History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 49

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 49
USA > Wisconsin > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 49

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).

"In Fort Crawford it was, so it is said, that he surreptitiously wooed and won the fair Noxie Taylor, and the consequent ill-will of pater familas, Old Zack! This has passed into his- tory; and the window through which she escaped, and the rope by which she descended to the arms of her lover, would be shown as cvi- dence of the truthfulness of the romance, had the house been left standing and the rope pre- served; but unfortunately for posterity, they are numbered among the things that were, and inasmuch as she was but twelve and he twenty when he was stationed here, and they did not marry for over four years after this, and then in Louisiana,, the faithful chronologist is forced to write, upon the authority of one who learned his first words in english from Jeff., that the whole story, or rather all the stories of the elopement are of the purest fiction."

A correspondent of The Teller, in 1883, writ- ing from Mississippi, reports an interview with Mr. and Mrs. Jeff. Davis, from which we clip

*John Mackenzie was a native of North Carolina, gradu- ated at West Point, and entered the army in 1819 as second lieutenant; promoted to first lieutenant, November, 1822, and killed as stated in the text, Sept. 26, 1828.

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

the following regarding his reputed elopement with Gen. Taylor's daughter:

"When he mentioned the Gazette, I felt that my time had come, and that it was now, or never about that elopement from Prairie du Chien. You see it was only a year or so ago that 'Johannes Factotum,' (who is no other than Geo. W. Perrigo, the genial editor of the Gazette) wrote for the Globe-Democrat of St. Lonis, a long yarn about that elopement-a yarn which the amiable Johannes contradicted the very next week and which elicted from Mr. Davis a private letter to a friend in relation to the matter in hand. Parts of this letter have been published, and the part that concerns us at present is here inserted, being an authoritive answer to my question. 'Did you or did you not, Mr. Othello Davis, steal away that old man's daughter at the barracks at Fort du Chien and marry her against the consent and wishes of her friends and kindred?'

"Mr. Davis doth 'a round, unvarnished take deliver' about the whole business and here we have it: "The story of my clopement with Gen. Taylor's daughter is as unfounded as il.( rest. I was one of the two officers selected from the First Infantry for promotion in the new regiment of dragoons, organized in March, 1833, which separated us from Col. Taylor's regiment. In 1835 I went to Kentucky, where Miss Taylor was with her father's sister, near Louisville, and there married her in the presence of Gen. Taylor's brother, sister, his son- in-law and daughter (Dr. and Mrs. Wood), with many other members of the family. I served under Taylor in the siege of Monterey and was one of the commissioners to arrange for its capitulation. Every incident in the letter of 'Johannes Factotum' is totally desti- inte of the least foundation in truth. That letter placed me at Prairie du Chien in 1834, when I was serving in t'e First Dragoons, ['. S. A., of Arkansas.'

"It seems a pity to have that nice little elopement story torn into threads and patches

in this cold-blooded, unromantic day, but the truth about these things we must have, no mat- ter what the cost of ink and paper and in wear and tear of tender sensibilities."

A soldier named Barrette was killed in 1831, by J. P. HIall, an officer, who struck the man on his head with a pitch-fork handle, and broke his skull. Hall was acquitted.

JOIIN 11. FONDA'S NARRATIVE. *

In the year 1829, Col. Zack Taylor arrived and took command of old Fort Crawford. Col. Taylor was a brave man and a good officer. It was about this time that large bodies of recruits were coming on, would stop here a few days, and then continue up or down the river, as they might be ordered. The army regulations then admitted of enlisting for a term of three or five years. Taking advantage of this, I enlisted in April; of 1829, for a term of three years, pre- vious to the rescinding of the article permitting that term of enlistment. Under the command of Taylor I was a corporal, and attained the rank of quarter-master's sergeant. Having a natu- ral turn for such things, I had acquired a good knowledge of military tactics, and being then free from the prevailing habit of drinking liq- nor, an evil common to the soldier, 1, perhaps, (if the truth is known,) stood high in the esti- mation of my superior officers. I said that Taylor was a brave officer, and now repeat it, asserting that he was ignorant of fear. On one occasion when all the soldiers were mustered for "dress parade," Taylor came sauntering in from the quarters, and running his eye along the front rank, observed a large stout German re- eruit out of line. The German was a raw re- cruit, anxious to do his duty, but did not under- stand the English language. So when the order was given to "dress," the soldier remained as before. Col. Taylor remarked this, and think- ing it an act of wilful neglect on the soldier's part, walked up to him and after one or two trials, got hold of his ears, and shook the fel- low severely. This treatment was called "wor-

Written in 1858.

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ling," a favorite mode of punishment with Tay- lor, but the German not knowing how to appre- ciate it, nor why it was inflicted upon him, had no sooner got his head free than drawing back, he struck Taylor a blow that felled him to the ground like a log. This was mutiny, and the officers and guards would have cut him down, if Taylor had not rose up and said, "let that man alone, he will make a good soldier," and the German was allowed to go back to his place and never got punished for his insubordination. After he could speak onr language, I found him an intelligent man, and an agreeable companion. He afterwards became one of the most faithful soldiers in the garrison, was promoted, and served in the Black Hawk War of 1832.

A depredation had been committed by the Fox and Sauk Indians on the whites at the mines. A number of horses were stolen, and word was received at the fort that assistance from the troops was necessary to recover them. Lient, Gardenier was immediately put in command of a body of soldiers, and sent down the river to Dubuque, where the Indians were said to be encamped. I accompanied Lieut. Gardenier* as pilot of the line. We arrived at the month of the slongh, after dark one night, and encamped. It rained hard all night, and next day, and though the bluffs where Dubuque is buried, and all the country was thoroughly searched, yet no Indians were discovered, and we got neither horses nor glory on that occa- sion, but I got a better knowledge of the min- eral region than I had previous to this expedi- tion. At Dubuque, the country was rough, wild and wooded, with few indications of civ- ilization; and across the Mississippi at Galena, the face of the country was rugged and rocky, but the discovery of mineral had caused an ex- citement that brought emigrants there in swarms, who, on their arrival would go pros-

peeting, frequently making fortunes, but oftener failing to make anything.

It was during Taylor's command, in the year 1829, that the present Fort Crawford was com- menced. It was known that I came down the Wisconsin river, and therefore Taylor chose me to pilot the men up along that river to a given point, where they were to cut timber for building the fort. I guided them as far as where Helena now is. We found such timber as was needed, and the men commenced cutting down the trees, and preparing the logs to raft down stream. I returned to the fort, having performed the duty allotted me, to the satisfac- tion of the commandant. This apparently raised me in favor, for I was appointed to do much outside duty, and frequently had a file of men under me. Many a time was I sent out on special duty, which none would have been en- trusted with but such as could command the implicit confidence of Old Zack himself. In an early stage of the fort's erection, Col. Tay- lor sent for me, to know where would be the best place to burn lime I told him that the stone along the bluff, to the eastward was of a sandy formation, but I was sufficiently acquaint- ed with the west side of the river, to know that plenty of good limestone existed there. He then gave me directions to take a file of men, and go over and find a convenient spot to make a kiln. It was an easy matter to have told of several with certainty, but it was always my motto to " obey orders, if you break owners," so, following his directions, I took two men and started across the Mississippi in a piroque. This species of water-craft was a dug-out made from the trunk of a mammoth pine. In the center of this large canoe was rigged a mast, with a large square sail. There was no wind, so we had to propel it with paddles. On reaching the west side, below where the town of McGregor now is, we turned the dug-out down stream, and running along the bluff until we reached the coulee where old Jack Frost then lived, and there landed. Near this coulee,

John R. B. Gardenier, a native of New York, entered West Point as a cadet in 1823; was appointed brevet Sec- ond Lieut. July 1, 1828. First Lieut., 1836; assistant Com. Subsistence and Captain, 1839; and died at Dardanelle Springs, Ark., June 24, 1850,

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(at the present day known as Limestone Cou- lee,) we soon found suitable stone in abund- ance. There was no difficulty in doing this, for a better quality of stone or more of it, can- not be found, even at this day, than is in the bluffs south of McGregor. The place picked out, we had nothing more to do but return to the fort.

while I sat in the stern to steer. We waited for the storm to burst upon us.

Drops of rain commenced falling, the river became ruffled, the thinnder sounded nearer, at last the storm burst with terrific fury. This was our time; putting out from the shelter of the bluff, the wind struck us, and away went the piroque, plowing through the waves, dash- ing the spray from its bows, and leaving a foam- ing wake astern. With the wind blowing a per- fect hurricane, and with the thunder, lightning, rain and water on a general tear, Dunbar and I were in our element. But how was it with Baird? Poor fellow! he sat in the canoe, pray- ing us to take down the sail (the piroque would have instantly filled had we done so), but see- ing we did not answer bis prayers, and think- ing he was certainly to be drowned, he appealed to Heaven. One exclamation of his was, "Oh, Lord, if I must die let the gallows claim its own!" We laughed at his fear as he continued to curse, pray, blaspheme, and finally to threaten us, when Dunbar told him to stop his noise. This made him cower down, but when the canoe struck the government landing he was standing in the bow, and the sudden jerk pitched him headlong, a distance of twenty feet out on shore. He recovered himself, and taking to his heels, ran to the fort, never once halting until he was safe in his quarters. I made my report to quarter-master Garland, and was after- wards sent back with a body of men to make lime; but poor Baird did not go with us, for he could never be induced to go boating on the Mississippi again.

The men who were with me were both stone- masons. One was known by the name of Dun- bar, a lively, fearless fellow, ready for any mis- chief ; the other, as Baird, a timid person, who was afraid of Indians, of dying, drowning-in fact anything that had any affinity to danger. It was a warm, sultry day, and we continued to loiter in the cool shade, 'neath the bluffs, con- versing, lolling on the grass, occasionally jerk- ing a piece of rock out on the mirror-like sur- face of the Mississippi (that being the way we worked for the government) until about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. I had prophesied a storm that day, on account of the calm ; but my predictions sometimes failed, and no atten- tion was paid to my remark, until we heard a , deep, distant rumble, and Baird jumped up and said, "what's that?" I knew that it was the coming storm, for lying on the ground, I heard the thunder distinctly, and looking up, 1 saw tlie fleecy clouds borne on the wind over the bluffs; but winking at Dunbar, he suggested the howling of wolves. This was very proba- ble, for wolves were more common than they are now, and the wildness of the place gave weight to the idea; but to increase his fright, I attempted to account for the growing darkness It was in the fall of 1829, while the present Fort Crawford was building, that Col. Z. Tay- lor ordered a body of men to proceed to the pineries on Menomonee river, there to cut logs, hew square timbers, make plank and shingles to be used in the construction of the fort and its defences. The number of soldiers drafted for the purpose was seventy, besides three officers and myself. Col. Taylor himself came to me as and roaring thunder on some volcanic principle. A new terror seized him, and casting a hasty glance up at the wild, rugged, precipitous bluffs, he implored us to hasten back, and made off in double quick time. It was now time to think of returning, and going down to the piroque, found Baird crouched in the bottom, shivering with fear. We told him to get in the bow, and trimming the sail, Dunbar took charge of it, I he had done before, and did afterward, and said

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he wanted me to pilot that expedition. It was late in the season, and I did not like to bear the responsibility, and told him so; but Taylor had more confidence in me than I had in my- self, and nothing would do but I must go. We left here in seven Mackinaw boats, with ten men in each boat. The officers accompanying the expedition were Lieut. Gale,* Lieut Garde- hier, Sergt. Melvin, and myself as pilot. Lieut. Gale was the senior officer, and had the com- mand. I was put in command of the advance boat, Gale in the third boat, Melvin in the fifth, and Gardenier in the rear boat, with orders to keep the boats well up, and see that they reached shore together at night.

The weather was fine for that season of the year; cold nights and clear, frosty mornings. The boats made good headway against the eur- rent, kept together admirably, and the men felt vigorous under the influence of the pure, brae- ing atmosphere. Officers and men were in good spirits, and we passed along swimmingly until we reached Wabashaw's Prairie. As we en- tered Lake Pepin floating ice was encountered, the current was swifter, and the cold intense. Now, instead of the men being in good spirits, good spirits got into the men, and from that moment we had trouble. Lient. Gale would get ashore with his gun and a couple of men, to kill some of the geese and ducks for our mess, and always left orders for the boats to keep to- gether. One afternoon, when we had entered the Chippewa river, Gale landed on the north- west shore to shoot brant geese, that were very plenty, leaving Lieut. Gardenier in command, with strict orders to keep all the boats together, and at night to land them in a body, so the men might form one camp. This was necessary for the sake of convenience, and because it kept the men from getting separated, in case the river should close suddenly.

After Gale went ashore, I took his boat, which was the flag-boat of the expedition, and ap-

pointed one of the men to take temporary com- mand of mine, continued up the river. Chippe- wariver is a very crooked stream, and the chan- nel is worse. Often only one or two of the boats would be in sight, on account of the bends and abrupt turns in the river. At sun-down we had arrived to within fifteen miles of the mouth of the Menomonee river, and only three boats in company. I decided to encamp, and wait for the other four boats.

Selecting a place on the southeast side of the river, the men prepared to camp, and I sent a skiff to the opposite shore to bring over Lieut. Gale and one soldier named Earl, who had come down stream opposite to the camp. Gale saw the other boats were missing, and sent me down in the skiff to find them and hurry them up. Some distance below, I met Melvin with two of the boats. He said Gardenier had run aground on the sandbar that I had carefully warned him (Melvin) to look out for. I had guessed as much, for Gardenier was far behind when the other boats were warned. The channel near the bar, ran across the river at right angles with the course of the stream! Lieut. Gardenier was not aware of this, and when his boats struck the bar the men tried to force them over into the deep water of the chan- nel just above, but this made matters worse, for the boats were heavily laden with stores, and the quicksand closing around them, soon made it impossible to move back or forwards. Be- tween the boats and the shore on either side, the swift, icy water was too deep to wade, and the only alternative was to remain where they were until the other boats took them off. So when I got down to the bar, there they were tight enough-in more respects than one It was very cold, and to keep their blood in circu- lation, they had tapped two of the whisky casks, and were circulating the liquor -every soldier was allowed a certain amount of whisky per diem, at that time called "whisky rations"- this article of the soldier's rations was abolished

* Levin Gale, a native of Maryland, entered West Point as a cadet in 1823; brevet Second Lieutenant July 1, 1827; and died at Dixon' Ferry, Ill., Sept. 1, 183:2.

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during Jackson's administration, and coffee and sugar substituted.

On arriving alongside of the boats, I saw it was useless to think of getting them off that night, so telling all who could to tumble into the skiff, I pulled for the shore, and after three or four trips, had all the men together with their blankets and provisions, safely landed in the Chippewa bottoms. After the fires were made, I got into the skiff and rowed back to the main eamp, where Melvin had arrived before me. I reported to Lieut. Gale, and sitting down re- galed myself on roasted goose. Next morning we went to Lieut. Gardenier's to inquire into the matter of running the boats aground. A council was held, and resulted in Lieut. Gar- denier's being sent back. There was an effort to attach the blame on me, but it fell through. The day following was spent in unloading the boats, and fruitless attempts to get them off the sand bar. On the third night the Chippewa river closed, and while the ice was getting stronger, we made sleds to draw the stores on the ice fifteen miles up to the point on the Menomonee river, where we were to cut timber. By the time the sleds were made, the ice on the river was strong enough to bear a team, and the sleds were loaded with casks of whisky, blankets and provisions, and we drew them up to the proper place on the Menomonee river, where Gale remained with two men to watch the stores, while I returned with the men and sleds for another lot.

It seems that soon after I left, Gale discov- ered a war party of Chippewas on the path, looking for Sioux, and, having a natural fear of Indians, he made off through the wooded bot- toms at the top of his speed. The chief of the party sent a couple of his swiftest runners to bring Gale back, but they could not overtake him. The warriors had no idea of disturbing anything, but seeing the liquor and goods lying around withont a guard, they were tempted to help themselves, and took some of the goods and filled everything they had that was capable

of holding whisky, and then departed. It is seldom war parties are out after snow has fallen; I have only noticed it among the Sioux and Chippewas, who were always warring against each other. I arrived the second day with more goods, and learned from the two men that Lieut. Gale had been gone almost sixty hours from camp. I sent men in the direction he had taken, and discharged guns every moment, and stationed a look-out on the high ground that commanded an extensive view of the Chippewa flats. The day passed without our finding the Lieutenant. On the third day, the oldest chief of the war party paid us an- other visit, returning all the things they had taken except the whisky, which they promised to pay for with venison.

While the party were in the camp, the look- out reported that he could see some object mov- ing on the marsh, about three miles distant. Two soldiers were sent out who succeeded in creeping on Lieut. Gale, and catching him be- fore he could get away. He had been wander- ing three days and three nights, and exposure had deranged his mind, and he did not recog- nize his friends. He was brought in, and, on examination, I found his feet and legs were frozen up to the knees. A hole was cut in the ice, and the Lieutenant's limbs thrust through. After the frost was out of the frozen parts, they were greased with melted deer-fat, and wrap- ped up in blankets. In a few hours Gale had come to his senses, especially that of feeling, and ordered us to carry him down to Prairie du Chien. We made him as comfortable as possi- ble on a sled, and with three men started to draw him to the Prairie, leaving sergt. Melvin, who was my senior, and ranked me, in command of the men. Lieut. Gale endured great pain, for every motion was torture, but when we came within sight of the Indian lodges on Wa- bashaw Prairie, he forgot his pain and wanted us to avoid meeting the Indians. This would have been a difficult thing to accomplish, so we marched into the village, and Wa-ba-shaw

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

came out of his wigwam to welcome us. Upon learning the condition that Gale was in, the chief had him carried into his lodge and treated after the Indian manner with a concoc- tion of white oak bark and poultice of roots. To these remedies Gale owed his perfect re- covery, if not his life. We left Wabashaw Prairie and arrived safe at Prairie du Chien, and the Lieutenant was placed under the care of Dr. Beaumont .* I was immediately ordered up the river again with the three men, and had to drive two yoke of oxen back. When we ar- rived at the camp on Menomonee river, the men had a log cabin almost finished, and were draw- ing the goods into it.

We had only been there a short time, when one of the men who was drawing a sled, slip- ped down and broke his lower jaw. Sergt. Melvin was a severe disciplinarian and be- lieved in flogging a soldier for an accident. 1Ie ordered the man to strip and prepare to receive a few lashes. It was brutal to scourge a man who was already suffering with pain, so I told the man to keep his coat on. The sergeant glared at me, but perhaps he discovered some- thing in the expression of the men's faces, for be kept silent, and the man was put on the sick list. The men were divided into three gangs, two of thirty men each, one gang commanded by Melvin, another by me ; and the third gang of ten men, remained in camp. It was my first duty to build a large flat-boat, and having selected a piece of timber suitable for the gun- wales, we erected scaffolds and prepared pulley's and ropes to raise the log upon them.

This preparation attracted the attention of Melvin, and he supposed the men were about to hang him. Fear had previously caused him to have built a small block-house in which he had placed all the arms and ammunition, and where he now unnecessarily shut himself up. Ile gave

me orders through a loop hole, but would never come out to see if they were faithfully executed.

The work progressed steadily until the river opened. Trees had been felled, timber hewn, stuff for the flat-boat got out, and we had di- vided the log with whip-saws, and the parts were being hewed into proper shape for gun- wales, when one of the men laid his thigh open to the bone with a broad-ax. It was necessary that the man should have medical aid, so Mel- vin made out his report of the work done, also a charge against me for creating mutiny, and appointed me to carry the documents and two wounded men-the man who broke his jaw was unfit for duty-in a dug-out down to headquar- ters. I paddled down the river without acci- dent, and entered the slough north of the fort, one evening after dusk, and was sur- prised to hear the bugles playing the "Dead March." I had the men put in the hospital as soon as I landed, and then repaired to Maj. Garland's office, when I found Taylor and his officers, holding a council. They were deliber- ating on the removal of Lieut. Mckenzie's body from the old burying ground near the monnd, where Col. Donsman's dwelling stands, to the officers grave-yard north of the new fort. It was to be done with the honors of war, and the mu- sicians were practicing for the occasion, which accounts for the music I heard. I delivered the papers to quarter-master Garland, and after pe- rusing them in silence, he began to read Mel- vin's charge against me in his droll tone, that convulsed all present with laughter. Garland asked me if we intended to hang the sergeant. I told him we hadn't thought of such a thing, and then gave a straight forward account of all that had transpired from the departure of the seven boats, up to my leaving the camp on the Menomonee in the dug-out. I was not court- martialed.

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History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 49

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