USA > Wisconsin > Vernon County > History of Vernon County, Wisconsin, together with sketches of its towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 47
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Col. Snelling then addressed the volunteers in a pacific and conciliatory manner, which seemed to dispose of the matter amicably; but the colonel, nevertheless, refused to furnish us with any means of support, or any mode of con- veyance back to Galena-as the boat in which we came, returned there immediately after our arrival. But for the noble generosity of Mr. Lockwood, who kindly furnished us with a boat and provisions, we would have been com- pelled to have made our way back to Galena on
foot, or as best we could, without provisions. During our entire stay at the garrison, we re- ceived the kindest treatment and most liberal hospitality at the hands of Mr. Lockwood. At the time of our arrival at Prairie du Chien, the citizens had in their custody as hostages for the good conduct of their Nation, three Indians, one of whom was the well-known Chief Day- kau-ray. He disclaimed on the part of his Nation as a whole, any intention to engage in hostilities with the whites; he was, however, retained some time as a hostage before being released.
During our absence, another volunteer com- pany was raised, commanded by Gen. Dodge, who was constantly in the field with his mounted force, keeping in check the approach of the enemy. During his rangings, he took young Win-ne-shiek, son of the chief Win-ne- shiek, who was detained as a hostage for some time. No farther disturbances of a serious character took place that season; and in the suc- ceeding autumn, Gens. Atkinson and Dodge held a council or treaty with the Winnebagoes. After this we had no more Indian troubles till 1832.
JAMES II. LOCKWOOD'S ACCOUNT OF THE WINNE-
BAGO WAR. .
In the winter of 1825-26, the wise men at Washington took it into their heads to remove the troops from Fort Crawford to Fort Snelling, and abandon the former. This measure was then supposed to bave been brought about on the representation of Col. Snelling of Fort Snelling, who disliked Prairie du Chien for difficulties he had with some of the principal inhabitants. During the winter there were confined in the guard-house of Fort Crawford two Winnebago Indians, for some of their sup- posed dishonest acts ; but what they were charged with, I do not now recollect. At that time, as already mentioned, our mails from St. Louis, the east and south, came via Springfield to Galena, and the postmaster at Prairie du Chien sent to Galena for the mails of that place
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and Fort Snelling. An order would frequently arrive by steamboat countermanding a previous order for the abandonment of the fort, before the arrival of first order by mail, and this mat- ter continued during the summer of 1826, and until October, when a positive order arrived, directing the commandant of Fort Crawford to abandon the fort, and proceed with the troops to Fort Snelling ; and if he could not procure transportation, to leave the provisions, ammu- nition and fort in charge of some citizen.
But a few days previous to this order, there had been an alarming report circulated, that the Winnebagoes were going to attack Fort Craw- ford, and the commandant set to work repairing the old fort,and making additional defenses. Du- ring this time the positive order arrived, and the precipitancy with which the fort was abandoned 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 Winnebagoes confined in Fort Crawford, leaving behind 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 eredit for goods, and went to their hunting grounds : but early in the winter a report became current among the traders that the Winnebagoes lad 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.
Mir. M. 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 uneasinesss 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 amunition 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 eindered that it was impossible to deter- mine whether they had been murdered and then burned, or whether their camp had accidentally caught on fire and consumed them. It was generally believed that the Winnebagoes had
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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 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, where the Chippewas were armed with tomahawks and war clubs. He 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 overtaken made no resistance. The Winneba- goes hearing a rumor of this, got the news among them that the two Winnebagoes con- fined there (for the murder of Methode and family) had been executed.
During the spring of 1827, the reports about the Winnebagoes hore rather a threatening as- pect; but, as I said before, situated as they were I did not believe they would commit any depredations. Under this belief, and hav- ing 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 and 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 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, know- ing 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 his cup that he had by him, he
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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 cir- cumstances 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, embarked, 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. 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 fiye rods behind the boat. They encamped with us, and commenced 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 ammuni- tion, but remained in camp over night. Morn- ing 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, pretending 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. He looked very 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 Indians
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 ns. 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 ne- gro blood, named Rijeste Gagnier, and Solo- mon Lipcap, and for me, for God's sake, to re- turn. I immediately got into the canoe with the Menomonees, and directed my men to pro- ceed 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 descended to the neighborhood where we had fallen in with the Indians the day before, we met Wah-wah-peck-ah coming up in his hunt- ing 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 cer- tainly would if he brought some furs, not wish- ing 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-
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lieve that I should have shot him. After talk- ing with him the Menomonees moved down the river, and arrived at the month of the Wis- consin about dark without seeing any more Winnebagoes. It was so dark that the Monomonees thought that we had better stop until morning, and we accordingly erawled into the bushes withont a fire and fonght mosquitoes all night, and the next morn- ing, the 27th, proceeded to the Prairie. I went to my house and found it vacant, and went to the old village where I found my family and most of the inhabitants of the Prairie, assem- bled at the house of Jean Brunet, who kept a tavern. Mr. Brunet had a quantity of square timber about him, and the people proposed building breast-works with it.
I learned on my arrival at the Prairie that on the preceeding day, the 26th, Red Bird. (who, when dressed, always wore ared 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 hed-room where she was sitting alone. The moment the Indians entered her room she believed they came to kill her, and im- mediately passed into and through the parlor. and crossed the hall into the store to her broth- er, 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 English- man. 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. Lock- wood 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 Sionx extraction, with two children; and living with him was an old discharged American soldier by
the name of Solomon Lipcap. The Winneba- goes 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 siezed 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 lier. 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 forgotton. 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 In- lians had said that they intended to burn it if the inhabitants should take refuge there. During the lay of the 27th, the people occupied themselves in making some breast-works of the timber abont Mr. Brunet's tavern, getting the swivel and wall pieces from the fort, and the con- demned muskets and repairing them, and con- cluded they would defend themselves, each commanding, none obeying, but every one giv- ing his opinion free'y.
About sunset one of the two keel-boats arrived that had a few days previously gone to Fort Snel- ling with supplies for the garrison, having on board a dead Indian, two dead men of the crew and fonr wounded. The dead and wounded of the crew were inhabitants of Prairie Du Chien who had shipped on the np-bound trip. They reported that they had been attacked the even- ing before, abont sunset, by the Winnebago
21
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*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 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 Sancy Sack (his surname I do not remember), who, dur- ing 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- *Ex-Gov. Reynolds, of Illinois, in his volume of his Life and Times, thus states the immediate
this That somewhere above cause of attaek.
Prairie Du Chien on their upward trip, they stopped at a large camp of Winnebago Indians, gave them some liquor freely and got them drunk, when they foreed six or seven squaws, stupefied with liquor, ou board the boats, for corrupt and brutal purposes, and kept them during their voyage to Fort Snelling and on their return. When the Win- nebago ludians heeame sober, and fully conscious of the in- jury done them, they mustered all their forces, a mounting to several hundred and attacked the foremost of the descending boais in which their squaws were confined. But this story has since been proven to be without foundation.
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 done 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 pro- posed 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 Indians. Others were for remaining and fortifying where they were, and others still urged the repairing the old fort. As the emi- nence on which my house stood overlooked the most of the prairie, some were for concentrat- ing our people there and fortifying it. After hearing these different projects, I addressed them something 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 protect 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 obedi- ence to his orders, and will, in that case, furnish yon with powder and lead as long as you want to shoot (1 being the only person having those
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articles in the place); but unless you agree to obey Mc Nair, 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 con- trol." Upon this they immediately agreed to acknowledge Mr. McNair 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. Mc- Nair 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 dis- tant; 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 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. Snelling. returned to Prairie dn Chien. Joseph Snelling and myself acted as supernumeraries under Capt. McNair. The government of Fort Crawford was conducted by a council of the captain and those who acted under him. It was immedi- ately resolved to repair the old fort as well as possible for defense, and the fort and block- house were put in as good order as circum- stances and materials 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 command of one of the block-houses, and Jean Brunet 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 therein; 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 buildings 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 musket in case of an attack.
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