History of northern Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development, and resources; an extensive sketch of its counties, cities, towns and villages, their improvements, industries, manufactories; biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers; views of county seats, etc., Part 3

Author: Western historical co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1052

USA > Wisconsin > History of northern Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development, and resources; an extensive sketch of its counties, cities, towns and villages, their improvements, industries, manufactories; biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers; views of county seats, etc. > Part 3

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).

In 1760, the French post at Green Bay was surren- dered to the British, though the latter did not take possession until the Autumn of the following year. The land upon which the fort stood was claimed by the Menomonees. Their principal village was located there, though a lesser one was at the mouth of the Menomonee River. They did not rebel at the occu- pancy of the British, possibly for the reason that they were in a reduced state, having lost three hundred of their warriors by small-pox, and many of their chiefs in the late war in which the French commander had engaged them against the British. Moreover, they found an advantage in dealing with British fur traders, as they could purchase supplies of them for half the prices they had paid to the French. Their good faith to their new allegiance was soon put to the test, as Pontiac's War broke out in 1763, and the post of Mackinaw was captured. This, instead of inciting them to a revolt against their new rulers, gave them the opportunity to prove their integrity, for they, with other tribes, escorted the garrison at Green Bay across Lake Michigan to the village of L'Arbre Croche, on their way to Montreal. Their alliance with the British continued through their first war with the American colonies, and through the later contest of 1812-15. But, as they had yielded peaceably to the British after their conquest over the French, so when the American

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force arrived at Green Bay to take possession of the country, they greeted the commander as " my brother." At this time their territory had become greatly ex- tended. It was bounded on the north by the dividing ridge between the waters flowing into Lake Superior and those flowing south into Green Bay and the Mis- sissippi ; on the east by Lake Michigan; on the south by the Milwaukee River, and on the west by the Mis- sissippi and Black rivers. This was their territory, though they were practically restricted to the occupa- tion of the western shore of Lake Michigan, lying be- tween the month of Green Bay on the north and the Milwaukee River on the south, and to a somewhat in-

definite area west. Their general claim, as late as 1825, was north to the Chippewa country; east to Green Bay and Lake Michigan ; south to the Milwan- kee River, and west to Black River. This tribe, which, in 1761, had been feeble and depleted, had now, in less than three-quarters of a century, become a pow- erful nation, numbering between three and four thou- sand. As late as 1831 the Menomonee territory pre- served its large proportions; but in that year it was shorn of a great and valuable part by the tribe ceding to the United States all the eastern division, estimated at two and a half million acres. The following year they aided the General Government in the Black Hawk War. In order that the Menomonees might become more established, they were assigned as a permanent home a large tract of land lying north of Fox River and east of Wolf River, with a reservation of their territory west for hunting grounds, until such time as the General Government should desire to purchase it.

In 1836, another portion, amounting to four million acres, lying between Green Bay on the east and Wolf River on the west, was disposed of to the United States, besides a strip three miles in width from near the portage north, on each side of the Wisconsin River, and forty-eight miles long -still leaving them in peace- ful possession of a country about one hundred and twenty miles long and eighty broad.

Finally, in 1848, the Government purchased all the remaining lands of the Menomonees, preparatory to their migration to a reservation beyond the Mississippi of six hundred thousand acres. This latter tract, how- ever, was re-ceded to the United States, for notwith- standing there were treaty stipulations for the removal of the tribe to that tract, there were such obstacles in the way that they were finally permitted to remain in Wisconsin. Lands to the amount of twelve townships were granted them for permanent homes on the Upper Wolf River, in what is now Shawano and Oconto counties- a very small portion only of their once vast possessions. They removed to this reservation in 1852. Thus are the Menomonees the only one of the original tribes, which, as a whole, has a local habitation within its limits. This tribe refused to join the Sionx in their outbreak in 1861, and several of their warriors served as volunteers in the United States army in the late civil war.

The Winnebagoes, or " Men of the Sea." as the name signifies, were first visited in 1634, at which period their villages were upon the head waters of Green Bay. They were one of the tribes belonging to the family of the Dakotas, and had come hither

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

from the westward, but whether from the Pacific, as their name might indicate, is not known. Their ancient seat was Winnebago Lake, whither they afterward removed up the Fox River. Their country included not only this lake, but all the streams flowing into it. especially the Fox River, and was subsequently ex- tended to the Wisconsin and Rock rivers. They were brought under the influence of the Jesuit missionaries, who, in 1670, found them worshiping idols. At the commencement of the eighteenth century the Winne- bagoes were firmly allied to the French and in peace with the dreaded Iroquois. In 1718, the nation num- bered six hundred. They subsequently joined the French against the Iroquois, and also aided them in their conflict with the British. But with the British possession of the post at Green Bay they allied them- selves with their conquerors, and kept up this friendship through the Revolution and the war of 1812. At this period they were estimated to number 4,500, and were counted a bold and warlike people. When the United States took possession of the post of Green Bay, in 1816, they apprehended trouble with the Winnebagoes, but after a single remonstrance with the commandant, they submitted to the new order of things, and after- ward made a treaty of peace. In 1820 they had five villages on Winnebago Lake and fourteen on Rock River. Five years later their claim to territory was an extensive one. Its southeast boundary stretched away from the source of Rock River to within forty miles of its month, in the State of Illinois, where they had a village. On the west it extended to the heads of the small streams flowing into the Mississippi. To the north ward it reached Black River and the Upper Wisconsin, but did not cross Fox River, although they contended for the whole of Winnebago Lake. In 1829, a large part of their territory, in what is now South- western Wisconsin, was sold to the United States. In 1837, they ceded to the General Government all their lands east of the Mississippi. Considerable difficulty was experienced in removing them beyond the Missis- sippi, and they have several times changed their place of abode. Their numbers have greatly diminished.

The Chippeways, by reason of their numerousness and the immensity of the area embraced within the limits of their recognized territory, as well as by the continuance of their distinctive tribal relations, form one of the leading divisions of Wisconsin. Their coun- try included all now known as Northern Wisconsin, excepting the Menomonee country on the west of Green Bay and the Winnebago country on the east, or the present counties of Door, Kewaunee and a por- tion of Brown. Besides this vast region, the tribe was accorded the lands north of Lake Superior. The name is commonly written and spoken "Chippeway," but the best authorities now agree that the correct spelling is Otchipwe. The name is employed inter- changeably with Ojibway. The French also spoke of them as Sauteux, from the fact that the earliest en- counter with them was at Sault Ste. Marie. This name is still applied to them by the Canadians. In 1642 Fathers Jogues and Raymbaut began a mission at Sault Ste. Marie, where there were 2,000 Chippeways. In character this tribe is described brave in war, expert in hunting, fond of adventure, and averse to agricul-

tural labor. From remote times their contests with rival tribes are noted. They warred with the Foxes, the Sioux and the Iroquois, driving the Sioux from the upper regions of the Mississippi and the Red River of the North. Their style of fighting shows that they were more used to wooded countries than to the plains. as they were oftener victorious when forcing their foes to battle among forests, than when meeting them on prairies. Their numbers were greatly reduced by war, during the half century succeeding the establishment of missions in 1642. They were devoted to the French down to the time of the end of French domination. During the American war for independence, they were under British influence, but made peace by the treaties of Fort McIntosh, in 1785, and Fort Harmar in 1789. So far as their policies affect the history of Northern Wisconsin, the reader is referred to the article entitled " The Public Domain," given later on in this work. Therein will be found mention of such treaties with the Chippeways and other tribes as are required to complete the chain of title in the Government to the lands of the State.

The Sacs and Foxes are one of the tribes of the Algonquin family. Father Allouez found a village of them, in 1665, upon the shores of Green Bay, and early in 1670 he visited a village of them located upon the Fox River about four leagues from its mouth. Upon his first visit he described them as of wandering habit, great in numbers and fierce and savage beyond all other tribes. Polygamy was common amongst them, and the women and children were very numerous. The Foxes were of two stocks-the Outagamies or Foxes, and the Musquakink, or men of red clay. They were supposed to have come from as far east as the St. Law- rence, and to have been driven from time to time, first to near Detroit, then to Saginaw (a name derived from the Sacs) and then by the Iroquois to Green Bay, and from thence up the Fox River. Allouez established among these his mission of St. Mark, and in two years rejoiced in the baptism of " sixty children and some adults." In 1684 the Sacs sent out warriors against the Five Nations, but they soon became hostile to the French. They afterward became reconciled, but this reconciliation was of short duration, and their ill will toward the French continued. The consequence of this spirit of enmity was, that in 1716 their territory was invaded, and they were forced to sue for peace. This compulsory friendship was of short duration. The Foxes numbered five hundred men, with an abund- ance of women and children. They were industrious, and raised large crops of Indian corn. In 1728, the French sent a second expedition against them and the Menomonees and Winnebagoes, destroying wigwams and fields. They were attacked for a third time in 1730, and defeated, and again, 1734, by the same foe, against whom in this last attack they were more suc- cessful than formerly. In 1736, the Saes were " con- nected with the government of Canada," though at heart far from brotherly in feeling to the French. In 1754 came the struggle between France and Great Britain, and the Sacs and Foxes allied themselves with their former foe and conqueror against the English, but were forced into subjection to the new victor. In 1761 the two nations, about equally divided, numbered

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

about seven hundred warriors. The Sacs migrated to the westward, but the Foxes, or a portion of them, still remained upon the waters of the Fox River. Dur- ing the Revolutionary War the Sacs and Foxes adhered to the English. At the commencement of this cen- tury what territory remained to them in Wisconsin was in the extreme southwestern part of the State. This they ceded to the United States in 1804. From that date these allied tribes can not be considered as belonging to the State of Wisconsin. An episode in their subsequent history comes in, however, incident- ally in the annals of the State, and that is the Black Hawk War.

The Pottawatomies were neighbors to the Winne- bagoes upon Green Bay in 1639. Thirty years later they were still upon its southern shore in two villages, and ten years subsequent to that they occupied at least one village in the same region. Upon the expiration of the first quarter of the eighteenth century a part only of this nation was in that vicinity, upon the islands at the mouth of the bay. These islands were then known as the Pottawatomie Islands, and considered as the ancient abode of these Indians. This tribe had scattered to the southward, one band on the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan, and the other near Detroit. The Pottawatomies did not keep themselves distinct as a tribe but fraternized with various other tribes. These " united tribes " as they were called, claimed all the lands of their respective tribes and of other nations, and gave the United States no little trouble when possession was taken by the General Government. Finally, by a treaty in 1833, their claims, such as they were, to lands along the western shore of Lake Michigan, within the present State of Wisconsin, extending westward to Rock River, were purchased by the United States, with permission to retain possession of their ceded lands for three years longer, after which time this " united nation of Chippewas, Ottawas and Pottawat- omies " began to disappear, and soon were no longer seen in the State.

Besides the five tribes-Menomonees, Winnebagoes, Chippewas, Sacs and Foxes and Pottawatomies-many others, whole or in part, have, since the territory now constituting the State was first visited by white men, been occupants of its territory. Of these some are only known as having once lived in what is now Wis- consin ; others, such as the Hurons, Illinois, Kickapoos, Mascoutins, Miamis, Noquets, Ottawas and Sioux are recognized as Indians once dwelling in this region ; yet so transitory was their occupation, or so little is known of them, that they can scarcely he claimed as belong- ing in the State. Commencing in 1822, and continu- ing at intervals through some of the following years, was the migration to Wisconsin from the State of New York of the remains of portions of four tribes: the Oneidas, Stockbridges, Munsees and Brothertowns. The Oneidas finally located west of Green Bay, where they still reside. Their reservation contains over sixty thousand acres, and lies wholly within the present coun- ties of Brown and Outagamie. The Stockbridges and Munsees, who first located above Green Bay, on the east side of Fox River, afterward moved to the east side of Winnebago Lake. They now occupy a reserva- tion joining the southwest township of the Menomo-

nee reservation, in Shawano County. The Brother- towns first located on the east side of Fox River, but subsequently moved to the east side of Winnebago Lake, where, in 1839, they broke up their tribal rela- tions and became citizens of Wisconsin Territory.

THE FIRST MAP.

During the early years of Champlain's government of New France, the region west of Lake Michigan was entirely unknown to white men. From Indian sources vague rumors of a fertile country, abounding in lakes and rivers, and in which game, fish, and min- erals were inexhaustible, passed from tribe to tribe, until they reached the ears of the Governor, himself a practical draughtsman. It is known that from those reports a diagram of the western country was made. This first attempt at delineating the region of the Great Lakes is preserved in Samuel Champlain's work entitled " Les Voyages de la Novvelle France," pub- lished in Paris in 1632. So much of this map as in- cludes the lands lying southwest, west and northwest of Lake Huron, is based wholly on Indian reports. The portion designed to comprehend what is now Wis- consin is reproduced for this work. The explanatory words in brackets to be seen therein, do not, of course, appear in the original publication. They are given from a description printed in Champlain's work ; from contemporaneous as well as somewhat later authorities ; and from a careful study of the map itself. For this we are indebted to Mr. C. W. Butterfield, of Madison, a reliable authority on the early history of Wiscon- sin.

NICOLET'S EXPLORATIONS.

To Jean Nicolet belongs the honor of the first place in the history of Wisconsin. Nor is that honor due from mere accidental events, as is so often the case in discovery of new countries ; for it was now by the deliberate accomplishment of a laborious and danger- ous undertaking, whose purpose was, so far as evidence can now be adduced, substantially achieved. The sparse records of the life of this man contain but the barest outlines of his earlier days, though future re- search among original documents, it is to be hoped, will shed more light on the obscured details. It is known that he was of French nativity, born in Nor- mandy, and that he emigrated to Canada in the year 1618, being a protégé of Champlain. The date of his birth is not preserved in any document extant. Upon his arrival in New France, he at once took up his resi- dence at Allumettes Island, on the Ottawa, that he might the better study the Indian tongue, and thereby fit himself for the office of interpreter. In 1622, but four years after his arrival, he is mentioned as having acquired an extensive influence over the Algonquin tribes. From 1623 to 1631, Nicolet lived with the tribes of the Nipissing. This is stated on the authority of his friend Father Le Jeune ; although other of the "Jesuit Relations" record that the period of his resi- dence with the Nipissing tribes was from 1629 to 1632.

It is determined, by those who have made a special study of the subject, that Nicolet came to Green Bay in the Summer of 1634, and returned to Quebec in

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

1635 .* The nature of this work precludes the possi- bility of arguing this question, but as several hitherto accepted theories are controverted, the authorities gov- erning this deduction are named.f Parkman observes that " Nicolet was a remarkable man," and so he must have been, to win the confidence of the savage tribes to that degree which enabled him to penetrate into the remote regions of their homes, and there conduct a peaceful enterprise with the warlike Winnebagoes, for the advancement of commerce in fur and peltry.

The long journeying from Quebec was undertaken at the suggestion of Champlain, and in the official capacity of interpreter of the Company of One Hun- dred Associates of New France, which was formed in 1627, with a view to the development of the immense resources of the Western Wilderness in furs. The mission of Nicolet was not to establish peace, as dis- tinguished from warfare, between the Hurons and Winnebagoes; but was, rather, a mission of peace, to cement the friendly relations of these tribes, as well as the Nez Percés or Ottawas, and other tribes, in the gen- eral interest of the French.

Nicolet visited the Hurons while on his westward journey, at their home on the eastern side of the lake which bears their name, and negotiated with them. It is recorded by Parkman that, upon his arrival in Green Bay, at " Winnebago Town, he sent some of his Indian attendants to announce his coming, put on a robe of damask, and advanced to meet the expectant crowd with a pistol in each hand. The squaws and children fled, screaming that it was a manito, or spirit, armed with thunder and lightning; but the chiefs and warriors regaled him with so bountiful a hospitality, that one hundred and twenty beavers were devoured at a single feast." With such a dramatic display was the white man introduced upon the soil of the great commonwealth of Wisconsin.

The Jesuit Paul le Jeune, writing in 1640, said : " Upon the borders of Green Bay are the Menomonees ; still further on, the Winnebagoes, a sedentary people and very numerous. Some Frenchmen call them the 'Nation of the Stinkards,' because the Winnebago word 'winipeg' signifies 'stinking water.' Now they thus call the water of the sea; therefore, these people call themselves Winnebagoes, because they came from the shores of a sea of which we have no knowledge. Consequently we must not call them the 'Nation of the Stinkards,' but the ' Nation of the Sea.'"

It is asserted by several writers that Nicolet con- tinued his journey down the Wisconsin River unto a point "within three days' journey of the Mississippi ;" but this statement is shown, by the monograph referred to, to be an impossibility. It is therein given as his- toric fact that the renewed journey extended up the Fox River, to within three days' voyage of the Wis- consin, where it is supposed he found the Mascoutins. This correction is one of the most valuable that has been made by Prof. Butterfield. After returning to

Green Bay, Nicolet visited many of the surrounding nations. He retraced his way to the St. Lawrence in the Summer of 1635, reaching Quebec in safety. The parish records of that city furnish the information that this brave man was occupied with various duties from 1635 to the date of his death, and show conclusively that his journey must have been made at the date given, since he was not absent from Quebec long enough at any one time to have performed the feat subsequent to 1635.

Nicolet married Marguerite Couillard, at Quebec, October 7, 1637. He lost his life, while on a mission to save a poor Abenaqui from the Algonquins, by the capsizing of his boat, October 31, 1642. To this bold adventurer, whose knowledge of the western tribes was gained by actual experience, must all praise be given for having opened to the devoted followers of the Cross the way to new fields of usefulness.

EARLY JESUIT MISSIONS.

The pipe of peace which Nicolet smoked with the western tribes was not productive of immediate good returns. The death of Champlain and the change in purposes and ambitions among the Canadian settlers, produced in the east an almost total forgetfulness of the upper-lake country. For at least two decades of years after the discovery of Wisconsin by Nicolet, very dim and shadowy is its history. Here and there refer- ences to Green Bay and the Indians inhabiting its shores, are made by Jesuit missionaries in their Rela- tions. These " Relations" were the records kept by priests of their experiences in their arduous calling. For many years, beginning in 1632, the Superior of the Jesuit Mission in Canada - then New France - sent every Summer to Paris his reports which embodied or were accompanied by those of his subordinates. For forty years these reports were annually published in Paris, and were known as the" Jesuit Relations." Those which are of interest to the student of Wisconsin his- tory begin with the year 1639-40 and extend to 1672. Says one of these records, of date 1648, " This Supe- rior Lake extends to the northwest, that is to say, be- tween the west and the north. A peninsula, or strip of land quite small, separates this Superior Lake from another third lake, called by us the 'Lake of the Puants' (Green Bay) which also discharges itself into our fresh-water sea, through a mouth which is on the other side of the peninsula, about ten leagues more to the west than the Sault. This third lake extends be- tween the west and the southwest, more toward the west, and is almost equal in size to our fresh-water sea. On its shores dwell a different people, of an unknown language, that is to say, a language that is neither Algonquin nor Huron. These people (the Winneba- goes) are called the Puants, not on account of any un- pleasant odor that is peculiar to them, but because they say they came from the shores of the sea far distant toward the west, the waters of which, being salt, they call themselves ' the people of the Stinking Water.'

Another account written in 1654, after giving the arrival at Montreal of a fleet of canoes loaded with furs, belonging to friendly Indians, who came from the upper country a distance of four hundred leagues, speaks of a part of these Indians being the Tobacco

*An exhaustive monograph ou Nicolet's Discovery of the Northwest is now in press and will soon be given to the public. In this work the author, Prof. C. W. But- terfield, has covered the ground thoroughly, and not only confirms Mr. Benjamin Sulte's theory that Nicolet visited Wisconsin in 1634. but adds such conclusive proof thereto that no further question can be raised on that point.

+ Nicolet's Discovery of the Northwest, by C. W. Butterfield. Robert Clark & Co., Cincinnati.

Jesuit Relations.

Melanges D Histoire et de Litterateur, 1876. Benjamin Sulte. Notes on Jean Nicolet, in Wis. Hist. Col., Vol. 8, p. 188.

HISTORY OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN.

nations of the Hurons, and a portion Ottawas, and adds: "These tribes have abandoned their ancient country, and have retired toward the more distant nation in the vicinity of the great lake, whom we call Puants, in consequence of their having dwelt near the sea, which is salt, and which our savages call 'stinking water.' " The Hurons had been entirely overthrown by the Iroquois in 1649 and 1650, and had abandoned their country. A division of this nation, called the Tobacco Indians, with such other Hurons as had taken refuge with them, settled on Mackinac Island, where they were joined by a branch of the Ottawas, nick- named by the French, Cheveux releves, or Standing Hair ; hence this statement in the "Relations " that these nations had "retired toward the more distant" Winnebagoes.

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Author: Western historical co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company Number of Pages: 1052

Author: Western historical co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1052