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 28

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 28

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).

"Some of the Winnebagoes on the south side of the Wisconsin river have befriended the Sacs, and some of the Indians of my agency have given them aid; this was wrong and dis- pleased the great chief of the warriors and your great father, the President, and was calculated to do much harm. My children, your great father, the President at Washington, has sent a great war chief from the far east, Gen. Scott, with a fresh army of soldiers, who is now at Rock Island.

"Your great father has sent him and the gov- ernor of Illinois to hold a council with the In- dians at Rock Island; he has sent a speech to yon; and he wishes the chiefs and warriors of the Winnebagoes to meet him in council on the 10th of September next. I wish yon to be ready to go along with me to Rock Island.

"My children, I am well pleased that you have taken Black Hawk and the Prophet and so many others, because it will enable me to say much for you to the great chief of the warriors and your great father, the President. I shall now deliver these two mey, Blick Hawk and

the Prophet, to the chief of the warriors here, Col. Taylor, who will take good care of them until we start to Rock Island."

Col. Taylor then said:

"The great chief of the warriors told me to take the prisoners when you should bring them and send them to Rock Island to him. I will take them and keep them safe, but use them well, and will send them by you and Mr. Street when you go down to the council, which will be in a few days. Your friend, Mr. Street, advised you to get ready and go down soon, and so do. I tell you again, I will take the prisoners and keep them safe, but will do them no harm. I will deliver them to the great chief of the war- riors, and he will do with them in such manner as he may be ordered by your great father, the President."

Cheater, a Winnebago, said to Mr. Street, the agent:

"My father, I am young and don't know how to make speeches. This is the second time I ever spoke to you before the people. My father, I am no chief, I am no orator, but I have been allowed to speak to you. My father, if I shall not speak as well as others, still you must listen to me.

"My father, when you made the speech to the chiefs, Wangh-kan-decorri, Carimanee, the one-eyed Decorri, and others, the other day, I was there. I heard you. I thought what you said to them you also said to me. You said if these two (pointing to Black Hawk and the Prophet) were taken by ns and brought to you there would never any more a black cloud hang over your Winnebagoes. My father, your words entered into my ears, into my brain and into my heart. I left here that very night and you know you have not seen me since, until now. My father, I have been a great way. I had much trouble; but when I remembered what yon said I knew you were right. This made me keep on and do what you told me. Near the dale [dells] on the Wisconsin river I took Black Hawk. No one did it but me. I

185

HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY. .

say this in the ears of all present, and they know it; and now I appeal to the Great Spirit, our Grand Mother, for the truth of what I say. My father, I am no chief, but what I have done is for the benefit of my own Nation, and I hope for the good that has been promised us. My father, that one, Waboki-shiek, is my relation. If he is to be hurt I do not wish to see it. My father, soldiers sometimes stick the ends of their guns [bayonets] into the back of Indian prisoners when they are going about in the hands of the guard. I hope this will not be done to these men."

DEATH OF BLACK HAWK.

Black Hawk was sent as a prisoner from Prairie du Chien to Jefferson barracks, under charge of Lieut. Jefferson Davis-then in the United States army at Prairie du Chien, and thirty years later President of the Confederate States. Black Hawk was kept a close prisoner until April, 1833, when he was taken to Wash- ington, together with some of his family and the Prophet. After an interview with Presi- dent Jackson,and being emphatically told by him that the government would compel the red mer to be at peace, they were sent as prisoners to Fortress Monroe, for "levying war," as Jeffer- son Davis was, thirty-two years later, for the same offense. On June 4, 1833, by order of the President, Black Hawk and his fellow prisoners were liberated and sent home, under officers ap- pointed to conduct them through the principal cities of the Union, in order to impress them with a proper sense of the power of the whites. and of the hopelessness of any confliet on the part of the Indians with the government of the United States. Black Hawk ever after remained quiet. He died Oct. 3, 1838, and was buried on the banks of the Mississippi, in the State of Iowa, near the head of the Des Moines rapids, where the village of Montrose is located.

JOHN H. FONDA'S NARRATIVE.

The Black Hawk War commeneed this year, [1832]. Some of Dodge's recruiting officers were drumming around here. I met and got

acquainted with one, named White, and enlisted during the war. A quartermaster was up here buying horses. He purchased near 500) head, and I went with them down to the mouth of Rock river, where the army under Atkinson was eneamped.

I was under Dodge's command of Illinois volunteers, and a wilder, more independent set of dare-devils I never saw. They had a free- and-easy, devil-may-care appearance about them, that is never seen in the regulars, and Gen. Dodge of all others, was the officer to lead them. A number of Sioux, Winnebagoes and some Menomonees joined the forces on Rock river. I was in the ranks, and my opportunities for knowing and seeing the movements of the army, from the encampment on Rock river to the Four lakes, and to the Wisconsin bluffs, were limited.

Generals Atkinson, Dodge, Henry and Alex- ander, led the different commands. The force under Dodge, consisted of 200 or 300 men, and we proceeded to the lakes, through the swamps towards Black Hawk's camp on Rock river. Gen. Dodge was impatient to engage the In- dians, and urged the men on; but orders came for our men to proceed to headquarters, where we immediately went.

From Gen. Atkinson's camp we were marched to Fort Winnebago, from where we started in pursuit of the Indians, who there held the two Hall girls prisoners, and were camped at Rock River Rapids. Gen. Henry's and Dodge's men reached the Rapids, but the Indians had retreated. Information was received that the Indians were making westward, and getting on their trail, we followed them rapidly for two days; the scouts discovered many Indians on the second day about eamp near the lake. The pursuit was renewed on the day after reaching the lakes, where one or more of the Indians was killed. Our men led the chase, next after the scouts, who were continually firing at the Indians. The Indians continued to retreat, until they i reached the Wisconsin river, where some made

186

HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

a stand and showed fight, while the others crossed the river. Here we were fired on by the Indians, and one man was killed and several wounded. We returned their fire with effect, and then charged them, killing a good many, all of whom were scalped by the wild Sucker volunteers.

Soon after the skirmish on Wisconsin bluffs, Gen. Atkinson came up, and the entire army crossed the river at Pine Bend, (Helena,) and took the trail on the opposite side, and followed it seven or eight miles, in the direction of Prairie du Chien. When it was discovered that the Indians were making for the Mississippi, Gen. Atkinson sent me with little Boiseley to carry a dispatch to Fort Crawford, that the in- habitants might be ready to prevent the Indians crossing in any canoes or boats belonging to the citizens. Boiseley and I traveled day and night, and arrived at the fort without seeing an Indian. Black Hawk and his people, with the army in pursuit, had turned northward, intending to ford the Kickapoo high up.

It was on the 1st day of August when Boise- ley and I reached the Sugar Loaf, at the south end of the prairie. As we were taking a look over the prairie, previous to starting for the fort, we saw the smoke and steam of a boat coming up the river, just off the month of the Wisconsin. We hastened on, and reached the fort as the steamer Warrior made the govern- ment landing. I reported myself to Capt. Loomis, and was directed to go up the river in the boat. I assisted to get a six-pounder from the fort on to the Warrior, which cannon was managed by five other persons and myself, and was the only cannon fired at the Indians-if not the only one aboard.

The steamboat Warrior was commanded by Thockmorton, and Lient. Kingsbury was aboard with a body of regulars. The cannon was placed on the forward part of the boat, without a de- l'ense of any kind; and I have the names of the tive persons who assisted to manage it, for they got on at the Prairie when I did.

The boat steamed up stream with all on board anxious to get a pop at the Indians. Just above where Lansing is, we picked up a soldier, who had been discharged from Fort Snelling, and was coming down the river in a canoe. He had come down the west channel, on the Minnesota side opposite Bad Ax, and, fortunately for him, he did not meet the Indians. We came in sight of the Indians south of the Bad Ax river; they were collected together on a bench of the land close to the Mississippi, and were making efforts to get their women across.

Capt. Dickson's sconts had not come up yet, and the Indians raised a white flag and endeav- ored to induce the boat to approach the east shore, and succeeded in bringing her close enough to pour a shower of balls into her. The cannon sent a shower of canister amongst the Indians, which was repeated three times, each time mowing a swath clean through them. Af- ter discharging the gun three times, (there were only three charges of canister shot aboard,) the Indians retreated to the low ground back from the shore, where, lying on their bellies, they were safe from us.

A continnal firing of small arms was kept up between the persons on board the boat and the Indians ashore, until the fire-wood gave out, when we were obliged to put back to Prairie du Chien to wood up-for there were no woodyards on the Mississippi as now. The village was roused to carry wood aboard, and we soon had a sufficient quantity of that article. A lot of Menomonee Indians were also taken on, and then, under a full head of steam, we put back to the scene of the battle.

Before we rounded the island, and got within sight of the battle-ground, we could hear the report of mnsketry, and then it was that I heard Thoekmorton say: "Dodge is giving them h-11!" And he guessed right, for as we reached the scene of action, the wild volunteers under Gen. Dodge were engaged in a fierce conflict with the Indians. The Indians were driven down to the river edge; some of them under

187

HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

shelter of the bank were firing at the volun- teers, who had command of the bluffs. The Suckers and Hoosiers, as we called them, fought like perfect tigers, and carried everything be- fore them.

The troops and Indians on board the Warrior kept up a brisk fire on the Indians ashore, who fought with a desperation that surpassed every- thing I ever saw during an Indian fight, and I have seen more than one. The Indians were between two fires; on the bluffs above them were Dickson and his rangers, and Dodge lead- ing on his men, who needed no urging; while we kept steaming back and forth on the river, running down those who attempted to cross, and shooting at the Indians on shore.

The soldier we picked up helped to man the gun,and during the engagement he was wounded in the knee by a rifle ball. The Indians' shots would hit the water or patter against the boat, but occasionally a rifle ball sent with more force would whistle through both sides. Some of the Indians, naked to the breech-cloth, slid down into the water, where they laid, with only their mouth and nostrils above the surface; but by running the boat closer in to the east shore our Menomonees were enabled to make the water too hot for them. One after another, they jumped up, and were shot down in attempting to gain cover on the bank above. One warrior, more brave than the others, or, perhaps, more accustomed to the smell of gun-powder, kept his position in the water until the balls fell around him like hail, when he also concluded to pugh-a-shee,* and commenced to creep up the bank. But he never reached the top, for Thoek- morton had his eye upon him, and drawing up his heavy rifle, he sent a ball through the ribs of the Indian, who sprang into the air with an ugh! and fell dead. There was only one per- son killed of those who came up on the Warrior, and that was an Indian. The pilot was fired at

many times, but escaped unharmed, though the pilot house was riddled with balls.

One incident occurred during the battle that came under my observation, which I must not omit to relate. An old Indian brave and his five sons, all of whom I had seen on the prairie and knew, had taken a stand behind a prostrate log, in a little ravine, midway up the bluff; from whence they fired on the regulars with deadly aim. The old man loaded the guns as fast as his sons discharged them, and at each shot a man fell. They knew they could not ex- pect quarter, and they sold their lives as dear as possible; making the best show of fight, and holding their ground the firmest of any of the Indians. But they could never withstand the men under Dodge, for as the volunteers poured over the bluff, they each shot a man, and in return, each of the braves were shot down and scalped by the wild volunteers, who out with their knives, and cutting two parallel gashes down their backs, would strip the skin fron the quivering flesh, to make razor strops of. In this manner I saw the old brave and his five sons treated, and afterward had a piece of their hide.

After the Indians had been completely routed on the east side, we carried Col. Taylor and his force across the river, to islands opposite, which we raked with grape and round shot. Taylor and his men charged through the islands to the right and left, but they only took a few prisoners, mostly women and children. I landed with the troops, and was moving along the shore to the north, when a little Indian boy, with one of his arms shot most off, came out of the bushes and made signs for something to eat. He seemed perfectly indifferent to pain, and only sensible of hunger, for when I carried the little naked fellow aboard, some one gave him a piece of hard bread, and he stood and ate it, with the wounded arm dangling by the torn flesh; and so he remained until the arm was taken off.

*Pugh-a-shee-be off-escape-is quite a common word with several of the western Indian tribes. The Shawanoes used it.

188

HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

Old Wa-ba-shaw, with a band of his warriors and Menomonees, were sent in pursuit of those of Black Hawk's people who crossed the Mis- sissippi, and very few of the Sauk and Fox In- dians ever reached their own country. The Warrior carried down to the Prairie, after the fight, the regular troops, wounded men and prisoners; among the latter was an old Sank Indian, who attempted to destroy himself by pounding his own head with a rock, much to the amusement of the soldiers.

Soon after Black Hawk was captured, the volunteers were discharged, and I received a land warrant for my two months' service, set- tled down and got married.

THE BLACK HAWK WAR IN GREEN COUNTY.

In this connection the narrative of J. W. Stewart,* in so far as it relates to the Black Hawk War in Green county, is of interest. In speaking of Andrew Clarno, that writer says: "He was a man of a warm and generous heart, in whose company the writer has spent many pleasant hours, listening to his rude history of the times of the Black Hawk War. This war broke out in 1832, at which time Joseph Payne, whose name is familiar to all in this vicinity, had just erected and moved into a cabin, to- gether with William Wallace, in the same neighborhood with Mr. Clarno; and, at the first outbreak of hostilities, on the 5th of May; they fled from their cabins with their families, and the same day their deserted houses were fired by the Indians. These fugitives camped the first night on the ground where [the city of] Monroe now stands. Here they spent a restless night, occasionally hearing the savage whoop of the blood-thirsty Indians, but were lucky enough to get off undiscovered, with a quick and light tread, in the morning, in the direction of Hamilton's settlement, where they staid next night, and thence to Fort Gratiot, where they remained till the close of the war."

*see Chap. VIII, where Mr. Stewart's narrative is given in full.

So much for the war, in its particular relation to the south part of what is now the county of Green; but we now call the attention of the reader to the present town of Exeter-to the northern portions of the county, that the effect of the breaking out of hostilities upon the few settlers may be well understood. Albert Salisbury, in 1871, in writing of William Deviese, a Green county pioneer, says:

"The settlers on the Sugar river knew nothing of the Black Hawk War until May of that year [1832], when the Winnebagoes told Dougherty's half-breed wife of the outbreak. At that time the Sacs and Foxes were about the mouth of the Kishwaukee, and the engagement at Still- man's Run had already taken place. . The in- formation was received about noon [by the set- tlers], and that evening all started for Galena by the only conveyance at hand-a broken down yoke of oxen and the running gear of an old buggy,-as all the teams happened to be on a trip to Galena with lead. Everything was left behind, including their tools, 30,000 pounds of lead, and Dougherty's merchandise.

"Deviese went to Wiota and joined a militia company under Wm. S. Hamilton [son of Alex- ander Hamilton], and assisted in building the block house called Fort Hamilton. While they were forted here occurred the massacre of Spafford's farm, in which Omri Spafford, James McIlwaine, Abraham Searles, and a man called John Bull, were killed by the Indians. They were attacked in a corn field; Spafford would not run, but stood at bay, and was killed in the field. Francis Spencer, who owned part of the field, escaped through a ravine, as did also an- other of the party. The other men swam the river and were shot, as it seems, while trying to get up the farther bank. The men at the fort were soon apprised of the affair, and when the body of the man called John Bull was fished out of the stream, his watch had not yet stopped. Spencer was found some days afterward, under the floor of an old stable or hog-pen nearly crazed with fright. A few days later, on the

189

HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

morning of June 16 [1832], Henry Apple was killed near the fort, and Gen. Dodge rode soon afterwards into the fort and ordered all the mounted men in pursuit of the Indians. Col. Hamilton was absent, and had left the fort in command of Capt. Harrison, a relative of Old Tippecanoe, as was Col. Hamilton of the dis- tingnished Alexander Hamilton.

"The men sprang to their horses, and Deviese mounting Capt. Harrison's horse in his haste, was off with the rest. Major Kirkpatrick's dog took the trail, and in course of the day the Red- Skins were overtaken. After they were first seen they ran about two miles, and finally took shelter under the thicketted bank of a small lake or pond near the Pecatonica. They fired first, hitting in all four men. Dodge shouted, "charge them, G -- d d-n them, every man sword in hand!" The amusing part of it was, there was not a sword in the whole command except his own. The horses had been left behind at the edge of the woods, in charge of a few men de- tailed for the purpose. After the Indian fire, Dodge's men charged and killed all but one, he thinks, at the first fire. That one was shot by Adjt. Woodbridge as he crawled up the oppo- site bank of the lake. The Indians threw their arms into the water after their fire, not having time to re-load, and realizing, seemingly, that the game was up with them. Deviese thinks that when Dodge's men fired, the range was not more than twenty-five feet. After all was over, one of the party, who had succeeded in getting behind in some way, came riding up furiously, and "spoiling for a fight." The coat worn by Dodge in this fight, as in all others, was not really a coat at all, in the usual acceptation of the word, but a buck-skin hunting shirt.

"After the battle of the Pecatonica, most se- vere rains set in, occasioning a delay in opera- tions for several days; after which they set out from Fort Hamilton and struck Rock river at the mouth of the Catfish. They kept the west side of Lake Koshkonong, and camped half way up the lake to wait for the troops. The con .-

mand at this time consisted of about sixty men, besides a few friendly Menomonees. Gen. At- kinson overtook them at the month of Bark river, and built block-houses where the village of Fort Atkinson now stands. A force went up Bark river to the month of the Whitewater, but finding no trail returned. After some other fruitless searching, Gen. Dodge, with Generals Posey and IIenry from Illinois, went across with several hundred men to where Madison now stands, and thence struck the Black Earth, following it down to its mouth, where the bat- tle of Wisconsin Heights occurred on the fourth or fifth day from Fort Atkinson. The Indians fired when Dodge was on the top of the bluff, but killed nobody. Dodge's fire killed eleven. The Indians plunged into the river and swam from island to island or hid in the tall grass. Dodge camped on the battlefield as night was just coming on. All that night shouting was heard from the opposite bluff. As they after- wards learned, it was Black Hawk calling in the Winnebago tongue to propose a treaty, he wrongly supposing that the whites had Winno- bagoes with them.

"From here the troops dispersed to the set- tlements for supplies. Gen. Posey went to Fort Hamilton. Deviese then went on an express alone to Fort Atkinson and back. Gen. Atkin- son left Capt. Low# at the fort with thirty or forty men, and marched with the rest to meet Dodge at Helena, where there was a small set- tlement, and where they all crossed the Wis- consin. The Indians had followed the Wiscon- sin down to a point nine miles below Helena. The troops struck the trail at once, and followed to the month of the Bad Ax.

"Deviese did not leave here until the com- mand had been gone for a day or two. That

*Capt. Gideon Low, a native of Pennsylvania, was ap- pointed an Ensign in the first U. S. regiment of infantry. June 1, 1812, and served during the whole war with Great Britain, having been promoted first to a Second Lieutenant. and then to a First Lieutenant, and was disbanded, when the army was reduced, in June, 1815. In 1819, he re-entered the service as Second Lieutenant of Rifles, and serving in the line, and part of the time as Assistant Commissary of Sub- sistance, till Angust, 1828, when he was promoted to a Cap- tainey, served through the Black Hawk War, resigned in Feb- ruary, 1840, and died at Fort Winnebago, in May, 1850 .- ED.

190

HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

part of the journey between Dodgeville and Helena he made during the darkest night that he ever saw. He thinks that the only time he ever really suffered from fear during the whole war, was that night, when he probably had least to fear, except the possibility perhaps of going astray. When a day's journey beyond Helena, he was obliged to camp alone, though so near the command that he heard the drums beat next morning.

"The night before the battle of Bad Ax, when about four miles from the Mississippi, Deviese with another man named Marsh, went on an express to Prairie du Chien. In the morn- ing they were somewhat alarmed by fresh trails in the dew, made probably by deer, but reached Prairie du Chien late that night. Capt. Loomis sent the steamboat Warrior up the river. De- viese left his horse and went up on the boat, reaching the battle-ground early next morning. Dodge had sixteen wounded, and none killed, though Capt. Bowman, one of the wounded, died on the trip down. The boat also carried down the wounded, Indians.

" From Prairie du Chien, Deviese, though worn down and nearly sick, went on an express to Capt. Low, at Fort Atkinson, having for a companion young Dougherty, son of the trader. They went by the way of Dodgeville, and their own settlement at Exeter. They found every- thing burned, building, goods and tools. De- viese thinks it was not done by the Indians, but by a Frenchman named Edward Beouchard, to spite Dougherty, with whom he was at disa- greement. This Beouchard was a boastful, re- vengeful and worthless fellow who had been for some time at Blue Mounds. At last ac- counts he was still living at Mineral Point .*

* It is due to truth and charity to say, that such men as Beonehard, who have seen much of frontier life and border adventure, are apt to be thought as boastful, when, in point of fnet, their narratives, oftentimes strange and romantie, are nevertheless within the bounds of truth and probability. Beouchard was a native of Canada, and early engaged in the fur trade, and went over to the Pacific ocean. He returned by way of the Red river settlement, at a time when Lord Sel- kirk was on the way there in a half-starved condition ; and Beonehard took a supply of dried meat, went, met and suc- cored him, and condueted him to the settlement. He was, in 1822, employed by Col. James Johnson in effeeting the

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 28

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