History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin, Part 59

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: [Chicago : Western Historical Co.?]
Number of Pages: 1050

USA > Wisconsin > Grant County > History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin > Part 59

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It must be considered as reasonably certain, as previously stated, that the lead-mining dis- trict, now lying in Jo Daviess County, [I]., and in Grant, Iowa and La Fayette Counties, Wis., was more or less occupied by Dubuque's men before any permanent settlements were made in the territory. Dubuque, by his wonderful magnetic power, had obtained great influence among

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HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

the Indians, then occupying this entire region. They believed him to be almost equal to the Great Spirit, and they feared him nearly as much. They implicitly obeyed him, and it is not a mere chimera to presume that they reported to him the existence of leads on the east as well as on the west side of the Father of Waters ; and it is reasonable to suppose, when such reports were made to him, that he verified them by actual observations made by himself or his men. From the remembrances of the oldest residents of this region, now surviving, and the traces of mining done by whites long before any permanent settlements were made, it seems more than probable that Dubuque and his men were the first whites who occupied the Fever River lead- mining district, in common with the aboriginal inhabitants.

It must also be considered certain that " La Pointe " was familiar to them as a trading-post, long previous to actual white settlement. The total absence of records leaves the subject enshrouded in a darkness that is relieved only by tradition. The locality here designated as " La Pointe " is that also known as " The Portage," near the present city of Galena.

In February, 1810, Nicholas Boilvin, then agent for the Winnebagoes at Prairie du Chien, passed through this region on foot from Rock Island, with Indians for guides, and by them was shown a lead mine, which, from his memoranda, written in the French language, was near Fever River, and was probably what was afterward known to the early settlers as the Old Buck Lead.

EARLY NAVIGATION AND COMMERCE.

In 1810, Henry Shreeve is said to have worked his way up to Fever River, and there obtained a small cargo of lead, which he floated back to the towns on the Lower Mississippi.

The following extract from Moses M. Strong's forthcoming "History of Wisconsin," con- firms the fact of early-time navigation and intercourse between the lead region and St. Louis :

"In the period between 1815 and 1820, Capt. John Shaw made eight trips, in a trading- boat, from St. Louis to Prairie du Chien, and visited the lead mines where the city of Galena now is, and where the Indians smelted the lead in rude furnaces of their own construction ; and at one time Mr. Shaw carried away seventy tons, which they had produced from the ores obtained by themselves, in their primitive modes.

" Capt. Shaw afterward lived in Green Lake County, in this State, where he died a few years since."

In 1816, by a treaty made at St. Louis with various tribes to settle the disputes that had arisen under the treaty of 1804, by which the Sacs and Foxes had ceded to the United States all the lands lying between the Illinois and Wisconsin Rivers, east of the Mississippi, all the lands north of a line running west from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan to the Missis- sippi, were relinquished to the Indians, except a tract five leagues square on the Mississippi River, to be designated by the President of the United States. These reservations were intended to be sufficient to embrace the lead mines known to be worked by the squaws and presumed to be valuable, although their location was not known to the Government, and probably the unde- fined character of the reservation is thus accounted for.

DAVENPORT AT FEVER RIVER.

In 1816, the late Col. George Davenport, agent of the American Fur Company, trading with the Sacs and Foxes, occupied the trading-post at the Portage, on Fever River, and lived there, but how long is not now known. He soon after left that point and went to Rock Island. The post was afterward occupied by Amos Farrar, of the firm of Davenport, Farrar & Farnham, agents of the American Fur Company. This important fact in the early history of this district is given on the authority of William H. Snyder, of Galena, who had the statement direct from Col. Davenport in 1835.

Previous to 1819, the Sacs and Foxes, both noted as warlike and dangerous tribes, had killed several traders who had attempted to traffic among them. It was currently reported that a trader met his death at their hands, at Sinsinawa, in 1813.

Good. Hanalto

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HISTORY OF TIIE LEAD REGION.

THE BUCK LEAD.

In 1819, the historic diggings known for more than half a century as the "Buck Lead," were being worked by the Indians, the labor being mainly performed by squaws. It was the largest body of mineral then ever discovered on Fever River, and an immense amount of galena ore was taken out by the natives and sold to traders, before the lead was worked out by Johnson, as hereinafter referred to. Mr. Farrar estimated that several million pounds had been taken from this lead by the Indians ; more, in fact, than was taken from it by white miners afterward. This lead took its name from "The Buck," a Sac or Fox chief, who was encamped with his band on Fever River in 1819, and worked it. Its existence had been known to the Indians for many years, and unquestionably by Dubuque, previous to its working by Buck and his band. Close by it and parallel with it, was a smaller lead, which may be called the "Doe " lead, in honor of Buck's favorite squaw. Before the arrival of Johnson, in 1820-21, the Indians took from this lead the largest nugget of mineral ever raised in the region. It took all the force they could muster to raise it, and, when they had succeeded in getting it out, the Indian miners urged that it be sent to Washington as a gift to the Great Father, but, since no record of its hav- ing been so disposed of is extant, it is reasonable to believe that the traders outweighed their inclinations by offering a slight advance on the customary price, which was a peck of corn for a peck of mineral.

JESSE SHULL'S TRADERSHIP.

In 1819, when the Buck Lead was being worked by the Indians, Jesse W. Shull was trad- ing at Dubuque's mines, for a company at Prairie du Chien. That company desired him to go to Fever River and trade with the Indians ; but he declared that it was unsafe, that the Sacs and Foxes had already murdered several traders, and declined to go unless he could have the protection of the United States troops. Col. Johnson, of the United States Army, subsequently was induced to summon a council of the Sac and Fox nations at Prairie du Chien, and when the chiefs had assembled, he informed them that the goods which Mr. Shull was about to bring among them were sent out by their Father, the President of the United States (it was not con- sidered a sin to lie to the Indians even as long ago as then), and told them that they must not inolest Shull in his business.

Having received from the Government officers and from the Indians assurances of protec- tion, Shull came to Fever River late in the summer of 1819, and erected a trading-house on the bottoms at the river, probably near the foot of the present Perry street. Mr. Seymour, in his " History of Galena," published in 1848, fixes the location as the "site of the American House ; " but, as that landmark has long since disappeared, the location is indefinite. During 1848, Mr. Seymour had a personal interview with Mr. Shull, then residing in Green County, and gathered from his lips the information given herein. Mr. Shull stated that he and Dr. Samuel C. Muir were the first white settlers on Fever River at that point. Dr. Muir began trading, with goods furnished by Col. Davenport, at that place, the same year. Mr. Shull also said that Francois Bouthillier, a French trader known about Prairie du Chien as early as 1812, " occupied " a rude hut at the bend, on the east side of Fever River, in 1819; but whether he built the same, or merely occupied a shanty already constructed by some earlier trader, is unde- termined. This leaves the subject in a vague state ; but the inference is that Bouthillier not only lived in but also built the hut.

Mr. Shull does not appear to have been a permanent fixture at Fever River, for he soon moved to other places, and changed his base as the Indians shifted their hunting and trapping grounds. He subsequently removed to what is now La Fayette County, as is shown in the his- tory of that county proper.

DR. SAMUEL C. MUIR.

Dr. Samuel C. Muir, mentioned by Mr. Shull as trading in the district in 1819, may have been the companion of that pioneer, but no evidence goes to prove the fact. Just when he first came and how long he remained is unknown. Dr. Muir was an educated physician, a graduate of

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HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

Edinburg, and a man of strict integrity. He was Surgeon in the United States Army previ- ous to his settlement at La Pointe. He married an Indian woman of the Fox Nation. In 1819-20, Dr. Muir was stationed at Fort Edwards, now Warsaw. He resigned in the latter year, and built the first house on the site of Keokuk, but leased his claim to parties in St. Louis, and again came to La Pointe in 1820, to practice his profession. He was the first regular phy- sician in the district. He remained ten years. Subsequently, he returned to Keokuk, where he suddenly died, leaving an estate badly involved. His widow and her two surviving children (two had previously died) disappeared, some say to resume her old relations with her tribe, on the Upper Missouri.

A. P. VAN MATRE.

In the summer of 1819, A. P. Van Matre located on the east side of the river, at La Pointe, where he engaged in smelting. From an article on the carly settlement of this district published in the Galena Sentinel in 1843, the following is taken relative to this man :

" In the fall of the year 1819, our old friend, Capt. D. G. Bates, started from St. Louis, with a French crew, for Fever River, Upper Mississippi, lead mines. His vessel was a ' keel,' the only means of conveyance then of heavy burthens on the Upper Mississippi ; and the boat- men in those days were, some of them, 'half-horse and half-alligator.' But the merry French, after arriving off Pilot Knob, commenced hunting for Fever River. After a search of three days they found the mouth, and, on the 13th of November, after pushing through the high grass and rice lakes, they arrived safely at where Galena now stands, where they were greeted by some of the natives, from the tall grass, as well as by our old acquaintances, J. W. Shull and A. P. Van Matre, who had taken to themselves wives from the daughters of the land, and were traders for their brethren. [A portion of the scrap is here gone. Others are evidently mentioned; Dr. Muir, for one.] Capt. Bates, after disposing of or leaving his cargo in exchange for lead, etc., returned to St. Louis for another cargo.'

Future generations will be glad to learn what the primitive "keel-boat " was. The novel craft was built to fill the peculiar demand of the locality. It was something like a modern " scow-barge," only its hull was lower. These boats were from fifty to eighty feet long and from ten to fifteen feet beam, with two to three feet depth of hold. On the deck was built the " cargo- box," which generally extended to within about ten feet of the ends of the boat, with about two feet space between gunwales and box. This space was. called a "walking-board." Sometimes there was no room for this runway, and it was projected over the hull. The rudder was a gigantic sweep. The boat was propelled by oars, sails, poles, or any other contrivance which ingenuity or necessity suggested. When the water was high and the boat near shore, the crew would seize the bushes and "bushwhack " along. The character of many men who engaged in this life was such as to render " bushwhacking " a term of severest reproach even to this day. Frequently, a long rope was attached to the boat, and the crew organized into a towing-club. This style of navigation was called " cordelling." Sometimes a rope was made fast to a tree or an anchor and hauled upon, the crew walking from stem to stern until the craft was alongside of the anchorage, when another " hitch " was made. This laborious work was the only method of securing navigation in the Upper Mississippi at the time mentioned.

Francois Bouthillier, the other and later occupant of the Fever River trading-post in 1819, was a roving trader, who followed the nomadic habits of his dusky customers. Whether he remained in his shanty, calling it home, from that time on, is unknown. The second mention of him is made in the statement of J. G. Soulard, who, while on his way to Fort Snelling, in 1821, found Bouthillier at Fever River, still acting as trader. Mr. Shull, in the interview with Mr. Seymour, already mentioned, said : "Mr. Bouthillier, after he occupied a shanty at the ' Bend,' in 1819, purchased a cabin then known as the cabin of Bagwell & Co., supposed to be near the lower ferry. In 1824, and previous to Bouthillier's purchase, the house and lot had been sold for $80." Here Mr. Bouthillier engaged in trade and established a ferry, which is the first permanent settlement made by him of which authentic account is given. Capt. Harris is authority for saying that such a ferry and trading-house were built near that point.

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HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

In this connection, it is well to add that Mr. George Ferguson and Mr. Allan Tomlin, early settlers and reliable men, both express the opinion that there was a trading-post at the Portage, three and a-half miles below La Pointe, before either of those whose names have been mentioned were at the place. However this may be, in the absence of further evidence, it must be admit- ted that there were a large number of Indians encamped or living in the region referred to at that time, whose women and old men were engaged in raising lead from the Buck lead, and the fame of their rude though, for them, extensive mining operations, must have naturally attracted the attention of traders, who probably came to traffic with them. The inference, if not the proof, sustains the statements of Messrs. Ferguson and Tomlin. The Portage was a narrow neck of land between Fever River and the Mississippi, so named because the Indians and traders were accustomed to transport their canoes and goods across to save the journey down to the mouth, some two and a half miles, the neck being only a few rods in width. A furrow was plowed across the neck in 1834, by Licut. Hobart, and now there is a deep channel, called the " cut- off." This was certainly a good location for a trading-post.

In November, 1821, when the charge of the lead mines was transferred from the General Land Office to the War Department, no mines were known to be worked in any of the mining districts under leases or legal authority, although many were known to be worked without authority, especially in Missouri. This statement is made in the sense of United States author- ity, for it was only by obtaining the authority and friendship of the Indians, either by marriage with squaws or by presents, that operations could be carried on with impunity by white men.

THE FIRST WHITE WOMAN.

In 1821, Thomas H. January located on "La Pointe." He brought his wife and one child-a son. This must be accepted as the first known presence of a white woman in the lead region. Mrs. January died in a short time after her arrival, and her remains were taken back to Kentucky, her former home, in 1826. Mr. January was a former resident of Maysville, Ky., where he lost his fortune. He moved to the new country for the purpose of retrieving his financial condition. He died November 29, 1828, and was buried with Masonic honors, accord- ing to the Miner's Journal, a paper he doubtless helped to establish.

THE FIRST AMERICAN HISTORY.

In 1822, this extreme western frontier settlement had become sufficiently well known to have a place in the literature of the day. A book called The Gazetteer of Illinois and Missouri was published that year. The Galena River, called frequently "Fever River," was also known as " Bean River," because the French traders had styled it " Riviere au Feve," meaning bean. The Gazetteer contained the following:

"Bean River (Riviere au Fove, Fr.), a navigable stream of Pike County, emptying into the Mississippi three miles below Catfish Creek, twenty miles below Dubuque's mines, and about seventy above Rock River. Nine miles up this stream a small creek empties into it from the west. The banks of this creek and the hills, which abound in alluvium, are filled with lead ore of the best quality. Three miles below this, on the banks of Bean River, is the trader's village, consisting of ten or twelve houses or cabins. At this place the ore is obtained from the Indians, is smelted, and then sent in boats either to Canada [by way of the Wisconsin to the Portage, then down the Fox River to Green Bay] or New Orleans. The mines are at present cxten- sively worked by Colonel Johnson, of Kentucky, who, during the last session of Congress (winter of 1821-22), obtained the exclusive right of working them for three years. The lands on this river are poor, and are only valuable on account of the immense quantities of mineral which they contain."

In the same work, Chicago is simply mentioned as a "village of Pike County, containing twelve or fifteen houses, and about sixty or seventy inhabitants." It is very evident that there , was a "traders' village " on or near the present site of Galena in 1822, and that it was a point of more importance, commercially, than Chicago at that time. The statement is confirmed by

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HISTORY. OF THE LEAD REGION.

a letter from Capt. M. Marston, then commander at Fort Edwards, to Amos Farrar, Fever River, dated April 12, 1822, in which appears the following: "The Johnsons, of Kentucky, have leased the Fever River lead inines, and are about sending up a large number of men. It is also said that some soldiers will be stationed there. If this is all true, the Foxes, and all the trading establishments now there, must remove."

An explanation of the foregoing, and a confirmation of historic assertion, is found in official documents. If the lead mines attracted traders, they naturally attracted miners also. Espe- cially so since the Missouri mines were known to be fields wherein depredations could be, and were, carried on. It followed in logical sequence that the Fever River district should not be left in exemption to the rule. Possibilities soon become probabilities and actualities.

Leaving the Indian's and unlawful white man's attempts out of further mention, it is found that the first regular operations of which records speak were those carried on by James Jolinson, of Kentucky, who is named in the foregoing extracts from the Gazetteer and letter. Mr. John- son is spoken of as a brother of the historic Col. R. M. Johnson, famous as the accredited slayer of Tecumseh-a disputed point in more recent history, however, but one foreign to this chapter. The date of Johnson's arrival at La Pointe must remain forever in obscurity, unless some records not now discovered are hereafter brought to light. Capt. Marston's letter, quoted above, is supplemented by a letter written by Dr. H. Newhall, dated "Fever River, March 1, 1823," in which the Doctor speaks of the Buck lead as having been " worked out by Col. John- son while he was at these mines in 1820-21." J. G. Soulard, who passed up the Mississippi in 1821, as already mentioned, also speaks of Johnson. He says the latter's boats were seen float- ing down the river loaded with lead. He did not see Johnson, however. It is believed that Johnson first came to the district in 1819-20 as a trader. In 1820-21, it appears probable that he mined without Government authority, but under purchased permission from the Indians. At that time the Land Office, and not the War Department, had control of the matter, and a very vigorous exercise of authority was neither possible nor attempted. It is barely supposable that Johnson was there engaged merely in smelting, and did not mine at all until legally empowered to do so.

In August or September, 1821, Amos Farrar was managing a trading-post on Fever River, as agent for the American Fur Company, and was living there with his Fox wife. This fact is established by the existence of a letter addressed to him at the "Lead Mines, Fever River," from Major S. Burbank, commander at Fort Armstrong, dated October 14, 1821. The letter was sent " by favor of Mr. Music," and tendered Mr. Farrar " my old black horse, if it will be of any service to you." A letter dated at Fort Armstrong, November 21, 1821, signed "J. R. Stubbs," a blacksmith, was addressed to " Amos Farrar, Fever River, and introduced the bearer of the letter, Mr. Symmes, who is accompanied by Mr. Connor and Mr. Bates." These were, probably, B. Symmes and James .Connor ; but whether it was David G or Nehe- miah Bates, is uncertain. The documents preserved show that Mr. Farrar was, for at least two years before and up to July 22, 1821, in the service of Louis Devotion, as a trader on the Mississippi, located at Fort Armstrong, and receiving his goods, via Green Bay, from Canada. About the date referred to, he left Devotion's service and located at Portage, on Fever River. In 1823, he had a trading-house on the bank of the river near the center of what is now Water street, Galena. On the first of June, 1825, Mr. Farrar received a permit, signed Charles Smith, acting Sub-agent of the United States Lead Mines, permitting him to occupy five acres of United States land for cultivation, and to build a cabin thereon, situated near the Portage. He was compelled to comply with all the timber regulations. Mr. Farrar had three children by his Fox wife, but who are now dead. About two years before his death, he married Miss Sophia Gear, sister of Capt. H. H. Gear. He died of consumption July 24, 1832, at his house within the stockade then existing.

THE CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT.

In November, 1821, the jurisdiction of the lead mines was transferred from the General Land Office to the War Department, and January 4, 1822, leases were granted to T. D. Carniel and

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HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

Benjamin Johnson, and to Messrs. Suggett & Payne, all of Kentucky, for one hundred and sixty acres of land to each of the two parties to be selected by them, in the northern part of Illinois or the southern part of the then Michigan Territory, now Wisconsin. Lieut. C. Burdine, of the United States Army, was ordered to meet them in the spring at the Great Crossings of the Kentucky, proceed with them in exploring the country, assist them in the selection of their lands, protect them with an armed force, and mal ? surveys of the ground for the information of the Government. Subsequently, leases were granted to other parties. The absence of records in the West-though probably such reports as were made can be found in the archives of the War Department, if one is desirous of gaining positive knowledge-leaves the precise movements of Lieut. Burdine in obscurity. It is presumable that he obeyed the orders of his superiors, how- ever, and made a more or less careful survey. April 12, 1822, Capt. Marston, at Fort Edwards (Warsaw). wrote to Amos Farrar, at Fever River, that "the Johnsons, of Kentucky, have leased the Fever Lead Mines, and are about sending up a large number of men." It is prob- able that under their lease they selected land to include the Buck lead; and a little later, in the same year, James Johnson and a Mr. Ward (probably D. L. Ward) came from Kentucky, bring- ing with them a number of negro slaves. It was thus that human slavery was introduced into the lead district. The statement is authoritatively made that the leaders were accompanied by several young white men, whose names are not now remembered. Johnson had his furnace on the site of McClosky's store, on the levee. He worked the Buck lead, and raised a large amount of ore. David G. Bates and A. P. Van Matre worked a vein of mineral on Apple River, near Elizabeth (Georgetown), but smelted their ore at Fever River. The number of miners at work at this period (1822) is not known.

During 1822, Dr. Moses Meeker visited the lead region on a tour of observation. Un- questionably others visited Fever River the same year for the same purpose, as the extraordinary deposit of mineral had become knewn in the old settlements south and east.

Maj. John Anderson, of the United States Topographical Engineers, was stationed as Government Agent at Fever River in 1822, probably, although the exact date is not shown. He occupied a shanty on what was known as "Anderson's Slough" (now Harris' Slough), about two and a half miles from Galena.

William Adney and wife were also in the place, Adney had been a soldier, and arrived here that spring. Mrs. Adney was the only white woman at Fever River when the Ohio colony arrived, which caused the statement to be made that she was the first white woman to settle in in the district. The facts already mentioned concerning Mrs. Thomas H. January's arrival in 1821, and her death a short time later, show that Mrs. Adney must have been the second white female settler. Mrs. Adney's remains were disinterred and taken to her former home in Ken- tucky in 1826.

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History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin, Part 59

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: [Chicago : Western Historical Co.?] Number of Pages: 1050

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: [Chicago : Western Historical Co.?]
Number of Pages: 1050