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 9
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At length the expedition moved forward up Fox River, the whites in six boats or barges, and the Indians in canoes ; and, carrying their craft over the portage, they descended the Wis- consin. Reaching the old deserted Fox Village on the Wiscon- sin, twenty-one miles from Prairie du Chien, the force stopped ; while Michael Brisbois, Aug. Grignon, a Sioux, and a Winne- bago Indian were despatched to Prairie du Chien in the night to obtain a citizen, and bring him to Col. Mckay from whom to obtain intelligence. Descending the river to where the ferry has since been located (Wright's Ferry), some five or six miles from the prairie, they went across by land, and reached the place without difficulty. They saw the sentinel on duty at the fort. They went to Antoine Brisbois, the uncle of Michael Brisbois, one of the party, who lived three miles above the town, and took him to where they had left the canoe (the present ferry), then called " Petit Gris." There they awaited the arrival of Col. McKay and his force, who made their appearance the next morning early. Mr. A. Brisbois reported the American strength in the garrison at sixty. The party then proceeded down to the mouth of the Wisconsin, and thence up to Prairie du Chien,
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through a channel, or bayou, between a continuous number of islands and the Mississippi. From Mr. Grignon's valuable paper before alluded to, we take the following detail. of the capture of the place. The old gentleman was an active parti- cipant in the affray on the British side ; and his memory is very clear on the details, which are the only full accounts we possess of the taking of Prairie du Chien.
" They reached the village at ten o'clock, unperceived. The day was Sunday, July 14, 1814, and a very pleasant one. The officers of the garri- son were getting ready to take a pleasure-ride into the country, and, had Mckay been an hour or two later, the garrison would have been found without an officer. Nicholas Boilvin had directed a man to go out and drive up his cattle, as he wished to kill a heifer that day, and have some fresh meat.
"The man went out, and soon discovered the British approaching, and knew, from the red coats worn by the regulars and Capts. Rolette and Anderson (for none of the rest had any), and the dozen British flags dis- played by the Indians, that it was a British force. He returned, and informed Mr. Boilvin, who went and found the report a correct one. Mr. Boilvin, who was the American Indian agent at Prairie du Chien, now hastened to his house, and conveyed his family and valuables to the gun- boat belonging to the fort, for safety. All the citizens now left their houses, and fled from the impending danger, - some to the fort, but mostly to the country.
"Upon arriving at the town, and making a very formidable display for that quiet place, Rolette and Anderson, with their companies, the Sioux and Winnebago Indians, were directed to take post above the fort; while Col. Mckay himself, with the Green Bay Company, the regulars, the Me- nomonees, and Chippewas, encompassed it below. A flag was sent, borne by Capt. Thomas Anderson, demanding the surrender of the garrison, with which demand Lieut. Perkins, the commandant of the post, declined to comply. The six-pounder, under the management of the regulars, was now brought to bear on the gunboat of the Americans. The first shot, however, fired by it, was a blank charge, intended as a sort of a war-flourish, or bravado. But our men did not take a near position, and were, probably, half a mile from the gunboat, if not more; and hence the firing upon the boat by the cannon, and the firing by the guns, were generally ineffectual. When the firing first commenced on the gunboat, Capt. Grignon, with a part of his company, and several Menomonees, was directed to cross the river in two boats, and take a position on land, so as to annoy, and aid to drive off, the gunboat, the position of which was at first near the middle of the river, but, when fired upon, had moved over nearer the western shore. During the day, the gunboat was at least once or twice hit by the balls of the six-pounder, which caused a bad leakage; and which, when the sun was
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about half an hour high, induced Capt. Yeiser to move down stream. Seeing this movement, the Americans on the fort called out to them not to go off ; but, this being unheeded, they fired their cannon at the boat to stop it. Meanwhile, Capt. Grignon and his party over the river had been annoying the boat. One writer says that this party had taken position on an island opposite Prairie du Chien, covered with timber, which served to screen them from the shots of the gunboat. Had we (the British) manned some of our boats, and pursued, we could, undoubtedly, have taken it, as we afterwards learned that it leaked so badly, that the Americans had to stop at the mouth of the Wisconsin to repair it. The only injury the firing of the latter vessel did was, a ball, before noon, striking a fence- post, some of the slivers of which inflicted a flesh-wound in one of the Menomonees.
" While this contest was progressing with the gunboat, Mckay's party of whites and Indians, on all sides of the fort, kept up an irregular firing of small-arms, which, from their great distance from the fort, was harm- less ; and thus, if they did no harm, they were out of the way of receiving any in return. At length, towards noon, Col. Mckay ordered his men to advance over the Marais de St. Ferriole, a swampy spot, and take a position much nearer the fort, - not more than a quarter of a mile distant. This was obeyed by those on the lower side of the fort, who had a sufficiency of houses to shield them from the guns of the garrison. From this new posi- tion, the firing was somewhat increased. In the fort were four iron cannon, somewhat larger than six-pounders; and these were occasionally fired. It was well known that the gunboat contained the magazine of powder, and that had gone down the river with Capt. Yeiser. A couple of Winne- bagoes, discovering that there were some hams in a house which had been deserted, and to which they could not gain an entrance, mounted upon the roof, intending to tear off some shingles, when they were espied from the fort, and each wounded in the thigh, when they quickly retreated.
"The second day, the men and Indians amused themselves with some long shooting; but Col. Mckay and his officers spent the day in counselling as to the best course of procedure.
"It was about resolved to make an assault, and they towards evening assembled the leading Indian chiefs, and laid the plan before them; but the Winnebago chief, Sar-cel, remarked that he and his people had had some experience in assaulting American forts (referring to the attack on Fort Recovery, in 1793), and that they would not like to resort to so hazardous an experiment, but proposed a plan of springing a mine from the river- bank to blow up the garrison; to which suggestion, Col. Mckay answered, ' Go at it.' After spending a part of the evening, and penetrating a dozen or fifteen feet, they gave it up as a bad job, as the fort was several hun- dred feet from the river-bank.
" Nothing of moment occurred the third day, except some occasional firing. Col. Mckay sent into the country about three miles for a load of straw, which was made up in small bundles to have in readiness to place, in
Digtzele
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the darkness of the night, with kegs of powder, near the fort, and fire a train of straw leading to the powder, and thus make a breach on the enclo- sure. But this was only designed as a dernier ressort.
"During this day, or the preceding one, a Fox Indian received a spent- ball, which lodged between his scalp and skull. It was cut out; and the wound did not interfere in his sharing in the further events of the siege. On the fourth day, Col. Mckay resolved to accomplish something more decisive. About three o'clock in the afternoon, with his troops properly stationed, and cannon-balls heated red-hot in a blacksmith's forge, I was sent to go around and specially direct the interpreters to order the Indians not to fire on the fort till the cannon should commence playing the hot-shot, and the fort should be set on fire. Scarcely had these directions been given, when the Americans, probably seeing from indications that a severe assault of some kind was about to be made, raised the white flag. Two officers now came out, and met Col. Mckay; strict orders having been given to the Indians not to fire on these Americans, on the pain of being themselves fired upon by the British troops. The result was, that a surrender was agreed upon. Col. Mckay should have possession of the fort and public stores, and the Americans be permitted to retire unmolested in boats down the river. By this time, it was too late to go through a formal surrender, which was postponed till next morning. When the American flag was hauled down, Col. Mckay was the first to observe the singular fact, that, though it was completely riddled elsewhere with balls, the representation of the Ameri- can eagle was untouched. The Indians, during the whole four days, had directed many shots at the flag, and had shot off one of the cords, which. let the banner part way down on the flagstaff; and there it remained till the surrender."
Several days elapsed before arrangements were completed by which to send the prisoners down the river. Col. Mckay gave the Americans their arms as they embarked. Gen. Smith, in his " History of Wisconsin," says, " The utmost exertions of Col. Mckay were required to prevent an indiscriminate massacre of the Americans by the infuriated Indians, and the lives of the prisoners were for some time in the most imminent danger, as the exertions of Col. Mckay in behalf of humanity were doubtful in their results." Mr. Grignon, in his " Recollections," further says, that Col. Mckay had given such strict orders to the Indians against massacring or molesting the Americans, and to the regulars and militia to keep the Indians in awe, that nothing, as far as he knew, transpired that had the least appearance of treachery on the part of the natives. Capt. Pohl- man, with his regulars, remained in command with the two
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Mackinaw companies until after the peace, which ensued the following year, when the fort was evacuated.
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In connection with the taking of Prairie du Chien, it may be remarked, that Major Campbell had ascended the river from St. Louis, with a squadron of boats and a detachment of United States troops, for the purpose of re-enforcing the garrison at Prairie du Chien. When he arrived at Rock Island, he held some communication with Black Hawk, who was apparently neutral, at least not openly inimical ; but a party of Indians came down Rock River with the news of the capture of Prairie du Chien ; and, as the boats of Major Campbell had by this time departed, they were immediately pursued by Black Hawk's band, and a severe fight took place, in which the Indians captured one of the boats, and Major Campbell himself was wounded. The expedition continued down the river, having lost several men killed, and others wounded, in the fight.
A short time after this event, the British commander at Prai- rie du Chien, then called Fort McKay, descended the river to Rock Island, taking with him two field-pieces and a detachment of soldiers : these he placed in position to check, or at least annoy, any force that might attempt to pass up the river.
CROSSAUP & WEST-SC.PHIL A.
Mm. E. Smith
CHAPTER X.
EARLY HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
The Early History of the Lead-Mines -The Lead Excitement - Slavery in the Mines - Description of the Country -Insults to the Winnebagoes - Shocking Murders at Prairie du Chien- The Winnebago Outrages -Great Excitement at Prairie du Chien - Arrival of Troops.
THERE was little of general interest that transpired in this section of country until after the peace of 1815. When that event was made known to the Indian tribes, many were willing and eager to make treaties of peace and friendship with the United States; and Black Hawk and his band were particularly urged to such a measure by all their friends. Several treaties were entered into at the Portage des Sioux, in 1815, between the United States commissioner and various bands of Indians; and in May, 1816, by the treaty at St. Louis, Black Hawk con- firmed the treaty of 1804, thereby ceding the lands on Rock River, on which his village was located.
The settlements of the whites continued to increase in the Indian country ; and, doubtless, many outrages were committed by them on the persons and effects of the Indians, in order to hasten their voluntary departure from the country which they had ceded to the United States, and in which already govern- ment surveys had been made, and certificates of land entries issued; but these matters did not extend in any objectionable manner beyond the northern boundary of the State of Illinois. A lucrative business was carried on between the merchants of St. Louis and the traders and Indians of the Upper Mississippi. Goods were sent to the traders, who, in return, transmitted peltries and lead. At Galena, the Indians had about twenty furnaces, which they managed in their unskilful manner; 128
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and Col. John Shaw, formerly of this State, states, that, between 1815 and 1820, he made eight trips from St. Louis to Prairie du Chien, visiting the lead-mines at Galena; and at one time car- ried away seventy tons of lead.
The exact date of the discovery of lead in Wisconsin does not appear ; but Capt. Jonathan Carver visited the Blue Mounds in 1766, and speaks of lead as abounding there at Sauk Prairie, on the Wisconsin River. He says, "So plentiful is lead here, that I saw large quantities of it lying about the streets in the town belonging to the Saukies." In 1822 the lead-trade began to attract attention ; and Mr. James Johnson, a government con- tractor for the army, made a treaty with the Indians, and ob- tained leave to work the mines for a limited time, probably four years, as they left in 1826. Mr. Johnson let in other parties to dig; and one firm of the name of Ware brought from fifty to four hundred negro slaves. In 1826 there was a great rush of miners to Galena, somewhat like the California excitement at a later period. Mr. J. S. Miller located at Gratiot's Grove ; John Ray, near Platteville; William Adney, near Hazel Green; J. Armstrong and J. W. Shulls, at Shullsburg; and Ebenezer Brigham and John Ray, at the Blue Mounds.
This advent of the miners upon the territory of the Winne- bago Indians, without any treaty, deprived them of their previ- ous profit in the lead-trade, and, with other difficulties, was the cause of much trouble.
Col. Charles Whittlesey, who made a tour through Wiscon- sin in 1832, writes as follows in reference to the mining-coun- try : -
"On the second day we passed the foot of the Blue Mound. It is a high hill of regular ascent, overlooking the country, and serves as a beacon to the traveller thirty miles distant. At night we slept in a block-house in the mining-district. Within sight of the station, a newly-made grave lay at the roadside, in the midst of a solitary prairie. The person over whom it was raised had ventured too far from the house, and approached a thicket of bushes. Suddenly a band of concealed Indians sprang upon him, with the fatal whoop on their tongues. His scalp, heart, and most of his flesh, were soon stripped from the body, and a savage dance performed about the remains.
"The country is still prairie, with scattering tufts of inferior timber. The huts of the miners had been deserted on account of the difficulties now
9
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terminated; and the business of making lead was about to recommence. Occasionally a farm might be seen running out from an island of timber, and supplied with comfortable buildings. But most of the improvements were of a temporary nature, consisting of a lead-furnace and the cabins adjacent. The process of reducing lead-ore is very simple and rapid. The furnace is a face-wall, about two feet thick, located upon a gentle slope of the ground, with an arch or passage through the centre. On each side of the arched opening, and in the rear or up-hill side, two wing-walls run out transversely to the face-wall, between which the wood is laid. The ore is placed upon it, and a continual fire kept up. The lead gradually separates from the dross, and runs into a cavity in front of the arch.
"The 'mining-district' east of the Mississippi must include ten thou- sand square miles. Galena, or lead-ore, is found in veins, or threads, more often in a square form, of various sizes, and running in all directions with the horizon. They are liable to disappear suddenly, to enlarge and dimin- ish in size, to combine with other materials, rendering the operations of mining very uncertain. Their course is generally straight, and not curved, seldom exceeding a foot in breadth. The analysis yields eighty-five to ninety per cent of lead, of which the first smelting of the furnace extracts about seventy-five per cent. It requires skill and experience to discover the vein, but very little of either to work it when discovered. The limestone formation of Green Bay and Lake Michigan extends to this region, embra- cing copper ore at Mineral Point, and at other places. At this time the government leased the ground to practical miners, who rendered a propor- tion of the product in kind. In consequence of the derangements of the times, although the supply was small, lead was then dull at three cents per pound. The supply appears to be inexhaustible. In one respect, this region differs from the mineral regions of other countries. There are but few veins that justify a pursuit to great depths; and, although they are very numerous, the pits and trenches are easily filled up, and the rich soil left in- capable of cultivation. The great drawback upon the agricultural prospects of the mining-district arises from the consumption of the little timber that grows there in melting the lead. How long the presence of this mineral has been known, and its value understood, is not exactly known; but there are mines which were worked by the French soon after they ascended the Mississippi. The Indians could scarcely have found use for it before the introduction of fire-arms among them.
" Arriving at Galena, we found the place crowded with people. The mineral riches of the Dubuque country were well known; and it was ex- pected that Gen. Scott would secure the title to a considerable tract west of the river, including the richest mines. The negotiation was still pending at Rock Island relative to the purchase. Thousands of adventurers lined the eastern shore of the Mississippi, ready to seize upon the possession and pre-emption rights in the new Territory the moment they became perfect. In this case, as in many others, guards of soldiers were necessary to keep the whites from taking unlawful occupancy of Indian lands. It has become
1
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fashionable to abuse the government for its conduct toward the red men. My observation has, on the contrary, led me to admire, rather than to con- demn, the practice of the Federal authority in this respect, believing, that in general, its magnanimity, kindness, and protection demand the lasting gratitude of the Indian race."
In the early part of the year 1827, a party of twenty-four Chippewas, being on their way to Fort Snelling, at the mouth of St. Peter's River, were surprised and attacked by a war-party of the Winnebagoes ; and eight of them were killed. The com- mandant of the United States troops at the fort took four of the offending Winnebagoes prisoners, and (certainly with great imprudence) delivered them into the hands of the exasperated Chippewas, who immediately put them to death. This act was greatly resented by a chief of the Winnebagoes, named " Red Bird," and in addition to this source of enmity was to be added the daily encroachment of the whites in the lead-region ; for at this time they had overrun the mining-country from Galena to the Wisconsin River. In the spirit of revenge for the killing of the four Winnebagoes, Red Bird led a war-party against the Chippewas, by whom he was defeated, and thus, having been disappointed, he turned the force of his resentment against the whites, whom he considered as having not only invaded his country, but as having aided and abetted his enemies in the destruction of his people.
Some time previously, a murder by the Winnebagoes had been committed in the family of a Mr. Methode, near Prairie du Chien, in which several persons had been killed. It was appar- ent that a spirit of enmity between the Indians and the whites had been now effectually stirred up; and, for the first time since the war of 1812, disturbances were daily looked for by the settlers and miners.
On the 28th of June, 1827, Red Bird, We-Kaw, and three of their companions, entered the house of Registre Gagnier, about three miles from Prairie du Chien, where they remained several hours. At last, when Mr. Gagnier least expected it, Red Bird levelled his gun, and shot him dead on his hearthstone. A per- son in the building, by the name of Sip Cap, who was a hired man, was slain at the same time by We-Kaw. Madame Gagnier turned to fly with her infant of eighteen months. As she was
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about to leap through the window, the child was torn from her arms by We-Kaw, stabbed, scalped, and thrown violently on the floor as dead.
The murderer then attacked the woman, but gave way when she snatched up a gun that was leaning against the wall, and presented it to his breast. She then effected her escape. Her eldest son, a lad of ten years, also shunned the murderers; and they both arrived in the village at the same time. The alarm was soon given; but, when the avengers of blood arrived at Gagnier's house, they found in it nothing living but his mangled infant. It was carried to the village, and, incredible as it may seem, it recovered.
Red Bird and his companions immediately proceeded from the scene of their crime to the rendezvous of their band. Dur- ing their absence, thirty-seven of the warriors who acknowl- edged the authority of Red Bird, had assembled, with their wives and children, near the mouth of the Bad Axe River. They received the murderers with joy, and loud approbation of their exploit. A keg of liquor which they had secured was set abroach; and the red men began to drink, and, as their spirits rose, to boast of what they had already done and intended to do. Two days did they continue to revel; and on the third the source of their excitement gave out. They were, at about four in the afternoon, dissipating the last fumes of their excitement in the scalp-dance, when they descried one of the keel-boats, which had a few days before passed up the river with provisions for the troops at Fort Snelling, on her return in charge of Mr. Lindsay. Forthwith a proposal to take her, and massacre the crew, was made, and carried by acclamation. They counted upon doing this without risk ; for they had examined her on the way up, and supposed there were no arms on board.
Mr. Lindsay's boats had descended the river as far as the village of Wa-ba-shaw, where they expected an attack. The Dakotahs on shore were dancing the war-dance, and hailed their approach with insults and menaces, but did not, how- ever, offer to obstruct their passage. The whites now sup- posed the danger over; and, a strong wind at that moment beginning to blow up stream, the boats parted company. So strong was the wind, that all the force of the sweeps could
CROSSCUP & WEST-SEPHILA.
J. A. Lapham.
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scarcely stem it; and, by the time the foremost boat was near the encampment at the mouth of the Bad Axe River, the crew were very willing to stop and rest. One or two Frenchmen, or half-breeds, who were on board, observed hostile appearances on shore, and advised the rest to keep the middle of the stream ; but their counsel was disregarded. Most of the crew were Americans, who, as usual with our countrymen, combined a pro- found ignorance of Indian character with a thorough contempt for Indian prowess. They urged the boat directly toward the camp with all the force of the sweeps. There were sixteen men on deck. It may be well to observe here, that this, like all keel- boats used in the Mississippi Valley, was built almost exactly on the model of the Erie and Middlesex Canal boats.
The men were rallying their French companions on their ap- prehension, and the boat (named " Oliver H. Perry)" was within thirty yards of the shore, when suddenly the trees and rocks rang with the blood-chilling, ear-piercing tones of the war- whoop; and a volley of rifle-balls rained upon the deck. Hap- pily the Winnebagoes had not yet recovered from the effects of their debauch, and their arms were not steady. One man only fell from their fire. He was a little negro named Peter. His leg was dreadfully shattered, and he afterwards died of the wound. A second volley soon came from the shore; but, as the men were lying at the bottom of the boat, they all escaped but one, who was shot through the heart. Encouraged by the non-resistance, the Winnebagoes rushed to their canoes, with intent to board. The whites, having recovered from their first panic, seized their arms; and the boarders were received with a very severe dis- charge. In one canoe, two savages were killed with the same bullet, and several were wounded. The attack was continued until night, when one of the party (named Mandeville), who had assumed command, sprang into the water, followed by four others, who succeeded in setting the boat afloat, and went down the stream.
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