USA > Illinois > Lee County > Early Lee County, being some chapters in the history of the early days in Lee County, Illinois > Part 3
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26
MACK'S FERRY
He established a ferry across Rock river about 1838 and ran it for some time. It was operated until 1843 when he, and his associates, David Jewett and Merrill E. Mack, a cousin, under a charter granted by the state, built what was commonly called Mack's bridge, the first to span Rock river in Illinois. Mack furnished the greater part of the money for this venture. The bridge had a draw span that gave a clear channel thirty-six feet wide. It was entirely destroyed by a freshet June 1, 1851, and never rebuilt.
Carr says, "George Stevens' family came in '38. He was postmaster about 1840, following after Mack in the office." He does not state when Mack was appointed.
Mack conducted a store for several years, being as- sisted for some time by his cousin Merrill E. Mack, but this venture proved to be disastrous, as appears from his letter of August 26, 1847, to his sister, in which he says :
* ""You inquire about my circumstances. I will answer. I lost from $4000 to $5000 by our late Cousin Merrel E. Mack. I furnished him cash to carry on business, and when he died his estate proved insolvent and all I got was in old goods or other worthless trash. This has reduced my means so that I have given up trade and am now working one or two good farms which I own. I hold two or three small offices which occupies a portion of my time, but does not add much to my income. I owe no man a Dollar and never will. I pride myself in maintaining a character far above the possibility of reproach in pecuniary matters, and the result is I am burdened with every petty office of trust that has no compen- sating salary, in my neighborhood."
After the collapse of the State Internal Improvement scheme he took an active part in the effort to induce Con- gress to donate 150,000 acres for the improvement of the navigation of Rock river from its mouth to the terminus of the proposed Milwaukee and Rock River canal, and,
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EARLY LEE COUNTY
acting upon a resolution adopted at a meeting held in Rockford in January, 1840, joined with several hundred others in a memorial to Congress for that purpose. Noth- ing came of the effort except the printing of the memo- rial by order of the Senate in May, 1840. Many of the signers of this memorial were active in public affairs in the valley in later years, among them being John Deere, W. A. House, Solon Cumins, Charles Throop, Chester Badger, Abram Brown, Joseph Crawford, T. D. Board- man, I. S. Boardman, A. L. Porter, M. Fellows, O. F. Ayers, E. Southwick, N. G. H. Morrill, R. B. Loveland, D. B. MeKenny and Carlton Bailey.
He was appointed and served as a delegate from Win- nebago county to the convention held at Rockford Jan- uary 7, 1846, for the purpose of taking measures to secure the construction of a railroad from Galena to Chicago. (Stennett, History of the Chicago & Northwestern Ry. Co.)
He took an active interest in the public affairs of his community, serving as school treasurer and postmaster. In March, 1847, he was appointed one of the "special commissioners" who were, by the statute incorporating the Rockford Hydraulic and Manufacturing Company, charged with the duty of determining "the size and loca- tion of the lock or locks" that company might be required to construct in its dam at Rockford. He was a justice of the peace; elected in the district in which he lived.
Carr's History of Rockton says "Mack was elected associate justice of the peace in 1849, and held the office as long as he lived." The History of Winnebago County published by Kett, in 1877, says Mack was an associate justice in 1849-1850. That office would have made Mack a member of the County Court, but his name does not appear on the records of that court as a member. It does not appear, as that of a member of the court, on the rec- ords of the County Commissioner's Court which went out of existence in that county in November, 1849.
28
HO-NO-NE-GAH
At the first election in Winnebago county after the adoption of the township organization, April 2, 1850, he was a candidate for supervisor, but was defeated by Sylvester Talcott by a vote of 58 to 45.
The statement in the family history that he married in February, 1829, undoubtedly refers to his marriage to Ho-no-ne-gah. He remarried her, Carr says, September 14, 1840, according to the rites and customs of the white man. She died in July, 1847. Her white neighbors con- sidered her a faithful and devoted wife, a woman of more than ordinary ability and one who cheerfully aided all whenever opportunity offered. Carr says she was "largely absorbed in the care of her home and children, save when sickness of the early settlers called for her kind and skillful care and attention. Then with her supply of nature's remedies which the Great Spirit had so kindly spread out all around her, she would seek out the afflicted and bring sunshine and relief to many a suffering one who fell a prey to the ills of a new country. The high tribute of respect to Mack's Indian wife was genuine and sincere, and although of a dusky hue, she possessed a noble soul and did all she could to make those around her comfortable and happy.
Not only in sickness were her many virtues shown in a marked degree, but the poor and destitute around her incident to the struggles of many an early settler, shared of her provisions in a generous manner. She delighted in doing good. Only once was she known to assume the garb of her pale-face sisters, and then it was by great solicitation ; but she felt so ill at ease, and afraid to make herself conspicuous, she soon laid it aside and forever after was content with the costume of her tribe. Mrs. Jesse Blinn who was a near neighbor says of her: "She was very skillful in ornamenting her clothing. She made herself for extra occasions an Indian dress of fine blue broadeloth, with a border five inches deep all around it, worked with various colored ribbons; her taste in blend-
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EARLY LEE COUNTY
ing colors to have a pleasing effect was very fine, and her needle work almost perfect. Many articles about her home bore witness of her skillful handiwork. Being a Pottawatomie, she like her tribe, felt above the Winne- bago as in skill, and showed much ability in fashioning many articles of merchandise."
John Blackhawk, an intelligent and well-educated Win- nebago says that Ho-no-ne-gah is a Winnebago word meaning "dear little one," and is the name given the first girl born in a Winnebago family.
In a letter to his sister, after the death of Ho-no-ne-gah, Mack said :
"You say you perceive by the notice in the paper that my wife died a Christian. Lovicy, if I know what a Christian is, she was one. She not only died a Christian, but she lived one. Not by profession, but by her every act. Her every deed proclaimed her a follower of Christ. In her the hungry and naked have lost a benefactor, the sick a nurse, and I have lost a friend who taught me to reverence God by doing good to his creatures."
Mack had no children by his second wife, but Ho-no-ne- gah bore him eleven, two of whom died in infancy. The others were:
Rose (so named in his will, though sometimes called Rosa), born November 14, 1830. In conse- quence of illness she was a mute; attended school at the Illinois Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb at Jack- sonville; married and became a teacher there.
Mary, born July 15, 1832, was married twice-first to Charles Stocker, and then to Terrill.
William H., born July 17, 1834. Married his sister- in-law, Julia Stocker. Was a soldier in the Union army during the Rebellion.
Louisa, born May 6, 1836. Married L. L. Curtiss. Thomas H., born February 8, 1838. Soldier in the Union army during the Rebellion.
Henry C., born December 1, 1839; died January 1, 1849.
30
DEATH
Edward, born December 3, 1841. Soldier in the Union army in the Rebellion, dying from injuries received in that service.
Matilda, born November 26, 1843. Married Ed. Drake.
Caroline, born October 16, 1845. Married Arthur F. Newberry. Now (1918) living in Pontiac, Michi- gan. She is the only one of his children living now.
On February 24, 1848, Mack married Mrs. Isabelle Dan- iels, of Harrison, Illinois. He died, very suddenly, April 10, 1850. Soon after his estate was settled all his chil- dren, except Caroline, who went to live with her father's brother Almon, left for Minnesota or Wisconsin, to join the friends of their mother. At the time of his death he owned about one thousand acres of land around Mack- town.
He was a good man, a good citizen and a great force for good in the development of the new country.
Kett's History of Winnebago County says he was tall, erect as an Indian, dignified and manly in his bearing.
These facts conclusively show that Mack regarded his place at Bird's Grove merely as a winter trading sta- tion, and that he did not consider it his home until after August, 1833. This being the case, it is evident that he was not the first permanent white settler in the Rock river valley, for in April, 1830, John Dixon settled at Ogee's Ferry, where the city of Dixon grew up around him, and remained there until his death in July, 1876.
THE FUR TRADE AT GRAND DETOUR.
It is a singular fact that of all those writing upon the history of Lee or Ogle counties not one has mentioned the fur trade that was carried on at Grand Detour for many years.
There is an abundance of convincing evidence that the Roek river country was a rich field for the fur buyers and that Grand Detour was considered to be a very good location for one engaged in that trade.
The Indian was improvident, giving little thought to the future, and making but scant provision for it. When the early frosts reminded him of the coming of the winter with its hardships he appealed to the white men for food, blankets, powder, bullets and shot. These were given him cheerfully and in abundance by the licensed trader whose security was the Indian's promise to pay by de- livering furs.
There are still living persons who have heard John Dixon say that the only money he lost by trusting an Indian was due from one who was killed on a hunting trip. Governor Lewis Cass of Michigan and Gen. William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, St. Louis, and no others had a better knowledge of the Indians than they possessed, said that the Indian was honest and did pay as he promised, unless he was beguiled by some rival trader who offered more. (20th Cong .; 2nd Sess .; Sen. Doc. 67.)
The red man was governed by his own law, and that was-if, by the fortunes of the hunt, he was unable to pay from the proceeds of the season following the day he was given credit, he was under no obligation to pay at any time,-the debt was satisfied. But the trader was persistent and the next time his debtor's tribe entered into a treaty with the United States for the sale of land, the trader was present, and all accounts of that char-
32
TRADING POSTS
acter were provided for in that treaty and paid by the United States. There is good reason for the belief that some of the treaties by which the Indian parted with his land were instigated by the traders who had bills to collect.
Under the Treaty of November 1, 1837, with the Winne- bagoes, commissioners were appointed to adjust the claims against that tribe, and they reported that the "Win- nebagoes were known to be generally honest," and that it was the general belief of the Winnebagoes that if they were unable to pay their debts in two years, some said in one year, then, the debt became one of the nation or tribe and the individual was absolved from all obliga- tion to pay it, but it should be paid out of moneys pro- vided for that purpose by the United States. (25th Cong .; 3d Sess .; Ho. Doc. 229.)
In 1796 Congress enacted a law authorizing the presi- dent to establish trading houses at such posts and places as he should judge most convenient for trade with the Indians, and empowered him to appoint an agent for each house, whose duty it should be to dispose of, in trade with the Indians, such goods as the president should direct him to receive. In 1806 the president was author- ized to appoint a superintendent of Indian trade who should purchase the goods required and transmit them to the place designated as trading houses (commonly called factories) and also to appoint an agent for each trading house and he was known as the factor. By the Act passed in 1822 the factory system was abolished, and the presi- dent was required to close up the trading houses and was authorized to appoint a Superintendent of Indian Affairs to reside at St. Louis, and this superintendent and the Indian Agents were given authority to issue licenses to trade with the Indians at places designated in the license. Another act of that year required the Super- intendents of Indian Affairs, who were the governors of
.
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EARLY LEE COUNTY
the territories, and the Superintendent at St. Louis, and all Indian Agents, to report to the Secretary of War, each year, "an abstract of all licenses granted, showing by and to whom, when and where granted, with the amount of the bonds and capital employed, to be laid before Congress, at the next session thereof." Prior to the enactment of this statute there was no regulation requiring any report of the licenses issued.
The law made it the duty of the Indian Agents "from time to time to designate certain convenient and suitable places for carrying on trade with the different tribes, and to require traders to transact their business at the places thus designated, and at no other place or places." Those charged with the administration of the law often complained that the Indian Agents were compelled to issue a license to every applicant, and the consequence was that there were many irresponsible and dishonest traders, as any man who was able to give the required security could obtain a license to trade for one year with the Indians at any place so designated that he chose to name in his application. He was required to give a bond, the penalty ranging upwards from one thousand dollars, conditioned that he would obey all the laws and rules regulating the trade. He was allowed to trade at the place chosen by himself and named in the license, and was prohibited from trading at any other place under that license, but was allowed to go to other places solely for the purpose of collecting what was due him when he obtained special permission to do so.
He could have as many licenses as he chose, there being instances in which the records show as many as five li- censes issued to one man in the same year, and William Burnett, who owned a house in Chicago as early as 1798 and was in the Indian trade many years, writing to Governor Harrison of Indiana Territory, September 10. 1803, says that in regulating the Indian trade Harrison
34
TRADING LICENSES
decided that one trader was sufficient for a place produc- ing less than fifty packs of furs in a year-each pack weighing from ninety to one hundred pounds- and that "no man should have more than four licenses," but Har- rison disregarded his own regulation and issued twenty licenses to John Kinzie in 1802. (Hurlbut, Chicago An- tiquities.)
Experience taught the trader that he needed the serv- ices of three to six men at his post, and he was allowed to have them if their names were endorsed on the license. He was required, before obtaining a license, to lay before the Indian agent an invoice showing the quantity and value of the goods he had for sale, and the capital he had invested in that venture.
The Indian agent had no authority to issue a license to trade at any place or with any tribe beyond his district, but this law was not always respected by the agents.
For convenience of administration the country was divided, arbitrarily, into districts. Generally, the gov- ernors of a territory had charge of the trade in that ter- ritory, but there were exceptions. The governor of Michi- gan had jurisdiction over Michigan and part of Wis- consin and that part of Illinois north of the Illinois river and east of Rock river. General William Clark, who was stationed at St. Louis, had jurisdiction over the part of Illinois and Wisconsin west of Rock river.
The territory within the jurisdiction of the Indian ยท Agency at Chicago extended as far north as Grand river on the east side of Lake Michigan, as far south of the lake as the Kankakee river and on the west side of the lake as far north as the "Milwaukee, including the Indians on that river, and to the lower bands of the Pattawata- mies on Rock river." The Ottawas, Chippewas and Pot- awatomies, always closely related, had a joint interest in a claim recognized by the United States as a just and valid one to northern Illinois, and "a part of the mineral
35
EARLY LEE COUNTY
region on the Mississippi, ** and a considerable band of them, * * resided in Illinois, and another band up the Rock River." (20th Cong .; 2d Sess .; Ho. Doc. 117.)
The sub-agency at Fort Winnebago had control of the Indians-Winnebagoes and Menominees-who frequent- ed that place and those who resided in that vicinity. The agency at Prairie du Chien had control of the upper Rock River country, but was not to interfere with trade at Fort Winnebago. The sub-agency at Peoria included the "Ottawas, Chippewas and Pattawatimas of the Illinois living on Fox River and west of it." The agency at Fort Armstrong controlled the Sauks and Foxes.
In a letter to the Secretary of War, October 17, 1821, Lewis Cass, Governor of Michigan Territory and Super- intendent of Indian Affairs in that territory, speaking of the conditions in Michigan during and the two years fol- lowing the War of 1812, says "During a part of that time we had no agent at Michilimacknac, Green Bay, Prairie du Chien, St. Peters, Rocky River, Chicago, Fort Wayne and Upper Sandusky." (Am. State Papers; In- dian Affairs, vol. 2, p. 314.) Is it justifiable to infer that there was an agent or trader at "Rocky River" during that war or before it began?
That there was a trading post on Rock River in the winter of 1802-1803, is shown by the Personal Narrative of Capt. Thomas G. Anderson, who says he spent that winter "with the Winnebagoes on Rock River. They were the most filthy, most obstinate and the bravest people of any Indian tribe I have met with. Here I had a half-breed in opposition in the trade. Our houses were about half a mile apart, and between us was a very high hill, over which we had to pass by a little path through the bushes." (Wis. His. Coll. vol. 9, pp. 137, 152.) He does not state at what point on the river this post was located, but as he says the hill was at least three hundred feet above the
36
JOHN CRAFTS
water in the river we know he was not near Grand Detour, unless he is in error as to the height of Castle Rock.
John Kinzie became a resident of Chicago in 1804. In Waubun, Mrs. John H. Kinzie, says that he "later" es- tablished trading posts "at Rock river with the Winne- bagoes and the Pottawatamies," but that leaves date and place unknown. There is an abundance of evidence that John Kinzie had been engaged in the Indian trade in Michigan for several years before locating at Chicago, but he was then known as Mckenzie as well as Kinzie.
Gurdon S. Hubbard, who entered the service of the American Fur Company in 1818, says that company had three or four trading posts on Rock River from 1813 to 1833 (Baldwin, History of La Salle County), but he does not name or describe the exact locations.
Speaking of John Crafts, who was the Chicago repre- sentative of Mack & Conant of Detroit, Hubbard said he "had, up to 1819, full control of this section, without opposition from the American Fur Company, sending outfits to Rock river and other points within a range say of a hundred miles of Chicago." (Hurlbut, Chicago Antiquities.)
In his introduction to "Altowan, or Incidents of Life and Adventure in the Rocky Mountains," James Watson Webb gives a thrilling account of the night he passed in La Sallier's cabin, on Franklin Creek, about thirty-five rods from Rock River, in February, 1822, and it shows there was a trader there then who lived in a cabin so old that in 1835 it was nothing but a mass of rotten logs. It is self-evident there was no reason for the existence of a house there in that period, unless it was for the com- fort and convenience of one engaged in the fur trade.
Writing from Michilimackinac on August 26, 1824, to Alexander Wolcott, Indian Agent at Chicago, Robert Stuart, the manager of the American Fur Company, says : "I have just received a letter from Mr. Crafts wherein
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EARLY LEE COUNTY
he states that you had designated Chicago, St. Joseph, Milwalka and Rock River as the places you consider most proper to be established for Indian trade within your district, and that you will grant him no licenses for any other posts." (Am. Fur Co. Letter Book, in Chi. His. Soc. Library. Crafts was then that company's repre- sentative in Chicago.)
The Report of the Secretary of War, December, 1823, has an abstract of all licenses to trade with the Indians that were issued in 1821, 1822, and up to the first of Sep- tember, 1823, and it shows that on October 13, 1821, Alex- ander Wolcott, Jr., Indian Agent at Chicago, gave a li- cense to Maurice Lauzon to trade one year on "Rock river," with nothing to show the particular place on that river, and it does not state the amount of capital Lauzon employed in that venture. The report does not show that any license to trade on Rock river was issued in 1822 or that part of 1823 covered by the report. (18th Cong .; 1st Sess .; Ho. Doc. 7.)
The Report made by the Secretary of War in January, 1825, shows that on October 20, 1823, Wolcott gave a license to Stephen Mack, Jr., to trade on "Rock river," with a capital of two thousand dollars. (18th Cong .; 2d Sess .; Ho. Doc. 54.) While this does not show the par- ticular place Mack was authorized to trade, it would seem but fair to say he was at Grand Detour, because he was there other years and his family bible says he bought the cabin in which La Sallier had lived in 1822.
In his testimony before the commissioners appointed, under the treaty of November, 1837, to adjust the claims against the Winnebagoes, Jolm H. Kinzie said that the fur trade along Rock River, in 1823-4, was good, there being many muskrats there at that time and the price being good.
Wolcott, on September 6, 1824, issued a license to Stephen Mack, Jr., to trade one year on Rock river, with
38
TRADERS AT GRAND DETOUR
a capital of one thousand dollars; and on October 23, 1824, he issued a license to Cole Weeks to trade one year on "Rocky river," with a capital of fifteen hundred dol- lars. (19th Cong .; 1st Sess .; Ho. Doc. 118.)
Lewis Cass, Governor of Michigan and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, on August 17, 1825, issued a license to Bernard Laughton to trade one year at "Grand Detour, on Rocky River," with a capital of five hundred dollars; and Wolcott, September 27, 1825, issued a license to Laughton to trade one year on "Rocky River," with a capital of twenty-five hundred dollars. (19th Cong .; 2d Sess .; Ho. Doc. 86.)
By this time it had become quite generally known that Grand Detour was a very good place for the fur trader, and the Report made by the Secretary of War in Febru- ary, 1828, shows that on September 1, 1826, Governor Cass issued a license to Morice Lozon to trade one year at "Grand Detour, on Rocky River" with a capital of five hundred dollars; that on October 13, 1826, Henry B. Brevoort, Indian Agent at Green Bay, issued a license to Bernard Grignon to trade one year at "Grand Detour on Rock river" with a capital of seven hundred fifty dol- lars and sixty-three cents; and on the next day he issued a license to Perish Grignon and S. Chapua to trade one year at "Grand Detour on Rock river and Cheboiegon of Lake Michigan," with a capital of twelve hundred thirty dollars and thirty-one cents; that on October 5, 1826, Wolcott issued to Stephen Mack a license to trade one year on "Rocky River," with a capital of twenty-five hundred dollars; and on the next day he issued a license to Archibald Clybourn to trade one year on "Rocky River," with a capital of twenty-five hundred dollars; and on October 17, 1826, he issued a license to George Hunt to trade one year on "Rocky River," with a capital of thirty-five hundred dollars; that on November 2, 1826, Brevoort issued a license to H. B. McGulpin to trade one year at "Fon du Lac and Grand Detour," with a cap-
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EARLY LEE COUNTY
ital of seven hundred ninety-two dollars and fourteen cents. (20th Cong .; 1st Sess .; Ho. Doc. 140.)
The Secretary of War reported, in February, 1829, an abstract of the licenses to trade with the Indians that had been issued since September 1, 1827, but it does not show that any license to trade at Grand Detour or on Rock river above Prophetstown had been issued since that day. Nor is any mention of the issue of a license to trade there made in his subsequent reports, so it is fair to con- clude none were issued since November, 1826, although he did report, February, 1829, that "the following are the trading posts now established Chicago Fever river * * Forks of the river Iroquois
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