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 19

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 19

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Upon receipt of the above I made all neces- sary preparation, and started with fifty men to collect the Indians. This attempt was quite successful, and several hundred were arrested and sent to Fort Atkinson, Iowa. It may ap- pear strange to some persons that such a hand- ful of men could take many hundred Indians prisoners, and guard them day and night as we travelled through a wild, unsettled country; but it was done, and I have a list of names of those men who accompanied me on that expedition. My journal, kept during the time we were hunting the Indians, presents numerous inter- esting items, only one or two of which I will relate.

In taking the Indians, great caution was necessary to enable us to approach them. When the scouts reported that Indians had been dis- covered, four or five of the men would start on ahead, enter the Winnebago camp, collect all the guns and take off the locks before the Indians were aware of their intention. Frequently a hunting party would come in while the men were un-locking the guns, and make a demon- stration of resistance, by which time our entire party would arrive, and prevail on them to sub- mit to the same treatment, telling them if they came along with us quietly no harm would be offered them. On the 10th of May we en- camped in a valley near the Baraboo, and three days after were on Dell creek. Here the seout- ing party captured a Winnebago Indian, who told me his part of the tribe were encamped at Seven Mile creek. I sent eleven men to the camp, which was very large and comprised many lodges. When the main body had come up to the Indian camp, we found the men had suc- ceeded in getting all the guns but one, which belonged to a young brave who refused to give it up. Fearing he might do mischief, the gun was taken from him. It was a fine rifle, of which he was proud; but in spite of his remon- strance, the lock was taken off and put in a bag with others. When the piece was rendered un- serviceable, they handed it back to the young

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

Indian. He looked at it a moment, and then grasping the barrel he raised it above his head, and brought the stock down with such force against the trunk of a young sapling as to break it to splinters, and threw the barrel many rods from him. His sister, an Indian girl about sev-

enteen years old, picked up the barrel and handed it to him. The brother bent it against the tree and then hurled it over the bank into the creek.

The addition of the Indians put us on short allowance, and I was obliged to send one of the wagons back to Baraboo for provisions and grain. Just before making camp on main ridge the 15th of May, my horse was bitten .on the nose by a rattlesnake. The horse's head was soon swollen to twice its natural size, and I thought him as good as dead, when an old Frenchman offered to make the horse well by the next morning. I turned the horse over to his care, and sure enough, the morning follow- ing the swelling had all disappeared, and the horse was as well as ever. I asked what he had put on to effect the sudden cure, he said he did not apply anything, but one of the men told me that he cured the horse by looking at and talking to it. This was the same man who cured one, Theo. Warner, now [1858] living in Prairie du Chien, when he was bitten by a rattlesnake. His name was Limmery, and a strange man he was; his eyes were the smallest I have ever seen in the head of any human being, with a piercing expression that once seen could never be forgot- ten. He would never allow a snake to be killed if he could help it, and could take up the most venomous snake with impunity. I saw him take up a large moccasin snake while we were in the Kickapoo bottoms, and it never offered to bite him, while it would strike fiercely at any other person who approached it. I could only attribute the strange power of this man to some mesmeric influence.

We were fortunate enough to bring all the Indians to Prairie du Chien without accident, where they were delivered to a body of regulars from Fort Atkinson, who moved them to their

reservation. That was the last of the Winne- bagoes in Wisconsin as a tribe. There are now a few stragglers loitering near the old hunting grounds, in the Kickapoo and Wisconsin bottom lands, but altogether they no not exceed a hun- dred souls.

The Winnebagoes in 1816.

In 1816 the Menomonees inhabited the coun- try about Green bay, and their women occasion- ally married Winnebagoes, but not often. The Menomonees were a quiet and peaceful race, well disposed and friendly to the whites. To- mah, the acting chief of the Nation, was well spoken of by all the traders who knew him.

The principal villages of the Winnebagoes were at the upper and lower end of the lake of that name, with an occasional lodge along the Fox river. At the season that traders generally passed the Portage of Wisconsin, they would find old grey headed Day-Kan-Ray at the Port- age with his band. Their village was a short distance from theirs up the Wisconsin, and the Winnebagoes had villages up the Baraboo river, and several small ones along down the Wiscon- sin to near its mouth and up the Mississippi. They were estimated at that time by the traders best acquainted with them to be about 900 war- riors strong. Of the Day-Kau-Rays, there were four or five brothers, who were all' influential men in the Nation. One sister had a family of children by a trader named Lecuyer, who had married her after the Indian manner. Tradi- tion says that their father was a French trader, who, during the time the French had possession of the country, married a Winnebago woman, the daughter of the principal chief of the Na- tion, by whom he had these sons and daughters; that at the time the country was taken pos- session of by the English, he abandoned them, and they were raised among the Indians, and being the descendants of a chief on the mother's side, when arrived at manhood they assumed the dignity of their rank by inheritance. They were generally good Indians, and frequently urged their claims to the friendship of the

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

whites by saying that they were themselves half white.

The Winnebagoes in 1818.

The locations of the different tribes of In- dians in the vicinity of Crawford county in 1818, including also the homes of the Winneba- goes, is clearly pointed out in the narrative of Edward Tanner, published in the Detroit Go- Sette, of January 8 and 15, 1819.

"The first tribe of Indians after leaving St. Louis is the Oyiwayes [Iowas]. This tribe live about 100 miles from the west side of the Mis- sissippi, on the Menomonee, and have about 400 warriors. The next tribe are the Sauks, who live on the Mississippi, and about 400 miles above St. Louis. They emigrated from the Oisconsin [Wisconsin] about thirty-five years ago. Their military strength is about 800 war- riors, exclusive of old men and boys, and are divided into two divisions of 400 men. Each division is commanded by a war chief. The first are those who have been most distinguished for deeds of valor, and the second the ordinary warriors. They have also two village chiefs who appear to preside over the civil concerns of the Nation. The next tribe is the Fox Indians. This tribe have a few lodges on the east side of the Mississippi near Fort Armstrong and about four miles from the Sauk village. Thirty miles above this, at the mine De Buke [ Dubuque], on the west side, they have another village, and another on Turkey river, thirty miles below Prairie du Chien. Their whole military strength is about 400 warriors. They are at this time in a state of war with the Sioux; and as the Sanks are in strict amity with the Fox Indians, and have the influence and control of them, they are also drawn into the war. This war was in con- sequence of depredations committed by the Fox Indians on the Sioux.

"Prairie du Chien, on which the village of that name stands, is a handsome plain, about half a mile wide from the bank of the river to the bluff or commencement of the rising ground, and out of danger from inundations. In conse-

quence of the serpentine course of the river, the plain widens above and below the village. The soil is a black sand about fifteen inches deep, appearing to be very productive. The foundation is gravelly, containing amber stones susceptible of a handsome polish. Timber is scarce. The upland in the vicinity is very bro- ken, poor and nearly barren. In the settlement are about 1,500 inhabitants, exclusive of the military, who are principally creoles. As a place of business, it now appears on the decline. "The river Quisconsin [Wisconsin] is about half a mile wide-common depth, one to four feet-no falls, but generally a brisk current. The channel is subject to change, from the nu- merous bars of sand which lie in it, and fre- quently alter their position. In the river are numerous islands, on which grow the principal timber of the country. The banks are gen- erally low and sandy-some plains lined with the common granite stone. The bordering country is very broken, sandy and barren. In the interior the same description will answer. Barren, broken and destitute of vegetation, few places can be found that will admit of settle- ments. The Winnebago Indians inhabit the country bordering on the tributary streams of both sides of the river. They appear to go abroad for their game, and have no conven- iences for dwelling, except a kind of lodge which they carry with them wherever they go. Their territory extends from the Mississippi to to the vicinity of Green bay, and the number of their warriors is 700."

An Indian Scure.

In 1846 the citizens living contiguous to the Wisconsin river were treated to a genuine In- dian scare, and as the Winnebagoes were the supposed enemies, an account in this connection is properly given of the event.

In the winter of 1844-5, and while the Legis- lature of the Territory was in session at Madi- son, the capital, a rumor that an Indian war had broken out, came to the ears of the legislators with a thousand fearful forebodings, and pro-

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ducing intense excitement. At this time the militia laws had all been repealed, probably with a view to counteract the supposed influ- ence of Gov. Doty, and the capital he might have made by the organization of the militia and the appointment of the officers from among his friends, the majority of the Legislature be- ing opposed to Doty. At this juncture, how- ever, a change in the administration of the gen- eral government had changed governors, and Gen. Dodge was again at the helm of the Ter- ritory. But the law which abolished the militia service with a view to hamper and trammel Doty, was now, in a time of need, found to trammel and to hamper Dodge, for though great fear was excited, that plunder and mur- der would be, or were actually being committed by the Indians, the governor's hands were tied by the law, which he had himself approved. The representations of the Indian disturbances made to the governor he communicated to the Assembly.

The emergency of the case was such as to call the two Houses together at an evening ses- sion, to receive the governor's message on the subject, and to devise ways and means for the public defense. And while one was looking at another, at a loss to know what to do, a mem- ber penned and offered a bill to repeal the act by which the militia organization had been abolished, and to restore the former laws upon the subject. In offering the bill which con- tained only a few lines, he moved a suspension of the rules, so that the bill passed at once, and was sent to the council; and by the same pro- cess, it was passed there, and in about half an hour from the time it was first offered, the gov- ernor had approved of it, and the whole militia of the Territory was organized, officers and all, and measures were taken to call out a portion of it, to chastise the supposed marauders, when a second communication to the governor showed that there was no occasion for it. The first re- port had grown out of exaggerated statements of some white hunters, who had come in con-

tact with some Indians in the same pursuit, and who probably took some game which the whites would have been glad to have taken; and pos- sibly some pigs had been taken on the credit of the Indians, but this was never proven against them.

By reference to the legislative journals, it appears that this matter happened on the last evening, Feb. 3, 1846. The governor commu- nicated the proceedings of a meeting of the cit- izens of Muscoda, on the Wisconsin river, in Grant county, dated Sunday night, Feb. 1, 1846, stating as follows: "The citizens of this prairie and surrounding country, having been for the last several months annoyed and har- assed by the depredations of the Winnebago Indians, and submitted to their bullying and insults, have at length been forced to the dernier resort; to take up arms for our protection. This evening a skirmish took place between the In- dians and the citizens, in which four of the former were severely, if not mortally, wounded; and from the known character of the Indians, we may naturally expect more serious conse- quences to ensue. A true and correct statement of the occurrences of the day is substantially as follows: A number of the Indians came down the north side of the Wisconsin river to wapt. Smith's, and stole his canoe. He discovered them and called to them to bring it back, which they refused to do. The captain, with several other men, came over to this shore, found the In- dians who took his boat, and chastised one or two of them with a stick, and in the melee one of his men was severely hurt with a club in the hands of one of the Indians. The Indians then ran, and the citizens, a number of whom had by this time collected, followed them a little way and returned. In a short time the Indians came back also. All the citizens having by this time assembled, Capt. James B. Estes and Booth ad- vanced towards them, unarmed, and in a peace- able manner, making friendly manifestations, all of which time the Indians threatened, by drawing their knives, throwing off their blank-

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ets, waving their guns in the air, and pointing them towards the whites. Finding it impossi- ble to pacify or appease them they separated, and in a moment they fired upon the citizens; the next moment their fire was returned, and four of them fell. They then add, that the In- dians have sent their runners to collect their scattered bands, and the whites have sent for aid; that they want the governor's assistance, and are determined to kill or drive every In- dian on the Wisconsin over the Mississippi; have upwards of forty men under arms, and have chosen James B. Estes for captain."

Gov. Dodge recommended the adoption of a memorial to the secretary of war, asking for a corps of dragoons to protect the frontier settle- ments. "In the course of half an hour," says the Madison Argus of that period, "resolutions were adopted to that effeet, and the militia law of the Territory revived;" and on the adjourn- inent of the Legislature, they set out immediately for the scene of disturbance, but the excitement had died away and no more trouble was appre- hended.

TREATIES WITH THE SAC AND FOX INDIANS AND

THE WINNEBAGOES.

Twelve treaties were held at different times between the United States and the Sac and Fox Indians and the Winnebagoes, affecting, imme- diately or remotely, the territory now ineluded within the limits of Crawford county as fol- lows:

1. A treaty was held at St. Louis Nov. 3, 1804, between the Sacs and Foxes and the United States. William Henry Harrison was acting commissioner on the part of the goveru- ment. By the provisions of the treaty, the chiefs and head men of the united tribes ceded to the United States a large tract on both sides of the Mississippi, extending on the east from the mouth of the Illinois to the head of that river, and thence to the Wisconsin, and includ- ing on the west considerable portions of Iowa and Missouri, from the mouth of the Gasconade northward. In what is now the State of Wis-

consin, this grant embraced the whole of the present counties of Grant and Lafayette and a large portion of Iowa and Green counties. The Lead Region was included in this purchase. In consideration of this cession, the general gov- ernment agreed to protect the tribes in the quiet enjoyment of their land, against its own citizens and all others who should intrude on them. The tribes permitted a fort to be built on the upper side of the Wisconsin river near its mouth, and granted a tract of land two miles square adjoining the same. The govern- ment agreed to give them an annuity of $1,000 per annum. The validity of this treaty was de- nied by one band of Sae Indians, and this ces- sion of land became, twenty-eight years after, the alleged cause of the Black Hawk War.

2. Another treaty was held at Portage des Sioux, now a village in St. Charles Co., Mo., on the Mississippi river, Sept. 13, 1815, with cer- tain chiefs of that portion of the Sac Nation then residing in Missouri, who, they said, were compelled since the commencement of the late war, to separate themselves from the rest of their Nation. They gave their assent to the treaty made at St. Louis in 1804, and promised to remain separate from the Sacs of Rock river, and to give them no aid or assistance, until peace should be concluded between the United States and the Foxes of Rock river.

3. On the 14th of September a treaty was made with the chiefs of the Fox tribe, at the same place. They agreed that all prisoners in their hands should be delivered up to the gov- ernment. They assented to, recognized, re-es- tablished and confirmed the treaty of 1804 to the full extent of their interest in the same.

4. A treaty was held at St. Louis, May 13, 1816, with the Sacs of Rock river, who affirmed the treaty of 1804, and agreed to deliver up all the property stolen or plundered, and in failure to do so, to forfeit all title to their annuities. To this treaty Black Hawk's name appears with others. That chief afterward affirmed that though he himself had "touched the quill" to

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this treaty, he knew not what he was signing, and that he was therein deceived by the agent and others, who did not correctly explain the nature of the grant; and in reference to the treaty of St. Louis in 1804, and at Portage des Sioux in 1815, he said he did not consider the same valid or binding on him or his tribe, inas- much as in the terms of those treaties, territory was described which the Indians never intended to sell, and the treaty of 1804, particularly, was made by parties who had neither authority in the Nation nor power to dispose of its lands. Whether this was a true statement of the case or otherwise, it is quite certain that the grant of lands referred to was often confirmed by his Nation, and was deemed conclusive and bind- ing by the government. The latter acted in good faith to the tribes, as well as to the set- tlers, in the disposition of the lands.

5. A treaty of peace and friendship was made at St. Louis, June 3, 1816, between the chiefs and warriors of that part of the Winnebagoes residing on the Wisconsin river. In this treaty the tribe state that they have separated them- selves from the rest of their Nation; that they, for themselves and those they represent, con- firm to the United States all and every cession of land heretofore made by their Nation, and every contract and agreement, as far as their interest extended.

6. On the 19th of August, 1825, at Prairie du Chien, a treaty was made with the Sioux, Chippewas, Sacs and Foxes, Winnebagoes, Ot- tawas and Pottawattamies, by which the bound- ary between the two first Nations was agreed upon; also between the Chippewas, Winneba- goes and other tribes.

7. Another treaty was held Aug. 5, 1826, at Fond du Lac of Lake Superior, a small settle- ment on the St. Louis river, in Itasca Co., Minn., with the same tribes, by which the previous treaty was confirmed in respect to boundaries, and those of the Chippewas was defined, as a portion of the same was not completed at the former treaty.

8. A treaty was made and concluded Aug. 1, 1827, at Butte des Morts, between the United States and the Chippewa, Monomonee and Win- nebago tribes, in which the boundaries of their tribes were defined; no cession of lands was made.

9. A treaty was made at Green Bay, Aug. 25, 1828, with the Winnebagoes, Pottawatta- mies and other tribes. This treaty was made to remove the diffculties which had arisen in consequence of the occupation by white men of that portion of the mining country in the south- western part of Wisconsin which had not been ceded to the United States. A provisional boundary was provided, and privileges accorded the government to freely occupy their territory until a treaty should be made for the cession of the same. This treaty was simply to define the rights of the Indians, and to give the United States the right of occupation.

10. Two treaties were made at Prairie du Chien on the 29th of July, 1829, and Aug. 1, 1829. At the first date, with the Chippewas, Ottawas and Pottawattamies, by which these Nations ceded all their lands which they claimed in the northwestern part of Illinois; and at the latter date with the Winnebagoes, by which that Nation ceded and relinquished all their right, title and claim to all their lands south of the Wisconsin river, thus confirming the purchase of the lead-mine region. Certain grants were made to individuals, which grants were not to be leased or sold by the grantees.

By this important treaty, about 8,000,000 aeres of land were added to the public domain. The three tracts ceded, and forming one whole, ex- tended from the upper end of Rock river to the mouth of the Wisconsin, from latitude 41 de- grees 30 minutes to latitude 43 degrees 15 min- utes on the Mississippi. Following the mean- derings of the river, it was about 240 miles from west to east, extending along the Wisconsin and Fox rivers, affording a passage across the coun try from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan. The

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south part of the purchase extended from Rock Island to Lake Michigan .*

11. At the conclusion of the Black Hawk War, in 1832, for the purpose of clearing up the Indian title of the Winnebago Nation in the country, a treaty was made and concluded at Fort Armstrong, Sept. 15, 1832. All the terri- tory claimed by this Nation lying sonth and east of the Wisconsin and Fox rivers of Green bay, was ceded to the United States, and no band or party of Winnebagoes was allowed to reside, plant, fish or hunt on these grounds, after June 1, 1833, or on any part of the country therein ceded.

12. The Winnebago Nation, by the chiefs and delegates, held a treaty with the govern- ment at Washington, Nov. 1, 1837. 'That Na- tion ceded all their lands east of the Mississippi, and obligated themselves to remove, within eight months after the ratification of the treaty, to certain lands west of the Mississippi which were conveyed to them by the treaty of Sept. 21, 1832.

THE INDIAN TREATIES OF 1829. [By Caleb Atwater.]

Galena stands on the land we afterwards pur- chased of the Indians, and is the largest town in Illinois. When we arrived there it had been settled about three years. It contained several taverns, a considerable number of stores, about a dozen lawyers, and four or five physicians, with little to do, as the country is healthy. There were three religious congregations in the place-Methodists, Roman Catholics and Pres- byterians. The town is built on the side hill, in the form of a crescent, on the north side of Fever river, and contains, perhaps, 1,000 in- habitants. It is a seat of justice of Jo Daviess C'o., Ill., and is situated in latitude about 42 de- grees 30 minutes north. It contained at all times very large quantities of lead, brought here either as rent to the government or for sale to the merchants. The superintendent of the mines and his assistant, Major Campbell,

*For further information as to the treaties of 1829, see the next two articles.

live here. The latter gentleman and his amia- ble and interesting lady had been with us on our passage from St. Louis, and they were happy to find themselves at the end of as dis- agreeable a journey as was ever made on these waters.

Numerous groceries appeared in the town, and two billiard tables were occupied by persons who wished to amuse themselves at billiards.

Mr. James Barnes, formerly of Chillicothe, Ghio, kept an excellent boarding house, and I found many old acquaintances in the town, en- joying the best of health, and they appeared cheerful and happy.

Here we learned that a large body of Indians had already been assembled at Prairie du Chien for some time, and were in readiness to meet us. Knowing the necessity of supplying them with food, that ours would not reach us for some time yet, and knowing this to be the last oppor- tunity we should find to purchase any food, we purchased 500 bushels of corn, and loading all we could convey, we left this beantiful town on the next day, and departed for our final destina- tion, where we arrived about the middle of July, 1829.

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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 19

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