USA > Wisconsin > Brown County > History of Brown County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume I > Part 17
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barbarity than ever, when next morning the besieging tribes awoke from their strange slumbers to find that their prey was gone."
(References for Chapter XII: Stambaugh, Report on Wisconsin Territory, Wis. Hist. Colls., Vol. 15: McCall's Journal, Wis. Hist. Colls., Vol. II ; C. D. Robinson, Wis. Hist. Colls., Vol. 2.)
CHAPTER XHI
THE BLACK HAWK SCARE
The dramatic episode in Wisconsin history known as the Black Hawk war gave a scare to the dwellers in the Fox river valley and not without reason. Black Hawk, a chief of the Sauk nation living on Rock river, Illinois, in retalia- tion for the insults suffered by his people from the white squatters on his terri- tory, indiscreetly threatened them with force if they did not at once depart. This was in the spring of 1831. The Sauk chief's words were construed as being "a bloody menace" and the Illinois militia were promptly called out and the dis- turbance quelled. The Hawk was encouraged in his revolt against immigration by emissaries from the Pottawatomies, Winnebagoes, Ottawas and Chippewas, all of whom urged him to fight for his rights and drive out if possible the intruders.
With no hostile intent, however, Black Hawk and his band of five hundred warriors, accompanied by their women and children, passed up the Rock river in April, 1832, with the intention of planting their fields at Prophetstown. The onward tramp of the Indians was looked upon as an invasion and roused general alarm in Illinois and what is now Wisconsin. Settlers fled the country or gathered into log forts. General Henry Atkinson, with an army of volunteers and regu- lars marched from Fort Armstrong against Black Hawk and his peaceable following. The startled Hawk sent back a defiant message and retreated up Rock river, making a brief stand at Stillman creek. Here finding that the promised assistance from other tribes was not forthcoming he attempted to sur- render, on stipulation that he be allowed peacefully to withdraw to the west of the Mississippi. But his messengers on approaching with their white flag the camp of a party of twenty-five hundred half-drunken illinois cavalry militia were brutally slain. Accompanied by a mere handful of braves the enraged Sauk leader now ambushed and easily routed this large and boisterous party, whose members displayed rank cowardice; in their mad retreat they spread broadcast through the settlements a report that Black Hawk was backed by two thousand bloodthirsty warriors bent on a campaign of universal slaughter. (Thwaites, Wisconsin.)
The terrified dwellers on Fox river through that summer of 1832 lived in almost hourly dread of an invasion by Sacs and Foxes. The allies of the war- ring bands of Indians, the Winnebagoes, were in a constant state of unrest and there was great apprehension that they would join the invaders in case of an assault on Fort Howard. From the Green Bay garrison on the first alarm a company had been sent to Fort Winnebago, leaving at the former post but seventeen men, and the cantonment in almost a defenseless condition, as repairs were going on in the buildings. A cannon was planted near the river
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opposite the Episcopal mission house at Shantytown and patrols were constantly kept about the settlement. The whites in the neighborhood of Lake Winne- bago moved down to the bay hamlet and the cannon on the river was to be the signal when fired for all the inhabitants to go to the fort. "It was sup- posed that the mission house would be the first object of attack on account of the number of scalps to be obtained. The alarm continued for three weeks, some nights the large boys did not go to bed, a girl with long hair requested that it be cut off so that she could not be scalped." ( Kemper, W. H. C., Vol. 15.)
The mission house and school was in 1832 in charge of Reverend Richard F. Cadle. Under his care were twenty-two full-blooded Indian children from the Menominee, Chippewa and New York tribes and one Sauk, the entire school numbering 109 members. Of the remainder eighty were half and quarter breed Menominee and Chippewa and seven were white. The large preponderance of Menominees rendered the children's dread of Black Hawk's band not unfounded, for the Sauk's antagonism to the Menominees dated back a century and more, to the days when their allies, the Foxes, were routed by the combined forces' of French and Menominee. The little girl with long hair might well fear that it would be carried off and herself, perhaps, with it by the invading Sauks and Winnebagoes, for exaggerated rumors as to their numbers and vindictive cruelty were rife, and the insecurity of Fort Howard, three miles to the northward, must have added to the feeling of isolation and dread of impending danger.
The small detachment of seventeen men retained at Fort Howard was under the command of Captain Nathan Clark, and this fragment of military force formed a nucleus of retreat for the fugitives from threatened points and also for the townspeople. The great rendezvous was, however, the agency house, at that time the large frame house on the east bank of Fox river, which had been purchased from Judge Doty four years previous.
Henry B. Brevoort had been succeeded as agent by Samuel C. Stambaugh, and he, in turn, by Colonel George Boyd, who had been transferred from Macki- nac, his former post on June 2, 1832. Colonel Stambaugh had not yet quitted his Green Bay agency, and a delegation of Menominees headed by Grizzly Bear waited upon Colonel Boyd and asked that "our father, Colonel Stambaugh, be allowed to remain with us until our troubles are over,' and that he be given the command of the two hundred and fifty recruits from the Menominee nation, who were encamped in the woods at the rear of the agency house.
Colonel Boyd's reply was most courteous and conciliatory. He gladly con- sented to allow Stambaugh full command of the Indian allies, promising that if it became necessary to march against the enemy, he alone should lead the Indian militia. Ebenezer Childs, writing on June 13, 1832, says that the discipline among this large camp of Menominees was remarkable. Regular sentinels were posted on the outskirts, from thirty to fifty scouting parties patrolled the woods from "Dickenson's Ferry to the lower part of Devil river," and they were ordered to and did report every morning at headquarters, Captain Augustin Grignon "who has as much control over the Indians as any in this country," shared the command with Colonel Stambaugh. Much time was spent in musket practice by the recruits, and also "in firing in bands and platoons." The number of Menominees was finally augmented to about five hundred, and to these presents to the amount of $159.85 were allowed by government in addition to their daily
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rations. The presents consisted of wearing apparel, vermillion for the decora- tion of their faces, looking glasses, 124 flints, 468 pounds of tobacco and twenty- four dozen pipes to the chiefs and head men.
Colonel George Boyd, whose papers in regard to the Black Hawk war are an interesting addition to the history of that period, belonged to an old and dis- tinguished Virginia family and had held many offices of trust under govern- ment. In October, 1816, he was appointed special agent of the war depart- ment, and ordered to Europe to purchase arms for the use of the United States ; he also received orders for the purchase of material to be used in the construction of the capitol building and the president's house at Washington, amounting to something over $19,000. The government later failed to fulfil its contract with him, by declining to accept a part of the arms which he had ordered. This involved him in financial ruin, and forced him to dispose of all his property for the benefit of his creditors. He was a high-minded generous gentleman, much respected by the residents in this vicinity and was thoroughly liked by the Indians, toward whom he showed sympathy and fair dealing. He was, more- over, efficient in the management of his office.
The agency house stood in 1832 about one mile south of the Episcopal mis- sion : ruins of the old chimney still remain to mark the spot in the town of Allouez, and an asylum was offered in the large hospitable building to all who could get in, when the cannon should give signal that the Indians were in sight. To quote from Mrs. Henry S. Baird's "Territorial Wisconsin:" "The militia had organized and had encamped near the river below the woods on the west side of what is now R. B. Kellogg's stock farm. Mr. Baird was the quartermaster. We had given up our house in Shantytown and were living on our farm, but my husband was obliged to go every day to Shantytown to his business. I never saw him mount his horse that summer without saying to my- self 'shall we ever meet again?' Cholera threatening on one hand, the Indians on the other."
This was the first of the three fatal cholera epidemics which visited, in dif- ferent years, Brown county. In 1832, there seems not to have been a practic- ing physician throughout the county; the post surgeon from Fort Howard attended the sick when possible, but often it was the priest alone who was called in to minister to those stricken as well as to shrive the dying and bury the dead. General Scott's troops on their way to the front were attacked by the disease at Detroit, and many died. Hardly a household in Menomineeville was exempt from the scourge. Father Mazzuchelli, at that time in charge of the church built by the Roman Catholic congregation in the town, assisted by two sisters of the order of St. Clare, gave devoted care to those stricken and buried the dead.
Two years later in 1834, the cholera was again abroad in the land. Father V'an den Broek, then in charge of the mission at Menomineeville, records in his note book: "It often happened that while I was attending the sick, sometimes even while confessing them, that they died at my side, so that we could not get enough people to dig the graves. We had to bury from four or five in one grave. We could not even find people enough to prepare the bodies for burial and I had to bury them myself, assisted by two sisters of the order of St. Clare (Theresa and Clara Bourdillon) who were teaching. They took off the Vol. I ~- 9
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cords, which were their girdles, and with these we lowered the bodies into the graves."
In the midst of the anxiety and dread which prevailed generally during the summer of 1832, the people one morning heard the dreaded signal; the boom of cannon repeated twice, an ominous warning that the hostile Indians were in sight. There was a general stampede for the agency house, just as the dawn began to ligliten Fox river. From far and near came hurrying feet ; women and men lead- ing little children by the hand, or riding horses. Soon the house was crowded and still the frightened people continued to come.
Suddenly it was bruited around that there was a mistake and then through the nervous strain and anxiety rang out a hearty laugh, for it was discovered that there was not a hostile warrior within a hundred miles, and that in firing the cannon an attempt was made by the local militia to imitate the martial dis- cipline of Fort Howard, where a morning gun was always fired at sunrise.
Mrs. Kinzie at Fort Winnebago thus describes the Green Bay military as they appeared on their way to the scene of hostilities: "A company of about twenty- five horsemen, with banners flying, veils fluttering from their hats and arms glittering in the sun, rode into our midst amid greetings and roars of laughter. They were Colonel Stambaugh and Alexander Irwin of Green Bay, with a com- pany of young volunteers and followed by a whooping band of Menominee Indi- ans, all bound for the seat of war."
The journal of Cutting Marsh, the austere and somewhat stern missionary to the Stockbridge Indians, tells another story. He was left alone in charge, his co-workers having all sought asylum at Shantytown. "Rainy and cold. Mind completely distracted in consequence of reports of Indian hostilities. Heard that the Sacs, Foxes, some Pottawatomies and Winnebagoes were about 70 miles from Fort Winnebago. Found it difficult and almost impossible to keep my mind off from the subject. Still found some relief in prayer to God."
The journal continues : "Friday, July 27th. Saw perhaps 50 of the Menom- inees who were on their way up the Fox river on a war expedition to join the U. S. army against the hostile Sacs. They appeared indeed thoughtless as sheep bound to the slaughter. Their painted faces, ornaments, drums, whistles, war clubs, spears, etc., made them appear indeed savage and warlike. Their songs uttered from the throat consisting in deep guttural sounds and very loud with- out distinction in sounds seemed most like the singing of frogs, and the occasional whoop was calculated to make one feel that darkness and moral death still broods over this region."
The Indian bands continually passing along the Fox river trail added con- stantly to the terror of the inhabitants. The warlike and always spectacular Win- nebagoes appeared at Shantytown, "one carrying a large spear, the blade perhaps a foot and half long, and the handle covered with red baize, another carried the colors, among other things with which it was ornamented was a piece of a Sac Indian's scalp. Some were painted red, and had horses' tails so adjusted upon their heads that the hair all hung down upon their shoulders, and upon the crown of the head was a plume."
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Stambaugh's Indian allies succeeded in intercepting a fleeing remnant of Sauks, who had escaped in the weeds bordering the Mississippi. These they
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massacred ; thus did Brown county bear its part in the causeless and cruel Black Hawk war.
This Indian outbreak advertised to a large extent the western country and stim- ulated settlement. In the autumn of 1832, treaties were negotiated with the Menominees, Sauks and Winnebagoes, voiding their title to all the lands south and east of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. In 1834. a new era in Brown county's progress was inaugurated, for during that year and the next these lands were surveyed and opened up for settlement. The eastern half of this territory called the Green Bay district bordered on Lake Michigan and included what are now the most populous counties of the state.
A land office was opened at Navarino with Samuel W. Beall as receiver, and William B. Slaughter, register. Morgan 1 .. Martin had united with Solomon Juneau in 1833 in platting the town site of Milwaukee, and at this historic land sale were to be found the plats of that village and Navarino. The latter was considered by far the most desirable place in which to locate, and town lots rapidly rose in value from fifty to twelve hundred dollars. During the summer of 1835- 36 excitement rose to fever heat, every steamer and schooner brought settlers; speculators also crowded in who purchased land at government prices which they sold to later comers for treble the amount. Moneyed men from Detroit and other cities invested heavily, the sales in four days alone reaching the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars.
Many of these land buyers came with no fixed intention of remaining per- manently, but after investing and viewing the fine country their intentions changed ; they took up homes and became permanent residents. Another class characterized by the settlers as "speculators" visited the country in great num- bers and purchased very large quantities of the choicest of the public lands, with no purpose of occupancy but solely with the expectation of selling the lands at a future period at a greatly increased price. The effect of these speculations was greatly to retard or prevent the occupancy of the country by permanent settlers.
Some idea may be formed of the magnitude of this land speculation from the fact which the records of the General Land Office show, that the total sales of government lands in Wisconsin previous to December 31, 1836, amounted to 878,014 acres, of which as much as 600,000 acres were probably sold to spec- ulators. The currency of the country, which consisted mainly of the notes of state banks was abnormally expanded. The receivers of the land offices were authorized to accept the notes of many of the state banks in payment for public lands, and appearances seemed to indicate that the entire body of the public domain would soon be exchanged for bank credits and paper money, and would be absorbed by speculators to the serious injury of actual settlers and emigrants.
On the eleventh of July, 1836, President Andrew Jackson issued a "specie circular" as it was called, instructing the "Receivers of Public Money" in view of the frauds, speculations and monopolies in the purchase of the public land to receive in payment after the 15th day of August, "nothing except what is directed by the existing laws, viz: Gold and Silver and in the proper cases Virginia land script." This vigorous measure had the desired result; after the date mentioned there was no more wild buying and selling of government lands, but the evil had been done and before the fifteenth of August, 1836, a large proportion of the most valuable lands had passed for a mere song into the hands of worthless in-
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vestors. It caused, too, a feeling of distrust among the real home seekers and retarded the growth of Brown county for many years. It was during the pro- gress of this land sale that the first church fair was held in Green Bay under the auspices of Christ Church parish. All the ladies of the village irrespective of denominational preference united in the work and a great variety of articles was collected; among other Indian curiosities a miniature wigwam of tiny puckaway mats which readily sold for forty dollars. A bountiful supper was provided, and in addition the ladies sold for a large price saucers of "floating island," which they designated as "floats," a term much in use during the land sale. The even- ing was also enlivened by an auction-William B. Ogden, who with many other capitalists had been brought to the town by the speculative fever acting as auc- tioneer. In the words of Mrs. Baird, who in her "Contes du Temps Passé." gives a charming account of this fair : Mr. Ogden "was brilliant, witty, perfectly superb -no professional auctioneer could have thought of competing with him."
In 1835 the town of Astor was platted, the proprietors being John Jacob Astor, Ramsay Crooks and Robert Stuart. The area covered included some of the most beautiful and desirable property in Green Bay township, and had been acquired by the American Fur Company through association of the original owners of the land, the Grignons, Lawes and Porliers, with this important monopoly. When Astor retired from the company, about the year 1834, he owned in Green Bay hundreds of acres of unproductive lands, property of the American Fur Company. The frequent calls made by Green Bay traders for loans, sometimes for hun- dreds of dollars, sometimes for larger amounts had met with quick response from the accommodating corporation until gradually not only lands in Green Bay but the wide domain deeded to Charles de Langlade by the English government as a reward for his valuable war service and bequeathed by him to his descendants was swallowed up by the Astor Company. The fur trade with its casy profit exercised the same malign influence in the nineteenth as in the seventeenth century. It paralyzed other industries. The profits grew less yearly, the busi- ness more diffused ; the trading house interfered with the country store to such an extent that the merchants complained of unequal competition and more or less every store in Green Bay and De Pere traded in peltries and made what profit they could in the sale of furs. Meanwhile the Astor property was held at pro- hibitive prices and greatly retarded the growth of the city, the numerous heirs after the death of the original owners being difficult to reach and unwilling to agree on terms of sale. The public parks in Green Bay were all originally the property of Astor, Crooks and Stuart. When Astor was first platted, however, in 1835, it was believed that quick returns would be realized through the sale of lots and that the new village would speedily overtop in importance its rival, Navarino. A fine hotel, the Astor House, was built on the corner of Adams and Mason streets, an historic structure the building of which is characterized as "an event of importance not only to the little village but to the entire northwest." In a paper prepared by Miss Frances Last for the Green Bay Historical Society this first important hotel west of the great lakes is touched off thus :- "John Jacob Astor, the shrewd old fur trader, desiring to increase the value of the land he owned in the new town and to draw there a part of the settlers who were coming in great numbers to this part of the country during the land sales, wisely de- termined to build a comfortable hotel, 'the largest west of New York,' where the
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REV. ELEAZER WILLIAMS
INOU! YOUROY VBETIL BY XO437 YOURY
PUBLIC LIEKAAY THE NEW YORI
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transient guest who came merely to look over the ground might be changed through the comfort of his surroundings into a permanent resident. The little village of Astor which was honored with this edifice, so far superior in size and in other respects to anything to be found in all the broad expanse of the north- west, contained not more than half a dozen houses built mostly of logs, small in size and destitute of paint."
A stone's throw from the Astor house and close to the river's brink stood the low log house belonging to Joseph Jourdain (a blacksmith of repute), the father of AIrs. Eleazer Williams, and where she stayed much of the time during the visits of her somewhat erratic husband to the east. \ long low log building occupied the spot where the water works plant stands today, and just south of this the first church in the future city of Green Bay was built a few years earlier, by the Roman Catholic congregation of St. John's. "To the northward a little farther down the river Judge Arndt kept a small inn, its latch string invitingly out and just beside it a store, where the varied wants of the rural population were supplied."
At this same time the Astors built what was later known as the bank building where the first bank in Wisconsin opened its doors in 1835, and also the large warehouse and dock, which for many succeeding years stood at the foot of Mason street, and was used after the fur trade ceased to require its ample dimen- sions, for the first sash door and window factory in Brown county and probably in the state.
Daniel Whitney had before the erection of the Astor House built a less pre- tentious structure directly across from Fort Howard, and on the site of the pres- ent Beaumont Hotel, calling it the Washington House. . Fierce rivalry existed between the little towns and the prospect of a new and elegant hostelry for the accommodation of the many guests attending the land sales must have caused as great excitement as did the transference of property.
"When the work was actually completed and in all the imposing majesty of its three stories and crowning cupola, the Astor House, glistening with fresh white paint stood in the morning sunshine, a beautiful object to the partial eyes of the dweller in Astor. A stranger might hardly have considered it an architectural gem. It was very large, very square, and quite guiltless of any adornment or frivolous device. Its many windows were provided with bright green blinds to temper sun and wind to the lambs gathered within its walls. Mrs. Mary Mitchell, whose recollection goes back to those early days writes of this first real hotel. "It was a fine structure for the time in which it was built and perhaps considered a work of art. I well remember, the airs our little burgh put on when it was said 'the hotel is finished."" When the last touch had been given to the house, furniture splendid beyond anything seen before in the west was sent to fill it. Old settlers were wont to wax eloquent in describing the soft carpets, the mahogany tables and chairs and sofas, the abundant shining silver, knives and forks and spoons ; two teasets not plated, but real and sterling silver, and the finest damask. A few pieces of this furniture, a handsome table, a sofa and a very beautiful cut glass globe still exist to bear testimony to the truth of these statements. As a last and crowning addition to the edifice its owner sent from New York a man to fill the responsible and difficult position of landlord; described as one of exceptionally fine presence with cultivated, genial manners. Charles Rogers, by
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name. As nearly as can be learned the house passed next into the hands of Thomas Green, a well known pioneer resident and hotel keeper, who was held in warmest regard. This must have been about 1838, as Rogers held the position for some three years, and it was during Green's occupancy that the Astor House was honored with a royal guest, the son of the French king, Louis Philippe, the Prince de Joinville, with his suite, a gay party. They spent a few hours here dining sumptuously and conferring lasting distinction upon the house thereby. "Thomas Green was succeeded in the management of the hotel by a Mr. Blood, Mr. Parsons and one Axtell. Some time in 1854 it was leased by Ira Stone, the last but by no means the least popular or successful of its landlords. The fol- lowing advertisement appeared in the Advocate during the summer of that year. "The Astor House." "Pleasantly situated on Adams street in the City of Green Bay is now open for the entertainment and accommodation of Boarders, Travel- lers, Strangers and all others in pursuit either of business or pleasure. This large and commodious hotel has just been thoroughly overhauled, repaired and elegantly fitted up and furnished for the accommodation of the Public, and no pains will be spared by the present proprietor to give the amplest satisfaction to all who favor him with their patronage. The table will be supplied with all the delicacies and luxuries of the season which can be found in this market. It is beautifully located on the banks of Fox river, opposite to the Astor dock, where the River steamers stop regularly to and from Kaukauna. Passengers will be conveyed to and from the steamboat landing free of charge.
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