The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 52

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1082

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PIONEER REMINISCENCES.

I .- BY SAMUEL A. STORROW. 1817.

At mid-day of the 22d of September [1817], I took leave of Maj. [Zachary] Taylor and the officers of the Third Regiment [then stationed at Green Bay], who had most kindly enter- tained me. I likewise took a reluctant leave of my excellent companion, Mr. Pierce. For the residue of the day, my course lay on the left bank [west side] of the [Fox] river, through good lands and a growth of oak. I passed two springs strongly impregnated with sulphur, and at night stopped at a rapid of the river called Kakalin, being the last house and the last whites I expected to see for the distance of 250 miles [to Fort Dearborn, now Chicago].

On the 23d, I entered the wilderness, attended by my Indian guide and a soldier of the Third Regiment, who led a pack-horse loaded with provisions and presents for the natives. We forded the Fox River, and, losing sight of it, proceeded in a westwardly direction ; at first through a small Indian path, and. this failing us, through a wilderness entirely trackless.

The journey this day was painful and uninteresting. The thickness of the forest rendered marching difficult, and almost entirely impeded the horse; but for exertions in assisting him over crags and cutting away branches and saplings with our tomahawks, we should have been obliged to abandon him. The land was broken with hillocks and masses of rock. The growth of timber indicated a cold soil, notwithstanding which we occasionally saw the sugar maple. At night we lay on the ground. On the morning of the 24th, we resumed our march, extremely chilled. The thickness of the forest prevented the rays of the sun from coming to the earth, and during the previous night the guide [supposed to be Tomah, a Menomonee, chief] had obliged us to keep small fires, from fear of the Winnebagoes, who were about us, and from whom there is always cause for apprehension.

After a toilsome march of eight or nine hours, we arrived abruptly at the shores of a circular lake, which I found to be Lake Winnebago. I never experienced a more grateful transition than from the damp and tangled wood to the sunny margin of this beautiful water. It is nearly round, and apparently about sixty miles in circumference. For a short time, we walked upon the beach, but, finding it too narrow, we were again obliged to resort to our uncomfortable way through the thicket. While upon the beach, I remarked that the number of primitive rocks were unusual for this region. Granite, micaceous schistus, quartz pebbles and trap were mixed with unequal proportions of secondary limestone. On the upland, the formations were exclu- sively of limestone.

My intention was to reach an Indian village, said to be on the southern shore of the lake. Having journeyed all day, and slept in the same manner as the previous night, we resumed our march on the morning of the 25th. Amelioration of the grounds, a few foot-paths and traces of habitation denoted that we were near the object of our destination, and, shortly afterward, in passing from a wood, we saw it [the Indian village] at a distance. It was a village of Fals Avoines [Wild Oats (wild rice), that is, Menomonees ], situated on the edge of a prairie which borders Lake Winnebago. The lake lay before it on one side [that is, on the west side], and on the other the prairie, rising with a gentle acclivity from the margin of the water. The spot was well chosen for beauty, warmth and fertility. There was nothing about it that indicated a recent commencement. The grounds bore marks of long cultivation, and the few trees that were left standing scemed as if distributed for ornament and shade. The village has received the name of Calumet [" Pipe Village"]; it consists of about one hundred and fifty souls, and has rarely been visited by whites, except a few voyageurs on their way to the Ouisconsin [Wis- consin River].

At our approach, the villagers poured from their cabins, and gave a general shout from the unwonted sight (as I supposed) of a white man. Tomay [believed to be Tomah], the guide, was received with kindness, and his introduction procured what Isupposed to be the same for myself. But as their unrelaxing features, coldness and taciturnity would indicate anything rather than

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

courtesy, it required the fullest conviction both of his and their intentions to enable me to place such civility to its proper account. I seated myself on the grass, and was surrounded by the whole population of Calumet, the men eyeing me with contemptuous indifference, the females and children with a restless and obtrusive curiosity.

The distribution of tobacco among the former, and vermilion, salt, thread and needles among the latter, led to a better understanding, and a reciprocity of good offices. Tomay was to leave me at this place, after furnishing me with another guide; a business which could not be performed before the accomplishment of all the ceremonies of introduction. I was therefore ushered, between the arms of two dingy brethren, to a small lodge, where we formed a circle. smoked out of the same pipe, which went the rounds from mouth to mouth, and ate from a large kettle of wild rice placed in the midst of us. Our repast was made without the utterance of a single word, and I know not how long the silence and uncomfortable posture in which I sat might have continued, had I not made signs to Tomay that I wished to make a general visit to the lodges and then depart. In this visit, I found nothing more than I had seen among nations from whom I had expected less. Sloth, filth and indifference as to the goods or ills of life, form the same characteristics of the remote Indians as of those nearer to us. The similarity of traits is radical ; disparity of situation makes but accidental shades. Necessity gives to the foresters an energy which contact with the whites takes from the lower tribes. They present fewer instances of helplessness, petty vices and premature decay from intemperance, but substitute in their stead the grosser and more unrelenting features of barbarismn.

In the different cabins, the right of proprietorship seems well understood, but in none were there more goods than were requisite for immediate use; and such food as did not serve for the day was generally trampled under foot. They seemed affectionate to their children, who were, to a peculiar degree, sprightly and handsome. The younger women possess good features, but wither at an early age from the smoke of the cabins and hard labor in the fields.

While I had been feasting in the lodge, my man had received food in the field, where he sat an object of the wonder of all the children of the village. Tomay had procured me two guides, no one being willing to undertake the task alone, from fear of the Winnebagoes. I now prepared to depart, and endured the too affectionate embrace of Tomay and a large portion of his tribe ; the black and red testimonials of which were left on my cheek. After this operation, from which the sisterhood were excluded, I departed with my two guides and attendant, amidst the shouts of the village.

My course was now for Chicago. The soldier who was with me had a trifling knowledge of some of the Indian languages, but not sufficient to procure an explanation of the sort of country we were to find, or the difficulties we had to encounter; we therefore looked to our Indian companions for nothing, relying solely on our own strength and perseverance to carry us through the unknown region. The first direction was southwardly for about four miles, over a fertile prairie, occasionally shaded by a small growth of oak ; passing this we inclined toward the west, and, after traversing a swamp, entered an extensive prairie, low and without trees, but bearing a luxuriant growth of grass of an average height of five feet. On the north, it bordered the Winnebago Lake, and on every other side was fringed with forests appearing on the edge of the horizon. At a late hour we reached higher ground, where we slept. Since leaving the village, we had passed several cabins, and many Indians of a singular and grotesque appearance, armed with bows and arrows.

On the 26th, having left the low prairie, we traversed a more elevated tract, distributed in gentle undulations, from the summit of which I could see grounds of the same character extend- ing in every direction. There were no forests nor any undergrowth, more than low shrubbery. The immense park, for it bore that appearance, was beautified by a growth of oak, occasionally single, and sometimes in groups, as if planted by art. I could scarcely imagine that a distribu- tion so consonant to the laws of taste could have been made without the agency of man. [This "park," as every Wisconsin reader will readily see, was an " oak opening."] At about mid- day, the face of the country changed to a lower and wet soil, which continued for the distance of

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

four or five miles, when it gave place again to one higher and better watered, although inade- quately, with small rivulets, and covered with white and red oak, and sometimes hickory. The white oaks were of the largest size. In the afternoon, I arrived at the bank of a shallow, slug- gish stream [Milwaukee River] about fifty yards in width, running toward the southeast. The fine traet I had passed in the early part of the day was badly watered. From 4 o'clock of the preceding day to 1 of the present, I met no signs of water, not even the smallest brook.

On the morning of the 27th, I found a severe frost. There was no water where we lay. The ground being swampy, we dug a large hole with our tomahawks, and it was soon filled ; but although this spot was but one hundred yards distant from the fire, neither of the Indians would go to it alone. They frequently, during the night, put their ears to the ground, as if to listen for noises. At about 10 o'clock, after having passed grounds inferior to those of yesterday, we came to a small and handsome body of water about eight miles in circumference [Cedar Lake, in the present towns of West Bend and Polk in Washington County]; shortly after to a second [Silver Lake] of about three miles ; and after that, to a third [Little Cedar Lake] of about five miles in circumference [the former in West Bend, and the latter in West Bend and Polk]. I remained for some time to admire the beauty of these sequestered waters. Their stillness was disturbed only by the wild fowl, that were too little accustomed to the sight of man to heed my approach. The lands shortly became better, and more abundantly wooded and watered than those of yesterday, the white oak being the largest I had ever seen. The country may be said to be without rocks, the few I had seen during the last two days were detached, and of granite. The march of the present day has been more interesting than that of the day preceding, being relieved from the sameness of the prairies by occasional forests. In passing from the latter into the former, I realized the effect of what Denon describes on the plains of Egypt under the name of mirage. The thickets do not cease gradually, but change abruptly from forest into glade, so as to present to the traveler the atmosphere above the distant meadow, in the certain shape and appearance of water. The illusion was many times so perfect as to convince me that, on leaving the wood that was about me, I should be led to the margin of some great lake of which I had before received no account. The Indians were equally deceived, and finding the error by seeing the wood skirted by land instead of water, cried out " Manitou " (devil)-imputing the optical illusion to the agency of a spirit.

Throughout the day, the course had been southeast. I supposed myself to be not far distant from the dividing ridge between the Mississippi and Lake Michigan [that is, between the streams flowing into Roek River and the Milwaukee]: knowing that the elevation was not very remote from the lake itself. Some of the prairies bore the appearance of having become so by art. At night, I slept in one which was a perfectly formed parallelogram of about 900 yards by 500.

We commenced our march at sunrise of the 28th. The [two Indians] guides, who, during part of the preceding day, had been sullen and silent, seemed now in entire ignorance of the way, and were leading toward the northeast. I refused to follow them, and after a fruitless and vexatious attempt to understand each other, or know if they understood the way, I insisted on their leaving me ; which they did after a long and unintelligible altercation. I should not have resorted to this measure, which left me alone in the wilderness, had I not been convinced that a day's march, properly directed, would bring me to the shores of Lake Michigan, or the River Millewackie [Milwaukee], where there are large settlements of Pottawatomies; but following them I might be led I knew not where. Of their worthlessness I had already been convinced. My attendant and myself, being now left alone, pursued an eastwardly direction by compass, to endeavor to reach the shores of the lake. In the afternoon, we saw a track leading toward the southward; we followed it, and finding to our joy that it widened, continued in it until toward evening, when I caught from an eminence a distant view of a great water, which I supposed to be Lake Michigan. On nearer approach, I perceived a river and an Indian village, the coincidenee of which convinced me that I had reached the Millewackie at the confluence with the lake.

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

II .- BY HENRY S. BAIRD. 1859.

The principal trading-posts, at that period [1824], in Northern Wisconsin, were the follow- ing: Milwaukee, Sheboygan and Manitowoc, on Lake Michigan ; Menomonee River, Peshtigo and Oconto, on Green Bay ; Fond du Lac, Calumet and Oshkosh, on Winnebago Lake; Wolf River, Lake Shawano and the portage of the Fox and Wisconsin. At all these points, Indian villages were located : and it is a remarkable feature in the settlement of Wisconsin, that all or nearly all of the principal eities which now meet our view were originally sites of Indian villages. For many years prior to 1824. the northern portion of Wisconsin was occupied by the Winne- bagoes, Menomonees. Chippewas and some Pottawatomies. But the two first-named tribes owned nearly all of the country in the present State lying on Lake Michigan and the Missis- sippi, Wisconsin, Fox and Wolf Rivers; the Winnebagoes, on the west side of Winnebago Lake, on the Upper Fox and on the Wisconsin, the Menomonees on the east side of Winnebago Lake, on the Lower Fox, on the Wolf River, on Green Bay and on the west shore of Lake Michigan. Both of these tribes were then powerful and held in great awe by the few white inhabitants then in this country. The Winnebagoes, in 1824, numbered, perhaps, upward of six thousand ; the Menomonees between three and four thousand.

III .- BY HENRY MERRELL.

In March, 1836, I wanted to go [from Fort Winnebago, now Portage, Columbia Co., Wis. ] by way of Sheboygan, on a journey to New York ; so the commanding officer [of the fort] gave a soldier by the name of Moore a furlough for the rest of his time-about a month-and his dis- charge, for the purpose of accompanying me. I got a jumper-sleigh and a harness, calculating to throw the sleigh away when it was necessary ; put my horse before the jumper, and Moore and I started. We went to Fond du Lac, where we found, on the bank of the stream, part of an old wigwam and decided to encamp in it. I went to building a fire, and Moore went to the stream for water. I heard him talking and supposed some Indian had come up; but on his return he said he was swearing ; for he had to cut through three feet of ice before he got water. We made our tea, ate our supper, and slept finely. Next morning we started east, but, after getting upon the highlands, the small bushes were so thick I told my companion we could not take the sleigh any farther ; so we left it and packed our baggage on the horse, Moore and I walking. When I got tired I mounted the horse and rode, and after getting rested would jump off and lead him.

At length we struck a trail and followed it, supposing it must lead to Sheboygan ; but after going some distance, I concluded it led too far south ; so we altered our course and struck north of east. As night approached, I selected a camping-ground near a little lake, as we supposed. The snow was so frozen to the ground we could not get it off; so I cut a lot of bushes with the leaves on and spread them on the frozen snow, upon which we lay after building a good fire and eating our supper. Moore said he cut through three feet of ice for water and struck into mud, thus proving it to be a marsh instead of a lake. We had to melt ice for water. The next day we pushed on, and, hearing the report of a gun, I called aloud and an Indian came up, who directed us to a trail which took us to a house on the river, where a man by the name of Follet was living. I had intended stopping here a day to look at some land I had purchased, but Fol- let told me he had no hay or anything for my horse, and there was none to be had, as there were no other inhabitants in that region. I found he had some cornmeal and I persuaded him to let me have a peck, for which I paid him $1. I then decided upon going on in the morning. Moore struck up a bargain with Follet for a pony to ride to Chicago, so we mounted in the morning and renewed our journey.

IV .- BY EBENEZER CHILDS. 1858.

The next day [early in February, 1838] I started alone from Fort Winnebago, [now Portage] for Green Bay. There was not then a house between Fort Winnebago and Fond du

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

Lac. The snow was deep across the prairies. I overtook two Stockbridge Indians nearly exhausted from fatigue and cold. I carried them in my jumper to the first timber, where we stopped and made a large fire and left them. The snow was so deep that my horse could not draw them. They stayed there until the next day and got home safe. If it had not been for me, they would undoubtedly have perished on the prairie. I arrived at Green Bay safe and sound. There was then but one house between Fond du Lac and Green Bay. The first log house erected in Fond du Lac was built in 1836: and Thomas Green kept the first public house there.

V .- By D. P. MAPES. 1870.

In February, 1849, myself and sons, from my home near by, where I had lived the pre- ceding four years. came upon the beautiful spot -- now Ripon -- with axes in hand to strike the first blows which were to change this beauty of nature into a village, that, with the help of the pioneers, is now a beautiful city -- a fine specimen of the work of man. The boys could not resist that feeling for the beautiful which made them regret the necessity of spoiling so perfect a picture, and I was as soft in my feelings as they ; but man must labor and must carn his bread by the sweat of his brow -- the ax must go to the tree -- feeling must yield to fertility. Then and there I struck the blow which began what is now the city of Ripon. I purchased the ground with certain conditions, some of which were that I should build a grist-mill and public house within a year, and that I should keep the house myself for twelve months. I was to have the water-power and every alternate lot. This called for an outlay of at least $10,000, and was a big undertaking : for what few dollars I had were in wild lands around what afterward became the city of Ripon, and in the improvements I had been able to make ; but the mill was com- pleted, the house was built and both were running in time. The hotel was called the Ripon House, then the American ; now Wood's Hotel occupies the site.

When the house was finished (that is, the Ripon House) we had to give an opening party. for this was the custom in those days, and it was a great event. The parties of those times were social, and brought great good feeling-extending acquaintances and making friendships over a large section of country. People came from considerable distances to meet each other and find neighbors.

It was no small job to make Ripon to equal or outdo its neighbors : all of them had two, three or more years the start of us. We were on no navigable waters; we then had no rail- roads ; and our little stream, although beautiful, was small for a water-power.

One of our first and best efforts was the commencing of a college. We were then laughed and jeered at for calling it a college, but how is it now ? I think it is worthy of the name, and of all the efforts we made to get it. When Ripon had not a dozen dwellings, we put up and inclosed the first college building. Our object was to draw around us a class of inhabitants that would have pride to educate their children, and they would be good for every good work. But it was a great undertaking : the country was new and the settlers very poor ; and we had to resort to every honorable means to induce them to take hold of the work. I well remember our getting up a Fourth of July celebration so as to get the people together. We were all too poor to pay 50 cents for a dinner, so we made it a picnic, and the people came out in crowds. Speakers addressed the assemblage, dwelling upon the advantages of a college and working up an intense interest. With an old fife and drum at the head, we formed a procession and worked up such enthusiasm that every one was for doing all he could.

A newspaper was another item in the early progress of Ripon which required effort and labor to establish, and without this the city might still have been little else than a four-corners. We made many efforts to get a printer among us, but without success, until in 1853 one of our own number, A. P. Mapes, was induced to start the Herald, and blow a horn for Ripon. We have had since that time several papers started, and they have been generally conducted with ability. Among the early editors were E. L. Runals, C. J. Allen, T. J. Mapes and George W. Parker.

In 1849, we had no churches. Episcopal services, by the Rev. Mr. Ingraham, of Dartford, were sometimes held in a shanty on the bank of Silver Creek. and, occasionally, the Rev. Mr.

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HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY.

Murphy, of Waupun, held Baptist services. He preached at Ceresco to the Wisconsin Phalanx : but the Phalanx, through their President, Warren Chase, had to report to the Governor of the State yearly, and in one of his reports Mr. Chase said : "We have religious services by the Baptists, but not of that high order that the people are prepared to appreciate." Elder Murphy preached no more. That admirable system of the Methodist Church, by which their circuit min- ister travels between rich and poor settlements, and can get out of the poor into the rich before he starves, is an excellent arrangement, for which all new settlements should thank them. To ·this system we were also indebted for occasional religious services.

In 1849, where the public square now is in Ripon was brush and underwood. The popu- lation of the place then consisted of myself and family and of my two sons and their families. Then came the Pedericks-father and sons; then E. L. Northrup and wife, and with them, as clerk, E. P. Brockway ; then Asa Hill and family ; then-well, they came so fast after this that I cannot follow them ; but it was from these first settlers that our help in energy and liberty came.

In 1849. the present town of Ripon, the post office, and what is now the First Ward of the city, was called Ceresco. Now they are all Ripon. Some may ask, why these names ? And why this change ? Ceresco was the name given to the entire town by the Wisconsin Phalanx, an association that had settled in the valley in 1844, and who had control of all town matters in its earliest days.

Ripon was at first the name of what is now only a part of the city. It originated in this way : At the time I purchased of Gov. Horner, he asked the privilege of giving the name to our village. This I granted with these restrictions: First, that it should not be a personal name : second. that it should not be like any other name in the United States ; third, that it should not be an Indian name ; and, lastly, that the name should be short. Horner's ancestors came from Ripon, England. That name he selected ; and, as it was not open to any of the objections I had mentioned, it was adopted.

In 1849, we had no railroads except some of basswood with the rails running the wrong way, and if any of us made a trip to Milwaukee in a week it was considered fast time. We now make the journey in a day, and grumble because it is slow.

In 1849, the naked prairies were our only race-course and fair-grounds, and there were no associations to run them. Now, we have a beautiful driving-park and fair-grounds, with a fine inclosure, track, stands, buildings and everything complete, but, above all, two hundred stock- holders-two hundred as live men as over associated in any enterprise. The organization of this association-" The Ripon Agricultural Association "-and the getting-up of its grounds and buildings in thirty days, and the extraordinary success of its undertakings, are something border- ing on the marvelous ! These two hundred men are just as liberal, go-ahead, energetic men as you find anywhere. It is to these and to others like them that the city of Ripon owes most of its prosperity.

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The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 52

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company Number of Pages: 1082

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1082