Columbia County, Wisconsin - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 3 of those read), 1880

Chapter with an unread heading (no. 3 of those read)

The Blaok H.vwk "War - A Supplemental Episode ok the Black Hawk War - United States Land Surveys - United States Land Districts- Early Govehnmknt of Columbia County Territory - Colujiuia County on Early' Maps.

The months of June and July, 1882, were months of excitement in Fort Winnebago and its immediate vicinity, for it was known that the Sacs, painted and plumed, at war with the whites, with Black Hawk as their leader, had retreated up Rock River. The Sac chief, with his braves, finally reached a point (Black Hawk Grove) just outside of what is now the city of -Janesville, Rock County, where he remained some time in camp. It must not be understood that they were now at their former homes. This was not the ease. It was not then the country of the Sacs, but of the Rock River Winnebagoes. The last mentioned had not yet ceded their territory east of Sugar River.

While Black Hawk Avas in camp at the grove, which has received his name, there were brought in two prisoners - Sylvia and Rachel Hall ; and it was there they were handed over to the Winnebagoes.

The tent-poles, ashes and brands of the Indian camp-fires, where the two captives were given over to the Winnebagoes by the Sac Indians, were plainly discernible when the first settlers located in the vicinity.

Gen. Atkinson, having arrived at the mouth of the Pecatonica, in pursuit of the savages, and, hearing that Black Hawk was further up Rock River, determined to follow him, with the intention of deciding the war by a general battle, if possible. Black Hawk, judging of his intentions from the report of his spies, broke up his camp, near what is now Janesville, and retreated still farther up the stream to the foot of Lake Koshkonong, where, on the west side of the river, in what is now the town of iNHlton, Rock County, he again formed a camp. Here he remained some time, when he again removed, this time to an island in the lake, still known as Black Hawk's Island. It is in the southeast corner of the town of Sumner, in Jefferson County. He afterward made his way farther up the valley.

The march of Gen, Atkinson in pursuit of Black Hawk through what is now Rock County, and his arrival at Lake Koshkonong, in the present county of Jefferson, where he found the Sac chief had eluded him, is best related by one who was present :

'- The oOth of June, 1832, we passed through the Turtle Village [now the city of Beloit], which is a considerable Winnebago town, but it was deserted. We marched on about a mile, and encamped on the open prairie, near enough to Rock River to get water from it. We here saw very fresh signs of the Sac Indians, where they bad been, apparently, fishing on that day. Gen. Atkinson believed we were close to them, and apprehended an attack that night. The sentinels fired several times, and we were as often paraded and prepared to receive the enemy ; hut they never came, though, from the accounts given by the sentinels to the officers of the day, there was no doubt that Indians had been prowling about the camp.

"July 1. We had not marched but two or three miles before an Indian was seen across Rock River, at some distance off, on a very high prairie, who, no doubt, was a spy, and. likely, was one that had been prowling about our encampment the night before. We proceeded a few miles further, and came to the place where the Indians, who had taken the two Misses Hall prisoners, had stayed for several days [near the present city of Janesville]. It was a strong position, where they could have withstood a very powerful force. We afterward discovered that they always encamped in such places. We Iiad not marched but a few miles from this place before one of our front scouts came back, meeting the array in great haste, and stated that he had discovered a fresh trail of Indians, where they had just gone along in front of us. Maj. Ewing, who was in front of the main army some distance, immediately formed his men in line of battle, and marched in that order in advance of the main army about three-quarters of a mile. We had a very thick wood to march through, where the undergrowth stood very high and thick. The signs looked very fresh, and we exjjected every step to be fired upon from the thickets. We marched in this order about two miles, not stopping for the unevenness of the ground or anything else, but keeping in line of battle all the time, until we found the Indians had scattered ; then we resumed our common line of march, which was in three divisions. Soon after we had formed into three divisions, the friendly Indians that were with us raised an alarm by seven or eight of them shooting at a deer - some little in advance of the army. The whole army here formed for action, but it was soon ascertained that these children of the forest had been at what their whole race seems to have been born for - shooting at the beasts of the forest.

"We here camped by a small lake [Storr's] this night, and had to drink the water, which was very bad, but it was all that could be found. Here a very bad accident happened. One of the sentinels, mistaking another that was on post, with a blanket wi-apped around him. for an Indian, shot him just below the groin in the thick of the thigh. At first the wound was thought mortal. I understood, before I left the army, that the man was nearly well. Here Gen. Atkinson had on this night breastworks thrown up, which was easily done, as we were encamped in thick, heavy timber. This was a precaution which went to show that he set a great deal by the lives of his men, and by no means was any mark of cowardice ; for generalship consists more in good management than anything else.

"July 2. We started this morning at the usual time, but went oftly a few miles before Maj. Ewing, who was still in front with his battalion, espied a very fresh trail, making off at about a left angle. He dispatched ten men from the battalion, in company with Capt. George Walker and a few Indians, to pursue it, and see, if possible, where it went to. He moved on in front of his battalion a short distance further, when we came on the main Sac trail of Black Hawk's whole army, which appeared to be about two days old. Capt. Early, who commanded a volunteer independent company, and had got in advance, this morning called a halt ; so did Maj. Ewing with his battalion. Then Maj. Ewing sent back one of his staff officers for the main army to call a halt for a few minutes. He, with Maj. Anderson, of the infantry, Capt. Early and Jonathan H. Pugh, went a little in advance, when Maj. Anderson, with a telescope, took a view across the lake, as we had now got to Lake Koshkonong. [The army entered what is now Jefferson County, very nearly where, in going north, its south line is crossed by the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. The trail, after leaving the southeast quarter of Section 35, in Township 5 north, of Range 13 east, ran nearly due north to the southeast corner of Section 26, in the same township and range, where the army reached the lake, in what is now the town of Koshkonong.] They then discovered three Indians apparently in their canoes. Maj. Ewing went himself and informed Gen. Atkinson what discovery was made, and requested Gen. Atkinson to let him take his battalion round through a narrow defile that was between two of those lakes, where we supposed the Indians were. By this time our scouts, who had taken the trail that led off on our left, returned, bringing with them five white men's scalps. They followed the Indian trail until it took them to a large Indian encampment that they had left a few days before. They reached it ; the scalps were sticking up against some of their wigwams ; some of them were identified, but I do not recollect the names of any except one, which was said to be an old gentleman of the name of Hall. Maj. Ewing then marched his battalion about a mile, where the pass on the side of the lake appeared so narrow that he dismounted his men and had his horses all tied, and a few men left to guard them. The rest of us marched on foot about one mile through a narrow defile on the [east] bank of Koshkonong Lake. This was considered a dangerous procedure ; but Maj. Ewing, who was in front with Maj. Anderson, would have been first in danger. We now found that we were getting too far in advance of our horses, so Maj. Ewing sent a part of the men back for them. When we mounted our horses, we were joined by Capt. Early and his independent corps. We then marched some distance around the [Koshkonong] lake, and went in between two of them in a narrow defile, until we found another deserted encampment. We now saw clearly that the Indians were gone from the Koshkonong Lake, so the next thing to be done was to find in which direction they had steered their course."

Gen. Atkinson having been re-enforced by Gen. Alexander, took up his line of march, arriving at the Burnt Village on the 6th of July. The Burnt Village, known also as the White Crow's town, was on the south side of what was then called the Whitewater River, now Bark River, at its most southerly point, on the north half of Section 12, in Township 5 north, of Range 14 east, town of Koshkonong, about two and a half miles southeast of the present Fort Atkinson. This is the village generally, but incorrectly, stated to have been located upon the north side of Lake Koshkonong, some eight miles distant. When Gen. Atkinson reached the place, it was found deserted. That evening (the 6th), Gen. Posey's brigade, in company with Col. Dodge's squadron, joined Atkinson. Col. John Ewing and his regiment came within a mile and a half of the main army and encamped. On the 10th, Gen. Atkinson sent Col. Ewing with his regiment down Rock River to Dixon's; Gen. Posey, with the rest of his brigade, was dispatched to Fort Hamilton, while Col. Henry and his brigade. Gen. Alexander's brigade and Col., Dodge's squadron were sent to Fort Winnebago, now Portage, Columbia Co., for provisions. Atkinson dropped down a short distance from the Burnt Village and built a stockade fort, which he called Fort Koshkonong. It was located on the south side of Rock River, in the eastern outskirts of the present village of Fort Atkinson. Alexander returned from Fort Winnebago by the direct )-oute, while Dodge and Henry took a more easterly one, striking Rock River at a point where there was a small Winnebago village, now Hustisford, Dodge County, which point was reached July 18. Information was here obtained that Black Hawk was at "Cranberry Lake," farther up the river. This was believed to be reliable, and an express was immediately started down the stream to inform Gen. Atkinson of the Sac chief's whereabouts. The express, consisting of Dr. E. H. Merryman, W. W. Woodbridge, with Little Thunder, a Winnebago, came very unexpectedly, at a distance of not more than eight miles from their starting-point, upon the trail of Black Hawk, making his way down the river. The express returned to the army with the news, and the next morning, July 19, the pursuit began. The fugitives, leaving the river near what is now the city of Watertown, were followed to the Third Lake (Monona), across the site where the city of Madison now stands. Meanwhile, Atkinson being informed of the movements of Henry and Dodge, broke up his camp and followed on with the main army, leaving Capt. Gideon Low, of the United States Regulars, with thirty or forty men, to hold Fort Koshkonong, afterward known as Fort Atkinson. The two commands, following so close upon the Sac chief, brought on an engagement on the 21st of July, upon the Wisconsin River, mention of which - the battle of Wisconsin Heights - has already been made in the general history of the State. After the conclusion of the war, Capt. Gideon Low abandoned Fort Atkinson, proceeding with his men to Fort Winnebago.

Notwithstanding the fact that Black Hawk and his army did not, in their northward movement, reach the limits of what is now Columbia County, yet his retreat up the Rock River valley and the danger of (as many believed) the Winnebagoes joining him in a body, caused not only much uneasiness at Fort Winnebago, but the resort to active measures to induce that tribe to remain steadfast in their friendship to the Americans. What transpired at that post during these months of alarm, is best related by one who was there a resident:*

" The arrival of my brother, Arthur, from Kentucky, by way of the Mississippi, in the latter part of April, bi'ought us the uncomfortable intelligence of new troubles with the Sauks and Foxes. Black Hawk had, with the flower of his nation, recrossed the Mississippi, once more to take possession of their old homes and corn-fields.

" It was not long before our own Indians came flocking in to confirm the tidings, and to assure us of their intention to remain faithful friends to the Americans. We soon heard of the arrival of the Illinois Rangers in the Rock River Country, also of the progress of the regular force under Gen. Atkinson, in pursuit of the hostile Indians, who, by the reports, wore always able to elude their vigilance. It not being their custom to stop and give battle, the Sauks soon scattered themselves through the country, trusting to some lucky accident (and sucii arriveil, alas I only too often) to enable them to fall upon their enemies unexpectedly.

"The experience of the pursuing army was, for the most part, to make their way, by toilsome and fatiguing marches, to the spot where they imagined the Sauks would be waiting to receive them, and then to discover that the rogues had scampered ofl" to quite a different part of the country.

'' Wherever these latter went, their course was marked by the most atrocious barbari'ie.s, though the worst had not at this time reached our ears. We were only assured that they were down in the neighborhood of the Rock River and Kishwaukee, and that they lost no opportunity of falling on the defenseless inhabitants and cruelly murdering them.

"As soon as it became certain that the Sauks and Fo.xes would not pursue the same course they had on the previous year, that is, retreat peaceably across the Mississippi, Mr. Kinzie resolved to hold a council with all the principal chief's of the Winnebagoes who were accessible at this time. He knew that the Sauks would use every effort to induce their neighbors to join them, and that there existed in the breasts of too many of the young savages a desire to distinguish themselves by - taking some white scalps.' They did not love the Americans. Why should they ? By them they had been gradually dispossessed of the broad and beautiful domains of tlicir forefathers, and hunted from place to place, and the only equivalent they had received in exchange had been a few thousands annually in silver and presents, together with the pernicious example, tlie debasing influence and the positive ill treatment, of too many of the new settlers upon their lands.

"With all these facts in view, therefore, their Father felt that the utmost watchfulness was necessary, and that the strongest arguments must be brought forward to preserve the young men of the Winnebagoes in their allegiance to the Americans. Of the older members he felt quite sure. About fifty lodges had come at the commencement of the disturbances and encamped around our dwelling, saying that, if the Sauks attacked us, it must be after killing them ; and. knowing them well, we had perfect confidence in their assurances.

" But their vicinity, wliile it gave us a feeling of protection, likewise furnished us with a channel of the most exciting and agitating daily communications. As the theater of operations approached nearer and nearer, intelligence was brought in by their runners - now that ' Capt. Harney's head had been recognized in the Sauk camp, where it had been brought the day previous; ' next, that 'the Sauks were carrying Lieut. BealTs head on a pole in front of tlicm as they marched to meet the whites.' Sometimes it was a story which we afterward found to be unhappily true, as that of the murder of their agent, M. St. Vrain, at Kellogg's Grove, by the Sauks themselves, who ought to have protected him.

"It was after the news of this last occurrence that the appointed council with the Winnebagoes was to be held at the Four Lakes, thirty-five miles distant from Fort Winnebago. In vain we pleaded and remonstrated against such an exposure. It was his duty to assemble his people and talk to them, my husband said, and he must run the risk if there were any. He had perfect confidence in the Winnebagoes. The enemy, by all that he could learn, were now far ilistant from the Four Lakes - probably at Kosh-ko-nong. He would set off early in the morning with Pauquette, hold his council, and return to us the same evening.

" It were useless to attempt to describe our feelings during that long and dreary day. When night arrived, the cry of a drunken Indian, or even the barking of a dog, would fill our hearts with terror.

" As we sat, at a late hour, at the open window, listening to every sound, with what joy did we at length distinguish the tramp of horses I We knew it to be Griffin and Jerry ascending, the hill, and a cheerful shout soon announced that all was well. My husband and his interpreter had ridilen seventy miles that day, besides holding a long 'talk' with the Indians.

" The Winnebagoes, in council, had promised to use their utmost endeavors to preserve peace and good order among their young men. They informed their father that the bands on the Rock River, with the exception of Wiu-no-sheek's, were all determined to remain friendly, and keep aloof from the Sauks. To that end they were abandoning their villages and cornfields and moving north, that their Great Father, the President, might not feel dissatisfied with them. With regard to Win-no-sheek and his people, they professed themselves unable to answer.

" Time went on, and brought with it stories of fresh outrage.?. Among these were the murders of Auberry, Green and Force, at Blue Mound, and the attack on Apple Fort. The tidings of the latter were brought by old Crelie, the father of Mrs. Pauquette, who rode express from Galena, and who averred that he once passed a bush behind which the Sauks were hiding, but that his horse smelt the sweet-scented grass with which they always adorn their persons when on a war party, and set out on such a gallop that he never stopped until he arrived at the portage.

" Another bearer of news was a young gentleman of the name of Follet, whose eyes had become so protruded and set from keeping an anxious lookout for the enemy, that it was many days after his arrival at a place of safety before they resumed their accustomed limits and expression.

'' Among other rumors which, at this time, reached us, was one that an attack upon Fort Winnebago was in contemplation among the Sauks. That this was in no state of defense, the Indians very well knew. All the effective men had been withdrawn upon a requisition from Gen. Atkinson to join him at his newly-built fort at Kosh-ko-nong.

" Fort Winnebago was not picketed in ; there were no defenses to the barracks or officers' quarters, except slight paneled doors and Venetian blinds, nothing that would long resist the blows of clubs or hatchets. There was no artillery, and the Commissary's store was without the bounds of the fort, under the hill.

" Mr. Kinzie had, from the first, called the attention of the officers to the insecurity of their position in case of danger, but he generally received a scoffing answer.

One afternoon, we were over on a visit to some ladies in the garrison, and, several officers being present, the conversation, as usual, turned upon the present position of affairs.

'- 'Not against these fellows,' replied he, contemptuously. 'I do not think I would even take the trouble to fasten the blinds to my quarters.'

" ' At least,' said I, 'if you some night find a tomahawk raised to cleave your skull, you will have the consolation of remembering that you have, not been one of those foolish fellows who keep on the safe side.' ' -

-"For my part, I am of Gov. Cass' opinion. He was at Chicago during the Winnebago war. We were all preparing to move into the fort on the first alarm. Some were for being brave and delaying, like our friends here. ''Come, come," said the Governor, " hurry into the fort as fast as possible; there is no merit in being brave with the Indians. It is the height of folly to stay and meet danger which you may by prudence avoid." '

''In a few days, our friends w^aked up to the conviction that something must be done at once. The first step was to forbid any Winnebagoes coming within the garrison, lest they should find out what they had known as well as ourselves for three months past, namely, the feebleness of the means of resistance. The next was to send fatigue parties into the woods, under the protection of a guard, to cut pickets for inclosing the garrison.

" There was every reason to believe that the enemy were not very far distant, and that their object in coming north was to break a way into the Chippewa country, where they would find a place of security among their friends and allies. The story that our Indian runners brought in most frequently was, that the Sauks were determined to fall upon the whites at the portage and fort, and massacre all except the families of the agent and interpreter.

" Plante and Pillon, with their families, had departed at the first word of danger. There only remained with us Manaigre, whose wife was a half Winnebago, Isidore Morrin and the blacksmith from Sugar Creek, Mata and Turcotte.

" At night, we were all regularly armed and our posts assigned us. After every means had been taken to make the house secure, the orders were given. Sister Margaret and I, in case of attack, were to mount with the children to the rooms above, while my husband and his men were to make good their defense as long as possible against the enemy. Since I had shown my sportsmanship by bringing down accidentally a blackbird on the wing, I felt as if I could do some execution with my little pistols, which were regularly placed beside my pillow at night, and I was fully resolved to use them if necessity i-equired. I do not remember to have felt the slightest compunction at the idea of taking the lives of two Sauks - as I had no doubt I should do ; and this explains to me what I had before often wondered at, the indifterence, namely, of the soldier on the field of battle to the destruction of human life. Had I been called upon, however, to use my weapons effectually, I should no doubt have looked back upon it with horror.

" Surrounded as we were by Indian lodges, which seldom became perfectly quiet, and excited as our nerves had become by all tliat we were daily in the habit of hearing, we rarely slept very soundly. One night, after we had, as much as possible, composed ourselves, we were startled, at a late hour, by a tap on the window at the head of our bed, and a call of ' Chon I Chon ! (John! John!) ' Tshah-ko-zhah ' (what is it?). It was Hoo-wau-ne-kah, the Little Elk.

"He spoke rapidly and in a tone of great agitation. I could not understand him, and I lay trembling and dreading to hear his errand interpreted. Now and then I could distingush the word ' Saukee ' (Sauks), and ' shoonk-hat-tay-rah ' (horse), and they were not very re-assuring.

"The trouble, I soon learned, was this: A fresh trail had been observed near the Petit Rocher, on the Wisconsin, and the people at the villages on the Barribault [now Baraboo], were in a state of great alarm, fearing it might be the Sauks. There was the appearance of a hundred or more horses having passed by this trail. Hoo-wau-nekah had been dispatched at once to tell the Father and to ask his advice.

" After listening to all he had to communicate, his Father tohl him the trail was undoubtedly that of Gen. Henry's troops, who were said to have come north looking for the enemy ; that as the marks of the horses' hoofs showed them by this report to have been shod, that was sufficient proof that it was not the trail of the Sauks. He thought that the people of the villages need not feel any uneasiness.

" ' Very well. Father,' replied Hoo-wau-nee-kah, ' I will go back and tell my people what you say. They will believe you, for you always tell them the truth. You are not like us In'dians, who sometimes deceive each other.' So saying, he returned to his friends much comforted.

" The completion of the picketing and other defenses, together with the arrival of a detachment of troops from Fort Howard, under Lieut. Hunter, at our fort, now seemed to render the latter the place of greatest safety. We therefore, regularly every evening immediately before dusk, took up our line of march for the opposite side of the river, and repaired to quarters that had been assigned us within the garrison, leaving our own house and chattels to the care of the Frenchman and our friends the Winnebagoes."

At the conclusion of the Black Hawk war, a summons was sent to the Indian agent at Fort Winnebago - John H. Kinzie - to collect the principal chiefs of the Winnebagoes and meet Gen. Scott and Gov. Reynolds at Fort Armstrong (Rock Island), wliere it was proposed to hold a treaty for the purchase of all the Indian lands south and east of the Wisconsin and Fox River of Green Bay. The principal men of that nation were collected accordingly, and a treaty concluded September 15, 1832. One of tlie stipulations of the treaty was the surrender by the Winnebagoes, of certain individuals of their tribe accused of having participated with the Sacs in some of the murders on the frontier, in order that they might be tried by the laws of the United States, and acquitted or punished, as the ca.'^e might be.

A Winnebago Indian called the Little Snake, gave himself voluntarily as a hostage until the suspected persons of his tribe should be delivered to the custody of the United States. He was accordingly received by the Indian agent at Fort Winnebago, and placed in confinement until the seven - the number of the accused - should appear to redeem him. The suspected Indians having engaged the services of James Duane Doty, of Green Bay, to defend them on their future trial, notice was given that on a certain day they would be brought to the portage - Fort Winnebago - and surrendered to the Indian agent, to be by him transferred to the keeping of the military officer at the fort appointed to receive them. It was joyful news to Little Snake, that the day of his release was at hand.

At the time appointed, a moving concourse of people was discerned from the fort, upon the portage road. Gen. Dodge, Maj. Plympton, and one or two other officers took their seats with Mr. Kinzie on a platform in front of the residence of the agent, to receive the Winnebagoes who were coming with seven of their tribe to be delivered up as prisoners for trial. The procession wound slowly up the hill and approached Mr. Kinzie's residence. It was a grand, solemn sight. First came some of the principal chiefs in their most brilliant array ; ne.xt, the prisoners, all of them habited in white cotton, in token of their innocence, with girdles about their waists. The music of the drum and the shee-shee-qua accompanied their death-song, which they were chanting. They wore no paint, no ornaments - their countenances were grave and thoughtful. It might well be a serious moment to them, for they knew but little of the customs of the whites, and that little was not such as to inspire cheerfulness. Only the agent's assurance that they should receive strict justice would probably have induced them to comply with the engagements of their nation made at the treaty, by delivering themselves up to the United States. The remainder of the procession was made up of a long train of Winnebagoes - all of them decked out in their holiday garb.

The chiefs approached and shock hands with the gentlemen, who stood ready to receive their greeting. Then the prisoners came forward and went through the same salutation with the officers. When they offered their hands to the agent, he declined. "No," said he, "You have come here accused of great crimes - of having assisted in taking the lives of some of the defenseless settlers. When you have been tried by the laws of the land, and proved innocent then I will give my hand." The accused looked still more serious at this address, as if they thought it indicated that Mr. Kinzie, too, believed them guilty, and stepping back a little, they seated themselves, without speaking, in a row upon the ground, facing the agent and the officers. The other Indians all took seats in a circle around them, except the one-eyed chief, Kau-rawkaw-saw-kaw (the White Crow), who had been deputed to deliver the prisoners to the agent. He made a speech in which he set forth that, "although asserting their innocence of the charges preferred against them, his countrymen were quite willing to be tried by the laws of white men. He hoped they would not be detained long, but that the matter would be investigated soon, and that they would come out of it clear and white.'

In reply he was assured that all things would be conducted fairly and impartially, exactly as if the accused were white men, and the hope was added that they would be found to have been good and true citizens, and peaceful children of their Great Father, the President. The accused were then conducted by a file of soldiers and committed to the dungeon of the guardhouse until such time as they should be summoned to attend court appointed to try them. Not long after the incarceration of the prisoners, they commenced their operations to effect an escape. They observed that their meals were brought regularly, three times a day, and that in the intei'- vals, they were left entirely ,to themselves. With their knives, they began e.xcavating an opening, the earth from which, as it was withdrawn, they spread about on the floor of their prison. A blanket was placed over the hole, and one of the company was always seated upon it before the regular time for the soMier who ha I chai-^e of them to make his appearance. When the perioilical visit was made, the Indians were always observed to be seated, smoking in the most quiet and orderly manner. There was never anything in their appearance to excite suspicion. Thev worked on, shaping the opening spirally, until, in about si.x weeks, they came out to the open air beyond the walls of the fort. That they might be as little encumbered as possible in their flight, they left their blankets behind thera, and although it was bitter December weather, they took to the woods and'prairies with only their calico shirts and leggings for covering.

The question among the officers of the fort was, how to get the fugitives back. Mr. Kinzie, the agent, could promise no more than that he would communicate with the chiefs and represent the wishes of the officers that the prisoners should once more surrender themselves, and thus free those who had the charge of them from the imputation of carelessness, which the Government would be very likely to throw upon them. When, therefore, according to their custom, the Winnebago chiefs assembled at the agency on New Year's Day, 1833, the agent laid the subject before them. The Indians archly replied that if they sair the young men they would tell them what the officers would like to have them do! They could, themselves, do nothing in the matter. They had fulfilled their engagement by bringing them once and putting them in the hands of the officers. The Government had had them in its power once and could not keep them ; it must now go and catch them I The United States, having had, during the trouble with the Sacs just ended, some experience in catching Indians, wisely concluded to drop the matter.

United States Land Surveys

Immediately after the close of the Black Hawk war, in 1832, and after the acquisition by the United States of the Indian title to all the land west of Lake Michigan not reserved to particular tribes or secured to specified individuals by terms of previous treaties, a survey was commenced by the General Government. The northern boundary line of the State of Illinois, fixed April 11, 1818, on the parallel of 42^^ 3U' north latitude, became, properly enough, the base line of these surveys. A principal north and south line (known as the Fourth Meridian) was run, extending from the base line to Lake Superior, at right angles with the last-mentioned line. The Fourth Meridian is west of the territory of Columbia County, running on the east boundary of what is now the county of Grant, and on the west boundary of La Fayette and Iowa Counties, and thence onward due north, a distance west of the most westerly point of Columbia County of thirty-three miles, striking Lake Superior a short distance west of the mouth of Montreal River.

Parallel lines to the Fourth Meridian were run every six miles on the east and west sides of it. The intervening six miles between these lines are called ranges. Range 1 east is the first six miles of territory east of the Fourth Meridian ; Range 2 east is the second six miles, and so on to Lake Michigan - Columbia County lying in Ranges 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 east.

Parallel lines north of the base line (the north boundary line of the State of Illinois) were lun evcrv six miles, wliich, crossini; the ranges at risht ansrles, cut the whole into blocks six miles square, called townshi])s. These are numbered by tiers going north from the base line, the first tier being known as Townships 1 north, the secon<l tier as Townships 2 north, and so on. .\s the most southern boundary of Columbia County is distant from the base line fifty-four miles, or nine townships, of course the first or most southern tier of townships in the county is numbered 10 north ; and as there are four tiers, they are numbered consecutively. Townships 10, 11, 12 and 13 north.

Columbia County, then, lies in Townships 10, 11, 12 and 13 north of Ranges G, 7. 8, 0, 10, 11 and 12 east ; that is to say, it would so lie if it were not that all of Range 6 l^except small fractions of two townships) and all of Range 7 (except larger fractions of two townships) are a part of Sauk County. After specified territory was surveyed into townships, the latter were subdivided into sections and quarter-sections.

Arlington - Township 10, Range 9. Caledonia - Township 11, Range 8 (except so much as lies southeast of the Wisconsin) ; Township 11, Range 9 (being only a small fraction, northwest of the Wisconsin) ; Township 12, Range 8 (except what lies north of the Wisconsin and what is included in the city of Portage) ; Township 12, Range 9 (except what lies east of the Wisconsin and the city of Portage and what is included in the latter). Columbus - Township

10, Range 12 (except what is included in Columbus City). Courtland - Township 12, Range 12. Dekorra - Township 11, Range 8 (except what is northwest of the Wisconsin) ; Township

11, Range 9 (except what is northwest of the Wisconsin). Fort Winnebago - Township 13, Range 9 (except what is included in the city of Portage). Fountain Prairie - Township 11, Range 12. Hampden - Township 10, Range 11. Leeds - Township 10, Range 10. Lewiston - Township 13, Range 8 (except what is included in the city of Portage) ; Township 13, Range

8 (including only so much as lies north of the Wisconsin and west of the city of Portage). Lodi - Township 10, Range 8 (except the west tier of sections). Lowville - Township 11. Range 10. Marcellon - Township 13, Range 10. Newport - Township 13, Range 7 (including so much of the west half as lies north of the Wisconsin) ; Township 13, Range 6 (including so much only as lies north and east of the Wisconsin). Otsego - Township 11, Range 11. Pacific - Township 12, Range 9 (including so much as lies east of the Wisconsin and the city of Portage). Randolph - Township 13, Range 12. Scott - Township 13, Range 11. Springvale - Township 12, Range 11. West Point - Township 10, Range 8 (including only the west tier of sections) ; Township 10, Range 7 (including so much as lies east and south of the Wisconsin) ; Township 10, Range 6 (a small fraction only ; it lies east of the Wisconsin). Wyocena - Township 12, Range 10.

The towns of Arlington, Courtland, Fountain Prairie, Hampden, Leeds, Lowville, Marcellon, Otsego, Randolph, Scott, Springvale and Wyocena are each co-extensive with a township of the Government survey. Caledonia, Dekorra and Lewiston each contains more territory than would make a full township, but each is made up of parts of townships. Lodi, West Point, Pacific, Newport, Fort Winnebago and Columbus each contains less than a Government-surveyed township ; the last two because of the fact that portions are taken from them and included in the cities of Portage and Columbus.

The town lines of Newport, Lewiston and so much of Fort Winnebago as lies west of the Fox River were surveyed in May, 1851, by George R. Stuntz and James 0. Sargent. This territory was surveyed into sections and quarter-sections in June, July and August of the same year, by Henry S. Howell. The town lines of all the residue of the county, lying east and south of the Wisconsin, were run in the years 1832, 1833 and 1834, by John Mullett and John Brink ; the sections and quarter-sections by John Mullett, James H. Mullett and John Brink. The town lines of Caledonia were run by William A. Burt, in 1840, and John Brink and J. E, Whicher, in 1845 ; sections and quarter-sections by Alvin Burt, in 1842, and John Brink, in 1845.

United States Land Districts

By the end of 1833, a large amount of the public land in Wisconsin, south and east of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, had been surveyed ; and the fact being reported by the Surveyor General, two land districts were erected by an act of Congress, approved June 26, 1834. These districts embraced all the land north of the State of Illinois, west of Lake Michigan, south and southeast of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, included in the then Territory of Michigan. The area was then divided by a north and south line, drawn from the base line to the Wisconsin River, between Ranges 8 and 9. All east of that line was called the Green Bay Land District ; all west, the Wisconsin Land District. A land office of the eastern district was established at Green Bay ; of the western district, at Mineral Point.

In general terms, it may be said that the whole of the present county of Columbia lying east of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, and east of the range line between Ranges 8 and 9, fell into the Green Bay District ; while so much as lay east of the Wisconsin, but west of the range line just mentioned, was in the Wisconsin District. But to be more specific, it may be said that, beginning at a point on the Fox Rjver where the north line of the county crosses that stream, and running thence up that river to the southeast boundary line of what was known as the "A. Grignon Claim" (in what is now the city of Portage); thence along that boundary line to the Wisconsin River ; thence down the last-mentioned stream to the range line between Ranges 8 and 9 east ; thence south on that line to the southern boundary line of the county ; and all east of the line so described, lying within the present limits of Columbia County, was in the Green Bay Land District - including what are now the towns of Randolph, Courtland, Fountain Prairie, Columbus (with the site of the city of Columbus), Hampden, Otsego, Springvale, Scott, Marcellon, Wyocena, Lowville, Leeds, Arlington, all of Dekorra lying in Range 9 east. Pacific, so much of the city of Portage as lies southeast of the "A. Grignon Claim," and all of Fort Winnebago lying east of the Fox River. The whole of the territory of the present towns of Lodi and West Point, and so much of Dekorra as lies southeast of the Wisconsin River, in Range 8 east, were in the AVisconsin Land District.

It will be seen that the towns of Lewiston. Newport and Caledonia, and so much of Fort Winnebago as lies west of Fox River, together with the " A. Grignon Claim," and all of the city of Portage lying northwest of it and south of the Wisconsin, were not included in either district, being, at that date, unsurveyed lands of the Government, or owned by the Indians, or included in the "A. Grignon Claim."

Public sales of the surveyed lands in the two districts were held in 1835, at Green Bay and Mineral Point ; but Andrew Jackson, then President of the United States, reserved from sale, Sections 2, 3, 4 and 9, in Township 12 north, and Sections 33, 34 and 35, in Township 13 north (both townships in Range 9 east), for military purposes, these sections forming a tract near the center of which was Fort Winnebago. Except these reserved sections, all of the land of what is Columbia County at the present time, lying east of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, was immediately open to private entry, at $1.25 per acre, after the land sales in 1835 at at Green Bay and 5lineral Point, none of it being purchased at these sales. The first entry was made on the 6th day of June, 1886, by Wallace Rowan, of the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 34, in Township 11 north, of Range 9 east, being forty acres in what is now the town of Dekorra, near the village of Poynette. Although this was the first tract regularly entered at the land office, yet a patent had been granted as early as the 12th of April, 1832, by the President of the United States, for 648.82 acres, to Augustin Gr.ignon (the " A. Grignon Claim"), the tract lying at the "portage" of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, wholly within what is now the city of Portage, in Columbia County. This was what was known as a "French claim," and had been confirmed previously by United States Commissioners to Augustin Grignon, as will be more fully explained hereafter.

By an Act of Congress of June 15, 1836, the Milwaukee Land District was erected out of the southern portion of the Green Bay District, including all the land lying between Range 8 east and Lake Michigan, bounded on the south by the Illinois State line and extending north so as to reach to and include the tier of townships numbered 10 north; also Townships 11 and 12 north, of Ranges 21 and 22 east. Of course in this new district fell all of the townships numbered 10 north, in Ranges, 9, 10, 11 and 12 east, in Columbia County, being the territory now constituting the towns of Arlington, Leeds, Hampden and Columbus, including the city of Columbus. The land ofiice for the new district was located at Milwaukee, where the first public sale of lands, which had been surveyed after the other lands had been offered at Green Bay and Mineral Point, was held. This was in the spring of 1839, but as all the lands in the tier of townships last mentioned had been offered at public sale in Green Bay and Mineral Point, in 1835, of course they were not again put up for sale; but parties now desiring to enter lands in those townships had to go to Milwaukee to purchase of the Government instead of Green Bay and Mineral Point as formerly.

It was provided in the act of Congress creating the Green Bay and Wisconsin Land Districts, that they should embrace the country north of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers where the Indian title to the same had become extinguished. On the 1st day of November, 1837, the Winnebago Indians ceded to the General Government all their lands east of the Mississippi River. By this treaty, the United States came into possession of lands north of the Wisconsin, of which that portion lying in the great bend of that river (now Caledonia, Columbia Co.), was a part; so this territory (with much other) was ordered surveyed, which survey, as before stated, was finished in 1845. The two land districts - the Green Bay and Wisconsin - were then extended north, so that all of what is now the town of Caledonia, lying in Range 9 east, and so much of the city of Portage, south of the Wisconsin, as lies in that range, fell into the Green Bay Land District, while all that is now in that town lying in Range 8 east, and so much of the city of Portage south of the Wisconsin, as lies in this range, fell into the Wisconsin Land District.

The Menomonee Indians, on the 18th day of October, 1848, ceded all their lands in Wisconsin to the United States, but the latter did not come into possession of them until the spring of 1851. That part lying in Columbia County - which included all the territory of the present town of Fort Winnebago, lying west of the Fox River, also all of the city of Portage lying north and west of what was formerly known as the "A. Grignon Claim," together with all of what are now the towns of Lewiston and Westport - was surveyed immediately after, and the two land districts - the Green Bay and Wisconsin - again extended north, so that that all in Range 9 east, fell into the Green Bay District, and all in Ranges 6, 7 and 8 east, into the Wisconsin District. The whole county thus came to be included in the Milwaukee, Green Bay and Wisconsin Land Districts, with land offices, as before stated, at Milwaukee, Green Bay and Mineral Point, where lands subject to entry could be had at $1.25 an acre.

The first civilized claimants to the territory now included within the boundaries of Wisconsin were the French. The whole of the Northwest was claimed by France from 1671 to 1763, when it was surrendered to the British. By the " Quebec Act " of 177-i, all of this region was placed under the local administration of Canada. It was, however, practically put under a despotic military rule, and so continued until possession passed to the United States. Before the last-mentioned event, and during and after the Revolution, the conflicting claims of Virginia, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, to portions of the country, were relinquished to the General Government. All these claims were based upon supposed chartered rights, Virginia adding to hers the right of conquest, as she contended, of the " Illinois country," during the Revolution. As early as October, 1778, Virginia declared, by an act of her General Assembly, that all the citizens of that commonwealth who were then settled or should thereafter settle, on the western side of the Ohio, should be included in a distinct county, which should be called Illinois. No Virginians were then settled as far north as the southern boundary line of what is now Wisconsin, and, as none thereafter located so f;ir north before Virginia relinquished to the United States all her rights to territory on the western and northern side of the Ohio, it follows that no part of the territory which afterward became Wisconsin was ever included in Illinois County as a part of Virginia ; nor did the last-mentioned State ever exercise any jurisdiction over the territory of this State, or make claim to any part of it by right of conquest. Wisconsin was never a part of Virginia.

Notwithstanding the passage of the ordinance of 1787, establishing a government over the territory northwest of the Ohio River, which territory was acquired by the treaty of 178-3 from Great Britain, possession only was obtained by the United States of the southern portion, the northern part being held by the British Government until 17U6. Arthur St. Clair, in February, 1790, exercising the functions of Governor, and having previously organized a government for the country under the ordinance above mentioned, established in what is now the State of Illinois, a county which was named St. Clair. But, as this county only extended north " to the mouth of the Little Mackinaw Creek, on the Illinois," it did not include, of course, any part of the present State of Wisconsin, although being the nearest approach thereto of any organized county up that date.

In 1796, Wayne County was organized, which was made to include, beside much other territory, iill of what is now Wisconsin watered by streams flowing into Lake Michigan. This brought so much of the territory of the present Columbia County into the county of Wayne as is watered by the Fox River ; that is to say, the whole of what are now the towns of Scott, Marcellon and Winnebago, and a large part of the present town of Lewiston. From 1800 to 1809, what are now the limits of Columbia County were within the Territory of Indiana and in the year last mentioned passed into the Territory of Illinois. It is probable that Indiana Territory exercised jurisdiction over what is now Wisconsin, at least to the extent of appointing two Justices of the Peace, one for Green Bay and one for Prairie du Chien. In the year 1809, the Illinois Territorial Government commissioned three Justices of the Peace and two militia oflBcers at Prairie du Chien, the county of St. Clair having previously been extended so as to include that point, and probably Green Bay, thereby bringing into its jurisdiction what is now Columbia County. In the course of time, other Illinois counties had jurisdiction, until, in 1818, what is now Wisconsin became a portion of Michigan Territory.

By a proclamation of Lewis Cass, Governor of Michigan Territory, of October 26, 1818, Brown and Crawford Counties weie organized. The county of Brown originally comprised all of what is now Wisconsin east of a line passing north and south through the middle of the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, except a small portion of the Door County peninsula, which was included in the county of Michilimackinac. The limits of the county extended north into the territory of the present State of Michigan so far that its north line ran due west from the head of Noquet Bay. An east and west line, passing near the northern limits of the present county of Barron, separated the county of Crawford from the county of Michilimackinac on the north ; on the east, it was bounded by the county of Brown ; on the south, by the State of Illinois, and on the west, by the Mississippi River. The present county of Columbia was thus included in both the counties of Brown and Crawford. By an act of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, approved October 29, 1829, to take effect the 1st of January following, the county of Iowa was established, embracing all the pi'esent State of Wisconsin south of the Wisconsin River and west of Rjown County ; in other words, it included the whole of what was previously Crawford County lying south of the Wisconsin River. What is now Columbia County was thereby included in portions of Brown, Crawford and Iowa Counties. On the 6th of September, 1834, the county of Milwaukee was set off from Brown County, embracing all of the last- mentioned county south of a line drawn between Townships 11 and 12, in all the ranges east of Range 9. Columbia, as at present constituted, embraces portions of what was then Brown, Crawford and Milwaukee Counties.

In general termsj all that portion of Columbia now lying west and north of the Wisconsin River was then a part of Crawford County ; that part lying south of that stream was a part of Iowa County, and all the residue was a part of Brown County, except the territory now constituting the towns of Lowville, Leeds, Hampden, Otsego, Fountain Prairie and Columbus, which then was a part of Milwaukee County.

By an act of the Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin, approved December 7, 1836, Township numbered 10 north, in Range 6 east (now wholly included in Sauk County) ; Township 10, in Range 7 (now a portion of the town of Merrimack, in Sauk, and of West Point, in Columbia) ; Townships 10 and 11, in Range 8 (now portions of the towns of Caledonia, Dekorra and West Point and the whole of Lodi, in Columbia); Townships 10, 11, 12 and 13, in Ranges 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 east (now including the towns of Fort Winnebago, Pacific, Arlington, Leeds, Lowville, Wyocena, Marcellon, Scott, Springvale, Otsego, Hampden, Columbus, Fountain Prairie, Courtland and Randolph ; a large portion of Dekorra and a small part of Caledonia, as well as most of the city of Portage, in Columbia County, and the towns of Fox Lake, Westford, Calamus and Elba, in Dodge County), were constituted a separate county and named Portage, the county seat being "established at the town of Winnebago." It will be seen, therefore, that very nearly the present territory of the county of Columbia was, in 1836, established as Portage County. It was, at the same time, attached to Brown County for judicial purposes.

During the legislative session of 1837-38, the four townships on the east - that is, those numbered 10, 11, 12 and 13, in Range 13, were detached from Portage and made a part of Dodge County. This change left the county, except most of that lying north of the Wisconsin River, identical with the present county of Columbia. Sauk County having been formed in January, 1840, taking a township and a fraction from Portage County, left the latter with territory equivalent to about eighteen townships until February 18, 1841, when a large addition was made upon the north, comprising all of the area in ranges from Nos. 2 to 9, inclusive, commencing with Township 14 north, and extending to the northern boundary of the Territory of Wisconsin, with the slight exception of fractional Townships 14 and 15, in Range 9. The whole was then attached to Dane County for judicial purposes.

An election for the purpose of organizing for county government was authorized to be held on the fourth Monday of March, 1841. Returns of this election were to be made to the Clerk of Dane County, and the county officers elected were to hold their offices at " Wisconsin Porttage." The voting- places of the several election precincts were established at the Franklin House, in Portage ; Stevens' Mills, at Big Bull Falls ; at the house of E. Bloomer, at Grand Rapids ; at the house of Abraham Brawley, on Mill Creek, and at Dickason & Stroud's mills, on Crawfish River. The people having neglected to hold this election, the Legislature passed a special "Relief Act," on the 9th of February, 1842, authorizing the Sheriff of Dane County to call an election of county officers in Portage County on the fourth Monday in March, 1842, to hold office until the first Monday in January, 1843. By an act of the Legislature approved May 31, 1844, Portage was authorized to organize with all county privileges, and was assigned as a portion of the Second Judicial District. On the 18th day of April of the same year, the people voted to accept the provisions of this act, and also voted on the location of a county seat. The north end of the county triumphed, and Plover became the county seat, instead of the other contestant, Fort Winnebago, at the Wisconsin portage. The first election of county officers occurred on the fourth Monday of September, 1844. There were then elected, as County Commissioners, Mathias Mitchell, Benjamin F. Berry and Luther Houghton ; Nelson Strong was elected Sheriif; Joha Batten, Treasurer; George Wyatt, Circuit Clerk, County Clerk and Register of Deeds. The first terra of the Circuit Court was held at Plover on the first Monday of April, 184.5. It was thus that, finally, the county of Portage was fully organized ; but, as' all of what afterward became Columbia was included within its limits, it was, at the same time, virtually an organization of the last-mentioned county - that is to say, all the people living within the limits of what afterward became Columbia County were enjoying the blessings of a county government, but it was Portage County in which they lived.

" A very few af the pioneers in this vicinity," says a resident of what is now the city of Columbus, " came together in an informal manner in 1844, and cast their ballots at the election which sent James Duane Doty as a delegate to Washington from the Territory of Wisconsin ; but the first election in this part of the territory which at all approached a regular canvass was in September, 184.5.

" Columbia County was not organized, and there was not an organized township within its present area. It was a portion of Portage County, with its county seat at Plover Portage, 14-5 miles away. With unimportant exceptions, the area west of the Mississippi River and north to Lake Superior was a vast wild, into whose forest and over whose prairies the dawn of civilization had not begun to break.

" The only subdivisions of the present county was then in three election precincts, known as Dekorra, the Fort Winnebago and the Columbus Precincts. The latter comprised the present townships of Randolph, Courtland, Fountain Prairie, Columbus, Hampden. Otsego, Springvale and Scott, and including an area twenty -four miles long and twelve wide. The only officers of any kind within a precinct were the Judges of Election, Justice of the Peace and Overseer of Highways - the system of County Commissioners then prevailing.

" The election at this time was for members of Assembly to the Territorial Legislature, composed of a Council and House of Representatives, and including that year only thirteen members in the former body and thirteen in the latter. The Assembly district then included the counties of Brown, Calumet, Fond du Lac, Manitowoc, Marquette, Portage, Sheboygan and Winnebago, and the area then reached to the Mississippi and Superior, and embraced almost all the civilization in Wisconsin to the west, northwest and northeast of us. Tim Burns had not discovered La Crosse, and little attempt had been made at settlement beyond the lumber district of the Wisconsin River.

" The district was represented by three members, all of whom seem to have been voted for by every elector. The only contest in this locality seems to have been between Stodard Judd, the Whig candidate, then a resident of Green Bay, and Abram Brawley, Democrat, then living at Grand Rapids, in Portage County. Judd had just been removed by President Tyler from the position of Receiver of the Land Office at Green Bay. Thus, one of the candidates lived on the head-waters of the Wisconsin, and the other on the head-waters of the St. Lawrence. A trackless wilderness lay between them, and they were practically at least 200 miles apart, as the only communication between Green Bay and Grand Rapids was by the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers.

" In this precinct, the Judges of that election were Jeremiah Drake, of Columbus : Asa Proctor, father of W. A. Proctor, and James C. Carr, the two latter from the prairie, afterward erected into the township of Fountain Prairie. The Clerks of Election were W. W. Drake and John Quincy Adams.

" The chief local issues at that time were whether the present area of Columbia should be erected into a county or not, the people in this vicinity being in favor of this change.

and the residents of other localities opposing any subdivisions. Judd promised our people to use his influence to secure the new county, and received nearly all the votes in this precinct and in the Dekorra and Fort Winnebago Precincts. But, as the record shows, Brawley was elected. About fifty votes were polled in this precinct, and about one hundred and twentyfive in the area of this county. The year previous, Maj. Dickason had made a claim of Wyocena, and was then living there. The pretty name of Wyocena was then unadopted, and that region was then called Duck Creek, from the stream on which the Major's cabin stood. Under the law, a man could vote in any part of a district for which the ofiicer voted for was elected, and the Major came down to Columbus and cast his ballot here. Judd had been canvassing his district, and had come down from Green Bay to Fox Lake, through to Portage and so up the Wisconsin to Grand Rapids, to the home of his competitor. He reached Maj. Dickason's cabin, on his retui-n, on the day previous to the election, and came to Columbus with the Major, and was here during the election.

" The next day, John Quincy Adams started with the returns of the election to carry them to Plover, the county seat. He went with the Major as far as Wyocena, the latter being on foot, and Mr. Adams mounted on a ponv. This was Mr. Adams' first experience of the pioneer mode of traveling - ' ride and tie,' as it was called. One rode a couple of miles or more, tied his 'horse to a blazed tree and walked on along the trail until he was overtaken and passed, and afterward came up with the horse, tied and waiting for him. This was not a sociable fashion of journeying, and often the party overtaken would trot along beside his mounted friend, to get a few minutes' chat. Adams broke bread that afternoon at the Major's cabin, reached Fort Winnebago at nightfall and stopped at the old Franklin House, with Capt. Low. The present site of Portage was merely an Indian camping-ground, and the only settlement was at Fort Winnebago.

" One day on the trail satisfied Mr. Adams that it was hardly worth while for him to make a pilgrimage of 100 miles more to carry the returns of 50 votes, and he handed over his papers to Charles Temple, who was going with the returns of the Winnebago Precinct. Some idea of the distance to the county seat at Plover may be formed from Esquire ToplifF's experiences. He, with two other residents of Columbus, were drawn as jurors, and it took them, as the country was, four days to go and four days to return, and they did duty as jurors exactly two days.

As early as the year 1632, Samuel Champlain, then at Quebec, drew a map of the Valley of the St. Lawrence and of the region of the Upper Lakes - the firfet attempt of the kind. His delineations of the country to the westward and northwestward of Lake Huron, were wholly from Indian reports. Upon this map. Fox River is placed to the north of Lake Superior and the Wisconsin is rudely given as leading into a northern sea. There i is a narrow space between the two rivers and possibly it had been described to him by the savages.

But the first map of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers and the portage, made with any degree of accuracy, was by Father James Marquette, who accompanied Louis JoUiet up the first-mentioned stream and down the last, in 1673. The portage i^ distinctly traced and the general course of the two rivers given. Other maps were published at subsequent periods down to 1768 when the one by J. Carver appeared attached to his "Travels." This one is, considering the circumstances under which it was made, exceedingly creditable. It locates the "carrying place" - the portage - and has a representation of Swan Lake, besides a pretty accurate delination of the Baraboo River. On the south side of Lake Puckaway is the Winnebago Upper Town and on Sauk Prairie, down the Wisconsin is located the " Saukies Chief Town." The portage, then, in 1766, was about the boundary line between the Sacs upon the Wisconsin and the Winnebagoes upon the Fox River. But, in the course of a few years, the latter tribe took the place of the former as already mentioned.

In 1830, John Farmer, of Detroit, published a " Map of the Territories of Michigan and Ouisconsin." Fort Winnebago appears as if situated between the Fox and Wisconsin, while

" Roi's" (Le Roy's) house occupies the site where the fort was, in fact, located - that is, on the east side of the Fox. Pauquette's place is designated farther down the last-mentioned stream, but on the west side. The Baraboo River is noted as " Bonibau's Creek," while Duck Creek appears by its proper name, but in French - "Riviere aux Canards." Neenah Creek is put down as "The Fork" - of the Fox. Winnebago villages are represented down the Fox and the Wisconsin, and upon the Baraboo, but none so near the " Portage of the Ouisconsin " as to bring them within what are now the boundaries of Columbia County. About fifteen miles south of the carrying place, between the Fox and Wisconsin, another portage is noted between a creek flowing into the last-mentioned river and one flowing into Lake Mendota (Fourth Lake). This portage is put down as being only 200 yards across.

Farmer's revised map of 1836 correctly puts the territory now constituting Columbia County, in the four counties of Crawford, Iowa, Brown and Milwaukee - the latter printed " Milwalky." Fort Winnebago appears in its correct position on the east side of the Fox River, and there is but one road represented as leading from it - the old military road.

The first "Map of Wiskonsin Territory, Compiled from Public Surveys," contains a representation of so much of the present Columbia County as lies east of Fox and Wisconsin Rivers - then a part of Portage County. Fort Winnebago is correctly located on the east side of the Fox River, and the Grignon tract, properly delineated, occupies the space between the two rivers ; but the proposed canal runs from the outlet of Swan Lake to the point on Duck Creek where the stream is crossed by the main road leading south from Fort Winnebago. This road continues on to " Pauquette," afterward called Poynette, then in a southwesterly direction toward the Blue Mounds. Duck Creek appears as " Wauonah River " ; Rock Run, as " Taynah River ; " and Spring Creek as " Ockee River." " Pauquette ""is a small village ; a larger one is " Ida," on the north side of Swan Lake ; and a still larger one is " Dekorra," on the Wisconsin. A road leads out of " Dekorra " due east, and then branches - one branch continues the same direction to " Hochimgra " (Winnebago), now Horicon, Dodge County. The other branch takes a northeasterly direction to the south side of Fox Lake, where was then the village of " Waushara." and thence on to Fond du Lac. A revised map by the same compiler restores the name Duck Creek and omits any names for what are now Rocky Run and Spring Creek. As both these maps have the county of Portage marked upon them, they must have been published after the "setting off" of that county by the Territorial Legislature.