USA > Wisconsin > An illustrated history of the state of Wisconsin : being a complete civil, political, and military history of the state, from its first exploration down to 1875 > Part 7
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On the 8th of May, 1689, Perrot - who was then commanding for the king at the post of the Nadoussioux, commis-
sioned by the Marquis De Denonville, Governor of 1685-89. Canada, to manage the interests of commerce among the Indian tribes and people of Green Bay and vicinity - took possession, in the name of the king, of the countries inhabited by said tribes. The records inform us, that the papers were signed in duplicate, - one at the post of St. Anthony, and the other at Green Bay. Le Hontan visited Green Bay in Septem- ber, 1689, and was entertained in a distinguished manner by the Sauks, Pottawattomies, and Menomonees. He passed up the Fox River, and noticed in his travels some of the features of the country, and many of the characteristics of the Indians.
From this time, until the Sauk and Fox war, there is little or nothing to record. During the first quarter of 1700-30. the eighteenth century, however, these Indians, occupying the valley of the Fox River, became so exasperated against the French, that they cut off all communication be- tween the posts on the frontier, extending from Detroit on the east to Green Bay, on Lake Superior, on the west. The numer- ous acts of barbarity in killing and plundering all who came within their reach caused the French Government to send several expeditions into the valley of the Fox River, to chas- tise these nations. These expeditions were as follows : that of De Louvigny, in 1716; De Lingnery, 1728; Martin, in March, 1730 ; and De Villiers, in September of the same year. By these expeditions, the hostile Indians were severely pun- ished, and the beautiful valley occupied by them opened up to
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adventure, exploration, and settlement. This war and its good results formed the basis of the claims of France to the Green Bay country. 1
In 1726, says Rev. Dr. A. Brunson, a man named Cardinell settled near the site of Prairie du Chien. He was a hunter and trapper; and we suppose he may be regarded as the first settler in that locality. He came from Canada with his wife ; and the latter is supposed to have been the first white woman who visited the prairie. He probably came to Green Bay with the French troops to punish the hostile Foxes ; and, being in- formed by the traders of the attractive hunting-grounds on the Mississippi, he set out for that section, filled with the heroism of the pioneer French fur-trader. The next settler at Prairie du Chien was a Frenchman by the name of Garnier, whose descendants are still found in the vicinity.
The settlement at the prairie, from this time, increased quite rapidly ; and in 1755 the government of France established a permanent military post near the mouth of the Wisconsin, and near the site of the present city. Following this came a num- ber of French families; and in a short time quite a prosperous French village grew up, and attracted around it a very consid- erable traffic in peltries. The fort near the Wisconsin, estab- lished in 1689, had been abandoned some time previous to the establishment of this post.
Turning our attention again to Green Bay, we may observe, that, in 1721, Father Charlevoix, the distinguished historian of New France, visited that section, in company with Capt. De Montigny, who was appointed to take charge of the fort. We learn from this early writer, that the post at Green Bay, at that time, stood on the west side of the Fox River, half a league from its mouth. There were a number of Indian villages both above and below the post ; and the good missionary was then still laboring among them, but with ill success. In 1926 we find Fathers Amiton and Chardon both laboring as missiona- ries at Green Bay; and, two years later, Father Emanuel Cres- pel, but the war against the Foxes interfered with their labors :
1 An account of this war would, we think, occupy more space in this volume than its importance deserves ; hence the reader is referred to the documents of the Wisconsin Historical Society on this matter.
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hence they were among the last of the early French mission- aries who held up the cross to the tribes in the vicinity of the bay.
The first permanent settlement at Green Bay, and also of Wisconsin, was made in 1745. In this year Augustine De Langlade and his son Charles migrated to Green Bay from Mackinaw, and became the principal proprietors of the soil. They settled on the east side of Fox River, near its mouth, somewhat above and opposite the old French post, and near where the residence of the late Judge J. P. Arndt afterwards stood. They were accompanied by M. Sauligny (the son-in-law of the Sieur Augustin De Langlade) and his wife. These per- sons were afterwards joined by Mons. Carron, who had been for more than twenty years an Indian trader, and others. This first colony in Wisconsin was composed of probably not more than eight persons. Capt. De Velie was commandant of the little garrison ; and the infant settlement moved along slowly. It appears that the garrison was withdrawn shortly after the settlement was founded, and not long before the commencement of the old French and Indian war of 1754: nevertheless, the little hamlet struggled on, Augustin De Langlade continuing in the Indian trade, and Charles De Langlade as Indian agent.
It is impossible to present now a complete history of this post. We find Capt. De Vorchieres commanding in 1747, and having very good success in quieting the Indians. In 1754 the Sieur Perrier Marin commanded, and effected a valuable treaty with the Indians. In 1756 Capt. Dumas, commanding at Green Bay, concluded a peace with the Illinois Indians, in behalf of the traders in the vicinity of the post. The French and Indian war had now commenced, although it does not appear that it had any special influence for good or evil upon the Green Bay settlement, as it was probably too remote from the scene of action to receive any sensible effects from the operations of the combatants. It, however, opened a new field for the enterprising spirit of Charles De Langlade. In 1755, with a strong army of Ottawas, Chippewas, Menomonees, and other tribes, he set out for the defence of Fort du Quesne, in which contest he was a commanding officer. In 1757 he served under Montcalm, in the capture of Fort William Henry,
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at the head of Lake George. Indeed, this active pioneer of Wisconsin took part in the contests of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and at the last great conflict that sealed the question of supremacy on the Plains of Abraham, where his truly great commander fell mortally wounded.
In 1758 a sad event transpired at Green Bay in the wretched slaughter of eleven Frenchmen by the Indians. The com- mandant escaped ; and the storehouse was plundered.
With the fall of Canada, in 1759, the whole country passed into the hands of the British. At the close of the war, Charles De Langlade was by the government of Canada, Sept. 3, 1760, ordered to take charge of and conduct the Canadians under his command to Mackinaw, the Indians to their villages, and for- ward two companies of English deserters to Louisville. Thus the way was opened for English occupancy ; and on the 12th of October, 1761, Capt. Balfour and Lieut. Garrell, with British troops, took possession of Green Bay. The English found the old fort quite rotten, and the stockade fast falling into decay. Lieut. James Garrell was made commandant, Capt. Balfour, retiring ; leaving a detachment under the former of one ser- geant, one corporal, and fifteen privates, in possession of the fort, which was slightly repaired, and called Fort Edward Augustus. This fort was abandoned two years later, when the memorable Pontiac war was raging.
Charles De Langlade was re-appointed Indian agent, and re- instated in command of the militia ; but there is no evidence that the fort at Green Bay was ever re-occupied by a garrison during the period of British dominion, or until after the war of 1812. When the celebrated traveller, Capt. Jonathan Car- ver, reached Green Bay, in 1766, there was no garrison there ; nor had the building been kept in repair since it had been abandoned by Lieut. Garrell. Mr. Carver found a few families living at the fort ; and opposite to it, on the east side of the river; there were also a few French settlers still remaining, who cultivated the land, and appeared to live comfortably. This distinguished traveller passed on to the west and north, making valuable observations of the territory of the Upper Mississippi.
. Following our distinguished traveller from Green Bay, our
CROSSCUP & WEST-SC.FHI
Hon. J. T. Kingston.
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attention is properly drawn to Prairie du Chien, which had made but little or no progress since our last mention of its first settlers. Mr. Carver observed the ruins of a large settlement in a very pleasing situation on the east bank of the Mississippi, evidently the site of the ancient Outagamie town, from which place that singular tribe had removed, professedly at the bidding of the Great Spirit, to the opposite bank. At the Prairie or Dog Plains, he found a large town containing about three hundred families. The houses were well built, after the Indian manner (log-cabins covered with bark), and pleasantly situated on a very rich soil, from which they raised a profusion of every necessary of life in great abundance. He also observed many horses of good size and great beauty. It appeared to this traveller, as it was no doubt the fact, that this town was the great mart where all the adjacent tribes, and even those who inhabited the most remote branches of the Mississippi, annually assembled about the latter end of May, bringing with them their furs to dispose of to the traders. It is a singular fact, that when Carver was at the prairie, in 1766, he found no white inhabitants : at least he does not speak of meeting with any, although he describes the large Indian town and its com- mercial importance. He tells us, however, that the traders who accompanied him took up their winter residence on the opposite side of the river : this they would not have done, if there had been, at that time, a settlement of whites near the mouth of the Wisconsin. This may be accounted for by the fact, that, inasmuch as Canada had been surrendered to England, the French had, of course, evacuated their fort; which tradition says was burned the second year of the Ameri- can Revolution.
CHAPTER VI.
EARLY HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
Green Bay and Prairie Du Chien -Charles De Langlade -Conflict between the Americans and British in the North-west - A Glance at the Settlements in Wisconsin at the Close of the Revolutionary War -The Surrender to the United States by the British.
DURING the last quarter of the eighteenth century, but little is presented worthy of consideration in the history of Wiscon- sin, either at Green Bay or at Prairie du Chien, the only points around which much either of civilization or of barbarism centred. Both places were under British rule. There were but few families residing at Green Bay ; and the only business transacted was in furs and peltries. Upon the breaking-out of the Revolutionary war, Charles De Langlade, then fifty-two years of age, was persuaded to take an active part, should his services be needed. He had fought gallantly in the interests of France in the old French and Indian war, but on this occasion was ready to take a place in the army for the English cause. It is said, however, that he was not called into open battle during the war, though he served a valuable place in the Indian department. During this war, nearly all of the French and English inhabitants at Green Bay, though virtually Ameri- can citizens, were found in active work in the ranks of the enemy; and the few Americans that resided there were at the mercy of the English. Some were taken prisoners, and conveyed to Detroit ; and some made captive by the Indians.
Turning our attention to Prairie du Chien, we find no further accounts of visits of travellers, or doings of residents, until 1780. At that date, Capt. J. Long, while at Mackinaw, was sent by the commanding officer to accompany a party of
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Indians and Canadians to the Mississippi. Information had been received at Mackinaw, that the Indian traders had depos- ited their furs at Prairie du Chien, where, we are informed, there was, at the time, a town of considerable note, built under the command of Mons. Langlade, the king's interpreter ; and the object of the expedition was to secure these furs, and keep them from the Americans. Capt. Long left Mackinaw with thirty-six Indians of the Outagamies and Sioux, and twenty Canadians in nine large birch canoes, laden with Indian presents. The party arrived at Green Bay in four days, and proceeded through the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers to the forks of the Mississippi, where they met two hundred of the Fox Indians, and had a feast of five Indian dogs, bear, beaver, deer, mountain cat, and raccoon, boiled in bear's grease, and mixed with huckleberries. They proceeded to Prairie du Chien, where they found the merchants' peltries in packs in a log-house, guarded by Capt. Langlade and some Indians. They took three hundred packs of the best skins, and filled the canoes. Sixty more were burned to prevent the Americans from taking them. They then returned to Mackinaw via Green Bay.
In the year 1781, Lieut .- Gov. Patrick Sinclair of Upper Canada held a treaty with the Indians, at Mackinaw, for the purchase of that island, Green Bay, and Prairie du 1781. Chien. Pierre La Pointe testified before Judge Lee, in 1820, that he was interpreter at the treaty. The present settlement of Prairie du Chien was begun in 1783, by Mr. Girard, Mr. Antaya, and Mr. Dubuque. There had formerly 1783. been an old settlement about a mile below the present city, which existed during the time the French held possession of the Canadas, and of which we have already spoken ; but it was abandoned, chiefly on account of the unhealthy situation, being near the borders of an extensive tract of overflowed land. At this time, or soon after, says Rev. Dr. Brunson, "twenty or thirty settlers constituted all the white representatives of the place; and, previous to 1793, the whole prairie was claimed and occupied, amounting to forty- three farms, and thirty or forty village lots, most or all of which had previously been built upon." This fact was established in 1823, by testimony taken before Judge Lee, who was appointed
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to take testimony for the government on the private land claims of parties at the village. The greater part of the set- tlers came as hunters, or employees, and, taking wives of the natives, commenced farming on a small and primitive scale ; cultivating the land with rough ploughs ironed at the point, while they also hunted, trapped, and voyaged.
From a report made to Congress Feb. 25, 1818, we learn that the village and fort were formally surrendered 1784- by the British to the United States on the first day 1800. of June, 1786. Gen. W. R. Smith thinks there is a doubt about the formal surrender being made at that time. It is well known that the general surrender of the western outposts took place in July of that year.
In April, 1785, there was a great flood in the Mississippi : the waters rose from fifteen to twenty feet above the highest mark they had ever been known to make before; and the whole region of country drained by the river presented the aspect of an immense sheet of water studded with islands.
In settlement, Green Bay, from its inception (in 1745) to 1785, had made but little progress ; but, as we have seen, it struggled along, sometimes without a military garrison, and sometimes with a well-fortified post. But at length, in 1796, the settlement, with its improvements, which were few indeed, was surrendered to the American authorities by the British, from which time the United-States Government has controlled the interests of Wisconsin.
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CHAPTER VII.
GREEN BAY FROM 1796 TO 1836.
The War of 1812- Erection of Fort Howard -The Early Settlement of Green Bay - Travels and Adventures- Number and Condition of the Indians -The Embryo City of Green Bay - Arrival of Government Troops - The Early Lead Traffic-Green Bay in 1824-Indian Troubles - Murder - Formation of the Wisconsin Territory, &c.
WE have noted, in the foregoing chapter, some of the impor- tant incidents in the history of Wisconsin, from its first explo- ration by Europeans, to the end of British rule in the Territory, in 1796. At the latter date, as through the whole narrative, there were but two points of interest, - Green Bay and Prairie du Chien ; nor does the narrative change in this regard until the organization of the Territorial Government, in 1836. It is therefore the purpose of this and the following chapter to follow, first, Green Bay, and, secondly, Prairie du Chien, in the prin- cipal events of history, from 1796 to 1836. This chronological record will not include any elaborate notices of pioneer life in Wisconsin, nor even an account of the memorable Black Hawk war. These and other important features of the early history follow these chapters in their regular order. The object in the chapters named is to present a skeleton of events in the period mentioned, as free as possible from remark or embellishment.
First, then, as to Green Bay. Soon after the declaration of 1812. war, in June, 1812, Col. Robert Dickson, an English trader at Prairie du Chien, and agent, collected a considerable body of Indians at Green Bay for the purpose of rendering assistance to the British forces in their operations on the Great Lakes of the North-west. At the taking of Macki- naw by the British (July 17, 1811), we find this Col. Dickson very prominent, and also Capt. Rolette of Prairie du Chien ..
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The official report of the surrender of that post shows that four hundred Indians of the Sioux, Folle Avoines, Puans, and Chip- pewas, were engaged in the British interest. After the taking of Mackinaw, Col. Mckay of the British army proceeded west to Green Bay, passing up the Fox River, and down the Wisconsin, with a large force of British and Indians, and cap- tured the Fort at Prairie du Chien after a desperate resistance.1 1815. But this renewal of English rule in Wisconsin was only temporary ; and, in 1815, a United States trading-port was established at Green Bay, and Col. John Bowyer appointed Indian agent.
On the 16th of July, 1816, Col. John Miller commenced the 1816. erection of Fort Howard with the troops which had arrived. He subsequently returned to Mackinaw, leaving Col. Talbot Chambers in command. The only survivor of those who went there with the troops is Moses Hardwick, a native of Kentucky, now nearly eighty years of age, residing in the town of Scott, a few miles from the city. He came in the first American vessel laden with troops and supplies, in August or September, and anchored in Fox River. In the same year, Judge J. H. Lockwood arrived at Green Bay, finding forty or fifty Canadians of French extraction cultivating the soil. The country then, as also for some eight years following, was under military rule, and extremely arbitrary. Green Bay was then a portion of Indiana Territory ; Vincennes being the seat of government. American settlers began to come in. Previ- ous to this year, there was no regular physician nearer than Mackinaw.
S. A. Storrow, judge-advocate in the army of the United States, was sent by Gen. Jacob Brown to visit the North-west-
1817. ern posts, and on the 19th of September arrived in an open boat at Fort Howard. He found Major Zachary Taylor in command, by whom he was kindly enter- tained, and by the officers of the Third Regiment. While there, he made observations on the ebb and flow of the lake tides. From Fort Howard, he proceeded south, through the eastern tier of counties of Wisconsin, to Milwaukee and Fort Dearborn, at Chicago. Two young men by the names of Smith and
1 See account of the capture of Prairie du Chien farther on in this volume.
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Gunn, grandsons of Capt. Jonathan Carver, left Green Bay this year in a bark canoe for Prairie du Chien, by way of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, at which place they met Major S. H. Long, and proceeded with him up the Mississippi to the Falls of St. Anthony, with a view to establish their claims to the lands granted by the Indians to their grandfather.
In the summer of this year, William Farnsworth, now of Sheboygan, and Ramsay Crooks of the American 1818.
Fur Company, embarked in a birch-bark canoe from Mackinaw, passed up the lake and Green Bay, to the mouth of Fox River, thence through the Fox, Wisconsin, and Mississippi Rivers, to St. Louis. Col. Abraham Edwards of Detroit ar- rived at Green Bay in May ; while there, Inspector-Gen. John E. Wool arrived. The post was then in command of Major Z. Taylor, with John Bowyer as Indian agent.
In 1819 a census of the Indians was taken, showing that there were forty-eight hundred natives in the Green Bay agency. One year later H. R. Schoolcraft, as one of the expedition under Gov. Lewis Cass, appointed 1820. by the government to visit the North-western posts, &c., arrived at Green Bay, by way of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, on the 20th of August. The expedition consisted of Gov. Cass, Dr. Alexander Wolcott, Capt. D. B. Douglas, Lieuts. A. Mckay, R. A. Forsyth, C. C. Trowbridge, A. R. Chase, H. R. Schoolcraft, and J. Duane Doty, secretary. He says of Green Bay, that there were over sixty dwellings and five hundred inhabitants, occupying about eighty buildings. The Algonquin name of the place is Boatchweewaid, a term which describes an eccentric or abrupt bay or inlet. Of the fort, he says, "Log barracks facing three sides of a square parade, surrounded by a stockade of timber thirty feet high, white- washed, and garrisoned by three hundred men, under Capt. William Whistler, in the absence of Col. J. L. Smith ; also that there was at Camp Smith, three miles above Fort Brown, three hundred infantry. Preparations were being made to erect a permanent fortification of stone."
Daniel Whitney, for many years one of the most enterprising men of Green Bay, arrived in this year, and soon after purchased a large tract of land, on which he 1820.
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laid out the embryo city of Green Bay, now constituting the second and third wards. His widow and family are still resi- dents of the city. In the same year, Isaac Lee was appointed agent, and visited Green Bay to collect evidence of titles and claims to lands held by the French settlers under Jay's treaty, and to report them to the United-States commissioners sitting at Detroit. None were allowed, except such as were occupied in July, 1796 ; and few came within the provisions of the Act of Congress. A subsequent Act, passed in 1823, made provision for donation of all such as were occupied July 1, 1812.
In this year, the steamer " Walk in the Water," which has justly become celebrated in the history of the lake region, left
1821. Detroit for Mackinaw and Green Bay, July 31,
1821, with two hundred passengers and government troops, and arrived at Green Bay, Aug. 5. Among the number was Rev. Eleazar Williams, missionary to the Oneida Indians, with a deputation of the Six Nations. Gen. Albert G. Ellis of Stevens's Point, Wis., accompanied the party, and was, for a time, school-teacher for the mission school of the New-York Indians. Difficulties, however, occurred with the Menomonees, who gave the Oneidas their land ; and nearly ten years were spent in negotiations, which were concluded in 1832; and soon after the most of this band, and a part of the St. Regis band, removed, and settled in Wisconsin.
On the 12th of September, 1822, the schooner " Tiger " arrived at Detroit, from Green Bay, with twelve thousand pounds of lead, transported from the lead-mines, the whole distance by water, except the portage. The other events of this year are as follows : Col. Ebenezer Childs, an early settler, arrived May 20, and made a trip to St. Louis in a birch canoe. The first post-office at Green Bay was established this year, with Robert Irwin in charge. The mail was carried from Green Bay to Detroit, in the winter season, by sol- diers ; and generally two mails within six months were all that were received. A Frenchman named Ulrich was stabbed in October, near Camp Smith, by a Menomonee Indian named Kewabiskim, and another, named Pierre Grignon, was mur- dered near the portage by a Menomonee. The murderers of Ulrich were caught, tried, and convicted at Detroit, and sen-
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tenced to be hung Dec. 27, 1821, at which time a Chippewa Indian named Ketaukah was also hung for the murder of Dr. William S. Madison, near Manitowoc. Father Gabriel Richards of Detroit visited the bay this year. He was afterwards the delegate of Michigan Territory in Congress.
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