CHAPTER I.
Going West.--In June, 1836, I again visited the Penobscot in quest of
employment, in which I was unsuccessful. At Stillwater, above Bangor,
I met my kind friend Simeon Goodrich, also out of employment. After
mature deliberation we concluded to go West. Returning to Bloomfield,
I collected the money held for me by Capt. Ruel Weston and was soon in
readiness for the journey. But a few days before the time agreed upon
for leaving, I received a letter from Simeon Goodrich, which contained
the unpleasant information that he could not collect the amount due
him and could not go with me. Truly this was a disappointment. I was
obliged to set out alone, no light undertaking at that early day, for
as yet there were no long lines of railroad between Maine and the
Mississippi river. The day at last arrived for me to start. My
companions and acquaintances chaffed me as to the perils of the
journey before me. My mother gave me her parting words, "William,
always respect yourself in order to be respected." These words,
accompanied with her farewell kiss, were long remembered, and, I doubt
not, often kept me from evil associations.
The stage took us directly to the steamboat at Gardiner. The steam was
up and the boat was soon under way. It was the New England, the first
boat of the kind I had ever seen. I felt strangely unfamiliar with the
ways of the traveling world, but observed what others did, and asked
no questions, and so fancied that my ignorance of traveling customs
would not be exposed. It was sunset as we floated out into the wide
expanse of the Atlantic. The western horizon was tinged with fiery
hues, the shores grew fainter and receded from view and the eye could
rest at last only upon the watery expanse. All things seemed new and
strange. Next morning a heavy fog hung over the scene. The vessel was
at anchor in Boston harbor and we were soon on shore and threading the
crooked streets of the capital of Massachusetts. I was not lost in the
wilderness maze of streets, as I had feared I should be, but on
leaving Boston on the evening train I took the wrong car and found
myself uncomfortably situated in a second or third class car, crowded
and reeking with vile odors, from which the conductor rescued me,
taking me to the pleasant and elegant car to which my first class
ticket entitled me. On arriving at Providence I followed the crowd to
the landing and embarked on the steamer President for New York, in
which city we remained a day, stopping at the City Hotel on Broadway.
I was greatly impressed with the beauty of part of the city, and the
desolate appearance of the Burnt District, concerning the burning of
which we had read in our winter camp. I was not a little puzzled with
the arrangement of the hotel tables and the printed bills of fare, but
closely watched the deportment of others and came through without any
serious or mortifying blunder. Next morning I left New York on the
steamer Robert L. Stevens for Albany, and on the evening of the same
day went to Schenectady by railroad. Some of the way cars were hauled
by horses up hills and inclined planes. There were then only three
short lines of railroad in the United States, and I had traveled on
two of them. At Schenectady I took passage on a canal boat to Buffalo.
I had read about "De Witt Clinton's Ditch," and now greatly enjoyed
the slow but safe passage it afforded, and the rich prospect of
cities, villages and cultivated fields through which we passed. At
Buffalo we remained but one day. We there exchanged eastern paper for
western, the former not being current in localities further west. At
Buffalo I caught my first glimpse of Lake Erie. I stood upon a
projecting pier and recalled, in imagination, the brave Commodore
Perry, gallantly defending his country's flag in one of the most
brilliant engagements of the war, the fame whereof had long been
familiar to the whole country and the thrilling incidents of which
were the theme of story and song even in the wilderness camps of
Maine.
The steamer Oliver Newberry bore me from Buffalo to Detroit. From
Detroit to Mt. Clemens, Michigan, I went by stage and stopped at the
last named place until October 14th, when, being satisfied that the
climate was unhealthy, fever and ague being very prevalent, I returned
to Detroit, and on the fifteenth of the same month took passage on the
brig Indiana, as steamers had quit running for the season. The brig
was aground two days and nights on the St. Clair flats. A south wind
gave us a splendid sail up the Detroit river into Lake Huron. We
landed for a short time at Fort Gratiot, at the outlet of the lake,
just as the sun was setting. The fort was built of stone, and
presented an impressive appearance. The gaily uniformed officers, the
blue-coated soldiers, moving with the precision of machines, the whole
scene--the fort, the waving flags, the movement of the troops seen in
the mellow sunset light--was impressive to one who had never looked
upon the like before. A favorable breeze springing up, we sped gaily
out into the blue Lake Huron. At Saginaw bay the pleasant part of the
voyage ended. The weather became rough. A strong gale blew from the
bay outward, and baffled all the captain's skill in making the proper
direction. Profane beyond degree was Capt. McKenzie, but his
free-flowing curses availed him nothing. The brig at one time was so
nearly capsized that her deck load had rolled to one side and held her
in an inclined position. The captain ordered most of the deck load,
which consisted chiefly of Chicago liquors, thrown overboard.
Unfortunately, several barrels were saved, two of which stood on deck,
with open heads. This liquor was free to all. The vessel, lightened of
a great part of her load, no longer careened, but stood steady against
the waves and before the wind. It is a pity that the same could not be
said of captain, crew and passengers, who henceforth did the
careening. They dipped the liquor up in pails and drank it out of
handled dippers. They got ingloriously drunk; they rolled unsteadily
across the deck; they quarreled, they fought, they behaved like
Bedlamites, and how near shipwreck was the goodly brig from that day's
drunken debauch on Chicago free liquor will never be known. The vessel
toiled, the men were incapacitated for work, but notwithstanding the
tempest of profanity and the high winds, the wrangling of crew and
captain, we at last passed Saginaw bay. The winds were more favorable.
Thence to Mackinaw the sky was clear and bright, the air cold. The
night before reaching Mackinaw an unusual disturbance occurred above
resulting from the abundance of free liquor. The cook, being drunk,
had not provided the usual midnight supper for the sailors. The key of
the caboose was lost; the caboose was broken open, and the mate in the
morning was emulating the captain in the use of profane words. The
negro cook answered in the same style, being as drunk as his superior.
This cook was a stout, well built man, with a forbidding countenance
and, at his best, when sober, was a saucy, ill-natured and impertinent
fellow. When threat after threat had been hurled back and forth, the
negro jumped at the mate and knocked him down. The sailors, as by a
common impetus, seized the negro, bound him tightly and lashed him to
a capstan. On searching him they found two loaded pistols. These the
mate placed close to each ear of the bound man, and fired them off.
They next whipped him on the naked back with a rope. His trunk was
then examined and several parcels of poison were found. Another
whipping was administered, and this time the shrieks and groans of the
victim were piteous. Before he had not even winced. The monster had
prepared himself to deal death alike to crew and passengers, and we
all felt a great sense of relief when Capt. McKenzie delivered him to
the authorities at Mackinaw.
Antique Mackinaw was a French and half-breed town. The houses were
built of logs and had steep roofs. Trading posts and whisky shops were
well barred. The government fort, neatly built and trim, towered up
above the lake on a rocky cliff and overlooked the town, the whole
forming a picturesque scene. We remained but a few hours at Mackinaw.
There were ten cabin passengers, and these, with two exceptions, had
imbibed freely of the Chicago free liquor. They were also continually
gambling. Capt. McKenzie had fought a fist fight with a deadhead
passenger, Capt. Fox, bruising him badly. What with his violence and
profanity, the brutality of the mate and the drunken reveling of crew
and passengers, the two sober passengers had but a sorry time, but the
safe old brig, badly officered, badly managed, held steadily on its
course, and October 30th, fifteen days from Detroit, safely landed us
in Chicago.
After being so long on the deck of a tossing vessel, I experienced a
strange sensation when first on shore. I had become accustomed to the
motion of the vessel, and had managed to hold myself steady. On shore
the pitching and tossing movement seemed to continue, only it seemed
transferred to my head, which grew dizzy, and so produced the
illusion that I was still trying to balance myself on the unsteady
deck of the ship.
Chicago, since become a great city, had at that time the appearance of
an active, growing village. Thence I proceeded, November 1st and 2d,
by stage to Milwaukee, which appeared also as a village, but somewhat
overgrown. Idle men were numerous, hundreds not being able to obtain
employment. Here I remained a couple of weeks, stopping at the
Belleview House. After which I chopped wood a few days for Daniel
Wells. Not finding suitable employment, I started west with a Mr.
Rogers, December 2d. There being no other means of conveyance, we
traveled on foot. On the evening of the second we stopped at Prairie
Village, now known as Waukesha. On the evening of the third we stopped
at Meacham's Prairie, and on the fifth reached Rock River, where I
stopped with a Mr. St. John. The evening following we stopped at an
Irish house, where the surroundings did not conduce to comfort or to a
feeling of security. Several drunken men kept up a continuous row. We
hid our money in a haystack, and took our turn sleeping and keeping
watch. We ate an early breakfast, and were glad to get away before the
men who had created such a disturbance during the night were up. We
moved onward on the seventh to Blue Mound, where we found a cheerful
resting place at Brigham's. The eighth brought us to Dodgeville, where
we stopped at Morrison's. On the ninth we reached Mineral Point, the
locality of the lead mines, where I afterward lost much time in
prospecting. Mineral Point was then a rude mining town. The night of
our arrival was one of excitement and hilarity in the place. The first
legislature of the territory of Wisconsin had been in session at
Belmont, near Mineral Point, had organized the new government and
closed its session on that day. To celebrate this event and their
emancipation from the government of Michigan and the location of the
capital at Madison, the people from the Point, and all the region
round about, had met and prepared a banquet for the retiring members
of the legislature. Madison was at that time a paper town, in the
wilderness, but beautifully located on Cat Fish lake, and at the head
of Rock river. The location had been accomplished by legislative tact,
and a compromise between the extremes. In view of the almost certain
division of the Territory, with the Mississippi river as a boundary,
at no very distant day, it was agreed that Madison should be the
permanent capital, while Burlington, now in Iowa, should be used
temporarily. Milwaukee and Green Bay had both aspired to the honor of
being chosen as the seat of government. Mineral Point, with her rich
mines, had also aspirations, as had Cassville, which latter named
village had even built a great hotel for the accommodation of the
members of the assembly. Dubuque put in a claim, but all in vain.
Madison was chosen, and wisely, and she has ever since succeeded in
maintaining the supremacy then thrust upon her.
In my boyhood, at school, I had read of the great Northwest Territory.
It seemed to me then far away, at the world's end, but I had
positively told my comrades that I should one day go there. I found
myself at last on the soil, and at a period or crisis important in its
history. The great Northwest Territory, ceded by Virginia to the
United States in 1787, was no more. The immense territory had been
carved and sliced into states and territories, and now the last
remaining fragment, under the name of Wisconsin, had assumed
territorial prerogatives, organized its government, and, with direct
reference to a future division of territory, had selected its future
capital, for as yet, except in name, Madison was not. In assuming
territorial powers, the boundaries had been enlarged so as to include
part of New Louisiana, and the first legislature had virtually
bartered away this part of her domain, of which Burlington, temporary
capital of Wisconsin, was to be the future capital.
Two more days of foot plodding brought us to Galena, the city of lead.
The greeting on our entering the city was the ringing of bells, the
clattering of tin pans, the tooting of ox horns, sounds earthly and
unearthly,--sounds no man can describe. What could it be? Was it for
the benefit of two humble, footsore pedestrians that all this uproar
was produced? We gave it up for the time, but learned subsequently
that it was what is known as a charivari, an unmusical and disorderly
serenade, generally gotten up for the benefit of some newly married
couple, whose nuptials had not met with popular approval.
At Galena I parted with Mr. Rogers, my traveling companion, who went
south. On the fifteenth of December I traveled to Dubuque on foot.
When I came to the Mississippi river I sat down on its banks and
recalled the humorous description of old Mr. Carson, my neighbor, to
which I had listened wonderingly when a small boy. "It was," he said,
"a river so wide you could scarcely see across it. The turtles in it
were big as barn doors, and their shells would make good ferryboats if
they could only be kept above water." Sure enough, here was the big
river, but covered with ice, scarcely safe to venture on. Several
persons desiring to cross, we made a portable bridge of boards,
sliding them along with us till we were safe on the opposite bank. I
was now at the end of my journey, on the west bank of the Mississippi,
beyond which stretched a vast and but little known region, inhabited
by Indians and wild beasts.
As I review the incidents of my journey in 1836, I can not but
contrast the conditions of that era and the present. How great the
change in half a century! The journey then required thirty days. It
now requires but three. I had passed over but two short lines of
railroad, and had made the journey by canal boat, by steamer, by
stage, and a large portion of it on foot. There were few regularly
established lines of travel. From Michigan to the Mississippi there
were no stages nor were there any regular southern routes. Travelers
to the centre of the continent, in those days, came either by the
water route, via New Orleans or the Fox and Wisconsin river route, or
followed Indian trails or blazed lines from one settlement to another.
The homes of the settlers were rude--were built principally of logs.
In forest regions the farms consisted of clearings or square patches
of open ground, well dotted with stumps and surrounded by a dense
growth of timber. The prairies, except around the margins or along
certain belts of timber following the course of streams, were without
inhabitants. Hotels were few and far between, and, when found, not
much superior to the cabins of the settlers; but the traveler was
always and at all places hospitably entertained.
DUBUQUE.
Dubuque was a town of about three hundred inhabitants, attracted
thither by the lead mines. The people were principally of the mining
class. The prevailing elements amongst them were Catholic and Orange
Irish. These two parties were antagonistic and would quarrel on the
streets or wherever brought in contact. Sundays were especially days
of strife, and Main street was generally the field of combat. Women
even participated. There was no law, there were no police to enforce
order. The fight went on, the participants pulling hair, gouging,
biting, pummeling with fists or pounding with sticks, till one or the
other party was victorious. These combats were also accompanied with
volleys of profanity, and unlimited supplies of bad whisky served as
fuel to the flame of discord. Dubuque was certainly the worst town in
the West, and, in a small way, the worst in the whole country. The
entire country west of the Mississippi was without law, the government
of Wisconsin Territory not yet being extended to it. Justice, such as
it was, was administered by Judge Lynch and the mob.
My first employment was working a hand furnace for smelting lead ore
for a man named Kelly, a miner and a miser. He lived alone in a
miserable hovel, and on the scantiest fare. In January I contracted to
deliver fifty cords of wood at Price's brickyard. I cut the wood from
the island in front of the present city of Dubuque, and hired a team
to deliver it.
While in Dubuque I received my first letter from home in seven months.
What a relief it was, after a period of long suspense, spent in
tediously traveling over an almost wilderness country,--amidst
unpleasant surroundings, amongst strangers, many of them of the baser
sort, drinking, card playing, gambling and quarreling,--what a relief
it was to receive a letter from home with assurances of affectionate
regard from those I most esteemed.
Truly the lines had not fallen to me in pleasant places, and I was
sometimes exposed to perils from the lawless characters by whom I was
surrounded. On one occasion a dissolute and desperate miner, named
Gilbert, came to Cannon's hotel, which was my boarding house while in
Dubuque. He usually came over from the east side of the river once a
week for a spree. On this occasion, being very drunk, he was more than
usually offensive and commenced abusing Cannon, the landlord, applying
to him some contemptuous epithet. I thoughtlessly remarked to Cannon,
"You have a new name," upon which Gilbert cocked his pistol and aiming
at me was about to fire when Cannon, quick as thought, struck at his
arm and so destroyed his aim that the bullet went over my head. The
report of the pistol brought others to the room and a general melee
ensued in which the bar was demolished, the stove broken and Gilbert
unmercifully whipped. Gilbert was afterward shot in a drunken brawl.
I formed some genial acquaintances in Dubuque, amongst them Gen.
Booth, Messrs. Brownell, Wilson and others, since well known in the
history of the country. Price, the wood contractor, never paid me for
my work. I invested what money I had left for lots in Madison, all of
which I lost, and had, in addition, to pay a note I had given on the
lots.
On February 11th I went to Cassville, journeying thither on the ice.
This village had flourished greatly, in the expectation of becoming
the territorial and state capital, expectations doomed, as we have
seen, to disappointment. It is romantically situated amidst
picturesque bluffs, some of which tower aloft like the walls and
turrets of an ancient castle, a characteristic that attaches to much
of the bluff scenery along this point.
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN.
I reached this old French town on the twelfth of February. The town
and settlement adjacent extended over a prairie nine miles long, and
from one to two miles broad, a beautiful plateau of land, somewhat
sandy, but for many years abundantly productive, furnishing supplies
to traders and to the military post established there. It also
furnished two cargoes of grain to be used as seed by the starving
settlement at Selkirk, which were conveyed thither by way of the
Mississippi, St. Peter and Red rivers. The earliest authentic mention
of the place refers to the establishment of a post called St.
Nicholas, on the east bank of the Mississippi, at the mouth of the
Wisconsin, by Gov. De La Barre, who, in 1683, sent Nicholas Perrot
with a garrison of twenty men to hold the post. The first official
document laying claim to the country on the Upper Mississippi, issued
in 1689, has mention of the fort. This document we transcribe entire:
"Nicholas Perrot, commanding for the king, at the post of the
Nadouessioux, commissioned by the Marquis Denonville, governor and
lieutenant governor of all New France, to manage the interests of
commerce amongst the Indian tribes and people of the Bay des Puants
(Green Bay), Nadouessioux (Dakotahs), Maseontins, and other western
nations of the Upper Mississippi, and to take possession in the king's
name of all the places where he has heretofore been, and whither he
will go.
"We, this day, the eighth of May, one thousand six hundred and
eighty-nine, do, in the presence of the Reverend Father Marest, of the
Society of Jesus, missionary among the Nadouessioux; of Monsieur de
Borieguillot (or Boisguillot), commanding the French in the
neighborhood of the Ouiskonche (Wisconsin), on the Mississippi;
Augustin Le Gardeur, Esq., Sieur de Caurnont, and of Messeurs Le
Sueur, Hibert, Lemire and Blein:
"Declare to all whom it may concern, that, being come from the Bay des
Puants, and to the lake of the Ouiskonches, and to river Mississippi,
we did transport ourselves to the country of the Nadouessioux, on the
border of the river St. Croix, and at the mouth of the river St.
Pierre (Minnesota), on the bank of which were the Mantantans; and
further up to the interior to the northeast of the Mississippi, as far
as the Menchokatoux, with whom dwell the majority of the Songeskitens,
and other Nadouessioux, who are to the northeast of the Mississippi,
to take possession for, and in the name of, the king of the countries
and rivers inhabited by the said tribes, and of which they are
proprietors. The present act done in our presence, signed with our
hand and subscribed."
Then follow the names of the persons mentioned. The document was drawn
up at Green Bay.
There is little doubt that this post was held continuously by the
French as a military post until 1696, when the French authorities at
Quebec withdrew all their troops from Wisconsin, and as a trader's
post or settlement, until the surrender in 1763 to the British of all
French claims east of the Mississippi. It was probably garrisoned near
the close of the latter period. It remained in the possession of the
French some time, as the English, thinking it impossible to compete
for the commerce of the Indian tribes with the French traders who had
intermarried with them, and so acquired great influence, did not take
actual possession until many years later.
The post is occasionally mentioned by the early voyageurs, and the
prairie which it commanded was known as the "Prairie du Chien," or
praire of the dog, as early as 1763, and is so mentioned by Carver. It
was not formally taken possession of by the United States until 1814,
when Gov. Clarke with two hundred men came up from St. Louis to
Prairie du Chien, then under English rule, to build a fort and
protect American interests at the village. At that time there were
about fifty families, descended chiefly from the old French settlers.
These were engaged chiefly in farming, owning a common field four
miles long by a half mile wide. They had outside of this three
separate farms and twelve horse mills to manufacture their produce.
The fort, held by a few British troops under Capt. Deace, surrendered
without resistance, but soon after the British traders at Mackinaw
sent an expedition under Joe Rolette, Sr., to recapture the post,
which they did after a siege of three days, the defenders being
allowed to withdraw with their private property on parole. They were
followed by the Indians as far as Rock Island. Meanwhile, Lieut.
Campbell, with reinforcements on his way from St. Louis, was attacked,
part were captured and the remainder of his troops driven back to St.
Louis. Late in 1814 Maj. Zachary Taylor proceeded with gunboats to
chastize the Indians for their attack on Campbell, but was himself met
and driven back. The following year, on the declaration of peace
between Great Britain and America, the post at Prairie du Chien was
evacuated. The garrison fired the fort as they withdrew from it.
The fort erected by the Americans under Gen. Clarke in 1814 was called
Fort Shelby. The British, on capturing it, changed the name to Fort
McKay. The Americans, on assuming possession and rebuilding it, named
it Fort Crawford. It stood on the bank of the river at the north end
of St. Friole, the old French village occupied in 1876 by the
Dousmans. In 1833 the new Fort Crawford was built on an elevated site
about midway in the prairie. It was a strong military post and was
commanded at this time by Gen. Zachary Taylor. Many officers, who
subsequently won distinction in the Florida Indian, Mexican, and late
Civil War, were stationed here from time to time. Within a time
included in my own recollections of the post, Jefferson Davis spirited
away the daughter of his commanding officer, Gen. Taylor, and married
her, the "rough and ready" general being averse to the match.
Prairie du Chien derived its name from a French family known as du
Chien, in English "The Dog." By this name the Prairie was known long
prior to the establishment of the French stockade and post. By that
name it has been known and recognized ever since. It has been
successively under the French, English and United States governments,
and lying originally in the great Northwestern Territory, in the
subsequent divisions of that immense domain, it has been included
within the bounds of the territories of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, and Wisconsin. Gov. Wm. H. Harrison, of Indiana Territory,
recognized Prairie du Chien by issuing commissions to Henry M. Fisher
and ---- Campbell as justices of the peace, the first civil
commissions issued for the American government in the entire district
of country including West Wisconsin and Minnesota east of the
Mississippi. Prior to this time, about 1819, the inhabitants had been
chiefly under military rule. In 1819 the county of Crawford was
organized as a part of Michigan Territory, and blank commissions were
issued to Nicholas Boilvin, Esq., with authority to appoint and
install the officers of the new county government. Gov. Lewis Cass
established by proclamation the county seat at Prairie du Chien, and
John W. Johnson was installed as chief justice of the county court.
The entire corps of officers were qualified. In January, 1823,
Congress passed an act providing for circuit courts in the counties
west and north of Lake Michigan, and James Duane Doty was appointed
judge for the district composed of Brown, Mackinaw and Crawford
counties, and a May term was held in Prairie du Chien the same year.
INDIAN TROUBLES.--There were some Indian troubles, an account of which
is given in the biographical sketch of J. H. Lockwood. There were
other incidents which may be worthy of separate mention. In 1827 an
entire family, named Methode, were murdered, as is supposed, by the
Indians, though the murderers were never identified. The great
incentive to violence and rapine with the Indians was whisky. An
intelligent Winnebago, aged about sixty years, told me that
"paganini," "firewater" (whisky), was killing the great majority of
his people, and making fools and cripples of those that were left;
that before the pale faces came to the big river his people were good
hunters and had plenty to eat; that now they were drunken, lazy and
hungry; that they once wore elk or deer skins, that now they were clad
in blankets or went naked. This Indian I had never seen drunk. The
American Fur Company had huts or open houses where the Indians might
drink and revel.
At an Indian payment a young, smart looking Indian got drunk and in a
quarrel killed his antagonist. The friends of the murdered Indian held
a council and determined that the murderer should have an opportunity
of running for his life. The friends of the murdered Indian formed in
a line, at the head of which was stationed the brother of the dead
man, who was to lead in the pursuit. At a signal the bands of the
prisoner were cut, and with a demoniacal yell he bounded forward, the
entire line in swift and furious pursuit. Should he outrun his
pursuers, he would be free; should they overtake and capture him, they
were to determine the mode of his death. He ran nearly a mile when he
tripped and fell. The brother of the dead Indian, heading the pursuit,
pounced upon him and instantly killed him with a knife.
Considering the fact that the Indians were gathered together under the
guns of a United States fort, and under the protection of a law
expressly forbidding the sale of intoxicating liquors to them, the
people of the United States were certainly justified in expecting
better results, not only in regard to the protection of the frontier
settlers but for that of the Indians themselves. All came to naught
because of the non-enforcement of law. Liquors were shamelessly sold
to the Indians and they were encouraged to drunken revelry and orgies
by the very men who should have protected and restrained them.
The prosperity of Prairie du Chien depended upon the Indian trade, and
upon government contracts which the presence of a military force
rendered necessary. The Indians gathered here in great numbers.
Here the Winnebagoes, part of the Menomonies and some Chippewas
received their annuities, and here centred also an immense trade from
the American Fur Company, the depot being a large stone building on
the banks of the Mississippi, under the charge of Hercules Dousman.
FORT CRAWFORD ROBBED.
Two discharged soldiers (Thompson and Evans) living at Patch Grove,
thirteen miles away, visited the fort often. On a morning after one of
their visits a soldier on guard noticed a heap of fresh earth near the
magazine. An alarm was given, an examination made, and it was found
that the magazine had been burst open with bars and sledge hammers,
entrance having been obtained by digging under the corner picket.
Three kegs of silver, each containing $5,000, were missing. The kegs
had been passed through the excavation underneath the picket. One keg
had burst open near the picket, and the silver was found buried in the
sand. The second keg burst on the bank of the Mississippi, and all the
money was found buried there except about six hundred dollars. The
third keg was found months after by John Brinkman, in the bottom of
the river, two miles below the fort. He was spearing fish by
torchlight, when he chanced to find the keg. The keg he delivered at
the fort and received a small reward. On opening the keg it was found
to contain coin of a different kind from that advertised as stolen.
Brinkman, however, made no claims on account of errors. Thompson,
Evans, and a man named Shields were arrested by the civil authorities
on suspicion; their trial was continued from term to term and they
were at last dismissed. One man, who had seen the silver in the sand
during the day and gone back at night to fill his pockets, was seized
by a soldier on guard, imprisoned for a year, and discharged.
EARLY JUSTICE.
A Frenchman shot and killed a couple of tame geese belonging to a
neighbor, supposing them to be wild. Discovering his mistake, he
brought the geese to the owner, a Dutchman, who flew into a great
rage, but took the geese and used them for his own table, in addition
to which he had the goose-killer arrested and tried before Martin
Savall, a justice of the peace. The defendant admitted the killing of
the geese, the plaintiff admitted receiving them and using them for
food, nevertheless the justice gave judgment in favor of plaintiff by
the novel ruling that these geese, if not killed, would have laid eggs
and hatched about eight goslings. The defendant was therefore fined
three dollars for the geese killed, and eight dollars for the goslings
that might have been hatched if the geese had been permitted to live,
and costs besides. Plaintiff appealed to the district court which
reversed the decision on the ground that plaintiff had eaten his
geese, and the goslings, not being hatched, did not exist. Plaintiff
paid the costs of the suit, forty-nine dollars, remarking that a
Dutchman had no chance in this country; that he would go back to
Germany. The judge remarked that it would be the best thing he could
do.
A SOUTHWARD JOURNEY.
My original plan on leaving Maine was to make a prospecting tour
through the West and South. I had been in Prairie du Chien for a
season, and as soon as my contract to cut hay for the fort and my
harvesting work was done. I started, with two of my comrades, in a
birch bark canoe for New Orleans. This mode of traveling proving slow
and tedious, after two days, on our arrival at Dubuque, we sold our
canoe and took passage on the steamer Smelter for St. Louis, which
place we reached on the seventeenth of October. We remained five days,
stopping at the Union Hotel. St. Louis was by far the finest and
largest city I had yet seen in the West. Its levee was crowded with
drays and other vehicles and lined with steamers and barges. Its
general appearance betokened prosperity. On the twenty-second, I left
on the steamer George Collier for New Orleans, but the yellow fever
being reported in that city, I remained several days at Baton Rouge.
On the second of November I re-embarked for New Orleans, where I found
a lodging at the Conti Street Hotel. New Orleans was even then a large
and beautiful city. Its levee and streets were remarkable for their
cleanness, but seemed almost deserted. Owing to a recent visitation of
the yellow fever and the financial crisis of 1837, business was almost
suspended. These were hard times in New Orleans. Hundreds of men were
seeking employment, and many of them were without money or friends. It
was soon very evident to me that I had come to a poor place to better
my fortunes. After a thorough canvass, I found but one situation
vacant, and that was in a drinking saloon, and was not thought of for
an instant. I remained fifteen days, my money gradually diminishing,
when I concluded to try the interior. I took steamer for Vicksburg,
and thence passed up the Yazoo to Manchester, where I spent two days
in the vain search for employment, offering to do any kind of work. I
was in the South, where the labor was chiefly done by negroes. I was
friendless and without letters of recommendation, and for a man under
such circumstances to be asking for employment was in itself a
suspicious circumstance. I encountered everywhere coldness and
distrust. I returned to Vicksburg, and, fortunately, had still enough
money left to secure a deck passage to the North, but was obliged to
live sparingly, and sleep without bedding. I kept myself somewhat
aloof from the crew and passengers. The captain and clerk commented on
my appearance, and were, as I learned from a conversation that I could
not help but overhear, keeping a close eye upon me for being so quiet
and restrained. It was true that the western rivers were infested with
desperate characters, gamblers and thieves such as the Murrell gang.
Might I not be one of them. I was truly glad when, on the fifth of
December, we landed at St. Louis. It seemed nearer my own country; but
finding no employment there, I embarked on the steamer Motto for
Hennepin, Illinois, where I found occasional employment cutting
timber. There was much talk here of the Murrell gang, then terrorizing
the country; and I have good reason to believe that some of them at
that time were in Hennepin. After remaining about two months, I left,
on foot, valise in hand or strapped upon my back, with J. Simpson, for
Galena, which place we reached in four days. Finding here Mr. Putnam,
with a team, I went up with him on the ice to Prairie du Chien, where,
after an absence of five months of anxiety, suspense and positive
hardships, I was glad to find myself once more among friends.
During the summer of 1838 I cultivated a farm. I had also a hay
contract for the fort. My partner was James C. Bunker. I had worked
hard and succeeded in raising a good crop, but found myself in the
fall the victim of bilious fever and ague. I continued farming in 1839
and furnishing hay to the fort, but continued to suffer with chills
and fever. Myself and partner were both affected, and at times could
scarcely take care of ourselves. Help could not be obtained, but ague
comes so regularly to torture its victims that, knowing the exact hour
of its approach, we could prepare in advance for it, and have our
water, gruel, boneset and quinine ready and within reach. We knew when
we would shake, but not the degree of fever which would follow. The
delirium of the fever would fill our minds with strange fancies. On
one occasion I came home with the ague fit upon me, hitched my horses
with wagon attached to a post and went into the house. Banker had
passed the shaking stage, and was delirious. I threw myself on the
bed, and the fever soon following, I knew nothing till morning, when I
found the team still hitched to the post, and, in their hunger, eating
it.
In November of this year I made a somewhat perilous trip with team to
Fort Winnebago, at the portage of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. The
weather was cold and the military road, much of the distance, covered
with snow. There was scarcely a trail over the rolling prairie to
guide me. Exposure brought on the chills as I was returning. Fatigued,
sick and suffering, I coiled myself on the top of the load. The second
day, as the sun was setting, I came in sight of Parish's Grove, but
the horses were unwilling to obey my guidance. Coming to a fork in the
road they insisted on going to the right. I pulled them to the left.
Had I been guided by their "horse sense" they would have brought me in
a few moments to the door of Parish's hotel. As it was, I drove on
until far in the night, when we came to a steep hill, two steep for
descent in the wagon. I unhitched the team, loaded them with the
portable things in the wagon to keep them from the wolves that were
howling around, mounted one of the horses and descended the hill and
found myself at Parish's door, the very place I had been trying to
find for a day and a night. Lieut. Caldwell, quartermaster at Fort
Crawford, received the load, and learning something of the perils of
the journey, gave me eighty dollars instead of the forty he had
promised.
RETURN TO MAINE.
During the spring and summer of 1840, I fulfilled heavy hay and wood
contracts for the fort, and in the autumn of that year concluded to
revisit my early home in Maine. I set out September 23d, and reached
Chicago in seven days, traveling with a team. I traveled thence by
steamer to Buffalo, by canal boat to Rochester, by railroad and stage
to Albany and Boston, by railroad to Lowell, and by stage to Tamworth,
New Hampshire. After spending four years amidst the prairies of the
West it was indeed a pleasure to look again upon the grand ranges of
mountains in this part of New England. When eleven years of age I had
lived where I could look upon these mountains, and now to their
grandeur was added the charm of old association. I looked with
pleasure once more upon "Old Ossipee," Coroway Peak, and White Face.
Time had written no changes upon these rugged mountains. There were
cottages and farms on the mountain side. Sparkling rivulets gleamed in
the sunlight, as they found their way, leaping from rock to rock, to
the valleys beneath. Tamworth is situated on beautiful ridges amongst
these mountain ranges. Near this place is the old family burying
ground containing the graves of my grand parents and other near
relatives. These mountain peaks seemed to stand as sentinels over
their last resting place. I remained at Tamworth a short time, visited
the graves of my kindred, and on October 20th pursued my journey to
Bloomfield, Maine, my old home. I found great changes. Some kind
friends remained, but others were gone. The old home was changed and I
felt that I could not make my future home here. The great West seemed
more than ever attractive. There would I build my home, and seek my
fortune. I found here one who was willing to share that home and
whatever fortune awaited me in the West. On January 1st I was married
to Mary J. Wyman, by Rev. Arthur Drinkwater, who gave us good counsel
on the eve of our departure to a new and still wilderness country. On
February 16th we bade adieu to our friends in Maine, visited awhile at
Tamworth, and March 20th reached Prairie du Chien, having traveled by
private conveyance, stage and steamer, passing through New Haven, New
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Frederick City, Maryland, over the
National road to Wheeling, Virginia, by steamer down the Ohio and up
the Mississippi to our destination. Here we made our home until the
autumn of 1845, I continuing in the business in which I had been
previously engaged. At this time a failure in my wife's health
rendered a change of climate necessary.
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN IN 1836-37.
Our history of Fifty Years in the Northwest commences properly at
Prairie du Chien in the years 1836-37. The entire country west and
north was at that time but little better than a wilderness. Prairie du
Chien was an outpost of civilization. A few adventurous traders and
missionaries had penetrated the country above, planting a few stations
here and there, and some little effort had been made at settlement,
but the country, for the most part, was the home of roving tribes of
Indians, and he who adventured among them at any distance from posts
or settlements did so at considerable peril. Prairie du Chien, as we
have shown, had been for an indefinite period under various
governments, at first a French, and later an American settlement,
generally under the protection of a military force. It was a primitive
looking village. The houses were built for the most part of upright
timber posts and puncheons, and were surrounded by pickets. There was
no effort at display. Every thing was arranged for comfort and
protection.
AMERICAN RESIDENTS.
There were living at Prairie du Chien in 1837 the following Americans
with their families: Alfred Brunson, Thomas P. Burnett, Joseph M. and
Thomas P. Street, Ezekiel Tainter, John Thomas, Milo Richards, John H.
Fonday, Samuel Gilbert, and William Wilson. The following were
unmarried: James B. Dallam, Ira B. Brunson, William S. Lockwood, and
Hercules Dousman. In addition to these were perhaps near a hundred
French families, old residents. Among the more noted were the
Brisbois, La Chapelle, Rolette and Bruno families.
We include in the following biographical sketches some names of
non-residents, prominent in the early territorial history, and others
who came to Prairie du Chien later than 1837.
BIOGRAPHIES.
JAMES DUANE DOTY.--The life of this eminent citizen is so interwoven
with the history of Wisconsin that it might well claim more space than
is here allotted to it. The plan of this work forbids more than a
brief mention, and we therefore give only the principal events in his
life. Mr. Doty was born in Salem, Washington county, New York, where
he spent his early days. After receiving a thorough literary education
he studied law, and in 1818 located at Detroit, Michigan. In 1820, in
company with Gov. Cass, he made a canoe voyage of exploration through
Lakes Huron and Michigan. On this voyage they negotiated treaties with
the Indians, and returning made a report on the comparatively
unexplored region which they had traversed. Under his appointment as
judge for the counties of Michigan west of the lake, which appointment
he held for nine years, he first made his home at Prairie du Chien,
where he resided one year, thence removing to Green Bay for the
remainder of his term of office, at which place he continued to
reside for a period of twenty years. In 1830 he was appointed one of
the commissioners to locate military routes from Green Bay to Chicago
and Prairie du Chien. In 1834 he represented the counties west of the
lake in the Michigan legislative council at Detroit, at which council
the first legislative action was taken affecting these counties. At
that session he introduced a bill to create the state of Michigan,
which was adopted. The result of this action was the creation of the
territory of Wisconsin in 1836. In 1838 Mr. Doty was chosen
territorial delegate to Congress from Wisconsin, in which capacity he
served four years, when he was appointed governor. He served as
governor three years. He acted as commissioner in negotiating Indian
treaties. In 1846 he was a member of the first constitutional
convention. In 1848 he was elected member of Congress, and was
re-elected in 1851.
Somewhere in the '50s he built a log house on an island in Fox river,
just above Butte des Mortes, and lived there with his family many
years. There he gathered ancient curiosities, consisting of Indian
implements, and relics of the mound builders. This log house still
stands and is kept intact with the curiosities gathered there by the
present owner, John Roberts, to whom they were presented by Mrs.
Fitzgerald, a daughter of Gov. Doty, in 1877. The cabin overlooks the
cities of Menasha and Neenah, and the old council ground at the outlet
of Lake Winnebago, where the Fox and Sioux Indians held annual
councils, also the old battle ground where the Fox Indians routed the
Sioux in one of the hardest fought battles on record.
In 1861 Judge Doty was appointed superintendent of Indian affairs, and
subsequently was appointed governor of Utah Territory, which place he
held until his death in 1865. Wisconsin had no truer friend nor more
faithful and efficient servant. His aims were exalted, and he
deservedly held a high place in the affections of his fellow citizens.
JAMES H. LOCKWOOD.--Mr. Lockwood was the only practicing lawyer at the
organization of Judge Doty's court. He was the pioneer lawyer in
Prairie du Chien, and the first lawyer admitted to the bar in what is
now Wisconsin. He practiced in Crawford, Brown and Mackinaw counties.
He was born in Peru, Clinton county, New York, Dec. 7, 1793. He
married Julia Warren in 1822. She died at Prairie du Chien in 1827.
He married his second wife, Sarah A. Wright, in St. Louis, Missouri,
in 1834. She died at Prairie du Chien in 1877, much esteemed as one of
the pioneer women of the Upper Mississippi, and respected as a devout
Christian, whose faith was proven by her works. The early years of Mr.
Lockwood were spent on a farm. He had not the privileges of a
classical education, and he may be said to be self educated. In 1810
he commenced the study of law. In 1814 he was sutler in the United
States army, and in 1815 at the post at Mackinaw. From 1816 to 1819 he
was an Indian trader, his home being at Prairie du Chien. In 1826
orders came to abandon the fort at Prairie du Chien. The soldiers were
transferred to Fort Snelling, but arms and ammunition were left in
charge of John Marsh, sub-Indian agent. Mr. Lockwood's family was the
only American family at the post. On June 25th of the ensuing year he
left for New York by the Wisconsin River route, Mrs. Lockwood
remaining at home. The Winnebagoes were a little troublesome at this
time, the more so as the soldiers were removed from the post, but no
serious disturbance was anticipated. The first night after leaving
Prairie du Chien Mr. L. met some Winnebagoes, and all camped together
for the night; but the Indians, under their chief, Red Bird, left the
camp stealthily before morning, and, proceeding to Prairie du Chien,
entered the house of Mr. Lockwood with loaded rifles. Mrs. L., greatly
frightened, fled to the store, then in charge of Duncan Graham, an old
English trader. The Indians followed Mrs. L. into the store. Graham
counseled with them and they left. As they were acting suspiciously a
messenger was sent after Mr. Lockwood in haste. He returned on the
twenty-seventh and found the inhabitants assembled, but without
ammunition or means of defense. The Indians told the people not to go
into the fort, as they would destroy it. As the day passed pickets and
embankments were built around an old tavern. About sundown a keelboat
came down the river and landed, bearing three dead bodies and several
wounded. The sides of the boat had been riddled by bullets. This
ghastly arrival increased the panic. Mr. Lockwood urged organization
for defense. He was selected as captain but declined, and Thomas
McNair was chosen, who ordered an immediate removal to the fort.
Repairs were made and preparations for successful defense. On the day
the fighting commenced Red Bird and his companions shot and killed
Gagner and Lipcap. Mrs. Gagner, with rifle in hand, held Red Bird at
bay till she escaped with one child into the rushes, whence she was
rescued by a soldier on patrol duty. The soldier went to the house,
where he found Gagner and Lipcap lying dead upon the floor, and an
infant child, scalped and with its throat cut, lying under the bed.
Gov. Cass, of Michigan, arrived on the fourth of July, greatly to the
relief of the besieged garrison, which he mustered into the service of
the United States, appointing Mr. Lockwood quartermaster. Another
company, under Capt. Abner Field, was sent from Galena to their
relief. Mr. Lockwood sent a messenger to Col. Snelling at Fort
Snelling, who promptly sent down a company in a keelboat. The force
thus concentrated at the fort was sufficient to overcome the Indians,
who were in no plight to engage in a war with the United States. As
the result of a council held by the Winnebagoes in the presence of the
officers of the garrison, the Indians agreed to surrender Red Bird and
Kee-Waw to Maj. Whistler, the Indians asking that the prisoners should
not be ironed or harshly treated. Maj. Whistler promised that they
should be treated with consideration, and Red Bird, rising from the
ground, said, "I am ready," and was marched off with his accomplice,
Kee-Waw, to a tent in the rear and placed under guard. The prisoners
were handed over to Gen. Atkinson, and given into the hands of the
civil authorities. They were chained and imprisoned, which so chafed
the proud spirit of Red Bird that he drooped and soon died of a broken
heart. Kee-Waw was afterward pardoned by the president of the United
States. For this and other outrages perpetrated upon the settlers, not
a single Indian suffered the penalty of death, excepting Red Bird,
whose pride may be said to have been his executioner.
Mr. Lockwood continued in mercantile business at Prairie du Chien many
years. He held many positions of honor and trust, acquitting himself
with credit. He built the first saw mill north of the Wisconsin river,
on the Menomonie river. The famous Menomonie mills now occupy the same
site. A small mill had been commenced prior to this on Black river,
but the Indians had burned this mill before it was completed. Mr.
Lockwood died at his home, Aug. 24, 1867.
JOHN S. LOCKWOOD.--John S., the brother of James H. Lockwood, was
born in 1796 in New York; came to Prairie du Chien in 1838, and
thereafter engaged in merchandising. He was a man of exemplary habits
and a member of the Presbyterian church most of his life. He raised an
interesting family. He died at his home at Prairie du Chien in 1858.
SAMUEL GILBERT settled at Prairie du Chien in 1830. He was of Kentucky
birth, a blacksmith by trade, and a model man in habits. Mr. Gilbert,
in 1842, became one of the proprietors of the Chippewa Falls mill. He
afterward lived at Albany. He followed Mississippi river piloting,
removed to Burlington, Iowa, and died in 1878. Mr. Gilbert left four
sons, Oliver, lumberman in Dunn county, Wisconsin, John and I. Dallam,
lumber merchants at Burlington, Iowa, and Samuel.
MICHAEL BRISBOIS.--We find the names of Brisbois and some others
mentioned in the proceedings of the commission held by Col. Isaac Lee
in 1820, to adjust claims to land in Prairie du Chien and vicinity.
Michael Brisbois testified that he had been a resident of the Prairie
thirty-nine years, which would date his settlement as far back as
1781. Mr. Brisbois lived a stirring and eventful life. He died in
1837, leaving several children. Joseph, the oldest, became a man of
prominence and held many offices in state and church. Charles, the
second son, while yet a boy went to McKenzie river, British
possessions, in the employ of the Northwestern Fur Company, where he
lived thirty years beyond the Arctic circle, and raised a large
family. In 1842 he returned to Prairie du Chien, but his children,
reared in the cold climate of the frozen zone, soon after his return
sickened, and most of them died, unable to endure the change to a
climate so much milder. Bernard W., a third son, was born at Prairie
du Chien, Oct. 4, 1808. He was well educated and grew up a leading and
influential citizen. As a child he had witnessed the taking of Fort
Shelby by the British in 1814, and its recapture as Fort McKay by the
United States troops in 1815. During the Red Bird Indian war he served
as second lieutenant, and for several years was stationed at Fort
Crawford. He was also a prominent agent or confidential adviser in the
fur company which had its headquarters at Prairie du Chien. He was
sheriff of Crawford county and held the office of county treasurer and
other positions of trust. In 1872 President Grant appointed him consul
to Vernier, Belgium, but ill health compelled an early return. Mr.
Brisbois married into the La Chapelle family. He died in 1885, leaving
an interesting family.
PIERRE LAPOINT was also before the commission of Col. Lee as an early
resident, having lived at the Prairie since 1782. The testimony of
these early citizens served to establish the ancient tenure of the
lands by French settlers, a tenure so ancient that no one could
definitely give a date for its commencement. Mr. Lapoint was a farmer.
He reared a large family of children, and died about 1845.
JOSEPH ROLETTE.--Joseph Rolette was at one time chief justice of the
county court of Crawford county. He was of French descent and was born
in Quebec, L. C., in 1787. He was educated for the Catholic
priesthood. In 1804 he came to Prairie du Chien. In the early part of
his mature life he was an active and successful trader with the
Indians on the Upper Mississippi. He was a man of keen perceptions and
considerable ambition. He joined the British at the siege of Detroit,
and was an officer at the capture of Mackinaw. He was in command of a
company in the campaign of the British from Mackinaw to Prairie du
Chien, and aided in taking the American stockade. His early education
and associations inclined him to espouse the British cause during the
war of 1812, which he did with all the ardor and enthusiasm of his
nature. To his family he was kind and indulgent, giving his children
the best education possible. One daughter, married to Capt. Hoe, of
the United States army, was a very superior woman. One son, Joseph,
received all the aid that money could give, and might have risen to
distinction, but he early contracted intemperate habits which became
in later life tenaciously fixed. This son was at one time a member of
the Minnesota legislature. Joseph Rolette, Sr., died at Prairie du
Chien in 1842.
HERCULES DOUSMAN.--The leading Indian trader of the Upper Mississippi,
the prominent adviser at Indian treaties and payments and the trusted
agent of the American Fur Company, was Hercules Dousman, a keen,
shrewd man, and universally influential with the Indians, with whom it
might be said his word was law. He understood all the intricacies
involved in the Indian treaty and the half-breed annuities and
payments. His extended favors and credits to the Indians, properly
proven, of course, would be recognized and paid at the regular
payments. He accumulated through these agencies great wealth, which
he retained to his dying day. He came to Prairie du Chien, in the
employ of Joseph Rolette, in 1828. He afterward married the widow of
Rolette. He died in Prairie du Chien in 1878.
REV. DAVID LOWRY.--A noble, big hearted Kentuckian, a minister of the
Cumberland Presbyterian church, he was located by the government as
farmer and teacher of the Indians on Yellow river, near Prairie du
Chien, in 1833. For years this good man labored with unquestioned zeal
for the welfare of the untutored Indian. Mr. Lowry informed me, while
at his post, that he was fearful that all his labor was labor lost, or
worse than useless. The Indian pupil learned just enough to fit him
for the worst vices. The introduction of whisky was a corrupting
agency, in itself capable of neutralizing every effort for the moral
and intellectual advancement of the Indian, with whom intoxication
produces insanity. He felt quite disheartened as to the prospect of
accomplishing any good. He died at St. Cloud some time in the '50s.
CHIEF JUSTICE CHARLES DUNN.--When Wisconsin Territory was organized in
1836, Charles Dunn was appointed chief justice. He served as judge
until Wisconsin became a state in 1848. He was of Irish descent and
was born in Kentucky in 1799. He studied law in Kentucky and Illinois,
and was admitted to practice in 1820 at Jonesboro, Illinois. He was
chief clerk of the Illinois house of representatives five years. He
was one of the commissioners of the Illinois and Michigan canal. In
1829 he was one of a party which surveyed and platted the first town
of Chicago, and superintended the first sale of town lots there. He
was captain of a company during the Black Hawk War in 1832, and was
severely wounded through mistake by a sentinel on duty. In 1835 he was
a member of the Illinois house of representatives. In 1837, as judge,
he held his first court in Crawford county. In this court, in 1838,
indictments were found against certain individuals for selling liquor
to whites and Indians contrary to law, when, by evasions, continuances
and technicalities, the suits would go by the board. In one case the
charge given to the jury by this dignified and courteous Judge Dunn
was as follows: "Gentlemen of the Jury: Unless you are satisfied that
the defendants in this case did deal out, in clear, unadulterated
quantities, intoxicating drinks, it is your imperative duty to
discharge them." The jury, of course, discharged the defendants.
Aside from his drinking habits, which interfered much with his
usefulness, he was a genial gentleman and regarded by his associates
as an eminent jurist. He sometimes kept the court waiting till he
should become sober, and on one occasion came near losing his life in
a drunken spree. He jumped through an upper window of Tainter's hotel,
and escaped with only a broken leg. Judge Dunn was a member of the
second Wisconsin constitutional convention. He was state senator in
1853-4-5 and 6. He died at Mineral Point, April 7, 1872.
REV. ALFRED BRUNSON, a distinguished pioneer preacher in the West, was
born in Connecticut, 1793, and received there a common school
education. His father died while he was yet a minor, and with
commendable zeal and filial love he devoted himself to providing for
his mother and her bereaved family, working at the trade of a
shoemaker till he was seventeen years of age, when he enlisted as a
soldier under Gen. Harrison and served under him until the peace of
1815, when he entered the Methodist ministry, in which, by industry
and close application, he became quite learned and eminent as a
divine. His active ministry extended to the long period of sixty-seven
years. He was the first Methodist minister north of the Wisconsin
river. In 1837 he established a mission at Kaposia and thence removed
to Red Rock (Newport), in Washington county, Minnesota. In 1840 he was
a member of the Wisconsin legislature. In 1842 he was Indian agent at
Lapointe, on Lake Superior. Mr. Brunson was very prominent in the
councils of his own church, having represented his conference several
times in the general conference of that body. He is also the author of
many essays and other publications, among them "The Western Pioneer,"
in two volumes, a most entertaining and instructive account of life in
the West.
Mr. Brunson was married to Eunice Burr, a relative of the famous Aaron
Burr. She was a woman of great intelligence and of excellent qualities
of heart as well as mind. Her heart overflowed with sympathy for the
sick and distressed, and she won by her care for them the affectionate
title of "Mother Brunson." She died in 1847.
Rev. Alfred Brunson, though an itinerant, was so favored in his
various fields of labor that he was able to have his permanent home
at Prairie du Chien, where he lived from 1835 until the time of his
death in 1882.
Many incidents in Mr. Brunson's career are worthy of permanent record.
He was among the most hardy and daring of the pioneers. He came down
the Ohio and up the Mississippi in a barge to Prairie du Chien in
1835, the barge laden with household furniture and the material for a
frame building which, on landing, he proceeded immediately to erect.
This house, which he and his family occupied till his death, is still
standing.
When he established his mission at Kaposia he was greatly in need of
an interpreter. An officer at Fort Snelling owned a negro slave who
had been a Methodist before going into the army in the service of his
master. Afterward he had married a Dakota woman and by associating
with the Indians had learned their language. This young negro, James
Thompson, was a slave, and Mr. Brunson could only secure his services
by purchasing him outright, which he did, paying the price of $1,200,
the money for which was raised by subscription in Ohio. "Jim" was
presented with his "free papers," and was soon interpreting the Gospel
to the Indians at Kaposia. This is the only instance on record of a
slave being sold on Minnesota soil. It will be remembered, however,
that the historical "DRED SCOTT" was also the property of an officer
at the Fort, Surgeon Emerson. James Thompson resided in St. Paul in
the later years of his life, and died there in 1884.
IRA BRUNSON.--Ira, the eldest son of Rev. A. Brunson, was born in Ohio
in 1815, and came to Prairie du Chien in 1836. He was a member of the
legislature during the years 1837-38-39 and 40. He was also postmaster
many years. He was continuously in office in Crawford county until his
death in 1884. In 1840 he was appointed special deputy United States
marshal for the purpose of removing the settlers from the Fort
Snelling reservation. These settlers were mostly from Selkirk,
Manitoba. They had been driven out by the grasshoppers and, fleeing
southward, had settled about Fort Snelling to be under the protection
of the Fort. The government, however, considered them intruders and
ordered Mr. Brunson to remove them outside the reservation, and to
destroy all their dwellings and farm improvements, which disagreeable
duty he performed as well, perhaps, as it could be performed; he, as
he afterward told me, being satisfied in his own mind that the
removal would be for their ultimate good, the influences of the Fort
and of the associations of the motley crowd of hangers on around it
being somewhat demoralizing. At any rate the eviction of these western
Acadians has never aroused the sympathies of the poet and
sentimentalist as did that of the Acadians of the East.
JOHN H. FOLSOM, brother of W. H. C. Folsom, was born in Machias,
Maine, Dec. 27, 1813. He was engaged during his youth in clerking. In
1835 he made a voyage as supercargo of a vessel to the Congo coast. In
1836 he came to Michigan, and in 1837 to Prairie du Chien, where he
has since continuously resided. He was married in 1839 to Angelica
Pion, who died in 1878, leaving no children. He has a very retentive
memory, and is quoted as an authority in the local history of Prairie
du Chien. The writer is indebted to him for many particulars referring
to the early history of that city.
EZEKIEL TAINTER.--Mr. Tainter came to Prairie du Chien in 1833 from
Vermont. He had at first fort contracts, but afterward engaged in
merchandising, farming and hotel keeping. He also served as sheriff.
He was eccentric and original in his methods, and some amusing stories
are told of his prowess in arresting criminals. On one occasion he was
about to arrest a criminal. Having summoned his _posse_, he followed
the man until he took refuge in a cabin with one door and two windows.
Stationing his men before the door, he thus addressed them: "Brave
boys, I am about to go through this door. If I fall, as I undoubtedly
will, you must rush over my dead body and seize the ruffian." Giving
the word of command, he plunged through the door and captured the
criminal, apparently much astonished at finding himself still alive.
At his tavern, one morning, a boarder announced that he had been
robbed. Uncle Zeke quieted him, and, quickly examining his rooms,
found one boarder missing. It was gray twilight. He ordered all to
retire but the man who had been robbed. The two sat quietly down as
they saw a man approaching the house from the bluffs. To their
surprise it was the absentee approaching. As he stepped on the piazza,
Uncle Zeke dexterously tripped him up with his stiff leg, and seizing
him by the throat, shouted to the astonished miscreant: "Where is the
money you stole? Tell me at once, or you will never get up." The
prostrate culprit, thoroughly frightened, tremblingly answered, "I
hid it in the bluff." They marched him to the spot, recovered the
money and generously allowed the thief his freedom on the condition of
his leaving the country. Uncle Zeke lived to a good old age, and died
at the residence of his son Andrew, in Menomonie, Wisconsin.
WYRAM KNOWLTON.--Mr. Knowlton was born in Chenango county, New York,
in 1816, came to Wisconsin in 1837, and commenced the study of law. He
was admitted to practice in Platteville, and in 1840 came to Prairie
du Chien and opened a law office. In 1846 he enlisted and served in
the Mexican War, after which he resumed practice. In 1850 he was
appointed judge of the Sixth Judicial district of Wisconsin, and
served six years. He held the first court in Pierce county in 1854. He
was a man of fine ability. He died in the north part of the State in
1873.
ROBERT LESTER.--A melancholy interest attaches to the memory of this
man on account of his early tragical death. He had come to Prairie du
Chien in 1840, and in 1842 had been elected sheriff. Next year his
official duties called him to the Menomonie and Chippewa valleys. On
his return he had left Lockwood's mills on the Menomonie, and had
passed through Trempealeau and was coasting along the west shore, when
an Indian hailed him, calling for bread. Lester passed on without
responding. As he reached a point of land the Indian ran across the
point and, awaiting his approach, shot him through the heart. Lester
rose as the ball struck him, and fell overboard. Mr. Jean Bruno,
proprietor of the Chippewa mills, was on his way up river in a canoe,
and witnessed the whole transaction. Mr. Bruno described the whole
tragic scene. Popular excitement ran high at Prairie du Chien. A party
of men volunteered to search for Lester's body, which was found at the
place of the murder and brought back for interment at Prairie du
Chien. The Indian, a Sioux, was arrested and kept in jail a long time,
and although he had acknowledged to some of his Indian friends that he
had killed Lester, he was acquitted. It was a cold blooded and
atrocious murder, and the proof of the Indian's guilt was
overwhelming, as he was, by his own confession, the murderer; still he
was not punished. In this case the prisoner did not languish and die
in jail of a broken heart as did Red Bird, the murderer of Gagner and
Lipcap. As a rule the courts dealt very leniently with Indian
criminals.
THOMAS PENDLETON BURNETT was born in Virginia in 1800. He studied law
and was admitted to the bar in Paris, Kentucky. He was appointed
sub-Indian agent under J. M. Street, in 1829. He came to Prairie du
Chien in 1830 and entered upon the duties of the agency. He also
practiced law. In 1835 he was a member of the Michigan territorial
council and its president. In 1836, after his term of office expired,
he married a daughter of Alfred Brunson and, continuing the practice
of law, became quite eminent for his skill, and acquired an extensive
practice. He was a fluent speaker, well skilled in the management of
the cases intrusted to his care. In 1840 he removed to a farm at Patch
Grove, Grant county. He was a member of the Wisconsin constitutional
convention which met in 1846. He served but a few weeks when he was
called home by the death of his mother and the sickness of his wife.
The fatigue of a twenty-four hours' ride of eighty-five miles in a
rude lumber wagon was too much for his not very rugged constitution,
and four days after his mother's death he followed her to the world of
spirits. His devoted wife survived him but three hours. Under
circumstances of such unusual sadness did this brilliant and promising
lawyer and citizen take his departure from earth. His death created a
profound sensation throughout the entire Northwest, where he was so
well and favorably known.
HENRY DODGE, the first governor of Wisconsin Territory, was born in
Vincennes, Indiana, Oct. 12, 1782. He came to the lead mines of
Wisconsin in 1828. In 1832 he took part in the Black Hawk War, an
uprising of the Sac and Fox Indians against the United States
government. Mr. Dodge participated as a general at the battle of Bad
Axe, his regiment occupying the front rank in that battle. April 30,
1836, he was appointed governor of Wisconsin by President Andrew
Jackson, reappointed in 1839 by President Van Buren, and by President
Polk in 1845, serving three terms. From 1841 to 1845, during the
presidency of Harrison and his successor (Tyler), he served as
territorial delegate to Congress. In 1848 he was elected United States
senator for the short term, and re-elected in 1851, Senator Walker
being his colleague. On the occasion of the motion to admit
California, the Wisconsin senators were instructed by the legislature
to vote against the measure. Senator Walker disregarded the
instruction and voted for the measure. Senator Dodge, although
extremely ill at the time, had himself carried to the senate chamber
that he might record his vote adversely to the bill. Gov. Dodge rose
to the highest position in his State, and chiefly by his own unaided
efforts. As a soldier he was brave and efficient, as a governor,
congressional delegate and senator he was clear headed, cautious and
wise, and altogether a citizen of whom the State might justly be
proud. He died in Burlington, Iowa, June 19, 1867.
GEORGE W. JONES was born in Vincennes, Indiana. He graduated at
Transylvania University, Kentucky, in 1825. He was educated for the
law, but ill health prevented him from practicing. He, however, served
as clerk of the United States district court in Missouri in 1826, and
during the Black Hawk War served as aid-de-camp to Gen. Dodge. In 1832
he was appointed colonel of militia, and was promoted to a major
generalship. After the war he served as judge of a county court. In
1835 he was elected delegate to Congress from the territory of
Michigan, or from that part of it lying west of Lake Michigan, and
remained a delegate until the formation of Wisconsin Territory, in
1836, when he was elected delegate from the new territory. In 1839 he
was appointed surveyor general for Wisconsin. He was removed in 1841,
but reappointed by President Polk, and continued in office until
elected senator from the state of Iowa, which position he held for six
years, and was then appointed by President Buchanan minister to New
Granada. During the Civil War his sympathies were with the South and
he was imprisoned for awhile at Fort Warren under a charge of
disloyalty. He has resided in Dubuque, Iowa, since the formation of
Iowa Territory. He still lives, a hale and hearty old gentleman, and
served as a delegate to the waterways convention held in St. Paul,
September, 1880.
S. G. AND S. L. TAINTER AND JOHN THOMAS (father of Hon. Ormsby Thomas,
representative from Wisconsin in the Congress of 1887-88) with their
families came to Prairie du Chien in 1837. The Messrs. Tainter and
Thomas died many years ago.