USA > Wisconsin > Columbia County > A history of Columbia County, Wisconsin : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests > Part 10
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THE DE KORRAS AND JOSEPH CRELIE
"When I arrived at the fort the old chief, De Korra, had his village on the west side of the Wisconsin River about eight miles below the 701. 1-5
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portage. His hair was as white as wool, and he must have been very old. He had several brothers, but, from his looks, I should judge that he was the oldest of the family. He died soon afterward. His mother was pointed out to me some years afterward, when I was told she must be over one hundred and forty-three years old, for she recollected the massacre of the Indians at Butte des Morts, she being there at the time, which was 140 years previous. But this, I think, must be a mistake, as I am informed that it was not so long since that massacre. At the time I saw her she was able to walk six or eight miles to and from the portage. She lived several years after, and came to her death by the burning of her wigwam.
"Joseph Crelie, the father of Madam Pauquette, lived to a great age. He carried the mail on horseback to and from Green Bay, and seemed to ride a horse as well as a young man when he was thought to be one hundred years old. Ife died a few years ago (written in the seventies), when it was said that he was one hundred and thirty-odd years old.
POST AMUSEMENTS
"During the winter it was rather a lonely life, to be confined to the garrison, with no city or village within 100 miles and not even a farm- house to visit. But we managed to enjoy ourselves pretty well, there being ladies enough to form one cotillon, and we often met at one of the officer's quarters and danced, there being good musicians among the soldiers. One winter the soldiers got up a theater, the officers eon- tributing toward scenery and dresses. There being a great variety of characters among the soldiers, they got up quite a respectable company which afforded us much amusement. Then we would sometimes make up a party and go a-visiting, but to do so we had to go over 100 miles to Green Bay, Prairie du Chien or Chicago. One visit we made to Chi- cago is very well told by General Marey in Harper's Monthly (Septem- ber, 1869), when we were all taken up on the road for stealing a buffalo robe, for the purpose of filehing money out of us, as they thought we would sooner pay than be detained at a log cabin over night.
BUSINESS TRIPS UNDER DIFFICULTIES
"About the 1st of March, 1835, I got ready to start for New York on horseback, but the only sure way to go was via Galena and thence to Chicago, as there were no roads through the country in any other direction, and if I attempted to cross the country to Milwaukee or
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Chicago, there were no bridges or ferries for crossing the streams. Captain Harris, from Galena, came up to the fort on business, and I gladly embraced the opportunity of accompanying him on his return."
Mr. Merrell made several trips to New York overland to Chicago or Milwaukee, in this round-about way, in order to re-stock his goods, and we regret that the book-space at our disposal does not allow us to draw more liberally upon his interesting reminiscences based upon his wide journeyings.
MERRELL'S ACCOUNT OF THE FAMOUS 1837 TREATY
Mr. Merrell's account of the famous treaty of 1837 by which the Winnebagoes ceded all their lands east of the Mississippi River is close to the text-Columbia County-and is well worthy of quotation. He says : "Governor Dodge, being in Portage in 1837, invited the Winne- bagoes to send a delegation to visit their Great Father at Washington. Suspicious of a purpose to obtain their lands, they asked 'What for- to make a treaty ?' The Governor evaded the point, suggesting that they could get acquainted with their Great Father and obtain presents, and after much persuasion it was agreed to send a delegation-Yellow Thunder and two other chiefs, the others being young men, generally sons of chiefs. Satterlee Clark accompanied them as one of the con- ductors.
"As soon as they reached Washington they were beset to hold a treaty and cede their lands to the Government. They finally decided, saying they had no authority for any such purpose; that the most of their chiefs were at home, who alone could enter into such a negotiation. Every influence was brought to bear upon them, and they began to get uneasy lest winter should set in and prevent their returning home. They were without means to defray their expenses back, and those managing Indian matters at Washington availed themselves of the necessities of the delegation, keeping them there and urging them to enter into a treaty.
"At length they yielded not their judgments, but to the pressure brought to bear upon them and, while reluctantly signing the treaty, yet all the while stoutly protesting against having any show of authority to do so. The treaty, as they were informed, permitted them to remain in the peaceful occupancy of the ceded lands eight years, when, in fact, it was only that number of months; and as each went forward to attach his name, or rather mark, to the treaty, he would repeat what he understood as to the time they were to remain, 'eight years.' And
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thus the poor red men were deceived and outwitted by those who ought to have been their wards and protectors.
"One of the young men, son of a prominent chief, dared not, on his return home, visit his father for a long time. The whole nation felt that they had been outraged, and forced to leave their native homes. Yellow Thunder declared he would never go-that he would leave his bones in Wisconsin; but he was invited, with young Black Wolf, into Fort Winnebago, on pretence of holding a council, when the gates were treacherously closed upon them, and they and many others were con- veyed by the United States troops beyond the Mississippi. But Yellow Thunder got back sooner than the soldiers who forced him away. Then he induced John T. De La Ronde to accompany him to the land office at Mineral Point and enter forty acres of land in his behalf on the west side of the Wisconsin about eight miles above Portage. At the land office inquiry was made if Indians would be permitted to enter land. 'Yes,' was the reply, 'Government has given no orders to the contrary.' So Yellow Thunder, the head war chief of his people, secured a home- stead on which he settled, declaring that he was going to be a white man." And there the sturdy chief quietly passed the remainder of his long life until 1874. He lived to see the last forced march of any considerable band of his people to their lands beyond the Mississippi.
TRIPS MORE OR LESS EXCITING
In 1839 Mr. Merrell's duties as postmaster at the agency house were varied by an exciting trip down the Wisconsin and Mississippi in charge of a lumber fleet. A less blood-curdling and laborious task fell to him, the next year-the taking of the census of a large district under the United States marshal. After considerable travel in the Chippewa region of northern Wisconsin he found an incompleted mill with a few employees, near what is now Wausau, whom he duly recorded, when his enumeration ceased. But the shooting down the Wisconsin, over rapids and through gorges, before he again reached the portage was compensation for any disappointment which he might have felt as to paucity of population in his territory.
MERRELL IN POLITICS
"Judge David Irvin," continnes Mr. Merrell, "was to hold court at the portage, I think, in 1841 or 1842. He sent me an appointment as clerk of the court, and as there was no time to lose, requested me to go to Columbus and have a jury list made out and placed in the hands
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of the sheriff. I did so, and the judge held the first court in this county (then Portage) at the Franklin House, kept by Captain Low-after which I resigned.
"In 1848 I was elected state senator in the Second District, which embraced all that part of the state north of Dane County to Lake Superior, and including Sauk, Marquette, Green Lake and Portage counties, since divided into eight or ten districts. I was elected as the whig candidate over the Hon. James T. Lewis, the democratic nominee. In the senate there were but three whigs. I served during this, the first session under the Constitution, which met at Madison on the 5th day of June, 1848, and during the next session, which met on the 10th day of January, 1849. During these two sessions there was an immense deal of work done in organizing the state, revising the statutes, etc."
SATTERLEE CLARK'S PERILOUS JOURNEY
Satterlee Clark and Peter Pauquette acted as scouts during the Winnebago war, and the former played perhaps the most important part in securing the troops from General Atkinson, the chief officer in command, which perhaps averted a massacre of the thirty men remain- ing in Fort Winnebago, with several women and children. Mr. Clark's account of his adventures is simple and graphic : "In 1831, in viola- tion of a treaty stipulation, the Sauk and Fox Indians, under Black Hawk and the Prophet, crossed the Mississippi into Illinois. Black Hawk was a Fox Indian and the Prophet was a Winnebago, who, with a small band, became discontented and left the Winnebagoes, joining the Sauk and Fox tribes among whom they had intermarried. General Atkinson was ordered to remove them. They offered to go back and remain for 60,000 bushels of corn, and as corn was only five cents a bushel he gave it to them and they retired.
"The following summer, thinking to get 60,000 bushels of corn quite easily, they again crossed the river and again General Atkinson was ordered to remove them. Instead of buying corn of them, he ordered all of the available troops into the field, and the President ordered out the Illinois militia under the command of General Henry and General Alexander, all under the command of General Atkinson. The Indians started up Fox River pursued by the troops, committing occasional depredations as they went along. After they got into Wisconsin the troops lost track of them, and General Atkinson continued up Rock River to where the village of Fort Atkinson stands, where he established his headquarters and built a temporary fort.
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BLACK HAWK THREATENS FORT WINNEBAGO
"In the meantime Black Hawk, learning from the Winnebagoes, who also promised to assist him, that only thirty men remained at Fort Winnebago, determined to burn it and massacre its inmates. They accordingly came and encamped on the Fox River about four miles above Swan Lake and about eight miles from the fort. Every possible means that could be devised was adopted to protect the fort and save the lives of the inhabitants, most of whom were women and children ; but after all had been done that was possible the commanding officer concluded that without reenforcements we would be lost, and determined to send to General Atkinson for troops. I was selected for that duty for several reasons; among which was my thorough acquaintance with the country, and another was the probability that the Winnegaboes would not harm me.
CLARK SENT FOR REENFORCEMENTS 1
"Every day some Winnebago would come to me and advise me to go at night and stay in his wigwam, where, he said, I would be safe. At 9 o'clock at night I left the fort with many a 'God speed you,' armed with a small Ruggles rifle, my dispatches, a tomahawk and a bowie-knife. I crossed the Fox River at a shallow point just above where the publie stables used to stand, and keeping the Indian trail that led from there to White Crow's village on Lake Kosh-ko-nong on my right, I traveled rapidly all night, walking up hill and running down hill and on a level. I struck the trail several times during the night, but left it immediately, as I feared that some Indians might be encamped upon it whose dogs would discover me before I would dis- cover them. I arrived safely at the fort (Atkinson) at half past 11 o'clock in the forenoon, and delivered my dispatches to General Atkin- son, who sent 3,000 men at once to relieve Fort Winnebago.
ON RETURN OVERTAKES MOUNTED MILITIA
"I slept till 4 o'clock in the afternoon and then started on my return, following the trail of the mounted militia for twelve miles, when I passed them and reached the head of a stream that used to be called Rowan's Creek, about twelve miles from the fort, shortly before daylight ; and fearing to go further till night, I erawled into some brush and went to sleep.
"As soon as it was dark, I left my hiding place and returned to
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the fort as near as possible by the route I left it, arriving between 10 and 11 o'clock P. M. I reported that the troops were on the way and would arrive next evening. We kept close watch all that night and at 4 o'clock P. M. next day the troops arrived. It may surprise some of my readers that I should travel so rapidly, and the mounted troops should be so long on the road. But you must recollect the marshes were very wet at that time, that the whole country was a wilderness, and that when I jumped into a stream and waded through or walked across the marsh the troops had to build bridges and causeways.
"The war would have been ended in two days if the militia had been in condition to follow the Indians; but the horses needed food and rest, rations had to be issued to the men, many of them had not a change of underclothing, and it was absolutely necessary to wait at least one day at the fort.
FATAL STAMPEDE OF TROOPERS' HORSES
"The second night the horses took fright (probably at some Winne- bago Indians), and there was a- regular stampede. Several hundred started with a noise like thunder, running so close together that when one was so unfortunate as to face a tree he was either killed or so badly injured as to be unable to proceed, and was run over by the whole drove. Between the bank of the Wisconsin and the point of land be- tween there and the fort, thirty-seven horses were found dead. They took the trail they came on and ran to the prairie, a distance of about sixteen miles. Over sixty horses were killed, and it was late next day before those recovered were brought back. This, of course, occasioned another delay, and it was not till the fifth day that they left the fort iu pursuit of the Indians.
"BATTLE" OF THE WISCONSIN
"The enemy, in the meantime, went to the Four Lakes. where, as I learned later, they were advised to cross the Wisconsin and the Missis- sippi as soon as possible. A few reliable Winnebagoes, under Peter Panqnette and myself, were secured for scouts. We had no difficulty in following their trail and gained upon them rapidly, overtaking them on the bank of the Wisconsin about twenty-five miles below, where the battle of the Wisconsin was fought.
"That battle made many heroes, and so it should. About one hun- dred and twenty-five half-starved Indians defended the pass against nearly three thousand whites, while the remainder of the Indians, in
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plain sight, were crossing the Wisconsin with the women and children, and as soon as these were safe the Indians broke and ran. Then came the struggle for scalps. Every man who could run started down the hill at top speed, my Indian scouts and myself far ahead of the militia, and I was about thirty feet ahead of all. Just as I commenced raising the hill on the other side of the valley, Pauqnette passed me on horse- back, and as he went by I caught his horse by the tail and held on till we reached the top of the hill, where we found four dead Indians. Pauquette took one scalp, I took one, and the Indian scouts took the other two.
"The Indians lost four killed all told and the whites, one. This ended the battle of the Wisconsin about which so much has been written.
END OF THE BLACK HAWK WAR
"The Indians traveled as fast as possible to the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Bad Axe River. I went home. Shortly after Capt. Alexander Johnston was ordered to take command of the regular troops, endeavor to intercept the Indians and prevent their crossing the Missis- sippi. A steamboat was sent up the Mississippi from Fort Crawford, commanded by Jefferson Davis. He drove the Indians back, and they were all killed or taken prisoners except Black Hawk and the Prophet, with their families, who crossed the river before the steamboat arrived.
"Gen. Winfield Scott offered a reward of $2,000 for the capture of Black Hawk and the Prophet, which was earned by a Winnebago called Little Thunder. All were then taken to Rock Island, where General Scott had established his headquarters. From there the leaders were taken to all the large cities of the country, to show them how impossible it was for them to wage successful war against the whites.
"That ended the Black Hawk war."
DE LA RONDE MAKES THE PORTAGE IN 1828
John T. De La Ronde, an educated Frenchman and in his youth and early manhood agent for the Northwest Fur Company, as well as for its snecessor, the Hudson Bay Company, crossed over to the American side of the line when he was about twenty-six years of age, became acquainted with some of the men connected with the American Fur Company at Mackinaw and, in quest of adventure, finally made the portage May 29, 1828. At the time he reached that place in his little bark canoe, he found the log house and barn occupied by Pauquette and family as the trading post of the Astor concern, but its agent was
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absent in Washington on treaty business, acting as interpreter for the Winnebagoes. The post was erected almost opposite to where the mill was subsequently built on the Fox River. Then there were the agency house and two log cabins occupied by half breeds, and on the east side of the river, where the fort was afterward built, the Le Roy house.
THE NOTED INDIAN FAMILY, DE-KAU-RY (DE KORRA)
At the western end of the portage a warehouse was built, and three houses in which resided the Grignons-Perrish and Lavoin, father and son-and J. B. Lecuyer, the noted trader and half breed. As to the famons family De Korra, or De-kan-ry, De La Ronde gives the follow- ing information : "De-kan-ry, or Scha-chip-ka-ka, was principal chief of the Winnebagoes, often called by his countrymen Ko-no-koh De- kau-ry, meaning the eldest De-kau-ry. Scha-chip-ka-ka was the son of Chou-ke-ka, called by the whites Spoon De-kau-ry, and was the son of Sabrevoir De Carrie, corrupted into De-kan-ry, an officer of the French army in 1699 under De Broisbriant. He resigned his commission in 1729, became an Indian trader among the Winnebagoes and subse- quently took for wife the head chief's sister named Wa-ho-po-e-kau, or the Glory of the Morning. After living with her seven or eight years he left her and their two sons, whom she refused to let him take away, but permitted him to take their daughter. De Carrie reentered the army and was mortally wounded at Quebec, April 28, 1760, dying of his wounds at the Montreal hospital. His eldest son, Chou-ke-ka (the Spoon, or Ladle), was made a chief and was quite aged when he died at the portage about 1816. At his request he was buried in a sitting posture on the surface of the ground, with a small log structure over the body surrounded by a fence. I saw his burial place in 1828, when the red cedar posts of which the fence was made were yet undecayed. His widow died two miles above Portage in 1868, at a very advanced age. The old chief's sister, who had been taken to Montreal and edu- cated there, was married to Laurent Filly, a Quebec merchant, whose son of the same name was long a clerk for Augustin Grignon.
"Chou-ke-ka was succeeded by his son, Scha-chip-ka-ka, who had six brothers and five sisters. One of the brothers was called Ruch-ka- sha-ka, or White Pigeon, called by the whites Black De-kau-ry; another, Chou-me-ne-ka-ka, or Raisin De-kau-ry; another, Ko-ke-mau-ne-ka, or He-who-walks-between-two-stars, or the Star Walker; another, Yound De-kau-ry, called by the whites, on account of his tricky character, Rascal De-kau-ry; another, Wau-kon-ga-ko, or the Thunder Hearer, and the sixth, Ongs-ka-ka, or White Wolf, who died young. Of the
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sisters, three married Indian husbands; one married a trapper named Dennis De Riviere, and afterward Perrish Grignon; the other married John B. Lecuyer, the father of Madame Le Roy."
DE LA RONDE BECOMES A CALEDONIA FARMER
While making the portage his headquarters De La Ronde took trips to Prairie du Chien and Green Bay, as well as far into the Lake Superior region. In the winter of 1832 he was engaged by the American Fur Company as a clerk, and subsequently participated in the Winnebago war, being accompanied by Peter Pauquette, White Crow, who com- manded a small body of Winnebagoes, and others. When the country became more secure De La Ronde established several trading posts, but tired of this roving life and in the summer of 1838 opened a farm in what is now Caledonia Township, the third in that section of the county.
INDIAN REMOVAL OF 1840
"In 1840," says De La Ronde, "the troops came to Portage to remove the Winnebago. Indians, a part of the Eighth Regiment of In- fantry under command of Colonel Worth, and a part of the Fifth Regiment under General Brooke, with General Atkinson as commander- in-chief. There were three interpreters employed by the Government- Antoine Grignon, Pierre Meneg and myself. Meneg was sent after Yellow Thunder and Black Wolf's son, inviting them to Portage to get provisions; but instead of that as soon as they arrived they were put into the guardhouse with ball and chain, which hurt the feelings of the Indians very much, as they had done no harm to the Govern- ment. The general had understood that they were going to revolt, refusing to emigrate according to treaty stipulations; but as soon as Governor Dodge came here they were released. They all promised faithfully to be at Portage, ready for removal in three days, and they were all there the second day.
"There were two large boats in which to take down such of the Indians as had no canoes. Antoine Grignon and Pierre Meneg went down with the hoats. I was kept here by the order of General Atkin- son at the suggestion of General Brady, to assist the dragoons com- manded by Capt. (Edwin V.) Sumner and Lientenants MeCrate and Steele. We went down to Rock River to look for Mas-i-ma-ni-ka-ka; from there we went to Madison and thence to Fox River. We picked up 250 Indians, men, women and children, and took them down to Prairie du Chien. Before we got there, at the head of Kickapoo River
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we came to three Indian wigwams. The captain directed me to order the Indians to break up their camp and come along with him. Two old women, sisters of Black Wolf, and another one came up, throwing them- selves on their knees, crying and beseeching Captain Sumner to kill them ; that they were old, and would rather die and be buried with their fathers, mothers and children, than be taken away, and that they were ready to receive their death-blows. The captain directed me to go with them and watch them, and we found them on their knees, kissing the ground and crying very loud, where their relatives were buried. This touched the captain's feelings and he exclaimed 'Good God! What harm could those poor Indians do among the rocks ?'"
It might interest the reader to know that the Captain Sumner, whose good heart did him such credit, not only served with credit as a commander of dragoons in the Black Hawk war and elsewhere, but distinguished himself for his bravery and ability as a cavalry officer in the Mexican war and in many Indian campaigns in the Southwest. At one time he was military governor of New Mexico, and during the Civil war, after being three or four times wounded and reaching the rank of major general, through personal bravery and military genius, became so shattered in body that he went to his Syracuse home to die. His death occurred in March, 1863. He is especially identified with the history of Columbia County, in that he was stationed at Fort Winne- bago for several years, and was always considered one of the brightest and most popular of its officers. Y
GRIGNON, OR FRENCH CLAIM NO. 21
Two months before the Indian uprising under Black Hawk a tract of land was conveyed by the general government to Augustin Grignon, son of the Green Bay founder of the family, whose home was at Kau- kauna, near the present Appleton. He was born in 1780 and became famous in the development of the Fox River valley, building its first sawmill and becoming interested in numerous townsites from Green Bay to the portage. He had served in the War of 1812 as a lieutenant in the American army, and was a captain in the Black Hawk war. The land of Mr. Grignon was patented to him by President Andrew Jackson April 26, 1832, and consisted of about 648 acres of the terri- tory embraced by what are now the First ward of the city of Portage and portions of the Second, Third and Fourth wards-in other words, Winnebago Indian lands. The balance of Portage was still Indian territory until 1849, the year of the session of the Menominee lands. The land was generally known as the Grignon Tract, or French Claim
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