History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 19

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298

USA > Wisconsin > Richland County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 19
USA > Wisconsin > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 19

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

*Banerofts page 150.

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Clerc, they discovered the beautiful country on Roek river, the occupants of which were weak and unable to defend themselves. Of this coun- try they took possession, driving off the former occupants This being the way this banded confederated tribe got possession of the coun- tries they occupied, we can have the less pity for them, even if their sorrowful story of frauds practiced upon them by the whites were true.

Somewhere between 1706 and 1736, they must have moved to the Wisconsin; and they were there as late as 1790, as I was informed by Mitchael Cadotte, who showed me mounds with holes in them for breast works, about five miles north of the falls of Chippewa river, which were made by the Saes and Foxes when warring against the Chippewas. The chief of the Foxes, who was first found by the whites at Prairie du Chien, was named Dog; and the prairie upon which he built his town, was called his, or Dog's prairie.

After the Sauks and Foxes left the Wiscon- sin and the country north of it, and took up their abode on Rock river and west of the Mis- sissippi, the Winnebagoes moved from the vicinity of the lake of their name, to the coun- try vacated by the former; at what date is un- certain. But as the Sauks and Foxes were here in 1790, and not here in 1805 when Lient. Pike aseended the river, the Winnebagoes came here probably about the beginning of the pres- ent century. At this period the Sioux, Chip- pewas and Winnebagoes, were the occupants of the soil as hunting grounds. The Menomonees claiming a part of the country west of the Wis- consin, and above the Portage. In 1825 the the metes and bounds of these respective claim- ants were settled, in a general council of all the tribes within reach; and continued so until 1837, when the Sioux and Winnebagoes sold out to the United States a'l of their claims east of the Mississippi, and the Chippewas soll all they claimed to it, south of 46 deg. north latitude. And within ten years the Chippewas and Menomonees have sold out the remainder of

their claims, so that the Indian title to the soil is now fully extinguished.

OF EARLY INDIAN AFFAIRS.

The fur traders and missionaries wore at- tracted to this distant quarter by nothing save the Indian settlements. There was at first no habitation of the red men at Prairie du Chien or in that immediate neighborhood. The Foxes, the Miamis, Kickapoos and Mascoutins were confederate tribes, seated east of the portage of the Wisconsin. The Sioux and Iowa tribes, somewhat similarly allied, were above and across the great river. Between these two confederations there was a continual warfare, which kept a large district of country between them unoccupied and uninhabitable. It was a war party of Sioux, in pursuit of the Miamis, that took Hennepin prisoner. Perrot, in 1685, with difficulty prevented the capture of his post near Lake Pepin by an expedition of Foxes and their allies, who designed turning his ammunition against their hereditary enemies. The journal of Le Sueur gives further incidents of a similar nature.

The region about the mouth of the Wiscon- sin was notoriously infested by predatory bands and warlike expeditions from one side or the other. The efforts of the French to establish a trade with the Sioux were met at first by re- monstrances from the Foxes, because their sanguinary enemies were thus supplied with fire arms and ammunition. Being unheeded, they determined to close the road to the Mis- sissippi by way of the Wisconsin, which lay through their country, and visit vengeance upon all who attempted to pass that way. This was so far effectual, as early as 1699, that none ven- tured to take that route if they could avoid it. The French endeavored to chastise and bring these troublesome people to terms, and a long period of bloody opposition followed. Laper- riere's expedition made its way to the Missis- sippi during a hull in the hostilities; their re- vival caused the abandonment of the enterprise, as already stated. Finally, the greater portion

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of the Fox tribe, if not all, withdrew from the river, which bears their name, and established themselves in the valley of the Wisconsin, about its mouth, somewhere near 1750.

Thus, instead of being attracted to the shores in this derelict region, the voyageurs and traders avoided them as much as possible, whenever they traveled the dangerous route. The li- censed traders were attached to the interests of the government and made instruments of extending its territorial jurisdiction by being given a sort of quasi military com- mand over their employes, and at places con- venient for their traffie, erected block houses or stockades, which they held in the name of the king, at their own expense. These were the only posts or garrisons ever established by the French west of Green bay. There was no in- ducement whatever for such a post in the vi- cinity of the Prairie. The reference in Perrot's official minute indited at Green bay, in 1689. to the trader, De Borie Guillot, as commanding the French in the neighborhood of the Wiscon- sin on the Mississippi, has been assumed as evidence of the existence at that time of a post at Prairie du Chien. With reference to this assumption, it is only necessary to remark that the Iowas were the only Indians seated in the neighborhood, and they were upon the oppo- site side of the Mississippi, about Yellow river. If that trader had any established post, which is altogether improbable, it is neither designated by name or locality, nor referred to in any way .*

At the beginning of the war between France and Great Britain, in 1754, the former made

peace with the Foxes, some of whom subse- quently enlisted under their banner. This re- conciliation and the establishment of that tribe at the mouth of the Wisconsin, by opening the way for the traders, made an entire change in affairs. The place is now heard of for the first time, as the seat of a village of the Foxes, known among the traders by a name derived from that of their principal chief, Alim, or in the French language, Chien, the dog ; hence, La Prairie les Chiens, signifying the Prairie of the Dogs, which has been modified to its pres- ent form, Prairie du Chien. There was no effort, however, to extend the authority of France in this direction; its attention was with- drawn and its energies concentrated to retain possession of Canada, and with the surrender of that province to the British, in 1760, all its claims upon the northwest, as far as the Mis- sissippi, were totally abandoned.

In 1781 the Foxes sold the prairie at the mouth of the Wisconsin to some Canadian- French traders, and subsequently vacated their village, but at what precise date cannot be de- termined. Their withdrawal, doubtless, oe- curred within a few years in the course of the general migration of that Nation, by which its occupancy of the region upon the north side of the Wisconsin was abandoned, and its southern borders extended to Rock Island. It should be remarked, however, that their bands frequented the place as long as it continued to be a place of resort for the neighboring Indian tribes for purposes of trade. The country abandoned by them was soon occupied by the Winnebagoes, from Chippewa river to the Wisconsin, except that they laid no claim to the prairie.

*In a subsequent chapter, the question as to whether there was ever a French fort at Prairie du Chien, is fully discussed.

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

CHAPTER IV.

EARLY EXPLORATIONS.

The territory now included within the limits of Crawford county, was first visited along its southern border in 1673 by Frenchmen, from the river St. Lawrence, in Canada. The first to approach this region of country was John Nico- let, in 1634, who came no nearer than to the village of the Mascoutins, on Fox river, supposed to have been located somewhere on that stream within the present boundaries of Green Lake Co., Wis. A Jesuit missionary, in 1670, also visited the Mascoutins. His name was Claude Allonez; but he came no nearer what is now Crawford county, than did Nicolet, in 1634.

EXPEDITION OF LOUIS JOLIET.

In 1673, Louis Joliet, accompanied by a mis- sionary, James Marquette, and five other French- men, ascended the Fox river to the portage, now Portage, Columbia Co., Wis .; crossed over to the Wisconsin river and dropped down that river to its mouth. Thence, Joliet journeyed down the Mississippi.

In the month of June, 1673, two frail birch- bark canoes glided down the current of the Wisconsin river. It was the first time the rip- ples on its broad bosom were stirred by the oar of a white man. The canoes bore Louis Joliet and Father James Marquette with five attend- ants in quest of the great river toward the west, of which the French on the upper lakes had heard from the Indians. On the seventeenth of the month (corresponding to the twenty-eighth, new style), their eager eyes beheld the Missis- sippi. They entered its current, as the mission- ary relates, turned their canoes into its channel, and with joy inexpressible, let their canoes gent-

ly glide with the water, while they sounded its depths. They observed, attentively, the pecu- liarities of the majestic river and the surround- ing scenery as they proceeded on their voyage. Marquette's account is silent respecting the vicinity of Prairie du Chien, doubtless because everything in that direction was hidden from observation by a belt of woodland that formerly skirted the Wisconsin.

He says:

"We knew that there was, three leagues from Maskontins, a river emptying into the Missis- sippi; we knew too, that the point of the compass we were to hold to reach it, was the west-south- west; but the way is so cut up by marshes and little lakes, that it is easy to go astray, especial- ly as the river leading to it is so covered with wild oats, that you can hardly discover the channel. Hence, we had good need of our two guides, who led us safely to a portage of 2,700 paces, and helped us to transport our canoes to enter this river, after which they returned, leaving us alone in an unknown country in the hands of Providence.

"We now leave the waters which flow to Que- bec, a distance of 400 or 500 leagues, to follow those which will henceforth lead us into strange lands. Before embarking, we all began to- gether a new devotion to the Blessed Virgin Immaculate, which we practiced every day, ad- dressing her particular prayers to put under her protection both our persons and the success of our voyage. Then after having encouraged one another, we got into our canoes. The river on which we embarked is called the Meskonsing; it

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is very 'broad, with a sandy bottom, forming many shallows, which rendered navigation very difficult. It is full of vine-clad islets. On the banks appear fertile lands diversified with wood, prairie and hill. llere you find oaks, walnut, whitewood, and another kind of tree with branches armed with long thorns. We saw no small game or fish, but deer and moose in con- siderable numbers.

"Our route was southwest, and after sailing about thirty leagues, we perceived a place which had all the appearances of an iron mine, and in faet, one of our party who had seen some before, averred that the one we had found was very good and very rich. It is covered with three feet of good earth, very near a chain of rock, whose base is covered with fine timber. After forty leagues on the same route, we reached the mouth of our river, and finding ourselves at 423 deg. north, we safely entered the Mississippi on the 17th of June, with a joy that I cannot ex- press."

Louis Joliet, with his companion James Mar- quette, and the five other Frenehmen were the first white men who ever set foot upon any part of what is now Crawford county.

The next visit of any white men to Crawford county was in 1680, npon the

EXPEDITION OF MICHAEL ACCAU.

In 1680 La Salle, who was then on the Illinois river, was desirous to have the Mississippi ex- plored above the point where it was first seen by Joliet; that is, above the mouth of the Wisconsin river; so he dispatched one Michael Acean, on an expedition thither; with him were Antoine Auguel and the Rev. Louis Hennepin, a recol- let friar. The party proceeded down the Illinois river in April and up the Mississippi river. They were the second white men who ever saw any portion of what is, at this time, Crawford county, or who set foot upon its territory. This was in May, 1680. The leader of this party was Aceau; Father Louis Hennepin wrote the account here given. It was first published in 1683.

"We set out from Fort Creve Cœur [on the Illinois river] the 29th of February, 1680, and toward evening, while descending the river Seignelay [Illinois] we met on our way several parties from Illinois returning to their village in their periaguas or gondolas loaded with meat. They would have obliged us to return, our two boatmen were strongly influenced, but as they would have had to pass by Fort Creve Cœur, where our Frenehmen would have stopped them, we pursued our way the next day, and my two men afterward confessed the design which they had entertained.

" The river Seignelay on which we were sail- ing, is as deep and broad as the Seine at Paris, and in two or three places widens ont to a quarter of a league. It is skirted by hills, whose sides are covered with fine, large trees. Some of these hills are half a league apart, leav- ing between them a marshy strip, often inun- dated, especially in the autumn and spring, but producing, nevertheless, very large trees. On ascending these hills you discover prairies fur- ther than the eye can reach, studded, at inter- vals, with groves of tall trees, apparently plant- ed there intentionally. The current of the river is not perceptible, except in time of great rains; it is at all times navigable for large barks about a hundred leagues, from its mouth to the Illi- nois village, whence its course almost always runs south by west.

"On the 7th of March we found, about two leagues from its mouth, a Nation called Tama- roa, or Maroa, composed of 200 families. They would have taken us to their village lying west of the river Colbert, six or seven leagues be- low the month of the river Seignelay ; but our two canoemen, in hopes of still greater gain, preferred to pass on, according to the advice I then gave them. These last Indians seeing that we carried iron and arms to their enemies, and unable to overtake us in their periaguas, which are wooden canoes, much heavier than our bark one, which went much faster than their boats, dispatched some of their young men after us

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by land, to pierce us with their arrows at some narrow part of the river, but in vain ; for soon discovering the fire made by these warriors at their ambuscade, we promptly crossed the river, gained the other side, and encamped on an island, leaving our canoe loaded and our little dog to wake us, so as to embark more expedi- tiously, should the Indians attempt to surprise us by swimming across.

"Soon after leaving these Indians, we came 10 the mouth of the river Seignelay, fifty leagues distant from Fort Creve Cœur, and about 100 leagnes from the great Illinois village. It lies between 36 deg. and 37 deg. north latitude, and consequently 120 or thirty leagues from the Gulf of Mexico.

"In the angle formed on the south by this river, at its month, is a flat precipitous rock, about forty feet high, very well suited for building a fort. On the northern side, opposite the rock, and on the west side beyond the river, arc fields of black earth, the end of which you can not see, all ready for cultivation, which would be very advantagions for the existence of a colony. The ice which floated down from the north kept us in this place till the 12th of March, whenec we continued our route, travers- ing the river and sounding on all sides to scc whether it was navigable. There are, indeed, three islets in the middle, near the mouth of the river Seignelay, which stop the floating wood and trees from the north and form sev- eral large sand-bars, yet the channels are deep enough, and there is sufficient water for barks; large flat-boats can pass there at all times.

"The river Colbert [ Mississippi] runs south- southwest, and comes from the north and north- west; it runs between two chains of mountains, very small here, which wind with the river, and in some places are pretty far from the banks, so that between the mountains and the river there are large prairies, where you often see herds of wild cattle browsing. In other places these eminences leave semi-circular spots covered with grass or wood. Beyond these

mountains you discover vast plains, but the more we approached the northern side ascend- ing,the earth did not appear to us so fertile, nor the woods so beautiful as in the Illinois country.

"This great river is almost everywhere a short Icague in width, and in some places, two leagues; it is divided by a number of islands covered with trees, interlaced with so many vines as to be almost impassable. It receives no considerable river on the western side except that of the Olontenta and another, which comes from the west-northwest, seven or eight leagues from the Falls of St. Anthony, of Padua. On the eastern side you meet first an inconsider- able river, and then further on another, called by the Indians Ouisconsin, or Wisconsin, which comes from the east and cast-northeast. Sixty leagues up you leave it, and make a portage of half a league to reach the bay of the Puans [Green bay] by another river which, near its source, meanders most curiously. It is almost as broad as the river Seignelay, or Illinois, and empties into the river Colbert, 100 leagues above the river Seignelay.

"Twenty-four leagues above, you come to the Black river, called by the Nadouessions [Sioux], or Islati, Chabadeba, or Chabaondeba, it seems inconsiderable. Thirty leagues higher np. yon find the Lake of Tears [Pepin], which we so named because the Indians who had taken us, wishing to kill us, some of them wept the whole night, to induce the others to consent to our death. This lake which is formed by the river Colbert, is seven leagues long and about four wide; there is no consider- able current in the middle that we could perceive, but only at its entrance and exit. Half a league below the Lake of Tears, on the south side, is Buffalo river, full of turtles. It is so called by the Indians on account of the num- bers of buffalo found there. We followed it for ten or twelve leagues; it empties with rapidity into the river Colbert, but as you ascend it, it is always gentle and frec from

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rapids. It is skirted by mountains, far enough off in some places to form prairies. The mouth is wooded on both sides, and is full as wide as that of the Seignelay."

EXPEDITION OF DULUTH.

The next expedition independent of that of Accau, and down the Mississippi from the St. Croix to the Wisconsin river, and, therefore, along the western border of what is now Craw- ford county, was that of Daniel Greysolon Du- Lhut, generally known as Duluth. He and some companions, in 1680, made the journey across from Lake Superior to the Mississippi by way of Bois Brule river and the St. Croix. Upon reaching the Mississippi, he learned the fact that some Frenchmen had passed up and had been robbed and carried off by the Sioux. This was Aceau and his party. These, however, he finally induced the Indians to liberate, and the whole party floated down the river to the mouth of the Wisconsin, returning by that stream to Mackinaw.

THE MISSISSIPPI VISITED BY LE SUEUR.

LeSuenr, a Frenchman, passed up the Miss- issippi from the mouth of the Wisconsin in 1683 ; but of this voyage we have no account, only that he was on his way to the Sioux country.

PERROT'S VOYAGE TO THE WEST.

Nicholas Perrot was the next to aseend the Mississippi ; and his was the fourth expedition that had floated along the western border of what is now Crawford county. This was in 1684. Perrot had been appointed by the gov- ernor of Canada to command in the west, leaving Montreal with twenty men. His objeet was the establishing of a post on the Missis- sippi. He proceeded from the St. Lawrence to Green bay, and up the Fox river to the Portage; thence down the Wisconsin and up the Missis- sippi to Lake Pepin, on the east side of which, near its mouth, he erected a stockade.

The next year he prevented with a good deal of difficulty the capture of his post by the Fox Indians and their allies. He passed the winter

of 1685-6 in his stockade, and then returned to Green bay by the same route traveled by him when going out. In 1688 he again ascended the Mississippi from the mouth of the Wiscon- sin to the mouth of the St. Peters, and returned by the same route to Green bay. This ended the explorations of Perrot in the valley of the Mississippi.

LE SUEUR AGAIN ON THE MISSISSIPPI.

In the year 1700 the fifth explorer ascended the Mississippi. His name was Le Sueur, the same who had seventeen years before been among the Sioux. From the Ist of September until the 5th he advanced but fourteen leagues. It is probable he landed several times in what is now. Crawford county. Le Sueur was the last to ascend the Mississippi until 1727, when Sieur La Perriere attempted a renewal of the fur trade which the governor of Canada had resolved to abandon west of Mackinaw, some time previous.

LA PERRIERE BUILDS A FORT ON LAKE PETIN.

" Fort Beauharnais," on Lake Pepin, was erected by La Perriere, but it was not long oc- cupied as a military post. The same year, a Jesuit missionary, Louis Ignatius Guignas, at- tempted to found a mission among the Sioux on the upper Mississippi, passing up the river for that purpose to Fort Beauharnais, but it proved a failure. Ile was on the Mississippi again in 1736, and at Lake Pepin, with M. de St Pierre, but of his latter voyage little is known. From this time until the war of 1758- 60, between France and Great Britain, French traders at intervals passed up the Mississippi ; but during that conflict the river was totally abandoned by Frenehmen.

THE JOURNEY OF JONATHAN CARVER.

The first to ascend the river after Great Britain had assumed control of the country, was Jonathan Carver. In 1766 he reached the mouth of the Wisconsin, just above which he found an Indian village called La Prairies les Chiens by the French, the site of the present village of Prairie du Chien, in Crawford Co.,

William D. Menell

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

Wis. It was inhabited by the Fox Indians. Ife says the name meant Dog Plains.

"It ('Prairies les Chiens') is a large town and contains about 300 families; the houses are well built after the Indian manner, and pleasantly situated on a very rich soil, from which they raise every necessary of life in great abundance. I saw here many horses of a good size and shape. This town is the great mart where all the adjacent tribes, and even those who inhabit the most remote branches of the Mississippi, annually assemble about the latter end of May, bringing with them their furs to dispose of to the traders. But it is not always that they con- clude their sale here ; this is determined by a general council of the chiefs, who consult whether it would be more conducive to their in- terest to sell their goods at this place, or carry them on to Louisiana or Michillimackinac. According to the decision of this council they either proceed further, or return to their differ- ent homes.

"The Mississippi, at the entrance of the Wis- consin, near which stands a mountain of consid- erable height, is about half a mile over ; lut opposite to the last mentioned town it appears to be more than a mile wide, and full of islands, the soil of which is extraordinarily rich, and but thinly wooded.

"A little further to the west, on the contrary side, a small river flows into the Mississippi. which the French call Le Jann Riviere. or the Yellow river. I then bought a canoe, and with two servants, one a French Canadian, and the other a Mohawk of Canada, on the 19th pro- ceeded up the Mississippi." %

"About sixty miles below this lake is a moun- tain remarkably situated; for it stands by itself exactly in the middle of the river, and looks as if it had slidden from the adjacent shore into the stream. It cannot be termed an island, as it rises immediately from the brink of the water to a considerable height. Both the Indians and the French call it the mountain in the river.

"One day, having landed on the shore of the Mississippi, some miles below Lake Pepin, whilst my attendants were preparing my din- ner, I walked out to take a view of the adjacent country. I had not proceeded far before I came to a fine, level, open plain, on which I per- ceived at a little distance a partial elevation that had the appearance of an intrenchment. On a nearer inspection I had greater reason to suppose that it had really been intended for this many centuries ago. Notwithstanding it was now covered with grass, I could plainly discern that it had once heen a breast work of about four feet in height, extending the best part of a mile, and sufficienly capacious to cover 5,000 men. Its form was somewhat eir- eular, and its flanks reached to the river. Though much defaced by time, every angle was distinguishable, and appeared as regular, and fashioned with as much military skill, as if planned by Vauban himself. The ditch was not visible, but I thought on examining more curiously, that I could perceive there certainly had been one. From this situation also I am convinced that it must have been for this pur- pose. It fronted the country, and the rear was covered by the river. ; nor was there any rising ground for a considerable way that commanded it ; a few straggling oaks were alone to be seen near it. In many places small tracks were across it by the feet of the elk and deer, and from the depth of the bed of earth by which it was covered, I was able to draw certain conclu- sions of its great antiquity. Iexamined all the angles and every part with great attention and have often blamed myself sinee for not encamp- ing on the spot, and drawing an exact plan of it. To show that this description is not the off- spring of a heated imagination, or the chimeri- cal tale of a mistaken traveler, I lind on in- quiry since my return, that Mons St. Pierre, and several traders, have, at different times, taken notice of similar appearances, on which they have formed the same conjectures, but without examining them so minutely as I did.

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History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 19

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company Number of Pages: 1298

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298