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 8
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In July of this year, Hon. Henry S. Baird became a resident of Green Bay, where he remained an active and
respected citizen until 1875, when he died. In his 1824.
"Early History of Northern Wisconsin," he speaks of Green Bay, as it appeared in 1824, as follows: "The grounds around Fort Howard were used mostly for fields of grain, and gar- dens. A portion of the present town of Fort Howard was used as a parade or drill ground. The garrison consisted of four companies of the Third Regiment of United States infan- try, and was commanded by the late Gen. John McNeil. The settlement, so called, extended from Fort Howard on the west, and from the premises of the late Judge J. P. Arndt on the east side of Fox River, to the present village of De Pere, a dis- tance of about six miles; and beyond De Pere, south or west, there was no white settlement, with the exception of two or three families, until you reached Prairie du Chien, a distance of two hundred and fifty miles. There were six or eight resident American families ; and the families of the officers stationed at Fort Howard, in number about the same. On the 23d of August, J. H. Lockwood was admitted to practice as an attorney by Judge Doty, the first lawyer in the State. He had previously received a commission from the government as prosecuting attorney for the counties of Brown and Crawford. The first term of the United States Court was held in October of this year, and Hon. H. S. Baird admitted to practice, and appointed prosecuting attorney pro tem. The first grand jury of Brown County was impanelled, and found one indictment for murder (a man named Joice, who was tried, and convicted of manslaughter), and forty-two for lesser offences.
Col. W. G. Hamilton arrived at Green Bay on the 28th of June, 1825, with a drove of cattle, which he had contracted with the government to deliver at the 1825-29. fort. He found Major Whistler in command of the fort, and Col. Brevoort acting in the capacity of Indian agent.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
Col. E. Childs says he built the first frame house at Green Bay, in this year ; which was, probably, the first house of the kind erected in the State. The Episcopal Church established a mission in 1825, under the superintendence of Rev. Mr. Nash, a worthy missionary ; but it was discontinued in 1827. It was revived in 1829, under the care of Rev. R. Cadle, and again discontinued in 1837. Dec. 2, 1838, Rev. Bishop Kemper con- secrated a church at Duck Creek, erected by Oneidas, the funds being received from the government; and the following year Rev. Solomon Davis was placed in charge. Gen. Lewis Cass and Col. T. L. M.Kenney, commissioners appointed to treat with the Indians at Butte des Morts, met at Green Bay in 1825. J. H. Fonda of Prairie du Chien was there at the same time. He says, " There were seven or eight hundred persons here, from the native Indian to the sons of Africa, and of all shades of color." The Indian affairs throughout the Territory had assumed a threatening aspect. Reports of murders and disturbances had spread through the settlements. Mr. Fonda, at the request of the United States quartermaster, carried the mail to Fort Dearborn through the eastern tier of counties.
During the year 1827, the missionary society determined to erect extensive buildings for a boarding-school, in which they might educate "children of full or mixed blood." Rev. Richard Cadle was selected to conduct the enterprise. This gentleman labored devotedly as teacher and missionary at Green Bay and its vicinity, and became afterward chaplain at Fort Howard, and, a few years later, at Fort Crawford. The buildings which were erected in 1829 were situated on a high plateau overlooking Fox River, and cost nine thousand dollars. The institution was not a success, and was closed in 1839.
This year Judge Arndt built the first saw-mill on Indian land, with the consent of the war department. During the year, a party of men from Green Bay went up the Fox River to Fort Winnebago, co-operating with a force of men under Gen. Atkinson in boats, and Gens. Dodge and Whitesides, with companies of volunteers coming from below. The Indians, finding a formidable army in the midst of their country, con- cluded a treaty of peace, and surrendered Red Wing, who had a year previous massacred a family near Prairie du Chien.
1
Lucia Jandira
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
In the fall of this year, the Fifth Regiment of United States
infantry came in barges from St. Louis up the 1828. Mississippi and Wisconsin, and down the Fox Rivers, to Fort Howard, without unloading. The high water enabled them to cross from the Wisconsin to the Fox River, at Portage, fully laden, and to run the rapids of Fox River. A remarkable case of attempt to murder occurred at Fort How- ard in this year. William Prestige, a soldier, entered the quarters of the notorious D. E. Twiggs, then a major, and in command at the post, while he was taking his after-dinner nap. Prestige was armed with a musket, the muzzle of which he put to Twiggs's ear, and pulled the trigger, intending to be, and supposing he was, sure of his victim. The gun missed fire ; but the click of the lock awoke Twiggs, who sprung up and seized the gun, and struck his assailant over the head, inflicting a terrible wound, fracturing the skull, and laying him senseless upon the floor. Prestige had about six months more to serve out his enlistment; and Twiggs, instead of turning him over to the civil authorities, to be tried and punished for the offence, detained him a prisoner under his own control, and subjected him to every species of torture he could devise. In the following year (1829), his term of service as a soldier having expired, he was indicted, tried, and, on conviction, sentenced to five years' imprisonment. The President (Adams), upon representations to him of the brutal treatment to which Prestige had been subjected by Twiggs, immediately pardoned him.
A log schoolhouse was built this year. Miss C. Russell taught, and was succeeded by Miss F. Sears. Fort Winnebago was established this season by Twiggs. His prisoner, Prestige, was kept chained to a tree, with no shelter or bedding, and without comfortable clothing.
In 1829 a Methodist mission was established at Green Bay,
by a young Mohawk, who had been converted 1829. Canada. In the month of May, Judge Doty, M. L. Martin, and H. S. Baird left Green Bay on horseback, and travelled over the country to Prairie du Chien; being the first party of white men that had attempted and accom- plished the journey. In October the first public meeting of the inhabitants of Green Bay was held, - Louis Grignon, chair-
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man, M. L. Martin, secretary, - to represent to Congress, among other matters, the necessity of a road from Green Bay to Chicago, and the improvement of the navigation of the Fox River.
In August of this year, Hon. Erastus Root, John T. Mason, and J. McCall, United States commissioners, arrived
to settle Indian difficulties, but did not succeed. 1830. The commission broke up without accomplishing any thing. A little later, a Catholic mission school was opened by Rev. Samuel Mazzuchelli, an Italian priest. The mission was aided by the government, out of the annuities paid to the Menomonee Indians. In the same year, the town of Navarino, now known as the north ward of the city of Green Bay, was laid out by Daniel Whitney. Col. Stambaugh, Indian agent, went to Washington with a delegation of the New York Indians, and Menomonees, to settle a difficulty between these nations on the boundaries of their lands. A census report shows that the population of Brown County, in the same year, was fifteen hundred.
In 1831 the government purchased from the Indians the country lying between Lake Michigan and the Mis- 1831-32. sissippi, Fox, and Wisconsin Riverx. Hitherto these
lands, except a narrow strip on both sides of the Fox River at Green Bay, and the reservation of the New York tribes, were owned by the Menomonees and Winnebagoes. The tardiness of the government in acquiring titles to these lands was a great drawback to the settlement and improvement of the country. In the same year, Judge J. D. Doty and Lieut. Centre were appointed commissioners for surveying and locating a military road from Green Bay to Chicago, and west to Prairie du Chien. The year 1832 is memorable on account of the Black Hawk war, which is spoken of at length hereafter. Green Bay was not particularly affected, as the government had made necessary preparation at its post at Fort Howard. It is well known that Black Hawk had invited the tribes at the bay to join the confederacy. This war, for a brief period, retarded immi- gration, and the settlement of the State.
In 1833 the first newspaper published in Wisconsin made its appearance at Green Bay; viz., "The Intelligencer." J. V.
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Snydam and A. G. Ellis were the publishers. The importance of the improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers was realized by the people of Green Bay; and a second public meeting was held Nov. 10, 1833, to memorialize Congress on the subject. There were eight murder-trials in the five years terminating in 1833: only three of the parties were executed, all soldiers from the garrisons at Fort Howard and Mackinaw. In July, Daniel Le Roy, M. L. Martin, and P. B. Grignon explored the country from Green Bay, south, as far as Mil- waukee. There were only Indian villages at Milwaukee, She- boygan, Manitowoc, Waukesha, and Fond du Lac. S. Juneau was trading at Milwaukee. He was the only white on the whole route. A United States land-office was opened at Green Bay in 1834; and in the same year Judge Arndt shipped the first cargo of lumber from Green Bay to Chicago. It was shipped on Devil River, at the mouth of Hell Creek, and, as Mr. Durrie remarks, was doubtless well seasoned. In 1835 the town of Astor, now known as the south ward of the city, was opened and laid out by John Jacob Astor and others, on the land formerly owned by John Lawe and the Grignon family, and originally owned by the American Fur Company. Thus we reach 1836, the year in which the first session of the legisla- tive council of Michigan convened at Green Bay, at which a memorial to Congress was drawn up for the formation of the new Territory of Wisconsin. The Territorial Government was established by Congress April 20, 1836, and was fully organ- ized July 4, 1836, as hereinafter recorded. We have in this manner run abruptly over the noticeable events in the early history of Green Bay. Many of these same events are treated of at greater length in the chapter succeeding that which immediately follows. We have given this brief and pointed chain of events merely as a framework. And we may now turn to Prairie du Chien, and present some of the principal features in the history of that place in the same manner.
CHAPTER VIII.
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN FROM 1796 to 1836.
Description of Prairie du Chien in 1805 - The Fur Trade - War of 1812-Cap- ture of Prairie du Chien - Determined Resistance - The Fur Trade after the Peace of 1815 - Major Long's Observations of the Fort and Village, &c.
IN the year 1805, Major Z. M. Pike, having been appointed to the charge of an expedition to explore the Upper Mississippi, left St. Louis in August with a party of twenty officers and privates, in a keel-boat. He arrived at Prairie du Chien on the 4th of September, and found Capt. Fisher in com- mand at the fort. He proceeded up the river, and 1805. returned to Prairie du Chien April 18, 1806. On the 20th, he made a speech to the Puants, and demanded the murderers of two Americans. These the Indians promised to deliver at St. Louis, and to return all British flags and medals in their posses- sion. The following is his description of the village : "Situ- ated about a league from the mouth of the Wisconsin. On the east bank is a small pond, or marsh, which runs parallel to the river in the rear of the town, which, in front of the marsh, consists of eighteen dwelling-houses in two streets (near the present Dousman House), sixteen in Front Street, and two in Second Street. In the rear of the marsh (east of the Marais de St. Ferriole, and near Kane's Hotel) are eight dwelling- houses. Part of the houses are framed ; and, in place of weather- boarding, there are small logs let into mortises made in the uprights, joined close, daubed on the outside with clay, and handsomely whitewashed within. There were eight houses scattered around the country at a distance of one, two, three, and five miles ; making, in the village and vicinity, thirty-seven houses, which, at ten persons to each house, would make a popu-
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lation of three hundred and seventy souls. In the spring and fall, owing to the concourse of traders and their engagees, there are between five hundred and six hundred. A fair is usually held in the spring, when three hundred or four hundred Indians are here to exchange peltries for goods." He speaks of the old village, which was a mile below the present one, which had existed during the French occupancy of the country. The present village was settled under the English Government, and the ground purchased of the Indians. The prairie on which the village is situated is bounded on the rear by high, bald hills. While there, he selected a location for a fort.
In this year, a trader named Campbell was appointed by the government sub-Indian agent, and by the governor of Illinois
1806-15.
as justice of the peace of Prairie du Chien. His
price for marrying was one hundred pounds of flour, and, for dissolving the marriage-relation, two hundred pounds. On the 18th of June, 1812, the declaration of war against Great Britain was made by Congress. The protection of this part of our frontiers was considered of great importance to ourselves, as its possession was to the British. Early in 1814, the govern- ment authorities at St. Louis fitted out a large boat, having on board all the men that could be mustered, and despatched it up the Mississippi to protect the upper country. This boat reached Prairie du Chien; and on its arrival the men com- menced putting the old fort in a state of defence by repairing the outworks, and fortifying it. Not long after taking posses- sion, Col. McKay of the British army descended the Wiscon- sin with a large force of British and Indians, piloted by Joseph Rolette of the village. The fort was captured after a deter- mined resistance against an overwhelming force; and the utmost exertions of Col Mckay were required to prevent an indiscriminate massacre of the Americans by the infuriated Indians. The prisoners were finally put into a boat, and sent down the river. The fort was left in command of Capt. Pohl- man with two Mackinaw companies under Capt. Anderson and. Lieut D. Graham.1 He continued in command till after the
1 See account of the capture of Prairie du Chien farther on.
Cassius Jam chile
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peace, which ensued the following year, when the fort was evacuated by the British.
After the peace of 1815, a profitable business was carried on between the merchants of St. Louis and the traders and Indians of the Upper Mississippi. Goods were periodically sent up to the traders, who, in return, transmitted by the same boats pel- tries and lead. In the period between 1815 and 1820, Col. John Shaw made eight trips in a trading-boat between St. Louis and Prairie du Chien, and visited the lead-mines where the city of Galena now stands. At one time he carried away seventy tons of lead. On the 21st of June, 1816, United States troops took possession of the fort at Prairie du Chien. Brevet Gen. Smythe, colonel of the rifle regiment, in the month of June selected the mound where the stockade had been built, and the ground in front, to include the most thickly inhabited part of the village, for a site to erect Fort Crawford. During the ensuing winter, or spring of 1817, Col. Chambers arrived, and assumed the command ; and, the houses in the village being an obstruction to the garrison, he ordered those houses in front and about the fort (near Col. Dousman's residence) to be taken down by their owners, and moved to the lower end of the village, where he pretended to give them lots. Judge Lockwood arrived Sept. 16, 1816. He says the village at that time was a traders' village of between twenty-five and thirty houses, situated on the banks of the Mississippi, on what is in high water an island, now called the "Old Village," as it was at the time. There were on the prairie at that time about forty farms cultivated along under the bluffs, and enclosed in the common field, each farm divided by a road or highway. This year, there were four companies of riflemen under command of brevet Major Morgan, building the old fort, which was constructed by placing the walls of the quar- ters and storehouses on the lines, the highest outside, and the slope of the roof descending within the fort, with block-houses at two corners, and large pickets on the others, so as to enclose the fort. This fort was erected on the island formed by the river and the Slough of St. Ferriole.
In 1817 Major S. H. Long made some observations of the fort and settlement. He says of Fort Crawford, that it was a
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
square of three hundred and forty feet each side, of wood, with a magazine (twelve by twenty-four) of stone; that it would accom- modate five companies. The block-houses were two stories high, with cupolas or turrets. The building of the works was com- menced July 3, 1816, by troops under command of Col. Hamilton, previous to which time no timber had been cut, or stone quarried, for the purpose. Exclusive of stores, workshops, and stables, the village contained only sixteen dwelling-houses occupied by families. In the rear of the village, about three-quarters of a mile, were four others; two miles and a half above were five; and at the upper end of the prairie were four, and seven or eight scattered over the prairie ; so that the whole number of family dwellings then occupied did not exceed thirty-eight. The buildings were generally of logs, plastered with mud or clay ; and he thinks the village and inhabitants had degenerated since Pike was there (in 1805). The inhabitants were principally of French and Indian extraction. One mile back of the village was the " Grand Farm," an extensive enclosure cultivated by the settlers in common. It was about six miles in length, and one- quarter to one-half a mile in width, surrounded by a fence on one side, and the river-bluffs on the other, thus secured from the depredations of cattle. He speaks highly of Capt. Duffhey, the commanding officer. He says of the name of the village, that it derived its name from a family of Indians formerly known by the name of " The Dog ; " that the chief's name was " The Dog." This family, or band, had become extinct. The following tradi- tion concerning them came to his knowledge: "that a large party of Indians came down the Wisconsin from Green Bay; that they attacked the family or tribe of 'The Dogs,' and massacred almost the whole of them, and returned to Green Bay; that the few who had succeeded in making their escape to the woods returned, after their enemies had evacuated the prairie, and re-established themselves in their former place of residence ; and that they were the Indians inhabiting the prairie at the time it was settled by the French."
In the spring of this year, a Roman Catholic priest from St. Louis, named Père Priere, visited Prairie du Chien. He was the first who had visited the place for many years, and perhaps since the settlement. He organized the Roman Catholic Church.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
and disturbed some of the domestic arrangements of the inhab- itants. He found several women who had left their husbands, and were living with other men : these he made, by the terror of his church, to return, and ask pardon of their husbands, and to be taken back by them, which they, of course, could not refuse.
From this time to 1836, when the Territorial Government was organized, the record of Prairie du Chien is a dull routine of unimportant events. The early courts and court-decisions of the place present much of interest; but these are noticed else- where.
CHAPTER IX.
EARLY HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
The War of 1812 in the North-west - Operations at Prairie du Chien - Col. Mckay and his Forces - An Account of the Capture of Prairie du Chien by Col. Mckay - Scenes and Incidents of the Surrender.
HAVING referred to the early history of what is now the State of Wisconsin, more particularly in reference to Green Bay and Prairie du Chien, which, in reality, comprised all there was of civilization in this section, it is only necessary to state that the rest of the Territory was occupied almost exclu- sively by Indians, who held the title of "eminent domain " by actual possession, although the United States held the supremacy.
The declaration of war on the part of our government against Great Britain was made by Act of Congress on the 18th of June, 1812; and on the following day a proclamation of the contest was made. By some unaccountable neglect or misman- agement on the part of the officers of the government, the information of this important event did not reach the North- western posts until some days after the British authorities in this region had full knowledge of the fact, and were enabled to act accordingly. This egregious blundering, or reprehensible omission of duty, on the part of the officers of the General Government, proved disastrous in the extreme.
Without going into details of the taking of Mackinaw on the 17th of July with a force of British, Canadians, and savages, and the crowning misfortune that befell the American cause in this quarter of the seat of war by the unparalleled act of the surrender of Detroit by Gen. Hull, together with fourteen hun- dred brave men longing for battle, to three hundred English
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soldiers, four hundred Canadian militia disguised in red coats, and a band of Indian allies ; of the unfortunate fate that befell the garrison of Fort Dearborn at Chicago, -it is only neces- sary to say that Wisconsin took a part in this contest, even though it presented a small theatre for action. The protection of this part of our frontier was regarded as of great importance to ourselves, as its possession was to the British. Early in 1814, the government authorities at St. Louis had fitted out a large boat, bullet-proof, having on board all the men that could be mustered and spared from the lower country, under command of Capt. Yeiser, and despatched it up the Mississippi, to protect the upper country and the few settlers that were then in it. This boat reached Prairie du Chien ; and, immediately on their arrival, the men commenced the work of putting the old fort in a state of defence by repairing the outworks, and fortifying it in the best manner they were able. Lieut. Perkins, who accom- panied the troops, was directed to take and retain possession of the place; and he built a stockade on a large mound near the residence of the late H. L. Dousman. In the mean time, the traders in the British interest, resorting to Mackinaw as the British headquarters of the North-west, learning of the American occupation of Prairie du Chien in 1814, and anticipating, that, so long as this force should remain there, they would be cut off from the trade of that place, its dependencies, and the Sioux country, at once set on foot an expedition for its recapture. The command of the same was confided to Lieut .- Col. William MeKay, a man of intelligence, activity, and enterprise, and well fitted to command the contemplated expedition. The party consisted of a sergeant of artillery, with one brass six-pounder (another authority says three pieces of artillery), and three or four volunteer companies of the Canadian voyageurs, com- manded by traders, and officered by their clerks, all dressed in red coats, with probably, in all, not less than five hundred, and perhaps more, Indians and half-breeds. A small party of regu- lars, under Capt. Pohlman, was placed under Mckay's com- mand. The Indians were composed of three bands of Sioux, under their chiefs, Wau-ba-shaw, or "The Leaf," Red Wing, Little Crow, and others; and the Winnebagoes were in charge of Pe-shen, or "The Wild Cat," Tar-cel, or "The Teal," Car-
CROSSCUP & VIEST-52.
Gen. Edward S. Bragg.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
ry-marr-nee, Wino-sheek, Sar-ro-chan, Neo-o-kantak, or "Four Legs," and Black Wolf.
Col .. McKay came with his force in boats to Green Bay, where he tarried to increase his numbers, and make all necessary prep- arations. A company of the Green Bay militia, of about thirty persons, and many of them old men unfit for service, was raised, of which Pierre Grignon was captain, Peter Powell and Aug. Grignon, lieutenants. Here about seventy-five Menomo- nees, under Ma-cha-nah, or "The Hairy Hand," I-om-e-tah, Kish-kon-nan-wan-kan-hom, or "The Cutting Off," and a party of about twenty-five Chippewas mixed with the Menomonees, joined the expedition. Mr. Grignon, in his " Recollections of Wisconsin," says, " Our entire force now consisted of four hun- dred Indians and one hundred and fifty whites." Such was his understanding ; and, if the newspapers of the day represented it larger, it was for effect on the part of the British to impress the Americans with an idea of their great strength in the North- west, and, on the part of the Americans, in palliation of their loss at Prairie du Chien.
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