USA > Wisconsin > Columbia County > The history of Columbia county, Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement > Part 48
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322
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY.
center, Section 34, 365 feet ; middle, west half, Seetion 35, 355 feet ; middle, east line, Section 35, 350 feet.
Township 11 north, Range & east (Fountain Prairie) .- Marsh west half, Seetion 2, 312 feet; center, northwest quarter, Section 2, 370 feet ; middle, south line, southwest quarter, See- tion 6, 400 feet ; middle, south line, Section 6, 340 feet ; middle, south half of north half, Sec- tion 7, 370 feet ; middle, west line, southwest quarter, Seetion 8, 370 feet ; middle, south line, southwest quarter, Section 8, 360 feet ; middle, south line, southwest quarter, Section 9, 350 feet ; middle, south line, Seetion 9, 330 feet ; stream, south line, southwest quarter, Section 10, 300 feet ; middle, south line, Section 10, 330 feet; middle, west half, Section 11, 360 feet ; stream erossing, north half, Section 14, 320 feet ; eenter, northeast quarter. Seetion 13, 314 feet ; middle, west line, Seetion 28, 350 feet ; middle, east half, Seetion 29, 360 feet ; stream, south- east corner, Section 30. 295 feet ; one-quarter mile south, 340 feet ; southeast corner, Section 31, 310 feet; middle, south line, southeast quarter, Section 32, 335 feet ; middle, south line, See- tion 33, 295 feet ; middle, south line, Seetion 34, 280 feet ; southeast corner, Seetion 36, 252 feet.
Township 11 north, Range 8 east (Caledonia) .- Middle, northwest quarter, Section 3, 360 feet ; middle, south line, Section 7, 480 feet; middle, south half, Section 8, 510 feet ; center, southeast quarter, Section 8, 335 feet ; center, southeast quarter, Seetion 9, 520 feet ; middle, south line, Seetion 16, 485 feet ; middle, west line, Seetion 16, 385 feet ; middle west line, northwest quarter, Section 21, 330 feet; middle, west line, Section 21, 375 feet.
Township 12 north, Range S east ( Caledonia) .- Church, northwest quarter, northwest quar- ter, Section 21, 280 feet ; one-third mile south, 420 feet ; middle, south line, southwest quarter, Section 22, 500 feet ; middle, north half, Sec. 25, 205 feet ; eenter, northwest quarter, Seetion 25, 340 feet ; road, west line, northwest quarter, Seetion 25, 505 feet ; middle, east half, See- tion 26, 560 feet; center, Seetion 26, 560 feet; southeast quarter of northeast quarter, Sec- tiou 26, 620 feet ; center, Section 27, 510 feet ; stream crossing, southwest quarter, Section 27, 480 feet ; middle, south line, southeast quarter, Seetino 27, 610 feet; center, southeast quarter, Section 28, 470 feet; southwest corner, Seetino 28, 440 feet ; middle, south line, Section 29, 360 feet ; southwest corner, Section 29, 420 feet ; middle, north half, Section 29, 580 feet ; middle, west line, northwest quarter, Section 29, 505 feet ; center, northwest quar- ter, Seetion 30, 515 feet ; middle, west line, northwest quarter, Seetion 30,540 feet ; bluff-top, southeast quarter, Section 34, 760 feet ; middle, south line, southwest quarter, Section 35, 310 feet.
Township 13 north, Range 10 east (Caledonia) .- Bridge, Section 7, 220 feet.
Township 12 north, Range 10 eust ( Wyocena) .- Railroad, east line, Section 1, 235 feet ; iniddle, west line, Sec. 10, 225 feet; southwest corner, Section 10, 240 feet ; center, Section 12, 230 feet ; stream, south line, Sec. 12, 215 feet ; center, See. 13, 260 feet ; middle, west line, Seetion 13, 275 feet ; stream, eenter, Seetion 14, 210 feet ; center, Seetion. 15, 250 feet : middle, west line, Seetion 15, 230 feet; Wyocena depot, 240 feet; center, Seetion 28, 280 feet ; middle west line, Section 28310 feet ; middle, east half, Section 29, 275 feet ; southwest corner, Section 29, 320 feet ; middle, east half, Section 31, 280 feet ; middle, west half, See- 31, 235 feet ; middle, west line. northwest quarter, Section 36, 290 feet.
Township 12 north, Range 11 cast ( Springvale) .- One-fourth mile, north of eenter, Sec- tion 1, 235 feet ; middle, east line, Section 1, 240 feet ; middle, west line, northwest quarter, Section 2, 280 feet ; middle, north half, Seetion 3, 290 feet ; middle, west line, Section 4, 235 feet ; railroad, west line, Section 5, 240 feet ; southeast quarter, Seetion 5. 230 feet ; middle, east half, Section 7, 235 feet ; center, Section 7, 230 feet ; center, Section 15. 360 feet ; middle. west line, Seetion 15, 360 feet ; bluff-top, northeast quarter, Section 16, 370 feet ; middle, east half Section 17, 300 feet ; stream crossing, north half, Section 18, 222 feet ; stream crossing, north half, Seetion 22, 266 feet ; middle, south half, See. 22, 320 feet ; middle, north half, Section 27, 270 feet ; road, west line, northwest quarter, Section 27, 260 feet; middle, south
323
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY.
line, southeast quarter, Sec. 28, 280 feet; middle, south line, Section 28, 300 feet ; south- west quarter, Section 28, 290 feet ; southwest corner, Section 28, 290 feet; middle, south half, Section 29, 250 feet ; southwest corner, Sec. 29, 300; middle, south line, southwest quarter, Section 29, 280 feet.
Township 12 north, Range 12 east (Courtland) .- Randolph depot, Section 1, 378 feet ; southeast corner, Section 1, 360 feet ; middle, north half, Sec. 2. 365 feet ; center, Section 2, 355 feet ; middle west line, Section 2, 375 feet ; middle west half, Sec. 3, 355 feet ; middle, north line, northwest quarter, Section 3, 355 feet ; middle, north line, northeast quarter, Sec- tion 4, 355 feet ; middle, north line, northwest quarter, Section 4, 325 feet ; middle, south line, southwest quarter, Section 5, 375 feet; Cambria depot, Section 6, 284 feet ; middle, west half, Section 8, 380 feet ; southwest quarter, Section 8, 390 feet ; center northwest quarter, Section 11, 402 feet ; middle, west half, Section 11,390 feet ; southwest quarter, Section 11, 383; southwest corner, Sec. 13, 377 feet ; middle, south line, Section 14, 364 ; middle, west line, southwest quarter, Section 14, 380 feet ; middle east line, Section 13, 367 feet ; middle, west half, Section 17, 410 feet ; center, Section 19, 430 feet; middle, south half, Sec. 19, 350 feet ; middle, west half, Section 20, 390 feet; middle, north half, Section 23, 360 feet ; stream crossing, north half, Section 26, 335 feet ; middle, south half, Section 26, 357 feet ; middle north half, Section 30, 400 feet ; middle, south line, Section 30, 360 feet ; middle, south half, Section 31, 360 feet ; middle, north half, Section 35, 369 feet ; middle,south line, Sec- tion 35, 370 feet.
Township 13, north, Range 7 east (Lewiston) .- Lewiston depot, Section 26, 231 feet.
Township 13 north, Range 8 east (Lewiston) .- Middle, north half of southwest quarter, Section 14, 250 feet ; center, southwest quarter, Section 23, 220 feet ; middle, west line, Section 25, 240 feet ; middle, north half, Section 36, 230 feet ; center, southeast quarter, Section 36, 249 feet.
Township 13 north, Range 9 east (Fort Winnebago) .- Middle, west half, Section 16, 230 feet ; middle, west line, southwest quarter, Section 16, 260 feet ; southwest corner, Section 16, 280 feet ; center, southeast quarter, Section 19, 300 feet ; middle, south line, southeast quarter, Section 19, 250 feet ; middle, south line, Section 20, 260 feet : middle, west line, Section 21, 240 feet ; Coughlin's quarry, east half Section 20, 350 feet ; center, northeast quarter, Section 30, 240 feet ; middle, east half, Section 31, 390 feet ; middle, north half, Section 36, 265 feet ; bluff-top, northwest quarter, Section 36, 390 feet.
Township 13 north, Range 10 east (Mareellon) .- Northeast quarter, Section 1, 260 feet ; middle north line, northeast quarter, Section 1, 320 feet ; northwest corner, Section 1, 260 feet ; middle, west line, Section 1, 300 feet ; middle, west line, northwest quarter, Section 12, 320 feet ; middle, south line, northwest quarter, Section 12, 290 feet ; middle, west line, northwest quarter, Section 13, 270 feet ; center, southeast quarter of northeast quarter, Section 14, 285 feet ; center, northwest quarter, southeast quarter, Section 14, 295 feet ; middle, south half, southwest quarter, Section 14, 290 feet ; one-eighth mile east, southwest quarter, Section 14, 270 feet ; center, Sec- tion 16, 370 feet ; middle, south half, Section 16, 340 feet ; middle, south line, southeast quarter, Section 16, 350 feet ; middle, south line, Section 16, 350 feet ; middle, east line, northeast quarter, Section 21, 355 feet ; middle, east line, Section 21, 305 feet ; center, southeast quarter, southeast quarter, Section 21, 335 feet ; center, southeast quarter, northeast quarter, Section 22, 320 feet ; southeast corner, Section 23, 350 feet ; middle, south line, southwest quarter, Section 23, 360 feet ; middle, south line, Section 23, 350 feet ; middle, south line, Section 24, 300 feet ; middle, south line, southeast quarter, Section 24, 290 feet ; middle, east line, northwest quarter, Section 25, 350 feet ; center, northwest quarter, northeast quarter, Section 28, 260 feet.
Township 13 north, Range 11 east ( Scott) .- One-eighth mile east, northwest corner, Sec- tion 2, 390 feet ; middle, north half, Section 2, 360 feet ; middle, north line, northeast quarter, Section 3, 330 feet ; northwest corner, Section 3, 280 feet; middle, north line, northwest quarter, of northeast quarter, Section 4, 280 feet ; middle, north line, northwest quarter, Section 4, 260 feet ; middle, north line, northeast quarter, Section 5, 320 feet ; one-eighth mile cast, northwest
324
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY. 1
corner, Section 5, 260 feet ; middle, north line, northeast quarter, Section 6, 280 feet ; middle, north half of north half of Section 11, 350 feet; middle, south line, Section 11, 340 feet ; middle, north half, Section 14, 385 feet ; middle, north half, south half, Section 14, 340 feet ; middle, south line, Section 14, 320 feet ; middle, north line, southeast quarter, Section 14, 370 feet ; one-sixteenth mile north, southeast corner, Section 19, 230 feet ; middle, south line, Sec- tion 19, 270 feet ; middle, north half of north half of Section 23, 290 feet ; middle, south line, Section 23, 370 feet ; one-eighth mile nortlı, center, Section 26, 380 feet ; one-sixteenthi mile south. northwest corner, Section 29, 230 feet ; middle, west line, Section 29, 240 feet ; south- west corner, Section 29, 325 feet ; middle, east line, Section 31, 400 feet ; one-eighth mile north, southeast corner, Section 31, 375 feet ; one-eighth mile east, southwest corner, Section 32, 350 feet ; southeast corner, Section 32, 440 feet ; middle, south line, southeast quarter, Section 33, 380 feet ; middle, sonth line, southwest quarter, Section 34, 275 feet ; southeast corner, Section 34, 400 feet ; middle, south line, Section 35, 420 feet ; southeast corner, Section 35, 425 feet ; middle, south line, Section 36, 420 fcet ; southeast corner, Section 36, 400 feet.
Township 13 north, Range 12 east (Randolph)-Northwest corner, Section 1, 415 feet ; center, southeast quarter, Section 1, 320 feet ; middle, north line, Section 2, 420 feet ; north- west corner, Section 2, 250 feet ; middle, west line, Section 2, 370 feet ; middle, north half, south half, Section 5, 350 feet ; middle, south line, Section 5, 340 feet ; middle, east line, Section 6, 320 feet ; southwest corner, Section 6, 350 feet ; middle, south line, Section 7, 420 feet ; middle, west line, southwest quarter, Section 7, 320 feet ; middle, north half, Section 8, 350 fect ; middle, south line, Section 8, 360 feet ; middle, east line, Section 9, 365 feet ; middle, east line, Section 11, 395 feet ; center, Section 12, 395 feet ; southwest corner, Section 15, 390 feet ; middle, west line, Section 15, 356 feet ; middle, north half, north half, Section 16, 356 feet ; middle, north half, south half, Section 16, 432 feet ; middle, south line, Section 16, 409 feet ; center, southeast quarter, Section 17, 400 feet ; center, northwest quarter, Section 17, 365 feet ; middle, west line, northwest quarter, Section 18, 380 feet; middle, west line, northwest quarter, Section 19, 400 feet ; middle, north half, north half, Section 20, 400 feet ; center, southwest quarter, Section 20, 400 feet ; middle, east line, southeast quarter, Section 21, 386 feet ; middle, north half, west half, Section 24, 350 feet; center, southwest quarter, southeast quarter, Section 24, 330 feet ; center, northeast quarter, Section 25, 330 feet ; middle; west line, Section 25, 365 feet ; middle, west line, Section 27, 420 feet; center, Section 28, 353 feet ; southwest quarter, Section 28, 420 feet ; center, southeast quarter, northcast quarter, Section 29, 360 fect ; northwest corner, Section 30, 440 feet ; one-eighth mile north, southwest corner, Sec- tion 30, 400 feet ; middle, west line, northwest quarter, Section 31, 350 feet ; sonthwest corner, Section 31, 240 feet ; southeast corner, Section 31, 260 feet; center, southwest quarter, north- west quarter, Section 32, 390 feet ; middle, south half, northwest quarter, Section 32, 380 feet ; southeast corner, Section 36, 360 feet.
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Merrell
PORTAGE CITY.
327
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY.
CHAPTER IJ.
SURFACE FEATURES OF THE COUNTY-THE MOUND-BUILDERS-INDIAN OCCUPANCY-WAS JOHN NICOLET IN COLUMBIA COUNTY IN 1634 ?- FIRST WHITE MEN AT THE PORTAGE-EARLY VISITS TO WHAT IS NOW COLUMBIA COUNTY-THE PORTAGE FROM 1793 TO 1827-THE " WIN- NEBAGO WAR"-FORT WINNEBAGO.
SURFACE FEATURES OF THE COUNTY.
The surface of Columbia County is drained, as already explained, by three principal rivers -the Rock, the Fox and the Wisconsin; but only the two last mentioned have any part of their main channels in the county. The Crawfish River carries the water from the eastern side of the county into the Rock River ; the north central portions of the county are drained by the Fox River and its affluents ; the western and central parts, by the Wisconsin and its tribu- taries. The principal affluent of the Fox on the east is French Creek ; on the west, Neenah Creek. The Wisconsin has, on the west, the Baraboo River as a tributary ; on the east, its main affluents in the county are Duck Creek, Rock Run and Spring Creek. The three princi- pal branches of Duck Creek are the North Branch, Middle Branch and the South Branch.
The Baraboo heads in the counties of Monroe, Vernon and Juneau, at an elevation of about four hundred feet above its mouth ; runs southeastward into Sauk County, where it breaks into the valley between the two east and west quartzite ranges, already spoken of, through a narrow gorge in the northern range. Turning then eastward, it runs along the middle of the valley between the two ranges for about fifteen miles, and then, breaking again northward through the north range, follows its northern side east to the Wisconsin, into which it empties on Section 28, of Township 12 north, of Range 9 east, in the town of Caledonia. The Baraboo is a stream of very considerable size, and yields a number of excellent water-powers in the valley between the quartzite ranges (Baraboo Bluffs),-having a fall, on this portion of its course, of seventy feet. The other streams of the county are sufficiently described in the histories of the various towns.
There are a half score of small lakes in the county, which are considered of sufficient importance to appear with names upon the county map and county atlas. They are: Swan Lake, in Wyocena and Pacific ; Whiting's Lake, Lake Loomis and Lake Corning, in Lewiston ; Lake George, in Pacific ; Mud Lake, in Fort Winnebago; Grass Lake in Otsego, and Silver Lake, in the city of Portage. One of these, Mud Lake, in Fort Winnebago, may be consid- ered merely as an enlargement of the channel of Fox River.
The three different kinds of surface in Columbia County, as to vegetation, are the prairies, marshes and timber land. The prairies, or treeless portions, are not exactly identical in extent now as when the county was first settled, for the reason that in some places, once prairie, there has been an invasion of a timber growth, -- this, in former times, having been checked by the annual prairie fires. The prairie areas are by no means always flat ; indeed the flat prairies are the exception, and are chiefly seen along the bottom land of the Wisconsin River. The ordi- nary prairie of the county is very rolling, commonly showing abrupt changes of level, even up to fifty or a hundred feet. The changes in level are, scientifically speaking, due in places to heaped-up drift, but more commonly to unequal denudation of the rocky strata. In some cases, as, for instance, in the town of West Point, the prairie area includes both lowland and bold out- lying bluffs, as much as two hundred, or even three hundred, feet in height. The limestone-prairie belt in Columbia County occupies large portions of the towns of West Point, Lodi, Arlington, Leeds, Hampden and Lowville, continuing northeast, though somewhat broken, through the towns of Otsego and Courtland, and finally passing into Green Lake County. This extensive prairie area is, for the most part, on high land, occupying the summit of the watershed between
B
328
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY.
the Wisconsin and Rock Rivers. It is nearly always underlaid by the lower magnesian lime- stone, whose irregular upper surface contributes much to the rolling character of the prairie.
In the south central part of the county, the northern limb of Empire Prairie projects far out, like a great bay, through the southern and into the second tier of townships. In the south- east part of the county lies Fountain Prairie, and in the northeast are Welsh and Portage Prairies. All these, as before intimated, are beautifully rolling.
The marshes of Columbia County are usually small. There are, however, some notable exceptions-those extending along Duck Creek and the Upper Fox River, east of portage, are several miles in extent.
With regard to forest trees, it may be said that the whole of the county outside the prairie region is covered by a prevailing growth of small oaks of different varieties, frequently inter- spersed with other forest trees. Along the Wisconsin and Baraboo Rivers, on one side or both, nearly through their whole length in the county, is a belt of heavy timber of several kinds of oak, basswood, elm and hickory, with some butternuts and soft maple. There are a few groves of heavy oaks in other parts of the county.
THE MOUND-BUILDERS.
Within the boundaries of Columbia County are found many notable and interesting evi- dences of prehistoric occupation and existence. The geographical position of the county is such as to intimately associate it with some of the important chains or series of earthworks that are found extending along most of the favorable routes for primitive transportation between the great lakes and the Mississippi River.
The county in this regard seems to confirm the generally accepted theory that primitive man, or the Mound-Builders, whoever they were, existed in greatest numbers along the borders of lakes and rivers ; and the more prominent these bodies of water and the position occupied appear with relation to the great problems of transportation and subsistence, the more important and numerous are these ancient artificial works.
The importance of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers and their navigable tributaries has been recognized by all nations and tribes in this region that have a written or traditional history. This and the numerous evidences of a prehistoric occupation found along their entire course, would seem to warrant a conclusion that these rivers have furnished a medium of transporta- tion from the days of primitive man's unrecorded existence down to the present time.
In this great thoroughfare of ancient and modern times, the " portage" occupies a central and important position.
The situation of the mounds (many of them) seems to establish a belief that the observation since the settlement of the county by the whites with relation to the gradual diminution in volume of the lakes and rivers, is not exceptional as to the present, but that this decrease has been continuous from the time the mounds were erected ; and, with relation to the importance of some of the streams associated with the Mound-Builders, their present condition would not justify conclusions that are consistent with former proportions.
Not only is it certain that there has been a notable decrease in the volume of all existing bodies of water, but in some instances appearances would indicate that even quite large lakes have entirely disappeared, and that some of the works of the Mound-Builders now stranded on an inland hillside, at the time of their construction marked the water-line of their primitive proportions.
As usual in these ancient earthworks, spherical mounds, numerically considered, occupy the leading position, while the irregular works rank first in size and importance, and would require special drawings and explanations to render a description valuable or intelligent.
In some of the mounds examined in Columbia County are found, near the surface, relics of Indian origin, such as flint arrowheads, beads, etc., while farther below, and always near the base line, come the stone implements and the remnants of human bones that crumble into dust as soon as brought to the surface.
329
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY.
In the immediate vicinity of the Dalles, there are several groups of mounds, all of which will be found well worthy of a visit. There is a portion of one in Kilbourn City, but it is not perfect now, having been partially destroyed in grading a street. It appears to have been made to represent a lizard-like animal. Originally, the figure must have been 200 feet long, its head pointing toward the west.
Very often, one of these image or animal mounds will be surrounded by several of the conical ones. A few miles from Kilbourn may be found one of the most curious groups to be seen in this section of the State. It occupies a plat of ground about five rods wide and eighteen long. Near the southeast corner of the plat is the figure of a deer, the head being toward the west. Immediately to the north is a representation of a lizard, the length being about eighteen rods, while around its head are arranged cight or ten conical mounds, some of them being twelve feet in height.
About four miles south of Kilbourn, on the east bank of the Wisconsin River, and but a short distance from the railroad track, may be found quite an interesting group which is well worth visiting. Other groups may be found by driving a few miles in almost any direction.
Many of the mounds in the vicinity have been opened, and bones and various stone imple- ments found ; while in others, broken pottery has been unearthed in considerable quantities.
That the mounds were built at a remote period, it is evident. On many of them, trees more than two hundred years old are found growing, and how many more have attained their full size and then died and fallen into decay, it is impossible to tell. As another proof of the great antiquity of the mounds, we would call attention to the fact that the depth of the alluvial soil is the same on the mounds as it is twenty rods distant. This is one of the strongest cvi- dences of the age of these remains of the handiwork of a people long since extinct.
INDIAN OCCUPANCY.
As early as the year 1615, Samuel Champlain heard of a tribe of Indians living many leagues beyond Lake Huron, called the Fire Nation, better known at a later date as the Mas- coutins. Their homes were upon the Fox River at that time, as it is believed, and here they were visited by civilized man a little less than a score of years after. It is presumed that their villages were located within the present limits of Green Lake County, somewhere on Fox River, between Berlin and Lake Puckaway, and that they claimed as their hunting-grounds, among much other territory, that now included within the boundary lines of the county of Columbia. The nearest tribe to the Mascoutins down the Fox River was that of the Winnebagoes, whose homes were at the mouth of that stream. To the south, extending perhaps well up Rock River, was the territory of the Illinois. In the immediate neighborhood of the Mascoutins (but in what direction is uncertain) were the Kickapoos and the Miamis.
The Illinois, who lived in a country " where there was a quantity of buffaloes," were afterward driven bevond the Mississippi, but subsequently returned to the river which still bears their name. Meanwhile, there commenced an emigration of the Mascoutins and their kindred, the Kickapoos and Miamis, to the southward, as far at least as the south end of Lake Michigan. Their place was taken by the Foxes and their relatives, the Sacs, and, in time, these also emi- grated, but not to the southward; the course taken by them was to the west and southwest. It is certain the Foxes claimed for a time the country now forming Columbia County, as well as much other circumjacent territory. Then came the Winnebagoes from below, that is, from the head of Green Bay, moving up the Fox River by degrees, having outlying villages on the shores of Winnebago Lake and in the valley of Rock River. They finally reached the " portage," and their territory extended down the Wisconsin. This brings us to the time when the United States began making treaties with them. The first of these was held at St. Louis, June 3, 1816, with that portion of the tribe residing on the Wisconsin. This treaty (so soon after the war with Great Britain, in which the Winnebagoes engaged on the side of the British) was one for peace only, no cession of land on the part of the Indians being made to the United States. In 1820, the Winnebagoes had five villages on Winnebago Lake, and fourteen on Rock River.
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