USA > Wisconsin > Grant County > History of Grant County Wisconsin, including its civil, political, geological, mineralogical archaeological and military history > Part 3
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The fame of these upper Mississippi lead mines spread over the world and the influx of miners increased. The greater number came from the lead mines of southwestern Missouri, many from neighbor- ing Illinois, but many still from the coal mines of Pennsylvania and even from the far-off mines of Cornwall and Wales.
The early miners who came up from Missouri and Illinois consid- dered the country too cold to winter in, and returned south at the be- ginning of winter, thus imitating in their migrations a fish called "sucker;" hence this term was applied to these men from down the Mississippi. But the miners from the Eastern States and from Eng- land and Wales could not imitate this practice, but had to winter in the country. Timber was scarce in some places, and the miners made for their winter quarters dug-outs in the hillside, the lower sides built up of sods and stones. By reason of this burrowing, they were called "Badgers," and thus Wisconsin came to be known as the "Badger State," although badgers are and always have been rather a rare animal in the State.
MINING TITLES AND TENURES.
For many years the title of the lands and the tenure of the miners were in an unsettled and unsatisfactory state. In the preceding chap- ter it was mentioned that by the treaty of 1804, the title of the Sacs
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and Foxes to all this region was extinguished, and the treaty was con- firmed in 1815; but in 1816 another treaty was made confirming that treaty as to the Sacs and Foxes, but relinquishing to the Winnebagoes all the lands north of a line running west from the southern extrem- ity of Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, except a tract five leagues square on the Mississippi River, to be designated by the President. This tract was intended to cover the lead region, whose extent and exact location were then unknown. In this tract of five leagues square persons were allowed to mine on obtaining permits from the U. S. Superintendent of the Lead Mines. This official was usually an army officer and for many years he was stationed at Galena. The permits read thus :
"John Jones is hereby permitted to dig or mine on United States land which is not leased or otherwise rightfully occupied. He is not to set fire to the prairie grass or woods, and deliver his mineral to a licensed smelter and comply with all regulations."
These licensed smelters were supposed to pay one-sixteenth of the lead to the Government agent as rent, and the agent was supposed to pay it to the Government. However, this regulation was not strictly complied with from the first and the payment was more and more neglected and finally totally discontinued. However, the smelters long continued to exact this rent from the miners of whom they bought mineral, and some of these miners also paid rent to the Winnebagoes, as the tract of fifteen miles square lying along the Mississippi and in- cluding Galena excluded the mines about Platteville, Wingville, and Beetown, and most of those of Potosi.
From a statement prepared in 1859 by Hon. Charles Bracken the following extracts are here given :
"Some six years after the ratification of that treaty [that of 1816] the President, acting under the authority vested in him by the act of March 3, 1807, which authorized him to lease the salt springs and lead mines belonging to the Government, directed the Secretary of War to lease the lead mines. Col. James Johnson, of Kentucky, responded to the notice inserted in the newspapers, and became a lessee of the Government for the lead mines of the upper Mississippi, and was the first person to come into the country for the purpose of mining under Government auspices. He proceeded with keel-boats to Fever River, where, although accompanied by Major Forsythe, the Indian agent at Rock Island, his landing was resisted by the Winnebago Indians, who
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had assembled in arms to resist the landing of any white man, saying that the Sacs, Foxes, Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawatomies bad received presents and payments for lands which belonged to them and that they never sold to the United States. After Mr. Johnson had counseled with the Indians for several days, and made them presents of merchandise and provisions, they consented to his landing and mining and smelting in their country. Others received similar leases and followed him, and the result was that, at the time of the treaty of Prairie du Chien, in 1829, when the Indian title to the country was extinguished, the miners had dispossessed the Indians of every foot of land where there were indications of lead ore. In thus taking posses- sion of the rich mineral lands belonging to the Winnebago Indians, they carried out the object of the Government, as evinced by the clause of the treaty at Fort Howard, in 1816, which authorized the Presi- dent to reserve a quantity of land equal to 225 sections in their country. As the quantity of land covered by a smelting lease was limited to 320 acres, the entire quantity reserved would authorize 450 leases, and the Government well knew that, when that number of its citizens were dotted over these lands, the country was virtually lost to the Indians forever, and the result proved the correctness of the con- clusion.
"It cannot be shown by any record that a tract of land five leagues square, or any less in quantity, was ever officially located or reserved, as provided for in the treaty at Fort Howard, in 1816; but, under the orders of the Superintendent of the Lead Mine District of the upper Mississippi, surveys were made for licensed smelters, covering half a section of timbered land each. It appears that no record was kept of such survey ; yet, in every instance where a lease was granted, a survey was made, and, as timber was necessary for smelting pur- poses, these surveys were always made in groves where plenty of wood could be obtained. It may be assumed that, although no re- cord was kept, as the surveys were made under the direction of the President, and had metes and bounds regularly established, they must necessarily be considered as a part of the reserve under the treaty; yet, that position would not affect the miners' claims seriously, for in no instance was the mineral smelted taken from the timbered sur- veys; it was taken from the adjoining prairie lands, which were un- doubtedly the property of the Indians. So well was this understood by the miners and smelters that, at a very early day, they refused to pay rent for the lead dug from the Indian lands. The consequence was
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that, in the spring of 1825, troops were ordered from Fort Armstrong (Rock Island) to force the payment of the rent. Against this military exaction the smelters strongly protested.
"Up to the year 1825, the country east of the Mississippi, lying between the Rock and Wisconsin Rivers, and extending north to Lake Winnebago, was claimed conjointly by the Ottawas, Chippewas, Win- nebagoes, and Pottawatomies of the Illinois. The Winnebagoes, it will be remembered, were not parties to the treaty of 1816, at Fort Howard, and they were the actual occupants of the land around Fever River, who resisted the landing of Col. Johnson. Previous to his ar- rival, Van Matre, Shull, and others, who were licensed as Indian traders, also mined and smelted in the country. They were tolerated in this because they were married to Indian women, not because they had any recognized right to do so, conferred by the Government. But, after the arrival of Johnson, all who were smelting in the country were compelled to take out licenses and pay rent to the Government.
"At the treaty concluded at Prairie du Chien August 19, 1825, known as the 'Treaty of Limits,' the seventh and ninth articles di- vided the mining country on the east of the Mississippi between the Chippewas, Ottawas, Winnebagoes, and Pottawatomies of the Illinois, and by the tenth article of the treaty the United States solemnly es- tablished and recognized the bonndaries.
" Previous to the summer of 1827, no attempt had been made by the miners to cross the boundary established in 1825, but then a mili- tary expedition was sent against the Winnebagoes to capture Red Bird. The miners who accompanied the expedition discovered num- erous indications of mineral, and in the fall of 1827 a number of them prospected in the country and a valuable discovery of mineral was made near Dodgeville. During the following year other mines were discovered.
"The miners purchased from the Indians the right to mine here and, therefore, when called upon by the Superintendent of the Lead Mines, refused to pay rent to the Government. The consequence was, troops were ordered out from Fort Crawford (Prairie du Chien), to remove the miners from the Winnebago country. To avoid this issue the miners finally consented to take out leases and pay rent to the Government, and did, therefore, actually, pay two duties for the priv- ilge of mining: one to the Indians to keep them quiet, and one to the Government to prevent expulsion.
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"The Winnebagoes never consented to the reservation with the other tribes who made the treaties of 1804 and 1816, although they were, as shown, part owners of the country ; neither can any evidence be adduced showing that the reservation provided for in the treaty of 1816 was ever located, except in the matter of timber surveys before mentioned.
"When the first leases were granted, in 1822, the Fever River miners were fully three hundred miles beyond the border settlement, and the Mississippi was the only thoroughfare in the country, and keel-boats the only means of transportation. The consequence was that the necessary implements for mining purposes, as well as the necessaries of life, were taken to the mines at an enormous expense. For years the prosperity of the mines was retarded because the Govern- ment discountenanced any attempts at agriculture, the agents assum- ing that the fencing of farms would consume .timber needed for smelt- ing purposes. At first the ore was smelted in log furnaces, and thereby a heavy loss was sustained. For two seasons the mining and smelt- ing operations were suspended and great sacrifices were made by the miners in defending the country against the Indians. The miners, at a great expenditure of time, labor, and money, and though suffering the worst dangers and privations that are to be met with on the frontier, opened this portion of the country to a permanent settle- ment. The expenditures of Col. Johnson alone amounted to $10,000."
PROSPECTING AND MINING.
A few lines of description of prospecting and mining for lead may not be amiss to readers not familiar with the business. The deposits of lead ore were all made in crevices or fissures in the limestone strata which in the Lead Region always overlie a stratum of sandstone. These crevices or fissures extend vertically through one stratum or more of the limestone and horizontally sometimes for miles. The very deep valleys characteristic of the Lead Region have cut through these limestone strata and in some places deep into the underlying sand- stone, so it is evident that these veins of ore, lying horizontally in the crevices, in all cases where they extend very far, are cut by a valley and therefore crop out at the surface of the rock on the hillside. Now, if all the hillsides were of bare rock, these outcrops could easily be seen and prospecting would be an easy matter. But the hillsides are, in most places, covered with earth from a few inches to twenty feet or more in thickness, and the outcropping veins of ore are thus concealed.
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except in a few places where a torrent of rain-water has washed them bare. In the process of cutting the valleys by erosion much ore from these outcrops was broken off and moved by the water down the hill- sides. These pieces of ore are called "float," and it is for this float the prospector generally seeks.
In search of float a hole is dug in the earth. As the mineral veins and their float occupy only a very small part of the hillsides, it is evi- dent that a great many prospect holes may be dug before mineral is found; and it is in this barren digging that so many miners spend the product of some former strike, or the money earned by long and hard wage-labor. As the "sucker" miners, or those who came up from the South in the spring and returned in the fall, never sunk any deeper shafts than these prospect holes, such shallow shafts came to be called "sucker holes."
When float is found the prospector knows that it came down the hill, and, consequently, he prospects higher on the hillside. If he misses it he sometimes runs a "drift" or horizontal gallery to the right or left in search of the float or outcrop. Sometimes he gets too far up and the absence of the float indicates that the outcrop is below. Hav- ing found the vein, the miner follows it by a horizontal drift just large enough for him to use his pick in, generally on his knees. To carry out the earth, stone, and ore from the drift, he constructs a miniature railroad track, generally of inch boards placed edge up, on which a little car carrying the tub is run from the farther end of the drift to the shaft where the miner's partner or hired man at the surface lifts the tub and its contents with the windlass, which is probably too well known to require description.
The ore is found, sometimes in thin streaks or sheets, sometimes in "pockets," or immense masses, and occasionally in a nugget weigh- ing hundreds or even thousands of pounds. Sometimes it is found in very small pieces, even in coarse powder, mingled with a large quan- tity of red, ochery earth. This ore-bearing earth is called "wash- dirt," and the miner in the drift must be experienced enough to distin- guish earth that will pay for washing from waste-dirt. When he fills a tub with the wash-dirt, if he does not depend on the judgment of the man at the windlass, he writes upon the smoothed surface of the tubful the letter "W." This rich earth is taken to some stream and there in a flume of boards is washed, the water carrying away the earth and leaving the ore, even when it is in the form of powder.
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As the drift gets far away from the shaft the air becomes foul, both from the breath of the miner and from his light, and from exhal- ations of carbonic acid gas from the surrounding earth. Fresh air is furnished, sometimes by blowing it by fan-wheels through a pipe made of canvas kept extended by little hoops of willow twigs, but a more common and less expensive method is to have this pipeexhaust the foul air at the end of the drift by having its upper end connected with a fire-place, where the heat of the fire causes an upward draft, to supply which the air comes through the pipe from the end of the drift and its place is supplied by fresh air coming down the shaft and along the drift.
When the drift has extended so far that it cannot be well ventila- ted and it is inconvenient to carry out the earth, rock, and ore, an- other shaft is sunk from the surface to meet the head of the drift. As the drift is extending into the hillside, it is evident that each succeed- ing shaft will be deeper, until the crest of the ridge is reached. It must first be sunk through the stratum of earth above the rock. This is in many places twenty feet or more in thickness. If the earth is not of a very firm nature, the shaft must be "cribbed" with pieces of timber, or walled with stone, usually the former. The rock being reached, if it is much fissured and broken it may be taken out with ordinary picks or broken up with gads, which are steel wedges driven into the cracks of the rock with a sledge-hammer. A sort of pick is used that combines the pick and gad, called a poll-pick. One end is an ordinary pick, but short and strong, and the other is a head or poll on which blows with the sledge may bestruck to drive it into or between fragments of rock, or it may be used as a hammer to drive the gads into the rock. But when the rock is too firm and hard to be broken up with pick or gad resort is had to blasting, with powder placed in holes made with drills, which are long steel bars with a cutting edge at the end. These are generally urged on by blows of the sledge, but some are made long and heavy and cut the rock by the momentum gained by lifting them up and thrusting them down. These are called churn-drills. It ap- pears from a letter by a well-known pioneer miner, Ralph Carver, that in the year 1833 some improvement was made in drills. A letter from him on that subject was read at a meeting of the Old Settlers' Club held in 1876, as follows :
"MR. MCGONIGAL,
" MUSCODA, Aug. 19, 1876.
"Sir :- As an old settler of Grant County, I would be glad to
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meet my fellow pioneers at the approaching anniversary, but circum- stances forbid. But still I think this a proper time to recall a reminis- cence of our old contemporary, James Gilmore, late of Jamestown in this county.
"Previous to the Black Hawk war, we miners used iron drills and gads with steel points, but in that year some Cornish miners came to Gratiot's Grove and introduced the inestimable poll-pick and cast-steel gad, but used iron drills with steel points.
"In the succeeding winter Mr. Gilmore, myself and others were mining at Snake Hollow (now Potosi). Our blacksmith, whose anvil was on the stump of a tree with no covering but the sky and clouds, was absent on a spree. Mr. Gilmore and I wanted new steel on our drills. Mr. Gilmore said he could sharpen and temper tools but could not weld cast-steel. He proposed that we should get a bar of cast- steel and cut it in two for each of us a drill, and he could sharpen and temper the ends. We got a square bar, as octagon bars were then un- known, beat down the corners and had each of us an excellent drill, which I have every reason to believe were the first cast-steel drills ever used. They soon came into general use in the lead mines, and a few years after were in general use wherever drills were used.
"Now, whether this universal use of them was the result of Mr. Gilmore's invention, I cannot say; but I know that up to that time the Cornish miners were unacquainted with the cast-steel drill.
"Please submit this to the meeting with my best regards.
"Yours truly,
"RALPH CARVER."
As has been said before, these crevices or openings extend through the rock vertically as well as horizontally, and the miner in following them down after the mineral often came to water. As he was not generally able to put in a steam pump to drain the mine, he had to abandon all the mineral below water.
A good many small pieces of mineral were always mixed with the waste-dirt and not recovered by the miners. After children made their appearance in the lead region the boys were accustomed to rake over these waste-dirt piles with hoes to find these scattering pieces. This was called "picking" mineral. Considerable quantities were thus ob- tained. The editor, when about six years old, used to go out nearly every day and "pick " about ten cents' worth. A dime was the extent of his daily desires and he always quit when he estimated that he had
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a dime's worth. This was in the good old days when petty larceny was unknown in this region and locks on doors had not come into fashion. Even the boys did not steal. Later on when there was more civilization and less honesty, the boys got to straying off from the waste-dirt piles to the wash-dirt piles, and even the mineral piles of the miners, and the practice was prohibited.
SMELTING.
The ore being taken out, it had to be smelted. It was not pure lead. There was sometimes a considerable admixture of ocher and and crystal of carbonate of lime called tiff. The pure ore itself was generally a sulphuret of lead called in mineralogy "galena." This word has furnished a name for towns in the lead regions of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado. This mineral usually crystallizes in the form of cubes, and when broken has a high but peculiar metallic luster. In certain positions as to light the faces of the crystal are dark almost to blackness; in other positions they glitter like polished silver.
The first smelting was done in rude log furnaces, not much better than the Indian furnaces described by Captain Shaw, but later im- proved furnaces, lined with fire-brick and heated by a blast, were in- troduced. The mineral, placed upon the fuel and the fire urged by the blast, was soon decomposed. The sulphur was burned and driven off and the metallic molten lead trickled down through the mass, leaving the impurities behind in the form of slag, and ran out in bright, trick- ling streams into a reservoir, heated to keep the lead fluid. It was dipped out with ladles into molds so as to form bars called "pigs," weighing about seventy pounds each. Upon the bottom of the mold was the name of the smelter, and this name was thus left, in depressed letters, on each pig.
Galena ore contains a large amount of arsenic, which in smelting is driven off as a gas. Being very heavy, it quickly settles to the ground, and when taken into the lungs is as poisonous as when taken into the stomach. In the old-fashioned furnace this arsenous gas settled around the smelters at work, and thus the business was a very un- healthy one. Sometimes a few months of it would make a wreck of the smelter. The newer furnaces had high smoke-stacks to carry the poisonous vapor high up, and roofs to prevent it settling directly upon the workmen, if the wind did not carry it away. The vapor settled
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upon grass and trees, leaving a white powder of arsenic, killing vege- tation and poisoning all animals which ate the grass, except hogs.
All the lead smelted in this region contains a considerable propor- tion of silver, which makes it too hard for use in many of the arts. Formerly all this lead was sent to Wales for the extraction of the sil- ver, but this work is now done in many of our large cities.
MINING LIFE.
Although during the first ten years after the influx into what is now Grant County began, a great many miners came in, there were few families and nothing that could be called towns, or even villages. The great majority of the miners were men without wives or families. Some lived in their little huts alone, but in most cases two partners lived together and "bached it." Their cabins, built convenient to springs (which were much more numerous then than now) and as near as possible to the mines, were thus scattered about the hills and ra- vines, without any order. There were few stores in the region. Those rude-living, hardy men wanted little "store stuff," and for that little they usually went to Galena. Blacksmiths were necessary, principally to sharpen mining tools, but they did not need to locate in a town. Anywhere most convenient to a considerable number of miners would do. Though "stores" were not numerous nor flourishing, "groceries" were. These "groceries" were not for the sale of sugar and coffee, and other provisions, as our younger readers may suppose. These things were "store goods." "Groceries" dealt principally in "red liquor." But they will be particularly described later on, when we reach a part of Grant County's history when they flourished most.
Until after the Black Hawk War, in 1832, the miners and settlers lived lives of danger, as well as hardship. Roaming bands of Winne- bagoes, Sacs, or Foxes, were perilous visitors for the lonely prospect- or. During the short "Winnebago Fuss," of 1827 (which will be more particularly described in the part of this work devoted to the military history of the county) the few inhabitants retreated to Galena or Prairie du Chien, or to hastily improvised "forts" made of sod em- bankments or stockades.
In the spring of 1832 many new miners came in, but they had hardly got well at work when the alarming news of Black Hawk's in- vasion caused them to hurry from their mines to the nearest "fort." where many of them exchanged the pick for the rifle and went out in
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pursuit of the dreaded invaders, who soon became fugitives desperate- ly struggling to escape their swarming foes. This war will be more particularly described in the Military History in this work.
This short war, though it temporarily almost depopulated the mines, served to advertise the region to all the world, and after it was over immigration set in with renewed strength. Towns were laid off and began to exist in fact as well as in name. Platteville, Paris, Hazel Green (no longer Hardscrabble), Cassvillle, Lafayette, and Sini- pee, began to have a regular village existence. Bee Town was a well- known name, but hardly a regular village. The "paper towns" were a'later creation which will be mentioned further on.
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