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astf-/.«oj4''o^
^arbarb CoUege Xibrarp
BRIGHT LEGACY
NATHAN BKOWK BKICHT
^tL^^'. The Dtli«"(ir of the ln<
This book was stolen from
Harvard College Library.
It was later recovered.
The thief was sentenced to
two yt^flrf _"t-tlarH laKftT-
Essays in Western History
fr™ fl cofj by Ed'^arM of Jar.
of the fyU^on.
GKORGE ROGERS CLARK
i/ Soiiiiy
How George Rogers Clark
Won the Northwest
And
Other Essays in Western History
^y UNPS /
Reuben Gold Thwaiti./ — •"
Author of "Down Historic Watennjts," "On the StOlkd
Ohio,"' "Daniel Boone," etc, i Eaitor of "The
Jcfutt Relntiont," " Hennepin's Travel*," ett
Chicago
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1903
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.
Fraa a capy by Edward, of Jjrvh's por„
of ikt Whiomin HiMr
How George Rogers Clark
Won the Northwest
And
Other Essays in Western History
Reuben Gold Thvndtv/— '
Author of "Donn Historic Waterways," " On the Stoiicd
Ohio," "Daniel Boone," etc.; Editor of "Tbc
Jesuit Relations," "Hennepin's Travels," etc.
Chicago
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1903
TO
MY COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS
THE STAFF OF THE
WISCONSIN HISTORICAL LIBRARY
viii Preface
West Upon Braddock's Road, we witness an
incident in the march of the British in their
fateful onslaught upon French possessions in
the continental interior. In their turn the
British army were ousted by American col-
onists through the Winning of the Northwest
by George Rogers Clark. The Division of
the Northwest into States of the Republic
followed in due course, the story of their re-
spective boundaries being a curious chapter in
our history. The Black Hawk War was the
last serious Indian uprising in the Middle
West ; and its close marked the beginning of
extensive immigration into both Illinois and
Wisconsin. Some account of that gentle
scholar, Lyman Copeland Draper, and the
now famous Draper Manuscripts — the richest
collection extant of original sources for the
study of Western history — would seem fitting
conclusion for a series like the present.
R. G. Thwaites.
Madison, Wis., September i, 1903.
Contents
I
How George Rogers Clark won the North-
west Pagb
A vast hunting-ground 3
The king's pleasure ignored 5
The inrush of settlers 6
Lord Dunmore*s War 6
Kentucky settled 7
Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton 8
" The hair-buying general " 9
Kentucky raided 10
George Rogers Clark 10
French hamlets 12
Frontier forts 13
Creole militiamen 14
Life among the Creoles 14
Centres of British influence 17
Clark's project 18
Raising volunteers . 19
The backwoodsmen 20
The flotilla . 22
At the Falls of the Ohio ' . . 23
Desertion 24
A picked company 24
X Contents
How George Rogers Clark won the North-
west {continued) Page
The march to Kaskaskia 25
A picturesque Hero Tale 28
The capture of Kaskaskia 30
" An excess of joy " 32
Father Gibault 33
Cahokia 34
A new difficulty 35
Drilling recruits 36
" Our friends the Span3rards " 37
The tribesmen confused 38
Savage friends 39
Hamilton's war-party 40
Vincennes taken by Hamilton 40
A scare at Kaskaskia 42
Clark uneasy 44
Vigo's information 45
Forestalling the enemy 46
** Inward assurance of success *' 47
A difficult march 48
The " drowned lands " 48
Fatigue and hunger 49
Wallowing through the bog 50
«* Hard fortune ! " 51
The man of iron 52
A frightful crossing 53
Hamilton still unconscious 54
Clark's letter to the villagers 54
A ruse 56
The attack on Vincennes 57
Clark's warning 59
Terrorizing the enemy 59
Contents xi
How George Rogers Clark won the North-
west (continued) Page
Clark demands unconditional surrender . . 60
The surrender 61
An heroic achievement 62
Illinois a Virginian county 64
Belated reinforcements 64
Results achieved 65
The Detroit project 66
Clark's power wanes 67
Je£Eerson's interesting proposition .... 67
Clark and Genet 69
Qark's later years 70
Importance of the conquest 71
££Eect on the treaty of peace 71
II
The Division of the Northwest into States
Washington's suggestion 75
Jefferson's plan 77
Ordinance of 1787 79
The famous boundary article 80
Erection of Indiana Territory 82
Admission of Ohio 84
Erection of Michigan Territory Z6
Michigan-Ohio boundary 89
Erection of Illinois Territory 93
No Man's Land 94
Illinois's northern boimdary 95
Michigan spreads westward 96
Dissatisfaction west of Lake Michigan . . 97
Protracted agitation 99
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
lopy ty Edward, of Jar^h', porlrai- , ihl «fj
nf Ik! IFiscKBsU Himrka! Sfdiiy
How George Rogers Clark
Won the Northwest
And
Other Essays in Western History
Reuben Gold Thwdtij- ; —'
Author of "Down Historic Waterways," " On the Stotied
Ohio," "Daniel Boone," etc.; Editor of "The
Jesuit Relations," " Hennepin's Travels," et&
Chicago
C. McClurg fS Co.
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
copy ty Ed-ward, of Jar-vh; portrmt ; iki «ft
How George Rogers Clark
Won the Northwest
And
Other Essays in Western History
By ^><i>s .'
Reuben Gold Thw«itv r
Author of "Down Historic Waterwajs," "On the Storied
Ohio," "Daniel Boone," etc.; Editor of "The
Jeeuit Relationt," " Hennepin'i Traveli," et&
Chicago
A. C. McClurg ef Co.
1903
xvi Contents
VI
A Day on Braddock*s Road pagb
Brownsville 277
Redstone Old Fort 278
Nemacolin's Path 279
Redstone Creek 280
The National Road 281
A coaching tavern 284
Where Braddock fell 284
Great Meadows 286
The first shot 288
Siege of Fort Necessity ....... 288
Remains of the fort 290
Jumonville's Camp 293
Dunbar^s Camp 294
The meaning of it 295
VII
Early Lead Mining on the Upper Mississippi
Aboriginal use of lead 299
Taught by whites ., 300
Early traffic in ore 300
Perrot^s mines 302
Le Sueur^s operations 303
Crozat^s monopoly 305
De Renault's discoveries ....... 306
Primitive methods 308
France and Spain 309
A considerable industry 310
Contents xvii
Early Lead Mining on the Upper Mississippi
(continued) Pagb
Duralde's grant 311
A notable market .• . . . 312
Dubuque's mines 313
Aboriginal smelting 315
Aboriginal mining 317
Dubuque's Indian prospectors 318
" The Mines of Spain " 319
Dubuque's statement 320
Opening of American regime 320
A shot tower 322
The Buck lead 322
French-Canadians ousted 324
Lead a currency 324
A general movement 326
An enormous nugget 327
The lease system 328
A horde of squatters 329
The great ** boom " 330
Spanish claimants ejected 331
VIII
The Draper Manuscripts
The collector 335
A youthful passion 336
A patron of learning 338
At college 338
Doctors disagree .....' 339
Notable correspondents 340
An itinerant interviewer ....... 341
Pioneer hospitality 341
xviii Contents
The Draper Manuscripts {continued) page
Important interviews 342
A rich harvest 344
A Mississippi episode 347
In a haven of refuge 348
Alone in his specialty 349
Co-partnership with Lossing 350
Fearing to " go to press '' 351
Practically founds the Wisconsin Historical
Society 352
King's Mountain 354
Material beyond his control 355
The end 356
The man himself 356
An eminently useful career 357
An enduring monument 358
INDEX - 361
List of Illustrations
FULL PAGE
Page
^ George Rogers Clark Frontispiece
^A Kentucky Fort 14
Clark's Route 26
^Clark's Letter to Hamilton 60
'^Black Hawk 120
'^Fort Winnebago in 1834 172
V Scene of the Battle of the Bad Axe .... 186
<^ Lahontan's Map of Mackinac Strait, 1741 . . 214
^Village of La Pointe, Madelaine Island • . . 262
TEXT
Division of the Northwest, L ....... 77
11 79
III 83
IV 87
V 88
VI 92
VII 94
>»
w
l»
>»
«
»
1>
XX List of Illustrations
Page
Division of the Northwest, VIII 98
»» » )i IX 100
»» »> »> X 103
» )» »» XI 109
Seat of Black Hawk War 117
Chequamegon Bay 237
Plan of Battle at Fort Necessity 287
I
HOW GEORGE ROGERS CLARK WON THE
NORTHWEST
ESSAYS
IN
WESTERN HISTORY
HOW GEORGE ROGERS CLARK WON THE
NORTHWEST
UPON the eve of the Revolutionary War,
the vast stretch of country northwest
of the river Ohio — later divided into the
States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and
A van Wisconsin — was a part of the British
huntiHg- Province of Quebec, As a result of
'^"^ Wolfe's victory on the Plains of Abra-
ham, Great Britain bad acquired it from France
by the treaty of 1763. Like the French, the
British ministry designed keeping the region
as an enormous hunting-ground for the benefit
of the Indians and the fur-traders. ^In adopt-
ing this policy, the government were influenced
by three considerations: first, the enormous
profits reaped by English merchants from the
V
Essays in Western History
W^g > of the forest! again, the apprehen*
^^fc-X should colonial settlement spread
" V,-, _, *-iic AUeghanies, these merchants could
not su^jply the people as easily as before, and
colonial trade would be correspondingly ham-
pered ; third, the fear that if allowed to intrench
themselves behind the mountain wall, American
borderers might become bolder and more im-
pudent than ever. Selfish and short-sighted,
they endeavored arbitrarily to hem in their
colonists to the Atlantic Slope, thus adding a
fresh cause for colonial uneasiness, already
assuming ominous proportions.
A proclamation issued (October 7, 1763) in
the name of King George III., declared ^ " it to
be our royal will and pleasure ... to reserve
under our sovereignty, protection, and do-
minion, for the use of the said Indians, ... all
the lands and territories lying to the westward
of the sources of the rivers which fall into the
sea from the West and North West. . . . And
we do hereby strictly forbid, on pain of our
displeasure, all our loving subjects from making
any purchases or settlements whatever, or tak-
ing possession of any of the lands above re-
served, without our especial leave and license."
' Full text in Gentleman's Magatitie, xxxiil., pp. 477-479;
leprinled in Wiscoiuiit HitforUiU ColUctimu, xL, pp. 46-51.
George Rogers Clark 5
But King George's proclamation could no
more keep American frontiersmen from cross-
ing the AUeghanies and taking possession of
the fertile valleys and plains drained by the
west-flowing waters, than Mrs. Partington with
her broom could sweep the Atlantic Ocean
. from her door-sill. Despite this attempt to
obstruct the tide of Western settlement, the
Northwest came soon to be conquered and
held by Americans, until the happy result of
the Revolution made it the national domain
of the young Republic.
Apparently, the royal proclamation was as
completely ignored by the colonists and ofii-
The king's ^'^^^ ^^ Virginia and Pennsylvania,
puasure as though ucver penned. Under the
^g*^« vague terms of their charters, both
these colonies claimed the country north of
the Ohio. Virginia held the advantage, for
Fort Pitt, at the " Forks of the Ohio," — our
modern Pittsburg, — was governed by her
militia, and Pennsylvania protested in vain.
By this time, settlers were flocking into the
Alleghany and Monongahela valleys, divided
in loyalty according to the district whence
they came; but the majority of them, espe-
cially upon the Monongahela, were of Vir-
ginia origin.
6 Essays in Western History
After a few years of comparative peace upon
the border, the Indians were becoming alarmed
at these formidable inroads on their hunting-
The inrush grounds. The settlers were cutting
of settlers down the forests, destroying the game,
opening up farms, and giving every evidence
of an intention to monopolize the country.
Streams of borderers were also pouring into
Kentucky overland, by way of Boone's road
through Cumberland Gap ; or down the Ohio
in all manner of curious craft, laden with their
families, flocks, tools, and weapons, ready to
take armed possession of that bountiful land.
The white army of Western occupation was
not over-nice in its methods of overriding
whatever lay in its path. Aside from the loss
of soil, the tribesmen had much to suffer at the
hands of the borderers. Small wonder, then,
that in 1774 they combined to contest this
wholesale invasion, and after the manner of
their kind harried the entire length of the
border from Lake Erie to Cumberland Gap,
with fire, rapine, and human slaughter.
Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, led an
army against them. As usual, the Indians
Lord Dun- Were defeated ; although their leader,
more's Cornstalk, a Shawnee chief, in whom
there was much to admire, fought
war
George Rogers Clark 7
with rare valor in the decisive battie of Point
Pleasant, at the junction of the Great Kanawha
and the Ohio. In this campaign, called in
history Lord Dunmore's War, were engaged
George Rogers Clark and many other Vir-
ginia frontiersmen who either were, or were
soon destined to become, famous among the
Western pioneers.
Peace was soon after declared in a great
council on the Pickaway Plains in Ohio,
wherein the Northern Indians surrendered to
the whites what slender interests they held in
the neutral hunting-grounds of Kentucky.
This concession, empty though it was, com-
bined with the discreet neutrality observed by
the vanquished tribes during the first two years
of the Revolutionary struggle, rendered possible
the settlement of Kentucky ; thus forging the
first link in the chain of events on which the
colonists based their claim to the country
beyond the AUeghanies.
Although the Revolution, which soon fol-
lowed Dunmore's War, hampered progress upon
Kentucky the Atlantic Slope, trans-AUeghany
settud development progressed apace. For
a time practically unhindered by the savages,
settlers in goodly number came straggling
into the Western country. Numerous small
8 Essays in Western History
communities sprang up along the Ohio and
many of its feeders, and in Kentucky there
soon were several log forts, around each of
which were grouped the rude cabins of fron-
tiersmen, who were half farmers, half hunters,
— tall, stalwart fellows, as courageous as lions,
and ever on the watch for the crouching IndicUi
foe, who, although now absent, might appear
when least expected.
This quasi-peace on the Western border —
it was well towards the close of the century
Lieutenant- before there was secured absolute
Governor freedom from Indian forays — was
^*^* ^ soon broken. Naturally, the sympa-
thies of the Indians were stronger for the
British fur-traders than for the Americans,
who were turning the hunting-grounds into
farms, and took small pains to ingratiate them-
selves with the aborigines. The British post
of Detroit was commanded by Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor Henry Hamilton — a bold, brave, untir-
ing man, but unscrupulous. During the winter
of iyy6-yyy acting under orders from his supe-
riors, he gathered there the Northwest Indians
in large numbers. Among his strange guests
were long-haired Sioux from Northwest Wis-
consin and the Minnesota plains ; sharp-faced
Chippewas, from the south shore of Lake Supe-
George Rogers Clark 9
rior; sleek and oily Sauks and Foxes from the
Mississippi, below Prairie du Chien; broad-
visaged, flat-nosed, swarthy Winnebagoes from
the Rock River, the Wisconsin, and the Green
Bay country ; Potawatomis, with open counte-
nance and feminine cast of features, from Mil-
waukee River and all along the west shore of
Lake Michigan ; and Menominees or wild-rice
eaters, from west of Green Bay and around
Lake Shawano.
With the various bands, repugnant in their
filth, squalor, and savagery, this cultured Eng-
^' The hair- l^sliman held council after council,
buying himself joining in their wild songs and
general'' dances ; and, amid yelps of applause,
with skilful throw planting the hatchet in the
war-post, which was smeared with blood and
hung with the scalps of American borderers.
It is not certain to what extent Hamilton de-
served the opprobrious epithet, " the hair-buy-
ing general," which the backwoodsmen fastened
upon him; but we know that in the warfare
which he induced the savages to undertake
against the Americans, those warriors who, as
evidence of their prowess, brought most scalps
to Detroit, received the largest rewards. Ham-
ilton always claimed that he made endeavors to
curb the feroci^ of his savage allies, but he
lo Essays in Western History
must have known how impossible was this feat.
In judging him, however, we must remember
that the ethics of warfare were not in that day
as humane as in ours.
In the early spring of 1777, Hamilton's
Indians began crossing the Ohio to raid the
Kentucky Kentucky settlements. Militiamen
raided were ambushed, several of the block-
house forts were burned, prisoners were sub-
mitted to nameless horrors; it seemed as if
pandemonium had suddenly broken loose upon
the border. In the numerous sieges which en-
sued, there were performed feats of individual
prowess on the part of the backwoodsmen and
their wives, that are unsurpassed in the records
of heroism. By the close of the year, so gen-
eral had been the rush of settlers back to their
old homes east of the mountains, but five or six
hundred remained in all Kentucky, These
were liable, on call, to garrison duty in the four
remaining stations of Boonesborough, Harrods-
burg, Price's, and Logan's.
Prominent among the defenders of Kentucky
during this fateful year, was George Rogers
George Clark. He had come from a good
Rogers family in Virginia, was but twenty-five
years of age, and, for his day, had
acquired a fair education, but from childhood
George Rogers Clark 1 1
had been a rover of the woods. Full six feet
in height, stout of frame, possessed of " red
hair, and a black, penetrating, sparkling eye,"
he was courageous even to audacity, and ex-
hibited strong, often unbridled passions. Clark
early became a backwoods surveyor, such as
Washington was, and many another young
colonial gentleman of superior antecedents and
training. With chain and compass, axe and
rifle, he had in the employ of land speculators
wandered far and wide through the border
region, learning its trails, its fords, its mountain
passes, and its aborigines, better than his
books. In many ways Clark was a marked
character in a community of strongly accent-
uated types — heroes and desperadoes, saints
and sinners. At the age of twenty-one he had
served in the Dunmore War, and then settled
as a Kentucky farmer at the mouth of Fish
Creek, only again to be called out by an Indian
uprising and obliged thereafter to take a lead-
ing part in the protracted defence of the " Dark
and Bloody Ground." Almost from the first,
Clark ranked with Boone, Benjamin Logan, and
others of his associates whose names are promi-
nent in the bead-roll of American border
heroes ; he was soon to surpass them all.
When France surrendered her American
1 2 Essays in Western History
possessions to England, the French Creoles
for the most part remained in their old haunts,
French and Simply transferred their politi-
hamiets ^^j allegiance to King George. In
the year i ^TT, of which we have spoken, there
were several little French hamlets in the country
to the north of the Ohio River, the outgrowth
either of early Jesuit missions or the needs of
the fur-trade, or of both combined. Detroit,
commanding the straits between Lakes Erie
and Huron, was the largest of these. The im-
portant post of Mackinac guarded the gateway
between Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Supe-
rior. Vincennes, on the Wabash, was another
strategic point occupied by the French Cana-
dians. Over on the Mississippi, Kaskaskia
and Cahokia were centres of French commerce
in the West. At Green Bay were a few fur-
traders* cabins, chief among them the estab-
lishment of Charles Langlade, first permanent
settler of Wisconsin. At Prairie du Chien
there was as yet no village, although several
traders frequently made their headquarters
there. In the records of the time, we have
hints of trading stations near Ashland, on
Lakes Chetek, Flambeau, Courte Oreille, and
on the eastern edge of the Wisconsin forest, at
Milwaukee Bay and the port of Two Rivers.
George Rogers Clark 1 3
At Detroit, Mackinac, Vincennes, Kaskaskia,
and Cahokia, were small forts built of logs.
ProntUr These structures had originally been
forts erected by the French fur-traders to
protect their stocks of goods, and in times of
danger served as rallying-points. When the
English took possession they were consider-
ably strengthened, and under this remodelling
some of them came to be formidable fastnesses
in a wilderness where besiegers were chiefly
savages, without artillery. As a rule, the cur-
tains were guarded at the four corners by
solidly built blockhouses, serving as bastions,
these houses being generally two stories in
height and pierced for rifles and cannon. One
or more of the curtains were formed by the
rear walls of a row of log-cabins, the others
being composed of palisades, great logs stand-
ing on end, the bottoms well buried in the
ground and the tops sharp-pointed; around
the inner edge of these wooden ramparts, the
roofs of the cabins formed a gallery, on which
crouched those of the defenders who were not
already engaged in the blockhouses. The
heavy-timbered gate, with its massive forged
hinges and bolts, was guarded with particular
tenacity. In the event of the enemy forcing
this, or making a breach in the curtains by
14 Essays in Western History
burning or scaling the palisades, the block-
houses were the last towers of refuge, around
which the contest was waged to the bitter
end.
At the time of which we are speaking, these
frontier forts were generally commanded by
Creole British captains, with a few regular
militiamen officers and privates to form the
nucleus of the garrison, the remainder of the
force being composed of French-Canadian vol-
unteers; although we shall find in charge at
Kaskaskia a French officer in the English
service. At Detroit and Mackinac, throughout
the Revolutionary War, these Creole militia-
men remained firm to the British cause; but
farther south, — at Vincennes, Kaskaskia, and
Cahokia, — the English were to discover in
them but fair-weather allies. Sometimes the
fort, as at Kaskaskia, was the centre of the
little French village which had grown up
around it; in other cases, as at Vincennes,
it commanded the cluster of cabins from some
neighboring eminence.
The people of these French-Canadian river-
side hamlets took life easily. Among them
Life among were many engaged in the fur-trade at
the Creoles certain seasons of the year — bour-
geois, or masters, for the most part, serving as
George Rogers Clark 1 5
the agents or clerks of Montreal merchants;
voyageurs, or boatmen, men-of-all-work who
propelled the canoes when afloat, carried them
and their cargoes over portages, transported
packs of goods and furs through the forest
inlands, cared for the camps, and acted as
guards for the persons and property of their
employers ; coureurs de bois, or wood-rangers,
men devoted to a life in the woods through the
very love of adventure, sometimes conducting
a far-reaching fur-trade on their own account,
— the widest travellers and most daring spirits
in all the great Northwest.
The habitants, or permanent villagers, were
for the most part farmers in a small way. Down
by the river stood their little log cabins, with
well-sweeps and orchards, back of which
stretched narrow, ribbon-like fields, remnants
of which one may see to-day at Quebec and
Montreal, or indeed at any of our old French
towns in the West — for instance. Green Bay
and Prairie du Chien. The French habitant
was a social animal. He loved the little village
wineshop, where, undisturbed by his sharp-
eyed, sharp-visaged, prim and gossipy, white-
aproned spouse, he could enjoy his pipe, his
bowl, and his " fiddlers three." For they were
famous fiddlers, these French-Canadians. On
1 6 Essays in Western History
social occasions the fiddle was indispensable.
No American wilderness was so far away that
the little French fiddle had not been there.
The Indians recognized it as a part of the furni-
ture of every fur-trader's camp. At night, as
the wanderers lounged around the blazing heap
of logs, the sepulchral arches of the forest re-
sounded with the piercing strains of the violin,
accompanying the gayly sashed and turbaned
voyageurs, as in metallic tones they chanted
melodies of the river, the chase, love, and the
wassail. In the village, no christening or wed-
ding was complete without the fiddler ; at the
almost nightly social gatherings, in each other's
puncheon-floored cabins, this cross-legged king
of the feast was enthroned on a plank table.
The river was their highway. From earliest
youth, they understood the handling of a
canoe. Just as in the Far West the cowboy
mounts his horse to cross the street, and refuses
work that cannot be done on the back of a
broncho, the French-Canadian went in his boat
to visit his next-door neighbor.
It made small difference to these people who
were in political control. All they sought was
socially to be left alone, to enjoy life in their
own simple fashion. On general principles,
the attitude of King George, who wished the
George Rogers Clark 1 7
Western hunting-grounds left unimpaired, was
more to their liking than the aggressive,
land-winning temper of the American settlers.
Then again, over half of these French-Canadians
had Indian wives, and in the veins of many
flowed Indian blood. They were drawn to the
savage tribes through relationship and sympa-
thy. The men of New France were always
cheek by jowl with the tribesmen, an amal-
gamation surprising to men of Anglo-Saxon
parentage, who seem never to be able to
sympathize with barbarians. Yet despite these
ties, the French of the Illinois posts, having
already found it easy to change masters, were
willing enough to fraternize with the American
backwoodsmen when once brought into com-
munication with them.
Clark was well aware of this condition of
affairs north of the Ohio. The French villages
^ . . were centres of British influence, where
Centres of '
BrUish in- the natural hostility of the savages to
fiuence ^j^^ American frontier settlements
was being persistently excited by bribes and
by appeals to their passions. Clark realized
that so long as the Northwest was suffered to
remain a safe rallying-point for war-parties,
Kentucky would continue to suffer from forays
and very likely the settlers be wholly exter-
1 8 Essays in Western History
minated or at best driven from the field. He
resolved, therefore, to " carry the war into
Africa," to establish a military frontier in the
enemy's country. Spies were accordingly sent
to Kaskaskia and Vincennes. They soon re-
turned, reporting that the British were keeping
but loose guard, and that while the French had
conceived the notion, from British reports, that
the Kentucky backwoodsmen were barbarians
more cruel than the Indians about them, they
were not more than lukewarm in their attach-
ment to the king.
In August, 1777, Clark started overland to
Virginia, where he consulted with Patrick
Clark's Henry, then governor of that colony,
project as well as with other prominent men,
regarding his plan for capturing the British
posts north of the Ohio. These gentlemen at
once fell in with the audacious project; but as
the success of the undertaking depended on
secrecy, the aid given him by the governor
was obtained from the legislature on the gen-
eral plea that it was designed for the protection
of Kentucky.^ Clark was made lieutenant-
^ The public and private instructions given to Clark by
Governor Henry are in the Appendix to Clark*s letter to
George Mason, of Virginia (dated Louisville, November 19,
1779), as edited by Pirtle, in Ohio Valley Historical Series,
No. 3 (Cincinnati, 1869).
George Rogers Clark 19
colonel (January 2, 1778), was given the equiva-
lent of six thousand dollars in sadly depreciated
currency, and was authorized to enlist in his
cause three hundred and fifty Virginians wher-
ever he might find them.
The jealousy between Virginia and Pennsyl-
vania, and the impossibility of revealing his
Raising purpose, made it difficult for Clark
volunteers ^q raisc voluuteers ; indeed, he met
with considerable opposition from those who
apparently suspected this Western movement,
on political grounds, or were jealous of an at-
tempt to sequester men whose services were
needed in the defence of the mountain valleys.
It was May (1778) before he could collect
about a hundred and fifty borderers from
the clearings and hunters' camps of the Alle-
ghany foot-hills, both east and west of the
range.^
^ Clark says in his letter to Mason : ^* Many leading Men
in the fronteers, . . . had like to have put an end to the
enterprise, not knowing my Destination, and through a spirit
of obstinacy they combined and did every thing that lay in
their power to stop the Men that had Enlisted, and set the
whole Fronteers in an uproar, even condescended to harbour
and protect those that Deserted ; I found my case desperate,
the longer I remained the worse it was. ... I plainly saw
that my Principal Design [an attack on Detroit] was baffled.
... I was resolved to push to Kentucky with what men I
20 Essays in Western History
They were a rough, and for the most part
unlettered folk, these Virginia backwoodsmen
The back- who formed Clark's little army of con-
woodsmen quest. There was of course no at-
tempt among them at military uniform, officers
in no wise being distinguished from men. The
conventional dress of eighteenth-century bor-
derers was an adaptation to local conditions,
being in part borrowed from the Indians.
Their feet were encased in moccasins. Per-
haps the majority of the corps had loose, thin
trousers of homespun or buckskin, with a
fringe of leather thongs down each outer seam
of the legs ; but many wore only leggings of
leather, and were as bare of knee and thigh as
a Highland clansman; indeed, many of the
pioneers were Scotch-Irish, some of whom had
been accustomed to this airy costume in the
mother-land. Common to all were fringed
hunting shirts or smocks, generally of buck-
skin — a picturesque, flowing garment reaching
from neck to knees, and girded about the waist
by a leathern belt, from which dangled the
could gather in West Augusta ; being Joined by Capt* Bow-
man and Helms who had raised a Compy for the Expedition,
but two thirds of them was stopt by the undesigned Enemies
to the Country that I have before mentioned : In the whole
I had about one hundred & fifty Men Collected and set sail
for the Falls [of the Ohio, now Louisville]."
George Rogers Clark 2 1
tomahawk and scalping-knife. On one hip
hung the carefully scraped powder-horn; on
the other, a leather sack, serving both as game-
bag aod provision-pouch, although often the
folds of the shirt, full and ample above the
belt, were the depository for food and ammuni-
tion. A broad-brimmed felt hat, or a cap of
fox-skin or squirrel-skin, with the tail dangling
behind, crowned the often tall and always
sinewy frontiersman. His constant companion
was his home-made flint-lock rifle — a clumsy,
heavy weapoi\so long that it reached to the
chin of the tallest man, but unerring in the
hands of an expert marksman, such as was
each of these backwoodsmen.
They were rough in manners and in speech.
Among them, we must confess, were men who
had fled from the coast settlements because no
longer to be tolerated in a law-abiding com-
munity. There were not lacking mean, brutal
fellows, whose innate badness had on the un-
trammelled frontier developed into wickedness.
Many joined Clark for mere adventure, for
plunder, and deviltry. The majority, however,
were men of good parts, who sought to pro-
tect their homes at whatever peril — sincere
men, as large of heart as they were of frame,
many of them in later years developing into
22 Essays in Western History
citizens of a high type of effectiveness in a
frontier commonwealth. As a matter of his-
tory, most of them proved upon this expedition
to be heroes worthy of the fame they won and
the leader whom they followed.
On the border, military discipline was as
slight as in an Indian war-party. The officers,
elected by open vote, exercised little authority
over the wild, daring spirits whom they nomi-
nally led. The only enduring tie between them
was that of personal regard ; the only cohesion
in the force, reliance on the prgiwess and judg-
ment of the commander. Clark had the full
confidence of his men, holding them by a per-
sonal influence which was as strong as it was
remarkable. Probably no other man on the
border could have done what he was about
to do.
** I set out from Redstone [Brownsville, Pa.]
the 12th of May," writes Clark in his famous
The letter to Mason, " leaving the Country
flotilla jjj great confusion, much distressed
by Indians." His little fleet consisted of the
usual flatboats then used by immigrants and
traders to the West. Stopping at Pittsburg
and Wheeling to take on the simple supplies
for which Governor Henry had given him requi-
sitions upon the military officers of the upper
George Rogers Clark 23
Ohio country,^ he cautiously floated down
the Ohio. Indian attacks were imminent,
for the river was frequently being crossed by
war-parties ; but- fortunately the flotilla met
with no opposition from this source. An ex-
ploring party bound for the Ozark joined
them at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, and
together the two expeditions ** had a very
pleasant voyage to the falls of the Ohio."
Early in June they arrived at the " Falls of
the Ohio." Here, at the present Louisville,
the river is broken by falls, which
PaUsof both in ascending and descending
tiuOhto necessitated the unloading of boats
and the use of the portage path around the
obstruction. In primitive days, a portage
was of great importance strategically, for it
controlled the waterway. For this reason,
Clark tactfully chose as his base of operations
the island in the centre of the falls, which
commanded the portage path, and upon it
* ** For the Transportation of the Troops, provisions, &c.,
d )wn the Ohio, you are to apply to the Commanding Officer
at Fort Pitt for Boats, &c. . . . You are to apply to General
Hand for powder & Lead necessary for this Expedition. If
he can't supply it the person who has that which Cap^ Lynn
bro^ from Orleans can. Lead was sent to Hampshire by my
orders & that may be delivered you.** — Henry's private
instructions to Clark.
24 Essays in Western History
built a blockhouse fort and planted a crop of
Indian corn.^
Another reason for the island camp was, that
dissatisfaction had by this time become mani-
fest among his men. Few knew of
his purpose, and the mystery which
necessarily hung around the expedition was
doubtless preying on the minds of the weak-
hearted. The commander found it essential
to keep a strict guard on the boats and to
institute a discipline which was irksome to all.
One lieutenant, heading a small party, con-
trived to escape, but the following day some
of his men were captured, and the proper
subordination was soon secured.
On the twenty-sixth of June, having been
joined by a few volunteers from Kentucky and
A picked the Holston valley, Clark's flotilla was
company again on the move, the goal being
Kaskaskia, the principal post in the Illinois
country. It was a picked company, the weak-
lings having been left at the island to guard
the blockhouse and cultivate the cornfield.^
Some of the bravest men on the frontier were
^ Hence the present name, Com Island.
* ** About twenty families that had followed me much
against my Inclination, I found now to be of service to me in
guarding a Block-house that I had erected on the Island to
secure my Provisions." — Clark's letter to Mason.
George Rogers Clark 25
the captains of the four companies, and the
equipment was as light as that carried by
Indians on a foray.
The falls were " shot " during a total solar
eclipse, an omen variously interpreted by the
superstitious backwoodsmen. Henceforth the
Ohio was followed to the now abandoned
French stronghold, Fort Massac, some ten
miles below the mouth of the Tennessee.^
Just before leaving the island, Clark had re-
ceived news of the alliance between the United
States and France ^ in the prosecution of the
Revolutionary War, and hoped that this would
make it easier for him to win over the French
in the Illinois and Wabash country.
The American commander feared to descend
the Ohio to its mouth and then ascend the
The march Mississippi, the ordinary route to
to Kashas- Kaskaskia, for his spies had brought
word that that path was being pa-
trolled by French and Indian scouts. He
^ Built by the French m 1758, on their retreat from Fort
Duquesne. The site is now a public park in the environs of
Moundsville, HI.
' See John Campbell's letter to Clark, dated Pittsburg,
June 8, 1778, in American Historical Review^ viii., p. 497.
The original of this and most other manuscript material ex-
tant, relative to Clark, is in the Draper MSS., Wisconsin
Historical Society.
26 Essays in Western History
therefore struck across country some hundred
and twenty miles, being guided by an Ameri-
can hunter who had recently been in the
French settlements. The poor fellow lost his
way when not far out upon the path. This
incident, Clark relates, " put the whole Troops
in the greatest Confusion," and caused the
leader, suspecting treachery, to threaten " to
put the guide to Death if he did not find his
way that Evening." Fortunately for all con-
cerned, the sadly frightened pilot " in two
hours got within his knowledge."
With great caution, Clark toilsomely pushed
through the forest and over " those level Plains
that is frequent throughout this extensive Coun-
try . . . much afraid of being discovered in
these Meadows as we might be seen in many
places for several miles." On the evening of
the fourth of July his ** little Army " of less
than two hundred riflemen reached the east
bank of the Kaskaskia River, on the opposite
side from and above the town, which was
about three miles away.^
* In a letter by Clark, apparently to Governor Henry, and
doubtless written in the summer or autumn of 1777, the
former describes Kaskaskia from reports made to him by
spies : '' It is situated 30 leagues above the mouth of the
Ohio, on a river of its own name, five miles from its mouth
and two miles east of the Mississippi. . . . The town of Kus-
Clarks route
♦ + •«■♦ +
George Rogers Clark 27
Remaining under cover of the woods until
dusk, the Americans moved forward along
the bank, downstream, to a farmhouse a mile
from the village. They took the family pris-
oners, and learned from them that Philippe
de Rocheblave, the French commandant of
the English fort, had " had some suspicean
of being attacted and had some preparations,
keeping out Spies, but they making no dis-
coveries, had got oflf their guard." Roche-
blave had frequently appealed to Detroit for
assistance, but without avail. The captured
habitants reported that the French militia
were fairly well organized, and greatly feared
•
kuskies contains about one hundred families of French and
English, and carry on an extensive trade with the Indians ;
and they have a considerable number of negroes that bear
arms and are chiefly employed in managing their farms that
lay around the town, and send a considerable quantity of flour
and other commodities to New Orleans. . . . The fort, which
stands a small distance below the town is built of stockading
about ten feet high, with blockhouses at each comer, with
several pieces of cannon mounted, powder, ball, and all other
necessary stores without guard or a single soldier. . . . The
principal inhabitants are entirely against the American cause,
and look on us as notorious rebels that ought to be subdued
at any rate, but I don't doubt but after being acquainted with
the cause they would become good friends to it." There is
only a transcript of this letter in existence, and this is in the
Draper MSS. ; it is published in full, edited by Professor
F, J. Turner, in Amer, Hist, Rev., April, 1903, pp. 491-494.
28 Essays in Western History
the Americans, while the Indians of the dis-
trict bitterly hated the " Big Knives," ^ as
they called the frontiersmen. There were
four or five hundred men in the place, and
it could only be taken by surprise. A few
days before there had been an alarm in the
fort, but a sense of security was now felt.
Clark was as quick in action as in thought.
Having at the farm " found plenty of Boats to
Cross in," his men were in two hours* time
silently ferried across the Kaskaskia River.
They were divided into two parties, one sur-
rounding the town, which was above, although
adjoining the fort, the other accompanying
their leader and a French guide from the farm-
house under the brow of the river-bank to the
postern gate, near the water's edge.
The myth-maker is of every age and every
land. He has not spared American frontier
Apictu- history. We see his handiwork in
resque Hero the Pocahontas story ; in popular tales
concerning Jesuit mission-sites in the
Old Northwest ; in the apocryphal incidents of
the siege of Wheeling; in the hero-tales of
Boone in Kentucky, of the scouts Brady and
1 The Indians thus styled the borderers, probably because
whites first introduced among North American savages the
use of knives.
George Rogers Clark 29
Wetzel, of Brant, the Iroquois chieftain — to
mention but a few. He has also befooled
some of the chroniclers of the doings of
George Rogers Clark.
We have been told that, as Clark and his
men lay there by the postern gate, they could
hear the sounds of French fiddles squeaking a
quadrille, and now and then gay shouts and
laughter. The officers of the post were, it is
related, giving a ball to the habitants, in the
large assembly room with its puncheon floor.
The outlying houses were deserted. Men and
women, villagers and garrison, Indians and
coureurs de bois, were without regard to rank
or race crowded into the hall, heeding nothing
save the dance. Even the sentinels had de-
serted their posts to join in the festivities', and
Kaskaskia, a victim to the irrepressible gayety
of the French, was wholly unguarded.
Leaving his men at the gate, says the story-
teller, Clark, alone with his guide, strode across
the parade and, leaning against the door-post,
with folded arms watched the gay scene — a
patch of light and color in the heart of the
gloomy wilderness. As he calmly stood there,
an unbidden guest, an Indian lying curled in
his blanket on the entry floor, started and
gazed intently upon him. Another moment,
30 Essays in Western History
the savage sprang to his feet and sounded the
war-whoop.
In the midst of the general consternation,
Rocheblave and his brother officers hurried to
the door ; but Clark, unmoved, bade them go
on with the dance, but be pleased to remember
that they were now holding revelry under the
banner of Virginia and not that of Great
Britain. Instantly Clark's detail, left at the
gate, warned by the war-whoop rushed in and
secured the garrison. It is a picturesque hero
tale. One fastidious might say it smacked over-
much of melodrama ; but I almost wish it were
true, for our often sombre Western history
seems now and then to need a lurid touch like
this.^
While Clark's letter to Mason gives but the
principal incidents in outline, we have the
j,j^ credible statement of one of his men ^
capture of that Clark's party of about a dozen,
Kaskaskia ^^ ^^^^ j^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ river-bank,
were "saluted merrily" by keen-scented dogs,
1 The tale appears to have first been published in
Denny's " Memoir of Major Ebcnezer Denny," Penn. Histor.
Soc. Publications (i860), vii., pp. 217, 218. The scene has
been represented by an artist in Lodge's Story of the Rcvohi-
tion (N. Y., 1898), ii., p. 20.
2 Statement of Daniel Henry to L. C. Draper, in 1844, ^^
the Draper MSS.
George Rogers Clark 3 1
but this did not disturb the little garrison.
Finding the fort gate open, they pushed on in
the dark to Rocheblave's house, pointed out by
the guide, found and captured the unsuspecting
governor in an upper room, brought him below,
and then gave ** a loud huzza, answered by the
other" party, which had now divided into
squads of four or five men each. Yelling like
mad, the now united Virginians easily over-
awed the puny garrison of Creoles, and, to re-
sume our quotations from Clark, "in 15
minutes " were masters of the place without
the firing of a gun.
Every street was guarded, and runners were
sent out, "ordering the People on pane of
Death to keep close to their Houses, which
they observed." At daylight, the soldiers and
the people were disarmed. By this stern
promptness Clark had succeeded in thoroughly
cowing the villagers — " nothing could excell
the Confusion these People seemed to be in,
being taught to expect nothing but Savage
treatment from the Americans. Giving all for
lost their Lives were all they could dare beg
for, which they did with the greatest fervancy,
they were willing to be Slaves to save their
families. I told them it did not suit me to
give them an answer at that time, they re-
32 Essays in Western History
pared to their houses, trembling as if they
were led to Execution; my principal would
not suffer me to distress such a number
of People, except, through policy it was
necessary.*'
Their mercurial spirits soon rose, however,
when they learned during the day that instead
of being made the slaves of the bloodthirsty
Virginians, they were, upon taking the oath of
allegiance to the Republic, to be allowed to
come and go at their pleasure, and meet in their
little Catholic church as of old. Clark ex-
plained to a deputation of the people the
American view of the war, and added that
the Republic meant to free, not enslave, the
people of the Illinois country, and would be
a better friend to them than the British
king.
" No sooner had they [a deputation of vil-
lagers who waited on him] heard this," pictur-
"y^«<fA:^^jj esquely writes Clark, "than joy
of Joy'' sparkled in their Eyes and [they] fell
into Transports of Joy that really surprised
me. . . . They returned to their families,
and in a few minutes the scean of mourning
and distress, was turned into an excess of
Joy, nothing else seen nor heard. Addorn-
ing the streets with flowers Pavilians of dif-
George Rogers Clark 33
ferent colours, compleating their happiness
by singing, &c."
To a man, the Creoles took the oath of loy-
alty to the United States. Commander Roche-
blave, however, had been violent and insulting
in temper, and Clark, to teach the people a
lesson, sent him on to Virginia as a prisoner
and appropriated his black slaves, which were
soon after sold for the equivalent of $2,500.
This prize-money was divided among the rifle-
men, who were well pleased at the financial
outcome of the expedition.
As for Father Pierre Gibault,^ the Kaskas-
kia priest, he was a zealous Clark man from
Pathir the time the generous conqueror gave
GibauU ^Cwci to understand that an American
officer had " nothing to do with Churches more
than to defend them from Insult. That by the
laws of the State [Virginia] his Religion had as
great Previledges as any other : This seem'd to
compleat their happiness." The good father
assured his new friend that although as a priest
he had " nothing to do with temporal business,
that he would give them such hints in the
Spiritual way, that would be very conducive to
the business."
^ Whom Clark, singularly perverse in the spelling of
foreign proper names, calls " Mr. Jeboth.**
3
34 Essays in Western History
A small party of Americans, with some
French volunteers now eager to serve the
^ , . cause of Virginia, went rapidly on
Cahokia
horseback to Cahokia, "about sixty
miles up the Country," where the people
promptly fraternized with the invaders, and
accepted Captain Joseph Bowman as local
superintendent. At the same time, Gibault,
on his own motion, in company with Dr.
Le Font, principal of the Jesuit seminary at
Kaskaskia, and a few others, went overland to
Vincennes, "a Town about the size of Williams-
burg/* On the first of August they returned
with the news that through the father's influ-
ence the American flag had been hoisted on
the walls of the fort, from which the half-
dozen British soldiers had deemed it wise to
withdraw. Clark at once sent Captain Leonard
Helm to take command of the French militia
at Vincennes, while he remained at Kaskaskia.
Successful in his immediate designs, Clark's
position was nevertheless perilous. "The nu-
merous Tribes of Indians attached to the French
was yet to enfluence, for I was too weak to
treat them in any other way . . . every Nation
of Indians could raise three, or four times our
Number. . . . Savages, whose minds had long
been poisoned by the English." Far to the
George Rogers Clark 35
north lay the British base in the Northwest.
These southern towns were but the outposts of
a formidable and resourceful enemy, concern-
ing whose movements he could learn but little.
His chief desire was to strike at Detroit,
as the centre of English operations; but for
Anew this he needed a far larger corps
difficulty — indeed, he lacked sufficient men
for his present plans, which involved several
side expeditions among both French and In-
dians, in order to secure his foothold. A new
difficulty now beset him, and increased the
hazard. The greater part of his followers,
their time of service having expired, were hot
for returning home. " It was," he tells us,
" with Difficulty that I could support that
Dignity that was necessary to give my or-
ders that force that was necessary, but by
great preasants and promises I got about
one hundred of my Detachment Enlisted for
eight months, and to colour my staying with
so few Troops I made a faint of returning to
.the Falls, as though I had sufficient confidence
in the People, hoping that the Inhabitants
would remonstrate against my leaving, which
they did in the warmest terms. . . . Then
seemingly by their request I agreed to stay
with two Companies of Troops, and that I
36 Essays in Western History
hardly thought, as they alledged that so many
was necessary ; but if more was wanted I could
get them from the Falls, where they were made
to believe there was a Considerable Garrison."
Those volunteers who persisted in returning
home having been sent off to the Falls, — with
Rocheblave in their custody, and bearing let-
ters from Clark to Henry, " letting him know
my situation and the necessity of Troops in
the Country," — the commander settled down
for a winter at Kaskaskia. To fill the great
gap in his ranks, he enlisted young French
volunteers who, being ** fond of the service,
the different Companies soon got Compleat."
The difficulties which surrounded him, and
hie work of drilling the recruits, are best told
Drilling in his own words : " My situation
recruits ^^^ wcekness convinced me that
more depended on my own Behaviour and
Conduct, than all the Troops that I had far
removed fro-m the Body of my Country : situ-
ated among French, Spanyards, and Numerous
Bands of Savages on every quarter : Watching
my actions, ready to receive impressions favour-
able or not so of us, which might be hard to
remove, and would, perhaps produce lasting
good, or ill effects. . . . Strict subordination
among the Troops was my first object, and
George Rogers Clark 37
[I] soon effected it . . . Our Troops being all
Raw and undissiplined You must [be] sensible
of the pleasure I felt when harangueing them
on Perade, Telling them my Resolutions, and
the necessity of strict duty for our own preser-
vation &c. For them to return me for Answer,
that it was their Zeal for their Country that in-
duced them to engage in the Service, that they
were sencible of their situation and Danger;
that nothing could conduce more to their
safety and happiness, than good order, which
they would try to adhere to, and hoped that
no favour would be shewn those that would
neglect it. In a short time perhaps no Garri-
son could boast of better order, or a more
Valuable set of Men."
Another important duty consisted in obtain-
ing a good understanding with the Spaniards
who, from their northern capital, the
friends the neighbor hamlet of St. Louis, con-
span- trolled Upper Louisiana. His ad-
yards **
vances were well taken by Don
Francisco de Leyba, the lieutenant-governor.
" Our friends the Spanyards," Clark writes,
are "doing every thing in their power to
convince me of their friendship." De Leyba,
who met him at Cahokia, appears at once to
have formed an attachment for the gallant Vir-
38 Essays in Western History
ginian, who on his part testifies that as he "was
never before in comp'' with any Spanish Gent
I was much surprised in my expectations ; for
instead of finding that reserve thought peculiar
to that Nation, I here saw not the least symp-
toms of it, freedom almost to excess gave the
greatest pleasure."
" Domestick affairs being partly well settled,"
Clark playfully continues, " the Indian Depart-
The tribe- "^^^t Came next the object of my
men con- attention and of the greatest import-
ance." The sudden arrival in the
country of the Big Knives had thrown the
tribesmen in the " greatest consternation." For
a time they knew not which cause to espouse.
" They were generally at War against us, but
the French and the Spainyards appearing so
fond of us confused them, they counciled with
the French Traders, to know what was best to
be done, and of course was advised to come
and selicit for peace, and did not doubt but we
might be good Friends." By dint of a combi-
nation of threats, cajolery, and braggart talk,
well suited to impress them, Clark skilfully
brought the Indians to terms. His vigorous
speeches, sent to Bowman at Cahokia (" Cohos "
of Clark's manuscript) and Helm at Vincennes,
were read by those commanders to the as-
George Rogers Clark 39
sembled tribes, and ** did more service than a
Regiment of Men cou'd have done ; " while
French and half-breed messengers carried
similar overtures through a wide belt of
country, going as far north as the Fox River
in Wisconsin.
Proceeding to Cahokia himself to meet
the Indians at a great council, "it was with
Saimge astonishmeut," he writes, that he
friends <• vicwcd the Amazeiug number of Sav-
ages that soon flocked into the town of Cohos
to treat for peace, and to hear what the Big
knives had to say, many of them 500 miles
distant, Chipoways, Ottoways, Petawatomies,
Puans, Sacks, Foxes, Sayges, Tauways, Maw-
mies ^ and a number of other Nations, all living
east of the Messicippa, and many of them at
War against us.*' Indeed, the number of his
new-found savage friends that assembled at
Cahokia was so great that during the five
weeks of his stay there, " such a number of
Devils " gave him great anxiety and required
a stern hand to repress ; for they were fond,
after the manner of wild animals, of testing
the strength of the stranger, who, however,
stoutly held his own among them.
1 Chippewas, Ottowas, Potawatomis, Winnebagoes, Sauks,
Foxes, Osages, lowas, Miamis.
40 Essays in Western History
Godcfroy Linctot, the French trader at
Prairie du Chien, openly espoused the Ameri-
can catise and did valuable service as Clark's
agent north and west of the Illinois River,
purchasing horses among the Sauks, and raid-
ing the country. Clark's management of the
Indians was superb, and they came to have a
wholesome and lasting fear of the Big Knife
chief; while those of the French who fell under
his influence entertained for him a loving regard.
Meanwhile, General Hamilton at Detroit
was greatly annoyed by the news from Vin-
HamtHoH's ceuues. With characteristic energy
war-party j^g gg^^ ageuts out through the
tribes of Michigan and Wisconsin, and made
preparations for a formidable war-party for the
retaking of that important post. The entire
month of September was spent in fitting out
the expedition. The seventh of October,
headed by Hamilton himself, it left for the
south, numbering a hundred and seventy-
seven whites, chiefly Creole volunteers, and
about three hundred Indians.
The heavily laden flotilla of batteaux pro-
ceeded up the Maumee, over the portage of
Vincennes ^^^^ miles, and down a tributary of
taken by the Wabash. The water was shallow ;
Hami ton ^^ early winter set in, forming ice on
George Rogers Clark 41
the streams ; and before the contingent reached
Vincennes it was the seventeenth of December,
seventy-one days after starting. Captain Helm
and his one American soldier made a show of
resistance, but on the French militia deserting
to the enemy, it became necessary to surren-
der.^ Some of Clark's spies from Kaskaskia,
who were hanging on Hamilton's flanks, were
also captured. If Hamilton had at once pushed
forward and attacked Clark at Kaskaskia, there
is no doubt that the Americans must either
have succumbed or retired beyond the Mis-
sissippi into Spanish territory. But in mid-
winter the way was filled with great difficulties
for the advance of an army column, hampered
with baggage. Hamilton therefore remained
at Vincennes, allowed all but some eighty or
1 ** When Governor Hamilton entered Vincennes, there
were bat two Americans there, Captain Helm, the com-
mandant, and one Henry. The [latter] had a cannon well
charged, and placed in the open fort gate, while Helm stood
by it with a lighted match in his hand. When Hamilton
and his troops got within good hailing distance, the Ameri-
can officer, in a load voice, cried out, ' Halt 1 ' This stopped
the movement of Hamilton, who, in reply, demanded a sur-
render of the garrison. Helm exclaimed with an oath, * No
man shall enter until I know the terms.' Hamilton answered,
' You shall have the honors of war ; ' and then the fort was
surrendered, with its garrison of one officer, and one man." •—
Boiler's Kentucky (Louisville, 1834), p. 80, note.
42 Essays in Western History
ninety whites and a hundred Indians to return
h\Mnc, and spent the time planning for a great
!«)Min|; campaign against the Illinois, in which
ho proposed to batter down the forts with
V'f^nnon, and then turning southward make a
\\\\\\\ sweep of the Kentucky stations. Had
\\<^ succeeded in this bold project, all American
^v^ttlement west of the Alleghanies would have
Ihth destroyed, and the United States might
huve lost the West forever.
The news of the recapture of Vincennes
was over a month in reaching Clark. Know-
AsiQreai iHg that the British expedition had
k'^skiiskia at least reached the old Indian vil-
lage on the site of the present city of Fort
Wayne, Indiana, but as yet uninformed of the
result, Clark started early in January (1779)
for Cahokia, in order to hold a conference
there with the principal inhabitants of the
Illinois country. On his way he and his
** Guard of about six or seven Men and a few
Gentlemen in Chairs " narrowly escaped being
ambushed, three miles out of Kaskaskia, by a
party of " 40 Savages headed by white Men "
whom Hamilton had sent out from Vincennes
to take Clark prisoner, having given them
** such Instructions for my treatment as did
him no dishonour." Delayed by an accident,
George Rogers Clark 43
the travellers had by evening only reached the
old French village of La Prairie du Rocher,
fourteen miles northwest of Kaskaskia. Here
they prepared to pass the night. While being
entertained at a ball, an express rider arrived
with the appalling news that Hamilton was
within three miles of Kaskaskia, with eight hun-
dred men. " I never saw greater confusion
among a small Assembly than was at that time,
every Person having their eyes on me, as if my
word was to determine their good or Evil fate."
As usual, Clark coolly ordered his horses sad-
dled for the return, and told the frightened
company " That I hoped that they would not
let the news Spoil our Divirsion sooner than
was necessary, that we would divirt ourselves
until our horses was ready, forced them to
dance, and endeavoured to appear as uncon-
cerned as if no such thing was in Adjutation."
On reaching Kaskaskia, the inhabitants, as
yet unattacked, were found confident that the
enemy was but biding his time; and during
the next few days Clark was obliged to exer-
cise tact and firmness in a remarkable degree.
The Creoles, confident that the Americans
would lose, and that the English would treat
them badly for having succored the enemy, at
first affected neutrality. But after Clark had
44 Essays in Western History
made a feint of burning the town and of
hanging a villager who had circulated dis-
comforting rumors of a British advance, the
Kaskaskians again profusely expressed their
devotion to Virginia. Whereupon the astute
commander "altered my conduct towards them
and treated them with the greatest kindness,
granting them every request, my influence
among them in a few hours was greater than
ever." The incident closed happily with the
discovery that " the great Army that gave the
alarm consisted only of about forty Whites
and Indians making their Retreat as fast as
possible to St. Vincent, sent for no other pur-
pose, as we found after than to take me."
This adventure convinced Clark — although
he had as yet received no news, for his spies
Clark on the Wabash had been taken by
uneasy ^^ enemy — that Hamilton was now
at Vincennes. The French in the Illinois
elsewhere than at Kaskaskia where they now
stoutly professed confidence in the Americans,
were panic-stricken, and the neighboring tribes
grew insolent in their demands. Confidently
expecting an attack, the commander made
careful preparations, even to the extent of
planning to burn the outlying dwellings, so as
to afford no cover to the enemy. He felt sure
George Rogers Clark 45
of his meagre garrison, but had the gravest
doubts of cooperation from the Creoles out-
side. His requested reinforcements could
hardly be expected at this season from Vir-
ginia and Kentucky. He philosophically de-
clares that he " suffered more uneasiness than
when I was certain of an immediate attact, as
I had more time to reflect." The end of
American rule seemed near.
The gloom lifted on the evening of the
twenty-ninth of January, when Col. Francis
Vigo's in- Vigo arrived from St. Louis with defi-
formatton j^j^^ information concerning the small-
ness of Hamilton's winter garrison at Vincennes,
and his intended inaction until spring. Vigo,
a Spanish merchant who had business connec-
tions with the governor of Upper Louisiana,
had visited Clark upon the latter's capture of
Kaskaskia, and not only promised his influence
in behalf of the Virginians, but made them a
substantial loan. Upon Clark's request he
went to Vincennes, accompanied only by a
servant, to ascertain the situation of affairs.
Hamilton, suspicious of his intent, for a time
held him on parole at the fort, but finally
allowed him to depart on signing an agreement
"not to do anything injurious to the Britii
interests on his way to St. Louis." As promii
46 Essays in Western History
Vigo proceeded to St. Louis in his piroque, but
thereupon promptly re-embarked and crossed
to Kaskaskia, bringing, as Clark writes, "every
intilligence I could wish to have."
Clark was eminently a man of action. Recog-
nizing that if Hamilton proceeded against him
Forestall- ^ would be lost, he at once deter-
ingthe mined to forestall the enemy by mak-
enemy .^^ ^j^^ attack himsclf. **It was at
this moment," he declares, " I would have
bound myself seven years a Slave, to have
had five hundred Troops."
" I had a Large Boat prepared and Rigged,"
— a rowing galley or batteau, called the " Will-
ing*" — ** mounting two four pounders 4 large
swivels Manned with a fine Comp [of forty men]
commanded by Lieut. Rogers. . . . This Vessel
when compleat was much admired by the In-
habitants as no such thing had been seen in
the Country before. I had great Expectations
from her." The galley was despatched in the
evening of the fourth of February, with orders
to patrol the Ohio and if possible to approach
within ten leagues of Vincennes, on the Wabash,
the purpose being to prevent English boats from
descending upon the Kentucky settlements.
" I conducted myself as though I was sure
of taking Mr. Hamilton, instructed my officers
George Rogers Clark 47
to observe the same Rule. In a day or two the
Country seemed to believe it, many anctious
to Retrieve their Characters turned out, the
Ladies, began also to be spirited and interest
themselves in the Expedition, which had a
great effect on the Young Men." Persuaded ^ JuJU
by the Creole girls, both at Cahokia and Vin- ^
ines, " the Principal Young Men of the Illi-
nois " flocked to the call of the tall Virginian.
Upon the day following the departure of the
" Willing," he was able to march out of Kas-
kaskia at the head of a hundred and seventy^
bold fellows, American and French. ** I cannot
ti Inward ^iccount for it," declarcs our hero,
assurance *< but I Still had inward assurance of
of success " , 111 • 1
success, and never could when weigh-
ing every Circumstance doubt it: But I had
some secret check."
In order to surprise Vincennes, it was of
course necessary to avoid the usual river route
by the Ohio and the Wabash. The expedition
started off across the country, a distance of
some two hundred and thirty miles. In sum-
mer it was a delightful region of alternating
1 Clark says, **a little upwards of two hundred"; but
Bowman's Journal (Pirtle*s Clark*s Campaign in the Illinois,
p. 100), from which we obtain many details of the march,
specifically gives the number as ''170 men . . . [including]
artillery, pack-horses," &c.
48 Essays in Western History
lakes, rivers, groves, and prairies — "I suppose
one of the most beautiful Country in the world."
In the dead of winter, it afforded fair travelling
A dificuH over the frozen plains and ice-bridged
*wrrrA streams. But now, in February, the
weather had moderated and great freshets had
flooded the broad area of lowland. The ground
was boggy, progress was slow and difficult,
there were no tents, the floods had driven away
much of the game, — although " numbers of
buffaloes" were killed early in the march, —
and Clark and his officers were often at their
wits' ends to devise methods for keeping their
hard-worked men in good spirits. The several
companies vied in hunting and cooking for
each other; and at night held feasts in the
Indian fashion around great camp-fires, at which
there were singing and dancing, to the accom-
paniment of the inevitable French fiddle.
And thus the first woek sped. Then came
Q'gLnuapy 13) the so-called " drowned lands" of
o**- ) ^'j'he ^^ Wabash, a wide stretch of sub-
" drowned merged country extending the most of
the way from the Little Wabash into
Vincennes. The two branches of the Little Wa-
bash, with channels a league apart, were now
so high that they made a single river five miles
wide, with the water in no place less than three
George Rogers Clark 49
feet deep. "This would have been enough to
have stoped any set of men that was not in the
same temper we was in."
It was the following afternoon before a large
canoe could be constructed, and on the third
day this was employed in transporting the men
and baggage across the deep channels, the
horses swimming behind. In the shallow
places, men and beasts plunged through the
bush-strewn water and mud — the former
" Building scaffolds at each [shallow] to lodge
our Baggage on until the Horses Crossed to
take them; it Rained nearly a third of our
march, but we never halted for it."
There was no longer any game to be had, and
it was now dangerous to discharge guns, be-
Patigue c<iuse of the proximity to Vincennes.
and Almost wom out by fatigue and
^^^^ hunger, the expedition reached the
Embarrass River on the seventeenth, twelve
days out from Kaskaskia; but it was found
impracticable to cross the Embarrass, now a
raging flood* The best they could do was to
find a swampy little hillock on which — amid
"drizzly and dark weather" — they crowded
together for the night, of course wet to the
skin, shivering with cold, and with neither food
nor fire.
4
50 Essays in Western History
Next morning, the sound of the sunrise gun
at Vincennes, but nine miles away, came
Wallowing ^ooming over the waste of waters.
through They were, however, still far from
^ having reached their goal. Wallow-
ing through the bog, down the west bank of
the Embarrass, they came at last to the Wabash,
and here two days were spent in building
canoes. " From the spot we now lay on [it]
was about ten miles to Town, and every foot
of the way put together that was not three feet
and upwards under water would not have
made the length of two miles and a half, and
not a mouthful of Provision. ... If I was sen-
sible that you [George Mason] would let no
Person see this relation, I would give You a
detail of our suffering for four days in crossing
those waters, and the manner it was done, as
I am sure that You wou'd Credit it, but it is
too incredible for any Person to believe except
those that are well acquainted with me as You
are, or had experienced something similar to
it. I hope you will excuse me until I have
the pleasure of seeing you personally." Clark's
energies were taxed to the utmost to keep his
Frenchmen from deserting, they being greatly
depressed by the miseries of the situation, but
the Americans were undaunted.
George Rogers Clark 5 1
Details sent on a raft and in a canoe to steal
boats in the neighborhood of the town re-
" Hard turned after two days without success,
fortMner' " for there was," says Bowman, "not
one foot of dry land to be found. . . . Col.
Clark sent two men in the canoe, down to
meet the batteau [the " Willing "], with orders
to come on day and night ; that being our last
hope, and [we] starving. . . . No provisions
of any sort, now two days. Hard fortune ! "
At noon of the twentieth, a boat was brought
in with five Frenchmen from Vincennes. The
villagers reported that among Hamilton and
his men there was no suspicion of an attack,
while "the inhabitants were well disposed
towards us." This news and the killing of a
deer raised the spirits of the party.
On the twenty-first it rained all day. At
daybreak the invaders were ferried to the east
side of the Wabash, that on which lay Vin-
cennes. Through the vast swamp, — "no
dry land on any side for many leagues," —
the water often up to their chins, the strongest
waded, the canoes carrying the weak and fam-
ished. With infinite toil, but three miles had
been covered when at dusk they sank ex-
hausted upon another boggy 1
and for the seventh night — with
sanK cx-^^^^
h^
52 Essays in Western History
"the evening and morning guns from the
fort" — slept hungry and in clothes sopping
wet.
Next day it was the same story, the brave
fellows plunging on through the freezing flood,
The man Indian file, the man of iron at the
of iron head now and then leading off in
a favorite song, which was caught up along
the column and helped lighten the weary feet
of the adventurers. That night was passed on
a maple-grown hillock six miles out from Vin-
cennes. It was bitter cold; in the morning
(the 23d) there was ice half an inch thick
on the smooth water, and the men were
encased in arctic armor. The sun rose bright.
Clark assured his stiffened, half-frozen, well-
nigh famished crew that the next night would
see them in Vincennes; then, dashing into
the water at the head of the file, ordered his
officers to close the rear and shoot any man
who refused to march.^
1 Law's Colonial History of Vincennes (Louisville, 1858), p.
32i gives this story, which apparently has been somewhat
heightened in color : '* In one of the companies was a small
boy who acted as drummer. In the same company was a
seargeant, standing six feet two inches in his stockings, stout,
athletic, and devoted to Clark. Finding that his eloquence
had no effect upon the men, in persuading them to continue
their line of march, Clark mounted the little drummer on the
shoulders of the stalwart sergeant, and gave orders to him
>
George Rogers Clark 5 3
Now came the worst experience of all. The
Horseshoe Plain before them had been trans-
A frightful formed by the floods into a shallow
crossing \^^ fQ^. mjies wide. No clump of
land stood above the water ; it was one smooth
unbroken expanse, on the farther side of
which were heavy woods shielding them from
the town. About the centre, the prolonged
hardships of the march began at last to tell on
all save the strongest. All along the line brave
fellows dropped in the ranks, and the canoe-
men frantically plied between them and the
land beyond, saving the helpless from drowning.
The strong supported those who could still
keep their feet, while Clark, with alternating
gibe and stern command, exerted himself to
animate his followers. The water was often
to the shoulders of the tallest; and when at
last the edge of the island grove was reached,
there were few who did not sink to the ground
exhausted, to be rallied only through great
exertion. Fortunately some food was obtained
to plunge into the half-frozen water. He did so, the little
drummer beating the charge from his lofty perch, while
Clark, sword in hand, followed them, giving the command
as he threw aside the floating ice — ' Forward I ' Elated and
amused with the scene, the men promptly obeyed, holding
their rifles above their heads, and in spite of all obstacles,
reached the high land beyond them, safely."
54 Essays in Western History
from a party of Indian women who chanced to
pass in a canoe, fires were lighted, the weakest
were treated to broth, and soon all were in-
spired to fresh courage.
Two miles away, through the woods and
across another lake, they could see the town,
rj .. and despair was followed by rejoicing.
still un- ** Laying in this Grove some time to
conscious jj.y ^yj. Clothes by the Sun we took
another Prisoner,** a Creole out shooting ducks,
and from him learned that Hamilton was still
unconscious of his danger. Two hundred In-
dians had, however, just arrived in town. This
last information was discouraging, for that
made the force in Vincennes — British, French,
and Indian — four times his own. " A thou-
sand Ideas," he says, " flushed in my Head at
this moment.*' He now thought it impolitic
to surprise the place, for in the fight some of
the French and Indians might be killed and
this would embitter the rest; whereas his in-
formant told him the French were lukewarm
and would only fight if forced to it.
" I resolved to appear as Daring as possible,
that the Enemy might conceive by our be-
ciark's haviour that we were very numer-
utterto ous and probably discourage them."
vuia^ers Accordingly he sent by this man the
George Rogers Clark 5 5
following letter^ to the villagers, who lived
apart from the fort, which was on a rising
ground overlooking the town :
To THE Inhabitants of Post St. Vincents:
Gentlemen^ — Being now within two miles of your
village with my army, determined to take your Fort
this night, and not being willing to surprize you, I
take this method to request such of you as are true
citizens, and willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you,
to remain still in your houses. And those, if any
there be, that are friends to the King, will instantly
repair to the fort, and join the Hair-buyer General^
and fight like men. And if any such, as do not go
to the Fort shall be discovered afterwards, they may
depend on severe punishment. On the contrary,
those that are true friends to liberty, may depend
on being well treated. And I once more request
them to keep out of the streets ; for every one I find
in arms on my arrival, I shall treat as an enemy.
G. R. Clark.
As they gathered in the public square of
Vincennes to hear the letter read, Clark's name
1 Given in Bowman's Journal, in Pirtle, p. 104. But
while Pirtle gives Clark's letter to Mason verbatim et liter-
atintt Bowman's Journal is taken by him from the Louisville
Literary News-Letter (November 21, 1840), for which publi-
cation it was obviously " improved " in diction, orthography,
punctuation, and capitalization ; we thus have only a para-
phrase of Clark's letter, not the actual document.
56 Essays in Western History
inspired the Creoles with awe. His sudden
appearance out of the swamps appalled them,
and they were so frightened by his tone of
confident menace that none dared show enough
favor to the British to go up and warn the gar-
rison, who had seen the sudden commotion in
the village, but were not aware of the cause.
Clark's camp could be seen from the town,
although not from the fort. An open plain
A ruse ^^^ between Vincennes and the grove
wherein the invaders were drying
themselves in the sun. Realizing that he
must make some show of force while his letter
was being considered, he marched his men
back and forth just within the edge of the
wood ; " but taking advantage of the Land,
disposed the lines in such a manner that
nothing but the Pavilions [doubtless shelter-
huts of boughs] could be seen, having as many
of them as would be sufficient for a thousand
Men, which was observed by the Inhabitants
who had Just Received my letter, counted the
different Colours and Judged of our numbers
accordingly. But I was careful to give them
no oppertunity of seeing our Troops before
dark, which it would be before we could Arrive.
The Houses obstructed the Forts observing us
and were not AUarmed as I expected." As
George Rogers Clark 57
for the Indians, they quickly withdrew out of
range, to await the issue of the coming fight
between the Big Knives and the red-coats.
At sundown, Clark divided his party into
two sections ; he commanded one, and Bowman
j,j^^ the other. There was now order and
attack OH regularity, for the drill which the
tncennes ^^^ j^^j taken at Kaskaskia was be-
ginning to tell. At seven o'clock, Bowman's
men surrounded the town, while Clark's pushed
through to the fort. The Creoles greeted them
with cheers as with swinging gait they marched
up through the village street, and freely gave
them assistance and much-needed ammunition.
Even the Indians, in their admiration of the
bold, leather-clad Virginians, offered to take
a hand. " A considerable number of British
Indians made their escape out of Town. The
Kickepous and Peankeshaws to the amount of
about one hundred, that was in Town immedi-
ately Armed themselves in our favour and
Marched to attact the Fort. I thanked the
Chief for his intended service, told him the
111 consequence of our People being mingled
in the dark ... he approved of it and sent
off his Troops . . . and staid with me giving
all the Information he could."
The garrison were still unprepared. Not a
58 Essays in Western History
word of this transformation scene had come up
from the village. Hamilton thought that the
first shots were fired by drunken Indians, but
to his consternation he soon saw in the brilliant
moonlight that the stockade was surrounded
by American borderers, and that there was
serious business at hand. At the angles of
the palisaded fort were strong blockhouses,
the second floors of which were eleven feet
above the ground, and in each of these were
cannons and swivels. Clark had no cannon,
for his artillery, taken from the Kaskaskia fort,
had soon been forced to abandon the march ;
but his riflemen — each of whom was an expert
shot and well sheltered " behind Houses, Pal-
ings, and Ditches, &c., &c.," and ** a consider-
able intrenchment before the gate where I
Intended to plant my Artillery when Arrived "
— finally silenced the guns by pouring such
a constant fire through the loopholes that it
was impossible for the gunners to withstand it.
The Americans themselves were unharmed.
** Fine sport for the sons of Liberty," exultantly
wrote Bowman in his diary for that day.
In the matter of marksmanship, the British
and the French-Canadian militia were no match
for the backwoodsmen, and by sunrise it was
evident that the long night's siege had sadly
George Rogers Clark 59
crippled the garrison, although **As soon as
daylight, the Fort began to play her small
arms very briskly."
At nine o'clock, Clark's men paused to take
'* a breakfast, it being the only [regular] meal
Clark's of victuals since the i8th inst." — six
warning j^yg^ Meanwhile Clark sent a white
flag to Hamilton with a letter inviting him to
save himself from "the impending storm that
now threatens," and surrender his garrison and
stores. But that officer tartly declined "to
be awed into an action unworthy of British
subjects," and thereupon the firing was hotly
resumed.
In the course of the morning a party of
French and Indian scouts, in the employ of the
Terrorize British, camc noisily into town with
ingthe scalps and prisoners from a recent
enemy foray against American settlers. Be-
fore they discovered the changed situation,
Clark's men set upon them, killing and scalp-
ing two and partly wounding most of the
others. Six were captured, and then, in the
sight of the garrison, deliberately tomahawked
and thrown into the river. This served the
double purpose of inspiring terror among the
other Indians, by showing them how power-
less the English were to aid them, and of
6o Essays in Western History
creating a panic among the French volunteers
within the fort. The English themselves re-
mained stubborn, but they were few in number.
After two hours of fighting, during which
several men in the fort were wounded from
Clark shots coming through the portholes,
demands Hamilton sent out a flag and re-
uncondt- *=*
iionai sur- quested a truce of three days. Clark
render responded with the following note,
demanding unconditional surrender : ^
Colonel Clarks Compliments to M' Ham-
ilton and begs leave to inform him that
Co^- Clark will not agree to any Other
Terms than that of M' Hamilton's Suren-
dering himself and Garrison, Prisoners at
Discretion.
If M' Hamilton is Desirous of a Confer-
ance with Co*. Clark he will meet him at
the Church with Capt". Helms.
Feby 24*^ 1 779. G. R. Clark
Hamilton agreed to the conference, which
was held in the little French church. The
English commander sought to soften the terms,
but Clark was unyielding. " Towards the close
of the Evening," articles were signed, by which
1 The original is in the Draper MSS., and is reproduced
in the present volume in facsimile.
/
/
•^
0^'
George Rogers Clark 6 1
Hamilton agreed to deliver to Clark at ten
o'clock the following morning, Fort Sackville
— the English name of Vincennes post — "as
it is at present with all the Stores, &c . . .
The Garrisson are to deliver themselves up as
Prisoners of War and March out with their
Arms and Acoutriments, &c., &c . . . Three
days time be allowed the Garrison to settle
their Accompts with the Traders and Inhab-
itants of this Place . . . The Officers of the
Garrisson to be allowed their necessary Bag-
gage, &c., &c." To these articles, Hamilton
attached a memorandum stating that they were
" Agreed to for the following reasons : The
remoteness from succors ; the state and quan-
tity of provisions, &c. ; unanimity of officers
and men in its expediency; the honourable
terms allowed; and, la^ly, the confidence in
a generous enemy."
At the appointed hour on the morning
of the twenty-fifth, we learn from Bowman's
The diary that " Lieutenant Governor
surrender j^^milton and his garrison of about
eighty men marched out [past Bowman and
Mc Carty's companies], whilst Col. Clark,
Captains Williams* and Worthington's com-
panies marched into the Fort, relieved the
Gentries, hoisted the American colours, secured
62 Essays in Western History
all the arms." Thirteen guns were fired, as a
national salute; but in the midst of the jubi-
lation a premature explosion of cartridges
occurred in one of the batteries, by which
Bowman, Worthington, and four privates were
severely burned. The fort was rechristened
" Patrick Henry,*' in honor of the Governor of
Virginia, in whose service the little band of
conquerors were enlisted.
The capture of Vincennes was one of the
most notable and heroic achievements in Amer-
. , . ican history. Clark had conducted
An heroic ^
achieve- a forced march of about two hundred
^^^* and thirty miles through almost un-
heard-of difficulties. With a small party of
ragged and half-famished militiamen, nearly
half of whom were Creoles,^ he had captured,
in the heart of a strange and hostile country,
without the aid of his artillery, a heavy stock-
ade mounted by cannons and swivels and
manned by a trained garrison. It was a bold
scheme, of his own planning, and skilfully
1 In the Draper MSS. is a letter from John Rogers to
Major Jonathan Clark, written May 6, 1779, while en route to
Virginia with the detachment guarding Hamilton and the
other prisoners. He says, '* We made loi prisoners and had
only 130 men 60 of which were French there was seven men
wounded in the Fort and Seven Indians killed that were
Comeing in with two prisoners."
George Rogers Clark 63
carried out. At his back were some of the
best fighting men on the border, but with him
rests the principal credit.
Hamilton, after being sharply reprimanded
by Clark for sending scalping parties against
the frontier settlements, was early in March
sent in irons to Virginia,^ with twenty-six of
his fellows ; the others were paroled, for Clark
had no means of subsisting them.
Captain Helm, now released from captivity,
ascended the Wabash with fifty men, and two
days before the departure of the prisoners to
Virginia intercepted a flotilla of seven batteaux
coming to Vincennes from Detroit, with " Pro-
visions, Indian goods, &c/* — ^$50,000 worth,
guarded by forty French volunteers headed by
two of Hamilton's officers. The booty was
divided among the Virginians, who considered
themselves richly recompensed for their task.
^ Hamilton was kept in close confinement at Williams-
burg, and despite the protests of the British the State of
Virginia "refused to exchange him on any terms" until
towards the close of the Revolution. Washington wrote
that he *'had issued proclamations and approved of prac-
tises, which were marked with cruelty towards the people
that fell into his hands, such as inciting the Indians to bring
in scalps, putting prisoners in irons, and giving them up to
be the victims of savage barbarity." He was Lieutenant-
Governor of Quebec in 1785, and died as Governor of Domin-
ica in 1796.
64 Essays in Western History
And now came welcome news from Gov-
ernor Patrick Henry, thanking the troops for
Illinois a their capture of Kaskaskia, the news
Virginian of which had been some months in
county •• «*. .« • .. .«
reachmg Virginia, and promising them
a good reward.* As a direct consequence of
their victory, and the taking of the oath of
fealty by the inhabitants, Illinois had been con-
stituted by the legislature (November, 1778)
as a county of Virginia, and John Todd, an old
Kentucky friend of Clark, was commissioned
as county lieutenant. This appointment was
especially welcomed by Clark, for he did not
enjoy the details of civil administration which
had thus far fallen to his lot. "The Civil
Departm*- In the Illinois," he wrote to Mason,
" had heretofore rob'd me of too much of my
time that ought to be spent in Military reflec-
tion, I was how likely to be relieved by Col?
Jn ' Todd appointed by the Government for
that purpose; I was anctious for his Arrival
& happy in his appointment."
A few days later, some of the long-expected
reinforcements arrived from Virginia and Ken-
Beiaied tuclcy ; but not more than half of the
^menis^^' number expected by Clark, who felt
^ In after years, they received 150,000 acres of land in
Ohio, opposite Louisville.
George Rogers Clark 65
compelled by this fact and a fresh outbreak
of the Indians of Ohio, to postpone his cher-
ished expedition against Detroit. After estab-
lishing small garrisons at Vincennes, Cahokia,
and Kaskaskia, and making several impor-
tant treaties with the Illinois and Wisconsin
Indians, he introduced Todd to the people at
Kaskaskia, the county seat, on the twelfth of
May, and then retired to his principal head-
quarters at the Falls of the Ohio, " where I
Arrived safe on the 20th day of August."
We have dwelt in such detail upon Clark's
romantic expedition for the conquest of thq
Results Northwest, that we must close with
achieved but a brief Summary of the results
achieved. During the remainder of the Revo-
lutionary struggle, the Indian tribes between
the Wabash and the Mississippi were in large
part friendly to the Americans. The red men
feared Clark, the border men fairly adored
him, and the French wejje awed by and re-
spected him — although the Creoles were at
all times restive under his stern discipline and
his cavalier method of forcing from them mili-
tary supplies, and sighed for the time when
France might once more control the Mississippi
Valley. He was admittedly the one man on
the frontier who by the exercise of his per-
5
66 Essays in Western History
sonal influence could keep the country in
order, and counteract threatened British at-
tempts to regain their lost hold. His fame
spread through the Southern tribes, and the
British colony at Natchez feared lest he should
direct a movement against them. He estab-
lished Fort Jefferson on the Mississippi, on the
border line between Kentucky and Tennessee.
In 1780, he marshalled the men of Kentucky
in one last assault against the hostile tribes
east of the Wabash, quelling them at Chilli-
cothe and Piqua, thus insuring peace for
another twelvemonth. The following year,
now brigadier-general of the Virginia militia
west of the mountaina, he was in the mother
colony, and at the head of a hastily-organized
force of two hundred and forty riflemen am-
buscaded a party of English troops on the
James River. A year later, he led forth a
thousand tall Kentucky riflemen to ravage the
Indian villages on the Big Miami, in retaliation
for the disastrous raid made that summer by
Brant, McKee, Girty, and other British-Indian
leaders.
All this while, Clark held to his designs
j,j^ upon Detroit. He made a trip to
Detroit Virginia to interest public men in his
froject scheme, and greatly alarmed the Eng-
George Rogers Clark 67
lish by his preparations for the proposed ex-
pedition; but the coast colonies were to the
last too busy with their own affairs to grant
him the necessary assistance, and, much to his
disappointment, what he wished to make the
crowning achievement of his career was never
carried out.
Although Clark was of great service to Ken-
tucky and Virginia, in keeping in order Indians
and French along the Ohio frontier during the
remainder of the Revolutionary War, his repu-
ciark's tation, and consequently his power,
power hj^j reached its climax with the cap-
"Wanes
ture of Vincennes. After a few years,
overcome by the drink habit and nettled by
what he considered the ingratitude of the Re-
public in not properly rewarding his services,
he became morose, and while always honored,
was able to exercise comparatively small influ-
ence among the younger generation.
Not long after the definitive treaty of peace
with Great Britain, when Clark was still in
touch with the principal men of the East,
Thomas Jefferson made to him a proposition
Jefferson's which is especially interesting at the
interesting present time — no less than that of
Proposition i «. «•-. . i
headmg an expedition to explore a
route to the Pacific. In a letter from Annapolis
68 Essays in Western History
(December 4, 1783)/ Jefferson writes to Clark,
thanking him for sending certain specimens of
" shells & seeds," and for promising " as many
of the different species of bones, teeth & tucks of
the Mammoth as can now be found " — for the
great statesman, then in retirement, was assidu-
ously collecting for his private scientific museum
at Monticello. He then adds : " I find they
have subscribed a very large sum of money
in England for exploring the country from
the Mississippi to California, they pretend it is
only to promote knolege. I am afraid they
have thoughts of colonising into that quarter
some of us have been talking here in a feeble
way of making the attempt to search that coun-
try, but I doubt wether we have enough of
that kind of spirit to raise the money, how
would you like to lead such a party? tho I
am afraid our prospect is not worth asking the
question." Nothing came of this offer; but
just twenty years later Clark's younger brother,
William, together with Meriwether Lewis,
started under Jefferson's auspices upon a simi-
lar expedition, which won for them imperish-
able renown.
In 1793, Clark imprudently accepted a com-
mission as major-general from Genet, the
1 The original is in the Draper MSS.
George Rogers Clark 69
French diplomatic agent at Washington, and
sought to raise a filibustering legion in the
West, to overcome, in behalf of the French, the
Clark and Spanish settlements on the Missis-
Genet sippi,^ in cooperation with a similar
expedition from Georgia against the Floridas.
At this time the Kentuckians were much con-
cerned because Spain, which held the mouth
and the west bank of the Mississippi, would not
allow them the free navigation of that river, so
essential to the marketing of their crops ; they
were incensed at the United States government,
which appeared to neglect these and other
Western interests. Genet, taking advantage of
this widespread dissatisfaction among the bor-
derers, sought their aid in ousting Spain from
the mouth of the river and along the Gulf, and
replacing her by France. The intrigue was
ill managed by the blustering Genet, who also
had insufficient financial resources, and the
French fleet was so occupied with affairs in
San Domingo that it could not cooperate.
Nevertheless Clark, despite his failing powers,
was making quite effective headway in Ken-
^ See the admirably full treatment of this episode, by
Prof. F. J. Turner, in his "Correspondence of Clark and
Genet,*' first report of the Historical MSS. Commission,
Amer. Histor. Ass*n Report for 1896, pp. 930-1107.
70 Essays in Western History
tucky, where he had two hundred men under
arms, when President Washington, in the inter-
ests of neutrality, suddenly put a stop to the
conspiracy, and at the same time Genet was
recalled by his government. Had Genet and
Clark successfully carried out their plans,
France would have regained a substantial foot-
hold in the Mississippi Valley, and the course
of Western history been materially altered.
Washington thus rendered to the West, indeed
to the Republic at large, a service of inesti-
mable importance.
Clark's later years were spent in comparative
neglect at his simple home in the then small
village of Clarksville, in view of Corn Island,
which had been his military base during the
time when he won the Northwest for
lauryears ^^ American cause. The story is
told, although not well established,
that when commissioners sought him in his old
age, bearing a richly ornamented sword voted
him by the State of Virginia, he received the
compliments of his visitors in sullen silence.
Then bursting forth in rage, he is said to have
broken the weapon with his crutch, crying:
** When Virginia needed a sword, I gave her
one. She sends me now a toy. I want bread ! "
Dying in i8i8 at his sister's home near Louis-
George Rogers Clark 7 1
ville, his ashes lie at Cave Hill cemetery, in
that city, where he is accounted the most
honored of Kentucky's dead.
It is difficult to overestimate the importance
of Clark's conquest. Lord Dunmore's War
r . ^ was one step : it extended Virginia's
Importance *^ **
of the " sphere of influence " westward to
conquest ^j^^ Muskingum. But Clark, of his
own motion and largely at the expense of his
private fortune, chiefly supporting his soldiers
on the country and paying them from its
plunder, in a series of brilliant achievements
captured the Southern key-points of the great
Northwest, and held them with military force
and his strong personal influence until the
treaty of peace with England in 1783.
The English peace commissioners at first
claimed the Northwest as a part of Canada;
Effect on ^^^ throughout the protracted nego-
the treaty tiatious Jay and Franklin persisted
in demanding the country which
Clark had so gallantly won and was still
holding. What appears to have had more
effect upon the English treaty commissioners
than the fact of military occupancy, was Frank-
lin's argument that unless room for growth
were given the United States, a permanent
peace could not be expected between the two
J 2 Essays in Western History
countries — that the tide of emigration west-
ward over the AUeghanies could not be
stemmed ; that the rough, masterful borderers
could not be restrained from intrenching on
the English wilderness, and a never-ending
frontier fight, disastrous to all concerned,
would be inevitable. The situation was ad-
mitted. Later, Lord Shelburne, who was
chiefly responsible for yielding this point,
reinforced his position by maintaining in Parlia-
ment that after all the fur-trade of the North-
west was not worth fighting for, and the fur-trade
was all that Englishmen wished of that vast
area. Nevertheless, Jay and Franklin could
have found no footing for their contention, had
Clark not been in actual possession of the
country. It certainly was a prime factor in the
situation.
Aside from this, we are indebted to George
Rogers Clark for a series of military achieve-
ments nowhere, all conditions considered,
excelled in the proud annals of American
heroism; and for a glowing inspiration to
patriotic endeavor, that will never die so long
as our youth are instructed in the history of
the land.
II
THE DIVISION OF THE NORTHWEST
INTO STATES
II
THE DIVISION OF THE NORTHWEST
INTO STATES
WASHINGTON, ** first in war, first in
peace, and first in the hearts of his
countrymen," was first also in making sugges-
tions as to the boundary lines of Northwestern
Washing- States. September 7, 1783, we find
ton's sug- him writing to James Duane, then a
ges ton member of Congress from New York,
regarding the future of the country beyond the
Ohio.^ After giving some wise suggestions as
to the management of both Indians and whites
in that vast region, he declares that the time is
ripe for the blocking out of a State there. The
veteran surveyor says : ** From the mouth of
the Great Miami River, w*"** empties into the
Ohio, to its confluence with the Mad River,
thence by a Line to the Miami fort and Village
on the other Miami River, w*"*" empties into
1 Ford's Writings of Washington y x., pp. 310, 311.
76 Essays in Western History
Lake Erie, and Thence by a Line to include the
Settlement of Detroit, would, with Lake Erie
to the noward, Pensa. to the eastwd., and the
Ohio to the soward, form a governm* sufficiently
extensive to fulfil all the public engagements,
and to receive moreover a large population
by emigrants." He continues : " Were it not
for the purpose of comprehending the Settle-
ment of Detroit within the Jurisd" of the new
GovernmS a more compact and better shaped
district for a State would be, for the line to
proceed from the Miami Fort and Village
along the River of that name to Lake Erie ;
leaving in that case the settlement of Detroit,
and all the Territory no. of the Rivers Miami
and St Joseph's between the Lakes Erie, St.
Clair, Huron, and Michigan, to form hereafter
another State equally large, compact, and
water-bounded."
Thus did Washington, with that clear-head-
edness and far-sightedness which caused him
in practical matters like this to outrank most
Americans of his day, roughly map out the
present States of Ohio and Michigan. Five
weeks later (October 15), Congress adopted
this second suggestion almost literally, in estab-
lishing a region for colonization north of the
Ohio, into which no red man was thereafter to
Division of the Northwest 77
be allowed a foothold — if the law could stop
him.^
Early the following March, Congress in-
structed a committee of which Thomas Jeffer-
f^r->^
\A
MCTROPOTAMIA |
\lLUIIIOIA J
I^RATOGA
(
jWwsHiwaTOfy
I. v^J^
crrcRSON
'S PUN,l7a^.
jeffcrsorCs son was chairman, to fashion a plan
plan of government for the entire North-
west, — or, as it was then called, the Western
1 Secret Journals of Congress , i., p. 258. Duane was chair-
man of the committee reporting these resolutions.
78 Essays in Western History
Territory, — which had now become public
domain through the surrender of the land
claims of those States which had hitherto
stoutly held that they owned everything west
of their coast lines, as far as the Pacific
Ocean. To Jefferson is to be given the credit
for drafting the report of this committee, which
was first taken up by Congress on the nine-
teenth of April, and after some amendment
adopted on the twenty-third. The original
drafts has come down to us in history, famous,
among other features, for Jefferson's proposi-
tion to divide the Northwest, on parallels of
latitude, into ten States, most of them to bear
fantastic names which smack of the classical
revival then deeply affecting American thought:
Sylvania, Michigania, Assenisipia, lUinoia, Poly-
potamia, Chersonesus, Metropotamia, Saratoga,
Pelisipia, and Washington. While Congress
practically accepted his scheme of territorial
division, each section was wisely left to choose
its own title when it should enter the Union.^
These resolutions were in force until the
1 In the handwriting of Jefferson, and now preserved at
Washington, in the archives of the Department of State.
2 See Randall's Life of fefferson^ i., pp. 397, 398, for full
text of the resolutions as adopted. They are also given in
Wis. Hist Colls. , xL, p. 61.
Division of the Northwest 79
Congress of the Confederation, in session at
OrMnanct Philadelphia, adopted July 13, 1787,
'f '7^7 "An ordinance for the government
of the Territory of the United States north-
west of the river Ohio." What thereafter
was familiarly known as the Northwest Ter-
ritory lay west of Pennsylvania and north and
west of the Ohio River. Its western limit was
the Mississippi River, which had been estab-
8o Essays in Western History
lished by the treaty of Paris (February lo,
1763) as the boundary between the British
possessions and the French province of
Louisiana, and confirmed as the western
boundary of the United States by our first
treaty with Great Britain (September 3, 1783) ;
the northern limit was the line between Brit-
ish America and the United States. The land
embraced in this vast tract was, in great part,
the Virginia cession, made in 1784; to the
north of that lay the strip ceded by Connecticut
in 1786 and 1800; farther north, the Massa-
chusetts cession of 1785; while the territory
north of latitude 43^ 43' 12" had been acquired
from Great Britain in 1783.^
The fifth article of the Ordinance was as
follows : " There shall be formed in the said
The famous territory not less than three nor
boundary morc than five States; and the
boundaries of the States, as soon
as Virginia shall alter her act of cession and
consent to the same,^ shall become fixed and
established as follows, to wit : The Western
State, in the said territory, shall be bounded
by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash
rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash
1 See map in McMaster's Hist, People U, S., ii.
2 Which she did in 1788.
Division of the Northwest 8 1
and Post Vincents [Vincennes, Indiana], due
north, to the territorial line between the United
States and Canada ; and by the said territorial
line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi.
The middle State shall be bounded by the ,
said direct line, the Wabash from Post Vin-
cents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct
line drawn due north from the mouth of the
Great Miami to the said territorial line, and by
the said territorial line. The Eastern State
shall be bounded by the last-mentioned direct
line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said ter-
ritorial line: Provided^ however^ And it is
further understood and declared, that the
boundaries of these three States shall be sub-
ject so far to. be altered, that, if congress shall
hereafter find it expedient, they shall have au-
thority 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, And when-
ever any of the said States shall have sixty
thousand free inhabitants therein, such State
shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the
Congress of the United States, on an equal
footing with the original States, in all respects
whatever."
In order to give the Ordinance an assurance
6
82 Essays in Western History
of stability, it was solemnly provided, in section
14 of the preamble, that: **The following
articles shall be considered as articles of com-
pact, between the original States and the
people and States in the said Territory, and
forester remain unalterable^ unless by common
consent'* It will be interesting to see how
Congress finally divided the Old Northwest
into States; and why it was that while five
commonwealths were formed therefrom as pro-
vided by the Ordinance, in the end none of
them was bounded exactly as stipulated in
the famous fifth article.
Twelve years later,^ the Congress of the
United States, which had succeeded the Con-
r gress of the Confederation, made its
Erection of ^
Indiana first division of the Northwest Terri-
Territory ^^^^2 fhe act provided: **That
from and after the fourth day of July next, all
that part of the Territory of the United States
northwest of the Ohio River which lies to the
westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, oppo-
site to the mouth of the Kentucky River, and
running thence to Fort Recovery [near the
1 Act approved May 7, 1800. The Ordinance itself had
been confirmed by act of Congress approved August 7, 1789.
2 See St. Clair's letter to Harrison, on the division of the
Northwest Territory, Si. Clair Papers^ ii., pp. 489, 490,
Division of the Northwest 83
present Greenville, Ohio], and thence north until
it shall intersect the territorial line between
the United States and Canada, shall, for the
purposes of temporary government, constitute a
separate Territory, and be called the Indiana
Territory." The country east of this line was
still to be called the Northwest Territory, with
its seat of government at ChilUcothe ; while
Vincennes was to be the seat of government
84 Essays in Western History
for Indiana Territory. That portion of the
line running from the point on the Ohio, oppo-
site the mouth of the Kentucky, northeastward
to Fort Recovery, was designed to be but a
temporary boundary, it being one of the lines
established between the white settlements and
the Indians, by the treaty of Greenville, July
30, 1795-
The act of Congress approved April 30, 1802,
enabling " the people of the eastern division "
Admission of the Northwest Territory (Ohio) to
of 01U0 ^X2X\, a State constitution, obliged
them to accept as their northern boundary " an
east and west line drawn through the southerly
extreme of Lake Michigan," in accordance
with the limits prescribed by the original ordi-
nance. In the State constitutional convention,
held at Chillicothe in November that year, this
line had, without a murmur, been acceded to in
committee, when suddenly it came to the ears
of the members that an experienced trapper,
then in the village, claimed for Lake Michigan
a more southerly head than had been given to
it by the majority of the map-makers.
It appears that the committee of Congress
which drafted the Ordinance of 1787 obtained
from the Department of State a copy of
Mitchell's map, which had been published in
Division of the Northwest 85
1755 by the British Lords Commissioners for
Trade and Plantations in America. This placed
the southern bend of Lake Michigan at 42° 20 '.
A pencilled line thereon, evidently made by
a member of the committee, passes due east
from the bend and intersects the international
line at a point between River Raisin and
Detroit. It was this chart which the trapper
claimed to be incorrect.^ The Chillicothe con-
vention became alarmed at the report, and
made haste to attach a proviso to the boundary
article, as follows : " Provided always^ and it is
hereby fully understood and declared by this con-
vention^ That if the southerly bend or extreme
of Lake Michigan should extend so far south,
that a line drawn due east from it should not
intersect Lake Erie, or if it should intersect the
said Lake Erie east of the mouth of the Miami
River of the lake, then, and in that case, with
the assent of the Congress of the United States,
the northern boundary of this State shall be
1 Burnet's Nates on Northwest Territory (1S47), p. 360.
Mitchell's error was perpetuated in later maps by other car-
tographers, notably in Pownall's chart (1779). Had the
library been reasonably well equipped, the committee might
have had access to one published by Thomas Ilutchins
in 1778, nine years before the passage of the Ordinance.
Hutchins placed the southern bend about where it was
afterwards proved to be by Talcott's survey — 41*^ 37' 07.9".
86 Essays in Western History
establfshed by, and extending to, a direct line,
running from the southern extremity of Lake
Michigan to the most northerly cape of the
Miami bay," etc.
" The eastern division " of the Northwest
Territory, now organized under the name of
the State of Ohio, was formally admitted as
such to the Union, by act approved February
19, 1803. Nothing was said in the recognition
act relative to the boundary ; it was taken for
granted by the Ohio people that the proviso
was accepted.
On the eleventh of January, 1805, an act of
Congress was approved, erecting the Terri-
tory of Michigan out of " all that
Michigan part of the Indiana Territory which
Territory jj^^ north of a line drawn east from
the southerly bend or extreme, of Lake Michi-
gan, until it shall intersect Lake Erie, and
east of a line drawn from the said southerly
bend through the middle of said lake to its
northern extremity, and thence due north to
the northern boundary of the United States."
This was, in short, the present Southern Pen-
insula of Michigan, with a southern boundary
as established by the Ordinance of 1787, to-
gether with that portion of the upper penin-
sula lying east of the meridian of Mackinac.
Division of the Northwest 87
Cong[ress had admitted Ohio to the Union
with a tacit recognition of the northern bound-
ary laid down in her constitutional proviso;
yet so little thought had been given to the
matter, and geographical knowledge of the
West was still so vague, that this circumstance
had been overlooked, and Michigan Territory
was allowed a southern limit which, while in
strict accordance with the Ordinance, seriously
88
Essays in Western Histoty
overlapped the territory assigned to Ohio, Thus,
when, in later years, the location of the south-
erly bend of Lake Michigan was determined, a
serious boundary dispute arose, Michigan claim-
ing the Ordinance as a compact which could
not be broken by Congress without common
consent; while Ohio tenaciously clung to the
strip of country which the constitution-makers
at Chillicothe had in the eleventh hour secured
Division of the Northwest 89
for her. The wedge-shaped strip in dispute
averaged six miles in width, across Ohio, em-
braced some four hundred and sixty-eight
square miles, and included the lake-port of
Toledo and the mouth of the Maumee River,
the possession of which was deemed well worth
quarrelling over. Congress passed an act for
determining the boundary (May 20, 1812),
but owing to trouble with Great Britain the
lines were not run until 18 18, and then not
satisfactorily. July 14, 1832, another act of
Congress for the settlement of the northern
limit of Ohio was passed ; and as a result of
extensive observations by Captain A. Talcott
of the United States Engineer Corps, that offi-
cer was able to report in detail, in January,
1834, and again in November, 1835,^ ^^ ^^e effect
that the southern bend of Lake Michigan is in
latitude 41'' 37' 07.9", while the north cape
of Maumee Bay is in 41° 44' 02.4".
Michigan had in 1834 begun to urge her
claims to statehood, insisting on the south-
ern boundary prescribed for the fourth and
fifth States by the ordinance. Vir-
Ohio ginia, whose consent as the chief
boundary land-giver had been necessary to the
legalizing of that document, was importuned
1 Senate Docs., No. i, 24th Cong., ist sess., vol. i » p. 203.
go Essays in Western History
by Governor Mason to intercede in behalf of
the peninsula Territory. The officials of the
Old Dominion were in accord with the move-
ment, but this fact failed to produce any effect
on Congress, for the political sympathy of the
actual State of Ohio was just then more impor-
tant to the dominant party than the possible
good-will of the projected State of Michigan.
Without waiting for an enabling act, a con-
vention held at Detroit in May and June, 1835,
adopted a State constitution for submission to
Congress, demanding entry into the Union
" in conformity to the fifth article of the ordi-
nance" of 1787 — of course the boundaries
sought being those established by that article.
During the summer there were popular dis-
turbances in the disputed territory, and some
gunpowder harmlessly wasted. In December,
President Jackson in a special message laid
the matter before Congress. Congress quietly
determined to " arbitrate " the quarrel by giv-
ing to Ohio the disputed tract, and offering
Michigan, by way of partial recompense, the
whole of what is to-day her Upper Peninsula.^
Michigan, however, did not want the sup-
posedly barren and worthless country to her
northwest, protested long and loud against
1 Act approved June 15, 1836.
Division of the Northwest 9 1
what she deemed to be an outrage, and de-
clared that she had no community of interest
with the northern peninsula, being for half of
the year separated from it by insurmountable
natural barriers. Moreover, she asserted, it
rightfully belonged to the fifth State to be
formed out of the Northwest Territory, But
Congress persisted in making this settlement
of the quarrel one of the conditions precedent
to the admission of Michigan into the Union.
In September, 1836, a State convention, called
for the sole purpose of deciding the question,
rejected the proposition on the ground that
Congress had no right, according to the terms
of the Ordinance, to annex sucTi a condition.
A second convention, however, approved of it
(December 15), and Congress promptly ac-
cepted this decision as finaU Thus Michigan
came into the sisterhood of States, January
26, 1837, with the territorial Hhiits which she
to-day possesses.^
In following the fortunes of Michigan, we
have necessarily run somewhat ahead of our
story. When Michigan Territory was erected
1 Hough's Amer, Const.^ i., p. 663.
^ The arguments on the Ohio-Michigan claims will be
found at length in Senate Docs,^ No. 211, vol. iii., 1835-36^
and Reports of Corns,, No. 380, vol. ii., 1835-36.
92 Essays in Western History
in 1805, Indiana Territory had been left with
the Mississippi River as its western border, the
Ohio as its southern, the international bound-
ary and the south tine of Michigan as its
(
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IBCRTiJ
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northern, while its eastern limits were the west
line of Ohio, the middle of Lake Michigan, and
the meridian of Mackinac. This included the
present States of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin,
and the greater part of Michigan's Upper
Peninsula.
Division of the Northwest 93
The next division was ordained by act of
Congress approved February 3, 1809, when
Erection of ^hat portion of Indiana Territory
Illinois lying west of the lower Wabash River
errtory ^^^ ^^ meridian of Vincennes was
erected into the Territory of Illinois. Indiana
was thus left with her present boundaries,
except that on the south side she owned a
funnel-shaped strip of water and of land just
west of the middle of Lake Michigan, between
the Vincennes meridian and the then western
boundary of Michigan Territory — what is now,
roughly speaking, the County of Door, in Wis-
consin, together with the Counties of Delta,
Alger, and Schoolcraft, and the greater part of
Chippewa and Mackinac, in Michigan.
When Indiana was admitted to the Union
(act approved April 19, 18 16), her northern
boundary was established by Congress on a
line running due east of a point in the middle
of Lake Michigan ten miles north of the south-
ern extreme of the lake. This was recognized
as a distinct violation of the great Ordinance ;
but the excuse was offered that Indiana must
be given a share of the lake coast, and as there
were then no important harbors 53
volved, Michigan made nqj
this particular encroachi
94 Essays in Wesiern History
The contraction of the northern bounds of
Indiana, however, left unclaimed the before-
ffoMan'i mentioned strip of water in Lake
land Michigan and the generous belt of
JUCH
Autfis&'iinAitki^ onto
VII U'/ APRIL IB, 1818.
peninsula country to the north. Literally it
was " No Man's Land." States and Territories
had been formed around it, but these semt-
insulated sections of ore and pine lands were
claimed by none, such was the prevalent igno
Division of the Northwest 95
ranee concerning the public domain in the
then far Northwest.
The act of April 18, 181 8, enabling Illinois
to become a State, abridged her territory to its
present limits, and gave to Michigan " all that
part of the territory of the United States lying
north of the State of Indiana, and which was
included in the former Indiana Territory, to-
gether with that part of the Illinois Territory
which is situated north of and not included
within the boundaries prescribed by this act."
By this statute, what we may call No Man's
Land, and all of the Northwest Territory west
of it, were " for temporary purposes only " as-
signed to Michigan Territory, which now em-
braced all the country between the Mississippi
River and Lakes Erie, St. Clair, and Huron,
and lying north of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
iiiinoi5*s '^^^ northern boundary of Illinois
northern was fixed at 42° 30', which is over
°^^ '^ sixty-one miles north of the southern
bend of Lake Michigan, the southern boundary
prescribed by the Ordinance for the fourth and
fifth States to be formed out of the old North-
west Territory, Thus were the express terms
of the Ordinance, which had been declared to
be " forever unalterable except by common
consent," again violated, without so much as
96 Essays in Western History
saying " by your leave " to the settlers west
of Lake Michigan who lived north of 42° 30'.
What was afterwards Wisconsin was thereby
deprived, through the shrewd manipulation of
Nathaniel Pope, lUinois's delegate in Congress
at that time, of eight thousand five hundred
square miles of rich agricultural and mining
country and numerous lake-ports. Pope spe-
ciously argued that Illinois must become inti-
mately connected with the growing commerce
of the Northern lakes, or else she would be led,
from her commercial relations upon the great
rivers trending to the South, to join a Southern
confederacy in case the Union were disrupted.^
An act of Congress approved June 28, 1834,
added to the Territory of Michigan, " for tem-
Michigan Porary purposes," the lands lying
spreads north of the State of Missouri and
westward ^g^^^gj^ i-j^^ Mississippi River on the
east and the Missouri and White Earth ^ rivers
on the west, which had been acquired from
France in 1803 as a part of the Louisiana
1 Annals of Congress^ 1818, vol. ii., p. 1677 ; Ford's Hist,
of III. y p. 22 ; Davidson and Struve's Hist of III. ^ p. 295.
2 A small northern tributary of the Missouri having its
source some thirty miles south of the international bound-
ary ; it empties into the Missouri near the western boundary
of Mountraille County, Dakota, about eighty-five miles west
of the meridian of Bismarck.
Division of the Northwest 97
Purchase.^ Michigan Territory now extended,
therefore, from Detroit westward to a point
eighty-five miles northwest of the site of the
present city of Bismarck, Dakota.
The people west of Lake Michigan had long
been desirous of having a territorial govern-
ment of their own. The seat of gov-
DtssattsfaC" **
Hon west of emment of Michigan Territory was at
Lake Aftchi' Y^Q^^Q-y^ six hundred miles from the
gan
centre of settlement west of the lake,
and during half ofthe year nearly inaccessible
therefrom ; the laws of Michigan were practi-
cally dead-letters among them ; civil machinery
west of the lake was chiefly conspicuous for its
absence, mid there were commercial as well as
sectional and political jealousies between the
people on either side of the great inland sea.
As early as 1824, James Duane Doty, a
federal judge living at Green Bay, had inter-
^ The clause of this act relating to area is as follows : *' All
that part of the territory of the United States bounded on
the east by the Mississippi river, on the south by the state
of Missouri and a line drawn due west from the northwest
corner of said state [then on the meridian of Kansas City] to
the Missouri river ; on the southwest and west by the Mis-
souri river and the White Earth river, falling into the same;
and on the north by the northern boundary of the United
States, shall be, and hereby is, for the purpose of temporary
government, attached to and made part of the Territory of
Michigan.*'
98 Essays in Western History
ested Senator Thomas H, Benton in a pro-
jected " Territory of Chippewau." The bill *
was drawn by Doty and forwarded to Bentoo
in November of that year, together with a peti-
tion for its passage signed by the inhabitants
of the proposed Territory. It is interesting to
"sm.
note the ideas prevalent among them at that
time concerning the proper limits of what is
now Wisconsin. The boundaries sought by
the Doty bill were: "All that part of the
Michigan Territory included within the follow-
ing boundaries, that is to say : On the south by
' Doty MSS,, in the possession of Che Wisi
cal Society.
Division of the Northwest 99
the northern boundary line of the State of Illi-
nois, crossing the Mississippi Riv^r at the head
of Rock Island, and by the northern boundary
line of the State of Missouri ; on the west by
the Missouri River ; on the north by the bound-
ary line of the United States to the southern
extremity of Drummond*s Island at the mouth
of the River St. Mary, and thence by a line
running from said island to the southern ex-
tremity of Bois Blanc Island in Lake Huron,
thence by a line equally distant from the island
and main land to the centre of the straits be-
tween Lakes Michigan and Huron, and thence
up the middle of the said straits and Lake Michi-
gan to the northeastern corner of the State of
Illinois."
Throughout the protracted agitation incident
to this project, Judge Doty wrote numerous
Protracted letters to influential congressmen, ex-
agUation planatory of the situation. In 1827,
we find him willing to call the proposed new
Territory " Wiskonsin" in honor of its princi-
pal river. In February, 1828, the house com-
mittee on territories was committed to its favor,
but it soon received a serious set-back from a
memorial sent in by the people of Detroit, who
strenuously objected to surrendering to the
proposed new territory that portion of their
loo Essays in Wesiern History
Upper Peninsula which lay to the east of
the Mackinac meridian-* The memorialists
showed that they were holding active com-
mercial relations with the settlers around the
straits of Mackinac, to whom they were also
closely allied, socially and politically.
In 1830, the effort was renewed by Doty in
a bill to establish the Territory of Huron, with
the same boundaries as those prescribed for
Chippewau." Four years later, after several
1 MUhiff.in Hirald. Detroit, February, 1828.
* In Washbutne's Ertaiards Papers (pp. 439, 440) thers is
a letter from Hooper Warren, editor of the Galena Gaztfle,
to Gov. Ninian liJwards, of Illinois, dated Galena, October
6, 18:9, in wbich he thus refers 10 letters on the boundary
Division of the Northwest i o i
sessions of lobbying, a substitute was offered,
entitled *' A bill establishing the territorial
government of Wisconsin/' with boundaries
question written by Doty to that paper : " I hope you have
read the numbers of our Green Bay correspondent. He is
Judge Doty. You are among others to whom he requested
us to send the papers containing his essays. / want you to
answer theni. You will see that the whole of his arguments
respecting Ohio and Indiana do not apply to Illinois, as our
boundary has the assent of Congress, while that of the
former states has not. I will further suggest to you that
the Ordinance does not say that the east and west line
from the southerly bend of Lake Michigan shall be the
boundary ; but that congress may form one or more states
north of that line — and would not the southern boundary
of the state of Wisconsin at 42^ 30' be in accordance with
that injunction or permission f Further, Illinois has a natural
right to a port on Lake Michigan, whiqh the old line would cut
her off from. This subject is of more importance than you
may think it is. A large portion, perhaps a majority, of the
people here, are of Judge Doty*s opinion, and are wishing
and expecting the old line to be established. I have been in-
formed that Judge D. has said that should a case of juris-
diction come before him, he would decide against us. The
contention in Michigan proper is for ten miles only, which
Ohio and Indiana have got north of the 'east and west
line.' "
See Wis, Hist, Colls. ^ x,, pp. 236, 237, for instance of con-
fusion existing, at this time, as to the location of the Wiscon-
sin-Illinois boundary — the election commissioners of Jo
Daviess County, Illinois, opening a poll at Platteville, Wis-
consin. £. B. Washburne says, in connection with this
fact : " The boundary line between Illinois and Michigan
Territory was not officially defined until 1830." — Ed.
I02 Essays in Western History
the same as before, except that the country to
the east of the Mackinac meridian was not now
claimed, a House committee having reported
in 1832 that "the due line north from Mac-
kinau should be retained as more in conso-
nance with the Ordinance of 1787." ^ The bill
hung fire on account of the Ohio-Michigan
dispute, with the result that, as already stated,
Wisconsin, the fifth and last division in the
Northwest Territory, was stripped of the entire
Upper Peninsula. The selected land line be-
tween Wisconsin and Michigan — connecting
the Montreal and Menominee rivers — appears
to have been the suggestion, in 1834, of Sena-
tor Preston of South Carolina.* An old map of
Wisconsin, then in vogue, erroneously showed
a continuous water-course between those two
points, thus making an island of the peninsula.
The bill establishing the new Territory
was approved April 20, 1836, Wisconsin
„ _,. ^ being therein assigned these limits:
Erection of ^ °
Wisconsin " Bouuded ou the east by a line drawn
TerrUory {^q^ ^^e northcast comer of the State
of Illinois, through the middle of Lake Michi-
gan, to a point in the middle of said lake and
opposite the main channel of Green Bay, and
1 Governor Doty*s Message, December 4, 1843.
2 Wis. Hist, Colls., iv., p. 352.
Division of the Norikwest 103
through said channel and Green Bay to the
mouth of the Menomonee River; thence
through the middle of the main channel of
said river to that head of said river nearest to
the Lake of the Desert; thence in a direct line
K^
^^
-^SJ
■j^ WISCONSIN,
to the middle of said lake ; thence through the
middle of the main channel of the Montreal
River to its mouth; thence with a direct line
across Lake Superior to where the territorial
line of the United States last touches said lake
northwest ; thence on the north with the said
I04 Essays in Western History
territorial line to the White Earth River; on
the west by a line from the said boundary line
following down the middle of the main channel
of White Earth River to the Missouri River,
and down the middle of the main channel of
the Missouri River to a point due west from
the northwest corner of the State of Missouri ;
and on the south, from said point, due east to
the northeast corner of the State of Missouri ;
and thence with the boundaries of the States
of Missouri and Illinois, as already fixed by
acts of Congress."
It was Hobson's choice, with both Wisconsin
and Michigan. Congress assumed the right
to govern and divide the Northwest Territory
to suit itself, regardless of the solemn compact
of 1787, and there seemed nothing to do but
submit. The future proved that Michigan had
in the great northern peninsula been awarded
more than an equivalent for the narrow belt of
country lost to Ohio, and had no reason to
grumble; while Wisconsin lost in the trans-
action a wide tract of territory which belongs
to her geographically, and which had been
assigned to her in the preliminary delibera-
tions concerning the political division of the
Northwest. But while the consent of Michigan
had been formally asked and reluctantly given
Division of the Northwest 1 05
to this violation of the great Ordinance, that
of Wisconsin was not sought, either as to her
northeastern or her southern boundary.
The matter of her southern boundary was
the occasion of much uneasiness in Wisconsin
WisconsifCs between 1838 and 1846. We have
southern Seen that the act erecting that Terri-
oun ary ^^^^ (1836) recoguized the northern
boundary of Illinois as estabUshed in 1818.
But in December, 1838, the Wisconsin Legis-
lature memorialized Congress, declaring that
the determination of lUinois's northern bound-
ary twenty years before was " directly in col-
lision with, and repugnant to, the compact
entered into by the original States, with people
and states within the Northwestern Territory " ;
and praying that, as a measure of justice, " the
southern boundary of [Wisconsin] Territory
may be so far altered as to include all the
Country lying north of a h'ne drawn due west
from the southern extreme of Lake Michi-
gan." The strip asked for was over sixty-
one miles in width, embraced eight thousand,
five hundred square miles of unusually fertile
soil,' many excellent water-powers, and the
sites of Chicago, Rockford, Freeport, Galena,
Oregon, Dixon, and several other prosperous
towns.
106 Essays in Western History
The memorial was pigeon-holed by the
Senate judiciary committee. But the Wiscon-
sin Legislature, urged on by Governor Dodge,
returned to the charge a year later, with reso-
lutions declaring that Congress had violated
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."
The people living in the disputed tract in
Illinois were invited to express their opinion
of the matter at the ballot-box. Public meet-
ings were held at several affected Illinois
towns; and a convention representing the
Illinois counties of Jo Daviess, Stephenson,
Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, Ogle, Carroll,
Whitesides, and Rock Island was held at Rock-
ford (July 6, 1840), which declared that Wis-
consin had a sound claim to the fourteen
northern counties of Illinois. A popular elec-
tion was held in Stephenson County, February
19, 1842, whereat of the five hundred and
seventy votes cast, all but one were in favor
of uniting with Wisconsin; and in August,
Boone County's vote was similarly demon-
strative.
Outside of the Legislature, the people of
Wisconsin themselves exhibited small interest
Division of the Northwest 107
in the discussion. But at Madison, the terri-
torial lawmakers continued their agitation, oc-
casionally spicing their pugnacious memorials
to Congress with thinly veiled threats of seces-
sion, and such verbal boasts as^ **The moral
and physical force of Illinois, of the whole
Union, cannot make us retrace our steps ! "
In Congress, Illinois tactics prevented action
on Wisconsin's claims ; and gradually the Wis-
consin Legislature tired of the one-sided con-
test. In the first constitutional convention at
Madison (1846), an attempt was made by some
of the members to refer the boundary dispute to
the Federal Supreme Court ; but this proposi-
tion failed — largely owing, it was claimed, to
the dislike of some of the Wisconsin politicians
to coming into competition with those in North-
ern Illinois. The constitution-makers there-
fore peaceably accepted the southern boundary
which Congress had established ; and thus the
question was laid at rest forever.
By act of June 12, 1838, Congress contracted
the limits of Wisconsin by creating from its
trans-Mississippi tract ^ the Territory of Iowa.
1 The language of the clause is as follows : " All that part
of the present Territory of Wisconsin which lies west of the
Mississippi River and west of the line drawn due north from
the headwaters or sources of the Mississippi to the territorial
io8 Essays in Western History
This, however, was in accordance with the
original design when the country beyond the
Iowa d€' Mississippi was attached to Michigan
tacked from Territory for purposes of temporary
kvtscoHsm government; hence no objection to
this arrangement was entertained by Wiscon-
sin. The establishment of Iowa had reduced
Wisconsin to her present limits, except that she
still held, as her western boundary, the Missis-
sippi River to its source, and a line drawn due
north therefrom to the international boundary.
In this condition Wisconsin remained until
the act of Congress approved August 6, 1846,
Wisconsin's ^^^i^ling her people to form a State
northwest coustitution. Settlements had now
boundary j^^^^ established along the Upper
Mississippi and in the St. Croix valley, far
line " [international boundary]. By a memorial to Congress
of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, approved January
14, 1841 (Senate Docs,^ No. 171, 26th Cong., 2d sess., vol. iv.),
it will be seen that under this act of June 12, i83S« there was
some ambiguity as to the western boundary description ; the
Wisconsin memorialists held that ** the effect of the act con-
fined the western boundary-line of Wiskonsin to the edge of
the waters of the Mississippi river, and took away the juris-
diction of Wiskonsin over any part or portion of the Missis-
sippi, either concurrent or otherwise." Congress finally
changed the phraseology, so that Wisconsin's western
boundary became "the center of the main channel of that
river."
Division of the Northwest 109
removed from, and having neither social nor
commercial interests in common with, the bulk
of settlement in Southern and Eastern Wiscon-
sin. The northwestern settlers did not wish to
be permanently connected with Wisconsin, but
DAHY DiaPBTtSI
did desire to cast their fortunes with a new
Territory, to be called Minnesota, which was
to be formed west of the Mississippi. They
therefore brought strong influences to bear in
Congress, and the enabling act in question gave
to Wisconsin practically the same northwestern
line that she has to-day — from the first rapids
no Essays in Western History
of the St. Louis River due south to the St.
Croix River and thence to the Mississippi.
This set off from Wisconsin and assigned to
Minnesota an area of twenty-six thousand
square miles, with the city of St. Paul included.
There was a sharp contest over the matter,
both in Congress and in the Wisconsin con-
stitutional conventions of 1846 and 1847-48,
with the result that the St. Croix people won,
and Wisconsin, the fifth and last State of the
Northwest Territory, became a member of the
Union (act approved May 29, 1848), with her
present limits : shorn on the south by Illinois,
on the northeast by Michigan, and on the
northwest by Minnesota.
In 1837, Wisconsin Territory had a diplo-
matic flurry with Missouri regarding the south-
ern bounds of her trans-Mississippi tract, but
as that country was merely attached to Wis-
consin for temporary purposes and was after-
wards absorbed by Iowa, the particulars of the
dispute are not now pertinent. Neither is
. . ^ the animated disturbance created by
An inter- ^ ^ ^
national the Wisconsiu Legislature in 1843-44
dispute ^^^j. ^j^^ terms of the international
boundary treaty of 1842, of importance at this
day ; for when Wisconsin became a State, the
strip of country northwest of Lake Superior,
Division of the Northwest 1 1 1
which she claimed had been wrongfully en-
croached upon by Great Britain, to the extent
of ten thousand square miles, became the
property of Minnesota, which fell heir to the
international dispute.^
^ For detailed treatment, see Thwaites's " Boundaries of
Wisconsin," Wis, Hist. Colls.^ xi.
Ill
THE BLACK HAWK WAR
8
Ill
THE BLACK HAWK WAR
ALTHOUGH many of its incidents were
paltry enough, few events in the early
history of the West were as picturesque, as
tragical, or as fraught with weighty conse-
„ ^. quence, as the Black Hawk War,
Partisan ^
misrepre- which occurred in 1832. Certainly
sentattons ^one have been so persistently mis-
represented for partisan purposes. Immedi-
ately after the close of the war, numerous
persons who had served with the army hast-
ened to record their impressions in the fron-
tier newspapers and in book form. These
publications seem chiefly to have been de-
signed as electioneering documents to glorify
the war records of certain officials engaged in
the service, and correspondingly to belittle the
deeds of others. This gave rise, through a
score or more of years, to acrimonious con-
troversies, conducted through the media of
published documentary collections, speeches,
1 1 6 Essays in Western History
newspapers, and unpublished letters. As the
result of these prejudiced accounts, there have
developed in the public mind vague and in
large measure incorrect notions of the war, its
causes, its incidents, and the relative merits of
its chief participants. It is the attempt of this
paper to dispel, it may be, some of these errors
by presenting a sketch of the famous uprising
of the Sauks, in the preparation of which parti-
san sympathy has not entered, the truth alone
being sought from original sources.
On the third of November, 1804, the United
States government concluded a treaty with the
allied Sauk and Fox Indians, by which, mainly
Treaty of for the paltry annuity of a thousand
1804 dollars, the confederacy ceded to the
whites fifty million acres of land, comprising
in general terms the eastern third of the pres-
ent State of Missouri, and the territory lying
between the Wisconsin River on the north, the
Fox River of the Illinois on the east, the Illinois
on the southeast, and the Mississippi on the
west. There was an unfortunate clause in this
compact (article seven), which became one of
the chief causes of the Black Hawk War.
Instead of obliging the Indians at once to
vacate the ceded territory, it was stipulate4
that, "as long as the lands which are now
The Black Hawk War
ceded to the United States remain their prop-
erty " — that is to say, public land — " the In-
dians belonging to the said tribes shall enjoy
the privilege of living or hunting upon them."^
* Treatit! bttwttn the UniUd Slates of America and ikt
ttveral Indian Triies (Waihington, 1837), p, 109.
1 1 8 Essays in Western History
Within the limits of the cession was the
chief seat of Sauk power ^ — a village lying on
the north side of Rock River, three miles above
The old !^s mouth and the same distance south
Sauk village q{ Rock Island, in the Mississippi.
It was picturesquely situated, contained the
principal cemetery of the nation, and was
populated by about five hundred families,
being one of the largest Indian towns on
the continent. The soil was alluvial in its
composition, producing large crops of corn
and pumpkins, and the aboriginal villagers
took great pride in a rudely cultivated tract
some three thousand acres in extent, lying
north of the town and parallel with the
Mississippi.
From the beginning of the nineteenth cen-
tury the principal character in this village was
Makataimeshekiakiak, or Black Sparrow Hawk
— commonly styled Black Hawk. Born at the
^ The allied Sauks and Foxes had, from the middle of the
eighteenth century, occupied the banks of the Mississippi,
between the mouths of the Missouri and the Wisconsin.
The confederation, in times of peace, was more nominal
than real. There was much jealous bickering between the
tribes. In general, the Foxes, who occupied the west bank,
and were the smallest tribe numerically, were more concilia-
tory toward the whites than were the Sauks, who dwelt
chiefly along the east bank.
The Black Hawk War 119
Sauk village in i ^6^^ he was neither an heredi-
tary nor an elected chief, but by common
Black consent became the leader of that
Hawk community. Although not possessed
of superior physical, moral, or intellectual en-
dowments, the force of circumstances caused
him to become a national celebrity in his day
and a conspicuous figure in Western history for
all time. He was a restless, ambitious savage,
possessed of some of the qualities of successful
leadership, but without the capacity to attain
the highest honors in the Sauk and Fox con-
federacy. He early became a malcontent,
jealous of Keokuk, Wapello, Morgan, and the
other recognized chiefs, continually sought
excuses for openly differing with them on
questions of policy, and in council arrayed
his followers against them. He was much of
a demagogue, and aroused the passions of
his people by appeals to their prejudices and
superstitions.
It is probable that he was never, in the exer-
cise of this policy, dishonest in his motives.
Doubtless he was sincere in the opinions he
championed. But he was easily influenced by
the British military and commercial agents, —
who were continually engaged, previous to the
War of 1812-15, J^ cultivating a spirit of hos-
1 20 Essays in Western History
tility between the Northwestern tribes and the
Americans, — and was led by them always to
consider himself under the special protection
of the ** British father " (general military agent)
at Maiden.^ A too-confiding disposition was
ever leading his judgment astray. He was
readily duped by those who, white or red,
were interested in deceiving him. The effect
of his daily communication with the Ameri-
cans was often rudely to shock his high sense
of honor, while the uniform courtesy of the
treatment accorded him upon his annual beg-
ging visit to Maiden contrasted strangely with
the attitude of the inhabitants on the Illinois
border.
Black Hawk was about five feet, four or five
inches in height, and rather spare as to flesh ;
his somewhat pinched features exaggerated the
1 In his Autobiography (Boston, 1834), — probably au-
thentic for the most part, but written in a stilted style which
we doubtless owe to the editor, Patterson, — Black Hawk
calls the president at Washington his "great father," and
the agent at Maiden his ** British father." Ford's History of
Illinois (Chicago, 1854), p. 110, notey questions the accuracy
of the autobiography; he says that "Black Hawk knew
little, if anything, about it"; that it "was written by a
printer, and was never intended for anything but a catch-
penny publication," and that it is a "gross perversion of
facts." Later historians, not as strong Indian-haters as
Ford, have taken a more favorable view of the book.
BLACK HAWK
ling by R. M. Sut/y, h posiissht of ikc Wha
The Black Hawk War 121
prominence of the cheek-bones of his race;
he had a full mouth, inclined to be somewhat
open when at rest ; a pronounced Roman nose ;
fine "piercing" eyes, often beaming with a
kmdly and always with a thoughtful expres-
sion; practically no eyebrows; a high, full
forehead; a head well thrown back, with a
pose of quiet dignity, and his hair plucked out,
with the exception of the scalp-lock, in which,
on ceremonial occasions, was fastened a bunch
of eagle feathers.^ The conservative braves of
the confederacy, who were friendly to the
Americans, appear in the main to have re-
garded the Hawk with kindly compassion.
He was thought by them to be misguided, to
be the credulous catspaw for others, but his
sincerity was not often doubted. His own fol-
lowers, who, from the closeness of their inter-
course with the Canadian authorities were
known as the " British Band," as a rule held
him in the highest regard.^
^ An admirable original portrait of Black Hawk, by R. M.
Sully, painted in 1883 while the subject was a prisoner at
Fortress Monroe, hangs in the portrait gallery of the Wis-
consin Historical Society ; a photographic engraving of this
is herewith published.
2 See Reynolds's My Own Times (2d. ed., Chicago, 1879)^
p. 204, for his estimate of Black Hawk. Ford, who himself
served in the Black Hawk War, says, in his History of Illinois
122 Essays in Western History
At the outbreak of hostilities between Great
Britain and the United States, in 1812, Black
Hawk naturally sided with Tecumseh and the
British. Accompanied by a band of two hun-
Aids dred Sauk braves, he served under the
Tecumseh great Shawnee chief until the death
of the latter at the battle of the Thames, Octo-
ber 5, 1 81 3.* Black Hawk — who had, in
company with the Potawatomi chiefs, Shau-
bena and Billy Caldwell, been near to Tecum-
seh when he fell — at once hurried home.
He would, he tells us in his Autobiography,
have remained quiet thereafter, until the close
of the war, but for a fatal injury which had
during his absence been inflicted by a party
of white ruffians upon an aged friend whom he
had left behind at the village. In consequence
of this outrage, it was the thirteenth of May,
18 16, — nearly eighteen months after the sign-
ing of the treaty of Ghent, — before the British
Band of the Sauks could be induced to
(Chicago, 1854), p. 109: " Black Hawk was distinguished for
courage, and for clemency to the vanquished. He was an
Indian patriot, a kind husband and father, and was noted
for his integrity in all his dealings with his tribe and with the
Indian traders. He was firmly attached to the British, and
cordially hated the Americans."
^ See Cruikshank, on Black Hawk's record in the War of
181 2-1 5, Wis, Hist, Colls,^ xii., pp. 141, 142.
The Black Hawk War 123
cease their retaliatory border forays along the
Upper Mississippi and sign a treaty of peace
with the United States.
After burying the hatchet, Black Hawk set-
tled into the customary routine of savage life —
Bitterness hunting in winter, loafing about his
against village in summer, improvidently ex-
isting from hand to mouth though
surrounded by abundance, and occasionally
varying the monotony by visits to Maiden,
from whence he would return laden with
provisions, arms, ammunition, and trinkets;
his stock of vanity increased by wily flattery,
and his bitterness against the Americans cor-
respondingly intensified. It is not surprising
that he should have hated the Americans. They
brought him naught but evil. He was con-
tinually being disturbed by them, and a cruel
and causeless beating which he received from
a party of white settlers in the winter of
1822-23 was an insult treasured up against the
American people as a whole.
In the summer of 1823, squatters, covetous of
the rich fields cultivated by the British Band, be-
Encroach' S^^ rudely to take possession of them.
ment of The treaty of 1 804 had guaranteed to
squa ers ^^ Indians the use of the ceded terri-
tory so long as the lands remained the property
124 Essays in Western History
of the United States and were not sold to indi-
viduals. The frontier line of homestead settle-
ment was still fifty or sixty miles to the east ; the
country between had not yet been surveyed, and
much of it not explored ; the squatters had no
rights in this territory, and it was clearly the
duty of the federal government to protect
the Indians within it until sales were made.
The Sauks would not have complained had the
squatters settled in other portions of the tract,
and not sought to steal the village which was
their birthplace and contained the cemetery of
their tribe.^ There were physical outrages of
the most flagrant nature. Indian cornfields
were unblushingly included within the areas
appropriated and fenced by the intruders,
squaws and children were whipped for ventur-
ing beyond the bounds thus set, lodges were
burned over the heads of the occupants. A
reign of terror ensued, in which Black Hawk's
frequent remonstrances to the white authori-
1 " I had an interview with Keokuk [head chief of the
confederacy], to see if this difficulty could not be settled
with our Great Father, and told him to propose to give any
other land that our Great Father might choose, even our lead
mines, to be peaceably permitted to keep the small point of
land on which our village was situated. . . . Keokuk prom-
ises to make an exchange if possible/' — Autobiography,
pp. 85, 86.
The Black Hawk War 125
ties were in vain. The situation year by year
became more unbearable. When the Indians
returned each spring from their winter's hunt
they found their village more of a wreck than
when they had left it in the preceding au-
tumn. It is surprising that they acted so
peacefully while the victims of such harsh
treatment
Keokuk and the United States Indian agent
at Fort Armstrong — which had been built on
Black Rock Island about 1 8 1 6 — continually
Hawk advised peaceful retreat across the
Mississippi. But Black Hawk was
stubborn as well as romantic, and his people
stood by him when he appealed to their love
of home and veneration for the graves of their
kindred. He now set up the claim that the
Sauk and Fox representatives in the council
which negotiated the treaty of 1804 did not
consent that the land on which stood Black
Hawk's village should be the property of the
United States.^ This was the weak point in
^ "After questioning Quashquame [one of the signers
of the treaty of 1804] about the sale of the lands, he assured
me that he never had consented to the sale of our village."
— Autobiography^ p. 85. Yet Quashquame had signed the
treaties of Portage des Sioux (September 13, 181 5) and
St. Louis (September 3, 1822), wherein the treaty of 1804
was explicitly reaffirmed.
126 Essays in Western History
his position. At each treaty to which he had
*• touched the quill ** since that date he had,
with the rest of his nation, solemnly reaffirmed
the integrity of the compact of 1804. That he
understood the nature of its provision, there
is no reason to doubt. But this fact he now
conveniently ignored.^ His present views
were indorsed by the mischief-making British
agent at Maiden, by the Winnebago Prophet,
and by others of his advisers. All of these
told him that were it true the government had
not yet bought the site of his village, he should
hold fast to it, and the United States would not
venture to remove him by force.^
1 Black Hawk signed the treaties of St. Louis (May 13,
18 19), St. Louis (September 3, 1822), and Prairie du Chien
(August 19, 1825), each of which reaffirmed the treaty of
1804.
2 He was easily satisfied with delphic advice : " I heard
that there was a great chief on the Wabash, and sent a
party to get his advice. They informed him that we had not
sold our village. He assured them, then, that if we had not
sold the land on which our village stood, our Great Father
would not take it from us. I started early to Maiden to see
the chief of my British Father, and told him my story. He
gave the same reply that the chief on the Wabash had
given. ... I next called on the great chief at Detroit, and
made the same statement to him that I had to the chief of
our British Father. He gave me the same reply. . . . This
assured me that I was right, and determined me to hold out,
as I had promised our people." — Autobiography ^ pp. 94, 95.
The Black Hawk War 127
White Cloud, the Prophet, was Black Hawk's
evil genius. He was a shrewd, crafty Indian,
y^f^if^ half Winnebago and half Sauk, pos-
Cioud.the sessing much influence over both
^ nations from his assumption of sacred
talents, and was at the head of a Winnebago vil-
lage some thirty-five miles up the Rock River.
He possessed some traits of character similar
to those of Tecumseh's brother, but in a less
degree. His hatred of the whites was invet-
erate; he appears to have been devoid of
humane sentiments; he had a reckless dis-
position, and sowed the seeds of native revolt
apparently to gratify his passion for war.
White Cloud was about forty years of age
when his sinister agitation bore fruit ; nearly
six feet in height, stout and athletic ; he had a
large, broad face ; a short, blunt nose ; full
eyes, large mouth, thick lips, a full head of
shaggy hair. His general appearance in-
dicated deliberate, self-contented savagery.
In council, the Prophet displayed much zeal
and persuasive oratory. In the matter of
dress he must at times have been picturesque.
An eye-witness, who was in attendance on
a Potawatomi council wherein the wizard was
urging the cause of Black Hawk, describes
him as dressed in a faultless white buckskin
1 28 Essays in Western History
suit, fringed at the seams ; wearing a towering
head-dress of the same material, capped with
a bunch of fine eagle feathers; each ankle
girt with a wreath of small sleigh-bells which
jingled at every step, while in his nose and
ears were ponderous gold rings gently tinkling
one against the other as he shook his ponder-
ous head in the warmth of harangue.^
In the spring of 1830 Black Hawk and his
band returned from an unsuccessful hunt to
find their town almost completely shattered,
many of the graves ploughed over, and the
whites more abusive than ever. During the
winter the squatters, who now had been seven
years illegally upon the ground, formally pre-
empted a few quarter-sections of lands at the
mouth of the Rock, so selected as to cover the
village site and the Sauk cornfields. This was
clearly a trick to accord with the letter but to
violate the spirit of the treaty of 1804. There
was still a belt, fifty miles wide, of practically
unoccupied territory to the east of the village,
1 The name of the Prophet, in the Winnebago tongue,
was Waubakeeshik, meaning " white eye," having reference
to the fact that one of his pupils was without color. Pioneers
recently living, who remembered the Prophet, differed in
opinion as to whether he was totally blind in that organ.
He died among the Winoebagoes in 1840 or 184 1.
The Black Hawk War 129
and no necessity, for several years to come, for
disturbing the Sauks in the natural progress of
settlement.
The indignant Black Hawk at once pro-
ceeded to Maiden, to pour his sorrows into the
ears of his " British father." Here he received
additional assurance of the justice of his cause,
and upon his return visited the Prophet, at
whose village he met some of the Potawat-
omis and Winnebagoes, who also gave him
words of encouragement.
Returning to his village in the spring of 183 1,
after another gloomy and profitless winter's
The whites hunt, he was fiercely warned away
threatened }^y ^^ whites. In a firm and digni-
fied manner he notified the settlers that, if they
did not themselves remove, he should use force.
He informs us in his Autobiography that he
did not mean bloodshed, but simply muscular
eviction.^ His announcement was construed
1 "The white people brought whiskey into our village,
made our people drunk, and cheated them out of their homes,
guns, and traps. This fraudulent system was carried to such
an extent that I apprehended serious difficulties might take
place unless a stop was put to it. Consequently I visited all
the whites and begged them not to sell whiskey to my people.
One of them continued the practice openly. I took a party
of my young men, went to his home, and took his barrel
and broke in the head and turned out the whiskey. I did
9
1 30 Essays in Western History
by the whites, however, as a threat against
their lives; and petitions and messages were
showered in by them upon Governor John Rey-
nolds, of Illinois, setting forth the situation in
terms that would be amusing in their exagger-
ation were it not that they proved the prelude
to one of the darkest tragedies in the history of
the Western border. The governor fell in with
the popular spirit, and at once issued a flaming
proclamation calling out a mounted volunteer
force to " repel the invasion of the British
The Hawk Band." Thesc volunteers, sixteen
coerced hundred strong, cooperated on the
twenty-fifth of June with ten companies of
regulars under General Edmund P. Gaines,
the commander of the Western division of the
army, in a demonstration before Black Hawk's
village.*
this for fear some of the whites might be killed by my people
when drunk." — Autobiography ^ p. 89.
" I now determined to put a stop to it, by clearing our
country of the intruders. I went to the principal men and
told them that they must and should leave our country, and
gave them until the middle of the next day to remove in.
The worst left within the time appointed — but the one who
remained represented that his family (which was large)
would be in a starving condition if he went and left his crop,
and promised to behave well if I would consent to let him
remain until fall in order to secure his crop. He spoke
reasonably, and I consented." — Ibid,^ p. loi.
^ " It is astonishing, the war-spirit the Western people
The Black Hawk War 131
During that night the Indians, in the face of
this superior force, quietly withdrew to the
west bank of the Mississippi, whither they had
previously been ordered. On the thirtieth
they signed with General Gaines and Governor
Reynolds a treaty of capitulation and peace,
solemnly agreeing neVer to return to the east
side of the river without express permission of
the United States government.* The rest of
the summer was spent by the evicted savages
in a state of misery. It being now too late to
raise another crop of corn and beans, they suf-
fered much for the actual necessaries of life.
Another difficulty soon arose. The previous
year (1830), a party of Menominees and Sioux
The Me- ^^^ murdered some member of the
nominee British Band. A few weeks after the
massacre ^emoval, Black Hawk and a large
war-party of the Sauks ascended the Missis-
sippi, and, in retaliation, massacred, scalped,
possess. As soon as I decided to march against the Indians
at Rock Island, the whole country, throughout the north-
west of the state, resounded with the war clamor. Every-
thing was in a bustle and uproar. It was then eighteen or
twenty years since the war with Great Britain and these
same Indians, and the old citizens inflamed the young men
to appear in the tented field against the old enemy." —
Reynolds, p. 209.
1 See text of treaty. — Autobiography ^ pp. 218, 219.
132 Essays in Western History
and fearfully mutilated all but one of a party
of twenty-eight Menominees who were en-
camped on an island nearly opposite Fort
Crawford, at Prairie du Chien. On the com-
plaint of the Menominees, General Joseph
Street, the Indian agent at that post, de-
manded that the Sauk murderers be delivered
to him for trial, under existing treaty pro-
visions. As none of the Menominee murderers
had been given up, his foray was, according
to the ethics of savage warfare, one of just
reprisal. Black Hawk therefore declined to
accede; but although this was the custom
of his race, he was therein clearly rebelling
against the United States government through
its Indian Department
Neapope, second in command of the British
Band, had, prior to the eviction, gone upon
Bad a visit to Maiden. He returned to
advice j^jg chief in the autumn, by way of
the Prophet's town, with glowing reports of
proffered aid from the British and the Win-
ncbagoes, Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pota-
watomis, in the regaining of the village.^
^ " He (Neapope) informed me, privately, that the
Prophet was anxious to see me, as he had much good
news to tell me, and that I would hear good news in the
spring from our British father. ' The Prophet requested me
The Black Hawk War 133
Neapope, possessed of considerable military
genius, was an ardent disciple of the Prophet,
as well as a reckless mischief-maker on his own
account.^
The advice of White Cloud was, that Black
Hawk should proceed to the Prophet's town
the following spring and raise a crop of corn,
assurances being given him that by autumn
the several allies, armed and equipped by the
British, would be ready to join the Sauk leader
in a general movement against the whites in the
valley of the Rock.
to inform you of all the particulars. I would much rather,
however, you should see him, and learn all from himself.
But I will tell you, that he has received expresses from our
British father, who says that he is going to send us guns,
ammunition, provisions, and clothing, early in the spring.
The vessels that bring them will come by way of Mil-wa-ke
[Milwaukee]. The Prophet has likewise received wampum
and tobacco from the different nations on the lakes — Otta-
was, Chippewas, Potawatomis; and as for the Winneba-
goes, he has them all at his command. We are going to be
happy once more.* " — Autobiography, p. 109.
^ Neapope (pronounced Nah-popi) means **soup." He
was regarded as something of a curiosity among his fellows,
because he used neither whiskey nor tobacco. Being a
" medicine man," he was in demand at feasts and councils
as an agency through which '* talks " could be had direct
with the Great Spirit. He had the reputation of being bet-
ter versed in the Sauk traditions than any other member of
the tribe. His history after the close of the Black Hawk
War is unknown.
134 Essays in Western History
Relying upon these rose-colored represen-
tations, Black Hawk spent the winter on the
British *^^^ deserted site of old Fort Mad-
Band re- ison, on the west bank of the Mis-
sissippi, near the mouth of the Des
Moines, engaged in quietly recruiting his
band. The urgent protests of Keokuk, who
feared that the entire Sauk and Fox confederacy-
would become implicated in the war for which
the Hawk was evidently preparing, but spurred
the jealous and obstinate partisan to renewed
endeavors.^
At this period the territory embraced in
the Sauk and Fox cession of 1804 was an al-
Eariy most uubroken wilderness of altemat-
traiis Jug prairies, oak groves, rivers, and
marshes. The United States government had
not surveyed any portion of it, nor had it been
much explored by white hunters or pioneers ;
while the Indians themselves were acquainted
with but narrow belts of country along their
accustomed trails. In the lead regions about
Galena and Mineral Point, there were a few
trading posts and small mining settlements.
^ ** Keokuk, who has a smooth tongue and is a great
speaker, was busy in persuading my band that I was wrong,
and thereby making many of them dissatisfied with me. I
had one consolation, for all the women were on my side, on
account of their cornfields."— Autobiography^ p. 98.
The Black Hawk War 135
An Indian trail along the east bank of the
Mississippi connected Galena and Fort Arm-
strong, on Rock Island. A coach road known
as " Kellogg's Trail," opened in 1827, connected
Galena with Peoria and the settlements in
southern and eastern Illinois. A daily mail
coach travelled this, the only wagon road north
of the Illinois River, and it was often crowded
with people going to and from the mines, which
were the chief source of wealth for the northern
pioneers. Here and there along this road
lived a few people engaged in entertaining
travellers and baiting stage horses — ** Old
Man " Kellogg at Kellogg*s Grove ; one Win-
ter, on Apple River; John Dixon at Dixon's
Ferry, on Rock River ; " Dad Joe," at Dad
Joe's Grove ; Henry Thomas, on West Bureau
Creek ; Charles S. Boyd, at Boyd's Grove, and
two or three others of less note. Indian
trails crossed the country in many directions,
between the villages of the several bands
and their hunting and fishing grounds, and
these were used as public thoroughfares by
whites and reds alike.^ One of these con-
nected Galena and Chicago, by the way of Big
1 See Wis, Hist, Colls.^ xi., p. 230, on the evolution of
highways from Indian trails; also the several volumes in
Hulbert*s Historic Highways of America (Cleveland, 1902-03).
1 36 Essays in Western History
Foot's Potawatomi village, at the head of the
body of water now known as Lake Geneva.
There was another, but seldom used, between
Dixon's and Chicago. The mining settlements
were also connected by old and new trails, and
two well-travelled ways led respectively to Fort
Winnebago, at the portage of the Fox and
Wisconsin rivers, and to Fort Howard, on
the lower Fox. In Illinois, the most important
aboriginal highway was the great Sauk trail,
extending in almost an air line across the State
from Black Hawk's village to the south shore
of Lake Michigan, and thence to Maiden ; over
this deep-beaten path the British Band made
their frequent pilgrimages to Canada.
Between Galena and the Illinois River, the
largest settlement was on Bureau Creek, where
Frontier some thirty families were gathered.
settlements There were small aggregations of
cabins at Peru, La Salle, South Ottawa, New-
ark, Holderman's Grove, and a little cluster
of eight or ten on Indian Creek. The lead-
mining colonics in the portion of Michigan
Territory afterwards set aside as Wisconsin
were chiefly clustered about Mineral Point
and Dodgeville.^ At the mouth of Milwaukee
1 See map of lead mines in 1829, Wis. Hist. Colls., xi.,
p. 400.
The Black Hawk War 137
River, on Lake Michigan, the fur-trader, Solo-
mon Juneau, was still monarch of all he
surveyed ; while at Chicago there was a popu-
lation of but two or three hundred, housed in
primitive abodes nestled under the shelter of
Fort Dearborn. Scattered between these set-
tlements were a few widely separated farms,
managed in a crude, haphazard fashion ; squat-
ters were more numerous than homesteaders,
and at best little attention was paid to metes
and bounds.
The settlers were chiefly hardy backwoods-
men who had graduated from the Pennsylvania,
Character Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana clear-
of settlers j^gs, and ** come West " to better
their fortunes, or because neighbors were be-
coming too numerous in the older regions.
Generally they were poor, owning but little
more than their cabins, their scanty clothing,
a few rough tools, teams of " scrub " horses
or yokes of cattle, and some barnyard stock.
They were, for the most part, in the prime of
life, enterprising, bold, daring, skilled marks-
men, and accustomed to exposure, privations,
and danger. There were no schools, and the
only religious instruction received by these
rude pioneers was that given by adventurous
missionaries who penetrated the wilderness
1 38 Essays in Western History
with the self-sacrificing energies of the fathers
of the church, compensating with zeal for what
they lacked in culture.
But upon the heels of these worthies had
come thieves, counterfeiters, cut-throats, social
outlaws from the East. Reckless and aggres-
sive, they too often gave to the community a
character of lawless adventure. Such men
haunt the frontiers of civilization; and abo-
rigines, from being more frequently brought
into collision with these than with the more
conservative majority, are apt naturally to
form an opinion of our race that is far from
flattering.^
Conditions in Illinois were ripe for an Indian
war. Many elements in the white population
„ , . foresaw benefits to be derived from it.
Ready for
an Indian OccupatioH would be giveu to the
""''' small but noisy class of pioneer loaf-
ers, and government money would circulate
freely ; to the numerous and respectable body
of Indian-haters — persons who had at some
time suffered in person or property from the
red savages, and had come to regard them as
^ Nicolay and Hay*s Abraham Lincoln — A History ^ i.,
chaps, ii. and iii., gives a graphic picture of pioneer life in
Illinois in 1830; but their account of the Black Hawk War,
chap, v., unfortunately contains numerous errors.
The Black Hawk War 1 39
little better than wild beasts — it offered a
chance for reprisal ; to the political aspirant, a
brilliant foray presented opportunities for the
achievement of personal popularity, and in-
deed the Black Hawk War was long the
chief stock in trade of many a subsequent
statesman; while to persons fond of mere
adventure, always a large element on the bor-
der, the fighting of Indians presented superior
attractions.
On the sixth of April, 1832, Black Hawk
and Neapope, with about five hundred warriors
lUinois in- (chiefly Sauks), their squaws and chil-
vaded dreu, and all their possessions, crossed
the Mississippi at the Yellow Banks, below the
mouth of the Rock, and invaded the State of
Illinois. During the winter, the results of the
Hawk's negotiations with the Winnebagoes
and Potawatomis had not been of an encour-
aging nature. He now suspected that the repre-
sentations of the Prophet and Neapope were
exaggerated, and his advance from Fort Madi-
son up the west bank of the Mississippi was
accordingly made with some forebodings ; but
the Prophet met him at the Yellow Banks,
and gave him such positive reassurances of
ultimate success, that the misguided Sauk
confidently and leisurely continued his jour-
140 Essays in Western History
ney.^ He proceeded up the east bank of the
Rock as far as the Prophet's town — some four
hundred and fifty of his braves being well
mounted, while the others, with the women,
children, and equipage, occupied the canoes.
The intention of the invaders was, as before
stated, to raise a crop with the Rock River
Winnebagoes at or immediately above the
Prophet's town, and prepare for the war-path
in the fall, when there would be a supply of
provisions. Progress was so beset by difficul-
ties, heavy rains having made the stream tur-
bulent and the wide river bottoms swampy,
that the band was twenty days in travelling the
intervening forty miles.
Immediately upon crossing the Mississippi,
Black Hawk had despatched messengers to
Shauhena's the Potawatomls, asking them to
services meet him in council of war on Syca-
more Creek (now Stillman's Run), opposite
the present site of Byron. The Potawatomis
1 " The Prophet then addressed my braves and warriors.
He told them to follow us, and act like braves, and we had
nothing to fear, but much to gain. That the American war
chief might come, but would not, nor dare not, interfere with
us so long as we acted peaceably. That we were not yet
ready to act otherwise. We must wait until we ascend Rock
River and receive our reinforcements, and we will then be
able to withstand any army I " — Autobiography^ p. 113.
The Black Hawk War 141
were much divided in opinion as to the proper
course to pursue. Shaubena, a chief of much
ability, who since the War of 18 12-15 had
formed a sincere respect and attachment for
the whites, succeeded in inducing the ma-
jority of the braves at least to remain neutral ;
but the hot-heads, under Big Foot and a
despicable half-breed British agent, Mike
Girty, were fierce for taking the war-path.
Shaubena, after quieting the passions of his
followers, set out at once to make a rapid tour
of the settlements in the Illinois and Rock
valleys, carrying the first tidings of approaching
war to the pioneers, even extending his mission
as far east as Chicago.^
General Henry Atkinson* had arrived at
Fort Armstrong early in the spring, in charge
Troops of a company of regulars, for the pur-
caiudout pQgg Qf enforcing the demand of the
Indian department for the Sauk murderers of
the Menominees. He did not learn of the
invasion until the thirteenth of April, seven
days after the crossing, and at once notified
Governor Reynolds that his own force was
too small for the emergency and that a large
detachment of militia was essential. The gov-
^ See Matson's AfemorUs of Shaubena (Chicago, i8So).
s The Indians caUed him << White Beaver."
142 Essays in Western History
ernor immediately issued another fiery proc-
lamation (April i6), calling for a special levy
of mounted volunteers to assemble at Beards-
town, on the lower reaches of Illinois River,
upon the twenty-second of the month.
The news spread like wild-fire. Some of the
settlers flew from the country in hot haste.
Stockade ncvcr to retum ; but the majority of
forts those who did not join the State troops
hastened into the larger settlements or to other
points convenient for assembly, where rude
stockade forts were built on Kentucky models,
the inhabitants forming themselves into little
garrisons, with officers and some degree of
military discipline.^
1 The following named forts figured more or less conspicu-
ously in the ensuing troubles :
In Illinois — Galena, Apple River, Kellogg's Grove, Buf-
falo Grove, Dixon's, South Ottawa, Wilburn (nearly opposite
the present city of Peru), West Bureau, Hennepin, and Clark
(at Peoria).
In Michigan Territory (now Southwestern Wisconsin) —
Union (Dodge's smelling works, near Dodgeville), Defiance
(Parkinson's farm, five miles southeast of Mineral Point),
Hamilton (William S. Hamilton's smelting works, now
Wiota), Jackson (at Mineral Point), Blue Mounds (one and
a half miles south of East Blue Mound), Parish's (at Thomas
J. Parish's smelting works, now Wingville), Cassville, Platte-
ville, Gratiot's Grove, Diamond Grove, White Oak Springs,
Old Shullsburg, and Elk Grove.
The Black Hawk War 143
Fort Armstrong was soon a busy scene of
preparation. St. Louis was at the time the
Atkinson ^^^^ government supply d^pdt on
organizes the Upper Mississippi; and limited
t army transportation facilities, and the bad
weather incident to a backward spring, greatly
hampered the work of collecting troops, stores,
boats, and camp equipage. General Atkinson,
energetic and possessed of much executive
ability, overcame these difficulties as rapidly
as possible. He had military skill, courage^
perseverance, and knowledge of Indian char-
acter, and during his preparations for the cam-
paign took pains personally to assure himself of
the peaceful attitude of those Sauks and Foxes
not members of the British Band. He also sent
two sets of messengers to Black Hawk, order-
ing him to withdraw at once to the west bank
of the river, on the peril of being driven there
by force of arms. To both messages the Sauk
leader, now blindly trusting in the Prophet,
sent defiant answers.^
^ ** Another express came from the White Beaver [Atkin-
son], threatening to pursue us and drive us back, if we did
not return peaceably. This message roused the spirit of my
band, and all were determined to remain with me and contest
the ground with the war chief, should he come and attempt
to drive us. We therefore directed the express to say to the
war chief, * If he wished to fight us, he might come on 1 ' We
144 Essays in Western History
Meanwhile the volunteers, easily recruited
amid the general excitement, rendezvoused at
Voiuntetrs Bcardstown. They were organized
mobiiited Jj^^q f^y,. regiments, under the com-
mands of Colonel John Thomas, Jacob Fry,
Abraham B. Dewitt, and Samuel M. Thomp-
son ; there were also a spy (or scout) battalion
under Major James D. Henry, and two " odd
battalions " under Majors Thomas James and
Thomas Long.^ The entire force, some six-
were determined never to be driven, and equally so, not to
make the first attack, our object being to act only on the
defensive." — Autobiography ^ p. 114.
Wakefield's History of the War ( JacksonvUle, lU., 1834),
pp. 10-12, gives an interesting report of a visit to Black
Hawk's camp at the Prophet's town, made April 25-27, by
Henry Gratiot, Indian agent for the Rock River band of
Winnebagoes. Gratiot bore one of the messages from
Atkinson, which Black Hawk declined to receive. See Wis,
Hist. Colls., ii., p. 336 ; x., pp. 235, 493, for details of this
mission, and sketch of Gratiot.
1 See roster in Armstrong's The Sauks and the Black Hawk
War (Springfield, 111., 1887), appendix. Abraham Lincoln,
afterwards President of the United States, was captain of a
company in the Fourth (Thompson's) regiment. Wakefield,
the historian, served in Henry's spy battalion. Jefferson
Davis, later president of the Confederacy, was a lieutenant
of Co. B., First United States infantry, which was stationed
at Fort Crawford (Prairie du Chien) during January and
February, 1832, but Davis himself is on the rolls as ** absent
on detached service at the Dubuque mines by order of
Colonel Morgan." He was absent from his company on
furlough, from March 26 to August i8, 1832 ; hence, it would
The Black Hawk War 145
teen hundred strong — all horsemen except
three hundred who had by mistake been en-
listed as infantry — was placed under the charge
of Brigadier-General Samuel Whiteside, who
had previously been in command of frontier
rangers and enjoyed the reputation of being
a good Indian fighter. Accompanied by Gov-
ernor Reynolds, the brigade proceeded to Fort
Armstrong, which was reached on the seventh
of May, and General Atkinson swore the volun-
teers into United States service. The governor,
who remained with his troops, was recognized
and paid as a major-general ; while Lieutenant
Robert Anderson (later of Fort Sumter fame)
was detailed from the regulars to be inspector-
general of the Illinois militia.
On the ninth, the start was made. Black
The army Hawk's trail up the east bank of the
sdsout Rock being pursued by Whiteside
and the mounted volunteers. Atkinson fol-
appear from the records that he took no part in the Black
Hawk War further than to escort the chief to Jefferson
Barracks. Nevertheless, an anonymous campaign biography
of Davis, published at Jackson, Miss., 1851, in the interest of
his candidacy for the governorship, and presumably inspired
by the candidate himself, says that he " earned his full share
of the glories, by partaking of the dangers and hardships of
the campaign. Here he remained in the active discharge of
his duties, and participating in most of the skirmishes and
battles, until shortly after the battle of Bad Axe."
10
146 Essays in Western History
lowed in boats with cannon, provisions, and
the bulk of the baggage ; with him were the
three hundred volunteer footmen and four
hundred regular infantry, the latter gathered
from Forts Crawford (Prairie du Chien) and
Leavenworth, and under the command of
Colonel Zachary Taylor, afterwards President
of the United States.^ The rest of the baggage
was taken by Whiteside's land force in wagons.
The travelling was bad for both divisions. The
heavy rains had swollen the stream ; the men
frequently waded breast deep for hours to-
gether, pushing the keel and Mackinac boats
against the rapid current and lifting them over
the rapids ; while upon the swampy trails the
baggage wagons were often mired, and the
horsemen obliged to do rough service in push-
ing and hauling freight through the black muck
and over tangled roots. For many days the
troops had not a dry thread upon them ; the
tents were found to be of poor quality, and but
meagre protection from the driving storms on
the Illinois prairies.^
1 Major William S. Harney, the hero of Cerro Gordo, also
served with the regulars in this campaign.
2 " A great portion of the volunteers had been raised in
the backwoods, and rafting and swimming streams were
familiar to them." — Reynolds, p. 226.
The Black Hawk War 147
Whiteside was thus enabled to out-distance
Atkinson. Arriving at the Prophet's town,
he found it deserted and the trail up the river
fresh, so he pushed on as rapidly as possible
to Dixon's, where he arrived on the twelfth.
Here he found two independent battalions,
three hundred and forty-one men all told,
under Majors Isaiah Stillman and David
Bailey.^ They had been at the ferry for some
days, with abundance of ammunition and
supplies, in which latter Whiteside was now
deficient. These commands were not of the
regular levy, and objected to joining the main
army except on detached service as rangers.
Imbued with reckless enthusiasm, they were
impatient at the slow advance of the expedi-
tion, and anxious at once to do something
brilliant, feeling confident that all that was
necessary to end the war was for them to be
given a chance to meet the enemy in open
battle.
Obtaining Whiteside's permission to go
SHiiman's forward in the capacity of a scout-
scouts Jug party, the independents set out
bravely on the morning of the thirteenth, under
1 This made the total volunteer force 1,935 °*®"' The
Stillman and Bailey battalions were afterwards organized as
the Fifth Regiment, under Colonel James Johnson.
148 Essays in Western History
Stillman. Late in the afternoon of the four-
teenth they pitched camp in a small clump of
open timber, three miles southwest of the
mouth of Sycamore Creek. It was a peculiarly
strong position for defence. The troop com-
pletely filled the grove, which was surrounded
by a broad, undulating prairie. With an
Indian enemy averse to fighting in the open,
the troopers might readily have repulsed ten
times their own number.
Black Hawk had tarried a week at the
Prophet's town, holding fruitless councils with
Tribenun the wily and vacillating Winnebagoes.
in council f^g now for the first time learned
positively that he had been deceived. But
to keep his engagement at Sycamore Creek,
he pushed on, faint at heart, though vaguely
hoping better things of the Potawatomis.
Going into camp with his principal men, in a
large grove near the mouth of the creek, he
met the chiefs of that tribe, and soon found
that Shaubena*s counsels had rendered it im-
possible to gain over to his cause more than
about a hundred of the hot-head element.
Black Hawk asserted in after years that he had
at this juncture fully resolved to return at once
to the west of the Mississippi should he again
be summoned to do so by General Atkinson,
The Black Hawk War 149
never more to disturb the peace of the white
settlements. As a parting courtesy to his
guests, however, he was on the evening of the
fourteenth making arrangements to give them
a dog feast, when the summons came in a
manner little anticipated.
The white-hating faction of the Potawato-
mis was encamped on the Kishwaukee River
some seven miles north of Black Hawk, and
with them the majority of his own party. The
Hawk says that not more than forty of his
braves were with him upon the council ground.
Towards sunset, in the midst of his prepara-
tions, he was informed that a party of white
horsemen were going into camp three miles
down the Rock. It was Stillman's corps, but
the Sauk — then unaware of the size of the force
which had been placed in the field against him
— thought it a small party headed by Atkinson,
and sent three of his young men with a white
flag, to parley with the new arrivals and con-
vey his offer to meet the White Beaver in
council.^
The rangers, who had regarded the expedi-
tion as a big frolic, were engaged in preparing
their camp, in irregular picnic fashion, when
1 Autobiography ^ pp. 117, 118.
^
1 50 Essays in Westerft History
the truce-bearers appeared upon a prairie
knoll, nearly a mile away. A mob of the
troopers, in helter-skelter form, some with
saddles on their horses and some without,
rushed out upon the astonished envoys, and
hurried them into camp amid a hubbub of
yells and imprecations. Black Hawk had sent
five other braves to follow the flagmen at a
safe distance, and watch developments. This
second party was sighted by about twenty of
the horsemen, who had been scouring the
plain for more Indians. They were said to
have been, like others of Stillman's men at the
time, much excited by the too free use of
intoxicants. Hot chase was given to the spies,
and two of them were killed. The other three
galloped back to the council grove and re-
ported to their chief that not only two of their
own number, but the three flag-bearers as well,
had been cruelly slain. This flagrant disregard
of the rules of war caused the blood of the old
Sauk to boil with righteous indignation. Tear-
ing to shreds the flag of truce which, when the
spies broke in upon him, he himself had been
preparing to carry to the white camp, he
fiercely harangued his thirty-five braves and
bade them, at any risk, to avenge the blood
of their tribesmen.
The Black Hawk War 151
The neutral Potawatomi visitors at once
withdrew from the grove and hastily sped to
stiiiman's their villages, while Black Hawk and
defeat j^jg party of forty Sauks, ^ sallied forth
on their ponies to meet the enemy. The entire
white force, over three hundred strong, was
soon seen rushing towards them in a confused
mass. The Sauks withdrew behind a fringe
of bushes, their leader hurriedly bidding them
to stand firm. On catching a glimpse of the
grim array awaiting them, the whites paused ;
but before they had a chance to turn, the Hawk
sounded the war-whoop, and the savages dashed
forward and fired. The Sauk chief tells us that
when he ordered it, he thought the charge
suicidal, but, enraged at the treachery of the
troopers, he and all with him were willing to
die in securing reprisal.
On the first fire of the Indians, the whites,
without returning the volley, fled in great
consternation, pursued by about twenty-five
savages, until nightfall ended the chase. But
nightfall did not end the rout. The volunteers,
beset by the genius of fear, dashed through
^ ** Black Hawk in his book says he had only forty in all,
and judging from all I can discover in the premises, I believe
the number of warriors were between fifty and sixty." —
Reynolds, p. 234.
152 Essays in Western History
their own impregnable camp, left everything
behind them, and plunged madly through
swamps and creeks till they reached Dixon's,
twenty-five miles away, where they straggled
in for the next twenty hours. Many of them
did not stop there, but kept on at a keen gallop
till they reached their own firesides, fifty or
more miles farther, carrying the report that
Black Hawk and two thousand bloodthirsty
warriors were sweeping all Northern Illinois
with the besom of destruction. The white
casualties in this ill-starred foray amounted to
eleven killed, while the Indians lost the two
spies and but one of the flag-bearers, who had
been treacherously shot in Stillman's camp —
his companions owing their lives to the fleet-
ness of their ponies.
The flight of Stillman's corps was wholly
inexcusable. It should, in any event, have
stopped at the camp, which was easily defen-
sible.^ Stillman, no doubt, exerted himself to
1 '* I never was so surprised, in all the fighting I have
seen — knowing, too, that the Americans, generally, shoot
well — as I was to see this army of several hundreds, retreat-
ing without showing fight, and passing immediately through
this encampment. I did think that they intended to hault
here, as the situation would have forbidden attack by my
party, if their number had not exceeded half mine, as we
would have been compelled to take the open prairie, whilst
The Black Hawk War 153
his utmost to rally his men, but they lacked
discipline and that experience which gives
soldiers confidence in their officers and each
other. Their worst fault was their dishonor-
able treatment of bearers of a flag of truce, a
symbol which few savage tribes disregard. But
for this act of treachery, the Black Hawk War
might have been a bloodless demonstration.
Unfortunately for our own good name, this
violation of the rules of war was more than
once repeated by the Americans during the
contest which followed.
From this easy and unexpected victory.
Black Hawk formed a low opinion of the valor
of the militiamen, and at the same time an
The Hawk ^^^gg^^^ted estimate of the prowess
atKosh^ of his own braves. Almost wholly
konong destitute of provisions and ammu-
nition, he was elated at the capture of Still-
man's abundant stores. Recognizing that war
had been forced upon him ^ and was hence-
they could have picked trees to shield themselves from our
fire." — Autobiography, p. 122.
^ " I had resolved upon giving up the war, and sent a flag
of peace to the American war chief, expecting as a matter of
right, reason, and justice, that our flag would be respected (I
have always seen it so in war among the whites), and a coun-
cil convened, that we might explain our grievances, having
been driven from our village the year before, without per-
154 Essays in Western History
forth inevitable, he despatched scouts to watch
the white army while he hurriedly removed
his women and children, by way of the Kish-
waukee, to the swampy fastnesses of Lake
Koshkonong, near the headwaters of Rock
River, in Michigan Territory (now Wisconsin).
He was guided thither by friendly Winneba-
goes, who deemed the position impregnable.
From here, recruited by parties of Winne-
bagoes and Potawatomis, Black Hawk de-
scended into Northern Illinois, prepared for
active border warfare.
The story of Stillman's defeat inaugurated a
A reign reigu of terror between the Illinois
of (error ^^^ Wisconsin rivers, and much con-
sternation throughout the entire West. The
name of Black Hawk, whose forces and the
mission to gather the corn and provisions, which our women
had labored hard to cultivate, and ask permission to re-
turn, — thereby giving up all idea of going to war against
the whites. Yet, instead of this honorable course which I
have always practised in war, I was forced into war, with
about five hundred warriors, to contend against three or four
thousand.
" The supplies that Neapope and the Prophet told us
about, and the reinforcements we were to have, were never
more heard of, and it is but justice to our British father to
say, were never promised — his chief having sent word in
lieu of the lies that were brought to me, * for us to remain at
peace, as we could accomplish nothing but our own ruin, by
going to war.'" — Autobiography ^ pp. 123, 124.
The Black Hawk War 155
nature of whose expedition were grossly exag-
gerated, became associated the country over
with tales of savage cunning and cruelty. The
bloodthirsty Sauk long served as a household
bugaboo. Shaubena and his friends again
rode post-haste through the settlements, sound-
ing the alarm. Many of the frontiersmen,
lulled into a sense of security by the long
calm following the invasion at Yellow Banks,
had returned to their fields. But there was
now a hurrying back into the forts; they
flew like chickens to cover, on the warn-
ing of the Hawk's foray. The rustle in
the underbrush of a prowling beast; the
howl of a wolf on the prairie ; the fall of a
forest bough; the report of a hunter's gun,
were sufficient in this time of panic to blanch
the cheeks of the bravest men, and cause
families to fly in the agony of fear for scores
of miles, leaving all their possessions behind
them.^
^ Wakefield, pp. 56-60, relates some amusing and appar-
ently truthful anecdotes of the scare. Here is one of them :
'* In the hurried rout that took place at this time, there was a
family that lived near the [Iroquois] river [in northeastern
Illinois] ; they had no horses, but a large family of small
children ; the father and mother each took a child ; the rest
were directed to follow on foot as fast as possible. The
eldest daughter also carried one of the children that was not
able to keep up. They fled to the river where they had to
156 Essays in Western History
On the day of the defeat, Whiteside, with a
thousand four hundred men, proceeded to the
The army field of battle and buried the dead.
disbanded Qn the nineteenth, Atkinson and the
entire army moved up the Rock, leaving Still-
man's corps at Dixon to care for the wounded
and guard the supplies. But the army was no
sooner out of sight than Stillman's cowards
added infamy to their record, by deserting
their post and going home. Atkinson hastily
returned to Dixon with the regulars, leaving
Whiteside to follow Black Hawk's trail up the
Kishwaukee.
Whiteside's men, however, now began to
weary of soldiering. They declared that the
cross. The father had to carry over all the children, at
different times, as the stream was high, and so rapid the
mother and daughter could not stem the current with such a
burden. When they all, as they thought, had got over, they
started, when the cry of poor little Susan was heard on the
opposite bank, asking if they were not going to take her with
them. The frightened father again prepared to plunge into
the strong current for his child, when the mother seeing it,
cried out, ' Never mind Susan ; we have succeeded in getting
ten over, which is more than we expected at first — and we
can better spare Susan than you, my dear.' So poor Susan,
who was only about four years old, was left to the mercy of
the frightful savages. But poor little Susan came off unhurt ;
one of the neighbors, who was out hunting, came along and
took charge of little Susan, the eleventh, who had been so
miserably treated by her mother."
The Black Hawk War 157
Indians had gone into the unexplored and
impenetrable swamps of the north, and could
never be captured; even were that possible,
Illinois volunteers were not compelled to serve
out of the State, in Michigan Territory; they
also claimed to have enlisted for but one
month. After two or three days' fruitless
skirmishing, and before reaching the State
line, the council of officers determined to
abandon search. Turning about, they marched
southward to Ottawa, where they were, on
the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth of May,
at their own request, mustered out of the ser-
vice by Governor Reynolds. En route from
the Kishwaukee tp Ottawa, the militiamen
stopped at the Davis farm on Indian Creek,
where a massacre of whites (p. 160) had oc-
curred a few days before, and the mutilated
corpses of fifteen men, women, and children were
lying on the greensward, unsepulchred. This
revolting spectacle, instead of nerving the
troops to renewed action in defence of their
homes, appears to have still further disheartened
them.^
Thus did the first campaign of the war
end, as it had begun, with an exhibition of
^ See Reynolds's statement of the case, in My Own Times^
pp. 238, 239.
158 Essays in Western History
rank cowardice on the part of the lUinois
militia.
Governor Reynolds was active, and at once
arranged for a fresh levy of " at least two
Afresh thousand " men to serve through the
^ war, to rendezvous at Beardstown,
June 10; while the federal government ordered
a thousand regulars under General Winfield
Scott to proceed from the seaboard to the seat
of war, Scott being directed to conduct all
future operations against the enemy. Mean-
while, at Atkinson's earnest appeal, three
hundred mounted volunteer rangers, under
Henry Frye as colonel and James D. Henry
as lieutenant-colonel, agreed to remain in the
field to protect the northern line of Illinois
settlements until the new levy could be
mobilized.^
1 General Whiteside enlisted as a private in this battalion.
Abraham Lincoln was also a member, being enlisted May 27
as a " private horseman/* in Captain Elijah Iles's company.
He was mustered out at Ottawa, June i6, when the regular
levy had taken the field. June 20 he re-enlisted in Captain
Jacob M. Early's company, an independent body of rangers
not brigaded, and served throughout the war. Besides these
three hundred volunteer rangers, divided into six companies,
General Atkinson had some three hundred regulars on Rock
River, the entire force available to check the enemy, until
the new levy could assemble.
The Black Hawk War 159
Black Hawk, upon descending Rock Rivef
from Lake Koshkonong, divided his people
Irregular into war-paities, himself leading the
kostuutes ij^^ggsi-^ about two hundred strong.
He was assisted by small scalping parties
of Winnebagoes, who were always ready for
guerilla butchery when the chance for detec-
tion was slight, and by about a hundred Pota-
watomis under Mike Girty.
During the irregular hostilities which now
broke out in northern Illinois and just across
the Michigan (now Wisconsin) border, pending
the resumption of the formal campaign, some
two hundred whites and nearly as many Indians
lost their lives, great suffering was induced
among the settlers, and panic among the latter
was widespread. Many of the incidents of this
partisan strife are rich in historic and romantic
interest and have been productive of elaborate
discussions in the press and in documentary
collections ; but in a paper of this scope only
a few of the most striking events can be al-
luded to.^
1 Nearly every yolume of the Wisconsin Historical Coilec'
tions contains articles and documents bearing on this war,
which it would be burdensome to cite here in detail ; many
of them are invaluable, while some, in the light of later de-
velopments, are worthless.
i6o Essays in Western History
C>n the twenty-second of May a party of
thirty Potawatomis and three Sauks» under
Sotiibu Girty, surprised and slaughtered
ihrmiskts fifteen men, women, and children
congregated at the Davis farm, on Indian
Creek, twelve miles north of Ottawa, Illinois.
Two daughters of William Hall — Sylvia, aged
seventeen years, and Rachel, aged fifteen —
were spared by their captors. Being taken to
Black Hawk's stronghold above Lake Kosh-
konong, they were there sold for two thousand
dollars in horses and trinkets to White Crow,
a Winnebago chief who had been sent out by
Henry Gratiot, sub-agent for the Winnebagoes,
to conduct the negotiation. The girls were
safely delivered into Gratiot's hands at Blue
Mounds, on the third of June.
On the evening of the fourteenth of June, a
party of eleven Sauks killed five white men at
Spafford's farm, on the Peckatonica River, in
what is now La Fayette County, Wisconsin.
Colonel Henry Dodge, with twenty-nine men,
followed, and the next day overtook the savages
in a neighboring swamp. In a hot brush last-
ing but a few minutes, the eleven Indians were
killed and scalped, while of Dodge's party
three were killed and one wounded. The de-
tails of no event in the entire war have been
The Black Hawk War i6i
so thoroughly discussed and quarrelled over as
those of this brief but bloody skirmish.^
On the twenty-fourth of June, Black Hawk's
own party made a desperate attack on Apple
River Fort, fourteen miles east of Galena,
Illinois. For upwards of an hour the little
garrison sustained the heavy siege, displaying
remarkable vigor, the women and girls moulding
bullets, loading pieces, and in general proving
themselves border heroines- The red men
retired with small loss, after laying waste by
fire the neighboring cabins and fields. The
following day this same war party attacked,
with singular ferocity, Major Dement's spy
battalion of Posey's brigade, a hundred and
fifty strong, at Kellogg's Grove, sixteen miles
to the east. General Posey came up with a
detachment of volunteers to relieve the force,
and continued the skirmish. The Indians were
routed, losing about fifteen killed, while the
whites lost but five.^
1 Notably in Wis, Hist. Colls., ii., iv., v., vi., vii., viii., x.
^ Kellogg's Groye, afterwards Waddams's, and now
Timms's, is situated in the southwestern portion of Kent
township, Stephenson County, Illinois, about nine miles
south of Lena. The five men killed in the skirmish of June
25, 1832, had been buried at different points within the
grove. During the summer of 1886 their remains were col-
lected by order of the county board of supervisors, and
II
1 62 Essays in Western History
At Plum River Fort, Burr Oak Grove, Sin-
siniwa Mound, and Blue Mounds, skirmishes
of less importance were fought.
The people of the lead-mining settlements in
what is now southwestern Wisconsin, deemed
The Uad- themsclvcs peculiarly liable to attack^
minedis- fearing that the troops centred on
Rock River would drive the enemy
upon them across the Illinois border. The
news of the invasion at Yellow Banks was
received by the miners early in May, and ac-
tive preparations for defence and offence were
at once undertaken. Colonel Henry Dodge,
one of the pioneers of the lead region, and
an energetic citizen largely interested in
smelting, held a commission as chief of the
Michigan militia west of Lake Michigan, and
assumed direction of military operations north
of the Illinois line. With a company of
twenty-seven hastily equipped mounted rang-
ers he made an expedition to Dixon, with a
view both to reconnoitre the country and
decently interred upon a commanding knoll at the edge of
the copse. "With these were placed those of five or six other
victims of the Black Hawk War, who had fallen in other
portions of the county. Over these remains, a monument
costing five hundred dollars was erected by the board, being
formally dedicated September 30, 1886, under the auspices
of W. R. Goddard post of the G. A. R.
The Black Hawk. War 163
solicit aid from Governor Reynolds's force.
He failed in this latter mission, however, and
returned to the mines carrying the news of
Stillman's defeat.^ After making prepara-
tions for recruiting three additional compa-
nies. Dodge proceeded with Indian Agent
Gratiot and a troop of fifty volunteers to
White Crow's Winnebago village at the head
of Lake Mendota (Fourth Lake), on a point
of land now known as Fox's Bluff, some four
miles northwest of the present Madison. The
Winnebagoes were always deemed a source
of danger to the mining* settlements, and it
was desirable to keep them quiet during the
present crisis. Colonel Dodge held council
with them on the twenty-fifth of May, and
received profuse assurances of their fidelity to
the American cause; but the partisan leader
appears to have justly placed small reliance
upon their sincerity.^
^ " General Dodge was camped in the vicinity [Dixon's],
on the north side of Rock River, and I wrote him, at night
[May 14-15], the facts of Stillman's disaster, and that his
frontiers of Wisconsin would be in danger. He returned
immediately to Wisconsin." — Reynolds, p. 235.
* Dodge's " tal^ '* is given in Smith's History of Wisconsin
(Madison, 1854), i., pp. 416, 417. See Wis. Hist Colls,, iL,
p. 339, for White Crow's taunt flung at Dodge, that the whites
were " a soft-shelled breed," and could not fight. For sketch
of this chief — whose Indian name was Kaukishkaka (The
k64 Essays in Western History
Returning from this council Dodge set out
from his headquarters at Fort Union on an
Df^^g active campaign with two hundred
i?<w/i mounted rangers enUsted for the war*
These men, gathered from the minei
and fields, were a free-and-easy set of fellows,
imbued with the spirit of adventure and an
intense hatred of the Indian race. While di^
ciplined to the extent of obejdng orders wheti--
ever sent into the teeth of danger, these Rough
Riders of seventy years ago swung through the
country with small regard for the rules of Ui6
manual, and presented a striking contrast to
the habits and appearance of the regulars.
On the third of June they arrived at Blue
Mounds, just in time to receive the Hall girls
brought in by White Crow. The Crow and
his companions being now offensive in their
manner. Dodge had them thrown into the
guard-house, and held for a time as hostages
for the good behavior of the rest of the Lake
Mendota band. On the eleventh* he was
joined by a small party of Illinois rangers
from Galena, under Captain J. W. Stephenson,
the united force proceeding to Atkinson's re-
Blind), he having lost an eye in a brawl — see id,, x., pp. 495,
496. Washburne*s estimate of him, ibid.^ p. 253, is un£avo]>
able ; others of his white contemporaries speak with enthu-
siasm of his strength as a native orator, and his manly bearing.
The' Black Hawk War 165
cruiting quarters, then at Ottawa, where Dodge
conferred with the general as to the future
conduct of the campaign. After remaining a
few days, the rangers returned to the lead
mines to complete the local defences.
In less than three weeks from the date of
Stillman's defeat, Atkinson and Reynolds had
The new together recruited and organized a
*^^ new mounted militia force, and on
the fifteenth of June the troops rendezvoused
at Fort Wilburn (near Peru). There were
three brigades, respectively headed by Gen-
erals Alexander Posey, M. K. Alexander, and
James D. Henry. Each brigade contained
a spy battalion. The aggregate strength of
this volunteer army was three thousand two
hundred, which was in addition to Frye's
rangers, half of whom continued their ser-
vices to protect the settlements and stores
west of the Rock River. With these. Dodge's
rangers, and the regular infantry, the entire
army now in the field numbered about four
thousand effective men.
A party of Posey's brigade was sent in ad-
T%ead' vancc from Fort Wilburn to scour
^K^skko- ^^ country between Galena and the
nong Rock, and disperse Black Hawk's war-
party. It was this force that had the brush with
1 66 Essays in Western History
the Sauks at Kellogg's Grove on the twenty-
fifth of June, ah-eady alluded to. Meanwhile,
Alexander's and Henry's brigades had arrived
overland at Dixon's. On arrival of news of
the defeat of the Indians at Kellogg's, Alex*"
ander was despatched in haste to Plum River
to intercept the fugitives should they attempt
to cross the Mississippi at that point; while
Atkinson, with Henry and the regulars, re-
mained at Dixon's to await developments.
On learning that Black Hawk's main camp was
still near Lake Koshkonong, Atkinson at once
marched up the east bank of the Rock, leaving
Dixon's on the afternoon of June 27. The
main army, now consisting of four hundred
regulars and two thousand one hundred volun-
teer troops, was joined the following day by
a party of seventy-five friendly Potawatomis,
who seemed eager to join in the prospective
scrimmage.
On the thirtieth, the army crossed the Illinois-
Wisconsin boundary about one mile east of the
site of Beloit, near the Turtle village of the
Winnebagoes, whose inhabitants had flown at
the approach of the column.^ Sauk signs were
1 In the Beloit Weekly Free Press for October 15, 1891,
and January 21, i892» Cornelius Buckley discusses in detail
the place of crossing the boundary, and the site of Atkinson's
The Black Hawk War 167
fresh, for after his defeat at Kellogg's at the
hands of Posey and Dement, Black Hawk
had, instead of crossing the Mississippi, fled
directly to his stronghold, reaching the Rock
above the mouth of the Kishwaukee three or
four days in advance of the white army. It
was this warm trail that Atkinson's men, with
the vehemence of bloodhounds, were now fol-
lowing. When possible, at the close of each
day, the troops selected a camp in the timber,
were protected by breastworks, and at all
times slept on their arms, for there was con-
stant apprehension of a night attack; the
rear guard of the savages, prowling about in
the dark, were frequently fired on by the
sentinels.
The outlet of Lake Koshkonong was reached
on the second of July. Hastily deserted Indian
PruitUss camps were found, with white scalps
scouting hanging on the poles of the tepees.
Scouts made a tour of the lake, but beyond a
few stragglers nothing of importance was seen.
A few Winnebagoes hanging upon the flanks
of the column were captured, and after their
camp, which latter he places " near the northeast comer of
the southwest quarter of section 25, town i, and range 12,
and 480 rods north of the State line . . . and directly north
of the old fair grounds."
1 68 Essays in Western History
kind gave vague and contradictory testimony ;
one of them was shot and scalped for his
impertinence. Several succeeding daj^ were
spent in fruitless scouting. July 4« Alex-
ander arrived with Us brigade, reporting diat
he had found no traces of red men on the
Mississippi. On the sixth, Posey reported
with Dodge's squadron.
Dodge was at Fort Hamilton (Wiota) on
the twenty-eighth of June, reorganizing his
rangers, when Posey arrived from Kellogg's
Grove, bringing from Atkinson orders to bring
Dodge's command with him and join the main
army on the Koshkonong. At Sugar River,
Dodge was joined by Stephenson's Galena
company and by a party of twenty friendly
Menominees and eight or ten white and half-
breed scouts under Colonel William S. Hamil-
ton, a son of the famous Alexander, and then
a prominent lead miner. This recruited his
Rough Rider squadron so that it now numbered
about three hundred. Proceeding by the way
of the Four Lakes (neighborhood of Madison),
White Crow and thirty Winnebagoes offered
to conduct Posey and Dodge to Black Hawk's
camp, and unite with them for that purpose.
After advancing for several days through al-
most impassable swamps, the corps were within
The Black Hawk War 169
short distance of the locality sought, when
an express came from Atkinson ordering them
to proceed without delay to his camp on Bark
River, an eastern affluent of Lake Koshkonong,
for he believed the main body of the enemy to
be in that vicinity. This order much provoked
Dodge, but it proved to be opportune. Black
Black Hawk's camp occupied a position
Hawk's advantageous for defence, at the sum-
^«»»/ mit of a steep declivity on the east
bank of the Rock, where the river was difficult
of passage, being rapid and clogged with
boulders.^ White Crow's solicitude as a guide
was undoubtedly caused by his desire to lead
this small force, constituting the left wing of
the army, into a trap where it might have been
badly whipped if not annihilated.
The army was thus formed ; Posey's brigade
and Dodge's rangers comprised the left wing,
on the west side of the Rock; the regulars
under Taylor, and Henry's volunteers, were
the right wing, commanded by Atkinson in
person, and marched on the east bank ; while
Alexander's brigade, also on the west bank,
was the centre. While marching across
country. Dodge had conceived a poor opinion
of Posey's men, and on the arrival of the left
^ The site of the present village of Hustisford, Wisconsin.
■-' ■ ■ i.
1 70 Essays in Western Hisiory
wing at headquarters, solicited a change of
companions. To secure harmony, Atkinson
caused Posey and Alexander to exchange
positions.
While the treacherous White Crow had been
endeavoring to entrap the left wing, other
. Winnebagoes of the neighborhood informed
Atkinson that Black Hawk was encamped on
an island in the Whitewater River, a few miles
east of the American camp on the Bark. In
consequence, the commander was from the -
seventh to the ninth of July running a wild*
goose chase through the broad morasses and
treacherous sink-holes of that region. It was
because of this false information that Atkinson
had hastily summoned the left wing to his aid,
and thus in the nick of time unwittingly saved
it from grave danger. Through lack of con-
cert in their lying, the wily Winnebagoes
failed of their purpose, for in the meantime
the Hawk, startled from his cover by the
manoeuvring in his neighborhood, fled west-
ward to the Wisconsin River.
Governor Reynolds, and several other promi-
„,. . nent Illinois men who were with the
lUtnots
men dis- army, had become discouraged. They
courage therefore promptly left for home by
way of Galena, impressed with the opinion
The Black Hawk War 171
that the troops, now in wretched physical con-
dition, almost destitute of food, and flound-
ering aimlessly through the Wisconsin bogs,
were pursuing an ignis-fatuus and the Black
Hawk could never be captured.^
On the same day (July 10), Henry's and
Alexander's brigades were despatched with
At Port Dodge's squadron to Fort Winnebago,
Winnebago ^t the portagc of the Fox and Wis-
consin rivers, eighty miles to the northwesti
for much-needed provisions, it being the
nearest supply point The Second Regiment
of Posey's brigade, under Colonel Ewing, was
1 " On the loth of July, in the midst of a considerable
wilderness, the provisions were exhausted, and the army forced
to abandon the pursuit of the enemy for a short time.
Seeing the difficulties to reach the enemy, and knowing the
extreme uncertainty of ever reaching Black Hawk by these
slow movements, caused most of the army to believe we
would never overtake the enemy. This condition of affairs
forced on all reflecting men much mortification, and regret
that this campaign also would do nothing. Under these cir-
cumstances, a great many worthy and respectable individuals,
who were not particularly operative in the service, returned
to their home. My staff and myself left the army at the
burnt village, on Rock River, above Lake Koshkonong, and
returned by Galena to the frontiers and home. When I
reached Galena, the Indian panic was still raging with the
people there, and I was compelled to order out more troops
to protect the citizens — although the militia of the whole
country was in service." — Reynolds, pp. 251, 252.
172 Essays in Western History
sent down the Rock to Dixon's, with an officer
accidentally wounded ; while, with the rest of
his troops, Posey was ordered to Fort Ham-
ilton to guard the mining country, which
Dodge's absence had left exposed to the
enemy. Atkinson himself fell back to Lake
Koshkonong, and built a fort a few miles up
Bark River, on the eastern limit of the present
village of Fort Atkinson.
On arrival at Fort Winnebago, the troopers
found there a number of Winnebago IndianSp
all of them free with advice to the white chie&.
There was also at the fort a famous half-breed
scout and trader named Pierre Paquette, who
had long been a trusted servant of the Ameri-
can Fur Company. He informed Henry and
Dodge of the location of Black Hawk's strong-
hold, confirming White Crow's stor}'', but
with added information as to its character.
With twelve Winnebago companions, he was
promptly engaged as pilot thither. While the
division was at the fort, there was, from some
unknown cause, a stampede of its horses, the
animals plunging madly for thirty miles
through the neighboring swamps, where up-
wards of fifty were lost.^
1 Reynolds, pp. 254, 255 ; also Wis. Hist. Colls, ^ x., p.
3'4.
The Black Hawk War 173
Henry and Dodge, resolute Indian fighters,
decided to return to camp by way of the Hus-
tisford rapids, and there engage Black Hawk if
Mutinous possible. But Alexander's men re-
condua fused to enter upon this perilous
expedition, and insisted on obeying Atkin-
son's orders to return to headquarters by
the shortest available route. Alexander easily
yielded to his troopers' demands, and this
mutinous example would have corrupted
Henry's brigade but for the firmness of that
commander, who was a strict disciplinarian.
Alexander returned direct to camp (July 15),
with the men whose horses had been lost in
the stampede, and twelve days' provisions for
the main army. The same day, Henry and
Dodge, the former in command, started out
with twelve days' supplies for their own force,
accompanied by Paquette and the Winnebago
guides. The ranks had been depleted from
many causes, so that roll-call on the sixteenth
disclosed but six hundred effective men in
Henry's brigade, and about a hundred and
fifty in Dodge's squadron.
On the eighteenth, the troopers reached
Rock River and found the Winnebago village
at which Black Hawk and his band had been
quartered, but the enemy had fled. The Win-
174 Euayi m WesUm Histcfy
nebagoes insisted that their late visitors were
now at Cranbeny Lalce,^ a half d^s march
up the River, and the white commanders re-
solved to proceed thither the following day.
They had arrived at the village at noon, and
at two in the afternoon Adjutants Merriam of
Henry's, and Woodbridge of Dodge's, bearing
information of the supposed discovery, started
south to Atkinson's camp, thirty^-five nailea
down the river. Little Thunder, a Winnebago
chief, accompanied them as guide. Whek
nearly twenty miles out, and halfway betweea
Ahfi the present sites of Watertown and
trmi Jefferson, the messengers suddenly
struck a broad, fresh trail trending to the weA.
Little Thunder became greatly excited, and
shouted and gestured vehemently, but the
adjutants were unable to understand a word
of the Winnebago tongue. When the chief
suddenly turned his pony and dashed back to
Henry's camp, they were obliged to hasten
after him, as further progress through the
tangled thickets and wide morasses without a
pilot was inadvisable. Little Thunder had, it
seemed, returned to inform his people that the
trail of Black Hawk in his flight to the Missis-
1 Afterwards Horicon Lake, in Dodge County — now
drained.
Tlie Black Hawk War 175
sippi had been discovered, and to warn them
that further dissembling was useless.^
In the camp of the volunteers, this news was
received with great joy. Their sinking spirits
at once revived, and the following morning
pursuit on the fresh scent was undertaken with
an enthusiasm that henceforth had no occasion
The to lag. All possible encumbrances
pursuit were left behind, so that progress
should be unimpeded. The course lay slightly
to the north of west, through the present towns
of Lake Mills and Cottage Grove. The Chicago
& Northwestern Railway between Jefferson
Junction and Madison follows quite closely
Black Hawk's trail from the Rock River to the
Four Lakes. Deep swamps and sink-holes
were met by the army, nearly the entire dis-
tance. The men had frequently to dismount
and wade in water and mud to their armpits,
while the first night out a violent thunder-
storm with phenomenal rainfall, followed by an
unseasonable drop in the temperature, in-
creased the natural difficulties of the march.
But the fickle Winnebago stragglers, who in
this time of want and peril were deserting the
band of Sauk fugitives, and fawning upon their
white pursuers, reported the Hawk but two
1 WU, Hist, Colls. t ii., p. 407.
1 76 Essays in Western History
miles in advance, and the volunteefs eagerly
hurried on with empty stomachs and wet clothes.
By sunset of the second day Quly 20) tfaey
reached the lakes, going into camp for tbe
night a quarter of a mile north of the north-
east extremity of Lake Monona (Third Lake)/
That same night, Black Hawk vras strongly
^ Wakefield, who was with the army, gives this fa
picture (p. 66) of the now famous Four-lalce Gomitij» as ife
appeared to him, July 20, 1832 : ^ Here it may not be
teresting to the reader to giro a small outline of those
From a description of the country, a person would vefy nets-
rally suppose that those lakes were as little pleasing to tbe
eye of the traveller as the country is. But not so. I tUnk
they are the most beautiful bodies of water I ever saw. The
first one that we came to [Monona] was about ten milee la
circumference, and the water as clear as chrystal. The earth
sloped back in a gradual rise; the bottom of the lake ap-
peared to be entirely covered with white pebbles, and no
appearance of its being the least bit swampy. The second
one that we came to [Mendota] appeared to be much larger.
It must have been twenty miles in circumference. The
ground rose very high all around ; ^ and the heaviest kind of
timber grew close to the water's edge. If those lakes were
anywhere else, except in the country they are, they would
be considered among the wonders of the world. But the
country they are situated in is not fit for any civilized nation
of people to inhabit. It appears that the Almighty intended
it for the children of the forest. The other two lakes
[Kegonsa (First) and Waubesa (Second)] we did not get
close enough for me to give a complete description of them ;
but those who saw them, stated that they were very much
like the others."
The Black Hawk War 177
ambushed, seven or eight miles beyond, near
the present village of Pheasant Branch, at the
western extremity of Lake Mendota.
At daybreak of the twenty-first, the troops
were awakened, and, after fording Catfish River
where the Williamson Street bridge now crosses
At it, swept in regular line of battle across
Madison ^^ isthmus between Monona and Men-
dota lakes, Ewing's spies to the front. Where
to-day is built the park-like city of Madison,
the capital of Wisconsin, was then a heavy
forest with frequent dense thickets of under-
brush. The line of march was along the
shore of Monona to about the present site of
the Fauerbach brewery, thence almost due
west to Mendota, the hilly shores of which
were closely skirted through the present campus
of the University of Wisconsin, across inter-
vening swamps and hills to Pheasant Branch,
and thence due northwest to Wisconsin River,
which here sweeps in majestic curves between
corrugated, grass-grown bluffs, some two or
three hundred feet in height. The advance
was so rapid that, during the day, forty
horses succumbed between the Catfish and the
Wisconsin. When his animal gave out, the
trooper would trudge on afoot, throwing away
his camp-kettle and other encumbrances, thus
12
1 78 Essays in Western History
following the example of the fugitives, whose
trail was strewn with Indian mats, kettles, and
miscellaneous equipage discarded in the hurry
of flight. Some half-dozen inoffensive Sauk
stragglers, chiefly old men who had become
exhausted by the famine now prevailing in
the Hawk's camp,^ were at intervals shot and
scalped by the whites — two of them within
the present limits of Madison.
It was three o'clock in the afternoon before
the enemy's rear guard of twenty braves under
Neapopewas overtaken. Several running skir-
mishes ensued. The timber was still thick, and
it was impossible at first to know whether or
not Neapope's party were the main body of
the fugitives. The weakness of the tribesmen
after a time became apparent, and thereafter
when they made a feint the spies would charge
and easily disperse them.
At about half-past four o'clock, when within
1 "During our encampment at Four Lakes, we were hard
put, to obtain enough to eat to support nature. Stuck in a
swampy, marshy country (which had been selected in conse-
quence of the great difficulty required to gain access thereto),
there was but little game of any sort to be found — and fish
were equally scarce. . . . We were forced to dig roots and
bark trees, to obtain something to satisfy our hunger and
keep us alive. Several of our old people became so much
reduced, as actually to die with hunger." — Autobiography,
p. 130.
The Black Hawk War 179
a mile and a half of the river, and some twenty-
five miles northwest of the site of Madison,
Baiiuof Neapope's band, reinforced by a score
fViiemiiH of bravcs under Black Hawk, made
*''"^*" a bold stand to cover the flight of
the main body of his people down the blufls
and across the broad island-studded stream.
Every fourth man of the white column was de-
tailed to hold the horses, while the rest of the
troopers advanced on foot. The savages, yell-
ing like madmen, made a heavy charge, and
endeavored to flank the whites, but Colonel
Frye on the right and Colonel Jones on the
left repulsed them with loss. The Sauks now
dropped into the grass, here nearly six feet
high; but after a half-hour of hot firing on
both sides, with a few casualties evenly distrib-
uted, Dodge, Ewing, and Jones charged the
enemy with the bayonet, driving them up a
rising piece of ground at the top of which
a second rank was found, skilfully covering
the retreat. After further firing, the Indians
swiftly descended through the rank herbage of
the bluffs to join their main body, now engaged
in crossing the river. It had been raining
soflly during the greater part of the battle, and
difEculty was experienced in keeping the mus-
kets dry; nevertheless a sharp fire was ke^
i8o Essays in Western History
up between the lines until dusk. At the base
of the bluffs there was swampy ground some
sixty yards in width, thick strewn with willows,
and then a heavy fringe of timber on a strip of
firm ground along the river-bank. As the
Indians could reach this vantage-point beforcS
being overtaken, it was deemed best to abaor
don the pursuit for the night
Black Hawk, skilful in military operations^
personally conducted the battle, on the part of
the Sauks, and from a neighboring knoll, where
he was seated on a white pony, directed and
encouraged his men with clear, loud voice.^
After dusk had set in, a considerable party
of the fugitives, composed mainly of women,
children, and old men, were placed on a large
raft and in canoes begged from the Winneba-
goes, and sent down the river in the hope that
the soldiers at Fort Crawford, guarding the
mouth of the Wisconsin, would allow these
non-combatants to cross the Mississippi in
peace. But too much reliance was placed on
the humanity of the Americans. Lieutenant
1 Black Hawk says that he lost six warriors in this en*
gagement at Wisconsin Heights (opposite Prairie du Sac).
Mrs. Kinzie's Wau Bun (New York, 1856) says, it was re-
ported at Fort Winnebago that fifty Sauks were killed.
Wakefield puts the number at sixty-eight killed outright,
and twenty-five mortally wounded.
The Black Hawk War 1 8 1
Joseph Ritner, with a small detachment of
regulars, was sent out by Indian Agent Joseph
M. Street^ to intercept these forlorn, half-
starved wretches, a messenger from the field
of battle having appri3ed the agent of their
approach. A short distance above Fort Craw-
ford, Ritner fired on them, killing fifteen men
and capturing thirty-two women and children,
and four men. Nearly as many more were
drowned during the onslaught; while of the
rest, who escaped to the wooded shores, all
but a half-score perished with hunger or were
massacred by a belated party of three hundred
Menominee allies from the Green Bay district,
under Colonel Stambaugh and a small stafT of
white officers.^
During the night after the battle of Wiscon-
sin Heights — as that affair has since been
Anunsuc ^uown in history — there were fre-
cessfui quent alarms from prowling Indians,
"^^'"' and the men, fearing an attack, were
nearly always under arms. About an hour
and a half before dawn of the twenty-second,
a loud, shrill voice, speaking in an unknown
tongue, was heard from the direction of the
^ Stationed at Prairie du Chien.
* See " Boyd Papers," Wis, HisU Colls», xii., for the docu-
mentary history of Stambaugh's expedition.
l83 Essays in Wesiem History
eminence known to have been occupied by
Sack Hawk during the previous afternoon.
There was at once a panic in the camp, for it
was thought that the savage leader was giving
orders for an attack, and Henry thought it de-
sirable to bolster the courage of his men by
making thera a patriotic speech, during which
tile interrupted harangue of the savage ceased.
It was afterwards learned that the orator
was Neapope, who had spoken in the Win-
nebago tongue, under the presumption that
Faquettc and the Winnebago pilots were still
in camp. But during the night they had left
for Fort Winnebago, and it chanced that no
one among the troops had understood a word
of the speech — an offer of conciliation, ad-
dressed to the victors. Neapope had said that
with the Sauks were their squaws, children, and
old people ; they had unwillingly been forced
into war, they were literally starving, and if
allowed to cross the Mississippi in peace would
nevermore do harm. But the plea fell on ui^
witting ears, and thus failed the second earnest
attempt of the British Band to close the war.
As for Neapope, finding that his mission had
failed, — apparently through the hardness of
the American heart, — he fled to the Winne-
bagoes, leaving his half-dozen companions to
J
The Black Hawk War 183
return with the discouraging news to Black
Hawk, now secretly encamped with the rem-
nant of his band in a neighboring ravine north
of the Wisconsin.^
The twenty-second of July was spent by the
white army on the battlefield, making prepara-
tions to march to the rude local fort at Blue
Mounds for supplies. It was now known that
during the night the enemy had escaped across
or down the river; and the troops were in-
sufficiently provisioned for a long chase
through the unknown country beyond Wis-
consin River.
On the twenty-third, Henry marched with
his corps to Blue Mounds, and late that even-
Prej>aring i^g was joined by Atkinson and
for the Alexander, who, on being informed
pursuit r \
by express of the discovery of the
trail and the rapid chase, had left the fort on
the Koshkonong and hastened on to the
Mounds to join the victors. Atkinson assumed
command, distributed rations to the men, and
ordered that the pursuit be resumed.
On the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth,
the Wisconsin was crossed on rafts at Helena,
1 Autobiography y pp. 131-133. Black Hawkhdoes not men-
tion this incident of Neapope's night harangue. Reynolds
reports it, p. 362; so also Ford, p. 146, and Wakefield, p. 86.
184 Essays in Western History
then a deserted log village, whose cabins had
furnished material for the floats.^ Posey here
joined the army with his brigade, and thus all
of the generals were now reunited. The march
was commenced at noon of the twenty-eighth,
the four hundred and fifty regulars, now under
General Brady, — with Colonel Taylor still of
the party, — in advance ; while Dodge, Posey,
and Alexander followed in the order named,
Henry bringing up the rear in charge of the
ba^age. It appears that much jealousy had
been displayed by Atkinson, at the fact that
the laurels of the campaign, such as they were,
had thus far been won by the volunteers, \
Henry, as chief of the victors at Wisconsin
Heights, was especially unpopular at head-
quarters. But the brigadier and his men
trudged peacefully on behind, judiciously
pocketing what they felt to be an affront.'
» See JTm.A'jj/. Ci>//J.,)d.,p.403;and libby's " Chroniclo
o( the Helena Shot Tower," iUd., liii., pp 33S-374. The
town, buiti for the accommodation of Che employees of t,
shot-making company, had been deseited at the outbreak of
the war, most of the men being now members of Dodge'i
rangers.
* Ford, pp. 146-15S, publishes some interesting corre-
spondence, showing that Dodge was disposed to claim more
than his share uf the honois of this and some other engage-
ments In Ihe war, and to ignore Heniy as his superior officer.
Those men under Dodge, who have written about the cam-
The Black Hawk War 185
After marching four or five miles northeast-
ward, the trail of the fugitives was discovered
A forbid- trending to the north of west, towards
ding path ^^ Mississippi. The country between
the Wisconsin and the great river is rugged
and forbidding in character; it was then un-
known to whites, and almost equally unfamiliar
to the Winnebago guides. The impediments
were many and serious, swamps and turbulent
rivers being freely interspersed between steep,
thickly wooded hills. However, the fact that
they were noticeably gaining on the enemy
constantly spurred the troopers to great en-
deavors. The pathway was strewn with the
bodies of dead Sauks, who had died of wounds
and starvation, and there were frequent evi-
dences that to sustain life the fleeing wretches
were eating the bark of trees and the sparse
flesh of their fagged-out ponies.^
paign, extol the superior merits of their chief ; but in Illinois
pioneer reminiscences, Henry is invariably the hero of the
occasion.
1 " I started over a rugged country, to go to the Mis-
sbsippi, intending to cross it, and return to my nation.
Many of our people were compelled to go on foot, for want
of horses, which, in consequence of their having had nothing
to eat for a long time, caused our march to be very slow. At
length we reached the Mississippi, having lost some of our
old men and little children, who perished on the way with
hunger." — Autobiography f^. 133.
1 86 Essays in Western History
On Wednesday, the first of August, Black
Hawk and his now sadly depleted and almost
The famished band reached the Missis-
Mississifpi, sippi at a point two miles below the
mouth of the Bad Axe, a small east-
ern tributary, and about forty north of the
Wisconsin. In these upper reaches the broad
river is diverted into several channels by long,
narrow islands heavily wooded by swamp oaks
and willows, and thick strewn with giant wind-
rows of drift, lodged by spring freshets. Here
Black Hawk undertook to cross ; there were,
however, but two or three canoes to be had,
and the work was slow. One large raft, laden
with women and children, was despatched to
thread its way under cover of the islands along
the east side of the river, towards Prairie du
Chien ; but on the way it capsized, probably
impelled upon one of the sprawling snags
which ofttimes rendered early river navigation
a perilous undertaking, and nearly all of its
occupants were drowned.
In the middle of the afternoon, the steamer
** Warrior," of Prairie du Chien, used to trans-
port army supplies, appeared on the scene
with John Throckmorton as captain.^ On
1 See Fonda's report of the " Warrior's " part in the battle,
Wis, Hist. Colls, ^ v., pp. 261-264.
i
The Black Hawk War 187
board were Lieutenants Gaines P. Kingsbury
and Reuben Holmes, with fifteen regulars and
six volunteers. The party had been up the
river to notify the friendly Sioux chief Wa-
basha, — whose village was on the site of
Winona, Minnesota, — that the Sauks were
headed in that direction. As the steamer
The Battle ncarcd the shore. Black Hawk ap-
ofthe Bad pearcd on the bank with a white flag,
and in the Winnebago tongue called
to the captain to send a boat ashore, as the
fugitives wished to give themselves up. A
Winnebago stationed in the bow interpreted
the request, but the captain affected to believe
that an ambush was intended, and ordered the
Hawk to come aboard in his own craft. This
the Sauk could not do, for the only canoes
at his command were engaged in transporting
his women and children across the river, and
were not now within hail. His reply to this
effect was quickly met by three successive
rounds of canister-shot, which ploughed with
deadly effect through the little group of Indians
on shore. There followed a fierce fire of
musketry on both sides, in which twenty-
three Indians were killed, while the whites
suffered the loss of but one wounded. The
"Warrior," now being short of fuel, towards
1 88 Essays in Western History
night returned to Prairie du Chien to ** wood
up/' the soldiers much elated at thdr share in
the campaign.
During the night a few more savages crossed
the river into Minnesota; but Black Hawfc>
foreseeing that disaster was about to befidl
his people, gathered a party of ten warriois»
among whom was the Prophet, and these* with
about thirty-five squaws and children, headed
east for a rocky hiding-place at the Dalles of the
Wisconsin, whither some Winnebagoes offered
to guide them.^ The next day the heart of
the old man smote him for having left hia
people to their fate, and he returned in time
to witness from a neighboring bluff the con-
clusion of the Battle of the Bad Axe, that
struck the death-blow to the British Band.
With a howl of rage, he turned back into the
forest and fled.
The aged warrior had left excellent instruc-
tions to his braves, in the event of the arrival
of the white army by land. Twenty picked
Sauks were ordered to stand rear guard on one
of the high, ravine-washed bluffs which here
line the east bank of the Mississippi; and
when engaged, to fall back three miles up the
river, thus to deceive the whites as to the
1 Wakefield, pp. 97, 98.
The Black Hawk War 1 89
location of the main band, and gain time for
the flight of the latter across the stream, which
was progressing slowly with but two canoes
now left for the purpose.
Atkinson's men were on the move by two
o'clock in the morning of the second. When
within four or five miles of the Sauk position,
the decoys were encountered. The density
of the bottom timber obstructing the view, and
the twenty braves being widely separated, it
was supposed that the main force of the enemy
had been overtaken. The army accordingly
spread itself for the attack, Alexander and
Posey forming the right wing, Henry the left,
and Dodge and the regulars the centre. When,
as directed by their chief, the braves retreated
up the river, the white centre and right wing
followed quickly, leaving the left wing — with
the exception of one of its regiments detailed
to cover the rear — without orders. This was
clearly an additional affront to Henry, Atkin-
son's design being doubtless to crowd him out
of what all anticipated would be the closing
engagement of the campaign, and what little
glory might come of it.
But the fates did not desert the brigadier.
Some of Ewing's spies, attached to his com-
mand, accidentally discovered that the main
190 Essays in Western History
trsul of the fugitive band was lower down the
river-bank than whither the decoys were lead-
ing the army. Henry, with his entire force,
thereupon descended a bluff in the immediate
neighborhood, and after a dash on foot through
the open wooded plateau between the base of
the bluff and the shore, found himself in the
midst of the main body of three hundred war-
riors, which was about the number of the at-
tacking party. A desperate conflict ensued,
the bucks being driven from tree to tree at the
point of the bayonet, while women and chil-
dren plunged madly into the river, many of
them being immediately drowned. The air
quivered with savage yells and whoops, with
the hoarse cry of the troopers as they cheered
one another on, and with the shrill notes of the
bugle directing the details of the attack.
A full half-hour after Henry had made his
descent upon the Sauk centre, Atkinson, hear-
ing the din of battle in his rear, came hasten-
ing to the scene with the centre and right wing,
driving in the decoys and stragglers before
him, thus completing the corral. The carnage
now proceeded more fiercely than ever. The
red men fought with intense desperation, and,
though weak from hunger, died like braves.
A few escaped through a broad slough to a
The Black Hawk War 191
willow island, which the steamer "Warrior,"
now reappearing on the river, raked from end
to end with canister. This was followed by
a wild charge through mud and water by a
detachment of regulars, with a few of Henry's
and Dodge's volunteers, who ended the affair
by sweeping the island with a bayonet charge.
Some of the fugitives succeeded in swimming to
the west bank of the Mississippi, but many were
drowned on the way, or coolly picked off by
sharpshooters, who exercised no more mercy
towards squaws and children than towards
braves — treating them all as though rats
rather than human beings.^
The Battle of the Bad Axe — massacre
would be a better term — lasted for three long,
horrible hours. Few if any contests between
red men and white men have been less credit-
able to our race. In the course of the carnage,
^ ** Although the warriors fought with the courage and
▼alor of desperation, yet the conflict resembled more a car-
nage than a regular battle." — Reynolds, p. 265.
" Our braves, but few in number, finding that the enemy
paid no regard to age or sex, and seeing that they were mur-
dering helpless women and little children, determined to
fight until they were killed." — Autobiography ^ p. 135.
Wakefield says, p. 85, " It was a horrid sight to witness
little children, wounded and suffering the most excruciating
pain. ... It was enough to make the heart of the most
hardened being on earth to ache."
193 Essays in Western History
a hundred and fifty Indians were slaughtered
outright, while as many more of both sexes
and all ages and conditions were drowned —
some fifty only being taken prisoners, and
they mostly women and children. About
three hundred of the band successfully crossed
the river, before and during the struggle. The
whites lost but seventeen killed and twelve
wounded.^
Those few of the Sauks who safely regained
the west bank were soon set upon by a party
Adis- ^^ ^ hundred Sioux, under Wabasha,
JUmaraHt Sent out for that purpose by Atkin-
^^^^ son; and a half of these helpless,
nearly starved non-combatants were cruelly
slaughtered, while many others died of exhaus-
tion and wounds before they reached those of
their friends who had been wise enough to
abide by Keokuk's peaceful admonitions and
stay at home. Thus, out of the band of nearly
a thousand persons who crossed the Missis-
sippi at the Yellow. Banks in April, not more,
all told, than a hundred and fifty, lived to tell
the tragic story of the Black Hawk War — a
1 I follow Reynolds, p. 265. He says apologetically,
years after the event, " Some squaws were killed by mistake
in the battle. They were mixed with the warriors, and some
of them dressed like the males."
The Black Hawk War 193
dishonorable chapter in the history of the
border.
The rest can soon be told. On the seventh
of August, when the victors had returned to
Prairie du Chien, General Winfield
Scott arrived and assumed command,
discharging the volunteers the following day.
Cholera among his troops had detained him
first at Detroit, then at Chicago, and lastly at
Rock Island, nearly a fourth of his detachment
of a thousand regulars having died of the pes-
tilence. Independent of this, the American loss
in the war, including volunteers and settlers
killed in the irregular skirmishes and in massa-
cres, was not over two hundred and fifty. The
financial cost to the nation and to the State of
Illinois aggregated nearly two millions of dollars.
On the twenty-seventh of August, Chaetar
and One-eyed Decorah, two Winnebago braves
Black ^^^ "^tx^ desirous of displaying their
Hawk a newly-inspired loyalty to the Amer-
trisoner j^^^^g^ delivered Black Hawk and the
Prophet into the hands of Agent Street, at
Prairie du Chien. They had found the con-
spirators at the Dalles of Wisconsin River,
above the site of Kilbourn City.^
1 See McBride's " Capture of Black Hawk/* in Wis, Hist.
CdU^y v., pp. 293, 294; id.f viii., p. 316, note; Wakefield, pp.
13
194 Essays in Western History
On the twenty-first of September, a treaty
of peace was signed at Fort Armstrong; under
its terms, Black Hawk, the Prophet, and Nea-
pope — who had been captured later — were,
with others, kept as hostages for the good be-
haviour of the small remnant of the British
Band and their Winnebago allies.^ They were
kept through the winter at Jefferson Barracks
(St Louis),' and in April, 1823, taken to
Washington; thence being sent as prisoners
of war to Fortress Monroe, where they were
discharged on the fourth of June. After visit-
ing the principal cities of the East, in which
Black Hawk was much lionized, and came for
the first time to appreciate the power and re-
95-101. There have been many traditions of the capture,
differing from the above, but there is no documentary evi-
dence to substantiate them. The account here followed is
based upon Street's official report. Decorah received from "
Atkinson, at Dixon, twenty horses as his reward for the
delivery. The originals of much of Street's correspondence
as Indian Agent are in the Iowa and Wisconsin historical
archives.
1 Treaties, p. 508.
^ Lieutenant Jefferson Davis took charge of the transfer
of the prisoners from Fort Armstrong to Jefferson Barracks.
The Davis biography previously cited, says, " He entirely
won the heart of the savage chieftain, and before they
reached Jefferson Barracks there had sprung up between the
stern red warrior and the young pale face a warm friendship
which only terminated with the life of Black Hawk."
The Black Hawk War 195
sources of the whites, the party returned to Fort
Armstrong, where they arrived about the first
of August Here the pride of the Sauk leader
was completely crushed, he being formally
transferred by the military authorities to the
guardianship of his hated rival, Keokuk. This
ceremony the fallen Black Hawk regarded as an
irreparable insult, which he nursed with much
bitterness through the remainder of his days.
The broken-hearted warrior, with the weight
of seventy-one years upon his whitened head,
Death of passed away on the third of October,
Vie Hawk 1838, at his home on a small reserva-
tion which had been set apart for him and his
few remaining followers, on the Des Moines
River, in Davis County, lowa.^ In July of the
following year, an Illinois physician rifled his
grave. Complaint being made by Black Hawk's
family, Governor Lucas of Iowa, in the spring
of 1840, caused the skeleton to be delivered to
him at Burlington, then the capital of that
Territory. Later in the year the seat of gov-
ernment being moved to Iowa City, the box
1 Cornelius Buckley writes, in the Beloit Weekly Free
PresSf October 15, 1891 : "He was buried in the northeast
corner of Davis County, on section 2, township 70, range 12,
ninety rods from where he died, and near the present village
of Eldon."
X96 JEssa^s in WesUm History
containing the remains was deposited in a law
office in that town, where it remained until the
night of January 16, 1853, when the building
was destroyed by fire.^
Black Hawk was an indiscreet man. His
troubles were, in the main, the result of lack
His of mental balance, aided largely by
***''«'*^ untoward circumstances. He was of
a highly romantic temperament; his judgment
was warped by sentiment ; and tricksters easily
played upon this weakness. But he was honesty
<^ more honorable, often, than those who were
his conquerors. He was, above all things, a
patriot. In the year before his death, he made
a speech to a party of whites who were making
a holiday hero of hijm, and thus forcibly de-
fended his motives : " Rock River was a beau-
tiful country. I liked my town, my cornfields,
and the home of my people. I fought for
them." No poet could have penned for him a
more touching epitaph.
Forbearance, honorable dealing, and the ex-
ercise of sound policy upon the part of the
whites might easily have prevented the war,
1 It had been designed to place the warrior's bones in the
museum of the Iowa Historical and Geological Institute, but
the fire occurred before the removal could take place. — Bur-
lington (Iowa) Gazette^ August 25, 1888.
The Black Hawk War 197
with Its pitiful expenditure of blood and
treasure. Squatters had been allowed with
impunity to violate the spirit of treaty obli-
gations, in harassing the Sauks in their ancient
village long before the government had sold
the land ; for six thousand dollars — a beggarly
price for securing peace with a formidable
band of starving savages, grown desperate
from ill usage — Black Hawk would, in 1831,
have removed his people to the west of the
Mississippi, without any show of force ; ^ at
Sycamore Creek, an observance of one of the
oldest and most universally-established rules of
war would have procured a peaceful retreat
of the discouraged invaders ; on the night of
the Battle of Wisconsin Heights, reasonable
prudence in keeping an interpreter in camp, in
a hostile country, would have enabled Nea-
pope's peaceful mission to succeed; at the
Bad Axe, as at Sycamore Creek, a decent
regard for the accepted amenities of civilized
warfare, on the part of the reckless soldiers
on the steamer " Warrior,*' would have secured
an abject surrender of the entire hostile band,
which was, instead, ruthlessly butchered ; while
the sending out of Sioux bloodhounds upon the
trail of the few worn-out fugitives, in the very
1 Autobiography, pp. 99, 100.
198 Essays in Western History
country bejrond the great river to which the
Sauks had been persistently ordered, capped
the climax of a bloody and costly contest
characterized on our part by gross misman-
agement, bad faith, and sheer heartlessness.
It is generally stated in the published his-
tories of those commonwealths that the defeat
^^ ^^^ of Black Hawk opened to settlement
accom^ northern Illinois and the southern
^Ushtd portion of what is now Wisconsin.
Unqualified, this statement is misleading. In-
directly, it is true that the war proved a
powerful agent in the development of that
region. The British Band was in itself no
obstacle to legitimate settlement, the fron-
tiers of which were far removed from Black
Hawk's village, and need not to have crowded
it for several years to come. Although the
natural outgrowth of the excitable condition
of the border, the war was not essential as a
means of clearing the path of civilization.
What it did accomplish in the way of territo-
rial development, was to call national attention,
in a marked manner, to the attractions and re-
sources of an important section of the North-
west. The troops acted as explorers of a large
tract concerning which nothing had hitherto
definitely been known among white men. The
The Black Hawk War 1 99
Sauks themselves were, previous to their inva-
sion, unacquainted with the Rock River valley
above the mouth of the Kishwaukee, and had
but vague notions of its swamps and lakes,
gathered from their Winnebago guides, who
alone were well informed on the subject. From
Wisconsin Heights to the Bad Axe, every foot
of the trackless way was as unknown to the
Sauks and their pursuers as was the interior of
Africa to Stanley, when he first groped his way
across the Dark Continent. During and imme-
diately following the war, the newspapers of
the Eastern States were filled with descriptions,
more or less florid, of the scenic charms of,
and the possibilities for, extractive industries
in, the Rock River valley, of the groves and
prairies on every hand, of the park-like region
of the Four Lakes, of the Wisconsin River
highlands, and of the picturesque hills and
dense forests of Western Wisconsin. From the
press were issued books and pamphlets by
the score, giving sketches of the war and ac-
counts of the newly discovered paradise — for
the most part crude publications abounding in
gross errors, and to-day practically unknown
save to bibliographers and collectors. But in
their own way and season they advertised the
country and set flowing thither a tide of immi-
000 Esu^ im Wtsttru HiUoty
gration. There necessarily followed, In due
time, the opening to sale of pubUc lands here-
tofore reserved, and the purchase of whatterti<
tcuy remained in the possesuon of tiie Indian
tribes of A« district Quite as important the
decisive ending of this war wiA Ae Sauks
completely hiimbled the spirit of the rabchieC-
making Winnebagoes, so that they ne^ re-
samed their old-time arrogant tone, and were'
quite content to allow the afiair to remain tlw
last of the Indian uprisings in either IlUnt^
or Wisconsin. '
This incidental subduing of the V^nneba-
goes, and the broad and liberal advMtising
given to the theatre of disturbance, were there-
fore the two practical and immediate results
of the Black Hawk War, the consequence of
which was at once to give an enormous impetus
to the development of both the State of Illinois
and the Territory of Wisconsin.^
1 Wisconsin Territory waa creeled in 1836.
IV
THE STORY OF MACKINAC
IV
THE STORY OF MACKINAC
MACKINAC has played a considerable
part on the stage of Western history.
Early recognized as a vantage-point, com-
manding the commerce of the three uppermost
A struggle lakes of the great chain, — Huron,
for mastery Michigan, and Superior, — red men
and white men have struggled for its mastery,
tribe against tribe, nation against nation. The
fleur-de-lis, the union jack, and the stars and
stripes, have here each in their turn been
symbols of conqueror and conquered ; coun-
cils have been held here, and treaties signed,
which settled the political ownership of fertile
regions as wide as all Europe; and when at
last armed hostilities ceased through the final
surrender to the Republic, when the toma-
hawk was buried and the war-post painted
white, a new warfare opened at Mackinac —
the commercial struggle of the great fur-trade
companies, whose rival banners contested the
304 Essays in WesUm HisUfijf^ v
the Platte, from the Columbia to Georgian Bay,
It 13 a far cry from the invasion of Chippewa
Michillimackinac by the long-haired coureurs
de bois of New France, to the invasion of
Mackinac Island by modem armies of summer
tourists from New York and New England,
In attempting, within this narrow compass, to
tell the story of Mackinac, it will be imprac-
ticable to take more than a bird's-eye \dew. -
In the first place, let us nnderstand thift
the term Mackinac, ss used in our cariiatf:
nm history. Is tiie title of the entire dift-
at^MMct trict hereabout, as well as that of n
particular settlement. T^ere have been, fa
chronological' succession, at least three distinct
localities specifically styled Mackinac: (i) Be-
tween 1670 and 1672, Mackinac Island, near
the centre of the strait, was the seat of a
French Jesuit mission. {2) From 1672 to 1 706,
the Mackinac of history was on the north side
of the strait, upon Point St. Ignace, and wholly
under the French regime. (3) From i7i2to
1781 Mackinac was on the south side of the
strait — until 1763, just west of the present
Mackinaw City, and possibly between 1764 and
1 78 1 at some point farther west along the coast
of Lake Michigan; this south-side Mackinac
The Story of Mackinac 205
was at first French and then English, and the
site near Mackinaw City has come to be known
in history as "Old Mackinaw." Finally, the
Mackinac settlement was in 1781 once more
placed upon the island, and while at first under
English domination at last became American.
A remembrance of these facts will help to
dispel the fog which has often obscured our
historical view of Mackinac.
That indefatigable explorer of high seas and
pathless forests, Samuel de Champlain, planted
the first permanent French colony in
hears of Canada on the rock of Quebec, in
^* . 1608 — only a twelvemonth later than
the establishment of Jamestown, and
full twelve years before the coming to Plymouth
of the Pilgrim Fathers. It was seven years be-
fore Champlain saw Lake Huron, his farthest
point west in the limitless domain which the
King of France had set him to govern. Twenty-
one years had passed — years of heroic strug-
gling to push back the walls of savagery which
hemmed him in; when one day there came
to Quebec, in the fleet of Indian canoes from
this far northwest, — which annually picked
its way over fifteen hundred miles of rugged
waterways beset with a multitude of terrors, —
a naked Algonkin, besmeared with grease and
2o6 Essays in Western History
colored clays, who laid at the feet of the great
white chief a lump of copper mined on the
shores of Lake Superior. A shadowy r^on
this, as far removed from the ordinary haunts
of the adventurous woodsmen of New France
as were the headwaters of the Nile from the
African explorers of a generation ago, and
quite as dangerous of access.
It was five years later (1634) before Cham-
plain could see his way to sending a proper
jgan emissary into the Northwest Finally
i<ncoUi Qjjg ^y^ found in the person of young
Jean Nicolet, whom Champlain had had trained
in the forest for tasks like this. Conveyed by
Indian oarsmen engaged by relays in the sev-
eral tribes through which he passed, Nicolet
pushed up the St. Lawrence, portaged around
the rapids at Lachine, ascended the trough
of the turbulent Ottawa with its hundred water-
falls, portaged over to Lake Nipissing, de-
scended French Creek to Georgian Bay, and
threading the gloomy archipelago of the Mani-
toulins, sat at last in a Chippewa council at
Sault Ste. Marie. Doubtless he here heard
of Lake Superior, not many miles away, but
it does not appear that he saw its waters. In-
tent on finding a path which led to the China
Sea, supposed not to be far beyond this point,
The Story of Mackinac 207
he turned south again, and pushing on through
the straits of Mackinac found and traversed
Lake Michigan. He traded and made treaties
with the astonished tribesmen of Wisconsin
and Illinois, who in him saw their first white
man, and thus brought the Northwest within
the sphere of French influence.^
Seven years later the Jesuit missionaries,
Jogues and Raymbault, following in the path
The of Nicolet, said mass before two thou-
%^^^^, sand breech-clouted savages at Sault
Ste. Marie. Affairs moved slowly
in the seventeenth century, upon these far-
away borders of New France. Jogues and
Raymbault had long been ashes before the
Northwest again appeared on the pages of
history; nearly a generation had passed be-
fore the daring forest traders and explorers,
Radisson and Groseilliers, arrived upon the
scene (1658-62), discovered the Upper Mis-
sissippi, discovered Lake Superior, and first
^ Authorities on Nicolet are : Butterfield's History of the
Discovery of the Northwest by John Nicolet (Cincinnati, 1881) ;
Gosselin's Les Normands au Canada — Jean Nicolet (Evreux,
1893) » Jouan's " Interpr^te voyageur au Canada, 1618-1642,"
in La Revue Canadienne, F^vrier, 1886; Suite's Melanges
d*histoire et de littirature (Ottawa, 1876) ; articles by Garneau,
Ferland, Suite, etc., in Wis, Historical Collections ; and a
bibliography by Butterfield in ibid,^ xi., pp. 23, 25.
^o8 EiMyt M Wtsten^ History
made known to the Ea^tsb tbe fur-trading
capabilities of the Hudson Bay regioa. Tb«
Hudson's Bay Company was organiied ta
London, with these renegade Frenchmen M
their pilots, ia 1670; the following year, at
Sault Ste. Marie, where the Jesuits had a finrty
prosperous mission, Saint-Lusson fermally
took possession of the great Northwest for
tlie French king.* I suppose that Saiatr
Lusson, when he floated the banner of France
at the gateway of Lake Superior, knew no^lil^[
of his English neighbors, the Hudson's Bay
Company; unconsciously he made aa ioh
portant play for France on the American.
chess-board ; but a century later England
won the game.
Those who have read Parktnan's Jesuits*
will remember that the Hurons, whose habitat
Flight of had long been upon the eastern shores
ih*Htiron! of Georgian Bay, retreated northward
and westward before the advance of the all-
conquering Iroquois. At first taking refuge
with starving Algonkins on the Manitoulin
Islands, and on the mainland hereabout, they
1 See Saint-Lusson'a procii-verbal (June 14, 167:), in
Wis. Hist. Colli., xi., pp. 26-29.
' The present article, however. Is in this respect basei
upon Thvrailes's The Jesuit EdtOiens and Allied Decuments
(Cleveland, 1896-1901).
The Story of Mackinac 209
were soon driven forth by their merciless foe,
and made their stand in the swamps and
tangled woods of far-away Wisconsin. Many
of them centred upon Chequamegon Bay, the
island-locked estuary near the southwest corner
of Lake Superior, the ancient home of the
Chippewas. Here Radisson and Groseilliers
visited and traded with them.^ The Jesuit
M6nard, who had accompanied these adven-
turers, — the first missionary to follow in the
wake of Jogues and Raymbault, — had stopped
at Keweenaw Bay to minister to the Ottawas,
and later lost his life while trying to reach a
village of Hurons, crouching, fear-stricken, in
the forest fastnesses around the headwaters
of the Black River.^
Then came, three years later (1665), Father
At Chequa- Alloucz, to reopeu at Chequamegon
nugon Bay ^^y ^^ Jesuit missiou on our great-
est inland sea. AUoiiez being ordered, after
^ Radisson's ** Journal" first appeared in Prince Soc,
Pubs.y xvi. (Boston, 1885). Portions were published with
notes, in Wis. Hist Colls.^ xi. See the following monographs
on this subject: CampbeU's "Exploration of L. Superior,"
Parkman Club Pubs., No. 2 (Milw., 1896), and Moore's " Dis-
coveries of L. Superior," in Mich. Polit. Sci. Ass. Pubs., ii.,
No. 5 (Ann Arbor, 1897).
« See Campbell's " P^re R6n^ M6nard," Parkman Club
Pubs,^ Na II (Milw., 1897).
14
3IO Essays in Wtstem History
four years of arduous and I fear unprofitable
labor at Chequamegon, to found a mission
at Green Bay, was succeeded (1669) by the
youthful Marquette. But Marquette was not
long at Chequamegon before his half-naked
parishioners provoked to quarrel their power-
ful western neighbors, the Sioux, the result
being (1671) that the Chequamegon bands,
and Marquette with them, were driven like
leaves before an autumn blast eastward along
the southern shore of the great lake; the
Ottawas taking up their homes in the Mani-
toulin Islands, the Hurons accompanying Mar-
quette to the island of Mackinac, where, the
previous year, the Jesuits had founded the
mission of St Ignace.
Mackinac Island was then noted throughout
this region for its abundance of fish, in both
summer and winter; also because it
rtturnio stood in the path to and from the
'""" southwest. In former days the island
and the neighboring mainland had been thickly
populated by several tribes of Indians who had
been driven westward by the Iroquois. Now
that peace with the Iroquois had been estab-
lished, with hopes of its being permanent, the
tribesmen had again flocked to the straits, mak-
ing the region highly desirable as a mission resi-
The Story of Mackinac 211
dence. It was therefore to their old homes on
the island that the Hurons now returned with
Marquette. Here the young priest ministered
to the miserable savages about him, and to the
handful of nomadic fur-trade employes who
in spring and autumn gathered at this isolated
frontier station of New France on their way
to and from the great wilderness beyond.
Soon after his arrival, apparently within a
year, the mission was moved to the mainland,
Removal to on the site of the present village of
St, ignace g^ Ignace. There is abundant ground
for belief that the St. Ignace monument, which
is visited each summer by thousands of tourists,
represents the place where stood the "rude
and unshapely chapel, its sides of logs and its
roof of bark," in which Marquette thereafter
conducted the offices of the Church. Under
what circumstances the removal took place,
we know not. Quite likely the island, at first
resorted to because of its safety from attack
by foes, was found too small for the villages
and fields of the Indians who now centred here
in large numbers; and moreover was found
difficult of approach in time of summer storm,
or when the ice was weak in spring and early
winter. The long continuance of peace with
the Iroquois removed for the time all danger
ffis Esu^s in Western History
from that quarter, and events proved that they
had made their last attack upon the tribesmen
of these far Western viraters.
Louia Jolliet, a coureur de bois, was sent forth
by the authorities at Quebec (1672) to explore
Jama and **** Mississippi River, about which so
iiarjitttt much had been heard, and by that
route to reach, if may lie, the Great Western
Ocean — for the road to India, either through
tiie continent or by way of the Northwest
I^ssage, was still being sought in those
days. He anrived in December at Point St.
Ignace, bringii^ orders to Marquette to ac-
company him. The conversion of the Indians
went hand in hand, in New France, with
the extension of commerce; no trading-post
was complete without its missionary, no explor-
ing expedition without its ghostly counsellor.
Marquette, a true soldier of the cross, obeyed
his marching orders, and on the seventeenth
of May following, handed his spiritual task
over to Father Philippe Pearson, and went
forth to help discover unknown lands and
cany to their peoples the word of Christ.
With Jolliet he entered the Upper Missis-
sippi at Prairie du Chien, and proceeded far
enough down the great river to establish the
fact that it emptied into the Gulf of Mexico
The Story of Mackinac 213
and not the Pacific Ocean. It is possible that
Radisson and GroseilHers were on the Missis-
sippi thirteen years before them; but Radis-
son's Journal, written in England long after,
was not published until our own time, and it is
not at all likely that JoUiet and Marquette, or
any one else of importance in New France,
ever heard of this prior claim. The merit of
carefully planned, premeditated discovery cer-
tainly rests with JoUiet and his companion.
It so happened — the story of the swamping
of JoUiet's home-returning canoe in the wild
-. rapids of Lachine is a familiar one —
quetu's that the detailed journals and maps
Journal ^£ ^j^^ chjef were lost; whereas the
simple story which Marquette wrote at the
Green Bay mission and transmitted by Indian
courier to his father superior at Quebec, reached
its destination and was published to the world
for the glory of the church. Thus it was that
the gentle, unassuming Marquette became un-
wittingly its only historian ; fate willed that his
name should be more commonly associated
with the great discovery than that of his secular
companion. Four years later the weary bones
of this missionary-explorer, who had died on
his way thither from the savage camps of the
Illinois, were laid to rest '' in a little vault in
214 Essays in Westerfi History
the middle of the chapel " at St Ignace. In
September, 1877, when antiquarians could but
ingeniously guess at the site of this early mis-
sion in the wilderness, the bones of Father
Marquette were discovered in the rude grave
wherein they had rested for two centuries, and
to-day are visible relics for inspiration to deeds
of holiness.^
Throughout the seventeenth century the
outpost of Mackinac at Point St Ignace —
A French Michillimackinac, in those easy-go-
outpost jj^g ^2cys when there was more time
in which to pronounce the name — remained
the most important French military and trad-
ing station in the upper lakes, for it guarded
the gateway between Huron, Michigan, and
Superior ; and every notable expedition to the
Northwest waters had perforce to stop here.
We must not think of this Mackinac of the
1 A detailed account, in German, of the discovery (said
to have been written by Father Edward Jacker, then the
Catholic missionary at St. Ignace) appeared first in the St.
Louis Pastoral-Blatt ; an English translation was published
in the Green Bay (Wis.) Advocate^ August 29, 1878. The site
of the old mission was discovered May 4, but the remains of
Marquette were not exhumed until September 3. See contro-
versial articles in the St. Louis Sunday Messenger^ June 24,
1877, and in the Chicago TimeSy August 14 and 29, and
September 13, 1879. For details of Marquette's career, see
Thwaites's Father Marquette (New York, 1902).
Tlie Story of Mackinac 215
seventeenth century, strategetically important
though It was, as a settlement in any modern
sense. The policy of the rulers of New France
was to maintain the interior of the continent
as a fur-bearing wilderness. Unlike Anglo-
Saxons, they had no desire to plant settle-
ments simply as settlements. They had not the
colonizing spirit of Englishmen. To carry
the fur-trade to the uttermost limits, to bring
the savages to at least a nominal recognition
of the cross, were their chief aims; to this
end, palisaded trading-posts, which they rather
grandiloquently called forts, were established
throughout the country, the officers of which
were rare diplomatists, and bullied and cajoled
the red men as occasion demanded. Around
each of these little forts, and Mackinac was
one of them, were small groups of habitants,
voyageurs, and coureurs de bois, .who could
hardly be called colonists, for few of them
expected to lay their bones in the wilderness,
but eventually to return to their own people
on the Lower St. Lawrence, when enriched or
their working days were over. It was rather
an army of occupation than a body of settlers.
The little log fort at Mackinac, calculated only
to withstand a fusillade of savage arrows and
musket-balls, was the principal feature of the
I
2i6 Essays i?i Western History
place, and the commandant the chief person-
age. After him, the long-robed Jesuit, and
then the swarm of folk dependent on the spas-
modic fur-trade.
In the year of grace 1701, the little group
upon Point St Ignace received word one day
Bstaiiish. *^^^ ^ "^^ post, called Detroit, had
mmtof been established away down in the
"'''"' unknown country at the narrow mouth
of Lake Huron, which was henceforth, under
one Cadillac, to be the centre of commerce in
these Western parts. Heretofore, owing to the
Iroquois stoutly holding the lower lakes against.
the French, progress to the far Northwest had;
been altogether by way of the raging Ottawa.
But now, after seventy-five long years of
journeying by that toilsome route, it had from
various reasons become possible to come to
Mackinac through Lakes Ontario and Erie.
This new post, Detroit, was to command a still
wider range than that of Mackinac ; the gar-
rison was soon withdrawn thither; the fur-
traders, both white and Indian, for the most
part soon followed — it was easy for a popu-
lation like this to pull up stakes and hie away
at beat of drum. Nearly everybody went to
the new Mecca, save the Jesuit missionaries,
who were not wanted by this new man Cadillac,
A
m
The Story of Mackinac 217
a hater of the " black robes." For five years
the good fathers — there were then three
of them — maintained their little chapel and
school here on Point St Ignace; but they
ministered to an ever-decreasing, disorderly
flock, and at last, burning their crude build-
ings, with a few white followers retired dis-
comfited to Quebec.
For six years there does not appear to have
been any French establishment hereabout. But
^'Oid in 1712 Governor-General Vaudreuil
Mackinaw'' g^jj^. j)g Louvigny, a noted frontier
captain, to restore the abandoned post on the
upper waters. This he did, but upon the south
shore of the strait, not far west of the present
Mackinaw City ; and over there on the main-
land, at what came in time to be known as
"Old Mackinaw,"^ — although it was, as we
1 Note the orthographic change. The historic name is
Mackinac, an abbreviation of Michillimackinac, and such is
to-day the legal designation of Fort Mackinac, Strait of
Mackinac, and Mackinac Island; but the pronunciation
is Mack^inaw. The spelling has been made phonetic in the
cases of Old Mackinaw and Mackinaw City, to distinguish
them from the island, and many writers prefer to use the
phonetic form whenever mentioning any of the several
Mackinacs. A cultured native of Mackinac Island has told
me that, so far as he knew, but one person pronounced it
Macki/for^; and he was Samuel Abbott, of the American
Far Company, who in his day was regarded as an eccentric.
2i8 Essays in Western History
have seen, not the oldest Mackinac, — occurred
such historic events as are spread upon the
records to the credit of this name between
1 71 2 and 1763. It was on the log ramparts
of Old Mackinaw that, in token of the fall of
New France, the fleur-de-lis was at last hauled
down on September 28, 1761, and the union
jack proudly lifted to the breeze. Here, upon
the fourth of June, 1763, occurred that cruel
massacre of the English garrison, which Park-
man has so Avidly described for us in his
Conspiracy of PotUiac.
A year or more later the English rebuilt their
fort, but whether or not upon the site of the
Tks massacre is a moot question. There
£n£:iish appears to be good reason for the
belief that it was among the sand-dunes farther
west along the coast ; for in the official corre-
spondence of the next fifteen years there is
much complaint upon the part of command-
ants that their " rickety picket is commanded
by sand hills " — a condition which does not
exist at the old site near Mackinaw City.
To this rickety picket there came one
October dagriu in the year 1779, Patrick Sin-
clair, lieutenant-governor of Michillimackinac
and its dependencies,, charged with the rebuild-
ing and enlarging of his Majesty's post in these
The Story of Mackinac 219
parts. The Revolutionary War was in progress.
George Rogers Clark had captured Kaskaskia
and Vincennes ; his emissanes^ were treating
with Indian chiefs away off in WTsccMifiui; there
were rumours of Clark's intended fbrqr on
Detroit ; and some suspicions that the ** Bos-
tonnais," as the French Canadians called these
leather-shirted Virginians, had designs of put-
ting a war vessel upon Lake Michigan. Sin-
clair saw at once that the old site was untenable
and the fort beyond repair.
In advance of orders he made a bold step.
Seven miles away to the northeast of Old
The island Mackinaw, in the midst of the strait,
reoccupied \^y ^.j^g comcly island whereon had
first been established, a hundred and nine years
before, the Jesuit mission of St. Ignace — ** La
Grosse Isle," the Canadians called it, although
smaller than its neighbor, Bois Blanc. The
Indians deemed it a sort of shrine, where at
times they gathered at their medicine feasts,
and to which, as to a sanctuary, they fled in
periods of extreme danger. Frenchmen were
more considerate of the superstitions of the
dusky tribesmen than were the intolerant
English. This now untenanted island Sinclair
appropriated to the king's use, although some
eighteen months later he formally bought it
930 Etu^S M Western History
from the Indians for ;^5ooo, New York cur-
rency. A month after his arrival the lieutenant-
governor began to erect a durable fort on the
Mand, and tbHlicr, upon receiving tardy per-
mission from his superiors, he tinally removed
in the ^riog of 17&1, with him going the now
revived Catholic mission and the entire fur-trade
colony from the south shore. The new fort
still bore the name of Fort Mackinac, and La
Grosse Isle of the French henceforth was
known in the English reports as Mackinac
Island.
By the trea^ of Paris (1783), Mackinac
came withtnthe boundary of the United States;
ArrhiaU/ but the English still held the whip-
AMtriaatt hand in these parts, and npon sundry
pretexts continued to hold this and other lake
posts until the Jay treaty set matters right.
In October, 1796, American troops first took
possession of the post, and this gateway to the
upper lakes was at last ours. The English,
however, were still hopeful that they would
some day win this part of the country back
again, and their garrison retired to Isle St.
Josephs, only some forty miles to the north-
east, where in 1795 they had built a fort.
The French and half-breeds did not at first
relish Yankee interference in their beloved
The Story of Mackinac 221
Northwest. They had maintained harmonious
relations with the Engh'sh, who fostered the
fur-trade and employed the French with liber-
ality. Then, too, among the Creoles the repu-
tation of these Americans was not of the best.
They were known to be a busy, bustling,
driving people, quite out of tune with the
easy-going methods of the French, and were,
moreover, an agricultural race that was fast
narrowing the limits of the hunting-grounds.
The Frenchmen felt that their interests in this
respect were identical with those of the savages,
hence we find in the correspondence of the
time a bitter tone adopted towards the new-
comers, who were regarded as intruders and
covetous disturbers of existing commercial and
social relations.
When war broke out between England and
the United States, in 18 12, naturally the Creoles
En lish ^^ ^^ Northwest were against us, and
capture the freely entered the service of their old
"^^''^ and well-tried friends, the English.
Fort Mackinac was then garrisoned by "57
effective men, including officers." There had
been no news sent here of the declaration of
war, although the American lieutenant in
charge. Porter Hanks, was expecting it. July
17, 18 12, a British force of a thousand whites
222 Essays in Western History
and Indians from Fort St. Josephs secretly
effected a landing at the cove on the north-
west shore of the island, — known to-day as
"British Landing," — took possession of the
heights overlooking the fort, and then coolly
informed the commandant that hostilities had
been declared between the two nations, and a
surrender would be in order. The Americans
were clearly at the mercy of the enemy, and
promptly capitulated.
The old fort had from the first been in poor
condition. The English, once more in posses-
sion, built a new and stronger fort upon the
higher land to the rear, which they had occu-
pied, and named it Fort George, in honor of
their sovereign. This stronghold was stormed
on the fourth of August, 1814, by United
States troops under Colonel George Croghan,
who also disembarked at British Landing.
The English position, however, was too strong
for the assailants, who lost heavily under the
galling fire of the French and Indian allies,
and Croghan was obliged to retire. Among
his dead was Major Holmes, a soldier of con-
siderable reputation.
The treaty of Ghent resulted in the forti-
fication being restored to the United States,
the transfer being actually made on July 18,
The Story of Mackinac 223
1815. Colonel McDouall, the British com-
mander at Mackinac, was loath to leave. His
Americans despatches to headquarters plainly
regainthHr indicate that he thought his govern-
'"^ ment weak in surrendering to the
Americans, for whom he had a decided con-
tempt, this Malta of the Northwest. When at
last obliged to depart, he went no farther than
necessary — indeed not quite so far, for he
built a fort upon Drummond Island, at the
mouth of River St. Mary, territory soon there-
after found to belong to the United States. It
was not until thirteen years later (1828) that
the English forces were finally and reluctantly
withdrawn from Drummond Island/ and Eng-
lish agents upon our northern frontier ceased
craftily to stir our uneasy Indian wards to
bickerings and strife.
When the United States resumed possession
of Mackinac Island the name of the fort built
by the English on the highest ground was
changed from Fort George to Fort Holmes, in
honor of the victim of the assault of the year
before ; but later this position was abandoned,
and old Fort Mackinac, built by Sinclair and
^ In his Drummond Island {X''^Vi'&y[\%y'U\^.^ 1S96), Samuel
F. Cook has given the history of the British occupation
thereof, with numerous illustrations of the ruins and sur-
roundings of the old fort.
224 Essays in Wesiern History
capitulated by Hanks, was rehabilitated, and
remains to this day as the mihtary stronghold
of the district.
The name of Mackinac will always be inti-
mately associated with the story of the fur-
trade. We have seen that the first settlement
CtnireefiJu upoH the shores of these straits had
far-trade jfg inception in the primitive com-
merce of the woods ; and chiefly as a pro-
tection to this trade the several forts were
maintained under changing flags unto our own
day. In 1783 the North West Fur Company
opened headquarters here; later, the Mackinac
Company and the South West Fur Company
were formidable competitors; in 1815, with the
re-establishment of the American arms, came
the American Fur Company, of which John
Jacob Aster was the controlling spirit.
We cannot fully understand the course of
history in this region unless we remember that
despite the treaty of Ghent (1783), Jay's treaty
(1794), Wayne's Indian treaty at Greenville
(1795), and the occupation of Fort Mackinac
by United States troops between 1796 and
1812, the fur-trade upon the upper lakes and
beyond was not really under American control
until after the War of 1812-15; indeed, the
territory itself was not until that time within
The Story of Mackmac 225
the sphere of American influence, beyond the
visible limits of the armed camps at Mackinac
and Green Bay. After the Jay treaty, British
traders, with French and half-breed clerks and
voyageurs, were still permitted free intercourse
with the savages of our Northwest, and held
substantial domination over them. The Mack-
inac, North West, and South West companies
were composed of British subjects — Scotch-
men mainly — with headquarters at Montreal,
and distributing points at Detroit, Mackinac,
Sault Ste. Marie, and Grand Portage. Their
clerks and voyageurs were wide travellers, and
carried the forest trade throughout the Far
West, from Great Slave Lake on the north to
the valleys of the Platte and the Arkansas on
south, and to the parks and basins of the
Rocky Mountains. Goods were sent up the
lakes from Montreal, either by relays of sailing
vessels, with portages of men and merchandise
at the Falls of Niagara and the Sault Ste.
Marie, or by picturesque fleets of bateaux and
canoes up the Ottawa River and down French
Creek into Georgian Bay, from there scattering
to the companies' various entrepots of the
South, West, and North.^
1 See Turner's " Fur Trade in Wisconsin," Wis, Hist, Soc.
Proc, 1889.
a«6 Esst^s i» Wesiem History
The Creole boatmen were a reckless set.
They took life ea^y, but bore ill the mildest
n, restraiats of the trading settlements;
^^"1** their home was on the lakes and rivers
and in Indian camps, where they joyously par-
took of the most bumble fare, and on occasion
were not averse to suffering extraordinary
hardships in the service of their bourgeois.
Their pay was light, but their thoughts were
lighter, and the vaulted forest rang with the gay
laughter of these heedless adventurers; while
the pent'Up valle)rs of our bluff-girted streams
echoed the refruns of their rudely melodious
boating songs, which served the double purpose
of whiling the hours away and measuring prog-
res^ along the glistening waterways.
In Irving's Astoria is a charming description
of fur-trading life at the Grand Portage of
Lake Superior, over which boats and cargoes
were carried from the eastward-flowing Pigeon
to the tortuous waters which glide through
a hundred sylvan lakes and over a hundred
dashing rapids into the wide-reaching system
of Lake Winnipeg and the Assiniboin.' The
book records the heroic trans-continental expe-
1 For historical sicetch of Grand Portage, see (Vis. Hist.
Cells., xi., pp. IZ3-IZ5. See N. V. IVatien, Dec. 33, 1897, pp.
499-501, for coirectiona of Attfria.
The Story of Mackinac 227
dition of Wilson and Hunt, which started from
Mackinac one bright morning in August, 1809,
and wended its toilsome way along many a
river and through mountain-passes, beset by
a thousand perils, to plant far-distant Astoria.
With the coming of peace in 181 5, English
fur-traders were forbidden the country, and
American interests, represented by Astor's
great company, were at last dominant in this
great field of commerce. New and improved
methods were introduced, and the American
Fur Company soon had a firm hold upon the
Western country ; nevertheless, the great cor-
poration never succeeded in ridding itself of the
necessity of employing the Creole and mixed-
blood voyageurs, engages, and interpreters,
and was obliged to shape its policy so as to
accommodate this great army of easy-going
subordinates.
The fur-trade of Mackinac was in its heyday
about the year 1820. Gradually, with the in-
Modern rush of Settlement and the consequent
^^' . cutting of the timber, the commerce
of the forest waned, until about 1840 it was
practically at an end, and the halcyon days of
Mackinac were over. For years it was promi-
nent as the site of a Protestant mission to the
modernized Indians of Michigan and Wis-
3s8 Estt^s m Western History
con^n; ' finally, even this special interest was
Kmoved to oew seats of iiifluctice, nearer the
vanishing tribes, and, Mackinac became re-
signed to the hum-drum of modern life — a
sort of Malta, now but spasmodically gar-
risoned; a fishing station for the Chicago
trade ; a port of call for vessels pasdng her
door; a resort for summer tourists; a aeoie
which the historical novelist may dress to his
fancy ; a shrine at which the historical pilgrim
may worship, thankful, Indeed, that in what
many think the' Sahara of Western history are
left a few romantic oases like unto this.
1 For an account of this experimeDl, B«e WiDiMiu'B T%t
OldMiaiem Ckurck ef MaeHiuu Island {Tietmix, 1895).
V
THE STORY OF LA POINTE
THE STORY OF LA POINTE
IN 1634, when the child bom upon the
" Mayflower " was but fourteen years of
Jean ^^» Jean Nicolet, a daring young
NicoUt explorer, was despatched by the
enterprising Champlain upon a journey of
discovery as far as Wisconsin, a thousand miles
of canoe journey west from Quebec. In that
far distant region, Nicolet made trading con-
tracts, such as they were, with a half-score of
squalid tribes huddled in widely-separated
villages throughout the broad wilderness lying
between Lakes Superior and Michigan. It
was a hazardous, laborious expedition, far
more notable in its day than, in our time, is
a journey through Thibet. Its results were
slow of development, for in the seventeenth
century man was still cautiously deliberate;
nevertheless this initial visit of the forest am-
bassador of New France to the country of the
Upper Lakes broke the path for a train of
4
232 Essays in IVesteni History
events which were of mighty significance in
American history.
Let us examine the topography of Wiscon-
sin. That State is situated at the head of the
chain of Great Lakes. It is touched
hai sisni/i- ^^ ^^^c cast by Lake Michigan, on the
coHanj north by Lake Superior, on the west
by the Mississippi, and is drained by
interlacing rivers which so closely approach
each other that the canoe voyager may with
ease pass from one great water system to
another. He may enter the continent by the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, and by utilizing numerous
narrow portages in Wisconsin emerge into the
south-fiowing Mississippi, eventually returning
to the Atlantic through the Gulf of Mexico.
From Lake Michigan, the Fox-Wisconsin river
system was the most feasible of the several high-
ways to the great river. Into Lake Superior
there flow numerous turbulent streams from
whose sources short portage trails lead over to
the headwaters of feeders of the Mississippi.
From the western shore of Lake Superior,
Pigeon River invites to exploration of the Win-
nipeg country, whence the canoeist may by a
half-hundred easy routes reach the distant re-
gions of Athabasca and the Polar Sea, and —
as Mackenzie found — even the Pacific Ocean.
The Story of La Poinie 233
In their early voyages to the head of lake
navigation, it was in the course of nature that
the French should soon discover Wisconsin,
and having discovered it, learn that this was the
key-point of the Northwest, — the principal
waterway to the continental interior. Through
Wisconsin's interlacing streams, to which Nico-
let led the way. New France largely prosecuted
her far-reaching forest trade and missionary ex-
plorations, securing a nominal control of the
basin of the Mississippi at a time when Anglo-
Saxons had gained little more of the Atlantic
Slope than could be seen from the mast-head
of a caravel. Thus, early in the history of
New France, the geographical character of
Wisconsin became an important factor. The
trading posts and Jesuit missions on Chequa-
megon Bay^ of Lake Superior, like those on
Green Bay* of Lake Michigan, soon played a
prominent part in American exploration.^
1 In his authoritative ** History of the Ojibway Nation,*'
in Minn, Hist. Colls., v., Warren prefers the spelling " Cha-
goumigon/' although recognizing ** Shagawaumikong '' and
" Shaugahwaumikong." " Chequamegon ** is the current
modem form. Edward P. Wheeler, of Ashland, an authority
on the Chippewa tongue and traditions, says the pronuncia-
tion should be " Sheh-gu-wah-mi-kung.*'
* See Neville and Martin's Historic Green Bay (Milwaukee,
1894), and various articles in the Wisconsin Historical
Collections.
• See Minn. Hist. Colls., v., pp. 98, 99, note^ and Wis.
234 Essays in Weslern History
After Nicolet's journey to Wisconsin, there
followed a long period in which the energies
of New France were devoted to fighting back
the Iroquois, who often swarmed before the
very gates of Quebec and Montreal. Explo-
ration was for the time wellnigh Impossible,
Twenty-one years elapse before we have evi-
dence of another white man treading Wisconsin
soil. In the spring of 1655, the Indians of the
Fox River valley were visited by two
BHdGn- French fur-traders from the Lower
K(V/«ri on 5(._ Lawrence, — Pierre d'Esprit, Sieur
Radisson, and his sister's husband,
Mtjdard Chouart, Sieur des Groscilliers. There
are no characters in American history more
picturesque than these two adventurous traders,
who, in their fond desire to " travell and see
countries," and " to be known w'" the remotest
people," roamed at will over the broad region
between St. James's Bay and the Wisconsin
River, having many curious and perilous ex-
periences. They made several important
geographical discoveries — among them, pos-
Hist. Cells., xvi.and xvii., for accounts oE early copper mining
on Lake Superior by Indians. In the summer of rSgr,
W. H. Holmes, of the Smithsonian Inslituiion, found on
Isle Royale no less than a thousand abandoned shafts which
had been worked by them; and "enough stone implements
lay around, to stock every museuin in the country."
i
The Story of La Pointe 235
sibly, the discovery of the Mississippi River,
eighteen years before the visit of Jolliet and
Marquette; while from a trading settlement
which they proposed to the English, when ill-
treated by their fellow-countrymen, developed
the great establishment of the Hudson's Bay
Company. The unconsciously-amusing narra-
tive which Radisson afterwards wrote, for the
edification of King Charles 11. of England, is
one of the most interesting known to American
antiquaries.^
Five years after Radisson and Groseilliers
were upon Fox River, they were again in
AtChequa- the Northwest, this time upon Lake
megon Bay Superior, which they had approached,
in the company of a party of Huron refugees, *
by carrying around the Sault Ste. Marie.
Skirting the southern shore of the lake,
^ S^Q Jesuit Relations^ xlv., pp. 235-237/for Father Lalle-
mant's report of the discoveries of the " two Frenchmen/'
who had found *'a beautiful River, large, wide, deep, and
worthy of comparison, they say, with our great river St.
Lawrence."
In Franquelin's map of 1688, what is now Pigeon River, a
part of the international boundary between Minnesota and
Canada, is called Groseilliers. An attempt was made in the
Wisconsin Legislature, during the session of 1895, by mem-
bers of the Wisconsin Historical Society, to have a proposed
new county called Radisson ; the name was adopted by the
friends of the bill, but the measure itself failed to pass.
235 Essays in Wesient History
past the now famous Pictured Rockri, the
traders and their savage companions carried
across Keweenaw Point, visited a band of
Christine Indians^ not far from the mouth of
Montreal River, now the far western boundary
between upper Michigan and Wisconsin, and,
portaging across the base of Point Chequamc-
gon, — then united to the mainland, but now
insular, — entered beautiful Chequamegon Bay.
Just where the Frenchmen made their camp,
it is impossible from Radisson's confused nar-
rative to say; but that it was upon the main-
land, no Wisconsin antiquary now doubts.
We have reason to believe that it was upon
the southwest shore, between the modern
towns of Ashland and Washburn.'
Writes our chronicler, with a homeliness of
detail su^estive of De Foe : " We went about
to make a fort of stakes, w^" was in this manner.
Suppose that the watter-side had ben in one
end ; att the same end there should be mur-
1 Now called Crees.
■ Father Verwjst's "Historic Sites on Chequamegon Bajf,"
in Wit. Hist. Colls., xi., pp. 4i6'440, is accompanied by notes
on llie site of Radisson's fort, by Sam. S. Pilicld and Edward
P. Wheeler. Verwyst thinks the location to have been
" somewhere between Whittlesey's Creek and Shore's Land-
ing;" Fifield and Wheeler are confident that it was at
Bird's Cieek.
The Story of La Pointe 237
therers, and att need we made a bastion in a
triangle to defend us from assault. The doore
was neare the watter-side, our fire was in the
Chequamegon Bay
midle, and our bed on the right hand, covered.
There were boughs of trees all about our fort
layed acrosse, one uppon an other. Besides
138 Essies in fVes/em History
those boughs, we had a long cord tyed w"' some
■mall bells, w** weare sentereys. Finally, we
made an ende to that fort in 2 dayes' time."
KritiaU- Modernize thia statement, and in im-
w»» »/ agination we can see this first dwell-
****"*■ ,ing reared by white men on the
shores of Lake Superior: a small log hut,
built possibly on the extremity of a small
rocky promontory; the door opens to the
water front, while the land side, to the rear of
the hut, is defended by a salient of palisades
stretching from bank to bank of the narrow
promontory; all about the rude structure is a
wall of pine boughs piled one upon the other,
with a long cord intertwined, and on this cord
are strung numbers of the little hawk-bells then
largely used in Indian trade for purposes of
gift and barter. It was expected that in case
of a night attack from savages, who might be
willing to kill them for the sake of their stores,
the enemy would stir the boughs and unwit-
tingly ring the bells, thus arousing the little
garrison. These ingenious defences were not
put to the test, although no doubt they had a
good moral effect in keeping the thieving
savages at a respectful distance.
Winter was just setting in. The waters of
the noble bay were taking on that black and
The Story of La Pointe 239
sullen aspect peculiar to the season. The
beautiful islands, later named for the Twelve
A gloomy Apostles,^ looked gloomy indeed in
^^*^ their dark evergreen mantles. From
the precipitous edges of the red sandstone
cliffs, which girt about this estuary of our great-
est inland sea, the dense pine forests stretched
for hundreds of miles westward and southward.
Here and there in these gloomy depths was
a cluster of starveling Algonquians, or a band
of Hurons from east of Georgian Bay, still
trembling from fear of a return of the Iro-
quois, who had chased them from Canada into
this land of swamps and tangled woods, where
their safety lay in hiding. At wide intervals,
uncertain trails led from village to village, and
in places the rivers were convenient highways ;
these narrow paths, however, beset with dan-
ger in a thousand shapes, but emphasized the
unspeakable terrors of the wilderness.
Radisson and GroseilHers, true coureurs de
bois, were undaunted by the dangers which
daily beset them. Securely hiding their goods
in skilful caches, they passed the winter with
their Huron and Algonquian neighbors upon a
prolonged hunt, far into the Mille Lacs region
* Apparently by Jonathan Carver, in the map accompany-
ing his volume of Travels,
240 Essays in WesUm History
of Minnesota. The season was phenomenally
severe, and the Indians could not find game
enough to sustain life. A famine ensued in the
camp, the tragical details of which are vividly
painted by Radisson. In the spring of 1662,
the traders were back again at Chequamegon,
and built another fortified shelter, this time
possibly on the sand-spit of Shagawaumikong,^
^ Says Warren (Minm. Hid. CoUt^ t., p. 102) : *'Shag-a-
wamn-ik-ong is a narrow neck or point of ]and abont fear
miles long, and lying nearly parallel to the island o£ La
Pointe, toward the western end of which it conveigesi tiU the
distance from point to point is not more than two mites.** In
first entering the bay, the previous antumn, Radisson describea
Shagawaumikong, and adds : ** That point shonld be very fitt
to build & advantageous for the building of a fort, as we did
the spring following." But later on in his journal, in describ-
ing the return to the bay from their winter with the Sioux of
the Mille Lacs, he does not mention the exact location of the
new ** fort." While here, they " received [news] that the
Octanaks [Ottawas] [had] built a fort on the point that forms
that Bay, w^^ resembles a small lake. We went towards it
with all speede/' — and had a perilous trip thither, across
thin ice. This would indicate that the French camp was not
on the point. As with many other passages in the journal,
it is impossible to reconcile these two statements. Verwyst
thinks that the traders were stationed on Houghton Point.
Warren, who had an intimate acquaintance with Chippewa
traditions, believed that that tribe, driven westward by degrees
from the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, reached Lake
Superior about the time of the Columbian discovery, and
came to a stand on Shagawaumikong Point. '* On this spot
they remained not long, for they were harassed daily by their
The Story of La Pointe 241
from which place they once more wandered in
search of adventures and peltries, going as far
northwest as Lake Assiniboin, and later in the
season returning to their home on the Lower
St. Lawrence.
Returning to Montreal in August (1660),
the well-laden canoes of these adventurous
fur-traders were accompanied thither
by a large party of Hurons from the
Lac Courte Oreille country, which lies just
over the Lake Superior watershed several days
to the south of Chequamegon Bay. Radisson
and GroseilUers were obliged to suffer the con-
fiscation of the greater part of their valuable
warlike foes, and for greater security they were obliged to
move their camp to the adjacent island of Mon-ing-wun-a-
kauning [" place of the golden-breasted woodpecker/' now
known as La Pointe]. Here, they chose the site of their
ancient town, and it covered a space about three miles long
and two broad, comprising the western end of the island."
{Minn, Hist, Colls.^ v., p. 96.) They remained in this large
town " for the space of three generations, or one hundred
and twenty years," but for various reasons evacuated the
place, and settling on the adjacent mainland came to regard
La Pointe Island (now Madelaine) as an abode of evil spirits,
upon which, it is said, until the days of Cadotte, no Indian
dare stay over night alone. Gradually, as the beaver grew
more scarce, the Chippewas radiated inland ; hence at the
time of Radisson's visit, the shores of the bay were almost
unoccupied, save during the best fishing season, when
Chippewas, Ottawas, Hurons, and others congregated there
in considerable numbers.
16
343 Esu^t in Western History
peltries, because of trading in the upper waters
irithout a license, and were nearly ruined by
this unfortunate outcome of their enterprise.
Such ungenerous treatment of the explorers,
who had brought tidings of a vast stretch of
new territory, led to their desertion to the
Ei^rlish and the ultimate formation of the
Hudson's Bi^ Company.
While in Montreal, the Hurons were met by
Jesuit misraonaries who persuaded them to
fathtr request the presence of a " black-
Minard gown" in their far-away camps in the
Wisconsin woods- Father Pierre Menard was
a^gned to the task by his superior, and
in September returned with the tribesmen,
accompanied by his servant and seven other
Frenchmen. After a deplorable winter at
Keweenaw Bay, on the south' shore of Lake
Superior, where he had been abandoned by
his hosts, Menard started overland to find
them. It was a toilsome journey of some two
hundred miles to the southwest, partly by
water, but much of it through a tangled for-
est. While making a portage around Bill
Cross Rapids, in the upper reaches of the Wis-
consin River, the unfortunate priest appears
to have lost the path and perished of exposure.
He was never after seen by his companion.
The Story of La Pointe 243
It was not until August of 1665, four years
later, that Father Claude AUouez, another
Pother Jesuit, was sent to re-open the Lake
Aiiouez Superior mission. He chose his site
on the southwestern shore of Chequamegon
Bay, possibly at the mouth of Vanderventer's
Creek, doubtless not far from the spot on
which Radisson's hut had been built, four
years previously. The mission and the local-
ity were called La Pointe du Saint Esprit^
which in familiar speech was soon shortened
to La Pointe.^
1 Neill (in Minn, HisL Colls, ^ v., p. ii6) is of the opinion
that Allouez '* built a bark chapel on the shores of the bay,
between a village of Petun Hurons and a village composed
of three bands of Ottawas/' That Allouez was stationed
upon the mainland, where the Indians now were, is evident
from his description of the bay (Jesuit Relations for 1666-67,
1., p. 273) ; " It is a beautiful Bay, at the head of which is
situated the great Village of the Savages, who there cultivate
fields of Indian com and lead a settled life. They number
eight hundred men bearing arms, but are gathered from
seven different nations, living in peace, mingled one with
another." Verwyst, whose local knowledge is thorough,
thinks that AUouez's mission was at the mouth of Vander-
venter's Creek, and I have followed him in this regard.
In christening his mission ** La Pointe/' Allouez had ref-
erence, doubtless, to the neighboring sandy point of Shaga-
waumikong, hemming in the bay on the east. In this he
must have had a poetic interest, for tradition told him that
it was the landfall of the Chippewas, and the place where,
perhaps a century before, had been fought a great battle be-
244 Essays in IVesiem History
At the time of Radisson's visit, the shores
of Chequamegon Bay were uninhabited save
by a few half-starved Hurons, who came peri-
odically to fish, from the larger villages on
inland lakes to the south. But soon thereafter
it became the centre of a considerable Indian
population, residents of several tribes — Chip-
pewas, Potawatomis, Kickapoos, Sauks, and
Foxes, native to Wisconsin, together with
Hurons and Ottawas from the Huron coun-
try — having been attracted thither: first, by
the fisheries; second, by a fancied security in
tween tticm and the Dakolas (or Sioux), relics of which
were to be found in our day, in the human bones scattered
freely through the sliifting soii; doubtless in his time, these
were much in evidence.
The map in the Jesuit Relations for 1670-71 (It., p, 94)
styles the entire Bayfield peninsula, forming the west shoro
of the bay, " La Pointe du St. Esprit," which of course was
map-making fioDi vague report Franquelin's map of i63S,
more exact in every particular, places a small settlement near
the southwestern eitteniity of the bay. See also Verwjat's
Missionary Labors of Fathers Marquette, Miitard, and Alloua
(Milwaukee, 1886), p. 183.
In iSzo, Cass and Schoolcraft visited Chequamegon Bay,
and the Utter, in his NarratiiK, says: "Passing this [Bad]
rlrer, we continued along the sandy formation to its eitieme
termination, which separates the Bay of St. Charles [Chequa-
megonj from that remarkable group of islands called the
Twelve Apostles by Carver. It is this sandy point which is
called La Pointe Chagolmegon by the old French authors, a
term now shortened to La Pointe."
The Story of La Pointe 245
so isolated a region against the Iroquois of
the East and the wild Sioux of the West.
When Allouez arrived in this polyglot village,
the first of October, he found here Chippewas,
Potawatomis, Kickapoos, Sauks, and Foxes,
all of them Wisconsin tribes; besides these
were Hurons, Ottawas, Miamis, and Illinois —
victims of Iroquois hate who had fled in droves
before the westward advances of their merci-
less tormentors.
Despite his large congregations, Allouez
made little headway among these people, being
Father cousolcd for his hardships and ill-
Marquette treatment by the devotion of a mere
handful of followers. For four years did he
labor alone in the Wisconsin wilderness, hop-
ing against hope, varying the monotony of
his dreary task by occasional canoe voyages
to Quebec, to report progress to his father
superior. Father Jacques Marquette, a more
youthful zealot, was at last sent to relieve him,
and in September, 1669, arrived at La Pointe
from Sault Ste. Marie, after spending a full
month upon the journey — so hampered was
he, at that early season, by snow and ice.
Allouez, thus relieved from a work that had
doubtless palled upon him, upon invitation of
the Potawatomis proceeded to Green Bay,
346 Esse^s in Wcsicrn History
iriiere he arrived early in December, and
founded the second Jesuit mission in Wis-
consin, St. Frauds Xavicr, on the site of tlie
modem town of Dc Fere.'
Marquette had succeeded to an uncomfort-
able berth. Despite his strenuous efforts as
a peacemaker, his dusky parishioners soon un-
wisely quarrelled with their western neighbors,
the Sioux,* with the result that the La Fointe
bands, and Marquette with them, retreated
eastward along the southern shore of the great
lake: the Ottawas taking up their home in the
Manitoulin Islands of Lake Huron, and the
Hurons accompanying Marquette to the Island
1 Bjr this time, fear of the Iroqntna had subsided wid
many Hurons had lately returned with the Potawalomiti,
Sauki, and Foxes, to the old haunts of the latter, on Fox
River. Cadillac, nriting in 1703 from Detroit, says [Margry,
^'i P- 317) '■ " It is proper that you should be informed that
more than fifty years since [about 1645] ^^^ Iroquois by
force of arms drove away nearly all of the other Indian
nations from this region [Lake Huron] to the extremity of
Lake Superior, a country north of this post, and fright-
fully barren and inhospitable. About thirty-two years ago
[1671] these exiled tribes collected themselves together at
M ichillimakinak."
* " The cause of the perpetual war, carried on between
these two nations, is this, that both claim, as their eiclauve
hunting-ground, the tract of eountiy which lies between them,
and anlformly attack each other when they meet upon it."—
Henry's TVmelt and AdBttOartt (N. Y, 1809), pp. 197, 198.
The Story of La Pointe 247
of Mackinac, where the Jesuits had recently es-
tablished the mission of St. Ignace.
With La Pointe mission abandoned, and Lake
Superior closed to French enterprise by the
" raging Sioux," the mission at De Pere now
became the centre of Jesuit operations in Wis-
consin ; and it was a hundred and sixty-four
years later (1835) before mass was again said
upon the forest-fringed shores of Chequamegon
Bay.
Although the missionary had deserted La
Pointe, the fur-trader soon came to be much in
Lords of evidence. The spirit of Radisson and
ihefuT' GroseiUiers long permeated this out-
of-the-way corner of the Northwest.
We find (1673), two years after Marquette's
expulsion, La Salle's trading agent, Sieur
Raudin, cajoling the now relentent Sioux at
the western end of Lake Superior. In the
summer of 1679, that dashing coureur de bois,
Daniel Graysolon du Luth,^ ascended the St.
Louis River, which divides Wisconsin and Min-
nesota, and penetrated with his lively crew
of voyageurs to the Sandy Lake country, being
probably the first white trader upon the head-
waters of the Mississippi. The succeeding
winter he spent in profitable commerce with
1 From whom the city of Duluth, Minn., was named.
348 Essays m JVes/ern History
the As^iboins, Crees, and other northern
tribes in tiie neighborhood of Grand Portage,
on the present boundary between Minnesota
nod Canada. In June, probably unaware of
the easier port^^ by way of tbe Mille Lacs
and Rum River, Du Luth set out at the head
of a small company of employes to reach
die Misnsuppi t^ a new route. Entering
the narrow and turbulent Eois Brule, half-
way along the southern shore of Lake Superior,
between Red Cliff and St. Louis River, he
with difficult made his way over the fallen
trees and beaver dams which then choked its
course. From its headwaters there is a two-
mile portageto the Upper St. Croix; this
traversed, Du Luth was upon a romantic stream
which swifUy carried him, through foaming
rapids and deep, cool lakes, down into the
Father of Waters. Here it was that he heard
of Father Louis Hennepin's captivity among
the Sioux, and with much address and some
courage rescued that doughty adventurer, and
carried him, by way of the Fox-Wisconsin
route, in safety to Mackinac.^
An adventurous forest trader, named Le
Sueur, was the next man to imprint his name
1 See Thwaites's edition o( Hennepin's Nivi Dixovery
(Chicago : A. C. McClurg & Co., 1903).
The Story of La Pointe 249
on the page of Lake Superior history. The
Fox Indians, who controlled the valleys of the
Fox and Wisconsin rivers, had for various
reasons become so hostile to the French that
those divergent streams were no longer safe
as a gateway from the Great Lakes to the
Great River. The tendency of the prolonged
Fox War was to force the fur-trade travel to
the portages of Chicago and St. Josephs on
the south, and those of Lake Superior on the
north.^ It was with a view to keeping open
the Bois Brule-St. Croix route, that Le Sueur,
who had been in the West for several years,
was despatched by the authorities of New
France in 1693. He built a stockaded fort
on Madelaine Island, convenient for guarding
the northern approach,*^ and another on an
island in the Mississippi, below the mouth
of the St. Croix, and near the present town
1 See Parkman's Half-Century of Conflict^ Hebberd's
Wisconsin under French Dominion (Madison, 1890), and
Wis, Hist. Colls.f xvi., xvii.
* Neill, in Minn. Hist, Colls,, v., p. 140, says that soon
after St. Lusson's taking possession of the Northwest for
France, at Sault Ste. Marie (1671), French traders built a
small fort set about with cedar palisades, on which a cannon
was mounted, ** at the mouth of a small creek or pond mid-
way between the present location of the American Fur Com-
pany's establishment and the mission-house of the American
Board of Foreign Missions."
250 Essays in Western Hislory 1
of Red Wing, Minnesota. The post in the I
Mississippi soon became "the centre of com- j
merce for the Western parts." The station in I
Chequamegon Bay also soon rose to import'^ I
ance, for the Chippewas, who had drifted far I
inland into Wisconsin and Minnesota with the I
growing scarcity of game, — the natural result 1
of the indiscriminate slaughter which the fur- I
trade encouraged, — were induced by the new J
trading facilities to return to their old haunts, a
massing themselves in an important village oa^
the southwestern shore. I
This incident strikingly illustrates the impor- 1
tant part which the trader early came to play \
in Indian life. At first, the tribesman j
andtki was an agriculturist in a small way,
tradtr ^^^ huoted and fished only to meet
the daily necessities of food and clothing.
The white man, however, induced him to kill
animals solely for their furs, luxuries ever in
great demand in the marts of civilization.
The savage now wholly devoted himself to
the chase, and it became necessary for the
white man to supply him with clothing, tools,
weapons, and ornaments of European rnanu*
facture, — the currency, as well as the neces-
sities, of the wilderness.^ These articles the
' MiHH. Hisl. Colls., v., p. 125. Originally, the IndLins of
Lake Supetior went to Quebec to trade ; but, as the whites
The Story of La Pointe 251
savage had heretofore laboriously fashioned
for himself at great expenditure of time ; but
now he was not content with native manu-
factures, and indeed he quickly lost his old-
time facility for making them. Soon he was
almost wholly dependent on the white trader
for the commonest conveniences of life. No
longer tied to his fields, he became more and
more a nomad, roving restlessly to and fro in
search of fur-bearing game, and quickly popu-
lating or depopulating a district according to
the conditions of trade. Without his trader,
he quickly sank into misery and despair ; with
the advent of the trader, a certain sort of pros-
perity once more reigned in the tepee of the
red man. In the story of Chequamegon Bay,
the heroes are the fur-trader and the mission-
ary: and of these the fur-trader is the greater,
for without his presence on this scene there
would have been no Indians to convert.
Although Le Sueur was not many years in
command upon Chequamegon Bay,^ we there-
penetrated westward by degrees, these commercial visits were
restricted to Montreal, Niagara, Detroit, Mackinac, Sault
Ste. Marie, as each in turn became the outpost of French in-
fluence ; finally, trading-posts were opened at La Pointe, St.
Louis River, and Pigeon River, and frequently traders even
followed the savages on their long hunts after the ever-
decreasing game.
1 In July, 1695, Chingouab^, chief of the Chippewas,
252 Essays in Western Hisiary
after catch frequent glimpses of stockaded fur-
Ftirjradt trade stations here, — French, English,
itKkadis gnd American, in turn, — the most
of them doubtless being on Madelaine Island,
which not only commands the bay but 13
easily defensible from mainland attacks.' We
voyaged vrith Le Sueur [o Montreal, to "pay his respects
lo Onontio, in ihe name of the young warriors of Point
Cbagouamigon, and to thajik bim for having given them
some Frenchmen to dvell irith them ; and to testify their
sorrow for one Jobin, a Frenchman killed at a feast. It oc-
cnired accidentally, not maliciously." In his reply (July zg),
Go»enior Frontenac gave the Chippewis some good advice,
and said that he would again send Le Sueur " to command at
Chagouaraigon." — Mimt. Hist. Celli^ v., p. 411.
' It is evident that hereafter Madelaine Island was the
chief seat of French power in Chcquamegon Bay, but It ivaa
not until the present century that either the name La Pointe
or Madelaine was applied to the island. Franquelin'a map
(1688) calls it " Isle Detour oa Si. Miche!." Bellin's French
map of Lake Superior (in Charlevoix's Histoirt tl Dtscrip-
tion Ginh-alt de NoiaitlU Frante, Palis, 1 744) calls the long
sand-point of Shaganaumikong, "Point de Chagauamigon,"
and styles the present Madelaine Island, "Isle La Sonde,"
after the trader I..a Ronde. What is noir Basswood Island,
he calls " Isle Michel," and at the southeni extremity of the
bayindicates that at that place was once an important Indian
village. In De I'lste's map of 174s, a French trading house
(Maisim Fraitfoiii) is shown on Shagawaumikong Point it>
seir. Madelaine Island has at various times been known
as Monegoinaiccauning (or moningwunakauning, Chip-
pewa for "golden-breasted woodpecker"), St. Michel, La
Ronde, Woodpecker, Montreal, Virginia (Schoolcraft, i8zo),
Michael's (McKenney, i&tb). Middle (because midway be*
The Story of La Pointe 253
know that in 171 7 there was a French trader
at La Pointe, — now the popular name for
the entire bay district, — for he was asked by
Lieutenant Robertel de la Noue, who was then
at Kaministiqua,^ to forward a letter to a cer-
tain Sioux chief. In September of the follow-
ing year, Captain Paul le Gardeur St. Pierre,
whose mother was a daughter of Jean Nicolet,
Wisconsin's first explorer, was sent to com-
mand at Chequamegon, assisted by Ensign
Linctot^ the authorities of the lower country
having been informed that the local Chippewa
chief was, with his fellow-chief at Keweenaw,
going to war with the Foxes. St. Pierre was
at Chequamegon for at least a year, and was
succeeded by Linctot, who effected an impor-
tant peace between the Chippewas and Sioux.^
Whether a garrisoned stockade was main-
tained at Chequamegon Bay, from St. Pierre's
time to the close of the French domination, it
is impossible to say ; but it seems probable, for
the geographical position was one of consider-
tween the stations of Sault Ste. Marie and Fort William, at
Pigeon Riyer), Cadotte's, and La Pointe (the latter, because
La Pointe village was situated thereon).
1 On the site of the present Fort William, Ont., near
Thunder Bay.
« Wis, Hist Colls,, xvi., p. 380 ; Minn, Hist Colls,, v., pp.
423-4aS-
354 Essays I'ti Western History
able importance in the development of the fur-
trade, and the few records extant mention the
fort as one of long standing.*
In 1730 it is recorded that a nugget of
copper was brought to the post by an Indian,
Acoffer and search at once made for a mine.
"V^ But a year later, the authorities of
New France wrote to the home office in Paris
that, owing to the superstitions of the In-
dians, which led them to conceal mineral
wealth from the whites, no copper mine had
thus far been found in the neighborhood of
Chequamcgon Bay,
The commandant of Chequamegon at this
time was Louis Dcnys, Sieur de la Ronde —
Tksfirst like most of his predecessors^ a con- '
*"'* siderable trader in these far Western
parts, and necessarily a man of enterprise
and vigor. La Ronde, who was reported as
"knowing the savage languages better than
the savages, as they themselves admit," ' was
for many years the chief trader in the Lake
Superior country, his son and partner being
Denys de la Ronde. In order to search for
> It vas during this pen'od Ilie only fur-trading eUtion oa
the south shore of Like Superior, and was admirably situ-
ated for protecting not only the west end of the lake, but the
Bois 6tuI^-SI. Croix trade route.
* Beaubunois to the French Minister, Oct it, 1731.
The Story of La Pointe 255
copper mines, as well as to conduct their grow-
ing fur-trade, they built a bark of forty tons,
which was without doubt " the first vessel on
the great lake, with sails larger than an Indian
blanket"^ On account of the great outlay
incurred by him in this and other wilderness
enterprises, the post of Chequamegon, with its
trading monopoly, had, according to a de-
spatch of that day, been given to the elder La
Ronde, " as a gratuity to defray expenses."
Other allusions to the La Rondes are not
infrequent: in 1736,^ the son is ordered to
investigate a report of a copper mine at Iron
River, not far east of the Bois Brul6 ; in the
spring of 1740, the father is at Mackinac, on
his return to Chequamegon from a visit to the
1 James D. Butler's '* Early Shipping on Lake Superior,"
in Wis, Hist, Sac, Proc.^ 1894, p. 87. The rigging and other
materials were taken in canoes from the lower country to Sault
Ste. Marie, the vessel being built at Point auz Pins, on the
north shore, seven miles above the Sault. Butler shows that
Alexander Henry was interested with a mining company in
launching upon the lake in May, 177 1, a sloop of 70 tons.
After this, sailing vessels were regularly employed upon
Superior, in the prosecution of the fur-trade and copper
mining. The Hudson's Bay Company's " Speedwell " was
upon the lake as early as 1789; the North West Company's
principal vessel was the " Beaver."
* In this year there were reported to be 150 Chippewa
braves living on Point Chagouamigon. — N, K Colon.
Docs,^ iz.
256 Essays in Western History
lower country, but being sick is obliged to re- !
turn to Montreal, where he died; ^ and in 1744,
BcUin's map gives to what we now know as
Madelaine, the name "Isle de la Ronde"^ 1
fair evidence that the French post of this periocl |
was on that island.
We hear nothing more of importance con-
cerning Chequamcgon until about 1756, when
AtUtsif Herte! de Beaubassin, the last French
tkiFniich commandant there, was summoned to
Lower Canada with his Chippewa allies, to do
battle against the English,* For several years
past, wandering English fur-traders had been
tampering with the powerful Chippewas of Lake
Superior, who in consequence frequently mal-
treated their old friends, the French; ^ but
now that the tribe were summoned for actual
fighting in the lower country, with extravagant
promises of presents, booty, and scalps, they
with other Wisconsin Indians eagerly flocked
' Martin MSS,, Dominion Archive!, Ottawa — letter ol
Beaubarnois. For mucli of tlie foregoing data, see Nelll's
" History of the Ojibways," Minn. Hist. Colh., v.
* N. Y. Colon. Daci., x., p. 4*4.
' Says Governor GaliGsoniire, in writing to the colonial
office at Paris, under date of Octot)er, 1743: " Voyage urs
robbed and maltreated at Sault Ste. Marie, and eUewliere on
Lake Saperior; in fine, tliere appears to be no security any-
where." —A'. K. Co/on. Doci., x., p. 181.
The Story of La Pointe 257
under the French banner, and in painted
swarms appeared on the banks of the St. Law-
rence, with no better result than to embarrass
the French commissariat and thus unwittingly
aid the ambitious English.
New France was tottering to her fall. The
little garrison on Madelaine Island had, with
A tragic many another like it, been withdrawn
'^ from the frontier to help in the de-
fence of the lower country ; and the Upper
Lakes, no longer policed by the fur-trade
monopoly, were free plunder for the unlicensed
coureurs de bois. Doubtless such were the
party who encamped upon the island during
the autumn of 1760. By the time winter
had set in upon them, all had left for their
wintering grounds in the forests of the far
West and Northwest, save a clerk named
Joseph, who remained in charge of the stores
and the local traffic. With him were his little
family, — his wife, who was from Montreal, his
child, a small boy, and a man-servant, or voy-
ageur. Traditions differ as to the cause of the
servant's action — some have it, a desire for
wholesale plunder ; others, detection in a series
of petty thefts, which Joseph threatened to re-
port; others, an unrequited passion for Joseph's
wife. However that may be, the servant mur-
17
258 Jissays in Wesiem History
dered first the clerk, and then the wife; and I
in a few days, stung by the piteous cries of I
the child, the lad himself. When the spring I
came, and the traders returned to Chequamc^ I
gon, they inquired for Joseph and his fam- 1
ily; but the servant's reply was unsatisfactory,!
and he finally confessed to his terrible deed.
The story goes, that in horror the traders dis-
mantled the old French fort as a thing accursed, .
sunk the cannon in a neighboring pool, and so I
destroyed the palisade that to-day certain mya-
tcrious grassy mounds alone remain to testify I
of the tragedy. Carrying their prisoner with J
them on their return voyage to Montreal, he 1
is said to have escaped to the Hurons, among 1
whom he boasted of his deed, only to be killed '
as too cruel a companion even for savages.^
New France having now fallen, an English
trader, Alexander Henry, spent the winter of
AUxattdtT 1765-^ upon the mainland opposite
""^ the island." Henry had obtained
1 See the several versions of this tale. Wis. Hist. Ctdls., ■
viil, pp. 524 t "9; and Mit't- H"!- Colh., v., pp. t4t-l45> 43".
43a. Warien says that some Chippewa traditions ascribe
this tragedy to the year 1721, but the weight of evideoce is
as in thE text above.
■ " My house, which stood in the bay, was sheltered by an
island of fifteen mites in length, and between which and the
main the channel is four miles broad. On the island there
was formerly a French trading-post, much frequented; and
The Story of La Pointe 259
from the English commandant at Mackinac
the exclusive trade of Lake Superior, and at
Sault Ste. Marie took into partnership Jean
Baptiste Cadotte,^ a thrifty Frenchman, who
for many years thereafter was one of the most
prominent characters on the Upper Lakes.
Henry and Cadotte spent several winters to-
gether on Lake Superior, but only one upon
the shores of Chequamegon, which Henry
styles "the metropolis of the Chippeways." ^
The next dweller at Chequamegon Bay,
John of whom we have record, was John
Johnston Johnston, a Scotch-Irish fur-trader of
some education. Johnston established himself
in its neighborhood a large Indian village." — Henry's
Travels^ p. 199. Henry doubtless means that formerly there
was an Indian village on the island ; Warren says that until
after the coming of Cadotte the island was thought by the
natives to be bewitched.
1 Jean Baptiste Cadotte (formerly spelled Cadot) was the
son of one Cadeau, who is said to have come to the North-
west in the train of Sieur de Saint-Lusson, who in 1671
took possession of the region centring at Sault Ste. Marie.
Jean Baptiste, who was legally married to a Chippewa woman,
had two sons, Jean Baptiste and Michel, both of whom were
extensive traders and in their turn married Chippewas. See
Minn. Hist, Colls., v., index.
* " On my arrival at Chagouenig, I found fifty lodges of
Indians there. These people were almost naked, their trade
having been interrupted, first by the English invasion of
Canada, and next by Pontiac's war." — Travels, p. 193.
26o Essays in Western History
on Madelaine Island, not far from the site of
the old French fort. Some four miles across
the water, on the mainland to the west, near
where is now the town of Bayfield, was a
Chippewa village with whose inhabitants he
engaged in traffic. Waubojeeg (White Fisher),
a forest celebrity in his day, was at this time
the village chief, and possessed of a comely
daughter whom Johnston soon sought and
obtained in marriage. Taking her to his
island home, Johnston appears to have lived
there for a year or two in friendly commerce
with the natives, at last retiring to his old
station at Sault Ste. Marie.^
Mention has been made of Jean Baptiste
Cadotte, who was a partner of Alexander
The Henry in the latter*s Lake Superior
Cadottes trade, soon after the middle of the
century. After his venture with Henry, Ca-
1 McKenny, in History of the Indian Tribes (Phila., 1854),
i., pp. 154, 155, tells the story. He speaks of Johnston as
" the accomplished Irish gentleman who resided so many
years at the Sault de Ste. Marie, and who was not better
known for his intelligence and polished manners than for his
hospitality.*' Johnston died (aged sixty-six) at Sault Ste.
Marie, September 22, 1828. His widow became a Presby-
terian, and built a church of that denomination at the Sault.
Her daughter married Henry B. Schoolcraft, the historian
of the Indian tribes of the Upper Lakes. Waubojeeg died
at an advanced age, in 1793.
The Story of La Pointe 261
dotte, whose wife was a Chippewa, returned to
Sault Ste. Marie, from which point he con-
ducted an extensive trade through the North-
west. Burdened with advancing years, Jean
retired from the traffic in 1 796 and divided the
business between his two sons, Jean Baptiste
and Michel.
About the opening of the nineteenth cen-
tury,* Michel took up his abode on Madelaine
Island, and from that time to the present there
had been a continuous settlement there. He
had been educated at Montreal, and marrying
Equaysayway, the daughter of White Crane,
the village chief of La Pointe,^ at once became
a person of much importance in the Lake Su-
perior country. Upon the old trading site at
the southwestern corner of the island, by this
time commonly called La Pointe, — borrowing
the name, as we have seen, from the original La
Pointe, on the mainland, and it in turn from
Point Chequamegon, — Cadotte lived at his
1 Warren thinks he settled there about 1792 (Minn. Hist,
Colls.i v., p. Ill), but there is good evidence that it was at a
later date.
* "The Cranes claim the honor of first having pitched
their wigwam, and lighted the fire of the Ojibways, at Shaug-
ah-waum-ik-ong, a sand point or peninsula lying two miles
immediately opposite the Island of La Pointe.*' — Warren, in
Minn, Hist, Colls., v., p. 86.
262 Essays in Western History
ease for over a quarter of a century. Here he
cultivated a " comfortable little farm," com-
manded a fluctuating but often far-reaching
fur-trade, first as agent of the North West Com-
pany, and later of Astor's American Fur Com-
pany, and reared a considerable family. His
sons, educated, as he had been, at Montreal,
became the heads of families of Creole traders,
interpreters, and voyageurs whom antiquarians
now confidently seek when engaged in resur-
recting the French and Indian traditions of
Lake Superior.^
1 " Kind-hearted Michel Cadotte," as Warren calls him,
also had a trading-post at Lac Courte Oreille. Like the
other Wisconsin Creole traders, he was in English employ
during the War of i8 12-15, ^"^ engaged in the capture
of Mackinac (1812). He died on the island, July 8, 1837,
aged seventy-two years, and was buried there. As with
most of his kind, he made money freely and spent it with
prodigality, partly in high living, but mainly in supporting
his many Indian relatives ; as a consequence, he died poor,
the usual fate of men of his type. — Minn, Hist, Colls.y v.,
p. 449. Warren says {il)ici.y\i, 11) the death occurred **iu
1836," but the tombstone gives the above date.
Cass, Schoolcraft, and Doty visited Chequamegon Bay in
1820. Schoolcraft says, in his Narrativey pp. 192, 193: ** Six
miles beyond the Mauvaise is Point Che goi-me-gon, once
the grand rendezvous of the Chippeway tribe, but now re-
duced to a few lodges. Three miles further west is the
island of St. Michel (Madelaine), which lies in the traverse
across Chegoimegon Bay, where M. Cadotte has an establish-
ment. This was formerly an important trading-post, but is
Tlu Story of La Points 263
In the year 1818 there came to the Lake
Superior country two sturdy, fairly educated ^
The young men, natives of the Berkshire
Warrens j^jjjg ^f Massachusetts — Lyman Mar-
cus Warren, and his younger brother, Truman
Abraham. They were of the purest New Eng-
land stock, being lineally descended from
Richard Warren, one of the "Mayflower"
company. Engaging in the fur-trade, the
brothers soon became popular with the Chip-
pewas, and in 1821 still further intrenched
themselves in the affections of the tribesmen by
marrying the two half-breed daughters of old
Michel Cadotte — Lyman taking unto himself
Mary, while Charlotte became the wife of Tru-
man. At first the Warrens worked in opposi-
tion to the American Fur Company. But John
Jacob Astor*s lieutenants were shrewd men,
and understood the art of overcoming com-
mercial rivals; Lyman was made by them a
now dwindled to nothing. There is a dwelling of logs,
stockaded in the usual manner of trading-houses, besides
several outbuildings, and some land in cultivation. We
here also found several cows and horses, which have been
transported with great labour."
^ Alfred Brunson, who visited Lyman Warren at La
Polnte, in 1843, wrote : '* Mr. Warren had a large and select
library, an unexpected sight in an Indian country, containing
some books that I had never before seen.*' — Western
Pioneer (Cincinnati, 1879), "•» P« 163.
264 Essays in IVesiern History
partner in the lake traffic, and in 1824 estab-
lished himself at La Pointe as the company's
agent for the Lac Flambeau, Lac Court Oreille,
and St. Croix departments, an arrangement
which continued for some fourteen years. The
year previous, the brothers had purchased the
interests of their father-in-law, who now, much
reduced in means, retired to private life after
forty years' prosecution of the forest trade,'
The brothers Warren were the last of the
great La Pointe fur-traders.^ Truman passed
away early in his career, having expired in
1825, while upon a voyage between Mackinac
and Detroit. Lyman dwelt at La Pointe until
1838, when his connection with the American
Fur Company ceased; he then received an
appointment as United States sub-agent to
the Chippewa reservation on Chippewa River,
where he died on the tenth of October, 1847,
aged fifty-three years.*
> Miiijt. Hist. Coll!., T,, pp. 326, 383, 384, 450. Contempo-
raneously with the setllement of the Warrens at La Pointe,
Lieutenant BayGeld of the British navy made (1822-23) ^'"•
veys from which he prepared the first accurate chart of Lake
Saperior; his name is preserved in Bayfield peninsula,
county, and town.
* BoTup had a trading-post on the island in 1846 ; bat the
forest commerce had by this time sadly dwindled.
* He left six children, the oldest son being William
Whipple Warren, historian of the Chippewa tribe. See
The Story of La Pointe 265
Lyman Marcus Warren was a Presbyterian,
and, although possessed of a Catholic wife,
First Proi' was the first to invite Protestant mis-
estant mis- sionarfcs to Lake Superior. Not since
the days of Alloiiez had there been
an ordained minister at La Pointe. Warren was
solicitous for the spiritual welfare of his Chip-
pewa friends, especially the young, who were
being reared without religious instruction, and
subject to the demoralizing influence of a rough
element of white borderers. The Catholic
Church was not just then ready to re-enter the
long-neglected field ; and his predilections were
in favor of the Protestant faith. In 1830, while
upon his annual summer trip to Mackinac for
supplies, he secured the co-operation of Fred-
erick Ayer, of the Mackinac mission, who re-
turned with him in his batteau as lay preacher
and school-teacher, and opened at La Pointe
what was then the only mission upon the
shores of the great lake. In August the fol-
lowing year, Warren brought out from Macki-
nac Rev. Sherman Hall and wife, who served
respectively as missionary and teacher, and
Mrs. John Campbell, an interpreter.^
Williams's " Memoir of William W. Warren," in Minn. Hist.
Colls., V.
^ See Davidson's excellent " Missions on Chequamegon
Bay," in Wis, Hist, Colls.y xii., to which I am chiefly indebted
266 Essays in Western History
La Pointe was then upon the site of the old
French trading-post at the southwest corner of'l
Madelaine Island; and there, on the firstT
Sunday afternoon after his arrival, Mr, Hallj
preached "the first sermon ever delivered iit]
this place by a regularly ordained Christiaal
minister." The missionaries appear to haveT
been kindly received by the Catholic Creoles,.!
several of whom were now domiciled at
Pointe. The school was patronized by mostfl
of the families upon the island, red and white;!
who had children of proper age. By the first
of September there was an average attendances
of twenty-five. Instruction was given almostJ
wholly in the English language, with Sunday-- J
school exercises for the children, and frequent^
gospel meetings for the Indian and Creole
adults.
We have seen that the first La Pointe villi^e
was at the southwestern extremity of the island.
This was known as the "Old Fort "site, for
here had been the original Chippewa village,
and later the fur-trading posts of the French and
English. Gradually, the old harbor became
for information concerning the modem La Points a
Mr. Davidson has since given ds, in his Unnamed Wiseen-
lift (Klilwaukee, 1895), ampler details of this interesting
misBioD.
The Story of La Pointe 267
shallow, because of the shifting sand, and unfit
for the new and larger vessels which came to
be used in the fur-trade. The American Fur
Company therefore built a " New Fort " a few
miles farther north, still upon the west shore
of the island ; and to this place, the present
village, the name La Pointe came to be trans-
ferred. Halfway between the " Old Fort " and
the " New Fort,*' Mr. Hall erected (probably
in 1832) "a place of worship and teaching,"
which came to be the centre of Protestant
missionary work in Chequamegon Bay.
The Presbyterians and Congregationalists
were at that time, through the American Home
A denomu Missionary Society and the American
national Board, respectively united in the con-
rcversy jy^|. ^f Wisconsin missions; it is,
therefore, difficult for a layman to understand
to which denomination the institution of the
original Protestant mission at La Pointe may
properly be ascribed. According to Neill,
Warren was a Presbyterian ; so also, nominally,
were Ayer and Hall, although the last two were
latterly rated as Congregationalists. David-
son, a Congregational authority, says: "The
first organization of a Congregational church
within the present limits of Wisconsin took
place at La Pointe in August, 1833, in con-
268 Essays in Wesiem History
nection with this mission; "^ and certainly the ,
missionaries who later cami: to assist Hall were |
of the Congregational faith; these were Rev.
Leonard Hemenway Wheeler and wife, Rev.
Woodbridge L. James and wife, and Misa J
Abigail Spooner. Their work appears to I
have been as successful as such proselyting 1
endeavors among our American Indians majr I
hope to be, and no doubt did much to stem T
among the Wisconsin Chippewas the tide of ]
demoralization which upon the free advent [
of the whites overwhelmed so many of oiir J
Western tribes-
James's family did not long remain at La ]
1 Wi>. Hist. Colh., jiL, p. 445. Mr, Davidson write:
me that in his opinioii Ayer leaned to independencj, and waa
really a Congregationalist ; Hall ia registered as such in tha
Congregatianal Year Book for 1859. " As to the La Pointe
Odanih church," continues Mr. Davidson in his persoaat
letter, "its early records make no mention of lay elders —
officers that are indispensable to Presbyterian organization.
In manner of organization it was independent, rather than
strictly Congregational. This could not well be otherwise,
with no cbarch nearer than the one at Mackinac That was
Presbyterian, as was its pastor, Kev. William H. Ftrry.
The X^ Pointe church adopted articles oE faith of its own
choosing, instead of holding itself bound by the Westminster
Confession. Moreover, the church was reorganized after the
missiotv was transferred to the Presbyterian board. For tlut
action there may have been some epedat reason that I know
nothing about. But it seems to me a needless procedure if
the diurch were Presbjtetian before."
The Story of La Potnte 269
Fointe. Wheeler was soon recognized as the
. , leading spirit there, although Hall
Wetum did useful service in the field of pub-
^*^ lication, his translation of the New
Testament into Chippewa (completed in 1836)
being among the earliest of Western books.
Ayer eventually went to Minnesota. In May,
1845, owing to the migration of the majority
of the La Pointe Indians to the new Odanah
Reservation, on the mainland upon the banks
of Bad River, Wheeler removed thither and
remained their civil as well as spiritual coun-
sellor until October, 1866, when he retired from
service, full of years, and conscious of a record
of nobte deeds for the uplifting of the savage.
Hall tarried at La Pointe until 1853, when
he was assigned to Crow Wing Reservation,
on the Mississippi, thus ending the Protestant
mission on Chequamegon Bay. The new
church building, begun in 1837 near the pres-
ent La Pointe landing, had fallen into sad decay,
when, in July, 1892, it became the property of
the Lake Superior Congregational Club, who
purpose to preserve it as an historic treasure,
considering it the first church-home of their
denomination in Wisconsin.
Not far from this interesting relic of Protes-
tant pioneering at venerable La Pointe is a
170 Et$ays in Weslern History
rude structure dedicated to an older faith.
Widely has it been advertised, by poets,
romancers, and tourist agencies, as "the iden-
tical log structure built by Pere Marquette";
while within tiiere hangs a picture which we
are soberly told \iy the cicerone was " given
by the Pope of that time to Marquette, for his
mission church in the wilderness." It is strange
how ihis fancy was born ; stranger still that it
persists in living when so frequently proved
fiilse. It is as well established as any fact in
Western history — by the testimony of living
eye-witnesses, as well as by indisputable records
' — that upon July 27, 1835, ^^^ years after
Warren had introduced Ayer to Madelaine
Island, there arrived at the hybrid village of
La Pointe, with but three dollars in his pocket,
Faihtr a Worthy Austrian priest, Father
Baraga (afterwards Bishop) Frederick Baraga.
By the side of the Indian graveyard at Middle-
port, he at once erected " a log chapel, 50 x
20 ft. and r8 ft. high," and therein he said mass
on the ninth of August, one hundred and sixty-
four years after Marquette had been driven
from Chequamegon Bay by the onslaught of
the Western Sioux.' Father Baraga's resus-
' See Verwyst's Miisinnary Labors, pp. 146-149. This
chapet was built paiilf of Dew logs, and parti; of material
The Story of La Pointe 271
citated mission — still bearing the name La
Pointe, as had the mainland missions of Alloiiez
and Marquette — throve apace. His " child-
like simplicity," kindly heart, and self-sacrificing
labors in their behalf won to him the Creoles
and the now sadly impoverished tribesmen;
and when, in the winter of 1836-37, he was in
Europe begging funds for the cause, his simple-
hearted enthusiasm met with generous response
from the faithful.
Returning to La Pointe in 1837, ^^ finished
the little chapel, built log-houses for his half-
starved parishioners, and lavished attentions
upon them. Says Father Verwyst, himself an
experienced missionary among the Chippewas,
" In £ict, he gave them too much altogether —
so to say — spoiled them by excessive kind-
ness." Four years later, his chapel being ill-
built and now too small, he constructed a new
one at the modern village of La Pointe, some
of the materials of the first being used in the
second. This is the building, blessed by Father
Baraga on the second Sunday in August, 1841,
which to-day is falsely shown to visitors as that
of Father Marquette. It is needless to say
that no part of the ancient mainland chapel of
from an old building given to Father Baraga by the American
Fur Company.
27* Essays in Weslent Hisiory
the Jeauits went into its construction; as for
the picture, a " Descent from the Cross," alleged
to have once been in Marquette's chapel, we
have the best of testimony that it was im-
ported by Father Baraga himself from Europe
hi 1S41, he having obtained it there the pre-
ceding winter, when upon a second tour to
Rome to raise funds for the new church.^ This
remarkable man, promoted later to a mis-
donaiy bishopric, continued throughout his
life to labor for the uplifting of the Indians of
the Lake Superior country, exhibiting a self-
sacrificing zeal which is rare in the annals of
any church, and establishing a lasting reputa-
tion as a student of abori^nal phildogy. He
left La Pointe mission in 1853, to devote him*
self to the Menominees, leaving his work
among the Chippewas of Chequamegon Bay to
be conducted by others. About the year 1877,
the town of Bayfield, upon the mainland oppo-
site, became the residence of the Franciscan
friars who were now placed in charge. Thus,
> See Wis. Hist. Colls., xii., pp, 445, 446, no//; and Ver-
wyst'* Missionary Labori, pp. 183, 184. Father Verwysl also
calls attention to certain vestments a.t La Pointe, said to be
those of Marquette : " Tliat is another fable which we (eel it
our duty to explode. The vestmenta there were procured by
Bishop Baraga and his successors j not one of them dates
fiom the seventeenth century."
The Story of La Points 273
while the Protestant mission, after a relatively
brief career of prosperity, has long since been
removed to Odanah, the Catholics to this day
retain possession of their ancient field in Che-
quamegon Bay.
In closing, let us briefly rehearse the changes
in the location of La Pointe, as a
loccaun *** geographical term, and thus clear our
minds of some misconceptions into
which several historians have fallen.
1. As name-giver, we have Point Chequam-
egon (or Shagawaumikong). Originally a long
sand-spit hemming in Chequamegon Bay on
the east, it is now an island. The most con-
spicuous object in the local topography, it
gave name to the district; and here, at the
time of the Columbian discovery, was the
Chippewa stronghold.
2. The mission of La Pointe du St. Esprit,
founded by AUoiiez, was, it seems well estab-
lished on the mainland at the southwestern
corner of the bay, somewhere between the
present towns of Ashland and Washburn, and
not far from the site of Radisson's fort. The
poi7it which suggested to AUoiiez the name of
his mission was, of course, the neighboring
Point Chequamegon.
18
2 74 Essays in XVcstem History
3. The entire ri;gion of Chequamcgon Bay I
came soon to be known as La Pointe, but early j
within the nineteenth century the name was ,
again localized by being popularly attached to ;
the island which had previously borne many '
names, but which to-day is officially designated
" Madelaine."
4. Cadotte's little trading village on the. I
southwestern extremity of the island, on the ]
site of the old Chippewa village and the early
French forts, came soon especially to be desig-
nated as La Pointe, Thus still further was
localized this historic name, which first had
reference to a picturesque point of land, then ■
to a Jesuit mission within sight of the point,
then to the entire environs of Chequamegon
Bay, then to an island within the bay, and now
to a village upon that island.
5. When the American Fur Company estab-
lished a new fort, a few miles north of the old,
the oft-moved name La Pointe was transferred
thereto. This northern village was in popular
parlance styled "New Fort" and the now
almost-deserted southern village " Old Fort " ;
while the small settlement around the Indian
graveyard midway, where Father Baraga built
his first chapel, was known as " Middleport."
VI
A DAY ON BRADDOCK'S ROAD
VI
A DAY ON BRADDOCK'S ROAD
A BUSY little corner of the world is the
Pennsylvania town of Brownsville, on the
Monongahela. The lover of nature notes its
Browns- existence, because beginning here
^^ the works of man have caused the
river to change its character. The beautiful
Monongahela, from flowing with broad and
placid current between steep, wooded hills,
deep dented with ravines, — a sore temptation
to adventurous angler and canoeist and botan-
ist, — becomes henceforth a commercial stream,
lined with noisy, busy, grimy, matter-of-fact
manufacturing towns literally abutting one
upon the other, all of the sixty miles down to
Pittsburg, and fast defiling the once picturesque
banks with the grewsome offal of coal mines
and iron plants.
To the student of Western history, however,
Brownsville is a sort of shrine, albeit a smoky.
278 Essays in Western History
dusty shrine, with the smell of lubricators and
the noise of hammers, and much talk there-
about of the glories of Mammon. It is the
Redstone of the eighteenth century: the centre
of the first English setdeinent west of the
Alleghanies, prominent in the annals of the
French-English struggle for the mastery of
the Ohio, and long the point of departure for
expeditions down that river. It was, too, the
terminus of one of two great pioneering paths
across the Alleghanies, the other being Boone's
trail through Cumberland Gap. 1
Doubtless the comparative ease by which
the Alleghanies can be crossed, between the
waters of the Potomac at Cumberland (" Will's
Creek," of frontier history}, and those of the
Sedttmi Monongahela at the junction of Red-
oidPort stone Creek, was appreciated by the
aborigines centuries ago : for extensive earth-
work fortifications of the mound-building
epoch were found by English settlers upon the
riverside hill within the present city limits of
Brownsville, these giving to the region its his-
toric name, " Redstone Old Fort." It is pre-
sumable, also, that the Indians had had, for a
long period, a well-defined trail between Will's
Creek and Redstone.
In 1749, the Ohio Company was chartered by
Braddock^s Road 2 79
the English crown for fur-trading in the Ohio
valley, and built a fort and storehouse at Will's
.- Creek. Nemacolin, a Delaware In-
coiin*s dian, whose village was at Redstone,
^''^^ was employed to show the company's
agent, Christopher Gist, the native route over
the mountains ; and it was " Nemacolin's Path "
that was in great part followed by young
Major Washington in 1753 in his visit to the
French at Venango, that was improved for
wagon traffic by Washington on his Fort Ne-
cessity campaign the following year, and that
was followed much of the way by Braddock in
1755. For sixty-five years " Nemacolin's Path '*
— later developed into " Braddock's Road " —
was travelled as the great northern highway to
the West, until the present National Road was
built (1795 till about 1820) between Cumber-
land and Brownsville. This latter closely and
often actually follows the Braddock route from
Cumberland until near Uniontown, whence it
diverges westward to Brownsville — practically
along the old Indian trail, leaving the Braddock
Road to verge northeastward to Gist's planta-
tion at Mount Braddock, and thence westward
to the mouth of Turtle Creek, where is now the
modern iron-making town of Braddock.
It was with the view of visiting the scenes of
\
aSo Essays in Western History
Washington's service along Nemacolin's Path, J
a century and a half ago, that we set out from I
RtdHmu Brownsville, one morning early in I
Crtek May. The railway journey of some I
eighteen miles to Uniontown abounds in inter- J
est. The line makes its ascent to the foot of f
the Laurel Hills, up the rugged little valley of I
Redstone Creek, hugging the serpentine banks I
with a persistence resulting in sharp curves \
which bounce the traveller about in his seat to a 1
degree more lively than agreeable. There is a I
strange mixture upon the Redstone — dreary I
little coal-mine towns, with hillocks of shale I
sprawling over the landscape, and red-bedaubed, I
unhomelike homes of operatives; banks of [
coke ovens, hideously lurid ; soft brown fields,
pricked with springing grain ; stretches of
rectangular market-gardens; and pretty farm-
steads, half hid in apple orchards, closely ne^
tied by hillside shafts. Between jerks, you
get charming vistas from the car-windows —
of the swift little mountain stream flowing with
alternating noisy cascades and placid pools be-
tween banks in which are outcroppings of the
reddish stone which gives name to the locality;
of grassy slopes, spangled with trilUum, violets,
and dandelions; of forest trees rustling into
leaf; of the quaint log cabins of the pioneers,
BraddocKs Road 281
now falling into decay; and of picturesque
side ravines where disused, dilapidated water-
wheels serve as relics of the crude milling in-
dustries of generations gone before.
At Uniontown, a smart, well-built little town
of some eight thousand inhabitants, dependent
j,j^ chiefly on the coking industry, we
National took Carriage for Fort Necessity, ten
^**^ miles distant to the southeast, on the
National Road — locally styled "the pike."
White, dusty, and rather stony, the old high-
way leads straight over the foot-hills through
the pleasant rustic suburb of Hopwood, and
soon begins its zigzag climb over the Laurel
Hills. The road is often carved out of the side
of a rugged slope, and then we have -below us
sharp descents, heavily forested with chestnuts,
maples, oaks, and lindens, already well in leaf.
Great grapevines hang from the topmost
boughs in rich festoons ; masses of ferns and the
glossy may-apple are luxuriating in the moist
depths ; flowering dogwoods lifl their clusters
of white bloom into gay relief on opposite hill
slopes ; shining masses of the great laurel give
an air of luxuriance to the crests of road-
side banks, and everywhere are flitting butter-
flies panoplied in rainbow tints, rejoicing in
the scents and splendors of early summer.
274 Essays in IVcsicrn History
3. The entire region of Cliequamcgon Bay
came soon to be known as La Pointe, but early
within the nineteenth century the name was
again locaHzcd by being popularly attached to
the island which had previously borne many
names, but which to-day is officially designated
" Madelaine."
4. Cadotte's little trading village on the
southwestern extremity of tlie island, on the
site of the old Chippewa village and the early
French forts, came soon especially to be desig-
nated as La Pointe. Thus still further was
localized this historic name, which first had
reference to a picturesque point of land, then
to a Jesuit mission within sight of the point,
then to the entire environs of Chequamegon
Bay, then to an island within the bay, and now
to a village upon that island.
5. When the American Fur Company estab-
lished a new fort, a few miles north of the old,
the oft-moved name La Pointe was transferred
thereto. This northern village was in popular
parlance styled "New Fort" and the now
almost-deserted southern village " Old Fort " ;
while the small settlement around the Indian
graveyard midway, where Father Baraga built
his first chapel, was known as " Middleport."
VI
A DAY ON BRADDOCK'S ROAD
VI
A DAY ON BRADDOCK'S ROAD
A BUSY little corner of the world is the
Pennsylvania town of Brownsville, on the
Monongahela. The lover of nature notes its
Brawns- existence, because beginning here
*'*^ the works of man have caused the
river to change its character. The beautiful
Monongahela, from flowing with broad and
placid current between steep, wooded hills,
deep dented with ravines, — a sore temptation
to adventurous angler and canoeist and botan-
ist, — becomes henceforth a commercial stream,
lined with noisy, busy, grimy, matter-of-fact
manufacturing towns literally abutting one
upon the other, all of the sixty miles down to
Pittsburg, and fast defiling the once picturesque
banks with the grewsome offal of coal mines
and iron plants.
To the student of Western history, however,
Brownsville is a sort of shrine, albeit a smoky.
2 78 Essays in Wesicrn History
dusty shrine, with the smell of lubricators and
the noise of hammers, and much talk there-
about of the glories of Mammon. It is the
Redstone of the eighteenth century: the centre
of the first Enghsh settlement west of the
Alleghanies, prominent in the annals of the
French-English struggle for the mastery of
the Ohio, and long the point of departure for
expeditions down that river, It was, too, the
terminus of one of two great pioneering paths
across the Alleghanies, the other being Boone's
trail through Cumberland Gap.
Doubtless the comparative ease by which
the Alleghanies can be crossed, between the
waters of the Potomac at Cumberland ("Will's
Creek," of frontier history), and those of ibe
Reddani Monongahcla at the junction of Red-
oidPort stone Creek, was appreciated by the
aborigines centuries ago : for extensive earth-
work fortifications of the mound-building
epoch were found by English settlers upon the
riverside hill within the present city limits of
Brownsville, these giving to the region its his-
toric name, " Redstone Old Fort." It is pre-
sumable, also, that the Indians had had, for a
long period, a well-defined trail between Will's
Creek and Redstone.
In 1 749, the Ohio Company was chartered by
Braddock^s Road 279
the English crown for fur-trading in the Ohio
valley, and built a fort and storehouse at Will's
Nema- Creek. Nemacolin, a Delaware In-
adin*s dian, whose village was at Redstone,
Path.
was employed to show the company's
agent, Christopher Gist, the native route over
the mountains ; and it was " Nemacolin's Path "
that was in great part followed by young
Major Washington in 1753 in his visit to the
French at Venango, that was improved for
wagon traffic by Washington on his Fort Ne-
cessity campaign the following year, and that
was followed much of the way by Braddock in
175 5. For sixty-five years " Nemacolin's Path "
— later developed into " Braddock's Road " —
was travelled as the great northern highway to
the West, until the present National Road was
built (1795 till about 1820) between Cumber-
land and Brownsville. This latter closely and
often actually follows the Braddock route from
Cumberland until near Uniontown, whence it
diverges westward to Brownsville — practically
along the old Indian trail, leaving the Braddock
Road to verge northeastward to Gist's planta-
tion at Mount Braddock, and thence westward
to the mouth of Turtle Creek, where is now the
modern iron-making town of Braddock.
It was with the view of visiting the scenes of
28o Essays in Weslern History
Washington's service along Nemacolin's Path,
a century and a half ago, that we set out from
Ktditmt Brownsville, one morning early in
Crceh May. The railway Journey of some
eighteen miles to Uniontoxvn abounds in inter-
est. The line makes its ascent to the foot of
the Laurel Hills, up tlie rugged little valley of
Redstone Creelc, hugging the serpentine banks
with a persistence resulting in sharp curves
which bounce the traveller about in his seat to a
degree more lively than agreeable. There is a
strange mixture upon the Redstone — dreary
little coal-mine towns, with hillocks of shale
sprawling over the landscape, and red-bedaubed,
unhomelike homes of operatives; banks of
coke ovens, hideously lurid ; soft brown fields,
pricked with springing grain ; stretches of
rectangular market-gardens; and pretty farm-
steads, half hid in apple orchards, closely nes-
tled by hillside shafts. Between jerks, you
get charming vistas from the car-windows —
of the swift little mountain stream flowing with
alternating noisy cascades and placid pools be-
tween banks in which are outcroppings of the
reddish stone which gives name to the locality ;
of grassy slopes, spangled with trillium, violets,
and dandelions ; of forest trees rustling into
leaf; of the quaint log cabins of the pioneers,
BraddocKs Road 281
now falling into decay; and of picturesque
side ravines where disused, dilapidated water-
wheels serve as relics of the crude milling in-
dustries of generations gone before.
At Uniontown, a smart, well-built little town
of some eight thousand inhabitants, dependent
j^ chiefly on the coking industry, we
National took Carriage for Fort Necessity, ten
^*^ miles distant to the southeast, on the
National Road — locally styled "the pike."
White, dusty, and rather stony, the old high-
way leads straight over the foot-hills through
the pleasant rustic suburb of Hopwood, and
soon begins its zigzag climb over the Laurel
Hills. The road is often carved out of the side
of a rugged slope, and then we have 'below us
sharp descents, heavily forested with chestnuts,
maples, oaks, and lindens, already well in leaf.
Great grapevines hang from the topmost
boughs in rich festoons ; masses of ferns and the
glossy may-apple are luxuriating in the moist
depths ; flowering dogwoods lift their clusters
of white bloom into gay relief on opposite hill
slopes ; shining masses of the great laurel give
an air of luxuriance to the crests of road-
side banks, and everywhere are flitting butter-
flies panoplied in rainbow tints, rejoicing in
the scents and splendors of early summer.
282 Essays in Western History
We have also backward views of the rolling
country from which we have risen, of the hills
scattered about us like haycocks, their sunny
sides checkered with rectangular fields of yel-
low, brown, and gray, and of whitewashed
hamlets dotting the green depths.
At the summit of the range, where a by-road,
to be followed later in the day, leads off north-
ward to Jumonville's Camp and Washington's
Springs, an enterprising farm-wife conducts a
summer resort, with cottages for guests who
may, during the stifling summer days yet to
come, desire to be up in the air, out of the
dust of the coke ovens. A tall, angular, harsh-
visaged woman, in a blue sunbonnct and with
sockless feet, stood leaning over a sdle hutl by,
her eyes more intent on our approach than on
the far-stretching mountain view.
" We fit fire last night, on Ches'nut Ridge,
jest over yon," she volunteered, pointing with
her thumb to the north, where a thin bank of
smoke hung dreamily over the dark forest
which here mantles the hills. She had no
knowledge of Fort Necessity by that name,
but " lowed as thar was an ol' fort over on
Facenbaker's farm, yon way, up the pike,"
As to how far it was, as expressed in miles, she
" 'lowed she could n't tell, but it was a bit
Braddock^s Road 283
furder — yon way furder, now"; and the peak
of her sunbonnet flapped in the direction of
the southeast, where the white line of turnpike
dipped down into a little valley and ran up over
the next hill, and then appeared to jump off
into space.
When we had climbed thither, there was a
dreary little frame tavern on the top of the hill,
with a lager-beer sign conspicuously posted, a
watering trough, and a half-dozen farm hands
sousing their heads at the tavern pump, pre-
paratory to dinner. The aspect was not invit-
ing. In further search of dinner, we descended
into the next valley, where an old stone hos-
telry stood by a shallow run in which hogs
wallowed, and waddling geese craned their
necks and hissed defiance to the new guests.
The generous hall and dining-room, with their
large open fireplaces and the commodious gal-
leries, are eloquent of the old coaching days
of the '20's and '30*s, when the National Road
from Cumberland to Redstone was the great
trans-mountain highway, over which rolled a
motley throng of immigrants, tourists, traders,
and speculators, on foot, on horseback, and in
every imaginable conveyance, bound for the
unfolding West.
This old stone pile, built in 1820, when
2S4 Essays in IVeslem History '
the Westering tide was at its flood, was one
of several established along the way, every
A loaihing twcnty mllcs or so apart — veritable
lavtrn coaching taverns, at which man and
beast in this restless stream might obtain re-
freshment, solid and liquid. But few of these
coaching houses now remain; there is one six
miles cast of Brownsville, another in Uniontown,
and this one at Braddock's Run. No more
are they the scenes of nightly uproar — the
crack of drivers' whips, the shouts and impre-
cations of a rushing throng eager to reach the
Western goal ; to-day they are peaceful spots
much affected by summer boarders from Pitts-
burg and Uniontown, and existing but in the
shadow of their old-time glory.
Upon the banks of thip noisy little run, now a
muddy barnyard rivulet, the famous Braddock
is said to have died and been interred.
■' general was mortally wounded in the
slaughter-pen at the mouth of Turtle Creek,
that fateful ninth of July, but was borne by his
soldiers upon the retreat, and on the fourteenth
died in camp. In the Journal of Colonel James
Burd, sent out through this district by Bouquet
in 1759, to establish a base of supplies for the
defence of the frontier, it is said that " two
Braddock's Road 285
miles from here [Fort Necessity] we found
General Braddock's grave, about twenty yards
from a little hollow, in which there is a small
stream of water, and over it a bridge." This
locality answers fully to Burd's description, and
just up there on the hillside, — now an open
pasture, a few yards north of the present Na-
tional Road, and immediately within the plainly
marked Braddock Road, which here crosses the
former, — is a clump of tall evergreens, sur-
rounded by a whitewashed board fence, which
tradition establishes as the site of Braddock's
burial. The evidence, I think, is acceptable,
that Braddock was buried at about this spot,
although the measures taken by his soldiers
to obliterate the grave against possible Indian
desecration were so thorough that the precise
locality can never be known.
It quickens one's historical imagination to
stand by Braddock's resting-place, able with
the eye to trace plainly through the hollow
and up over the wooded hill to the west the
path which the English engineers hewed out
for the intrepid general. Brave and well-mean-
ing he certainly was, and not so bad a man as
many have pictured, else Washington would
never have loved him and mourned his loss.
Braddock was but the victim of the traditions
2 86 Essays in Western History
of his school; and that these have lasted unto
our own day, the Boer War affords ample
evidence.
Two miles to the southeast, along the turn-
pike, which follows the crest of a low-lying
Qrrni spuF dipping towards the Youghio-
AUajams gheny (pronounced Yock-i-o-ga-ney),
is Geoffrey Facenbaker's farm, which includes
Great Meadows and Fort Necessity. Descend-
ing through a fenced cattle-way for three hun-
dred yards, one emerges upon the meadow,
a low, almost marshy tract of some fifty acres,
surrounded by low, gently-sloping hills which
once were heavily forested, but now are for the
most part open fields. A small creek flowing
southeasterly towards the Youghiogheny, and
styled East Meadow Run, courses through the
centre of the valley, and on its northern bank
Washington built his fort.
The first English fur-traders, in their journey
along Nemacolin's Path, found here a springy,
treeless basin much grown to bushes, but
abounding in sweet grasses. They called it
Great Meadows, in contradistinction to Little
Meadows, a similar basin thirty-one miles to
the east, and but twenty from Cumberland.
In these meadows. Great and Little, they were
accustomed in over-mountain trips to pasturing
Braddock's Road
287
288 Essays m IVestem History
their horses and cattle, and Washington also
found them serviceable in this regard, in his
expedition of 1754- It will be remembered
that on his way to support the Virginian occu-
pation of the Forks of the Ohio (Pittsburg),
he made the Great Meadows a base of opera-
tions, although his recognition of its unfitness
for the purpose was recognized in the name he
gave to his stockade.
The French had driven off the English
fort-makers at Pittsburg, before Washington's
Thi first arrival. Jumoiiville, sent out by way
''"^ of Redstone to watch the Virginians,
hid in an obscure ravine a half-dozen miles to
the northwest, and five hundred yards east of
Nemacolin's Path, at the base of a lofty hill
from which he had a wide view of the country.
Washington, with his advance party, here came
upon Jumonville, and the encounter which
ensued led to the death of the latter and the
opening of the French and Indian War.
Washington, too weak to meet the avenging
French force from Fort Duquesne, under
Jumonville's brother, De Villiers, who
Ftrt had ascended the Monongahela in
Ntttssiiy boats and was rapidly approaching
up the valley of the Redstone, fell back to Fort
Necessity, strengthened it as best he might,
BraddocKs Road 289
and there stood siege with his half-starved
band through that dreary third of July. In
a rude stockade surrounded on three sides by
hills, one of them so close that the enemy
could approach within sixty yards under cover
of the woods, and with the besieged crippled
for lack of stores, the result was inevitable.
The " buckskin general " was obliged to capit-
ulate, and at daybreak of the fourth marched
out over Nemacolin's Path towards Will's Creek,
a toilsome journey of fifty miles across the
mountains, upon a mere apology for a road,
the heart-sick officers and men bearing their
burdens on their backs, and their wounded on
stretchers. They were suffered to carry one
swivel with them, for defence against the
Indians who hung upon their flanks, and to
spike the eight left behind them in the fort.
The injury inflicted upon these latter was ap-
parently but nominal, for the following year
several of the guns were taken to Fort
Cumberland. Years after this, emigrants to
the West, following the old over-mountain
route, discovered and used others at Great
Meadows, and eventually these found their
way into Kentucky, where they did service in
the defence of savage-harassed settlers on the
" dark and bloody ground."
19
290 Essays in Western History
It was surprising to find the remains of
Fort Necessity so well preserved. Great
Remirmit/ Mcadow Run, originaltva lazy, weed-
titfin grown stream some ten feet wide,
has been straightened by the present proprie-
tor into a drainage ditch, but its ancient
windings are readily distinguishable. The
change in the course of the run destroyed an
outlying work, but the embankment of the
fort itself is traceable through the greater part
of its length. The line of earthwork is still
some eight or ten inches above the surround-
ing level ; while on the inner side, counting the
excavation ditch, it has a height of about
fifteen inches.
The accounts of visitors to the fort differ
materially as to its shape. In his Journal of
1759' Colonel Burd says, under date of Sep-
tember lO : " Saw Colonel Washington's fort,
which was called Fort Necessity. It is a small,
circular stockade, with a small house in the
centre." In i8l6 Freeman Lewis made a sur-
vey, and declared that the embankments were
then nearly three feet high, and had the shape
of an obtuse-angled triangle of one hundred
and five degrees, with the base of two hundred
and seventy-two feet on the stream (then un-
changed in its course), and the sides one
BraddocKs Road 2 9 1
hundred and fifteen and ninety-nine feet
respectively. Sparks visited the place in 1830,
and tells us that it occupied "an irregular
square, the dimensions of which were about
one hundred feet on each side/* and his en-
graving gives it a diamond shape. The author
of the History of Fayette County (1822) thinks
the outlines are those of a right-angled tri-
angle. I cannot agree with any of these, for
our measurements with compass and line gave
us an equilateral triangle with sides of about
a hundred and twenty feet. Of the side
nearest the run (from northwest to southeast)
seventy feet are now distinguishable ; upon that
extending from the still perfect northwest cor-
ner towards the southern angle there remains
the upper portion, a hundred and ten feet in
length ; the third side is broken at both ends,
owing to the utter destruction of the southern
and southeastern angles, but has ninety feet
left in the curtain. There are of course no
remaining evidences of the palisade, on top
of the embankment, for this was at the time
destroyed by the French, and all relics have
long since been gathered up by curiosity-
seekers.
Two hawthorn-trees are growing on the
western embankment, one of them fifty-four
293 Essays in Western History
inches in circumference; and Mr. Facenbakerl
reports that some forty years ago, on coming;!
into the property, he eradicated a youngJ
locu&t grove then occupying the site of the forti,!
In the centre of the fort still rests, although!
upheaved by frost, a hewn block of limestone, ,|
two feet square, the only surviving memento 1
of a movement inaugurated in 1854 — th*
centennial year — for the erection here of a
Washington monument. This corner-stone ]
was laid with much ceremonial by Fayette I
Lodge, A. Y. M., the Fourth of July of that j
year; but nothing has since been done about]
the matter, and the outlines of the fort alonei
remain as visual evidence of the momentous .!
affair of the Great Meadows. Washington
himself was conscious of the historic import-
ance of the spot, and did his best to protect
it from change. In 1767 he acquired claim to
two hundred and thirty-four acres hereabout,
including the meadow, and mentions the tract
in his will. Sold by his executors, the site of
Fort Necessity passed through several hands,
but has been untouched by the plough unto this
day; although thousands of crayfish, piling up
little mounds of clay, are just now doing their
best to disturb the surface.
Leaving Great Meadows, with its sloping
BraddocKs Road 293
brown sides being ploughed and harrowed for
field crops, we ascended to the turnpike once
Jumon- more, through the cattle-way, and
villus an hour later were back at Summit
^'"^ House, turning off to the northeast on
the by-road towards Jumonville*s Camp. It is
the roughest sort of mountain road, the hubs
of the carriage one moment bumping trees and
stumps, and the other wallowing in deep ruts
which are still filled with the residuum of yes-
terday's rain. Up and down steep grades,
swishing around sharp curves, rattling over
stony hillsides, toiling laboriously through
alternate beds of sand and clay, we reach an
understanding of what Braddock's Road must
have been before the turnpike came. In three
miles we pass Washington's Springs, a roman-
tic glen where the Virginia major is supposed
to have camped the night before he met Ju-
monville. There is, in this isolated spot, a
small summer hotel with an outlying cottage
or two. As we passed, a tall mountaineer and
his women-folk were busied in whitewashing
and repapering the establishment in prepara-
tion for the " season," soon to open.
A half mile or so farther, we found the rocky
hillside hollow in which Jumonville made his
camp, and where was fired the first shot in the
294 Essays in Wesiern History
final struggle between French and Englisl
the control of the continent. The sides are
now hung thick with laurel, and great beds of
ferns carpet the ground; while all about, the
dark mountain forest is perhaps quite as
tangled and dreary as it was in Washington's
day. Towering aloft, a steep climb, is the hill
which was JumonvElle's outlook over Ncma-
colin's Path, and from which he could, himself
unseen, readily observe the movements of the
Virginians. Not far away, on the bank of the
outlet of this spring, and at the foot of a huge
boulder, is the spot styled Junionvillc's Grave,
although there is less evidence that here was
the actual grave than there is concerning the
identity of Braddock's resting-place.
A half mile to the north was, the following
year, the camp of Colonel Dunbar, in charge
Dunbaf's of Btaddock's heavy reserves. It was
Cam/ to Dunbar's camp that the survivors
of the ambuscade at Turtle Creek 6ed in terror ;
and from here commenced that shameful retreat
at a time when the victorious but apprehensive
French and Indians were themselves in flight
towards Fort Duquesne. Dunbar's Spring, in
which Braddock's great stores of powder were
spoiled, is still pointed out to strangers, and
the story is told that twelve years after Brad-
Braddoctis Road 295
dock's defeat there were still visible " some six
inches of black nitrous matter all over the basin
of the spring*' — the residuum of the English
powder so freely poured into it.
Upon a lofty elevation near Dunbar's camp,
with its stirring memories of border warfare,
The mean- ^nd a half-dozen miles east of Union-
ingofit town, is one of the admirable soldiers'
orphans' schools, of which there are several
in Pennsylvania. Just as the sun was sinking,
we emerged from the rough forest road which
passes the eastern gate of the institution,
and drove through the grounds as a cut-short
to the Uniontown " pike." The smartly-uni-
formed school-lads were drawn up in platoons
on the parade-ground, saluting the flag of the
country for which Washington, less than a mile
distant, virtually fired the first shot, a century
and a half ago. That for which Washington
stood, at Jumonville's hiding-place, was the
guarantee to all white dwellers in North
America of the perpetuity of free English
institutions, as against the mediaeval despotism
of the French dominion ; the fathers of these
homeless boys extended the benefits of those
institutions to the blacks within our borders,
thus completing the task so well begun.
Ife
VII
EARLY LEAD MINING ON THE UPPER
MISSISSIPPI
^\
VII
EARLY LEAD MINING ON THE UPPER
MISSISSIPPI!
IT IS not probable that the aboriginal inhabit-
ants of the Upper Mississippi valley, aside
from using it to ornament their pipes and other
utensils, made any considerable use of lead
Abort nai P^^^^^^s to the appearance among
ustof them of French missionaries, ex-
^^ plorers, and fur-traders. The French
continually searched for metallic deposits, and
questioned the Indians closely regarding their
probable whereabouts. Although superstitious
with regard to minerals, the latter appear to
have early made known to the whites the veins
of lead in the tract which now embraces the
1 Not a formal treatise upon this interesting subject. I
have here but thrown together in outline, as useful material
for those who may wish to develop it, these notes on early
lead mining in the Fever (or Galena) River region, the result
of a somewhat protracted Investigation, which, however, I
have not had the opportunity to carry to its utmost
possibilities.
300 Essays in Wesiern History
counties of Grant, Iowa, and La Fayet
Wisconsin; Jo Daviess and Carroll counties
in Illinois; Dubuque County, in Iowa, and
portions of Eastern Missouri, This is one of
the richest of lead-bearing regions, and when
once brought to the notice of the explorers
of Now France its fame became widespread.
The French introduced fire-arms among the
Northwestern Indians, and induced them to
hunt, on a large scale, fur-bearing animals;
thus lead at once assumed a value in the eyes
of the latter, both for use as bullets in their
own weapons, and as an article of traffic with
the traders.
The Wisconsin and Illinois Indians were
visited in 1634 by Nicolet, who doubtless was
Taught if the first to teach them the use of lead
whites jjj connection with fire-arms. Ra-
disson and Groseilliers followed in 1658-59,
and heard of lead mines among the Bceuf
Sioux, apparently in the neighborhood of
Dubuque.'
JoUiet and Marquette, when in 1673 return-
„ ^ ing from the Lower Mississippi, must
ttajic u have instructed the Illinois in the use
""' of fire-arms and the utility of lead — •
if, indeed, this tribe had not already had some
1 Wit. Hilt. C«tk., xi., p. 93.
Early Lead Mining 301
traffic in the ore with wandering traders and
coureurs de bois operating the upper waters
of the Mississippi River or on Lake Michi-
gan, of whose presence in the region we catch
faint glimpses in the earliest records of ex-
ploration.^
The journals of Marquette and of La Hontan
(1689) speak of the mineral wealth of the
Upper Mississippi country; but they appear
never to have seen the mines themselves, and,
misunderstanding their informants, concluded
that the deposits were of gold, silver, and
copper. Hennepin's map of 1687 ^ places a
lead mine in the neighborhood of the present
Galena, showing that he had definite infor-
mation regarding it. Joutel, who was in the
country that year, says^ that "travelers who
have been at the upper part of the Mississippi
1 ♦* There cannot be a doubt that many of the French
voyageurs besides M. Perrot and the Du I'Huts had explored
a large part of the country ♦ ♦ ♦ at a very early day, but of
their adventures we have no account, because they were not
sufficiently educated to record them. We have occasionally
incidental allusions in public documents, in works on
geography, and in memoirs, which prove this to have been
the case " — Mills, Report on the Boundaries of the Province
0/ Ontario (Ottawa, 1877), p. 6.
2 Breese, Early History of Illinois; and Winchell, Geo-
logical Survey of Minnesota, Final Report,
» Joutel,yb«r»^(i7i3).
3oa Essays in lVesier7i History
affirm that they have found mines of very good
lead there."
It is alleged^ that some French traders
stationed in the vicinity of Peoria Lake, on the
Illinois River, purchased a quantity of lead in
1690 from certain Indian mines on what after-
wards came to be known as Fever or Galena
River.
After having made an expedition up the
Mississippi in 1690, Nicholas Perrot, then
Pitrses French commandant of the West, on
mints being presented by a Miami chief
with a lump of lead ore, promised that
within twenty days he would establish a post
below the Wisconsin River,^ La Potheric
aays' that the chief gave Perrot information
as to the locality of the mines, and the latter
accordingly visited them. Perrot, we are told,
found " the lead hard to work, because it lay
between rocks and required blasting; it had
very little dross, and was easily melted." His
post, built at this time, was doubtless on the
east side of the river, apparently opposite the
Dubuque mines.
1 Hunt's Mirehants' Magiaim, xviii., p. 285.
» Wu. Hist. Colls., xti., pp. 146, 151, 157.
' Edilion of 1753, ii., p. 351 ; Wis. Hist. Ct^ls., pp. 301,
Early Lead Mining 303
As early as 1693 Le Sueur was commandant
at Chequamegon Bay, and appears to have
u Sueuf^s made extended explorations through-
operations ^y^ ^g Upper Mississippi valley,
thereby "acquiring renown."* In 1695 he
built a fort on a large island in the Missis-
sippi River between Lake Pepin and the
mouth of the St Croix,^ which became for
the French, says Charlevoix, "the centre of
commerce for the Western parts." While
occupying this position, it appears that Le
Sueur discovered " mines of lead, copper, and
blue and green earth," ^ and went to France
to solicit the court's permission to work them.
After many delays, he returned in 1699, in
D'Iberville's second expedition to Louisiana,
which arrived at its destination in December.
Having been commissioned by the king to
explore and work " the mines at the source of
the Mississippi," he had thirty miners assigned
to him. His reporter and companion, Pdnicaut,
after speaking of the rapids in the Mississippi
at Rock Island, says : " We found both on the
right and left bank the lead mines, called to
1 Shea, Early Voyages up and down the Mississippi
(Albany, 1861), pp. 89 et seq.
* Neill, History of Minnesota (1882), p. 148; Thwaites,
Story of Wisconsin (Boston, 1890), p. 79.
• Wis, H*st, Colls. f xvi., p. 178.
304 Essays in IVesterji History
this day the mines of Nicholas Perrot, the name
of the discoverer. Twenty leagues [thirty-nine
English miles, by U. S. land survey] from
there on the right, was found the mouth of a
large river, the Ouisconsio." ' It was the
thirteenth of August, 1700, when they arrived
opposite Fever River, which P^nicaut calls
" Riviere i la Mine." He reports that up this
httle river, a league and a half, there was " a
lead mine in the prairie." Passing up the
Mississippi, Penicaut mentions two streams
which correspond to the Platte and Grant
rivers, in Wisconsin, and says tliat Le Sueur
" took notice of a lead mine at which he sup-
phed himself" — supposed to be what after-
wards came to be known as " Snake diggings,"
near Potosi, Wisconsin. After making note
of the Black, Buffalo, Chippewa, and St Croix
rivers, in Wisconsin, Le Sueur passed the winter
on the Blue River, in what is now Minnesota.
He does not appear, except for his immediate
necessities, to have utilized the lead mines he
had discovered, and the following summer
abandoned his post, returning to France.'
1 Margry, t., p, 411.
* In this same year (1700), Father GravicT made a trip
down ibe Mississippi, and wrote ; " I do not tcnour what our
court will decide about the Mississippi, if do silver mines
aie found, foe our govemment does not seek land to catlivate.
Early Lead Mining 305
On William de Tlsle's chart of Louisiana
(1703), in which he was assisted by the obser-
vations of Le Sueur, the Galena lead mines are
plainly indicated, as are also the Dubuque
mines on the west side.^
September 14, 1712, Louis XIV. granted to
Sieur Anthony Crozat, for a term of fifteen
CrozaPs ycars, a monopoly of trade and min-
mtonopoiy jjjg privileges in Louisiana. The
mines were granted in perpetuity, subject to a
royalty, and to forfeiture if abandoned. While
Crozat's men found none of the precious
metals, they appear to have discovered consid-
erable lead deposits in what is now South-
eastern Missouri ; ^ and no doubt the English
traders, who seriously encroached on the
French domain, and the wandering coureurs
de bois, had more or less traffic with the
Indians for ore, to meet both present needs
and home demand.
In 1715, La Mothe Cadillac, governor of
Louisiana, and founder of Detroit, went up to
the Illinois country in search . of reputed silver
They care little for mines of lead, which are very abundant
near the Illinois." — Winsor, Cartier to Frontettac (Boston,
1894), P- 365-
^ Neill, Minnesota^ p. xlv.
* Wallace, Illinois and Louisiana under French Rule (Cin-
cinnati, 1893), pp. 239, 240.
20
3o6 Essays in Western History
mines, but carried back only lead ore " from
the mines which were shown him fourteen
miles west of the river." ^
Crozat resigned his monopoly to John Law's
Company of the West, chartered September
6, 1 7 17; and two years later Louisiana — to
which the Illinois country had now been at-
tached — entered upon the brief period of
"boom" which was inaugurated by that ill-
timed enterprise.
In 1 719 there arrived in the Illinois, Philippe
Francois de Renault, newly appointed "direc-
DeRe^ tor-gcncral of the mines of the
nauWsdis' Royal India Company in Illinois."^
caveries jj^ despatched prospccting pkrties to
various points on both sides of the Mississippi
River, and during the four years which he
spent in the district discovered lead mines on
the Meramec River and north of what is now
Potosi, in Missouri ; while M. de la Motte found
paying leads on the St. Francois River, also in
Missouri. July 21, 1722, one Le Gardeur de
risle writes from Fort Chartres, near Kaskaskia,
1 Winsor, Narr. and Crit. Hist, of Amer.^ v., p. 50.
2 The term Illinois was then applied to a large district
lying on the Mississippi and centring at the mouth of the
Illinois River — practically all of the present State of that
name, and the eastern half of Missouri and Iowa.
Early Lead Mining 307
that he was in command of a detachment of
twelve soldiers to accompany M. de Renault to
the Illinois River, to look after some alleged
copper and coal mines, and found what he
claimed to be silver and gold.^ No doubt these
deposits were but lead and coal, for the French
explorers were prone to deceive their patrons
as to the value of their mineral discoveries.
Charlevoix refers to alleged silver discoveries
by Cadillac, but doubtingly. Shea says ^ that
De Renault " extracted silver from Illinois lead
ore in 1722." Silver is certainly combined with
the lead, in this district, but is not present in
quantity sufficient for profitable working. In
June, 1723, De Renault was granted a square
league of territory in the northwestern part of
what is now Monroe County, Illinois, and also
a tract at Peoria containing about fourteen
thousand acres. Upon the former grant he
planted a small village named St. Philippe ; but
by 1765 the place was deserted, the French
residents having removed to the west bank of
the Mississippi.*
The next reference we find to the lead mines
is in 1743, when a M. le Guis gives an ac-
1 E. B. Washburne's letter to Chicago Hist. Soc.
* In his edition of Charlevoix, vi., p. 25.
• E. B. Washburne's letter to Chicago Hist. Soc.
3o8 Essays in Wesfem History
count ' of the methods of " eighteen or twenty "
miners then operating in the Fever River re-
/•rimith-t gioo — a fast lot, he says, every man '
mutitdi working for himseif at surface oper- j
ations, and extracting only enough to secure
a bare existence for the rest of the year, Le
Guis makes the following report of wasteful
smelting methods employed by these miners,
which were strikingly similar to those in vogue
among American miners of later days until the
introduction of the Dnimmond blast furnace,'
about 1836: "They cut down two or three big
trees and divide them in logs five feet long;
then they dig a small basin in the ground and
pile three or four of these logs on top of each
other over this basin: then they cover it with
the same wood, and put three more fogs,
shorter than the first, on top, and one at each
end crossways. This makes a kind of box, in
which they put the mineral, then they pile as
much wood as they can on top and around it.
When this is done, they set fire to it from
under ; the logs burn up and partly melt the
mineral. They are sometimes obliged to re-
peat the same operation three times in order
' Wallace, pp. 274, 175.
3 Invented by Robeit A, Dnunmond, of Jo Daviess
Couulj, til.
Early Lead Mining 309
to extract all the matter. This matter, falling
into the basin, forms a lump, which they after-
ward melt over again into bars weighing from
sixty to eighty pounds, in order to facilitate the
transportation to Kaskaskia. This is done with
horses, who are quite vigorous in the country.
One horse carries generally four or five of these
bars. It is worthy of remark, gentlemen, that
in spite of the bad system these men have to
work, there has been taken out of the La Motte
mine 2,500 of these bars in 1741, 2,228 in 1742,
and these men work only four or five months
in the year at most."
Up to November 3, 1762, France held pos-
session of both sides of the Mississippi, and
Prance then cedcd the eastern half of the
and Spain valley to Great Britain. In the same
year, France made a secret treaty with Spain
by which the country west of the river was
transferred to the latter power, which, how-
ever, allowed six years to elapse before she
assumed charge.
In 1763, Francis Benton made finds of lead
near Potosi, Missouri, and for a time had
extensive workings there.
The map made by Jonathan Carver, as a
result of his extended Northwestern travels in
1766, places lead mines at Blue Mounds, just
3 1 o Essays in Western History
south of the Wisconsin River. He found ore in
the streets of " the Great Town of the Saukies,"
about the site of the present Prairie du Sac,
and appears to have ascended the principal
mound, which he says "abounded in lead."^
In Captain Henry Gordon's Journal, written
the same year (1766),^ occurs the following
,^^^ passage, showing that there was at
siderabu that time a considerable lead industry
induHry •„ progress among the French on the
west side of the Mississippi: "The French
have large boats of 20 tons, rowed with 20
oars, which will go in seventy odd days from
New Orleans to the Ilinois. These boats go to
the Ilinois twice a year, and are not half loaded
on their return ; was there any produce worth
sending to market, they could carry it at no
great expence. They, however, carry lead, the
produce of a mine on the French side of the
river, which yields but a small quantity, as they
have not hands to work it. These boats, in
times of the floods, which happen only in May
and June, go down to New Orleans from the
Ilinois in 14 and 16 days."
The first application for a concession of lead-
1 Carver, Travels (London, 1778), pp. 47, 48.
2 In Pownall, Topographical Description of North America
(London, 1776).
Early Lead Mining 311
mine land in the valley of the Upper Missis-
sippi was made in 1769 by Martin Miloney
Duraide's Duralde, who signed his application
^««' at St. Louis, July 5, 1769. The day
following, the grant was issued by Louis St
Ange de Bellerive, captain-commandant of the
Illinois, and Joseph Labuxi^re, ** attorney of
the attorney general, judge, etc., of the royal
jurisdiction of the Illinois, for the French."
This tract embraced land "three arpents in
front, by the ordinary depth," * on Le Sueur's
River of the Mines (Fever River), "160 leagues,
more or less, above *' St. Louis. From the
tone of his petition, Duralde appears to have
been a ne'er-do-well, and there is no record
extant to show that he ever settled upon his
grant or opened any mines, although the
Spaniards confirmed all French grants.
Captain Philip Pittman, writing in 1770 of
^ French claims in Michigan were usually forty arpents in
depth; at Green Bay these claims were merely possessory,
and allowed by the government to extend eighty arpents from
front to rear. The old Spanish common-field lots, in and
around St. Louis, were from one to four arpents wide on the
river, by forty in depth. This appears to have been " the
usual depth '* of grants during this period, although in special
cases they were much more ample. The Spanish and French
grants in Upper Louisiana are fully discussed in Scharf's
St Louis ^ chap. xiii. The arpent is equal to about 192 feet,
English linear measure.
312 Essays in Weslem History
Ste. Genevieve,^ which had become a notable
market for lead, says : " A lead mine about fif-
A ttotahu teen leagues distant, supplies the whole
marta coiintry with shot." It appears that |
at this time lead was, next to peltries, the most
important and valuable export of the country,
and served as currency. The lead trade was k
afterwards transferred to St Louis, when that
town began to control the commerce of the
region.' One of the largest lead-dealers of the ■
day was Joseph A. Sire, an associate of Chou-
teau & Sarp's fur company. Under the Spanish |
regime, which now ensued, we are told by \
Stoddard,^ a careful annalist, that lead miners i
working for themselves often took out " thirty
dollars per day, for weeks together." The
traders who dealt in the material also made
large profits, the returns being "cent per cent
for the capital invested." *
^ Frisint Stall of Eura/tan SittlrmtnU m thi Muiistifpi
(London, 1770).
» In Ogden, LaHers /rom tit West (New Bedford, Mass.,
1833), p. j8, is this entry, showing that Ste. Genevieve was
still flourishing in his time : " St. Genevieve, in particalar. is
a fine flourishing town. Here, back of the river, lead ore is
found in great abundance, which has become a traffic of great
profit to the inhabitants."
' Major Amos Stoddard, SktUhts Hiit. and Daerip. of
Leuisiana (Philadelphia, 1S12).
* Seharf, Si. Louis, p. 30S ; MUh. Pion. Colls,, ix., p. 548,
In hia notes lo Fomian's NarraSivt (Cincinnati, iSSS), L. C.
Early Lead Mining 313
Julien Dubuque was the next character of
note upon the scene. He was a man of re-
Dubuque's markable energy, and influential with
mines. |.jjg Indians. In 1788 he obtained
from a full council of Sauk and Fox Indians,
held at Prairie du Chien, formal permit "to
work lead mines tranquilly and without any
prejudice to his labors." He had previously
made rich discoveries of this ore on the west
bank of the Mississippi, in the bluffs and ra-
vines adjoining the site of the present Iowa
town which bears his name. In the immediate
neighborhood of his mines, if not one of them,
was a rich lead discovered in 1780 by the squaw
of Peosta, a Fox warrior.^ Tradition has it that
Draper says: ** About the first of June, 1790, Colonel Vigo,
an enterprising trader of the Illinois country, consigned to
him [Michael Lacassangue, a Louisville trader] 4,000 pounds
of lead, brought by Major Doughty [who built the fort at
Cincinnati] from Kaskaskia."
In 1796, John James Dufour, afterwards founder of the
Swiss colony at Vevay, Ind., came to America and made his
start here by bu3ring lead at Kaskaskia, St Louis, etc., and
taking it up the Ohio River to Pittsburg, where he disposed
of the cargo at a profit With the proceeds he bought 630
acres of land for a vineyard, at the Big Bend of Kentucky
River.
1 Schoolcraft, Discovery of Sources of Mississippi River
(Phila., 1855), pp. 174, 175. Schoolcraft visited the Dubuque
mines in 1820, and gives an entertaining account of them and
the native manner of working them — ibid,^ pp. 169-173. He
314 Essays in Western History
when Dubuque made his first location, a man
named Du Bois was living at a mine on the
eastern bank, nearly opposite — probably just
south of the present village of Dunleith.
Dubuque, in honor of the Spanish possessors
of the soil, styled his diggings ** The Spanish
Mines." Undoubtedly some Spaniards had
before his time conducted operations in the
neighborhood, for when he went into the coun-
try he found substantial roads built for the
transportation of ore ; these, the Indians told
him, had been made by Spaniards.^ Dubuque
does not appear to have restricted himself to
the west side of the river. It is believed that
his prospectors and miners, who all enjoyed
the full sympathy and confidence of the Sauks
and Foxes, roved at will on both sides, and
opened leads on Apple River, near the present
places the distance below Prairie du Chien at sixty miles, and
the extent of the tract, ** seven leagues in front [along the
Mississippi] by three in depth." See also Schoolcraft, Vino
of the Lead Mines of Missouri, etc. (N. Y., 18 19).
1 In 1780, as appears from letters of Lieutenant-Governor
Patrick Sinclair to General Frederick Haldimand ( Wis. Hist,
Coll., xi., pp. 151, 152, 155, 156), the Sauks and Foxes, led
by MM. Calv(5 and Ducharme, were in active league with
Spanish and American miners against British influences in
the diggings. The Winnebagoes and Menominees assisted
the British in attacking the miners, and seventeen of the
Americans and Spaniards were taken prisoners to Mackinac.
Early Lead Mining 315
village of Elizabeth ; and as early as 1805 even
operated the old Buck and Hog leads on Fever
River.
It is fair to presume that the Indians had
themselves crudely operated the mines fully
Aboriginal a century before Dubuque's time.
smelting "Qxxty as wc havc Seen, this was doubt-
less only to obtain bullets for the guns which
they had acquired through trade with the
French, and to furnish the fur-traders with a
commodity quite as desirable as peltries. It
is presumable that the French first taught the
natives how to mine and smelt the ore. There
is no evidence that the American aborigines
ever practised the arts of smelting and casting,
before the advent of the whites. The methods
in vogue among the Indians were practically
such as the whites are known to have employed
in the earlier days of lead-mining, and are thus
described by an eye-witness, writing in 1819:
**A hole was dug in the face of a piece of
sloping ground, about two feet deep and as
wide at the top. This hole was shaped like a
mill-hopper and lined with flat stones. At the
bottom or point of the hopper, which was eight
or nine inches square, narrow stones were laid
across, gratewise. A trench was dug from the
sloping ground inward to the bottom of the
3i6 Essays in Western History
hopper. This channel was a foot in width
and height, and was filled with dry wood and
brush. The hopper being filled with the ore
and the fuel ignited, in a few minutes the
molten lead fell through the stones at the bot-
tom of the hopper, and thence was discharged
through the trench over the earth. The fluid
mass was then poured into an awkward mould,
and as it cooled it was called a ' plat,' weighing
about 70 lbs., very nearly the weight of the
' pig ' of later days."
There is no doubt, however, that this method
was an improvement over that in vogue among
the savages in the time of early French domi-
nation; for we read that in Crozat's day the
Indians reduced the mineral by throwing it
on top of large fires. "Large logs would be
placed on the ground and smaller pieces of
wood piled around and the ore heaped on.
The fire would be set in the evening, and in the
morning shapeless pieces of lead would be
found in cakes, or in small holes scratched in
the earth under the logs; or sometimes in
shapeless masses. These pieces were sold to
the traders." '
We are told by another writer" that the
1 a. Wis. Hilt. Colls., ii., p. 228.
» Uist.Jo Daviess Co., III. (Chicago, 1878), p. 836.
\
Early Lead Mining 317
Indians as a rule but only skimmed the sur-
face; although occasionally they drifted into
side-hills for some distance, and upon reaching
Aboriginal " Cap rock " would build a fire under
mining j|. ^j^j ^j^^^ crack the ore by dashing
cold water on the heated surface. In the earli-
est times, their tools were buck-horns, many of
which were found in abandoned drifts by the
early white settlers ; but in Dubuque's day they
obtained hoes, shovels, and crowbars from the
traders to whom they sold lead. The Indians
loaded their ore at the bottom of the shaft into
tough deerskins, the bundle being hoisted to
the surface or dragged up inclined planes by
long thongs of hide.^ Many of these Indian
leads, abandoned by the aborigines when the
work of development became too difficult for
their simple tools, were afterwards taken pos-
session of by whites, with improved appliances,
and found to be among the best in the region.
Early writers generally agree that the Indian
mining was almost wholly conducted by old
men and squaws, the bucks doing the smelting.
However this may be, it is certain that in later
days a good many bucks worked in these prim-
itive mines, and many of them are known to
have assisted Dubuque. The Sauks and Foxes
* Hist, Grant Co, (Chicago, 1881), p. 477.
31 8 Essays in Western History
were the owners of the lead-mine districtduring
the eighteenth century, but by the treaty of
1804 they reh'nquished their lands east of the
Mississippi, and the gypsy Winnebagoes theo
squatted in the district; although with them
were mingled many Sauks and Foxes who had'
married into the Winnebago tribe, in addition
to " the British Band " of Sauks, around Rock
Island, who were afterwards (1832) implicated
in the Black Hawk War.
Dubuque appears to have largely employed
his Indian friends in prospecting for lead
mines. When their discoveries were reported
to him, he would send Canadians and half-
Duiuyui'i ^'■^^'^s to prove the claims and some-
/nJian times to work them ; although io
fros/ an jj^^jjj, cases, he was content with
proving the claim and allowing the Indians to
work it themselves, the product being brought
to his large trading-house on the west side of
the river. In this manner the entire lead region
of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois became more
or less occupied by Dubuque's men before any
permanent American settlement.^
Conciliating the Spaniards by naming his
' In 1826, at Ottawa (Allenwrath diggings), two miles
from Galena, there was found, under the ashes of a primitive
furnace, a heavy sledge-hammer, undoubtedly left by Di>-
1
Early Lead Mining 319
west-side plant " The mines of Spain," Dubuque
deemed it advisable to seek a formal recog-
nition from the government of Louisiana. He
obtained, November 10, 1796, from Baron de
" The Carondelet, Spanish intendant and
Mines of govemor-geueral of the province, the
** grant of a tract seven leagues in
length along the west bank of the Mississippi,
by three in depth, but with certain restric-
tions as to trade, to be prescribed by ** the
merchant Don Andrew Todd," who had a
monopoly of the commerce of the upper val-
ley. Dubuque's friendship with the Indians
and their dislike of the Spanish were a suffi-
cient safeguard against interference from Don
Andrew; although he appears to have met
with no small opposition on the east side of
the river from wandering representatives of
the American Fur Company, whose Mackinac
agents are said to have obtained considerable
supplies of lead from the crafty Foxes, and in-
deed to have themselves smelted some ore.
Dubuque waxed wealthy from his lead and
peltries, which he shipped to St. Louis, making
semi-annual trips in a pirogue. In a formal
statement made to Major Zebulon M. Pike
(September i, 1805),^ he claimed that his mines
^ Pike, Expedition (Philadelphia, 1810), appendix to part i.«
p. 5.
320 Essays in Western History
on the west side of the Mississippi extended I
over a tract of territory "twenty-eight or]
Dtiiufir'i twenty-seven leagues long, and from 1
itainntni qoc [q threc bfoad." He said that he I
made each year from twenty to forty thousand I
pounds of lead pigs ; although it is probable [
that this was an underestimate, for evidently he I
did not view with favor this evidence of Ameri- |
can curiosity about his affairs.
In iSoo, France coerced Spain into retro- 1
ceding Louisiana, and three years later sold it I
to the United States. It was, however, several J
3'ears before Americans began operations ia ]
the lead region of the Upper Mississippi.
We incidentally learn that in iSii George E.
Jackson, a Missouri miner, had a rude log fur-
nace on an island — now washed away — tow-
ards the east side of the Mississippi, not far
below Dunleith and nearly opposite the mouth
of Catfish Creek.^ Jackson floated his lead to
otinin of ^*' ^'^^'^ ^Y Aatboat, and experi-
Amtrican enccd much troublc with the Indians,
'■^"w ^j^Q jj^jj jj thorough dislike for Eng-
lishmen and Americans. The reason for their
aversion to the Anglo-Saxon race, which with
few exceptions has been noticeable from our
> Hiii. La FaytUt Co. (Chicago, 1881), p. 394. Cf. WU.
Hist. Colli., vi., p. aya.
Early Lead Mining 321
earliest intercourse with the red man, is easily
explained. The French have been more in
sympathy with the savages, with whom their
pioneers have readily intermarried ; they settled
among Indians for the purposes of the fur-trade,
and their interests were identical with those of
the Indians, being to keep the forests intact.
The bearing of the Anglo-Saxon towards the
savage has ever been of a domineering char-
acter; we are pre-eminently an agricultural
and manufacturing people ; our plan of coloni-
zation aims at the reduction of nature, with the
view to making the land support a large popu-
lation. Our aims, our methods, our manners,
are diametrically opposed to a state of savag-
ery. We are a covetous people, and it did not
take long for the Indian to understand that the
English or American borderer was the herald
of a relentless system of conquest. In the
presence of the Anglo-Saxon settler, there was
no room for the Indian.
In 1812-13, John S. Miller joined fortunes
with Jackson, but soon afterwards they aban-
doned their island furnace and returned down
the river. Five years later. Miller returned
with two companions, traded a boat-load of
goods at Dubuque's old mines, and is sup-
posed to have penetrated to the site of Galena
21
3J« Essays in IVesUrn History
and spent some time in the lead region. Miller j
and Jackson again visited the place in 1S33.
The manufacture of shot near St. Louis |
dates from 1809, when J. Macklot ran his iirst I
east through a tower which he had erected at f
AOm Herculaneum, thirty miles distant I
''"^ from St. Louis, on the Joachim River.
Indians brought lead in small quantities in I
their canoes, but the bulk of the ore was trans' \
ported from tlie mines by Frenchmen.
In the following February, Nicholas Boilvin, j
then United States agent for the Winnebagoes,
passed through on foot from Rock Island to j
Prairie du Chien, with Indian guides who I
Th* Biui showed him a lead mioe near Fever.
'"^ River — supposed to be what after-
wards came to be known as the " Buck lead." *
In a letter to the secretary of war, dated a year
later,' Agent Boilvin reported that the Sauks
and Foxes (on the eastern side of the river)
and the lowas (on the west side) had " mostly
abandoned the chase, except to furnish them-
selves with meat, and turned their attention to
the manufacture of lead, which they procure
from a mine about sixty miles below Prairie du
Chien," — undoubtedly the Fever River and
' Nitl. La Fayttte Co., p. 396.
« Wis. Hi$t. Cells., xi, p. aji.
Early Lead Mi7ting 323
Dubuque diggings. He reports that in 18 10
they manufactured four hundred thousand
pounds of the metal, which they exchanged
for goods, mainly with Canadian traders, who
were continually inciting them to opposition
against Americans. Boilvin alludes to the fact
that the Indians found lead-mining more prof-
itable than hunting, and that the government
would be wise to introduce among them a
blacksmith and improved tools. He thinks
that by thus encouraging the Indian miners,
" the Canadian trade would be extinguished."
In the same year (18 10) Henry Shreeve is
said to have worked up the Mississippi as far
as Fever River, and taken back from there to
the towns on the lower Mississippi, a small
cargo of Indian-smelted lead.
Between 181 5 and 1820, Captain John Shaw
made eight trips with a trading boat between
St. Louis and Prairie du Chien, and several
times visited the Fever River mines, where he
saw the Indians smelting lead in rude furnaces.
At one time he bought from them seventy
tons of metal, "and still left much at the
furnace.'* ^
Boilvin does not appear to have broken up
1 Wis, Hist, Colls.f viii., p. 250. See Shaw's personal
narrative in /V/., ii., pp. 197 et seq.
324 Essays in Western History
the French-Canadian trade in the lead district,
for we find that up to 1819 several American
traders, who attempted to go among
Canadui'ii the Sauk and Fox miners and ruqu
*""^ opposition to the Canadians, had J
been killed.
la the immediate neighborhood of where
Galena came to be planted, there were, in
1815, about twenty rude Indian furnaces, the
product being bought almost entirely by
French-Canadian traders, who are reported to
have rated a peck of ore as worth a peck of
corn. The same year, a crew of American
boatmen attempted to go up Fever River by
water; but the Indians prevented them, fear-
ing the cupidity of the Americans, who might
become excited by the richness of the mines
and attempt to dispossess the natives.
In 1816, Colonel George Davenport, agent
of the American Fur Company, and eng^ed
Uada in trade with the Sauks and Foxes,
evTTtney erected a trading-post on the portage
between the Mississippi and the Fever, near
the mouth of the latter; but he soon after left
and went to Rock Island, where he settled.
Davenport is credited with shipping to St.
Louis in 1816, the first flatboat cargo of lead
ever avowedly emanating from the Fever
Early L ead Mining 325
River mines; it was used in payment for
Indian goods. Lead in those days was, like
fur, quite as useful as currency in the financial
operations of the Western country.
By a treaty concluded at St. Louis August
24, 1 8 16, all lands lying north of a line drawn
due west of the southern extremity of Lake
Michigan to the Mississippi, were granted to
the Indians,^ except a tract on the Mississippi
River five leagues square, to be designated by
the President. This reservation was intended
to include the lead mines, the exact location
of which was as yet undefined.
In 18 19 there appears to have been a more
^ To the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Potawatomis. In a let-
ter of Governor Ninian Edwards, of Illinois, dated Belleville,
September 13, 1827 (Washburne, Edwards Papers^ pp. 304-
306), and addressed to President Adams, it is pointed out that
the Sauks and Foxes relinquished, by the treaty of 1804, all
the lands between the Illinois and Wisconsin rivers ; and
that by the treaty of 18 16 the United States gave the
greater part of this tract, with the lead-mine reservation, to
the three tribes named. Thus the Sauks had no share in
this gift to the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Potawatomis ;
neither did the Winnebagoes have any claim in it, '* unless
some right has been recognized to them inadvertently by
the United States, since 1816, of which I know nothing, but
which if it exists, was a clear and palpable violation of the
treaty with the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Potawatomis afore-
said, unless their consent was previously obtained, which I
do [not] suppose was the case."
326 Essays in IVes/crn History 1
general movement upon the lead regions. \
That year, Jesse W. Shull, Francois Bouthil-1
Agenerai h'er, Samuel C. Miiir, and A. P. Van I
mm/naini Metre Were either trading or oper>l
ating small smelters in the district, and had]
taken Fox women for wives.' I
Colonel James Johnson of Kentucky^ came 1
to the lead mines of Fever River as early as ■
1819-20, and did some mining or smelting, and. I
trading. A traveller on the Mississippi in ■
1821 speaks of meeting Johnson's fiatboatSr J
loaded with lead.^ I
The largest discovery of lead ore up to ■
Johnson's time was made in 1S19 by the Sauks I
and Foxes operating a mine about a mile I
above the site of Galena. Those Indians were "
members of a band led by " The Buck," who
had long been encamped in the vicinity.* It
is thought that the lead had originally been
worked by Dubuque's men, but that after
Dubuque's death (18 10) the natives had
taken possession and continued operations
with the crude furnace plant erected by
' ffisl. La Fayetlt Co., p. 400.
' A brolher of Col. Richard M. Johnson, who was sud to
have stain Tecumseh.
* J. G. Soulard, in Hist. La Fayette Co., p. 403.
• mt. Hist. Colls., vi., p. i8i.
Early Lead Mining 327
the whites. It took the entire force of the
band to raise the enormous nugget which they
.^ had discovered, and they were very
enormous proud of it. The Indians expressed
^'^^^ a strong desire that the find should
be sent as a present to their Great Father at
Washington ; but as it was never so forwarded,
it is presumable that the traders secured it in
piecemeal, in the course of traffic, the rate of
exchange still being a peck of corn for a peck
of ore. The whites afterwards called this
mine " Buck^s lead," in honor of the chief who
operated it ; and a neighboring lead was styled
" Doe's," in remembrance of the Buck's favor-
ite squaw. The estimate was made, about
1820, that up to that time several millions of
pounds had been extracted from the Buck
lead, by the Indians and Dubuque's people —
more than afterwards taken therefrom by the
American miners, despite the fact that it was
one of the richest mines in the region, and
came to be worked in a scientific manner.
In June and July, 18 19, Major Thomas
Forsyth, United States Indian agent for the
Sauks and Foxes, made a voyage from St.
Louis to the Falls of St. Anthony, and in his
journal gives us,^ upon good authority, " the
* Wis, Hist. Colls,i vi., p. 194.
33S Essays in JVesiem History
number, situation, and quality of all the lead
mines between Apple Creek and Prairie du
Chien." Contractors for army and Indian
supplies were at this time frequently passing
the mines, on their way between St. Louis and
Prairie du Chien, and Green Bay and Missis-
sippi River points, and both Indian and white
miners found ready customers for their lead.
Congress had in 1807 reserved mineral lands
from sale, and ordered that leases thereof
Thihast should be granted to individuals for
syiiim terms of three and five years. But
owing to Indian opposition and the intrigues
of Canadians, operations under government
leases were confined chiefly to Missouri. Else-
where, men operated on their own account,
and without system. The first lease in the
Fever River country was granted January 4,
1822, to T. D. Carneil and Benjamin John-
son, and Messrs. Snggett & Payne, all of
Kentucky. Lieutenant C. Burdine, U. S. A.,
was ordered to aid them in selecting a hundred
and sixty acres each in the lead region, and
to protect them with an armed force.' But
no report of the expedition, if it were ever
undertaken, appears to have been published.
As early as April 12 following, a lease for
1 Silt. La Faftttt Co., p. 402.
Early Lead Mining 3 29
three years was granted to Colonel James
Johnson, who had for three years operated in
the country without license. He immediately
took to the mines a number of workmen, in-
cluding some negro slaves, together with a
supply of good tools. Encamping where
Galena now stands, and under strong military
protection,^ Johnson began operations on the
most extensive scale yet known in the lead
country. At the time there were several
French and Indian settlements on the Fever,
the former being engaged in trade and the
latter in mining and smelting.
There now flocked thither a horde of
squatters and prospectors from Missouri, Ken-
A horde tucky, and Tennessee; while many
of squatters ^^^^ f^.^^ Southem Illinois via Fort
Clark (Peoria) and the old Indian trail which
was afterwards developed into a wagon road
and styled " Kellogg's trail." For the most
part, the newcomers paid small attention to
Congressional enactments. The lessees not
being supported in their rights, protracted
disputes ensued, many of them disastrous to
all concerned. In 1822 there were, as we
have seen, but four other lessees besides John-
son; and in 1823 but nine were added to the
1 Wis, Hist* Colls.f vi., p. 272 ; viii., p. 250.
330 Essays in Western History
list — among them Dr. Moses Meeker, who
established a considerable mining colony,
which gave great impetus to the development
of the region.^ The unlicensed plants could,
however, be numbered by the score. The
leasing system was so unsatisfactory to all
concerned, and yielded the government such
scanty revenue, that, under act of Congress
approved July ii, 1846, the lands were
brought into the market and sold.
It appears from the report of Lieutenant
M. Thomas, U. S. A., superintendent of lead
The great mincs, made to Congress in 1826,*
''boom'' ^^^ there were in the Fever River
diggings, the first of July, 1825, about a hun-
dred persons engaged in mining; which was
increased to four hundred and fifty-three by
the close of August the following year. The
agent estimates that in Missouri, at the period
of his report, there were two thousand men thus
engaged — " miners, teamsters, and laborers
of every kind (including slaves)"; but some
of these were farmers who, with their slaves,
spent only their spare time in the mines.
1 In Wis. Hist Colls,, vi., p. 271, Dr. Meeker gives an
interesting statement of early affairs in the mines after his
first visit in 1822. Another valuable account is in Hist. Jo
Daviess Co., Ill.j pp. 448 et seq.
2 House Ex. Docs.f 19th Cong., 2d sess., ii., No. 7.
Early Lead Mining 331
In 1827 the name Galena was applied to the
largest settlement on Fever River, six miles
from its junction with the Mississippi.^ The
heaviest immigration began in 1829, and from
that time forward the history of the lead
country is familiar.
What had particularly assisted the later
development of the Fever River region, after
Spanish ^^ Indians had been quieted, was the
claimants fact that on the west side of the
e;ectg Mississippi the mines were held to be
private property, and prospectors were warned
off. In 1832 the United States War Depart-
ment asserted the right of the general govern-
ment to the tract granted by Spain to Dubuque,
and Lieutenant Jefferson Davis was sent from
Fort Crawford with a detail of infantry to eject
from ** the Spanish mines " all settlers claiming
title from Spain. There was much dispute as to
the right of the government to so act, but Con-
gress ignored the claims of the settlers, and the
lands being placed on the market were regu-
larly sold. Many years after, a test case was
decided in the United States Supreme Court;
and the appellants — the heirs of Auguste
Chouteau and John Mullamphy of St. Louis,
1 The river Is not now navigable, owing to heavy deposits
of soil worked down from the limestone bluffs.
332 Essays in Western History
who claimed to have, in 1804, purchased a cer-
tain part of Dubuque's tract — were defeated.
In 1833 mining began upon an extended scale
west of the river, the Spanish and the Indian
titles having at last been cleared.
VIII
THE DRAPER MANUSCRIPTS
VIII
THE DRAPER MANUSCRIPTS
DURING the past decade, the Draper
Manuscripts in the library of the
Th€ Wisconsin Historical Society have
aauctor become so familiar to students of
Western history, who have cited them on
hundreds of their pages, that some account
of the man who collected them, and of the
manner in which he amassed this now cele-
brated storehouse of historical materials, would
seem a fitting conclusion to the present volume.
Lyman Copeland Draper was born in the
town of Hamburg (now Evans), Erie County,
New York, on the fourth of September, 1815.
His ancestors, five generations before him,
were Puritans in Roxbury, Massachusetts ; his
paternal grandfather was a Revolutionary
soldier, and his maternal grandfather fell in the
defence of Buffalo against the British in 181 3,
while his father Luke was twice captured by
the English during the same war.
When Lyman was three years of age, the
336 Essays in Western History
family removed to Lockport, on the Erie Canal.
Luke Draper was by turns grocer, tavern-
keeper, and farmer, and as soon as his son
Lyman could be of service about the house,
the store, or the land, he was obliged to assume
his full share of family labor. Up to the age of
fifteen, the boy's experiences were those of the
average village lad of the period — the almost
continuous performance of miscellaneous duties,
including family shoe repairing, the gathering
and selling of wild berries, and occasional
"jobs" for the neighbors. One summer was
spent in acting as a hod-carrier for a builder in
the village, at the daily wage of twelve-and-a-
half cents. From his fifteenth year to his
eighteenth, he served as clerk in various village
shops. During this time, after having ex-
hausted the possibilities of the village school,
he added to that meagre curriculum the read-
ing of what few books were obtainable by
purchase or loan in the then frontier settle-
ment, and thereby established a local reputa-
tion as a youth of letters.
The lad's taste for Revolutionary history
A youthful was early developed. He came natu-
passion rally by it. At Luke Draper's fire-
side, the deeds of Revolutionary heroes formed
the chief topic of conversation. There were
The Draper Manuscripts 337
yet living many veterans of the Continental
Army, who were cordially welcomed to the
hospitality of the Draper household, while the
War of 1 8 12-15 was an event of but a few
years previous. The boy, eagerly listening,
became steeped in knowledge of the facts and
• traditions of Anglo-American fights and West-
ern border forays. It was in after years im-
possible for him to remember when he first
became inspired with the passion for obtaining
information as to the events in which his
ancestors took part.
As a boy he neglected no opportunity to
see and talk with distinguished pioneers and
patriots. In 1825, when but ten years of age,
he saw La Fayette during the latter's visit to
the United States; and in his own last days
declared he held a vivid recollection of the
lineaments of that distinguished friend of the
Revolutionary cause. Lewis Cass, DeWitt
Clinton, and other celebrities of the day, he
also heard speak at Lockport. Visits to the
village, on various occasions, of the then noted
Seneca chiefs. Tommy Jimmy, Major Henry
O'Bail, and others, were to the young enthusiast
in border history like visitations from a realm
of fancy. La Fayette was the subject of young
Draper's first school composition. His first
22
338 Essays in Weslern History
article for tlie press, published In the Rochester
Gan for April 6, 1833, was a sketch of Charles
Carroll of CarroUton, the last of the "signers."
One of the first historical works he read, was
Campbell's Annals of Tryon County; or.
Border Warfare of New York, published in
1831. This and other publications of the*
time were replete with lurid accounts of bor-
der disturbances, well calculated to fire the
imagination of youth.
Peter A. Remsen, a cotton factor at Mobile,
Alabama, had married Draper's cousin (1833).
AfiatroHof Taking an interest in the lad, then
Uarmng eighteen years of age, he invited him
to pass the winter at his home. While in
Mobile, Draper chiefly occupied himself in
collecting information regarding the career of
the famous Creek chief, Weatherford, many
of whose contemporaries lived in the neigh-
borhood of the Alabama metropolis. These
manuscript notes, laboriously written down
seventy years ago, are, like the greater portion
of his materials for history, still mere unused
literary bricks and stone.
In 1834, during his nineteenth year, Draper
entered the college at Granville,
Ohio, now styled Denison University.
Here he remained for over two years as an
The Draper Manuscripts 339
undergraduate. He appears to have been a
good student, but was compelled from lack of
money to leave before graduation. Remsen
had now returned from the South to New York,
and took up his new home in the neighborhood
of Alexander, Genesee County. Draper's father
was poor, and unable either to help his son
towards an education or to support him in idle-
ness; it is probable, also, that the elder Draper
was lacking in appreciation of Lyman's unusual
tastes. The young man was undersized, far
from robust, and entertained aspirations which
appeared only to fit him for the then unprofit-
able career of a man of letters. Remsen, sym-
pathetic and having some means, offered him
without cost a congenial home, and to this
patron he again turned upon leaving Granville.
For a time he was placed at Hudson River
Seminary, in Stockport, his studies there being
followed by an extended course of private
reading, chiefly historical.
Doddridge, Flint, Withers, and afterwards
Hall were the early historians of the border.
Doctors The young student of their works
disagree found that on many essential points,
and in most minor incidents, there were great
discrepancies between them. It was in 1838,
340 Essays in Western History
when twenty-three years of age, that Draper
conceived the idea of writing a series of biog-
raphies of trans-Alleghany pioneers, in which
he should aim by dint of original investigation
to fill the gaps and correct the errors then
marring all existing books upon this fertile
specialty. This at once became his controlling
ambition. He entered upon its execution with
an enthusiasm which never lagged through a
half-century spent in the assiduous collection
of material for what he always deemed the
mission of his life ; but in the end he had only
investigated and collected, and the biographies
were never written.
From the Remsen home, Draper began an
extensive and long-continued correspondence
^^^^^^^ with prominent pioneers all along the
corre- Westcm frontier — with Drs. Daniel
spondents ^^^^^ ^^^ ^ ^ Hildrcth, and Colonel
John McDonald, of Ohio ; William C. Preston,
of South Carolina ; Colonel Richard M. John-
son, Charles S. Todd, Major Bland W. Ballard,
Dr. John Croghan, and Joseph R. Underwood,
of Kentucky; ex-Governor David Campbell,
of Virginia ; Colonel William Martin and Hugh
L. White, of Tennessee, and scores of others of
almost equal renown. Correspondence of this
character, first with the pioneers and later with
The Draper Manuscripts 34 1
their descendants, he actively conducted until
within a few days of his death.
In 1840 he began to supplement his cor-
respondence with personal visits to the homes
^^ of pioneers and the descendants of
itinerant pioncers and Revolutionary soldiers.
the gaining of information through letters was
slow and unsatisfactory, for in those days the
mails were tardy, unreliable, and expensive;
and many of those who possessed the material
he most sought were not adepts with the pen.
There were then practically no railroads in
the country which he visited, and for many
years the eager collector of historical material
travelled far and wide, by foot, by horseback,
by stage, by lumber wagon, and by steamboat,
his constant companion being a knapsack well
laden with note-books.
In these journeys of discovery, chiefly
through sparsely settled regions. Draper
Pione$r travelled, in all, over sixty thousand
hospi- miles, meeting with hundreds of curi-
ous adventures and hairbreadth es-
capes by means of runaway horses, frightful
storms, swollen streams, overturned stages,
snagged steamboats, extremities of hunger,
and the like, yet never injured nor allowing any
342 Essays in Western History
untoward circumstance to thwart the particular
mission at the time in view.
Especially before 1850, many of those he
sought were for removed from taverns and
other conveniences of civilization ; but pioneer
hospitality was abundant, and a stranger at
the hearth a welcome diversion to the dull
routine of a frontiersman's home. The guest
of the " interviewed," the inquisitive stranger,
who was generally blessed with abundant
leisure, often stopped weeks together at those
crude homes in the New York, Ohio, Ken-
tucky, Virginia, and Tennessee backwoods —
long enough to extract, with the acquired skill
of a cross-examiner, every morsel of historical
information, every item of valuable reminis-
cence stored in the mind of his host; while
old diaries, letters, account-books, or other
family documents which might cast sidelights
on the romantic story of Western settlement,
were deemed objects worthy of acquisition by
exercise of the most astute diplomacy.
It would be wearisome to give a list of those
whom Draper visited in the course of these re-
Important markable wanderings which, with but
interviews f^^^ lapses, he made his chief occupa-
tion through nearly a quarter of a century,
and resumed at intervals for many years after.
i*
The Draper Manuscripts 343
Only a few of the most notable can here be
mentioned. Perhaps the most important in-
terview he ever held was with Major Bland
Ballard, of Kentucky, a famous Indian fighter
under General George Rogers Clark in the
latter's campaigns against the Ohio Indians.
Other distinguished border worthies who
heaped their treasures at Draper's feet were
Major George M. Bedinger, prominent in Ken-
tucky as a pioneer and Indian fighter ; General
Benjamin Whiteman, of Ohio, and Captain
James Ward, of Kentucky, two of Kenton's
trusted lieutenants ; and General William Hall,
a field officer under Jackson in the Creek
War, and afterwards Governor of Tennessee.
Draper also met in this manner fifteen of
George Rogers Clark's fellow-Indian cam-
paigners and many of the associates and
descendants of Boone, Kenton, Sumter, Sevier,
Robertson, Pickens, Crawford, Shelby, Brady,
Cleveland, and the Wetzels — all of these,
names to conjure with in Western and South-
ern history.
He also visited and took notes among aged
survivors of several Indian tribes — Senecas,
Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Mohawks, Chickasaws,
Catawbas, Wyandots, Shawnees, Delawares,
and Potawatomis. Not the least interesting
344 Essays in Wesiem History
of these were the venerable Tawanears, or
Governor Blacksnake, one of the Seneca war
captains at Wyoming, who served as such with
the famous Mohawk chief. Joseph Brant, and
the scholarly Governor William Walker, of the
Wyandots. The descendants of Brant among
the Canada Mohawks, among whom Draper
visited at much length, gave him an Indian
name signifying "The Inquirer." Draper
once visited at the home of Andrew Jackson,
and had a long conversation with the hero
of New Orleans. At another time he was the
guest of his old-time correspondent. Colonel
Richard M. Johnson, who is thought to have
killed Tecumseh. Once when in Kentucky,
on a hunt for manuscripts, he saw Henry
Clay; and in Ohio laid eyes on General
William Henry Harrison, — but he had no
opportunity to speak to either of these.
The period of Draper's greatest activity in
the matter of personal interviews was between
Artth 1840 and 1879, although in his latter
karvisi years he also frequently resorted to
that method of obtaining materials for history ;
while the period of his active correspondence
in searching for information was ended only
by death. The result of this half-century
of rare toil was a rich harvest of collections.
The Draper Manuscripts 345
Upon the shelves of the manuscript room in the
Wisconsin Historical Library, the Draper Man-
uscripts now fill four hundred folio volumes.*
The geographical field covered, is, in the main,
from the Hudson River to the Wabash, from
Charleston to Louisville ; and the period, from
the year 1742 — McDowell's fight in the Val-
ley of Virginia — until the close of the War
of 1812-15. Some of the material bears
upon the trans-Mississippi region, such as
the papers of William Clark and the jour-
nal of Sergeant Charles Floyd (Lewis and
Clark expedition).
The classification is chiefly by the principal
border heroes or pioneers concerned, for we
have seen that Draper collected with a view
solely to using the material for a series of
biographies: George M. Bedinger, Daniel
Boone, Samuel Brady, Joseph Brant, Daniel
Brodhead, George Rogers Clark, Jonathan
Clark, William Clark, George and William
Croghan, Josiah Harmar, William Henry Har-
^ In 1857, he computed that his material comprised " some
10,000 foolscap pages of notes of the recollections of warrior-
pioneers, either written by themselves, or taken down from
their own lips; and wellnigh 5,000 pages more of original
manuscript journals, memorandum books, and old letters
written by nearly all the leading border heroes of the West."
It was somewhat added to in later years.
346 Essays in IVesiem History
rison, William Irvine, Simon Kenton, Robert
Patterson, James Potter, William Preston, David
Shepherd, Thomas Sumter, John Cleves
Symmes, Tecumseh, and Louis Wetzel. There
are six volumes of data relative to the Meck-
lenburg declaration of independence; other
volumes contain early manuscripts relative to
Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, New
York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Virginia, and King's Mountain ;
numerous volumes are wholly devoted to
Draper's interviews with pioneers or their de-
scendants in many parts of the border States
and the Middle West, It should, indeed, be ex-
plained that while this collection is rich in con-
temporary documents, in bulk these constitute
the lesser part of the Draper Manuscripts, for
the old frontier heroes were neither much ad-
dicted to the diary habit nor fond of writing
letters. Much the larger proportion of the
papers are the great collector's interviews and
correspondence while seeking information, alt
of them freely interspersed and enriched with
his critical notes. These laborious methods of
investigation furnish an interesting and instruc-
tive study to historical specialists.
In 1841, while in the midst of hts life-long
task, Draper drifted to Pontotoc, in Northern
The Draper Manuscripts 347
Mississippi, where he became part owner and
editor of a small weekly journal, the Spirit of
A Missis- ^^^ Times} This venture not proving
sippi financially successful, at the end of a
'^'^ ' year his partner considerately pur-
chased his interest, giving in payment the deed
to a tract of wild land in the neighborhood.
There came to Pontotoc, about this time, a
young lawyer named Charles H. Larrabee,
afterwards a prominent citizen of Wisconsin,
where he became a circuit judge and a con-
gressman. Larrabee had been a student with
Draper at Granville. The legal outlook at
Pontotoc not being rich with promise, he
united his fortunes with those of his college-
mate, and together they moved upon Draper's
tract For about a year the young men lived
in a jfloorless, windowless hut, a dozen miles from
Pontotoc, the nearest post-office, raising sweet
potatoes and living upon fare of the crudest
character. In the summer of 1842 Draper
received the offer of a clerkship under a rela-
tive who was an Erie Canal superintendent at
^ He left Pontotoc in December, 1843. Journeying
leisurely northward, as usual visiting pioneers on the way,
he called in March on Andrew Jackson, at the Hermitage.
In a letter to The Perry (N. Y.) Democrat, dated Nash-
ville, Tenn., March 16, 1844, he describes his visit and re-
lates his conversation with the ex-President.
34S Essays in Western History
Buffalo, and retraced his steps to the North,
leaving Larrabee in sole possession. But
the latter soon had a call to Chicago, and fol-
lowed his friend's example, leaving their crop
of sweet potatoes ungarnered and their land
at the mercy of the first squatter who chanced
along.
The following year, however. Draper, ill
fitted for a clerical life, was back again in
In a Pontotoc, whcrc he made some inter-
kaviHoj esting "finds" in the chests of the
"}"g' Mississippi pioneers. In 1844, once
more adrift in the world, he sought, as a haven
of refuge, the Remsen household, then near
Baltimore. The Remsens eventually moved
to Philadelphia, whither their protege accom-
panied them. For eight years thereafter.
Draper's principal occupation was the prose-
cution of his search for historical data, always
collecting and seldom writing up any of his
material. Conscientious, as well as ambitious
to leave nothing to be said by later writers
upon his topics, he declared that he was not
willing to begin until to his own satisfaction
he had exhausted every possibility of finding
more. Within reasonable limits his attitude
is commendable; but as a matter of fact.
Draper had by this time become so imbued
The Draper Manuscripts 349
with the zeal of collecting that he looked
upon the digestion of his material as of
secondary consideration.
During his life in Philadelphia, he added
miscellaneous printed Americana to the objects
Aiofu ^^ ^^^ collection, and particularly old
in Ms newspaper files, for he found that
^/*«^ "^ these latter were, when obtainable,
among the most valuable sources of contem-
poraneous information on any given topic in
history. He thus gathered at the Remsen
home a library of prints which came to attract
almost as much attention among scholars as
had his manuscript possessions. It was a time
when in America there were few historical
students engaged in original research; as a
specialist in the trans- Alleghany field. Draper
stood practically alone. George Bancroft, Hil-
dreth, S. G. Drake, Parkman, Sparks, Lossing,
and others displayed much interest in the
Draper collections, which several of them per-
sonally examined and publicly praised. They
sent him encouraging letters, urging him to
enter upon his proposed work of writing biog-
raphies of heroes of the border.
In 1854, Lossing went so far as to enter
upon a literary co^)artnership with Draper for
the joint production of a series of such life his-
35© Essays in fVes^ern History
tories — Boone, George Rogers Clark, Sevier,
Robertson, Brady, Kenton, Martin, Crawford,
an»^ Whitley, the Wetzels, Harmar, St.
tkip wuk Clair, Wayne, and some others being
Ln'ing selected for immediate treatment, each
work to be in several large volumes. The
titles of the several biographies were agreed
upon at a meeting in Madison between Lossing
and Draper. But while as a collector Draper
was ever in the field, eager, and abounding in
shrewd resource, as a writer he was a procras-
tinator, and nothing was at the time done.
Three years later, he developed renewed in-
terest in the plan, and sent broadcast over the
country a circular informing the public that
the long-promised work was at last to be per-
formed; and yet naught came of it.
Nineteen years had now elapsed since Draper
had entered upon the full tide of his career as
a collector. Up to this time, he had made a
collection of material perhaps in all essential
points nearly as valuable as it was at his death.
His accumulations in after years were chiefly
in the direction of minor details. Much of this
class of matter, in obtaining which he spent a
large part of the last thirty-five years of his
life, would be considered as unimportant by
historical writers imbued with the modern
The Draper Manuscripts 351
spirit and practising modern methods. Draper,
however, being by nature an antiquarian, con-
sidered no circumstance regarding his heroes
as too trivial for collection and preservation.
His design was to be encyclopaedic ; he would
have his biographies embrace every scrap of
attainable information, regardless of its relative
merit. More than once, with some sadness he
confessed to the present writer that he felt
himself quite lacking in the sense of historical
proportion, could not understand what men
meant when they talked of historical perspec-
tive, and as for generalization he abhorred it.
Yet his literary style was incisive, and some-
times he shone in controversy.
"I have wasted my life in puttering," he
once lamented, "but I see no help for it; I
Fearing ^^^ Write nothing so long as I fear
to ''go to there is a fact, no matter how small,
^^^ as yet ungarnered." Draper not only
feared to "go to press," but even refrained
from writing up his notes, literally — as he
often admitted — from an apprehension that
the next mail might bring information which
would necessitate a recasting of his matter.
At the time of his contract with Lossing, he
had completed some twenty voluminous chap-
ters of his proposed Life of Boone — perhaps a
\
352 Essays in Western History
third of the number contemplated. It is prob-
able that this manuscript was written before he
came to Madison ; from its present appearance,
!t seems certain that he added nothing to it
during the succeeding thirty-four years of his
life. Of his other projected biographies, it
was discovered at his death that he had written
no more than a few skeleton chapters, here and
there.
In January-, 1849, the Wisconsin Historical
Society had been organized at Madison. It
Praitkaiij ^^<^ ^* *''^t ''"^ * nominal existence,
yWib/ifV for there was then no person at its
Biitgria-i service with the technical skill neces-
■So-^j' sary to the advancement of an under-
taking of this character. Larrabee, Draper's
old friend, had drifted to Wisconsin, and was
now a circuit judge. He was one of the
founders of the Society. In full knowledge
of the quality of his friend's labors, he success-
fully urged upon his associates the importance
of attracting such a specialist to Madison.
About the middle of October, 1852, Draper
arrived upon the scene. His patron Remsen
had died the spring before, and the following
year Draper married the widow, who was also
his cousin. The historian was then thirty-seven
years of age, fuU of vigor and push, kindly of
The Draper Manuscripts 353
disposition, persuasive in argument, devoted
to his life-task of collecting, self-denying in the
cause, and of unimpeachable character.
The story of his really magnificent work as
secretary and executive officer of the Wisconsin
Historical Society is familiar to all who are in-
timately concerned with the study of Western
history. It has been told so often, in the pub-
lications of that institution and elsewhere, that
it does not here require specific treatment.
Thirty-three years of his life were in large
measure consecrated to the service of the
Society. He resigned at the close of the year
1886, turning over to the charge of his suc-
cessor a reference library of national reputation ;
while the ten volumes of Wisconsin Historical
Collections which he had edited, are generally
recognized as ranking with the best American
publications of this character. But not least
important were his untiring labors in the face
of sometimes bitter opposition, to secure an
assured official support for the institution, which
at last, after weary years of striving, he saw
placed on a strong financial footing as the
trustee of the State.
Although the author of numerous pam-
phlets, of articles in the Wisconsin Historical
Collections^ and in encyclopaedias, of a mono-
23
354 Essays in fVesicrn History
graph upon collections of autographs of 1
" Signers," and of scattering chapters of pro-
Ki«i" jected biographies, and the editor of
Mmniain ^ few minor publications aside frora
the Collections, Dr. Draper — the University
of Wisconsin had thus honored him — pub-
lished but one important historical work :
King's Mauniain and its Heroes (Cincinnati,
1881). Unfortunately for the publisher and .
author, the greater part of the edition was soon
after its issue consumed by fire, so that few
copies are now extant. Aside from the border
forays of whites and Indians, the really roman-
tic portion of the history of the Revolution in
the South is confined to the Whig and Tory
warfare of the Carolinas, which was first fully
treated in Draper's volume. It was well re-
ceived at the time; but in later years Winsor
and others have very properly criticised it as
possessing the faults which were conspicuous
in the author's methods: a desire to be en-
cyclopaedic, and a tack of proper historical
perspective. But even with these faults, King's
Mountain is, as a bulky storehouse of informa-
tion regarding the Revolutionary War in the
South obtained at first hand, a permanently
valuable contribution to American historical
literature.
The Draper Manuscripts 355
The reason for Dr. Draper's retirement from
official life, at tjie age of seventy-one, was the
desire at last to write the numerous biographies
which he had projected so many years before.
His physical vigor was waning, but his literary
ambition was as strong as in youth. Unfortu-
nately for himself, he had accumulated so
Material ^^^^ ^ flood of material that at last it
beyond his was beyond his control ; and although
^^*^ ^^ evej. hopeful of soon beginning in
earnest, it was plain that he contemplated his
task with awe. In his nearly five years of
leisure he made no important progress.
"Still puttering," he often mournfully re-
plied, whenever the present writer inquired as
to what he was doing. But his countenance
would lighten with boyish glee, as he continued,
'* Well, I *m really going to commence on
George Rogers Clark in a few days, as soon as
I hear from the letters I sent to Kentucky this
morning; but I am yet in doubt whether I
ought to have a Boston or New York publisher
— what is your judgment? " It had ever been
the same story — always planning, never doing.
For his society he was one of the most prac-
tical of men, and his persistent energy was re-
warded by almost phenomenal success. But
the work of the institution was pressing ; in his
356 Essays in Wesi^m History
own eaterprises he could wait — until, like the
patient cat in the fable, he waited too long.
On the fifteenth of August, 1891, the doctor
$ttfiered a paralytic stroke, which was the be*
ginning of the end. Nevertheless,
when partially recovered, he bravely
returned to his " puttering/' still confident that
his projected series of a dozen huge biogra-
phies would yet leap from his pen when he was
at last ready. Thus, full of hope, although phy-
sically feeble, he toiled on until again paralysis
laid him low. On the twenty-sixth he passed
quietly to the hereafter, his great ambition un-
attained, his Carcassonne unreached. Death
had rung down the curtain on this tragedy of a
life's desire.
Of stature short and slight, Dr. Draper was
a bundle of nervous activity. Almost to the last,
The man his seventy-six years sat easily on his
himself shoulders. Light and rapid of step,
he was as agile as many a youth, despite the
fact that he was seldom in perfect health. 1 1 is
delicately cut features, which exhibited great
firmness of character and the powers of intense
mental concentration, readily brightened with
the most winning of smiles. By nature and
by habit he was a recluse. His existence had
largely been passed among his books and
The Draper Manuscripts 357
manuscripts; he cared little for those social
alliances and gatherings which delight the
average man. Long abstention from general
intercourse with those with whom he had no
business to transact, made him slow to form
new acquaintances, and wrongly gained for him
a reputation of being unapproachable. He who
had a legitimate errand thither, found hanging
without the latch-string of the fire-proof library
and working " den," which was hidden in a
dense tangle of lilacs and crab-trees in the rear
of the bibliophile's home. Access gained, the
literary hermit was found to be a most amiable
gentleman, a charming and often merry con-
versationist ; for few kept better informed on
current events, or had at command a richer
fund of entertaining reminiscence. To know
Dr. Draper was to admire him as a man of
generous impulses, who wore his heart upon
his sleeve, was the soul of purity and honor,
did not understand what duplicity meant,
loved children and flowers, and was sympa-
thetic to a fault.
If not a great man, this gentle scholar was in
. many directions eminently useful to
An emt- •* ^ ^
nentiy use^ his generation. As the guiding spirit
fu career ^^ ^^ historical socicty which he made
great, he was in his day incomparable; as
358 Essays in Western History
an editor of historical material, he did most
excellent service; and undoubtedly he was the
most successful of all collectors of material for
American border history. So Jealously did he
guard his treasures, however, that during his
lifetime they literally were inaccessible to all
save himself. Not unnaturally, from his point
of view, he deemed this great mass of docu-
ments and notes as his own hard-won quarry,
the working of which was to be done in due
time. Upon his death, however, the great col-
lection was found to have been willed to the
archives of the Society which he loved so well
— so many bricks and stones for future his-
torical architects. Coming to the society in
a sadly chaotic condition, — for the doctor's
private library was a realm strictly guarded
against womankind, and his own methods were
the reverse of orderly, — in 1892 they were
carefully classified, mounted, and bound, thus
making them available for all comers.
No doubt students of Western history will
always express regret that Draper found it im-
Anin- practicable to give to the world the
during important, many-volumed works for
"""" which from his youth he had so
eagerly planned. For while contemporary
documents are alike useful to all, at least he
The Draper Manuscripts 359
could himself have best interpreted the multi-
tude of notes and interviews which form so
large a proportion of his matter; the world
has in his death lost forever a mine of informa-
tion and a wealth of judgment on controverted
points in Western history, which might have
illumined his pages. But if more fruitful in
printer's **copy," possibly he might have been
less persistent as a collector ; and of the two
classes of public service, if we were to choose
between them, we must admit that the Draper
Manuscript Collection will prove through gen-
erations to come a far more useful and endur-
ing monument to its founder than the shelfTul
of books which he had proposed to leave as
his chiefest legacy.
INDEX
INDEX
ABBOTT, Samuel, American
Fur Company employee, 217.
Alabama, manuscripts relating to,
346.
Alexander, Gen. Milton K., in
Black Hawk War, 165, 166, 168-
, 173. 183, 184, 189.
Aleonquian Indians, 205, 308, 239.
Allouez, Claude, Jesuit missionary,
209, 243-246, 265, 271, 273.
American Fur Company, 172, 317,
224, 227, 249, 262-264, 267, 271,
274.1 3191 324-
— Historical Association Report^
69.
American Historical Review ^ 27.
American Home Missionary So-
ciety, in Wisconsin, 267.
— Mission Board, 267.
Anderson, Lieut. Robert, in Black
Hawk War, 145.
Armstrong, Perry A., Sauks and
Black Hawk tVar^ 144.
Ashland (Wis.), 12, 236, 273.
Assenisipia, proposed state of, 77,
Assiniboin Indians, 248.
Astor, John Jacob, 224, 227, 362,
263.
Atkinson, Gen. Henry, commands
troops against Black Hawk, 141-
149, 156, 158, 164-174, 183, 184,
190-194.
Ayer, Frederick, Wisconsin mis-
sionary, 265, 367, 269, 270.
BAD AXE, battle of, 145, 188-
192, 197, 199.
Bailey, Ma]. David, in Black
Hawk War, 147.
Ballard, Maj. Bland W., Kentucky
pioneer, 340, 343.
Bancroft, George, commends
Draper, 349.
Baraga, Frederick, Catholic mis-
sionary, 370, 274.
Bay, Chequamegon, 209, 210; dis-
covered, 236; map, 273; de-
scribed, 342; Indians, 240, 243-
247» 259 ; posts at, 233, 252-256,
266, 374 ; historic sites, 236, 273,
274; fur-trade, 247, 350-254, 259-
264; Catholic mission, 245-247,
270-273 ; Protestant mission, 265,
270, 373; French commandants,
252-254, 256, 303 ; French post
dismantled, 258,; Radisson and
Groseilliers at, 234-240 ; Allouez,
343-246, 271, 273 ; Marquette,
345-247 ; Cadotte, 261-264 ; War-
rens, 263-265.
— , Georgian, 204, 206, 208, 225, 239.
— , Green, 9, 102, 103, 233.
— , Keweenaw (Mich/), 209, 242.
— , St. Charles. See Chequamegon.
— , St. James, 234.
Bayfield, Lieutenant, 264.
— (Wis.), 260, 264. 272.
— peninsula (Wis.), 244.
Beardstown (111.), 142, 144, 1^8.
Beaubassin, Hertel de, French
commandant, 256.
Beauhamois, Charles, Marquis de,
governor of Canada, 254, 256.
" Beaver," Lake Superior vessel,
255*
Bedinger, Maj. George M., Ken-
tucky pioneer, 343 > 345 •
Benin's map of Lake Superior, 252,
256.
Beloit (Wis.), 166; Free Press,
166, 195.
Benton, Francis, discovers lead
mines, 309.
— , Thomas H., proposes new ter-
ritory, 98.
Big Foot, Potawatomi chief, 141.
BiB Cross Rapids (Wis.X 242.
364 Essays in Western History
aiucka StUliDdii''i
|4-i;)l hirtiei Ihs
'iSj-i7j; Birht,
ij4 i3j, i8(, ioi,
BlusUaimdi/mi.), 141. >6a, >6>.
Bdou, Dinnl, KcniBCky pionttr.
Bwda CouDtr (111-). >o&
BooDCHborooEli (KyOi ^0^
Boont'i ni^lKy.). ^ 1*-
Boropi \ tor-inder. 3&4<
Bouq^^it Den, Mfinry, in npedi-
lioilo(.7S^"94- . . . .
pioia CUrk, ». 3,, jB, i7,
Boyd, Chulei ^'!/!ilLds 'pioi!
.<• (lin ,3,.
Bsa. E^mrd, i
Bnddock (Pa.), *
Bnddock'i Kaad,
-R.ii(P=- '
BradT, G
"t...
Bnnt^ ^oUp^ Mohawk chiiT, ig,
^ 344. 34S-
Breese, Sidoiy, Eartf Hillary of
son, AlTrEd, vinti Li Painle,
IX chic^ 33
BuekJey, C
^bSS
Butdine, LieuL CluV, proticti 1
Buriingtan (li. ), iqt ; Ciuctlr, 1
Calvi, JoKph. b Wiraf ,S.i-.8,s.
Cuniiibell, Darid, Eovetnor of Vir-
— fHtdi^C "Eiploritiaos of
Lafco Superior," jo^i "Fire
-. Mn. John,°^i««iiin miwoB-
— , William W., Amtaii <lf Tryat
SfX
:ameil, T. D., in lad
^arondeldl, SpaDish £
Lpuifliaoa, j»^ '
Index
365
Carroll, Charlss, of Carrollton,
signer, 338.
Carroll County (111.)* 106; lead
mines in, 300.
Carver, Jonathan, Western trav-
eller, 239, 244; Travels^ 309,
310; map, 309.
Cass, Lewis, at Chequamegon Bay,
244, 262 ; at Lockport, 337.
Cassville (Wis.), 142.
Catawba Indians, visited by Draper,
343*
Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville,
Clark's grave in, 71.
Chaetar. Winnebago chief^ 193.
Champlain, Samuel de, founder of
Canada, 205, 206, 231.
Charlevoix, Pierre Frangois Xavier
de, Uistoire de Nouvelle France^
252* 307-
Chequamegon Point, 236, 240, 243,
244, 252, 261, 262, 273.
Chersonesus, proposed State of, 77,
78.
Chestnut Ridge (Pa.), 382.
Chicago, 105, i35-»37i 141 1 i93»
228; Times, 214.
— Historical Society, 507.
— & Northwestern Railway, 175.
Chickasaw Indians, visited by
Draper, 343.
ChiUicothe (Ohio), 66, 83-85, 88-
Chingouab^, Chippewa diief, 251,
2^.
Chippewa, proposed territory of,
98 ; boundaries of, 99, 100.
— County (Mich.), 93.
— Indians, 8, 39, 132, 204, 206, 209,
a44, *4S» aSOi ^S*. a59-a62, 265,
266, 268, 272 ; number of. ^ 255 ;
language, 233, 269; early nistory
of, 240-243, 253, 256, 273 ; treaty
with, 325; removal to Odanah,
269.
Chouteau, Pierre, in fur-trade, 312,
33i«.
Christino Indians. See Crees.
Cincinnati, fort at, 313.
Clark, Gen. George Rogers, if 3, 6,
17, 72, 219; early liie, 10, 11;
plans expedition, 17, 18; in Vir-
finia, 18; recruits lorces, 19-25;
Uinois march, 25-28 ; captures
Kaskaskia, 28-32, 319; concili-
ates habitants, 31-33 ; treats with
Spaniards, 36-38 ; conciliates In-
dians, 38-40 ; attempts to capture,
43-44; march to Vincennes, 47-
Clark, Gen. Geo. Rogers {cani^d).
54; letter to inhabitants, 54-56;
attacks Vincennes, 57-60; cap-
tures Vincennes, 61-63 » re-in-
forced, 64, 65 ; returns to Louis-
ville, 65 ; expedition of 1780, 66 ;
fails to capture Detroit, 66 ; fail-
ure of powers, 67 \ proposed for
Western exploration, 67, 68;
plans filibustering expedition, 68-
70 ; Indian campaigns of, 343 ;
later years, 70, 71 ; manuscripts
concerning, 345 ; Biography oft
350-
Clark, Maj. Jonathan, 62, 345.
— , William, 68; papers of, 345.
- (111.), 143.
Clarksville (Ind.), 70.
Clay, Henry, Draper sees, 344.
Cleveland, Moses, pioneer, 343.
Clinton, DeWitt, at Lockport, 337.
Company of the West, for Louisi-
ana, 306.
CongregatlonalistSy in Wisconsin,
267-269.
Coneress of Confederation, plans
Western States, 76r-79, 82.
— of United States, adjusts terri-
torial boundaries, 81-93, 96, loi,
104-109: sells lead mines, 331;
A HHols, 96 ; Secret y<mrnals, 77.
Congressional Documents, 330.
Connecticut cedes Western terri-
tory, 80.
Cook, Samuel F., Drummond
Is/and, 223.
Copper mines, early French, 234,
354-356, 303.
Cornstalk, Shawnee chief, 6, 7.
Cottage Grove (Wis.), 175.
Coureurs de bois, 204, 212,2x5, 247,
357. 3011 30^'
Cravrford, WUliam, Indian fighter,
343» 350'
Cree (Christino) Indians, 236, 24S.
Creek, Boyd's (Wis.), 236.
— , Catfish (Mo.), 320.
— , Fish (West Va.), II.
— , French (Ontario), 2o6> 225.
— , Indian (Ill.)i 136, 157, 160.
— , Redstone (Pa.), 278, 280, 288.
— , Svcamore (111.), 140^ 148, 197.
— , Turtle (Pa.), 279, 284, 294.
— , Vanderventer (Wis.) 243.
— , West Bureau (111.), 135, 136, 142.
— , Will's (Md.). 278, 279, 289.
Croghan, Col. George, in War ol
1812-15, 222, 345.
3G6 Essays iti TVesierti History
CroghiD, Di. Jobn. Kenluckf
— fwilliani,'1^iin>ckr pionHr, j4j.
CruIksbiDk. Kriic.t, "Black
" 1")*^ J'J^>" 'UiooU pionoH',
Did Joe'tbrort (in.), lis.
- and Suure, HitUrf */ lUiiaU,
Davii, JeffsnuD, ici Black Ha*k
War, 144. 145. >M1 at lead
- CognwVi'™), 195.
- {aim (lit), in Blul Hawk War,
Dccdrah. ODB-erad, Wioaebaga
Dalawan In^u^ nnUd b;
Df LEjba, Knnci™, Spaniih gov
Ds'n^", Guli£qm,i^Lp or, iji,
— , \x GardeuFi Haichci For mifiu,
Ds Loavigny, ^— , at Mackinaci
rtol'ttCDUiiIy(Mich.),M.
Damcnt, Mai. ]obn,b> Black Hawk
War, At, 167.
OeniaoD UnivcnitjjOhUi), jjS, jjg.
Qei»<y, WilliaiB H., M-r>iuor ,/
Da Pm(W*). .46,147.
Dn KEniull, f hilip)x Frantnii, in
;t.5
DeRrin, Abialiain B
Hawk War. ,„.
IHani«i4 GrOTE (Wis.;
-;ai).
iUlu:k H^ 'war, ij'li. in, mTi
IS». tSSi '6'i "^S. "S*. 17". '?4.
Doddridge, Joicpb, border fal^lo^
Oodgo, Heofj, goTonwr trf Wi»-
CDiiHn, <i«; in Black Hawk
War. 160-169, .71-114. 'J* iB*
DodgevUi
unw (Wii.), ti
r, Ba)at ,
Washmelon, 1 13.
DMy, Janu DDaue, early W
icripu oi, oj-
Dnlie. Dr. Daniel ploeeei
\ Indian chicli,j43.J44:
Mippi, J4&-34S ; in Bald-
.d PhiladelpTin, 348,149;
cal Society, 3Si-3j;: a> audHir.
3J4 ; retlranieDl, J5s; death, 356;
cnaiacleriied, 356, jsj: beqiwatlu
coHectioiM, 358; Notes, jijj
King's Ulnmiaii, 354: Drafrr
uiibed, 33S, 34«
Dniromond, Rob
NewVoik, 7S, 7
Dabuque, Julian, WDi
IwB ^wuardi, ai
Index
3«7
Duboqiw {Ii.)< 144, 3«>,
D^hiime, Dombique, in Wu oE
i8ia-is,3'4-
DulDnr, John Jima, S»iH cmi-
Du Luih, ikuiicl Cieyioloii, 147,
Du^h^Minu.), 147.
Dunbar, Col. Richird, in Bnd-
Dunbiit'i tSinp^i?^94, JflS-
DunWlh (WiO, J14, 3>D.
Dunmore. LordJohD Mumy,gDir-
DunUc, M^n'MiU^y, ippUci
formininggranMu.
EARLY, Cipt. Jacob M., id
Black H»wk War, ijg.
Eait Meadow Run, 186.
Edwardi, Nioinn.KOvenio ' ""'
Eldon tl^/'fts'.
Eliiibcih (111.h minea oca;
Elk Grova (Wu^), 141.
EquayaiTwaf, Cbippcm
Ewi^, Col. W. L. r-, i
Hawk War, t;i, 177, 171
FACENBAKER, I
Peniuylvauia laimi
Fall] of Niagara, lis,
— ofOhLo,H»Loui.YiUt
— ofSt. Anihory.sH.
FayeiM Connly (Pa.J, Haify rf,
Fenr, Rev. Williain M., Mack-
Fifidd, S:^£^?,VitLGOii>iii cid
136.
Fin-armi, lodiau leani to
PlW Timolby, bordsr hinoi
Flmda, apedilion againit, 6g.
Floyd, Sen. Charlei, /i»nu^,
Fonda, Join H., '■RemlniKi
of Wiaconaia," 186.
Ford, Thomas, H alary of lltii
— ,^ontliWton tlr^rilingt ^
a^athingUn, 7S'
ForniB, fla). Samuel S., Nwra-
Fonyih, Maj. Tbomaa, WitcoaiiB
Fort AtDutroDg'^^Rock Iiland),
— Chailmllll.), 3ii6.
— Clark (111.), iDcadoD, 319.
— Cra«fDnl (WL..), IJ3, 1,4, 146,
-GeoijediactinacVii
- Howard [Wis.),
-leffci '
-Madi
™ nili ij:
!, 5?) btoeged, 5!(-6oi loneo.
- Wayoe (lod.j, 4J.
- Wifciim llll.i, 16s.
-Winnebago (Vli.), ij6. .?i,
171, I Bo, is J.
FoTtreia Hooroc, 111, 104.
Fou Lakes (Wi«.)t i6tr>75> 'l<r
Fan iodjans, 9, u, 116, iiS, 1J4,
14], 344, lis i habilat, 146, 944,
iiS ; war wiib Francb, 149 ; wllli
Chippewit icj i^ treaty with,
work lei^ minu, 311-3141 116,
317! ii.WarofiBia-is,ji». Sn
Fo]i'sBlilff<Wu.),.6i.
at CfaequamCRoiii
1368 Essays i» IVestem History
rmT Cy. HtaiT, i. Slick Hnk
fn^nle, hrMht kcpl fa(. V Tt 1
couia. ni. >!». l4J->(t. »»-
■6s T nvKlEird "Oj idd aimnc; 133-
Vkd Hudsoo'i Bar Cwdfab;,
GAIXKS. Gen. EdmnDd P., in
Black H»k Wir, ijo. iti.
CiltRi iIILI, ioji unKd, ]>.:
nodenwi in Btaek Hawk
GdiBoniirE, Comlt de k, go»-
enu>f of New France, 156.
CcDEl. ChaHu E.,.cipedilisi> of,
CBirsii, Oratl'i Kpedilion in,
Gisioii, CajH. Harry, fnnai,
G«^lln, A. H.,/.iu NiaM. mj.
Gnnd Fonage (MmD.)i »ji art,
ciknt Count; (Wit.), lead minu
in,3(o;//ii(»7e/;j'6-
GialinU Henry, Wuconrin pio-
Onlioi'i*6'r^e'(Wu.l, 14»-
(Oluel. S3, it ; may at,
jomiiulh. HMard QuHun, Sieir
de, Frcntti dplor?, tojf 1D9,
■ rj, 300; OB Lake Soperior, sn-
ilrm m to E ntlbli. 141. S«
Gail, klanimiT It, dcKribei lead
TMf^f^^3:!^.a,ija.
— ttSL Lawteiice, iji. i«>-
HALDIMAND, Gen. Freder-
ick, vorerMv o' Canada, 1 14.
H^i, fien^D F.. border h&o-
BaS, Rachel, capmred b; iDdUni,
•6a,, ^
— , Rer. SbenDan, WiacooaD nis-
— s Sylvia, captivfid b; Indiaiii,
— , Gen. wnHam, EorenioT of Tea-
HiniUloTHen^°gDwmw'at De-
41*44 ; suspecta VieOt 45 ; «ui.
pHMnl by Clark, 51, 54-S9 <
beiieged by Claik, iS-60; ticati
wilb Dark, 6a, b> : gnmnderf,
6i J priionet, 6a, 63 : lieumianl-
joyemor of Quebec, 6] i go»-
ernoT of Dominic, 63.
— , WaKam S., early lead miDer,
al Maddnac, lai, >a4.
Uaniiar, Gen. Josiah, |io
Him^*'&a',%illiam S
Index
369
Harrodsburg (Ky.), 10.
Hebberd. S. S., Wisconsin under
French Dominion^ 249.
Helena (Wis.), 183.
Helm, Leonard, Clark's captain,
20,34,38,41,60,63.
Hennepin, Louis, French explorer,
348 ; map of, 301.
- (111.), '42.
Henry, , at Vincennes, 41,
— , Alexander, fur-trader, 255, 258-
260; Travels and AdvetUureSf
246, 258, 259.
— , Daniel, des
escribes Clark's cam-
paign, 30.
— , Maj. James D., in Black Hawk
War, X44, 158, 165, 166, 169, 171-
174, 182-184, 189-191.
— , Patrick, governor of Virginia,
18, 22, 23, 26, 36, 62-64.
Herculaneum (Mo. ), shot tower at,
322.
Hermitage, Jackson's home, 346.
Hildreth, Richard, commends
Draper, 349.
— , S. P., pioneer, 340.
Holderman's Grove (111.), 136.
Holmes, Maj. Andrew H., killed
at Mackinac, 222.
— , Lieut. Reuben, in Black
Hawk War, 187.
— , W. H. , explores Lake Superior,
234.
Hopwood (Pa.), 281.
Hough, Franklin B., American
Constitutions t 01.
Houghton Point (Wis.), 240.
Hudson's Bay Company, 308, 235,
242, 255*
Hulbert, Archer Butler, Historic
Higktvaysy 135.
Hunt. , fur-trader, 227.
Hunt s Merchant^ Magazine ^ 302.
Huron, proposed territory of, 100.
— Indians, 258 ; Jesuit mission to,
208-210, 23s, 239, 241-246; vis-
ited by Drac^r, 343.
Hustisford (Wis.), 160, 173.
Hutcbins, Thomas, chart o^ 85.
ILES, Capt. Elijah, in Black
Hawk War, 158.
lUinoia, proposed State of, 77, 78.
Illinois, under French regimej 17,
307, 306 ; under British rejgime,
3, 24, 32 ; captured by Americans,
28-42 ; erected into a county, 64,
65 ; made a territory, 92, 93 ;
Illinois {continued),
made a State, 92, 95, 96; boun-
daries of, 9^101, 104-107, no,
166 ; lead mines in, 162, 300, 303,
^06-310, 329; in Black Hawk
War, 130, 135-166, 193, 198-300;
manuscripts relating to, 346.
Illinois Indians, 213, 245 ; learn
use of firearms, 300.
Indiana, under British regime, 3,
40-42, 54-62; made a territory,
^3? 84, 95 ; territory divided, 86,
92, 93 ; admitted as State, 93 ;
settlers of, 137.
Indians, hunting grounds of, 3, 6 ;
harry the border^ 6, 8, 10, 17, 22,
28, 65, 66; incited by British,
X19, 120, 223, 323, 344; relation
to French, 17, 34, 38, 320, 321;
Clark's methods with, 38-40, 54-
59i 65 J 219. See also the sepa-
rate tnbes.
Iowa, induded in Illinois, 306 :
made a territory, 107, no, 195;
historical archives of, 194, 195.
— City, capital of State, 19^.
— County (Wis.), lead mines in,
300..
— Indians, 39.
Iroquois Indians, enemies of New
France, 216, 234; war with
Hurons, 208-211, 239, 245, 246.
Irvine, William, Revolutionary
soldier, 346.
Irving, Washington, Astoria, 226.
Island, Basswood, in Chequamegon
Bay, 252.
— , Bois Blanc, 99, 219.
— , Com, Clark's rendezvous, 24, 70.
— , Drummond's, 99, 223.
— , La Pointe. See Madelaine.
— , Mackinac, 204, 210, 217, 219,
220.
— , Madelaine, 240, 241, 249, 252,
357, 260, 262, 266, 274; early
names for, 252, 256.
Islands, Manitoulin, 206, 208, 210,
346.
— , Twelve Apostles, 239, 2^4.
Isle La Grosse. See Mackinac.
— Ronde. See Madelaine.
— Royale, in Lake Superior, 234.
— St. Josephs, 220, 222.
TACKER, Edward, Mackinac
J missionary. 214. ^
Jackson, Andrew, in Creek War,
343; message on admission of
24
370 Essays in Wesiern History
JuDti, Ma), Thanu, in B
JlIDH. Kcv. VoadbHd^ L., >
jAy. John, AmBrkin peue c
JuSenon, Themu, iddrE
CUri, 67, 6B 1 prupotts Wet
— Jamaioi) (Wu-i 17s-
JtSll , Frer
]d DBtieia Coin
lead irlnu in,
JogUBl, iMW, .
Uniin killed, 151 -
, (lU.),.o., .<*:
Oi joS ; Hiittry
JofanHo, B«guiuni in lead trade,
3»*- ■ I. -
—? Co '-'fii third M., of Kenlncky,
Joi'n.'loC lohn, at Chfquamejoa
JolliVt; 'Swi, ail. III, ijs, joo.
JouM, Henri, '" Inlerprile roya-
«Hirau Canada, "10;.
Joulel. Henri, eariy French Bav-
KAMIN!STrQUA(Onl.),aS3-
Kan5a»aiTfMn.),s7.
Kaikaskia (Il].|, early Frencli oM-
tlemont, 11-14, 3=*. S°9; "p-
tared by Americanj 14-1^ S*.
6}; leadmu'WliJ'
,i6*-.6S.
Ion, Simoti, Ijidiaa fightoy I
:uckr,'>ellleingnt of, 6-R, i
lailn. id' Mft.
Keokuk, Fox chief, 11^ 124,
Ktnet>aw '^loiat (Midi.).
KilbootnCily(Wi^J,i«.
KinpibuT?. Lieul. GainH P.,
Brack Ha»k War, 187.
laling 10, 34« 1 Drsper'i book oa. 1
Km^e. Ml*. Jofao H., Wa« i
tSo.
ABUXI^RE, Joseph, al
T ABUXl
, Michael,
Uoiled Slales, 337.
-County (Witi. ,60
— Geneva (\^ is.), 116.
— Great Slave, J15-
— Horicon (Cranberrr Lake,
~ Kegoora (FIrat Lake, \
- Mendola (Fourth Lalu, ^
163, i(^ ,^.
Index
371
Lake Michigan. 203, 214, 319, 301 ;
explored, 207, 231 ; Indians near,
Q ; trails fironit 136) 137 ; as a
Doundary, 76, 81) 84-89, 92, 93,
96-102, 105, 232.
-. Mills (Wis.), 175.
— Monona (Third Lake, Wis.),
176, 17^.
— Nipissmg, 206.
— Ontario, 216.
— Peoria (Ill.)i lead purchased
at, 302.
— Pepin (Wis.), 303.
— St. Clair, 76, 95.
— Sandy, 247.
— Shawano ( Wis.)i 9.
— Superior, as a boundary, 103,
no, 232 ; Indians of, 8, 240-247,
250 ; explored, 206-209, 235-239 ;
copper mines near, 234, 254-256 ;
missions on, 242-247; com-
merce of, 303, 214, 226, 247-256 ;
map of, 252, 264.
— Waubesa (Second Lake, Wis.),
176.
— Winnipeg, 226.
Lallemant, Jerome, Jesuit mission-
aryt 235.
La Mothe. See Cadillac
La Motte, Monsieur de, finds lead
mines, 306, 300.
Langlade, Charles, early Wiscon-
sin settler, 12.
La Pointe, Story of, 231-374; ori-
gin of name, 243, 261 ; locations,
273. See also Bay, Chequamegon.
La Potherie, Bacqueville de, French
historian, 302.
La Prairie du Rocher, ^3.
La Ronde, Denys de, junior, 254-
356.
— , Louis Denys, Sieur de, 252,
254-256.
Larrabee, Charles H., Wisconsin
citizen, 347, 348, 352.
La Salle, Robert Cavelier, Sieur
de, 247.
— (111.), 136.
Laurel Hills (Pa.), 280,281.
Law, John, grantee of Louisiana,
306.
— , John, Colonial History of Vim-
cenneSi 52.
Lead mines, 124, 136, 143, 144, 162)
299-332.
Lc Font, Dr. , Jesuit, at Kas-
kaskia, 34.
Lena (lU.), 161.
Le Sueur, Pierre Charles, early
French explorer, 348-252, 303-305.
Lewis, Freeman, surveyed Fort
Necessity, 290.
Lewis and Clark*s expedition, 68,
345-
Libby, Orin G., "Chronicle of
Helena Shot Tower," 184.
Lincoln, Abraham, in Black Hawk
War, i44j 158.
Linctot, Sieur de, French com-
mandant, 253.
— , Godefroy, aids Americans, 40.
Little Meadows (Pa.), 286.
Little Thunder, Winnebago chief.
Lodge, Henry Cabot, Story of
Revolution^ 30.
Lo{;an, Benjamin, Kentucky
pioneer, 11.
Logan's Station (Ky.), 10.
Long, Maj. Thomas, in Black
Hawk War, 144.
Lossing, Benson J., American his-
torian, 349-3 5 »•
Louisiana, under French regime,
80, 299-309; under Spanish re-
gime, 37, 41, 45, 309-3 M» 319;
retroceded to France, 320 ; pur-
chased by United States, 96, 320 ;
map of, 305 ; mines in, 299-331.
Louisville (Ky.), 20, 23, 35, 36, 64,
6S».7i»3i3-
Louvigny. See De Louvigny.
Lucas, Robert, governor of Iowa,
195'
Lynn,^ Capt. , Revolutionary
soldier, 23.
McBRIDE, David, "Capture
of Black Hawk," 193.
McCarty, Capt. Richard, in Clark's
campaign, 61.
McDonald, John, pioneer, 340.
McDouall, Col. Robert, command-
ant at Mackinac, 223.
McDowell, John, Indian fighter,
McHenry County (111.), 106.
McKee, Alexander, border rene-
gade, 66.
McKenney, Thomas 'L.,, History of
Indian^ Tribes^ 252, 260.
Mackenzie, Alexander, explorer,
232.
Mackinac, Story of, 203-228; me-
ridian of, 86, 92, ico; French
post, 203, 2x4, ax6-3i8, 248, 255;
372 Essays in Weslem Hislory
— CAonlr (Midi.), u. t(u.
MuUiu* iitj (Sf ich.). »4. ><;.
MicWoc, l„«»fljihoi-i«l«i, i.i-
MkUks (Wii.), m, 16], iM, ITS.
MKiJ^Briiith .1. iM, ru, uB,
!)«, UJ, IJA.
M>pp7, PiBTc, Dtranvwrlrt tl
Mirl!'n''ii^'wftLuiii, pknecr', 340<
"UutiD Muiueripu," Cinadlan
M*»ii, Gmtrc rOT^TTior of Vlr-
gait.. <f,: ^OtfVt leiur to, iq,
.., JO, jO, it.
MuuchuwItK, cedcWBttcmluidf,
So.
Miuan, Nchemiih, Mtmtria 0/
Staaimi, 141.
UecUmbgri <N. C|. I>KltinliDn
□f Indepetidflnce, jAb-
Meektr. Dr. Mdki, »tabli>hn
Mrriitd' Rinifr'juigil miiBonsry,
Mianu ladiuif, jq, t;. ii<, isi.
MichQIifflKkinic. Sit Mickinic
40 ; u Uriiiory, 86, S7, qj-qIj'
108, 116, 141,154, iS7:^iatepro-
poiBd, 76; Slale eieaod, 91;
.i.boDiidirtel oE,
'l/rr^
MiS'o^'' J
111,' bnid, Stftrl an SaimJa-
i^ P<rin''(i^O, T3t, i]6, t4i.
aouotii, explored, ijq, 240; u
tcniEoTTi loo-iti ; bonndhriH
140, ajl, M3. »J9. »SO.
S^ isS, is«, >6t, 161,
™tt, 13 J, Mo^i«7;
!«(• 10 ininoii, joSi
load mines in, 100,305^313, 314, |
go. I04i J 10; Induu pufchu* ■" ■
lib.
Milcliell, John, roup, 84. 85.
Mohawk lT<diaai,TmtcdbrDTapu, |
M«^«CoiiDiy (IlL), De Sum
Ifonml, 'Sj MJ. '%*< 341,
Moore, Charl», " DiacoverieB of
Jet III.),
:k(P».l
ly IDak.
NASHVILLE (Teon.), <4t.
Natch«<M!B.i,».
Neapope, Sauk chief, 131, 133, 139.
N«l],' ESwi'id," Hinlry nf itiiatt-
'■^i 303, 303 ; " Hinory of Ojil>
_«y^*'a43..«,.!6,-
Nework ([11.1.136.
New York, pfon'eei
Index
373
Nicolay and T^vgy Ahraham Lin^
coluy X38.
Nicoleti Jean, French explorer,
ao6, 207, 231, 233, 2*4, 253, 300.
Northwest, discovered, 206; taken
for France, 208, 249 ; British con-
trol in, 224-226 ; conquest of, 3-72.
North West Fur Company, 224,
225, 255, 262.
Northwest Territory, boundaries,
jr5, 76 ; organized, 76-82 ; divided
into States, 82-111.
Notie, Robertel de la, French com-
mandant, 253.
O'BAIL, Maj. Henry, Seneca
chief, 337.
Odanah Reservation (Wis.), 269,
273.
Ogden, George W., Letters from
the iVestf 3 ra.
Ogle County (111.), ic6.
Ohio, part of Quebec, 3 : Indian
raids from, 65-67 ; State organ-
ized, 76, 84-86; boundaries of,
88-92, 95, loi, 104, 105 ; pioneers
off 137, 340y 342 ; manuscripts
relating to, 346.
— Company, 278, 279.
Old Mackmaw. See Mackinaw
City.
Oneida Indians, visited by Draper,
343*
Onontio, Indian name for French
governor, 252.
Ordinance of 1787, 79-82, 84-87,
93. 9S» 101-106.
Oregon (111.), 105.
Osage Indians, 39. «.
Ottawa Indians, 39, 132, 209, 210,
234, 240, 241, 244-246 ; reserva-
tion for, 325.
^ (111.). 157. 1581 160, 165, 318.
PAQUETTE, Pierre, Wisconsin
pioneer, 172, 173, 182.
Parish, Thomas J., in Black Hawk
War, 142.
Parish's (Wis.), 142.
Parkinson, Col. Daniel L., in Black
Hawk War, 142.
Parkman, Francis, commends
Draper, 349; Conspiracy of
PorUiac^ 218; Half Century of
Conflict^ 24^ ; yesuitSf 208.
— Club Publications^ 209.
Patterson, J. B., edits Black
Hawk's Autobiography^ 120.
Patterson, Robert, pioneer, 346.
Payne, — r — , in lead trade, 328.
Pearson, Philippe, Jesuit mission-
ary^ 212.
Pelisipia, proposed State of, 77, 78.
P^nicaut, — — , journal of, 303, 304.
Pennsylvania, 5, 19, 137; as a
boundary, 76, 79, 81; manu-
scripts relating to, 346; Histori-
cal Society Publications^ 30.
Peoria (111.), 13s, 142, 3*9; De
Renault's grant near, 307.
Peosta, Fox warrior, 313.
Perrot, Nicholas, early French ex-
plorer, 301 ; lead mines of, 30^
304.
Perry (N. Y.), Democrat^ 347.
Peru (111.), 136, 142, 165.
Pheasant Kranch (Wis.), 177.
Philadelphia, 79.
Piankeshaw Indians, 57.
Picka\i-ay Plains (Ohio), 7.
Pickens, Andrew, South Carolina
pioneer, 343.
Pictured Rocks of Lake Superior,
236.
Pike, Maj. Zebulon M., Expedi-
tion^ 319, 320.
Pirtle, Alfred, Clark's Campaign^
«.^7, 55-
Pittman, Capt. Philip, Settlements
on the Mississi/>piy 311, 312.
Pittsbure, 277^ 288, 313.
PlattevilTe (Wis.), loi, 142.
Point aux Pins, Lake Superior,
255.
— St. Ignace. See Mackinac.
Polypotamia, proposed State of, 77,
78.
Pope, Nathaniel, Illinois congress-
man, 96.
Portage des Sioux, 125.
Posey, Gen. Alexander, in Black
Hawk War, 161, 165-172, 184,
189.
Potawatomi Indians, 9, 39, 244-
246; in Black Hawk War, 122,
127, 132, 136, 139, 140. 148-154.
1^9, 160, 166 ; treaty with, 325 ;
visited by Draper, 343.
Potosi (Mo.), mines near, 306, 309.
— (Wis.), mines near, 304.
Potter, James, pioneer, 346.
Pownall, Thomas, chart by, 85 ;
To^graphical Description^ 310.
Praine du Chien (Wis.), 9, 212 ;
French trading post, 12, 15, 40;
in Black Hawk War, 126} 132,
374 Essays in Western History
Prairie du Chien (conihtMed).
144, 146, 181, 186, 188, 193 ; lead
market, 313, tia, 323 1 3*8.
Prairie du Sac (Wis,)^ 180, 31a
Presbyterians, in Wisconsin, 365-
269.
Preston, Senator, arranges North-
west boundaries, 102.
— , William C, pioneer, 340, 346.
Price's station (K.y.X 10.
Prince Society PubliceUion*^ 209.
Prophet. Se« White Cloud.
QUASHQUAME, Indian chief,
bee, founded, 305; early ex-
plorers start from, 212, 231 ; In-
dians trade at, 250 ; province of, 3.
RADISSON, Pierre d'Esprit,
Sieur de, French explorer,
207, 309, 213, 247 : in Wisconsin,
234. 300 ; on Lake Superior, 235-
239» *43» 244f 273 ; in Minnesota,
239, 240 ; returns to Canada, 241 ;
deserts to British, 24a ; Jtmrnal,
209, 235, 236, 240. Set aUo
Groseilhers.
Randall, Henry Stef^en, Ltfe of
Jefferson^ 78.
Raudin, Sieur de, in fur-trade, 247.
Raymbault, Charles, Jesuit mis-
sionary, 207, 209.
Red Cliff (Wis), 248.
Redstone. See Brownsville,
Red Wing (Minn.), 250.
Remsen, Peter A., cotton mer-
chant, aids Draper, 338-340, 348,
349; death, 352.
Reynolds, Oov. John, in Black
Hawk War, 130, 131, 141, 142,
145. 1571 158, 162, 165, 170; My
Own Timesy 121, 131, 146, 151,
,157. 163, 171, 172, 1S2, 19T.
Ritner, Lieut. Joseph, in Black
Hawk War, 181.
River, Apple (III.), 135, 142, 161;
mines on, 3 14, 328.
— , Arkansas, 225.
— , Athaba'ica, 204, 232.
— , Bad (Wis.), 269.
— , Bad Axe (Wis.), 186-190.
— , Bark (Wis.), 169, 170, 172.
— , Big ^Iiami, 66, 75, 81.
— , Black (Wis.), 209, 304.
— , Blue (Minn ), 304.
— , Bois Brul^ (Wis ), 248, 249, 254,
255.
River, Buffido (Wis.), 304.
— , Catfish (Wis.), 177.
— » Chicago, 2^0.
Chippewa (wis.), 304.
Columbia, 204.
Des Moines, 134, 195.
Embarrass, 40, 50.
Fever. See Galena.
Fox (in.), 116.
"VT ^y^;^» 3?i '36, a34» a35. 246.
See also Fox- Wisconsin portage.
Galena, lead mines of, 299, 302,
3Q4i 305* 3o8» 309f 3>5» 322-326,
J29-33I.
I Grant (Wis.), lead mine on, 304.
Great Kanawha, 23.
Holston, settlement at, 24.
Illinois, 40, 116, 135, 136, 141,
[42, 154, 306 : taiines on, 307.
Iron (Mich.), 255.
Iroquois (HI.), 155.
James (Va.), 66.
Joachim (Mo.), 322.
Kaskaskia (lUJ, 26, aS.
Kentucky, 82, 313.
Kishwaukee (lU.), 149, 154, 156,
t57» 167, 199.
Mad, 75.
Maumee, 40, 7^^ 76, 85, 86, 89.
Menominee (Wis.), 102, 103.
Meramec (Mo.), lead mines on,
306.
Milwaukee, 9, 137.
Mississippi, explored, 207, 212,
2i3» 235> 247. 248, 300, 304, 305 ;
French control, 233 ; French
posts on, 250, 303 ; Spanish set-
tlements on, 69; Indians on, 9,
39, 65, 118, 123, 131, 134, 139,
140, 166, 174, 180, 185, 197;
battle npon, 186, 188; fugitives
cross, 191-193 ; Clark on, 25, 66;
as a boundary, 79, 80, 95-97} 107-
iio, 116, 232; lead-mining on,
299-332 ; commerce on, 143.
— , Missouri, 96, 97, 99, 104, 118.
— , Monongahela, 277, 278, 288.
— , Montreal, 102, 103, 236.
— , Muskingum, 71.
— , Ohio, as a boundary, 3, 5, 6, 17,
18, 76, 79, 81, 82, 92 ; settlements
on, 8, 12 ; Clark on, 23, 25, 40,
47 i voyage down, 278 ; lead
transported on, 313.
— , Ottawa, 206, 216, 225.
— , Ozark, 23.
— , Peckatonica (Wis.), battle near,
160.
J
Index
375
River, Pigeon. 226, 232, 251, 253 ;
early name for, 235.
— , Platte, 204, 225.
— ^ Platte (wis.), lead mine on
304.
— , Potomac, 278.
— , Raisin, battle near, 85.
"■i.?°F^».> '?5» ?39. '54» 199;
Black Hawk's village on| 118,
128, 196; Winnebago village,
127, 140, 14^; settlements, 141,
165 ; porsuit of- Black Hawk,
i45» 156-1591 «62, 171-175'
— , Run), 248.
— , St Croix, 108, ixo, 248, 249f
«54. 264, 303, 304«
— , St Francois (Mo.), mines near,
306.
— , St Josephs (Mich.), 76, 249.
—f St. Lawrence, 206, 215, 241, 257.
— ^ St. Louis, no, 247, 248, 251.
— , St Mary, 99, 223.
— , Sugar (Wis.), 168.
— , Thames, battle on, 122.
—, Wabash, 12, 40, 46, 47, 51, 65,
66,80, 81, 126; drowned lands
of, ^8, 49.
— , White Earth, 06, 97, 104.
— , Whitewater (Wis.), 170.
— , Wisconsin (Ouisconsin), 9, 154,
i99> >34 > Dalles of, t88, 193 ;
survey of, 304; Indians on, 116,
118 ; Menard, 242 ; French post,
302 ; Black Hawk, 170, 177, 180,
183 ; territory named for, 99.
— >^ Youghiogheny, 286.
Riviere 1 la Mine. Set Galena.
Roads, National (Pa.), 279, 281,
283, 285.
Robertson, James, Tennessee
pioneer, 343* 35o»
Rocheblave, Philippe de, com-
mandant at Kaskaskia, 27, 30, 31,
33f 36«
Rochester (N. Y.), Gent^ 338.
Rockford (111.), 105, 106.
Rock Island (UK), 99, 118, 131,
'55. '93» 303» 32a ; settled, 324.
— Island County (III), 106.
Rogers, ^ Lieut. John, in Clark's
campaign, 46, 62.
Royal India Company of Illinois,
306.
ST. ANGE, Louis de Bellerive,
Sieur de, commandant of Illi-
nois, 311.
St Clair, Gen. Arthur, governor of
St. Clair, Gen. Arthur {eottiin$ted)»
Northwest Territory, 82, 350;
Paptrs, 82.
Ste. Genevieve (Mo.), lead market,
312.
St Francis Xavier mission. Green
Bay, 246, 24;r.
St. Ignace (Mich.), an, 214, 217;
mission, 247. Seealso Mackinac.
St Louis (Mo.), 37, 45, 46, 125,
126, 143, 194, 3"-3i3» 3191 3"-
327 : Pastoral BUttt^ 214.
Saint-Lusson, Sieur de, takes pos-
session of Northwest. 208, 249,259.
St Paul (Minn.), no.
St Philippe, early Illinois settle-
ment, 307.
St Pierre, Paul le Gardeur, Sieur
de, French explorer, 253.
Sarp, , fur-trader, 312.
Saratoga, proposed State of, 77, 78
Sauk Indians, habitat, 9, 39, 40,
X18, 119, 128, 136, 244-246, 310,
318; in War of 1812-15, 3>4»
own lead mines, 313-^18, 322-
324, 326, 327 ; treaty with, 325 ;
encroached upon, 124, 128, 131,
197; massacre Menominees, 131,
132 : raid the border, 166-178 ;
battle with, 179, 180; seek peace,
182, 183; retreat, 183-188; last
bitttle of, 188-192. See also
Black Hawk and Fox Indians.
Sauk trail, 136.
Sault Ste. Marie, 206-208, 225, 235,
245» 249» 25 1 » 253. 255, 256, 259,
260.
Scharf, J. T., .$"/. LoHts^ 311, 312.
Schoolcraft, Henry B., Narrative^
244, 252, 262 ; Discovery of
Sources of Mississippi River^
313 ; View of Lead Mines of
Miuourii 314.
— County (Mich.), 93.
Scotch, in fur-trade, 225.
Scott, Gen. Winfield, in Black
Hawk War, 158, 193.
Seneca Indians, visited by Draper,
343<
Sevier, John, Tennessee pioneer,
343. 350'
Shaubena, Potawatomi chief, 122,
141, 148, 155.
Shaw, Capt. John, lead trader, 323.
Shawnee Indians, 6, 122, 343.
Shea, John Gilmary, Early Missis-
siMi Voyag-es^ 303 ; Charlevoix* s
Htstoiref z<yj.
I
I
376 Essays in Weslent History
i^r, Gin.' 'Tbonu^ i^DPHi^ J
Sylranu.prDpoKd Stale nb 71, tB. I
Symnci, J(£d Clevu, Ohio pia. |
SlirHve, Htniy, leftd Indcr, ^i.
Shall, Je«e W., in lud min
51ullibiin<Wi<.), .^i,
Sinclair, Purieli. Bridih offic
n R.. Hiiliry tf
Smith, b/niii
Snilluoniui 1
Soalud, Jini
South Carolina,
So^ith WeH rur <b«DpinT. >I4,
SlMficnd'i Fam (Wi*.], 16a.
SpaniardStCm MiaiinipiH.^^! work
buquc, $ig, 3)i; Ixbiend CFarlc,
,KK
StunbiD^. CdL S. C
Slepheuaon, CapL J. fl
H.»ll War, 164, 16a.
-CDUBtr[lll.),.06,,6
Sii Cnck, Sfca-
Suggeil,
ThmiWs, Reuben Gold,
"Boon-
darie. ,^ WiwmsD,"?.
;W«-
»/w'j A'nt. Ouo™
y< t^t
. Sftx
TlmQ»'>GrovE|»l.),iGi.
l-odd, Andrt-, tnaer i
Upper
— , ChariM S., piiin«r, Hi
■jf Uli-
'□niniT Jimmr, Seneca ch
rraiic, Ghem, m, %
Jar,uo,»4.aasi Paria, 7., 80,
Tumec, Ftedetuk Jackun
■' Clark
J^'ssssn;f"a.s^a»d
■Cme;
6<i;"FurTrKtain Wi.
T„«:I,o,a InJi^ yi.
ted by
ri'oT^^^W.,...
TTNDERWOOD, Jok
ph R,
U piDU«r,34<,.
Union <Wia. ),.*).
^>W
United Shim, supreme
ji-
>
Index
377
VAN METRE, A. P., in lead
mines, 326.
Vaudreuil, Marquis de, governor
of Canada, ^^^.
Venango, Washington visits, 270.
Verwyst, Rev. Chrysostom, " His-
toric Sites on Chequamegon
Bay," 236, 240, 243 ; Missionary
Labors of Fathfrs Marquette^
Minardi and Allouez^ 244, 270-
272.
Vevay (Ind. J, founded, 3 1 3»
Vigo. Francis, French triider, 45,
Vincennes, 12-14, 18; surrenders
to Americans, 34; captured by
Hamilton, 40-42 ; re-taken bv
Clark, 45-63 « 67, 219; garrisoned,
65 ; ^ seat of government^ 83 ;
meridian of, 81, 93.
Vinpnia, 5, 6, 10, 70, yi, 342;
Clark in, X 8, 19, 66, 67 ; captures
Northwest, 33, 34, 44, 45 ; Ham-
ilton sent to, 62-64 '•> .cedes terri-
tory^, 80, 89 ; occupies forks^ of
Ohio, 288; manuscripts relating
to, 346.
117ABASHA, Sioux chief, 187,
Waddam's Grove (111.), 161.
Wakefield, John A., History of
Black Hawk IVar, 144, 155, 176,
180, 183, 191, 193.
Walker, Gov. William, Wyandot
chief, 344.
WzMzctt J. flliinois and LomisianOf
305, 308.
Wapello, Fox chief, 1 19.
Ward, Capt. James, Kentucky
W pioneer, 343.
arren, Hooper, early editor,
100.
— , Lyman Marcus, early Wiscon-
sin settler, 263-265, 267, 270.
— t Richard, 26J.
— , Truman Abraham, early Wis-
consin settler, 363, 264.
— ^1 William Whipple, 264, 265 ;
*• History of Ojitways," 233, 240^
25S* 259* >6i> 262.
" Warrior,*' Mississippi steamer,
186-188, 101, 107.
Wars, French and Fox,a4p; French
and Indian, 288 ; Pontiac's, 259 ;
Lord Dunmore's, 6, 7, 11, 71;
Revolutionary, 3, 5, 7, 14, 65,
66, 219, 336, 337, 354; with
Wars, French and Fox {coniintted).
Creeks, 343 ; of 1812-15, 119, 122,
131, 141, 221, 224, 26a, 314, 337,
34< ; Black Hawk, xi5-^oa
Washburn (Wis.)* 236, 273.
Washbume, £. B., 100, loi, 164,
307 ; Edwards Papers^ 325.
Wasnington, George, 11 ; in French
and Indian War, 279, 280, 285,
286, 288, 292, 293, 295 ; scores
Hamilton, 63 ; ends Genet's ex-
pedition, 70 ; proposes Western
States, 75, 76.
— , proposed State of, 77, 78.
— City, 69, 78, 120, 194.
— Springs (Pa.), 282, 293
Watertown (Wis.), 174.
Waubojeeg, Chippewa chief, 260.
Wayne, Anthony, 224, 350.
Weatherford, Creek chief. 338.
West Augusta (Va.), Clark recruits
in, 20.
Wetzels, Kentucky pioneers, 28,
343 f 345 1 350-
Wheeler^ Edward P., authority on
La Pomte, 233, 236.
— , Rev. Leonard Hemenway, Wis-
consin missionary, 268, 269.
Wheeling (W. Va.), 22, 28.
White, Hugh L., pioneer, 340.
— Cloud (Prophet), Winnebago
chief, 126-129, 132, 133, 139, 140,
143. 193 ; village of, 140, 144* i47.
188, 194.
— Crane, Chippewa chief, a6i.
— Crow (Kaukishkaka), Winne-
bago chief, 160, 163, 164, x68-
170, 172.
— Fisher. See Wauboje^.
Whiteman, Gen. Benjamin, Ohio
pioneer, 343.
White Oak Springs (Wis.), 142.
Whiteside, Gen. Samuel, m Black
Hawk War, 145-147. 156, 158.
Whitesides (^ounty (111.), 106.
Whitley, William, Kentucky pio-
neer, 350.
Whitdesey's Creek (Wis.), 236.
WUbum (111.), 142, 165.
Williams, Capt John, in Qark's
campaign, 01.
— , M. C, Old Mission Church
0/ Mackinac Island^ 328.
WiUiamsbuiv (Va.), 34, 63.
*' Willing," Clark's galley,46,47,5i.
Wilson, , fur-tnuler, 227.
Winchell, Newton H., Geological
Survey ^ Minsutotat 301.
373 Essays in Western History 1
Wmerille fWU.), .«.
WiMooihi (ro«(««rf.)
1
Winodbngo IJouuly (IlL), ia«.
10s, .<^-»u, i]6, 147; in Black
— Indiliil, hlbiUI, * 39, IJ7, I7J,
H.W1. W.r, ,36, .J, ,6««.;
Hiwk War, laS, 119, 139, 148,
Hulorial Smaely, I'li, ig't, ats|
;i;;;g,£uTs.S-i£
y;v'aS7A's.s;
Ha»k, ™, 194 i »g*lltl of, JIJ i
cUimtoGii.
"". 'iS, 136, 14*. 'i* 161, 163.
'64. '7J, 17s. 'Si. '84, 186, 193,
5arM™R.T
J07-J09, n6, 1)3. 134. >j6, 14,.
1^3, ijS. ifij, i63. 17], ICO, jcn.
Wiuur, Juuia, mlicuH Diaper,
303i JI4, ]'6. 3". 3J3: 3"6,3I7.
wlpiCi.^las-2;
3=9, J3<^ 353 '■ Procrtdrngi, 115,
— Hiighu. batile 0^ 179^181, ig4,
Wi0Q(Wil.l,.,a. ■«8.
loriid, )j^
dbd> of, S, 6;, M^l (lo, aa,.
M4. MS^So, "se, jw; under
Frmch™imB,n 107, 1],, mi
"tssi-i^i"' *■■'■■"
UBdor Broiih xgime, j, 39. «<.,
119! DrgBniMd u lemloij, m,
<Ut>a of, 91, 9j, ,8, ,«, ,CM,
Wracdot Indians. J'm Huiods.
YELLOW BANKS, .39, .55,
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