USA > Illinois > Lee County > Early Lee County, being some chapters in the history of the early days in Lee County, Illinois > Part 4
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Grand Detour on Rocky river * Rock river
among the Winnebagoes fifty miles from the mouth of Rock river." (20th Cong .; 2nd Sess .; Ho. Doc. 117.)
Mrs. Kinzie tells us, in Waubun, that after they left Dixon, on their journey from Fort Winnebago to Chi- cago, in 1831, their guide lost the way and led them along a trail that "brought us to the great bend of the river with its bold rocky bluff," and it is common knowledge that every Indian trail led to an Indian village.
It is incomprehensible that so many men would, of their own volition, choose Grand Detour as the site of their trading posts, unless there were Indians there with whom they could trade.
We know, from the great number of arrow heads, flints and other things evidencing the prior existence of an Indian village, that have been found north of Rock River, and a little west of the road leading to the bridge at Grand Detour, that there once was an Indian village across the river from the bold rocky bluff Mrs. Kenzie mentions.
JOSEPH OGEE AND HIS FERRY.
It is quite common knowledge in Dixon that its first permanent white inhabitant was Joseph Ogee. Very lit- tle is known of him, and that is so scattered it may be well to gather the fragments and present them so that they may be found easily.
Dr. Oliver Everett, who lived in Dixon for a period of more than fifty years, beginning in September, 1836, told the writer hereof that the name Ogee was pronounced as if spelled Ozhya, though Judge McCulloch, in his History of Peoria County, says the name is said to be Ozier and Ogee but a nickname. In Waubun, Mrs. Kinzie calls him "Ogie." That Ogee is the correct spelling will be shown later.
Ogee represented the American Fur Company at Pe- oria as early as 1818 (McCulloch, History of Peoria County), and at a later day he also had charge of its trad- ing station where Wesley City, Tazewell county, now stands.
Ethelbert Stewart, of the United States Department of Labor, in his "Few notes for an Industrial History of Illinois," says that the pay rolls of the American Fur Company show that the company paid its "trader" in Illinois three thousand dollars per year because of the fierce competition in that territory. This indicates that Ogee was a man of greater ability that the term "half- breed" would imply, and that the company considered him to be a valuable man. (Publications Illinois State Historical Society, no. 8, p. 119.) Stewart's statement is fully sustained by the books of the Fur Company.
He was living in Fulton county when that county and its attached territory included all the state that was east of the fourth principal meridian and north of the Illinois and Kankakee rivers, and the county commissioners of that county, June 4, 1823, ordered
41
EARLY LEE COUNTY
ยท "that Joseph Ogee have License to keep an Inn or Tavern in the house where he now resides at the Vil- lage of Peoria in Said County, by paying the Sum of Ten Dollars in State papers.
"By motion it was ordered the following be the list of Tavern Rates for said Tavern, towit:
Victuals, pr meal
$ .25
Horsekeeping, pr night
.373
Lodgeing pr. night
.123
Whiskey pr. half pint
123
Rum & Gin pr. half pint
.25
French Brandy Do.
.50
Wine pr. half pint
.373
and all other Liquors be in proportion."
He was summoned to serve on the grand jury at a term of the circuit court of Fulton county to be held in Octo- ber, 1823, but, for some reason now unknown, that term of court was not held.
Peoria county was created by an act approved Janu- ary 13, 1825, and given its present area (except a small fragment taken from Fulton in exchange, to cure a blunder in surveying), and there was attached to it all the state north of it and the Illinois and Kankakee rivers and some territory east of the Illinois. The first meeting of the county commissioners' court of the new county was held in March, 1825, in Ogee's house at Peoria which, Judge McCulloch says, was made of hewn logs and was the best in the town. The first term of the circuit court held in the county was held in this house in November, 1825, with John York Sawyer as judge and John Dixon as clerk. It was at this term of court that the Indian Nomaque was indicted, tried and convicted upon a charge of murder, and sentenced to death. Ogee acted as inter- preter at that trial and served as petit juror for that term, and he and one Jacob Frank were indicted then for an affray. At that trial Nomaque, it is said, was de- fended by William S. Hamilton, the life time friend of
.
42
OGEE'S ASSESSMENT
Mr. Dixon. A new trial was granted by the Supreme Court, and ultimately, Nomaque went without punish- ment.
A methodist church was organized in Peoria in 1824, and Mrs. Ogee became a member of it the following win- ter. Ogee was a patron of Peoria's first school upon its establishment in 1826, its sole support being subscrip- tions by its patrons. After its first week, the school was taught in his log cabin.
In July, 1826, Ogee was allowed and paid three dollars by the county commissioners' court for the use of his house by the circuit court and one dollar for its use by the county commissioners' court. That same month, when the county sold the land it had caused to be subdi- vided, he bought two lots in that subdivision, the town of Peoria, for $96.25.
An assessment of two hundred dollars was made against his personal property in 1825, but it was located in the "Illinois prairie," which was the local name given the attached territory east of the Illinois. The assessor was the same John L. Bogardus who built a shanty at Dixon in 1827, and whose partially built ferry boat was burned by the Indians that summer. (Kett, History of Ogle County.) It is quite probable that the property so assessed belonged to the Fur Company, as its property in Chicago was assessed in the name of its agent there.
In his History of Ogle County, p. 50, Boss quotes the following from a letter written by Judge Joseph Gillespie of Edwardsville :
"It was about the 5th day of March, 1827, that thirteen of us who had met together at different places and formed a traveling company for the lead mines, reached the banks of Rock River at the point where, according to my recollection, Dixon now stands. It was naked prairie on the south side, but there was excellent hickory timber on the opposite side of the river. A band of Winnebagoes were en-
.
43
EARLY LEE COUNTY
camped on the south side. It became necessary for a portion of our party to cross the river and prepare our encampment, and make fires in advance of the rest, and a Mr. Reed, my brother and myself were selected for that purpose. We had previously bar- gained with the Indians for the use of their canoes to ferry us and our wagon over, and had given a large amount of bacon and corn meal in payment. The Indians, without any reluctance, took Reed, my brother and myself across the river with our oxen, and as soon as we were separated from our compan- ions, they started down the river with their canoes. This operation was likely to be attended with much inconvenience, and some suffering and exposure to us who had crossed the river and were without pro- visions or bed-clothes. Our friends followed down after the Indians, who pretended that they under- stood the contract on their part to have been fulfilled. We knew that they were endeavoring to fleece us. It was found impossible to bring them to agree to our understanding of the bargain, and nothing was left for our side but to make the best terms we could. They would not agree on any condition we could pro- pose, to ferry our wagon over, pretending to believe it would sink their canoes. There was in our com- pany a negro, named Frank, from Kaskasia, who had joined us when the company consisted of but four persons-old Mr. Reed, his son, my brother and my- self; the rest of the company we picked up after- wards. We rather took care of Frank, and protected him when attempts were made to impose upon him, for which he was very grateful. Frank was in great distress when he found that three of his friends were separated from the company, and were without food or bed-clothes. He had a black overcoat, the body of which was about of the texture of an old sleazy blanket, but the capes were really of first rate ma- terial, and were fastened to the body with hooks and eyes. One of the Indians took a great liking to Frank's coat, and a bargain was struck on about these terms: Frank was to give the Indian his coat and they were to allow him to bring us over bed- clothing and food, and also to ferry the wagon over
44
WILLIAM THOMAS
the next morning, upon terms to be agreed on. Frank rolled up an auger in the blanket to enable us to build a raft in case it should become necessary, but the Indians were too sharp for that. They unrolled the blanket and contended that taking over an auger was not in the bargain, and so Frank came over with- out it. When they arrived a great controversy arose between him and the Indians. Frank contended that he was to give only his coat, and they contended that he was to give the cape also. We had by this time become so incensed at the Indians that we felt very little like obeying the scriptural requirement-'If any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.' So we decided in Frank's favor, and he kept his capes. The Indians were very indignant at Frank's strict construction, and we might have had trouble with them; but that night it turned intensely cold, and by the next morn- ing the Indians were as torpid as snakes in winter. They could not get out of their wigwams, and our men helped themselves to the canoes, and everything
was pushed across early in the day. Lest what I have stated might lead persons to believe that all the Indians were thus knavishly inclined, I would remark that in crossing the Winnebago swamps, some ten or fifteen miles south of Rock River, we had great difficulty, and would have had more but for some Winnebago Indians who were en- camped by the swamps, and who were exceedingly kind and generous to us, and rendered us every as- sistance in their power."
In his "Recollections of Early Illinois," delivered be- fore the Chicago Historical Society, March 16, 1880, Judge Gillespie, speaking of the trip just mentioned, says . they crossed Rock river at Dixon.
When Governor Edwards issued his call for volunteers for the Winnebago War in 1827, one of the first to offer his services was William Thomas of Jacksonville, for many years thereafter honored and revered by the people of Illinois. The command of which he was a member marched to Gratiot's Grove. Speaking of this, in an ar-
45
EARLY LEE COUNTY
ticle published first in the Jacksonville Journal of Au- gust 21, 1871, and later in the Publications of the Illinois State Historical Society, no. 12, p. 265, Thomas says :
"The heavy rains had extended to Rock river, and the prairies were so saturated with water that we could travel only in a walk, our horses onbreaking the sod at every step. Following a trail made by the Indians and persons going to the lead mines, on the fifth day from Peoria we reached Rock river at Dix- on's Ferry. During the march we had to drink the water standing in swamps, pools and holes in the prairie. Upon reaching Rock river, seeing that it was a beautiful clear stream with gentle current, we expected a good drink of water, but, to our sur- prise, we found that no better than the water of the swamps through which we had passed. Dozens were made sick by swallowing the water before testing it. We forded the river in the afternoon on a Sunday, those riding small horses swimming, and encamped on the bank until next day."
He does not give any information as to the day or month he crossed Rock river. As the call for volunteers was issued in the middle of July it is probable that he reached the river some time in August. Of course that place was not then known as Dixon's Ferry, as there was no ferry of any kind there then.
In his "Early Times at Dixon's Ferry," published in Kurtz's History of Dixon and Palmyra, John K. Rob- inson says :--
"The method of crossing the river with teams be- fore the establishment of a ferry was primitive and simple. On arriving at the place of crossing, the wagons were unloaded and the loads carried over in canoes by the Indians, the wagon was then driven with the side to the stream, two wheels lifted into a canoe then shoved a little out into the river, and another canoe received the other wheels, when the double boat was paddled or poled to the other side; the horses were taken by the bridle and made to swim by the side of the canoe, cattle swam loose; then com-
46
THE BOGARDUS FERRY
menced the lifting out of the wagons and reloading, and the journey was renewed, all hands happy that the task of crossing the river was completed. Once James P. Dixon, well acquainted with the hardships of crossing, arriving on the banks of the river with the mail wagon, called for the Indians for their as- sistance but received no answer; vexed at their delay and their arrogance when they did assist, he boldly unchecked his horses, so as to give them a chance to swim, and crossed the river with the mail and wagon in safety."
Speaking of the travel at this place, Kett's History of Ogle County, p. 266, says :
"In the winter time there was but very little travel, probably from the fact that there was but lit- tle or nothing doing in the mines, and may be be- cause of the exposure necessarily incident to the trip. In March, 1827, however, a heavy tide of travel set in from Fort Clark, and other parts of the state below there.
"Among the first to come up that season and cross Rock River at the Boles trail (now Dixon) was Elisha Doty, who subsequently settled at Polo. When he arrived at the river it was still covered with ice, over which he essayed to cross, but before he had pro- ceeded far the ice began to give way, and he was obliged to abandon the attempt. 'While waiting on the bank' (says Boss' Sketches of the History of Ogle County, published in 1859), 'just before starting on his return, about two hundred teams collected there, all on their way to Galena.'
"In 1827 Dixon had become a fixed place for trav- elers to cross the river, but crossing was often at- tended with a great deal of inconvenience, as up to this time, and until 1828, there was no ferry other than the kind of canoe ferry already described, and the Indians were not always present and in readiness with their canoes. When the water was low, the river could be forded without difficulty, but this was not always the case. The establishment of a ferry at that point was first undertaken by a man named J. L. Begordis (Bogardus), of Peoria, who sent a man up
47
EARLY LEE COUNTY
in the early summer of 1827 to build a shanty 8 by 10, on the bank, and to live there and 'hold the fort', or ferry, until Begordis (Bogardus) could find and for- ward the necessary workmen, carpenters, etc., to build the ferry boat. Soon after the shanty was completed, Mr. Doty (the father of Elisha Doty already men- tioned), a carpenter, came and work on the boat was commenced and vigorously prosecuted. When the boat was about half completed, the Indians set fire to it, and informed its builders that they should not build a boat there, and told them to 'go to Peoria.' Doty and his assistant did not stand upon the order of their going, but went at once, for the command was imperative, if not threatening. In the spring of 1828, Joe Ogee, a Frenchman and an Indian inter- preter, whose wife was a Pottawattomie woman, settled there, built a house and established a ferry."
"The (Ogee) ferry boat was propelled by the old fash- ioned 'setting pole,' " and landed at any convenient point. It was not until 1835 that the rope ferry was installed. That ferry was at Galena avenue. (Kurtz, History of Dixon and Palmyra.)
John K. Robinson, who taught the children of Father Dixon in the winter of 1833-'34, says that Ogee built his cabin and established his ferry where Dixon stands in the spring of 1828. Boss, in his history of Ogle County, published in 1859, and Frank Kurtz, who compiled the History of Dixon and Palymra that was published in 1880, say the ferry was established in 1828. Rufus Blanchard, in his Historical Map of Illinois, published in 1883, says it was established in 1825, but he is wrong.
It has been stated many times that John Dixon induced Ogee to establish the ferry, or that he took Ogee with him when he moved from Peoria, and some have said that Mr. Dixon really established the ferry and put Ogee in charge of it. All these statements are erroneous.
In the History of Dixon and Lee County compiled by Frank Kurtz, and published in 1880, it is said that "Jo-
48
JOHN DIXON AT BOYD'S GROVE
seph Ogee was induced to come here (Dixon) and estab- lish a ferry by Father Dixon, who at the time was Gov- ernment mail contractor between Galena and Peoria." Kurtz reprints the article on Mr. Dixon that appeared in the Dixon Telegraph, July, 1876, which says-"while Mr. Dixon was at Peoria, the Government established a mail route from Peoria to Galena, crossing Rock River at the present site of our city mail to be carried once in two weeks on horse back. Mr. Dixon threw in a bid for the contract which was accepted. * he in- duced Ogee *
* * to establish a ferry at the point of crossing the river."
The History of Lee County published by H. H. Hill & Co., in 1881, says "Mr. Dixon had induced Ogee to build the ferry to accommodate the United States mail which he was carrying from Peoria to Galena."
In Bardwell's History of Lee County it is said that in 1828 "John Dixon had, at this time, a contract for carry- ing the mail between Galena and Peoria, and induced Ogee to establish the ferry here (Dixon) on the mail route. "
In his "Black Hawk War," Stevens says "in 1828, when Father Dixon received the contract for carrying the mails from Peoria to Galena and Gratiot's Grove he took with him a half breed named Joseph Ogee, who es- tablished a permanent, though unlicensed ferry."
Mr. Dixon did not move to Rock river from Peoria. On the contrary, he moved from Peoria to what is known as Boyd's Grove, in the present town of Milo, Bureau County, in the spring of 1828.
John K. Robinson says, "Father Dixon's object for changing his home from Boyd's Grove, where he had a short time before taken up his abode, was to occupy a more central position for his mail contract."
In his Reminiscences of Bureau County, published in 1872, Nehemiah Matson says that when the Ament broth-
49
EARLY LEE COUNTY
ers passed Boyd's Grove in the spring of 1828, in their search for a desirable location, they found John Dixon building a cabin in which he and his family lived until 1830, when he sold it to his brother-in-law Charles S. Boyd.
In his History of Bureau County, 1885, Bradsby says, "In the year 1828 there were five families in Bureau County, coming here in the order named: Bulbona, John Dixon, Henry Thomas, Reason B. Hall and John and Justus Ament," and that, except Bulbona (the name really was Bourbonnais), a French Canadian Indian trader, Dixon's settlement "was the first real settlement in what is now Bureau County. Dixon lived at the grove until 1830, when he sold his improvement to Charles S. Boyd and removed to Dixon."
A reading of Bradsby's book convinces one that he re- lied, for his information on this point, upon statements made by Alexander S. Boyd, a son of Charles S. Boyd, and that makes it the best evidence now obtainable on the subject, and it proves that Mr. Dixon did not move to Rock river from Peoria.
Kett's History of Jo Daviess County contains a letter written December 7, 1827, by Dr. Horatio Newhall, who settled in Galena that year, saying, "We have no mail as yet, but shall have a mail once in two weeks to commence the 1st of January next."
Postmaster General John McLean, in April, 1828, transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representa- tives a statement of the contracts made the preceding year for carrying the mails in Illinois, and this shows that the contract for carrying the mail from "Peoria to . Galena" for a term beginning January 1, 1828, and end- ing December 31, 1829, was let to E. B. Clemson, the con- sideration being $580 each year. This statement shows that Clemson also had the contracts, for the same period, for carrying the mails between Kaskaskia and Vandalia;
50
GALENA AND ST. LOUIS STAGE LINE
Carlisle and Shawneetown; Salem and Cole's Grove; Springfield and Peoria; Springfield and Lewistown; Jacksonville and Rushville. (20th Cong. 1st Sess .; Ho. Doc. 258.)
In 1828 only three contracts were made for carrying the mail in Illinois,-Moore's Prairie to New Harmony ; Paris to Vandalia, and Danville to Fort Clark, the last being let to E. B. Clemson. Each contract was for a term of one year, beginning January first, 1829. (Letter of Post Master General John McLean; 20th Cong .; 2d Sess .; Ho. Doc. 135.)
In the Miners' Journal (Galena), beginning December 6, 1828, and running to April 11, 1829, appears this ad- vertisement :
"The U. S. Mail Stage from Galena to St. Louis will hereafter leave Galena every Monday and St. Louis every Friday. Fare, $8 from Galena to Peoria ; $3 from Peoria to Springfield; $4 from Springfield to St. Louis.
John Dixon, Proprietor of the line from Galena to Springfield."
The Miners' Journal of February 7, 1829, says that the mail contractor, whose name is not given in that ar- tiele, has informed the postmaster that he had seen it stated in some newspaper that a weekly route was estab- lished, and, presuming that he would shortly receive no- tice to that effect from the Postmaster General, made preparations accordingly, "and has been carrying a weekly mail, regularly, since the 15th of October. In December last he was informed by the Post Master here that the department could not pay for carrying a weekly mail 'under present circumstances, as the cost' would be $1,160," and the contractor replied that he would continue the weekly service, hoping he would be allowed adequate compensation for his services.
Another article in the same issue of the Journal speaks
51
EARLY LEE COUNTY
of "Mr. Dixon, the Mail Contractor, for carrying the same between this place and Peoria."
The Journal of March 21, 1829, says that "Mr. Dixon, the proprietor of the Mail Stage," which has run between Galena and Peoria advises the postmaster that "owing to the badness of the roads" the stage will not run again until further notice, but the mail will be carried weekly "by two riders, at an additional expense to that which is already exorbitant."
There is still in existence a statement signed January 23, 1830, by E. B. Clemson, of the account between him- self and John Dixon which shows that Dixon carried the mail from Peoria to Galena during the quarter year end- ing September 30, 1829, and for that service Clemson paid him $225.
In the Miners' Journal of August 15, 1829, Post Mas- ter General William Barry calls for bids, to be opened October 10th, for carrying the mail from Peoria, by way of Gratiot's Grove, to Galena weekly, leaving Peoria Thursday at 6 a. m., arriving at Galena Saturday by 8 p. m .; leaving Galena Monday 6 a. m., arriving at Peoria Wednesday by 7 p. m .; service to begin the first of Jan- uary and the contract to run for four years.
In a letter addressed to the House of Representatives, March, 1830, Post Master General Barry transmits a list of the contracts let the preceeding year for carrying mail in Illinois, saying that the letting of the contracts was advertised in June, 1829; the contracts were "decided upon" October 16, 1829, and the term of the contracts began January 1, 1830, and will end December 31, 1833. It shows the contract for carrying the mail between Peoria and Galena, once a week, was let to John D. Winters, the compensation being $800 per year. The name of John Dixon does not appear in this document. Charles Boyd had the contract to carry the mail between Vandalia and Peoria, once a week, at $550 per year. The
52
TRAVEL AT THE FERRY
contract to carry the mail between Springfield and Pe- oria, once a week, was let to William Dillard and R. L. Cobb, who had been paid $200, the contract price not being shown. (21st Cong .; 1st Sess .; Ho. of Rep .; Doc. 77.)
Inasmuch as the records of the Post Office department for that period were destroyed by fire in 1836, the au- thorities just cited appear to be the best evidence that can be obtained now.
The known facts do not justify the statement that Ogee was taken to Rock river by Mr. Dixon. It is far more probable that he went there upon his own initiative, be- cause he saw a chance to make money by so doing and the increasing flow of immigration and settlement fore- told the end of the fur business. Moreover, the records show that when Mr. Dixon reached the place, it was to become Ogee's tenant, not to establish or own a ferry.
In 1870 the Telegraph and Herald Company published a "History of Dixon and Lee County," (without giving the name of the author), and it is the first history of either Dixon or the county that was written or published. From it we quote :-
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