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 52
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"My father, we know you are our friend, because you take our part; this is the reason we do what you tell us to do. My father, you say you love your red children; we think we love you as much or more than you love us. My father, we have been promised a great deal if we would take these men, that it would do much good for our people; we now hope to see what will be done for ns. My father, we have come in haste, and are tired and hungry; we now put these men in your hands. We have done all you told us to do."
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
Mr. Street, the agent of the Winnebagoes then said :
"My children ! you have done well. I told you to bring these men to me, and you have done so. I am pleased at what you have done. It will tend to your good ; and, for this reason, I am well pleased. I assured the great chief of the warriors that, if these men were in your country, you would find them and bring them to me ; that I believed you would do what I directed you to do. Now I can say much for your good. I will go down to Rock Island with the prisoners ; and I wish you who have brought these men especially to go with me, and such other chiefs and warriors as you may select. My children ! the great chief of the warriors, when he left this place, directed me to deliver these and all other prisoners to the chief of the warriors, Col. Taylor, who is by my side.
"Some of the Winnebagoes on the south side of the Wisconsin river have befriended the Saes, 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 caleu- lated 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 governor of Illinois to hold a council with the Indians at Rock Island ; he has sent a speech to you ; and he wishes the chiefs and warriors of the Winnebagoes to meet him in council on the 10th of September next. I wish you 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 war- riors and your great father, the President. ] shall now deliver these two men, Black 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 theni 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 warriors, and he will do with them in sneh 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, Waugh-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 us 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 you 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 say this in the ears of all
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present, and they know it; and I now 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, Wa- boki-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 (bayo- nets) 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 Ilawk was kept a elose prison- er until April, 1833, when he was taken to Washington, together with some of his family and the Prophet. After an interview with President Jackson, and being emphatically told by him that the government would compel the red men to be at peace, they were sent as prison- ers to Fortress Monroe, for "levying war," as Davis was, thirty-two years later, for the same offense. On June 4, 1833, by order of the Pres- ident, 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 : fter remained quiet. Ile 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.
The Indian trade carried on for the Missis- sippi and Missouri and their tributaries was from Mackinaw. Until 1816 goods came mostly from Montreal in bateaux or canoes, mostly by the Mackinaw or its successor, the Southwest Com-
pany, or by some private traders. But early in 1815 Mr. Astor purchased ont the interest of the Southwest Company at Mackinaw and its dependences, and in August of that year Ram- sey Crooks, as already mentioned, went to Mack- inaw as agent for Mr. Astor to complete the arrangements. In the spring of 1816 the goods of the American Fur Company were imported to New York, and thence by way of the lakes to Mackinaw. During that spring several Montreal traders arriving at Mackinaw with Indian goods, probably not aware of the law of Con- gress prohibiting British subjects from trading within the American territories, now took advantage of the order of the secretary of the treasury, and sent their goods into the Indian country, under the nominal direction of a hired American clerk, to whom the goods were invoiced and who took the lieense in his name, and gave proper bonds with security to the traders who owned them, who went along ostensibly as interpreters, until the boat passed all the American forts and agencies, when they assumed the ownership, and proceeded as usual in their business-these clerks' bonds were con- sidered as a mere formality to evade the law, and were worth so much brown paper, and no more.
In the spring of 1817 the American Fur Com- pany brought a large number of American clerks from Montreal and the United States, some of whom made good Indian traders and are yet in the country, but nearly one-half of them were found not qualified for the business, and in the following spring many of them were discharged from Mackinaw, which was then the grand depot of the Indian trade.
The American Fur Company, as had been the practice of the Mackinaw and Southwest com- panies, made their outfits to Lake Superior, to the Mississippi, the head of St. Peters, and the Missouri. The boats . for the Mississippi and Missouri trade passed through the north end of Lake Michigan from Mackinaw, thenee through Green bay to the settlement of that name
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HISTORY OF VERNON. COUNTY
thence up the Fox river to the Little Kaukalin, where they made a portage of about three- fourths of a mile. Augustin Grignon had a trading house at this point and kept teams to transport the goods and furs, (the men taking the boats empty up or down the rapids, as the case might be, for which he charged about twen- ty cents per one hundred pounds. The boats then proceeded to Grand Chute, where the men made another portage of the goods or furs, and passed the boat over the Grand Chute empty. Thence they proceeded to the rapids at the low- er end of Winnebago lake, where they usually made half loads over the rapids into the lake. Thence they proceeded upward to where the Fox river enters the lake, thence up Fox river through Puckawa lake, and Lac de Boeuf, or Buffalo lake, and some smaller lakes to portage of Wisconsin, where a man by the name of Roy resided, who kept teams and hauled goods, furs and boats across the Portage of one and one- fourth miles from the Fox to the Wisconsin river, for which he charged forty cents per one hundred pounds, and ten dollars for each boat.
The boats then went down the Wisconsin to its mouth, and thence up the Mississippi about three miles to Prairie du Chien; the traders of the lower Mississippi and Missouri never going down without a short stop at Prairie du Chien, where they generally spent some days in con- viviality, dinners, dancing, etc. Tradition says that many years since, when there were many wintering traders in both the upper and lower Mississippi, it was the custom of every trader visiting Prairie du Chien to have in store a keg of eight or nine gallons of good wine for con- vivial purposes when they should again meet in the spring, on which occasions they would have great dinner parties, and, as is the Eng- lish custom, drink largely. But in 1816 there were but few of the old traders remaining, and the storing of wine at Prairie du Chien had be- come almost obsolete, although the traders were then well supplied with wine, and that of the best kind, of which they made very free use.
It was then thought that a clerk in charge of an outfit must have his keg of wine, but after the American Fur company got fairly initiated into the trade they abolished the custom of furnish- ing their clerks with this luxury at the expense of the outfit. As has already been said, the In- dian trade of the Mississippi and Missouri and their tributaries was carried on from Mackinaw as the grand depot of the trade of the north- west.
The traders and their clerks were then the aristocracy of the country; and to a Yankee at first sight, presented a singular state of society. To see gentlemen selecting wives of the nut- brown natives, and raising children of mixed blood, the traders and clerks living in as much luxury as the resources of the country would admit, and the engagees or boatmen living upon sonp made of hulled corn with barely tallow enough to season it, devoid of salt, unless they purchased it themselves at a high price-all this to an American was a novel mode of living, and appeared to be hard fare; but to a person acquainted with the habits of life of the Canadian peasantry, it would not look so much out of the way, as they live mostly on pea soup, seasoned with a piece of pork boiled down to grease; sel- dom eating pork except in the form of grease that seasons their soup. With this soup, and a piece of coarse bread, their meals were made; hence the change from pea soup to corn is not so great, or the fare much worse than that which they had been accustomed, as the corn is more sub- tantial than peas, not being so flatulent.
These men engaged in Canada generally for five years for Mackinaw and its dependencies, transferable like cattle to any one who wanted them, at generally about 500 livres a year, or in our currency, about $83.33; furnished with a yearly equipment or outfit of two cotton shirts, one three point or triangular blanket, a portage collar and one pair of beef shoes; being obliged, in the Indian country to purchase their moccas- ins, tobacco, pipes and other necessaries at the price the trader saw fit to charge for them.
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
Generally at the end of five years these poor voyageurs were in debt from fifty to 150 dollars and could not leave the country until they had paid their indebtedness; and the policy of the traders was to keep as many of them in the country as they could; and to this end they al- lowed and encouraged their engagees to get in debt during the five years, which of necessity required them to remain.
These new hands were by the old voyageurs called in derision, mangeurs de lard-pork-eaters as on leaving Montreal, and on the route to Mackinaw, they were fed on pork, hard bread, and pea-soup, while the old voyageurs in the Indian country ate corn soup, and such other food as could convenietly be procured. These nungeurs de lard were brought at considerable expense and trouble from Montreal and other parts of Canada, frequently, deserting after they had received some advance in money and their equipment. Hence it was the object of the traders to keep as many of the old voyageurs in the country as they could, and they generally permitted the mangeurs de lard to get largely in debt, as they could not leave the country and get back into Canada, except by the return boats or canoes which brought the goods, and they would not take t'em back if they were in debt anywhere in the country, which could be easily ascertained from the traders at Mackinaw. But if a man was prudent enough to save his wages, he could obtain passage, as he was no longer wanted in the country.
WESTERN WISCONSIN IN 1836.
(By S. M. Palmer.)
Desirous of visiting Cassville, Prairie dn Chien and that part of the territory bordering on the Mississippi, I accepted a cordial invita- tion from Col. Daniels, of Cassville, to take a seat in his carriage for that place. It was a delightful morning in September, when, with an agreeable party, consisting of the col- onel, Mr. Latham, of Mineral Point, and a Mr. Payne, of Boston, we bade adieu to the noble, generous people of Mineral Point, and pro-
ceeded over a rough, uncultivated, hilly, and tolerably well timbered country, some six or ten miles to a pretty spot called Diamond Grove, near which was the residence of Col. John B. Terry. Here it was proposed to stop, but on approaching the house, it was evident that the family were not at home, and I proposed to pass on, but was overruled by Col. Daniels, who insisted that it was the seat of genuine hospit- ality, where the latch string was never drawn in -which proved to be the case on that occasion, at least, and the whole party entered the house. And although no member of the family was at home, Col. Daniels, presuming upon his friend- ship with the proprietor, opened the cupboard, and set out an excellent cold collation, to which was added a bottle of something stronger than milk, on which the party regaled them- selves most satisfactorily.
Proceeding across a fine rolling prairie, beau- tiful as a garden, though almost in a state of nature, with at rare intervals a small agricul- tural improvement, or a hamlet of miners' huts, we struck the military road, which traverses the dividing ridge extending across the territory, the western terminus being at Prairie du Chien, along which we continued through a succession of natural landscapes, the most rich and gor- geous that can be imagined, until we reached the intersection of the Cassville road; near which, but a short distance along the last named road, we stopped for the night, at a small log hut, the only building of any description in the vicinity, excepting a small one on a recent im- provement, said to have been commenced by Hon. Thomas P. Burnett, near where we di- verged from the military road.
We were generously welcomed, and as com- . fortably entertained as the limited means of our kind host and hostess would admit. The ride from this point to Cassville was through a country of extraordinary beauty, with a soil of unrivaled richness and fertility, though with the exception of a very few small buildings and improvements, untouched by the hand of man.
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
The people of Cassville, proverbially intelligent, accomplished and enterprising-proud of what they considered the great beauty and immense natural advantages of the location of their town-were all bustle and excitement in view of many grand and important improvements already projected or in progress ; first among which was a magnificent hotel, the foundation for which was already being laid. All classes appeared prosperous, happy and contented, looking forward with confidence to a brilliant future for themselves and their favorite town.
After remaining a short time here, I took passage (kindly accompanied by Capt. Estin, and Mr. Latham) on board the steamboat Ad- venturer, a very small dilapidated and filthy boat, (for at that time there were comparatively few steamers of any description plying on the Miss- issippi, above Dubuque), for Prairie du Chien. This town, located on a beautiful prairie, some four miles above the month of the Wisconsin river, would have been fully equal in appearance to any other site on the Mississippi, but for a slough or bayon which ran through it nearly parallel with the river, thus dividing the town, and giving to that portion next to the river, or Old Town, as it was called, the appearance of an island, which was exclusively occupied by the store and warehouse, a large and elegant stone structure, and other buildings of the North American Fur Company, with a few mean huts tenanted by a miserable set of French and In- dians. It was here that John Jacob Astor, the New York millionaire, as a member or chief of that mammoth fur company, made, it has been said, a considerable portion of his immense wealth.
On the opposite side of the bayou, or Nem Town, was Fort Crawford, in which were about 300 United States troops. It occupied a high, airy and commanding position on the prairie, and comprised four substantial stone buildings, each some 200 fect long, forming a hollow square, in the center of which was a spacious parade ground. The officers and ladies of the
garrison were exceedingly courteous and agree- able, exerting themselves to render our visit in every respect pleasant and satisfactory. The New Town contained but few dwelling houses, and those of a very ordinary character, the only one of any pretensions, which I recollect, being that occupied by Judge Lockwood.
Returning to Cassville I took passage on board the steamer, Missouri Fulton, and bid- ding adieu to that delightful territory, in the fond hope of being permitted to visit it again in after years, set out cheerily for my eastern home, at Rock Island, in which stood Fort Armstrong, a handsome and truly formidable fortress. The captain kindly landed to afford the passengers an opportunity of witnessing the formalities of concluding a treaty which was being held between Gov. Dodge, acting for the United States, and the chiefs of the Sauk and Fox Indians, during which the latter ceded to the government their immensely valuable reservation situated on the Iowa river, west of the Mississippi, and nearly opposite to Rock Island, the sum stipulated for the purchase being, as it was then understood, seventy-five cents per acre .*
The acquisition of this domain was consid- ered of great importance to the country ; not so much on account of its intrinsic value, as to get rid of those mischievous tribes of Indians, who up to a period very recent, had kept up a continual warfare with their white neighbors, at the instigation of Black Hawk, who strenu- onsly maintained to the last, that they had been
* This is substantially correct. The Sauks and Foxes ceded at this treaty. 400 sections, or 256, 000 acres, in consideration of which the sum of $30, 000 was to be paid them the follow- ing year, and $10, 000 a year for ten years thereafter, making altogether $130, 000. In addition, the government agreed to pay certain debts due to traders, and other claims, amount- ing in the aggregate to 856, 294.67 ; and still farther provided to pay certain annuities for several half-breed children for their education, etc., the total amount of which cannot be well estimated. This would show the cost of the ceded lands at between seventy and seventy-five cents per acre. It is inter- esting to notice that Black Hawk, who was present at the treaty, had no official connection with it. having been practically deposed by our government at the elose of the Black Hawk War, by the recognition of Keokuk, as head chief. L. CD.
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
unjustly deprived of the lands and homes inherited from their fathers, and which ended only with the capture of that brave old chief, and the consequent termination of war in Angust, 1832.
Pending the treaty, some 400 of the Sauk and Fox tribes, old and young, male and female, were encamped on the western bank of the river, opposite the island, who, contrary to the supposed proverbial taciturn and stoical dis- position of that people, were engaged in all manner of sports, including horse racing and gambling of every description. The men, many of them, were painted after a variety of grotesque fashions, their heads ornamented and deeked ont in scarlet cloth or flannel, with a profusion of feathers, beads and other finery. They appeared decidedly happy, and at times were boisterous in their mirth. After the passengers returned to the boat, they were visited, among others, by the co-chiefs, Black Hawk and Keokuk, who exhibited evident signs of pleasure and gratification at being intro-
duced to them, particularly the ladies, toward whom they were decidedly gallant. This treaty was considered, and justly too, a highly important one, settling, as it did, forever, the difficulties and misunderstandings which had so long subsisted with those Indians, who were the original owners and occupiers of all that beautiful country on both sides of the river, for a considerable distance above and below Rock Island, and Gov. Dodge was highly compli- mented for the skillful and successful manner in which he conducted the negotiations for the final result.
Thus have I hastily and imperfectly jotted down the reminiscences of a brief residence in the territory, nearly a quarter of a century ago; and if, among them all, there shall be found a single fact worthy of preservation as con- nected with its early history, I shall feel amply recompensed for the little time and labor it has cost me in its preparation.
POTTSVILLE, PA., November, 1858.
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HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXVII.
POETS AND POETRY.
In the domain of literature, there are not, nor have there been, any citizens of Vernon county who have been rewarded with a world- wide reputation; nevertheless, the efforts of not a few have been creditable, and some have achieved a success that has attracted attention both at home and abroad. But this success has been, in a marked degree, confined to versifica- tion. No prose work has ever been printed in Vernon county. Efforts in that line have been confined to now and then an article published in some one of the county papers. Not so, however, in poetry. Ever since newspapers have been printed in the county there have been frequent poetical contributions to them ;- and an unusual number of these have been of a high order of merit. These effusions have, by no means, been confined to school girls and love- sick swains; but many of the older and most substantial citizens of the county have thought it not beneath them to court the muses; and they have done this sometimes over a nom de plume, but more frequently with their own sig- natures attached. Occasionally an anonymous piece of poetry has been given to the public, through the medium just mentioned, deserving of particular notice; but these are few.
A correspondent of the Northwestern Times contributed under the nom de plume of "Esma- relda," more than a score of years ago, some fugitive poems that were meritorious. We copy one, entitled
THE INDIAN.
Oh! lone Winnebago, How sadly you weep O'er the bones of thy loved ones In their desolate sleep; The white man hath robbed thee Of thine own native soil,
And the graves of thy fathers Are sunk neath their toil.
How sad is thy journey, As thou goest alone Through these wide rolling prairies, That were once all thine own,
'Mid the homes of the white man No more thou art free; Scarce a grave for thy dead Will they grant unto thee.
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