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 20

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 20

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As soon as we were discovered by our red friends, a few miles below the fort, opposite to their encampment, they fired into the air about 1,500 rifles, to honor us. Our powder had be- come wet, and, to our extreme mortification and regret, we could not answer them by our cannon. Having fired their arms, some ran on foot, some rode on their small horses furiously along over the prairie to meet ns where we landed. Amidst the motley group of thousands, of all ages, sexes, classes of society, colors and conditions of men, women and children, who met us on the wharf -Nawkaw and Hoochopekah, with their fami- lies, eagerly seized my hand, and I was happy, indeed, to meet them here. During twenty years I had seen them several times, and they recognized me in a moment among the crowd, and assured me of their friendship and good

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

wishes. These chiefs of the Winnebagoes and their families pressed around me, and continued close by me until we reached the tavern where we went. There we entered into a long con- versation, and they introduced me to their red friends. I assured them of my ardent friend- ship, and that they and their people should be dealt with not only justly but liberally; that the President, their great father, was their friend, a warrior like them, and never would do them any injury; that I wished them all to re- member what I now told them, and when we finally parted, if my solemn promises thus vol- untarily made to them had not been kept to the very letter, I wished them to publicly tell me so. Shaking me heartily by the hand, and assuring me of their friendship, they then ap- pealed to Col. Menard, who heartily agreed with me in assuring them of our good intentions to- wards them.

Dr. Wolcott, the agent for the Chippewas, Ottawas and Pottawattomies, here met us, and he had been at incredible pains to get his In- dians here, where they had been for nearly a month, perhaps. Mr. Kinzey, the sub-agent of the Winnebagoes, whose sub-agency is located at Fort Winnebago, had also come and with him all the principal persons of that Nation residing in that direction.

All the Indians with whom we were sent to treat were represented on the ground, and ali that was wanting to begin our councils we urged forward with all the energy that the offi- cers of the government and their numerous friends could muster. The next day, in com- pany with Gen. Street, the agent of the Winne- bagoes, resident here, several sub-agents and interpreters, I met the principal men of the Winnebagoes, and we impressed upon them the necessity of keeping their young men under subjection, and arranged with them the outlines of the manner in which our business should be conducted. The talk was a long one and occu- pied the afternoon. Gen. Street was very zeal- ous in the service of the government.

Gen. McNeil and his officers at the fort erected a council shade near the fort, and in about three days we were ready to hold a pub- lic council, when Dr. Wolcott's Indians in- formed me that they could not meet in public council until an Indian was buried, and inquired of me if I objected to the burial, to which I re- plied that I could not object to the burial, cer- tainly. On the next day, to my regret, I learned they would not assemble in council until the Indian was buried, and again inquired whether I was willing to have the person buried, to which question I replied in the affirmative, when I was informed that the relatives of the deceased would not consent to the burial of the murdered person until they had received a horse, as the compensation for his death. Un- derstanding the difficulty at last, the commis- sioners gave the horse, the deceased was buried and the Indians agreed to meet in council next day.

I took some pains to get the murderer and the relatives of the deceased together in order to have a perfect reconciliation between them. They shook hands very cordially in appearance, but the relatives of the deceased person in- formed me privately afterwards that, as soon as the murderer got home with his horse and goods, they would kill him and take his prop- erty, which he could better keep than they could until then. If I am correctly informed they did as they assured me they would after their arrival in their own country. So that compounding for the murder only procrastinated for a time the punishment of the crime.

When everything was in readiness for the opening of the council, the Indians of all the tribes and Nations on the treaty ground attended, and requested to have translated to them, sev- erally, what we said to each tribe, which being assented to on our part, the Winnebagoes, the Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawattamies, Sioux, Sauks, Foxes and Monomonees, half-breeds, the officers from the fort, the Indian agents, sub- agents, interpreters and a great concourse of

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

strangers from every city in the Union; and even from Liverpool, London and Paris, were in attendance. The commissioners sat on a raised bench facing the Indian chiefs; on each side of them stood the officers of the army in full dress, while the soldiers, in their best attire, appeared in bright array on the sides of the conneil shade. The ladies belonging to the officers' families, and the best families in the Prairie, were seated directly behind the commissioners, where they could see all that passed and hear all that was said. Behind the principal Indian chiefs sat the common people-first the men, then the women and children, to the number of thous- ands, who listened in breathless and death-like silence to every word that was uttered. The spectacle was grand and morally sublime in the highest degree to the Nations of red men who were present, and when our proposition to sell all their country to their Father had been deliv- ered to them, they requested an exact copy of it in writi g; the request was instantly complied with and the council broke up. The next day we addressed the Winnebagoes, as we had the Chippewas, etc., the day before, and at their request gave them a copy of our speech.

After counseling among themselves, the Chip- pewas, etc., answere ł favorably as to a sale, though they would do nothing yet until they had fixed on their terms.

The Winnebagoes appeared in council and delivered many speeches to us. They demanded the $20,000 worth of goods. "Wipe out your debt," was their reply, "before you run in debt again to us."

Our goods, owing to the low stage of the water, had not arrived yet, and the Indians feared we did not intend to fulfill Gov. Cass' agreement of he year before. When our goods did arrive and they saw them they then changed their tone a little; but in the meantime, great uneasiness existed, and I was often seriously advised by Nawkaw and other friends to go into the fort, as Gen. McNeil had done. Col. Men- ard's ill health had compelled him to leave the

ground and go to Gen. Street's, five miles (the general calls it three) from the council house. Unless we left the ground, we were told by the Winnebagoes, that they "would use a little switch upon us." In plain English, they would assassinate the whole of us out of the fort. Two hundred warriors under Keokuk and Morgan, of Sauks and Foxes, arrived and began their war dance for the United States, and they brought word that thirty steamboats with cannon and United States troops, and 400 warriors of their own, were near at hand. The Winnebagoes were silenced by this intelligence, and by dem- onstrations, not misunderstood by them.

When Keokuk arrived, he brought two de- serters from the garrison here, whom he had made prisoners on his way up the river. Quas- quawma and his son-in-law, Tia-na, came with Keokuk. It was a season of great joy with me, who placed more reliance on these friendly war- riors than on all our forces. Good as our officers were, our soldiers of the army were too dissi- pated and worthless to be relied on one moment. Taking Keokuk aside and alone, I told him in plain English all I wanted of him, what I would do for him and what I expected from him and his good officers. He replied in good English: "I understand you sir, perfectly, and it shall all be done." It was all done faithfully, and he turned the tide in our favor.

The goods arrived and also our provisions; Col. Menard's and Gen. McNeil's health were restored and they appeared again at the council house and everything wore a new aspect. They approved of all I had done in their temporary absence.

On the 29th of July, 1829, we concluded our treaty with the Chippewas, Ottawas and Potta- wattamies.

On the 1st day of August. a treaty was con- cluded with the Winnebagoes.

So the treaties were executed at last, and about 8,000,000 acres of land added to our domain, purchased from the Indians. Taking the three tracts, ceded, and forming one whole, it extends

Solomon Sutherland

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

from the upper end of Rock Island to the mouth of the Wisconsin; from latitude 41 degrees, 30 minutes, to latitude 48 degrees, 15 minutes, on the Mississippi. Following the meanderings of the river, it is called 240 miles from south to north. It extends along the Wisconsin and Fox rivers, from west to east, so as to give us a pas- sage across the country from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan. The south part of the pur- chase extends from Rock Island to Lake Michi- gan south of the Wisconsin, the Indians now own only reservations where they live, which, as soon as the white people settle on all the ceded lands, will be sold to us, and the Indians will retire above the Wisconsin, or cross the Mississippi, where the bear, the beaver, the deer and the bison invite them. The United States now owns all the country on the east side of the Mississippi, from the Gulf of Mexico to the mouth of the Wisconsin.

When I have crossed Rock river, after having passed over the interior of the ceded country, I will describe it more particularly.

It remains for me to make a few remarks upon the country along the Mississippi from Fort Edwards upward, and briefly describe Prairie du Chien.

Ascending the Mississippi, the country ap- peared to rise up out of the river at Fort Ed- wards, and the hills assume a greater elevation still, at Du Buque's mine and tomb not far from Galena. From thence upwards, the bottom lands are narrow, the river turns towards the north- west and becomes very crooked, bounded by high hills. Cassville, thirty miles below Prairie du Chien, stands on a narrow bottom, where an opening into the mineral country, in the direc- tion of Mineral Point, presents itself. This easy passage down to the river has located a town here of a few houses, consisting of a tavern, a storehouse for the lead, belonging to the United States; and here a government sub-agent to col- lect and receive the government's share of lead resides, Major Beal.

Opposite the mouth of the Wisconsin stands Pike's hill, lofty and abrupt, and just above this place, on the eastern bank of the river, begins the low prairie ground on which Fort Crawford and the village of Prairie du Chien stand. The town begins to show itself three miles above the Wisconsin, and extend« upwards about nine miles, where it ends. The river is full of islands, and when at its highest altitude in a freshet is three miles in width, from hill to hill. Origi- nally settled by the French, it was once a place of some importance, as the remains of old cellars and chimneys show. That importance is no more, and probably never will be again. Over- flowed by high waters, and but little good land near it, without water-power, I see little induce- ment to build up a town here. On the north side of the Wisconsin there is no land on which a town can be located near the Wisconsin, and the south side is preferable for it, where one will, one day, rise up. The town, though, is a seat of justice for a county of Michigan, and per- haps thirty families, besides those belonging to the garrison, reside here. No Indians reside near here, and there is no sort of need of nor pro- priety in having an agency, etc., here for the Winnebagoes, because Fort Winnebago is the proper place for the agency.

Gen. Street, the agent and near relative of Mr. Barry, the postmaster general, is the pres- ent agent, and his residence, I consider to be about five miles above the fort, though I am aware that Gen. Street's estimated distance is only three miles.

The water found by digging in this prairie is not always good, and that in our well was the worst I ever tasted, operating upon the bowels like glauber salts, and I suffered excessively from using it. Even the food cooked in it af- fected me seriously. The well in the fort is better, and some persons obtain water from springs in the river when it is low. The river covers all the town and where the fort is in high water. The Mississippi rising late in the season, and subsiding in the summer solstice,

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this place must be sickly in summer every year, when a freshet takes such a time to appear. In 1829 there was no such rise in the river, of any amount, and the place was healthy.

The only Indians living on this river below this place and near it, are the Sauks and Foxes. The principal town of the former, on the east side of the Mississippi, is situated on the north side of Rock river, near its mouth, and in sight of the Mississippi. Not many years ago this town contained, it is said, 4,000 or 5,000 inhabi- tants. They have sold all the country east of the river Mississippi, and are withdrawing from it to a new town some ten miles west of the old town, and about the same distance from Rock Island.

The principal town of the Foxes is on the brink of the river near Du Buque's mine, and in sight of his tomb, which is erected on a high hill, where the cross on his grave can be seen from the river to a considerable distance from it. Du Buque was an Indian trader and lived and died here.

The Fox town contains twenty wigwams or upwards, and I presume some 200 Indians. I saw but a few acres of poorly cultivated corn near the town, and the wigwams looked shabby enough. Morgan is the principal warrior of this village, as Keokuk is of the Rock river town.

The Sauks and Foxes were so useful to us as auxiliaries, that I feel grateful to them and make a few remarks on their principal men who were with us.

Keokuk, the principal warrior of the Sauks, is a shrewd politic man, as well as a brave one, and he possesses great weight of character in their national councils. He is a high-minded, honorable man, and never begs of the whites.

While ascending the Mississippi to join us, at the head of his brave troops, he met, arrested and brought along with him to Fort Crawford, two United States soldiers, who were deserting from the garrison when he met them. I in- formed him that for this act he was entitled to

a bounty in money; to which he proudly re- plied, that he acted from motives of friendship towards the United States, and would accept no money for it.

Morgan is the principal warrior of the Foxes, and resides at Du Buque's mine on the western bank of the Mississippi. Though less versa- tility of talent belongs to him than Keokuk possesses, yet he is a brave man and fond of war. More than a year before we were in this country, this Indian general had gone to the Sioux country and killed a woman and three children of that Nation, which act produced the war, then raging between the two Nations. This act has since been dreadfully avenged by a large party, on some twenty individuals of the Foxes.

Tiama, a principal civil chief of the same. tribe, is an excellent man, and son-in-law of . Quasquawma. Their village is already noticed as being located on the west side of the river, opposite where we lay on an island, at the head of the lower rapids.

Quasquawma was the chief of this tribe once, but being eheated out of the mineral country, as the Indians allege, he was degraded from his rank and his son-in-law, Tiama, elected in his stead. The improvisatori, whose name has escaped my recollection, is a shrewd wit and a very good man, certainly a very amiable and agreeable one. He is highly esteemed by all his people.

Tom, a half-blood, is a great pet among the whites. He speaks prairie-wolf French and a little English, in addition to his knowledge of Indian languages.

Of the above named individuals, and several others belonging to these brave and generous allies, I brought away with me as correct a like- ness as I ever saw drawn. Gratitude towards them was my motive for being at the expense of these beautiful paintings which have gone to London a year since. Like many other ex- penses I was necessarily put to, I have never received even one cent from the government

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

towards them, nor have I received one cent, either for my expenses or my services at St. Louis, the lower rapids, Rock Island or Galena. I say this because it has been stated very dif- ferently, even on the floor of the House of Representatives. It is not true that all my ex- penses were paid by the United States; nor is it true that my services have been paid for by the government at all. In saying this, I do it in justice to myself as I would to do justice to any other injured individual, however humble in the Nation. I am even yet unpaid, but I never will condescend to beg for my pay at the doors of Congress. I did once expect very dif- ferent treatment from my country.

SEQUEL TO TIIE INDIAN TREATIES OF 1829.

[By Caleb Atwater.]

On the day we delivered the goods to the Winnebagoes, after the Indians were all seated on the ground in rows, the chiefs on the highest spot in the center, on benches, clothed in the most sumptuous manner; where they could see and be seen to the best advantage; every tribe by itself; the half-breeds in one place; the full whites in another. As I passed through the open spaces between the ranks, my attention was forcibly drawn to a particular spot by a constant snarling, hissing noise of some miser- able human being, whom, on approaching her, I ascertained to be an Indian woman, shriveled, haggard and old, though remarkably neat in her person and dress. She appeared to be about sixty years of age, and scolded incessantly. Some of the goods placed before her, as her share of them, she complained of as being too fine; others as being too coarse; some cost too much, while others were quite too cheap, and none of them seemed to please her. Wishing, if possi- ble, to please all of them, and especially the ladies; actuated by the best of motives, I en- deavored by every argument in my power to satisfy her, that so far as I could do anything towards it, great care had been taken in the distribution to do justice to every individual. I told her that her great father, the President,

had specially ordered me, so far as in me lay, to please all, and to see that no one went home dissatisfied. At that moment she returned upon me a volley of epithets too degrading to be re- peated, even though applied to myself, as I felt conscious of not deserving them. Turning around to some females who were politely sit- ting on the ground behind me, I learned the fault finder was un old maid (unmarried men at sixty years of age I will call bachelors, but ladies never), and that the only distinguishing mark of attention she had ever received from any man was a smart blow with a flat hand on her right ear.

As there is no law regulating taste, and some- times no rational way of accounting for some of its freaks; and as some sights are the aver- sion of some persons, while the appearance of other objects is equally disagreeable to others; and as I never conld endure the ideas conveyed to my mind by a rattlesnake, a heartless poli- tician, an iceberg and a cold hearted woman, I turned away from her in disgust, and never saw her more nor inquired her name, for fear I should remember it. She was the only person who left the treaty ground dissatisfied with the commissioners. To please her it was utterly impossible.

Seated, as I said, upon rising ground, on benches, clad in blankets, either green or red; covered with handsome fur hats, with three beautiful ostrich plumes in each hat; dressed in ruffled calico shirts, leggins and moccasins, all new, and faces painted to suit the fancy of each individual, who held in his hand a new rifle, adorned too with silver broaches, silver clasps on every arm, and a large medal sus- pended on each breast; the chiefs, principal warriors and head men, to the number of forty- two, sat during the two hours after all the goods had been delivered to the Nation.

Every individual of both sexes in the Nation had lying directly before the person on the ground the share of the goods belonging to the individual. Great pains had been taken to give

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

each such, and just so many clothes as would be suitable for the owner to wear during the year to come. The clothes were cut so as to corres- pond exactly with the size of the owner. The pile of clothes for each person was nearly two feet in thickness, the sight of which entirely overcame with joy our red friends, and they sat during two hours in the most profound silence, not taking off their eyes one moment from the goods, now their own. For the first time dur- ing my constant intercourse of several weeks with these interesting sons and daughters of the forest, as I passed repeatedly through their ranks, not an eye appeared to see me, not an ear to hear my heavy tread, not a tongue, as al- ways heretofore, repeated the endearing name of "Oconee Kairake" (the good chief), which their kind partiality had given me on my first landing at Prairie du Chien. Their minds were entirely overcome with joy.

The day being far spent, and, as the loading of the canoes, in which they were about to de- part, would necessarily occupy some little time, I informed the chiefs and principal men that the time had arrived when we should part to meet no more; that the great gun at the fort would soon be fired to do them honor. With one accord they all arose, and shaking me heartily by the hand, many of them shedding tears on the occasion, they one and all invited me to visit them at their respective places of abode. In a shrill tone of voice Nawkaw issued his orders for every individual to arise, take up his or her goods, and repair to the beach of the river near at hand, and there await the signal from the fort for their embarkation.

In fifteen minutes they were all seated on the sands by the river's edge, where they all sat in breathless silence awaiting the signal, which was soon given. As soon as that was given each chief came forward, shook me again cor- diaily by the hand, accompanied by the warm- est protestations of friendship. In a few mo- ments more they were off, covering a consider- able surface with their canoes, each one of

which carried its flag of some sort floating in the gentle breeze, which ruffled the surface of the Mississippi.

The Chippewas, Ottawas and Pottamatta- mies had received their goods in the same man- ner as the Winnebagoes; had been treated pre- cisely in the same way, and three guns, one for each Nation, had given them signal to depart, and they had parted with me in the same kind and affectionate manner.

After the departure of the above named In- dians, we had the Sauks and Foxes still with ns, with whom we had orders to hold a council to ascertain from them "if they would sell their mineral lands, situated west of the Mississippi? -and if they would sell them, upon what terms?"

Gen. M'Neil, who was in command as a mili- tary officer in this section of country, addressed these tribes and was answered by Keokuk on the part of the Sauks, and by Morgan for the Foxes. I regret that the injunction of secrecy rests on these speeches in the United States Senate; otherwise I should take great pleasure in laying them before the reader. Keokuk, in particular, made one of the best speeches I ever heard, and it was admired as such by several members of the Senate. Keokuk, on the part of these Indians, complained to us of certain white men who had settled on the Indian lands along the Mississippi in order to supply per- sons navigating the river with necessaries, such as poultry, milk, butter, eggs, and above all, cordwood for the steamboats. Ile complained that the United States had cultivated lands as a garden for the garrison at Prairie du Chien- had erected a mill withont leave, on Indian land -and had not fulfilled former treaties with them.

Making them liberal presents, we naturally deferred the whole subject in discussion for the consideration of the government of the United States to act on it; and I take pleasure in say- ing the government has, since that time, done its duty to these sons of the forest.

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

After arranging all matters with them as well as we could, which occupied several days, they were dismissed in a very friendly manner, as all other Indians had been already; and they imn.ediately descended the river for their homes.

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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 20

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