USA > Wisconsin > Grant County > History of Grant County Wisconsin, including its civil, political, geological, mineralogical archaeological and military history > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible.
Google books http://books.google.com
S 3H.L . SO 00 1846 OF WIS
STATE HISTO shs
CAL . NISNO.
Digitized by
OS . THE SY
TATE HISTO shs
CAL . NISNO.
1640 'OF WIS
Digitized by Google
Digitized by
Digitized by Google
Digitized by
HISTORY
OF
GRANT COUNTY
WISCONSIN.
INCLUDING ITS
CIVIL, POLITICAL, GEOLOGICAL, MINERALOG- ICAL ARCHEOLOGICAL AND MILI- TARY HISTORY.
AND A
HISTORY OF THE SEVERAL TOWNS.
3HL. 50
STATE HISTO
shs CAL . NISNO 1945
OF WIS
BY CASTELLO N. HOLFORD.
1000. THE TELLER PRINT. LANCASTER.
Digitized by by Google
The reproduction of this book has been made possible through the sponsorship of the Grant County Board of Super- visors.
COPYRIGHT 1900 BY C. N. HOLFORD.
Litho and bound by Walsworth Pub. Co., Inc., Marceline, Mo. 64658
1
Digitized by Google
F 537 ここ
PREFACE
As a justification for entering a field already occupied, it may be said that, while my researches have not enabled me to add very much new matter to what has already been published, an acquaintance of half a century with the names and reputations (and in many cases the persons) of the notable men among the fast departing generation of the early settlers of Grant County, and having stenographically re- ported the speeches, stories, and remarks of the old settlers at many meetings of their Club, has enabled me to correct many errors (par- ticularly of names and dates) in what has been before published in book form. The roster of Grant County soldiers in the War of the Re- bellion is believed to be the most complete and accurate ever published or in existence outside the War Department. Numerous errors and omissions in the record of Grant County soldiers kept by order of the County Board and the rosters of the Adjutant General of the State have been corrected from the statements of persons acquainted with the members of the several companies, and the editor's personal ac- quaintance with the soldiers. And yet errors and omissions doubtless exist in our roster.
As the writer has laid the works of many preceding writers under contribution to a considerable extent, and copied public records ex- tensively, so that some parts of this work are rather a compilation than an original narrative, it has seemed fitter for him to assume the title ofeditor rather than that ofauthor. Thesketches of the Wisconsin regiments are compiled from the histories of Quiner and Love, narra- tives of the soldiers, and their letters from camp to the county papers, and the editor's personal observation of military movements.
The editor's thanks are due to most of the newspaper publishers of the county, and county and town officials for opportunity to ex- amine newspaper files and public records.
Most of the writing of the history was completed in the spring of 1900, and the phrase "the present time" in the work refers to that time.
Digitized by Google
1974-1976 GRANT COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Richard J. Markus, Potosi, Chairman Bernard J. Thiede, Muscoda Les M. James, Blue River D. Harold Shipley, Boscobel Floyd VonHaden, Boscobel, 1st V. Chairman Daniel J. Keeney, Mt. Hope Lee M. Wood, Bagley
Gilbert Wood, Fennimore
Robert P. Brechler, Fennimore 2nd Vice Chairman
Charles A. Becker, Stitzer
Wendell Beetham, Lancaster
Bernard Sikhart, Lancaster
Herbert Patterson, Bloomington
Clarence J. Schauff, Cassville
Ray J. Eckstein, Cassville
H. Ernest Naumann, Lancaster Leroy Petersen, Bloomington
Faun Cushman, Platteville
Dale L. Rawson, Platteville
Paul B. Cardin, Platteville
Richard Schmoekel, Platteville Theodore M. Tatge, Platteville
Milton Longhorn, Platteville
Milton D. Brogley, Platteville Ernest Pitts, Platteville Wilfred Pluemer, Platteville Francis Busch, Cuba City
Edward Schmieder, Cuba City
Edward P. Richard, Kieler
Edward J. Splinter, Hazel Green
Clarence J. Weber, Cuba City
Digitized by Google
CONTENTS. PART I-GENERAL HISTORY. CHAPTER I-EARLY HISTORY.
PAGE.
Aboriginal occupation-Spanish domination-French domination- English domination-American domination-The Prairie du Chien and Fe- ver River settlements 1-13
CHAPTER II-THE LEAD MINING ERA IN GRANT COUNTY First comers-Mining titles and tenures-Prospecting and mining- Smelting-Character of the pioneers-Grant County formed 14 31
CHAPTER III-GRANT COUNTY DESCRIBED. Geography and topography-Timber and water-Soil. 32-37
CHAPTER IV-GRANT COUNTY DURING THE THIRTIES. The county seat-Roads and ferries-The execution of Oliver-post- offices in 1838-Paper towns-Early immigration as J. T. Mills saw it .... 38-45 CHAPTER V-GRANT COUNTY IN THE FORTIES.
Statistics of 1840-Life in Grant County in the Forties-The last " Winnebago Fuss."-Land troubles-Weather extremes-The Mexican War and other events. 46-54
CHAPTER VI-GRANT COUNTY IN THE FIFTIES AND LATER. The gold fever-The cholera-Great agricultural development-The great war-Oil excitement-Emigration from the county-Weather ex- tremes-Centennial year. 55-62
CHAPTER VII-TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION. Flat-boating-Steamboating-Railroads, many projected, few built- Telegraph and telephone lines 63-75
CHAPTER VIII-COUNTY BUILDINGS AND INSTITUTIONS. The court-house-The jail-The poor farm-The insane asylum- Grant County Agricultural Society-The soldiers' monument .. 76-95
CHAPTER IX-GRANT COUNTY'S DISTINGUISHED DEAD. James Gates Percival-Nelson Dewey-Joseph C. Cover-Joel Allen Barber-Joseph Trotter Mills-John Hawkins Rountree-Thomas Pendle- ton Burnett-Jared Warner-George W. Jones-Milas K. Young. 96-123
CHAPTER X-SOME NOTORIOUS CRIMINAL TRIALS. Rose Zoldoski-Nick Ames-The Sisley case .. 124-128
PART II-CIVIL AND POLITICAL HISTORY. CHAPTER I-CIVIL HISTORY. Under Territorial government-Under State government-Town or- ganization-County officers-Legislative districts and officers-Efforts to divide the county 129-167
CHAPTER II-JUDICIAL HISTORY. District and circuit courts-Bench and bar of the county .168-179 CHAPTER III-POLITICAL HISTORY. Organization of the parties in the county-Fall of the Whig and rise of the Republican party-County funds lost-election statistics George C. Hazelton 180-187
Digitized by Google
vi
CONTENTS.
PART III-GEOLOGICAL, MINERALOGICAL, AND ARCHEOLOGICAL HIS- TORY.
CHAPTER I-GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
Original land-The Laureatiau Period-The Huronian Period-The Isle Wisconsin in the Paleozoic Age-The Potsdam Period-The Lower Magnesian Limestone-The Trenton and Galena. Limestones-The Hudson Shales and the Niagara Limestone-Peninsula of Wisconsin during the Pal- ozoic Age-The Carboniferous Age-Natural gas and.petroleum-The Mes- ozoic Age-The Glacial Epoch-Relations of geology to political economy 191-210 CHAPTER II-MINERALS AND MINES OF GRANT COUNTY.
Mining terms defined-Minerals of the Lead Region-Deposition of rock strata-Product of Grant County mines, early period-Hardscrabble Dig- gings-Big Patch Diggings-Platteville Diggings-Menomonee Diggings- Beetown Diggings-Grant River Diggings-Pigeon Diggings 211-217
CHAPTER III-MINES OF GRANT COUNTY IN 1876.
Beetown district-Muscalunge Diggings-Potosi district-Rockville Diggings-British Hollow Diggings-Dutch Hollow Diggings-Fairplay district-Hazel Green district-Platteville district-Whig Diggings-Big Patch Diggings-Statistics of ore smelted in the county-Potosi district- Hazel Green district. 218-240
CHAPTER IV-PRESENT CONDITION OF GRANT COUNTY MINES. Potosi district-Beetown district-Platteville district-Hazel Green dis- trict-Wingville district 241-246
CHAPTER V-PRE-HISTORIC MOUNDS IN GRANT COUNTY. Three mounds examined-Varieties of mounds-Localities of mounds -Conclusions .247-257
PART IV-MILITARY HISTORY. CHAPTER I-OLD WARS.
The War of 1812-The Winnebago War-The Black Hawk War-The Mexican War 261-270
CHAPTER II-THE CIVIL WAR, GRANT COUNTY'S ADVANCE GUARD. First enlistments-The Second Wisconsin Infantry-Bull Run-After the battle. . 271-277
CHAPTER III-THE IRON BRIGADE.
Sixth Infantry-Seventh Infantry-The Iron Brigade-Battle of Gainesville-Second battle of Bull Run-South Mountain-Battery B-An- tietam-Fitzhugh's Crossing-Gettysburg-Battle of the Wilderness- Spottsylvania and Jerico Ford-Other engagements. .278-905
CHAPTER IV-THIRD AND FIFTH INFANTRY.
Third Infantry-Second Battle of Winchester-Cedar Mountain-An- tietam-Gettysburg-Atlanta Campaign-Fifth Infantry 306-318
CHAPTER V-EIGHTH, NINTH, AND TENTH INFANTRY.
Eighth Infantry-Ninth Infantry-Tenth Infantry
319-325
CHAPTER VI-ELEVENTH, TWELFTH, SIXTEENTH, AND NINETEENTH INFANTRY. Eleventh Infantry-Twelfth Infantry-Sixteenth Infantry-Nineteenth Infantry 826-886
Digitized by Google
1
--
CONTENTS. vii
CHAPTER VII-TWENTIETH AND TWENTY-FIFTH INFANTRY. Twentieth Infantry-Battle of Prairie Grove-Twenty-fifth Infantry . 337-351 CHAPTER VIII-THIRTY-FIRST, THIRTY-THIRD, AND THIRTY-FIFTH INFANTRY. Thirty-first Infantry-Thirty-third Infantry-Siege of Vicksburg-A bloody blunder at Jackson-Red River expedition-Thirty-fifth Infantry . . 352-371 CHAPTER IX-FORTY-FIRST TO FIFTIETH INFANTRY. Forty-first Infantry-Forty-second Infantry-Forty-third Infantry- Forty-fourth Infantry-Forty-seventh Infantry-Forty-ninth Infantry-Fif- tieth Infantry 372-380
CHAPTER X-SECOND, THIRD, AND MILWAUKEE CAVALRY AND MIS- CELLANEOUS ORGANIZATIONS.
Secend Cavalry-Third Cavalry-Milwaukee Cavalry-Miscellaneous Organizations .. 381-392
CHAPTER XI-THE SPANISH WAR.
Isolated enlistments-Company C, Fourth Wisconsin Infantry 393-394
PART V-TOWN HISTORIES. CHAPTER I-LANCASTER, GENERAL HISTORY. First comers-Lancaster laid out -The first fire-Fires-Murders and suicides-Various matters-Town officers-Village officers-City officers. . 397 424 CHAPTER II-LANCASTER, SPECIAL HISTORY. Manufactories-Banks-Schools -- Churches -- Societies -- Newspapers -Fire department-Hurricane-The Grand Army in Lancaster. .. . 425-452
CHAPTER III-PLATTEVILLE, GENERAL HISTORY. First comers and first events The Black Hawk War-The first school- house and church-Small-pox-The Bevans lead-The gold fever-Fires and casualties-Town officers-Village officers-City officers 453-475
CHAPTER IV-PLATTEVILLE, SPECIAL HISTORY. Railroads -. Banks-Educational-The Normal School-Newspapers- The powder mills Other manufactories-Churches-Secret Societies-The mail-the fire department-Platteville Agricultural Society-Biographical notes. .476-512
CHAPTER V-POTOSI.
First comers-The Jim Crow murder-Potosi's growth-Latimer's duel and death-The town's decline-Town officers-Village officers-Mur- ders, suicides, and accidents-Newspapers Schools-Churches-Societies -Dutch Hollow-British Hollow-Rockville. 513-541
CHAPTER VI-HAZEL GREEN. Origin and growth-Town officers -- Village officers-The great cyclone .- Minor tragedies-Schools-Churches-Societies-Biographical notes .... 542-562 CHAPTER VII-BEETOWN. Origin, growth, and decline of Beetown-The cholera-The flood- Town officers Schools and churches-Societies-The De Lasseaux murder -Other killings and casualties-" Slabtown." 563-581
CHAPTER VIII-JAMESTOWN. Settlement of Town and village-Town organization and officers- Schools-Post office-Churches-Fairplay-The Harney murder-Murder of Christian Keller-Sinipee-Kieler 583-595
Digitized by Google
-
viii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX-CASSVILLE.
Early history and growth-Town officers-Village officers-Churches -Societies-Schools -- Biographical. 596-611
CHAPTER X-PATCH GROVE AND WYALUSING. Settlement of Patch Grove-Disasters, suicides, etcetera-Schools Churches-Town organization and officers-Wyalusing, early settlement- Paper towns-Town organization and offi ers-Societies-Bagley .. . .. .612-629
CHAPTER XI-BLOOMINGION. Early settlers-Tafton becomes a village-Casualties-The great fire -Town organization and officers-Village officers-Newspapers-Schools -Churches-Societies-Blake's Prairie Agricultural Society . 630-650
CHAPTER XII-MILLVILLE AND MOUNT HOPE.
Settlement of Millville-Town organization and officers of Millville- Mount Hope-Town organization and officers of Mount Hope. 651-662
CHAPTER XIII-BOSCOBEL. Origin and growth-Wisconsin River bridge-Post-office-Fires and fire department-Boscobel Agricultural and Driving Association-Trout pond-Town organization and officers-Village officers-City officers- Newspapers-Schools-Churches-Societies. 663-683
CHAPTER XIV-MUSCODA.
Early history and growth-Muscoda Bridge -- The new town-The great fire-Town organization. and officers-Village officers-Post-office-+ Schools-Churches-Societies-Newspapers-Hotels-Fayette. 684-697
CHAPTER XV-FENNIMORE AND MOUNT IDA.
Fennimore, settlement and growth -- Fires -- Suicides -- Schools --- Churches Societies-Newspapers-Town organization and officers-Mt. Ida-Warley 698-711
CHAPTER XVI-GLEN HAVEN AND WATERLOO.
Settlement and growth of Glen Haven-The Young tragedy -The Jor- dan murder-Town organization and officers of Glen Haven-North Ando- ver-Waterloo-Burton .712-722
CHAPTER XVII-WINGVILLE.
History of Montfort-Fires -- Schools-Post-office -- Newspapers -- Churches Societies-Centerville-Organization, population, and officers of Wingville-Village officers. 723-735
CHAPTER XVIII-SMELSER.
Big Patch-Georgetown-Cuba City-Elmo Station-St. Rose Sta- tion-Smelser, organization and officers.
CHAPTER XIX-LIBERTY AND ELLENBORO.
Liberty-Stitzer-Ellenboro 757-752
CHAPTER XX-CLIFTON AND LIMA.
Clifton- Annaton-Livingston-Lima-Arthur 753-759
CHAPTER XXI-HARRISON AND PARIS.
Harrison, Whig Diggings-Town of Harrison-McKee's saw-mill- Paris, "Detan's" city-Settlement and organization of Paris-Dickeyville. 760-764 CHAPTER XXII-WOODMAN, MARION AND LITTLE GRANT.
Woodman-Marion-Little Grant. 765-778 CHAPTER XXIII-WATTERSTOWN, HICKORY GROVE, AND CASTLE ROCK. Watterstown-Blue River-Hickory Grove-Castle Rock. 774-780 APPENDIX-Beard of Supervisors for 1900 781
Digitized by Google
PART I. GENERAL HISTORY.
Digitized by Google
Digitized by
CHAPTER I.
EARLY HISTORY.
Aboriginal Occupation-Spanish, French, English, and American Domination-The Prairie du Chien and Fever River Settlements.
ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION.
The region now comprised in Grant County has never, from the times of earliest written records, been a center of population, either aboriginal or of European origin, nor the theater of any great histori- cal events. Historically, politically, and commercially, it has been rather an eddy in the river than the main current-rather at the cir- cumference than at the center of great human affairs. Therefore its history is a history of small things rather than of great events, and so not of surpassing interest to people of other regions, however interest- ing I trust it is to the people whose lot has been cast within the borders of Old Grant.
Of the great aboriginal tribes of the Northwest none had their seat within this region. The Illinois and the Kickapoos were settled along the Illinois and Rock Rivers in northern Illinois. The latter tribe re- moved in the eighteenth century to the Fox River in southeastern Wisconsin. Along that river were already settled the Winnebagoes, the Foxes or Outagamies, the Sacs or Saukies, the Pottawatomies, and the Ottawas. In the northeastern part of what is now Wisconsin were the Menominees, and in the northwestern part the Ojibways or Chip- pewas, and in Minnesota, Iowa, and the Dakotas their deadly enemies, the Sioux or Dakotas or Lakotas. Wandering bands of all these tribes hunted and fought each other in the region that is now Grant County, but there is no evidence that any of these tribes had so much as a single village in this region, except perhaps a temporary settle- ment of the Foxes, about the middle of the eighteenth century in the extreme northeastern corner of the county, and later another village called Penah near where McCartney Station now is. To them all it was neutral ground and a border land. That they fought here is very probable, for here the tribes of Illinois and Wisconsin met the deadly
Digitized by Google
4
HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.
enemy of all of them, the Sioux; but not one of their battles here was of sufficient importance to be preserved in tradition.
SPANISH DOMINATION.
From 1520, when the Spanish conquistadores first planted the banner of Spain on the American mainland, to about 1620, when French domination began, this region was nominally under the domin- ion of the Kings of Spain. But this fact made not the slightest differ- ence to any person who was ever in this region, for no Spaniard or person who acknowledged the dominion of Spain was ever during that time within five hundred miles of the mouth of the Wisconsin River.
FRENCH DOMINATION.
In the early part of the seventeenth century the French occupation of Canada had extended sufficiently far so that the King of France claimed dominion over all the great Northwest, including the present State of Wisconsin. But no Frenchman nor other European ever set his eyes on any part of what is now Grant County, until 1673. In the spring of that year an expedition set out from the new French set- tlement at what is now Green Bay, Wisconsin, for the discovery and exploration of the great river of the West, of which they had heard marvelous stories.
The joint leaders of that expedition were Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet. Marquette was a Jesuit priest whose highest ambition was to bring the tribes of the West into the folds of the Church to which he was so intensely devoted. To extend the dominion of his earthly sovereign was a secondary ambition with him. Joliet was an ex-priest, then a wagon-maker, and finally a trader and explorer. They were accompanied by five other Frenchmen.
The party set out in birch-hark canoes in which they went up to the head of Fox River. Carrying their light barks over the short por- tage to the great bend of the Wisconsin River, they launched upon its broad but shallow current and floated leisurely downward. It is probable they first saw the majestic bluffs of this county back of where Muscoda now stands about the middle of June, for on the 17th of that month they emerged into the broad and powerful current of the Mississippi, and experienced the joy of successful discoverers and explorers. Floating along down the western border of what we call "Old Grant," they passed even more majestic scenery than that on the Wisconsin-the rounded, lofty bluffs of Wyalusing, the romantic glen
Digitized by Google
-
# MAP. OF K GRANT COUNTY
COUNTY
10
13
18
77
x
=
20
22
24
MU 20
ATTERSTO
28
27
28
25
28
Of
scobe
12
35
34
3
33
--
ـيما
N
-
3
1
6
3
12
8
.9
1Ở
9
10
11
10
12
Wop iman
73
14
13
18
17
13
18
17
76
14
M
23
24
19
20
21
22
24
21
22
24
S
25
30
2
27
25
to
20
29
27
35
31
32
34
35
32
34
35
34
35
GO
6
1
Lea muy Rock
2
6
4
4
3
2
6
5
.
WISCONSIN.
CRAWFORD
Wauzeka IN SLPOKL
Der P.p.
12
16
15
AND.
C
20
21
19
27
Castle Rock
31
W
35
Wright's Ferry
Digitized by
6
FE
30
1
3
30
I
-
Digitized by
5
EARLY HISTORY.
of Glen Haven, and the castellated crags of Cassville and Eagle Point, all nameless in any European tongue then and for generations after- ward.
As they skirted Grant County for about 120 miles, it is very prob- able that they landed somewhere in it to camp or hunt, and so were the first white men to tread its borders. But their narrative gives us no definite assurance of this.
At Eagle Point they parted with Old Grant forever, for, after descending the Mississippi a long way, they returned to Green Bay by way of the Illinois River and Lake Michigan.
The next white man to see, and perhaps to tread, this region, was Louis Hennepin, a Recollet friar, in 1680. Sometime before this that great explorer Robert La Salle had reached the Mississippi in Illinois and sent Hennepin and a companion, Du Gay, to explore the upper Mississippi. Hennepin's account of his explorations has been much. doubted, because many years afterward he claimed the honor of hav- ing, on this same expedition, descended the Mississippi to its mouth before La Salle had done so, stating that he had descended and returned in a time now known to be entirely inadequate for the pur- pose. But if he lied about his journey on the lower Mississippi, he probably told the truth about his trip on the upper river, as he gives information about the country he could not have acquired without visiting the region. He says that he and his companion were made captive April 12, 1680, by the Sioux near the mouth of the Wisconsin River, and that they then crossed the Mississippi, so that he was prob- ably within what is now Grant County either at his capture or soon afterward. He was taken far up into Minnesota, and returning to near the mouth of the Chippewa River, he was rescued by a French party conducted by that famous leader of coureurs du bois, or wood- rangers, Daniel Graysolon Du Lhut, whose name, curiously twisted into "Duluth," is perpetuated in the "Zenith City of the Unsalted Seas."
Hennepin and Du Lhut descended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Wisconsin in the fall of 1680 and ascended that stream, so that probably they both then trod the soil of what is now our county.
Ten years later Nicholas Perrot set out from Green Bay to explore the western territory, but it is doubtful if he reached the Mississippi till several years later. In 1689 he took formal possession of the upper Mississippi in the name of the King of France. There seems to have been then a small French force, commanded by Captain De Borieguillot,
Digitized by Google
1 1
--
-
6
HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.
"in the neighborhood of the Ouisconche, on the Mesachape," (pro- nounced Mesashapuh) but whether above or below the mouth of the Wisconsin is not certain.
In April, 1700, Le Sueur, with several companions, ascended the Mississippi to the mouth of St. Peters River, and there is reason to be- lieve that he examined the lead deposits near the mouths of Grant and Platte Rivers.
Up to 1711 this region was considered as a part of Canada, with the seat of government at far-off Quebec, but in that year, as a part of the "Illinois country,"it was attached to the Louisiana province, with the seat of government at Mobile. But little knew and less cared any sojourner between the Mississippi and the Pecatonica, the Wisconsin and the Fever Rivers, who was the viceroy or where he held his little court.
The first known settlement of any white man in what is now Grant County was a trading post, or at least a place of deposit for merchan- dise and furs, near the mouth of Sandy Creek in what is now Bloom- ington township. This was made by Captain Pierriere Marin, an energetic French trader, probably about 1725. The Fox Indians, then located on the Fox River, obstructed the passage of Marin's barges on their journeys to and fro between Green Bay and the Mississippi, and the energetic and indomitable trader, with forces of French and friendly Indians, made several expeditions against the Foxes, almost annihi- lating the warriors and driving the whole tribe from their ancient seat on Fox River to become wanderers down the Wisconsin and Missis- sippi. Marin continued his trading till he took a command in the war of the French against the English and was captured at Fort Niagara in 1759. The surrender of Canada followed a few years later, but Marin disappeared from historical view, and with him disappeared his post at the mouth of Sandy.
ENGLISH DOMINATION.
By the treaty of Paris in 1763, all the region east of the Mississippi, except New Orleans, was ceded by France to England, and what is now Grant County became again a part of the province of Canada, and remained so until after the Revolution, although the terms of sev- eral of the charters of the Atlantic colonies of England included the region in those colonies.
The French appear to have abandoned this part of the country prior to the treaty of Paris, and the next white man to see and prob-
Digitized by Google
7
EARLY HISTORY.
ably to tread our borders was Captain Jonathan Carver, a native of Connecticut, who, in 1776, set out to find the South Sea, or Pacific. He came down the Wisconsin to its mouth, and ascended the Missis- sippi. He noticed at a place supposed to be where Muscoda now is,* a village of the Foxes, about fifty houses, but deserted "on account of an epidemical disorder." He noticed another village of the Foxes near the mouth of the Wisconsin, supposed to be about the site of Prairie du Chien, as he says the French called the place La Prairie des Chiens. He says he saw much lead in the villages of the Sauks, but it does not appear that he saw any of the mines. During the following winter he explored the upper Mississippi, and penetrated to about two hun- dred miles west of that river. In the spring he came down the river to Prairie du Chien, and from there went back up the Mississippi, ascended the Chippewa, and crossed overland to Green Bay.
AMERICAN DOMINATION.
In the summer of 1778, the State of Virginia sent out a small expe- dition under Colonel George Rogers Clark, which captured the British forts in the "Illinois country." Virginia had always claimed the ter- ritory northwest of the Ohio under her charter, and thus strengthened her claim by conquest. In the fall of 1778 the legislature of Virginia established the County of Illinois, embracing all of the present States of Illinois and Wisconsin, but its jurisdiction over the region that is now Grant County was entirely nominal, as it had not even a justice of the peace within two hundred miles of our borders.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.