History of Green County, Wisconsin. Together with sketches of its towns and villages, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 17

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1168

USA > Wisconsin > Green County > History of Green County, Wisconsin. Together with sketches of its towns and villages, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 17

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

ford, and the commandant set to work repairing the old fort, and making additional defenses. During this time the positive order arrived, and the precipitancy with which the fort was aban- doned during the alarm was communicated to the Indians through the half-breeds residing at or visiting the place, which naturally caused the Winnebagoes to believe that the troops had fled through fear of them. The commandant took with him to Fort Snelling the two Winne- bagoes confined in Fort Crawford, leaving be- hind some provisions, and all the damaged arms, with a brass swivel and a few wall pieces, in charge of John Marsh, the then sub-agent at this place.

The Winnebagoes, in the fall of 1826, ob- tained from the traders their usual credit for goods, and went to their hunting grounds; but early in the winter a report became current among the traders that the Winnebagoes had heard a rumor that the Americans and English were going to war in the spring; and hence they were holding councils to decide upon the course they should adopt, hunting barely enough to obtain what they wanted to subsist upon in the meantime.

Mr. Brisbois said to me several times during the winter, that he feared some outrages from the Winnebagoes in the spring, as from all he could gather they were bent on war, which I ought to have believed, as Mr. Brisbois had been among them engaged in trade over forty years. But I thought it impossible that the Winnebagoes, surrounded, as they were by Americans, and troops in the country, should for a moment seriously entertain such an idea. I supposed it a false alarm, and gave myself very little uneasiness about it; but in the spring, when they returned from their hunts, I found that they paid much worse than usual, although they were not celebrated for much punctuality or honesty in paying their debts. It was a general custom with the traders, when an Indian paid his debts in the spring pretty well, on his leaving, to let him have a little

ammunition, either as a present or on credit. A Winnebago by the name of Wah-wah-peck- ah, had taken a credit from me, and paid me but a small part of it in the spring; and when I reproached him, he was disposed to be impu- dent about it; and when his party were about going, he applied to me as usual for ammuni- tion for the summer, and insisted upon having some, but I told him if he had behaved well, and paid me his credit better, that I would have given him some, but that he had behaved so bad that I would not give him any, and he went away in a surly mood.

A man by the name of Methode, I think, a half-breed of some of the tribes of the north, had arrived here, sometime in the summer of 1826, with his wife, and, I think, five children; and, sometime in March of 1827, he went with his family, up the Yellow or Painted Rock creek, about twelve miles above the Prairie, on the Iowa side of the Mississippi river, to make sugar. The sugar season being over, and he not returning, and hearing nothing from him, a party of his friends went to look for him, and found his camp consumed, and himself, wife and children burned nearly to cinders, and she at the time enciente. They were so crisped and cindered that it was impossible to determine whether they had been murdered and then burned, or whether their camp had accidently caught on fire and consumed them. It was generally believed that the Winnebagoes had murdered and burnt them, and Red Bird was suspected to have been concerned in it; but I am more inclined to think, that if murdered by Indians, it was done by some Fox war party searching for Sioux.

In the spring of this year, 1827, while a Chip- pewa chief called Hole-in-the-day, with a part of his band, visited Fort Snelling on business with the government, and while under the guns of the fort, a Sioux warrior shot one of the Chippewas. The Sioux was arrested by the troops, and confined in the guard-house. The Chippewas requested Col. Snelling to deliver

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the Sioux to them, to be dealt with after their manner; to which he agreed, provided they would give him a chance to run for his life. To this they acceded. The Sioux was sent outside of the fort, while the Chippewas were armed with tomahawks and war clubs. IIe was to be allowed a fair start, and at a signal started, and one of the swiftest of the Chippewas armed with a club and tomahawk after him, to overtake and kill him if he could, which he soon effected, as the Sioux did not run fast, and when over- taken made no resistance. The Winnebagoes hearing a rumor of this, got the news among them that the two Winnebagoes confined there [for the murder of Methode and family] had been executed.

During the spring of 1827, the reports about the Winnebagoes bore rather a threatening as- pect; but, as I said before, situated as they were I did not believe they would commit and depredations. Under this belief, and having urgent business in New York to purchase my goods, I started for that city on the 25th of June; it then took about six months to go any return. Mine was the only purely American family at the Prairie, after the garrison left. There was Thomas McNair, who had married a French girl of the Prairie, and John Marsh, the sub-Indian agent, who had no family, and there were besides three or four Americans who had been discharged from the army. Without ap- prehension of danger from the Indians, I left my family, which consisted of Mrs. Lockwood, and her brother, a young man of between six- teen and seventeen years of age, who was clerk in charge of the store, and a servant girl be- longing to one of the tribes of New York civi- lized Indians settled near Green Bay.

I started to go by way of Green bay and the lakes for New York, in a boat up the Wiscon- sin, and down the Fox river to Green Bay; thence in a vessel to Buffalo, and down the canal to Albany, and thence by steamboat to New York city. About 4 o'clock in the after- noon of the first day's journey up the Wiscon-

sin, I came to an island where were sitting three Winnebagoes smoking, the oldest called Wah-wah-peck-ah, who had a credit of me the fall previous and had paid but little of it in the spring; the other two were young men not known to me by name. They had some venison hanging on a pole, and we stopped to purchase it As I stepped on shore I discovered an ap- pearance of cold reserve unusual in Indians in such meetings, and as I went up to them I said, 'bon jour' the usual French salutation, which they generally understood; but Wah-wah-peck- ah said that he would not say bon jour to me. Upon which I took hold of his hand and shook it, asking him why he would not say, bon jour to me? He inquired what the news was. I told him I had no news. He told me that the Win- nebagoes confined at Fort Snelling had been killed. I assured him that it was not true, that I had seen a person lately from that fort, who told me of the death of the Sioux, but that the Winnebagoes were alive. He then gave me to understand that if such was the case, it was well; but if the Winnebagoes were killed, they would avenge it. I succeeded in purchasing the venison, giving them some powder in exchange, and as I was about to step on board of my boat, Wah- wah-peck-ah wanted some whisky, knowing that we always carried some for our men.

I directed one of the men to give them each a drink, which Wah-wah-peck-ah refused, and taking up the cup that he had by him, he showed by signs that he wanted it filled; and believing that the Indians were seeking some pretense for a quarrel as an excuse for doing mischief, I thought it most prudent under the circumstances to comply.

There were among the boats' crew some old voyageurs, well acquainted with Indian manners and customs, who, from the conduct of these Indians, became alarmed. We, however, em- barked, watching the Indians, each of whom stood on the bank with his gun in his hand. As it was late in the day, we proceeded a few miles up the river and encamped for the night.

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As soon as the boat left the island, the three Indians each got into his hunting canoe, and the two young Indians came up on either side opposite the bow of the boat, and continued thus up the river until we encamped while Wah-wah-peck-ah kept four or five rods behind the boat. They encamped with us, and com- menced running and playing with the men on the sand beach; and after a little the young Indians proposed to go hunting deer by candle- light, and asked me to give them some candles to hunt with, which I did, with some ammunition, and they promised to return with venison in the morning. After they had gone, Wah-wah- peck-ah proposed also to go hunting, and begged some candles and ammunition, but remained in camp over night. Morning came, but the young Indians did not return, and I saw no more of them. In the morning, after Wah-wah-peck-ah had begged something more, he started, pre tending to go down the river, and went as we supposed; but about an hour afterward, as we were passing on the right of the upper end of the island on which we had encamped, I saw Wah-wah-peck-ah coming up on the left. ile looked verp surly, and we exchanged no words, but we were all satisfied that he was seeking some good opportunity to shoot me, and from the singular conduct of the Indians, I and my men were considerably alarmed. But about 9 o'clock in the morning, meeting a band of In- dians from the portage of Wisconsin, who ap- peared to be glad to see me, and said they were going to Prairie du Chien, my fears with those of the men were somewhat allayed. I wrote with my pencil a hasty line to my wife, which the Indians promised to deliver, but they never did, as they did not go there.

This day, the 26th of June, we proceeded up the Wisconsin without seeing any Indians until we came near Prairie du Baie, when an Indian alone in a hunting canoe, came out of some nook and approached us. He was sullen, and we could get no talk out of him. We landed on Prairie du Baie, and he stopped also; and a

few moments thereafter, a canoe of Menomonees arrived from Prairie du Chien, bringing a brief note from John Marsh, saying the Winnebagoes had murdered a man of mixed French and Negro blood, named Rijeste Gagnier, and Solomon Lipeap, and for me, for God's sake, to return. I immediately got into the canoe with the Me- nomonees, and directed my men to proceed to the portage, and if I did not overtake them to go on to Green Bay. I proceeded down the river with the Menomonees, and when we had decended to the neighborhood where we had fallen in with the Indians the day before, we met Wah-wah-peck-ah coming up in his hunting canoe alone, having with him his two guns. He inquired if I was going to the Prairie. I told him I was. He then told me that the whisky at the Prairie was shut up, but did not tell me of the murders, and asked me that should he come to the Prairie whether I would let him have some whisky? I told him I certainly would if he brought some furs, not wishing then to make any explanation, or to enter into any argument with him.

About this time, we heard back of an Island, and on the southern shore of the Wisconsin, the Winnebagoes singing their war songs and danc- ing, with which I was familiar; and so well sat- isfied was I that Wah-wah-peck-ah was only seeking a favorable opportunity to shoot me, that if I had had a gun where he met us, I be- lieve that I should have shot him. After talk- ing with him the Menomonees moved down the river, and arrived at the mouth of the Wiscon- sin about dark without seeing any more Winne- bagoes. It was so dark that the Menomonees thought that we had better stop until morning, and we accordingly crawled into the bushes without a fire and fought mosquitoes all night, and the next morning, the 27th, proceeded to the Prairie. I went to my house and found it va- cant, and went to the old village where I found my family and most of the inhabitants of the Prairie, assembled at the house of Jean Brunet, who kept a tavern. Mr. Brunet had a quantity

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of square timber about him, and the people pro- posed building breast-works with it.

I learned on my arrival at the Prairie that on the preceding day, the 26th, Red Bird, who when dressed, always wore a red coat and called himself English, went to my house with two other Indians, and entering the cellar kitchen, loaded their guns in the presence of the servant girl, and went up through the hall into Mrs. Lockwood's bed-room where she was sitting alone. The moment the Indians entered her room she believed they came to kill her, and immediately passed into and through the parlor, and crossed the hall into the store to her brother, where she found Duncan Graham, who had been in the country about forty years as a trader, and was known by all the Indians as an Englishman. He had been a captain in the British Indian department during the War of 1812, and a part of the time was commandant at Prairie du Chien. The Indians followed Mrs. Lockwood into the store, and Mr. Graham by some means induced them to leave the house.

They then proceeded to McNair's Coulee, about two miles from the village, at the lower end of Prairie du Chien, where lived Rijeste Gagnier; his wife was a mixed blood of French and Sioux extraction, with two children; and living with him was an old discharged American soldier by the name of Solomon Lipcap. The Winnebagoes commenced a quarrel with Gagnier and finally shot him, I believe, in the house. Lip- cap, at work hoeing in the garden near the house, they also shot. During the confusion, Mrs. Gagnier seized a gun, got out at the back window with her boy about three years old on her back, and proceeded to the village with the startling news. The cowardly Indians followed her a part of the way, but dared not attack her. On her arrival at the village a party went to the scene of murder, and found and brought away the dead, and the daughter of Mr. Gagnier, about one year old, whom the mother in her fright had forgotten. The Indians had scalped her and inflicted a severe wound in her neck,

and left her for dead, and had thrown her un- der the bed, but she was found to be still alive. She got well, and arriving at womanhood got married, and has raised a family of children; she is yet alive and her eldest daughter was but recently married.

The people had decided not to occupy the old fort, as a report had been circulated that the Indians had said that they intended to burn it if the inhabitants should take refuge there. During the day of the 27th, the people occupied themselves in making some breast-works of the timber about Mr. Brunet's tavern getting the swivel and wall pieces from the fort, and the condemned muskets and repairing them, and coneluded they would defend themselves, each commanding, none obeying, but every one giv- ing his opinion freely.

About sunset one of the two keel-boats ar- rived that had a few days previously gone to Fort Snelling with supplies for the garrison, having on board a dead Indian, two dead men of the crew and four wounded. The dead and wounded of the crew were inhabitants of Prairie du Chien who had shipped on the up-bound trip. They reported that they had been attacked the evening before, about sunset, by the Win- nebago Indians,* near the mouth of Bad Ax river, and the boat received about 500 shots, judging from the marks on its bow and sides. The Indians were mostly on an island on the west of the channel, near to which the boat had to pass, and the wind blowing strong from the east, drifted the boat towards the shore, where the Indians were, as the steering oar had been abandoned by the steersman. During this time, two of the Indians succeeded in getting

*Ex-Gov. Reynolds, of Illinois, in his volume of his Life and Times, thus states the immediate cause of this attack. That somewhere above Prairie du Chien on their upward trip, they stopped at a large camp of Winnebago Indians, gave them some liquor freely nud got them drunk, when they · forced six or seven squaws, stupefied with liquor, on board the boats, for corrupt and brutal purposes, and kept them during their voyage to Fort Snelling and on their return. When the Winnebago Indians became sober, and fully con- scious of the injury done them, they mustered all their forces, amounting to several hundred and attacked the fore- most of the descending boats in which their squaws were con- fined. But this story has since been proven to be without foundation.

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on board of the boat. One of them mounted the roof, and fired in from the fore part; but he was soon shot and fell off into the river. The other Indian took the steering oar and endeavored to steer the boat to the island. He was also shot and brought down in the boat where he fell. During all this time the Indians kept up a hot fire. The boat was fast drifting towards a sand bar near the shore, and they would all have been murdered had it not been for the brave, resolute conduct of an old soldier on board, called Saucy Jack (his surname I do not remem- ber), who during the hottest of the fire, jumped over at the bow and pushed the boat off, and where he must have stood the boat was literally covered with ball marks, so that his escape seemed a miracle. They also reported that early the day before the attack, they were lashed to the other boat drifting, and that they had grounded on a sand bar and separated, since which time they had not seen or heard anything of the other boat, and thought probably that it had fallen into the hands of the Indians.

This created an additional alarm among the inhabitants. The same evening my boat re- turned, the men becoming too much alarmed to proceed. That night sentinels were posted by the inhabitants within the breast-works, who saw, in imagination, a great many Indians prowling about in the darkness; and in the morning there was a great variety of opinion as to what was best to be none for the safety of the place, and appearances betokened a great deal of uneasiness in the minds of all classes.

On the morning of the 28th I slept rather late, owing to the fatigue of the preceding day. My brother-in-law awakened me and told me the people had got into some difficulty, and that they wished me to come out and see if I could not settle it. I went out on the gallery, and inquired what the difficulty was; and heard the various plans and projects of defense proposed by different persons. Some objected to staying in the village and protecting the property of the villagers while theirs, outside the village,

was equally exposed to the pillage of the In- dians. Others were for remaining and fortify- ing where they were, and others still urged the repairing of the old fort. As the eminence on which my house stood overlooked the most of the prairie, some were for concentrating our people there and fortifying it. After hearing these different projects, I addressed them some- thing as follows: "As to your fortifying my house, you can do so, if it is thought best, but I do not wish you to go there to protect it; I have abandoned it, and if the Indians burn it, so be it; but there is one thing, if we intend to pro- tect ourselves from the Indians, we must keep together, and some one must command."

Some one then nominated me as commander, but I said: "No, I would not attempt to com- mand you, but here is Thomas MeNair, who holds from the governor a commission of cap- tain over the militia of this place and has a right to command; if you will agree to obey him implicitly, I will set the example of obedience to his orders, and will, in that case, furnish you with powder and lead as long as you want to shoot (I being the only person having those articles in the place), but unless you agree to obey MeNair, I will put my family and goods into my boats and go down the river, as I will not risk myself with a mob under no control." Upon this they agreed to acknowledge Mr. Me- Nair as commander, and I was satisfied that he would take advice upon all measures undertaken. Joseph Brisbois was lieutenant, and Jean Brunet was ensign, both duly commissioned by the governor. Capt. McNair ordered a move of all the families, goods, with the old guns, to the fort, and it was near sunset before we had all got moved there.

About that time we discovered the skiff of the other keel-boat coming around a point of an island near Yellow river, about three miles distant; but we could not discover whether they were white men or Indians in the canoe, and of course it created an alarm, but in a few moments thereafter, the keel-boat hove in sight and the

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alarm ceased. It soon arrived, reporting that they had received a few shots in passing the places where the other boat had been attacked, but had received no injury. On this boat Joseph Snelling, son of Col. Suelling, returned to Prairie du Chien. Joseph Snelling and myself acted as supernumeraries under Capt. McNair. The government of Fort Crawford was con- ducted by a council of the captain and those who acted under him. It was immediately re- solved to repair the old fort as well as possible for defense, and the fort and block-house were put in as good order as circumstances and ma- terials would admit. Dirt was thrown up two or three feet high around the bottom logs of the fort, which were rotten and dry, and would easily ignite. Joseph Snelling was put in com- mand of one of the block-houses, and Jean Bru- net of the other, with a few picked men in each, who were trained to the use of the swivel and wall pieces that were found and mounted there- in; and a number of barrels were placed around the quarters filled with water, with orders, in case of an attack, to cover the roof of the build- ing with blankets, etc., and to keep them wet. All the blacksmiths were put in requisition to repair the condemned muskets found in the fort, and, mustering our force, we found of men and women about ninety that could handle a mnsket in case of an attack.

The next day after taking possession of the fort, J. B. Loyer, an old voyageur, was engaged to cross the Mississippi and go back through the country, now the State of Iowa, to inform Col. Snelling, commanding Fort Snelling, of our situation. For this service Loyer was prom- ised $50 and furnished with a horse to ride and provisions, and Duncan Graham was engaged to accompany him, for which he wast o receive $20, provisions and a horse to ride; and for these payments, I became personally responsi- ble.

Gov. Cass, who had come to Butte des Morts, on the Fox river, to hold a treaty with the Win-

nebagoes, learned from rumor that there was dissatisfaction among them, and starting in his canoe, arrived et Prairie du Chien on the morn- ing of the 4th of July. He ordered the com- pany of militia into the service of the United States, and appointed me quarter-master and commissary, with the request that I would use my own funds for the supply of the depart- ment, and that he would see it refunded; and, furthermore, assumed the debt for ammunition and provisions already advanced, and also the expense of the express to Fort Snelling, and di- rected me to issue to the troops a keel-boat load of flour, that I previously receipted for to one of the agents of the contractors for Fort Snell- ing, who feared to go farther with it.

After these arrangements had been made, Gov. Cass proceeded in his canoe to Galena, and raised a volunteer company under the late Col. Abner Fields as captain, and assigned him to the command of Fort Crawford. Lient. Mar- tin Thomas, of the United States ordinance de- partment, and then stationed at the arsenal near St. Louis, who happened to be at Galena, came up and mustered the two companies of the militia into the service of the United States; and contracted with Phineas Black, of the vil- lage of Louisiana, in Missouri, whom he found at Galena, for a quantity of pork which was sent up by the boat that brought the volunteer company. Gov. Cass proceeded from Galena to St. Louis to confer with Gen. Atkinson, then in command of Jefferson barracks and of the western military department. This resulted in Gen. Atkinson's moving up the Mississippi with the disposable force under command at Jef- ferson barracks. During this time Col. Snell- ing came down the Mississippi with two com- panies of the 5th regiment of United States In- fantry, and assumed the command of Fort Craw- ford, and soon after discharged the Galena volunteer company, as they could not well be brought under military discipline. But the Prairie du Chien company was retained in ser- vice until some time in the month of August,

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for which service, through the fault of some one, they never received any pay.

During this time Gen. Atkinson arrived with the troops from Jefferson barracks, having on his way up dispatched a volunteer force under Gen. Dodge from Galena, to proceed by land to the portage of Wisconsin. When Gen. At- kinson, with great difficulty, owing to the low state of the water in the Wisconsin, arrived at the portage, he met old grey-headed Day-Kau- Ray, with his band, who, finding himself sur- rounded by the volunteers in the rear, and Gen. Atkinson's force of regulars in front, and a company of volunteers from Green Bay, con- cluded to disclaim any unfriendly feelings to- wards the United States, and disavowed any connection with the murders on the Mississippi. Gen. Atkinson, on these assurances of Day- Kau-Ray, returned, but ordered the occupation of Fort Crawford by two companies of troops. Notwithstanding these murders of our citizens and movements of troops, the wise men at Washington, with about as much judgment as they generally decide upon Indian affairs, de- cided that this was not an Indian war.

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History of Green County, Wisconsin. Together with sketches of its towns and villages, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 17

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company Number of Pages: 1168

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1168