USA > Wisconsin > Buffalo County > History of Buffalo County, Wisconsin > Part 13
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On the same day (June 26th) two keelboats commanded by Capt. Allen Lindsay, which a few days before had ascended the river laden with provisions for the troops at Fort Snelling, passed the mouth of the Bad Axe on their way back to St. Louis.
On the way up some hostile demonstrations had been made by the Dakotas, which induced Capt. Lindsay to ask that his crew should be furnished with arms and ammunition. Col. Snel- ling, the commanding officer, complied with this request, and the thirty-two men of the crew were provided with thirty-two muskets and a barrel of ball cartridges. The Dakotas occupied the right
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bank of the river, and Capt. Lindsay and his men were on their guard against any attack from them; but they had no apprehen- sion of any attack from the Winnebagoes, who occupied the left bank of the Mississippi.
The village of Wabasha, the site of the present city of Winona, was the lowest point on the river at which they expected to encounter the Dakotas. Having passed this point in safety, and a strong wind having sprung up, the boats parted com - pany, and one of them, the O. H. Perry, by the time it reached the mouth of the Bad Axe, was several miles in 'advance of the other.
In the mean time thirty-seven Winnebagoes, inspired by the same common feelings of vengeance, cruelty and hate, which had led to the murder of Methode and his family, and which had on that very day instigated the invasion of the peaceful home of Gag- nier and the murder of its inmates by Red Bird, Chi-hon-sic, and We-kau, had, in pursuance doubtless of a common purpose to ex - terminate the whites, concealed themselves upon an island in the Mississippi near the mouth of the Bad Axe, between which and the left bank of the river, it was known, that the two keel-boats would pass on their return from Fort Snelling.
These boats, in model and size, were similar to ordinary canal boats, and furnished considerable protection from exterior attacks with small arms, to those on board, who concealed themselves below the gunwales. As the "Perry" approached the island where these hostile savages were concealed, and when within thirty yards of the bank, the air suddenly resounded with the blood- chilling and ear-piercing cries of the war-whoop, and a volley of rifle balls rained across the deck. Of the sixteen men on board either from marvelous good luck, or because they were below deck, only one man fell at the first fire. The crew now concealed themselves in the boat below the waterline, suffering it to float whithersoever the current and the high east wind might drive it. The second volley resulted in the instant death of one man, an American named Stewart, who had risen to return the first fire, and his musket protruding through a loophole, showed some Win- nebago where to aim. The bullet passed directly through his heart, and he fell dead with his finger on the trigger of his undis- charged gun.
The boat now grounded on a sandbar, and the Indians rushed
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to their canoes intending to board her. The crew having recovered from their panic, and seeing that the only escape from savage butchery was vigorous war, seized their arms and prepared to give the enemy a worm reception. In one canoe containing several savages, two were killed, and in their dying struggles upset the canoe, and the rest were obliged to swim ashore, where it was some time before those who were not disabled by wounds could restore thier arms to fighting order. Two of the Indians succeeded in get- ting on board the keel-boat, both of whom were killed. One fell into the water, and the other into the boat, in which he was car- ried down river, but in this hand-to-hand conflict the brave com- mander of the crew, named Beauchamp, was killed by the first of the two boarders, who in his turn was killed by a daring sailor named Jack Mandeville-called "Saucy Jack " who shot the rash warrior through the head, and he fell overboard, carrying his gun with him. Mandeville now assumed command of the crew, whose numbers had been reduced to ten effective men. He sprang into the water on the sand bar for the purpose of shoving off the boat and escaping from their perilous position, and was followed by four resolute men of his crew. The balls flew thick and fast about them, passing through their clothes; but they persisted and the boat was soon afloat. Seeing their prey escaping, the Winneba- goes raised a yell of mingled rage and despair, and gave the whites a farewell volley. . It was returned with three hearty cheers, and ere a gun could be reloaded, the boat had floated out of shooting distance, and the survivors were safe, arriving at Prairie du Chien about sunset the next day, the 27th of June.
The casualties of this engagement were, two of the crew killed, two mortally and two slightly wounded, while it was supposed that ten or more Indians were killed and a great number wounded
The other keelboat, under the command of Capt. Lindsay himself reached the mouth of the Bad Axe about midnight. The Indians opened fire upon her, which was promptly returned; one ball only hit the boat, doing no damage; the others passed harm- lessly in the darkness through which she pursued her way, and arrived safely at Prairie du Chien on the 28th.
In this narrative of the attack of the two boats, I have copied. from M. M. Strong's "History of Wisconsin Territory, " who in turn took most items from an anonymous article on the " Winne-
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bago Outbreak of 1827" of which Mr. Wm. J. Snelling, a son of Col. Snelling, who had come down from the fort with Capt. Lind- say on this trip, is supposed to have been the author.
The inhabitants in and about Prairie du Chien were generally and greatly alarmed. They left their farms and houses and crowded into the old dilapidated fort, where, however, they speedily established a very effective discipline, and organized a force of about ninety effective men and women. They repaired fort and block- house as well as they could, brought out and mounted a swivel-gun and the wall-pieces left by the troops, and all the blacksmiths were brought in requisition to repair the condemned muskets. Judge Lockwood fortunately had plenty of powder and lead, which he liberally furnished, so that matters began to look like defense. An experienced voyageur crossed the Mississippi and succeeded in reaching Fort Snelling, whence, upon the report of the situation Col. Snelling, after some delay, came down with two companies of U. S. infantry. An express having been sent to Galena, the people there were greatly alarmed and confused, but no attack followed. On the fourth of July Gov. Cass arrived at Prairie du Chien. Having ordered into the service of the United States the company organized by McNair, the governor hastened in his canoe to Ga- lena. Here a company of volunteers was raised under Capt. Abner Fields, to whom the command of Fort Crawford was assigned, and who proceeded to Prairie du Chien in a keel-boat and .took posses- sion of the barracks. The two companies were mustered into ser- vice by Martin Thomas, Lieutenant of the U. S. army. On the arrival of Col. Snelling he assumed command of the post. In the meantime Gov. Cass proceeded to St. Louis and conferred with Gen. Atkinson, the commander of Jefferson Barracks and of the western military department. Gen. Atkinson moved at once with all his disposable force up the Mississippi. During the interven- ing time the miners in the lead region had organized a company of mounted volunteers, which numbered over one hundred men, well mounted and armed, commanded by Col. Henry Dodge. Their peculiar duty being the protection of the settlers in their own region against any attack of the savages, they were also ready to pursue them and to give battle.
Red Bird and the other Winnebagoes having fled up the Wis- consin, Gen. Atkinson moved his army up that river in boats,
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being flanked on either shore by a detachment of Dodge's mounted nien, who drove the Indians out of every hiding place.
Major Whistler, in command of Fort Howard moved up Fox River with his force, being joined at Little Butte des Morts by about sixty Oneida and Stockbridge Indians under Capt. Ebenezer Childs and Joseph Dickinson. His force arrived on the 1st day of September on the high bluff, on which in the following year the erection of Fort Winnebago was commenced, where he encamped by order of Gen. Atkinson to await the arrival of the General and the forces with him.
The Winnebagoes were now in a desperate plight, being con- fronted with such forces and Col. Snelling being in command with another strong force at Prairie du Chien. There was no alternative but to appeal to the mercy of their pursuera.
Mr. Strong devotes nearly three pages to the description of the ceremonies, but the facts were, that Red Bird and his accomplices were surrendered to Major Whistler by an unarmed deputation of about thirty Indians led by Car-i-mau-nee, a distinguished chief Soon after the surrender of these captives Gen. Atkinson and the force of Col. Dodge arrived in the camp. The prisoners were de- livered over to Gen. Atkinson, who sent them to Fort Crawford. He met the gray-headed De Kau-ray, who, in presence of Col. Dodge disclaimed for himself and the other Winnebagoes any un- friendly feelings against the United States, and disavowed any con- nection with the murders on the Mississippi. Gen. Atkinson then discharged the volunteers, assigned two companies of regulars to the occupation of Fort Crawford, and ordering the other regulars to their respective posts, he returned to Jefferson Barracks. Thus ended the Winnebago outbreak.
It might be said that an extraordinary display had been made to put down a rather insignificant ebullition, made by a part of an insignificant tribe, yet, when we reflect on the Indian mode of warfare, on the cause of this outbreak, which rooted in the contempt of the forces among the Winnebagoes, and on the fact, that since the evacuation of the country by the British in 1816 no actual dis- play of the forces of the United States in the West had been made, we cannot but bestow merited praise upon the action of General Cass, Gen. Atkinson and all other commanders in this war. This was the last open outbreak of the Winnebagoes, although their
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loyalty was more than suspected in the Black Hawk war in 1832 and they were actually compelled to surrender eight of their war- riors for having killed white men in the last named war.
I have in the above delineated the boundaries claimed by the Winnebagoes, but it must not be supposed that they respected them very closely. It seems that most of the time they were on unfriendly terms with the Sioux, but from a note I found in the old Minnesota Atlas it appears that they often crossed the Missis- sippi, and roved about in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota and even asserted their supposed rights by molesting white settlers
In a treaty concluded at Prairie du Chien August 1st, 1829 the tribe ceded their land south of the Wisconsin and west of a , line running south from Lake Puckaway by Duck Creek, Fourth Lake near Madison, Sugar river, and Pee-kee-tol-a-ka, by which the United States secured the Winnebago interest in the lead mines. By the treaty of September 15th 1832, after the Black- Hawk war, the Winnebagoes ceded to the United States all their land south of the Wisconsin and Fox River, for which, besides the consideration expressed in money, the tribe received an interest in the neutral land beyond the Mississippi. In the next treaty they surrendered all their land in Wisconsin and their claims in Minne- sota, for which they received land on the Minnesota river.
Owing to injudicious selections, to remonstrances by the people of Minnesota, and other obstacles, they did not settle down in any permanent location until spring 1855, when their chiefs had sel- ected land on the Blue Earth River, south of the Minnesota River. Here they did extremely well in agriculture, had comfortable houses and prospered generally, until the Sioux outbreak in 1862, in which, however, as a tribe they did not participate, though in- dividuals may have been involved. This event, however, was of very serious cousequences to the Winnebagoes, as the people of the state, after the disastrous experiences they had had with Indi- ans in the midst of the white population, naturally objected to the presence of any of the race among them. So the government transported Winnebagoes as well as Sioux to a desert on the Mis- souri, above Fort Randall. They suffered greatly and very un- justly. In their new reservation on Crow Creek, Dakota, they could not practice agriculture, because the ground was a barren waste; they could not hunt for fear of the other tribe. They left
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as fast as they could for the Omaha reservation, where, finally, they were settled more favorably and yet remain. It, appears, nevertheless that a remnant of Indians and half-breeds of this tribe never removed from this state, and some of these arc yet in the neighborhood of Black River, and receive yet, or used to re- ceive but a few years ago, some annuities. When in 1863 the government threatened to remove the tribe, the old chiefs, De Carry (Kau-ree,) Winneshick, Dandy, and their families, and some others, fled to Wisconsin. De Carry was the grandson of Ho-po- ko-e-kaw, the Morning Glory, mentioned above as the chieftess of the tribe about a hundred years ago. He died in poverty in the fall of 1864. He was undoubtedly loyal to the government, and a sincere friend to his white neighbors, at least as far as they de- served it, which they probably not always did. As he had cap- tured Black Hawk and the Prophet in 1832, the United States ought to have given him at least land enough to subsist upon.
The numerical strength of the tribe was variously estimated at 230 warriors in 1736, at 360 in 1763, and by Capt. Carver at about 200. The census of the tribe 1859 was 2,256 souls, but in 1865 it was only 1,900, in which, however, the stragglers in Wis- consin do not seem to have been included.
They were as a tribe, vigorous and athletic. The Sioux called them O-ton-kah, said to mean a large and strong people.
They appear to be doing better than any other tribe in their new location, and furnished, during the war a number of soldiers, of whom about one hundred returned to their relations in 1866.
They have adopted the dress of white men, and possibly given up tribal organization by this time.
NOTE .- There are yet in this state about 1400 Winnebago In- dians, who are mostly living in Jackson and Adams county. Most of them have homesteads of about forty acres each; about one- third have houses of logs or boards, but they prefer their wigwam which is to be found on every farm. Every Indian in the state is entititled to a homestead on some place upon the public lands, but some can not be reconciled to stationary life. They hunt and fish and remain poor, which however may also be said of those who have settled down, as corn, their only crop, is hardly sufficient for their most urgent necessities. [From late newspapers.]
Of the other members of this so-called confederation not one
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was domiciled within one hundred miles of the boundaries of our county and a very short mention of them is sufficient iu this place.
Menomonees. The eastern neighbors of the Winnebagoes, though not of their race, being Algonkins. Even their name, which in the Algonkin means " Wild Rice ", indicates that.
Iowas. A small tribe, although the state of Iowa took its name from them. They are now in Kansas. They furnished 43 soldiers.
Akansea or Quapaws. I have my doubt about the propriety of including this tribe in the O-chunk-o-rah family or Winnebago Confederation. They are also in Kansas.
Osages or Wa-saw-see. They were located on the Osage river before the rebellion, and some sympathized with it, but the majo- rity remained loyal. They are now in the Indian Territory.
Missourias and Ottoes. They were neighbors to the Iowas, and may be so now on their reservation.
Kansas or Kaws. They are down in Indian Territory. Some traits in their history induce a lingering doubt whether this tribe is not descended from the remnant of the Kaw-Kaws or Neutrals, of the Iroquois relationship, but exterminated, or at least nearly so by the latter. They furnished about eighty soldiers for the Union.
Omahas. This is the tribe with whom 'the Winnebagoes are now united on the same reservation. They are similar in language and habits, and I think they have given up tribal organization.
Ponkas. They are on the Missouri River in the state of Nebraska.
Mandans. They are on the Missouri, associated with Aricka- rees and Gros-Ventres, but it is doubtful, whether they belong to them, or to the O-chunk-o-raws.
This finishes what I thought proper to relate about Winne- bagoes and their relations. Like all Indian history theirs is in- volved in doubts and contradictions, which to clear away or dis- solve requires much time, patience, and ethnological research, which can not be expended in a local history.
2. DAKOTA OR SIOUX CONFEDERACY.
If I begin the history of this powerful confederacy, or rather extensive and numerous ethnological family, with the outlines of the territory claimed or possessed by them at the time of the treaty of Prairie du Chien in the year 1825, it is not because they entered
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history first at that time, but to establish their claim to our atten- tion, and to a place in this book. We have seen that the boundary between them and the Winnebagoes, as established by the afore- said treaty, ran along the bluffs on the east side of the Mississippi river as far as Black River. From that point the boundary be- tween them and the Chippewas began, and ran in an indefinite, though probably intended to be direct, line, to a point on the Chip- pewa River, half a day's march below Chippewa Falls, a point not very far from Eau Claire, thence to the Red Cedar River immedi- ately below the falls; thence to the St. Croix River, which it strikes at a place called the Standing Cedar, about a day's paddle in canoe above the lake; thence passing between two lakes, called by the Chippewas " Green Lakes ", and by the Sioux "the lakes they bury the eagles in "; thence to the standing cedar that "the Sioux split," thence to Rum River, crossing it at the mouth of a small creek called "Choking Creek ", a long day's march from the Mississippi; thence to a point of woods that propels into the prairie, half a day's march from the Mississippi ; thence in a straight line to the mouth of the first river which enters the Mississippi on its west side above the mouth of Sac River; thence ascending the said river (above the mouth of Sac River) to a small lake at its source; thence in a direct line to a lake at the head of Prairie River, which is supposed to enter the Crow Wing River on its south side; thence to Ottertail Lake Por- tage; thence to said Ottertail Lake and down through the middle thereof to its outlet; thence in a direct line so as to strike Buffalo River, half way from its source to its mouth, and down said river to Red River thence descending Red River to the mouth of Outard or Goose Creek. The southern boundary line, between the Sioux and Sacs and Foxes, was at the same time established as follows: Commencing at the mouth of the Upper Iowa River, on the west bank of the Mississippi, and ascending the said river to its left fork; thence up that fork to its source; thence crossing the fork of Red Cedar River (in Iowa) in a direct line to the second or upper fork of the Des Moines River; thence in a direct line to the lower fork of the Calumet River, and down that river to the Missouri. Within the first boundary lines were included in Wisconsin the western part of La Crosse county, the southern part of Jackson county, and a great part of Eau Claire county, all of the counties
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of Trempealeau, Buffalo, Pepin and Pierce, and parts of Dunn and St. Croix county, as they are now constituted. In Minnesota it included the Mill Lacs country, the ancient seat of the Dakotas, who claimed to have been created on that lake; and who were still in possession of it, when Hennepin was a prisoner among them in 1680.
Judge Gale enumerates the following bands:
Medawakauton
Wapahkoota - Resided in Minnesota and originated the' mas- sacre in 1862.
Wahpaton
Sisseton
Resided in Minnesota and were called "upper bands." These four bands are often called Santees. Re- servation at Fort Randall.
Yankton
Yanktonai Brule
Two Kettle or Teton
Reside in Dakota Teritory and will no further be mentioned in this history.
Blackfeet Minnecongou Oucpapas Sans Arc
Ogallalas Assiniboins
From a note in the Minnesota Atlas it appears that the three original tribes of the Dakotas were the Isanti, on the east side of the Mississippi. the Yanktons on the Minnesota, and the Titon- wans west of the Yanktons. From the earliest reports we have of the Assiniboins as to their situation, we must suppose that they belonged to the Isanti, from which name that of Santee was de- rived, but for some time the Assiniboins had joined the Algonkins against the Dakotas and made war upon their own relations. In fact the Sioux were originally situated much farther east and made during the earlier times of the French explorations several excur- sions nearly up to Sault St. Mary. The Knisteneaux, or Kriste- neaux, between Lake Superior and Hudson's Bay, the ancesters of the Crees on the Saskatchewan, prominent in the Riel Rebellion, had become armed with guns by the English traders on the Bay, and forming an alliance with other Algonkins, notably the Chip- pewas, and with the Assiniboins, had begun war upon the Santee Sioux, driving them slowly westward, occupying, the Kisteneaux to the north, and the Chippewas south of Lake Superior the land of the Sioux. This was the origin of the hereditary war between
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Sioux and Chippewas, existing before the time of the first mission on Lake Superior, which, however, was still in danger from an attack by the Sioux. Nicolet heard of them in 1634 when he was at Green Bay and upon the Fox River, but did probably not see any of them. Marquette and Joliet do not mention them .; Hen- nepin however does not seen to have been the first white man among them for he was preceded as early as 1654 by two young Frenchmen, employees of the fur-trade, who adapted themselves to the mode of life among the Indians and were about two years with them. He was also preceded by Du Luth, who had visited several of the Sioux villages about 1678. From the facility with which he procured the release of Hennepin and his compan- ions we must conclude that he had acquired the language and a certain respect and influence among the Sioux. After the return of Du Luth to Quebec and to France, Gov. De la Barre, who suc- ceeded to the first administration of Frontenac, sent one Nicholas Perrot with a small force, and he took formal possession of the country by proclamation and other ceremonies at the Falls of St. Anthony. He erected Fort St. Nicholas on the westside of Lake Pepin, but soon returned to Quebec. In the year 1695 Le Sueur built a fort on one of the islands near the mouth of the St. Croix, but he also returned to Quebec and afterwards to: France, from which country he returned in 1700 with thirty workmen, coming by way of the Mississippi river direct, but he proceeded up the Minnesota River, and built a fort at Blue Earth. The Sioux con- tinued on friendly terms with the French, but trading and explo- ration were discouraged by the government for about twenty years after Le Sueur's second enterprise.
In 1727 the Sieur de la Perriere built a fort on the east side of . Lake Pepin, in the neighborhood of Stockholm. He named it after Gov. Beauharnois of Canada. With true French ostentation La Perriere celebrated the governor's birthday at the fort with a feast and such fireworks as he had on hand. This is related by Father Guignas, a Jesuit missionary who was present. The great . nflood of. 1728, drowned out Fort Beauharnois, and the party re- nuturned. It seems that the fort erected by Perrot was from time to in time occupied and continued to be used as a trading post, chang- : ing its name with the occupants.
In . We now come the period of the final struggle between France
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and Great Britain for the sole possession of the northern part of the new world. The French called on all the friendly tribes of In- dians for assistance, and most tribes, even the far-off Winnebagoes, responded to the call, with the exception of the Sioux. Whether they had war enough at home, or whether the distance alarmed them, as it well might, they staid about home. During that time there were probably few traders among them, the delivery of goods from France, and even from Canada had become risky. At the termination of the struggle the English were slow to take posses- sion of the distant posts, and abandoned Green Bay two years after taking possession, to prevent the garrison from falling into the hands of the Pontiac conspirators. Prairie du Chien had pro- bably no garrison. The Sioux, though not on British territory to any great extent, did not join the Pontiac conspiracy, but are said to have offered Col. Johnson, general Indian Agent of the British government five thousand warriors against this conspiracy. We find no notice of any participation of Dakotas in the struggle be- tween England and the Colonies. As they were always at war with the Chippewas and very often with Sacs and Foxes and others of their neighbors, they did unintentionally good service to the cause of the United States by preventing large detachments of their enemies to be sent to aid the British. They also seem to have remained neutral during the Ohio troubles, which terminated in the defeat of the Indians by General Wayne at the Maumee in 1794. It appears, however, that as early as 1780, Joseph Aird and Duncan Graham, both Englishmen, traded with the Sioux at Prai- rie du Chien, spending the winter among them, and the summer at the village. Some time later, perhaps in the beginning of the present century, Col. Robert Dickson engaged in the same trade in the same locality. He, also, was an Englishman, and a very shrewd and able officer. How he he got into possession of the in- formation, can not be told, but he collected a body of two hundred Sioux, one hundred Winnebagoes, some Chippewas, and most of the Menomonees, and with some Canadians, attacked and took the fort at Mackinaw, being the first person to inform Lieutenant Hanks, the American commander of that post, of the declaration. of war between the United States and Great Britain. The leading spirits at Prairie du Chien, among them Joseph Rolette, who had commanded the Canadians at the surprise of Mackinaw, planned
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