History of Wabasha County, Minnesota, Part 6

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. cn
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Winona, Minn. : H.C. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1222

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Penicault, who accompanied Le Sueur, writes: "In this region commenced a lake, which is six leagues long and more than one broad, called Lake Bon Secours (Good Help, now Lake Pepin). It is bounded on the west by a chain of mountains; on the east is seen a prairie; and on the northwest of the lake there is another prairie two leagues long and one wide. In the neighborhood is a chain of mountains quite two hundred feet high, and more than one and a half miles long. In these are found several caves, to which the bears retire in winter. Most of the caverns are more than seventy feet in extent, and two

HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY

hundred feet high. There are several of which the entrance is very narrow, and quite closed up with saltpetre. It would be dangerous to enter them in summer, for they are filled with rattlesnakes, the bite of which is very dan- gerous. Le Sueur saw some of these snakes which were six feet in length, but generally they are about four feet. They have teeth resembling those of the pike, and their gums are full of small vessels, in which their poison is placed. The Scioux say they take it every morning, and cast it away at night. They have at the tail a kind of scale which makes a noise, and this is called the rattle."

Penicault mentions the ruins of a fort on the right (east) side of Lake Pepin, which he said was built by Perrot, whose name at that time it still bore. As Le Sueur was one of Perrot's companions, this apparently places Perrot's Lake Pepin fort. Fort Perrot and Fort St. Antoine are believed to have been identical.

At Frontenac, just above Wabasha County, there were three successive French forts. Fort Beauharnois, 1727-28; St. Pierre's post, 1736-37; and Marin's post, 1750-55. In the meantime Linctot had occupied a post, probably at Trempealeau in 1731-36. This region therefore became a favorite hunting ground, and Wabasha County became well known to the traders.

French rule in the upper Mississippi Valley ended with the treaty of February 10, 1763, when the Mississippi, nearly to its mouth, became the boundary line between the possessions of England and Spain. Three years later, in 1766, Jonathan Carver, a native of Connecticut, set out to explore the new British domains in the Northwest.13 Starting from Boston in June, 1766, Carver traveled to the strait of Mackinaw and Green Bay, and thence, by the canoe route of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, to the Mississippi. Then he ascended the Mississippi, accompanied by a French-Canadian and a Mohawk Indian. He spent the winter of 1766-67 among the Sioux of the Northwest. In the spring of 1767 he descended the Mississippi to the present location of Prairie du Chien in the hope of securing goods. Disappointed there, he ascended the Mississippi to the Chippewa River and reached Lake Superior by way of that stream and the upper tributaries of the St. Croix. It was after- ward claimed that he had made a treaty with the Sioux, granting him a tract of land about a hundred miles wide along the east bank of the Mississippi, from the falls of St. Anthony (at Minneapolis) to the southwestern end of Lake Pepin. The southern boundary of the tract extended due east from the mouth of the Chippewa. On the strength of this alleged treaty many claims were from time to time presented to the United States Government,' but Congress has . aways refused to recognize the claim of Carver's heirs and successors.

Of the much discussed earthworks at Tepeeota in Greenfield Township, Wabasha County, and of the Lake Pepin scenery, Carver says: "On the first of November, I arrived at Lake Pepin, a few miles below which I landed, and, whilst the servants were preparing my dinner, I ascended the bank to view the country. I had not proceeded far before I came to a fine, level, open plain, on which I perceived, at a little distance, a partial elevation that had the appear- ance of entrenchment. On a nearer inspection I had greater reason to suppose that it had really been intended for this many centuries ago. Notwithstanding it was now covered with grass, I could plainly see that it had once been a breast- work of about four feet in height, extending the best part of a mile, and suffi- ciently capacious to cover five thousand men. Its form was somewhat circular and its flanks reached to the river.

"Though much defaced by time, every angle was distinguishable, and ap- peared as regular and fashioned with as much military skill as if planned by Vauban himself. The ditch was not visible, but I thought, on examining more curiously, that I could perceive there certainly had been one. From its situa- tion, also, I am convinced that it must have been designed for that purpose. It fronted the country, and the rear was covered by the river, nor was there

HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY

any rising ground for a considerable way hat commanded it; a few straggling lakes were alone to be seen near it. In many places small tracks were worn across it by the feet of the elks or deer, and from the depth of the bed of earth by which it was covered, I was able to draw certain conclusions of its great antiquity. I examined all the angles, and every part with great attention, and have often blamed myself since, for not encamping on the spot, and drawing an exact plan of it. To show that this description it not the offspring of a heated imagination, or the chimerical tale of a mistaken traveler. I find, on inquiry since my return, that Mons. St. Pierre, and several traders have at dfferent times, taken notice of similar appearances, upon which they have formed the same conjectures, but without examining them so minutely as I did.

"Lake Pepin is rather an extended part of the Mississippi River, that the French have thus denominated, about two hundred miles from the Quisconsin. The Mississippi below this lake flows with a gentle current, but the breadth of it is very uncertain, in some places it being upwards of a mile, in others not much more than a quarter. This river has a range of mountains on each side throughout the whole of the way; which in particular parts approach near to it, in others lie at a greater distance. The land betwixt the mountains, and on their sides, is generally covered with grass, with a few groves of trees inter- spersed, near which large droves of deer and elk are frequently seen feeding. In many places pyramids of rocks appeared, resembling old ruinous towers; at others amazing precipices; and what is very remarkable, while this scene. presented itself on one side, the opposite side of the same mountain was cov- ered with the finest herbage, which gradually ascended to its summit. From thence the most beautiful and extensive prospect that imagination can form opens to your view. Verdant plains, fruitful meadows, numerous islands, and all these abounding with a variety of trees that yield amazing quantities of fruit, without care or cultivation, such as the nut tree, the maple which pro- duces sugar, vines loaded with rich grapes, and plum trees bending under their blooming burdens, but above all the fine river flowing gently beneath and reaching as far as the eye can extend, by turns attract your admiration and excite your wonder.

"The lake is about twenty miles long and near six in breadth; in some places it is very deep and abounds wth various kinds of fish. Great numbers of fowl frequent also this lake and rivers adjacent, such as storks, swans, geese, brants and ducks; and in the groves are found great plenty of turkeys and partridges. On the plains are the largest buffaloes of any in America. Here I observed the ruins of a French factory (at Frontenac), where it was said Captain St. Pierre resided, and carried on a very great trade with the Naudowessies (Sioux) before the reduction of Canada."14

At the close of the Revolutionary War, the land east of the Mississippi became a part of the new United States by the treaty of September 3, 1783. Spain continued in possession of the land west of the Mississippi from 1762 to October 1, 1800, when the tract was receded to France, which nation, how- ever, did not take possession until 1804, at which time a formal transfer was made from Spain to France, in order that France might formally transfer the tract to the United States under the treaty of April 30, 1803.

Two years later the Government determined to send an expedition into the Northwest, in charge of Zebulon M. Pike. He was given orders to negotiate treaties with the Indians, to secure a conformity with the laws of the United States by the Northwest Company and others engaged in the fur trade, to secure the site for a fort near the head of Mississippi River navigation, and to extend geographical exploration. He started from St. Louis, August 9, 1805, with twenty soldiers, spent the winter in northern Minnesota, started down the river April 7, 1806, and again reached St. Louis the latter part of that month.

Pike passed Buffalo and Pepin Counties, September 15 and 16, 1805.15 Saturday, September 14, Pike and several companions landed below Winona

HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY

for a hunt, while others with the boats continued up the river. Pike and hunters ascended Sugar Loaf, and followed the crest of the Minnesota bluffs to Minnesota City, where they descended and made their way across the sloughs and morasses to a point opposite Fountain City, where the boats were already at anchor at the mouth of Eagle Creek. The night was spent in camp at the present site of Fountain City. They made an early start on Sunday morning, September 15, passed the Whitewater (Minneiska) and Zumbro Rivers, and en- countered a rainy afternoon. They camped that night on the west side of the river, Pike opposite the mouth of Beef River, near Tepeeota, and some of the party, owing to a broken canoe, camped some three miles below him. They continued their trip next day, and had supper on the west side at the foot of Lake Pepin. The evening being fair, they adjusted a sail to their bateau, and with violins playing in general jollity, started to sail across Lake Pepin. But a storm came up, and shelter was found near Stockholm in Pepin County. It was only with difficulty that some of the boats and canoes following the bateau were brought safely to land. The trip was continued in the face of a gale the following morning. Pike again passed Wabasha County on his trip down the river the following spring.

Major Stephen H. Long led an expedition up the Mississippi in 1817.16 The voyage was made in a six-oared skiff. The party passed Wabasha County on their way up the river July 13 and 14, 1817, and July 19 and 20, going down. Long described the scenery of this region in the most glowing terms. He stopped at Winona, Saturday, July 12, and was met by Wabasha who had hoisted two American flags. There he witnessed an Indian Bear Dance, which he describes at length. He spent the night encamped on a sand bar. Continuing his journey he passed the Zumbro, Clearwater and Beef Rivers. He called the Zumbro the Embarrass River and gave the information that just above its confluence with the Mississippi it united with the Clearwater. The Zumbro, he said, was navigable in high water for some forty miles and the Clearwater fifteen. Indians frequently hunted in the neighborhood of these rivers, but at this time had no permanent establishments on either. Some time during the day the expedition passed the unoccupied cabin where the interpreter of the expedition, Augustin Rocque, had spent the previous winter trading with the Indians.

Long describes the Grand Encampment at Tepeeota, and the scenery of Lake Pepin, and also gives the tradition of Wee-no-nah's leap. Continuing his narrative of Sunday, July 13, he says :

"Passed the River au Boeuf coming in from the north. It is of moderate size and is navigable in high water about 30 miles. Buffaloes are found on this river, which gives occasion to its name; the Indians hunt them here in all seasons ; they are not, however, very numerous. Opposite to the mouth of this river, on the west side of the Mississippi, is a large prairie, situated between the bluffs and the river, being about two miles in width; on a part of it is a scattering growth of timber. Should there be occasion to send troops into this quarter, they might be posted to advantage at this place, as the position would be secure and at the same time afford a tolerable command of the river. The elevation of the prairie above the river is about 25 feet. Upon the upper end of the prairie is the Grand Encampment, or place of general resort for the Indian traders during the winter, for the purpose of trafficking with the Indians.

"Arrived at the foot of Lake Pepin about dark. The wind favorable, but very gentle through the day.

"Monday 14 .- The wind blew violently from the southeast through the night, but as it was too dark to take out courses, we could not avail ourselves of the advantage it would otherwise. have been to us. Set sail at an early hour, but the wind soon shifted into the northwest, and was so strong ahead that we could make but little progress either by rowing or cordelling. Were in con- sequence delayed about one and a half hours, during which Mr. H. Hempstead

HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY

and myself ascended the bluff in order to enjoy a prospect of the neighboring country. The place where we were was at the lower extremity of Lake Pepin. From the height we had a view, not only of the lake and the majestic bluffs that bound it, but also of the surrounding country to a considerable extent. The contrast between this and the view we had two days before is very striking. The bluffs are more regular and more uniform in their height. The back coun- try is rolling rather than hilly, and has comparatively but little timber upon it, - particularly on the west of the river. The valley between the bluffs, which was before thronged with island, sand-bars, pools and marshes, is here occupied by a beautiful expanse of water, with nothing to obstruct the view upon its surface but the shores of the lake. At the lower end of Lake Pepin, which has its gen- eral course about east-southeast, Chippewa River coming in from the north. It is about 500 yards wide at its mouth, and is navigable for pirogues about 50 miles at all times, and in high water much farther. From its appearance, however, I should judge that its navigation must be much obstructed by sand- bars. After breakfast we passed up the lake about two miles and stopped (on) the east shore for the purpose of ascertaining the width of the lake and the height of the bluffs where the high lands commence. We found the lake a few yards short of two miles wide, and the elevation of the hills 475 feet above the surface of the lake.

"About midway of the lake passed the Lover's Leap, a prominent part of the bluffs, with a perpendicular precipice of about 150 feet, and an abrupt descent of nearly 300 feet from its base to the water's edge. At this place an unforunate squaw met with an untimely fate, as the consequence of her parent's obstinacy and persecution. The circumstances that led to this result were related by our Indian chief. (Long here gives the familiar but now discredited "Legend of Wee-no-nah").

"Passed a large encampment of Sioux Indians, two miles further up the lake, at which we left our chief. As we hove in sight they hoisted the American flag, which we saluted with a discharge of our blunderbuss. Our salute was returned by the discharge of several guns fired ahead of us. When we landed, a crowd of Indians came about us, and were very anxious that we should stop a while with them. But the wind being strong and favorable, we concluded it best to make as little delay as possible. We accordingly gave them some to- bacco and proceeded on. Lake Pepin is about 21 miles long and of variable width from one and half to three miles. Through the greater part of its length it occupies the whole width of the valley situated between the river bluffs. There are, however, two prairies of considerable size within the valley, that appear possessed of an excellent soil, and are advantageously situated in regard to their elevation above the water. There are a few unimportant brooks emptying into the lake. About four miles above the lake is a river coming in from the west called Cannon River."

On the trip down the river, Long and his party passed Wabasha County, September 19 and 20. On Sandy Point in Lake Pepin they found a band of Indians making ready for a hunting trip up the Chippewa River.

With the establishment of Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, in 1819, Wabasha County was placed within the pale of civilization, and thereafter soldiers, traders and visitors were frequently passing, while the Chippewa, Buffalo and Trempealeau Rivers became famous hunting grounds. The expedition which established the fort, headed by Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Leavenworth and accompanied by Major Thomas Forsyth, the Indian agent, passed Wabasha County in August, 1919.17 On the night of August 12, the party camped below Trempealeau Mountain, and on August 13, spent the night at the present site of Winona, where Forsyth had a long talk with Wabasha. The night of August 14 was spent at the "Tumbling Rock," and the night of August 15, about a mile above the Driftwood River. The night of August 16 was spent at the "Grand Encampment" below Wabasha, and the night of August 17 at the foot of Lake Pepin. Lake Pepin was crossed August 19.

HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY

General Lewis Cass, with his party, including Henry Rowe Schoolcraft and James D. Doty, passed Wabasha County in 1820.16 They reached the upper Mississippi by way of Lake Superior, and after leaving the region of their ex- plorations, made their way down the Mississippi. On this trip down the river Cass and Schoolcraft and their men camped somewhere between Pepin and Stockholm on the night of August 3, 1820, stopped at Winona the next day, and camped the night of August 4 a few miles below Trempealeau.

On his expedition to Lake Winnipeg, Long again passed this region, ac- companied by a part of his followers. From Prairie du Chien to Fort Snelling, a part of the expedition, under James F. Calhoun, made the trip on horseback along the west bank of the Mississippi. William H. Keating, who was with the expedition, was its historian.19 This time Long passed Wabasha County in the latter part of June, 1823.

The first steamer to ascend the upper Mississippi, the "Virginia," passed Wabasha County in May, 1823, and arrived at Fort Snelling, near the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, May 10. A number of prominent people were aboard. Steamboat traffic thus being opened, this region was a point of interest to all travelers and became widely known. J. Constantine Beltrami, who explored the Red River of the North and the sources of the Mississippi River, was one of the passengers aboard the Virginia when it made its first trip to Fort Snelling, and made notes of this region.20

The period of exploration really ends in 1835, when this region was visited by George William Featherstonhaugh and William Williams Mather,21 by George Catlin, and by a military expedition under Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen W. Kearney, the topographer of the expedition being Albert Miller Lea.22

This expedition consisted of companies B. H. and I, of the First United States Dragoons. On June 7, 1835, the detachment left Fort Des Moines and after taking a northeasterly course across Iowa, they entered what is now Minnesota, crossed Mower, Fillmore, Wabasha and Winona Counties and reached Wabasha's village, on the present site of Winona. After a week's stay there they made their return journey, passing the lake in Freeborn County which has since borne Albert Lea's name. The object of the trip was to secure more perfect knowledge of the Indians and the geography of the country traversed.

Speaking of his visit to this locality, Lea afterward wrote: "Desiring to visit Wabasha's band, the officers directed our course toward Lake Pepin and about the first of July we encamped on a small rivulet which empties into a river (the Zumbro) that enters the Mississippi four miles away, just below Lake Pepin. We encamped on the bank of this stream three days, and during that time our whole force of 164 men had as much speckled trout as we desired, all taken from a single brook only a step wide. One of my men took 130 in four hours with an improvised hook and line.

"Early in July we moved camp to the bank of the Mississippi below the lake, in sight of Wabasha's village." Among the officers of this expedition was Capt. Nathan Boone, the youngest son of Daniel Boone.

1-Dr. Warren Upham is of the opinion that Radisson and Grosseilliers made their headquarters at Prairie Island, above Red Wing, from April or May, 1655, to June, 1656. But this opinion is not generally accepted. As Dr. Louise Phelps Kellogg says: "The difficulty of interpreting Radisson's text, written in a language unfamiliar to him- self, and several years after the completion of his journeys, add to the difference of opinion in regard to the route and the locations described." For Upham's conclusions see: Upham, Grosseilliers and Radisson, Minnesota in Three Centuries (New York, 1908), I, 127-204. Also: Same author and title, Minn. Hist. Colls., X, Part 2, 449-594. Dr. Reuben Gold Thwaites has reprinted portions of the accounts of the third and fourth voyages of these two adventurers, with copious notes in: Wis. Hist. Colls., XI, 64-69. Dr. Kellogg has reprinted the account of the third voyage, with an introduction in: Early Narratives of the Northwest (New York, 1917), 29-65.

HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY

2-Thwaites, ed., Hennepin's New Discovery (Chicago, 1903). Or John G. Shea, ed., A Description of Louisiana. by Father Louis Hennepin (New York, 1880).

3-For a discussion of the identity of Hennepin's R. de Poeufs with Chippewa River, see: Elliott Coues, ed., Expeditions of Zebulon M. Pike (New York, 1895), I, 58, 65, notes. Also: L. H. Bunnell, Winona and its Environs (Winona, 1897), 52-54.

4-Kellogg, Early Narratives of the Northwest, 69-92.

5-The vanity of Hennepin did not allow him to admit that he was a captive and a slave, the cruel sport of the Indians. He represented that he accompanied Du Luth, because of the latter's pleasure in his society and his desire for his companionship. See: Thwaites, ed., Hennepin's New Discovery, 293-305.

6-Kellogg, Early Narratives of the Northwest, 69-92.

7-E. H. Blair, Indian Tribes of the Upper Mississippi, II, 25.

8-See: Eben D. Pierce, George H. Squier and Louise Phelps Kellogg, ""Remains of a French Post Near Trempealeau," Wis. Hist. Soc., Proceedings, 1915, 111-123.

9-Thwaites, ed., Important Western Papers, Perrot's Minutes of Taking Posses- sion, Id., XI, 35-36 (reprinted from the New York Colonial Documents, IX, 418).

10-The location of Fort St. Antoine, as well as of the other French forts of the Upper Mississippi, has been the subject of considerable controversy. The whole ques- tion is discussed in a most interesting manner in Vol. X of the Wisconsin Historical Society in the following articles: Edward D. Neill, Early Wisconsin Exploration, Forts and Trading Posts, 292-305; Lyman C. Draper, Early French Forts in Western Wisconsin, 321-372. In the latter article (368-371) Dr. Draper admirably sums up the subject sub- stantially as follows:

"Franquelin places Fort St. Antoine on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, just above the mouth of the R. des Sauteurs (the Chippewa River). At the present time the low swampy land extends some two miles about the mouth of that stream, up the eastern shore of Lake Pepin, thus rendering it altogether improbable, if not impossible, that the post was located at the immediate mouth. About two miles above the mouth of the Chippewa, Roaring Creek empties into Lake Pepin; and a little above this creek commences the elevated prairie 40 or 50 feet higher than the bottom lands, where Perrot could have located his post. Pepin village is over a mile still higher up the prairie, occupying a beautiful situation.

"Bellin, in his 'Remarks,' on his map of 1775, mentions a small fort at the en- trance (foot) of Lake Pepin, and another above, on the other side of the lake. Dr. Neill is of the opinion that the one at the entrance of the lake was Fort St. Antoine, while the one above, and on the opposite side, refers to Fort Bauharnois, at or near Frontenac, some nine miles above the foot of the lake, on the western shore. Dr. Neill, while making no attempt to fix the exact locality of Fort St. Antoine does place it above the outlet of the lake, and on its eastern shore. (Neill's History of Minnesota, fourth edition, p. 833; his Pioneers and Explorers of Minnesota, p. 31; his Concise History, p. 18; his Last French Post, p. 1).

"Edward Lees, L. Kessinger, surveyor of Buffalo County, A. W. Miller, surveyor of Pepin County, and John Newcomb, all agree that, during their long residence in that region, they never heard of any vestiges, nor any remains of embankments or ditches, nor any traditions of any old fort in or immediately near the locality of Pepin village. It is proper to add, on the authority of Mr. Miller, who, as a land surveyor, has been familiar with the Pepin region for 32 years, that had there been any old fort remains there, the drifting sand would undoubtedly have long since buried them out of sight.

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History of Wabasha County, Minnesota, Part 6

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. cn Publication date: 1920 Publisher: Winona, Minn. : H.C. Cooper Number of Pages: 1222

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. cn
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Winona, Minn. : H.C. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1222