Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin - Chapter 3, 1880 (part 1 of 15)

Chapter 3

"The Old Military Road" and Othbk Early HigtHWAys - Pioneer Like - Fond du Lac County Boundaries Established - Early Political History - Fond du Lao County' ON Early' Maps - Organization of the County - Pioneer Eeminiscences.

The first highway or road Fond du Lac County had was called the "military road," and was built at Government expense for the transportation of supplies from Green Bay, or Fort Howard, as the army "post" was then called, to Fort Winnebago, now Portage, and Fort Crawford, now Prairie du Chien. In the summer, provisions were transported in batteaux by water from Fort Howard to Forts Winnebago and Crawford, but in winter this could not be done. Therefore, early in 1835, Lewis Cass, then Secretary of War, sent out orders to open, lay out and bridge a road from Fort Howard to Fort Crawford, via Fond du Lac and Fort Winnebago. The soldiers at Fort Crawford were ordered to build and bridge the road to Fort Winnebago ; those stationed at Fort Winnebago from their post to the Fond du Lac River and bridge that stream, and those at the " Bay," or Fort Howard, to open the road from their post to Fond du Lac. The soldiers at these three posts were under command of Brig. Gen. George Mercer Brooke, after whom Brooke street, the first in the city of Fond du Lac, was named, and composed the Fifth Regiment of the standing army. The road was laid out by Lieut. Centre and James Duane Doty. Mr. Doty was appointed because he knew the route better than almost any other man in the Territory. The road from Forts Crawford and Winnebago reached Fond du Lac in 1835, and the East Branch was bridged at that time where the Forest Street bridge now stands. The city had a bridge, therefore, for the use of Indians and wild beasts, before it had a white settler. The other end of the road was through dense hardwood forests, and to open it was a much more difficult and arduous undertaking. It did not reach the branch already finished to Fond du Lac until 1838. Its course through the city was straight from the tollgate at Luco, in the town of Fond du Lac, to where the Express Office now stands in the city. In the mean time, the bridge built by the Fore Winnebago soldiers over the East Branch at Fond du Lac had been swept away, and, in 1837, Mr. Doty received permission to divert the course of the military road and build a bridge on Brooke street, where the railroad bridge now crosses the East Branch on that street, and, during the season, George McWilliams, with a company of men brought mostly from Stockbridge, built a bridge at the point mentioned, which served until the Chicago & North- Western Railway bridge was built. The abutments, stringers and covering were of logs which were cut within the present corporate limits of Fond du Lac, and floated to the desired location.

The military road was a crude affair. On the prairies stakes were driven as guides ; through the woods trees were felled, and the various streams were bridged with logs. Through the towns of Calumet and Taycheedah the old military road, repaired since by public taxation, is still in use as a public highway. Military street, in the city of Fond du Lac, extends southwest toward Waupun and, merging into the " Waupun road," is on the site of the old military road as far as the first tollgate in the town of Fonddu Lac. At that point it left the present " Waupun road," passing north of the Four Mile House, in the edge of Lamartine, to the Drury place, where it again was identical with the road-bed of the " Waupun road " as far as Schoolhouse No. 1 on Section 34, in Lamartine. It there extended more directly westward through the villages of Brandon and Fairwater, in Metomen, to Green Lake County. From Section 34, town of Lamartine, no traces of the original military road can be found, as it consisted of little more than oak stakes driven into the soil as guides, which, as soon as the country became settled, the farmers removed, and all traces of what cost the Government a snug sum disappeared forever.

In 1837-38, there was a road opened to Fond du Lac County from Sheboygan. In the full of the last-mentioned year, one was also opened and bridged to Fox Lake. This road had previously been surveyed by Jacob P. Brower. In the winter of 1839, there was a road opened by way of Waupun to Madison, the capital of the State. The first road laid by county authority was one from the village of Fond du Lac south toward Milwaukee, which was viewed in November, 1840, by Seymour Wilcox, George White and M. Collins. This much it may be said of roads in Fond du Lac for many years : Through timbered land there were some definite marks to inform the traveler of the road's locality ; through openings, prairies, and marshes he had a (vide field for selecting his route, but must have a care to find the bridge over the next stream.

Poineer Life

Records of the olden time are interesting, and they are not without their lessons of instruction. By the light of the past, we follow in the footprints of the adventurous and enterprising pioneer. We see him, as it were, amid the labors and struggles necessary to convert the wilderness into a fruitful field. We sit by his cabin fire, partake of his homely and cheerfully granted fare, and listen to the accounts which he is pleased to give us of frontier life, and of the dangers, trials, hardships and sufferings of himself and others in their efforts to make for themselves homes in regions remote from civilization, and unexplored hitherto, save by wandering Indians and the beasts of the forests and prairies. Through these ancient records, we make our way along to the present. From small beginnings, we come to the mighty achievements of industry, the complex results of daring enterprise, subduing and creative energy, and untiring perseverance.

Following on in the path of progress and improvement, we see once waste places rejoicing under the kindly care of the husbandman ; beautiful farms, with all the fixtures and appurtenances necessary to make the tillers of the soil and their families contented and happy, are spread out before us ; villages g,nd cities have arisen as if by magic, and by hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands, human souls are congregated within their precincts ; the mart of trade and traffic, and the workshop of the artisan are thronged ; common schools, academies and colleges have sprung up ; young and ardent minds - children of the rich and poor - may press forward together in the acquisition of science ; churches are built, and a Christian ministry is sustained for the inculcation of religious sentiments and the promotion of piety, virtufe and moral goodness ; the press is established whence floods of light and glory may emanate for the instruction and benefit of all ; railroads are built to bring the products of every clime and the people from afar to our doors; and the telegraph, "upon the lightning's wing," carries messages far and near. Let the records of the olden time be preserved ; in after years our children, and our children's children, will look over them with pleasure and profit.

The first important business of the poineer settler, upon his arrival in Fond du Lac County, was to build a house. Until this was done, some had to camp on the ground or live in their wagons - perhaps the only shelter they had known for weeks. So the prospect for a house, which was also to be a home, was one that gave courage to the rough toil, and added a zest to the heavy labors. The style of the home entered very little into their thoughts - it was shelter they wanted, and protection from stress of weather and wearing exposures. The poor settler had neither the money nor the mechanical appliances for building himself a house. He was content, in most instances, to have a mere cabin or hut. Sotae of the most primitive constructions of this kind were half-faced, or, as they were sometimes called, 'cat-faced" sheds or " wike-ups," the Indian term for tent or house. It is true, a " claim " cabin was a little more in the shape of a human habitation, made, aS it was, of round logs, light enough for two or three men to lay up, about fourteen feet square - perhaps a little larger or smaller - roofed with bark or clapboards, and sometimes with the sods of the prairie, and floored with punchepns (logs split once in two, and the flat side laid up) or with earth. For a fire-place, a wall of stones and earth - frequently the latter only, when stone was not convenient - was made in the best practicable shape for the purpose, in an opening in one end of the building, extending outward, and planked on the outside by bolts of wood notched together to stay it. Frequently a fire-place of this kind was made so capacious as to occupy nearly the whole width of the house. In cold weather, when a great deal of fuel was needed to^ keep the atmosphere above freezing point - for this wide-mouth fire-place was a huge ventilator - large logs were piled into this yawning space. To protect the crumbling back-wall against the effects of the fire, two back-logs were' placed against it, one upon the other. Sometimes these were so large that they could not be got in in any other way than to hitch a horse to them. The animal was driven in at the door, when the log was unfastened before the fire-place. It was afterward put in position. The horse would be driven out at another door.

For a chimney, any contrivance that would convey the smoke out of the building would do. Some were made of sods, plastered on the inside with clay ; others - the more common, perhaps - were of the kind we occasionally see in use now, clay in sticks, or " cat in clay," as they were sometimes called. Imagine, of a winter's night, when the storm was having its own wild way over this almost uninhabited land, and when the wind was roaring like a cataract of cold over the broad wilderness, and the settler had to do his best to keep warm, what a royal fire this double back-log and well-filled fireplace would hold ! It was a cozy place to smoke, provided the settler had any tobacco ; or for the wife to sit knitting before, provided she had any needles and yarn. At any rate, it gave something of cheer to the conversation, which very likely was upon the home and friends they had left behind when they started out on this bold venture of seeking fortunes in a new land.

For doors and windows, the most simple contrivances that would serve the purpose were brought into requisition. The door was not always immediately provided with a shutter, and a blanket often did duty in guarding the entrance. But, as soon as convenient, some boards were split and put together, hung upon wooden hinges and held shut by a wooden pin inserted in an auger-hole. As a substitute for window-glass, greased paper, pasted over sticks crossed in the shape of sash, was sometimes used. This admitted the light and excluded the air, but, of course, lacked transparency.

In regard to the furniture of such a cabin, it varied in proportion to the ingenuity of the occupants, unless it was where settlers brought with them their old household supply, which, owing to the distance most of them had come, was very seldom.' It was easy enough to improvise tables and chairs ; the former could be made of split logs - and there were instances where the door would be taken from its hinges and used at meals, after which it would be re-hung ; the latter were designed after the three-legged stool pattern, or benches served their purposes. A bedstead was a very important item in the domestic comfort of the family, and this was the fashion of improvising one : A forked stake was driven into the ground diagonally from the corner of the room and at a proper distance, upon which poles reaching from each were laid. The wall ends of the pole either rested in the openings between the logs, or were driven into auger-holes. Barks or boards were used as a substitute for cords. Upon this the tidy housewife spread her straw tick, and, if she had a home-made feather bed, she piled it up into a luxurious mound, and covered it with her whitest drapery. Some sheets hung behind it for tapestry added to the coziness of the resting-place. This was generally called a " prairie bedstead," and by some the " prairie rascal."

The house thus far along, it was left to the deft devices of the wife to complete its comforts, and the father of the family was free to superintend out-of-door affairs. If it was in season, his first important duty was to prepare some ground for planting, and to plant what he could.

The first year's farming consisted mainly of a "truck patch," planted in corn, potatoes, turnips and other vegetables. Generally, the first year's crop fell far short of supplying even the most rigid economy of food. Many of the settlers brought with them small stores of such things as seemed indispensable to frugal living, such as flour, bacon, coffee and tea. But these supplies were not inexhaustible, and once used were not easily replaced. A long winter must

But even when corn was plentiful, the preparation of it was the next difficulty in the way. The mills for grinding it were at such long distances that every other device was resorted to for reducing it to meal. Some grated it on an implement made by punching small holes through a piece of tin or sheet-iron, and fastening it upon a board in concave shape, with the rough side out. Upon this the ear was rubbed to produce the meal. But grating could not be done when the corn became so dry as to shell off when rubbed. Some used a coffee-mill for grinding it ; and a very common substitute for bread was hominy - a palatable and wholesome diet - made by boiling corn in a weak lye till the hull or bran peeled off, after which it was well washed to. cleanse it of the lye. It was then boiled again to soften it, when it was ready for use, as occasion required, by frying and seasoning it to the taste. Another mode of preparing hominy was by pestling. A mortar was made by burning a bowl-shaped cavity in the end of an upright block of wood. After thoroughly cleaning it of the charcoal, the corn could be put in, hot water turned upon it, when it was subjected to a severe pestling by a club of sufficient length and thickness, in the large end of which was inserted an iron wedge, banded to keep it there. The hot water would soften the corn and loosen the hull, while the pestle would crush it.

When breadstuffs were needed, they had to be obtained from long distances. Owing to the lack of proper means for thrashing and cleaning wheat, it was more or less mixed with foreign substances, such as smut, dirt and oats. And as the time when the settlers' methods of thrashing and cleaning may be forgotten, it may be well to preserve a brief account of them here. The plan was to clean off a space of ground of sufficient size, and, if the earth was dry, '^o dampen it, and beat it to render it somewhat compact. Then the sheaves were unbound and spread in a circle, so that the heads would be uppermost, leaving room in the center for the person whose business it was to turn and stir the straw in the process of thrashing. Then, as many horses or oxen were brought as could conveniently swing around the circle, and these were kept moving until the wheat was well trodden out. After several " floorings " or layers were thrashed, the straw was carefully raked off and the wheat shoveled into a heap to be cleaned. This cleaning was sometimes done by waving a sheet up and down to fan out the chaff as the grain was before it ; but this trouble was frequently obviated when the strong winds of autumn were all that was needed to blow out the chaff from the grain. This mode of preparing the grain for flouring was so imperfect' that it is not to be wondered at that a considerable amount of black soil got mixed with it, and unavoidably got into the bread. This, with an addition of smut, often rendered it so dark as to have less the appearance of bread than mud; yet upon such diet the people were compelled to subsist for want of a better.

Not the least among the pioneers' tribulations, during the first few years of the settlement, was the going to mill. The slow mode of travel by ox teams was made still slower by the almost total absence of roads and bridges, while such a thing as a ferry was hardly ever dreamed of. The distance to be traversed was as often as far as sixty to ninety miles. In dry weather, common sloughs and creeks offered but little impediment to teamsters ; but during floods and the breaking-up of winter, they proved exceedingly troublesome and dangerous. To get stuck in a slough, and thus be delayed for rnany hours, was no uncommon occurrence, and that too, when time was an item of grave import to the comfort and sometimes even to the lives of the settlers' families. Often a swollen stream would blockade the way, seeming to threaten destruction to whoever would attempt to ford it.

With regard to roads, there was nothing of the kind worthy of the name. Indian trails were common, but they were unfit to travel on with vehicles. They were mere paths about two feet wide - all that was required to accommodate the single-file manner of Indian traveling.

When the early settlers were compelled to make these long and difficult trips to mill, if the country was prairie over which they passed, they found it comparatively easy to do in summer when grass was plentiful. By traveling until night, and then camping out to feed the teams.

they got along without much difficulty. But in winter such a journey was attended with no little danger. The utmost economy of time was, of course, necessary. When the goal was reached, after a week or more of toilsome travel, with many exposures and risks, and the poor man was impatient to immediately return with the desired staff of life, he was often shocked and disheartened with the information that his turn would come in a week. Then he must look about for some means to pay expenses, and he was lucky who could find employment by the day or job. Then, when his turn came, he had to^ be on hand to bolt his own flour, as, in those days, the bolting machine was not an attached part of the other mill machinery. This done, the anxious soul was ready to endure the trials of a return trip, his heart more or less concerned about the affairs of home.

Those milling trips often occupied from three weeks to more than a month each, and were attended with an expense, in one way or another, that rendered the cost of breadstufifs extremely high. If made in the winter, when more or less grain-feed was required for the team, the load would be found to be so considerably reduced on reaching home that the cost of what was left, adding other expenses, would make their grain reach the high cash figure of from $3 to $5 per bushel. And these trips could not always be made at the most favorable season for traveling. In spring and summer, so much time could hardly be spared from other essential labor; yet, for a large family, it was almost impossible to avoid making three or four trips during the year.

Among other things calculated to annoy and distress the pioneer, was the prevalence of wild beasts of prey, the most numerous and troublesome of which was the wolf. While it was true, in a figurative sense, that it required the utmost care and exertion to "keep the wolf from the door," it was almost as true in a literal sense. There were two species of these animals - the large black timber wolf, and the smaller gray wolf that usually inhabited the prairie. At first, it was almost impossible for a settler to keep small stock of any kind that would serve as a prey to these ravenous beasts. Sheep were not deemed safe property until years after, when their enemies were supposed to be nearly exterminated. Large numbers of wolves were destroyed during the early years of settlement. When they were hungry, which was not uncommon, particularly during the winter, they were too indiscreet for their own safety, and would often approach within easy shot of the settlers' dwellings. At certain seasons, their wild plaintive yelp or bark could be heard in all directions at all hours of the night, creating intense excitement among the dogs, whose howling would add to the dismal melody. It has been found by experiment that but one of the canine species - the hound - has both the fieetness and courage "to cope with his savage cousin, the wolf Attempts were often made to capture him with the common cur, but this animal, as a rule, proved himself wholly unreliable for such service. So long as the wolf would run the cur would follow ; but the wolf, being apparently acquainted with the character of his pursuer, would either turn and place himself in a combative attitude, or else act upon the principle that "discretion is the better part of valor," and throw himself upon his back in token of surrender. This strategic performance would make instant peace between these two scions of the same house ; and not infrequently dogs and wolves have been seen playing together like puppies. But the hound was never known to recognize a fiag of truce; his baying seemed to signify "no quarter;" or, at least, so the terrified wolf understood it.

Smaller animals, such as panthers, lynxes, wildcats, catamounts and polecats, were also sufficiently numerous to be troublesome. And an exceeding source of annoyance were the swarms of mosquitoes which aggravated the trials of the settler in the most exasperating degree. Persons have been driven from the labors of the field by their unmerciful assaults.

The trials of the pioneer were innumerable, and the cases of actual suffering might fill a volume of no ordinary size. Timid women became brave through combats with real dangers, and patient mothers grew sick at heart with the sight of beloved children failing in health from lack of commonest necessaries of life. The struggle was not for ease or luxury, but was a constant one for the means of sustaining life itself.

An act of the Territorial Legislature, entitled " An Act to Divide the Counties of Brown and Milwaukee," approved December 7, 1836, provided, in part, as follows :

Section 9. That townships [thirteen]* north, of ranges eighteen and nineteen east, and townships fourteen, fifteen and sixteen, of ranges fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen and eighteen, and townships seventeen and eighteen, of ranges fourteen, fifteen and sixteen, shall be and hereby are constituted a separate county, and be called fond du Lac ; and the seat of justice of said county is hereby established at the town of Pond du Lac.

Sec. 10. That towns [townships] seventeen, eighteen, nineteen and twenty, of ranges seventeen, eighteen, nineteen and twenty, be and they are hereby constituted a separate county and called Calumet ; and the seat of justice of said county is hereby established at the town of Whitesboro.

Sec. 12. That townships numbered fourteen and fifteen, of ranges nine and ten ; townships fourteen, fifteen and sixteen, of range eleven; townships fourteen, fifteen, sixteen and seventeen, of range twelve, and townships fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen and eighteen, of ranges thirteen and fourteen east, * * * shall be and hereby are constituted a separate county and be called Marquette, and the seat of justice of said county is hereby established at the town of Marquette.

The territory thus set off as Fond du Lac, included all the present county, except the towns of Osceola, Forest and Marshfield, and so much of Calumet as lies in Townships 17 north, of Ranges 18 and 19 east ; also, nearly all the south half of what is now the county of Winnebago.

By an act of the Territorial Legislature, approved January 6, 1840, all that territory included in Fond du Lac County north of Townships 16, in Ranges 14, 1-5, 16 and 17 east, was taken from it to form a portion of Winnebago County.

The same act took from Calumet County fractional Townships 17, in Ranges 18 and 19 east, and added them to Fond du Lac County, constituting nearly the whole of the present town of Calumet.

By the provisions of an act approved January 22, 1844, " all that portion of Lake Winnebago lying south of a direct line drawn from the point where the southern boundary of the Brothertown Reservation enters said lake on the east, to the town[ship] line between towns[hips] sixteen and seventeen on the west side of said lake," was made a part of the county of Fond du Lac.

By an oversight of the Legislature in the act approved December 7, 1836, constituting, among others, the counties of Fond du Lac and Marquette, already mentioned, five townships in Fond du Lac - Townships 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 north, of Range 14 east - were also included in the county of Marquette. By the erection of Winnebago County, two of these townships - Townships 17 and 18 north, of Range 14 east - were assigned to that county, still leaving three - Townships 14, 15 and 16 north, of Range 14 east - as belonging both to Fond du Lac County and Marquette. To cure this defect, an act was passed, which was approved March 6, 1848, and which brought Fond du Lac County to its present limits, as follows :

" An Act to Define the Boundaries of Fond du Lac County, and the Jurisdiction of Counties to Lake Winnebago; also to legalize the acts of said county as to certain towns therein organized."

Section 1. That township number thirteen north, of range number eighteen east, and townships number thirteen, fourteen, fifteen and sixteen north, of range number nineteen east ; and also all that part of Lake Winnebago lying south of a line extending due west from the south line of the late Brothertown Reservation, to a north and south line corresponding to the division line between ranges number seventeen and eighteen, and all that part of the same lake lying south of an east and west line extending from the intersection of the town line between towns sixteen and seventeen with said Jake, and running east to the range line hereinbefore mentioned, are hereby made and declared to be a part of the county of Fond du Lac.

Sec. 2. That townships number fourteen, fifteen and sixteen north, of range number fourteen east, embracing the organized towns of Ceresoo, Alto and Metomen, and included by the act of the seventh day of December, 1836, in both the counties of Fond du Lac and Marquette, are hereby declared to be a part of th6 county of Fond du Lac, as recited by the several acts organizing said towns.

!townBliip 13 north, of Baages 18 and 19 east (now the towns of Ashford and Auburn), were the ones intended to be described in the first clause of Section 9 of this act, is made certain by the act of March 6, 1848, hereafter mentioned.

Sec. 3. The acts of the county of Fond du Lao exercising jurisdiction over either of the before-mentioned townships, or the acts of the towns organized therein, shall not be deemed invalid or illegal in consequence of either of said townships having been included in any other county, or for not having been included in the said county of Fond du Lac.

Sec. 4. That all that part of Lake Winnebago lying north of the north line of the county of Fond du Lac, as hereinbefore described, and west of the range line separating ranges number seventeen and eighteen, as extending through said lake, is hereby declared to be a part of the county of Winnebago ; and all that part of said lake lying east of said range line and north of the north line of Fond du Lac, as hereinbefore described, is hereby declared to be a part of the county of Calumet. All process issuing to officers of either of the counties bordering upon Lake Winnebago, may be' served upon the waters of said lake by the officer or person charged with the service thereof; and the said counties shall, for all the purposes of civil and criminalprocess, have concurrent jurisdiction on the said waters. Timothy Burns, Speaker of the Bovse of Representatives.

The above-mentioned act brought into the county of Fond du Lac the territory constituting the present towns of Osceola, Forest and Marshfield, and made certain what was left doubtful by the act of December 7, 1836, as to the territory now included in the towns of Ashford and Auburn, by making it unmistakably a part of Fond du Lac County.

Section 10. The district of country included v^ithin the following boundaries shall form and constitute the county of Fond du Lao, to wit : Beginning at the southeast corner of township thirteen north, of range nineteen east of the meridian line aforesaid ; running thence north, on the range line between ranges nineteen and twenty, to the south line of the Indian reservation ; thence west on said south line to a point in Lake Winnebago in the range line between seventeen and eighteen east ; thence south on said range line to the range of the township line between townships sixteen and seventeen north; thence west to the northwest corner of township sixteen north, of range fourteen east ; thence south on the range line, to the southwest corner of township fourteen north, of range fourteen east ; thence east on the township line to the northwest corner of township thirteen north, of range eighteen east ; thence south to the southwest corner of the last-named township ; thence east on the township line to the place of beginning.

These boundaries have since been affirmed by the revised statutes of 1858, and a second time by the revised statutes of 1878 ; they are, therefore, the legal boundaries of the county at the present time.

Early Political History

Fond du Lac County is bounded on the north by the counties of Calumet and Winnebago ; on the east by Calumet and Sheboygan ; south by Washington and Dodge, and west by the county of Green Lake. Its e'kstern boundary is about twenty-four miles west of Lake Michigan ; its western boundary, about one hundred and twenty miles east of the Mississippi. It has an area, including what is covered by Winnebago Lake, of about seven hundred and eighty square miles. This territory, with all the Northwest, was claimed by France from 1671 to 1763, when it was surrendered to the British. By the "Quebec Act" of 1774, the whole 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 the claims were based upon chartered rights, and Virginia added to hers the right of conquest of the "Illinois country" during the Revolution. As early as October, 1778, she 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 so far north as what is now Wisconsin ; and, as none thereafter located so far north before she relinquished all her rights to the United States, it follows that no part of our State was included in Illinois County, and that she never exercised any jurisdiction over any portion of Wisconsin; nor did she make claim to any portion of it by right of conquest.

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 1783 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 1796. 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 Wisconsin, although being the nearest approach thereto of any organized county up to that date.

The next county organized was that of Wayne, in 1796, which was made to include, besides much other territory, all of the present State of Wisconsin, watered by streams flowing into Lake Michigan. The present limits of Fond du Lac County were thus brought into Wayne County, except so much as is drained by the head streams of Rock River. From 1800 to 1809, what is now included within its boundaries was within the Territory of Indiana, and in the last, mentioned year, passed into the Territory of Illinois. It is probable that Indiana Territory exercised jurisdiction over what is now Wisconsin to the extent of appointing two Justices of 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 officers at Prairie du Chien, St. Clair County having been extended so as to include that point and, probably, Green Bay. In the course of time, other Illinois counties subsequently had jurisdiction, until 1818, when what is now Wisconsin became a portion of the Territory of Michigan. Under the government of the latter, the district of country now forming Fond du Lac County, was first included within the limits of the county of Brown, and so continued until it became itself a county.

In John Farmer's "Map of the Territories of Michigan and Ouisconsin," of 1830, Winnebago Lake, with surrounding country, is delineated with considerable accuracy. Indian villages are plentiful but none of white men. At the " head of the lake "is WhiteBosom's village, and, not very far to the northwest, is another representation of a,n Indian town, but the name of the latter is not given. It is on the east side of the lake. Farther to the north, on the west side, is Smoker's Village, and still farther on, the village of the Black Wolf. Across the lake, in a northeast direction from Black Wolf's town, is seen the Menomonee village of Calumet. Upon this map, Fond du Lac River appears very much confused. I^ west branch is called Martin's Creek, its eastern branch Crockodile River. Then there is another west branch having no name. " Doty's Route" is distinctly marked, traversing the country along the east side of Winnebago Lake, in a southerly direction ; then, after crossing " Crocodile River " it takes a southwesterly course to an Indian village on " Doty's Creek," beyond what are the present boundaries of Fond du Lac County. Brown County, including beside much other territory all of what is now Fond du Lac, has on this map, for its northern boundary, a line running from a point between the Great and Little Bays de Noquet west to " Lac Vieux Desert ; " for its southern boundary, the Illinois line.

On a map by the same author, of the date of 1836, the county of Brown is shown, but deprived of a large part of its southern territory where " Mil walky Co." appears, extending from the Illinois line north sixty-six miles, and from Lake Michigan west about seventy-five miles. All of Brown County south and east of Green Bay and Fox River, is represented as surveyed into townships, including, of course, what is now Fond du Lac County. Between the " Stockbridge & Brothertown In. Reserve" and the "head of the lake," there is represented an Indian village called " Pope's Village," a misprint for " Pipe Village," (Calumet). The " Crockodile River" now empties into the lake between the mouth of Fond du Lac River and " Pope's Village."

The first map of " Wiskonsin Territory, Compiled from Public Surveys," gives Fond du Lac as one of the surveyed counties of the Territory, noting thereon the village of Fond du Lac in its proper position at the " head of the lake," but the river upon which it is located has the name " Soochera." The " U. S. Military Road," from Green Bay to Fort Winnebago (now Portage, Columbia Co.), passes through the county, first in a southwesterly direction, then nearly west. From this road branches off another, running southwest to "Waushara," on the south side of " Fox Lake," in what is now the northwest part of Dodge County, thence to " Dekorra," on the east side of the Wisconsin River, below the " portage," in what was then Portage (now Columbia) County. On this map. Fond du Lac County is represented as containing, besides its present limits, the whole of what is now Winnebago County, south of the Fox River. " Oshkosh," is a small village in this county, wholly on the south side of Fox River, at the point where it flows into Winnebago Lake. In the northwest part of the county is "Rush Lake." A raad or trail crosses the Fox River at the outlet of the " Great Butte Des Morts Lake," running in a southwest direction to "Ida," on the north side of "Swan Lake," in " Portage County ; " thence in a northwest course to " Fort Winnebago," traversing first the northwest portion of what is represented as Fond du Lac County, then the southeast part of what was Marquette County at that date and the northeast corner of Portage County as then constituted. This was a very direct route, going northeast from Fort Winnebago to Green Bay.

When in December, 1836, a certain portion of the territory of Brown County was designated as a new county, and called Fond du Lac, no provision was made for its organization. It had not a sufficient population. There was, indeed, but one family residing within itsdesignated boundaries. All that could be done was to say where its county-seat should be, and that the county should be attached to "Some other county for judicial purposes. The county seat was "established at the town of Fond du Lac," and the county was "attached to the county of Brown for judicial purposes." Finally, by an act of the Territorial Legislature, approved March 11, 1839, the county was to be organized, but " for the purposes of county government only;" it was still to remain apart of Brown County for all judicial purposes. The act of organization says :

Section 5. The county of Fond du Lao shall be organized for the purposes of county government only from and after the first Monday in April next, at which time the election for county officers shall be held at the places and in the manner provided by law, and the candidate for County Commissioner having the highest number of votes shall serve two years from arfd after the first Monday in August next ; the candidate having the next highest shall serve for one year from the time aforesaid, and the candidate being third on the list shall serve until the first Monday of August next, or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. The returns of the first election shall be made to the Clerk of the County Commissioners of Brown County, who shall canvass the votes and certify the result of the election in the manner provided in other cases.

Sec. 6. The said county shall remain attached to the county of Brown for judicial purposes, and shall pay annually into the county treasury of Brown County 5 per cent of all taxes levied and collected in said county of Fond du Lac, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of courts ; and the qualified voters of said county shall have power, on the first Monday of April next, to elect a collector to discharge the duties incident to that office in place of the Sheriff ; and such Collector shall continue in office until the first Monday of August next and until his successor shall be elected and qualified, and thereafter a collector shall annually, on the first Monday of August, be elected, and in case of a vacancy in the office of Collector, the County Commissioners shall have power to supply such vacancy until the next annual election.

Sec. 7. All duties in relation to any election required to be performed by a Sheriff within said county may be performed byla deputy, to be appointed in such county by the Sheriff of the county of Brown.

An election was held, August 6, 1839, under this law, resulting in the choice of John Bannister, Edward Pier and Reuben Simmons, as Commissioners ; A. Raymond, Treasurer ; and J. Bannister, Register. The Commissioners organized their Board on the 9th of October following, by electing Reuben Simmons, Chairman, and Mason C. Darling, Clerk. Upon the entering of these officers upon their respective duties, the county of Fond du Lac was organized for all but judicial purposes, and began its onward career of prosperity.

It was not until "from and after the first Monday of March," 1844, that Fond du Lac County was/M% organized. An act to organize it for judicial purposes was approved January 22 of that year, the provisions of which were as follows :

Section 1. That from and after the first Monday of March next, the county of Fond du Lac shall be organized for judicial purposes, and shall enjoy all the privileges of other counties of this Territory.

Sec. 3. The said judicial county, composed of the counties of Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, Calumet and Marquette, shall remain a part of the Third Judicial Uistrict, and the courts therein shall be held by the Judge of the said district, at such times as shall be established by law.

Sec. 4. The first election of Sheriff for said judicial county shall be held in the several counties before named, on the first Tuesday of April next, and thereafter at the time prescribed by law ; and the return of said elebtion shall be made to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Fond du Lac County, who shall proceed to canvass the same as the law requires.

Sec. 5. All writs, processes, appeals, recognizances, or other proceedings, sued or commenced in the District Court of Brown County, prior to the said first Monday of March next, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution issued thereon in the same manner they might or could have been had this act not passed ; and execution on any judgment heretofore rendered in said court, shall bave the like force and effect, anl may be executed and returned by the Sheriff of said county of Brown, anything in any law of the Territory to the c )utrary notwithstanding.

Sec. 6. The county seat of Fond du Lao County is hereby established upon the north half of the northeast quarter of Section Fifteen, Town[ship] Fifteen north, of Range Seventeen east, in the town of Fond du Lac; Provided, a good and sufficient warrantee deed, duly executed, of a public square for the location of county buildings, embracing at least ninety thousand square feet [be delivered by the owners thereof to the county] ; and a bond entered into with the Board of Supervisors of the county, conditioned to provide a suitable room for holding courts for the use of said county for the term of three years, the whole to be free of charge to the county, and to be entered of record in the Register's oflSoe of said county. But it is herein further provided, that unless such deed and bond, duly executed, shall be thus recorded on or before the first Monday of March next, the county seat shall be and remain as now established by law ; and the Supervisors of said county shall be hereby authorized to provide a building for the temporary holding of such courts until county buildings shall be prepared at the county seat ; and such building thus provided (a certificate of such fact being recorded in the office of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of said couniy), shall be deemed to be the Court House of said county.

Sec. 7. All appeals to be taken in the manner provided by law, from the decisions of the Probate Court of the district composed of the counties of Sheboygan and Manitowoc shall be made and returned to the District Court of Brown County, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.

Sec. 8. From and after the first Monday of March next, the county of Marquette shall be organized for county purposes, and the first election for county officers of said county shall be held on the first Tuesday of April next, at the house of S. W. Beall, the place appointed by law for holding the annual town meeting, and the returns of the election of such county otfioers shall be made to the Town Clerk of the town of Marquette, who is hereby authorized to canvass the same and to issue certificates of election.

Sec. 9. Such election shall be conducted in all respects as the law requires for conducting the town meetings, and it shall be the duty of the Clerk of the. Board of Supervisors of Fond du Lao County to post up notices of such election, and also of the town meeting of the town of Marquette, at two or more places in such county ten days at least before the day of such meeting.

Sec. 10. The several towns in the counties of Calumet and Marquette, and the county of Sheboygan, shall annually pay to the Treasurer of Fond du Lac County, 8 per centum of all taxes, except schoolhouse taxes, levied therein, to assist in defraying the expenses of courts. And it is hereby made the duty of the Collectors of the several towns in the counties aforesaid, and of the Collector of the county of Sheboygan, to collect and pay such percentage to the Treasurer of the county of Fond du Lac, on or before the first Monday of January in each year ; and the receipt of such Treasurer shall be a good and sufficient voucher for such amount in settlement with the Treasurer of his own proper town or county, and the Collectors of such towns and counties shall be liable to the county of Fond du Lac, under their oflScial bonds, for the payment, as aforesaid, for the percentage herein mentioned.

Sec. 11. From and after the first Monday of March next, all assessments that shall be made in the county of Fond du Lac, for the purpose of raising taxes, shall embrace improvements on real estate, in addition to the property now liable by law to taxation.

Sec 12. The Clerks of the Boards of County Supervisors of the counties of Calumet and Marquette, and the Clerk of the Board of Commissioners of Sheboygan County, shall be required to forward to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Fond du Lac County, on or before the first Monday of April next, a certified copy of the poll-lists of the last annual election ; and the Board of Supervisors of the county of Fond du Lac is hereby required to meet at the Clerk's office, in said county, on some day prior to the first day of May next, for the purpose of preparing a list of jurors, and taking any other measures necessary to carry out the provisions of this act.

Sec. 13. The Clerks of the several towns in the counties of Fond du Lac, Calumet and Marquette, and the Clerk of the Board of Commissioners of Sheboygan County, shall post up notices of the election of Sheriff for such county at the proper places, at least ten days prior to the said day of election.

Sec. 14. [This section brought the southern part of Lake Winnebago within the bounds of Fond du Lac County, and is recited in the article entitled " Fond da Lac County Boundaries Established," to be found elsewhere.]

Sec. 15. [This section submitted the question of the annexation of Winnebago County to Fond du Lac County for judicial purposes, to the legal voters of the first-mentioned county, for adoption or rejection, " on the day of the annual town meetingin April next." The election was held on the 2d of that month, at which time twenty-five votes were cast in favor of being attached to Fond du Lac County, and five against.]

Pioneer Eeminiscences

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

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

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

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

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

At our approach, the villagers poured from their cabins, and gave a general shout from the unwonted sight (as I supposed) of a white man. Tomay [believed to be Tomah], the guide, was received with kindness, and his introduction procured what I supposed to be the same for myself. But as their unrelaxing features, coldness and taciturnity would indicate anything rather than courtesy, it required the fullest conviction both of his and their intentions to enable me to place such civility to its proper account. I seated myself on the grass, and was surrounded by the whole population of Calumet, the men eyeing me with contemptuous indiflFerence, the females and children with a restless and obtrusive curiosity.

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

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

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

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

On the 26th, having left the low prairie, we traversed a more elevated tract, distributed in gentle undulations, from the summit of which I could see grounds of the same character extending in every direction. There were no forests nor any undergrowth, more than low shrubbery. The immense park, for it bore that appearance, was beautified by a growth of oak, occasionally single, and sometimes in groups, as if planted by art. I could scarcely imagine that a distribution so consonant to the laws of taste could have been made without the agency of man. [This "park," as every Wisconsin reader will readily see, was an " oak opening."] , At about midday, the face of the country changed to a lower and wet soil, which continued for the- distance of four or five miles, when it gave place again to one higher and better Watered, although inadequately, with small rivulets, and covered with white and red oak, and sometimes hickory. The white oaks were of the largest size. In the afternoon, I arrived at the bank of a shallow, sluggish stream [Milwaukee River] about fifty yards in width, running toward the southeast. The fine tract I had passed in the early part of the day was badly watered. From 4 o'clock of the preceding day to 1 of the present, I met no signs of water, not even the smallest brook.

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

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

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

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

In March, 1836, 1 wanted to go [from Fort Winnebago, now Portage, Columbia Co., Wis.] by way of Sheboygan, on a journey to New York ; so the commanding officer [of the fort] gave a soldier by the name of Moore a furlough for the rest of his time - about a month - and his discharge, for the purpose of accompanying me. 1 got a jumper-sleigh and a harness, calculating to throw the sleigh away when it was necessary ; put my horse before the jumper, and Moore and I started. , We went to Fond du Lac, where we found, on the bank of the stream, part of an old wigwam and decided to encamp in it. I went to building a fire, and Moore went to the stream for water. I heard him talking and supposed some Indian had come up ; but on his return he said h6 was swearing ; for he had to cut through three feet of ice before he got water. We made our tea, ate our supper, and slept finely. Next morning we started east, but, after getting upon the highlands, the small bushes wete so thick I told my companion we could not take the sleigh any farther; so we left it and, packed our baggage on the horse, Moore and I walking. When I got tired I mounted the horse and rode, and after getting rested would jump ofi" and lead him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pioneers always have some doleful tales to tell of privations and hardships gone through with in settling up a new country, but I have none to relate. When I was a boy, I had some experience in the hardships of clearing up heavy timber, but here we had none of that. Our meadows were all ready to put in the scythe and cut all the hay we wanted. The ground was already cleared, ready to put in the plow. Could there be anything more delightful than our work in improving our prairie farms ? And they have paid so well ! You farmers must not get theblues. Wheat will rise in value. If it does not, raise something else. Your lands are rich, you have good markets at your door, and you get your lumber here in Ripon as cheap as it can be purchased anywhere in the country. The climate here is as good as any in the world ; no long droughts, but alternate rain and sunshine. I hear some wishing they could sell out and go where the winters are shorter. Why are you so fearful of winter ? You are not obliged to do more than to make the contrast agreeable. Your fuel is cheap ; so fill your stove, look out of the window and whistle at the cold. Do not go away from Central Wisconsin to find a better place - ^ou cannot do it ! You may be proud to say, when away from home, that you hail from Ripon.

Histoby Of Fond Du Lac Counts

If your daughter is educated at Ripon College, that will pass her to a good husband ; if your son is schooled here, his addresses will be cordially received in the best families of the country. I have seen the little girl grow up here to be the accomplished lady ; to be the bride gracing the drawing-rooms of Eastern cities. My own daughter was schooled here. She and her husband went away from Ripon. They brought her back and laid her upon that beautiful hill ! Beautiful ? Yes, if there can be beauty in a graveyard, it is in that spot of ground lying in the very center of the city, so retired from the stir and bustle of business ; it is " death in the midst of life." I have dear friends there; and when the time comes that I must go, you that may be present, lay me quietly by their side. Were I to tell you how many years I have lived, you might think that that time cannot be delayed long, and it may not be, but it is not the number of years that always make men old, but how those years have been lived !

I had almost forgotten some qt our early institutions. When I speak of our first livery stable it will cause a smile upon the face of him who recollects the proprietor - Jesse Campion. Do you see him ? an English plowman, with a walk that gave a peculiar swing to his body, as though one foot was traveling on the land and the other in the furrow. His "''orses" were three, one spavined, and two ringboned. He used to carry his passengers by weight ; distance was of no account, for his customers had to pay his bills on the road. His was the first wedding in the city. He married a Yankee girl.

The first dray horse in Ripon was " Dick." He had the misfortune to break a leg while on the road from Milwaukee to Ripon, and was turned out to die; but "Dick" did not die. His leg calloused over so that he could be used, and the public did their draying with him. He was a sort of public property, for he who got " Dick " up first had the best right. But the citizens began to quarrel who should use him, and, as he was my property, I sold him into other service.

Our first Congregational clergyman was a young man by the name of Sherrill. He was fresh from the schools, and had much to learn of Western men and manners. He officiated at the second wedding, and weddings of those days were not as Ripon weddings now are. The groom was a young carpenter of about twenty years, the bride a young girl .of about thirty. Tliey had walked about six miles to the village and found Mr. Sherrill away from home, but he was expected back soon. They waited ; the hours went away slowly to them ; the girl got very impatient, and would go to the window every few minutes, fearing, apparently, that he would not come so as to marry them that night. But he came at last, and the poor girl was happy.

At an early day, when the community resorted to hot bricks, and, perhaps, a little No. 6 for medicine, we had no drug stores. Perhaps Mr. Northrup or Mr. Starr might have supplied us with opodeldoc or pain-killer, but that would have been all. Now we have fine and extensive drug stores, the fixtures of which are alone worth more than the whole of Ripon was then.

Now we have extensive stocks of boots and shoes ; but, in pioneer days, the best you could do was to get a pair of stogies of Mr. Starr. I remember one pair that he sold. An immigrant, who had just moved into the town of Rosendale, walked into Ceresco barefooted to get himself boots. He said he had a pair at home that were calfskin, but for every-day use they were too costive ! Mr. Starr sold him a pair less costive.

If we had in those early days a milliner shop, the business must have been poor, for, at that time, our ladies were glad to trim over their old bonnets, and make the new ones themselves. Now, it is changed. In war times, this business was prosperous, and the shops made money, and built up several fine establishments for such as kept up with the fashions and tastes of the day. I think the gentlemen, who have now to pay millinery bills, ought to be thankful for the late improvements ; for a lady's hat used to cost $10 and upward, but they must be cheaper now they are so very small. I do not mean to ridicule the fashions, for I like to see a welldressed lady, and see her dress in the fashion. Gentlemen who travel much know how a welldressed lady looks to them after making a trip up in the backwoods where the poor woman has to work hard and go barefooted.

Now, take Ripon as it was and compare it with the present, and are we not all satisfied with its progress ? Take Ripon as she is and compare her with other places, and is there not full reason to be proud of her ?

On the 20th day of April, 1838, 1 came from Detroit to Grreen Bay on a rickety old steamboat whose name I have forgotten, but believe it was called the Pennsylvania. We had a terribly rough passage and came pretty near going down to the bottom of Lake Huron. The water was knee-deep in the cabin ; we had to stand on chairs and tables or to lie in the upper berths in order to keep ourselves dry. This was during a dark night opposite Saginaw Bay. We were unable to make the safe harbor of Presque Isle in the dark, as there was not a single lighthouse in those days on the eastern shores of Michigan between Fort Gratiot and Mackinaw, a stretch*of about two hundred and fifty miles, and had to put back to *Port Huron.

While in Green Bay, hearing excellent accounts of the country about the head of Lake Winnebago, its farthest end, as the French name of Fond du Lac implies, I made up my mind to visit it. Through the kind oflSces of Messrs. Charles and Alex. Grignon, sons of Augustin Grignon, of Big Butte des Morts Lake, I procured the services of two Menomonee Indians, who understood French, and started with them in a bark canoe. At night, the canoe was drawn upon the shore, carefully propped on edge, answering the purpose of a tent ; a fire was kindled opposite, and as we always had plenty of ducks and fish besides the provisions we had brought along, we were very comfortable. Thus I visited Neenah, Garlic Island, the present site of the city of Oshkosh and Lake Buttes des Morts as far as Winneconne. At Oshkosh, Mrs. Stanley, of that place, wishing to visit the family of Edward Pier, asked me to give her passage in my boat, which, as there was plenty of room, I readily granted. We passed the old log house, erected by the Fond du Lac Company, which many of you no doubt remember, and landed on the prairie, near the place where Mr. George Mc Williams' house stands, this point being apparently the head of canoe navigation, and walked across the prairie to the house of Mr. Pier, which was in sight from that point and about one mile and a half distant. Like all the other houses in the country at that time, it was constructed of logs. It stood not far from the place now occupied by his residence. We were very cordially received. Hearing of a little lake seen by Mr. Pier in the vicinity, I resolved to visit it, and so the next morning I started with Albert Kendall, a brother of Mrs. Pier. We found the lake and walked clear around it, returning to Mr. Pier's house by noon. The lake was charming in its quiet beauty; its placid face reflected the surrounding woods which bent down over it as if endeavoring to kiss the waves. I was quite charmed by the scene and resolved that Uncle Sam and myself would have a trade about that lake. This was consummated on the 17th of May by my purchasing the lake and all the land around it, and also the quarter-section in the town of Fond du Lac now owned by Mr. James Wright, being something over five hundred acres.

Permit me here to correct, for perhaps the hundredth time, a mistake which, the more it is contradicted the more it seems to gain currency, viz., that I purchased that lake believing it to be a marsh. From what I have just said, my hearers will certainly know how utterly impossible it was for me to have made such a mistake. I presume that the report originated from the fact that when I arrived at Green Bay to buy the tract, I found thait the Government Surveyor who had surveyed the lake in the winter had failed to perform his duty, and had found it more convenient to report it as a marsh than to ascertain its nature and meander it as he should have done. The officers in the land office had no discretionary powers in the premises and I had to pay for the lake which the partiality of my neighbors had named after me, or to go without it. But I do not regret, my action. The lake is well worth all I had to pay for it.

, The next day I went back to my bark canoe, taking back Mrs. Stanley to Oshkosh, well pleased with her visit. At Grand Chute, now Appleton, I enjoyed the splendid excitement, not free from danger, of shooting down the fall, some seven feet almost perpendicular, and of admiring the skill with which the guides avoided the rocks in the rapids below, the contact of which would have been instant death.

A few days la^;er, having completed my purchase and procured some necessary articles, I took advantage of the company of a body of troops marching from Green Bay to Fort Winne- bago, now Portage. Capt. Marryatt, the humorous novelist, was one of the party. We were together much of the time, shooting pigeons aad partridges, while the soldiers were engaged in cutting and repairing the military road. The Captain was on his way to St. Louis, with the intention of visiting the Western plains to the Rocky Mountains, and invited me to accompany him at his expense. I thankfully but firmly declined the offer, having traced out a different line. After all, Capt. Marryatt never visited the Western plains, being recalled home sooner than he had expected.

And now commenced for me the hardships incident to a new settlement in a wild country - hardships of such a discouraging nature that when I look back upon those early days, I often wonder how I could have withstood them, why I did not run away from my purchase and go back to a civilized country, where I could earn my living in a far easier way. But Horace was probably not the first who observed that man is so constituted that he is rarely satisfied with the condition in which he finds himself, and is seduced mpstly by what he does not possess. That is what ailed Robinson Crusoe and many others, besides myself I had been for a few years past following the profession of a teacher of the French language, for which I was tolerably well qualified ; but my perverse nature and desires would lead me to become a tiller of the soil, for which I was not qualified at all, and, let me add, probably never can be ; for farming is, in the main, composed of two things : a very moderate amount of theory and a very large amount of practice. After a while, things began to look very discouraging. There was a large amount of things to be done, such as clearing, fencing, building, etc., and an equally large amount of nothing to do thedi with. My pile, never very, large, grew smaller by degrees, and I soon found the bottom of it.

At the time I erected my log house, in May, 1838, there were four others in the county, those of Colwert Pier, of Edward Pier, the old Fond du Lac House and that of Luke Laborde, mine being the fifth and the only one of them still left standing. Dr. Darling, who had originally settled at Sheboygan, came to Fond du Lac about the time I did, but did not build his log house, long since removed and whose place is now occupied by Darling's Block, until the fall following.

That year, a few families settled in the county, among whom I remember particularly Mr. Calvin Pier, his wife and such members of his family as were not already here; also Joseph Olmsted, his son-in-law; Mr. Wilcox settled at Waupun. A. D. Clark was erecting a saw-mill on the school section. Two brothers by the name of Palmer were staying with John Bannister. Frank McCarty and Reuben Simmons moved to Taycheedah with large families, in the early spring of 1839. John T. Denniston and family lived with me. Among the early settlers I remember, besides those named above, Patrick Kelly, William Stewart, Alonzo Raymond, John Case, Samuel Wilkinson, William Hayes, Harvey Peck (now of La Crosse), William Lalondre, Raphael St. Mary and Brouillard, Joseph and Frank King, William Parsons, Samuel Butler, John Treleven and his three brothers - Joseph, Daniel and Thomas, George W. Eliott, B. F. Smith, Mr. Perry (father of two bankers of Fond du Lac), D. C. Brooks, Charles, Juba and Erastus Olmsted, Gen. Ruggles, Joseph Clark, who, if I mistake not, were all here by or before 1842. In the fall of 1841, Mr. Joseph L. Moore started a store at Taycheedah, and Mr. Frank Moore, his relative, came with him. It was a great convenience for the people to have a store where they could procure necessaries. Moses Gibson started a store upon the Main street of Fond du Lac, about the same time, and Messrs. Clock and Weikert also opened one in the old Fond du Lac log house.

Until 1840, the Indians in this county outnumbered the whites at least ten to one ; they were generally friendly, bringing venison and other game and wild honey and skins for sale or exchange ; but sometimes they would kill hogs that they never paid for and had a way of setting the woods on fire while hunting deer, burning up fences and pastures.

In 1840, John Bannister took the United States census, and I think the number of whites of all ages was 139, all told, in Fond du Lac County.

In 1843, Col. H. Gonklin moved with his family to the farm now owned by Mr. Lyman Phillips. Gov. Tallmadge also came along about that time, and the ledge in Empire and Eden was rapidly settled by Messrs. David Lyons, John and Henry Westervelt, Germond, Shoemaker, Mayhew, Sweet, Hatch, Vincent, and many other gentlemen, who came principally from Dutchess County, N. Y., a valuable accession to the county.