USA > Wisconsin > An illustrated history of Wisconsin from prehistoric to present periods : the story of the state interspersed with realistic and romantic events > Part 15
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panied by his wife, and bringing a present of dried meat. He again expressed his fears concerning the numerous Indians around the fort, and earnestly urged Henry to depart with him for the Sault, stating as a reason that all the Indians intended to come in a body that day to the fort and demand liquor from the commandant, and that he wished to be gone before the Indians became intoxicated. Upon Henry's failing to comprehend the numerous hints, through the figurative speech of his Indian brother, and upon declining to go with him, Wa-wa-tam and his wife departed with dejected countenances, alone, after each had expressed their bitter disappointment.
The next day, the 4th of June, was the birthday of King George III., made more memorable as the day on which the fort was surprised by stratagem, contrived by the restless and sagacious Pontiac, though he himself was near Detroit. In order to honor the occasion, and add to the festivities, it was proposed that an Indian ball play, called bagga- tiway, should be played between the Chippewas and Sacs, for a large wager, and in order to make the game more exciting Major Ethering- ton, the commandant, was to bet on the side of the Chippewas. Mr. Henry at this time expostulated with the commandant, and suggested that the Indians might have some sinister object in view. His caution and advice, however, were alike disregarded. The game of le-jeu-de-la crosse, or baggatiway, is played with bat and ball, two posts being planted in the ground, each about a mile apart, each party having its post. The object is with a bat to propel the ball, which is placed in the center, toward the post of the adversary. During the contest, if the ball cannot be driven to the desired goal, it is struck in any direc- tion by which it can be diverted from the direction designed by the opposite party. In order to view this exciting game, Major Ethering- ton and most of the garrison were outside of the palisades. This cele- brated ball game soon developed the stratagem of the Indians, which resulted in the slaughter of the garrison. The ball game now opened, with the usual display of Indian hilarity, which was vastly appreciated by the British visitors from the garrison. Shortly, the ardor of the game became so great that the ball was batted over the pickets, and into the grounds of the fort, which occasioned the immediate and promiscuous rushing of the Indians within the palisades of the fort, in pursuit of the ball. In an instant, the great transformation scene burst forth with all its fury.
Hardly were the Indians within the palisades, ere the war yells were heard, and the Indians were seen furiously cutting down and scalp- ing every Englishman within reach. Within a few moments heaps of dead and dying lay within and without the fort, scalped and mangled; while the dying were shrieking and writhing under the tomahawk and scalping-knives. The infuriated Indians then drank the blood of their
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
victims, from the hollows of their hands, amidst demoniac yells .* No less than seventy soldiers, together with Lieutenant Jemette, had been killed, while but twenty Englishmen, including the soldiers, were still alive. t
Those who escaped the general slaughter were within the fort, together with nearly three hundred Canadians, who belonged to the canoes. The Canadians around the fort at the time of the massacre did not oppose the Indians, nor did any of them get injured in the general slaughter.
The Green Bay fort had received an English garrison in 1761, con- sisting of seventeen men, under the command of Lieutenant Gorrell. The garrison of Green Bay was saved from the fate of Michilimackinac, through the prudent conduct of the commandant, who had secured the good will of all the surrounding Indian tribes. This fort was abandoned by orders of Major Etherington. The garrison, with Lieutenant Gor- rell, was, upon its abandonment, escorted by a band of friendly Menom- onees to L'Arbre Croche, where they joined Major Etherington and the remnant of his command, who were still detained as prisoners. On the 18th of July they were liberated, and the whole party reached Mon- treal about the middle of August, by way of the Ottawa river.
While Pontiac's plans and orders were being executed in the west, he was near Detroit devising a stratagem by which to get possession of Detroit, the accomplishment of which was only prevented by a gossiping Indian woman. La Mothe Cadillac founded Detroit in 1701. At the close of the French war, the military colony had grown to the number of about twenty-five hundred inhabitants. Within the limits of the set- tlements there were three large Indian villages; one a little below the fort on the west shore of the Detroit river, which at this point was nearly one-half mile wide; this was the village of the Pottawatomies; nearly opposite on the eastern shore were the lodges of the Wyandots, while on the same side, nearly two miles higher up, Pontiac's band of Ottawas had fixed their abode. Detroit was the most important of all the north- western posts, as it commanded an extensive region of navigation and trade upon the upper lakes, and stood almost at the gate of the western waters.
The wily Pontiac well knew that the possession of this post would break the allegiance of the French inhabitants on the river, which was not strongly cemented in favor of their new masters, and form a chain of operations for the savages, from Lake Michigan to Buffalo and Pitts- burgh. Pontiac's forces consisted of two hundred and fifty Ottawas, one hundred and fifty Pottawatomies, fifty Wyandots, two hundred Ojibways under Wasson, and one hundred and seventy under Sekahos, in all eight hundred and twenty warriors. }
*Lanman's Michigan. Henry's Travels.
+Smith's History of Wisconsin, Vol. I., 138.
#Smith's History of Wisconsin, Vol. I., 139.
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WISCONSIN UNDER ENGLISH RULE.
At this time Detroit was garrisoned by one hundred and twenty-two men and eight officers, and commanded by Major Gladwyn, who had succeeded Captain Campbell .*
The cunningly-devised stratagem of Pontiac was to gain admission to the fort for the pretended purpose of holding a council with the com- mandant. His chiefs and a few selected warriors were to accompany him to the conference, with their rifles concealed beneath their blankets, and at a given signal, which was a belt of wampum to be delivered by Pontiac, during the course of his speech, to Major Gladwyn. At this critical moment, the Indians were to open fire on the officers in the council chamber, rush upon the troops, and open the gates of the fort to the warriors on the outside, who were to cooperate with those within. In order to carry his plan into execution, he camped at a short distance from Detroit and, on the 8th day of May, 1763, sent word to Major Gladwyn that he and his chiefs were desirous of holding a council with him, in order to "brighten the chain of peace." Major Gladwyn appointed the next day for the council meeting. In the meantime, Pontiac had his warriors file off their gun-barrels, so as to readily conceal them under their blankets.
It was during the evening of the 8th of May, that an Indian woman, who had been making moccasins for Major Gladwyn, brought to him her work, and by her unwillingness to depart from the fort, excited the curiosity of Major Gladwyn, who called the woman to him and asked her the object of her strange conduct. The Indian woman, feeling grateful to the major for his kindness to her, disclosed to him the details of Pontiac's stratagem, and how he desired to surprise the fort and massacre the garrison. The woman was assured of her safety, and a reward promised her for her fidelity, then permitted to depart. On the following day, at ten o'clock, Pontiac and his selected warriors, with their weapons concealed beneath their blankets, were admitted to the grounds of the fort and conducted to the council room by Major Glad- wyn, who had taken the necessary precaution to frustrate the Indian strategem. When Pontiac, in the course of his speech, arrived at that point when the belt of wampum should be delivered, Major Gladwyn and his officers half drew their swords, while the soldiers within and without the council room made a "martial clatter with their fire- arms." This so disconcerted Pontiac that his signal of attack was not given, while his chiefs and warriors looked at each other with amaze- ment. Major Gladwyn then addressed Pontiac, and reproached him for his premeditated treachery, and informed him that the English could not be surprised by the Indians, as they had knowledge of all things. While Pontiac was attempting to deny the charge of treachery, Major Gladwyn raised the blanket of the warrior next to him, and exposed the hidden rifle with its shortened barrel. The council was then broken up,
*Cass's Discourse.
I26
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
and Pontiac and his chiefs left the fort. As soon as safely out of the palisades, they instantly set up their yells of defiance and fired at the stockades.
The savages now stationed themselves behind the buildings, which were scattered outside the pickets, and from these places kept up a con- tinual fire on the British within the grounds and fortifications. The fort was now regularly invested, and Pontiac demanded the British to sur- render it; to lay down their arms and march out, as the French had pre- viously done. Upon the English refusing to surrender, Pontiac renewed his attacks with increased vigor, and so persistent were they that, for weeks, neither the officers nor men within the fort were allowed to take off their clothes to sleep, being almost constantly engaged about the ramparts. Every Indian stratagem that was possible was devised and put into operation to take the fort, while small detachments scoured the country in every direction and intercepted all aid intended for the garri- son. The strong detachment sent from Niagara for the relief of the fort was entirely cut off, while the provisions, arms, and ammunition which they brought were captured by the Indians. Floating fire-rafts were also constructed and sent against two English vessels lying in the river, which were only saved from the flames with the greatest difficulty. Scenes of unparalleled barbarity were daily perpetrated in the vicinity of the fort, and it was a matter of frequent occurrence for the garrison to see the dead and mangled bodies of their countrymen floating past, as every family and individual in the neighborhood, without the palisades, were murdered in a horrible manner, and their habitations destroyed by fire.
In July, Captain Dalyell, with a reinforcement of three hundred and sixty regular troops, arrived in safety at the fort from Niagara. These reinforcements arrived on the 29th of July, and in the evening of the 30th, a sortie was made by two hundred and forty-seven chosen men from the fort, commanded by Captain Dalyell, against the Indian forti- fications, about a mile from the fort. They were met by a concealed fire from the Indian breastworks, which was accompanied by a furious assault, and notwithstanding the bravery and resistance of the troops, and their determined charge against unforeseen foes, in the darkness of the night, they were compelled to retire to the fort, fighting their way as they retreated.
During this short contest nineteen men were killed, among whom was Captain Dalyell, while forty-two of the brave soldiers were wounded. In August, some of Pontiac's allies became disheartened by the fruitless length of the siege, and retired to their homes, but Pontiac perseveringly remained, and continued to annoy the garrison until the spring of 1764.
General Bradstreet arrived at Detroit* in the month of June, 1764, with a force of three thousand men, for the purpose of compelling peace,
*The post of Detroit was environed by three rows of pickets forming nearly a square. At each corner and over the gates there were erected blockhouses; and between the houses and pickets there was a circular space, called le chemin du ronde,
I27
WISCONSIN UNDER ENGLISH RULE.
and forming alliances with the various tribes of the northwest. Brad- street had already concluded peace, at Niagara, with twenty-two tribes, eleven of which were northwestern tribes. Upon the arrival of the English forces at Detroit the tribes of Pontiac, with the exception of the Delawares and Shawanese, concluded a treaty of peace. Pontiac, however, took no part in the peace negotiations. The stubborn old chief soon after retired to the Illinois, where, in 1767, he was killed by a Peoria Indian .* The Ottawas, Pottawattamies, and other northern tribes, united to avenge his death, and nearly exterminated the Illinois tribe. t
Captain Jonathan Carver entertained projects and views which, if they had been carried into effect, undoubtedly would have been bene- ficial to the early colonists, as well as the mother country. His ambi- tion was to acquire, by close observation and exploration, an accurate knowledge of the vast territory in the northwest which had so recently come into the hands of Great Britain. He proposed to correct all inac- curate maps and charts of the country, and gain a knowledge of the man- ners, customs and language, of the people that inhabited the country west of the Mississippi. He also contemplated ascertaining the breadth of the vast continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in its broadest part, between 43° and 46° north latitude. To accomplish these highly-commendable results, he proposed to assume the character of a trader, as well as traveler. In September, 1765, we find him at the post of Michilimackinac, entering into his great enterprise. At this place he was supplied with the proper assortment of goods by Colonel Rodgers, the commandant, and proceeded by way of Green Bay and the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, to Prairie du Chien, where he arrived on the 15th of October, 1766.
At the time Carver was at Fort La Baye, at the mouth of the Fox river, which was on September 18, 1766, there was no garrison there, nor had it been maintained since its abandonment by Lieutenant Gorrell, in 1763. A few families were living in the fort, while opposite, and on the east side of the river, there were a few French settlers who cultivated the land and lived in comfort.
Carver, while proceeding up the Fox river, arrived at what is now known as Doty's Island, at the east end of Lake Winnebago. Here he
which formed a place of deposit for arms. Anchored on the river, in front of the town, were two armed vessels, one called the Beaver, for the purpose of its defense; and the fort was protected by three mortars, two six-pounders and one three-pounder. These, however, were badly mounted, and seemed to be better calculated to terrify the Indians than for substantial defense. In the limits of the town there were about forty-two traders and persons connected with the fur trade, who were provided with provisions and arms, besides the few families who were settled within the palisade. Most of the houses were inclosed within the pickets, for the purpose of securing them by the pro- tection of the fort, while only a few French farms were scattered along the banks of the river. Cass's Historical Discourse.
*Monette, Vol. I., and authorities.
+Parkman, Lanman, Nicollet. Cited by Smith's History of Wisconsin, Vol. I., 143. ¿Carver's Travels.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
found the great town of the Winnebagoes, over which tribe an Indian queen held the chief power. The island and land adjacent to the lake were exceedingly fertile. The Indians raised great quantities of Indian corn, beans, pumpkins, squash, watermelons, and some tobacco. The Indians treated Carver with the greatest hospitality during the few days he remained with them. Their town at this place contained about fifty houses, strongly built and palisaded. Another town, belonging to the same nation, but smaller, stood about forty miles higher up the river. At this period the Winnebagoes could raise about two hundred warriors. Carver, while going down the Wisconsin river, stopped at the great vil- lage of the Saukies, situated where Prairie du Sac is now located. He extravagantly describes the Indian town as a great mart for furnishing provisions to traders, and that lead was so plentiful that large quantities of it were lying about the streets. He also states that he visited a lead region about fifteen miles to the south, and ascended one of the moun- tains, where he had an excellent view of the surrounding country. This was at the Blue Mounds evidently, as the locality is described with con- siderable accuracy.
On September 3, 1783, the second Treaty of Paris was signed, wherein the United States was acknowledged free, sovereign and inde- pendent.
At the end of the war, which led up to this treaty, England was unwilling to surrender all of the northwest. The Revolutionary War, which followed, was succeeded by Indian disturbances and riots, which were kept up until Wayne's victory of the Fallen Timbers, in 1794 .*
Thirteen years had passed, since the treaty of 1783, before the stars and stripes were raised over Detroit and the adjacent country. This was at last accomplished on the 11th of July, 1796, although some authorities claim that it was not until 1815 that the United States was triumphant, by the Treaty of Ghent.
*Hinsdale's Old Northwest, 184.
-
THE FLAGELLANTS.
FROM CARL MARR'S FAMOUS PAINTING.
Origin of the French Nation,
HISTORICAL NUGGETS, BY CLARK S. MATTESON.
CHAPTER II.
THE Merovingian dynasty* takes its name from its earliest ancestor, Meroveus, the Frankish chief, and grandfather of Clovis. One of our great historians, speaking of the Merovingian kings, says, "save two or three, a little less insignificant, or less hateful than the rest, the Mero- vingian kings deserve only to be forgotten."
We will dispose of this dynasty in the language attributed to Virgil: "Non ragionam di lor, ma quarda e passa."
"Waste we no words on them; one glance, and pass thou on."
THE LOUVRE IN THE 14TH CENTURY.
Upon the death of Clovis, the Frankish kingdom was divided among his four sons,t and thus the Merovingian dynasty commenced only to end in 752, in the insignificant person of Childeric III., who was shorn and put away in the St. Sithiu monastery at St. Omer, and in March,
*Twenty-eight kings reigned during the Merovingian dynasty.
+In A. D. 558, the four kingdoms were consolidated into one.
ORIGIN OF THE FRENCH NATION.
the same year, Pepin was proclaimed king of the Franks by St. Boniface, "With the assent of the general assembly of 'leudes' and bishops at Soissons."
Pepin came of good old Frankish stock. His father was the famous Charles Martel, the Frankish general and warrior, and who was known as the "Savior of the Franks,"* on account of his having organized an army of warriors, Franks, Burgundians, Gauls, Romans and Germans from beyond the Rhine, and who repelled and conquered the Arabs, who had spread over the whole country between the Geronne and the Loire, and into Burgundy.
Charles Martel, though not wearing the crown, was de facto king of the Franks from A. D. 715, up to the time of his death, which occurred on the 22d day of October, A. D. 741.
At a general council of Franks, held at Braine in 754, the Franks, through the influence of Pope Stephen, approved of war against the Lombards, who were continually encroaching on and occupying places in the immediate vicinity of Rome. In the fall of the same year, Pepin and his army marched into Italy and defeated the Lombards, under King Astolphus, who retreated and shut himself up in Pavia, but who, shortly after, through deceptive promises, persuaded Pepin to return home. Scarcely had the Franks crossed the Alps, before the Lombards again commenced to occupy places in the vicinity of Rome; upon which the pope "sent to the king, the chiefs, and the people of the Franks, a letter written, he said, by Peter, Apostle of Jesus, son of the living God, to announce to them that if they came in haste he would aid them, as if he were alive according to the flesh amongst them; that they would con- quer all their enemies, and make themselves sure of eternal life."
Pepin and his army immediately re-crossed the Alps, and in a short time King Astolphus again found himself shut up in Pavia. Astolphus purchased his liberty and permanent peace by recognizing the suprem- acy of the Franks, promising not to make war against the pope or the people of Rome, and by ceding to Pepin, "the towns and all the lands belonging to the jurisdiction of the Roman empire, then occupied by the Lombards."
Pepin then by the famous deed of gift ceded to the pope the Romagna, the Duchy of Urbino, and a portion of the marshes of Ancona, which have since nearly formed the Roman states, " and which founded the temporal independence of the papacy."
This great man did that which none of the Merovingian kings did; he reunited the Franks, and extended and solidified their dominions. He died at St. Denis, September 18, 768, leaving the kingdom to his two sons, Charles and Carloman. Three years later, Carloman died, and the grandees and ecclesiastics assembled at Corbeny, declared Charles (called Charlemagne or Charles I.) sole king of the Franks.t
*Charles Martel, son of Pepin of Héristal, was proclaimed Duke of Austrasia, A. D. 715; another title was also granted him, that of "mayor of the palace."
+Guizot's " History of Civilization in France."
ORIGIN OF THE FRENCH NATION.
Taking all things into consideration, Charlemagne was the greatest of all the great kings that ever sat upon the Frankish, or French throne.
During the greater part of his reign his horse was his throne; yet, he found time to promote education, art, manufacturing, agriculture, and commerce. He also established an academy at the palace, wherein were taught grammar, rhetoric, logic, astronomy, geometry, and theology. He also surrounded himself with more than twenty of the ablest scholars in Europe, who were his constant and confidential advisers. *
CHARLEMAGNE'S SCHOOL OF THE PALACE.
Charlemagne was not only a warrior of steel, and a great general, but he was a wise law-giver, a profound scholar, an able statesman, a conscientious Christian, and one of the greatest promoters of Christi- anity.
His first great military achievement was to subdue and conquer the Saxons. This was in reality a religious war between the Christianity of
*Charlemagne's scholarly associates frequently acted as ambassadors.
ORIGIN OF THE FRENCH NATION.
the Franks and the paganism of the Saxons, the accomplishment of which required more than thirty years of bloody warfare .*
At the same time that Charlemagne was pushing the conquests in Saxony,; he crossed into Italy with an army, and after eight years of warfare, succeeded in subduing the Lombards, under King Didier,¿ who had been invading the dominions of Pope Adrian, and took King Didier home a prisoner, where he was shorn and put into a convent. Charlemagne, having conquered the Lombards, and made a devotee of their king, had his son Pepin anointed king of Italy, in the year 781.
We next find him in Spain, conquering and subduing the Arabs, who were overrunning and devastating the whole country. Then we find him back again in Rome, consulting and advising with Pope Leo, upon matters of state, and upon this occasion he was crowned emperor of Rome, and dubbed Charles Augustus, by Pope Leo, December 25, 800. §
Charlemagne was not a religious bigot, but a man of broad sense, and liberal views, as the following moral precepts will show, which were addressed by him "not to ecclesiastics alone but to the faithful, the Christian people in general."
" Hospitality must be practiced."
"Beware of venerating the names of martyrs, falsely so-called, and the memory of dubious saints."
" Let none suppose that prayer cannot be made to God, save in three tongues, for God is adored in all tongues, and man is heard, if he do but ask for the things that be right."
Aix-la-Chapelle had been for many years the grand political and social center for Charlemagne and his court, and it witnessed in August, 813, the scene of the crowning of Louis, by his father, who declared him co-emperor with him, at the cathedral of Aix-la-chapelle, in presence of the assembled bishops, abbots, grandees and the people, whose assent had been given.
The next year, on Saturday, January 28, 814, Charlemagne died from the effects of a fever contracted while hunting in the forest of Ardenne. He was buried in the church built by himself, and above his tomb was this inscription :
"In this tomb reposeth the body of Charles, great and orthodox emperor, who did gloriously extend the kingdom of the Franks, and did govern it for forty-seven years. He died at the age of seventy years, in the year of the Lord 814."
*Guizot's History of France, Vol. I., 168-173.
+Life of Charlemagne.
#King Didier was the father-in-law of Charlemagne, he married Didier's daughter Desiree, and repudiated and sent her home to her father because she bore him no heir. Charlemagne then married Hildegarde, a Suabian princess.
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