History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 79

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 79
USA > Wisconsin > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 79

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NAME. ACCOUNT. AMOUNT.

Joseph Rolette. .do. $8 00

Jean Brunet. do. 8 00

Joseph M. Street do. 8 00

Joseph Brisbois do. 5 50

James B. Dallam. do. 2 00

American Fur Company. .. do 7 00

Then the court adjourned until Saturday, the 3d of April next. Prairie du Chien, March 29, 1830.

TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN, LES. COUNTY OF CRAWFORD.

Term of May, 1830. At a session of the su- pervisors of the township of St. Anthony and county of Crawford, on Monday, the 10th day of May, present: Jean Brunet, Joseph M. Street and Joseph Rolette, supervisors of the township and county aforesaid, it was the opinion of the supervisors that they settle with J. C. Hayes, by receiving from him all monies he has re- ceived, or the county treasurer's receipt for what he has received and paid over and the tax list with what he has not collected. In the case of county tax and the sheriff [J. C. Hayes] not having his account ready, they postponed to Wednesday, the 12th instant.

At a court of the supervisors held according to the adjournment, on Monday, the 20th day of Dec. 1830, present: the Hon. Jean Brunet and Joseph Rolette, supervisors of the township of St. Anthony and county of Crawford and Terri- tory of Michigan.

Resolved, That $20 be allowed Joseph Bris- bois for removing the county jail from its pres- ent situation and placing the timber on the mound of the court house on or before the 10th day of Feb. 1831, according to previous notices.

WHEREAS, The supervisors of the county of Crawford, in the Territory of Michigan, did at a former meeting agree to convey to the United States the lots of land heretofore deeded to them by J. D. Doty, on which to erect the new buildings of Fort Crawford, on condition that when said new fort should be ready to accommodate the troops, the land and part of the building of the old Fort Crawford should be given to the said county as a court house, jail and other public uses; and the officer now in command at Fort Crawford having written to the secretary of the department of war, requesting that the said lot of land where- on the old fort stands, with a part of the buil !- ings, be conveyed to said county, or that he be ordered to surrender them to them; We, the un- dersigned, supervisors of the said county, now in session, pray that the Congress of the United States would pass such law or laws as may be necessary to authorize the conveyance of the said land and buildings of the old Fort Cra - ford to the supervisors of said county and their successors in office for the use and benefits of the said county, on which to erect a court house, jail and for such other publie use as they may deem for the benefit of the county.

Done in open court, Jan. 10, 1831. JOSEPH M. STREET, JOSEPH ROLETTE, Supervisors.

JEAN BRUNET.

Attest:

J. BRISBOIS, Town Clerk.

SUPERVISOR'S COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF CRAWFORD, PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, MARCHI 14, 1831.

COL. WILLIAM MORGAN: Commanding at Fort Crawford:

SIR: The people of the county of Crawford not having erected buildings for the transaction

550

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

of public business, we would be greatly obliged to you to permit the people of the county of Crawford and their public functioners to have the use of the block house, in the southeast corner of the old Fort Crawford, as a clerk's office, court house, etc., for the transaction of their public business. Should you concede the privilege, be so obliging as to direct the key of the building to be given to Mr. Joseph Bris- bois, the clerk of the county.

Respectfully,

JOSEPH M. STREET, JEAN BRUNET,

Supervisors for the county of Crawford, Mich- igan Territory.

NEW SUPERVISORS APPOINTED.

In 1832 J. II. Lockwood took the place of Joseph Rolette upon the board of supervisors, in the early part of the year, but was superceded in the fall by Thomas P. Burnett, so that the members at that time were: Joseph M. Street, Jean Brunet and Thomas P. Burnett. However, in June, 1833, J. Brisbois, Joseph Rolette and Jean Brunet constituted the board; and B. W. Brisbois was township clerk. In 1834 H L. Dousman and Thomas P. Street took the places of J. Brisbois and Joseph Rolette. In 1835 the members were: Thomas P. Street, II. L. Dousman and J. H. Lockwood. They continued in office until March, 1836, when Samuel Gil- bert took the place of H. L. Dousman; so that when the territory of Wisconsin was formed and Crawford county was no longer a part of Michigan Territory, the members of the board of supervisors for the county, and for the town- ship of St. Anthony, were: Thomas P. Street, Samuel Gilbert and J. Il. Lockwood, with J. Brisbois clerk.

The last meeting "of the supervisors of the township of St. Anthony and the county of Crawford" before the township and county be- came a part of Wisconsin Territory, was held March 31, 1836. It was during this term that the supervisors sent the following:

A PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

To His Excellency, the President of the United States:

The supervisors of the county of Crawford in the Territory of Michigan, acting for and on behalf of the people of said county and at their request, would most respectfully submit to your excellency the following representation and pe- tition:

The county of Crawford as it is now defined, includes only the country lying between the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers, to which the Indian title has been extinguished and extends only to the reservation at and around the ancient settlement at Prairie du Chien. Owing to the indefinite language of the different Indian treaties relative to the settlement, it is left in doubt and uncertainty as to what extent of country, precisely, the Indian title has been extinguished and what are the proper limits of the county.

The settlements at Prairie du Chien were originally made by French traders while the country belonged to the government of France as a dependency of Canada .* The ownership of the soil was then in the Fox Indians who were found in its occupancy and possession. A dis- triet of country was purchased hy those traders from the Indians, according to the custom of making such purchases under that government for the purpose of making a settlement. The period at which this was done is so remote that it is perhaps impossible to ascertain certainly the extent of the purchase that was thus made;t but it is understood at this day by the traders and the Indians and the oldest citizens of the place that it includes all the lands lying between the Kickapoo, Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers and about fifteen or twenty miles north from

* We have shown, in another chapter, the incorrectness of this statement. The settlement was made, originally, in 1781, when the country belonged to Great Britain .- ED.

+ It is now a well-established fact that it included only the prairie extending from the month of the Wisconsin, some eight miles up the Mississippi, and back to the bluffs, on which the city of Prairie du Chien is now located. - ED.

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

the mouth of the Wisconsin. After the Cana- das and all their dependencies passed from the possession of the French to that of the British government, the purchase was renewed by the agent for this part of the country of the Brit- ish Indian department, who paid the Indians, on account of his government, a large amount of goods for the relinquishment of their title. This took place about the year 1785 and is recollected by some of the old settlers of this place who were here at the time .*

The neighboring Indians consider the district of country just defined as properly belonging to the white people. They have not had for many years, any village or settlement upon it and rarely hunt upon the ground, no more than they do upon other unsettled lands of the United States in their vicinity. The Win- nebagoes own the surrounding country on the north and east, and oeeupy the northern bank of the Wisconsin above the mouth of the Kick- apoo, as the successors of the Sacs and Foxes, who have been driven step by step from Canada to the west of the Mississippi. The Winneba- goes never owned the district of country which we have designated above,t and the Foxes, who were found in possession of it hy the first set- tlers have been, by different treaties removed some fifty miles to the west.

The old French settlements at various places in the northern and western part of the country have always been seeured and protected by the government of the United States and have been frequently reserved and confirmed by treaties with different Indian tribes. The 3d Artiele of the treaty of Greenville, made the 3d of August, 1795, fixes the boundary line between the In- dian tribes and the United States; and by it the Indians cede to the United States various small specified tracts, beyond the said boundary line; and by the 4th Article, the United States relin-

quish their elaim to all other lands beyond the said boundary line between the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, the lakes, and the northern boundary of the United States, explicitly ex- cepting Gen. George Roger Clark's grant near the Rapids [Louisville, Ky.], of the Ohio river, the post at St. Vincennes, and the lands adja- eent to which the Indian title has been extin- guished, the post of Fort Massac, and the lands at all other places in possession of the French people and other white settlers of which the Indian title has been extinguished by gifts or grants to the French or English governments. The provisions of this treaty, it is considered, embraced the settlement at Prairie du Chien and the adjacent country, as it had been in pos- session of the French people for a long time previous by the British government as we have before mentioned .*

By the 3d article of the treaty of St. Louis, mnade Aug. 24, 1816, there was reserved from the Indians three leagues square at the mouth of the Wisconsin river, including both banks and such other traets on or near the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers as the President of the United States should think proper to reserve:+ provided that such traet should not exceed in the whole the quantity that would be contained in five leagues synare. It is not known to us that the President has ever exercised the power vested in him by the treaty of reserving any quantity of land in this vicinity in addition to the three leagues square.

The reservation has never been surveyed and it is not known with certainty what extent of country will be included in it, but it is believed that the three leagues square and the quantity of five leagues square, which the President has the power (if not heretofore exercised else-

· The render will not fail to see, in all this, a confused ae- count of the purchase of "the prairie" in 1781, by Sinclair as fully explained in another chapter of this book .- ED.

+No such non-ownership, was ever suggested by the Win- nebagoes to the United States at any treaty, either before or after this petition was drawn up .- ED.

* The provisions of the treaty of Greenville, did embrace ''the prairie, " on which, in 1836, was Prairie du Chien, but not ''the adjacent country, " as the petition would have it. In 1:20, when the French settlers were called upon to declaro what their rights were, no claim was made by them outside of "the prairie."-ED.

+But why reserve all this, if the Indians made no claim to it? The fact is they did claim it, and the reservation was made for the purpose of erecting a post thereon by the United States .- ED.

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

where) to add to it, will embrace all the coun- try between the Kickapoo, Wisconsin and Mis- sissippi rivers, and the second large creek that empties into the Mississippi from the east, above the mouth of Wisconsin, called by the French, Coulee des Male.

By the 10th article of the treaty of Prairie du Chien, made Aug. 19, 1825, establishing the boundary line of the different Indian tribes par- ties thereto, among other reservations and ex- ceptions, the ancient settlement at Prairie des Chiens and the land properly thereto belonging, are explicity excepted from the claims of any of the Indian tribes .*

In considering the exception, the question arises. What is the land properly belonging to this ancient settlement? We think that, upon examination, it will be found that but one an- swer can be given; that the land properly be- louging to the ancient settlement includes all the land originally granted by the Indians for the use of the French settlers extending to the limits above mentioned.t

This opinion receives strength and confirma- tion from the fact that the Winnebagoes who occupied the country on the north and east, never owned this tract and that they do not, as we understand, pretend to claim any part of it; and the Foxes who were the owners of it, at the time when the original settlement was made, do not now own a foot of land on the east side of the Mississippi nor within less than about fifty miles of this place on the west. And al- th ugh the last mentioned treaty fixed the boundary of the Winnebago country from where the Sioux crosses the Mississippi opposite the mouth of the upper lowa up to the Chippewa country and round to the north, east, south and west, up to the Wisconsin, it leaves the line betwen that tribe and the settlement at Prairie

du Chien altogether undefined .* Whether the question is considered with this view of the sub- jeet or in reference to the express reservation under the treaty of 1816, and the additional reservation in the power of the President to make, it will secure to the settlement the dis- triet of country above designated.

We beg leave most respectfully to call the attention of the President to the importance to the people of this country that the above con- struction should be given to the Indian grants and treaty stipulations (which seem to us to be the only proper one of which they are sus- ceptible) and of having the county surveyed and the boundries designated and established.

The settlement at Prairie du Chien is the extreme northwestern settlement of the United States and one of the oldest on the frontier. It has always been exposed, perhaps more than any other, to all the dangers, hardships and privations incident to the situation. Its loca- tion and relative position to other parts of the country render it a place of great public impor- tance as a depot for the army and for the com- merce of the upper Mississippi and the Wiscon- sin. The county of Crawford is the oldest organized county in the Territory [of Michigan] west of the Wisconsin portage and under the laws of the Territory, the people of the county have to bear all the burdens of supporting their public institutions without any aid from the territorial treasury. The small portion of land to which private titles have been acquired or which is open to purchasers, and the uncer- tainty which generally prevails as to the extent of country to which the Indian title has been extinguished discourage emigration and greatly restrict the growth and prosperity of the com- munity. The claims that have been confirmed to the old settlers are not sufficient for the present population, and of all the land in the

*The "ancient settlement at Prairie des Chiens" was the cluster of houses on the immediate bank ot the Mississippi and St. Feriole beyond the marias, or marsh; while " the lands thereunto belonging" were the residue. of the pr. irie as claimed by the e irly settlers, individually or in common, - ED.

*It is only necessary hereto statethat the treaty of 1825 above referred to, was held five years after a large part of the "Prairie des Chiens" had been confirmed to the settlers thereon; so there was no need of defining the boundary be- tween the Winnebagoes "and the settlers al Prairie du

+This elause would be entirely correet had it ended with these words :- "Extending to the limits of the prairie."-ED. | Chien."-ED.

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

county owned by individuals there is not a single acre of timber, all the supplies of that article for the use of the citizens have, of necessity, to be drawn from the public lands; many parts of the country between the Kicka- poo and the Mississippi are well adapted to agriculture, and could the lands be purchased they would be soon settled both by our own citizens and by emigrants who would be induced by the many advantages of the situation to establish themselves here if they could secure titles to their homes The timber alone would induce almost every eitizen wbo is able, to pur- chase a tract for the necessary use of his house and farm.

The survey and sale of the district with its boundaries established upon the principles above set forth, would be a measure of incalculable advantage to the people of the county. It would encourage and promote agriculture, extend the necessary means of a poor but hardy and ex- posed race of citizens, advance the population by inciting emigration and settlement, increase the political consequence and importance of the county and promote the domestic prosperity of the community and thereby add to the gen- eral interest of our common country.

We therefore pray that the president will, in pursuance of the different treaty stipulations and grants to the old French settlers according to the common understanding of the Indians and the people, cause the reservation at this place to be established so as to include all the land lying between the Kickapoo, the Wisconsin and the Mississippi rivers as far north as Coulee des Male, and the east line drawn from the head of that stream to the Kickapoo; and that the coun- try may as soon as practicable, be surveyed and offered for sale.

We are not assured whether any act of Con- gress will be necessary to enable the President to carry out these views, in case they should receive his sanction; should it be so, we pray that a recommendation may be made from the

proper department for the passage of such an act as may be necessary, securing the usual pre- emption right to actual settlers. Should it be considered necessary to enter into further stip- ulations with the Indians relative to their boundary before the one prayed for can be established, we pray that the necessary meas- ures may be taken to hold a treaty with the Winnebagoes for the purpose of fixing and establishing the limits between them and the settlement at this place.

Accompanying this is a rough sketch of the country embraced in the petition, which, though not drawn from any survey is believed to be in general correct .*

J. II. LOCKWOOD, THOMAS P. STREET, H. L. DOUSMAN, Sups. of the County of Crawford, M. T.

I certify the foregoing is a true copy of the original petition. J. BRISBOIS, Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS-A NEW BOARD.

From 1836 to 1838, the board of Supervisors of the township of St. Anthony and the county of Crawford consisted of the following persons:

1836 .- Thomas P. Street, Samuel Gilbert, J. II. Lockwood.

1837 .- H. L. Dousman, W. Wilson, B. W. Brisbois.

1838 .- B. W. Brisbois, W. Wilson II L. Dousman.

But now a change was made from supervisors to county commissioners, as the following entry shows :

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, March 17, 1838.

James Il. Lockwood, Samuel Gilbert and Levi P. Marsh, having been, on the 5th inst., elected county commissioners of the said county of Crawford, held their first meeting this day, at

*This map is a fair representation of the country between the Kickapoo, the Wisconsin and the Mississippi, as far up the latter as the Conlee des Male. Upon the bank of the Mississippi is marked the village of Prairie du Chien and the second Fort Crawford. There is a public road indicated. leading off in a southeasterly direction to the Wisconsin where there is a ferry designated. The streams emptying into the Mississippi from the east are named (going north) Fisher's creek, Picardy, Prairie des Sioux river and Coulee des Male.

554

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

the court house, pursuant to public notice ; whereupon Joseph Brisbois, late town clerk, handed over the books, papers etc., belonging to said county, which were in the hands of the late supervisors, and Joseph Brisbois, the treas- urer handed in his account current with the said county, and voucher therefor, showing a balance due said treasurer of $11.19}.

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, April 7, 1838.

The board of county commissioners met this day at the court house, agreeable to public no- tice, at 10.A. M., and proceeded to draw a panel of grand and petit jurors from the following list of names, taken from the tax roll, for the year 1838:

Benjamin Bolles, B. W. Bri-bois, Tunis Bell, Simon Barthe, George P. Brisbois, Peter A. Bazin, Ira B. Brunson, James Bunker, John Bos- ton, Theodore Bugbee, James F. Chapman, David Clark, Jr., Francis Chinevert, Sr., Nicholas Chinevert, Bazil Chinevert, Oliver Chierrier, Sr., Oliver Cherrier, Jr., Lester Deming, Fran- cis Deschauquette, N. C. Dimmick, Jesse Dan- dly, John HI. Fonda, John H. Folsom, William H. C. Folsom, Leyman Frost, James Fisher, Hiram Francis, George Fisher, William Fisher, Francis Gallineaux, A. Grignon, Bazil Gagnier, James Gilbert, Samuel Griffen, Thomas IFore, J. P. Hall, Richard Hartwell, Daniel Hopkins, Seth Ilill, L. Hill, Joshua M. Hosmer, Henry Johnson, Francis Labath, William S. Lockwood, Charles Lapointe, Francis Lapointe, Barthelemie Lapointe, John Lemerge Pierre Lachapelle, A. Lachapelle, Julien Larivierre, Baptiste Lari- viere, Theodore Lupine, Joseph T. Mills, John Miller, Charles Menard, Sr., Charles Menard, Jr., Lonis Menard, John B. Mayand, Alexander McGregor, John M. Merritt, Frederick Oliver, Elijah Osborne, Harvey Osborne, Ezra Putnam, Francis Provost, L. B. Pion, James Reed, Ste- phen Richards, Henry W. Savage, Ilyacinth St. Cyr, Seth Sanford, Stephen G. Tainter.

Before the close of the year the board of commissioners consisted of L. R. Marsh, J. H. Lockwood and H. L. Dousman.

January 7, 1839.

The clerk of the board presented the petition of the inhabitants and claimants along the Wis- consin for a road leading from the Prairie, com- meneing at Dousman's Coulee, and running in an easterly direction through Samuel Gilbert's claim, to the Grand Gres, together with the viewers' report of the blazing out of the same, which petition and report was accepted, and the road ordered to be opened according to law (66 feet wide), and that the district surveyor be re- quested to survey the same forthwith.

Ordered, That the first road district be and it is hereby established, to be drawn on a line running on the south side of the road leading east and west from the slough of St. Feriole to the bluffs (north, and by the side of Tainter's hotel) comprising all the inhabitants south of said line, and those residing up, and along the Wisconsin, as far as the Grand Gres. (The people residing on the bluff at the head of said east and west line are excluded from the said first district.)

The second road district shall be, and the same is hereby established, from the northern boundary of the said first district, including the people on the bluffs at the head of late Mil- ler's road, and those residing south of the line running between farm lots No. 22 and No. 23, and also to include all the people in the main village [of Prairie du Chien].

The third road district shall comprise all the people residing north of said line between farm lots 22 and 23. Christopher Bowen was ap- pointed supervisor of the first district ; William Wilson, of the second ; and Francis Chinevert, Sr., of the third district.

The board of commissioner for the year 1839, consisted of H. L. Dousman, Samuel Gilbert and Levi R. Marsh. The same gentleman con- stituted the board for 1840 and 1841; for 1842 the members were Samuel Gilbert, John H. Manahan and David Clark, Jr. The next year (1843) I. P. Perret Gentil took the place of Manahan.

555

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

At a regular meeting of the board of county commissioners for the county of Crawford, W. T., held pursuant to law, on the 3d day of April, 1843; present, David Clark, Jr., Samuel Gilbert and I. P. Perret Gentil, the board pro- ceeded to set off and divide and name the dif- ferent precincts in the county of Crawford, viz:

No. 1 .- First precinct to be called the Prai- rie du Chien precinct -- bounded as follows: On the south and east by the boundaries of said county of Crawford; on the west by the Mis- sissippi river; and on the north by a line drawn due east from the mouth of Coon river, so called; and the following named persons are hereby appointed judges of elections: Stephen G. Tainter, H. L. Dousman and Daniel G. Fenton.

No. 2 .- Second precinct to be called the Black River Falls precinct (and the elections to be held at the house of Mr. O'Neil)-bounded as follows: On the south by a line drawn due east from the mouth of Coon river; on the west by the Mississippi river; on the north by a line drawn due east from the mouth of Riviere Aux Boeuf; and on the east by the east boundary of said county of Crawford. The following named persons are hereby appointed judges of election: William Lewis, George Miller and Levi M. Mills.

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History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 79

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