History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin, Part 65

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

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About the middle of the afternoon, on the day of the battle, the regiment had halted for the purpose of encamping for the night. Nearly all the horses had been picketed out, turned loose or otherwise disposed of. The men were lazily engaged about camp, some gathering wood, pitching tents, etc., and others drinking whisky, of which they had an abundance in camp, and to save time they knocked in the heads of the barrels containing it. But, suddenly, a great commotion arose ! Three Indians had made their appearance on the open prairie a short dis- tance in advance. The cry was now raised, " Every man draw his rations of Sauks." Then the rush commenced ; the first man to mount his horse and give chase was the best fellow ; pell- mell was the order of march. This order, or rather disorder, continued for some distance, prob- ably two or three miles. Two of the Indians were overtaken on the prairie and killed. At length, the rear of the army reached the Sycamore, a small stream on the outskirts of a grove of timber. Here they met the van in the same disgraceful order, in full retreat, and the whole body of Indians in hot pursuit. The whole direction of things had suddenly changed ; these men, who a few moments before were so anxious to pursue an enemy, were now more anxious to escape. Amid this confusion, Capt. Adams, with a company from Peoria, succeeded in crossing the creek, and took a position between the fugitives and the Indians. This position they held for some time against the whole force of the enemy, and no doubt saved the lives of many. This, however, was not accomplished without severe loss. Capt. Adams and about one-fourth of his men were left dead on the field.

There was no longer any uncertainty. The Indians separated their force into small bands, and numerous reports of sudden attacks and massacres, some true and others false, came in from various surrounding points.

The evening of the day previous to the arrival of Stillman and his men at Ottawa, the In- dian massacre occurred on Indian Creek, about fourteen miles distant from that place. It has been stated that all the whites present at the time of the massacre, except the two Misses Hall, taken prisoners, were killed. This statement is not correct. The first intelligence received at Ottawa of that event was brought in by a young man, a brother of the Misses Hall, who was present at the commencement of the attack, and who arrived at Ottawa about midnight ; but his mind was so much confused by the fright that he was unable to give any connected statement of the facts until the next day. From his statement, it appears that the wagons containing the furniture and effects of the families were not yet unladen when the Indians made the attack. In

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HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

the morning of the same day on which the occurrence transpired, the three families of Hall, Pettigrew and Davis, had, upon warning received from Shabbona, a Pottawotamie chief, that " The Sauks were coming," fled to Ottawa, the nearest settlement. Davis was not at home at. the time ; but when he reached there a short time after the families had left, he followed them to Ottawa, where he arrived about the same time they reached that place. He at once declared his determination to take his family back home ; and most unfortunately, and against the unan- imous admonition of all the inhabitants, prevailed upon Hall and Pettigrew to accompany him with their families ; and they had only just arrived at Davis' house late in the afternoon, when the Indians came upon them. At the moment of the attack, Davis and young Hall were in the blacksmith-shop. Davis was fixing his gun, and, at the same time, had the barrel of the gun separate from the stock. When the alarm was given, he rushed out of the shop with the gun- barrel in his hands, and was immediately surrounded by the Indians. Young Hall ran to the creek, a few yards distant, jumped down the bank, and, taking the downward course of the stream, reached Ottawa the same night. The Misses Hall afterward said that Davis killed six Indians before he was finally overcome.

In the afternoon of the day following this massacre, a company of men from Ottawa, accom- panied by some of Stillman's command, went to the scene of the murder, and the accounts they gave, on their return, of the appearance in and around the house was horrible in the extreme. Even little infants were literally cut to pieces ; and this, too, was done in the immediate presence, and, doubtless, with the sanction of Black Hawk himself.

HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

CHAPTER I.

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES-THE NATURAL DRAINAGE-THE MOUND-BUILDERS-MOSES STRONG'S OBSERVATIONS ON THE PRE-HISTORIC MOUNDS OF GRANT COUNTY.

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES.

This county is situated in the extreme southwest corner of the State, its boundaries being thus described : "Beginning at the southwest corner of this State (Wisconsin), running thence east on the boundary line of the State to the Fourth Principal Meridian ; thence north on said Meridian to the middle of the main channel of said Wisconsin River, to the mouth thereof; thence southerly on the boundary line of the State, in the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi River, to the place of beginning." The county is, therefore, bounded on the south by the State of Illinois, on the east by the counties of La Fayette and Iowa, on the north by the county of Crawford and a portion of Richland County, and on the west by the State of Iowa.

Grant County is, next to Dane, the largest.of the older-settled counties of the State, and, in population, stands seventh on the list of counties. Its length in the longest part is some- what over forty-eight miles, while its width in the widest part is about thirty-six miles. This extreme length and width, however, is reached only in certain portions, as, upon its southern boundary line, the county is between eleven and twelve miles in width, while the western por- tion is but a trifle over seventeen miles in length, diminishing upon the extreme northwest por- tion, in the town of Wyalusing, to between six and seven miles. In fact, the configuration of Grant County conforms somewhat to the figure of an isosceles triangle, of which its eastern boundary line would form the base.

THE NATURAL DRAINAGE.

Grant County is divided, by an elongated elevation known as Military Ridge, into two drainage systems, those streams to the north flowing into the Wisconsin, while the southern streams empty into the Mississippi. This ridge, which divides the county, so to speak, into two unequal portions, starts from the Blue Mounds in Iowa County, and extends westward in an almost direct east and west line nearly to Prairie du Chien, a distance of about sixty miles. Along this water-shed was built the military road running from Fond du Lac to Prairie du Chien, and from which it takes the warlike appellation which it retains to this day. The dis- tance from the water-shed to the Wisconsin on the north is but from twelve to fifteen miles, and, as a consequence, the streams on this side are small and have a rapid descent. Another pecu- liarity of these streams is noticeable, namely, that the bluffs which skirt their shores are higher and more precipitous than those streams of a similar size on the southern side of the water-shed, owing, it would seem, to their rapid fall. Thus, the Blue River, near Wingville, on its very head-waters, has its valleys hemmed in by lofty walls of almost perpendicular rock, more than 100 feet in height. With the exception of this last-named river, all the streams in this section have their sources in the county. In none of these is the volume of water so great as formerly.

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

This diminution has, in rare instances, been so great as to necessitate the abandonment of mill sites, where, in early times, plenty of water was to be had. This is undoubtedly chargeable in part, if not wholly, to the gradual settlement of the country, by which means the ground has been transformed, in course of time, to a hard and compact mass, where formerly it was loose and spongy, forming numerous subterranean reservoirs for the constant replenishing of the brawling streamlets.

The Wisconsin .- This stream, into which empties all those streams that drain the north- ern portion of the county, and which itself is the most important of those that drain the elevated lands of the State, has a length, from its source to its mouth, of about 450 miles. It forms, with its valley, the main topographical feature of Central Wisconsin. Rising in Lac Vieux Desert, on the summit of the Archæan water-shed, at an elevation of 951 feet above Lake Michigan, it pursues a general course for 300 miles, over the crystalline rocks, and then, passing on to the sandstones which form its bed for the remainder of its course, continues to the southward some eighty miles more. Turning then westward, it reaches the Mississippi within forty miles of the south line of the State, at an elevation of only thirty feet above Lake Michi- gan, so that its fall from Lac Vieux Desert is 921 feet, an average of a fraction over two feet to the mile. Like all other streams which run to the south, southeast and southwest, from the crystalline rocks, it has its quite distinct upper or crystalline rock portion, and its lower or sandstone portion. This river, however, may be regarded as having three distinct sections, the first including all that part from the source to the last appearance of crystalline rocks in the bed of the stream, in the southern part of Wood County ; the second, that part from this point to the Dells, on the south line of Adams and Juneau Counties, and the third, that portion from the Dells to the mouth of the stream. The first of these divisions is broken constantly by rapids and falls, caused by the descent south of the Archæan area, and by the obstructions produced by the combined ledges of rock which cross the stream. The second and third sections are alike in being almost entirely without rapids or falls, and in the nature of the red rock, but are sep- arated by the contracted gorge known as the Dells, which, acting in some sort as a dam, pre- vents any considerable rise in the river below, the water above not unfrequently rising as much as fifty feet in flood seasons, whilst below the extreme fluctuation does not exceed ten feet. The total length of the Archæan upper sandstone and lower sandstone sections of the river are respectively 250, 62 and 130 miles, the distance through the Dells being about seven and one- half miles.

The width of the river, where it enters Marathon County, is from 300 to 500 feet. In its course through Portage County, the Wisconsin flows through a densely-timbered country, and has, except where it makes rapids or passes through rock gorges on either side, a narrow bottom- land, which varies in width, is usually raised but a few feet above the water level, and is wider on one side than on the other. Above this bottom, terraces can be often made out, with sur- faces, in some cases, one or two miles in width. Above, again, the country surface rises steadily to the dividing ridges on either side, never showing the bluff edges, so characteristic of the lower reaches of the river. Heavy rapids and falls are made at Wausau (Big Bull Falls), at Mosinee (Little Bull Falls), at Stevens' Point and at Conant's Rapids ; all but the last named of these are increased in height by artificial dams. Two miles below the foot of Conant's Rapids, just after receiving the Plover River on the east, the Wisconsin turns a right angle to the west, and enters upon the sparsely-timbered sand plains, through which it flows for 100 miles. At the bend, the river is quiet, with high banks of sand and a few low outcrops of gneiss at the water's edge. From the bend, the course is westward about nine miles ; then, after curving southward again, the long series of rapids soon begins, which, with intervening stretches of still water, ex- tend about fifteen miles along the river to the last rapid at Point Bass, in southern Wood County.

East of the river line, between Grand Rapids and Point Bass, the country rises gradually, reaching altitudes of 100 feet above the river, at points ten or fifteen miles distant. On the west, the surface is an almost level plain, descending gradually as the river is receded from. At

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

Point Bass, gneissic rocks disappear beneath the sandstones, which, for some miles, have formed the upper portion of the river banks, and now become, in turn, the bed rock, and the first division of the river's course ends. The main tributaries which it has received, down to this point, are on the left bank-the Big Eau Claire, the Little Eau Claire and the Big Plover. On the right bank, the Placota or Big Rib, the She-she-ga-ma-isk or Big Eau Pleine, and the Little Eau Pleine. All of these streams are of considerable size, and drain large areas. They all make much southing in their courses, so that their lengths are greater than the actual distances from the sources to the Wisconsin at the nearest point, and all of them have a very considerable descent, making many rapids and falls over the tilted edges of schistose and gneissic rocks, even down to within short distances of their junction with the main river. The streams on the west side head on the high country along the line of the Fourth Principal Meridian, about forty miles west of the Wisconsin, and at elevations of from 200 to 300 feet above their mouths. Those on the east head on the divide, between the Wisconsin and Wolf, about twenty miles east, at eleva- tions not very much less. Reaching back, as these streams do, into a country largely timbered with pine, and having so large a descent, they are of great value for logging and milling pur- poses.

The second section of the Wisconsin River begins at Point Bass, with a width of from seven hundred to nine hundred feet. The next sixty miles of its course, to the head of the Dells, is a southerly stretch with a wide bow to the westward, through sand plains here and there timbered with dwarf oaks, and interspersed with marshes. These plains stretch away to the east and west for twenty miles, from the river bottom gradually rising in both directions. Scattered over them at intervals of one to ten miles, are erosion peaks of sandstone, from fifty to three hundred feet in height, rising precipitously from the level ground. Some of these are near and on the bank of the river, which is also in some places bordered by low, mural expos- ures of the same sandstone. The river itself is constantly obstructed by shifting sand bars, resulting from the ancient disintegration of the sandstone, which, in the vicinity, everywhere forms the basement rock; but its course is not interrupted by rock-rapids. As it nears the. northern line of Columbia County, the high ground that limits the sand plain on the west, curving southeastward, finally reaches the edge of the stream, which, by its southeastwardly course for the last twenty miles, has itself approached the high ground on the east. The two ridges thus closing in upon the river, have caused it to cut for itself the deep, narrow gorge known as the Dells.

In the second section of its course, the Wisconsin receives several important tributaries. Of those on the east, the principal ones are Duck Creek and Ten Mile Creek, in the southern part of Wood County ; and the little and big Roche-a-Cris Creeks, both in Adams County .. The two former head in a large marsh twenty-five miles east of, and over one hundred feet above, the main stream. The two latter head on the high dividing ridge, on the west line of Waushara County, at elevations between one hundred and fifty and two hundred feet above their mouths. These streams do not pass through a timbered country, but have very valuable water-powers. Of those tributaries on the west, two are large and important, the Yellow and Lemonweir Rivers. Yellow River heads in the adjoining corners of Wood, Jackson and Clark Counties, and runs a general southerly course, nearly parallel to the Wisconsin for over seventy miles, the two gradually approaching and joining each other about the center of Juneau and Adams Counties. The upper portions of this river entend into the pine regions, and much logging is done in times of high-water. The water-powers are of great value. The Lemonweir is also a large stream. Heading in a timbered region, in the southeast corner of Jackson County, it flows south ward for some distance through Monroe, and entering Juneau on the middle of its west side, crosses it in a southeastwardly direction, reaching the Wisconsin in the lower portion of the county.

The Wisconsin enters the gorge already spoken of as the Dells not far above the southern boundary line of Juneau and Adams Counties. This famous passage of about seven and one- half miles, has been often described. At its foot, between the counties of Sauk and Columbia,

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

the Wisconsin enters upon the last section of its course, and also upon the most remarkable bend in its whole length. Through the Dells its general course is southward, but it now turns almost due east, in which direction it continues, with one or two subordinate turns southward, for about seventeen miles, through low sand banks as far as Portage. Here it bends abruptly south again, and, reaching its most eastern point not far below, soon swerves around into the final southwestward stretch to the Mississippi. The cause of this long detour to the east is suffi- ciently evident. As the river leaves the Dells, it finds lying directly athwart its course two bold quartzite ranges, extending east and west through Sauk County for upward of twenty miles. and, crossing into Columbia, finally unite about eight miles east of the county line in a sharp and bold eastwardly projecting point, rising four hundred feet above the river bottom. Above Portage, where the Wisconsin forms the southern boundary line of the town of Lewiston, the ground immediately north is lower than the water in the river ; the heads of Neenah Creek, a tributary of the Fox, rising a short distance from its banks. In times of high water the Wis- consin overflows into these streams, and thus contributes to a totally different river. At Port- age, the Fox, after flowing south of west for twenty miles, approaches the Wisconsin, coming from the opposite direction. Where the two streams are nearest they are less than two miles apart, and are separated by a low, sandy plain, the water in the Fox being five feet below that in the Wisconsin at ordinary stages. The greater part of this low ground is overflowed by the latter stream in times of high water, and to this is chiefly due the spring rise in Fox River.

After doubling the eastern end of the quartzite ranges, as already said, the Wisconsin turns again to the West, being forced to this by infringing on the north side of a high belt of limestone country, which, after trending southward across the eastern part of Columbia County, veers gradually to a westwardly direction, lying to the south of the river along the rest of its course. Soon after striking this limestone region, the river valley assumes an altogether new character, which it retains to its mouth, having now a nearly level, for the most part treeless bottom, from three to six miles in width, ten to thirty fect in height, usually more on one side than the other, and bounded on both sides by bold and often precipitous bluffs one hundred to three hundred and fifty feet in height, of sandstone capped with limestone. Immediately along the water's edge is usually a narrow timbered strip, rising two to four feet feet above the river, which is overflowed at high water. The line of bluffs along the north side of the valley is the northern edge of this high limestone belt just mentioned, which reaches its greatest elevation ten to fifteen miles south of this edge. In front of the main bluff face, especially in its eastern extension, are frequently to be seen bold and high isolated outlines of the limestone country. On the north bank the bluffs are at first the edges of similar large, outlying masses, but farther down they become more continuous, the river crossing over the northwestward trending-out cross-line of the Lower Magnesian Limestone.

In this last section of its course, the Wisconsin is much obstructed by bars of shifting sand, derived originally from the erosion of the great sandstone formation which underlies the whole region, and to whose existence the unusual amount of obstruction of this kind in the river is due. The altitude of the water surface of the Wisconsin at Lac Vieux Desert above Lake Michigan is 911 feet; at Warsau, above dam, 623 feet; at Knowlton (high), 538 feet, (low) 523 feet; at Stevens' Point, 485 feet ; at Conant's Rapids, 468 feet ; at Grand Rapids, railroad bridge, 420 feet ; at Kilbourn City, railroad bridge, 233 feet; at Portage, 211 feet ; at Merri- mack, 182 feet; at Sauk City, 165 feet ; at Spring Green bridge, 134 feet; at Muscoda, 115 feet ; at the mouth of the stream, 34 feet. The average velocity of the river below Portage is remarkably uniform, and is just about two miles an hour. The daily discharges of the river at Portage, in times of extremely low water is about two hundred and fifty-nine million cubic feet. The average fall of the water surface of the river below Portage is one and one-half feet per mile. This rapid fall, were it not for the great amount of sand in the river bed, would make the stream a series of pools and rock rapids.

Platte River .- The Platte finds its source in the northern part of Clifton Township, and flows thence in a general southerly course until it empties into the Mississippi in the extreme

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.

southeast corner of Potosi Township. This river is often inclosed during its course by hills gently sloping on one side, and quite precipitous on the other. This feature is more especially noticeable near its mouth. Its volume is much increased during the latter portion of its course by the waters of the Little Platte, which stream, rising in the southern part of Clifton Township but a few miles from the source of its elder brother, passes down in a southwestwardly course through Lima, Platteville, Harrison and Paris Townships, effecting a junction with the Platte in Section 17 of the latter township.

The Blue River .- This stream is the principal tributary of the Wisconsin in the county, and finds its source in the western central portion of Iowa County, and flows in a general north- westerly course, until it empties into the Wisconsin in the northeastern portion of Waterstown Township. It is increased in volume in Section 29 of Muscoda Township, by the addition at this point of Fennimore, its principal branch. This river heads in the center of Fennimore Township, and flows a northeasterly course, until its junction as given above.

Green River .- This river heads about a mile from the source of the Fennimore in Fenni- more Township, and flows a northwestwardly course until its junction with the Wisconsin in Section 22 of Woodman Township.

Grant River .- The Grant heads in the lower part of Fennimore Township, and flows in a southwesterly course down through Lancaster Township, and thence in a general southerly course through Beetown, passing from which it makes a curve to the west, and, passing through Waterloo Township, empties into the Mississippi in the southern part of Potosi.

TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.

The greater portion of Grant County consists of high, rolling prairie, interspersed in the neighborhood of the streams with timber. This feature is the prevailing characteristic of the central and eastern part of the county. Along the Wisconsin, near its confluence with the Mississippi, and extending with a few breaks, almost the entire length of that portion of the latter river which forms the western boundary of the county, are high precipitous bluffs, adding much to the picturesqueness of the scenery. As we progress southward, this feature extends further inward, forming successions of deep ravines and precipitous ridges, that join to make a country at once varied and wildly beautiful. No better description of this section can be given than is found in an early article on the mines. Speaking of the bluffs, which for ages have stood as silent and motionless sentinels guarding the broad river which flows so majestically at their feet, the writer says :

"These bluffs rise from two to two hundred and fifty feet in heighth, sometimes standing out in all the boldness of a broken sea-cliff ; and again, retiring to a considerable distance from the margin of the river, the ascent is more easy, grass covered, and studded with trees and shrubbery. Sometimes the whole bluff is made up of a regular succession of steps and benches ; at others, one broad leaf of table-land spreads out at various distances from the base, forming the only interruption in an otherwise perpendicular elevation. The strongest point of relief, and the one which often forms a piece of highly imposing scenery, are the deep ruptures, or shattered openings, by which the line of bluff is frequently parted or rent asunder.

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History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin, Part 65

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