USA > Wisconsin > An illustrated history of Wisconsin from prehistoric to present periods : the story of the state interspersed with realistic and romantic events > Part 19
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The assurance that England gave to her confederates was the send- ing of Governor Simcoe, during the month of April, 1794, to erect a fort at the rapids of the Maumee, within the acknowledged territory of the United States, which was not only built and fortified, but its commander afterwards nearly came to hostilities with General Wayne. General Wayne had been using all exertions to bring an army into the field,
*Smith's History of Wisconsin, Vol. I., 195 ; Perkins', 371.
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qualified to grapple with the British, its Indian allies, and their Spanish sympathizers.
General Wayne's army, having passed the winter of 1792-93 at Legionville, moved down the river in May, 1793, to Fort Washington, where it encamped and engaged in drilling. It was here that General Wayne waited for the result of the pending negotiations between the American commissioners and the Indians, which took place on the 16th of August, at the mouth of the Detroit river. General Wayne received information, from three distinct channels, that the peace negotiations were a failure, and accordingly, on the 7th day of October, with his army,left Cincinnati, and on the 13th encamped at a strong position, selected by him, about six miles in front of Fort Jefferson. This camp he fortified and named Fort Greenville. This place was afterwards noted for the great peace treaty that was concluded there. At Fort Greenville the army wintered, and while there performed the solemn and humane duty of taking possession of the field of St. Clair's defeat. They arrived on this unfortunate spot on Christmas day, and gathered up and buried, it is alleged, six hundred skulls, and when they went to lie down in their tents at night, "we had to scrape the bones together and carry them out, to make our beds,"* said an eye-witness. At this place, Fort Recovery was built and garrisoned.
Previous to Wayne's going into winter-quarters at Greenville, one attack . only had been made by the savages. This was on the 17th of October, when a detachment of ninety men, commanded by Lieutenant Lowry and Ensign Boyd, who were conducting a quantity of military stores, was attacked by a large force of Indians, seven miles from Fort St. Clair. After a severe skirmish, during which both officers were killed, the detachment retreated to Fort St. Clair, leaving thirteen of its dead on the field, and abandoning seventy horses and the stores in twenty-one wagons to the mercy of the Indians.
During the early part of 1794, General Wayne was steadily engaged in making preparations to strike a decisive and effectual blow at the proper time. He organized a spy company, which was very efficient and performed valuable services, keeping him continually informed of the plans and movements of the savages. The British were still encouraging their red friends with the promise of aid and assistance, as appears from the testimony of two Pottawattamies, who were taken prisoners by Captain Gibson, of the spy company, in June, 1794. Their answers to various questions asked them, are as follows: "The British had sent three chiefs-a Delaware, a Shawnee, and a Miami-to invite the Pottawattamies to go to war with the Americans. The British were on their way to war against the Americans: the number of their troops at Roche de Bout, for that purpose, was four hundred, with two pieces of artillery, exclusive of the Detroit militia. They had made a
*Dillon's Indiana, Vol. I., 360; Am. State Papers, Vol. I., 458.
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fortification around Colonel McKee's house, and stores in which they had deposited all their stores of ammunition, arms, clothing and provi- sions, which they promised to supply to all the hostile Indians in abundance. The British troops and militia that will join the Indians to go to war with the Americans will amount to fifteen hundred, agree- ably to the promise of Governor Simcoe, who will command the whole. The British and the Indians will advance against the Americans about the last of this moon, or beginning of next."*
Little Turtle, at the head of one thousand or more warriors, made an assault on the 30th of June, on Fort Recovery, the advanced Ameri- can post, and, although repelled, the assailants repeatedly returned to the charge, and kept up a continual attack the whole of that day and a part of the following. Nor was this attack made without the encourage- ment and assistance of the British, as General Wayne, in his dispatch, says, "that his spies report a great number of white men with the Indians; and that they insist there were a considerable number of armed white men in the rear, who were frequently heard talking in our lan- guage, and encouraging the savages to persevere in the assault; that their faces were generally blacked, except three British officers who were dressed in scarlet, and appeared to be men of great distinction, from being surrounded by a large body of white men and Indians, who were very attentive to them. These kept at a distance in the rear of those that were engaged." In this attack, the American loss was reported at twenty-five killed and missing, together with thirty wounded.
General Wayne was joined at Greenville, on the 26th of July, by General Scott, with sixteen hundred mounted men from Kentucky. The united forces moved forward on the 28th of July and, on the 8th of August, the army was near the junction of the Au Glaize and the Maumee, and proceeded to build Fort Defiance, where the rivers meet. While engaged in this work, Wayne received daily full and accurate accounts of the Indians and their maneuvers; he learned the nature of the ground, the strength of the enemy, as well as the spirit and disposi- tion of his troops, both officers and men, and determined to march for- ward and settle matters at once. On the 13th of August, he sent Christopher Miller, who had been adopted by the Shawnees, and taken prisoner by Wayne's spies, as a special messenger, offering terms of friendship and peace.} Two days later, the troops moved forward, and met Miller returning with a message requesting that the Americans would wait ten days for the Indians to decide for peace or war. Wayne continued his march without regard to the message, and, on the 18th of August, the little army had advanced forty-one miles, and were now in the vicinity of the long looked-for foe. Here they threw up light works, called Fort Deposite, wherein to place their heavy baggage during the
*Am. State Papers, Vol. V., 489.
+Am. State Papers, Vol. I., 490.
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expected battle. Early in the morning of the 20th, the American forces moved down the north bank of the Maumee, with Major Price's bat- talion of volunteers in the advance. When they had proceeded about five miles, Price's forces received a severe fire from a concealed enemy, which compelled them to retreat and form in two lines in a thick woods. The enemy now formed in three lines, within supporting distance of each other, their left flank resting on the river, while the main line extended nearly two miles at right angles, resting in a dense thicket of brushwood. The extended front was intended by the enemy to outflank the left of the American line. General Scott was ordered to advance with trailed arms, drive the Indians from their cover with the bayonet, and when routed, to deliver a well-directed fire upon their backs, and follow it up with a brisk charge. The orders were obeyed with alacrity. The impetuosity of the charge was so great that the Indians and Canadians were driven from cover so rapidly that only a part of the second line of General Scott's mounted battalion could gain their position, in order to take an active part in the battle. The Indians were driven through the thick woods and fallen timbers for a distance of more than two miles, in the course of an hour. The Indian force and their allies was estimated at about two thousand, while the troops under General Wayne, who were actively engaged, did not exceed nine hundred. The woods for a con- siderable distance were strewn with the dead bodies of the Indians and their white allies, the latter being armed with British muskets and bayo- nets. The loss of the American army in this decisive battle was com- paratively small. The total loss of killed and missing, including eleven who died of their wounds, was forty-four. The whole number of wounded was one hundred. This battle was fought in view of the British post, and was the most decisive battle ever fought with the western Indians. The Americans camped for three days on the banks of the Maumee; the troops burned all of the houses, and destroyed all property of every kind belonging to the Indians and Canadians, together with the house and store of the British agent, McKee. General Wayne reconnoitered the fort and defenses, and even advanced with his staff within range of the British guns. This gave rise to the heated corre- spondence between Major Campbell, the British commandant, and General Wayne. General Wayne's name, the "Black Snake," as the Indians called him, became a terror to the western Indians, for they looked upon him as "a chief who never slept, and whom no art could surprise."
The army returned to Fort Defiance, having laid waste all the adjacent country, where it arrived August 27, 1794. The fort defenses having been completed, the line of march was taken up for the Miami villages. At the junction of the St. Joseph and St. Mary rivers, forty- seven miles above Fort Defiance, General Wayne erected another stockade fort, which was completed by the 23d of October, and named Fort Wayne, in honor of the brave commander-in-chief of the expedi-
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tion. The cavalry and a greater portion of the infantry set out, on October 18th, from Fort Wayne to Greenville, and on their way a detachment was left at Loramie's Creek, seventy miles from Fort Wayne, where it erected Fort Loramie. On the 20th of November, the regular troops went into winter-quarters at Greenville.
The campaign of 1794 put a close to the Indian hostilities in the northwest. The spirit and power of the savages had been greatly sub- dued by General Wayne's vigorous campaign; their country had been ravished with fire and sword, their homes and fields destroyed, and their supplies consumed. Numerous chiefs of the various tribes were now inclined to sue for peace, and, within a short length of time, the peace sentiment was almost general among the nations. Contributing to this long-looked-for and desirable result, may be considered the fact that the red men were disappointed at the conduct of their white allies- the British-after their defeat on the 20th of August by General Wayne. Even the old-time British friend, Brant, said a fort had been built in their country with the pretense of giving them a refuge in case of neces- sity, but when that time came, the gates were closed against them as though they were enemies. The fertile fields of the savages having been devastated by Wayne, the savages were wholly dependent on the mercy of the British, who did not half supply them; their cattle and their dogs died, while they themselves were nearly starved. Thus they lost faith in the British, and, by degrees, made up their minds to sue for peace. The savages exchanged prisoners with General Wayne during the winter, and made preparations to meet him, in June, at Greenville.
Peace messengers from the Chippewas, Ottawas, Sacs, Pottawatta- mies, Miamis, Delawares, Wyandots and Shawnees, met at Greenville on the 24th day of January, 1795, and entered into preliminary articles with the commander-in-chief to enter into the great council to be held during the following summer.
At the treaty of Greenville, held on the 3d of August, 1795, there were present 1, 1 30 chiefs and warriors of the several tribes and nations of the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawattamies, Miamis, Weas, Eel Rivers, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws, and Kaskaskias. This great peace document was signed by eighty-four chiefs, represent- ing these various tribes, and by General Wayne, the sole commissioner on the part of the United States. These articles of peace were laid before the United States senate, on December 9th, and were ratified on December 22d, and thus terminated the old Indian wars of the west.
" By the third article of this treaty, certain lands were relinquished to the United States by the Indians, and among them the only portions west of Lake Michigan are : one piece of land six miles square at the mouth of the Chicago river, emptying into the southwest end of Lake Michigan, where a fort formerly stood; one piece twelve miles square at
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or near the mouth of the Illinois river, emptying into the Mississippi ; one piece six miles square at the old Peoria's fort and vil- lage, near the south end of the Illinois lake on said Illinois river."
" By the fourth article of the treaty, in consideration of the cessions and relinquishments aforesaid, the United States relinquished their claims to all other Indian lands northwestward of the river Ohio, east- ward of the Mississippi, and westward and southward of the great lakes, and the waters uniting them, according to the boundary line agreed on by the United States and the king of Great Britain in the treaty of peace made between them in the year 1783. But from this relinquishment was excepted 150,000 acres near the rapids of the Ohio, which had been assigned to General Clark for the use of himself and his warriors ; the post of Vincennes on the river Wabash, and the lands adjacent, of which the Indian title has been extinguished; the lands at all other places in possession of the French people and other white settlers among them, of which the Indian title has been extinguished, as mentioned in the third article ; and the post of Fort Massac, toward the mouth of the Ohio ; to all the above the tribes relinquish all their title and claim."
" By the fifth article of the treaty, it was provided : That, to pre vent any misunderstanding about the Indian lands relinquished by the United States in the fourth article, it is now explicitly declared that the meaning of that relinquishment is this, the Indian tribes who have a right to those lands are quietly to enjoy them, hunting, planting and dwelling thereon, so long as they please, without any molestation from the United States; but when those tribes, or any part of them, shall be disposed to sell their lands, or any part of them, they are to be sold only to the United States; and until such sale, the United States will protect all the said Indian tribes in the quiet enjoyment of their lands, against all citizens of the United States, and against all other white persons who intrude upon the same. And the said Indian tribes again acknowl- edge themselves to be under the protection of the United States, and no other person whatever."
Great Britain, by the treaty of 1783, relinquished to the United States all of the territory on the east side of the Mississippi, from its source to the 31st parallel of north latitude, which was to be the north boundary of Florida. This treaty relinquished all the previous rights of Great Britain to the free navigation of the river to its mouth, which she had derived from previous treaties with France and Spain. The United States, therefore, justly claimed the free navigation of the river to its mouth.
Great Britain had ceded to Spain all the Floridas, comprising the territory east of the Mississippi, and south of the southern limits of the United States. Spain, therefore, possessed all of the territory on the west side of the river, and Florida on the east. Consequently, the
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Mississippi river for the last three hundred miles flowed wholly within the dominions of Spain. His Spanish majesty, therefore, claimed the exclusive right to the use of the river below the southern limit of the United States. The United States, in reference to the free navigation of the Mississippi, claimed a natural right independent of any claims derived through Great Britain. The American people occupied and exercised dominion over the whole eastern portion of the Mississippi valley, including all of the country drained by its great eastern tribu- taries, together with the east bank, as far south as the northern limit of Florida. This gave them the natural right to follow the current of this great river to the sea, a right which has been established by the laws of all civilized nations. Such was the status of affairs between the Spanish government and the United States, which meant concession on the part of Spain, or war the only alternative. For the whole west there was but one outlet, and that was through the province of Louisiana, by way of the port of New Orleans. The western people had, after the treaty of 1783, begun to command as a right the free navigation of the Mississippi. Spain, during her occupancy of both banks of the Mississippi river below the Ohio, in 1786, maintained at least four military posts on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, and exacted and collected heavy duties on all imports by way of the river from the Ohio region. These duties were both arbitrary and unjust, and every boat descending the river was com- pelled to land and submit to exorbitant revenue exactions. Governor Miro, upon entering upon the duties of his office as governor of the province of Louisiana, in 1787, resolved, with the approval of Don Gardoqui, the Spanish minister to the United States, to relax the import and transit duties on the river trade from the western settlements. Governor Miro, however, only succeeded in granting privileges of free trade to favored individuals. By virtue of this treaty, signed October 20, 1795, the boundaries, as defined between the territories of the United States and Spain, were as follows: The middle of the Mississippi river was to be the western boundary of the United States, from its source to the 31st parallel of north latitude. It was also agreed that the whole width of said river, from its source to the sea, was declared free to the people of the United States. The people of the United States, accord- ing to the terms of the treaty, were permitted for the term of three years to use the port of New Orleans as the place of deposit for their produce and merchandise, with the privilege to export the same, free from all duty.
The treaty of Madrid, made March 21, 1801, between France and the king of Spain, ceded Louisiana to France, with all of her interests therein. The consideration for which was the establishment of the Prince of Parma, son-in-law of the king of Spain, as ruler in Tuscany. In January, 1803, President Jefferson sent a message to the senate, nominating Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe ministers to the
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court of France, and Charles Pinckney and James Monroe ministers to the Spanish court.
Our ministers were instructed to secure, if possible, the cession of New Orleans and the Floridas to the United States. On the 10th day of January, 1803, Mr. Livingston proposed to Napoleon's minister to cede to the United States, not only New Orleans and Florida, but all of Louisiana above the Arkansas river. On the 11th of April, Talleyrand suggested the cession of the whole of the French dominion in North America, and asked how much the United States would give for it. Napoleon I., in an interview with the American minister, frankly con- fessed his inability to retain Louisiana. Bonaparte further declared, "he was compelled to provide for the safety of Louisiana before it should come into his hands, and he was desirous of giving the United States a magnificent bargain-an empire, for a mere trifle." He sug- gested that a fair consideration would be 125,000,000 francs.
James Monroe arrived at Paris on the 12th of April, 1803, and negotiations were immediately renewed for the purchase of that vast territory. The American commissioners had, in good faith, exceeded their instructions, and although unauthorized, the president at once acquiesced in the purchase, and accordingly convened congress, which met on the 17th of October. The treaty was laid before the senate and ratified on the 21st of the same month, and, on the 20th day of Decem- ber, the province of Louisiana was officially delivered over to Governor Cairborne, of Mississippi, and General Wilkinson, who were empowered
to assume the government. The consideration for this vast tract of valuable country was that the United States should pay 60,000, 000 francs, in interest-bearing bonds, at six per cent. interest, non-redeem- able for fifteen years, after which time to be paid in three equal install- ments annually, the interest payable in Europe. To this transfer, Spain, at first, vigorously objected, as she alleged, on ' solid grounds;" but, early in 1804, waived her objection to the purchase.
The United States, in 1803, as we have seen, became possessed of the great valley of the Mississippi to the exclusion of any foreign power, limited, however, by the Spanish possessions in Mexico, on the west and southwest, and in the Floridas on the southeast. The Indian title to the land in this vast region only remained to be extinguished. The British posts in the northwest were evacuated and delivered up to the Americans in 1796, under previous treaties and stipulations. The Northwest Territory, in those days, contained few white settlements beyond the present state of Ohio. The present state of Michigan was within the county of Wayne, which was constituted August 7, 1789, with General Arthur St. Clair as its first governor.
On May 7, 1800, the territory was divided, and excluded the boundaries of Ohio as then defined. The new territory of Indiana embraced all the remainder of the Northwest Territory, including, on
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the east side of the Mississippi, the present states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, together with the territory of Minnesota. On the west side of the Mississippi river, the Pacific ocean alone was the limit of the possessions of the United States.
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CHAPTER XX. EARLY SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS. GREEN BAY. 1634-1830.
Green Bay Discovered by Nicollet, and Settled by the Langlades .- French Expeditions .- Rendezvous at the Bay .- De Villiers Shot by Young Blackbird .- Fort Howard Erected .- Prominent Settlers.
DURING the summer or autumn of 1634, Jean Nicollet and his com- panions beached their canoes on the shores of Bay de Noquet, the north- ern arm of Green Bay, and it was more than twenty years thereafter before the early fur-traders from Montreal and the Jesuits visited Green Bay. In 1669, Father Allouez established a mission at Green Bay, or Depere,* which was subsequently called St. Francis Xavier. The date of the first fortification at Green Bay, called St. Francis, is unknown.
In 1671, Father Marquette laid the foundations of the fort at Mack- inaw, and, shortly after this period, fortified posts were established at Green Bay, Chicago, St. Joseph, Sault St. Mary, and Detroit. Tonti had command of the Green Bay fortifications in 1680, and had a small detachment of men under him. He was succeeded by Lieutenant Du Lhut, who also had a small troop under his command. This post was a dependency of Mackinaw, as it was both easily and speedily reinforced from the fort.
It was on May 16, 1673, that Louis Joliet and Father Marquette, with their small retinue, embarked from Green Bay on their voyage up the Fox, and down the Wisconsin, which resulted in the discovery of the upper Mississippi river. They returned to Green Bay, by way of the Illinois and Chicago rivers, the latter part of September, 1673.
Hennepin and Du Lhut, during the fall of 1680, reached the Jesuit mission near Green Bay, where they passed the winter. It was during the winter of this year that La Salle made his journey on foot from Fort Crèvecœur, on the Illinois river, to the Green Bay mission.
In 1687, the Foxes, Kickapoos and Mascoutins formed a conspiracy, and plundered the French fort at Green Bay; they burned the French chapel, and carried off or destroyed everything of value.
The first large body of white men that reached Wisconsin was the celebrated expedition headed by De Louvigny, consisting of eight hundred men. They left Quebec on the 14th day of March, 1716, and came to Green Bay for the avowed purpose of exterminating the Foxes. t
The expedition which was organized by M. De Lignery, consisting of four hundred Frenchmen, together with nine hundred Indians, left Montreal on June 5th, 1728, for the extirpation of the Foxes and their
*The authorities indicate that the mission St. Francis Xavier was established at Depere, and not at Green Bay.
+Wis. Hist. Mag., 97.
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allies, and reached Green Bay about the 20th of August. Green Bay was made the base of operations, while De Lignery and his allies were devastating the Indian villages in the Fox river valley country .*
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