USA > Illinois > Jo Daviess County > The History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion history of the Northwest, history of Illinois Constitution of the United States > Part 21
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In 1816, the late Col. George Davenport, agent of the American Fur Company, trading with Sacs and Foxes, occupied the trading post at the Portage, on Fever River, and lived there, how. long is not now known. He soon after left that point and went to Rock Island. The post was after- wards occupied, in 1821, by Amos Farrar, of the firm of Davenport, Farrar & Farnham, agents of the American Fur Company. This important fact in the early history of this region is given on the authority of Wm. H. Snyder, Esq., of Galena, who received it from the lips of Davenport himself, in 1835.
In 1819, when the "Buck lead" was being worked by the Indians, as above stated, Mr. Jesse W. Shull was trading at Dubuque's mines (now Dubuque) for a company at Prairie du Chien. That company desired him to go to Fever River and trade with the Indians, but he declared that it was unsafe-that the Sacs and Foxes had already murdered several traders- and declined to go unless he could have the protection of the United States troops. Col. Jolinson, of the United States Ariny, was induced to summon a council of Sac and Fox nations at Prairie du Chien, and when the chief's had assembled he informed them that the goods that Mr. Shull was about to bring among them were sent out by their Father, the President of the United States (it was not considered a sin to lie to the Indians even then), and told them that they must not molest Mr. Shull in his business. Having received from the government officers, and from the Indians assurances of protection, Mr. Shull came to Fever River late in the Summer of that year (1819), and erected a trading house on the bottom near the river, near the foot of Perry Street, probably. Mr. Seymour, in his history of Galena, published in 1848, fixes the location as "just below where the American House now stands," but as the " American House " has long since disap- peared, this location is not now very definite. During that year (1848), Mr. Seymour had a personal interview with Mr. Shull, then residing in Green
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County, Wisconsin, and gathered from his own lips the facts as stated above. At that interview Mr. Shull stated that himself and Dr. Samuel C. Muir were the first white settlers on Fever River, at this point, in 1819, that " during that year Dr. Muir commenced trading here with goods fur- nished by the late Col. Davenport, of Rock Island," a statement to which reference will be made in its proper place hereafter. Mr. Shull also stated that later in the same year Francois Bouthillier came and occupied a shanty at the bend, on the east side of Fever River, below the present limits of the City of Galena. It is to be regretted that Mr. Shull had not been more explicit, as it would be very interesting now to know whether Mr. Bouthillier built that shanty there, or whether it had been built by him or some other roving trader before that time, and whether it was occupied temporarily or permanently by him in 1819. Mr. Bouthillier was a French trader known at Prairie du Chien as early as 1812, when, it is said, he acted as interpreter and guide for the British troops. He undoubtedly knew of the Fever River trading point, and may have frequently visited it and " occupied a shanty," as probably others had, prior to 1819. Mr. Shull himself does not appear to have been a very permanent fixture at this point then, for during " the Fall lie moved his goods to the mouth of Apple River, of the Maquoketa, and other places to suit the convenience of the Indians, as they returned from their Fall hunts." Mr. Shull does not appear as a trader after this year, although he may have been engaged in the Indian trade somewhat later, but he soon became interested in inining, and remained in the mining district, finally locating in Michigan Territory, now Wisconsin.
At that time all this region was a wilderness, occupied only by a few fur traders and roving tribes of Indians. The nearest settlements at the north were at Dubuque's mines and Prairie Du Chien, the latter an old town of great distinction and extensive trade, relatively of as much import- ance in the Mississippi Valley at that period as St. Paul and St. Louis are now. On the east the nearest village was Chicago, consisting of a few rude cabins inhabited by half-breeds. At Fort Clark (now Peoria), on the south, were a few pioneers, and thence a long interval to the white settlements near Vandalia.
Dr. Samuel C. Muir, mentioned by Mr. Shull as trading here in 1819, may have been here at that time, but whether before, after, or with Mr. S. does not appear. It is very probable that he was here, may have been here before 1819, but if he engaged in trade it was very temporary. It may be that he came here on a tour of observation, and took a few goods with him, like the provident Scotchman he was, "to pay expenses." But Dr. Muir was a physician. He had received his education at Edinburgh, and felt a just pride in his profession, a man of strict integrity and irreproachable character. He was a surgeon in the United States army previous to his settlement at La Pointe. When stationed with his regiment at some post in the northern country he married an Indian woman of the Fox nation. Of the marriage the following romantic account is given.
The post where he was stationed was visited by a beautiful Indian maiden, whose native name unfortunately has not been preserved, who, in her dreams, had seen a white brave unmoor her canoe, paddle it across the river, and come directly to her lodge. She knew, according the supersti- tions belief of her race, that in her dream she had seen her future husband, and came to the Fort to find him. Meeting Dr. Muir, she instantly recog-
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nized him as the hero of her dream, which she, with childlike innocence and simplicity, related to hiim. Her dream was indeed prophetic. Charmed with Sophia's beauty, innocence and devotion, the doctor honorably mar- ried her ; but, after awhile, the sneers of his brother officers, less honorable, perhaps, than he, made him ashamed of his dark- skinned wife, and when his regiment was ordered down the river to Bellefontaine, it is said he embraced the opportunity to rid himself of her, and left her. thinking that she could never find him again, or, if she could, that she would not have the courage and power to follow him. But, with her infant child the intrepid wife and mother started alone in her canoe, and, after days of weary labor, at last reached him, but much worn and emaciated, after a lonely journey of nine hundred miles. She said, "When I got there, I was all perished away-so thin." The doctor, touched by such unexampled devotion, took her to his bosom, and, until his death, treated her with marked respect. She always presided at his table, and was respected by all who knew her, but never abandoned her native dress. In 1819-'20, Dr. Muir was stationed at Fort Edwards, now Warsaw, but threw up his commission, and in the Spring of 1820 built the first cabin erected by a white man on the present site of the City of Keokuk, Iowa, but leased his claim to parties from St. Louis, and, later in the same year, came to LaPointe to practice his profession, and was the first physician known to have located in Northern Illinois. He remained in practice here about ten years, and lived, it is said, on the east side of Bench Street, near the corner of Hill. He had four children, viz .: Louise (married at Keokuk, since dead), James (drowned at Keokuk), Mary, and Sophia. Dr. Muir died suddenly, soon after he returned to Keokuk, left his property in such condition that it was wasted in vexatious litigation, and his brave and faithful wife, left penniless and friendless, became discouraged, and, with her children, disappeared, and, it is said, returned to her people on the Upper Missouri.
Francois Bouthillier, the other and later occupant of that shanty in 1819, was a roving trader, following the Indians. Whether he remained here permanently from that time is very uncertain, but nothing further is known of him until Mr. J. G. Soulard, then on his way to Fort Snelling, found him here in 1821, still an Indian trader. " Mr. Bouthillier," says Mr. Shull, " after he occupied a 'shanty at the Bend,' in 1819, purchased a cabin then known as the cabin of Bagwell & Co., supposed to be situated near the lower ferry.". But he says, "in 1824, and previous to Bouthillier's pur- chase, the house and lot had been sold for $80." Here Mr. Bouthillier engaged in trade, and established a ferry, which is the first permanent set- tlement made by him of which there is authentic account. Captain Harris says he remembers distinctly when Bouthillier built his trading house at or near that point.
In this connection, it is well to add that Mr. George Ferguson and Mr. Allan Tomlin, both early settlers and higlily esteemed and reliable citizens of Galena, express the opinion that there was a trading post at the Portage, three and one-half iniles below LaPointe, between Fever River and the Mississippi, even prior to the advent of either of those whose names have been mentioned. However this may be, it must be admitted that there were a lar e number of Indians encamped or living here at that time, whose women and old men were engaged in raising lead from the " Buck lead," and the fame of their rude and. for them, extensive mining operations in ust have naturally attracted the attention of traders, who came here to traffic with
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them. Probably others than Shull, Mnir and Bouthillier were in this vicinity with their goods, and the surrounding circumstances would seem to corroborate and justify the opinion expressed by Messrs. Ferguson and Tomlin. The Portage was a narrow neck of land between the Fever River and the Mississippi, so named because the Indians and traders were accus- tomed to transport their canoes and goods across to save the journey down to the mouth of the Fever River, about two and one half miles, and up to the same point again, the distance across the neck being only a few rods. A furrow was plowed across this neck of land at its narrowest point, by Lieut. Hobart, in 1834, and now there is a deep channel, called the " cut- off." This location was very convenient for a trading post.
If the lead mines attracted traders. they attracted miners as well. Among the first, if not the first, to work the mines, of whom any definite account has been preserved, was James Johnson, of Kentucky, said to be a brother of Colonel R. M. Johnson, of historic renown as the slayer of Tecumseh. It has already been shown that " the Johnsons" of Kentucky were engaged in lead mining here in 1822. The date of Johnson's first arrival here must forever remain in obscurity, unless some records not now accessible, shall be found to show it. In a letter written by Dr. H. New- hall, dated Fever River, March 1, 1828, he speaks of the "Buck lead " as having been "worked out by Colonel Johnson while he was at these mines in 1820-'21." Mr. J. G. Soulard, who passed LaPointe in 1821, on his way to Fort Snelling, and stopped here a day or two, says that, on his way up, they met Johnson's boats going down, and that, while here, he understood that he was mining here, but did not see him. From the best information now at hand, it would seem that Mr. Johnson first visited this region as a trader, as early, perhaps, as 1819, possibly before, and that, in 1820-'1, he was mining here without authority from the government, under purchased permission of the Indians. It does not appear that the govern- ment exercised any especial jurisdiction here at that time, as the lead mining district was under the control of the general land office until 1821. It may be, also, that he was not mining, but simply smelting the mineral purchased from the Indians.
Some time during the Summer of 1820, Mr. A. P. Vaumeter -or Vanmatre, as the name is spelled in early records-is said to have located here, probably on the east side of the river, opposite the present woolen mill above Baker's Branch, as he was afterwards there, engaged in smelting.
It is more than probable that others came with him, or during the same year, but their names do not appear of record. Mr. D. G. Bates was associated with Vanmatre shortly afterwards in the smelting business, but whether he arrived here contemporaneously with Mr. Vanmatre is not known.
In August or September, 1821, Amos Farrar was managing a trading - post on Fever River as agent for the American Fur Company, and was living here with his Fox wife. This fact is established beyond question by a letter addressed to him at the "Lead Mines, Fever River," from Major S. Burbank, commander at Fort Armstrong, dated October 14, 1821, " by favor of Mr. Music," presenting Mr. Farrar with " my old black horse, if he will be of any service to you."" A letter dated Fort Armstrong, Novem- ber 21. 1821, signed J. R. Stubbs, a blacksmith, addressed to Amos Farrar, Fever River, introducing to the latter the bearer of the letter, " Mr. Symmes, who was accompanied by Mr. Connor and Mr. Bates " - undoubtedly B.
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Syrmes and James Connor, and, perhaps, David G. Bates, who have always been considered among the earliest settlers in the mining region. These and other letters and papers belonging to Mr. Farrar were kindly placed at the disposal of the historians by Captain G. W. Girdon, of Galena, one of the oldest steamboat captains now in service on the Mississippi, and enabled them to fix the date of his permanent settlement on Fever River more accurately thian can be done with some others. From these letters it appears that Mr. Farrar was, for at least two years before, and up to July 22, 1821, in the service of Lonis Devotion as a trader on the Mississippi, located at Fort Armstrong, bringing his supplies via Green. Bay from Canada. At that date he left the service of Mr. Devotion. and, iminedi- ately after, came to Fever River, as before stated. and probably located at the Portage. In 1823, lie liad a trading house on the bank of the river, near the centre of what is now Water Street, between Perry and Franklin Streets. On the 1st of June, 1825, Mr. Farrar received a permit, signed Charles Smith, acting sub-agent U. S. lead mines, permitting him to occupy five acres of United States land for cultivation, and to build a cabin thereon, situated near the Portage. He must comply with all reg- ulations concerning cutting timber. Mr. Farrar had three children by his Indian wife (now all dead). About two years before his death he married Miss Sophia Gear, sister of Captain H. H. Gear, who still survives him. He died of consumption, at his residence within the stockade, July 24, 1832, beloved and respected by all who knew him. The following copy of a printed notice to the inhabitants will show the esteem in which he was held:
Yourself and family are respectfully invited to attend the funeral of Mr. Amos Farrar this morning at ten o'clock, from his late residence within the stockade.
GALENA, July 26, 1832.
That house is still standing on the southeast side of Perry Street, near the corner of Bench.
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In Stubbs' letter to Farrar, it will be remembered, the name of Mr. Bates was mentioned. Whether this was David G. Bates, or Nehemiah, can not now be determined, but David G. Bates was here very early - Mr. Ferguson thinks as early as 1819-on a trading voyage, but, like many other events of that period, there are no records left to fix the time of his first arrival .* Unquestionably, however, he was among the earliest perma- nent settlers, and was here, probably, in 1820.
Thomas H. January is another of the early pioneers, whose first arrival at the little Fever River settlement is enveloped in uncertainty. He is said to have come from Pittsburg, Pa., with a keel - boat, on a trading voyage, , and is thought to have visited this locality as early as 1821, if not prior to
* Since the above was in type, among some old papers kindly placed at the disposal of the historians by Mr. W. O. Gear, of Iowa, was found the following paragraph, in one of a series of articles on the " Upper Mississippi Lead Mines," published in the Galena Sentinel, about 1843 :- " In the Fall of the year 1819, our old friend, Capt. D. G. B., started from St. Louis, with a French crew, for Fever Riviere Upper Mississippi lead mines. His vessel was a keel, the only way of conveyance then of heavy burthens on the Upper Mississippi, and the boatmen, in those days, were. some of them, "'half horse and half alligator.' . But the merry French, after arriving off Pilot Knob, commenced hunting for Fever River. After a search of three days, they found the mouth, and, on the 13th of November, after pushing through the high grass and rice lakes, they arrived safe at where Galena now stands, where they were greeted by some of the natives, from the tall grass, as well as by our old acquaint- ances, J. B. (W.) Shull and A. P. Vanmatre, who had taken to themselves wives from the daughters of the land, and were traders for their brethren. (A portion of the scrap is gone; others are evidently mentioned; Dr. Muir, for one.) Capt. B., after disposing of, or leaving his cargo in exchange for lead, fur, etc., returned to St. Louis for another cargo,"
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that time. It seems probable from all data at hand that he located on the point since known by his name, and erected a double log cabin and ware- house there abont 1821, or even earlier. He was there in June, 1823, when Captain D. S. Harris arrived in this county, and had been there certainly for a year or two then.
In November, 1821, the jurisdiction of the lead mines was transferred from the general land office to the war department, and Jannary 4, 1822, leases were granted to T. D. Carniel and Benjamin Johnson, and to Messrs. Suggett & Payne, all of Kentucky, for one liundred and sixty acres of land to each of the two parties, to be selected by thein, in the northern part of Illinois or the southern part of Michigan Territory (now Wisconsin). Lieut. C. Burdine, of the U. S. Army, was ordered to meet them in the Spring at the Great Crossings of the Kentucky, proceed with them in exploring the country, assist them in the selection of their lands, protect them with an armed force, and make surveys of the ground for the inforina- tion of the government. Subsequently, leases were granted to other par- ties. There are no records accessible at this point (Galena) now, to show the movements of Lieut. Burdine, but it may be considered as true that he was here in 1822, attending to the duties assigned to liim. April 12, 1822, Captain Marston, at Fort Edwards, wrote to Mr. Farrar, at Fever River, that " the Johnsons of Kentucky have leased the Fever River Lead Mines, and are about sending up a large number of men." It is probable that under their lease they selected land to include the " Buck lead," and a little later in the same year James Johnson and a Mr. Ward, probably D. L. Ward, came from Kentucky, each with a large number of negro slaves. It is also said that they were accompanied by several young men, whose names can not now be recorded. Johnson had his furnace near where McClos- key's store now stands, on the levee. Johnson worked the "Buck lead " and raised a large amount of ore. David G. Bates and A. P. Vanmatre worked a vein of mineral on Apple River, near Elizabeth (Georgetown), but smelted their ore at Fever River. It would be interesting to know how many miners were engaged in this district at that time, but it is not possible to determine that fact.
During 1822, Dr. Moses Meeker visited the lead mining district on a tour of observation. Unquestionably others visited Fever River the same year for the same purpose, as the fame of the stupendous deposits of mineral awaiting discovery here had begun to reach the older settlements. About this time, although the date of his arrival can not now be determined, Major John Anderson, of the U. S. Topographical Engineers, was stationed here as government agent, and occupied a cabin on what was thien called "Anderson's Slough " (now " Harris' Slough " ), about two and one half miles from Galena.
In 1823, large and important accessions were made to the population of the then remote pioneer settlement on Fever River, and the history of the mining region begins to emerge from the obscurity and uncertainty here- tofore surrounding it. The testimony of reliable living witnesses of the stirring events of that period, Capt. D. S. Harris and Hiram B. Hunt, the only known survivors here of the immigration of 1823, and a few others who came in 1824, renders the labors of the historian less ardnous and more sat- isfactory. The actual settlement of this region may be said to have really commenced about this time.
Dr. Moses Meeker, of Cincinnati, O., who had prospected on Fever River
Medniek State GALENA.
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OF THE
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during the previous year, organized a colony, and embarked on the 20th day of April, 1823, on the keel-boat* " Col. Buinford," with 30 men besides thic women and children, and 75 tons of freighit, consisting of a complete mining outfit, merchandize and provisions, sufficient to subsist the party a year after their arrival at the "mines."
Among the passengers, and all whose names can now be recorded, were-Dr. Moses Meeker, James Harris and liis son, Daniel Smith Harris; then in his 15th year, Benson Hunt, his wife, Elizabeth Harris Hunt, his two daughters, Dorlesca and Dorcina, and son, Hiram Benson, aged six, four and two years respectively. (Dorlesca died in 1838 ; Dorcina married Johns. and now lives, a widow, in Kansas); Jolin Doyle, wife and child; Maria Bunce (Mrs. Doyle's sister), and her two brothers, John and Hiram; Maria Rutherford; Thomas Boyce: Israel Garretson; John Whit- tington (thic steersinan); Wm. Howlett (a deaf man), and - IIonse.
At St. Louis James Harris left the boat, purchased a number of cattle for Dr. Meeker and drove them across the country to Fever River, arriving two or three weeks after the " Col. Bumford," which arrived on the 20th of June, having made the trip in sixty days, then regarded as a remarkably quick passage. The Mississippi was very high and had overflowed its banks, and the crew were often obliged to resort to warping and bushiwhacking. At Grand Tower, below St. Louis, the "Col. Bumford " was passed by the steamer " Virginia," commanded probably by Capt. John Shellcross, on her way from Pittsburg to Fort Snelling, with supplies for the troops sta- tioned there, and slie was the first steamboat that ever ascended the Missis- sippi above the mouth of the Illinois River; certainly she was the first boat propelled by steam that ever parted the waters of Fever River, in June, 1823.
The "Col. Bumford " arrived on Sunday, June 20, 1823, run up the little creek now known as Meeker's Branch, a short distance, and made land- ing on the south bank.
The arrival of Dr. Meeker and his companions marks a new era in the history of the mining district, and gave impetus and growthi to the little remote settlement, until then scarcely more than an Indian trading post, almost unknown except to roving traders and frontiersmen. It required enthusiasm, energy, bravery, perseverance and patient endurance of toil and privations, unknown in later years, to venture into the very heart of the Indian country, and make permanent settlement in the midst of a populous Indian village. Dr. Meeker possessed all these characteristics in a remark- able degree, as did also Mr. James Harris, his foreman, confidential coun- sellor and friend. These two men became the liead and soul, so to speak, of
*A keel-boat was built something like a modern barge only its hull was lower. Thesc boats were from 50 to 80 feet long, and from 10 to 15 fect beam, and from 2 to 212 feet hold. On the deck was built the "cargo-box," which generally extended to within about ten feet of either end and set in from the gunwale about two feet on each side, leaving a gangway or "walking-board." as it was called, on each side the whole length of the boat. Sometimes on small boats these walking-boards projected over the hull. The rudder was a long sweep, some thing like a gigantic oar. The keel-boat was propelled by sails, by rowing, poling, bush wacking, cordelling and warping. When the water was high or thic boat was running close in shore, the crew would grasp the bushes growing on the bank and pull the boat up river. This was "bushwhacking." Some times a long line or ropc would be attached to tlic mast, and the crew walking on the shore with the other end, towed the craft up stream. This was " cordelling." At other times when cordelling was impracticable, in crossing rap- ids, a long line would be carried ahead, and made fast to a tree or rock, or to a small anchor and the crew in the boat, taking the line over their shoulders, would walk from bow to stern, drop the rope, then walking back on the other side to the bow, and take it up again, in the rear of the others, keep the boat in motion.
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