History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 41

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 41
USA > Wisconsin > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 41

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).

Of others who settled at the Prairie before the year 1820, there were Julian Lariviere, Andrew Basin, Strange Powers, (whose name was fre- quently written 'Poze,') Bartolome Montplaisier, Joseph Leinrie, Benjamin Roy, Francis Dease, Oliver Cherrier, Augustin Roe, Duncan Camp- beil, Pierre Lessard, Thomas MeNair, Etiene Dionne, John W. Johnson, Theodore Lupin, Charles Menard, Felix Mercier, Francois Cheu- neviene, John Baptiste Albert, Adam Wilmot, John T .. Finly, Charles Duquette, La Foibois, John Baptiste Caron, Lewis Crawford, Robert B. Belt, Alexander Dumont, Joseph Rivard, Nicholas Brisbois, Wilfred Owens, Jean F. Ro- Jette, Marshall Mann, James McFarlane, An- toine LaChapelle, Franeois Galorneau, James II. Lockwood, Theodore Lupin, Michael Peril- lard; M. du Choquette, Peter Barrette, Sr.

AN UNSOLVED PROBLEM.

"There is an unsolved problem concerning the first advent of settlers to the "Prairie des ('hiens"-a question which has not been settled. In 1781, Patrick Sinclair, lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, held a treaty at Mackinaw with the Fox Indians, when the "prairie" was pur- chased of that tribe-but for whom, is the ques- tion? At that time, the English government had jurisdiction (and exercised it) over this whole region. Was the purchase on behalf of that government, simply to extinguish the In- dian title, so that settlers could have an assur- ance of being undisturbed? or, did Sinclair pur- chase the "prairie" for himself? If neither, was it bought directly for Bazil Giard, Pierre An- taya and Augustin Ange? or, were these latter only the agents for other settlers? A satisfac- tory answer, however, at this late date, would not be of any particular value; as all the old settlers, finally, after the United States came into possession of the country, who had titles confirmed to them, by the general government, had the confirmation based wholly upon occupa- tion.

WHERE THE FIRST SETTLEMENT WAS MADE.

It is a matter of some consequence to know just where, on the "prairie," the early settlers were located. As to this, there is no uncertainty. Their location was made on the Mississippi shore, about midway of the prairie, some dis- tance above the site of what had formerly been an Indian village. Here a slough, which they designated the "Marias de St. Feriole," runs up from the river, and being . generally filled with water, separates from the principal prairie a strip of lower ground nearly half a mile wide, and something more than a mile in length. Upon this tract, fronting the Missis- sippi, and upon the opposite border of the slough, these settlers erected their houses in separate groups, designated collectively as the village of "Prairie des Chiens," that upon the main land being long distinguished by the name of "St. Feriole." It is said that the ground at

282

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

first occupied temporarily was a little distance below; but the locality in question was settled upon as early as 1785. These occupants con- sisted of traders and voyagers who engaged al most exclusively in traffic with the Indians. They usually passed the winter months at the Indian villages, and during the summer transported their collection of furs to Mackinaw, returning with their canoes laden with goods for the next season's trade, and a supply of provisions. In the winter the village was half deserted, while in the summer its numbers were swelled not only by the return of its own people, but also by traders from other quarters, and by throngs of Indian visitors. The inhabitants placed little or no valne upon the soil, except as a location for their village, conveniently situ- ated for the purposes of their favorite employ- ment; yet they found leisure to cultivate small portions of the prairie in a rude way, and occa- sionally a voyageur, wearied with his roving life, or unable longer to endure its hardships, settled down and devoted himself exclusively to farming.

The first location upon the "prairie" beyond the environs of the village was made at its upper extremity in 1788, by Jean Marie Car- dinal, a hunter and trapper, who died not long afterward, and Nicholas Colas succeeded to his possessions by marrying his widow. She lived to old age, and died at the village in 1827. Tra- dition ascribes her the distinction of having been the first white woman in the settlement. From a statement of hers, it is probable that she came to the prairie with her husband during the course of a great flood in the Mississippi. Pierre Antaya made the second location of the de- scription in question in 1790; Joseph Crele the third, in 1791; and Claude Gagnier the fourth, 1792-all upon the upper portion of the prairie. Dennis Courtois came to the village in 1791, and located npon the prairie two years later.

NO SETTLEMENT IN CRAWFORD COUNTY BEFORE 1781.

So much currency has been given to tradi- ditions concerning a very early date at which,

it is alleged, Prairie du Chien (and therefore, Crawford county,) was first settled, that it is here necessary to state, in substance, what these traditions are, and then give them their refuta- tion. In this connection, it is proper to con- sider the following from the pen of the late Alfred Brunson:

"The first regular settlement at Prairie du Chien, other than traders, as well as I ean ascer- tain, was commenced by a man of the name of Cardinal, who cime to the country as a hunter and trapper. which must have been between 1720 and 1730. lle came from Canada, with his wife, who, as far as I can learn, was the first white woman upon this prairie. He probably came with the troops who came to Green Bay in 1726, and hearing from the traders of the rich hunting grounds on the Mississippi, tried his fortune in this direction. On his first visit he ascended the river as far as C'annon river, just above where Red Wing now stands, but preferring this point to any other he saw, took up his residence here, and is said to have made the first farm upon Prairie du Chien.

"Ilis wife, who outlived him, and it is said a dozen other men to whom she was married, one after the other, died here in 1827, computed from the best data that could be obtained, to be 130 years of age. B. W. Brisbois, Esq., who was born and raised on this prairie, heard her say that when she came to the place first, the waters were so high' that they came up from the Wisconsin, next to the bluffs where the ground is some feet lower than the rest of the plain, in their bark canoe. He also heard her say that when she first came to this country, the buffalo were so thick and in such droves as to impede their progress sometimes, when they had to wait for them to cross the river before the canoe could pass in safety."

But the writer just quoted, in saying that Cardinal "must have come to the country be- tween 1720 and 1730," bases it wholly upon the supposed fact that the flood mentioned by Mrs. Cardinal was that of 1727, he not knowing that

283

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

a similar flood occurred in the Mississippi in 1785. Besides, it is shown elsewhere in this history that the "prairie" was visited in 1766 and in 1780, and that there were no white set- tlers upon it at either of those dates.

Arthur St. Clair, then governor of the north- west territory, made a report of official pro- ccedings in Illinois county from March 5, to June 11, 1790, in which he says:

"There is another communication between Canada and the Mississippi by the Wisconsin river, a little above the mouth of which is Prai- rie du Chien. At that place there was a con- siderable town, while the country was in the hands of the French. It has gone to ruin; but by that communication the British carry on all the trade of the upper part of the Mississippi, and at the Prairie du' Chien, they assemble twice in every year in great numbers, frequently, I have been informed, to the amount of 500 or 600 persons. It would certainly be for the National honor that an establishment that would command that communication was made; but the great distance, and the difficulties that might attend the supporting it, will probably prevent it at present."

St. Clair had only hearsay evidence that there was, on the "prairde, a considerable town while the country was in the hands of the French." And that the report he was in pos- session of as to the place was entirely unreli- able is shown by his next sentence: "It [Prai- rie du Chien] has gone to ruin."

Much has also been said about early French traders having their homes upon the "prairie" at a time long anterior to its actual settlement; especially has it been claimed that there was a trader located here soon after Joliet's discovery in 1671, of the upper Mississippi. Concerning this trader and Joliet's discovery, Rev. Alfred Brunson, in the publication already quoted from in this chapter, says:

"The third place visited and settled by white men, in what is now Wisconsin, is Prairie du Chien. But at what time the first visit or per-

manent settlement was made, is in the dark, and rather nneertain. Marquette and Joliet de- scended the Wisconsin river into the Missis- sippi, June 17, 1673. But as they sailed doun the river, and this prairie lying above the junc- tion, and being entirely hid from view at the mouth of the Wisconsin by- the timber on the bottoms. I think it extremely doubtful whether they ascended the Mississippi to this point, and such a landing not being mentioned by them, it is not probable that they did so.

"Furthermore, "_as this, prairie was then elaimed by the Sioux, whose villages werecover 100 miles above, there could have been no In- dians ats the place, unless by accident, to call their attention to it.

"In 1680, seven years later, Hennepin as- cended the Mississippi, a prisoner to the Sioux. He could hardly have passed this beautiful place without noticing and stopping at it; nor is it at all 'probable that his captors, who were the owners of the soil, would have passed it un- noticed. But as he makes no mention of it, it is not probable that any trader or Indian vil- lage occupied the place at that date. But as he was released from captivity the next year, 1681, through the interposition of a trader, and returned to Quebec by the way of the Wiscon- sin river, it is probable that the trader lived at Prairie du Chien. E'should infer, from the cir- cumstances, that the trader could not have been there when Hennepin ascended the river, or he would have proenred his release at that time, and sent him home. This was probably the be- ginning of the fur trade at this place, that is in 1681, which grew to the magnitude in which Carver found it it 1766, eighty-five years after- wards. But who this trader was is unknown. This is to be regretted, as his name might be honored by being attached to some building or public work, if it were known. As it is, flen- nepin should not be forgotten, as he probably was the first white man, except the trader in question, who ever saw this place."

284

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

The trader mentioned by Mr. Brunson is now known to have been Duluth, who never resided on the "prairie," but who, having heard that some white men had been captured, started to their rescue from a point many miles north of the present location of Prairie du Chien. As is shown in another chapter, when Carver visited the "Prairie des Chiens" in 1766, it was simply and purely an Indian village. Whatever then there was of the fur trade here in 1766, was with Indians who were visited for the purposes of trade by the fur trader.

A very general way of expressing the antiq- uity of the settlement upon the "prairie" preva- lent to this day is to say that it is as "old as Philadelphia." This "ball was set in motion" by Charles J. Latrobe, an English traveler, who was in Prairie du Chien in 1833, where, he says, he found but few Indians and these Menomo- nees; and then adds:

"The old French settlement of Prairie du Chien, founded the same year as the city of Philadelphia, and occupying as much ground as the penitentiary of that flourishing place, lies on the margin of the river, and consists of a few old, gray trading and dwelling houses with nothing either in architecture or position to merit further notice. It seems doomed to re- main under the same spell as others of a like origin."

The report of the commissioners, Nov. 9, 1821, made to Congress (or to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States), which in another chapter is given entire, says, concern- ing the early settlement at "Prairie des Chiens:"

"It has never been characteristic of the Freuch Canadian. settlements to increase rap- idly; and it is considered a fair inference from all that can be learned on the subject that, for a long and indefinite time, its numbers have been considerable and increasing only at a tardy pace. This consideration is supposed to be eminently corroborative of the position the commissioners have assumed, of the antiquity of the settlement [of Prairie des Chiens].

"With what propriety the inhabitants of Prairie des Chiens, who were born there, and whose ancestors have for more than a century resided there, may be said to have taken pos- session of the public lands in violation of the laws, how they may be said to be intruders, who, and whose ancestors, through so many po- litical changes, have, with the assent, express or implied, of each successive sovereignty, contin- ned to inhabit the country which gave them birth, it is hard to imagine."

This, as already indicated, was written in No- vember, 1821; and, if the statements contained therein are facts, then the first settlement upon the "prairie" ante-dates the year 1721. But let us examine the sources of their information as to the ancestors of the people living at "Prairie des Chiens" in 1821, having resided there "for more than a century," and see, too, how many of those were residents in 1821 "were born there." The testimony of every person living on the "prairie," of any standing, was taken in 1820, to aid in establishing the antiquity of the settlement there, to the end that their land claims might be confirmed. The substance of this evidence has been published; and we look in vain for any statement indicating the resi dence here of any one of those testifying, or of any of their ancestors, before the year 1781. And the only one who gave testimony (and a large number were sworn) tending in the least to establish a settlement on the "prairie" before that date was Michael Brisbois. The following is his deposition in full:

"TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN County of Crawford. S.s.

"Be it remembered that on this day person- ally appeared before me, Isaac Lee, a justice of the peace in and for said county, and agent duly appointed to ascertain the title to lands at Green Bay and Prairie des Chiens, Michael Brisbois, of said county, who, after being sworn according to law, deposeth and saith that he, this deponent, is sixty years of age; that he has been thirty-nine years in this country;

& Dortmund

MRS. DOUSMAN

287

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

that, from the best information he has been able to obtain, and from his own knowledge, Prairie du Chien, extending from the month of the river Wisconsin to the upper part of the prairie, has been occupied and cultivated in small improvements, in virtue of sundry claims of French people, both before and since depo- nent's arrival in the country; that he (deponent) has never heard of any Indian claim to said tract except that about eighteen years ago the French people became somewhat apprehensive as to their title, which fact being made known to the Indians, one of the first chiefs of the Fox Nation, named Nanpouis, ratified at Caho- kia, near St. Louis, an ancient sale of said prai- rie to the French; that, in the year seventeen hundred and eighty-one, Gov. Sinclair bought the islands of Miehillimackinac, Green Bay and Prairie du Chien; that this deponent saw the papers relating to said purchase exe- euted and folded up, to he sent to Montreal or Quebee; deponent was informed on his first arri- val at this place, that it derived its name from a large family called Des Chiens, who formerly resided here; that the same family or their de- scendants were here at the time of deponent's arrival, and were called 'Des Chiens.'

"M. BRISBOIS.

"Sworn and subscribed before me, this 21st day of October, A. D. 1820.

ISAAC LEE, J. P. C. C. AND AGENT."

It will be observed that the date of Brisbois' arrival "in this country" was 1781; and that the "prairie" had been occupied and cultivated in small improvements in virtue of sundry claims of French people, both before and since" his ar- rival; and that the chief of the Fox Nation rati- fied an ancient sale of said prairie to the French, in 1802. In order to fully understand how these things could all be and yet the first settlement of the "prairie" date no farther back than 1781, it is necessary to introduce in this connection another deposition:

"TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN, County of Crawford, ss.

"Be it remembered, that on this day, person- ally appeared before me, Isaac Lee, a justice of the peace in and for said county, and agent duly appointed to ascertain the title to lands at Green Bay and Prairie des Chiens, Pierre La- pointe, of said county, who, after being sworn according to law, deposeth and saith that he is seventy years of age; that he has been forty- four years in this country, of which period he has resided thirty-eight years at Prairie des Chiens; that in the year seventeen hundred- and eighty-one, this deponent was at Michilli- mackinac, and acted in the capacity of interpret- er at the treaty held by Gov. Sinclair with the Indians, for the purchase of the is- lands of Michillimackinac, Green Bay and Prai- rie des Chiens; that, during the time deponent has resided at the prairie he has never known the Indians to make claim to said tract of land as their property, that deponent was present at Prairie des Chiens and saw the goods delivered to the Indians in payment for the said prairie by Basil Giard, Pierre Antaya, and Angustin Ange, according to the stipulations of the treaty with Gov. Sinclair above mentioned.

"PIERRE LAPOINTE, his X mark.

"Sworn and subscribed before me this 23d day of October, A. D. 1820.

"ISAAC LER, J. P. C. C., AND AGENT."

Lapointe, it will be noticed, says nothing about Brisbois having been present at the "prairie" when the goods were delivered to the Indians in payment for it; but he does mention who were present. And we know that Messrs. Giard, Antaya and Ange, not only come in the early part of 1781, but came to remain. The probability is, then, that they at once com- menced improvements, and upon the arrival of Mr. Brisbois from Mackinaw in the fall of the same year,he found the "prairie" already oc- cupied by these three men; so that it was true that it had been "occupied and cultivated in small improvements, in virtue of sundry claims

288

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

of French people, both before and after "his ar- rival there," as set forth in his deposition. As to the ratification of a sale to the French, by a Fox chief in 1802, of the "prairie," it is very evident that the sale referred to is the one made by that tribe to the French settlers in 1781, at Mackinaw, at the instigation of Gov. Sinclair.

EARLY CUSTOMS AND HABITS.

Enough has already been said to show that the early settlers of Crawford county were all confined to the "Prairie des Chiens ;" and that a very large proportion of them were Canadian French. These inhabitants were nearly all un- married men when they established themselves here. They adopted the customs of their In- dian neighbors to some extent, and very gen- erally formed temporary domestic alliances with females of that race. During early days an Indian mistress was installed in nearly every cabin. One after another, however, as they found opportunity to procure wives of their own race from distant places, these dusky sweethearts were discarded. These families of the mixed blood for a while greatly outnum- bered the white, and traces of Indian lineage are still not infrequently met with among the descendants of these people. The settlement received considerable acceleration to its growth from this cause, and drew accessions to its numbers gradually from other French Cana- dian colonies. In the course of fifteen or twenty years it grew to the extent of thirty or forty houses, sheltering a population of 300 or 400. In 1805 there were sixteen houses in the principal village, half as many more at St. Feriole, and several scattered about the prairie, thirty-seven in all. The French settlement made little if any further growth of progress. In 1817 the number of houses was not more than thirty-eight. In 1820, the place is de- scribed as containing, in all, about eighty buildings, including those of the garrison, being mostly shabby constructions of logs and bark and surrounded by picket yards. The traders were

generally men of considerable wealth, for it required means to carry on their business, pro- vide stocks of goods and provisions for long periods, and transport them hundreds of miles by oarsmen kept constantly employed for that purpose. Many of them were gentlemen. The voyageurs constituted a very different class; they were generally very poor, and dependent on their small wages, which barely sufficed to supply them with the simplest necessaries of life. Although there was no administration of law, the will of their employers, enforced by possession of their subsistence, was very nearly absolute over them, and the distinctions of mas- ter and servant were strongly marked. The houses of the wealthy, though constructed of logs, sometimes clapboarded, yet rude and nn- attractive in external appearance, were com- fortably, neatly and even elegantly furnished. Those of the poorer class were very inferior strnetures, often without floors, and with straw for a covering, while their furniture consisted of a few rude kitchen utensils, benches and other domestie requirements, equally meager. Such a state of affairs could only exist in a primitive community, far removed from the rest of the civilized world.

A sort of middle class eventually sprung up in the small farmers scattered about the prairie, who were somewhat less dependent upon the will and caprice of the aristocratie traders. They were enabled to live better than the voyageurs and employes of the latter, whose diet consisted chiefly of corn soup; but they were necessarily content with wooden carts, plows, and other implements, to which the team was attached by raw-hide thongs. Coffee mills were at first used for grinding. These were superseded by mills turned by hand power, the burrs being ent from native granite bowlders. Amid these conditions, apparently favorable to the development of lawlessness and violence, these people, surrounded by sav- age life, were remarkably characterized by docility, habitual hospitality, and a disposition

289

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

submissive to any authority assumed over them. Violent crimes were extremely rare, even when the village was the scene of drinking and carousing throngs. Upon their wintering grounds, the traders practiced many devices to overreach one another, which would generally be stigmatized as dishonorable; but on their return to the village, met and settled all diffi- culties over a glass of wine. Beyond these tricks of trade, they generally manifested a commendable spirit of honor, and when their word was pledged it might be safely relied on. Morality, indeed, as usually understood, was at a very low ebb, but this was largely due to necessary relations with the savages. They were destitute of schools or spiritual teachers. Their amusements were limited to rude dances, foot and horse racing, and other similar sports, copiously enlivened by the free use of intoxi- cating liquors. Yet instances are not wanting to show a delicate appreciation of the higher sentiments that adorn humanity. Upon on occasion, a mother whose dying babe had neve received the ordinance of baptism, there bein; no priest within reach, in her distress sent for : justice of the peace, and with swelling heart besought his ministration. With tearful eyes he read the baptismal service and christened the babe. The mother's gratitude touched his heart ever after with a feeling of awe whenever the event recurred to his memory.

CRAWFORD COUNTY IN 1805.

Maj. Pike who was on the "prairie" in 1805, as elsewhere explained, says:

"The present village of the Prairie des Chiens, was first settled in the year 1783, and the first white settlers were Mr. Giard, Mr. An- taya, and Mr. Dubuque .* The old village is about a mile below the present one, and has existed during the time the French were pos- sessed of the country. It derives its name from a family of Reynards who formerly lived there, distinguished by the appellation of Dogs. The

present village was settled under the English government, and the ground was purchased from the Reynard [Fox] Indians.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 41

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