USA > Wisconsin > Buffalo County > History of Buffalo County Wisconsin 10847607 > Part 15
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To quote Parkman, "La Salle and the discovery of the Great West:" " And here we bid farewell to Father Hennepin: "Prov- idence, he (Hennepin) writes preserved my life, that I might make known my great discoveries to the world." He soon after went to Europe, where the story of his travels found a host of readers, but where he died at last (1699) in deserved obscurity. But although we might also part with this man, who certainly once and possibly oftener, set foot upon the soil of this county at least one hundred and seventy years before it bore its name, we can not
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do so without giving credit to those whom he forgot to mention, or slandered and wanted, in the second edition of his book espe- cially, to deprive of the honors unquestionably due to them, but arrogated to himself. The man's great fault was an inordinate Self-esteem or conceit.
.I quote from Parkman: " When the later editions of his book appeared, doubts had been expressed of his veracity. 'I here protest to you, before God,' he writes, addressing the reader, that my narrative is faithful and sincere, and that you may be- lieve everything related in it.' "And yet (says Parkman) we shall see, this.reverend father was the most impudent of liars; and the narrative he speaks of is a rare monument of brazen mendacity." It is however not so much his first book in which he did not claim much more than what might have been true, only ignoring Aceau and Du Gay and making himself the sole actor, almost of all the adventures, for which Parkman accuses him as quoted, but the later editions of the same in which he claimed to have descended to the mouth of the Mississippi, and returned to the place of his capture within the time of forty-tree day , counting from the time of his beginning the voyage down the Illinois, the last day of February to the twelfth day of April. It would certainly not be worth mentioning the fabrications of the conceited monk, if it were not for the fact, that this monstrous fable is even now repeated as truth by some authors. The refutation by Parkman is before me, but is too long and too much interwoven with other parts of the Work to be understood by itself alone. I will try and state the matter in such a way as to make it understood by every in. telligent reader.
1. The exploration for which Hennepin arrogates all the merit was part of the enterprise of La Salle, without whose muni_ ficence Hennepin would never have seen either the Illinois or the' Mississippi. 1
2. The expedition was not under the command of Hennepin but under that of Accau. The latter had been selected because he spoke, several Indian languages. He and Du Gay were of higher rank than the common followers of La Salle.
3. In the first edition of his book Hennepin, though failing to do justice to the others, still did not tell anything very surpris_ ing or improbable, and that edition, though by no means faultless.
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generation by the fact that the great " Zenith City" of the central northwest, the metropolis of the Lake Superior country, was named after him, has some not too remote, connection with the history of our county and its neighborhood. We find him in 1680 rescuing Hennepin and his two companions from their captivity among the Sioux, and returning with them by way of the Mississippi, the Wis- · consin and the Fox River, to Green Bay and to Mackinaw. At that time it is most probable that he hunted for Buffalo, as he and his men needed provisions, either on this or the opposite side of the river, but it is more probable that he kept to this side, as affording better opportunities from Lake Pepin to Trempealeau; for avoiding the Sioux, whom he had reason to believe to be offended at the theft of two buffalo robes, taken by two of his men from some arrangement sacred to the wa-kon, or spirit, of the Falls of St. Anthony. A war party of that tribe did indeed overtake him some distance above the mouth of the Wisconsin, but they were probably ignorant of this grave offense, as they said nothing about it, and did not molest the Frenchman. This appears to have been the only time that he was on the- Mississippi, and we may now look into the other parts of his biography as far as they are known to us.
In the following narrative I thought it best to transcribe from " La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West," one of the vol- umes of a work entitled " France and England in North America " a Series of Historical Narratives by Francis Parkman (Little, Brown & Co., Boston.) I do this first because I can not find any reliable short account.of the adventures of Du Luth in this coun- try anywhere else, second because I consider the work of Mr. Park- man impartial, candid and critically reliable beyond any others on the subject that I had the good fortune to get acquainted with.
Mr. Parkman says of Du Luth:
This bold and enterprising man, stigmatized by the Intendant Duchesneau as a leader of coureurs de bois, was a cousin of Touty, born at Lyons. He belonged to that caste of lesser nobles. whose name was legion, and whose admirable military qualities shone forth so conspicuously in the wars of Louis XIV. Though his enterprises were independent of those of La Salle, they were at this time carried on in connection with Count Frontenac and certain merchants in his interest, of whom Du Luth's uncle, Patron, was
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one; while Louvigny, his brother-in-law, was in alliance with the governor, and was an officer of his guard. Here, then, was a kind of family league, countenanced by Frontenac and acting conjointly with him, in order, if the angry letters of the Intendant are to be believed, to reap a clandestine profit under the shadow of the gov- ernor's authority, and in violation of the royal fordinances. The rudest part of work fell to the share of Du Luth, who with a per- sistent hardihood, not surpassed, perhaps, even by La Salle, was continually in the forest, in the Indian towns, or in remote wilder- ness outposts planted by himself, exploring, trading, fighting, rul- ing lawless savages, and whites scarcely less ungovernable, and on one or more occasions varying his life by crossing the ocean to gain interviews with the colonial minister Seignelay, amid the splendid vanities of Versailles. Strange to say, this man of hardy enterprise was a martyr to the gout, which for more than a quarter of a cen- tury grievously tormented him, and which even the intercession of the Iroquis saint Catherine Tegab Kouita failed to cure him. He was, without doubt, a habitual breaker of the ordinances regulating the fur-trade; yet his services were great to the colony and to the crown, and his name deserves a place of honor among the pioneers of American civilization.
When Hennepin met him, he had been about two years in the wilderness. In September 1678 he left Quebec, for the purpose of exploring the region of the Upper Mississippi and establishing relations of friendship with the Sioux and their kindred, the Assiniboins. In summer 1679 he visited three large towns of the eastern division of the Sioux, including those visited (involunta- rily) by Hennepin in the following year, and planted the king's arms in all of them.
Early in the autumn he was at the head of Lake Superior holding a council with the Assiniboins and the lake tribes, and inducing them to live at peace with the Sioux. In all this he acted in a public capacity, under the authority of the governor; but it is not to be supposed that he forgot his own interests, or those of his associates. The intendant angrily complains that he aided and abetted the coureur de bois in their lawless courses and sent down in their canoes great quantities of beaver-skins consigned to the merchants in league with him, under cover of whose names the governor reaped his share of the profits.
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What relates to Du Luth's actions in the rescue of Hennepin and his party, has been related under that head. The following is from an annotation in the book of Mr. Parkman above named:
The facts concerning Du Luth have been gleaned from a variety of sources, chiefly the letters of his enemy Duchesneau, who always puts him in the worst light, especially in his despatch to Seignelay of Nov. 10th, 1679, when he charges both him and the governor with carrying on an illicit trade with the English of New York. Du Luth himself in a memoir dated 1685 strongly denies these charges. Du Luth built a trading fort on Lake Superior called Cananistigoyan or Kamalastigouia. It was on the Northside, at the mouth of a river entering Thunder Bay, where Fort William now stands. In 1684 he caused two Indians, who had murdered several Frenchmen on Lake Superior, to be shot. He displayed in this affair great courage and coolness, undaunted by the crowd of excited savages, who surrounded him and his lit- tle band of Frenchmen .-
The long letter, in which he recounts the capture and 'execu- tion of the murderers, is still extant. 'Duchesneau makes his con- duct on this occasion the ground of a charge of rashness. In 1686, Denonville, then governor of the colony, ordered him to fortify the Detroit, that is, the strait between Lakes Erie and Huron. He went thither with fifty men and built a palisade fort, which he oc- cupied for some time. In 1687, he, together with Tonty and 'Du- rantaye, joined Denonville against the Senecas, with a body of In. dians from the Upper Lakes. In 1689, during the panic of the Iroquois invasion of Montreal, Du Luth with twenty-eight Cana- dians, attacked twenty-two Iroquois in canoes, received their fire without returning it, bore down upon them, killed eighteen of them, and captured three, only one escaping. In 1695 he was in command at Fort Frontenac. In 1697, he succeeded to the com- mand of a company of infantry, but was suffering wretchedly from the gout at Fort Frontenac. In 1710, Governor Vaudreuil in a dispatch to the Minister Ponchartrain announced his death as occurring in the previous winter, and added the brief comment, "c'etait uh tres honnete homme," (he was a very honest man.) Other contemporaries speak to the same effect. Mr. Dulhut Gen. tilhomme Lionnais, qui a beaucoup de merite at de capacite. (La' Hontan I, 103 (1703.) "Le Sieur du Lut, homme d'esprit et d'ex-
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Carver, of England, who was a captain in the army of King Wil- liam during the campaign in Ireland, and afterwards an officer in the colony of Connecticut. His father was a justice of the peace at Canterbury, Connecticut, where Jonathan was born. When Jonathan was fifteen years old, his father died. At the age of eighteen he purchased an ensign's commission in one of the Con- necticut regiments. He had before studied medicine, but his rov- ing disposition led him to abandon that profession, the study of which seems, however, to have put him in the possession of literary accomplishments. He served with distinction under Abercromby and Amherst, and very narrowly escaped being killed in the mas- sacre of Fort William Henry in 1757, and was present in the battle at the Heights of Abraham, and at the surrender of Montreal and all Canada. He left Boston in June, 1776, and arrived at Macki- naw, then the most distant post of the British, in August following. Having made arrangements with Col. Rogers. the governor or com- mandant of that post for having certain articles for the Indian trade or for presents to the Indians sent ahead of himself to the Falls of St. Anthony, he sailed to Green Bay, and thence up Fox River. While on this river he stopped at the principal town of the Winnebagoes where for four days he was hospitably entertained by Ho-po-ko-e-kah the widow of a Frenchman named De Kaury, who had been mortally wounded at Quebec and died at Montreal. She was at that time the principal chief of the tribe, and her des- cendants retained that dignity for several generations. From there he proceeded to the town of the Sacs at Prairie du Sac, which he describes a's the largest and best built Indian town he ever saw. It contained, he says, about ninety houses, each large enough for several families, built of hewn planks, neatly jointed and covered so completely with bark, as to keep out the most penetrating rains. Before the doors were placed comfortable sheds in which the inhabitants sat, when the weather would permit, and smoked their pipes. The streets were both regular and spacious, appear- ing more like a civilized town than the abode of savages. Mr. Strong thinks this description somewhat exaggerated, since in less than thirty years afterwards only a few remains of fire-places and posts were to be seen. Without disputing Mr. Strong's remarks, it may as well be confessed that Carver must have seen many In- dian towns before the one he here describes, and if he was so much
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struck with its appearance, those he saw before must have been of the usual description among Indians. Capt. Carver says: "Whilst I'stayed here, I took a view of some mountains, that lie about fifteen miles to the southward, and abound in lead ore (probably the Blue Mounds.)
I ascended on one of the highest of these, and had an extens- ive view of the country. For many miles nothing was to be seen but lesser mountains, which appeared at a distance like hay-cocks, they being free from trees. So plentiful is lead here that I saw large quantities of it lying about the streets, in the town of the Saukies, and it seemed to be as good as the produce of other coun- tries. -
On the 10th of October we proceeded down the river (Wis.) and the next day reached the first town of the Ottigamies (Outa- gamies-Foxes). The town contained about fifty houses, but we found most of them deserted, on account of an epidemical disorder that had lately raged among them, and carried off more than one half of the inhabitants. The greater part of those who survived had retired into the woods to avoid the contagion."
This town was probably near Muscoda. The next village which, he says, was deserted thirty years previous, and in ruins was about five miles above the mouth of the Wisconsin on that river. He thinks the inhabitants had removed to Prairie des Chiens, which he calls a large town of about three hundred fami- lies and the great mart where furs and peltries were brought an- nually about the last of May from the remote branches of the Mis- sissippi, for transporting them either to Mackinaw or Louisiana.
It is a remarkable circumstance, that the traders with him did not stop at that town, but made their winterquarters about ten miles up the river, on the opposite side, and near the confluence of the Yellow River.
Although the season was considerably advanced he with one voyageur and a Mohawk Indian pushed on in his canoe towards the Falls of St. Anthony.
On the first day of November he reached Lake Pepin, where he observed the ruins of the French factory, where Capt. St. Pierre had formerly resided and carried on a great trade with the Nau- dowissies (Nadowessioux or Sioux). Here he staid for some time and among other things he observed and to a certain extent ex-
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plored some ancient earthworks which he, however, seems to have considered as fortifications. His description will be found under the article of " Moundbuilders" because there seems to have been a disposition of claiming these earthworks as " pre-historic tumuli," and also an entirely opposite one, of considering them of no im- portance or significance whatever.
Near the mouth of the St. Croix River he came in contact with the Dakota Indians, and in some way mediated a truce or local and temporary peace between them and the Chippewas, at the time of an imminent battle, and was treated with great con- sideration by both parties. At the mouth of St. Peters River he had to give up navigation (Nov. 17,) and to walk to the Falls of St. Anthony. These he describes very accurately and must have made some sketch, as his book contains a copper-plate engraving of them. He proceeded northward as far as the St. Francis or Elk River but returned and commenced, on the 25th of Novem- ber, to ascend the St. Peters, now Minnesota River, which he was able to ascend about 200 miles, without being prevented by ice .. There dwelt at that time the Naudowissies, whom Mr. Strong is inclined to consider as Western Dakotas, though it is notorious that the Dakotas were called Sioux everywhere, and that the name of Dakota is of comparatively modern use.
Among these people Carver remained five months and was well treated. He learned their language, and acquired all the geo- graphical information they could impart. He went with them in the latter part of April to their grand national council, which was held at or near their cave on the Mississippi River, a description of which is given below. It has also been. claimed, that on this occasion he received of two of the chiefs of these same Naudo- wissies a grant of land or territory, of which we will speak some- where else. It appears that, having first ascertained that the goods promised him by Gov. Rogers had not arrived at the Falls of St. Anthony, he determined to return to Prairie du Chien and not to proceed any further northwest for the time. being. Having procured some goods from traders at Prairie du Chien, he started' for Lake Superior by way of the Chippewa River and a number of tributaries and lakes, but during the summer seems to have wandered off towards the St. Croix on some branches of which he claims to have seen "mines of virgin copper." After finally.
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Carver's Cave.
The following is his account of it: About thirteen miles be- low the Falls of St. Anthony, at which I arrived on the tenth day after I left Lake Pepin, is a remarkable cave of an amazing depth. The Indians term it Wakon-tecbe (Wakan-tipi). The entrance to it is about ten feet wide, the height is five feet, The arch within is nearly fifteen feet high, and about thirty feet broad; the bottom consists of fine clear sand. About thirty feet from the entrance begins a lake, the water of which is transparent, and extends to an unsearchable distance, for the darkness of the cave prevents all attempts to acquire a knowledge of it. I threw a small pebble towards the interior part of it with my utmost strength; I could hear that it fell into the water, and notwithstanding it was of a small size, it caused an astonishing and terrible noise, that reverbe- ted through all these gloomy regions. I found in this cave many Indian hieroglyphics, which appeard very ancient, for time had nearly covered them with moss, so that it was with difficulty I could trace them. They were cut in a rude manner upon the in- side of the wall, which was composed of stone so extremely soft, that it might be penetrated with a knife-a stone everywhere found near the Mississippi." (Potsdam Sandstone.)
have studied diligently to find out the exact location of this cave, but had to give it up. Schoolcraft seems (1820) to have consid- ered Fountain Cave near St. Paul as the one described by Carver, but Mr. Strong considered that opinion erroneous. He does not locate it, but says, that it has been materially altered by the ele. ments, the roof has fallen in and the entrance choked up by rock and earth. The track of a railroad runs along the bank of the river directly in front of the cave, in the construction of which the cave is virtually destroyed, and the stream which flowed through it now supplies a watertank, while the subterranean lake has disap- peared.
Visitors from this county do therefore not need to try to satisfy their curiosity in hunting up this cavern.
Carver's Grant.
It has been claimed by the descendants of Captain Carver, and their actual or presumptive representatives, that at the national council of the Naudawessies to which Carver was admitted as related above, a grant of land was given to him by two of the chiefs
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Hau-na-pau-je-tin or Snake, and O-gou-si-gum-lith-go or Turtle. The description of the land contained in this grant is as follows:
From the Falls of St. Anthony along the eastern bank of the Mississippi River to the lower end of Lake Pepin and the mouth of Chippewa River, thence due East five days travel at twenty miles a day, thence North six days travel at twenty miles a day, thence in a straight line to the Falls of St. Anthony. This is an item of interest to the citizens of Buffalo County, especially those residing in the northern part of it.
It so happens, that the line between townships twenty-two and twenty-three north, crosses the Chippewa River, but a very short distance above its mouth, and therefore all of township twenty- three and twenty-four located in this county lies within the tract described, which formerly on maps of Wisconsin and Minnesota - was designated as the Carver Tract. We will subsequently discuss the ultimate fate of the claim, but may as well relate here that sales have been made of lands in this county by Dr. Wm, Pea- body and Hannah his wife, then residents of the city of Chicago under a color of title based on a pretended abstract of the Carver Tract. I think it was in 1868 when Mr. DeGroff, then County Clerk, and the writer of this, then County Surveyor, and engaged in entering names in the plat-books, had a good deal of amuse- ment in the perusal of a printed copy of such an abstract. I took a copy of the document, which was rather lengthy, but can not find it any more. As it related to land in township twenty-five north, it could not be recorded in this county, but I remember the contents and some of the peculiar expressions quite well, and will give them here, as nearly as possible in the original language.
The instrument was in good imitation of what may have been the more ancient form of a deed in Great Britain and the Colonies. By it the above named chiefs of the Naudowessies granted to their very much honored friend, Captain Jonathan Carver, "a subject of George the Third, King of the English and other nations" the above described tract for his great services to the nation of the Naudo- wessies. The nature of these services was not expressed. The abstract proceeded to relate, that the original grant signed by the above named chiefs was deposited in the "Plantation Office in the City of London in England." There was more of it, mainly relating to the pedigree of Mrs. Hannah Peabody, who was represented to
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'be a lineal or collateral descendant of the renowned captain. The paper looked as if it had been cut out of a book or pamphlet, prob- ably a printed report of some Congressional Committee on the claim.
I can not dismiss this subject without giving the objections to the claim and its history and final rejection by Congress.
In the first place the deed or grant is not mentioned by Car- ver in the " Journal " of his travels. The objection of Mr. Strong to the validity of the grant, if made, because the Naudowessies or Sioux were not in possession of the land granted, is not conclusive, because it is almost impossible to prove pro or contra in the matter.
But if we were willing to concede the authenticity of the deed, its validity is still seriously impaired by the fact, that the king had by express proclamation forbidden, that any private person should presume to make any purchase of any land from any In- "dians. This proclamation, having been made three years previous to the date of the grant, must have been known to Capt. Carver. It would, also, have prevented his acceptance or solicitation of the grant.
Another very serious objection is that not any of his surviving -- children seem to have known anything of this supposed wealth or at least did not lay any claim to it in a legal way.
The first trace of the intention of getting possession of the property appears to have come to light in 1817, thirty-seven years after the death of Captain Carver. That year two young men (names not given) left the Green Bay settlement, in a bark canoe, for Prairie du Chien, by way of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, at which place they met Major S. H. Long, and proceeded with him up the Mississippi to the Falls of St. Anthony, with a view to es- tablish their right to lands claimed to have been granted by the Indians to their grandfather Jonathan Carver. The claim had, while under English supremacy been refused confirmation by the king and council.
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