USA > Wisconsin > Brown County > History of Brown County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume I > Part 8
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There seems to have been at Green Bay during this period in rapid succes- sion an exceptional list of commandants. In the summer of 1747 Jean Jarret, Sieur de Verchères, was placed in command ; "a worthy officer who has often commanded in the upper posts, and has acquitted himself so well that he has always been employed by the General, whenever his services were required." Verchères was back and forth between Mackinac and the bay trying to subdue an uprising among the Indians of the upper country. There was continual menace from discontented and rebellious savages, who were insolent to the commandant ; pillaged and murdered Frenchmen whenever opportunity occurred.
The commerce in furs continued despite the serious detriment to trade through the farming out of the posts and the reckless behaviour of coureurs de bois. The largest consignment of goods sent to any of these trading stations was shipped to La Baye on October 7. 1747, but the farmers of all the posts complained that their losses were so heavy it would be impossible for them to pay the amount of rent asked for. The English too were constantly inter- fering with the trading ventures of the French, and bribed the Indian hunters openly to bring their furs to a more lucrative market.
Etienne Angé, a lessee of the Green Bay post had from 1744 when his first contract was made been a thorn in the flesh of the commanding officer of the
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fort. Complaint was made of him at headquarters in Montreal, but again in 1747 this offending trader signed in a partnership with two others to exploit the bay post. He however never reaped any benefit from the transaction, his notorious misconduct leading to his murder by a Menominee Indian shortly after the agreement was made.
La Baye was constantly growing in importance, and the control of its trade was eagerly sought after by peltry merchants. The commandant at Fort St. Francis in 1750 was Pierre Mathurin, Sieur Millon, who belonged to a poor but ancient family in France, and by good service in the colony had been promoted to a lieutenancy in the colonial army. He must have merited the confidence of his government to have been placed in command of the Bay post during this critical period but of his administration there is no record; only his tragic death is recounted in one of the letters constantly passing between Governor Beauharnois at Quebec and the French minister in Paris.
The officer, so the story goes, went alone in a small birch bark canoe, in which he raised a sail, although there was a high wind, to hunt at the month of a river about half a league from the fort. This was doubtless Duck Creek, famed from early times as a feeding ground for immense flocks of ducks, the wild rice all along that stream being very abundant. Night fell and Millon did not return ; diligent search was made by order of the Sieur de Combre, a gentleman cadet who was acting as an officer under Millon's orders, but with no result, except that the overturned canoe was picked up, probably from the description at Grassy Island. The sail fastened to its mast was found by some Chippewa Indians at Point au Sable, about two leagues down the bay.
During the winter there were all sorts of surmises as to Millon's fate, and it was feared that he had been murdered by the savages. His second officer, Sieur de Combre in the meantime held the command and was mentioned as performing his duty most satisfactorily. In the spring of 1750 the body of the unfortunate Millon was found but showing no marks of violence, and it was evident that the young officer had drowned by the accidental overturning of his canoe, a catastrophe quite likely to happen when the sail was raised in the small light craft.
De Combre was relieved the following August by Sieur Marin, the same who twenty years earlier had assisted the Puans in their battle with the Foxes. All danger from the remaining fragment of the unfortunate Renards had now passed, but the other tribesmen still gave constant trouble by plundering trading stations and murdering those in charge. The government had long urged the appointment of Marin the elder for the post at La Baye as being a wise and strong man for this difficult command. As second officer Charles René Des- jordy, Sieur de Villebon was recommended "who is very fit for the position," and as Marin was also ordered to build a fort in the Sioux country, and have oversight of that nation in connection with his duties at La Baye, Villebon was officer in command during his chief's absence.
Farming out the posts in the western country was done away with and licenses were again issued to traders and coureurs de bois. "Having in the presence of the said traders fixed both the number and the price of the license I told them I would send off their canoes in several convoys under the com-
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mand of officers who would be going in the same direction." (La Jonquiere to French minister Vol. 18, p. 71.)
The traders delayed starting their convoys, they demurred at the order to have an officer head the expedition, wishing the absolute freedom and com- plete control of trade, and exasperated the Intendant at Quebec to the point of threatened refusal of licenses to these insubordinates, or protection of any kind. These were days of stress at La Baye, nevertheless the post was much desired, one of the applicants for its command being Captain de Raymond of the Marine detachment in Canada, who writes to France that having come into possession of certain facts regarding a valuable copper mine in the north- west he asks to be given command at the Green Bay fort in order to pursue his discovery to the advantage of the government. Apparently the policy of the Marins, father and son, met with the approval of government for the peti- tion of Raymond was disallowed.
Joseph Marin relieved his father at the post on Fox river in 1752. In April of that year came direful tidings. Disturbance was rife among the savages, and warning was given that the "Commandants of our posts have so much more cause to be on their guard since our enemies have steeped their hands in blood." Every week brought news of fresh disaster to the dependencies of France. The small pox ravaged alike the camps of white man and Indian, famine threatened and "the sorrowful condition of the entire upper country" was deplored.
In August, 1752, an urgent application was made to the French Minister by Governor Du Quesne, that carried much weight and was backed by influence. Francois Vaudreuil, Marquis de Rigaud, eighth son of that Vaudreuil who was governor of Canada from 1703 to 1725, had become involved in financial embar- rassments and to recuperate his fortunes the Governor of Canada, Du Quesne asked that he be given the post of La Baye, "on condition that it shall be exploited by the officer whom the governor-general shall find sufficiently cap- able and prudent to manage the great number of savages in that region."
This clause indicates that the actual command of the post was to be given to a subordinate officer, Marquis de Rigaud merely reaping the largest part of the profits gained through trade. Marin, who still commanded at the fort on Fox river as well as in the Sioux country, was giving excellent satisfaction. "The Indians of the North are very quiet," writes Du Quesne in 1754. "because Sieur Marin who commands at the Bay and leads the Indians at will has pro- cured repose for them by the peace he has caused to be concluded with the Christinaux."
In 1753 the grant of La Baye was actually bestowed upon De Rigaud, and a lease of the post given for two years only Marin the younger being still in command. There is no record that the beneficiary of the crown visited his post during that time, and the year following he sent an urgent request for leave to be allowed to go to France on account of ill health, as he was convinced that the physicians of Paris would cure him completely. Du Quesne recommended that De Rigaud's request be allowed "as he is really not at all well," but at the same time censured the marquis for boasting that he held the post of La Baye gratuitously from the King, and that he had no rent to pay. He pro- ceeded to say that De Rigaud was a most kindhearted fellow, but that this
WRECK OF THE "WALK-IN-THE-WATER"
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very trait had caused the government no end of trouble, especially after the marquis had been informed that his brother was to succeed Du Quesne as Governor of Canada.
In these last years of French dominion all other interests seem annihilated in the intent pursuance of gain from the fur trade. New France was on the verge of a downfall which would loose forever her tenure in the western con- tinent and bar all further conquest, yet with no premonition of impending evil officers and nobility in the colonial government were absorbed in securing ille- gally all the profits attainable both from the government and in traffic with the savages.
In the instructions sent from Versailles in 1755, to Pierre de Rigaud, marquis of Cavagnal and Vaudreuil upon his transference from the governorship of Louisiana to that of Canada, special stress is laid upon the continuance of trade in these western posts including the one at La Baye. Hubert Couterot, a nephew of Rigaud and also of Governor Vaudreuil was placed in command in 1756, following the establishment of his uncle as governor of Canada. This high born young scamp who succeeded the two Marins as commander of the fort on Fox river held a part interest in the family lease and exploited the post simply for his own profit and that of his relatives. In 1757 La Baye is listed among the other important French forts as being "farmed for nine thousand francs; all expense on the part of the king has been suppressed ; there are neither presents, nor certificates, nor interpreter's wages: all the cost is at the expense of the lessec." This meant that Rigaud de Vaudreuil fur- nished at his own expense the trading outfit required at La Baye post and hired Lieutenant Couterot his nephew for two thousand francs, ($400.) to carry on trade with the Indians.
Monsieur de Rigaud is spoken of at this time as "the possessor of La Baye des Puans, the Sioux and their dependencies." His non-residence at the post possibly reduced his profits and induced him in 1757 to take into partnership I. G. Hubert and Jacques Giasson, both well known Mackinac traders. Lamy Hubert was one of the witnesses at the marriage of Charles de Langlade to Charlotte Bourassa in 1754.
In none of the other garrisoned trading posts had theft and license gone so far as at La Baye. Certificates for expenses incurred on behalf of the Indians were fabricated by Couterot under the authority of Marquis de Rigaud. were passed on for signature to Governor Vaudreuil and the money paid. Legal proofs of this system of graft were impossible to obtain, the signatures of the two Vaudreuils high in power and officers of the king were not to be dis- puted. The abuses at La Baye became, however, current talk in the French colony. "This post has produced fifty thousand écus worth in peltries and the cost has not been more than thirty thousand livres. Rigaud has presented five hundred thousand livres of certificates that the Marquis de Vaudreuil has signed." thus the French general Montcalm notes in his journal of December, 1758.
That year saw Canada hard bestead by war with England and the restless- ness and treachery of the savages. The Indians of the western posts hardly knew which nation owned their allegiance, and were insolent and indifferent to authority. At La Baye, Lieutenant Hubert Couterot remained in command and Rigaud de Vaudreuil with his brother-in-law, Sieur d'Eschambault divided
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the spoils. A long lease, the rascals complained was required in order to reim- burse the farmer for the great losses he was liable to inenr at La Baye. This demand was made in March, 1758; in May following, comes to the colony "News from all the Upper Posts." and the bulletin announces that at La Baye the "Menominee Indians" have risen in revolt, killed eleven Canadians, missed the commandant but pillaged a storehouse. Later came additional information that twenty-two French had been killed, and that the commandant. Couterot had "shown himself inept through fear."
The Menominees to "cover the bodies" of those slain in this outbreak sent seven of their tribe to Montreal that same summer. Of these prisoners the French shot three on the town square, while the remaining four were conscripted for the war "in order to expiate their crime."
Notwithstanding the shameless mismanagement of the Green Bay post which undoubtedly was responsible for the uprising of the Menominees, the Vaud- reuil influence at court was so strong that in January, 1759, a letter was received from the French minister at Paris stating that it was the king's pleasure to bestow La Baye upon Monsieur and Madame Rigaud for life. "I had much pleasure in reporting favorably to the king on the service rendered by Monsieur de Rigaud in Canada. His Majesty is so satisfied with him that he has departed from the rule in his favor," so runs the Hattering screed.
In his reply of thanks Rigaud de Vaudreuil writes: "You will see by the report 1 send that I have done all I could under the unfortunate circumstances in which the colony was placed to give the king sure proofs of my zeal and faith- fulness in his service. *
* I am very grateful for your kindness in procur- ing from his majesty the concession for life of the post of la Baie, for Madame de Rigaud and myself." In a letter from Montcalm of March, 1759, that soldier, who as chief in command of the French colonial army, kept a keen watch on the few military posts still operated under the command of France, remarks ironically that "according to Monsieur, the Marquis de Vaudreuil there is good news from Michilimackinac, la baie,- great affection of the savages. Good news from Detroit-great affection of the savages." No one knew better than Montcalm how hollow and unmeaning were these confident reports sent out by Governor Vaudreuil. One by one the French forts south of the St. Lawrence had been forced to surrender. until in the summer of 1759, but one remained, Ticonderoga, at the head of Lake George, thoroughly fortified, but in constant danger of attack from a strong force under General Amherst.
The long struggle between France and England for supremacy on the west- ern continent was at last drawing to a close. Acadia had been lost in the preceding year through the capture of Louisbourg by General Wolfe, and in June, 1759. the same indomitable commander, with nine thousand men, twenty- two ships of the line, frigates, sloops-of-war and a great number of transports, set sail for the St. Lawrence. Montcalm, thus menaced, resolved to mass his entire force on the elevations above Quebec. Then followed his defeat on the plains of Abraham, his death, the subsequent panic and hasty withdrawal of the troops by Vaudreuil and the surrender of that French fortress on Septem- ber 17, 1759.
La Baye had known no other rule but that of France. With the withdrawal of Hubert Couterot, the dishonest cringing nephew of Rigaud de Vaudreuil
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ended the line of French commanders who for nearly half a century had forced the western Indians to pay tribute in beaver skins sometimes to the govern- ment, usually to the officer himself. Not until the capitulation of Montreal on September 8, 1760, were all the French forts handed over to the English and their garrisons replaced by British redcoats. A change of masters had come, and the Indians of La Baye, mischievous because of the ill treatment received from the last incumbent, awaited restlessly and sullenly the inauguration of a new policy.
(References for Chapter VII are: Wis. Hist. Coll., Vols. 16, 17: Charlevoix Journal Historique ; L. P. Kellogg, Fox Wars, Wis. Hist. Proc., 1907; Lahontan's Voyages ; Hennepin's New Discovery.)
CHAPTER VIII
FORT EDWARD AUGUSTUS-CHARLES DE LANGLADE-WAR OF 1812
Notwithstanding the disturbed state of the country and especially of that region surrounding the bay and its tributary streams, French Canadian voy- ageurs had as early as 1744 and doubtless even before this date, built houses along the shores of Fox River, in close proximity to Fort St. Francis.
In only one of the many documents relating to La Baye post is the name St. Francis applied directly to the fort which stood at the entrance to Fox river. In Father Crespel's narrative of the Lignery expedition he speaks of the garrison at this point as "Fort St. Francis" and of Devil river as the "River Le Sueur," the latter receiving its designation probably in honor of the distinguished explorer and commandant of that name. The appellation, however, seems never to have come into general use.
The level shores of Fox River were a fertile and delightful point for settle- ment ; life was easy for the habitant except for the hostility of the Indians, and this danger was in a measure lessened by the close proximity of a garri- soned fort. Therefore the traders, the Jourdains, Jean Baptiste Reaume and others, took up land and built snug cabins near the river bank, the water highway furnishing the easiest road of travel.
Augustine Grignon, great grandson of Augustin Moras de Langlade, in his recollections published by the Wisconsin Historical Society in 1857, states that Augustin and his son Charles were traders at La Baye as early as 1745. No record can be found, however, to prove that the two men left Mackinac as a place of residence prior to 1760. Augustin was church warden in the Mackinac parish in 1756, and prominent as a witness at marriage ceremonies and as god- father at unnumbered christenings by the parish priest. His wife, Madame Langlade, also appears many times in the parish register as sponsor for the little French and Indian children of Mackinac, and at the baptism of Indian usually Pawnee slaves of whom there were many.
Almost every important French family in the west at this time owned Pawnee Indian slaves, who were treated as pensioners and usually with great kindness and generosity. That their religious welfare was carefully looked after is shown by the fact that Madame Langlade and other prominent French and Creole women stood sponsor for their slaves who were brought to the priest at Macki- nac to be baptized.
As early as 1744 the parish register at Michilimackinac gives the names of whole families who were brought by canoe from Green Bay, still called at that time La Baye, to receive the sacred rite. This church register on the island also records the method of marriage practiced almost universally in the absence
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of a priest or magistrate, an agreement before witnesses of parties wishing to be united in wedlock. Many marriages were contracted in this manner among the French habitants at La Baye post, the validity of the ceremony being recog- nized by the priest in charge when the children of such unions were brought to him for baptism. Madame Augustin de Langlade's brother was a powerful Ottawa chief, Nis-so-wa-quet or La Fourche, and this connection added greatly to the influence of her famous son, Charles Michel. Her first husband, Daniel Villeneuve was the father of three sons, two of whom were killed in a raid led by their halfbrother, Charles, and of three daughters. The eldest, Agathe, as the wife of Monsieur Souligny, a retired French officer, and after his death of Amable Roy, was one of the earliest residents in the little hamlet on Fox river.
In common with other Mackinac traders, Augustin de Langlade was undoubt- edly back and forth between that place and Green Bay, in the interests of the peltry traffic, taking part. as his great-grandson, Augustin related, in the life of both settlements, but his son Charles, had warrior blood in him and the French government recognizing his value as a commander kept him constantly engaged in leading Indian bands to war.
On March 15, 1755, Charles de Langlade received his commission as ensign in the French army, following his appointment as cadet in 1750, when twenty- one years of age. The deed that brought him into prominence and from which he received much glory was the capture two years later of Pickawillany, an Indian town in Ohio, where English traders had for some time been endeavor- ing quite successfully. to undermine French influence with the savages. In the official report of this expedition sent to France from Quebec-on October 25. 1752, by Governor Duquesne, he speaks of the "Journal of Sieur de Lang- lade" which he has the honor of sending to the king, and predicts that the young officer's brilliant coup delivered at this time will put an end definitely to English trade on French territory. Duquesne also recommended that a yearly pension of 200 livres be bestowed on Langlade, who "is very brave, has much influence on the minds of the savages and is very zealous when ordered to do anything."
Duquesne adds that Langlade at this time had "married a savage woman." This was an Ottawa Indian girl, by whom he had one son, Charles, sent at an early age to Canada where he was educated, and acknowledged as the legitimate son of Langlade. The marriage of Charles Michel de Langlade and Charlotte Enbroise Bourassa is recorded in the Mackinac register, under date of August 11, 1754, two years after Duquesne's letter of recommendation was sent to France, Langlade being twenty-five and his bride nineteen.
The year following the young officer took notable part in the campaign against the English force under General Braddock. The surprise of Braddock's army at the Monongahela; the swift descent of Indians and French upon the camp; the total rout of the British forces and death of their general, have long been known in history, but only in recent years has it been recognized that to Langlade's prompt and strategic move the victory over a greatly superior force was due.
On the twenty-ninth of June, 1759, it was reported at Montreal that Charles de Langlade with Pierre Gautier de la Vérendrye were coming down the St.
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Lawrence with twelve hundred Indians of the western tribes. Montcalm, menaced by the English forces under General Wolfe had summoned Langlade with his Indian allies to aid him in the defense of Quebec, and it is said that had the French general listened to the urgent appeal of the Creole leader and a sortie on the English army been made by his Indian forces that fatal day might have resulted in victory for the French arms. Instead followed the defeat of Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham, his death, the subsequent panic and hasty withdrawal of the troops by Vaudreuil and the surrender of the French stronghold, Quebec.
Langlade once more in the following spring ( 1760) joined the reorganized army in the vain attempt to regain for France her Canadian provinces. When it became apparent that all hope was gone and peace upon any terms must be concluded, Langlade led back his Indian bands to their villages in the upper lake region, receiving in acknowledgment of service rendered a commission as retired lieutenant signed by Louis XV; shortly afterward letters from Gov- ernor Vaudreuil apprised him of the capitulation of Montreal.
Immediately all French forts including that of La Baye were handed over to the English. The trading post and military garrison on Fox river had been badly mismanaged under French rule and in consequence rebellion and con- spiracy among the savages were of frequent occurrence. More than once the several tribes had risen and joined in determined revolt against their com- mandant and committed depredations on the fort and trading house. Ver- chères, a man well versed in Indian diplomacy, bold and fearless, experienced their malice in 1749, when a general uprising took place, and the dishonest Hubert Couterot, "inept from fear" remains an unhappy figure in La Baye history.
Marin the elder who took charge after the revolt under Verchères, left Montreal with eight canoes, loaded with merchandise rather than armed mien, in order to placate the unruly savages, and the policy followed in the last years of French rule tended toward peace rather than war. The colony surrounding Fort St. Francis had become a part of the Indian country, many of the traders liad intermarried with the natives and strong bonds of family friendship did much to maintain calm in this storm centre, but the introduction of an alien element meant a division of profits in the fur trade and above all the French fur traders dreaded English domination and the diversion of commerce from Montreal.
On September 8, 1761, Captain Balfour of the Soth Regiment was ordered to march from Detroit with a detachment from the 60th and Soth regiments of the British Royal Americans, to take possession of, and leave garrisons at the posts of La Baye, Michilimackinac and St. Joseph. The Englishmen arrived at Mackinac by canoe on September 28th, where Captain Balfour miet the Indians in friendly council. Here he left Lieutenant Leslie of the 60th regiment, giving him a command of one corporal, one drummer and twenty- five privates of the same regiment. The remainder of the party under Bal- four's command sailed with a fair wind, from the island, for "La Bay" on October first, and notwithstanding contrary winds which detained them at the Grand River for four days, they arrived at the extremity of Green Bay on October 12, 1761.
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