USA > Wisconsin > Eau Claire County > History of Eau Claire county, Wisconsin, past and present; including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county > Part 2
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CHAPTER III.
CARVER'S CAVE FOUND.
Old settlers will recall the facsimile of the o'd deeds given by Indian chiefs to the early white men which spoke of a great piece of land running from St. Anthony Falls and mapped out so that it would take in all this part of the country. The copy was framed by W. K. Coffin for the Local Historical Society. In this connection the following from St. Paul may be of interest :
"David C. Shepard, Sr., of 324 Dayton avenue, St. Paul, has discovered that he is the possessor of a deed which conveys to his father and the latter's heirs and assigns a tract of land includ- ing all of the cities of Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls and Altoona, to say nothing of all of the city of St. Paul, a portion of Minne- apolis, the villages of Hudson, Durand and many other Wisconsin hamlets. Mr. Shepard will not try to take possession of the property called for by this interesting document, but if the deed was worth anything he might become one of the greatest land-owners in the world. The only use that will be made of the deed is to exhibit it among the documents of the Minnesota Historical Society, to which organization Mr. Shepard has pre- sented the old conveyance. The deed is signed by Martin King, the great grandson of Jonathan Carver, the early explorer to whom the chiefs of the Naudoessies Indian tribes conveyed a tract of land east of the Mississippi river, extending along the river from St. Anthony Falls, in Minneapolis, south to the junction of the Mississippi and Chippewa rivers, thence east one hundred miles, thence north one hundred and twenty miles, thence west in a straight line to St. Anthony Falls. These boundaries include Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, Altoona and other cities and villages named. Martin King, as heir to Jonathan Carver, came into pos- session of the property named, theoretically at least, and he deeded it to Mr. Shepard's father and others. The latter deeds were executed at Lima, Livingston county, New York, April 20, 1838, and were recorded by Calvin H. Bryan, commissioner of the Supreme court of New York. Under the terms of the deed, Mr. Shepard's father paid only five hundred dollars for the land that is now worth millions.
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CARVER'S CAVE FOUND
"The original decd, the terms of which are repeated in the deed held by Mr. Shepard, was executed in Carver's cave, St. Paul (which has recently been re-located by the officials of St. Paul). On May 1, 1767, Carver, in his writing, said this cave was often used for councils among the Indian tribes. The chiefs who signed this original deed conveying this vast tract of land to Carver were Haw-no-paw-gat-an and Otah-ton-goom-lish-eaw. In deed- ing the land to Carver, they reserved the right to fish and hunt on land not planted or improved. The original deed was recorded in the plantation office, White Hall, London.
"Mr. Shepard says he believes the deed is worthless, save as a historical document, but it sheds additional light on the famous original deed which some historians have intimated never ex- isted. It is of special interest at this time since efforts are being made to raise funds to preserve Carver's cave as one of the his- torieal spots of the Northwest. For many years the entrance to this cave had been lost, but within the past few months the county surveyor of Ramsey county, Minnesota, and the Dayton Bluff Commercial Club, a St. Paul organization, have located the cav- ern's entrance. A big lake has been discovered in the cave, and all attempts which have been made to drain the cavern have met with little success.
CHAPTER IV. INDIAN TREATIES.
The pine lands of the Chippewa were known to exist 150 years ago, but it was not until 1822 that the first sawmill was constructed to convert the timber into lumber, and to float it down the Mississippi to the markets on its banks. The fame of the resources of the valley in this respect spread far and wide, even to New England, and slowly the tide of emigration set in. Thus this now famous lumber region became peopled with the general exodus from the eastern states which began in 1835 and continued for many years. These were the sturdy pioneers who have made the valley what it is today. The men and women who endured hardships and privations in order to make the after years of their lives worth living, and to pave the way for others who would carry on the enterprise. The emigrants from Europe, especially from Sweden, came later until the population became a mixture of Americans, English, Scotch, Scandinavians, Ger- mans, etc. The delta of the Chippewa and the territory lying between the Mississippi and the Menomonie (Red Cedar) rivers were claimed by Wabashaw's band of Sioux Indians, though it was in truth the neutral ground between the Sioux and the Chip- pewas, among whom a deadly feud existed. The whole of what is now Wiseonsin was up to 1825 held by various tribes of In- dians, in some instances by force of arms. Their respective rights in the land became so complicated and were the cause of such frequent bloodshed among them that the government determined to change this eondition of things if possible. Under its direc- tion and authority, a treaty was entered into at Prairie du Chien in 1825 by all the Indian tribes within a distance of 500 miles each way, and approved by General William Clark and Lewis Cass on behalf of the government, whereby the boundaries of the respective territories of the Indian nations represented were definitely fixed. The negotiation was continued at Fond du Lac in 1826 because not all the Chippewa bands had been represented at Prairie du Chien, notwithstanding thirty-six chiefs and heads- men had signed. At this time everyone was satisfied, and not only were the articles of Prairie du Chien confirmed, but a clause
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INDIAN TREATIES
was put in the treaty giving the United States the right to take any metals or minerals from the country. By the treaty of 1837, all the lands of the Sioux nation east of the Mississippi, and all the islands belonging to them in that river, were, for the consid- erations therein mentioned, ceded to the United States; also the lands elaimed by the Chippewas back from Lake Superior in Wisconsin.
In October, 1842, To-go-ne-ge-shik with eighty-five chiefs and braves of the Chippewas executed a treaty at La Pointe on Lake Superior whereby all the Chippewa lands in Wisconsin became listed in the United States. For this kingdom the United States paid the Chippewas about one million dollars. The treaty granted in general terms eighty aeres to each head of a family or single person over twenty-one of Chippewa or mixed blood, provided for allotment in severalty by the President as fast as the oecu- pants became capable of transacting their own affairs, gave the President authority to assign traets in exchange for mineral lands, and allowed right of way, upon compensation, to all neces- sary roads, highways and railroads. The Indians were to receive $5,000 a year for twenty years in money, $8,000 in goods, house- hold furniture and cooking utensils, $3,000 a year in agricultural implements, cattle, carpenter and other tools and building mate- rial, and $3,000 a year for moral and educational purposes, of. which the Grand Portage band, having a special thirst for learn- ing, was to receive $3,000. To pay all debts $90,000 was placed at the disposal of the chiefs. Here the Indians fared better than in earlier treaties. At Traverse de Sioux the fur traders were present with their old accounts equipped to absorb nearly every- thing paid the Indians. In one treaty their bills were rendered for $250,000, in another for $156,000, and about all the Indians got was the pleasure of seeing the money counted past them. It was also provided that the annuities thereafter should not be subject to the debts of individual Indians, but that satisfaction should be made for depredations committed by them. Next came a clause which probably did more to get the treaties signed than the three thousand dollars a year for educational and moral pur- poses. Also, said the treaty, two hundred guns, one hundred rifles, five hundred beaver traps, three hundred dollars in ammu- nition, one thousand dollars in ready-made clothing for the young men of the nation. That clause was reserved by the commission- ers till they were ready to nail down the contracts, and it was effective. It was provided that missionaries and others residing in the territory should be allowed to enter at the minimum price
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HISTORY OF EAU CLAIRE COUNTY
the land they already occupied wherever survey was made. Also that a blacksmith and assistant should be maintained at each reservation for twenty years and as much longer as the President should approve.
Last of all came a clause that illustrates happily the Indian sense of justice, for old teachers say there was such a thing. The Bois Forte Indians, off the main trail, and a withered sort of tribe, were especially remembered. "Because of their poverty and past neglect," as the treaty ran, they were to have $10,000 additional to pay their debts, which suggests a friend at court- and also $10,000 for blankets, clothes, guns, nets, etc., a suitable reservation to be selected afterward. The Indians made a better bargain than the Algonquins made when they sold Manhattan island for twenty-four dollars in trinkets. To be sure, the iron in this Chippewa country was worth above half a billion dollars, and the forest as much more, but they were not worth that to the Indians who sold only their hunting and fishing usufruct to which they had not exclusive nor undisputed right, and which in measure they still kept, since one of the after-thoughts of the treaty reserved to them the right to hunt and fish in the ceded portions.
CHAPTER V. THE RED MAN.
By
MISS A. E. KIDDER.
Ethnologists are slowly agreeing that the North American Indian existed on this continent before 1000 A. D., that he is of Asiatic origin and that all the families found here are inter-related and originally came from one source. Historical evidences are multiplying as to the truth of these assertions. In 1615, Cham- plain, visiting the Huron tribe of the St. Lawrence valley, drew a map of the country which they said lay to the west of their land. They told him of a lake called Kitchi Gummi, which he named Grand Lac. This lake was visited by Allouez in 1666 and called Lake Tracy. Hennepin saw it in 1680 and called it Lake Conde. Schoolcraft was upon its waters in 1819 and left it with the title Lake Algona. It is now known as Lake Superior ; and Champlain's rough map is one of the first evidences given to white men, not only of its existence, but of the great stretch of land south and west of its shores, known now as the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The French explorers touched the northern belt of what is now called the Northwest many decades before others of their kind penetrated the land since divided into Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. Marquette and Joliet did not ascend the Mississippi to the mouth of the Illinois until 1673. It was 1679 before Fort Crevecœur was built on the Illinois river. The ancient white villages of Kaskaskia, Cahoki and Prairie du Rocher were not set on the banks of the Mississippi until after 1683. But it is due to the honor of France that during the years of the seven- teenth century, when England was content to upbuild her colonies on the Atlantic coast, when Spain, by moral law, was being elimi- nated from the northern half of the western continent, the fleur de lis should be implanted in what is now the center of western thought, western activity and agricultural development of the United States of America. Two separate movements of Gallic explorers-one along the shore lines of Lake Superior and west-
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HISTORY OF EAU CLAIRE COUNTY
ward to the Mississippi; the other via Lake Michigan to what has since become the Fox, Rock and Wisconsin rivers-confronted at the outset a remarkable group of Indian families. The dominion of these families extended from the Platte and Missouri rivers on the west to Lake Superior and Lake Michigan on the east; from the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi, on the south, to the Lake of the Woods and what is now the Canadian border, on the north. Within this area, which amounted to nearly 480,000 square miles, or one-ninth of the total area of the United States, to the time of the late Spanish-American War, were living about 500,000 red men. The census taker was unknown and the figures can only be estimated from ancient memoranda and the tradi- tions of the Indians themselves. But today, so swift are the mutations of Time, in this same area there are living, sinew of a great commonwealth, 12,000,000 white men and women and their children, while of the Indians, lords of the land 250 years ago, but 48,800 are now to be found there. Three great Indian fami- lies occupied this Northwestern prairie and timber land when the French first came. The most important of these, so far as history is concerned, was the Siouan, or Sioux, composed of twelve tribes. Second in importance was the family of the Al- gonquins, composed of eleven tribes. The third, and the one to be first extinguished in the wars waged between the trio, was the Iroquois, who occupied the Great Lakes. All history, as to the relation between the white men and the Northwestern Indians during the seventeenth century, bears evidence that they acted with much fairness toward each other. It was not until after the advent of the English, who disputed the right to the territory with the French, and then the incoming of the Americans, who drove out French, English and Indians, that the record of savage warfare begins-stained with powder and blood from the knife of massacre. It is useless to say which was wrong. Since the for- mation of the United States Government, the American people have paid to the Indians an average of $1,000,000 per year for the land taken. The Indian, in his turn, when treated with the same honesty, the same decency, that characterizes the ordinary relations of two white citizens, responded with a loyalty equal to that of his white brother. Each race, as temptation came, was treacherous, bloodthirsty, cruel. Each paid the penalty for its wrongdoing. But that the earliest settlers recognized the Indian as an equal is evidenced by the first treaty ever made with a tribe (the Delawares) in which they were conceded to be citizens en- titled to representation in Congress. Unfortunately, this good
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THE RED MAN
intent never passed in effect beyond the writing in the treaty. The land was fair to look upon when Joliet, Marquette and Hen- nepin eame with the sign of the cross to make converts of the aboriginals. But the narratives of the explorers into the North- west between 1600 and 1700 contained no reference to the mar- velous bread-giving capacity of the land they found, no hint that a granary of the world had been found-only descriptions of half-explored waterways, plentiful game, unfound gold and silver and diamond mines. They were eager to take possession for the honor of France and for the financial gain that might come to them. Little did they know of greater blessing in the earth than that found in silver and gold, of the rich quality of soil which would produce luxuriant vegetation, of the water power and the pine forests that would draw hither the might and the money of . the east for its development.
THE CHIPPEWA AND SIOUX INDIANS.
When Jean Nicolet was sent by Champlain, governor of New France, to find the long-sought western route to China, he found on the shores of Green Bay the Menomonies, at the head of the bay the Winnebagoes, going on to the Fox river he met the Mas- coutens, the warlike Sacs and Foxes, and still further west were the Kickapoos. Along the shores of Lake Superior he found the Chippewas, and to the southwest of these, on the St. Croix, were the Sioux. Powell said of this tribe, "By reason of their superior numbers the Sioux have always assumed, if not exercised, the lordship over all the neighboring tribes with the exception of the Ojibwa (Chippewa), who, having acquired firearms before the Sioux, were enabled to drive the latter from the headwaters of the Mississippi, and were steadily pressing them westward when stopped by the intervention of the United States Govern- ment. In warlike character the Sioux are second only to the Cheyenne and have an air of proud superiority rather unusual with Indians. The Chippewas were ealled by the French mis- sionaries the bravest, most warlike, and at the same time the noblest and most manly of all the tribes. They were derived from the Algonquin race and the Jesuits spoke of the Chippewa language as the most refined and complete of any Indian tongue. In 1642 the Sioux possessed all the territory sonth of Lake Su- perior and west of Lakes Huron and Michigan, south as far as Milwaukee and west even beyond the Missouri river. About 1670 the Chippewas began their inroads upon the lands of the Sioux
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HISTORY OF EAU CLAIRE COUNTY
on the north and east, fighting their way south and west. The Sioux struggled to retain their hunting grounds, but were finally crowded back to the St. Croix. From that time there was unre- mitting war between the two great nations for a century or more, and their traditions tell of many bloody battles fought beneath the somber pines of the north. In the Chippewa tongue, Sioux means "the enemy." Meantime the Winnebagoes, a migratory tribe from Mexico to escape the Spaniards, came among the Sioux, who gave them lands and refuge. But Sacs and Foxes came from the south, took possession of the ground and were in turn crowded out by the Menomonies. In consequence of these preda- tory wars, the claims of the several nations to their respective territories became very complicated and caused incessant strife. To prevent this as much as possible the United States Government, in 1825, authorized a general treaty to be held at Prairie du Chien between all tribes within a district of 500 miles each way. This was signed on the part of the government by Generals William Clark and Lewis Cass, on the part of the Sioux by Wabashaw, Red Wing, Little Crow and twenty-three other chiefs and braves, and for the Chippewas by Hole-in-the-Day and forty chiefs. By this treaty the eastern boundary of the Sioux began opposite the mouth of the Iowa river on the Mississippi, runs back two or three miles to the bluffs, following the bluffs to Bad-Axe, and crossing to Black river, from which point the line described is the boundary between the Sioux and the Win- nebagoes and extends nearly north to a point on the Chippewa river, half a day's march from Chippewa Falls. From this point on the Chippewa river, which was fixed on the mouth of Mud creek (near Rumsey's Landing), the line becomes the boundary between the Sioux and Chippewas and runs to the Red Cedar just below the Falls, thence to the St. Croix river at the Stand- ing Cedar, about a day's paddle in a canoe above the lake on that river; thence passing between two lakes called by the Chip- pewas "Green Lake" and by the Sioux "the lake they bury the eagles in," thence to the "Standing Cedar" that the Sioux split, thence to the month of Rum river on the Mississippi. The boundary line between the Chippewas and Winnebagoes was also defined as beginning at the same point (half a day's march below the Falls), thence to the source of the Eau Claire, thence south to Black river, thence to a place where the woods project into the meadows, and thence to the Plover Portage of the Wis- consin. Thus we see that the boundaries of the Sioux, Chip- pewas and Winnebagoes were brought to a point at the famous
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THE RED MAN
"half a day's march below the Falls," and very near the city of Eau Claire-in fact, at the bluff just above "little Niagara."
On July 29, 1837, a treaty was signed at Fort Snelling be- tween Governor Dodge on the part of the government and the Chippewa chiefs, ceding a portion of these lands to the United States. On September 29 of the same year, at Washington, D. C., a treaty was signed by Joel R. Poinsett on the part of the United States and Big Thunder and twenty other chiefs of the Sioux, at which the latter ceded to the United States their lands cast of the Mississippi and all their islands in said river.
On October 4, 1842, at La Pointe, Robert Stewart on the part of the United States and Po-go-ne-ge-shik, with forty other Chippewa chiefs, held a treaty at which all the Chippewa lands in Wisconsin were ceded to the United States. But after the cession of the last named lands several bands of Chippewas became dissatisfied with the treaty and with the reservation set apart for them above Sand Lake, in Minnesota, and begged so earnestly to come back to Wisconsin that the government, in 1854, gave them several townships and half townships of the land on Court Oreilles and some other branches of the Chip- pewa, and established an agency there for the distribution of part of the annuities promised them. Guerrilla fighting had been the common mode of settling any difference of opinion among the tribes hitherto, but governmental interference had accomplished much and soothing measures were now in vogue. In 1841, as related by the historian Randall, "a large party of Sioux came up by invitation of the Chippewas to Eau Claire, where they held a friendly meeting and smoked the pipe of peace. This was repeated in October, 1846, when 150 braves, all mounted on ponies, came up to the Falls, thence to Chippewa City, and held a treaty of peace with their hereditary foes. Among them were Wabashaw, Red Bird and Big Thunder. The writer was present, heard part of the reception address, and afterward learned from Ambrose-one of the interpreters-the substance of what was said on both sides. The Sioux remained mounted on their ponies during the entire interview. The Chip- pewa chiefs and braves were painted after the mode indicating peace and the head chief advanced with a large red pipe, made of stone from Pipe-stone mountain, in one hand, and in the other a hatchet, which was thrown with such force as to partly bury it in the earth; then taking a whiff or two from the pipe he turned the stem toward the Sioux chief, presenting it for his acceptance. All this was done in silence; the Sioux chief re-
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HISTORY OF EAU CLAIRE COUNTY
ceived the emblem of peace, also in silence, smoked a few whiffs, bowed respectfully as he handed the pipe, reined his pony one step to the right, and waited the next salutation, the substance of which was, "Friends, we are glad you have come, we are anxious to make peace with the Sioux nation. As yon have seen us throw down and bury the hatchet, so we hope you are inelined to make peace." The Sioux chiefs then threw down whatever arms they held and deelared their purpose to maintain perma- nent peace. They said their great father, the President, with whom they had never been at war, had requested them to con- elude a lasting peace with the Chippewa nation, and although they had sold their lands on the east side of the Mississippi they still wanted to hunt there, and were glad that in the future they could do so without fear. This was all done through inter- preters, several of whom were present on each side, and elosed every sentence they repeated with the expression, 'That's what we say.' This meeting was at the Falls and the delegation met a still larger number of Chippewa chiefs and braves the next day at Chippewa City, where the ceremonies were still more imposing, and a dinner was served of which both parties par- took."
After this interesting pageant of trnce, a steady peace was well maintained between the nations, rarely disturbed by any- thing more than trifling quarrels soon settled by arbitration.
CHAPTER VI. HOW EAU CLAIRE COUNTY WAS MADE.
The territory of Wisconsin was organized in the year 1836, and comprised the present states of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and parts of North Dakota, South Dakota and Michigan. This entire area included only six full counties and parts of others, what is now Eau Claire county forming a part of Crawford county.
In 1845 Chippewa county was set off from Crawford county, although the county government was not wholly perfected until 1854. In the meantime, in 1848, the territory of Wisconsin was admitted as a state, its area having been reduced from time to time until it reached its present limits.
Chippewa county as originally formed was of vast area, the counties of Eau Claire, Buffalo, Pepin, Clark, Dunn, Barron, Bur- nett, Washburn, Sawyer, Gates, Rusk and parts of Taylor and Price.
On July 27, 1855, the county board of supervisors of Chippewa county divided the county into three towns, the southernmost of these, which was identical in area with the present Eau Claire county, was set off as the town of Clearwater, the first town meeting to be held at the boarding-house of Gage & Reed. The next town north was set off as the town of Chippewa Falls, and the northernmost town as the town of Eagle Point. Up to this time the name Eau Claire had not appeared in the official records of Chippewa county, of which what is now Eau Claire county formed a part. In this same year R. F. Wilson and W. H. Glea- son came to Clearwater settlement, at the junction of the Chip- pewa and Clearwater rivers. They recognized its possibilities and soon made a deal with Gage & Reed whereby a considerable part of what is now the east side was platted as the village of Eau Claire. Of course the platting of this village under the name Eau Claire could have no legal effect on the name of the town, but it seems to have confused the town officials, as the records show both the names Clearwater and Eau Claire for a short period, after which, without any recorded official action, the name Clearwater was dropped and the name Eau Claire only
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