USA > Wisconsin > Columbia County > A history of Columbia County, Wisconsin : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests > Part 9
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LIEUTENANT AND MRS. VAN CLEVE
Lieutenant Van Cleve married Charlotte Ouisconsin Clark, daugh- ter of Maj. Nathan Clark, at Fort Winnebago in 1836. As his wife had been born at Fort Crawford in 1819 she was the first girl of pure white parentage born within the present limits of Wisconsin. Her
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father, the major, died at Fort Winnebago and was buried in the old military cemetery, but his hody was subsequently moved to Cincinnati.
Lieutenant Van Cleve went to the front early in the Civil war as colonel of the Second Minnesota. At the Battle of Stone River he was severely wounded, but recovered and served with distinction until the close of the rebellion, leaving the Union service as a major general. Mrs. Van Cleve passed the later years of her long life at Minneapolis, where she died April 1, 1907.
HENRY MERRELL
When Henry Merrell, also a New York merchant, came to Fort Winnebago as a sutler in 1834, he first met Captain Low and Lieuten- ant Van Cleve, and retained their acquaintanceship and friendship for many years. He afterward became agent for the American Fur Com- pany, and was honored with many public positions, serving as the first senator from the district when the state was organized. He died in May, 1876, leaving a large estate. His daughter, Mrs. E. S. Purdy, is still living in Portage; also a son, B. H. Merrell, at Superior, Wis.
SATTERLEE CLARK
Satterlee Clark, so widely known throughout Southern Wisconsin, was appointed a sutler by President Jackson in 1830, but being a minor he could not assume its duties directly. So he passed it over to Oliver Newberry, of Detroit, and became his clerk. Clark was afterward mar- ried at the old Indian agency house to a daughter of Mr. Jones, the regular sutler of Fort Winnebago, amassing wealth by his business abil- ity and gaining broad popularity by his engaging personality. He was for many years a senator from Dodge County.
Lieut. Randolph B. March was on duty at Fort Winnebago in 1837-40; captain in 1846 and in active service during the Mexican war. During the Civil war he was chief of staff under his son-in-law, Gen. George B. McClellan, and in 1861-2 attained the rank of inspector general and brevet brigadier general. In her girlhood, Mrs. McClellan resided at the fort where her father was stationed.
EVACUATED
Orders for the evacuation of Fort Winnebago were issued by the War Department in 1845, the troops being sent to Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, and, in turn, had been ordered to the Gulf pending hostil-
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ities with Mexico. When the evacuation took place the fort was placed in charge of Ordnance Sergeant Van Camp, who looked after it until his death in 1847. William Weir, an old soldier of the fort, then had charge of it until 1853, when it was sold at auction under orders from Jefferson Davis, as secretary of war.
LAST RELIC OF FORT WINNEBAGO
FINAL DISSOLUTION
In March, 1856, a fire destroyed, or seriously damaged, most of the buildings which were then occupied by private families. The reser- vation of nearly 4,000 acres became the property of J. B. Martin and others, of Milwaukee, and subsequently of W. H. Wells, of Fond du Lac, and F. H. Marsten, of Buffalo. In 1869 and 1873, Valentine Hel- mann of Portage bought the eighty acres on the left of the old military road, which contained all the remaining buildings. Afterward Mr. Helmann sold the stone to the Government, its engineers using it in constructing breakwaters along the Wisconsin River, and the brick taken from the massive fireplaces and chimneys of the crumbling struc- tures went into his farm residence. The old commissary building, which was the headquarters of Henry Merrell and other famous sut- lers, was moved and long did service as a barn on the same farm. The last of it was torn down only two years ago. The old well collapsed about twenty-five years ago, and nearly all the buildings which
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remained after Mr. Helmann's wholesale ravages were sold piece-meal to different parties in Portage and the Town of Winnebago. The only old-time structure of the "portage" -- and that was no part of the fort-is the Indian Agency Building occupied by John H. Kinzie and his wife, the lively, pretty and bright author of "Wau-Bun."
OLD INDIAN AGENCY HOUSE, PORTAGE
It is now the farm residence of E. S. Baker, the well known lawyer and citizen of Portage City. He has transformed it into a pleasant and comfortable home, but it is still the historic agency building. Its dimensions are 30x36 feet on the ground, two stories high with attic. The kitchen is 20x24 feet, one and a half stories. The framework is massive, the studding, rafters, joists, sleepers and sills being twice the size of similar material used in buildings of the present. The house was originally surrounded by a circular row of maples and elms, most of which have disappeared.
"The fixtures and furniture left at the fort when it was evacuated," says Turner, "were disposed of at auction or carried away at will, and many a family in the vicinage can boast of some old fort relic. The famous 'Davises' (pieces of furniture made in the fort carpenter shop by Jefferson Davis) could have been found in the inventories of the household effects of some families, and they may be in existence some- where yet. An old sideboard that was in service at the agency, pre- sumably Mrs. Kinzie's, is one of the treasures in the late James Col-
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lins' household, and a bureau and sideboard, which constituted a part of the furniture in one of the officers' quarters is in possession of Mrs. O. P. Williams, as also the old carved wooden eagle that was perched over the main entrance. The eagle is now in the D. A. R. department of the Portage Public Library."
CHAPTER V
PIONEER TRADERS AND CARRIERS
PETER PAUQUETTE-DEATH OF THE FAMOUS TRADER-SHOT BY MAN- ZE-MON-E-KA-INFLAMED BY LIQUOR AND FALSE CHARGES-THE REMAINS OF PAUQUETTE FINALLY LOCATED-THE COMING OF HENRY MERRELL- FORT WINNEBAGO IN 1834-COMMANDANTS AND INDIAN AGENTS -- THE DE KORRAS AND JOSEPH CRELIE-POST AMUSEMENTS BUSINESS TRIPS UNDER DIFFICULTIES-MERRELL'S ACCOUNT OF THE FAMOUS 1837 TREATY-TRIPS MORE OR LESS EXCIT- ING-MERRELL IN POLITICS-SATTERLEE CLARK'S PERILOUS JOURNEY -BLACK HAWK THREATENS FORT WINNEBAGO-CLARK SENT FOR REINFORCEMENTS ON RETURN OVERTAKES MOUNTED MILITIA- FATAL STAMPEDE OF TROOPERS' HORSES-"BATTLE" OF THE WIS- CONSIN-END OF THE BLACK HAWK WAR-DE LA RONDE MAKES THE PORTAGE IN 1828-THE NOTED INDIAN FAMILY, DE-KAU-RY (DE KORRA)-DE LA RONDE BECOMES A CALEDONIA FARMER- INDIAN REMOVAL OF 1840-GRIGNON, OR FRENCH CLAIM NO. 21- L'ECUYER'S GRAVE-THE POST CEMETERY-WISCONSINAPOLIS AND OTHERS LIKE IT.
The traders and carriers at the portage and those connected with the garrison of Fort Winnebago were rather unsettled characters, and cannot therefore be considered as the founders of the stable commu- nities which gradually evolved into what is now known, collectively, as Columbia County. Incidentally, some of the most prominent of these advance couriers have been introduced, and further details of their lives and characteristics are due them before we pass on to stable land owners and the civil and political organization of the county.
PETER PAUQUETTE
Peter Pauquette undoubtedly was one of the most noted and widely known of all the early men claimed by the region of the portage, and
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his tragic death, at the very commencement of the era of secure homes and substantial development, makes his life especially significant. He was the son of a French father and a Winnebago mother, born at St. Louis in 1796 and married there in 1818 to Theresa Crelie, daughter of a Canadian half-breed, "Old Crelie," and a nameless mother, a half-breed Sac. Pauquette was therefore quite a mixture of red and white blood, which, coupled with his fearlessness, wonderful strength and absolute honesty, gave him popularity and standing with trader, Indian and Government. At the date of his marriage in Prairie du Chien, when twenty-two years of age, he was in the employ of the American Fur Company, and later became one of the best known inter- preters in Wisconsin. He acted in that capacity at the treaties with the Winnebagoes at Prairie du Chien in 1825, Green Bay in 1828, and Rock Island in 1832. In the year last mentioned he was active in rais- ing a party of Winnebagoes to unite with the Americans against Black Hawk. After the war he was engaged permanently as a trader at the portage, representing the American Fur Company as its agent. Previous to that time, although his headquarters had been at the port- age for several years, he had been much occupied in different parts of the state as an interpreter, and upon several occasions his duties had called him to Washington.
A son and a daughter were born to Pauquette while he lived at the portage and both resided in the vicinity for many years, respected and popular. The daughter Theresa, who was twice married, was at last accounts living in Caledonia, having passed her eightieth birth- day. She retained pleasant memories of the visits to her father's place made by Lieutenant Davis and Captain Low.
DEATH OF THE FAMOUS TRADER
It was while acting as interpreter for Governor Dodge in his nego- tiations with the Winnebagoes for a further cession of their lands that the events occurred which led to his assassination by an enraged Indian, who claimed that Pauquette had acted treacherously. Pau- quette was shot to death by the Winnebago, son of Whirling Thunder, a prominent chief, on the night of October 17, 1836, near the little Catholic Church in the present city of Portage. At the time of his death he was living across the river on the Judge Barden farm.
Various accounts have been written of Pauquette's death, the most authentic being those by John de La Ronde, the widely known French Canadian fur trader who afterward settled in Caledonia, and Satter- lee Clark, the Fort Winnebago sutler. From the former we quote:
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"On the 17th of October, 1836, Governor Dodge came to Portage to hold a council with the Indians. Peter Pauquette acted as interpreter. The result of the council was advising the Winnebagoes to sell their lands east of the Mississippi. The Indians could not agree, and the matter was postponed until the next year. A treaty for the sale of the land was abandoned, they preferring an annuity. Peter Pauquette demanded for them twenty-one boxes of money-$21,000-declaring that that was the amount due him from the Indians for goods and pro- visions advanced to them.
"Man-ze-mon-e-ka, a son of one of the chiefs of the Rock river band, residing a mile or two above the present locality of Watertown, named Wau-kon-ge-we-ka or Whirling Thunder (One-who-walks-on- the-iron), objected on the ground that he belonged to the Rock river band and had received no provisions or goods from Pauquette, desir- ing that the money should be divided between the several bands; then those who were indebted to Pauquette might pay him if they chose. As for himself, or his band, they had their own debts to pay to the traders at Rock river. The result was that the council dissolved with- out coming to a decision.
"Pauquette crossed the Wisconsin, going to a saloon where Carpen- ter's house now stands, and there indulged in drink. Man-ze-mon-e-ka, who had spoken so frankly in the council, also happened there, when Pauquette whipped him. I came there at the time and, with the help of others, rescued the Indian from Pauquette. The chief retired to the other end of the portage, near where the house of Henry Merrell once stood on the Fox river. Pauquette followed him there and whipped him again. Satterlee Clark and I took the Indian away from him again, who was by this time badly bruised. He went home, which was near where Armstrong's brickyard now is, and Pauquette went to the old post of the American Fur Company near the grist mill. While on his way home, between one and two o'clock in the morning, he stopped at my place. I was then living at the house which used to belong to Francis Leroy. I did all that I could to persuade him to stay with me that night, seeing that he was under the influence of liquor, but he would go on; his brother-in-law, Touissant St. Huge, and William Powell from Green Lake, were with him. There were some Indians drinking at the house of Paul Grignon-the same house now used for a stable by O. P. Williams. Among these Indians were Black Wolf and his son, Rascal De-kau-ry. the Elk, Big Thunder and others.
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SHOT BY MAN-ZE-MON-E-KA
"When Pauquette arrived there, he whipped Black Wolf, and Ras- cal De-kau-ry ran away north from where they were, right in the direc- tion of the lodge of Man-ze-mon-e-ka whom Pauquette had beaten the preceding day. On arriving at the chief's cabin, he informed him that Pauquette was coming to whip him again. Man-ze-mon-e-ka emerged from his lodge and told Pauquette very pointedly not to come any further; that he had whipped him twice the day before without a cause and if he advanced another step he was a dead man. Pauquette, putting his hand to his breast, said 'Fire, if you are brave,' when Man-ze-mon-e-ka shot and Pauquette fell.
"William Powell was close to Pauquette at the time, and as soon as I heard the report of the gun I ran for the spot as fast as I could. It was close to where I was living. I met Powell running toward the fort, and asked him what was the matter; but he was going so fast that he did not hear me. I went where Pauquette was, took his hand which was warm, and told him if he knew me to press my hand. But he was dead. The ball had passed through his heart.
"Old Crelie, father-in-law to Pauquette, wanted to carry him home, but I would not allow him to touch him until the jury came. William Powell arrived there with Lieutenant Hooe, Sergeant Pollinger, ten private soldiers, Satterlee Clark and, I believe, Henry Merrell. Lieu- tenant Hooe refused to go into the lodge to take the Indian; the chief, White French, went and brought him out, when they took him across in a scow, the body of Pauquette also being taken over.
"They asked Man-ze-mon-e-ka if he shot Pauquette, which he frankly acknowledged. I really believe he thought he was going to be killed on the spot, as he sang his death song. He was taken to the garrison, kept in strict confinement and afterward conveyed to Green Bay, where he was tried by regular authority and finally acquitted, it being deter- mined on a second trial that he had killed Pauquette in self-defense."
Both De La Ronde and Clark assert that Pauquette was not addicted to drink, and the latter says : "His death can safely be attributed to intoxication, though it was the first time I ever knew or heard of his being in that condition." But from their accounts, as well as the narra- tive of Henry Merrell, he lost his usual good temper over the criticisms made by the traders as to the part he had taken at the council, especially taking umbrage at the charges of misconduct made by the Grignons.
Henry Merrell put the matter thus: "The governor proposed to make a treaty with them (the Winnebagoes) and buy their country between the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers. After they had counseled
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for some days they refused to sell. It was generally supposed that they would act as Pauquette advised them. Therefore the story was raised that Pauquette had advised them not to sell, and that he had not in- terpreted truly; which came to the ears of Pauquette, and he said it was untrue. He told me the chiefs asked his advice, but he told them that he would not advise them, for he did not know anything about the country the government wanted them to go to; and therefore they must make up their own minds about it.
"The traders and half-breeds, all the way from Prairie du Chien to Green Bay, were assembled here, and it was supposed that many of them, if not most of them, wanted the Indians to form a treaty, so they could get money by it. As it was thought that Pauquette had as much influence with the nation as a king, he was courted as well as feared by all; therefore every man of them wanted to court his favor, and would treat him and urge him to drink. The consequence was that after get- ting through interpreting and settling up with Governor Dodge, which was the latter part of the third day, he drank too much-the first time I ever saw him under the influence of liquor. * *
INFLAMED BY LIQUOR AND FALSE CHARGES
Thus primed with liquor. his naturally peaceful nature stirred both by this unwonted stimulant and the charges made against his honor, the giant Panquette raged like an aroused lion. He sought out the Grignons, the chief instigators of the charges against him, and one of them barely escaped from the infuriated man. The same day he com- meneed his abuse of the Indian chiefs, and the next met his death at the hands of Man-ze-mon-e-ka.
THE REMAINS OF PAUQUETTE FINALLY LOCATED
"There has been some doubt," says Satterlee Clark, writing many years ago, "as to where Mr. Pauquette was buried, and I will state what I know of his burial. In the first instance, while he did not claim to belong to any religious denomination, his wife being a Catholic he built a small church near the center of what is now Portage City. At his death I assisted to bury his remains under the floor of this church. Subsequently the church was burned, and still later, while I was living at Green Lake, I received a summons to come up and point out the grave, some of his friends being desirous to remove his body. I came up and found the locality without any difficulty, but never heard whether
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he was removed, or, if so, where. At that time Portage City had been surveyed and his grave was in the middle of a street."
The sequel to Mr. Clark's story was revealed nearly seventy years after Pauquette's death. On August 19, 1904, workmen were engaged in excavating the cellar of the new Baptist parsonage, Conant and Adams streets, when they scattered a pile of decayed wood, a crumbling skeleton of unusually large proportions, some metal handles and a metal plate, the last named bearing the plain inscription "Peter Pauquette, died 10 Octbr. 1836, aged 41 years."
The relics of the famous trader and interpreter were uncovered about twenty-five feet from Adams Street and twice that distance from the rear of the Baptist Church, which then stood on the old Catholic property. The little log church which Pauquette had erected a few years before his death was destroyed by fire about 1840. His grave was then surrounded by quite an elaborate palisade, which stood until it became necessary to remove his remains to the spot where they were found in 1904. For some unexplained reason this location appears to have been lost, although a tree was planted in 1903 marking the spot (near the Adam Eulberg residence) where Pauquette was killed by Man-ze-mon-e-ka.
When Pauquette's remains were brought to light, as recorded, his aged daughter, Theresa, was immediately notified and she promptly journeyed from her Caledonia home to Portage city to transfer them to sacred ground. The next day, August 20, 1904, they were once more consigned to mother earth in the Catholic cemetery of St. Mary's. This daughter is still living at the old home in Caledonia.
On a window casement of the Baptist parsonage is also affixed a tablet bearing this inscription : "Pierre Pauquette, 1795-1836; removed to Catholic cemetery, 1904; placed by the Golden Gossip Club." The tablet marks the spot where for many years reposed the remains of the famous pioneer; as near as may be, it marks the head of Pauquette's casket.
THE COMING OF HENRY MERRELL
Henry Merrell, one of Pauquette's most intimate friends, upon the advice of some army officers who had visited the portage, came to Fort Winnebago to engage in business as a sutler. This was in 1834. Pass- ing over the details of the progress of his goods and himself from his home in Sacket's Harbor to the "jumping off place" at the portage, in the wild and woolly West, he finally arrived at Green Bay (via Detroit) on June 7th and contracted with Alexander and Samuel Irwin
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to transport his goods to Fort Winnebago in Durham boats. In order to do so it was necessary for them to assemble a large number of Indians at the rapids; then reloading and poling them up to the Grand Chute where Appleton is now situated. There they had to unload and carry the goods up a hill and down the other side above the chute, which was a perpendicular fall of three or four feet. The Indians would wade in, as many as could stand around the boat, and lift it over, while others had a long cordelle, with a turn around a tree above, taking up the slack and pulling as much as they could. When the boats were over, they were reloaded and then pushed ahead and poled from there to Fort Winnebago. Excepting in low water they would have to make half loads over the Winnebago rapids at Neenah and, with a fair wind, would sail through Lake Winnebago.
"This was the manner of transportation on Fox River at that time, taking from fifteen to eighteen days to reach Fort Winnebago."
Mr. Merrell engaged Hamilton Arnt as a guide and the two rode overland, following Indian trails up the Fox valley toward their desti- nation. He says: "We passed over some fine prairies. In many places they looked like cultivated fields. We would see an orchard in the dis- tance, and before I knew it I was frequently looking for the house, not realizing that there was none from fifteen to twenty miles of us. We arrived at Mr. Pauquette's farm at Belle Fountaine on the 27th, and got a fine dinner of fried venison, and from here to Fort Winnebago there was a good carriage road of twelve miles. At the fort I met Lieutenant Lacey, quartermaster and commissary, who received me cor- dially and said he had a bed at my disposal, as his wife was absent. He accompanied me in calling upon the commanding officer, Colonel (Enos) Cutler and his lady, with whom I was acquainted. The Colonel said the store should be ready by the time my goods got there. I also met Lients. Van Cleve, Johnston, Collinsworth, Ruggles, Hooe and Read, together with Surgeon MeDougall. Captains Low, Clark and Plympton were absent at this time. Dr. L. Foot arrived in the fall. Out of thirty-six days the Colonel told me they had had rain, more or less, thirty-one days.
"I found Burley Follett, Daniel Bushnell and Satterlee Clark, Jr., in charge of the sutler's store, as agents of Oliver Newberry, of Detroit, for whom they were carrying on the business. Captain (Robert A.) MeCabe, postmaster and Indian agent, was living in the agency house across the river ; a fine, jolly man, I found him.
"My goods arrived on the 1st of July, six weeks from New York. How was that for speed? July 2nd Captain Low arrived at Duek Creek, four miles from the fort, with his wife and two daughters in a
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carriage, and sent up word for men to help them across. So the Colonel sent twenty men to help them across Duck Creek marsh, and they ar- rived safe at the fort.
FORT WINNEBAGO IN 1834
"This fort is situated on a beautiful plateau forty or fifty feet above the Fox River, on the east side of it and of the portage, the river forming an ox-bow around it on three sides. The grounds about the buildings embraced ten or fifteen acres, with a substantial board fence. The fort buildings were inclosed with an ornamental picket fence in a circular form, with walks graded and kept in perfect form, with the rest of the grounds, and altogether it was a delightful place. The portage is low ground one and a half miles across to the Wisconsin River, over which they haul boats. Peter, or Pierre Pauquette, a half- breed Indian trader, kept fifteen or twenty yoke of oxen to haul boats across from one river to the other, and finally had large wheels mounted on which to convey the boats. As the American Fur Company sent all its furs from Prairie du Chien this way to Mackinaw, there were many boats that crossed the portage.
COMMANDANTS AND INDIAN AGENTS
"At this time there were no white American inhabitants outside the fort except the Indian agent, Captain MeCabe, who had a shock of palsy and left in August, when I was appointed postmaster in his stead, which office I held for twelve years. After he left, the commanding officer at the fort was ordered to perform the duties of Indian agent, and after that there was no other agent at this point, except for a few months, when Thomas A. B. Boyd was stationed here as sub-agent. Colonel Cutler commanded until May, 1835, when he was ordered to New York and Maj. Nathan Clark succeeded him, who died at this post. Maj. John Green took the command in October, 1835, Maj. W. V. Cobbs succeeding him in 1838, he being disabled with palsy. Captain Low was the chief officer for a short time, when Colonel (James S.) McIntosh succeeded him in 1840. The garrison was finally reduced to one com- pany, with Lieut. F. S. Mumford in command.
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