USA > Wisconsin > An illustrated history of Wisconsin from prehistoric to present periods : the story of the state interspersed with realistic and romantic events > Part 21
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From the time of the surrender of the northwestern posts by the British to the United States, up to the time of the war of 1812, the Indian traders, as a rule, were in deep sympathy with Great Britain. These traders, having learned of the occupation of Prairie du Chien by the United States government's military forces in 1814, in conjunction with some British officers fitted out at Mackinaw an expedition for its capture. The daring Colonel William McKay, who subsequently became a member of the North West Fur Company, ยก was placed in command of this expedition.
Joseph Roulette, who had been active in commanding the Canadians at the capture of Mackinaw, in 1812, and Thomas Anderson, another trader, each raised a hardy company of militia at Mackinaw from among their engages. Colonel Robert Dickson, who had commanded a large
*Strong's History of Wisconsin Territory, 90.
+"In 1783, several of the principal merchants of Montreal entered into a partner- ship to prosecute the fur trade, and, in 1787, united with a rival company, and thus arose the famous North West Company which, for many years, held lordly sway over the immense region in Canada and beyond the great western lakes. Several years later, a new association of British merchants formed the Mackinaw Company, having their chief factory or depot at Mackinaw; and their field of operations was south of their great rival's, sending forth their light perogues and bark canoes, by Green Bay, the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, to the Mississippi, and thence down that stream to all its tributaries. In 1809, Mr. Astor organized the American Fur Company, he alone constituting the company; and, in 1811, in connection with certain partners of the North West Company, and others, he bought out the Mackinaw Company, and merged that and his American Fur Company into a new association, called the South West Company. By this arrange- ment, Mr. Astor became the proprietor of one-half of all the interests which the Macki- naw Company had in the Indian country within the United States; and it was under- stood that the whole, at the expiration of five years, was to pass into his hands, on con- dition that the American, or South West, Company would not trade within the British dominions. The war of 1812 suspended the association; and after the war it was entirely dissolved, congress having passed a law prohibiting British fur-traders from prosecuting their enterprises within the territories of the United States. Thus we find Mr. Crooks, in 1815, closing up the affairs of the South West Company, preliminary to enlarged individual enterprise on the part of Mr. Astor." Wis. Hist. Coll.
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Indian force at the capture of Fort Mackinaw, selected from among his force two hundred Sioux warriors and one hundred Winnebagoes. There was also a small party of eighteen regulars, under Captain Pohlman. With this little army, and a brass six-pounder, Colonel McKay went in boats from Mackinaw to Green Bay, where he tarried sufficiently long to increase his numbers, and make other preparations. The new force now consisted of one hundred and fifty whites and four hundred Indians .* The expedition, piloted by Captain Roulette, now moved up the Fox river, the whites in six barges and the Indians in canoes, made the portage, and descended the Wisconsin to the old deserted Fox village about twenty miles above its mouth, where they halted and sent their spies to reconnoiter and ascertain the situation and strength of the fort. The reconnoiterers were August Grignon, Michael Brisbois, and two Indians, who brought back with them Antoine Brisbois, who reported the strength of the garrison at sixty. The next morning, Sunday, the 17th of July, 1814, Colonel McKay, with his forces, reached the town unperceived, where they made a formidable display, greatly to the terror of the inhabitants, and the consternation of the garrison. The gun-boat, under command of Captain Yeizer, with other boats, were fired upon and forced to move down the stream, carrying with them the provisions and ammunition of the garrison. The garrison was now regularly invested. Captains Roulette and Anderson, with their companies, and the Sioux and Winnebagoes, took positions above the fort, while Colonel McKay, with the Green Bay company, the regulars, Menominies and Chippewas, encompassed it below. The gallant commander of the garrison, Captain Anderson, was asked to surrender the fort, but stubbornly declined. For four days, the brave little force successfully resisted the persistent attack of their combined enemies. Colonel Mckay, on the fourth day of the siege, became desperate and ordered cannon-balls, heated red hot in a blacksmith's forge, to be fired into the wooden garrison stock- ade. Lieutenant Perkins, now believing that further resistance would be useless, raised a white flag. The formal surrender was made on the next day, the 21st of July. The soldiers of the garrison were placed on board a large boat, the "Governor Clark," and sent down the river by Colonel McKay, under the protection of an escort.
The garrison, now called Fort McKay, was placed in command of Captain Pohlman, with two Mackinaw companies, one under command of Captain Anderson, and the other under Lieutenant Graham, while Colonel McKay, the Green Bay troops, and the Indians, took their departure shortly after the surrender of the fort. The British occupied the fort until peace was declared in 1815, during which time the inhab- itants were required to do duty in and about the fort.
In June, 1816, Brevet-General Smythe, colonel of a rifle regiment, *Strong's History of Wisconsin Territory, 90.
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came to Prairie du Chien, with a detachment of United States troops, to erect Fort Crawford. "He selected the mound where the stockade had been built, which he repaired and occupied." Upon the arrival of Colonel Smythe and his troops, Michael Brisbois was arrested upon charge of treason, for having taken up arms against the United States. He was sent to St. Louis for trial. Colonel Talbot Chambers assumed command of Fort Crawford, in the spring of 1817, and immediately established rules of despotism. He ordered the houses in front of the fort to be taken down by their owners and removed to the lower end of the village. The officers in particular, under Colonel Chambers, treated the inhabitants as a conquered people, and in some cases arraigned and tried them by court-martial, and sentenced them to degrading punish- ments.
One Charles Menard was arrested, brought five miles from his residence under guard, and after being tried by court-martial, on a charge of selling whisky to the soldiers, was publicly whipped, and, with a bottle hanging to his neck, marched through the street, with music behind him playing the Rogue's March. Joseph Roulette, charged with some immoral conduct, was court-martialed and banished to an island seven miles above the fort, where he passed the winter. Numerous tyrannical acts were perpetrated by these self-constituted law- makers.
During the fall of 1815, Captain John Shaw went up the river, from St. Louis to Prairie du Chien, with a boat loaded with merchandise, and engaged in traffic. He returned the next year with a larger boat, well stocked with merchandise, and located at that time a water-power site at Fisher's Coulle, four miles above Prairie du Chien, and promised the settlers that he would erect a mill there. He made numerous other mercantile expeditions, and, in 1818, built the grist-mill upon the site which he had selected.
One of the prominent early settlers at Prairie du Chien was James H. Lockwood, who was born at Peru, Clinton county, New York, December 7, 1793. After studying law for about a year, he engaged as a merchant's clerk. In 1815, he occupied the position of clerk in a sutler's store at Mackinaw, and the next year he removed to Prairie du Chien. He occupied, during his eventful life at this place, many posi- tions of trust, both public and private. When Judge Doty went to Prairie du Chien, in 1823, to hold his first court, there were no lawyers; consequently, Mr. Lockwood was induced to practice law, but his prin- cipal occupation was that of merchant and trader. In 1830, he was appointed one of the judges of the county court. Judge Lockwood died at his home in Prairie du Chien on August 24, 1857.
Early times and events in Wisconsin are vividly portrayed by the Hon. James H. Lockwood, in an ably-written paper presented to the
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Wisconsin Historical Society .* We quote Judge Lockwood: "Tradi- tion says the place took its name from an Indian chief of the Fox tribe by the name of Chien, or Dog, who had a village somewhere on the prairie, near where Fort Crawford now stands. Chien, or Dog, is a favorite name among the Indians of the northwest.
"There were, on the prairie, about forty farms cultivated along under the bluffs where the soil was first-rate, and inclosed in one com- mon field, and the boundaries between them generally marked by a road that afforded them ingress and egress; the plantations running from the bluffs to the Mississippi on the slough of St. Friole, and from three to five arpents wide (35 to 55 rods wide, an arpent is II rods). The owners did not generally live upon their farms immediately, but clus- tered together in little villages near their front. They were living in Arcadian simplicity, spending a great deal of their time in fish- ing, hunting, horse-racing or trotting, or in dancing and drinking. * They had no aristocracy among them except the traders, who were regarded as a privileged class.
" The traders and the clerks were then the aristocracy of the coun- try; and to a Yankee at first sight, presented a singular state of society. To see gentlemen selecting wives of the nut-brown natives, and raising children of mixed blood, the traders and clerks living in as much luxury as the resources of the country would admit, and the engages, or boat- men, living upon soup made of hulled corn with barely tallow enough to season it, devoid of salt, unless they purchased it themselves at a high price-all this, to an American, was a novel mode of living.
"Prairie du Chien was at this time an important post for Indian trade, and was considered by the Indians as neutral ground, where different tribes, although at war, might visit in safety; but if hostile they had to beware of being caught in the neighborhood, going or returning. Yet I never heard of any hostile movement on the prairie, after they had safely arrived. *
" At that time, there were generally collected (annually) at Prairie du Chien, by the traders and United States factors, about three hun- dred packs, of one hundred pounds each, of furs and peltries-mostly fine furs. Of the different Indian tribes that visited and traded more or less at Prairie du Chien, there were the Menomonees from Green Bay, who frequently wintered on the Mississippi; the Chippewas, who resided on the headwaters of the Chippewa and Black rivers; the Foxes, who had a village where Cassville now stands, called Penah, i. e., Turkey; the Sauks, who resided about Galena and Dubuque; the Winnebagoes, who resided on the Wisconsin river; the Iowas, who then had a village on the Upper Iowa river; Wabashaw's band of Sioux, who resided on the beautiful prairie on the Iowa side of the Mississippi, about one hundred and twenty miles above Prairie du Chien, with occasionally a
*Wis. Hist. Coll., Vol. II., 98-196.
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Kickapoo and Pottawattamie. The Sauks and Foxes brought from Galena a considerable quantity of lead. *
"There was not at that time any Indian corn raised there. The traders for the upper Mississippi, had to send down for their corn which they used, to the Sauks and the Foxes at Rock Island, and trade with them for it. It is believed that the first field of corn raised at Prairie du Chien was by Thomas McNair, an American, who had married a French girl, and settled down to farming.
" The farmers of Prairie du Chien appeared to be a more thrifty and industrious people than those of Green Bay; they raised a large quantity of small grain, such as wheat, barley, oats, peas, and also some potatoes and onions. Every two or three farmers united, and had a horse flouring-mill-the stones being cut from the granite rock found in the country. There they ground their wheat, and sifted the flour by hand. The surplus flour was sold to the Indians for goods, or exchanged with the Indians for venison, ducks, and geese, or dressed deer-skins, as there was no money in circulation in the country. Any purchase made was payable in goods from the traders, or flour from the inhab- itants."t
In 1819-20, congress passed an act authorizing testimony to be taken relative to private land claims at Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinaw, Green Bay and Prairie du Chien, which were reserved for subjects of the Brit- ish government, under Jay's treaty. Commissioners were accordingly sent to the different places in the fall of 1820, to take the required tes- timony. The Prairie du Chien representative, Mr. Lee, came to Prairie du Chien as such United States land commissioner. At a subsequent session of congress, an act was passed giving the settlers who were in possession of land at the date of the declaration of war against Great Britain, in 1812, and who had continued to abide by the laws of the United States, the lands they claimed. Much annoyance and injury resulted from the questionable attitude of some of the settlers towards the government, during the war with England, and, in consequence, the patents were delayed.
The striking difference between truth and fiction is admirably illus- trated in the following incident:
Running through a tract of land nearly opposite the old village of Prairie du Chien, in Iowa, was a small stream called Girard's Creek. In 1823, the commandant at Fort Crawford had a party of men detailed to cultivate a public garden on the old farm of Bazil Girard, through which the creek flows.
*It is stated by Nicholas Boilvin, in a letter written to the secretary of war, that, in 1810, the quantity of lead exchanged by the Indians for goods was 400,000 pounds. Strong's History of Wisconsin Territory.
+Wis. Hist. Coll., Vol. II., 112.
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Martin Scott,* then a dashing lieutenant of the Fifth infantry, and stationed at Fort Crawford, was directed to superintend the party. Scott was an excellent shot and, being exceedingly fond of shooting, frequently took his dogs and gun in the morning, got into his little hunt- ing canoe, and spent the day in shooting woodcock, which were so plentiful in the marshes in that locality, and upon his return in the even- ing would boast of the numerous birds that bled that day. After a time he gave the creek the name of Bloody Run. In after years, an enter- prising editor of the village paper published a long traditionary account of a bloody battle which was fought there years ago. Thus, the killing of a few score of innocent woodcock, upon the borders of Girard's Creek, is so transformed by the pen of the able romancer, that visions of a bloody battle, and untold mutilated forms of dead and dying soldiers and Indians, now rise before us.
In 1819, Wilfred Owens, of Prairie du Chien, and the late Governor St. Nair, of Missouri, furnished the capital, and with C. A. Andrewst and one Dickinson built a saw-mill on Black river, but before they had done much business, the mill was burned, presumably by the Winne- bagoes, who were then claiming the entire country.
The authorities of Crawford county, in 1820-21, built a jail in the rear of the old village of Prairie du Chien; it was built of hewn oak logs, about one foot square, and was about sixteen by twenty-five feet, and divided into debtors' and criminals' departments. At this old log jail, a sergeant of the United States infantry was hung, in 1828, for shooting Lieutenant Mckenzie, of the same regiment. In 1833, or '34, a soldier of that regiment was executed there for shooting Sergeant Coffin, in the new Fort Crawford. This old jail was burned in 1834.
Congress, during the year 1818-19, admitted Illinois into the union, and all that part of the country formerly belonging to the territories of Indiana and Illinois was attached to Michigan, and placed under the government of General Lewis Cass. General Cass, by proclamation, dated October 26, 1818, issued by virtue of the ordinance of 1787, laid out the county of Michilimackinac, the southern boundary being "the dividing
* Scott, at this time, was a young man who had been in the army but a few years. He was born at Bennington, Vermont, and was educated at West Point. In his youth he was famous among the sharpshooters of the Green mountains, who excelled with the unerring rifle. It is said that Scott never shot game in the body, nor while it was stand- ing or sitting, but while running, or on the wing, and he usually shot the game in the head. He would sometimes drive a nail into a board part way with a hammer, then at a long distance would, with his unerring rifle, drive the nail home with his bullet. He served with distinction in the Mexican war, under General Scott, and near the close of that brilliant campaign was killed at the battle of Molino del Rey, on September 8, 1847. Lieutenant Scott saw much hard service, and always conducted himself in a manner that entitled him to great respect, while his integrity of character, and great kindness and benevolence of heart, won for him the love of all his comrades. (Wis. Hist. Coll., Vol. II., 119, see note.)
+Mr. Andrews, under date November 10, 1819, writes to Dr. Peters from Falls Black river: "On the 2d day of November, I set a saw-mill running, not much inferior to any in the United States. The Sioux gave us permission to come here. There were seven chiefs in council; the seven gave us five years."
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ground between the rivers which flowed into Lake Superior and those which flowed south." Governor Cass, by proclamation bearing the above date, divided into two counties, all of the territory of Michigan, south and west of the county of Michilimackinac. The two counties were separated "by a line drawn due north from the northern boundary of the state of Illinois, through the middle of the portage between the Fox river and the Ouissin (Wisconsin) river to the county of Michili- mackinac. The eastern county was called Brown, and the other Craw- ford, the former in honor of General Brown, the commanding general of the army, and the latter as a compliment to Crawford, the secretary of war. Governor Cass sent blank commissions for the different officers of the counties of Brown and Crawford, to be filled by the inhabitants. The representative inhabitants of Brown county met and made the fol- lowing appointments, which were inserted in the appointment blanks, and bear date, October 27, 1818. For Brown county, Matthew Irwin, chief justice, commissioner and judge of probate; Charles Reaume, associate justice and justice of the peace; John Bowyer, commissioner; Robert Irwin, Jr., clerk; and George Johnson, sheriff. For Crawford county, Nicholas Boilvin and John W. Johnson, justices of the peace.
The following appointments for Crawford county were made by Governor Cass, May 12, 1819, viz .: John W. Johnson, chief justice; Michael Brisbois and Francis Bouthillier, associate justices; Wilfred Owens, judge of probate; Nicholas Boilvin, John W. Johnson and James H. Lockwood, justices of the peace; Thomas McNair, sheriff; John L. Findley, clerk; Hyacinth St. Cyr and Oliver Sharrier, super- visors of roads; and John P. Gates, register of probate and ex-officio recorder of deeds.
An act was adopted by Governor Cass and the judges of Michigan territory, on the 17th of September, 1821, to incorporate "The Borough of Prairie des Chiens." It gave the wardens and burgesses power to lay out highways, streets and public walks, and to provide for an effect- ive municipal government. The borough was organized with John J. Johnson as warden and M. Brisbois and Thomas McNair burgesses. The organization was only kept up 'three years, being discontinued in 1825 by non-user. The last warden was Joseph Roulette, and M. Bris- bois and James H. Lockwood its last burgesses.
The first court held in Brown county, of which there are any records, was a special session of the county court, held July 12, 1824. The judges had superseded those appointed in 1818, and were Jacques Porlier, chief justice, and John Lawe and Henry B. Brevoort, associate justices. The first term of the county court of Crawford county was held May 12, 1823, with Francis Bouthillier and Joseph Roulette, judges. Little business other than issuing two tavern licenses, and declaring the proceedings of James H. Lockwood "legal and proper," was performed.
On the 17th day of May, 1824, a grand jury was impaneled, and
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returned an indictment against J. B. Maynard, who, being called, failed to appear, and, in consequence, the court ordered that " on his arrival at this place he do enter into recognizance for his appearance at the next term of this court, to answer, plead, etc."
Colonel H. L. Dousman, one of Prairie du Chien's most highly respected and esteemed citizens, came to that place in the fall of 1827, in the employ of the American Fur Company. Mr. Dousman accumu- lated an ample fortune, and used it liberally in the promotion and growth of his adopted home. He died at Prairie du Chien, September 12, 1868, lamented by all who knew him.
General Joseph M. Street came to Prairie du Chien in 1828, having been appointed Indian agent for that locality. The next year, he brought his family and settled there. This was the first Protestant family that had settled at that place. Thomas Burnett was appointed sub-Indian agent under General Street, in October, 1829, and came to Prairie du Chien the following June.
Some of our early historians, through prejudice and hatred sup- pressed and omitted the name of Jefferson Davis, who afterwards became the celebrated president of the southern confederacy, from our early histories. In July, 1828, Cadet Davis was graduated at West Point, and received the usual brevet of second lieutenant of infantry. After a short furlough, he reported for duty at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, where he found Lieutenants Gustave Rousseau, Kinsman, Thomas Dray- ton, Sidney Johnston, and other old friends. Shortly after his arrival, he was sent up to Fort Crawford, and helped to rebuild a larger and more impregnable fortification. General George Jones, in speaking of the early days in Wisconsin, writes: " It was late in the year (referring to 1828) one night, when a lieutenant and a sergeant rode up to my log cabin at Sinsinawa Mound, about fifty miles from Fort Crawford, and inquired for Mr. Jones. I told him that I answered to that name. The lieutenant then asked me if they could remain there all night. I told him that they were welcome to share my buffalo-robes and blankets, and that their horses could be corraled with mine on the prairie.
" The officer then asked me if I had ever been at the Transylvania University. I answered that I had been there from 1827 to 1825.
" 'Do you remember a college boy named Jeff Davis ?'
"' 'Of course I do.'
"""' I am Jeff. '
" That was enough for me. I pulled him off his horse and into my cabin, and it was hours before either of us could think of sleeping."*
While stationed at Fort Crawford, in 1829, Lieutenant Davis com- manded a detachment for cutting timber to repair and enlarge the old fort. They embarked in one of the little open boats, then the only mode of conveyance, and, accompanied by two voyegeurs, began their timber-
*In "A Memoir" of Jefferson Davis, by his wife, Vol. I., 53, 59.
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exploring expedition. At one point they were hailed by a party of Indians, who asked to trade for tobacco. As the Indians appeared friendly, the little party rowed to the bank and began the parley. The voyegeurs, however, were familiar with Indian methods and saw that their peaceful tones were only a cloak to hide their hostility, and warned Lieutenant Davis of his danger ; the canoes were then ordered to be pushed into the stream, while the Indians, with yells of fury, leaped into their canoes and gave chase. The chance for escape from their experienced pursuers was slight. If taken captive, death by torture awaited them. The wind being boisterous and in their favor, Lieu- tenant Davis immediately rigged up a sail with one of their blankets, and within a short time they were out of reach of their pursuers. Fifty years afterwards, in speaking of the incident, Mr. Davis said : "The Indians seemed to me to be legion." The little party pursued their way up to the mouth of the Chippewa, one hundred and seventy-five miles from Prairie du Chien, then, leaving the Mississippi, they ascended the Chippewa until they came to the mouth of the Red Cedar river. They worked their way up this stream for about forty miles, when they came to a splendid pine forest, which adorned the banks of the Red Cedar, at or near where the beautiful and thriving city of Menominie now stands. It was at this point where Jefferson Davis became Wisconsin's first lumberman, and from this point " the sound of the white man's ax was first heard in the pine forests of Wisconsin."
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