State Senate in 1848-49 from Racine County, and in 1852-53 represented
Kenosha County in the Legislature; and in 1856-5? was state senator, being
president pro tern, for more than a year. He was a man of such broad and
generous sympathies that he took naturally to the side of the minority. His
innate abhorrence of wrong and cruelty made him an abolitionist, and he was
one of the most active founders of the republican party in the state. He was
a dreamer and an idealist, and though not a writer of poetry, was imbued with
a true poetic nature."

Mr. Sholes disliked the details of business and the painstaking efforts
usually found necessary to make money was with him a particular aversion.
A man of an excessively tender conscience in all matters pertaining to the
practical affairs of life he failed to secure the pecuniary reward that was
undoubtedly due to his abilities in perfecting the first successful typewriting
machine. "He lived to see the work of his genius," says the cyclopaedia
article already quoted from, "accepted throughout the world, and to hear the
pleasing compliment rendered him, that he was "the father of the type-
writer. '

Mr. Sholes died in Milwaukee February 17, 1890, at the age of seventy-one
years.

The foregoing sketch of C. L. Sholes and his invention is by no means a
complete history of the typewriter. Such a history is found in widely scat-
tered publications of which the more important ones are the biographical
cyclopaedia mentioned above, under the names of James Densmore, G. W. N.
Yost and John Pratt.

In a historical sketch of Kenosha County of which C. L. Sholes was one of
the early settlers (printed in the collections of the State Historical Society)

128 HISTOKY OF MILWAUKEE

it is quaintly remarked by the writer thai C. 1j. Sholes had "always been for-
ward in every improvement and good work, and that if the spirits of the de-
parted influence none to worse deeds than they did to him we shall not be very
jealous of their visits."

In Commemoration of Sholes' Invention. — On the occasion of the "Dia-
mond Jubilee," held in Milwaukee during the month of June. 1921, a letter
written by Mr. Frederick Heath was sent to the committee in charge urging
that some action be taken to honor the memory of C. Latham Sholes. the
inventor of the typewriter. Mr. Heath is a member of the county board, and
in the course of his letter he said: "It is more than fifty years since the
typewriter was invented, and it was a product of Milwaukee genius. Mr.
Sholes, the inventor, has never been fittingly recognized by Milwaukee, and
it is coming to be a matter of remark on the part of visitors to the city.
Even his grave lacks a monument and a collection is now being taken up
nationally by court reporters and stenographers for such a purpose.

"A few years ago, the Milwaukee County Board, of which 1 am a member.
purchased a piece of ground west and north of the Grand Avenue viaduct,
and just beyond what was known as Castalia Park. It was known as the
Winkler tract, and I had it named Sholes Park; with the design also of
making it a so-called historic park, in which might be placed educational
evidences of the lives of the early settlers, such as a log house, trading post.
windmills, etc. The park has never been formally thrown open to the people,
and I would suggest that it be fittingly dedicated."

CHAPTER XII
THE STORY OF THE '-LADY ELGIN" DISASTER

The appalling disaster, known in the history of Lake Michigan as the
"Wreck of the 'Lady Elgin'," occurred on September 8, 1860, on which occa-
sion 297 lives were lost, most of them residents of Milwaukee. The particulars
of this disaster are narrated in the following pages. In point of the number
of lives lost this disaster was the greatest that had ever up to that time
occurred on any of the Great Lakes. It remained the most important event
of that kind for fifty-five years until the foundering of the steamer "East-
land" in the Chicago River on July 24, 1915, with the loss of 812 lives.

The steamer "Lady Elgin," a large side-wheel steamer, and the finest one
on the lakes, left Chicago late in the evening of September 7, 1860, with
nearly four hundred passengers on board bound for Milwaukee. While pro-
ceeding on her course about three hours later, that is, about two o'clock in
the morning of September 8th, the steamer came into collision with the
schooner "Augusta" bound for Chicago. Immediately after the collision tin'
captain of the schooner hailed the captain of the steamer inquiring if his
ship had suffered any damage and whether help was needed, but receiving an
answer that no assistance was required the schooner proceeded on her course.
<>u her arrival in Chicago Harbor next morning the captain of the schooner
learned from the papers that tin' steamer had gone down in half an hour after
the collision and that a large number of lives were lost.

Position of the Ill-fated Steamer. — The blow received by the unfortunate
steamer was far more serious than her captain realized at first. The bow of the
schooner had struck her forward of the paddle box on the port side, the
broken stump of her bowsprit entering the sal i where many of the pas-
sengers, largely composed of young people, were occupied in dancing and
merry-making at the time. A great hole was opened in her side reaching
far below the water line and the water began pouring in flooding the engine
room and lower decks. The steamer was proceeding north about five miles
from shore and was then about opposite Highland Park, a village twenty-
three miles from Chicago. As Milwaukee is eighty-five miles from Chicago
the steamer had covered a little more than a quarter of the distance to that
port which was the destination of the great majoriy of her passengers.

There was a gale blowing from the northeast accompanied by rain, and
the waves were running high. The steamer was brought to a stop imme-
diately after the collision and three boats were lowered manned by sailors
provided with mattresses and sail-cloth for the purpose of stopping the hole

129

B$£

- - --

'-'£ Z

_ y --

THE STORY OF THE "LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 131

in her side; but the oars were broken or lost in the attempt and the boats
drifted away, eventually arriving on the neighboring shore with their occu-
pants in safety though no passengers were with them. It was the report
of these men that gave the first intelligence of the disaster mi shore and
which was telegraphed to Chicago from the Highland Park Railroad Station.

Foundering of the Steamer. — Large quantities of wreckage were loosened
as the steamer went down, and the passengers seized upon any object that
would serve to keep them afloat. In the cargo was a drove of cattle and
the struggling animals were precipitated into the lake among the passengers.
Many found a precarious hold on the backs of these animals as they swam
about, although none of the cattle reached the shore alive. A large piece
of the hurricane deck of the steamer became detached at the moment when
the steamer went down, and on this raft-like object the heroic captain
gathered more than fifty people and navigated the improvised raft toward
the shore at Winnetka. The steamer hail no other boats than those lowered
by the sailors in the attempt to stop the leak and these did not return to
the ship, and consequently proved of no assistance in the work of rescue.
The raft ran on a sand bar at some distance from the shore and went to
pieces and most of those who had so nearly reached a place of safety were
lost in the raging surf, and with them the captain who was plainly seen
from the shore holding a child in his arms whose life he was endeavoring
to save while retaining his hold on the raft. Llis efforts, however, were in
vain, as will appear in the later course of this narrative.

Newspaper Accounts. — The issue of the New York Illustrated News for
September 22, 1860 (preserved' in the rooms of the "Old Settlers' Club" at
Milwaukee), contains an account of the disaster accompanied by a number of
illustrations, a portrait of Capt. John Wilson, and a picture of the schooner
"Augusta" after her arrival at Chicago showing her damaged condition.
There are other views, one of them a large double page picture of the steamer
just before she sank, which of course is drawn from description.

The disaster is described as taking place twenty-five miles from Chicago
and ten miles from shore. The schooner, says the account, struck the steamer
"at the midship's gangway on tin.' larboard side." She sank in half an hour
"in nearly three hundred feet of water." .Mr. Caryl, the clerk of the steamer,
was one of the survivors, and his account is printed among others, which is
substantially as follows: "Left Chicago Harbor at 11:30 P. M. of the 7th
with Milwaukee excursionists, a party of about three hundred persons known
as the 'Union Guard' and their invited friends." The plan of the excursion
party was to spend the day in Chicago where they were to attend a political
meeting which was to be addressed by Stephen A. Douglas, United States
Senator from Illinois, and return to .Milwaukee in the evening. The Union
Guard was a volunteer military company composed of Irishmen and demo-
crats, and, as in consequence of a controversy with the state government
some mouths before, their arms had been called in by the adjutant general,
if was intended that the profits from the excursion should be used to pur-
chase a new outfit.

Efforts to Stop the Water. — In the direction opposite to that in which

132 BISTORT? OF MILWAUKEE

the steamer was moving the schooner "Augusta," lumher Laden, was bearing
down upon her, though all Lights were burning both on the steamer and
schooner, with her sails set and approaching a1 a bigh rate of speed with
the wind in her favor. As appears from subsequenl reports both the officers
of the steamer and the schooner bad seen the Lights of the other for some
time before the collision. After the crash a dumb panic seized the throngs of
passengers. The mate reported afterwards that be passed through the cabin
after the collision and "the silent women sal there with their beautiful pale
t'aees. motionless and resigned, sunn to be engulfed in the raging waters of
the lake."

At this point Lake Michigan is about sixty miles in width, ami the land
on the Michigan shore even in clear daylight is invisible. No Life savings
crew was then in service, the Government not having yel established the
station at Gross Point which indeed did not begin its existence until June,
1871. There was therefore little or no hope of relief from the shore. The
three boats of the steamer were quickly lowered manned by sailors provided
with blankets and mattresses with which it was intended to stop the yawning
gap in her side, as stated above. The engine and walking beam had broken
away from their fastenings as the result of the collision and dropped through
the bottom of the steamer, thus relieving her of an immense weight but at
the same time causing another great opening through which the water rushed
hastening the inevitable moment of her sinking.

In an editorial article of one of the papers it was said: "A tragedy which

almost puts a paralysis upon one's faculties, and certainly strikes t hen

for words to utter or tears to express its agonies." is that of the sinkinc il
the "Lady Elgin." "The excursionists were composed." it says, "of a volun-
teer military company of Milwaukee known as the 'Union Guard.' In the
party were many youths and maidens, the flower ami beauty of Milwaukee
and Chicago, anil of young and old from various parts of the States and
foreign countries. Universal merriment ami revelry prevailed among the
passengers, a band furnishing the music for the dancing in the saloon which

was brilliantly lighted." Outside the sky was dark and murky, the m had

risen at midnight and it was able to lighten the gloom only slightly through
the heavy clouds, while a steady rain was falling.

The Account of the Captain of the Augusta. Captain Malott, of the
schooner "Augusta," states that when he first discovered the steamer's lights,
both red and blight, hi' supposed her to be from a quarter to a half mile dis-
tant, and steering northeast: il was raining very bard at the lime. "We

kept our Vessel on the course east by SOUth, Until We saw a collision was
probable, when we put the helm hard and struck the steamer two Or three
minutes afterwards on the port side; the steamer kept on her course, her
engine in full motion. The 'Augusta' headed around north, alongside the
steamer, but they got separated in about a minute, when the schooner fell
into the trough of the sea: all the head '/ear. jibboom and Stanchions were
carried away. We took in sail and cleared away the anchor, supposing the
\esscl would till. After we hail cleared the wreck and got up tin- Eoresail,

THE STORY OF THE -LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 133

we succeeded in getting before the wind, and stood for land; we lost sight of
the steamer five minutes after the collision."

.Mr. Beman, second mate of the steamer "Lady Elgin," stated thai "at
half past two a small squall struck us, and in five minutes more we saw the
lights of the vessel one point off the port bow. I sung out 'hard-a-port,' but
the vessel seemed to pay no attention, and struck us just forward of the
paddle-box, larboard side, tearing off the wheel and cutting through the
guards into the cabin and hull. We were steering northwest by west, a point
to windward; our course at the time was northwest. After striking us the
vessel hung for a moment, and then got clear; I went below to see what
damage was done, and when 1 got back the vessel was gone."

The Prince of Wales, afterward King Edward VII, was traveling in
America at the time of the disaster, and the same storm which prevailed over
so extensive a territory as to include both the Lake Michigan region and the
surrounding shores of the great lakes, held him and his party storm-bound
at Toronto, Canada, for a week. 11 will be remembered that the Prince
visited Chicago in the latter part of the same month as that in which the
disaster occurred.

There is a piece of sheet music to be obtained at any music store entitled,
"Lost on the Lady Elgin," by Henry ('. Work, who it will be recalled was
the composer of many popular songs. The refrain of the song is as follows:

"Lost on the 'Lady Elgin,'
Sleeping to wake no more!
Numbered in that three hundred
Wile failed to reach the shore."

There were some notable passengers on board and among others was Mr.
F. A. Lumsden of New Orleans, the proprietor of the "Picayune." one of
tin' most prominent of the southern newspapers. Mr. Lumsden had estab-
lished this paper some thirty years before the event described. His wife and
son were with him and all of them perished.

On board, also, was another gentleman, Herbert Ingram, Esq., M. P., well
known both in England and America as the proprietor of the London Illus-
trated News, who had his son with him, both of whom perished. .Mr. Ingram's
history is very interesting from the fact that he "rose from the ranks" ami
from a mechanic became one of the richest commoners in England, and a
member of the English Parliament. About twenty years before he had
started the London Illustrated News. It was at this time that the illustrated
papers -first began to appear, and owing to the energy ami judgment which

Mr. Ingram bestowed upon the Illustrated News, it succ led, and got the

start of the five or six competitors which made their appearance about the
same time in London. Since the starting of the pictorial paper Mr. Ingram's
career had been one of unbroken prosperity, and everything he hail put his
hand to of any importance had succeeded with him. He was a large landed
proprietor, and his paper realized a princely income.

The body of .Mr. Ingram was r >vered and sent to England where it is

now lying in the churchyard of the Church of St. Botolphe, Boston, England.

THE sciiooxi'.i; ■ wcrsTA." AFTEB THE COLLISION

WITH THE "LADY ELGIN," AS SEEN AT THE

LAKE STREET BRIDGE, CHICAGO, AN

lion: AFTEB HEB ARRIVAL

THE STORY OF THE •'LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 135

The body of his son, a lad of twelve years of age, was never found. A monu-
ment to Mi-. Ingram's memory was built for him surmounted by a statue of
himself. In Harper's Magazine for September, 1908, there is an article by
William Dean Howells giving an account of a visit made by him to old Boston,
the "Mother of the American Athens," and in the course of his description
he notes the monument to Herbert Ingram standing near the church ami
overlooking the market place of the city, of whom he writes, that he founded
the "Illustrated London News" with the money he made by the invention ami
sale of "Old Parr's Pills." Regarding the monument the guide book records,
"that whilst on a visit to America in I860 Ingram was drowned, together with
his eldest son, Herbert, in Lake Michigan."

Thus a reminder of this great disaster exists in a quiet churchyard over
seas, but few of the visitors to that spot will know the details of the event
as Ave have here related them. Even our own Howells did not seem to con-
nect the event witli the monument he was describing.

Scenes in Milwaukee When the News Arrived. — The news of the calamity
cre-ated the wildest excitement in Milwaukee and Chicago and the morning
papers in both cities were filled with vivid details of the disaster. There was
scarcely a house or place of business which had not lost an inmate or an
employee and it was said that there were 300 orphans in the homes of Mil-
waukee caused by the deaths of young parents on board of the ill-fated
steamer.

An eye witness related that the scene in Milwaukee on Saturday morn-
ing, when the news of the catastrophe was first received, can never be effaced
from his memory. The stores in the principal streets were deserted imme-
diately, many of them being left open and unattended, and all rushed to the
telegraph office to learn the extent of the disaster. In walking along the
streets, it seemed as if every second person met was either crying or so dumb-
stricken that lie could not express himself, nor recognize his friends and
acquaintances.

The campaign in which Abraham Lincoln was the presidential nominee
of the new republican party was in full swing, but the political excitement
was forgotten in the face of such an appalling calamity. All the tales of the
survivors were unanimous in, according to Captain Wilson, the commander,
praise for his bravery and daring throughout. He was foremost in confront-
ing danger and earnest for the safety of his passengers. He was drowned
within a hundred feet of the shore. More than a hundred persons arrived
within fifty yards of the beach but were swept back by the returning waves
and lost. Up to nine o'clock on Saturday night only twenty-one bodies had
been recovered most of which were recognized by friends as those of residents
of Milwaukee.

Scenes at the Wreck. — At about ten o'clock in the morning of the daj
of the wreck a number of reporters for the newspapers of Chicago readied
the scene at Winnetka where most of the passengers from the "Lady Elgin"
came ashore. The surf was rolling in heavily and breaking in thunder along
the beach, the gale having risen to a fearful fury from the northeast. The

136 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

shore there is an uneven bluff, ranging from thirty to sixty feet in height,
with a narrow strip of beach al its base.

"The whole beach for three miles we found strewn with fragments of the
light upper portions of the ill fated steamer," said one of the papers, "and
out to sea, where the waves were rolling inure heavily than is usually seen
even in our September gales, the surface of the angry waters for miles in
extent, as far as the eye could reach seaward, was (lotted with fragments
of the wreck, and rafts and spars, with what was made out (dearly to be
human beings clinging to them. At this time various authorities estimated
that from eighty to one hundred persons could have been counted driving at
the mercy of the maddened elements, toward the high rolling breakers and
surf-washed beach and bluff, from the tup of whieh thousands, with straining
eyes, watched their progress, and with pale cheeks noted that many met their
fate in the waves."

Parties of men were on the alert and ready for the work id' rescue. Word
was sent to Evanston, some four miles distant, and the citizens and its entire
student community came up in force. Attention was first directed to a large
raft coming in steadily hut bravely over the waves, upon whieh were clinging
a large number of human beings, since known to have been some fifty in
number. Around it and beyond it on all sides were single survivors and
groups of two or three or more keeping afloat on pieces of wreckage, hut
interest centered about the fate of that large raft. It ueared the seething line
of surf. "With a "lass, those on shore could see that the company on board the
raft seemed to obey the orders of one man, and that there were ladies and
children on hoard. The hearts of those on shore forgot to heat for an
instant when they saw the raft break up and disappear in the seas. Of the
entire number on board of the raft only fifteen appear to have been saved.
Among the lost was the brave heart who tried his Lest to save those com-
mitted to his charge and who perished in the attempt — brave ('apt. Jack Wil-
son, tin' commander of the unfortunate steamer.

Spencer's Rescue Work. — Among the students of the Garret! Biblical
Institute at Evanston many of whom rendered heroic service on that day
was Edward W. Spencer who by his own exertions saved seventeen lives
Spencer was a man of slight physical frame hut a famous swimmer, having
heen brought up on the banks of the Mississippi River where he had learned
the art thoroughly. As he looked out on the distressing sceue lie perceived
;it once that it was a case of swimming out and seizing the half-drowned

people and forcibly drawing them through the surf, as tew or none of them

were able to reach the shore by their own efforts, lie divested bimself of his
outer clothing and with a line fastened around his body he boldly swam
through the waves when he would grasp tin' persons in the water and bring
them through to a point where others could help them to s footing on dry
land.

Others followed his example and soon there were a number of resellers
working by the same methods. The steepness of the bluff alone the Winnetka
shore, where most of the unfortunates reached the laud, made it very diffi-
cult to gel a foothold after coming out of the water in a weakened condition.

THE STORY OF THE '-LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 137

Spencer repeatedly plunged through the surf and each time brought out a
sufferer, though some would escape his grasp and drown in spite of every
effort to help them.

But soon Sjiencer's strength began t<> be exhausted and he was obliged
to lie down to recover his strength after each effort. All day. at short in-
tervals, he would rise to enter again upon the work of rescue. This continued
until he had in this manner saved the lives of seventeen persons. The last
persmis saved by Spencer were a man and his wife. The man was observed
coming toward the shore near the high bank of the bluff, to strike against
which would be almost certain death. He was clinging with one arm to a

piet f wreck-age. and in the other he seemed to be holding a bundle which

he was trying to keep above water. It was seen that it was a woman or child
whom lie was trying to bring to the shore.

Spencer at this moment was almost at the end of his endurance, bid he
pulled himself together for another effort. "Cost what it may," he exclaimed,

"I will save them or die in the attempt." S i be was seen far out in the

lake where he reached the man who then cried out, "Save my wife!" "I'll
save her and you too," he answered; and fastening his hands in their cloth-
ing he said to them, "You must swim now for your lives and mine as well."
They obeyed his instructions ami safely reached the land. Many rescues
were made on that dreadful day which deserve to be recorded. Altogether
there were about one hundred lives saved along this shore.

Recognition by Evanston People.— The citizens of Evanston presented
Spencer with a gold watch in recognition of his heroism and efficient services
in saving lives. .Many years later the class of 1898 in the Northwestern Uni-
versity erected a bronze tablet in the reading room of the University library
which bore this inscription: "To commemorate the heroic endeavors of
Edward W. Spencer, first Northwestern student life saver. This tablet is
erected by tin- Class of 1898. At the wreck of the Lady Elgin, off Winnetka,
September 8. 1860. Spencer swam through the heavy surf sixteen times,
rescuing seventeen persons in all. In the delirium of exhaustion which fol-
lowed, his oft-repeated question was, 'Did I do my best?' '

The Lady Elgin disaster occurred many years before the establishment of
the Government life-saving service, now known as the Coast Guard. The
strain upon his physical endurance on that occasion broke his health so
that he was never the same man as he had been before. At that time the
power to reward life savers had not been conferred on the Secretary of the
Treasury to bestow medals for heroic deeds, and thus no official recognition
was ever given to Mr. Spencer who so richly deserved it. But he won an
enduring fame and will be remembered as long as golden deeds such as his
are cherished in the memories of his neighbors and friends.

Efforts to Obtain Medal for Spencer. — At different times during the years
1907, 1908 and 1909, persevering efforts were made to obtain a medal from
the Government in recognition of Spencer's heroic services at the time of
the disaster above described. .Mr. David I). Thompson, for many years editor
of the Northwestern Christian Advocate, joined with the Evanston Historical
Society and a number id' other friends and neighbors of Evanston, in these

138 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE

efforts. Mr. Thompson was a frequent visitor to Washington during those
years and often was a welcome guesl of Presidenl Roosevell al the White
Eouse. < > 1 1 one occasion while a1 the tahle he related the story of Spencer's
rescue work at the time of the Lady Elgin disaster nearly half a century
before, which attracted the deepesl interesl of the President. The Presidenl
was so much impressed with the story thai he soon after caused an investiga

lion to be made to ascertain whether a medal could not In- obtained even
after so long a time had elapsed since the event. A hill was introduced in
Congress but it failed of passage because it was feared thai by conferring
a medal on an individual for an action so long in the past would open the
door for many other claims that could no1 he considered.

Spencer died in California in 1917 at the age of eighty-one. In the later
years of his life the papers of Los Angeles, near which city he had his resi-
dence, frequently printed pictures of him with lone- accounts of the rescue
work performed by him at the time of the Lady Klein disaster. lie was
aboul the most popular hero of that section of the country on account of his
exploit at the famous disaster which we have lore described, an evenl not
connected with the history of California, hut adopted as a part of their
heritage in common with us dwellers here on the shores of Lake Michigan

Distressing Scenes Along Shore. — Thenceforward the scene on shore until
L' P. M. when the last survivor was drawn out of the surf, was a scene which
lookers-on will never forget. Of its nature the best proof is the fact that
the forty or fifty persons saved alone- this shore were less than one-third of
the number that came from the open lake to pass that fearful gauntlel of
the line of breakers, several hundred feet off shore, where under tic verj
.yes ami almost within hail of those on shore the majority perished. The
rafts would come into the line of surf, dip to the force of the waves and then
turn completely over. Again and again would rafts containing from one to
five persons gradually near the shore and then he lost, where a stone's cast
would reach them, yet really as far from human help as if .in mid-ocean.

A peculiarly distressing experience was that of Mrs. Jane Cook and her
daughter Elizabeth of Fond du Lac. who had hut a day or two before come
up the lakes from Buffalo on the steamer Sun, intending to land at Mil-
waukee. But owing to the gale blowing at the time the steamer did no1
make ils usual call there and they were brought to Chicago, where they were
placed on hoard of the Lady Elgin to return to Milwaukee. Both of them
were lost. William Farnsworth, an early settler of Sheboygan, was also
among the lost.

The Damage Done in the Collision. — It afterwards became evident from

the appearant I' a portion of the wreck which came ashore near Waukegan

thai the final catastrophe was broughl aboul by the dropping of the engine,
walking-beam and its supporting frame through the side and bottom. At the
point mentioned all that pari of the hull abaft the midships, on the larboard
side, lay upon the beach, a full fourth of the hull from the plank shear to
the keel. The most rational explanation of the disaster seems to have been,
according to contemporary accounts, that the colliding vessel carried away
the Larboard paddle wheel and most of the engine braces on that side, and

THE STORY OF THE "'LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 139

that as soon as the steamer rolled a-port, the engine, walking-beam and its
heavy frame, having nothing to support them, were loosened and fell through.
carrying away a large part of the hull. These heavy objects went out on
the larboard side of the vessel, producing the catastrophe, which all the sur-
vivors describe as very sudden. It is probable that the first violent roll after
the collision did the fatal work. On no other hypothesis can the separa-
ration of the hull be accounted for, or the positive testimony of some of the
officers be explained, than that the walking-beam went down through the
lower part of the hull before the upper works floated off.

The Lady Elgin and Her Captain.— The Lady Elgin was built in Canada
about nine or ten years before, and named after the wife of the then governor-
general of British America, Lord Elgin. She was a side-wheel steamer of
about three hundred feet in length and 1,000 tons burden. She was a fas1
and favorite boat, and went on three or four excursions annually. For the
first five years after her construction the Lady Elgin was employed in the
Canadian traffic of the lakes, and carried the mails along the northern
shores, while the Grand Trunk Railway, which now perforins that service,
was yet incomplete, or even in embryo. Four or five years previous to the
disaster she Mas purchased by Hubbard, Spencer and Company of Chicago,
to whom she belonged at the time of the calamity. Captain Wilson, her com-
mander, was a man of ten years' experience in the navigation of the upper
lakes, a fine officer, vigilant in his duties, and a popular commander among
the travelers on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, lie was also a man of
family and resided in Chicago.

The News at Milwaukee.— It was Sunday forenoon when news of the
appalling calamity reached Milwaukee. Inquiry brought the confirmation
"Only thirteen saved." Out of 400 happy pleasure seekers only thirteen
saved !

"The excitement was dreadful. A crowd of several hundred collected
about the Sentinel office, and it required the presence of all the clerks to pass
out to the crowd the slips on which was printed the meager intelligence,"
reported the Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, in black bordered columns, on Monday
morning, September 10, I860. "Still the extent of the calamity, the awful
magnitude did not seem to be fully comprehended by the public. That some-
thing appalling had transpired was felt, but that so many of our citizens
had been hurried into Eternity was hard to believe.

"It would be utterly impossible to convey any idea, to- those who did
not visit the Third Ward, of the scene presented there. It seemed as though
sounds of moaning proceeded from every third house. Little crowds of
women were congregated along the walks, some giving free expression to
their grief, others offering condolence. Never before has our city been
stricken witli such a calamity.

"The scene at the lake shore depot baffles description. Thousands had
congregated there to await the arrival of the noon train, and as it approached
the crowd, impatient to learn tidings of friends, could not wait for the loco-
motive to stop, but besieged the train.

"Then it was that the heart-rending tidings were received by broken-

CAPTAIN JOHN WILSON OF THE STEAMER

"LADY ELGIN"

Published in the New York Illustrated News, September -"-', L860

THE ST] \MI i: "LAD! ELGIN" As SHE LAID AT II KK DOCK IN' MILWAUKEE

BEFORE -III u SlS LOS1

THE STORY OF THE "LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 141

hearted parents and friends with demonstrations of grief thai could not be

repressed. Timothy O'Brien was the first survivor who was recognized, and
it was doubtful for some time whether lie could survive the rude but honest
congratulations of his friends. All about the long depot were anxious
females, some with their heads bowed, and others too heavily stricken to weep.
With each detail of news there were fresh wails and wringing of hands.

"A special train of five cars was sent to the scene. At the suggestion of
Charles H. Larkin a committee was formed with John L. Doran as chair-
man, whose duty it became to take charge of the work of searching the beach
and caring for the bodies recovered. Francis Hubsehmann, the acting mayor,
issued a proclamation declaring Tuesday. September 11, 1860, a day of mourn-
ing, fasting and prayer, and ordering the closing of all public offices. At a
meeting of citizens held at Albany Hall suitable resolutions were adopted
and arrangements made to provide for destitute survivors."

The survivors as recorded in the newspapers following the disaster were:
Timothy O'Brien, Frank Boyd, Thomas Keogh, John McLander, Edward
Burke, John J. Crilley, Charles Beverung, William Beman, John Doyle, "W
Elwood, John Gillmore, Bridget Kehoe, Fred Kuttemeyer, Thomas Ken-
nedy. Adelbert Doebert, Wm. Kinsella, Isaac Kingsley, .John II. Millard,
Charles May, Wm. Miller, Patrick Maher, James McManus, John McCanley,
John McLinden, Patrick Myers, T. McCoslen, John O'Brien, James Rogers,
John Rossiter, E. J. Powers, Wm. Weiger, Fred Snyder, Wm. Sivyer, W. C.
Smith, P. Walsh, Wm. Wilson.

A military and civic funeral procession was held on Tuesday morning.
It was formed at the City Hall Square and moved to St. John's Cathedral
where a solemn requiem high mass was read for the repose of the souls of
the victims.

Some of the survivors had a miraculous escape from a watery grave bj
holding to pieces of wreckage. It is told of Charles Beverung, the drummer

boy of the band, that he swam ashor i his drum which he had converted

into a life preserver.

On the anniversary a year later in the calm of retrospection, the Sentinel
said: "Never, perhaps, did such a calamity fall upon one city, as did that
of the Lady Elgin disaster upon Milwaukee. The victims of the wreck were
mostly poor — mostly from the Third. Ward mostly Irish. Whole blocks
of houses were rendered nearly tenantless; and, perhaps never was more' real
Christian charity exhibited than was there and then. Never was there a
nobler sight than that of the Sisters of Charity, like ministering angels, dis
pensing their Cod-directed aid and assistance."

Every year since 1860 a solemn requiem mass is read on the morning of
September 8th. On this day the survivors attended in a body until they had
all passed away. The last survivor, Adelbert Doebert, a musician, died at
Milwaukee November 10, 1921, at the age of eighty-nine years.

Number of Lives Lost in the Disaster. — "The loss of life in the Lady
Elgin disaster is nowadays given as 295," says Dr. Henry M. Bannister of
Evanston, in his account of the wreck. "It may have been more. When a
vessel goes down in deep water in Lake Michigan few bodies are recovered

1 12 HISTORY <>K MILWAUKEE

and sometimes doI any. N T one, so Ear as I have heard, were recovered from the
Alpena, lust October 16, L880, or from the Chicora, lost January H4. 1895,
in the same waters. Only about two hundred, however, were rescued or their
bodies washed ashore from the Lady Elgin, though sin- sank a number of
miles from the shore in deep water. There musl have been, therefore, a
large number thai went to the bottom with the ship."

Doctor Bannister in his lifetime was recognized as an eminenl scientisl
and his observations are perfectly reliable and ran safely be accepted as
good authority. The Lady Elgin had about four hundred people aboard
when she sank and only about one hundred bodies were recovered besides
the same number rescued. Thus half the whole number were entirely unai
counted for, the most of whom presumably went down with the ship and
remain at the bottom where their hones are no ilonht lying at the presenl
hour.

The loss of the Lady Elgin is the classic event in the long and thrilling
chapter of marine disasters on Lake Michigan. It resulted in poignant
grief to hundreds of families especially in Milwaukee where the greal ma
jority of the lost previously lived, and it was the great evenl with which
all disasters of a like nature were compared. In these days of coast guards
and numerous lighthouses, of fog-horns and careful regulations for sailing,
the chances of such appalling events are reduced to the lowest proportions,
ami it may he fervently hoped that such disasters cannot again occur for
ages to come.

Lessons of the Disaster. — When a vessel founders far from land, either
on the lake or on the ocean, the scenes at the crisis of the calamity are of the
most heart-rending description. The interest aroused among the readers
of a tale like this easily becomes morbid, and although it is perhaps not wise
for the historian to dwell al too great length upon calamities of any kind.
ye1 the warnings and cautions involved in such narratives have their use^.
However, it is needful and proper to relate enough to give the later genera-
tions of travelers a knowledge of necessary precautions, at least such as it
is in their power to take for themselves. The most important lessons of
the Lady Elgin disaster were the necessity of life-saving stations along the
shore which in consequence id' this dire evenl began to lie apparent, a full
supplj of life preservers (those provided by the steamer were merely short
pieces of plank six feet long ami a foot wide with a short line looped at the
end), a letter system of signalling between passing vessels, and a lar
number of life-boats than were carried by any of the passenger steamers
at thai time.

A few days after the disaster Dr. Daniel 1'. Kidder, one of the professors
at the Garrett Biblical Institute at Evanston, addressed a letter to a Chicago
paper in which he said: "A principal object of the presenl note is to suggest,
while the topic is before the minds of the community, that measures he taken
to establish life leal stations along this shore." Eventually such measures

were taken and though it was not until 1^71 that a life-boal was provided by
the Government, manned by students of the Northwestern University, it

THE STORY OF THE "LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 14:;

speedily proved its usefulness, and in time a regular station house with crew
and full equipment was established ou laud donated by the University.

Other Notable Lake Disasters. — The Indians of the Mackinac Island region
called Lake Michigan "the man-devouring lake," so we are told by Col.
Arent de Peyster who was in command of that post when it was held by the
British in 1776. In view of the dangerous character of the waters of the
Straits of Mackinac and of the lakes which are connected by them the epithet
is an appropriate one, as will appear from the record of disasters, a few of
which' will be mentioned in this place, particularly those occurring on Lake
Michigan.

The earliest disaster of which there is a record was that which befell the
Griffin, built by La Salle at the entrance to the Niagara River, in 167!t. She
was a small sailing vessel of about forty-five tons burden, was armed with five
small cannon and carried about thirty-four men. La Salle himself was in
command and in due time the vessel safely reached Mackinac and then con-
tinued its voyage to Green Bay. Here La Salle left the vessel in charge of
the pilot and continued his journey in canoes down the west shore of Lake
Michigan after leaving orders for the vessel to follow him a few weeks later
to the St. Joseph River. His purpose was to reorganize his party at St.
Joseph and push on to the Illinois River at Peoria where he intended to build
another vessel and go down the .Mississippi River to its mouth as that river
had never yet been fully explored.

Not finding the Griffin at the expected rendezvous La Salle went on fo
the Illinois without knowing any further particulars as to the cause of her
failure to arrive. It seems from later accounts that after La Salle had parted
company with the Griffin in Green Hay she was loaded with furs to he scut
back to the Niagara River where they were to he forwarded to .Montreal.
Some Pottawatomie Indians reported that after La Salle's departure the pilot,
who had anchored off the north shore of the lake under the shelter of a
headland near the wigwams of these savages, determined to proceed to
Mackinac, despite the warnings that a mighty tempest was raging in the
open lake, which was white with foam. "Mocking at their fears and assert-
ing that no wind could stay his course," says E. G. Mason in his "Chapters
from Illinois History," "the pilot set sail in the face of the increasing storm.
Hardly had the little vessel gone a quarter of a league from its anchorage
when the natives saw it rolling wildly amid the huge waves, and then with
its canvas furled, driven irresistibly before the blast. In the gathering gloom
and floods of rain it disappeared from view, ami they never saw it more."

There were discovered, however, some relics of the disaster. Mason relates
that in the following spring there was found "some clothing along the shore,
and in the summer a hatchway, a hit of cordage and a few packages of beavei
skins." These, with the head of ;i flagstaff', were the sole relies of the un-
fortunate craft, which undoubtedly foundered not many hours after it was
last seen from the Pottawatomie Village. .Midnight guns had been heard by
the wondering savages above the roar of the tempest, her last appeals for
help as she went to her doom in the depths of the lake.

"Romance has been busy with her fate," says Mason, "and has even

1 H HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

fancied thai the Griffin, shaped as we sec her in the picture in Hennepin's
'New Discovery,' after the fashion of ancienl men-of-war, her bow and stern
lmili high and her beat head displaying a flying griffin and an eagle, with
her five small cannon and all the rest of her antique equipment, is preserved
in this day beneath the sand dunes of the coast."

Loss of the Fropeller Phoenix.— The Milwaukee Sentinel and Gazette, in
its issue of November -4, 1S47. contained the startling announcement thai the
propeller Phoenix had been burned on Lake Michigan with the loss of 250
lives, and told that it was "the must terrible calamity that lias ever occurred
on the waters of Lake Michigan." The following account is summarized from
the Sentinel and Gazette, a photographic copy of which, taken from the files
preserved in the State Historical Society at .Madison, is before us as we write.

The Phoenix had Left the previous week from Buffalo bound for Lake
Michigan ports. She had made a stop at Manitowoc and lay there for
several hours waiting for the sea to go down, intending to make the uexl call
at Sheboygan, twenty-five miles distant. At one o'clock in the morning she
started on her fatal voyage. After being out an hour or two the fireme i
discovered that the pumps did not work and this fact was immediately re-
ported to the engineer, but he seemed to pay no attention to this alarming
condition. Soon afterward it was observed that the water in the boilers
was very low.

Before any steps had been taken to remedy the difficulty, and aboul four
o'clock in the morning, the boilers had become red-hot on top and had com-
municated fire to the boat. The firemen in the hold at once tools active steps
to stop the fire, but the progress of the flames was so rapid that they were
soon driven out of the hold. The alarm had now become general, tin- pas-
sengers were all amused, lines formed on deck and water passed up in buckets
and poured upon the flames. But it soon became apparent that all efforts
to check' the tire were utterly unavailing, and both passengers and crew began
to think only of how they might save their lives.

Tic Phoenix carried three boats. Captain Sweet who was confined to Ids
quarters with a fractured knee resulting from an injury he had received
while coming up Lake Erie, consented, at the entreaty of Mr. Blish, to
eider the first boat to leave the burning propeller in company with twenty
others, and reached the shore in safety. The second boat, carrying nineteen
persons also arrived safely on the shore, about ten miles north of Sheboygan.

The light of the fire was firsl seen at Sheboygan at 1:30 in the morning
and the propeller Delaware, then lying there, immediately got up steam
and started to the assitance of the burning vessel. But it was an hour and a
quarter before she reached her and aid was impossible bj that time. The

Phoenix was burned t" the water's edge. The rescuing vessel eould only

take the burning wreck in tow and bring her into the harhor where she sunk
soon after.

The propeller Delaware was able to rescue only three persons from the
burning wreck, and these besides those who had reached the shore in the
boats were ;ill that were saved old of a total 300 souls. The boats when the\
left the burning propeller made directly for the shore, distant about four

THE STORY OP THE "LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 145

miles. The intention was to leave the passengers on the land and return to
the wreck to take off others, but long before this could be done all human
aid was unavailing'.

Scenes and Incidents. — Among the incidents of this famous wreck it is
related that "one man ascended to the mast-head and there remained till
the mast itself toppled over into the lake. As the fire advanced the shrouds
became thronged with human beings who, scorched by the ascending flames,
gradually dropped off one by one. Many, frightened, or despairing, threw
themselves into the lake, in the vain hope of struggling to the distant shore."

The Phoenix had on board a full cargo of freight, and of her passen-
gers, about fifty were Americans, including the crew, and l!.~>() emigrants, all
Hollanders and all coming to Milwaukee. Among the latter were many who
had considerable sums of money with them. It was supposed that they had in
the aggregate some fifty thousand dollars in gold. One young girl of seven-
teen was the sole survivor of a party of twenty-five who had together $18,000.
An old man, the father of nine children, was left to mourn the loss of all
those for whose sakes he left his native land and emigrated to America.
"Indeed," concludes the account, "the whole calamity is the most afflicting
in its details that we have ever been called upon to record." The vessel
was insured in Buffalo for $12,000. Her books, papers, freight and pas-
senger list, etc., were all lost.

The Burning of the Sea Bird. — <>n the morning of the 9th of April,
1868, the steamer Sea Bird, while on her way from Two Rivers, Wis.,
to Chicago, and while opposite Lake Forrest, Ilk, caught fire and was totally
consumed. There were seventy persons on board at the time, and of these but
three escaped. The Sea Bird was a sidewheel steamer of about five hundred
tons burden, and was making the first trip of the season on her regular route
along tlie west shore of the lake.

"How the fire originated," says Andreas, "was never known, but is was
supposed to have been through the carelessness of one of the porters, who was
observed by one of the survivors to throw a scuttle of coal and ashes over-
board, ami a very short time afterward the fire broke out in the after
part of the vessel, near where the porter hail stood. It was a little be-
fore seven o'clock in the morning when the fire was discovered, as the pas-
sengers were rising from breakfast. The steamer was immediately headed
for shore, but the wind was blowing heavily from the northeast and drove
the flames forward, soon stopping the machinery. The fire rapidly drove
the passengers toward the bow, and then over into the lake. No boats seem
to have been lowered nor any effective effort made to save life, by the
officers. If there were any life-preservers, mi board, and there presumably
were, n ■ was used. Panic seems to have seized officers, crew and pas-
sengers alike. Before noon the vessel was burned to the water's edge. The
survivors were A. C. Chamberlain, Mr. Hennebury of Sheboygan, Wis., and
•lames II. Leonard of Manitowoc.

"In recalling lake disasters," says a recent writer, "many old residents
confuse the particulars of the Lady Elgin disaster with those of the Sea Bird.
The details of the former event are related in previous pages of this history.

Vol. I-IO

146 HISTORY OK .MILWAUKEE

Tin' Lady Elgin was lost September 8, 1860, and nearly three hundred persons
drowned. Its loss was occasioned by a collision with a Lumber schooner on a
stormy night, the steamer sinking within half an hour after the accident. The
Lady Elgin was a much larger steamer than the Sea Bird. The two events
were separated by an interval of nearly eight years.

Loss of the Steamer Alpena. — The steamer Alpena was built in lstii;.
and bought by the Goodrich Company two years later. She was a staunch
boat of 650 tons burden, and for several years was engaged on the route
between Chicago, Grand Haven and Muskegon. The Alpena left Grand
Haven for Chicago about 8 o'clock Friday evening, October 15, 1880, though
the weather bureau signals indicated that a severe storm was approaching.
Captain Napier was in command.

She carried a crew of thirty men and there was a "fair passenger list."
numbering in all about seventy-five persons. The steamer as she put out
into the open lake encountered a gale of great severity. The narrator who
contributed an article giving this information in the Chicago magazine for
June, 19112, says that he was the clerk of the propeller Messenger which
safely made her regular trip that night from Benton Harbor to Chicago. At
midnight the gale had greatly increased in violence and it was thoughl that
the Alpena encountered the full force of the storm when about forty
miles from Chicago at which point she probably foundered. At all events
she was never seen after her departure from Grand Haven. Not a soul
survived to tell the tale.

Loss of the Car Ferry steamer Pere Marquette, No. 18. — The loss of
the carferry steamer, Pere Marquette, No. IS. occurred September 9. 1910,
while she was on her voyage from Ludington, .Mich., to Milwaukee. She sank
in Lake Michigan, between 6 and 8 o'clock on Friday morning, when about
thirty miles off Sheboygan, Wis. Two passengers and thirty-one of the officers
and crew were drowned. Thirty-three persons were rescued by ear ferry No.
17, which had been summoned to the scene by a wireless call for help.

The exact cause of the disaster could not We ascertained. The weather at
tin' time it occurred was good and only a moderate sea was running.

Accident to the Steamer, Christopher Columbus. — The Chicago Daily
News Almanac fur L918, printed the following record of the painful event
referred to above. "Sixteen lives were lost by a peculiar accident to the

whaleback excursion steamer, 'Christopher Columbus,' hi the river at Mil-
waukee, Wis., June 30, 1917. The craft was starting mi its return trip
to Chicago when i' became unmanageable and ran into the river bank,
where it struck one of the supports of a Large Steel water tank on top of a
tower 10(1 feet high. The tank fell and hit the steamer, carrying away part
of the pilot house and the tWO upper decks, and flooding the ship with water.
There were some four hundred excursionists mi board at the time, most of
them teachers and pupils in Chicago summer schools. In addition to the
sixteen killed a number of other persons were severely injured."

CHAPTER XIII
THE OREAT MILWAUKEE FIRE

The most serious fire that ever occurred in Milwaukee was that which
broke out October 28, 1892, often referred to as "the Great Fire." The fire
started in the evening of the date above mentioned at 275 East Water Street,
between Detroit and Buffalo streets, on the premises of the Union Oil com-
pany, and quickly communicated to an adjoining wholesale drug establish-
ment. The fire spread to other large buildings near by and involved a large
portion of the Third ward before it was finally got under control, destroying
sixteen blocks which included extensive residence districts. The surging
flames shot high in the air and the reflection of them in the heavens could
be seen at a distance of thirty miles from the city in various directions.

"The conflagration," writes Mr. E. P. Bacon in Conard's history, "was
prevented from extending farther northward than Detroit Street by the
strong wind which prevailed from that quarter. It extended eastward and
southerly to the lake in one direction and to the main arm of the river in
the other. It swept over the side tracks of the Chicago & Northwestern
railway which were filled with standing cars, and there were 215 cars con-
sumed, most of which were loaded with merchandise of various kinds. The
freight houses of the company were partially destroyed, with a large portion
of their contents.

"The loss sustained by the company, including claims paid to owners
of freight damaged and destroyed, amounted to $160,000. The total number
of buildings destroyed by the fire was 440, of which 81 were brick and 359
were of frame or wood. The value of the buildings and contents destroyed,
as estimated by the officers of the fire department, was upwards of $4,500,000.
The insurance thereon was $2,111,450, which was collected by the owners."

Fire engines from other Cities. — Two firemen and an unknown man were
killed during the efforts made to combat the flames, besides a number se-
riously injured. Fire engines from the cities of Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan
and Oshkosh quickly arrived in the course of the evening and rendered
effective aid. Four engines from Chicago with forty men came by the
Chicago & Northwestern railway, the train making a speed of fifty-six miles
an hour, but they did not reach the scene until near midnight when the
fire had been brought pretty well under control. They afforded great
relief, however, to the almost exhausted force of the Milwaukee tire depart-
ment in staying the further progress of the flames.

"The region devastated by the fire," continues the narrative, "was one

147

I 18 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

of the oldesl quarters of the city and contained a large number of frame
dwellings which had been occupied for many years by a class of laboring
men with their families, ma"inly of Irish origin. Large business blocks, bow-
ever, used for commercial and manufacturing purposes, covered the western
portion of the region, a large number of which were destroyed. Hundreds
of families were driven from their homes by the flami s in their rapid progress,
without opportunity being given by the occupants to rescue any of their
possessions.

Relief Measures Organized. --A mass meeting of citizens was called the
following- morning by the Chamber of Commerce in the exchange room of
their building, ami measures were promptly adopted to afford relief to the
victims of the conflagration. A committee was appointed to take general
charge of the work of providing relief, known as the "Board of Organiza-
tion and Control," consisting of the following persons: E. P. Bacon, F. <l.
Bigelow, C. C. Rogers, J. E. Hansen. II. C. Payne, Washington Becker, -las.
A. Bryden, P. J. Somers, Patrick Cudahy, Rev. J. J. Keogh, J. G. J. Camp-
bell, Prank Siller. -lames Hannan, and George W. Porth. Mr. Bacon was
elected chairman.

A special Relief Committee was appointed at once to which all applica-
tions were to be made, and through which the distribution of funds should
he administered, consisting of -1. (i. -I. Campbell, chairman; Rev. -I. -I. Keogh.
James Hannan, George Koeppen, Prank Siller, Bernard Goldsmith, Adolph
Meinecke, Rev. Judson Titsworth, Rev: -lames I). Foley. Paul -I. Foley, Cor-
nelius Corcoran, (i. Prellson, and R. D. Whitehead.

Efficient Aid Extended. -The committee had the advantage in organizing
their work of relief of the example furnished by the Chicago Relief and
Aid society in their work of a similar character after the great Chicago lire.
twenty-one years before. The report id' the Chicago society was published
in a thick volume of 441) pages, in 1874. The report gave a complete
history of that great event ami of the disbursements made in the vast work
of relief after that unparalleled disaster, and the committee had access to the
record there printed for their guidance.

The population of Chicago at the time of iis great tire (in 1>>71 was
334,270. The loss of life was estimated to he nol less than three hundred
persons though the number was never accurately ascertained. The property
losses were given at $196,000,000. One hundred thousand people Were drA'en

from their homes by the Chicago fire. In tin' work of relief the vast sum
of $5,000,000 was disbursed, contributed by every civilized country on earth
as well as by every stale and nation of the western hemisphere.

The Chicago World's Pair was dedicated October 21, 1892, seven days

before the greal lire in .Milwaukee occurred. It will he re inhered that

the World's Fair was nol opened to visitors until .May firsl of the following
scar, namely, .May 1, 1893. An interval of over six months took place
between the "dedication" and the formal "opening." The immense amount
O.f news in regard In the World's Fair which tilled tile ordinary channels
of the newspapers prevented tin' wide publicity which the great importance
of the .Milwaukee lire would otherwise have claimed.

THE GREAT MILWAUKEE FIRE 149

The work of the Milwaukee committee was of much the same character as
that of the Chit-ago committee though of course was not on so large a scale.
Both committees discharged their Herculean tasks in a thoroughly credit-
able manner, so that both cities have always taken pride in the splendid
record made by them.

Methods of Relief. — The first and most pressing needs were food for
those rendered destitute, and shelter for the homeless. The Milwaukee com-
mittee lost no time in supplying f 1 and money as the first requisite and then

proceeded to make plans to provide houses for the victims of the great
conflagration.

"This committee devised a plan for the systematic canvassing of the
city for funds,"' says Mr. Bacon in his account, "'but voluntary contribu-
tions were offered so freely that solicitation proved wholly unnecessary. The
spontaneity and liberality with which money was poured into the hands
of the committee by all classes of citizens, was a demonstration of human
kindness and sympathy rarely witnessed. Many of the individual contribu-
tions were three or four times as large as would have been expected if
solicited, and people of all conditions of life and of all creeds, were par-
ticipants alike. Over $53,000 had been contributed before three o'clock of
the day following the fire."

The population of Milwaukee in 1890 according to the Federal census
was 204,468, and ten years later, in 1900, it was 285,315. Thus for the year
1892, the year in which the fire occurred, it was not far from 230,000.

"Telegrams were received from the mayors of several cities and from
various commercial organizations offering aid, which were gratefully ac-
knowledged, lint tin' kind offers were courteously declined on the ground that
local contributions were on such a scale that they seemed likely to meet
all requirements. Several contributions were, however, received from indi-
viduals residing elsewhere who were former residents of Milwaukee, or were
specially interested in her welfare.

"Collections were taken for tin' relief fund in all the churches of the city
on the Sunday next following the occurrence of the tire (October, 30), which
amounted in the aggregate to $6,293. Members of several branches of trade
and clerks and employees of large establishments, and some benevolent
societies also, made up separate funds among themselves, which they con-
tributed to the general fund. Several newspapers, both English and German,
opened their columns for subscriptions to the fund, through which medium
$10,448 was contributed and added to the fund. Proprietors of the principal
places of amusements gave benefit performances, the proceeds of which were
contributed to the fund. By the 14th of November the contributions amounted
to $136,825, and the Board of Organization and Control adopted a resolution
to the effect that a sufficient amount of money had been subscribed to meet all
probable requirements for the suitable relief of the sufferers by the fire, and
directed that the public be so notified through the press of the city which was
immediately done.

"The two principal railways whose lines concentrate in Milwaukee, namely:
the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paid, and the Chicago & Northwestern, each

150 IIISTOKY OF MILWAUKEE

contributed $5,000, although the latter suffered ;i very heavy Ions from the
fire. The Milwaukee Sired Railway company also contributed $5,000."

Work of Various Committees. — other committees were appointed in order
to make more effective the work of relief, one of which was an advisory
committee to give aid and counsel to the fire sufferers in their endeavors to
better their condition, and also to aid in the proper adjustment of insurance
claims. This committee consisted of Bernard Goldsmith, chairman; Rev. J. J.
Keogh, Benjamin M. Weil. Matthew Keenan, and Peter Doyle. The committee
rendered valuable assistance in numerous eases. A committee on providing
quarters was also appointed to devise some plan for temporary quarters for
families unable to privide dwelling places for themselves. This committee con-
sisted of S. E. Hansen, chairman; Jeremiah Quin, John Johnston, Edward Bar-
ber, and Emil Burr.

The report of the last named committee recommended that barracks be
constructed for 100 families, or such portion as might be found requisite, on
such suitable public or private grounds as might be secured for the pur-
pose. The recommendation was adopted and the committee was authorized
to proceed at once with the erection of tin' barracks. Before the close of tin-
week the barracks for ten families were erected in the Lake Shore Park
grounds. It was then found that dwellings and apartments had been secured
for occupancy by the homeless families to such an extent that further provision
was unnecessary. In a short time all the homeless families were comfortably
housed and provided with needful furniture and bedding.

The Board of Organization and Control held two meetings daily dm
the first three days following the fire, and daily meetings thereafter during
the ensuing week, then less frequently until the loth of December. A few
days after the fire the relief committee was authorized to give to the bead
of each family made destitute by tin' tire the sum of $50, and, in addi-
tion thereto, $5 tor each child or other dependent of the family, for the
purpose of immediate relief, (in the 5th of November the sum <<\' $70 to $100
was authorized to be given to each family for furniture, varying accordi
to the size of the family, excepting to those whose loss of furniture was made
good from insurance.

No money was given to any person or the Eamilj of an\ person <e\ inn-
real estate- or other available property. Pupils in public or parochial schools
who had lost their school books in the tire Mere supplied with new ones, and

mechanics who had lost their tools were provided with monej to purchase
a new supply. Sewing women were supplied with sewing machines and wo
ing girls received monej Eor new clothing. "The case of every applicant
aid in an} way, " continues Mr. Bacon 's narrative, " was carefullj investiga
by the relief committee. It is believed that very few if any received aid Erom
the fund thai were ao1 in destitute circumstances and had become so in
consequence of the fire; and on the other hand that none who wej -red

SO destitute were refused neeiled aid."

Expenditures for Relief.— I >urinu the winter months following the fire aid
had been rendered to 1.710 persons, including members of families and single
persons. mostlj obi people in .the receipl of monthlj allowances |',\ the 6th

THE GREAT MILWAUKEE FIRE 151

of May, 1 S ! > : ; . the number requiring continued aid was reduced to fifty-seven
persons comprising- old, and infirm people, widows and invalids. The amount
remaining- in the hands of the treasurer was $655, which was ordered to be
distributed among the remaining beneficiaries from month to month until
exhausted. The total amount thus distributed, according to the treasurer's
statement was $137,136.

"It is worthy of note," concludes Mr. Bacon's chapter, "that the entire
expense incurred in the administration of the fund was only $1,158, being
less than one per cent of the amount disbursed. There was received for in-
terest on deposits $1,016 which nearly covered the expenses of administra-
tion."

The systematic manner in which the work of relief had been performed
by the various committees working in cooperation reflected the highest credit
on the public-spirited citizens who devoted time and means to the relief of
distress resulting from the losses in the great fire of 1892.

The Great Fire of 1871 in Chicago. — During the preparation of the manu-
script for this history the City of Chicago has been engaged in the commemo-
ration of the fiftieth anniversary of its great fire which occurred on October
9th, 1871. This event also claims the particular notice of the people of
Milwaukee because of the distinguished share they had in the work of relief
and aid rendered by them in that dreadful event.

In the report of the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, published some three
years after the great fire, in a volume of over 400 pages, there occurs frequent
mention of the aid rendered by I lie people of Wisconsin and Milwaukee in
particular to the sufferers in that great calamity. The numerous proclamations
and telegraphic messages calling attention to the extremely serious nature of
the disaster, and the words of sympathy thus extended, accompanied by more
substantial gifts of money and provisions to the people of the stricken city,
are briefly noticed in the following quotations from the report.

<»n the day of the great fire, the governor of Wisconsin, Hon. Lucius Fair
child, issued a proclamation, in which he appealed to the people id' tin' state
for aid to the sufferers from forest fires, then raging, in the regions of the
northern part of the state. That part of the proclamation referring to the
Chicago lire was as follows: "The telegraph also brings the terrible news that
a large portion of the City of Chicago is destroyed by a conflagration, which
is still raging. Many thousands of people are thus reduced to penury, stripped
id' then- all. and are now destitute of shelter and food. Their sufferings will
he intense, and many may perish unless provisions are at once sent to them
from the surrounding country. They must be assisted now.

"In the awful presence of such calamities the people of Wisconsin will
not be backward in giving assistance to their afflicted fellow-men. I, there-
fore recommend that immediate organized effort he made in every locality to
Forward provisions and money to the sufferers by this visitation, and suggesl
to mayors of cities, presidents of villages, town supervisors, pastors of
churches, and to various benevolent societies, that they devote themselves
immediately to the work of organizing effort, collecting contributions, and

L52 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE

sending forward supplies for distribution. And I entreal all to give of their
abundance to help those in such sore distress."

Response to the Call of -Humanity. — Prom far away Switzerland was re-
ceived a message from the United Slates minister to thai country, Hon. Horace
Rublee, well-known in Milwaukee (having been appointed to thai posl by Pre-
sident Grant, the year before), addressed to .Mayor Mason of Chicago, enclos-
ing a draft I'm- $1,500 for the relief of the fire sufferers. In the accompanying
message Mr. Kid dee said, "this sum is the aim mnt of divers contributions made
in Switzerland for the benefit of' the sufferers by the <rrea1 fire in Chicago, and
forwarded through this legation."

A message was r tved by Mayor It. B. .Mason id' Chicago from ll. Luding-

1 mi, mayor id' .Milwaukee, on the day id' the fire, saying, that a ear load of pro-
visions would be sent the next morning, and this was followed up by the
visit of a representative from the Milwaukee Chamber of ( !ommerce with offers
id' further supplies and contributions. .Mayor Ludington closed his letter
accompanying this offer with a warm expression of sympathy in these words:
'•Yours with respect and sorrowful feeling for the sad calamity that has been
east upon your once beautiful city."

Many car loads of provisions and materials of all kinds were sent to
during the period of distress through which the city passed in those troublous
Chicago by the kind and generous people throughout the state of Wisconsin,
days.

CHAPTER XIV
LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE

The centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln occurred February 12,
1909, and the anniversary was distinguished at that time quite generally
throughout the country by a great number of newspaper articles and remin-
iscences concerning this renowned man. The vast volume of literature in
existence, know among collectors as "Lincolniana," received a great acces-
sion in that year and has continued to increase ever since. Much additional
information in the form of the recollections of former friends, neighbors and
associates has been published, and the newspapers of former years have been
carefully searched for every scrap of mention or reference to the great Eman-
cipator.

Thus we find that Milwaukee has had a notable share in the incidents of
Mr. Lincoln's wonderful career. In a previous chapter of this history we have
described .Mr. Lincoln's appearance in Wisconsin, first as a captain of Illinois
volunteers in the Black Hawk war of 1832, and some years later as a visitor
to Milwaukee and Port Washington while on a search for a location for a
future residence.

Again, in 1859, Mr. Lincoln came to Milwaukee to make an address at the
State Fair, in September of that year. An article by -J. E. Moriarity was
printed in recent years, in the Milwaukee Free Press, giving interesting de-
tails of h.s visit, and quotations from his speeches made on that occasion.

"Few among us remember the day," writes Mr. Moriarity, "when Mil-
waukee was just branching out of its infancy, that Abraham Lincoln spoke
before the people of this city a1 the State Fair, held September 30, 1859, at
tin' old Brockway Fair grounds. There was nothing about Abraham Lincoln
in those days to distinguish him much above the average man in public life.
True, it was just following the (dose of the famous 'Lincoln-Douglas 1 debates
which had trained the eyes of the continent on the rising young lawyer of
Illinois. He bad battled his way in a few short months to the front rank
among the orators, and when the time came for choosing a speaker for the
annual exhibit of the Wisconsin Agricultural Society Abraham Lincoln was
invited as worthy of that honor.

Previous Visits Referred To. — "Before going further," continues the
writer, "we might state that this was not Mr. Lincoln's first connection with
Milwaukee. Few among us know how close Milwaukee came to being the
home of the martyred president id' the United States. Back in 1836 or 1837
(the exact date is not known) when young Lincoln was a member of the

153

154 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

Illinois legislature, he began to look aboul him for more Lucrative prospects
in liis law practice. He was then living in New Salem, and it was aboul this
time thai he came north fo Milwaukee which was a thriving town in those
days. He found the prospects hen' favorable bu1 wenl on to Port Washing-
ton for further investigation. He returned to Milwaukee after a short stay,
and soon afterward he went back to his home in Illinois." The writer then
quotes from Henry Bleyer, the veteran newspaper man. who said of the visit.
"he did not meet with much encouragemenl in Milwaukee, however. The
same was true of Port Washington."

It was not until 1859 that Mr. Lincoln ajrain came to Milwaukee, this time
as the state fair orator. "There was no brass hand to greel him at the depot
when lie arrived. There was no crowd of hacks or swarming reporters. It
was just plain Abraham Lincoln, the citizen, who was met by a representative
of the State Fair board and quietly conducted to the old Newhall House where
he was to stay."

The old Brockway Fair grounds were located at Twelfth Street and Grand
Avenue which was "the edge of the city" in those days. Just where the
platform stood from which Lincoln spoke is a much disputed question. It
was somewhere, probably, near the intersection of the two streets— near the
grand stand not far from the gate. "It was a dusty day. a high wind sweeping
the grounds, making it uncomfortable for speaker and audience. The papers
of the next morning made slight mention of the occasion, merely that "at
the conclusion of the address three lusty cheers were given to the 'Kentucky
boy.' "

"That was all." proceeds the account. "And yet hut a few months later
the country over was ringing with the name of Abraham Lincoln." In the
National Republican convention, held in the following May at Chicago, he was
nominated for the presidency ami triumphantly elected in the following No-
vember of 1860.

Epitome of the Address. — "One feature. I believe, of every fair is a regular
address," Mr. Lincoln began. "The Agricultural Societj of tin- young and
prosperous state of Wisconsin has done me the high honor of select inu me to
make that address upon this occasion, an honor for w h it-li 1 make my profound
and grateful acknowledgment. I presume I am not expected to employ the
time assigned to me in the mere flattery of the farmers as a class. My opinion
of them is that, in proportion to numbers, thej are neither better nor worse
than other people. In the nature of things they are more numerous than any
other class, and I believe there are more attempts to flatter them, the reason
for which I cannot perceive, unless it be thai they can cast more votes ti
any other. On reflection I am nol quite sure that there is no1 a positive
suspicion againsl you in selecting me, in some sort a politician, ami in no sort

a farmer, to address you. The farmers being the most numerous class, it

follows thai their interest is the largest interest. It also follows thai thai
interest is most wurthj of all to be cherished and cultivated and thai if there
be inevitable conflict between thai interest and anj other, thai other should
yield."

"\li Lincoln then branched into a discussion of labor and capital, the

LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE 155

relation of one to the other, a discussion that has often 1 n repeated, and

which has been heard many times in Milwaukee since in the .Socialistic
campaigns," continues Mr. Moriarity. "But he was not a Socialist. Mr.
Lincoln's argument aimed rather at the existence of slavery and he had not
talked many minutes before he struck right into the heart of his subject.

"He met a willing audience. lie was in the heart of the abolition north,
in the country where everyone was excited, where the Missouri Compromise
was being fought out as bitterly as the conflicts in the war that was to follow.

"Those farmers of Wisconsin, whom he did not flatter, whom he did
not praise, were attracted to him as a man, and according to the few survivors
who remember his speech, cheered him repeatedly throughout. They were
free men, believed in free labor, and his comparison of the lot of the 'mud
tiller* with the 'free laborer" touched them with sympathy for the black men of
the South who were held in bondage to the soil which they tilled ; who were
sold as so many cattle, were traded back and forth as so many horses, who
Worked their lives throughout, creating wealth for their owners but never a
cent for themselves.

"No community whose every member possesses this art (the art of deriving
a comfortable subsistence from the smallest area of soil) can ever be the
victim of oppression in any of its forms. Such community will alike be
independent of the crowned kings, money kings, and the land kings."

Took Interest in the Fair. — Lincoln was given a rousing applause "three
lusty cheers for the 'Kentucky lad/ ' "Such words today." continues Mr.
Moriarity 's narrative, would lie hurled across the continent, printed from coast
to coast in a single day. He was attacking an institution, that institution
that while it was tottering seemed to he on its strongest legs, bound to exist
as long as the South was the South and the North was the North.

"Mr. Lincoln was royally entertained that afternoon, and it is said he
enjoyed the attractions as much as any man at the fair. Then- were the
ordinary county fair attractions of that time, the races, and all was followed
by a big fireman's parade. He did not get much opportunity to see Milwaukee.
He viewed the city in his carriage as he rode to the grounds and again on
his way back to the hotel. He saw many of the improvements that hail
occurred since the time more than twenty years before when he had thoughl
of settling in the city as a young lawyer.

"He may have remained around the fair grounds for a while after that
speech. No one remembers. lie was just the 'Hon. Mr. Lincoln.' He had
given his speech and he might go. Perhaps some crowded around to shake his
hand and tell him of their sympathy in the new cause.

"The next we know of him in his visit to Milwaukee was that night at
the Newhall house. Train service was crude in those days. There was no
two-hour schedule to Chicago, and no trains running every two hours. There
was no railroad commission to appeal to for better service. Automobiles had
not made their appearance and Mr. Lincoln was obliged to remain in Mil-
waukee until the next day.

"Peter Van Vechten, Jr., then a youngster working in his father's store
adjoining tin' Xewhall house, tells a, picturesque story of the tlighl of Septem

L56 EISTORY OP MILWAUKEE

ber 30, 1859, at the Newhall bouse. 'He arrived at the hotel rather late from
the Pair grounds. Many local politicians had gathered at the hotel. Some
remained around to talk to him, or gathered in the lobby to talk over his
speech. Slavery was a great question in those days, more important than
the tariff question of today, and caused more discussion than the Canadian
reciprocity treaty.

" 'After supper a number of Mr. Lincoln's friends prevailed upon him to
make a short speech,' said .Mr. Van Vechten. 'Then' was not much of a crowd
there, not over fifty men. He consented.

What shall I stand on .'" he asked.

" 'There was nothing there, so I ran hack to tin' store and gol a dry g Is

box. This we placed in a eornei- in the lobby. 1 don't remember much id' thai
speech. 1 know it was on the slavery question. < hie sentence stands out
prominently in my mind, however, a sentence which lias often since been
quoted.

I do not believe," he said, "that this nation can exist half free and

half slave." '

"Those words became a part of the campaign issue when he was nominated
for president and proved to the South that the time had come to make or
break when Mr. Lincoln was elected.

"Little more id' Mr. Lincoln's visit can he learned. That was the lasl time
he ever visited Milwaukee. In the campaign which followed there was no use
of his spending tine in Wisconsin. The Badger State was strongly for aboli-
tion, and it was in this state that Republicanism and Mr. Lincoln's policies had
their birth, lie spent the time fighting the question out in the east and on
the border states, where the battle for votes was to be followed by the battle
of blood.

"Then came his election, his inauguration, lapping almost into the period
of the war. There was no traveling and little speech-making for him after
that. He was confined to a ghastly business which ended in his own death by
an assassin's bullet, after he had piloted the country to the' freedom for which
he pleaded in his only Milwaukee address."

Walter Distelhorst, president of the Milwaukee Historical Society, in an
address delivered before that body on February 8th, 1922, gave a most inter-
esting account of "Lincoln in Milwaukee," which we republish herewith:

If tin' Milwaukee newspapers in 1859 had told with the same richness of
detail the story id" Lincoln's visit to this city as they do today whenever some

celebrity conies to town, we might have a verj interesting picture of the
incident and of the period. Bui the art of quick photography and of photo

engraving were not discovered until many years later, so that no illustrations
appear in the papers id' the day upon which we must depend for the printed
record of Lincoln's visit; and furthermore, there did not seem to he at that

early time that intense curiositj on the part of the newspaper-reading public

for tiie intimate details ihat obtains at the present day. If it did exist.

the journalists of 1859 did not cater to it. for their reports are extremely
brief, not to say barren, of such facts as we today would like to read.

As to Lincoln's personal appearance, we are safe in saying ihat Milwau-

LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE 157

keeans of this early day did not see the Lincoln with whom we are familiar,
for the MeClure portraits show that he was smooth-shaven in 1859. His
pictures do not show him as wearing' a beard until 1861.

There is a story to the effect that while he was riding on the train to
Washington a little girl, his fellow passenger, suggested that whiskers would
improve his appearance, and that it was her suggestion upon which he acted
when he let his beard grow.

The Milwaukee Public Library lias mi file only the Milwaukee Sentinel
and the Daily News of this particular period. Both were morning papers of
four pages, eight columns wide (as is the present width of the .Milwaukee

dailies), tlie length being about four inches more than now. Th litors

must have been unusually busy witli their "blue pencils" on the Lincoln
"copy," or the papers may have been short-handed of compositors (all type
being at that time set by hand), for it does seem that in view id' Lincoln's
participation in the epoch-making debates with Douglas only a short time be-
fore, which served to make him a national figure, somewhat more extended
mention should have been made id' his address in .Milwaukee.

In connection with these debates, it may he of interest to (piote from an
Associated Press report which appeared in the daily papers of the country
on October 7, 1921, under a Galesburg, 111., date line. My ({notation is taken
from the .Milwaukee Journal, the item in full reading as follows:

Standing where Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas stood on
the same day in 1858, in front id' "Old Main," the historic building of Knox
college. Dr. William E. Barton, Chicago, spoke on the emancipator at a
celebration commemorative id' the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

The celebration was under the auspices of Knox college, which conferred on
Lincoln the honorary degree of doctor of laws.

"Lincoln's high title to honor in that notable series of debates lies in
the fact that he did not rest his ease on the opportune split in the party of
his opponents, hut forced the moral issue, and would not permit even so
astute an opponent as Douglas to evade it," said Doctor Barton. "Standing
in this spot, Lincoln said to Douglas:

' 'Judge Douglas declares that if any community wants slavery, they have
a right to it. He can say that logically if there is no wrong in slavery; but
if you adm'.t that there is wrong in it. he cannot logically say that anybody
has a right to do wrong. Now", I confess myself as belonging to that class
of society who contemplate slavery as a moral, social and political wrong.
He is blowing out the moral lights around us when he contends that who-
ever wants slaves has a right to hold them.'

"<>n that platform Lincoln lost the sonatorship of Illinois in 1858 and on
that platform he won the presidency in 1860."

It is not unlikely that these debates were largely influential in inducing
the Wisconsin Agricultural Society to invite Lincoln to deliver the annual
address at the State Fair. Vet in its announcement in the Sentinel running
during Fair Week, Lincoln's name was not given. Evidently this was a paid
advertisement, similar to our present-day display advertisements, for it ap-
peared in a '.)Yi> inch single-column spi >n the front page and presented the

158 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE

program for the Pair in a way similar to that followed today. It was headed
"Ninth Annual Shite Fair of the Wisconsin Stair Agricultural Society. Sep-
tember 26, 27, 28, 29 & 30" 1859." Lincoln's speech was mentioned as the
"annual address" which was to be delivered on Friday al 10 a. m.

In the issue of Monday morning, September 2tith, the Sentinel article on
the opening of the Fair had these words:

"Hon. Abram (note the spelling of the firsl name) Lincoln, of Illinois, will
deliver the annual address."

In the issue of Friday morning, September 30th, substantially the same
words were used- and that was the day of the address.

No more space was given in the Monday issue to Lincoln and his forth-
coming address than to "Professor Steiner" who was scheduled to make a
balloon ascension on the Saturday following.

On Tuesday the Sentinel in referring to the speaker said: "No better
orator for the occasion could have been found in the whole Northwest."

This is not waxing unduly enthusiastic, in the light of similar mention of
our public men today by a journal that is of the same political faith as the
man referred to.

We learn also from the news columns that the schools closed on Thursday
and Friday to permit "scholars and teachers" to visit the Fair. An announce-
ment appeared for several days to the effect that the hanks would close at
1 o'clock on Thursday afternoon, to permit their employees to visit the Fair
also, and it bore the signature of a number of banks, but nothing was said
about the following day, the day on which Lincoln was scheduled to give
his address.

Henry W. Bleyer, a veteran Milwaukee newspaper man. who died in
.Madison on January 19th, 1922, at the age of 86 years, recalled that Mr.
Lincoln's train was late when he reached Milwaukee on Friday, September
30th, so that Lincoln did not arrive until late in the forenoon. These recol-
lections are included in a letter which was written at Mr. Bleyer's dictation
by his nephew, Prof. Willard G. Bleyer. of the University of Wisconsin, at
Madison, where he resided. The date of the letter is October 3rd, 1921. Owing
to his advanced age, Mr. Bleyer was himself unable to write.

Mr. Bleyer, the uncle, recalls that the distinguished visitor was driven in
a carriage to the Newhall House, and from there to the fair grounds. It was
probably after his speech that he made the rounds of the fair grounds with
the president of the Wisconsin Agricultural Society. Elisha W. Edgerton.

George Richardson, a Milwaukee pioneer, who was a boy a1 the time of
Lincoln's visit, told the writer i in a personal reminiscence al the Old Settlers
Club in the fall of 1920) thai Lincoln walked over to the scene of the plow
ing contest, in the course of his rounds, the contest being held somewhere in
the vicinity of what is now about Twelfth and Clybourn streets, outside the
Fair Grounds proper, and thai his homely comments on the eontesl were
enjoyed by the by-standers quite as much as his more formal words a few
minutes before.

The address has until very recently been practically unknown. Prof.
Julius Iv oison. of the University of Wisconsin, writing in the quarterly

LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE 159

of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, the "Wisconsin Magazine of
History," Volume IV, Number 1, for September, 1920, says that the only
place in which he found it was in the C. S. Hammond & Company edition
of Lincoln's works, which was published in 1907, and in none of the other
biographies of Lincoln, so far as he knows. A page of the manuscript was
reproduced in connection with this article, the page being among Professor
Olson's treasured possessions.

On October 1, 1859, the "Sentinel" printed Lincoln's address in full
on the front page. It ran several columns. For this journalistic feat the
writer had been led to believe that the paper was indebted to Henry Bleyer,
as the writer had understood from Julius Bleyer, a brother of Henry and
a Milwaukee newspaper man, too, but the letter already referred to (now
in the collection of the Milwaukee Historical Society) explains that "the
manuscript was secured from Lincoln by a 'Sentinel' reporter" — obviously
not Mr. Bleyer — "and the speech was set up in the 'Sentinel' composing
room," of which another uncle of Professor Bleyer, Louis Bleyer, was foreman.

This letter also corrects another mistaken impression on the writer's
part (and this was generally shared because it was repeated in the press
at the time of Mr. Henry Bleyer's death), that during the Civil war, after
President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation had been issued, that Mil-
waukee negroes visited the "Sentinel" office and begged Mr. Henry Bleyer
for hits of the manuscript penned by their beloved Lincoln's own hand.

Professor Bleyer writes :

"Louis Bleyer kept the original manuscript and later gave it to my uncle,
Henry W. Bleyer. After Lincoln became prominent, Henry W. gave aw r ay
pieces of the manuscript to various persons, cutting it up for the purpose.
Another uncle, George, gave Lathrop E. Smith, of Beloit, the page of tin'
manuscript reproduced in the 'Wisconsin Magazine of History," while Smith
and George Bleyer were working together on one of the Beloit papers.

"The story about Henry Bleyer distributing some of the pieces of manu-
script to negroes from the steps of the 'Sentinel' office is incorrect. My
uncle (Henry) says that he recalls giving some pieces to some of the leaders
among the negroes in Buffalo, New York, after he moved to Buffalo in 1860,
but not to any negroes in Milwaukee."

The manuscript, Mr. Bleyer says, was in large part written in ink on
legal cap paper, "but apparently on the (rain Lincoln had written a page
about the importance of the steam plow, in lead pencil."

Referring to the page of the manuscript reproduced in the Historical
Society quarterly, Professor Olson says in his article that "a 'Sentinel'
printer" gave it to Mr. Smith that same year (1859), and ultimately it
came into his (Professor Olson's) possession.

The headline over the article in the "Sentinel" on the day after the
address was a single line of small blackfaced type — "Hon. Abram Lincoln's
Address." The introduction follows:

In another column we publish in full the very able address of Abram
Lincoln, of Illinois, before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. It is
in every sense a practicable and readable effort and will receive attentive

160 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

perusal. Yesterday ;i high wind combined with the dusl rendered the day

s >wha1 unfavorable bu1 there was ;i large attendance al the Pair Grounds

nevertheless. At 11 o'clock the plank auditorium a1 Brockway's was filled
with an expectant crowd waiting with commendable patience the appeal
ance of Abram Lincoln who bad been announced to deliver the address at
10 o'clock. It was qo1 Ear from noon when the distinguished gentleman
made his appearance and be was immediately welcomed with clapping of
hands and a stamping of feel <m the raised scats which caused the afon
mentioned Brockway to show considerable nervousness. Upon being in-
troduced Mr. Lincoln waited a few minutes for the applause to subside and
spoke as follows.

Just before the opening of the Wisconsin State Pair late in August,
1921, the .Milwaukee "Journal" ran a considerable portion of Lincoln's
address delivered at the Fair sixty-two years before, under title of "Here's
Lincoln Message to Wisconsin Fair in 1859," two lines of type across two
columns, the letters being half an inch high.

The address" in full can be found at the Public Library, so only two
excerpts will be given :

"1 presume 1 am not expected to employ the time assigned me in the
mere flattery of the farmers as a class. My opinion of them is that, in
proportion to numbers, they are neither better nor worse than other people.
In the nature of things they are more numerous than any other class, and
I believe then' are really more attempts at flattering them than any other,
the reason of which I cannot perceive, unless i1 be that they can cast more
votes than any other. On reflection, I am not quite sure that there is not
cause of suspicion against you in selecting me, in some sort a politician,
and in no sort a farmer, to address you.

"But farmers being the most numerous class, it follows that their interesl
is the largest interest. It also follows that that interest is most worthy
of all to he cherished and cultivated — that if there he inevitable conflict
between that interest and any other, that other should yield.

"hi all this, book learning is available. A capacity and taste for reading
c-ives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the
key. or one of the beys, to the already Solved problems. And not only SO;
it gives a relish and facility for successfully pursuing the unsolved ones.
The rudiments of science are available, and bighly available. Some knowl-
edge of botany assists in the dealing with the vegetable world with all
growing crops. Chemistry assists in the analysis of soils, selection ami ap-
plication of manures ami in numerous other ways. The mechanical branches
of natural philosophy are ready help in almost everything, but especially
in reference to implements and machinery.

"The thought recurs that education— cultivated thought- can best be
combined with agricultural labor, on the principle of thorough work;

that careless, half-performed, slovenly work makes no place for such

a combination: and thorough work, again, renders sufficient the smallest

quantity of ground to man: and this, again, < forms to what musl occur

in a world less inclined to wars and more devoted to the arts of peace than

LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE 161

heretofore. Population must increase rapidly, more rapidly than in former
limes, and ere long the most valuable of all arts will be the art of deriving
a comfortable subsistence from the smallest area of soil. No community
whose every member possesses this art can ever be the victim of oppression
in any of its forms. Such community will be alike independent of crowned
kings, money kings and land kings."

In the Sentinel art'cle, after the text of the address we find the following:

"At the conclusion of the address three hearty cheers were given for
the 'Kentucky boy' and the Secretary proceeded to read the awards of the
premiums. "

In the Daily News of the same date we read that the speaker occupied
an "elevated stand" — and the article does not contain much els-, the editor
going on to explain the reason for the brevity of the mention (tin article
also appeared on the front page) in these words:

"Mr. Lincoln's address was a written one and will doubtless be pub-
lished, hence we refrain from giving a synopsis id' it. .Mr. Lincoln
spoke about an hour and was listened to with attention by the large auditory,
lie is a man of ability and is possessed of a stentorian voice which could
be distinctly heard by every person in the vast assemblage."

The Daily News, which was democratic, made another mention of the
occasion on its editorial page. This was headed "In Questionable Taste"
and refers to the short speeeh made by Lincoln the evening before at the
Newhall House. Some of Lincoln's friends had gathered there after dinner
and insisted on his addressing them.

We read :

"There is some diversity of opinion as to the propriety of bringing black
republican speakers here to make political speeches under the auspices id'
the State Agricultural Society."

Peter Van Vechten gave some reminiscences of this Newhall House ad-
dress in an article written for the Milwaukee Free Press of February 12,
1911, by J. E. Moriarity. Mr. Van Vechten worked in his father's store
adjoining the NewhaU House at the time, and brought a box from the store
fin' the speaker to stand on. (This is corroborated in Professor Bleyer's
letter.) .Mr. Van Veehten's recollection as here given is that about fifty
persons heard this talk, but tin' Daily News, from which the foregoing
quotations were taken, was probably nearer right when it gave the number
as 250.

(Newhall House, which was located on the northwest corner of Michigan
Street and Broadway, was on January 10th, 1883, the scene of one of Mil-
waukee's greatest tragedies, when it was destroyed by tire and sixty-four
persons lost their lives. In Lincoln's day it was the largest and finest hole]
in the West, being of brick, six stories high and having 300 rooms, accord-
ing to the "History of Milwaukee," 1663 pages, published by the Western
Historical Company, of Chicago, in 1881. The hotel was built by Daniel
Newhall ami his associates in 1857 (p. 1426), and the property, including
building, site and furnishings, represented an outlay of $270,000. Messrs.
M. Kean and A. M. Rice were the landlords at the time of Lincoln's visit.)

Vol. 1—11

L62 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

A letter from \V. P. Powers, of Los Angeles, Cal., appeared in the Mil-
waukee Journal of September 4th. 1921, which throws considerable light
mi Lincoln's visit to Milwaukee. David J. Powers, mentioned in the letter
was the secretary of the Agricultural Society, under whose auspices Lincoln
spoke. The letter follows:

"In 1859 my father, David J. Powers, in arranging for the State Pair
al Milwaukee, invited Abraham Lincoln, a lawyer of Springfield, Illinois.
In dr|i\ .■!• the address.

"Mr. Lincoln had become widely known through the debates between
himself and Stephen A. Douglas.

"To the first letter of invitation, written in July, no answer was re-
ceived, and a second letter written a few- weeks later broughl the following
reply :

" 'Dear Sir: — Reaching I ie after an absence of nine days 1 find yours

of the twelfth. I have also received that of July 27th: and to lie plain. I
disliked to decline the honor you tendered me. Two difficulties were in the
way — first, I could not well spare the time from the courts: and secondly,
I had no address of the sorl prepared, and could scarcely spare the time
to prepare one: and 1 was waiting, before answering yours, to determine
whether these difficulties could lie surmounted. I will write you definitely mi
the first of September, if you can safely delay so long.

"•Yours very truly. A. LINCOLN'.'

"Upon receipt of the letter my father, reading between the lines, thought
In- saw the real reason for the stand-off when he remembered that he had
said nothing about compensation in either of the previous letters, lie there-
upon wrote him again, saying he had neglected to mention in his former
letters that there would he a compensation of .^loO, which appeared to strike
him favorably, as in a few days a letter came to the effect that he was
phased to say that he had so arranged matters in the courts that he could
come.

"He came and delivered the address and j| appears in some of the lives
of Lincoln, interested as he was in the absorbing topics, of tiie day. he was
little adapted to a talk to farmers, and the address nave slight promise of
the wonderful heights to wh'ch his genius later mi attai I.

"His address was largely devoted to the desirability of steam plows, a
want that is now so happily filled by the modern tractor of which he seemed
to have a vision.

"He was careful in his address to avoid anything of a political nature
hut in the evening at the old Newhall House, to a select company of those
of his own faith, he freely held forth on the suliject that was nexl to his
heart.

".My father said he had given tie- letter to the Illinois State Historical
Society, and it is now in the Lincoln Memorial Collection at Springfield,

Illinois.

"Now conies to the writer, the i nt crest ' ng part of this matter. At the
San Francisco Exposition in 1915, entering the Lincoln .Memorial room in
the Illinois Building, my attention was attracted to a frame over which

LINCOLN IN .MILWAUKEE 163

was the inscription, 'Letters of Abraham Lincoln previous to I860.' Re-
membering the story often told by my father, I intuitively looked at the
letters under the glass in the frame and to my surprise and delight the
first one I saw was addressed to D. J. Powers."

There is more to the letter, but the rest is of a personal nature and
has no special bearing on this particular subject.

At the time of Lincoln's visit Milwaukee had a population of about
forty-six thousand.. The edge of town was at about Twelfth Street, and the
stand from which Lincoln spoke was probably close to what is now the
corner of Twelfth Street and Grand Avenue, or perhaps a little to the north
of this spot.

Mr. Lincoln on leaving the grounds was driven about the city. Accord-
ing to Mr. Richardson's recollection, he attracted comparatively little atten-
tion, and Mr. Richardson himself, with others, did not stay for more than
a part of the address at the Pair, little realizing that they were in the
presence of a later president of the United States and one of the greatest
figures of all time.

On October 4th, following Lincoln's address in .Milwaukee, he gave an
address during the afternoon at Beloit and during the evening af Janes-
ville, both being political addresses.

In view of the manner in which the Milwaukee papers handled Lincoln's
speech, it is unlikely that he was at that time considered seriously as a
candidate for the presidency. This reminder is found in the Carl Schurz
essay, "Abraham Lincoln" (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1891):

"As late as April, 1859, he had written to a friend who had approached
him on the subject that he did not think himself tit for the presidency.
The vice-presidency was then the limit of his ambition."

Lincoln's visit to Wisconsin on the occasion of his address at the State
Fair at Milwaukee in 1859 was his third to this state.

His first visit was in 1832 during his participation in the Black Hawk
war. He was among the first to respond to the call of Governor Reynolds
for volunteers to repel the invasion of Black [lawk. It is an early testi-
monial to Ins leadership that at the age of twenty-three he was chosen
captain by his fellow militiamen. His power over men was shown when he
defended an old Indian who strayed into camp and was detained because
the men though! he was a spy, and they wanted blood.

Before Lincoln's company go1 as far as Wisconsin, however, it was mus-
tered out; and on the same day (May l2Sthi he re-enlisted as a private in
the Independent Spj Company and with that organization crossed the state
line near Beloit on June 30, 1832.

With the company Lincoln pushed north, but they did not come in con-
tact with the enemy, and no fighting was done. On July 10th they wen 1
'mustered out near Fort Atkinson, and returned home before the battles of
Wisconsin Heights ami Bad Axe, with which the Black Hawk war was
ended on August 2d. In all Lincoln spent about two weeks in Wisconsin
at that time.

The Black Hawk war episode was an important one in the life of the

1(1! HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

future president, because ii broughl him to the notice of Maj. John K. Stuart,
the Springfield lawyer, which resulted in the latter's giving Lincoln en-
couragemenl and assistance in his law studies, and in his inviting Lincoln

in 1837 to become his law partner.

The record of Lincoln's second visit to Wisconsin to which reference is
made also in Professor Olson's article is found largely in the "Historj of
Washington and Ozaukee Counties," 1881, Western Historical Company,
Chicago. The visil is more or less shrouded in mystery, If Lincoln did
come to Wisconsin, and it is very likely that he did, in the ligh.1 of what
follows, then of course he visited .Milwaukee also.

On page 508 of the "History" we read:

"The lirst dwelling house buill in the village was erected bj Gen.
(Wooster) Harrison in 1835. It is still standing (1881), apparently in a
good state of preservation. It is a little story-and-a-half frame building,
gable end. the silk resting on the ground. A partition divides the lirst floot
into two apartments, and also the upper or half story. It was at this bouse
that the first votes of the town were polled. This old and time worn si mc
ture has become one of the sacred relics of the past, commanding a prom-
inent phi.ee in the history of the town of Port Washington, not only on
account of the relation it hears to the first white settler of tin' village, bu1
because it once served as a shelter to one of America's greatesl states
men. It may he of interest to mention the fact that the greal and martyred
president, Abraham Lincoln, during his days of roughing it, once walked
from Milwaukee to Sheboygan, and stopped a night in this old house. After
the defeat of the Merrimac by the Monitor, .Mr. Lincoln, in company with
some of his Cabinet officers, visited Fortress Monroe to gel a practical knowl-
edge of the fort. While viewing the works, desiring some information, lie
approached an officer, who proved to he ('apt. Berger, from Port Washing-
ton. 'Well, my man.' said Lincoln, 'where are you from.'' 'Porl Wash
ington,' replied the Captain. 'Por1 Washington— le1 me see: that is in
Wisconsin about twenty-five miles north of Milwaukee is it not.'' The Cap-
tain answered that it was. "1 stopped there over night once.' said the
President; 'jusl name over some of tin' men who lived there in the early
days.' The Captain proceeded to name over quite a number, finally men
tioning thai of Harrison. 'Harrison, that is the man!' said .Mi-. Lincoln. I
remember him well.' He then walked off to join Ids escort, Leaving Capt.
Berger very much elated to think that his town hail been honored h\ the
presence of so great a man."

Harry W. Bolens, ex mayor of Port Washington, and a well known journal-
ist, in an interview in the Milwaukee Daily News during the year of the
Lincoln centenary (1909), supplemented this story. He said that the visit
occurred some time between 1836 and L840. Lincoln also visited Sheboygan,

Mi'. Bolens said. L't In returned at once to l'ort Washington and stopped

there for two days, during which ii he rented quarters for a law office

from General Harrison, This was in the fall. It was Lincoln's intention
to return in the spring, hut Hoods prevented all travel in the Middle West

LINCOLN' IX .MILWAUKEE 165

during the following year, rains continuing till early fall, so Lincoln sent
his regrets to Harrison and remained in Illinois.

Professor Olson thinks that all this may he true. The records show an
abnormally heavy rainfall during 1836. Furthermore, Ann Rutledge died
on August 25, 1835, the great tragedy of Lincoln's life. He was driven
nearly msane with grief, Ave read in all his biographies. Friends urged a
change of scene, and his Wisconsin trip probably resulted, there being
some weeks at this period in his life which none of his biographers can
account for satisfactorily.

In this connection, biographers and lecturers on Lincoln call attention
to his great liking for William Knox's poem "0, Why Should the Spirit
Of Mortal he Proud?" He often quoted passages from it during these
dark days.

(The first stanza is as follows:

[

Oh, why should the spirit of mortal he proud?
Like a swift-flitting meteor, a fast-flying cloud,
A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
lie passeth from life to his rest in the grave.)

Carl Schurz, considering this great tragedy, writes in his essay on "Abra-
ham Lincoln" :

"In the meantime he had private sorrows and trials of a painfully afflict-
ing nature. He had loved and been loved by a fair and estimable girl, Ann
Rutledge, who died in the flower of her youth and beauty, and he mourned
her loss with such intensity of grief that his friends feared for his reason.
Recovering from his morbid depression, he bestowed what he thought a now
affection upon another lady, who refused him. And finally, moderately
prosperous in his worldly affairs, and having prospects of political distinc-
tion before him, he paid his addresses to Mary Todd, of Kentucky, and was
accepted. Bui then tormenting doubts of the genuineness of his own affec-
tion for her, of the compatibility of their characters, and of their future
happiness came upon him. His distress was so great that he felt li mself
in danger of suicide, and feared to carry a pocketknife with him ; and he
gave mortal offense to his bride by not appearing on the appointed wedding
day. Xow the torturing consciousness id' the wrong he had done her grew
unendurable. He won back her affection, ended the agony by marrying her,
and became a faithful and patient husband and a good father. Hut it was
no secret to those who knew the family well, that ins domestic life was full
of trials. The erratic temper of his wife not seldom put the gentleness of
his nature to the severest tests; and these troubles and struggles, which
accompanied him through all the vicissitudes of his life from the modest
home in Springfield to the White House at Washington, adding untold private
heartburnings to his public cares, and sometimes precipitating upon him
incredible embarrassments in the discharge of his public duties, form one of
the most pathetic features of his career."

Two years before Lincoln's trip through Milwaukee to Port Washing

166 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

ton and Sheboygan, a pioneer Norwegian, EQeng Peerson, traveled alone
from Chicago to Milwaukee on foot, over the Chicago Green Bay Indian trail.
This trail had for sometime been used by the half-breed who packed the
mail on his back between the two lake shore poets. Peerson found only
Solomon Juneau ami one other white man at Milwaukee at thai lino-.

If Lincoln actually made tin- trip, as it seems likely that he did. it is
strange that no record of it has come down to us. Quite likely he spenl
less time here than at Port Washington, but Milwaukee was the more im-
portant post and without doubt even for a brief visit Lincoln would have
come in contact with more whites in Milwaukee than at the post further
up the lake shore.

Henry Bleyer is quoted in the Milwaukee Pree Press in .Mi-. Molarity's
article as saying that Lincoln met with little encouragement to settle either
here or at Port Washington at that time, and so returned to Illinois. And
as success came to him later in his native state, there was little likelihood
of his leaving; so that Wisconsin lost its opportunity of numbering the
Great Emancipator among its famous sons, if it ever had the opportunity.

Milwaukee achieves connection with Lincoln once more in the controversy
which raged in 1916 and 1917 over the Bernard statue of Lincoln. The Mil-
waukee Sentinel took part in this controversy and is quoted as follows by
the Literary Digest under date of February Id, 1917, the article appearing
in the "Art World"' of June of that year under the title of "A Mistake in
Bronze," which fj-ives a hint as to its purpose:

"The question arises (says the Sentinel), is it realism at all! 1 Is it a faith-
ful presentment in bronze of the real Lincoln? That question is still fairly
capable of settlement, There are entirely credible and competent witnesses
now living who knew Lincoln in the flesh and remember perfectly well how
he looked — no difficult thing, for 'Old Abe' was a striking figure that, once
seen, was never forgotten.

"We have tried this test, by submitting to some who knew Lincoln in
life the appalling photographic cut of the production, which is supposed to
perpetuate for < Jincinnatians the appearance of Lincoln. The consensus of
usually indignant testimony is that it is fearfully and wonderfully unlike
Lincoln as they knew him.

"The sculptor seems to have evolved his conception of Lincoln out of

his inner consciousness, though he states that he was greatlj assisted by
Contemplating a man he met in Louisville, who was six feel EoUT and one-half
inches tall, who was horn not far from Lincoln's birthplace, and who had been
splitting rails all his life.

"The finished artistic result of these processes is one that, s,, far as our
own inquiries go, is calculated to stir to wrath and resentment those who
knew Mr. Lincoln in life and must be admitted to be competenl witnesses
as to his personal appearance.

"It is perfectly possible to combine good art with a respectable degree

of verisimilitude in these productions. If we are going to have statues of
Lincoln, a decent respect for tin' memory of 'Old Abe' seems in require that

thej resemble him, and are not Leaks of fancy that with a few alterations

LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE 167

might do duty as figures of [chabod Crane, or Dominic Sampson, or St.
Simeon Stylites on his penitential pillar."

A noble statue of Lincoln, seated, occupies the crest of the Upper Campus
hill at the State University of Madison, in front of Bascom Hall (formerly
known as "Main Hall") where it dominates the vista between the great
elms over the beautiful lawns. A mile to the east is the State Capitol, under
whose great dome is housed the machinery that keeps this great Common-
wealth functioning in our democracy, and toward which the spirit of Lincoln
gazes steadily out of the bronze eyes. It is one of the shrines of the State
of Wisconsin. It helps to shape the ideals of the thousands of young men
and young women from this Nation and cither nations who are training them-
selves for citizenship in the shadow of this great memorial.

Adolph Weinman is the sculptor, the original of which it is the replica
being at Hodgensville, Ky., Lincoln's birthplace. It is the Lincoln whom his
neighbors knew and loved, the statesman who piloted a nation through a great
war and then gave his own life on the altar to heal the breach caused by the
four years of bloody warfare.

Weinman was born in Germany in 1870, but came to this country at an
early age and was educated in the public schools of New York. He was a
pupil of St. Gaudens, another of the outstanding sculptors of the immortal
Lincoln.

A personal reminiscence by a Milwaukee man of the nomination of Lincoln
at the convention of 1860 may be of interest. Amherst W. Kellogg, a resident
of Wisconsin since 1836, was an eye-witness. The following is from an inter-
view given by him to the Milwaukee Sentinel on October 23, L'21 :

When Illinois presented the name of Abraham Lincoln I was much surprised
at the demonstration that occurred: however, when Seward was nominated by
New York he seemed to awaken even greater enthusiasm. Salmon P. Chase
was Ohio's favorite son; Edward Bates was .Missouri's choice; Pennsylvania
presented Simon Cameron. On the first ballot Seward had more votes than
any of the others, but not enough for a nomination. Before the second
ballot was taken Simon Cameron withdrew his name and his votes went to
Lincoln, who then almost equaled Seward's vote.

With the third ballot the excitement grew intense; state after state turned
over to Lincoln and lie seemed likely to succeed ; but we who had been keeping
tab found as the last vote was cast that he was two votes short of the number
necessary to nominate. Then just before the figures of the ballot were an-
nounced Carter of the Ohio delegation got the floor and shouted: "Ohio
changes four votes from Salmon I*. Chase to Abraham Lincoln.''

With that such a wave of emotion swept over the vast audience as I have
never seen in all my experience; women threw up their parasols and men their
hats. Though we were packed in so we could scarcely move, Mr. Daggett
(S. S. Daggett, also of Milwaukee, who was at that time seventy years old)
danced up and down like a boy. One man standing beside us, down whose face
the tears were pouring in streams, cried out: "I can't help it! I can't help it!
I've been working for him a week and I didn't really hope for it." Another
old man near us began to shout at the top of his voice: •'Glory, Glory Halle-

168 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE

lujah ! Now, Lord, lettesi Thou Thy servanl deparl in peace, for mil yes

have seen the redempt on of Egypt" (as Southern Illinois was then called).

Meanwh ; le the chairman of the convention, George Ashmun of Massa-
chusetts, moved thai the vote for Abraham Lincoln be made unanimous. With
that the enthusiasm broke out afresh and continued until the audience was
fairly exhausted.

Notwithstanding the impression made by Lincoln in his address at the
state Pair, the feeling of dismay which was common throughout the country,
as Carl Schurz rem mis us, dovibtless was shared by citizens of .Milwaukee

and Wisconsin when after Lincoln's election the Southern states s< ded and

war became imminent.

Mr. Schurz writes :

"Honest Abe Lincoln." who was so good-natured that he could not say
"no;" the greatest achievement of whose life hail been a debate on the
slavery question; who had never been in any position of power; who was with-
out the slightest experience of high executive dut'.es, ami who hail only a
speaking acquaintance with the men upon whose counsel anil cooperation he
was to depend. Nor was his accession to power under such circumstances
greeted with general confidence even by members of his party. While he hail
indeed won much popularity, many Republicans, especially among those who
had advocated Seward's nomination for the presidency, saw the simple '•Illi-
nois lawyer" take the reins of government with a feeling little short of
dismay. The orators ami journals of the opposition were ridiculing ami
lampooning him without measure. .Many people actually wondered how such
a man could dare to undertake a task which, as he himself had said to his
ueighbors in his parting speech, was "more difficult than that of Washington
himself had been."

The Gettysburg address is great, if short, hut the closing words of Lincoln's
second inaugural, Schurz says, are "like a sacred poem. No American presi-
dent hail ever spoken worils like these to the American people. Americans
never hail a president who found such words in the depths of his heart."

Let us consider Lincoln 's words :

Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of
war may speedily pass away. Vet if God wills that it continue until all the
wealth piled up by the bondman's 250 years of unrequited toil shall he sunk,
and until every drop of blood drawn with the last shall be paid by another
drawn with the sword, as was said 3,000 years ago, so still it must be said.
"The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." With malice
toward none, with charity for all. with firmness in the righl as God gives us
to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in; to hind up the
Nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for
his widow and for his orphan ; to do all which may achieve and cherish a just
and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

And then the closing scenes of the war. The fall of Richmond, with Lincoln

himself entering the citj on font, where the slaves crowded about him. kissing
his hands and his garments, while tears streamed down his care-furrow ed
cheek's. Following cdose on the heels of the news of Lee \ surrender, came llie

LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE 169

stunning' news of Lincoln's assassination. And all the civilized world wept
beside his coffin. The judgments of those mourning nations of his worth and
greatness have never been reversed.

The "History of Milwaukee," page 736, says:

"The city was hushed in grief. Silently and sorrowfully the buildings,
many of them still gaily flaunting the joyous decorations of the week before,
were clad in the habiliments of woe."

11 was the saddest week in Milwaukee's history.

Mayor Abner Kirby issued a proclamation, the day, April 15th, being the
hist of his term. This is what he said.

Mayor's Office, April 15 — The joy of the Nation is turned into mourning.
The Chef .Magistrate of our country is reported to have been slain at the
hands of an assassin, and the life of our Secretary of State taken by a still
more infamous hand. Therefore, I, Abner Kirby, Mayor of Milwaukee, do
hereby recommend that all the dwellings and business places of our city forth-
with be clad ill mourning as a token of the deep and common sorrow that
prevails; and that the people, abstaining from all excitement improper for
such solemn occasion, postpone their ordinary duties today, and that in all
the churches, tomorrow, such services be performed as will duly express the
great and general grief. ABNEB KIRBY, Mayor.

Word of the assassination, which occurred on Pr'.day night. April 14th,
did not reach .Milwaukee until the following day.

Issuance of the foregoing proclamation was Kirby's last official act. for
John J. Tallmadge was inaugurated as mayor immediately afterward. Tall-
madge's first public proclamation, which appeared on Tuesday, April 18th,
announced the public funeral, set for the following Thursday.

Services were held in all the churches between It and Id o'clock. The
procession was scheduled at 11 o'clock, but rain interfered and the sun did
not come out till afternoon, so that the procession did not start until •'! o'clock.

There was a hearse, and the following well-known Milwaukeeans acted as
pallbearers: Hans ( 'rocker, Jackson Hadley, Alexander Mitchell (later United
States senator). Angus Smith, John Bradford, James S. Brown, Doctor John-
son. John W. Cary and Mortiz Schoeffler.

There wen 1 4,(10(1 persons in line, the procession being over a mile long,
while 40,000 more, with bared heads, lined the streets as the solemn pageant
passed to the accompaniment of dirges, tolling bells, muffled drums and the
firing of minute guns, the afternoon sun shedding its benign rays over all.

A great meeting on the Courthouse Square hail been arranged to take
place during the forenoon, but this too had to be postponed on account of
the downpour. Addresses were to have been made from three stands at
different parts of the grounds, three speakers being scheduled at each stand.
George II. Walker, founder of Milwaukee's South Side, was one of the
chairmen, and Senator Matt II. Carpenter was one of the speakers. These
eulogies had to be given indoors, meetings being held in the Plymouth Con-
gregational and the First Presbyterian Churches.

Milwaukeeans have a personal interest in the splendid Lincoln memorial
recently completed at Washington. Lyman II. Browne, for many years a

170 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

residenl of this city, informed the writer thai his brother-in-law, Fred Drew,
of Washington, I). C, was the contractor and builder.

Theodore <i. Joslin sonic time ago described the memorial in the Boston
Transcript, the article being reprinted in the Literary Digesl of December 20th,
1919. We read:

"A great axis planned scores of years ago is completed by the memorial.
At one end is the Capitol, containing the national legislative and judicial
bodies, which is a monument to the United States Government. A mile to
the westward, in the center of the axis, is the monument to Washington, who
established the Government. Terminating the axis is the new memorial to
Lincoln, who saved the Government."

The movement to establish the Lincoln memorial had its inception in
1867. The memorial, costing over two and a half million dollars, takes the
form of a monument symbolizing the union of the Nation, enclosing in the
walls of its sanctuary three memorials of the man. himself — one a statue 'of
heroic size expressing his humane personality; the others memorials of his
two great speeches, one of the Gettysburg address and the other his second
inaugural, each with attendant sculpture and painting telline; in allegory of
his splendid qualities evident in those speeches. William Howard Taft turned
the first spadeful of earth on Lincoln's birthday in 1H14.

CHAPTER XV
IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN

In the process of assimilation, as exemplified in sections of the Middle West,
where, during the last half of the nineteenth century emigrants grouped
themselves in great numbers, striking social situations have been evolved
which either have escaped, or have been deemed unworthy, the attention of
the essayist and fiction writer.

Every phase of American life, susceptible to literary treatment, has- been
explored to the fullest, The conditions, characters and complications of a.
quaint New England village, of a peaceful Dutch settlement in New York
Stale, or a German county in Pennsylvania; the race problem and Creole life
of the South, and the thrilling picturesqueness of the western frontier — all
have been treated by author and poet.

The home-hunting foreigners, who came to the north central west, may
have tended to that prosaic industrialism which leaves no surface indications
of romance or dramatic situations, and yet upon closer analysis they reveal
in unique setting and scenery, life's drama in climaxes as compelling and
touching as those enacted in other parts of the new world.

Where the foreigners are sparsely sprinkled among the natives the absorp-
tion is necessarily rapid, but where those of similar racial origin have settled
in numbers, they cling tenaciously to language and customs, and stand out in
stronger contrast to social order of the native.

The assumption that the transition stages from a raw emigrant to a
fullHedged American citizen are colorless, or that the collective newcomer
merely offers in subdued colors a reproduction of old world customs and
mannerisms, might be wholly true if the foreigners wholly isolated themselves
from the natives. But where, in the commingling of foreign and native born,
the amalgamation proceeds along social as well as economic and civic lines,
the element of conflict and heart interest become pronounced and appealing.

The clashes between foreign and native tradition, between old and new
world conceptions are bound to ignite the sparks of prejudice and hatred.
In the manifest course of human adjustment many situations are created
in which tolerance and the nobler impulses of man may come vividly into
play. The writer has here seen an unplowed held rich in material and setting
for the dramatist and novelist.

In thus directing attention to what seems to the author an unexplored, or
at least only partially explored field tor study and treatment, he is convinced
that much, in the inner struggles and outward movements of the emigrant,
during the transition period, constitutes an essential factor in American life,

171

THE n[.D MATHEW STEIN GUN SHOP ON MARKET SQUARE IN" THE LATEE

'40s -VXD KAK'I.V '50s
See "lil Town Pump to the left below

IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 173

and is therefore worthy of permanent record. Admirat'on is aroused when
the progress of the emigrant is contemplated, when his preconceptions per-
ceptibly have yielded to openmindedness, when alienism has faded into a
sturdy loyally to American institutions, when the humblest and must unpromis-
ing lies linings are followed by useful service and valuable contributions to
the prestige, power and prosperity of the nation.

Racial Complexion. — It would be difficult to establish with any degree of
accuracy the racial origin of the population. That is, it would be practically
impossible to deal in exact figures, separating the native from the foreign
horn and at the same time trace the ancestry of the native born. Yet we may
venture appropriate figures based upon the various sources of information that
nave been at our command.

Before doing so. it may be well to ascertain the probable order and the
periods in which the different nationalities made the r appearance. Tin.'
Indian, the primitive man, was first joined by the French Canadian. Then
came the Anglo-American from the New England states and the so-called
Knickerbockers, Dutch descendants from New York state. The "New England
Society" and the "Sons of New York" flourished for several years as social
and patriotic bodies.

Tiie Easterners wen' followed in large numbers by the Irish and Germans,
with a sprinkling of Scandinavians. Hollanders, Bohemians and Austrians
In the period from 1S44 to 1878 the German immigration outnumbered all
other nationalities. During the latter part of this period the Polish immigra-
tion began to secure momentum, continuing for some years. While the emigra-
tion from Central Europe declined, the peoples from eastern and southern
Europe began to turn towards the United States and Milwaukee received a
goodly number of them.

Those coming from eastern and southern Austria-Hungary included Sla-
vonians, Croatians and Hungarians. The Slovaks and Serbs came somewhat
later. During the past thirty years there has also been a steady but some-
what meager influx of Italians, Greeks and Russians.

Composition of the Population. — Prof. Lawrence M. Larson, in his review,
remarks that "Milwaukee is a cosmopolitan city. She has drawn her citizen-
ship from all parts of the civilized world. In the old Third ward, once the
heart of the city, the Italian now (LUIS) reigns supreme; while in Kilbourn-
town the African and the Russian .Jew have inherited the earth. On the
South side of the city the Poles arc the strongest, numbering more than
90,000 and controlling two or three wards. The Scandinavian elements are
located principally on the south side. Greeks and Hungarians have their rep-
resentatives in the city, and occasional Asiatics may also be found. The more
distinctly American population is found in greatesl numbers on the East side
and in the southern part of the West side. But most numerous of all is the
German element. It is estimated that at least 200,000 Germans, native born or
of German parentage, live in Milwaukee.

"It is therefore inevitable," continues Professor Larson, "that the city
should display certain prominent foreign characteristics. On the religious side
these are particularly evident. Stronger than all the Protestant churches
combined is the Catholic church with its large German, Polish, Irish ami

171 HISTORT OF MILWAUKEE

[taliaii parishes. Of the Protestants more than half belong to the Lutheran
churches, mainly Germans and Scandinavians. The presence of these two
powerful organizations lias treated an interesting situation in the system of
elementary schools. About forty per rent of the total school attendance is
found in the parochial schools. Alongside of the public school system has
grown up therefore, a group of rival systems entirely independent of the
former. ' '

Language Difficulties of the Immigrants. — The first obstacle met with by
the newly arriving immigrants was the diversity of languages among them
The acquisition of the English language by foreigners was of course a neces-
sity, but it often proved a very difficult task for the older men and women.
The children, however, quickly learned to speak and write it. and families
gradually dropped the use of their native forms of speech, ami thus could co-
operate with their neighbors in affairs of business and government. The estab-
lishment of schools for the young was the chief agency in this amalgamating
process, and few neighborhoods were without a schoolhouse and teachers, even
in the earliest stages of settlement.

Thus was developed a community spirit of vital importance in the main-
tenance of our American form of government and its institutions. Americans
indeed have made language a more powerful nationalizing instrument, says

a recent writer, than even the English people themselves have I n able to

do in their own country. The same writer goes on to say that the old stock
of native born Americans have been largely replaced by the newly arriving
elements from foreign countries, now represented in our population; and
that the nationalizing processes have been of such a thoroughgoing character
as to produce a new type spoken in a purer language than that in use in the
country of its birth.

"Political and social institutions in the United States," continues the
writer above mentioned, "have a quality which speedily transmutes various
types into one type, the public school probably being the most powerful of
them. "

The German Immigration. —" When .Milwaukee was but a small cluster of
houses in the early thirties," writes II. E. Legler in his volume, "Leading
Events of Wisconsin History," "Germans had made their home in the village.

but it was not until a decade later that colonists began to arrive ii nsider-

able numbers from the fatherland. Political disturbances at I sent many

id' them over the ocean, and the low price of land and liberal laws of Wiscon-
sin attracted many of them to this territory. Between 1840 and 1848
pamphlets and books describing the resources and favorable climatic condi-
tions of Wisconsin were circulated in greal numbers in some parts of Germany,
and undoubtedly greatly influenced intending settlers to seek tin' golden
Northwest. In the Rhine region, in the Wupper valley and in the duchy
of Brunswick these guides for immigrants found especially eager readers.

".Milwaukee soon became known as the German Athens of America, but
the German population of Wisconsin was not confined to the chit' citj of
the territory. The wooded sections aloni;- the lake shore and In the inteii

attracted large numbers of h seekers. The early German settlers were

mostly of the Catholic faith, but In the early forties I'omerania and luanden

IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 17.".

burg, as the result of religious contentions, lost many of their people, and
their leaders directed many of them to Wisconsin."

Prominent among the citizens of Wisconsin who were born in Germany
was Carl Schurz whose political career opened in this state when he was yet
a young man of twenty-seven. He settled at Watertown, Wis., in 1856, and
became prominent in the republican party of the state. He had received a
good education in his native country, and after his arrival began the study
of law. He was admitted to the Wisconsin bar in 1858, and began the prac-
tice of law in Milwaukee. In the Republican National Convention of 1860,
he was chairman of the Wisconsin delegation which voted for William II.
Seward for the presidential nomination. He was a member of the committee
appointed to notify Mr. Lincoln of his nomination. In 1861, he was sent as
minister to Spain, but lie returned In the United States in the following year
and was commissioned brigadier general. As a commander of division he
took part in the second battle of Bull Run. He was promoted to the rank
of major general and was present at the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg
and at Chattanooga.

After the close of hostilities he resigned his commission and thereafter
became identified with .Missouri affairs. From 1869 to 1875, he was United
States senator from Missouri, and in 1S77 he was secretary of the interior
in President Hayes' cabinet. In 1881, he removed to New York City where
he became engaged in editorial work, and died there in 1906.

A most interesting study of Wisconsin's German element, by Kate A.
Everest, is printed in Volume XII of the Wisconsin Historical Collections. "In
the Western States many large German settlements were formed," she says,
"especially in Ohio, but they did not become centers of attraction, nor of
any political importance. The masses of colonists hail German sentiments, hut
not the German ideals. They would not suffer themselves to be directed by
their countrymen, especially since the leaders, who were often idealists and
free-thinkers, were men far removed from the general German sentiment ; but
the immigrants settled rather where business interests were most favorable.

"The general sentiment of later years is well expressed by Priedrich Kapp
and Carl Schurz. 'The well-being of the Germans,' says Kapp, 'does not lie
in separation from the American educational interests nor in fantastic dreams
of founding a German state in America — a German Utopia. A German

nation within the American they cannot be, but they can throw the rich
treasures of their life and thought into the struggle for political and human
interests, and their influence will penetrate the more deeply and create for
them a wider field of activity, the less peculiar they make it.' '

In a speech by Carl Schurz in New York he expressed himself as follows:
"Let us never forget that we as Germans are not called upon here to form a
separate nationality, but rather to contribute to the American nationality
the strongest there is in us. and in place of our weakness to substitute the
strength wherein our fellow Americans excel us, and to blend it with our
wisdom. We should never forgel that in the political life id' this republic
we as Germans have no peculiar interests, hut that the universal well-being
is ours also."

These sentiments were held and expressed by eminent writers and pub-

OLD CREAM CITY BASEBALL CLUB— 1869
Archie McFadden, M. Lumkin, I'.. C. Wells. \Y. II. Dodsworth, \V. ( . Smith, George Redding,

.1. II. \Y I. K. A. Smith. t . S. Norris.

OLD Rl FUS KING RESIDEN< i:
Northeast corner Mason and Van Buren Btreets. Built 1 > v Henry Williams, 1838

IMMIGRATION AND EACE ORIGIN 177

lieists many years ago and are still held by the clear-thinking men of our later
time. We honor the German element in our population, and that element in
turn forms a most valuable ingredient in the development of the "one hundred
per cent Americanism" of Wisconsin people.

Native versus Foreign Bern. — The attitude which obtained among the
Germans, and the reciprocal prejudice which the native and foreign born
entertained for each other, were some years later well expressed by Hugo
Miinsterberg, who said:

"The German immigrant can justly claim to be a respectable and very
desirable element of the American population ; he has stood always on the
side of solid work and honesty; he has brought skill and energy over the
ocean, and he has not forgotten his music and his joyfulness; he is not second
to any one in his devotion to the duties of a citizen in peace and in war, and
without his aid many of America's industrial, commercial, and technical
triumphs would be unknown.

"But all that does not disprove the fact that he is often somewhat unfit
to judge fairly the life which surrounds him. First, lie belongs almost always
to a social stratum in which the attention is fully absorbed by the external
life of a country, and which is without feeling for the achievements of its
mental life; he was poor in his fatherland, and lives comfortably here, and
thus he is enthusiastic over the material life, praises the railroads and the
hotels, the bridges and mills, but does not even try to judge of the libraries
and universities, the museums and the hospitals.

"On the other hand, he feels socially in the background; he is the 'Dutch-
man,' who, through his bad English, through his habits and manners, through
his tastes and pleasures, is different from the majority, and therefore set apart
as a citizen of second rank, if not slighted, at least kept in social isolation.
On the side of the German, the result of this, situation is often an entire
ignorance of the Anglo-American life.

"But there were more important factors — industry and civic virtues,
which, brought from Germany, helped to build up the land and the nation,
and it is unfair to stamp the German-American as a citizen of second rank
and thus to isolate him socially."

In placing an estimate upon the American the same writer says: "What
most quickly misleads is, doubtless, his consuming interest in money-making,
together with the sharp struggle for existence, the gigantic scale of his
undertakings, his hasty, impulsive movements, his taste for strong sensational
stimuli, his spoils politics, and the influence of corporations upon his legis-
lation. But is not all that merely the surface view? The American is not
greedy for money; if he were, he would not give away his wealth with such
a liberal hand, and would not put aside all the unidealistic European schemes
of money-making which exclude individual initiative, as, for instance, the
pursuit of dowries, or, on a lower level, the tipping system.

"The American runs after money primarily for the pleasure of the chase;
it is the spirit of enterprise that spurs him on, the desire to make use of his
energies, to realize his personality. And there is one other factor: in a country
where political conditions have excluded titles and orders and social distinc-
tions in general, money is in the end the only means of social discrimination,

178 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE

iinil financial success becomes thus the measuremenl of the ability of the in-
dividual and of his power to realize himself in action. That the struggle for
existence is sharper here than in Europe is simply a fairy tale. In a country
where the greatesl enterprises are undertaken in the service of charity, and
where the natural resources of the land are inexhaustible, even the lowest
classes do not struggle for existence, but, seen from the Continental stand-
point, merely for comfort; of this the lyrical character of the discussions of
social problems here compared with their dramatic character in Germany
gives the fullest evidence.

"■But the most amusing misunderstanding arises when the American him-
self thinks that he proves the purely practical character of his life by the
eagerness with which he saxes his time, on the ground that 'time is money.'
It strikes me that, next to the public funds, nothing is so much wasted here
as time. Whether it is wasted in reading the endless newspaper reports of
murder trials or in sitting on the base-ball grounds, in watching a variety
show or in lying in bed, in waiting for the elevator or in being shaved after
the American fashion, in attending receptions or in enjoying committee meet
ings, is quite unessential.

"The whole scheme of American education is only possible in a country
which is rich enough not to need any economy of time, and which can there
fore allow itself the luxury of not asking at what age a young man begins
to earn his own living. The American shopkeeper opens his store daily one
hour later than the German tradesman, and the American physician opens
his office three years later than his German colleague of equal education.
This may be very good, hut it is a prodigality of time which the Germans
would he unable to imitate.

"Add to it tin' American's gratefulness and generosity, his elasticity and
his frankness, his cleanliness and his chastity, his humor and his fairness;
consider the vividness of his religious emotion, his interest in religious and
metaphysical speculation, his eagerness always to realize the besl results of
science — in short, look amund everywhere without prejudice, and yon eannol
doubt that behind the terrifying mask of the selfish realist breathes the
idealist, who is controlled by a belief in ethical values.

"Undeniably, every one of these characteristics may develop into an ah
surdity; gratitude may transform the capture of a merchant vessel into a
naval triumph, speculative desire may run into the blind alleys of spiritualism,
fairness may lead to tin' defense of the most cranky schemes, and the wish
for steady improvements may chase the reformer from one fad to another;
and yet it is all at bottom the purest idealism.

"Whenever I have written about America for my German countrymen,
1 have said: 'You are righl to hate that selfish, brutal, corrupt, vulgar
American who lives in your imagination; hut the true American is at least
as much an idealist as yourself, and Emerson comes nearer to representing
his spirit than do the editorial writers of the New York Journal.' If 1 had
to draw the American with a few lines, I should emphasize three mental

elements,

" 'All the essential features of his public life spring from the spirit of self

IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 179

determination, which was developed by his separation from his mother
country; the features of his economic life, from the spirit of self-activity which
was developed by his pioneer life ; and the features of his intellectual life
from the spirit of self-perfection, which has partly a utilitarian and partly
Puritan origin.' Every one of these three strong tendencies involves dangers,
but essentially they are forces of purely idealistic poAver."

The Story of an Old Neighborhood. — The older section of the city known
as the Lower East Side was described in a paper before the Old Settlers' Club
some years ago by William George Bruce as follows:

"The section of the city now known as the lower Seventh and First
wards is not only one of the oldest but also one of the most interesting as far
as its earlier history is concerned. It possessed a community life seventy years
ago that was peculiarly its own, and was in its time the very heart of the
small city. While the upper and eastern part of the ward, known as Yankee
Hill, was the residence district of the better conditioned, the lower part was
the industrial and commercial centre.

"It was the home of the mechanic, the laborer, the small shop keeper, and
the small manufacturer. Everybody knew everybody else. The policeman
wore no uniform but lie was known by everybody in town. Every physician,
preacher and lawyer was known by everybody. The names and location of
streets were as familiar to everyone as the alphabet.

"To tell the story of this section means after all only to say something in
a fragmentary way of some of the people who resided there and who were
a part and parcel of its activities; to recall names that later figured in the
life and traffic of the city. Again, such a story must be told from the stand-
point of recollections and the vision and views of a child — a condition of life
as seen by a small boy and remembered as a man.

"My earliest recollections take me back as a four year old boy peering out
of the windows of my grandfather's old home on East Water Street near the
corner of Johnson Street, a two storied wooden structure with, a moss covered
roof, slanting towards the street. Large locust trees shaded the cottage which
sat back a respectable distance from the street and gave the immediate
neighborhood a village air.

"This section of the city was distinguished from the others in point of
nationality in that its residents were in the main German-born. The people
residing on the hill and who were known as Yankees, came from New York
and the New England states. That portion lying to the south of the hill and
known as the Third Ward was almost wholly settled by the Irish as they
landed here.

"The Know-nothing movement which had its inception in the East and
which swept across the country in early '50s found some expression here.
The Germans of this neighborhood were obliged to hear the cry 'Damn the
Dutch,' and the constant influx of both Germans and Irish gave the Yankee
element some concern. But, when these foreigners began to manifest their
thrift and industry, adding to the growth and development of the city, and
incidentally adding to the wealth of so-called Yankee element, the motto
'America for Americans' became more faint and finally died out.

JOHN POLLWORTH'S HOME RESTAURANT
Located ai No. 2 Grand Avenue and established in L846

WISCONSIN STREET
The dwellings i<> the ri^lii gave way ;>» ;i — i t « - for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance

i < • 1 1 1 1 • .- 1 1 1 \ Building.

IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 181

"The Larger industries which clustered in the valley at that time were
Mabbett's lumber yard, Elmore's coal yard, Higby's elevator, Bertchy's mill,
the old Davidson ship yard and the Pierrou Pottery. It was the small indus-
tries, however, that thrived more actively. The machine had not yet come
into use as a potent factor in manufacturing products. Shoes were made by
the shoemaker who took the measurements of the foot, the tinsmith made
the pots and kettles, the cooper made washtubs, etc.

"The German market at the corner of East Water and Division streets,
now known as Juneau Avenue, was a bee hive in small trade. It was more
popularly known as the 'Green Market,' a designation which had its origin
from the green vegetables which formed the principal commodity. The good
housewives from all sections of the city came here to get the provisions, their
vegetables and dairy products.

"The hills now forming the handsomest residence districts in the First
and Sixth wards then were the choice grazing grounds for the cattle that fur-
nished the butter and cheese that was sold by the market women. The little
back yard gardens on the northside provided the cabbages, onions and lettuce
which was brought in wagon loads to the market before sunrise each morning.

"The market life, aside from its congenial commercialism, had its interest-
ing phases. The market men and women were not devoid of that human
interest which embraces the liveliest gossip and which concerns itself with
everything from the merry wedding bells to the solemn strains of a recpiiem.
It was the clearing house for the news of the day and when the good house-
wife carried home the day's provender in her basket she took with her also
the town gossip of the day.

"Many of the small vendors and hucksters of the Green Market later
became well to do business men and in course of time retired with a hand-
some competency. Their sons in many instances are now among the important
merchants and manufacturers of the city. Their daughters are the wives of
some of the most prosperous men in the community.

The Main Street. — East Water Street from Wisconsin Street to Juneau
Avenue was like the main street of a country town. There was the butcher,
the baker, and the candlestick maker; the small dry goods merchant, the
druggist and the hotel keeper.

At the corner of Biddle Street was Hoffmann's butcher shop. The owner
of this small shop was none other than John Hoffmann, later the head of John
Hoffmann Sons & Co.. the wholesale grocery house. Across the street was the
small retail grocery store of John Wellauer, who later with John Hoffmann:
founded the great grocery house above mentioned.

"Further down the street were John Poss, the butcher; Krauthoefcr, the
shoemaker; Boeshaar and Manschot, the cobblers; Stephen Hoff, the grocer,
the father of Stephen II. Hoff, later of Ilackett, Hoff & Thiermann ; Higler,
the second hand man, father of James A. Higler, manager of the Alhambra
Theater; Koch's barber shop, owned by the father of William Koch, a promi-
nent musician; Chaintron, the dyer; Gebhardt and Hubmann, the bakers;
Memminger's restaurant conducted by the father of the late Fire Chief Mem
minger; Wiese's drug store; Grosch's horse shoeing shop; Friedberg's notion

182 HISTORY OK U ILWAI'KEH

store, conducted by the father of Joseph Friedberg, later manager of the
Friend Bros. Clothing Co.; Mittendorf's milliner simp. etc.

"At the German markai a modesl booth in Yankee notions was conducted
by the mother of Bishop A. P. Schinner; Oscar F. Miller the late manager of
the Alhambra Theater was born and raised on Markel Street ; a curly headed
handsome lad raised in the same neighborhood, later Judge John C. Ludwig;
Hans .!. and Max Grove the show printers saw their boyhood days here; the
immediate relatives of Solomon Juneau resided here; the Geilfuss family from
which A. B. and Frank Geilfuss sprang, lived in Hi is vicinity, etc.

The Old Pierron Pottery. — There was a time when Milwaukee promised
to be a greal pottery center. Clay was brought in vessel loads across the lake
from Ohio and eastern points and loaded on the docks at the fool of Johnson
Street. Here it was taken to the Pierron Pottery, for a time known as the
Hermann Pottery, aud turned into jars and jugs. These were set out on the
streets and back yards to dry and were then placed into large kilns to be
burned into solid earthenware.

"At night the heavens would blaze in scarlet red from the heat which
shot forth from the great kilns as an emblem of useful industry. These kilns
were for years fed with the choicest maple wood brought in by the farmers
from the neighboring country districts.

"The interior life and activities of the pottery was intensely German in
character. The men who were gathered here had come from different portions
of Germany, but principally from South Germany. They possessed all the
prejudices of a divided Germany. The Bavarian who came from South Ger-
many had no particular love for the Mecklenburger who came from Northern
Germany. They differed in religion, in politics, and in their social views
They were known to each other as Hans, Fritz or Michel, or else as the Prus-
sian, the Bavarian, the Hannoverian, the Pommeranian, etc.

"They enjoyed their pint of beer during the several luncheon periods of
the day, denounced the money grasping Y'ankee and the corruption in Ameri-
can public life and incidentally praised the solidity of Germany's officialdom
and the beauties of their native villages.

"The pottery industry thrived until the competition from Akron and other
Ohio points became too strong, and what was once a thriving local industry
has been converted into a warehouse and distributing center for Ohio pottery."

Polish Immigration. -The immigration of Poles had its beginning in the

early '60s. A few families came and settled on the lower east side towards
the south. The tide of immigration secured its real momentum, however, in
the early '70s of the last century when a great number of Poles arrived daily.
The old Hoed Street Station was the scene of their coming.

William George Bruce, in an article published in one of the local news-
papers offers this description of the advent of the Polish immigrants: "We
deemed it one of the sights to behold these anxious men and women and
abashed children nestled among the boxes, bundles and bedding of an old
world household, awaiting transfer to a permanent abode. Usually a ricket \
express wagon took them to the southern limits of the city which up to this

IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 183

time had only been sparsely populated. They were travel stained, poor and
ignorant, but they were hopeful, courageous and ambitious.

"The wooded lands south of Greenfield Avenue were soon transformed
into a vast area of cottages with high basements accommodating two families,
with gardens in the rear and some shrubbery and a rest bench in the front.

"Their life in a new world began. Everybody went to work. The men
dug sewer trenches, built streets, bridges and houses. The boys and girls
entered the factories and mills and stores. Many of the married women
went out to do a day's washing in addition to doing their daily housework.

"They imbibed the American spirit. Progress was in the air. With the
passing of time the rising generation performed more exacting duties in the
industrial and commercial life of the city. They entered the skilled trades.
Some of the young men entered the professions. Others went into the chan-
nels of trade, still others into the public service, until there are among the
present generation young lawyers, physicians, judges and representatives in
the city, county, state and national legislative bodies.

"The Poles also settled upon the east and the north sides of the city. The
colony on the south side is by far the larger. These several colonies, aggre-
gating a population of approximately one hundred thousand, note the progress
of the Polish-American by thousands of neat and cozy homes and the mar-
velous size and beauty of their churches."

Mr. Bruce, in discussing the tendency of the Polish element to colonize,
says: "If the Polish-Americans have colonized in certain sections of American
cities, it has been clone in response to expedience rather than from a desire
to foster isolation. Their colonies or neighborhoods not only manifest from
within an intense progress in the various activities that make for a modern
city, but they are an essential part of the community as a whole."

He adds: "There is a disposition on the part of those of other nationali-
ties to ridicule Polish names. In the days of political conventions it was not
uncommon to resort to laughter and jeers when the names of the Polish-
American delegates were read. I took occasion to remind one of these con-
ventions that these names were no more subject to laughter than were any
series of German, Irish, or Scandinavian names. These names had been in-
herited from honorable fathers and mothers, were borne by the families of the
present generations and hence were sacred to them. The convention there-
after indulged in no more laughter at the mention of Polish names. In his
home life the Pole may foster the traditions and the nobler impulses of a
mother country, but in his economic and civic life he is an American."

In discussing the advancement by the Polish-American element, the same
author says: "My evening walks frequently extend into the southern part of
the south side and when I contrast the scenes which attended the earlier
Polish immigration at the railway station with the thousands of clean and
comfortable homes, magnificent churches and schools, the business blocks on
Mitchell Street, Kosciuszko Park and the many beautiful streets which char-
acterize the Polish section, I am thrilled with the transformation that has
taken place. Here is the evidence, eloquently demonstrated, that the Polish
immigrants were industrious and thrifty, law abiding and God fearing, and

SiWl

. i- r' rir, -.- J ^"'*V~L^ S'|l'WiB'lF ln iYVI M I

"i 1 1,-..: nSn»^'' i ri|iMr,iiiii i

*H9

I!W B ffl B IMS

j^aJp is 1*1

Usi

8 fell

THE OLD MILWAUKEE HOUSE, WHERE THE FIRST PASSENGER ON THE UNDER-
GROUND RAILWAY ARRIVED IN SLAVERY DAYS
(From ;, wood cut in Milwaukee Under the < barter, published in L884)

IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 185

that to tlic best of their ability, they arc making their contribution to the
progress of the city and to American civilizat'on as a whole."

While many of the Poles hail from Austria and Russia, the larger number
come from what was the grand duchy of Posen, formerly a part of Germany.
A number of Poles, specially those formerly residing on Jones Island, were
known as "Kashubes" who have their own peculiar dialect and customs and
came from a northeast section of German-Poland.

Monsignor Goral, in a chapter on the Poles in Milwaukee, says, "Whoever
is closely acquainted with the psychology of the Polish nation will readily
understand why it always has been, and still continues to be, the ambition of
the Poles to organize a parish and to have their own school and church when-
ever the numbers warrant it. It is admitted by all that at least ninety-five per
cent of the Poles are Catholics. There is probably no other nation on God's
earth that loves so fanatically and clings so tenaciously to its language and
national traditions as the Poles do. Woe to those that would ever dare to
conspire against this most sacred heritage of theirs!"

The Jewish Pioneers.-— The first Israelite to come to Wisconsin was Jacob
Franks who settled in Green Bay in 1704. He was an agent of the Canadian
Fur Company and became one of the enterprising men of that settlement.
Franks and Meyer Levi of La Crosse, concerned themselves in the erection
of the first sawmills in the territory then known as Wisconsin.

Isador S. Horwitz, who is the acknowledged historian of the Jewish element
in Wisconsin, says that the arrival of Jews in Milwaukee had its beginning
in the early '40s. The records of those years reveal a number of Jewish
names. Among the first and most prominent among them were 1 the Sehoyer
brothers. Gabriel Sehoyer, the older, conducted a mercantile enterprise on
East Water Street for a number of years.

In the year 5610. according to the Jewish calendar, or in the year 1S47, the
beginning for a Jewish Synagogue with ten members was made. The first
religious services were held on the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashona, and the
feast of Torn Kippur.

The synagogue was at first located at the home of Henry Neuhaus ami a
year later at the home of Isaac Neustadel. In 1849 the first regular Jewish
congregation was formed and located over a small store on Chestnut Street
conducted by Nathan Pereles. Gabriel Sehoyer became president of the con-
gregation and Solomon Adler its secretary. The congregation later erected
the Temple Emanu-El on Broadway and Johnson Street.

The first Jews to arrive here were of English and Holland birth and later
came the Bohemian and German. The Russian Jews who are represented in
larger numbers came at a later period and colonized in the area hounded by
Chestnut, Center, Third and Sixteenth streets.

The Jewish worshipping places are Emanu-El and B'ne Jeshurum (Re-
form), Beth Israel, Anshe Stard, Anshe Lebowita, Moshab Zkenim, Anshe
Ungarn, Degel Israel, Agudath Ahim and Beth Hamedrosh Hagodel (Ortho-
dox).

Italian Immigration. — The Italian population is estimated at nine thousand,
of which probably one-quarter is American born. The greater number live

186 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE

in the districl bounded by Michigan Street, Broadway, the hike and the river.
They are mostly Sicilians who came from the Province of Palermo. The
Italians residing elsewhere "in the city come from south, central and north
Italy.

Fully seventy-live per cent of the Italians of the city are common laborers.
The number of skilled mechanics and small tradesmen is minor. (!. La Piana,
who in 1915 made a survey of the Italian population in Milwaukee, stales thai
many of those who had been farmers, fishermen and mechanics in their native
laud, had been obliged to resort to common labor in this country. Ee claims
that the difference in language and usage in a new country lias been respon-
sible for this condition.

This explanation, however, must be deemed insufficient. Some years ago
(1912) the editor of this volume met a distinguished Italian nobleman in
Rome who was much concerned in the progress of the 7,000,000 Italians who
had left their native land and were now settled in different countries of the
world.

"We have just held a convention here in Rome" said the nobleman, "of
delegates who came from all parts of the world for Hie purpose of advancing
the interests of Italians who had left their mother country.

"It is a pecular fact that our Italian emigrants are not sharing adequately
in the economic fruits of their adopted countries. They colonize, for in-
stance, in the American cities, and at the same time isolate themselves from
the life and activities about them. They continue to eat Italian food, drink-
Italian wines, and sing Italian songs. This is all very well. But they should
assimilate some of the customs, habits and ways of their new surroundings.

"Italians who live in America should become Americans, in England become
Englishmen, in Prance become Frenchmen, in Germany become Germans. They
should, as do other nationalities, find their way into the commercial, indus-
trial, professional and political activities of their adopted countries, and share,
adequately in the material and civic advantages afforded them.

"The object of this international convention, which was under the patron-
age of the Queen of Italy," said the nobleman, "was to stimulate our country-
men in distant lands to make for greater material and civic progress and thus
secure a more adequate share of the world's material blessings."

Skandinavian Element. — Among the immigrants who came to Milwaukee
in the '40s and '50s there was a liberal sprinkling of Skandinavians, particu-
larly of Norwegians. Upon lauding they lived for a time on the lower east
side. Later, as their numbers grew, they settled on the central and eastern
part of the south side. Many of them became identified with the marine
activities. They excelled as seamen and fishermen, and in some ef the me-
chanic arts. A number of them owned vessel property and became well to do.
They founded a number of churches, sonic of which have discarded the native
tongue, and employ only the English language in their sermons. When the
tide of Skandinavian immigration was directed to Minnesota it practically
ceased here.

Negro Population. The negro population compared with that of other
American cities has always been rather small. At no time did the number

IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 187

exceed the three thousand mark. When the leading hotels some years ago
dispensed with colored help the population dwindled to even a smaller num-
ber. During the World war, when white labor was at a premium, several of
the larger manufacturing concerns brought several hundred negroes from the
South. Some of these have returned to their native states again.

Variety of Nationalities. — During the World war in 1918 a local patriotic
woman's committee made a survey of the city and located the foreign born,
and the districts in which they dwelled without, however, dealing in any
statistics or attempting to separate accurately the native from the foreign
born. They prepared an interesting chart showing the sections where the
foreign born resided indicating proportionately their race origin.

Aside from the native born, some twenty nationalities were represented
as follows: Albanian, Anglo-Saxon, Armenian, and Syrian, Austrian and
Hungarian, Belgian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Colored, Croatian, Czechoslovakia,
English, German, Greek, Hebrew, Holland, Irish, Italian, Polish, Roumanian,
Russian, Scandinavian, Scotch, Serbian, Slovene, Welsh, Dalmatia, Ukriane,
Macedonian, Turkish (thirty-one nationalities). Recording also the following
scattering nationalities: Arabians, Canadians, Finns, French, Lithuanian.
Spanish and Swiss (thirty-seven nationalities in all).

The Census Bureau gave out the following statistics regarding the country
of birth of foreign born white for Milwaukee for the year 1920:

Total foreign-bom white 110,068

England 1,968

Scotland 589

Wales 252

Ireland 1,447

Norway 1,852

Sweden Sli:!

Denmark 732

Belgium 109

France (incl. Alsace-Lorraine) 565

Luxemburg 164

Netherlands 528

Switzerland 931

Germany 39,576

Poland 23,060

Austria 5,906

Hungary 4, SOI!

Czechoslovakia 4,497

Jugo-Slavia 4.359

Russia 7,105

Finland 147

Lithuania 398

Portugal 7

Spain 43

Italy 4,022

188 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE

Greece 1,815

Bulgaria 53

Roumania r 633

Turkey, Europe II

other Europe 283

Asia 386

Africa 14

Australia 37

Canada, French 22:;

Canada, Other 1,830

Newfoundland 26

Cuba and other West Indies 29

Mexico 36

Centra] America 4

South America 4-")

Atlantic Islands 4

Pacific Islands 8

At Sea 82

( 'ountry not specified 623

These figures are based on a population of approximately four hundred
and sixty-five thousand. Basing the population of city and county in round
numbers at one-half million, the proportion of nationalities will probably
undergo but slight changes. On the whole it may be safe, assuming that cities
like Cudahy, South Milwaukee and West Allis have large percentages of
foreign horn, to fix the entire foreign horn population at 125,000 and the native
horn at 375,000.

The census of 1920 fixed the citizenship of foreign-born white men at
50,856, the number of those naturalized at 27.44s, and those who had taken
out their first papers a1 12,454, leaving the number of aliens at 14,7:!1. with
1,953 unreported.

CHAPTER XVI
BEGINNINGS, DATES AND EVENTS

A compilation of dates relating' to the beginning' of things in the several
activities of men, the inauguration of movements, establishment of enter-
prises and institutions, events and occurrences was made in 1915 and am-
plified since then by John R. Wolf, a Milwaukee journalist, as follows :

Advertising.— March 15, 1890— First whole page ads published by Frank
A. Lappen.

Aeronautics.— .March 2, 1908— Aero Club; 1910— Aviator Art Hoxey at
State Fair; 1911-12-14 — Aviator Lincoln Beachey at State Far.

Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co.— May, 1847— Established as Reliance Works by
Decker & Seville; 1860, bought by Edward P. Allis, Charles D. Nash and
John P. McGregor, and conducted under name of E. P. Allis & Co.; March,
1913, incorporated in Delaware.

Area.— 1910 Census — 14,585.8 acres; metropolitan district — city and im-
mediate environs, 112,826.6 acres; 1910—24.35 miles; 1900—21.5; 1880—15.

Art.— 18S6— Milwaukee Art Society; 1910— revived ; April 5, 1888— Lay-
ton Art Gallery opened; Feb. 17, 1890 — Carl Marr left for Germany; April
21, .1890— Art League organized; April 10, 1896— Carl Marr's "Flagellants"
presented to city by Mrs. Emil Sehandein. Later placed in lobby of Audi-
torium.

Automobiles.— May, 1899— First car operated by George L. Odenbrett;
1912 — Vanderbilt Cup and Grand Prix races.

Auditorium.— September 21, 1909— Opened.

Baseball Championship. — April 8, 1868 — Founded; 1887, annexed.

Bald Heads. — June :!0, 1889 — Neumueller's Park scene of a picnic held by
the Moonshiners, an organization of bald-headed men.

Bennett Law.— April 18, 1890— Bennett Law Democrats organized; March
14, 1890 — West Side Turners support law; May 2, 1890 — Wisconsin Lutherans
called convention to oppose Bennett Law.

Bethel Home.— August, 1868— Established by the Wisconsin Seamen's
Friend Society.

B'Nai B'Rith.— June 29, 1861— Gilead Lodge, No. 41.

Butterine.— April 20, 1915— First butterine factory.

Canal. — January, 18:58 — Milwaukee and Rock River.

Cemeteries. — 1850— Forest Home; Nov. 2. 1857 — Calvary ; 1859— Holj
Trinity; January 11, 1865— Union ; August, 1880— Pilgrim's Rest: April 1.
1872— Greenwood : September 6, 1894— Wanderers' Rest; June 5, 1909— Holy
Cross.

189

MRS. Mil. \\ AIM E II SMITE ffiLCKELBERG
First white yirl born in Milwaukee, 1835

BEGINNINGS, DATES AND EVENTS 191

Centenarians. — October 2, 1914 — ^\Irs. Louise K. Thiers, 100; December 25,
1914— Thomas Kelly, resident of the Soldiers' Home, 100; 1913— Mrs. Kath-
erine Orzechowski, 100.

Chamber of Commerce. — 1854 — Known as Board of Trade ; February 3,
1863, new building; November 18, 1880, present building at Michigan Street
and Broadway opened.

Churches. — 1835 — Methodist Mission, Rev. Mark Robinson first pastor,
place of worship, carpenter shop, Huron and East Water streets; May, 1841,
first church built on east side of Broadway, between Oneida and Biddle streets;
1848, first German Methodist Church, Rev. Casper Jost, pastor, built on Fifth
Street; 1849, Welsh Methodist Church built on lake shore at Huron Street;
March 25, 1865, Norwegian Methodist, Rev. A. Haagenson.

1836 — First Baptist Church, Washington Street, and First Avenue, Elder
Griffin; 1855, First German Baptist Church, Chestnut and Third streets; Rev.
Carl Kleppe.

1836 — St. Paul's Episcopal, Milwaukee and Wisconsin streets.

April 13, 1837 — First Presbyterian, Rev. Moses Ordway.

1837 — First Congregational Church; 1857, Welsh Congregational Church.

August, 1837 — First Catholic services held in home of Solomon Juneau by
Rev. Fleurimont Bonduel, March 19, 1844, Very Rev. John Martin Ileum con-
secrated bishop of Milwaukee; St. Mary's 1846; 1863, St. Stanislaus Church
established at Grove and Mineral streets by Father Bonaventura Buczynski.

1839— St, Paul's Lutheran; 1847, Trinity Lutheran.

1848 — Our Saviour's Norwegian Evangelical, Scott and Reed streets.

1841 — Unitarian.

1844 — Universalist.

April 19, 1846 — Corner stone of St. Mary's Catholic Church laid; conse-
crated September 12, 1847.

1847 — Evangelical.

1848— First Reformed (Dutch).

October 5, 1856— B'ne Jeshurum ; August 5, 1869— Temple Emanu-El ; 1900
— Sinai.

1862 — Trinity Evangelical, Fourth and Lee streets, Rev. William Geyer.

November 17, 1877 — Union Gospel.

September 6, 1878 — Lutheran Theological Seminary.

1889— -First Christian Science.

March 9, 1890 — Methodists celebrated semi-centennial.

City Hall.— February 24, 1894— Corner stone laid; December 23, 1895—
inaugural proceedings; cost of building and fixtures, $1,016,935; height of flag
pole, 393 feet; bell weighs 20,505 pounds and cost $4,000.

Clearing House — December 1, 1868.

Clocks. — 1906 — Street clocks removed by Mayor Becker.

Colleges.— September 14, 1848— Milwaukee College; 1895— Milwaukee-
Downer ; 1864 — Marquette University.

Comm'on Council. — 1851 — First meeting held in Spring Street Methodist
Church, Grand Avenue and Fifth Street.

Courts. — 1835 — Albert Fowler appointed justice of peace; 1836 — Court-

192 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE

house sit.' donated by Solomon Juneau and Morgan L. Martin ; June 13, 1837 — ■
Federal Court opened by Judge William ('. Frazier; 1>,:!7 -Cyrus Eawley
first clerk of Federal Courf; July 7. 1848-J. S. Rockwell first United States
marshal; March 18, 1859 — Erasmus Foote elected first judge of Municipal
Court; election later declared unconstitutional and -lames A. Mallory, then
district attorney, appointed judge; 1872 — Courthouse, cost $1,000,000; June
29, 1889— Jury commission; April 19, 1910— Civil courts.

Dancing.— < Ictober, 1856 — First academy. Prof. L. W. Vizay; November
'iii. 1910 — People's dances. Auditorium.

Debate, Liquor.-- April 30, 1909— Rose-Dickie.

John Dietz, Cameron Dam Hero. — April 2s. 1905 Seventeen Milwaukeeans
sworn in to arrest Diet/: October S, 1910 — Captured.

Dime Museum. — December 31, 1889 — Closed.

Disasters. — May 7. 1875 — Steamer Schiller lost off England; Joseph Sehlit/..
Henry Friend. Herman Zinkeisen, Marcus Stein and .Mrs. Marie Millner and
chilli of Milwaukee lost; April 20, 181)3 — Waterworks crib disaster, fifteen
lost; March 1. 1N92 — Seven killed in wreck in Milwaukee road yards: Feh
ruary 4, 189.") — Three drowned when car ran into open draw at Kinnickinnic
bridge; May 29, 1914 — Mr. and Mrs. Henry Freeman saved from the steamer
Empess of Ireland, lost in St. Lawrence River.

Drama. — 1850-56 — Albany Hall, on site of Chamber of Commerce: March
24, 1S62, burned.

February. 1852 — Young's Hall completed; February 17. 1 S. V2. burned;
March, 1853, rebuilt: April 8, 1853, opened with the production of "The Czar
and the Ship Carpenter." by the Musical Society; June 21, 1859, burned.

1860- Academy of .Music: 1869, leased to Young Men's Association, became
first public library.

January 10, 1865 — Daniel Bandmann.

January .'51. 1865 — Music Hall dedicated: 1869, name changed to Academy
of Music.

October 21, 1868— Stadt Theater. Third Street, dedicated.

August 29, 1889— Bijou Opera House.

Augusl 17. 1871 — Grand Opera Eouse opened with production of "Martha"
by fhe Philharmonic Society.

April l(i. 1890 Booth and Modjeska played at Grand Opera House.

April 6, 1890— Ernest I'ossart. German actor, firsl appearance.

1891— Pabst Theater; 1890— Davidson Theater; 1909— Drama Club.

March 20, 1910— -Hedwig Beringer's golden jubilee at Pabst Theater.

May 21. 1915 Ludwig Ereiss silver jubilee. I'abst Theater.

Druids.- -Augusl 22. 1853 Walhalla Grove, No. 2.

Earthquake. — Augusl 31, 1> SS C

Eight-Hour Day. -.May 9. lsiio Carpenters' demand granted.

Epidemics.— Cholera. 1849 104 die; Ship fever. September. 1850—37
die; Smallpox. 1871 — 774 die; 1872-217 die: 1894-5 268 die; rioting during
removal of patients to isolation hospital.

Exposition Building.— September 6, 1881 Opened: June 4. 1905, burned

Famous Sayings. — 1898 — "There are some things worse than war: somi

BEGINNINGS, DATES AND EVENTS 193

things better than money." — Senator John L. Mitchell in debate on question
of declaring war on Spain after the destruction of the battleship Maine.

Father of Weather Bureau. — November 1, 1870 — Increase Allen Lapham.

Federal Building.— April 22, 1899— Opened.

Fire Department. — December, 1836 — First tire, Samuel Brown's residence.
Cherry Street, between Second and Third streets; 1837 — Volunteer Hook and
Ladder Co.; 1839 — "Neptune, No. 1," first fire engine; 1840 — Second com-
pany; 1844 — Third company; February, 1869 — Alarm system; March, 1874 —
Paid department established; February, 1878 — Relief fund established:
August 17, 1885 — Thomas A. Clancy joined Engine Co. No. 4; 1S.")8-1867 — .
Jobst II. Buening, first chief; December 2, 1877 — Fire insurance patrol; 1889 —
Henry Haerter, first fireman pensioned; September 4, 1889 — Mayor Brown
christened Cataract; 1885 — Fire and Police Commission; Thomas Shea. Gen
F. C. Winkler, Jacob Knoernsehild, Jerome R. Brigham; April 10, 1915 — First
fire engine placed on Jones Island.

Fires. April li, 1845 — First big fire burned block bounded by Broadway,
East Water, Huron and Michigan streets; August 24. 1854 — Block bounded by
Broadway. .Michigan, Huron and Fast Water streets, old Mitchell Bank, Tre-
mont House, United States Hotel at East Water and Huron streets, and four
livery stables on Broadway destroyed. January 18, 1851 — Block bounded by
Broadway. Erie, East Water and Chicago streets; March 20, 1860 — Twenty
stores on Wisconsin Street; January 1, 1863 — Camp Siege! barracks, three
soldiers killed; November 15, 1869 — Gaiety Theater, three killed; February
2, 1865 — Van Etta, Treedman & Co.'s tobacco factory; October 23. 1865
Block on Wisconsin Street between Broadway and Milwaukee streets; October
10, 1871 — Refugees from Chicago fire came to Milwaukee; January 10, 1883 —
Newhall House, northwest corner of Broadway and Michigan streets; 90 to
100 kiUcd; October 20, 1883— First Assistant Chief George M. Linkman
joined department; October 26, 1913 — Goodyear Rubber Co. Building, 380
East Water Street; nine firemen killed and seventeen injured; October 28,
1892— Twelve blocks in the Third Ward: started in Union Oil Co. store on
East Water Street and burned to the lake and the river; two firemen killed.
two women died from excitement; loss, $3,000,000 to $4,000,000; Milwaukee's
most disastrous fire: April 9, 1894 — Davidson Theater burned; Third Asst.
Chief August Janssen and eight other firemen killed; fifteen firemen injured;
March 28, 1895 — Grand Avenue, Landauer Bros, wholesale dry goods house,
loss $1,000,000; July IS, 1899— Hotel Grace, Park and Heel streets, one fire-
man killed and six injured; February 3. 1903 — Schwaab Stamp ami Seal Co.,
372-4 East Water Street; nitric acid gas caused death of Chief James Foley
Capt. Andrew White and Pipeman Edward Hogan and Thomas Droney; Asst.
Chief Thomas A. Clancy and twelve firemen overcome; February 24, 1905 —
Lieut. Charles Dressel killed by fall from hosecart; February 13, 1909 — H.
W. Johns-Manville Co.. Clybourn Street, fire firemen killed, one employe
killed and several firemen injured; January 3, 1910 — American Bridge Co.,
Seventeenth Street and St. Paul Avenue, four firemen killed; October 29,
1910 — Phoenix International Light Co., 317 Chestnut Street, one fireman

"iUir:.-.? _..:-£ •

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iliiU

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iia

TABLET ERECTED ON FIBST WISCONSIN NATIONAL BANE
BUILDING, CORNEB WISCONSIN AND MASOH STRJ ETS
The first white boy born in Milwaukee was Charles Milwaukee
Sivyer whose parents resided on the site now occupied bj the First
Wisconsin National Bank. Be died ai Los Angeles, California, in
October, 1921, at the age of eighty-five, and was buried in
Milwaukee.

BEGINNINGS, DATES AND EVENTS 195

killed; March 24, 1911 — Middleton Manufacturing Company, 354 Broadway,
fire firemen killed; March 19, 1914 — Windsor Hotel, one life lost.

First Bank Chartered. — 1839 — Wisconsin Marine & Fire Insurance Co.
(now Marine National Bank).

First Barbecue. — January 1, 1841 — Honor of Harrison and Tyler's election.

First Blacksmith Shop. — 1835 — D. W. Patterson.

First Block Pavement. — 1861 — West Water Street from Clybourn Street
to Grand Avenue.

First Brewery. — 1840 — Owens & Pawlett.

First Brick. — September, 1835 — Nelson Olin.

First Bridge. — Built by Byron Kilbourn across the Menomonee to connect
Chicago road and Kilbourntown (west side).

First Commissioners of Public Works. — May 10, 1869 — C. Latham Slioles,
Henry Millman and James Reynolds. In April, 1871, Mr. Reynolds resigned;
sm-ceeded by Jacob Velten.

First City Attorney.— 1846— Charles E. Jenkins.

First City Clerk.— 1846— A. H. Bielfeld.

First City Comptroller. — 1852 — Cicero Comstock.

First City Directory.— February 10, 1847 — Julius P. B. McCabe; April,
1881, A. G. Wright began publication of city directory.

First Electric Car.— April 3, 1890— Wells Street line.

First City Engineer.— May 20, 1869— Theodore C. Brown.

First Dam. — 1842 — Built on Milwaukee River for Rock River Canal Co.,
by Capt. John Anderson.

First City Treasurer. — 1846 — Robert Allen.

First Commissioner of Health. — April, 1S77 — Dr. I. II. Stearns.

First Commissioners of the Public Debt. — 1861-65 — Alexander Mitchell ;
1864-72 — Charles II. Larkin; 1871-86— Guido Pfister.

First Constable. — October, 1835 — Sciota Evans.

First Express Line. — 1852 — Arthur Flanders, over Milwaukee and Prairie
du Chien Road.

First Foundry. — 1842 — Egbert Mosley, Loring Dewey and Stephen New-
hall.

First German Settler. — 1835 — Wilhelm Strothman.

First Grocer, Wholesale.— 1845— P. W. Badgley.

First Hotel.— 1835— Triangle, East Water Street, Jacques Vieau; 1836,
called ( !o1 tage Inn.

First Lighthouse.— is: 18.

First Match Factory .—1844— R. W. Pierce.

First Marshal. — 1846-7 — Thomas II. Fanning.

First Mayor.- 1846— Solomon Juneau.

First Milwaukee Surgeon in the Philippines. — 1899 — Dr. John R. MeDill.

First Motion-Ficture Theatre.— July 10, 1906— Saxe Bros., N. E. Grand
Avenue and Second Street.

First Murder. — November, 1836. — Indian named Manitou killed by Joseph
Scott and Cornelius Bennett at southeast corner of Michigan and East Water

196 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

streets, murderers escaped from jail; Scotl hanged in Indiana: Bennetl never
found.

First Natatorium. — February 14. 1890.

First Newspaper. July 14. 1836 -The Advertiser, democratic, published
mi the sit' 1 of the Republican House by Daniel II. Richards; June 9, 1*17.
absorbed by the Evening Wisconsin, founded by William E. Cramer.

First Passenger Conductor. — November 21, 1850— Edwin Bridgeman of
the Milwaukee & Mississippi.

First Pier. — ls42 — Built by Horatio Stevens of New York, fool of Huron
Street.

First Planing Mill. — 1 84'^ — Robert Luscombe and John T. Perkins.

First Poet. — 1836 — Egbert II. Smith. Oak Creek.

First Postmaster. — 1835— Solomon Juneau; Augusl 7. 1*4:;. removed; suc-
ceeded by Josiah A. Noonan.

First President of the Common Council. — 1874 — II. M. Benjamin; served
until 1878.

First Sailing Vessel. — 177!) — British sloop Felicity, Capt. Samuel Robert-
son, vis ted Milwaukee.

First Steamboat. — June 17. 1835 — United State-.

First Survey of Lots. — 1834 — By William S. Trowbridge.

First Tannery. — 1 848^Pfister & Vogel.

First Tax Commissioner. -1869-72 — Matthew Keenan.

First Type Foundry. — December, 1856.

First Vessel Built Here. — 1836 — Sloop Wenona, by George Barger for
William Brown.

First Water Registrar. — 1872-4 — .Matthew Keenan (secretary board of
water commissioners i .

First Woodenware Factory. — 1844 — ('. E. Woolsey.

Five Times Mayor.— 1898, 1900, 1902, 1904, 1908— David Stuart Rose.

Flood.— November 2, 1858; March 23, 1865.

Flushing Tunnel.— September 8, 1884 -Finished; Sept ember 18, 1888, first
service.

Foundation.- -May 24, 1915 — Milwaukee Foundation organized at meeting
of Wisconsin Trust Company directors.

Gas Works.- Nqvember 12, 1852 — First jet lighted.

Gatherings.— June 8, 1880; August 26, 1889 -G. A. R.; June 17. 1888
First national skat tournament; June 20, 1889 Saengerfest, July 23, 1893
Turnfest; 1896 -Semi-centennial; 1898 Carnival; Augusl 3-7, 1909 Home-
coming; September 1910— American Health Association; Augusl 1. 1913—
Perrj Centennial; June 11. 1914 -Comptrollers.

German Association. Ma\ 8, 1880 Organized to proted immigrants.

Harugari. — February 18, 1855 — Guttenberg Lodge, No. 57.

Home for the Aged. September, 1878 Established by the Little Sisters
of the Poor.

Home for the Friendless. October, 1867.

Hospitals. -July. 1848 st. Mary's, at Jackson and Oneida streets; Augusl
:;. 1863 Milwaukee, established by the late Rev. William Passavant; Octo-

BEGINNINGS. DATES AND EVENTS 107

ber 15, 1877 — City (isolation), Mitchell Street and Nineteenth Avenue; August,
1880 — County; May, 1888 — Johnston Emergency Hospital.

House of Correction. — 1865 — Windlake Avenue.

House Numbers.— April 24, 1865— Property owners given ten days to
number houses under penalty of $5.

Humane Society. — December 5, 1879.

Illumination.— April 5, 1880— Streets lighted by electricity by Prof. C. II.
Ilaskins; February 28, 1890— $600,000 municipal electric light plant plans
before board of public works.

Immigration, Board of. — March, 1879.

Indians.— September 4, 1862— Fear of Uprising; October, 1844— Last
annual dance.

Industrial School for Girls. — February 11, 1875 — Michigan Street; April
15, 1875 — Jackson Street; 1878, North Point.

Infants' Home. — June 1, 1882.

Insurance, Fire—February, 1852— M lwaukee Mechanics; February 20,
1869 — Northwestern National; March, 1871 — Concordia.

Insurance. Life.— November IS. 1858— Northwestern .Mutual Life Insurance
Co. organized in Janesville : moved to .Milwaukee, March 7. 1859 — February
14, 1915, George W. Young, 50 years in its employ; October 1, 1915, occupied
new building on Wisconsin Street; April, 1910 — Old Line Life Insurance Com-
pany of America.

Inventor of Typewriter.— 1S68 — C. Latham Sholes.

Investigations.— March :;, 1905— Beef "trust;" March 0, 1905— Tenement
houses; October 2, 1911 ; Senator Isaac Stephenson; July Li. 1914 — Vice com-
mission.

Jenny Lind Club.— 1861.

Jitneys.— Fein-nary 6, 1915— First license issued to W. B. Putnam; May
I'. 1915. Robert Stauss killed; June 3, 1915, 1.0(1(1 licensed.

Journalism.— 1910 — School Founded at Marquette University by Rev. J. E.
i lopus, S. J.

Klondike Gold Excitement. — luly 15, 1891— News of discovery; Milwau-
keeans prepare to leave for gold fields.

Knights of Honor.— September 9, 1870— Milwaukee Lodge. No. 300.

Knights of Pythias.— September 9, 1870— Milwaukee Lodge, No. 1; May
21, 1890 — Wisconsin brigade, uniformed rank, organized; July, 1890 — encamp-
ment.

Labor.— February 20, 1887 — Federated Trades Council organized; August
14, 1887, received charter; March 7, 1890 — Eight-hour day, building trades.

Legion of Honor.— 1880— Six subordinate councils.

Library, Public— February 7, 1878— Established, taking over books of
loung Men's Association.

Library and Museum Building. 1898— Cost $(27,674.

Lincoln. April IS, 1865 — Funeral services in memory of President Lincoln.

Literary Workshop.— 1915— 420 Marshall Street.

Lynching. September (i. 1861— Marshal] Clark Lynched following murder
of Darbey Carney.

198 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE

Man Girl.— May 4, 1914 — Ralph Kerwiniec discovered to be .Miss Cora
Anderson.

Marine.— 1S47 — Dry doffk, floating; slip. February, 1877, Wolf & David-
son; .May I, 1877— Life saving station; 1838 Lighthouse, fool of Wisconsin
Street; 1855— Lighthouse, North Point; November I, 1870 -U. S. Signal
service; January 5, 1890— Whale Club; 1908— Strike of lake seamen, fire-
men, oilers, watertenders, cooks and stewards against Lake Carriers' Asso
ciation; December 1 5, 1912 — Ligbtship, three miles off Wisconsin Street; May
l.'i, 1!H.">— Interstate Commerce Commission divorces lake-rail lines: order
effective December 1, 1915.

Marine Disasters. — June 17, 1852— S. P. Griffith burned; 322 lost: October
24. 1856— Steamer Toledo foundered off Port Washington; thirty lost: Sep-
tember 8, 1860 — Steamer Lady Elgin lost off Winnetka, III.: about 300
drowned ; April 9, 1868 — Steamer Sea Bird burned off Waukegan, III. ; seventy-
three drowned; October 14, 1872 — Steamer Lac La Belle foundered in Lake
Michigan; seven lost; September 15, 1873 — Steamer Ironsides foundered in
Lake Michigan; Captain Sweetman and sixteen others lost: September 9, 1875
—Bark Tanner wrecked; Captain Howard drowned; crew of nine saved by a
volunteer life-saving' crew, Henry M. Lee, X. A. Peterson. Burnt Oleson, Henry
Spark and John MeKenna, assisted by the revenue cutter Andy Johnson and
the tug F. C. Maxon; October 16. 1880 — Steamer Alpena foundered in Lake
Michigan; about 10H lost; March 19, 1885 — Steamer Lake Michigan crushed by
ice in Lake Michigan; no lives lost ; October 20, 1887 — Steamer Vernon found-
ered; twenty-two lost; October 30, 1888 — Explosion on tug Lawrence kills
Capt. John Sullivan and three others; May 18, 1894 — Schooner M. J. Cum-
mings lost off Milwaukee; six drowned: January 21, 1895 — Steamer Chicora
lost in Lake Mchigan; thirty-six drowned; September !), 1910 Car ferry
Pere Marquette No. 18 foundered in Lake Michigan: twenty-eighl lost; Octo-
er 8, 1913 — Explosion, cutter Tuscarora; November 7. 1913 — Storm on great
lakes: I'll sailors drowned and seventeen vessels lost.

Masonic.--.! uly 5, 18.43 — Milwaukee Lodge. No. 22.

Medical Society County. -1846-53, lapsed; November, 1879, revived.

Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association. March. 1861 Organized as
Merchants' Association. Later changed to Milwaukee Association of Com
merce.

Military. -1845— Washington Guards; Milwaukee (German) Riflemen;
1854, reorganized as the City Rifles; 1847— Milwaukee (German) Dragoons;
1848 Milwaukee City Guards; 1854 — Milwaukee Union Sarsfield Guards;
National Guards; 1855, reorganized as the Union Guards; July 16, 1855, again
reorganized as the Milwaukee Light Guard; 1856 Washington Artillery;
1857 — Milwaukee Light Guard Cadets; 1858 reorganized as Milwaukee
Cadets; 1861, changed name to Milwaukee Zouaves; July 13, 1861, mustered
into the 1". S. service as Company I!. Fifth Wisconsin Regiment; August .'!.
1864; mustered out; 1857 Black Yagers; entered U. S. service for three
months as Company I). First Wisconsin Regiment; mustered oul at expira-
tion of thai term; 1858 Montgomery Guards; July Pi. 1861, mustered into
C. s. service as Company P>. Fifth Wisconsin Regiment; mustered ou1 at

BEGINNINGS, DATES AND EVENTS 199

the close of Civil war; 1858 — Juneau Guards; 1858 — Milwaukee Cavalry
Company; 1859 — Green Yagers; October 10, 1861 — Second Wisconsin Bat-
tery; June 15, 1869 — Company A, Sheridan Guards; September 14, 1874 —
Company K, Kosciuszko Guards; June 20, 1879 — Company L, South Side
Turner Rifles; April 22, 1880 — Light Horse Squadron organized; April 25,
1 ss 4 — Sheridan, Kosciuszko and Lincoln Guards and South Side Turner Rifles
organized into Fourth Battalion, W. N. G. ; 1887 — Company I. Rusk Guard;
October 24. 1888, mustered into National Guard as Company E; January 19,
1889— Company F, Badger State Rifles; June 25, 1898— Fourth Infantry at
Oshkosh riots; July 26, 1898 — Company D, Scofield Guard; February 28,
1899 — Fourth Regiment mustered out at Anniston, Alabama.

Milk Famine.— July •"., 1914.

Milwaukee Lyceum. — January 10, 1839 — Lucius I. Barber, president.

Milwaukee to Liverpool. — July 21, 1856 — Schooner Dean Richmond sailed
with 14.0(H) bushels of wheat; arrived December, 29.

Monuments and Statues. — November 7, 1885 — Washington; (lift of Miss
Elizabeth Plankinton; July 6, 1887 — Juneau: Charles T. Bradley and William
II. Metcalf; November 15, 1887 — Ericson : Mrs. Joseph T. Gilbert; March 25.
1901— Elk: B. P. O. E.— June 19, 1905— Kosciuszko : Popular subscription:
June 28, 1898— Soldiers : Popular subscription; July 14, 1908— Schiller-Goethe :
Popular subscription; June 26, 1909 — Burns: James A. Bryden; August 11)21,
Baron von Steuben.

Music. — January, 1843 — Beethoven Society; E. I). Holton, President ; May
1, 1850 — Musical society; Jacob Mahler, president; 1840 — First music hall
built at Third and Chestnut streets by John Hustis; July 23, 1858 — Lieder-
tafel; John Marr, president; November 2D, 1877 — Arion Musical club; June
16, 1859 — Deutscher Maennerverein, originally the Catholic Young Men's As-
sociation: September 17, 1871 — Nunnemacher 's Grand Opera House (now
Pabst theatre); "Martha" presented by Philharmonic Society; March 29,
1905— "Parsifal," in English.

Museum, Public. — April 14. 1882 — Accepted collection of Wisconsin Natural
History Society.

Odd Fellows. — 1846 — Kneeland Lodge, No. 5.

Odotological Society. — August 25, 1878 — To protect and further interests
of dentists.

Orphan Asylums. — May !», 1848 — St. Rose's (Catholic); January 4, 1850—
Protestant; June 12, 1877 — St. Vincent's.

Paper Mill.— 1848 — North side of Menomonee River, block west of West
Water Street bridge; owned by Ludington & Garland; destroyed by a freshet
in 1864.

Parks.— June 1, 1864 — Quentin's park opened; April 4, 1865 — Juneau
park established; 1889— Park law authorized, $1,000,000 bond issue; 1889
Park Commission: Christian Wahl, Calvin E. Lewis, Charles Manegohl, Jr.,
Louis Auer and John Bentley.

Pfeil Funeral Pyre.— < >ctober 22, 1855.

Phonological Institute for Deaf Mutes. — January, 1878 — 594 National
Avenue.

200 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

Police Department.— September 10, 1855 Organized with Chief William
Beck and eleven patrolmen; chief's salary, $800; men, $30 a month; October
26, 1885 — John T. Janssea made chief. .May 7. 1921, Jacob G. Laubenheimer
made chief.

Thirteenth City (Census 1920)

13. Milwaukee 457,1 17

12. San Francisco 506,676

11. Buffalo 506,775

10. Los Angeles 576,673

9. Pittsburgh 588,343

8. Baltimore 733,826

7. Boston 748,060

6. St. Louis 772,897

5. Cleveland 796,841

4. Detroit 993,678

3. Philadelphia 1,823,779

2. Chicago ■ 2,701,705

1. New York City 5,620,048

Population.— 1915, estimated— 41 9,054.

Growth— 1850— 20,061; 1860—45,246; 1870—71,440; 1880—115,587; 1890
—204,468; 1900—285,315; 1910—373,857; 1920—457,147.

Press Club, English. — September 7, 11)10 — Silver jubilee; Theodore Roose
velt guest of honor: "The Big Stick" published, Harlowe Randall Hoyt, editor;
Fred W. Luening. associate editor.
Press Club, German. — 1887.

Postal Service. — 1835 — First post office, southwest corner East Water and
Wisconsin streets: April 13, 1915 — Louis Manz a letter carrier for fifty years:
aged < s <> years April 9, 1915; oldest letter carrier in the United States.

Pound. — May 12, 1865 — Thirty cows were reported in Caleb Wall's Seventh
Ward pound.

Railroads, Steam.— 1S47 — Milwaukee & Waukesha chartered: 185] — Mil-
waukee & Mississippi finished to Waukesha; 1854 — Finished to Madison:
1857 — Built to Prairie Du Chien; 1854 — Milwaukee & Watertown built from
Brookfield to Oconomowoc; 1854 — Line south from Fond du Lac. now owned
by Chicago & Northwestern; 1856 — Milwaukee >.y. La Crosse begun; I s ' 1 -
Reached La Crosse: 1866— Union depot, Reed Street; 1879-80 -West Milwau-
kee shops; December 19, 1886 — First train ran into new Tnion passenger
station, between Third and Fourth and Everett and Clybourn streets, a1 5:45
p. in., Sunday, June 24, 1889 — General passenger and freight departments
of the Milwaukee mad moved to Chicago; December 10, 1889 — Northwestern
depot, Wisconsin Street ; June 16, 1905 — Passes abolished.

Railways, Street.--. Inly 1859 — River and Lake Shore City Railway; May
30, 1859, first two cars operated with four horses each, from Fast Water
Street bridge to Juneau Avenue; one car's receipts first day were $38; March,
L865 Milwaukee City: 1874- Cream City; June 1, L874 West Side; April
17, 1890— Pittsburgh syndicate boughl Cream City; April 3, 1890 First
eh'. 'trie car. Wells Street : February 1. 1905 — Public Service Building planned;

BEGINNINGS, DATES AND EVENTS 201

February 11, 1905 — Henry C. Payne, president Cream City; October, 1905—
Milwaukee-Northern organized; October 28, 1907, first train to Cedarburg;
November 2, 1907, Port Washington ; September 22, 1908, Sheboygan ; February

I, 1915 — Railroad conrmiss : on rescinds order directing Electric Co. to sell
thirteen tickets for 50 cents; June 14, 1915 — U. S. Supreme Court upholds
Circuit Court order in thirteen-tickets-for-50-cents (coupon) case.

Real Estate. — May 22, 1905 — Railway Exchange (Herman) building, sold
for $400,000; March 3, 1890— Pabst Building site leased for 99 years.

Riots. — April 6, 1845 — Rev. E. Leahy attacked in Spring Street (Grand
Avenue) Methodist Church and at U. S. Hotel; May 8, 1845 — Bridge ; March
4, 1850— Residence of State Senator John B. Smith in Third Ward mobbed
by crowd which objected to a measure he had introduced in the Legislature
and which became known as "the blue liquor law"; June 24, 1861 — Bank;
May 4, 1886 — Bay View; five killed; March, 1889 — Chinese mobbed; August
22, 1893— Unemployed ; May 3, 1896— Street railway.

Roosevelt Shot.— October 14. 1912— Theodore Roosevelt shot by John
Schranck while leaving Hotel Gilpatrick.

Royal Arcanum. — December 29, 1877 — Alpha Council, No. 4.'!; February 2.
1878, Allen ( louncil.

Sane Fourth Commission. — 1911.

Schools. — 1835 — Private schools established; 1845 — Thirteen schools, four
public; 356 pupils out of 1,781 children of school age; 1885 — State Norma!
School; August, 1857 — Three high schools established; 1860 — abolished; No-
vember, 1859 — Normal class established; 1859 — Rufus King first superin-
tendent; 1879 — First kindergarten; June 7, 1904 — Frank M. Harbach, sec-
retary; March IS, 1890 — Supreme court decides against reading bible in
public schools.

Settlement. — 1789 — Jean Baptiste Mirandeau and Jacques Yieau arrived;
September 14, 1818 — Solomon Juneau located on the site of the Wisconsin
National Bank, northwest corner of Wisconsin and East Water streets; 1833 -
Morgan L. Martin of Green Bay became a partner of Juneau: 1834 — George

II. Walker located on Walker's Point, south of the Milwaukee River; 1835 —
Laid out as a village; 1835 — Byron Kdhourn bought a tract on the west side;
September, 1835 — First town meeting held at Juneau's home; May 4, 1835 —
Charles Milwaukee Sivyer, first white boy horn in Milwaukee; October 10,
1835 — Milwaukee H. Smith, daughter of Uriel B. and Lucy C. Smith, horn;
first Anglo-Saxon girl horn in Milwaukee; December 25, 1837 — Louis Bleyer,
son of Henry Bleyer, first German child horn in Milwaukee; September 12,
1844 — Aid. Henry Smith arrived from Stark County, Ohio, with his parents,
two. brothers and sister: January 31, LS46 — Charter adopted; .Inly 5, 1S69 -
Old Settlers' Club organized.

Slave Rescued. — 1S42 — Caroline Quarles; March 11, 1858 — Joshua Glover,
a runaway slave, rescued by abolitionists led by Sherman M. Booth, editor
of the Free Democrat.

Slot Machines.— March 22, 1905— Destroyed by Sheriff Cary; June 9.
1915, destroyed by Sheriff Melms.

202 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE

Socialists.— 1<J10— Emil Seidel elected mayor; 1910— Victor L. Berger
elected congressman from Fifth District.

Soldiers' Home.— March"31, 1864^-Opened ; June 28, 1865 Greal fair raised

$110,000 iii ten days for new building.

Sons of Hermann. — April 20, 1848 — Milwaukee Lodge, No. 1.

Spelling, in Early Days— Minwaki, Minewaki, Maunawaukee, Meloaki, Me]
leoki, Meloaky, Milouaqui, Milwaukie, Milwalky.

St. Andrew's Society. — January 25, 1859— Alexander Mitchell, president.

Stockyards. — 1870 — Established by Milwaukee road.

Strikes.— .March 10, 1890— Switchmen ; .May 1.".. 1905— Molders.

Swimming record. — August 17, 1894— World's record, eighty yards: fifty
seconds, George J. W li it taker.

Tax, Income. — March 19, 1865 — Incomes for year: Alexander Mitchell,
$53,071; Guido Pfister, $42,221: Angus Smith. $30,000; 1913— Largest tax-
payer, Patrick Cudaliy, $9, 556.31! ; largest woman taxpayer, Charlotte Hartig,
$5,128; 1914 — Largest corporation tax. Schlitz Brewing Co., $103,852.

Titanic Victim. — April 15, 1912 — Capt. E. G. Crosby among the 1 . -"> 1 7
victims.

Telegraph. — January 17, 1848 — First dispatch sent to The Evening Wis-
consin from the Chicago Journal: "Chicago and Milwaukee united."

Telephone. — 1877 — John S. George, first subscriber; first exchange. 411
Broadway.

Traveling Men. — December 9, 1893 — Post IS. Travelers' Protective Asso-
ciation; June 29. 1895 — Milwaukee Council, No. 54, United Commercial Trav-
elers of America.

Turners. — July 18, 1853 — Turnverein Milwaukee.

United Workmen.— March 23, 1877— Schiller Lodge, No. 21.

Visitors.— 1679— La Salle; October 7, 1698— De St. Oosme; 1778— Charles
de Langlade: April 28, 1853— Ole Bull; April 28, 1853— Adelina Patti (at the
age of 13 i : September 30, 1859— Abraham Lincoln ; October 14, lsiiii Stephen
A. Douglas: January 23. ISlio Ralph Waldo Kmerson ; February .">. 1865
John B. Gough; 1865 — Artemus Ward: 1865 — Josh Billings; September 4.
1865. June 9, 1880— Gen. U. S. Grant; October 2, 1865— Gen. W. T. Sherman;
November 2. 1870 — James A. Garfield; January 2, 1872— Grand Duke Alexis;
September 12, 1878— President Rutherford B. Hayes; 1880— Henry Ward
Beecher; July 9, 1887— Earl