Columbia County, Wisconsin - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 1 of those read), 1880 (part 8 of 12)

In the future of this industry there is much promise. Wisconsin is the natural source of supply for a very large territory. The populous prairies of Illinois and Iowa are near-by and unfailing markets. The broad plains of Kansas and the rich valleys of Nebraska, which are still in the cradle of development, will make great drafts upon her forests for the material to construct cities in which the first corner-stone is yet unlaid. Minnesota, notwithstanding the fact that large forests exist within her own confines, is even now no mean customer for Wisconsin lumber, and the ambitious territory of Dakota will soon clamor for material to build up a great and wealthy state. In the inevitable progress of development and growth which must characterize the great west, the demand for pine lumber for building material will be a prominent feature. With the growth of time, changes will occur in the methods of reducing the forests. With the increasing demand and enhancing values will come improvements in manipulating the raw material, and a stricter economy will be preserved in the handling of a commodity which the passage of time only makes more valuable. Wisconsin will become the home of manufactories, which will convert her trees into finished articles of daily consumption, giving employment to thousands of artisans where it now requires hundreds, and bringing back millions of revenue where is now realized thousands. Like all other commodities, lumber becomes more valuable as' skilled labor is employed in its manipulation, and the greater the extent to Which this is carried, the greater is the growth in prosperity, of the state and its people.

Banking In Wisconsin

Wisconsin was organized as a territory in 1836, and the same year several acts were passed by the territorial legislature, incorporating banks of issue. Of these, one at Green Bay and another at Mineral Point went into operation just in time to play their part in the great panic of 1837. The bank at Green Bay soon failed and left its bills unredeemed. The bank at Mineral Point is said to have struggled a little longer, but both these concerns were short lived, and their issues were but a drop in the great flood of worthless wild-cat bank notes that spread over the whole western country in that disastrous time. The sufferings of the people of Wisconsin, from this cause, left a vivid impression on their minds, which manifested its results in the legislation of the territory and in the constitution of the state adopted in 1848. So jealous were the legislatures of the territory, of banks and all their works, that, in every act of incorporatior for any purpose, a clause was inserted to the effect that nothing in the act contained should be taken to authorize the corporation to assume or exercise any banking powers; and this proviso was even added to acts incorporating church societies. For some years there can hardly be said to have been a ly banking business done in the territory ; merchants and business men were left to their own devices to make their exchanges, and every man was his own banker.

In the year 1839 an act was passed incorporating the " Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company," of Milwaukee. This charter conferred on the corporation, in addition to the usual powers of a fire and marine insurance company, the privilege of receiving deposits, issuing certificates 0/ deposit 3.n(\ lending money, - and wound up with the usual prohibition from doing a banking business. This company commenced business at once under the management of George Smith as president and Alexander Mitchell as secretary. The receiving deposits, issuing certificates of deposit and lending money, soon outgrew and overshadowed the insurance branch of the institution, which accordingly gradually dried up. In fact, the certificates of deposit had all the appearance of ordinary bank notes, and served the purposes of an excellent currency, being always promptly redeemed in coin on demand. Gradually these issues attained a great circulation all through the west, as the people gained more and more confidence in the honesty and ability of the managers ; and though " runs " were several times made, yet being successfully met, the public finally settled down into the belief that these bills were good beyond question, so that the amount in circulation at one time, is said, on good authority, to have been over $2,000,000.

As the general government required specie to be paid for all lands bought of it, the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance company, by redemption of its " certificates of deposit," furnished a large part of the coin needed for use at the Milwaukee land office, and more or less for purchases at land offices in other parts of the state, and its issues were of course much in request for this purpose. For many years this institution furnished the main banking facilities for the business men of the territory and young state, in the way of discounts and exchanges. Its right to carry on the operations it was engaged in, under its somewhat dubious and inconsistent charter, was often questioned, and, in 1852, under the administration of Governor Farwell, some steps were taken to test the matter; but as the general banking law had then been passed by the legislature, and was about to be submitted to the people, and as it was understood that the comiiany 'vonid organize as a bank under the law, if approved, the legal proceedings were not pressed. While this corporation played so important a part in the financial history and commercial development of Wisconsin, the writer is not aware of any available statistics as to the amount of business transacted by it before it became merged in the "Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company's Bank."

In 1847, the foundation of the present well-known firm of Marshall & Ilsley was laid by Samuel Marshall, who, in that year, opened a private banking office in Milwaukee, and was joined in 1849 by Charles F. Ilsley. This concern has always held a prominent position among the banking institutions of our state. About this time, at Mineral Point, Washburn & Woodman (C. C. Washburn and Cyrus Woodman) engaged in private banking, as a part of their business. After some years they were succeeded by Wm. T. Henry, who still continues the banking office. Among the early private bankers of the state were Mr. Kellogg, of Oshkosh ; Ulmann and Bell, of Racine ; and T. C. Shove, of Manitowoc. The latter still continues his business, while that of the other firms has 1 een wound up or merged in organized banks.

In 1848, Wisconsin adopted a state constitution. This constitution prohibited the legislature from incorporating banks and from conferring banking powers on any corporation; but provided the question of "banks or no banks " might be submitted to a vote of the electors, and, if the decision should be in favor of banks, then the legislature might charter banks or might enact a general banking law, but no such special charter or general banking law should have any force until submitted to the electors at a general election, and approved by a majority of votes cast on that subject. In 185 i, the legislature submitted this question to the people, and a majority of the votes were cast in favor of " banks." Accordingly the legislature, in 1852, made a general banking law, which was submitted to the electors in November of that year, and was approved by them. This law was very similar to the free banking law of the state of New York, which had then been in force about fifteen years, and was generally approved in that state. Our law authorized any number of individuals to form a corporate association for banking purposes, and its main provisions were intended to provide security for the circulating notes, by deposit of state and United States stocks or bonds with the state treasurer, so that the bill holders should sustain no loss in case of the failure of the banks. Provision was made for a bank comptroller, whose main duty it was to see that countersigned circulating notes were issued to banks only in proper amounts for the securities deposited, and upon compliance with the law, and that the banks kept these securities good.

The first banks organized under the new law were the " State Bank," established at Madi- Bon by Marshall & Ilsley, and the "Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company's Bank," established at Milwaukee under the old management of that company. These banks both went intooperation early in January, 1853, and, later in that year, the " State Bank of Wisconsin " (now Milwaukee National Bank of Wisconsin), and the " Farmers' and Millers' Bank " (now First National Bank of Milwaukee), were established, followed in January, 1854, by the "Bank of Milwaukee " (now National Exchange Bank of Milwaukee). From this time forward banks were rapidly established at different points through the state, until in July, 1857, they numbered sixty - with aggregate capital, ^,205,000; deposits, $3,920,238; and circulation, $2,231,829. In October, the great revulsion and panic of 1857 came on, and in its course and effects tried pretty severely the new banks in Wisconsin. Some of them succumbed to the pressure, but most of them stood the trial well.

The great source of loss and weakness at that time was found in the rapid decline of the market value of the securities deposited to protect circulation, which were mostly state bonds, and largely those of the southern states; so that this security, when it came to be tried, did not prove entirely sufficient. Another fault of the system, or of the practice under it, was developed at this time. It was found that many of the banks had been set up without actual working capital, merely for the purpose of issuing circulating notes, and were located at distant and inaccessible points in what was then the great northern wilderness of the state ; so that it was expensive and in fact impracticable to present their issues for redemption. While these evils and their remedies were a good deal discussed among bankers, the losses and inconveniences to the people were not yet great enough to lead to the adoption of thorough and complete measures of reform. The effect of these difficulties, however, was to bring the bankers of the state into the habit of consulting and acting together in cases of emergency, the first bankers' convention having been held in 1857. This was followed by others from time to time, and it would be difficult to overvalue the great good that has resulted, at several important crises from the hara onious and conservative action of the bankers of our state. Partly, at least, upon their recommendations the legislature, in 1858, adopted amendments to the banking law, providing that no bank should be located in a township containing less than two hundred inhabitants; and that the comptroller should not issue circulating notes, except to banks doing a regular discount deposit and exchange business in some inhabited town, village, city, or where the ordinary business of inhabited towns, villages and cities was carried on. These amendments were approved by the people at the fall

Banking matters now ran along pretty smoothly until the election in i860, of the republican presidential ticket, and the consequent agitation in the southern states threatening civil war, the effects of which were speedily felt; first, in the great depreciation of the bonds of the southern states, and then in a less decline in those of the northern states. At this time (taking the statement of July, i860,) the number of banks was 104, with aggregate capital, $6,547,000; circulation, $4,075,918; deposits, $3,230,252.

During the winter following, there was a great deal of uneasiness in regard to our state currency, and CO itinuous demand upon our banks for the redemption of their circulating notes in coin. Many banks of the wild-cat sort failed to redeem their notes, which became depreciated and uncurrent ; and, when the rebellion came to a head by the firing on Fort Sumter, the banking interests of the state were threatened with destruction by compulsory winding up and enforced sale at the panic prices then prevailing, of the securities deposited to secure circulation. Under these circumstances, on the 17th of April, 1S61, the legislature passed "an act to protect the holders of the circulating notes of the authorized banks of the state of Wisconsin." As the banking' law could not be amended except by approval of the electors, by vote at a general election, a practical suspension of specie payment had to be effected by indirect methods. So this act first directed the bank comptroller to suspend all action toward banks for failing to redeem their circulation. Secondly, it prohibited notaries public from protesting bills of banks until Dec i, 1861. Thirdly, it gave banks until that date to answer complaints in any proceeding to compel specie payment of circulating notes. This same legislature also amended the banking law, to cure defects that had been developed in it. These amendments were intended lo facilitate the presentation and protest of circulating notes, and the winding up of banks failing to redeem them, and provided that the liank comptroller should not issue circulating notes except to banks having actual cash capital ; on which point he was to take evidence in all cases ; that after Dec. i, 1861, all banks of the state should redeem their issues either at Madison or Milwaukee, and no bonds or stocks should be received as security for circulation except those of the United States and of the state of Wisconsin.

Specie payment of bank bills was then practically suspended, in our state, from April 17 to December i, 1861, and there was no longer any plain practical test for determining which were good, and which not. In this condition of things, bankers met in convention, and, after discussion and inquiry as to the condition and resources of the different banks, put forth a list of those whose issues were to be considered current and bankable. But things grew worse, and it was evident that the list contained banks that would never be able to redeem their circulation, and the issues of such were from time to time thrown out and discredited without any concert of action, so that the uneasiness of people in regard to the financial situation was greatly increased. The bankers finally met, gave the banks another sifting, and put forth a list of seventy banks whose circulating notes they pledged themselves to receive, and pay out as current, until December I. There had been so many changes that this pledge was thought necessary to allay the apprehensions of the public. But matters still grew worse instead of better. Some of the banks in the " current " list closed their doors to their depositors, and others were evidently unsotind, and their circulation so insufficiently secured as to make it certain that it would never be redeemed. There was more or less sorting of the currency, both by banks and business men, all over the state, in the endeavor to keep the best and pay out the poorest. In this state of things, some of the Milwaukee banks, without concert of action, and acting under the apprehension of being loaded up with the very worst of the currency, which, it was feared, the country banks and mercliants were sorting out and sending to Milwaukee, revised the list again, and threw out ten of the seventy banks whose issues it had been agreed should be received as current. Other banks and bankers were compelled to take the same course to protect themselves. The consequence was a great disturbance of the public mind, and violent charges of bad faith on the part of the banks, which culminated in the bank riots of June 24, 1861. On that day, a crowd of several hundred disorderly people, starting out most probably only with the idea of making some sort of demonstration of their dissatisfaction with the action of the banks and bankers and with the failure to keep faith with the public, marched through the streets with a band of music, and brought up at the corner of Michigan and East Water streets.

The banks had just sufficient notice of these proceedings to enable them to lock up their money and valuables in their vaults, before the storm broke upon them. The mob halted at the place above mentioned, and for a time contented themselves with hooting, and showed no disposition to proceed to violence; but, after a little while, a stone was thrown through the windows of the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company's Bank, situated at one corner of the above streets, and volley . of stones soon followed, not only against that bank, but also against the State Bank of Wisconsin, situated on the opposite corner. The windows of both these institutions and of the offices in the basements under them were effectually demolished. The mob then made a rus-h into these banks and offices, and completely gutted them, offering more or less violence to the inmates, though no person was seriously hurt. The broken furniture of the offices under the State Bank of Wisconsin was piled up, and the torch was applied by some of the rioters, while others were busy in endeavoring to break into the safes of the offices and the vaults of the banks. The debris of the furniture in the office of the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance < Company's Bank, was also set on fire, and it was plain that if the mob was not immediately checked, the city would be given up to conflagration and pillage - -the worst elements, as is always the case with mobs, having assumed the leadership. Just at that juncture, the Milwaukee zouaves, a small military company, appeared on the scene, and with the help of the firemen who had been called out, the mob was put to flight, and the incipient fire was extinguished.

The damage so far done was not great in amount, and the danger for the moment was over; but the situation was still grave, as the city was full of threats, disturbance and apprehension. By the prompt action of the authorities, a number of companies of volunteers were brought from different places in the state, order was preserved, and, after muttering for three or four days, the storm died away. The effect of that disturbance and alarm was, however, to bring home to the bankers and business men the conviction that effectual measures must be taken to settle our state currency matters on a sound and permanent basis, and that the issues of all banks that could not be put in shape to meet specie payment in December, must be retired from circulation and be got out of the way. A meeting of the bankers was held ; also of the merchants' association of Milwaukee, and arrangements were made to raise $100,000, by these two bodies, to be used in assisting weak and crippled banks in securing or retiring their circulation. The bankers appointed a committee to take the matter in charge.

It happened that just at this time Governor Randall and State Treasurer Hastings returned from New York City, where they had been making unsuccessful efforts to dispose of $800,000 of Wisconsin war bonds, which had been issued to raise funds to fit out Wisconsin volunteers.

Our state had never had any bonds on the eastern market. For other reasons, our Credit was not high in New York, and it had been found impossible to dispose of these bonds for Over sixty cents on the dollar. The state officers conferred with the bankers to see what could be done at home ; and it was finally arranged that the bankers' committee should undertake to get the state banks to dispose of their southern and other depreciated state bonds on deposit to secure circulation, for what they would bring in coin, in New York, and replace these bonds with those of our own state, .which were to be taken by our banks nominally at par - seventy per cent, being paid in cash, and the different banks purchasing bonds, giving their individual obligation for the thirty per cent, balance, to be paid in semi-annual installments, with an agreement that the state should deduct these installments from the interest so long as these bonds should remain on deposit with the state. By the terms of the law, sixty per cent, of the proceeds of the bonds had to be paid in coin. The bankers' committee went to work, and with some labor and difficulty induced most of the banks to sell their southern securities at the existing low prices in New York, and thus produce the coin required to pay for our state bonds. From the funds provided by the merchants and bankers, they assisted many of the weaker banks to make good their securities with the banking department of the state. By the 19th of July, six of the ten rejected banks that had been the occasion of the riot, were made good, and restored to the list. The other four were wound up, and their issues redeemed at par, and, before the last of August, the value of the securities of all the banks on the current list were brought up to their circulation, as shown by the comptroller's report.

Wisconsin currency at the time of the bank riot was at a discount of about 15 per cent., as compared with gold or New York exchange. At the middle of July the discount was 10 to 12 per cent., and early in August it fell to 5 per cent. The bankers' committee continued their work in preparation for the resumption of specie payment on December i. While the securities for the bank circulation had been made good, it was, nevertheless, evident that many of the banks on the current list would not be equal to the continued redemption of their bills in specie, and that they would have to be wound up and got out of the way in season. Authority was got from such institutions, as fast as possible, for the bankers' committee to retire their circulation and sell their securities. The Milwaukee banks and bankers took upon themselves the great burden of this business, having arranged among themselves to sort out and withhold from circulation the bills of these banks, - distributing the load among themselves in certain defined proportions. Instead of paying out these doubted bills, the different banks brought to the bankers' committee such amounts as they accumulated from time to time, and received from the committee certificates of deposit bearing seven per cent, interest, and these bills were locked up by the committee until the securities for these notes could be sold and the proceeds realized. Over $400,000 of this sort of paper was locked up by the committee at one time ; but it was all converted into cash, and, when the first of December came, the remaining banks of this state were ready to redeem their issues in gold or its equivalent, and so continued to redeem until the issue of the legal-tender notes and the general suspension of specie payment in the United States.

By the contraction incident to the preparations for redemption in specie, the amount of current Wisconsin bank notes outstanding December i, i86r, was reduced to about $1,500,000. When that day came, there was quite a disposition manifested to convert AVisconsin currency into coin, and a sharp financial pinch was felt for a few days ; but as the public became satisfied that the banks were prepared to meet the demand, the call for redemption rapidly fell off, and the banks soon began to expand their circulation, which was now current and in good demand all through the northwestern states. The amount saved to all the interests of our state, by this successful effort to save our banking system from destruction, is beyond computation. From this time our banks ran along (juietly until prohibitory taxation by act of congress drove the bills of state banks out of circulation.

The national banking law was passed in 1S63, and a few banks were soon organized under it in different parts of the country. The first in Wisconsin was formed by the re-organization of the Farmers' and Millers' Bank, in August, 1S63, as the First National Bank of Milwaukee, with Edward D. Holton as president, and H. H. Camp, cashier. The growth of the new system, however, was not very rapid ; the state banks were slow to avail themselves of the privileges of the national banking act, and the central authorities concluded to compel them to come in ; so facilities were offered for their re-organization as national banks, and then a tax of ten per cent, was laid upon the issues of the state banks. This ta.x was imposed by act of March, 1865, and at once caused a commotion in our state. In July, 1864, the number of Wisconsin state banks was si.\ty-si.\, with capital §3,147,000, circulation $2,461,728, deposits §5,483, 205, and these figures were probably not very different in the spring of 1S65. The securities for the circulating notes were in great part the bonds of our own state, which, while known by our own people to be good beyond question, had never been on the general markets of the country so as to be currently known there; and it was feared that in the hurried retirement of our circulation these lionds would be sacrificed, the currency depreciated, and great loss brought upon our banks and people. There was some excitement, and a general call for the redemption of our state circulation, but the banks mostly met the run well, and our people were disposed to stand by our own state bonds.

In April, 1861, the legislature passed laws, calling in the mortgage loans of the school fund, and directing its investment in these securities. The state treasurer was required to receive Wisconsin bank notes, not only for taxes and debts due the state, but also on deposit, and to issue certificates for such deposits bearing seven per cent, interest. By these and like means the threatened panic was stopped ; and in the course of a few months Wisconsin state currency was nearly all withdrawn from circulation. In July, 1865, the number of state banks was twenty-six, with capital $1,087,000, circulation $192,323, deposits $2,284,210. Under the pressure put on by congress, the organization of national banks, and especially the re-organization of state banks, under the national system, was proceeding rapidly, and in a short time nearly every town in our own state of much size or importance was provided with one or more of these institutions.

In the great panic of 1873, all the Wisconsin banks, both state and national (in common with those of the whole country), were severely tried; but the failures were few and unimportant; and Wisconsin went through that ordeal with less loss and disturbance than almost any other state.

We have seen that the history of banking in Wisconsin covers a stormy period, in which great disturbances and panics have occurred at intervals of a few years. It is to be hoped that a more peaceful epoch will succeed, but permanent quiet and prosperity can not rationally be expected in the present unsettled condition of our currency, nor until we have gone through the temporarj- stringency incidental to the resumption of specie payment.

According to the last report of the comptroller of the currency, the number of national banks in AVisconsin in November, 1S76, was forty, with capital $3,400,000, deposits $7,145,360, circulation $2,072,869.

At this time (July, 1877) the number of state banks is twenty-six, with capital $1,288,231, deposits $6,662,973. Their circulation is, of course, merely nominal, though there is no legal obstacle to their issuing circulating notes, except the tax imposed by congress.

Commerce And Manufactures

The material philosophy of a people has to do with the practical and useful. It sees in iron, coal, cotton, wool, grain and the trees of the forest, the elements of personal comfort and sources of material greatness, and is applied to their development, production and fabrication for purposes of exchange, interchange and sale. The early immigrants to Wisconsin territory found a land teeming with unsurpassed natural advantages; prairies, timber, water and minerals, inviting the farmer, miner and lumberman, to come and build houses, furnaces, mills and factories. The first settlers were a food-producing people. The prairies and openings were ready for the plow. The ease with which farms were brought under cultivation, readily enabled the pioneer to supply the food necessary for himself and family, while a surplus was often produced in a few months. The hardships so often encountered in the settlement of a new country, where forests must be felled and stumps removed to prepare the soil for tillage, were scarcely known, or greatly mitigated.

During the decade from 1835 to 1845, so great were the demands for the products of the soil, created by the tide of emigration, that the settlers found a home market for all their surplus products, and so easily were crops grown that, within a very brief time after the first emigration, but little was required from abroad. The commerce of the country was carried on by the exchange of products. The settlers (they could scarcely be called farmers) would exchange their wheat, corn, oats and pork for the goods, wares and fabrics of the village merchant. It was an age of barter ; but they looked at the capabilities of the land they had come to possess, and, with firm faith, saw bright promises of better days in the building up of a great state.

It is not designed to trace with minuteness the history of Wisconsin through the growth of its commercial and manufacturing interests. To do it justice would require a volume. The aim of this article will be to present a concise view of its present status. Allusion will only be incidentally made to stages of growth and progress by which it has been reached.

Few states in the Union possess within their borders so many, and in such abundance, elements that contribute to the material prosperity of a people. Its soil of unsurpassed fertility ; its inexhaustible mines of lead, copper, zinc and iron ; its almost boundless forests ; its water-powers, sufficient to drive the machinery of the world ; its long lines of lake shore on two sides, and the " Father of waters " on another, - need but enterprise, energj' and capital to utilize them in building an empire of wealth, where the hum of varied^industries shall be heard in the music of the sickle, the loom and the anvil.

The growth of manufacturing industries was slow during the first twenty-five years of our history. The early settlers were poor. Frequently the land they tilled was pledged to obtain means ty pay for it. Capitalists obtained from twenty to thirty per cent, per annum for the use of their money. Indeed, it was the rule, under the free-trade ideas of the money-lenders for them to play the Shy lock. While investments in bonds and mortgages were so profitable, few were ready to improve the natural advantages the country presented for building factories and work-shops.

Commerce And Manitfactures

For many years, quite all the implements used in farming were brought from outside the state. While this is the case at present to some extent with the more cumbersome farm machinery, quite a proportion of that and most of the simpler and lighter implements are made at home, while much farm machinery is now manufactured for export to other states.

The northwest was visited and explored by French voyageurs and missionaries from Canada at an early day. The object of the former was trading and gain. The Jesuits, ever zealous in the propagation of their religion, went forth into the unknown wilderness to convert the natives to their faith. As early as 1624, they were operating about Lake Huron and Mackinaw. Father Menard it is related, was with the Indians on Lake Superior as early as 1661. The early explorers were of two classes, and were stimulated by two widely different motives - the voyageurs, by the love of gain, and the missionaries, by their zeal in the propagation of their faith. Previous to 1679, a considerable trade in furs had sprung up with Indian tribes in the vicinity of Mackinaw and the northern part of " Ouisconsin." In that year more than two hundred canoes, laden with furs, passed Mackinaw, bound for Montreal. The whole commerce of this vast region then traversed, was carried on with birch-bark canoes. The French used them in traversing wilds - otherwise inaccessible by reason of floods of water at one season, and ice and snow at another - also lakes and morasses which interrupted land journeys, and rapids and cataracts that cut off communication by water. This little vessel enabled them to overcome all difficulties. Being buoyant, it rode the waves, although heavily freighted, and, of light draft, it permitted the traversing of small streams. Its weight was so light that it could be easily carried from one stream to another, and around rapids and other obstructions. With this little vessel, the fur trade of the northwest was carried on, as well as the interior of a vast continent explored. Under the stimulus of commercial enterprise, the French traders penetrated the recesses ot the immense forests whose streams were the home of the beaver, the otter and the mink, and in whose depths were found the martin, sable, ermine, and other fur-bearing animals. .\ vast trade in furs sprung up, and was carried on by different agents, under authority of the French government.

When the military possession of the northwestern domain passed from the government of France to that of Great Britain in 1760, the relationship of the fur trade to the government changed. The government of France had controlled the traffic, and made it a means of strengthening its hold upon the country it possessed. The policy of Great Britain was, to charter companies, and grant them exclusive privileges. The Hudson bay company had grown rich and powerful between 1670 and 1760. Its success had excited the 'cupidity of capitalists, and rival organizations were formed. The business of the company had been done at their trading-stations - the natives bringing in their furs for exchange and barter. Other companies sent their voyageurs into every nook and corner to traffic with the trappers, and even to catch the fur-bearing animals themselves. In the progress of time, private parties engaged in trapping and dealing in furs, and, under the competition created, the business became less' profitable. In 1815. congress passed an act prohibiting foreigners from dealing in furs in the United States, or any of its territories. This action was obtained through the influence of John Jacob Astor. Mr. Astor organized the American fur company in 1809, and afterward, in connection with the Northwest company, bought out the Mackinaw company, and the two were merged in the Southwest company. The association was suspended by the war of 1812. The American re-entered the field in 1816. The fur trade is still an important branch of traffic in the northern part of the state, and, during eight months of the year, employs a large number of men.

Hi.Story Of Wisconsin

In 1824, the lead ore in the southwestern part of Wisconsin began to attract attention. From 1826 to 1830, there was a great rush of miners to this region, somewhat like the Pike's Peak excitement at a later date. The lead-producing region of Wisconsin covers an area of about 2,200 square miles, and embraces parts of Grant, Iowa and La Fayette counties. Between 1829 and 1839, the production of lead increased from 5,000 to ro,ooo tons. After the latter year it rose rapidly, and attained its maximum in 1845, when it reached nearly 25,000 tons. Since that time the production has decreased, although still carried on to a considerable extent.

The sulphate and carbonate of zinc abound in great quantities with the lead of southwest Wisconsin. Owing to the difficulty of working this class of ores, it was formerly allowed to accumulate about the mouths of the mines. Within a few years past, metallurgic processes have been so greatly improved, that the zinc ores have been largely utilized. At La Salle, in the state of Illinois, there are three establishments for smelting zinc ores. There is also one at Peru, 111. To smelt zinc ores economically, they are taken where cheap fuel is available. Hence, the location of these works in the vicinity of coal mines. The works mentioned made in 1875, from ores mostly taken from Wisconsin, 7,510 tons of zinc. These metals are, therefore, important elements in the commerce of Wisconsin.

The iron ores of Wisconsin occur in immense beds in several localities, and are destined to prove of great value. From their product in 1S63, there were 3,735 tons of pig iron received at Milwaukee; in 1865, 4,785 tons; in 1868, 10,890 tons. Of the latter amount, 4,648 tons were from the iron mines at Mayville. There were shipped from Milwaukee, in 186S, 6,361 tons of pig iron. There were also received 2,500 tons of ore from the Dodge county ore beds. During 1S69, the ore beds at Iron Ridge were developed to a considerable extent, and two large blast furnaces constructed in Milwaukee, at which place there were 4,695 tons of ore received, and 2,059 tons were shipped to Chicago and Wyandotte. In 1870, 112,060 tons of iron ore were received at Milwaukee, 95,000 tons of which were from Iron Ridge, and 17,060 tons from Escanaba and Marquette, in Michigan. The total product of the mines at Iron Ridge in 187 1 was 82,284 tons. The Milwaukee iron company received by lake, in the same year, 28,094 tons of Marquette iron ore to mix with the former in making railroad iron. In 1872, there were receivea from Iron Ridge 85,245 tons of ore, and 5,620 tons of pig iron. Much of the metal made by the Wisconsin iron company in 1S72 was shipped to St. I-ouis, to mix with the iron made from Missouri ore.

The Milwaukee iron company, during the year 1872, entered into the manufacture of merchant iron - it having been demonstrated that the raw material could be reduced there cheaper than elsewhere. The Minerva furnace company built also during the same year one of the most compact and complete iron furnaces to be found any where in the country. During the year 1873, the iron, with most other material interests, became seriously prostrated, so that the total receipts of ore in Milwaukee in 1874 amounted to only 31,993 tons, against 69,418 in 1873, and 85,245 tons in 1872. There were made in Milwaukee in 1874, 29,680 tons of railroad iron. In 1875, 58,868 tons of ore were received at Milwaukee, showing a revival of the trade in an increase of 19,786 tons over the previous year. The operation of the works at Bay View having suspended, the receipts of ore in 1876, at Milwaukee, were less than during any year since 1869, being only 31,119 tons, of which amount only 5,488 tons were from Iron Ridge, and the total shipments were only 498 tons.

The business of lumbering holds an important rank in the commerce of the state. For many years the ceaseless hum of the saw and the stroke of the ax have been heard in all our great forests. The northern portion of the state is characterized by evergreen trees, principally pine; the southern, by hard-woods. There are exceptional localities, but this is a correct statement of the general distribution. I think that, geologically speaking, the evergreens belong to the primitive and sandstone regions, and the hard wood to the limestone and clay formations. Northern Wisconsin, so called, embraces that portion of the state north of forty-five degrees, and possesses nearly all the valuable pine forests. The most thoroughly developed portion of this region is that lying along the streams entering into Green bay and Lake Michigan, and bordering on the Wisconsin river and other streams entering into the Mississippi. Most of the pine in the immediate vicinity of these streams has been cut off well toward their sources ; still, there are vast tracts covered with dense forests, not accessible from streams suitable for log-driving purposes. The building of railroads into these forests will alone give a market value to a large portion of the pine timber there growing. It is well, perhaps, that this is so, for at the present rate of consumption, but a few years will elapse before these noble forests will be totally destroyed. Most of the lumber manufactured on the rivers was formerly taken to a market by being floated down the streams in rafts. Now, the railroads are transporting large quantities, taking it directly from the mills and unloading it at interior points in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin, and some of it in eastern cities. From five to eight thousand men are employed in the pineries in felling the trees, sawing them into logs of suitable length, and hauling them to the mills and streams during every winter in times of fair prices and favorable seasons. The amount of lumber sawed in i860, as carefully estimated, was 355,055,155 feet. The amount of shingles made was 2,272,061, and no account was made of the immense number of logs floated out of the state, for manufacture into lumber elsewhere. The amount of logs cut in the winter of 1873 and 1874 was 987,000,000 feet. In 1876 and 1877 the Black river furnished 188,344,464 feet. The Chippewa, 90,000,000; the Red Cedar, 57,000,000. There passed through Beef Slough 129,384,000 feet of logs. Hon. A. H. Eaton, for fourteen years receiver of the United States land office at Stevens Point, estimated the acreage of pine lands in his district at 2,000,000, and, taking his own district as the basis, he estimated the whole state at 8,000,000 acres. Reckoning this at 5,000 feet to the acre, the aggregate pine timber of the state would be 40,000,000,000 feet. The log product annually amounts to an immense sum. In 1876, 1,172,611,823 feet were cut. This is about the average annual draft that is made on the pine lands. There seems to be no remedy for the wholesale destruction of our pine forests, except the one alluded to, the difficulty of transportation, and this will probably save a portion of them for a long time in the future. At the rate of consumption for twenty years past, we can estimate that fifty years would see northern Wisconsin denuded of its pine forests; but our lumber product has reached its maximum, and will probably decrease in the coming years as the distance to be hauled to navigable streams increases. In the mean time lumber, shingles and lath will form an important factor in our commerce, both state and inter-state, and will contribute millions to the wealth of our citizens.

Up to 1S41, no grain was exported from Wisconsin to be used as food; but, from the time of Its first settlement in 1836 to 1840, the supply of bread stuffs from abroad, upon which the people depended, was gradually diminished by the substitution of home products. In the winter of 1840 and 1841, E. D. Holton, of Milwaukee, purchased a small cargo of wheat (about 4,000 bushels), and in the spring of 1841, shipped it to Buffalo. This was the beginning of a traffic that has grown to immense proportions, and, since that time, wheat has formed the basis of the commerce and prosperity, of the state, until the city of Milwaukee has become the greatest primary wheat mart of the world.

Up to 1856, the shipments were almost wholly of Wisconsin products ; but with the completion of lines of railroad from Milwaukee to the Mississippi river, the commerce of Wisconsin became so interwoven with that of Iowa and Minnesota, that the data furnished by the transportation companies, give us no definite figures relating to the products of our own state.

Wisconsin is becoming largely interested in the dairy" business. Its numerous springs, streams, and natural adaptability to grass, make it a fine grazing country, and stock thrives remarkably well. Within a few years, cheese-factories have become numerous, and their owners are meeting with excellent success. Wisconsin cheese is bringing the highest price in the markets, and much of it is shipped to England. Butter is also made of a superior quality, and is e.xtensively exported. At the rate of progress made during the last few years, Wisconsin will soon take rank with the leading cheese and butter producing states. The counties most largely interested in dairying, are Kenosha, Walworth, Racine, Rock, Green, Waukesha, Winnebago, Sheboygan, Jefferson and Dodge. According to estimates by experienced dairymen, the manufacture of butter was 22,473,000 pounds in 1S70; 50,130,000 in 1S76; of cheese, 1,591,000 pounds in 1870, as against 17,000,000 in 1876, which will convey a fair idea of the increase of dairy production. The receipts of cheese in Chicago during 1876, were 23,780,000 pounds, against 12,000,000 in 1875 ; and the receipts of butter were 35,384,184, against 30,248,247 pounds in 1875. It is estimated that fully one-half of these receipts were from Wisconsin. The receipts of butter in Milwaukee were, in 1870, 3,779,114 pounds ; in 1875, 6,625,863; in 1876,8,938,137 pounds ; ot cheese, 5,721,279 pounds in 1875, and 7,055,573 in 1S76. Cheese is not mentioned in the trade and commerce reports of Milwaukee until 1S73, when it is spoken of as a new and rapidly increasing commodity in the productions of the state.

Improved breeds, both of swine and cattle, have been introduced into the state during a few years past. The grade of stock has been rapidly bettered, and stock raisers generally are striving with commendable zeal to lival each other in raising the finest of animals for use and the market.

Beef

The culture of hops, as an article af commerce, received but little attention prior to i860. In 1865, 2,864 bales only were shipped from Milwaukee. In addition, a large amount was used by the brewers throughout the state. In i866, the amount exi orted was increased, and 5,774 bales were shipped to eastern markets. The price, from forty-five to fifty-five cents per pound, stimulated production, and the article became one of the staple products of the counties of Sauk, Columbia, Adams and Juneau, besides being largely cultivated in parts of some other counties. In 1867, 26,562 bales were received at Milwaukee, and the prices ranged from fifty to seventy cents per pound. The estimated crop of the state for 1867 was 35,000 bales, and brought over $4,200,000. In i86S, not less than 60,000 bales were grown in the state. The crop everywhere was a large one, and in Wisconsin so very large that an over-supply was anticipated. But few, however, were prepared for the decline in prices, that far exceeded the worst apprehensions of tKose interested. The first sales were made at twenty-five to thirty-five cents per pound, and the prices were reluctantly accepted by the growers. The price contiaued to decline until the article was unsalable and unavailable in the market. Probably the average price did not exceed ten cents per pound. Notwithstanding the severe check which hop-growing received in 1868, by the unprofitable result, growers were not discouraged, and the crop of 1869 was a large one. So much of the crop of 1868 remained in the hands of the growers, that it is impossible to estimate that of 1869. The new crop sold for from ten to fifteen cents, and the old for from three to five cents per pound. Hop-cultivation received a check from over-production in 1868, from which it did not soon recover. A large proportion of the yards were plowed under in 1870. The crop of 1869 was much of it marketed during 1870, at a price of about two and one-half to three and onehalf cents per pound, while that of 1870 brought ten to twelve and a half cents. During the year 187 1, a great advance in the price, caused by the partial failure of the crop in some of the eastern states, and the decrease in price causing a decrease in production, what was left over of the crop of 1S70 more than doubled in value before the new reached the market. The latter opened at thirty cents, and steadily rose to fifty and fifty-five for prime qualities. The crop of 1872 was of good quality, and the market opened at forty to fifly-five cents as the selling price, and fell fifteen to twenty cents before the close of the year. A much larger 'quantity was raised than the year previous. In 1873 and 1874, the crop was fair and prices ruled from thirty-three to forty-five cents, with increased production. About 18,000 bales were reported as being shipped from the different railway stations of the state. Prices were extremely irregular during 1S75, and, after the new crop reached market, fell to a point that would not pay the cost of production. In 1876, prices ruled low at the opening of the year, and advanced from five to ten cents in January to twenty-eight to thirty in November. Over 17,000 bales were received at Milwaukee, over 10,000 bales being of the crop of the previous year. Over 13,000 bales were shipped out of the state.

Tobacco. Tobacco raising is comparatively a new industry in Wisconsin, but is rapidly growing in importance and magnitude. It sells readily for from four to ten cents per pound, and the plant is easily raised. It is not regarded as of superior quality. It first appears as a commodity of transportation in the railway reports for the year 1S71, when the Prairie du Chien division of the St. Paul road moved eastward 1,373,650 jiounds. During the four years ending with

1876, there were shipped from Milwaukee an average of 5,118,530 pounds annually, the 1 aximum being in 1874,6,982,175 pounds; the minimum in 1875, 2,743,854 pounds. The crop of T876 escaped the early frosts, and netted the producer from five to seven cents per pound. The greatar part of it was shipped to Baltimore and Philadelphia. Comparatively little of the leaf raised in the state is used here or by western manufacturers. The crop of the present year,

The cranberry trade is yet in its infancy. But little, comparatively, has been done in developing the capabilities of the extensive bodies of marsh and swamp lands interspersed throughout the northern part of the state. Increased attention is being paid to the culture of the fruit; yet, the demand will probably keep ahead of the supply for many years to come. In 185 1, less than 1,500 barrels were sent out of the state. In 1872, the year of greatest production, over 37,000 barrels were exported, and, in r876, about 17,000 barrels. The price has varied in different years, and taken a range from eight to fifteen dollars a barrel.

The production of liquors, both spirituous and malt, has kept pace with the growth of population and with the other industries of the state. There were in Wisconsin, in 1872, two hundred and ninety-two breweries and ten distilleries. In 1876, there were two hundred and ninety-three of the former and ten of the latter, and most of them were kept running to their full capacity. Milwaukee alone produced, in 1876, 321,611 barrels of lager beer and 43,175 barrels of high wines. In 1865, it furnished 65,666 barrels of beer, and in 1870, 108,845 barrels. In 1865, it furnished 3,046 barrels of high wines; in 1S70, 22,867 barrels; and in 1875, 39,005. A large quantity of the beer made was shipped to eastern and southern cities. The beer made in 1876 sold at the rate of ten dollars per barrel, the wholesale price of the brewers bringing the sum of $3,216,110. The fame of Milwaukee lager beer is widely extended. This city has furnished since 1870, 1,520,308 barrels which, at the wholesale price, brought $15,203,170. The total production of beer by all the two hundred and ninety-three breweries of the state for 1876, was 450,508 barrels.

In 1876, Milwaukee produced 43,175 barrels of high wines, or distilled spirits, and the state of Wisconsin 51,959 barrels. In 1870, the former produced 108,845 barrels of beer and 22,867 barrels of distilled spirits, and in the same year the state of Wisconsin produced 189,664 barrels of beer and 36,145 barrels of distilled spirits.

Porcelain clay, or kaolin, is found in numerous places in Wood and Marathon counties. The mineral is found in but few places in the United States in quantities sufficient to justify the investment of capital necessary to manufacture it. In the counties mentioned, the deposits are found in extensive beds, and only capital and enterprise are needed to make their development profitable. Clay of superior quality for making brick and of fair quality for pottery, is found in numerous localities. The famous " Milwaukee brick," remarkable for their beautiful cream color, is made from a fine clay which is abundant near Milwaukee, and is found in extensive beds at Watertown, Whitewater, Edgerton, Stoughton, and several places on the lake shore north of Milwaukee. At Whitewater and some other places the clay is used with success for the making of pottery ware. Water-lime, or hydraulic cement, occurs in numerous places throughout the state. An extensive bed covering between one and two hundred acres, and of an indefinite depth, exists on the banks of the Milwaukee river, and not over one and a half miles from the city limits of Milwaukee. The cement made from the rock of this deposit is first-class in quality, and between twenty and thirty thousand barrels were made and sold last year. The capacity of the works for reducing the rock to cement has been increased to 500 barrels per day. Stones suitable for building purposes are widely distributed throughout the state, and nearly every town lias its available quarry. Many of these quarries furnish stone of fine quality for substantial and permanent edifices. The quarry at Prairie du Chien furnished the stone for the capital building at Madison, which equals in beauty that of any state in the Union. .\t Milwaukee, Waukesha, Madison, La Crosse, and many other places are found quarries of superior building stone. Granite is found in extensive beds in Marathon and Wood counties, and dressed specimens exhibited at the " Centennial " last year, attracted attention for their fine polish. Marbles of various kinds are likewise found in the state. Some of them are beginning to attract attention and are likely to prove valuable. The report of Messrs. Foster & Whitney, United States geologists, speaks of quarries on the Menomonee and Michigamig rivers as affording beautiful varieties and susceptible of a high polish. Richland county contains marble, but its quality is generally considered inferior.

Wisconsin is fast becoming a manufacturing state. Its forests of pine, oak, walnut, maple, ash, and other valuable woods used for lumber, are well-nigh inexhaustible. Its water-power for driving the wheels of machinery is not equaled by that of any state in the northwest. The Lower Fox river between Lake Winnebago and Green Bay, a distance of thirty-five miles, furnishes some of the best facilities for manufacturing enterprise in the whole country. Lake Winnebago as a reservoir gives it a great and special advantage, in freedom from liability to freshets and droughts. The stream never varies but a few feet from its highest to its lowest stage, yet gives a steady flow. The Green Bay and Mississippi canal company has, during the last twenty-five years, constructed numerous dams, canals and locks, constituting very valuable improvements. All the property of that company has been transferred to the United States government, which has entered upon a system to render the Fox and Wisconsin rivers navigable to the Mississippi. The fall between the lake and Depere is one hundred and fifty feet, and the water can be utilized in propelling machinery at Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Cedar, Little Chute, Kaukauna, Rapid Croche, Little Kaukauna and Depere. The water-power at Appleton in its natural advantages is pronounced by Hon. Hiram Barney, of New York, superior to those at Lowell, Paterson and Rochester, combined. The water-power of the Fox has been improved to a considerable extent, but its full capacity has hardly been touched. Attention has been drawn to it, however, and no doubt is entertained that in a few years the hum of machinery to be propelled by it, will be heard the entire length of the thirty-five miles. The facilities presented by its nearness to timber, iron, and a rich and productive agricultural region, give it an advantage over any of the eastern manufacturing points.

The Wisconsin river rises in the extreme northern part of the state, and has its source in a great number of small lakes. The upper portion abounds in valuable water privileges, only a few of which are improved. There are a large number of saw-mills running upon the power of this river. Other machinery, to a limited extent, is in operation.

The " Big Bull " falls, at Wausau, are improved, and a power of twenty-two feet fall is obtained. At Little Bull falls', below Wausau, there is a fall of eighteen feet, partially improved. There are many other water-powers in Marathon county, some of which are used in propelling flouringtnills and saw-mills. At Grand Rapids, there is a descent of thirty feet to the mile, and the water can be used many times. Each time, 5,000 horse-power is obtained. At Kilbourn City a large amount of power can be obtained for manufacturing purposes.

Chippewa river has its origin in small streams in the north part of the state. Explorers tell us that there are a large number of water powers on all the upper branches, but as the country is yet unsettled, none of them have been improved, and very few even located on our maps. Brunette falls and Ameger falls, above Chippewa Falls city, must furnish considei-able waterpower, but its extent is not known At Chippewa Falls is an excellent water-power, only partially improved. The river descends twenty-six feet in three-fourths of a mile. At Duncan creek at the same place, there is a good fall, improved to run a large flouring mill. At Eagle Rapids, five miles above Chippewa Falls, $120,000 has been expended in improving the fall of the Chippewa river. The city of Eau Claire is situated at the confluence of the Chippewa and Eau Claire rivers, and possesses in its immediate vicinity water-powers almost unrivaled. Some of them are improved. The citizens of Eau Claire have, for several years, striven to obtain legislative authority to dam the Chippewa river, so as to improve the water-power of the Dells, and a lively contest, known as the " Dells fight," has been carried on with the capitalists along the river above that town. There are immense water-powers in Dunn county, on the Red Cedar, Chippewa and Eau Galle rivers, on which there are many lumbering establishments. In Pepin county also there are good powers. The Black river and its branches, the La Crosse, Buffalo, Trempealeau, Beaver, and Tamaso, furnish many valuable powers. The St. Croix river is not excelled in the value of its water privileges by any stream in the state, except the Lower Fox river. At St. Croix Falls, the water of the river makes a descent of eighty-five feet in a distance of five miles, and the volume of water is sufficient to move the machinery for an immense manufacturing business, and the banks present good facilities for building dams, and the river is not subject to freshets. The Kinnekinnick has a large number of falls, some of them partially improved. Within twenty-five miles of its entrance into Lake St. Croix, it has a fall of two hundred feet, and the volume of water averages about three thousand cubic feet per minute. Rock river affords valuable waterprivileges at Watertown (with twenty-four feet fall), and largely improved ; at Jefferson, Indian Ford and Janesville, all of which are improved. Beloit also has an excellent water-power, and it is largely improved. Scattered throughout the state are many other water-powers, not alluded to in the foregoing. There are several in Manitowoc county ; in Marquette county, also. In Washington county, at West Bend, Berlin, and Cedar Creek, there are good water-powers, partly utilized. At Whitewater, in Walworth county, is a good power. In Dane county, there is a water-power at Madison, at the outlet of Lake Mendota; also, a good one at Stoughton, below the first, or Lake Kegonsa; also at Paoli, Bellville, Albany and Brodhead, on the Sugar river. In Grant county there are not less than twenty good powers, most of them well-developed. In Racine county, three powers of fine capacity at Waterford, Rochester and Burlington, all of which are improved. The Oconto, Peshtigo and Menomonee rivers furnish a large number of splendid water- powers of large capacity. The Upper Wolf river has scores of water-powers on its main stream and numerous branches; but most of the country is still a wilderness, though containing resources which, when developed, will make it rich and prosperous. There are numerous other streams of less consequence than those named, but of great importance to the localities they severally drain, that have had their powers improved, and their waterfalls are singing the songs of commerce. On the rivers emptying into Lake Superior, there are numerous and valuable water-powers. The Montreal river falls one thousand feet in a distance of thirty miles.

The mechanical and manufacturing industries of Wisconsin demonstrate that the people do not rely wholly upon agricultural pursuits, or lumbering, for subsistence, but aim to diversify their labors as much as possible, and to give encouragement to the skill and ingenuity of their mechanics and artisans. All our cities, and most of our villages, support establishments that furnish wares and implements in common use among the people. We gather from the census report for 1S70 a few facts that will give us an adequate idea of what was done in a single year, remembering that the data furnished is six years old, and that great advancement has been made since the statistics were gathered. In 1S70, there were eighty-two establishments engaged in making agricultural implements, employing 1,387 hands, and turning out products valued at $2,393,400. There were one hundred and eighty-eight furniture establishments, employing 1,844 men, and making $1,542,300 worth of goods. For making carriages and wagons there were four hundred and eighty-five establishments, employing 2,184 men, and their product was valued at $2,596,534; for clothing, two hundred and si.xty-three establishments, and value of product $2,340,400 ; sash, doors and blinds, eighty-one shops, and value of product $1,852,370 ; leather, eighty-five tanneries, employing 577 men, and value of products $2,013,000; malt liquors, one hundred and seventy-six breweries, 835 men, and their products valued at $1,790,273.

At many jwints the business of manufacturing is carried on more or less extensively; indeed, there is hardly a village in the state where capital is not invested in some kind of mechanical industry or manufacturing enterprise, and making satisfactory returns ; but for details in this respect, the reader is referred to the department of local history.

The principal commodities only, which Wisconsin contributes to trade and commerce, have been considered. There remains quite a number of minor articles from which the citizens of the state derive some revenue, such as flax and maple sugar, which can not be separately considered in this paper.

Statistics are usually dry reading, but, to one desiring to change his location and seeking information regarding a new country and its capabilities, they become intensely interesting and of great value. The farmer wishes to know about the lands, their value and the jiroductiveness of the soil ; the mechanic about the workshops, the price of labor, and the demand for such wares as he is accustomed to make ; the capitalist, concerning all matters that pertain to resources, advantages, and the opportunities for investing his money. Our own people want all the information that can be gained by the collection of all obtainable facts. The sources of such information are now various, and the knowledge they impart fragmentary in its character.

Provision should be made by law, for the collection and publication of reliable statistics relating to our farming, manufacturing, mining, lumbering, commercial and educational interests. Several of the states of the Union have established a " Bureau of Statistics," and no more valuable reports emanate from any of their state departments than those that exhibit a condensed view of the material results accomplished each year. Most of the European states foster these agencies with as much solicitude as any department of their government. Indeed, they have become a social as well as a material necessity, for social science extends its inquiries to the physical laws of man as a social being; to the resources of the country; its productions; the growth of society, and to all those facts or conditions which may increase or diminish the strength, growth or happiness of a people. Statistics are the foundation and corner-stone of social science, which is the highest and noblest of all the sciences.

A writer has said that, " If God had designed Wisconsin to be chiefly a manufacturing state, instead of agricultural, which she claims to be, and is, it is difficult to see more than one particular in which He could have endowed her more richly for that purpose." She has all the material for the construction of articles of use and luxury, the means of motive power to propel the machinery, to turn and fashion, weave, forge, and grind the natural elements that abound in such rich profusion. She has also the men whose enterprise and skill have accomplished most surprising results, in not only building up a name for themselves, but in placing the state in a proud position of independence.

It is impossible to predict what will be the future growth and development of Wisconsin. From its commercial and manufacturing advantages, we may reasonably anticipate that she will in a few years lead in the front rank of the states of the Union in all that constitutes real greatness. Her educational system is one of the best. With her richly endowed State University, her colleges and high schools, and the people's colleges, the common schools, she has laid a broad and deep foundation for a great and noble commonwealth. It was early seen what were the capabilities of this their newly explored domain. The northwestern explorer, Jonathan Carver, in 1766, one hundred and thirteen years ago, after traversing Wisconsin and viewing its lakes of crystal purity, its rivers of matchless utility, its forests of exhaustless wealth, its prairies of wonderful fertility, its mines of buried treasure, recorded this remarkable prediction of which we see the fulfillment: "To what power or authority this new world will become dependent after it has arisen from its present uncultivated state, time alone can discover. But as the seat of empire from time immemorial has been gradually progressive toward the west, there is no doubt but that at some future period mighty kingdoms will emerge from these wildernesses, and stately palaces and solemn temples with gilded spires reaching to the skies supplant the Indian huts, whose only decorations are the barbarous trophies oftheir vanquished enemies."

The Public Domain

In the early part of the seventeenth century, all the territory north of the Ohio river, including the present state of Wisconsin, was an undiscovered region. As far as now known, it was never visited by white men until the year 1634, when Jean Nicolet came to the Green bay country as an ambassador from the French to the Winnebagoes. The Jesuit fathers in 1660 visited the south shore of Lake Superior; and, soon after, missions were established at various points in the northwest.

The French government appreciating the importance of possessing dominion over this section, M. Talon, intendant of Canada, took steps to carry out this purpose, and availed himself of the good feelings entertained toward the French by a number of the Indian tribes, to establish the authority of the French crown over this remote quarter. A small party of men led by Daumont de St. Lusson, with Nicolas Perrot as interpreter, set out from Quebec on this mission, in 1670, and St. Lusson sent to the tribes occupying a circuit of a hundred leagues, inviting the nations, among them the Wisconsin tribes inhabiting the Green bay country, by their chiefs and ambassadors, to meet him at the Sault Sainte Marie the following spring.

In the month of May, 167 1, fourteen tribes, by their representatives, including the Miamis, Sacs, Winnebagoes, Menomonees, and Pottawattamies, arrived at the place designated. On the morning of the fourteenth of June, " St. Lusson led his followers to the top of the hill, all fully equipped and under arms. Here, too, in the vestments of their priestly office were four Jesuits : Claude Dablon, superior of the mission on the lakes, Gabriel Druillettes, Claude Allouez, and Andre. All around, the great throng of Indians stood, or crouched, or reclined at length with eyes and ears intent. A large cross of wood had been made ready. Dablon, in solemn form, pronounced his blessing on it ; and then it was reared and planted in the ground, while the Frenchmen, uncovered, sang the Vexilla Regis. Then a post of cedar was planted beside it, with a metal plate attached, engraven with the royal arms ; while St. Lusson's followers sang the exaudiat, and one of the priests uttered a prayer for the king. St. Lusson now advanced, and, holding his sword in one hand, and raising with the other a sod of earth, proclaimed in a loud voice " that he took possession of all the country occupied by the tribes, and placed them under the king's protection.

This act, however, was not regarded as sufficiently definite, and on the eighth of May, 1689, Perrot, who was then commanding for the king at the post of Nadouesioux, near Lake Pepin on the west side of the Mississippi, commissioned by the Marquis de Denonville to manage the interests of commerce west of Green bay took possession, in the name of the king, with appropriate ceremonies, of the countries west of Lake Michigan as far as the river St. Peter. The papers were signed by Perrot and others.

By these solemn acts, the present limits of Wisconsin with much contiguous territory, came under the dominion of the French government, the possession of which continued until October, 1761 - a period of ninety years from the gathering of the chiefs at the Sault Ste. Marie in 1671.

From the commencement of French occupancy up to the time when the British took possession, the district of country embraced within the present limits of this state had but few white inhabitants besides the roaming Indian traders ; and of these few, the locations were separated by a distance of more than two hundred miles in a direct line, and nearly double that distance by the usual water courses. There was no settlement of agriculturists; there were no missionary establishments ; no fortified posts at other points, except at Depere and Green bay on Fox -iver, and perhaps at Prairie du Chien, near the junction of the Wisconsin and the Mississippi.

The French government made no grant of lands; gave no attention to settlers or agrica.- turists, and the occupation of the country was strictly military. There were, indeed, a few grants of lands made by the French governors and commanders, previous to 1750, to favored individuals, six of which were afterward confirmed by the king of France. There were also others which did not require confirmation, being made by Cardillac, commanding at Detroit, under special authority of the king; of this latter kind, one for a small piece of thirty acres bears with it, says a writer, " so many conditions, reservations, prohibitions of sale, and a whole cavalcade of feudal duties to be performed by the grantee, that in itself, it would be a host in opposition to the agricultural settlement of any country."

The grants just referred to, relate to that part of the French possessions outside the limits of the present state of Wisconsin. Within its limits there was a grant of an extensive territory including the fort at the head of Green bay, with the exclusive right to trade, and other valuable privileges, from the Marquis de Vaudreuil, in October, 1759, to M. Rigaud. It was sold by the latter to William Gould and Madame Vaudreuil, to whom it was confirmed by the king of France in January, 1760, at a very critical period, when Quebec had been taken by the British, and Montreal was only wanting to complete the conquest of Canada. This grant was evidently intended as a perquisite to entrap some unwary persons to give a valuable consideration for it, as it would be highly impolitic for the government to make such a grant, if they continued masters of the country, since it would surely alienate the aff"ections of the Indians. The whole country had already been virtually conquered by Great Britain, and the grant of course was not confirmed by the English government.

Of the war between the French and English governments in America, known as the French and Indian war, it is not necessary to speak, except in general terms. The English made a determined effort to obtain the possessions claimed by the French. The capture of Quebec in 1759, and the subsequent capitulation of Montreal in 1760, extinguished the domination of France in the basin of the St. Lawrence ; and by the terms of the treaty of Paris, concluded February 10, 1763, all the possessions in, and all the claims of the French nation to, the vast country watered by the Ohio and the Mississippi were ceded to Great Britain.

Among the first acts of the new masters of the country was the protection of the eminent domain of the government, and the restriction of all attempts on the part of individuals to acquire Indian titles to lands. By the King of England's proclamation of 1763, no more grants of land within certain prescribed limits could be issued, and all private persons were interdicted the liberty of purchasing lands from the Indians, or of making settlements within those prescribed limits. The indulgence of such a privilege as that of making private purchases of the natives, conduced to the most serious difficulties, and made way for the practice df the most reprehensible frauds. The policy pursued by the English government has been adopted and acted upon by the government of the United States in the extinguishment of the Indian title to lands in every part of the country.

In face of the proclamation of 1763, and within three years after its promulgation, under a pretended purchase from, or voluntary grant of the natives, a tract of country nearly one hundred miles square, including large portions of what is now northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, was claimed by Jonathan Carver, and a ratification of his title solicited from the king and council. This was not conceded ; and the representatives of Carver, after the change of government had brought the lands under the jurisdiction of the United States, for a series of years presented the same claims before congress, and asked for their confirmation. Such a demand under all the circumstances, could not justify an expectation of success; and, of course, has often been refused. But notwithstanding the abundant means which the public have had of informing themselves of the true nature and condition of Carver's claim, bargains and sales of portions of this tract have been made among visionary speculators for more than half a century past. It is now only a short period since the maps of the United States ceased to be defaced by a delineation of 5he "Carver Grant."

The mere transfer of the dominion over the country from the French to the English government, and the consequent occupation of the English posts by the new masters, did not in any great degree affect the social condition of the inhabitants. By the terms of capitulation, the French subjects were permitted to remain in the country, in the full enjoyment of their civil and religious privileges.

The English, however, did not hold peaceable possession of the territory acquired. The war inaugurated by Pontiac and his Indian allies on the military posts occupied by the English soon followed, and in the month of May, 1763, nine posts were captured with much loss of life. In the spring of 1764, twenty-two tribes who were more or less identified in the outbreak, concluded a treaty of peace with General Bradstreet at Niagara.

The expedition of Colonel George Rogers Clark to the Illinois country, and the conquest of the British posts in 1778 and 1779, had the effect to open the way for the emigration of the Anglo-American population to the Mississippi valley; and at the close of the revolutionary war, Great Britain renounced all claim to the whole territory lying east of the Mississippi river. The dominion of the English in the Illinois and Wabash countries, ceased with the loss of the military posts which commanded the Northwestern territory of the United States. As a result of the enterprise and success of Clark, Virginia obtained possession of the Illinois country; his expedition having been undertaken and carried forward under the auspices of that state.

Several of the eastern states under their colonial charters, laid claim to portions of the land comprised in the territory northwest of the Ohio river. The claim of Massachusetts was derived from a grant from King James of November 3, 1620; and included from lat. 42° 2' to about lat. 450, extending to the south sea; Connecticut claimed from lat. 4it> north to 420 2'. The claims of Virginia were from grants from King James, bearing date, respectively, April lo, 1606, May 23, 1609, and March 12, i6ii, and an additional claim for the territory conquered by Clark in the Illinois country ; but they extended no farther north than the southern end of Lake Michigan.

It is a popular impression that the territory of the present state of Wisconsin was comprehended in the lands northwest of the river Ohio, over which Virginia exercised jurisdiction, and, consequently, was included in her deed of cession of lands to the United States. This opinion so generally entertained by writers on American history, is a statement which does qpt appear to have any solid foundation in fact. Virginia never made any conquests or settlements in Wisconsin, and at no time prior to the proffer of her claims to the general government had she ever exercised jurisdiction over it. In fact, there were no settlements in Wisconsin except at Green Bay and Prairie du Chien before that time, and these were made by French settlers who were in no wise interfered with while the revolution continued. In Illinois it was otherwise ; and the possession of its territory by Virginia was an undisputed fact. During the revolution the title of the sovereignty in Wisconsin was actually in Great Britain, and so remained until the definite treaty of peace in 1783; at which date England yielding her right constructively to the United States, retaining possession, however, until 1796 ; at which time the western posts were transferred to the United States.

All the claiming states finally ceded their interests to the general government, giving the latter a perfect title, subject only to the rights of the Indians. The deed of cession from Virginia was dated March i, 1784. The other states ceded their claims, some before this date, others subsequent thereto.

Virginia made a number of stipulations in her deed of cession; among others, that the French and Canadian inhabitants and the neighboring villages who had professed themselves citizens of Virginia, should have their possessions and title confirmed to them, and be protected in the enjoyment of their rights and liberties; thr.t 150,000 acres of land near the rapids of the Ohio, should be reserved for that portion of her state troops which had reduced the country; and about 3,500,000 acres between the rivers Scioto and Little Miami be reserved for bounties to her troops on the continental establishment.

In consequence of certain objectionable stipulations made by Virginia as to the division of the territory into states, the deed of cession was referred back to that state with a recommendation from congress that these stipulations should be altered. On the 30th of December, 1788, Virginia assented to the wish of congress, and formally ratified and confirmed the fifth article of compact which related to that subject, and tacitly gave her consent to the whole ordinance of 1787. The provisions of this ordinance have since been applied to all the territories of the United States lying north of the 360 40'. After the adoption of the constitution of the United States the the new congress, among its earliest acts, passed one, recognizing the binding force of the ordinance of 1787.

Of this ordinance it has been said : " It was based on the principles of civil liberty, maintained in the magna charta of England, re-enacted in the bill of rights, and incorporated in our different state constitutions. It was the fundamental law of the constitution, so to speak, of the great northwest, upon which were based, and with which harmonized ail our territorial enactments, as well as our subsequent state legislation, and, moreover, it is to that wise, statesman-like document that we are indebted for much of our prosperity and greatness."

After the close of the revolutionary war, enterprising individuals traversed tlie whole country which had been ceded to the government, and companies were formed to explore and settle the fertile and beautiful lands beyond the Ohio ; but the determination of the British cabinet not to evacuate the western posts, was well known, and had its effect on the peo])le who were disposed to make settlements.

The western tribes were also dissatisfied and threatened war, and efforts were made by the government to settle the difficulties. A grand council was held at the mouth of Detroit river in December, 1787, which did not result favorably, and two treaties were subsequently held, which were not respected by the savages who were parties to them. Soon an Indian war ensued, /hich resulted at first disastrously to the American troops under Generals Harmar and St. Clair, but finally with success to the American arms under General Wayne. The treaty of Greenville followed. It was concluded August 3, 1795. At this treaty there were present eleven hundred and thirty chiefs and warriors. It was signed by eighty-four chiefs and General Anthony Wayne, sole commissioner of the United States. One of the provisions of the treaty was that in consideration of'the peace then established, and the cessions and relinquishments of lands made by the tribes of Indians, and to manifest the liberality of the United States as the great means of rendering this peace strong and perpetual, tlie United States relinquished their claims to all other Indian lands northward of the river Ohio, eastward of the Mississippi, and westward and southward of the great lakes and the waters united by them, except certain reservations and portions before purchased of the Indians, none of which were within the present limits of this state. The Indian title to the whole of what is now Wisconsin, subject only to certain restrictions, became absolute in the various tribes inhabiting it. By this treaty it was stipulated that, of the lands relinquished by the United States, the Indian tribes who have a right to those lands, were quietly to enjoy them ; hunting, planting, and dwelling thereon so long as they pleased ; but, when those tribes or any of them should be disposed to sell them, or any part of them, they were to be sold only to the United States, and until such sale, the United States would protect all of the tribes in the quiet enjoyment of their lands against all citizens of the United States, and all other white persons who might intrude on the same. At the same time all the tribes acknowledged themselves to be under the protection of the United States, and no other person or jx)wer whatsoever.

The treaty also prohibited any citizen of the United States, or any other white man, settling upon the lands relinquished by the general government ; and such person was to be considered as out of the protection of the United States; and the Indian tribe on whose land the settlement might be made, could drive off the settler, or punish him in such manner as it might see fit.

It will be seen that the Indians were acknowledged to have an unquestionable title to the lands they occupied until that right should be extinguished by a voluntary cession to the general government; and the constitution of the United States, by declaring treaties already made, as well as those to be made, to be the supreme law of the land, adopted and sanctioned previous treaties with the Indian nations, and consequently admitted their rank among those powers who are capable of making treaties.

The several treaties which had been made between commissioners on the part of the United States and various nations of Indians, previous to the treaty of Greenville, were generally restricted to declarations of amity and friendship, the establishment and confirming of boundaries, and the protection of settlements on Indian lands ; those that followed were generally for a cession of lands and provisions made for their payment. It is proposed to notice the several treaties that took place after that held at Greenville, showing in what way the territory of the present state, came into possession of the government. As will be seen hereafter, it required treaties with numerous tribes of Indians to obtain a clear, undisputed title, as well as many years before it was fully accomplished.

1. A treaty was held at St. Louis, November 3, 1804, between the Sacs and Foxes and the United States. William Henry Harrison was acting commissioner on the part of the government. By the provisions of the treaty, the chiefs and head men of the united tribes ceded to the United States a large tract on both sides of the Mississippi, extending on the east from the mouth of the Illinois to the head of that river, and thence to the Wisconsin; and including on the west considerable portions of Iowa and Missouri, from the mouth of the Gasconade northward. In what is now the state of Wisconsin, this grant embraced the whole of the present counties of Grant and La Fayette and a large portion of Iowa and Green counties. The lead region was included in this purchase. In consideration of this cession, the general government agreed to protect the tribes in the quiet enjoyment of their land, against its own citizens and all others who should intrude on them. The tribes permitted a fort to be built on the upper side of the Wisconsin river, near its mouth, and granted a tract of land two miles square, adjoining the same. The government agreed to give them an annuity of one thousand dollars per annum. The validity of this treaty was denied by one band of the Sac Indians, and this cession of land became, twenty-eight years after, the alleged cause of the Black Hawk war.

2. Another treaty was held at Portage des Sioux, now a village in St. Charles county, Missouri, on the Mississippi river, September 13, 1815, with certain chiefs of that portion of the Sac nation then residing in Missouri, who, they said, were compelled since the commencement of the late war, to separate themselves from the rest of their nation. They gave their assent to the treaty made at St. Louis in 1804, and promised to remain separate from the Sacs of Rock river, and to give them no aid or assistance, until peace should be concluded between the United States and the Foxes of Rock river.

3. On the 14th of September, a treaty was made with the chiefs of the Fox tribe at the same place. They agreed that all prisoners in their hands should be delivered up to the government. They assented to, recognized, re-established and confirmed the treaty of 1804, to the full extent of their interest in the same.

4. A treaty was held at St. Louis, May 13, 1816, with the Sacs of Rock river, who affirmed the treaty of 1804, and agreed to deliver up all the property stolen or plundered, and in failure to do so, to forfeit all title to their annuities. To this treaty, Black Hawk's name appears with others. That chief afterward affirmed that though he himself had " touched the quill " to this treaty, he knew not what he was signing, and that he was therein deceived by the agent and others, who did not correctly explain the nature of the grant; and in reference to the treaty of St. Louis in 1804, and at Portage des Sioux in 1815, he said that he did not consider the same valid or binding on him or his tribe, inasmuch as by the terms of those treaties, territory was described which the Indians never intended to sell, and the treaty of 1S04, particularly, was made by parties who had neither authority in the nation, nor power to dispose of its lands. Whether this was a true statement of the case, or otherwise, it is quite certain that the grant of lands referred to was often confirmed by his nation, and was deemed conclusive and binding by the government. The latter acted in good faith to the tribes, as well as to the settlers, in the disposition of the lands.

5. A treaty <if peace and friendship was made at St. Louis, June 3, i8i6, between the chiefs and warriors of that part of the Winnebagoes residing on the Wisconsin river. In this treaty the tribe state that they have separated themselves from the rest of their nation ; that they, for themselves and those they, represent, confirm to the United States all and every cession of land heretofore made by their nation, and every contract and agreement, as far as their interest extended.

6. On the 30th of March, 1817, the Menomonee tribe concluded a treaty of peace ana friendship at St. Louis with the United States, and confirmed all and every cession of land before made by them within the limits of the United States.

7. On the 19th of August, 1825, at Prairie du Chien, a treaty was made with the Sioux, Chippewas, Sacs and Foxes, Winnebagoes, Ottawas and Pottawattamies, by which the boundary between the two first nations was agreed upon; also between the Chippewas, Winnebagoes and other tribes.

8. Another treaty was held August 5, 1826, at Fond du Lac of Lake Superior, a small settlement on the St. Louis river, in Itaska county, Minn., with the same tribes, by which the previous treaty was confirmed in respect to boundaries, and those of the Chippewas were defined, as a portion of the same was not completed at the former treaty.

9. A treaty was made and concluded August i, 1827, at Butte des Morts, between the United States and the Chippewa, Menomonee and Winnebago tribes, in which the boundaries of their tribes were defined ; no cession of lands was made.

10. A treaty was made at Green Bay, August 25, 1828, with the Winnebagoes, Pottawattamies and other tribes. This treaty was made to remove the difficulties which had arisen in consequence of the occupation by white men of that portion of the mining country in the southwestern part of Wisconsin which had not been ceded to the United States. A provisional boundary was provided, and privileges accorded the government to freely occupy their territory until a treaty should be made for the cession of the same. This treaty was simply to define the rights of the Indians, and to give the United States the right of occupation.

11. Two treaties were made at Prairie du Chien, on the 29th of July, 1829, and August 1, 1829 : at the first date, with the Chippewas, Ottawas and Pottawattamies, by which these nations ceded all their lands which they claimed in the northwestern part of Illinois ; and at the latter date with the Winnebagoes, by which that nation ceded and relinquished all their right, title and claim to all their lands south of the Wisconsin river, thus confirming the purchase of the leadmine region, Certain grants were made to individuals, which grants were not to be leased or sold by the grantees.

By this important treaty, about eight millions of acres of land were added to the public domain. The three tracts ceded, and forming one whole, extended from the upper end of Rock river to the mouth of the Wisconsin, from latitude 41° 30' to latitude 43° 15', on the Mississippi. Following the meanderings of the river, it was about two hundred and forty miles from west to east, extending along the Wisconsin and Fox rivers, affording a passage across the country from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan. The south part of the purchase extended from Rock Island to Lake Michigan.

12. Another important treaty was made at Green Bay, February 8, 1831, between the Menomonee Indians and the United States. That nation possessed an immense territory. Its eastern division was bounded by the Milwaukee river, the shore of Lake Michigan, Green bay. Fox river, and Lake Winnebago; its western division, by the Wisconsin and Chippewa rivers on the west. Fox river on the south. Green bay on the east, and the high lands which flow the streams into Lake Superior on the north. By this treaty all the eastern division, estimated at two and a half millions of acres, was ceded to the government. By certain other provisions, the tribe was to occupy a large tract lying north of Fox river and east of Wolf river. Their territory farther west was reserved for their hunting-grounds until such time as the general government should desire to purchase it. Another portion, amounting to four millions of acres, lying between Green bay on the east and Wolf river on the west, was also ceded to the United States, besides a strip of country, three miles in width, from near the portage of the Wisconsin and Fox rivers north, on each side of the Wisconsin river, and forty-eight miles long - still leaving the tribe in peaceable possession of a country about one hundred and twenty miles long, and about eighty broad. By supplementary articles to the treaty, provision was made for the occupancy of certain lands by the New York Indians - two townships on the east side of Lake Winnebago.