History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 47

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 47
USA > Wisconsin > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 47

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).

The sheriff, in addition to his ordinary duties, was required to make out the assess- ment rolls, and then, upon warrant of the com- missioners, collect the taxes, by first demanding at the usual place of residence of each person, the sum assessed to him, within five days from the receipt of the warrant; and if, thereupon, payment was not made, the goods and chattels of the delinquent were forthwith distrained and

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

sold after five days' public notice. The com- missioners were not allowed any compensation for their services. All this will more fully ap- pear by seetions 2 to 5 inclusive, of the aet of the territory of Michigan, passed Sept. 10, 1819, now given, as follows:

An Act respecting the counties of Brown and Crawford:

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the governor and judges of the territory of Michigan: That the county courts for the counties of Brown and Crawford, shall be held on the second Monday of July in every year.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted : That the duties required by the act entitled "An Act to regulate the assessment and collection of ter- ritorial taxes," to be performed in the said coun- ties, by the supervisor of territorial taxes, shall be performed by the sheriff's of the said counties respectively, and the duties required by the said aet to be performed by the territorial treasurer, shall, within and for the said counties, be performed by the county commissioners of the said counties respectively, except so much as relates to the receipt of the taxes levied by the said aet, and the prosecution of delinquent sheriffs and coroners, which last mentioned duties shall be performed by the county treas- urers of the said counties respectively. And the taxes specified in the said act shall be collected agreeably to the provisions thereof, except as herein excepted, in the said counties, and the amount shall be paid into the treasury of the proper county, and expended, upon the order of the county commissioners, for any claims, which, by law, are payable at the county treas- ury.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted : That the commissioners of the said counties shall not receive any compensation for their services.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted : That the act passed the twenty-seventh day of Octo- ber, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, entitled "An Act respect- ing the counties of Brown and Crawford," be

and the same is hereby repealed: Provided, That all rights which have accrued under the said act shall remain valid.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted : That this act shall take effect and be in foree from and after the thirty-first day of December next.

The same being adopted from the laws of one of the original States, to-wit, the State of Ohio, as far as necessary and suitable to the eircum- stanees of the territory of Michigan.

Made, adopted and published at the city of Detroit, in the said territory, this 10th day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nineteen.

LEWIS CASS, Governor of the territory of Michigan. A. B. WOODWARD.

JOHN GRIFFIN,

one of the judges of the territory of Michigan.

The county officers, at first, kept no records in a permanent way of their doings. Memor- anda were made on shingles or bits of paper. The officers of the county continued to hold by appointment from the governor of the territory until 1825, after which, all except sheriffs, jus- tices, judges and their clerks, were chosen by the people. This was in pursuance of an act of Congress directing the Legislative Council of Michigan to provide for the manner of their election.

LOCATING THE COUNTY SEAT.

In his proclamation of October 26, 1818, forming and naming the county of Crawford, Gov. Cass also, it will be remembered, located the county seat "at the village of Prairie du Chien."

But this language was of doubtful mean- ing, as there were at that time two villages upon the prairie ; besides, no particular place was designated where the public buildings were to be erected. It became necessary, therefore, for the Legislative Council of the territory of Michigan to make plain what in the proelama- tion was of doubtful import, by passing an act

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

not only specifying particularly which of the two villages was to be the seat of justice, but to locate the precise spot where the public build- ings were to be erected ; so the following act was passed and approved July 24, 1824 :

An Act to establish the seat of justice with- in the counties of Brown and Crawford.

Whereas, Lewis Cass, governor in and over the territory of Michigan, did, by proclamation, bearing date the 26th day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, lay out all that tract of country to which the Indian title has been extinguished, and comprehended within certain boundaries therein defined, into two separate counties, to- wit : the counties of Brown and Crawford, and by one of the provisions of said proclamation, a majority of the judges of the county court of the county of Brown, were authorized and re- quired to establish the seat of justice of said county at any point within six miles of the mouth of Fox river in said county, and whereas, the said judges have neglected to comply with the requisitions contained in said proclamation, to the great and manifest inconvenience of the people of said county ; and whereas, also, by the said proclamation the seat of justice of the said county of Crawford was fixed at the vil- lage of Prairie du Chien, but no particular place within said village was designated where the public buildings should be erected, and it appearing doubtful by said proclamation which of the said villages upon said prairie were al- luded to in said proclamation ; therefore,

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, That the county commissioners in the county of Brown, or a majority of them, shall have power, and they are hereby required, on or before the first day of October next ensuing, to establish the seat of justice of said county of Brown, at any point they may deem expedient, within six miles of the mouth of Fox river.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the seat of justice of the county of Crawford shall

be, and the same hereby is established upon the farm lots situated at Prairie du Chien, numbered thirty-four and thirty-five upon the map or sketch of the claims to lands at said place, submitted to the commissioners in the year one thousand eight hundred aud twenty, and entered in the names of Pierre Lessard and Strange Poze, or upon whichever of the said lots, the three high mounds lying immediately below the village of St. Ferriole (so called), and above the lot claimed by Francis Lapoint, senior, may be found to be situated when the boundary lines of said lots are run by the surveyor, or may be otherwise ascer- tained; and the county commissioners are hereby required to erect the court-house upon the high- est or center mound of the said three mounds, and all the other public buildings of said county in the immediate vicinity thereof, whenever the person who is owner of said mounds and the lands adjacent shall execute to the commissioners of said county, for the time being, for the use of said county, a quit claim deed of a lot which shall include the said three mounds, bounded in front by a certain road, leading from the village of St. Ferriole to the old French trading fort (so called), and extending in the rear of said mounds thirteen rods.

The owner of the lot which included "the said three mounds", was James Duane Doty, who immediately proceeded to quit claim to the county commissioners his interest therein by the following deed:

" Whereas, by the second section of an act of the Legislative Council of the territory of Michi- gan, entitled 'An Act to establish the seats of jus- tice within the counties of Brown and Crawford,' approved by His Excellency, Lewis Cass, on the third day of July, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, it is provided 'that the seat of justice of the county of Crawford shall be, and the same hereby is established upon the farm lots situated at Praire du Chien, num- bered thirty-four and thirty-five, upon the map or sketch of the claims to lands at said place, submitted to the commissioners in the year one

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

thousand eight hundred and twenty, and ordered entered in the names of Pierre Lessard and Strange Poze, or upon whichever of the said three high mounds lying immediately be- low the village of St. Ferriolle, (so-called), and above the lot claimed by Francis LaPoint Sr., may be found to be situated when the boundary lines of said lots are run by the sur- veyor, or may be otherwise ascertained; and the county commissioners are hereby required to ereet the court house upon the highest, or cen- ter mound of the said three mounds, and all the other public buildings of said county in the im- mediate vicinity thereof, whenever the person who is owner of said mounds and the lands adja- cent, shall execute to the commissioners of said connty for the time being, for the use of said county, a quit claim deed of a lot which shall include the said three monnds, bounded in front by a certain road leading from the village of St. Ferriole to the old French trading fort (so called), and extending in the rear of said mounds 13 rods.

"And, whereas, the said Lessard and Strange Poze (or Powers), did, by deeds bearing date the twenty-third and twenty-fourth days of february, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, sell and convey the said town lots numbered thirty-four and thirty-five, in fec, to James Duane Doty;

"Now, therefore, be it kown, that I, the said James Duane Doty, being the owner of said mounds and lands adjacent thereto, (excepting and specially reserving such just claim as the United States may have as owners of the same), for and in consideration of the provisions con- tained in the act aforesaid, and for and in con-

sideration of the probable increase in value of lots aforesaid, from the erection of public buildings on the mounds before mentioned, and for divers other good and sufficient consid- erations, have bargained, sold and quit claimed, and by these presents do bargain, sell and quit claim unto the commissioners of said county of Crawford, for the time being, and to and for the use of the said county, all my right, title, interest, estate. claim and demand, both at law and in equity, and as well in possession as in expectancy, of, in and to a certain lot which shall include the said three mounds, bounded in front by a certain road leading from tlie village of St. Ferriole to the 'old French trading fort,' (so called), and extending in the rear of said mounds thirteen rods; according to the follow- ing plat or sketch of that part of the Prairie du Chien upon which the said mounds are situated; that is to say: [Here a map is inserted]. To- gether with all and singular the hereditaments and appurtenances thoreunto belonging.

"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal, this twenty-eighth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four. JAMES D. DOTY, [L. S.]

Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of us, Robert Irwin, Jr., A. J. Irwin.

COUNTY OF BROWN, SS:

"Be it remembered, that on this thirty-first day of August, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, came before the undersigned, Jus- tice, James Duane Doty, who acknowledged that he had executed the foregoing deed, for the purposes and uses therein expressed; all of which I do certify according to the statute.

ROBERT IRWIN, JR., Justice of the Peace."

IHISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

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CHAPTER XIV.

MILITARY OCCUPATION.

So much has been printed about a supposed "French Fort," as having once been in existence within the present limits of Crawford county that it would be thought strange should men- tion of it be wholly omitted in this connection. But the truth of history demands that we write it down.

THE "FRENCHI FORT"-A MYTII.

There was never on the "Prairie des Chiens" -never within what are now the boundaries of Crawford county-a French military post of any kind ;- never a stockade or fortification built by the French, or while France held do- minion over this region, at what is now Prairie du Chien; nor were French soldiers ever sta- tioned here; no official French document has ever been discovered giving any account of a fort here, no traveler visiting the "prairie" during Freneh domination in the northwest (and there were a number of them) mentions any fortification; no one has placed on record that he has been told that such was the fact by one who had seen anything like a French mili- tary post here. How then does it come to pass that writers are so emphatic in asserting that there was once a French fort on the "prairie?"

A Wisconsin historical writer of marked ability says:

"The exact time at which a military post was established at Prairie du Chien, has been the subject of much speculation, some putting it as late as 1775, while it is stated in a report of a committee of Congress, to have occurred in 1755, which was the year following the recon- ciliation of the French and Sacs and Foxes.

The latter date may be the correct one, as the French surrendered Canada to the English in 1760; but it is very evident that there must have been a post at a much earlier date, at or near the prairie. The evidence of this early occupation is found in the official documents of the taking possession of the Mississippi valley in the name of the French King, by 'Nicholas Perrot, commanding at the post of the Naudone- sioux' at the post of St. Anthony, May 8, 1689, to which documents, among the names of wit- nesses, was 'Mons De Borie-Guillot, command- ing the French in the neighborhood of Ouis- konehe, [Wisconsin] on the Mississippi.' No more suitable place could have been selected for a military post than Prairie du Chien, and from all the information thus far obtained, its location must be conceded as an established fact. Judge Geo. Gale, in his work on the Up- per Mississippi; says, 'We may safely infer that the country about Prairie du Chien was oc- eupied as a French post at least as early as April 20,1689, and possibly the previous fall.'"

It is now well known that the French were, in 1689, "on the Mississippi," it is equally well known that their post was many miles above what is now the city of Prairie du Chien. They were there commanded by Mons. De Borie- Guillot. It is stated to have been "in the neighborhood" of the Wisconsin river. Any one acquainted with early French documents knows that "in the neighborhood" are words in them of extremely doubtful import as to dis- tance; places hundreds of miles away being put down frequently as being "in the neighbor-

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

hood." The writer cited also says that "it is stated in a report of a committee of Congress [that the building of the French Fort] occurred in 1775." What is here referred to is not "the report of a committee of Congress," but of one to Congress, in 1821, "concerning the land titles at Prairie des Chiens," given in full in this history in the chapter on private land claims. What that report says is this : ‘It is believed that not many years after its first dis- covery [i. e. the first discovery of the Upper Mississippi] in 1673, by the French, a perma- nent establishment was made by them at the Prairie des Chiens. Vestiges of an old and a strong French Fort are still discernable there, although it is stated to have been destroyed so early as in the first years of the Revolutionary War." It will be noticed that the year 1775 is not mentioned by the commissioners. An ex- planation of the "vestiges of an old and a strong French Fort" will hereafter be given.

The writer previously cited, having, "as a base of operations," the report from which the extract just given is taken, goes on to say:

"In the year 1755 the government of France established a permanent military post near the mouth of the Wisconsin, in consequence of which a number of French families settled in that vicinity, and established the village of Prairie du Chien. The fort near the Wisconsin, established in 1689, had evidently been aban- doned sometime previous. By the treaty of Versailles in 1763, the village and fort followed the condition of the Canadas, and the Illinois country, as it was called, passed to the Crown of England. In 1783 the events of the Ameri- can Revolution again changed their condition, and June Ist, 1796, the village and fort form- ally surrendered to the United States."

Now, this reads like veritable history; but we have already seen that it has no foundation in fact. But, before discussing further the matter at issne it is necessary to introduce the journals of two travelers both of the name of Long. The first is that of Capt. J. Long:

"In the month of June, 1780, news was brought [to Mackinaw] from the Mississippi, that the Indian traders had deposited their furs at La Prairie des Chiens, or Dogs' Field, (where there is a town of considerable note, built after the Indian manner) under the care of Mons. Longlad [Langlade], the king's inter- preter ; and that the Americans were in great force at the Illinois, a town inhabited by differ- ent Nations, at the back of the Kentucky State, under the Spanish government, who have a fort on the opposite shore commanded by an officer and about twelve men, to prevent illicit trade.

"The commanding officer at Miehillimackinac [Mackinaw], asked me to accompany a party of Indians and Canadians to the Mississippi, which I consented to with the utmost cheerfulness. We left the post with thirty-six southern In- dians, of the Attiganmies [Fox Indians] and Sioux Nations, and twenty Canadians, in nine large birch eanoes, laden with Indian presents. After a march of three days I was taken ill, which I attributed to hard living in the Nipe- gon country; considering, however, the urgency of the business, and that there was not any one of the party capable of acting as interpreter, I struggled with my indisposition; apprehending, also, that if I could not pursue the journey, I should be exposed to great inconveniences; and therefore I increased my endeavours, deter- mined to risk my life at all hazards.

"The fourth day we encamped at Lae les Puans [Winnebago Lake], so ealled, I appre- hend, from the Indians who reside on the banks being naturally filthy ; here we got plenty of deer and bears, Indian corn, melons and other fruit. The southern Indians have more vil- lages, and are better eivilized than the northern, the climate being warm, and nature more pro- lific, which enables them to raise the fruits of the earth without much labor. Their houses are covered with birch bark, and decorated with bows and arrows, and weapons of war. Their beds are bark and matts made of rushes.

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IHISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

"We pursued our voyage to Onisconsin [Wis- consin], a fine river, with a strong current for about sixty leagues, which our canoes ran down in a day and a half; and upon which we saw an immense quantity of ducks, geese and other fowl. On this river we were obliged to unload onr canoes, in order to transport our goods across the portage, about two miles in length. We encamped on the banks, and intended set- ting off at break of day, but one of the Indians was bitten by a rattlesnake, which Mr. Adair calls the bright inhabitant of the woods, and which had fourteen rattles.

"Mr. Beatty relates that as he was preaching to the Indians and others, at a small house near Juniata river, a rattlesnake crept into the room but was happily discovered and killed; and be- fore the people could well recover themselves, a snake of another kind was discovered among the assembly, which was also killed without any other detriment than disturbing the con- gregation, which surprised him very much, as it was a matter of astonishment how these rep- tiles could crawl into the house without being offended by some one, and which always excites them to bite.

"The Indians say that when a woman is in labor, holding the tail of a rattlesnake in her hand, and shaking the rattles, assists her delivery. It is always observable that the In- dians take out the bag which contains the poi- son of this venomous reptile, and carry it alive in their medicine box when they go to war.

"This unfortunate accident retarded our jour- ney till the unhappy sufferer relieved himself by eutting out the wounded part from the calf of his leg, and applying salt and gunpowder, and binding it up with the leaves of the red willow tree ; he was soon able to proceed, bear- ing the pain with that fortitude for which the savages are so eminently distinguished.

"At the close of the next day we eneamped near the river, and it rained very hard ; the Indians made some bark huts. One of them walking some distance in the woods, discovered

a small log house, in which he found a white man, with his arms ent off, lying on his back. We conjectured he had been settled at the spot, and killed by a bad Indian, which must have happened very recently, as he was not putrid. Before our departure we buried him.

"The next day we arrived at the forks of the Mississippi, where were 200 Indians of the Nation of the Renards or Foxes, on horseback, armed with spears, bows and arrows. They did not seem pleased with our appearance, which Warbisbar, the chief of our band, told me. Just before we landed they dismounted, and surveyed us. The Sioux asked me if I was afraid. I told them I had seen a greater number of savages before, and more wild than any of the southern Indians. Warbisbar gave orders to strike ashore. As soon as we landed, the Renards took our Indians by the hand, and invited them into their camp. In the space of an hour they prepared a feast, which consisted of five Indian dogs, bear, beaver, deer, moun- tain cat, and raccoon, boiled in bear's grease, and mixed with huckleberries. After the re- past, the Indians danced and sung. A council was then held, when the chief of the Renards addressed Warbisbar to this effect : 'Brothers, we are happy to see you ; we have no bad heart against you ; although we are not the same Na- tion by language, our hearts are the same ; we are all Indians, and are happy to hear our great Father has pity on us, and sends us wherewithal to cover us, and enable us to hunt.'

"To which Warbisbar made answer : 'It is true, my children, our great Father has sent me this way to take the skins and furs that are in the Dog's Field, under Capt. Longlad's charge, least the Great Knives, (meaning the Ameri- icans) should plunder them. I am come with the white man (meaning me) to give you where- withal to cover yon, and ammunition to hunt.' "When the speech was finished, we imme- diately distributed the presents, got our canoes into the water, and left the Renards in the most friendly manner. After seven days' journey

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

we arrived at La Prairie des Chiens, where we found the merchants' peltry, in packs, in a log house, guarded by Capt. Longlad [Langlade], and some Indians, who were rejoiced to see us. After resting sometime, we took about 300 packs of the best skins, and filled the canoes. Sixty more which remained, were burned, to prevent the enemy from taking them, having ourselves no room to stow any more, and pro- ceed on our journey back to Michillimackinac. About five days after our departure, we were informed that the Americans came to attack us, but to their extreme mortification we were out of their reach. Seventeen days after leaving La Prairie des Chiens, we arrived at Lac les Puans, where we found a party of Indians en- camped. The next day we embarked, and ar- rived at Michillimackinac, after an absence of eighty days. Soon after my return, I waited on the commanding officer, expecting payment for my services, but was referred for satisfae- tion to the Indian traders, from whom I never received any compensation."

It may be here remarked that the current tra- dition among the French Canadian inhabitants at Prairie des Chiens, as to a French fort hav- ing once been in existence on the "prairie" was supplemented with another tradition that it was burned in the second year of the Revolu- tionary War. Now this "second year," to the inhabitants, was the year 1780 ; that is, to the French and Canadians, but more especially to the Indians of the upper lakes; for, not until 1779, had the contest between the mother coun- try and the colonies made much if any im- pression, either at Mackinaw or Green Bay. The reader should here bear in mind that it was in 1780 that the sixty packs of furs were burned, and doutbless the log house with them ; as the Americans were hourly expected from below, and did actually arrive in five days from that time, to attack the place.

The other journal of which mention has been made, is that of Maj. S. H. Long, who, in 1817 made a tour to the portage of the Fox

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History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 47

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